On Aug. 17, 2021, the City of Bryan approved the last required permit for our building project. On the Aug. 18, I talked to Kenn Walsh & he said there were no more obstacles to starting the process of building. Work will start the week of Aug. 23!
The SST met July 24, 2021 to get final wordsmithing on our document (now on our website) on Guidelines on Access by UUCBV Members & Friends During Construction at 1719 E. 29th St. The BOT approved the document.
Also discussed were points of importance to the UUCBV on Texas Tax Code 11.20 Religious Organizations. Major points covered were:
1) we are ok as far as being exempt from real estate deductions in our time frame for building.
2) The land should produce no revenue while building.
3) Occasional (not regular) use for secular purposes does not endanger our real estate deduction.
4) Opening a school on the premises would require legal guidance to avoid many legal hurdles.
The SST met Aug. 9, 2021 to discuss our Sanctuary chair order and delivery options. We decided to change the date of the delivery of the chairs from 2021 to 2022 incurring a moderate price increase. It was decided that the price increase would be offset by storage fees and moving and handling concerns.
I told the SST a true story from our member Martha Scott:
Martha Scott’s story of her visit to the Anchorage Alaska’s UU church:
The church was styled like a log cabin & had a nice sanctuary. There was one thing odd in the sanctuary. The chairs there were fairly new but there were four different colors of fabric on the chairs. Martha asked one of the members why were there mismatched chairs in the sanctuary? The answer: No decision could be made on one color of fabric. Members were entrenched on their personal favorite color and no one would compromise. Members threw up their hands in defeat and everyone involved got some chairs with their choice of fabric. You know how UU’s are when they have made up their minds!
A subcommittee was formed to address choosing a color of fabric and a color of stain for the chairs. Recommendations are to be given to the SST and forwarded to the BOT. I am sure the subcommittee can come up with excellent choices of fabric and stain.
-Kathy Wheeler, Chair, SST