Special Meeting

We are called as a congregation, by the Church Council to gather as a body on June 3, 2018 in the sanctuary, following worship to consider releasing funds of up to $25,000 for the purchase and installation of a new primary heating system for the church.
Details:  There are four issues at play.  1) The furnace that heats the sanctuary is almost 30 years old (installed in 1990).  We have been advised by two different companies that it is likely to fail sometime in the very near future — it is well past its life expectancy.  2) We also have a 30 year old underground oil tank.  It too, is past its prime and we (and, apparently, our fuel company) are concerned about the increasing possibility of it leaking.  3) On very cold nights when the draw on the furnaces are high, we experience oil flow problems that require me to come down to the church in the middle of the night to reset the furnaces and get things running again, this despite several years of many different mechanics attempting to solve this problem.  4) Finally, at the Annual Meeting in January, we set aside realized gains from the endowment to the firm foundation in anticipation of this need.
Instead of replacing the oil tank, we have contracted with Ross Environmental out of Stowe, to remove it, test the soil around it, and fill in the hole.  Because we do have a propane tank, also buried, we will replace the oil furnaces with two high efficiency Lennox gas furnaces attached to our existing duct-work.
We hope that you will be able to attend this important congregational meeting as we look to continuing to provide a safe and comfortable space for our worship life and for the community.