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St. Paul Minutes

St. Paul Pastoral Council Minutes  Wednesday, September 24, 2025

Opening Prayer

  1. Roll Call - Attendance: Joe Kvidera, Sue McLean, Bev Colvin, Nancy Yuska, Tony Dudys, Wes Strohben
  2. Call to Order
  3. New Business
    • Church Sign - Bill Seda had previously approached all Council members regarding a new church sign to replace the existing one on Hwy 63, and asked for opinions as to preference of some options. Using funds from his mother Florence Seda's memorial money, it has been decided the sign will be a black background with white lettering and a red border. He is having it made and later this fall it will be installed, likely after harvest.
    • Bingo Stand - It was challenging to get enough folks to sign-up to work the 2 nights, 2 shift each, but with Bev and Joe phoning parishioners, the roster was eventually filled. Comments were made that everything went well this year. Bev had been asked by several parishioners as to what the bingo proceeds go for, and the answer is that it is just deposited into the General Fund. The plan that we had for 2025 proceeds was to help purchase a new speaker system, but Jenny Hulme once again offered to let us borrow hers, so no speaker(s) were purchased this summer. Wes said he had actually had a line item in this FY budget for speakers, but that unspent money will just carry over since no purchase was made.
  4. New Business
    • Carport - Kyle (unable to attend this meeting) suggested suspending the Carport project because of the uncertainty about decisions being made by the archdiocese through "Journey in Faith" process. The Archdiocese requires 3 separate quotes for a project such as this for them to approve the Proxy that was submitted for their approval, and we only had 1 quote from Mont Built. The Council wants to reimburse Scott Monat for all the time he put into preparing his cost estimates and computer-generated drawings. We will have to approach Scott and ask him to furnish us with a reasonable dollar amount as payment for all his time and measurements, etc.
    • Fall Cleanup - Sue as head of the Stewardship committee asked how this was handled in past. In the last couple of years, the Religious Ed students have tacked the project on a Wednesday evening (both indoors and outside). Typically, an hour before Faith Formation classes begin, a couple of adults would gather some students and deal with the necessary cleaning of a certain area of the church and grounds. We're not sure who might be in possession of a list of the cleaning duties that was created years ago. Since Kathy Kucera had arranged the Fall Cleanup in past years, it was suggested that she be contacted, and to coordinate with Sarah Kopriva on what plans are decided on. Sue will proceed to set-up a date in the next few weeks.
    • Building Updates -
      • Heidi had reach out to the Council members with a list of repairs/maintenance items needed in the rectory, as well as the continued problem of leaks in the church roof even after Scott did repairs this summer. We need to follow-up with Scott to see if he's been up on the roof since the last known roof leak on September 3rd.
      • He also will need to address the damaged SW corner of the building (behind the garage), as there is decaying wood exposed that will need to be repaired.
      • Father's bathroom in the rectory has a number of issues.
        • Loose tiles in the shower will be repaired by Mark O'Clair.
        • There is mold and mildew on the bathroom ceiling and Heidi has volunteered to try and remedy that situation by scraping, scrubbing with disinfectant, then repainting.
        • The major issue is a water leak beneath the bathroom sink, but it appears to be inaccessible, and is likely the culprit of the water leak noticed in the basement. Wes plans on visiting with Larry Nachazel to get a better idea of how difficult it may be to repair this leak. It may be necessary to get bids from 1 or more plumbers on repair estimates. Depending on what Heidi finds with her ceiling project, it may be advisable to consider a full bathroom redo.
      • A second bathroom off the hallway has an issue of the stool continuing to run water without ever shutting off, so that repair is needed as well. Wes will follow up with repairman/plumbers on these water issues.
      • The original wool carpet in the rectory is stained and hard to clean, but the Finance Committee decided to get the more important water issues addressed before discussing the carpet issue.
      • Wes said that the Finance Committee had also recommended suspending the Carport Project since we have ore urgent maintenance issues with the roof and the rectory to be dealt with first. The Finance Committee reported revenue of $26,970 for the first two months of this fiscal year, with expenses totally $25,104. It should be noted that there was a very generous memorial donation of $10,000 which is included in this revenue total. and there was a twice-yearly "self-insurance" invoice of $5,389 included in the expense total. There is currently $174,839 in the checking account.
    • Journey in Faith - Discussion surrounded if anyone had attended one of the Journey in Faith informational session. We need to stress attendance on the October 8th session to be held at St. Paul's from 6:00 to 8:30pm, as there will be Q&A that night. All parishioners should visit the archdiocese website, visit the FAQ section, view the video and attachments, then submit feedback no later than November 21st, as suggestions are welcomed.
  2. Committee Reports
    • Finance Council - see above
    • Social Justice
    • Parish Life - With all the unknowns our cluster is currently facing, it has been decided to cancel the planned photography sessions that were to create a new church directory.
    • Faith Formation - We have not been successful in finding a replacement for Brittany Svoboda in this capacity, and Sue questioned if it was possible for her to be Faith Formation Representative along with Church Council. Joe suggested we visit with Heidi about that scenario and go from there.
    • Liturgy
    • Stewardship
    • Women's Society -
      • Bev reported they served a meal to Vacation Bible School attendees in August.
      • On Tuesday morning September 9th they began the fall session of "Mats, Hats, and Quilts" in the church hall, and they were excited to have 5 new ladies attend and sew besides those who regularly attend.
      • They served 84 people at the funeral luncheon for Twylia Chizek.
      • On Saturday Bev will be going to Decorah for the Annual ACCW Meeting, and will be purchasing mums to decorate the alter for autumn.
    • Cluster Council - Journey in Faith discussion was the lead topic this month. Someone asked if we need to update the archdiocese about Vitality Goals and the consensus was "no", we do not. Sacred Heart is have a Soup Supper on November 4th.
  3. Pastor's Report - Joe updated Father on all the items we discussed:
          • the Seda Family sign
          • All the rectory maintenance items
          • Fall clean-up that will be done in October.
          • Father spoke to us briefly about keeping the faith during these challenging times, and that he knows we all have sacrificed to maintain our churches. Our faith is a gift from God, and it's not just in a brick-and-mortar building.
  4. Expectations for next meeting (November 26, 2025) - Joe indicated this meeting would likely be cancelled, as it is the night before Thanksgiving. Our next meeting date would then be January 28, 2026.
  5. Adjournment - Meeting was adjourned
  6. Closing Prayer

St. Paul Finance Council Meeting  September 24, 2025

  1. Attendees: Father Anthony Nketiah, Heidi Corpman, Chris Ruzicka, Wes Strohbehn, and Lawrence Podhajsky.  Absent: Kevin Herink
  2. Meeting began with an opening prayer by Father Anthony Nketiah at 5:35pm.
  3. Old Business
    • Committee discussed the church roof leaks reported this summer.
      • Repairs were made to roof caps and exposed nails were caulked over the main entry and sanctuary. Unfortunately, leaks have been persistent over the sanutruary. Wes to follow up.
  4. New Business
    • Reviewed July and August monthly financial statements of revenue and expenses.
      • Currently net incoe for fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025 is $1866.08 through August 31, 2025.
        • Big transactions to note included income from a generous memorial donation and withdrawal for Diocesan self-insurance which is done twice a year.
    • Q2 Maintenance Issues
      • Committee disussed exterior damage to the SW corner of the church. Scott Monat has committed to completing repairs.
        • Scott has repaired the SW wall on the exterior of the church. He replaced rotten wood with plywood and siding to match.
      • Committee discussed a host of rectory issues reported in early September.
        • Main Bathroom
          • Toilet running water which was fixed prior to meeting.
          • Shower tiles separated from wall which Mark O'Clair will be repairing.
          • Ceiling mildew which Heidi Corpman has generously volunteered to clean, sanitze, prime, and paint.
          • Sink drain leak which could be a costly due to difficult access. Wes to follow up with Larry Nachazel whom has seen the issue. If determined to be a major repair, Wes to contact a local vendor.
            • Larry is willing to attempt a repair on the leaking bathroom sink in the rectory. If his attempt fails, we can contact Champion or another vendor. Access to the leak may be an issue, but when I asked him for a ballpark estimate for the repair of this nature, he guesstimated $500 which was lower than I was thinking during the meeting.
        • Second Hallway Bathroom
          • Toilet will continuously run water on occassion and tank parts may need replaced.
        • Hallway Carpet
          • Old, original carpet which is difficult to clean and has stains. 
            • Committee determined other repairs will take precedent over this.
      • CarPort
        • After discussion of overall maintenance needs of the facility (including potential roof replacement), and the unknown changes Journey in Faith will bring to the parish, Finance Council formally recommends suspending pursuit of the carport addition.
          • Scott Monat was informed of the decision by the Finance Council and Parish Council to suspend the carport project. He refused billing us for time committed to put the bid together, but he will bill us for the blueprint drawings.
  5. Open Discussion
    • Chris mentioned the CPA currently used to prepared financial reports announced a retirement recently and will undergo a business transition in the near future.