[Upper SC] A Key Document In Trying to Unravel the Situation at Trinity Cathedral, Columbia
Various folks have pointed me to these May Minutes of the Vestry of Trinity Cathedral. I'm excerpting the passages that I think key:
Dean Linder called on Mr. Vance Bettis, Trinity Foundation President for his report. Mr. Bettis reminded the Vestry that at its March 2010 meeting, the Vestry made two requests of the Foundation. He reported that the Foundation met on April 20 and approved the requests, subject to the following conditions:
1. The Foundation retains the right to designate the appropriate means of recognition for the bequest
2. The Foundation will provide a $2.3 million interest-free loan, subject to the Vestry agreeing to permit the Foundation to engage the Hobbs Group to provide services to oversee the financial integrity of the Cathedral for a period of two years.
Mr. Lyles Glenn reported that the Hobbs Group recently conducted the audit of the Cathedral’s books and Foundation members thought that the Hobbs Group could be helpful going forward to help effect the fiscal restoration of the Cathedral. He explained that the Trinity Foundation members are guardians of the Cathedral’s endowment and are not supposed to be engaged in running the Cathedral’s operations. However, they are providing the services of the Hobbs Group to help get the financial operations in good working order. It was discussed and reported that this engagement of the Hobbs Group would in no way compromise their engagement as auditors in the future.
Auditors from the Hobbs Group have already been engaged in the reconciliation of the books from 1/1/2010 to 5/31/2010, so that they will be in good order on June 1, 2010. Effective June 1, 2010, they will oversee timely reconciliation of the Cathedral accounts, timely payment of bills, and completion of personnel records, and ensure that proper accounting is taking place. They will also oversee the development of a policies and procedures manual for fiscal matters, a first draft of which will be presented to the Finance Committee at the end of June and to the Vestry at its August meeting. Mr. Glenn clarified that the Hobbs Group will report to the Cathedral assistant treasurers Mrs. Emily Moses and Mr. John Moorman, Treasurer Jim Smith, the Finance Committee and the Dean, not to the Foundation.
In this respect, Mr. Wade Mullins made the following two motions:
I move that the Vestry accept Trinity Foundation’s gift of an additional $500,000 to the Bicentennial Restoration Campaign subject to the Foundation’s reserved right to designate, in conjunction with the Dean and the Restoration Steering Committee, an appropriate manner of recognizing the decedent whose bequest made this additional gift possible.
I further move that the Vestry accept the Foundation’s offer to lend the unallocated balance of the bequest to the Restoration interest free, to be used as an interim line of credit to pay expenses incurred in the Restoration pending receipt of pledges made, and accept the Foundation’s stipulation that this loan is conditioned upon (1) the Cathedral’s acceptance of the Foundation’s engagement of The Hobbs Group, at Foundation expense, to perform the services described in the letter of engagement attached as Exhibit A, and subject to the terms specified in the letter of engagement (Exhibit A), and (2) the full cooperation and participation of the Cathedral, it Vestry and Cathedral personnel in the work The Hobbs Group is engaged to perform.
The motions were unanimously approved.
Finance Committee – Mrs. Mary Weston
Mrs. Weston introduced auditors from the Hobbs Group Allison Pena and Evan Hobbs to present the 2009 audit and management letter. Ms. Pena stated that the audit received a clean opinion, meaning it is free of material misstatements. The management letter showed a number of deficiencies that are being addressed by the Cathedral staff and the Finance Committee and also will be addressed by the Hobbs Group in their oversight of the financial office as outlined above. The auditors were excused from the meeting after their presentation. . . .
. .. Mrs. Moses and Ms. Weston discussed the Responses to 2009 Management Letter from the Hobbs Group, which was distributed at the meeting and is attached to these Minutes as Exhibit C. Plans to address the weaknesses identified in the Management Letter for the 2009 Audit were outlined in the attached document. Ms. Weston noted that the Responses included the newly established requirement for two signatures on checks of $2,500 or more. Dean Linder reported that the threshold amount had been changed to $5,000. This issue will be revisited at the next Finance Committee meeting.
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