LRPC Seeks to Have Handbook Draft Ready for Board in April; Enforcement Recommendation to Follow Soon After

One of the features of the new SLI Handbook planning to be recommended this next April, is a revamped Committee proposal where committees with common purposes would be united as sub-committees under one committee with a Board Member as its Chair. For example, The Historical Buildings Committee, chaired by a Board Member, could be recommended to have three sub-committees: Epworth, Stoody, and Hoag.

An alternative to that, along the same line, The Grounds Committee, chaired by a Board Member, might have sub-committees consisting of: Grounds, Waterfront, Epworth, Stoody, and Hoag. All of this brought about by the reduction of Board members from 18 to 12 when the separation from the Upper New York Conference of the United Methodist Church took place in February 2016. Discussion continues on sub-committees for the Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC) consisting of: Projects & Fund Raising, History & Handbook, Long Range Analysis & Suggestions.

Rules Enforcement: click on: "Read More>>"

Another feature of the Handbook will be a clear cut emphasis on the "Enforcement of Rules." It is the firm belief of the LRPC that the Handbook not become "a Book of Suggestions," but actually utilitarian for the benefit and richness of our life together here. The enforcement suggestion has found much agreement with these three factors:

(1) Rules enforcement should be fine-based since it is the most effective and easiest to accommodate; (2) Rules enforcement should not be carried out by the Board of Trustees, nor the membership of the Silver Lake Institute, nor any extended family of friends living within the boundaries of the Silver Lake Institute; (3) Rules enforcement, ideally, should be carried out through an impartial outside group who specializes in this function, and employ their own attorney and Groundskeepers. 

The LRPC has begun a study of this methodology to include detailed pricing proposals and plan to have them available to the Board sometime in the Spring of 2018. Companies may be asked to come in and bring their own professional proposals directly to the Committee and any and all interested members of the Board of Trustees. The hope is that a similar arrangement can be found for enforcement of rules as was found with Schmidt and Volk in eliminating our own Financial Record Keeping Dept. The SLI may ultimately be able to get out of the employment and supervisory business entirely for almost an equal number of dollars.