Present at the February 13^th, 2002 meeting were Bob Ballengee, Arcangelo Bollella,  John Erickson, Anna Sachko Gandolfi, Sister Mary Rose Golden, Vincent Greco, Tom Lindgren, Joe Looney, Joanne McMahon, Donald Mitchell, Dorothy Mitchell, John Naclerio, Nanette Y. Naclerio,  Rich Nardi,  Ann O’Sullivan,  Father John Quinn, Sheelagh Rabo, Ann Silvestri, Corinne Strianese, Edward Strianese, John Sullivan, Barrie Watson, and Lynn Watson.

            Immediately following the evening Mass for Ash Wednesday, Father Quinn led the Parish Council in the Our Father.

            Father Quinn informed the Parish Council that the Finance Committee met last week to review the dispute between St. Patrick’s and the architect, Alex Bacon, over payment of Alex’s fees for the cancelled classroom extension project.  In a unanimous vote the Finance Committee decided that the parish’s payments of  $57,096.65 were sufficient for a project for which construction had never begun.  The Finance Committee considers the matter closed and informed Alex of that fact in writing.

            John Sullivan, the architect for the Parish Center presented plans depicting a 10,500 square foot building, whose main interior space is a regulation size junior high school basketball court.  The building includes a chapel, a partial basement, a small second floor, 2 team rooms, bathrooms, and storage for tables on rolling carts beneath the stage.  The upper capacity for seating is 300 to 400 people.  Clerestory windows were incorporated into the design of the Parish Center to make the building compatible with the style of the existing Church buildings.            The Parish Center will be located to the left of the playground.  Parking will be expanded by 20 spaces to accommodate increased attendance. 

            John expects that the Town of North Castle approval process will take 4 to 5 months.  The parish has received 6 proposals from construction management companies.  Construction is scheduled to start by September 1, 2002 and with an expected construction process of 10 months, the project should be completed in July 2003.

            Donald Mitchell raised a point about how he feels that work has been going on secretly on all this and how he did not know about it.  It was pointed out that the Parish Council publishes minutes of every meeting, that the project has been mentioned in church frequently, that every Parish Council meeting is open to every parishioner and finally, that Donald’s wife, Dorothy, usually attends and participates in our Parish Council meetings.  One might wonder about Donald’s lack of awareness of this project.  It was also pointed out that Mr. Sullivan was a guest speaker at this evening’s meeting, not a parishioner.

            Joanne McMahon reported the results of the Teen Life Club’s recent elections.  Rosanna Perretta was elected parish queen, and Andrew Tompkins was elected king.  Together, they will represent the parish at the C.Y.O. cotillion in early May at the Tarrytown Hilton.  The Parish Council joined Joanne in expressing their tremendous pride in Rosanna and Andrew and will congratulate them in the cotillion journal.  Joanne noted that the teens recently met with Sister Rose and gave her 3 boxes of books and CDRoms for the young Indians she is dedicated to helping.  Over the last few years the teens have raised over $6,000 for this project

            Ann O’Sullivan informed the Parish Council that the Archdiocese requires each parish to submit a detailed crisis management plan addressing the evacuation and care of religious education students in the event of an emergency.  Since St. Patrick’s runs 10 religious education sessions, a plan must be created for each session.  This is a tremendous undertaking in terms of time and effort, that calls for the assistance of those with expertise in this area.  Accordingly, Ann asked for the formation of a committee of volunteers to aid in plan development.  That committee would include parent, teacher and community representatives.  The Parish Council thanked Joanne McMahon for offering her considerable skills to this committee and Tom Lindgren, who will provide the names of those experienced in crisis management.

            Tom Lindgren told the Parish Council that the Fundraising Campaign has reached the $1.5 million mark in pledges for the Parish Center.  The Parish Council expressed its gratitude to the Fundraising Committee for their outstanding work and to Gene Quarrie for his superb sign.

            Anna Gandolfi raised the question of the $50,000 payment to Alex Bacon, which the Finance Committee had unanimously approved at a meeting.  Father Quinn informed the Parish Council that the two new members of the committee had sufficient time to study (and did so) all the information before their meeting.  The Finance Committee met for 2 1/2 hours before voting and unanimously agreed that the $50,000 payment was more than generous, considering all factors involved, including the lack of a contract to do this project.  Father Quinn mentioned his feeling that the question of this payment has become, at times, like an interrogation.

            The next meeting of the Parish Council will be on Thursday, March 14^th at 7:30 P.M.