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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-12-14 Minutes BOARD MEETING December 14, 2016 Clarington Town Hall 40 Temperance Street, Room 1A, Bowmanville, Ontario Present: W. Woo S. Cooke H. Ridge (Curator/Interim ED) K. Warren S. Middleton M. Morawetz Absent: S. Elhajjeh 1. Call to Order: S. Cooke called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. and welcomed everyone. 2. Adoption of Agenda: Moved by: W. Woo Seconded by: K. Warren THAT: the agenda be accepted as presented. MOTION CARRIED 3. Disclosure of Interests: No interests were disclosed. 4. Correspondence: None received. 5. Announcements: Nothing brought forward. 6. Approval of Minutes: Moved by: K. Warren Seconded by: S. Middleton THAT: the Board minutes be approved noting two corrections: Under the Executive Directors report, the Werry family donation was $1200 rather than $5000, and the boilers were replaced at the Bowmanville Museum site rather than the Sarah Jane Williams site. MOTION CARRIED 7. Business Arising from Minutes: Outstanding Beech St. Theatre Invoice – K. Warren reported that the invoice of approximately $1400 was reviewed looking at costs for running the fall Spirit Walks. Traditionally this program is profitable for the museum and although some money was made again this year, the profits were considerably less with the increased expense of actors from Beech St. Theatre. Most of the time and effort in promotion, organization and set up were the responsibility of the museum staff although 70% of the ticket price in the end would be paid to the theatre company. No email or document regarding the agreed upon pricing could be found although the former Executive Director at the time agreed to employ three actors for the events according to the director of the theatre company. Clearly verbal agreements cannot be substantiated and therefore in a situation like this must be honoured as presented. Beech St. Theatre did not express any animosity in having to sort the invoice out with the Board and appreciated being paid out in full as anticipated. W. Woo thanked K. Warren for her work to follow up and substantiate the invoice providing due diligence in clearing this outstanding invoice. 8. Interim Executive Director’s Report: Young Canada Works (summer students) application is due Jan. 16, 2017. H. Ridge will submit for 4 students as has been the practice now for a number of years. In 2016, the museum was awarded 2 students. H. Ridge reported that follow up paperwork as required by the grant award was not submitted. It is required within 30 days of the conclusion of the grant. She was recently notified that it was late, so will respond immediately to meet that requirement. The final payment to can then be made to the museum. Veterans Affairs Canada grant of $5000 was awarded for the War Exhibit with date lines July 2, 2016 to July 2, 2017. The exhibit which was installed temporarily must be made permanent and also be updated to be bilingual to meet grant requirements. Panels will need to be reprinted to complete it. OPG grant for 2016 was specific to programs/events to run June 2016-June 2017 with the focus on outreach programs and events. Attendance numbers have been determined with improved processes in an effort to have more realistic numbers. Calls, visitors, researchers, program attendees, volunteers are all counted at each of the three sites at reception. November total was 405 and December thus far was 200 including the Edwardian Christmas Open House. Werry family donation for display case was confirmed and documented with purchase done in Nov. 2015, delivery in Feb. 2016 and use throughout the year. H. Ridge will organize a name plate to recognize the donation and notify the family. A letter indicating our interest in Helen Schmid’s collection has been sent. Reference books in the collection and on site have been sorted; some will be donated, others kept in the collection and others offered for sale at a book sale in Jan 2017. The objective is to ensure the collection remains relevant. Data entry of Accessioned reference books has been the project of the archive volunteers. The objective was to make the collection searchable making it more efficient for museum staff to find requests. So far volunteers have reviewed 1014 books. Program Report was provided by J. Steen, Program Coordinator, with a summary of programs for Nov/Dec 2016 including one program at Clarke, the Edwardian Christmas, Remembrance Day, House tours, and outreach. Donations to support programs by Rekker’s Garden Centre & Algoma Orchards have been acknowledged with letters of thanks, as well as Tyrone Mills for greenery and all volunteers who took part. Planning for 2017 will include budget, staffing, calendar of events which will reflect the realities of budget and staffing, with a focus on who we are and what we do best with a pause of curatorial and exhibit work. Payments for outstanding 2016 advertising will be paid once verified. Accounts will be reassessed and renewals only made that fit the target markets appropriately in the new year. Focus will be on paid advertising, social media and signage for 2017 Marketing & Promotion plans. Moved by: W. Woo Seconded by: K. Warren THAT: the Executive Director’s report be received as presented. MOTION CARRIED 9. Committee Reports: a) Finance – Discussed recommendations from bookkeeper and municipal finance department to reduce unnecessary late fee expenses. Moved by: K. Warren Seconded by: S. Middleton THAT: autopay processes be put in place for the museum utility bills. MOTION CARRIED S. Cooke reported that K. Warren is now set up with signing authority on the accounts. The museum VISA card has been cancelled for now at the request of the bank. H. Ridge distributed the Financial Report for both Oct. and Nov. along with the proposed budget for 2017. Discussion followed. The 2017 budget was determined using actuals from previous years, downsizing of some line items where changes are possible, changes in staffing. Plans for Marketing & Promotion as well will need to reflect the new realities of the museum once staff negotiations are complete. Moved by: W. Woo Seconded by: S. Middleton THAT: the 2017 budget as proposed be accepted. MOTION CARRIED b) Collections – No formal report was received but discussions followed that arose from the Executive Director’s report regarding Reference books and collection volunteers. It was noted that a number of volunteers have returned to assist with the audit and other processes in Collections recently. Moved by: K. Warren Seconded by: S. Middleton THAT: the deassession plan as presented for Reference books be accepted. MOTION CARRIED H. Ridge stated an objective for 2017 would be the development of a revised and relevant mandate for Collections. c) Membership – No formal report was submitted although it was noted that a priority in 2017 would be to start producing and sending out a regular newsletter again. A number of former and present members had expressed an interest in that stating that they missed the hardcopy edition preferring it to social media updates presently available. Special thanks was expressed to John Witheridge who volunteered again this year as Father Christmas for the Edwardian Christmas Open House. d) Property – H. Ridge reported that the municipality will be installing more exterior lighting for safety in response to staff concerns when exiting the building after dark using the back door at Sarah Jane Williams Heritage Centre. In the spring of 2017, the committee and municipality will review conditions and needs at the Clarke site shed. e) Heritage – K. Warren stated the committee meets next week so she will have a full report at our next meeting (there had been no meetings since our November board meeting so nothing further to report). 10. New Business: No items brought forward. 11. In Camera: No items for this meeting. 12. Date and Place of Next Board Meeting The next meeting will be held Wed. January 11, 2017 at 7 p.m. Location: Town Hall, Room 1A if available 13. Adjournment: S. Middleton moved the meeting be adjourned at 8:47 p.m. Minutes for the meeting of the Clarington Museums and Archives Board have been accepted and approved on ____________________________________ _____________________________________ _______________________________________ Chair, Executive Director, Clarington Museums and Archives Board Clarington Museums and Archives