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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-11-09 Minutes BOARD MEETING November 9, 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 S. Elhajjeh 1. Call to Order: S. Cooke called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and welcomed guests. 2. Adoption of Agenda: Moved by: S. Elhajjeh Seconded by: K. Warren THAT: the agenda be accepted with the change that #11 New Business and #12 In Camera be moved to the beginning of the meeting tonight only. MOTION CARRIED 3. Disclosure of Interests: No interests were disclosed. 4. New Business: a) Resignation of Bonnie Seto - Moved by: W. Woo Seconded by: K. Warren THAT: the resignation of Bonnie Seto be received and a letter of gratitude for her years of service on the Museum Board be sent. MOTION CARRIED b) Appointment of new Board Chair - Moved by: W. Woo Seconded by: K. Warren THAT: Steven Cooke be nominated for the position of Board Chairperson. MOTION CARRIED Noted that there is now a vacancy for the position of Board Vice Chair. Moved by: W. Woo Seconded by: S. Elhajjeh THAT: Katharine Warren be nominated for the position of Board Vice Chair. MOTION CARRIED c) Naming of third signing authority – Moved by: K. Warren Seconded by: W. Woo THAT: Sami Elhajjeh will now become the third Board member to have signing authority along with S. Cooke and K. Warren. MOTION CARRIED H. Ridge was instructed to set up an appointment with TD bank, Bowmanville to transition signing authority. All three plus H. Ridge need to attend together. 5. In Camera: Moved by: K. Warren Seconded by: S. Elhajjeh That: at 7:14 in accordance with Section 239 (2) of the Municipal Act, 2001, as amended, the meeting be closed for the purpose of discussing the following matter that b) deals with personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees; and d) deals with labour relations or employee negotiations. MOTION CARRIED Guests of the meeting were excused. Discussion followed. Moved by: K. Warren Seconded by: W. Woo That: at 7: 32 pm the meeting move out of camera, returning to Open Session. MOTION CARRIED M. Morawetz excused herself from the remainder of the meeting. 6. Correspondence: None received. 7. Announcements: Nothing further brought forward. 8. Approval of Minutes: Moved by: W. Woo Seconded by: K. Warren THAT: the Board minutes as circulated be approved. MOTION CARRIED 9. Business Arising from Minutes: Nothing brought forward. 10. Delegation – Aimee Harris, Orono Horticultural Society Guest A. Harris reported that the Trillium Grant from 2013 had been applied for by the Executive Director at that time, on behalf of the Orono Horticultural Society, to create the living wall at the Clarke site. She felt it was critical that the Museum Board be made aware of the requirements of that grant including that it can be checked up on for 7 years once granted. H. Ridge, interim Executive Director and Curator, offered to meet with the Program Coordinator as soon as possible to make sure programming at Clarke would not be overlooked again by putting plans in place for the 2017 season. A. Harris was thanked for coming forward at this time, and for the ongoing work and commitment by the Orono Horticultural Society to the Clarke Museum site. She was also assured that the Board will work with the staff to ensure these concerns are resolved quickly. 11. Municipal Financial Report: S. Cooke ensured all had copies of the recent Municipal Financial Report. Moved by: K. Warren Seconded by: W. Woo THAT: the Board endorse all 22 recommendations outlined by the municipality in Report FND-016-16. MOTION CARRIED 12. Executive Director’s Report:  A public announcement regarding the $5000 Veterans Affairs grant awarded to the museum is due as required.  A letter of support was provided by the Museum to accompany the Canada 150 grant application submitted recently by the Jury Lands Foundation.  Improved tracking of visitor numbers was needed and is now in place such that more accurate results going forward will be possible.  The patron wall of honour has not been updated since 2014; H. Ridge will review records and remedy that as soon as possible.  Recommends re-establishing the Collections Committee. There is a large amount of artifacts to review within the scope of our mandate.  The Werry family has contacted the museum to verify a 2015 donation of $5000 was used as requested for the purchase of cabinets. H. Ridge will confirm the donation and have a sign prepared for the cabinet purchased to acknowledge the donation. She will notify the family as requested. Some of the Marion Farr donation has also been used for the purchase of display cabinets.  Helen Schmid, co-author of “Out of the Mists” has expressed an interest in donating many of her local historical documents, deeds, and diaries collection to the museum soon. Moved by: K. Warren Seconded by: S. Elhajjeh THAT: H. Ridge be directed to send a letter to Helen Schmid expressing the interest of the Museum in her collection. MOTION CARRIED S. Elhajjeh excused himself from the remainder of the meeting.  Reference material in the Museum is being categorized.  Summer camp, Edwardian teas and fall Spirit Walks have been profitable this year. Beech St. Theatre group submitted a bill for $1400 for their performances at the Spirit Walks. So far H. Ridge has not been able to find a contract for this which was determined at $150 per performance. There were 9 performances. The fees charged will make the event more profitable for the theatre company than for the museum. To run the walks, the museum ran the tours, sold tickets, advertised and provided costumes. K. Warren will contact Beech St. Theatre to find out if they have any emails or paperwork to confirm the arrangement for verification.  A programming overview for upcoming events was reviewed.  Volunteers from the Board to assist with the Edwardian Christmas event would be appreciated.  Suggestion for the Board to consider hiring an interim Curator as H. Ridge is now interim ED and is concerned that other duties may get neglected as a result.  A re-launch in 2017 of the new logo was advised. A launch was never done when the logo was designed. She would like to revisit the design.  Request for the Board to approach the municipality to improve signage from Hwy 401 and in Bowmanville as well.  A Health and Safety Committee needs to be established with 2 representatives, one from management and one from unionized staff. There are some safety items outstanding that need to be addressed.  A plan for 2017 for the gardens is needed. The head volunteer Gail has wanted to pass on her knowledge for several years, and feels now that it is critical to do so. Guest A. Harris said perhaps some integration could help utilizing the skills and knowledge of the various community Horticultural Societies in Clarington in developing a new program of maintenance. 13. Committee Reports: a) Finance – Discussed earlier in the meeting. Nothing further. b) Collections – No formal report was received. c) Membership – No report on membership. d) Property – Boilers have been replaced at the Sarah Jane location. Lighting updates are now being considered. e) Heritage – K. Warren stated that the outreach subgroup would like to join with the museum to go to schools when possible for presentations. 14. Date and Place of Next Board Meeting The next meeting will be held Wed. December 14, 2016 at 7 p.m. Location: TBA 13. Adjournment: W. Woo moved the meeting be adjourned at 8:35 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