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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-01-17 MinutesGaringlon Museums BOARD MEETING January 17, 2018 Clarington Town Hall 40 Temperance Street, Room IA, Bowmanville, Ontario Present: S. Cooke M. Morawetz W. Woo (7:24 pm) K. Warren (Interim Executive Director; IED) S. Middleton J. Steen, Curator A. Barron, Program Coordinator Regrets: H. Ridge (ED) S. Elhajjeh K. Warren invited Board members at 7:05 pm to tour the archives with staff to see the work being done there to sort, clean, identify and/or dispose of items needing attention. Staff & volunteers are working to improve conditions in the archives. 1. Call to Order: S. Cooke called the meeting to order at 7:32 p.m. 2. Adoption of Agenda: Moved by: S. Middleton Seconded by: W. Woo THAT: the agenda be accepted with the request that the Curatorial and Programing Reports be brought forward ahead of the Executive Directors Report. MOTION CARRIED 3. Approval of Minutes: Consensus to receive minutes for information. No quorum at last meeting. 4. Business Arising from Minutes: No items for discussion. 5. Disclosure of Interests: None. 6. Correspondence: None received. 7. Announcements: S. Cooke announced that two new Board members have been selected through the Municipality selection process to fill two vacancies left by Bonnie Seto and Katharine Warren. The Board welcomes Holly Raj and Sarah Bobka. 8. Curatorial Report: Submitted by Jennifer Steen Through an application process, Clarington Museum & Archives was selected for a CCI Facilities Assessment scheduled for Feb 5-7 2018. The information will prove extremely helpful in planning collection storage and care needs in the coming years, setting priorities and guidelines for requirements to maintain the collection in best condition. The new software system has been purchased and J. Steen has completed preliminary training. Customizing it for our organization is required next as well as training other staff &/or volunteers plus the input of data and records. A recommendation made in the report was for the Board to consider up to 12 more hours per week of additional staff time to continue with the collections cleanup and other projects, as well as to facilitate time for computer training and input. J. Steen asked the Board to consider updates recommended for a re -write of The Collections Management Policy 6.1 over time but to move the collections clean-up projects along she requested an immediate update that would remove from the policy the stipulated three Special Collections: Organs, Dolls, and Victorian Funeral items. The overarching need to refine and manage the collection can allow for significant items from these collections to remain as long as they meet the mandate of a connection to Clarington without being identified as "special focuses". She reviewed statistics from a recently completed Doll & Toy Collection Report siting 2075 dolls, hundreds of accessories, and 533 toys many of which do not have a connection to Clarington specifically and that take up valuable space in the archives as well as require financial resources to store properly and to maintain or repair. Discussion followed. Moved by: W. Woo Seconded by: S. Middleton THAT: the second paragraph in the existing 6.1 Collections Management Policy be deleted. [see below] MOTION CARRIED. ["The main focus will be on items made and/or used in Clarington. Three active collections are the Dominion organ and piano collections, the doll collection and the Victorian Funeral collection. The archival collection will only collect items pertaining to Clarington, history of dolls (with emphasis on Canadian dolls) and Victorian funeral customs."] Moved by: S. Middleton Seconded by: W. Woo THAT: the Curator's report be received. MOTION CARRIED. 9. Programming Report: Submitted by Amy Barron A. Barron relayed progress on several processes, plans and activities underway focusing on Youth Engagement initiatives and opportunities with the local high schools as well as students at Fleming College in the College's Museum Management and Curatorship program. Several community partnerships are being developed and potential ideas fleshed out where cross -promotional activities would be beneficial. A. Barron has been in discussions with the VAC, Clarington Tourism, and Pickering Museum Village, and will continue to develop resources for use in our educational programs both at the Sarah Jane and the Clarke museum site. Facility rentals have considerable potential for income with many recent inquiries prompting interest in redefining the opportunities for the museum. A. Barron was directed to prepare recommendations for an updated Facility Rentals Policy and accompanying Agreement for consideration at the next Board meeting. Upcoming events were also outlined in the report for the winter and spring. Moved by: W. Woo Seconded by: S. Middleton THAT: the Program Coordinator's report be received. MOTION CARRIED. 10. Executive Director's Report: K. Warren reviewed her report noting that grants for youth opportunities in the summer of 2018 were submitted for Young Canada Works and will be for Canada Summer Jobs. The Capstone grant, Enabling Accessibility grant, and corporate donations will be pursued for 2018 as well. Discussions with staff have brought forward new ideas regarding the Edwardian Summer Teas. Before making firm plans including marketing and resource allocation, the Board directed K. Warren to check with A. Darlison, ED of the BOAA who ran the program last year for ideas, feedback and to determine if interested again this summer. K. Warren continues to work with the Municipality HR department to ensure staffing and union requirements are managed properly. Work is ongoing for quotes from Brand Ambition of Bowmanville to discuss new logo and branding ideas, along with two other local companies for ideas to update the website design. Front window designs approved previously, minus the current logo, will be completed by James printing. As the Board currently operates as a whole on all committees, reports follow: Property Management: K. Warren listed several items being worked on with the Municipality Operations department and has requested an accessibility assessment of the museum sites be done. Maintenance Requests will be submitted as required. Of more immediate concern is managing the accumulating waste from the cleanup project in the collections and archives areas. Discussion followed on options and costs using quotes acquired. Moved by: S. Middleton Seconded by: W. Woo THAT: K. Warren be given the authority to contract for one year with WM Waste Management Services for a lockable dumpster with flexible scheduling. MOTION CARRIED. Health & Safety: K. Warren with help from Operations has updated requirements for H&S including staff training, ladder training completed January 17 and held a staff meeting directly afterwards to go over the newly developed fire safety plan with designated supervisors for the site, the H&S bulletin board, election of H&S rep., and a fire drill with all staff. Membership & Fundraising: Newsletters are now going out consistently. A members only event on Feb 8 will launch the new exhibit. Members get pre- registration spots ahead of the general public as part of their privileges. Collections: The archive and storage tour at the beginning of the meeting covered progress in the collections, giving an opportunity for questions and discussion. Finance Reports: Draft Financial statements were presented and reviewed as prepared by Bookkeeper, I. Locke. Reserve funds from the Rinch and Sturch estates were noted. K. Warren was asked to find more information on both of these for the next board meeting. Staffing needs were discussed and possibilities considered with provisions for increased staffing should it be needed, including in the 2018 budget. K. Warren was directed to speak with Municipal HR staff for advice and suitable options. Moved by: M. Morawetz Seconded by: W. Woo THAT: the ED report including Committee Reports be accepted. MOTION CARRIED. 11. New Business: a) 2018 Policy Review — as required by CMOG, this will be included in each meeting. Policies considered at this meeting have been included previously in the minutes, and others have been identified for consideration at the next board meeting. Moved by: S. Middleton Seconded by: W. Woo THAT: the section in Accessibility Policy 1.2 be updated to change the date in paragraph 1 of the customer service standard from 2009 to 2016 as government has updated their policy, and to include "or as the government updates accessibility policies" into the date of the next review section. MOTION CARRIED. b) Dumpster Contract — motion to address this issue was included in the ED report earlier in the meeting. c) S. Middleton requested a shared list of Board member contacts, including phone numbers and email addresses. K. Warren will develop and circulate. 12. In Camera: No items for consideration at this meeting. 13. Date and Place of Next Board Meeting: The next meeting will be held Wed. Feb 14th, 2018 at 7 p.m Location: Town Hall, TBA 14. Adjournment: Moved by: W. Woo Seconded by: S. Middleton THAT: the meeting be adjourned at 9:28 p.m. MOTION CARRIED. 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