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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-03-13Clarington Museums & Archives Meeting of the Board: March 13, 2019 MAC Meeting Room 1C, 163 Church Street, Bowmanville, Ontario Present: A. Foster, S. Middleton, S. Reiner, M. Ross, K. Warren, H. Ridge (ED) Regrets: A. Anderson, M. Morawetz 1. Call to Order: H. Ridge, Executive Director (ED), called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm 2. Adoption of Agenda: Moved by: K. Warren Seconded by: A. Foster THAT: The Agenda be approved as amended, with the addition of holding the Board Elections following Item 3 on the agenda. MOTION CARRIED 3. Approval of Previous Board Meeting Minutes: It was brought to the board's attention that M. Ross' maiden surname Witvoet was being used instead of her married surname. Moved by: M. Ross Seconded by: K. Warren THAT: The Minutes be approved with corrections. MOTION CARRIED 4. Elections of the Board: It was decided that H. Ridge act as Election Chair during the election portion of the meeting. She indicated that since there is quorum, the elections could take place and accepted nominations from the floor. For the position of Chair: K. Warren was nominated by S. Middleton and S. Reiner was nominated by K. Warren. (S. Reiner declined to let her name stand). That: K. Warren be elected Chair MOTION CARRIED 1of6 For the position of Vice -Chair: S. Reiner nominated herself. That: S. Reiner be elected Vice -Chair MOTION CARRIED For the position of Secretary: M. Morawetz currently holds this position though she has indicated that she would be happy to step away if someone would like to step in. M. Ross was nominated by M. Morawetz (via correspondence.) That: M. Ross be elected Secretary MOTION CARRIED A question was asked regarding electing a Finance Chair. K. Warren explained that a decision was made by the previous board to remove this position and that it was no longer active. At 7:09 pm, K. Warren, newly elected Chair, presided over the remainder of the board meeting. 5. Business Arising from Minutes: None 6. Disclosure of Interests: None 7. Correspondence: 1) Letter from the Municipality, February 28, 2019: At the February 15, 2019 General Government Committee, the Committee of the Municipality of Clarington passed the following Resolution #GG -063-19: That the delegation of Heather Ridge, Executive Director, Clarington Museums & Archives, regarding the 2019 Operating and Capital Budget, be received with thanks. 2) Letter from the Municipality, March 11, 2019: At the Council Meeting of February 25, 2019, the Council of The Corporation of the Municipality of Clarington approved your 2018 [sic 2019] grant request in the amount of $308,080. An Advance of $70,660.75 was given to the Museum in February 2019. The balance of $237,419.25 will be available later in March. 3) Clarington Heritage Committee: Faye Langmaid, Manager of Special Projects, requested museum representation on the Heritage Committee. Meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of the month, at 7:00 pm. S. Reiner and M. Ross both indicated an interest. It was decided that M. Ross would represent the museum. (with S. Reiner attending in her absence). 8. Announcements: K. Warren (on behalf of M. Morawetz) reminded the board of the upcoming Doors Open Clarington. The date is set for June 8, the 10th Anniversary, highlighting Clarington's agribusiness. RZOTIM. 9. Reports: a) Finance: See Appendix A Discussions began with matters surrounding the museum's sustainability, the municipality's concerns for the past 10 years and the lack of a major fundraising event in the past 4 -year term. It was mentioned that the new programs are successful and regarded as "thinking outside the box' and are able to cover themselves. Waverley Place has been rented out as a wedding / event destination. Further, it was stated that last year was a "real year" with a full compliment of staff. It was recognized that the museum had gone through some difficult tenures which contributed to the concerns expressed around its sustainability and a much longer view was needed. Small events such as `Clue Night' and last year's `Escape Rooms' are attracting visitors outside of Clarington (i.e. Ajax) and the `Love `Em and Leave `Em' dinner at Waverley Place received glowing reviews. Low donation revenues and lack of annual appeals were discussed and it was agreed that an annual appeal would be address this year. Donations are tracked by Excel spreadsheets. The discussion around donor management data bases should be considered as this software would improve donor / member management and tracking and facilitate issuing tax receipts. Action: That S. Reiner will report back at the next board meeting with types / prices of donor management data base/software. (i.e. BasicFunder). Moved by: M. Ross Seconded by: A. Foster THAT: The Finance Report of March 13, 2019 be received. MOTION CARRIED b) Membership: See Appendix B A question was raised on how memberships and attendance were being tracked. H. Ridge showed the board an Excel spreadsheet used as the visitor / membership tracking system. Some board members have received complaints from the public on the difficulty these individuals have had finding the main museum, Sarah Jane William Heritage Centre (SJWHC) on Temperance Street, and instead found themselves by Waverley Place (Bowmanville Museum) on Silver Street. H. Ridge went into details on the background history, naming rights resulting from our by-laws, and the wish to create signage that is uniform for all 3 sites. She also explained that recently, the Bowmanville Museum has been referred to as Waverley Place in marketing and promotional materials. H. Ridge acknowledges that the lack of coherent street signages and museum name changes complicate matters for the public. Explanations continued regarding the creation of the new Clarington Museums and Archives logo in 2014, for which was never properly launched, and whether the re -branding and re -launching should be part of the strategic plan discussions or dealt with separately. Moved by: A. Foster Seconded by: M. Ross THAT: The Membership Report of March 13, 2019 be received. INTO MOTION CARRIED c) Property: See Appendix C H. Ridge reached out to Fred Horvath, Director of Operations and Rob Groen, Supervisor, Buildings & Property. Both were unavailable to attend the March 13 Board Meeting to discuss the list of outstanding projects but expectations that they will be able to attend a future meeting. A universal washroom is currently being converted. Working with the Accessibility Coordinator from the Municipality and the Building Services division at the Municipality, the best possible option was to adapt the staff washroom to become a Universal accessible washroom with a portable adult change table. Because the men's and women's washrooms contain several stalls and were seen as a necessity for the large school's groups attending the museum's programming events, they were deemed not a suitable option for conversion. M. Ross asked about signage for the washrooms and she showed examples of a universal washroom logo (3 genders.) It is expected that the work will be completed by the end of March. Moved by: M. Ross Seconded by: S. Middleton THAT: The Property Report of February 2019 be received. MOTION CARRIED d) Curatorial: See Appendix D A question was asked of the ED regarding the breakdown of the deaccessioned items recently sold at Stapleton Auctions. H. Ridge reported that all items were sold with the funds of $760.60 to go right back into the collection as per the policy. Assurances were given that the pianos, organs, dolls and 2-dimentional items auctioned were properly vetted by the curator. Regarding certain items itemized on the Deaccession List 3, it was brought to the board's attention that some of these books were considered to be rare and the museum would have difficulty replacing them. H. Ridge reassured the board that these books were duplicate copies and would be used for research purposes within the museum and would not be leaving the museum. Action: That staff verify that copies exist in the collection before deaccessioning the surplus copies. Moved by: A. Foster Seconded by: M. Ross THAT: The Curator Report of March 13, 2019 be received. MOTION CARRIED Moved by: M. Ross Seconded by: S. Reiner THAT: The Deaccession List 3 be approved. MOTION CARRIED 4of6 e) Programming: See Appendix E It was noted that some couples could not attend the Valentine's Day dinner due to seating times not suitable for parents with small children (i.e. too late into the evening). It was suggested that these comments be reported back to the Program Coordinator for future considerations. Moved by: S. Reiner Seconded by: S. Middleton THAT: The Program Coordinator Report of March 13, 2019 be received. MOTION CARRIED f) Executive Director Report: See Appendix F Additional information regarding Capstone Power Corp. was asked. Capstone owns and operates the Ganaraska Wind Farm. The Community Enhancement Fund, created during the wind farm's project planning phase, has committed $500,000 in funding for community-based initiatives. ($25,000 per year for 20 years). Since the Clarke Museum Schoolhouse falls within the Ganaraska region, funding requests were granted for the past 2 years. 2017: $16,100 was requested — $6,875 was received / 2018: $10,500 was requested — $5,000 was received / 2019: $15,050 was requested. There is no guarantee the museum will be a recipient again this year. (funding decisions are usually made by June). As part of the agreement for funding, Capstone's logo has been mounted on the Clarke Storage building and their logo is displayed on the Museum's website and newsletters. It was suggested that at the completion of all phases of the project, a report be produced and a photo opportunity planned to thank Capstone for their generous support. Staff continue to work on the Clarke Collection, with some of the work carried out at the SJWHC location. Moved by: S. Middleton Seconded by: M. Ross THAT: The Executive Directors Report of March 13, 2019 be received. MOTION CARRIED 10. New Business: a) Strategic Plan Working Group: H. Ridge received an email dated March 11, 2019 from CMOG, stating that: As all 10 standards have been assessed over the past four years, this year will be a "catch-up" year for Strategic Planning for all CMOG-funded museums. All museums should have a Strategic Plan (that includes financial planning) in place that covers three to five years. For this year's application, all CMOG applicants will be required to submit a copy of their current Strategic Plan that goes to 2020 or 2021. The annual program application deadline is June 30, 2019. 5of6 It was proposed that the board form a Strategic Plan Working Group to meet regularly between board meetings. Members expressing an interest are: S. Reiner, M. Ross and K. Warren. To accommodated those who cannot meet during the day, every second meeting will be scheduled in the evenings. These meetings are open to all board members and they are encouraged to attend if their schedules permit. Discussions around the merging of the museum and library boards were briefly touched upon. H. Ridge reached out to the Museum's CMOG representative and received a response stating that the Museum and Library boards cannot be amalgamated without jeopardizing funding. The provincial government ministry that oversees CMOG stated that they do not recommend a merger. A statement was made reiterating the need for the board to be well informed regarding the library -museum merger and the need to ask pertinent and relevant questions. Action: It is recommended that a meeting be scheduled between the two organizations' EDs. K. Warren also offered to meet with S. Cooke (Library Board Chair) if needed. Moved by: S. Reiner Seconded by: M. Ross THAT: The formation of a Strategic Plan Working Group be approved. MOTION CARRIED 11. In Camera None 12. Date and Place of Next Board Meeting: The next meeting will be held on April 10, 2019 at 7 p.m. Location: MAC Meeting Room 11C, Bowmanville Library 13. Adjournment: Moved by: S. Middleton Seconded by: M. Ross THAT: The meeting be adjourned at 8:22 p.m. Minutes for the meeting of the Clarington Museums and Archives Board have been accepted and approved on Chair, Clarington Museums and Archives Board Executive Director, Clarington Museums and Archives ,.1M. March 2019 Finance Report Overview 1.1 The Municipality of Clarington has approved our Operating Grant request for the 2019 year. 1.2 The requested advance on the Museum's operating grant was received in February. 1.3 The requested financial documents for the 2018 audit were provided to the Municipal finance department on March 8, 2019. 1.4 Financial Reports generated by Irene Locke, bookkeeper Recommendations: 1. That the Finance Report for March 2019 be received: March 2019 Membership Report Overview 1.1 Attendance for February 2019: 704 1.2 Membership renewals in 2019: 17 Recommendations: 1. That the Membership Report for March 2019 be received: Curator Report 1.0 Exhibits 1.1 Ordered exhibit supplies to turn the downstairs hallway at SJWHC into an archival based exhibit space. The first exhibit is set to go in at the beginning of April. It will be an exhibit put on by the Youth Council using portraits of people and their dogs from our Collection. 2.0 Collections Management 2.1 We received the cheque from Stapleton Auctions for the items we deaccessioned. Stapleton sold off 83 lots for us and we received $760.60. 2.2 Work is continuing on the reorganization of the collection and the deaccessioning project. Please see the attached list "Deaccession List 3" Recommendations: 1. That the Curator Report of March 2019 be received 2. That Deaccession List 3 be approved March 2019 Property Report Overview 1.1 Washroom renovations are on-going from February. Project is scheduled to be completed around March 15t" 1.2 Work has begun on the repair work to the north facing "alcove" shelf walls in the main level of the Sarah Jane Williams Heritage Centre. 1.3 H. Ridge has reached out to Fred Horvath, Director of Operations and Rob Groen, Supervisor, Buildings & Property to request a list of outstanding projects, and also passed along the Board's request to have one of them attend a future meeting to discuss the items. Recommendations: 1. That the Property Report for March 2019 be received: March 2019 ED Report Overview 1.1 The new children's exhibit area installation is complete. The exhibit designer will be returning to do final touch-ups this month. His final payment will be given to him when this work is complete. 1.2 An application has been made to Capstone Incorp. for their Community Enhancement Fund to continue the work at the Clarke Museum Schoolhouse. 1.3 Final reports for the Federal grants for the children's exhibit area are being submitted this month, once final payments have been made on the project. Recommendations: 1. That the ED Report for March 2019 be received: