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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-02-10 Minutes To illuminate Clarington and its heritage through lasting and meaningful experiences with artifacts, exhibitions and programmes that inspires future generations and enlivens our community BOARD MEETING February 10, 2016 Sarah Jane Williams Heritage Centre 62 Temperance Street Bowmanville, Ontario Present: B. Seto M. Adams (ED) O. Casimiro M. Morawetz K. Warren S. Elhajjeh S. Cooke S. Laing S. Middleton Regrets: W. Woo T. Thompson J. Sturdy Call to Order: 1. M. Adams (Executive Director) called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. 2.Adoption of Agenda: Moved by: K. Warren Seconded by: S. Elhajjeh THAT: the agenda be adopted as presented. MOTION CARRIED 3.Disclosure of Interests: No interests were disclosed. 4.Correspondence: No correspondence was brought forward. Announcements: 5. M. Adams, Executive Director (ED), announced that there will be a formal reception to recognize the donation from Marion Farr who passed away in 2002. It will be held Fri. Feb. 19, 2016 from 2 until 3:30 p.m. at the Sarah Jane Williams Heritage Centre. Speeches will commence at 2:15 and Marion Farr’s family, the Richards, will be in attendance. Board members are encouraged to attend. The generous donation was approximately $71,000. 6. Election of Officers M. Adams, Executive Director (ED), declared all positions open. ED called for nominations for Chairperson. Moved by: S. Laing Seconded by: O. Casimiro That: nominations for chairperson be closed with one name brought forward. B. Seto as Chairperson ED congratulated ED called for nominations for Vice Chairperson. Moved by: S. Cooke Seconded by: S. Elhajjeh That: nominations for vice chairperson be closed with one name brought forward. T. Thompson as Vice Chairperson ED declared ED called for nominations for Finance Chairperson. Moved by: S. Cooke Seconded by: S. Laing That: nominations for finance chairperson be closed with one name brought forward. O. Casimiro as Finance Chairperson ED declared ED called for nominations for Collections Chairperson. Moved by: M. Morawetz Seconded by: K. Warren That: nominations for collections chairperson be closed with one name brought forward. S. Laing as Collections Chairperson ED declared ED called for nominations for Membership Chairperson. Moved by: O. Casimiro Seconded by: S. Cooke That: nominations for collections chairperson be closed with one name brought forward. S. Elhajjehas Membership Chairperson ED declared ED called for nominations for Property Chairperson. Moved by: S. Laing Seconded by: K. Warren That: nominations for property chairperson be closed with two names brought forward. K. Warren declined to stand. S. Middleton as Property Chairperson ED declared Moved by: M. Morawetz Seconded by: S. Laing That: all nominations be closed, new slate of officers be accepted, and ballots be destroyed. MOTIONS CARRIED Chairperson B. Seto took the remainder of the meeting. 7. Approval of Minutes: Note – January meeting was cancelled due to lack of quorum. Moved by: K. Warren Seconded by: S. Elhajjeh THAT: the Board meeting of December 9, 2015 minutes be approved as submitted. MOTION CARRIED Business Arising from Minutes: 8. O. Casimiro asked if the plan to provide the first year of museum membership for free to new board members had been accomplished. M. Adams stated that all new board members had received their membership prior to the start of the meeting. Executive Director’s Report: 9. M. Adams, Executive Director (ED), reviewed the report noting that 2016 will build on the progress made in 2015 and be another year of transition. Overall visitor numbers doubled in 2015 compared to 2014 largely due to more engaging programming and greater focus on outreach programs. Fundraising/sponsorship and marketing will be high priorities this year. Community Museum Operating Grant (CMOG) requirements for this year requires a focus on long term exhibit planning and exhibit budgeting. Of note, volunteer hours are being captured more accurately and are reflected in reporting. Numbers also include garden volunteers. Visitor numbers continue to improve and community engagement efforts are key to those successes which are expected expand to include outreach projects like extension of our Sports Exhibit to municipal recreation centres with new display cases. Plus involvement in Ribs and Brews with a Racing theme. The War exhibit is going to continue with dedicated display space in the new dedicated display space on the lower floor of Sarah Jane Williams Heritage Centre. There are many local heroes to continue to recognize. The board/meeting room will function as a children’s program area with related activities featuring “friendly” heroes. Work is being done on policy updates and will include a proposed Travel and Expense Policy. O. Casimiro reminded all that the bylaws and current policies are often contradictory and so new policies need to work within the bylaws which supersede the policies. Bowmanville Rotarians have made a significant donation of $2,500 to the museum after a presentation there by M. Adams. M. Adams also made a presentation to the Bowmanville Men’s Canadian Club that was well received. The 2016 event calendar is full of exciting and well planned events. The year kicked off with a very successful “Night at the Museum” on Jan. 22 to celebrate Robbie Burns. 54 attended and Kings Court Catering provided the th food service. The second will be held March 24 to kick off the Avro Arrow rd exhibit which opens March 23. The March Break camp is being organized and promoted. Bill Calver became a Life Time Member of the museum making the total now three. CMOG rated the museum’s grant at 15/15 for the 2015 application, which was excellent news and will impact funding positively. OPG has increased their support of the education program by $1,000 for 2016 and St Marys has been approached to continue their support of the museums. th M.Adams will attend the March 18 Council meeting to present the Municipal Grant application for 2016. Board members are encouraged to attend. The Marketing and Outreach Plan continues to evolve around programming and events, with the year already listed in tourism and community calendars. Heather Ridge is our new Curator and has just returned from parental leave. Exhibit Planning and Coordination is one of her main focuses. Dennis Jeffrey moved into the position of Education Coordinator, and Paul Bobier continues as the Events, Marketing and Development Specialist in a 3 month contract. Irene Locke has taken on the role of interim bookkeeper working with Quickbooks and the new Chart of Accounts implemented during the past year when the municipality staff managed the books. The board would like to thank council and municipal staff for their support during this transition and their guidance moving the museum into a better process for managing finances. A permanent hire for a new Bookkeeper is the next step in that process. M. Adams has applied to Young Canada Works for four students for this summer; 2 for archives and 2 for education programs. Moved by: S. Cooke Seconded by: K. Warren THAT: . the Executive Director’s report be accepted as submitted MOTION CARRIED Committee Reports: 10. a) Executive Committee Report – The Executive of O. Casimiro, S. Laing, st B. Seto (Regrets: S. Elhajjeh) along with M. Adams met onFeb 1, 2016. Minutes are attached with a recommendation for the board to approve and implement an updated Travel & Expense Policy reflecting the use of personal vehicles setting a reasonable allowance for cover of expenses referencing CRA recommendations. M. Adams will develop a procedure for the documentation of expenses and pre-approval of cash advances limited to emergency use only. Moved by: S. Elhajjeh Seconded by: K. Warren THAT: the Executive Committee report minutes and recommendations be accepted as presented. MOTION CARRIED. b) Finance Report – O. Casimiro circulated the recent Finance Report and asked the board to acknowledge it stating that any report regarding the information would be tabled until after the Finance Committee has had the opportunity to meet. A date for that meeting will be set with the agenda to review the yearend report and make recommendations back to the board at the March meeting. O. Casimiro asked that the minutes reflect our appreciation to the municipal staff for the work done on our behalf. Moved by: K. Warren Seconded by: S. Laing THAT: the board accepts the Financial report as circulated, anticipating further discussion and recommendations at the March board meeting. MOTION CARRIED c) Collections Report – Committee members S. Laing and T. Thompson met with M. Adams and H. Ridge to review collections and prepare the report. They will meet again in one month with the new committee set at this meeting to review processes and discuss items to be considered for assessioning. O. Casimiro asked for further information on the appraisal of the Charles Bowman painting. The appraisal was done by Stephen McCanse Canadian Art with the recommendation not to do image restoration work as it is in great “aged” condition and it could diminish its value. Presently it is in excellent condition for its age and history. It was valued at $20,000. Moved by: K. Warren Seconded by: O. Casimiro THAT: the Collections Report be accepted as submitted. MOTION CARRIED d) Membership Report – M. Adams noted there are 82 members including now three lifetime members. New volunteers are coming forward working in genealogy and collection management and have been a real asset to the museum. The new chair and committee will report in future. O. Casimiro asked the board to consider a free one year membership for volunteers as well. It was decided to refer this item to the membership committee along with other strategies like reduced membership fees for certain contributors, implications for OMA & CMA memberships, and a review of the membership process. e) Property Report – O. Casimiro noted there had been no meeting recently but could report that Health and Safety inspections have been done by the municipality at all three locations and recommendations will be forthcoming. Capital expenses will be discussed at the first Property Committee meeting. f) Heritage Committee Report – no report at this time. New Business: 11. Committee members were determined by those present as follows: Executive Committee: B. Seto, T. Thompson, O. Casimiro, S. Laing, S. Elhajjeh, S. Middleton. Finance Committee: O. Casimiro (Chair), S. Cooke, K. Warren, B. Seto Collections Committee: S. Laing (Chair), T. Thompson, B. Seto Membership Committee: S. Elhajjeh (Chair), K. Warren, B. Seto Property Committee: S. Middleton (Chair), S. Elhajjeh, W. Woo, B. Seto It should be noted that these appointments were determined with some input from J. Sturdy, W. Woo and T. Thompson who were not able to attend, and will be confirmed at the next board meeting. Moved by: S. Laing Seconded by: S. Cooke THAT: M. Morawetz continue as Secretary on behalf of the board for 2016. MOTION CARRIED. Date and Place of Next Board Meeting 12. The next meeting will be held Wednesday March 9, 2016 at 7 p.m. Location to be determined. Recommendation at Dec. meeting was to hold the February meeting at Robert McLaughlin Gallery after a tour of the facility. Still under consideration after the January meeting was cancelled with tasks realigned. Adjournment: 13. S. Laing moved the meeting be adjourned at 8:50 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