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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-24-2019 Fairhope Museum Advisory Board Meeting MinutesCity of Fairhope Museum Adv isory Board Meeting Minutes for July 24, 2019 (approved 10/2/19) Ca l l t o Orde r and Meeting Minutes: The meeting was called to order by Chair Catherine King at 3 p.m. Attending were Louie Blaze, Wayne Brunson, Paul Czajka, Oliver Gilmore, A lan Samry, John Taratsas, The lma Todd, Jessica Walker and Darby W i ik. Jack Burrell emailed his regret s. Lee Turner did not attend. Motion was made and seconded (Br unso n, Czajka) to approve the Minutes from the April 3, 2019 meet ing; motion passed unanimously. M embe rship: Chair King welcomed new me m ber Thelma Todd . Ms. Todd was appo inted to the Board at the July 8t h City Council meet ing, at which time the other six curre nt members were reappointed. Terms are as follows: King and Tara t sas -terms end in January 2020, Brunso n and Czajka-ter ms end in January 2021, and Blaze, Gilmore and Todd-terms end in January 2022. Ordi nance and By-laws Review : At the April 20 19 mee t ing, the matter of updating the Boa rd Ordinance and By-laws was discussed. A draft of t he updat ed version was distributed via email to members w ithin the 30-day w i ndow prior to the meeting as stipulated by the by-laws. Motion was made and seco n ded (Brunson,Blaze) to accept the revise d vers ion of the Ordinance and By-laws. Discussion followed, with Mr. Gilmore com menting that t he ma in changes w ere a) t o refine the language and b) to state that only the seven appointed members had voting p r ivi leges and only those seven could be counted to attain a quorum. M s. King not ed the change in t he secretary/di r ector position, with the updated version stipu lating t hat the secretary be e lected from the ap pointed memb ers. M otion passed unani mously. Ms. King wil l forward the updated document to the City Clerk for inclusion on the City Council's agenda. Di rector's Report: Alan Samry was welcomed to the Board and congratulated on his selection as director; he gave a summary of h is professiona l background. Asked about h is priorities for the M useum, Mr. Samry commented that his p r iorit y was o n the collection and d igitizating and archiving the mater ial. Discussion fo llowed about other p riorities incl udi ng the need to focus on visitors. In addition, Mr. Samry distributed a chart showing 2019 Muse um attendance figures an d comparison information for the last two yea rs show ing a slight decline in guests for the current year. Director Samry also distributed an Accessions report for 2019; motion made and seconded to accept the items acqui red since t he last meeting (Czajka,Blaze) and unan imously accepted. On behalf of t he Board, Chair Catheri ne King t hanked Ms. Darby Wiik fo r her leaders hi p as Inter im Direct or from late Janua ry through May, 2019. Old Bu si ness: Muse um Co py M ac hine : Jessica Walker reported that t h e Muse u m copy machine w ill be added to the City contract for copiers effective January 2020, t hus re lieving t he Friends of the Fairhope Museum of History from t hi s expense after December 2019. Muse um Archive Sp ace: Jess ica W alker reported on the rece nt receipt of the arch itectu ral assessme nt for t he Welcome Center outl ining costs and recommendat io ns to make the building funct ional, sa fe and ADA co m pliant. She indicated the issue will be on the City Cou n cil work agenda in A ugust. Discussion followe d cen t ering on concerns abo ut access to Museu m arch ives (both du ri ng a possible renovation and on a permanent basis), iss ues with ADA reg ulations vis a vis official job requirements specific to the archive space, and other concerns. Mrs. Walker and Mr. Sam ry both commented on their understand ing about the concerns expressed. City's organizational plan re lative t o the Muse um: Mrs. Walker has recently been named the Director of Economic and Community Development for the City of Fairhope. The Museum and staff fall under her area of responsibility. W e lcom e Ce nter: Members expressed their opinions about the importance of the Welcome Center for tourism and stressed the need for a City employee to be on-site and that it be adequately staffed with volunteers. Mrs. Walker indicated the City was investigating placing a permanent part-time position at the Welcome Center. John Taratsas reported that his plan for a permanent Fairhope Vetera ns Wall at the Nix Center will now not occur because the photographer has left town. Add itional ly, Mr. Taratsas introduced his idea for an exhibit about small businesses in Fairhope. Discussion followed; the consensus was that this good idea might be a project for the Chamber of Commerce or another local mercha nt organization. Ne w Bu sin ess: Access ion s/Co llections M anageme nt Pol icy : The matter of developing an Accession/Collections Management policy was discussed. Ms. King referred to the guide lines issued by the American A lliance of Museums and other similar professiona l associat ions as good references for the FMOH. Di rector Samry said this issue was of concern to hi m. Whil e no motion was made, the understanding from Mr. Samry was that he would be addressing this issue. Insura nce on Co llecti o n: The matter of i nsuring the Museum's co llection, how Muse um-owned items on loan are ins ured {and by what entity), and how items loaned to the Museum are insured was brought up . Motion was made and secon ded (G ilmore,Blaze) for Director Samry to investigate this issue and report back at the next meeting; motion passed unan imously. Muse um Missio n Stat e ment : The need for a Mission Statement for the Museum was discussed favorably; Director Samry indicated he wou ld be looking into this in conjunction with his work on an Accessions/Collections Management Policy and wi ll report back at the next meeting. Co mmunicat ion/Publicity for th e Muse um: The need for an effective communication po licy was discussed. The Museum has experienced low turnout for some excellent programs due in large part to poor publ icity. Mrs. Walker indicated that there wi ll soon be a commu nication pol icy for City departments to generate their own publicity using al l forms of media platforms. Mrs. Walker was asked if the Friends group would have access and she agreed. Su p po rt from City Officia ls: The lack of participation at Museum events by City officials was noted. They are regularly invited to events at the Museum and thei r support is welcomed and needed. M ot ion to adjourn and seconded {Blaze,Czajka) and unanimously agree d at 4:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Catherine King, Chair, Museum Advisory Board 7/29/2019 Next meeti ng is Wedne sday, October 2, 2019 at 3 p.m . at the Muse um.