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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes MINUTES OF THE JULY MEETING OF THE OSHKOSH PUBLIC MUSEUM BOARD (Approved at the August 5, 2010 Board meeting) The rescheduled July meeting of the Oshkosh Public Museum Board was held on Thursday, July 8, 2010 in the Lecture Room of the Museum. The meeting was called to order by Board President Carol Fenrich at 4:02 p.m. The roll was taken: Present: Mrs. Fenrich Absent: Mr. Becker Mrs. Kujawa Ms. Drew Mr. Metz Mr. Haffeman Mr. Rego Ms. Moldenhauer Mr. Winkler Also present: Museum Director Brad Larson, Assistant Director Mike Breza, Auxiliary President Barb Shirtz, and Brenda Hauber recording the minutes. There were no Citizen Statements. The minutes of the June 3, 2010 board meeting were then presented. Rick Rego moved to accept the minutes. Ron Metz seconded the motion. The minutes were briefly discussed. At the conclusion, Mrs. Fenrich called for the roll call vote: In favor: Opposed: Fenrich None Kujawa Metz Rego Winkler The vote was unanimous in favor and the motion was passed. The minutes of the July 8, 2010 Museum Board meeting were accepted. The bill listing for July was presented. Eugene Winkler moved and Carol Kujawa seconded the motion to approve the bill for payment. The bill listing was then discussed briefly. When the discussion concluded, Mrs. Fenrich called for the roll call vote: In favor: Opposed: Fenrich None Kujawa Metz Rego Winkler The motion to approve the July 2010 bill listing for payment was passed with a unanimous vote in favor. Mrs. Fenrich then asked Mr. Larson to discuss the next item on the agenda: establishment of a Special Projects Fund at the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation. He noted that a few donations designated toward the building fund have been received. At this time the OACF has mingled these monies in another account, but for accounting purposes they would like these monies to be put into its own fund. The community foundation would charge minimal amount for administering this fund. One advantage to having the donations kept at the OACF is that they have a 501(c)(3) tax exempt designation from the IRS. The City could also hold contributions, no fee would be charged; however, some people hesitate to donate to a City fund since it is not a 501(c)(3) tax exempt entity. Mr. Winkler moved that the museum establish a Special Projects Fund at the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation. Ron Metz seconded the motion. The board then discussed this proposal at length. At the conclusion of the discussion, Mrs. Fenrich called for the roll call vote which went as follows: In favor: Opposed: Fenrich None Kujawa Metz Rego Winkler The vote was unanimous in favor and the motion to establish a Special Projects Fund at the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation was passed.. Mr. Larson added that the museum is not positioned to embark on a capital campaign at this time. The next item on the agenda to be discussed is the suspension of the allotment of $1 from adult admissions, and 50¢ from each child’s admission to the Endowment Fund. Mr. Larson explained that at this point in time, the museum needs every dollar we can raise in order to meet the revenue goal set for 2010. Mr. Winkler moved and Carol Fenrich seconded that the allocation to the Endowment Fund from the admission fees to the Museum be suspended. Many ideas were brought up as to the pros and cons of this proposal. At the end of the discussion, Mrs. Fenrich called for the roll call vote: In favor: Opposed: Fenrich Metz Kujawa Rego Winkler The vote went: four votes in favor and 1 opposed. The motion to suspend the allocation of funds from the admission fees was passed. Mr. Larson then asked the Board consider extending the senior pricing now limited to Wednesdays be in effect for all days the museum is open. He went on to say that the response to the special pricing on Wednesday was instituted to measure the response to a reduced admission to the museum. Since it was received very well, and seniors continually ask if the museum has a senior admission, we feel that the museum would benefit from this action. If approved, we could then market this change, which no doubt would be received with a welcome response by the senior community. Eugene Winkler so moved and Rick Rego seconded the motion to extend the senior pricing to all days the museum is open. This proposal was briefly discussed before Mrs. Fenrich called for the roll call vote: In favor: Opposed: Fenrich None Kujawa Metz Rego Winkler The motion was passed with a unanimous vote in favor. The museum would extend the senior pricing of $5.00 to all days that the museum is open. Mrs. Fenrich then asked Mr. Larson to present his Director’s Report. He began with good news about the Sawyer front porch. Terry Laib said he would repair the oak beam; however, the limestone and roof repairs would have to be put out for bid. The bids are due in the middle of July. A request for bids also went out for installing heat tape under the main flashing and down the drain in order to prevent its freezing up. Terry Laib also told Mr. Larson that he would look in the condition of the footings. The Fourth of July parade went very well. The museum had a horse and carriage with staff and volunteers some of whom were in Sherlock Holmes costumes. Some of us were handing out rack cards and others handed out the obligatory candy. Megan has been working in preparing a survey that will be sent to around 4,000 Oshkosh citizens. Mr. Larson said that the responses will help us improve the museum, and exhibit what people want to see. It should be ready for distribution in August or September. As the final topic in his report, Mr. Larson announced that the 2011 budget process will begin next month; however we have not received any instructions or parameters like percentage of increases. Estimating our revenue remains difficult to do; however, the income generated from the rental of the Jan Brett exhibit should help with reaching our revenue goal. At this time no one has rented the exhibit; most say they need to raise the funds to rent the exhibit. In seeking other revenue options, Mr. Larson said he was looking into on line ordering for the images in our collection. The first step is getting more objects into PastPerfect. There were no Board member statements, but Mrs. Fenrich took the opportunity to introduce Barb Shirtz to the board. She is the new President of the Museum Auxiliary. Mrs. Shirtz announced that the Auxiliary would be holding a bake sale on Sunday, July 11 (the same day as the Paine’s art fair). She also mentioned that Deb Daubert of the Museum staff would present the program in October and Julie Johnson would do a program on Mrs. Athearn’s diary. Being that there was no further business before the board, Ron Metz moved and Eugene Winkler seconded the motion to adjourn. The voice vote went as follows: In favor: Opposed: Fenrich None Kujawa Metz Rego Winkler With the vote unanimous in favor, the motion was passed. The meeting was adjourned at 4:45 p.m.