HomeMy WebLinkAboutMuseum Board MinutesMINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY MEETING OF THE
OSHKOSH PUBLIC MUSEUM BOARD
(Feb. minutes were approved at the March 3, 2011 board meeting)
The regular February meeting of the Oshkosh Public Museum Board was held on Thursday,
February 3, 2011 in the Lecture Room of the Museum. Board President Carol Fenrich called the
meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. The roll was taken:
Present: Ms. Drew Absent: Mr. Becker
Mrs. Fenrich Mr. Metz
Mr. Haffeman
Mrs. Kuj awa
Ms. Moldenhauer (came in at 4:20 p.m.)
Mr. Rego
Mr. Winkler
Also in attendance: Museum Director Brad Larson, Assistant Director Michael Breza, Auxiliary
President Barb Shirtz, School Superintendent Dr. Donald Viegut and Brenda Hauber recording
the minutes.
Alternates Ms. Drew and Mr. Haffeman were designated to fill the vacancies of Mr. Becker and
Mr. Metz.
There were no citizen statements.
The minutes of the January 6, 2011 board meeting were read. Eugene Winkler moved that the
minutes be approved. Rick Rego seconded the motion. Mrs. Fenrich then called for the roll call
vote since there was no discussion:
In favor: Opposed:
Ms. Drew None
Mrs. Fenrich
Mr. Haffeman
Mrs. Kuj awa
Mr. Rego
Mr. Winkler
The roll call vote was unanimous in favor and the motion was passed. The minutes of the
January 6, 2011 museum board meeting were approved.
The February 2011 bill listing was then read. Rick Rego moved that the bill listing be approved
for payment. Gary Haffeman seconded the motion. A brief discussion followed, at the
conclusion of which, Mrs. Fenrich called for the roll call vote:
In favor: Opposed:
Ms. Drew None
Mrs. Fenrich
Mr. Haffeman
Mrs. Kujawa
Mr. Rego
Mr. Winkler
With the unanimous vote in favor the motion to approve the February bill listing for payment
was passed. The February 2011 bill listing was approved for payment.
The next item on the agenda was the proposal to allocate Membership Fund money for the
purchase of needed curatorial and archival supplies. Mr. Larson explained that the line item in
the museum's budget for these supplies has been drastically cut over the last several years. The
allocation for 2011 is only $750. He then requested board approval on the request to allocate up
to $3,000 from the Membership Fund to supplement the budgeted amount. Rick Rego so moved.
Carol Kujawa seconded the motion. At the conclusion of a brief discussion, Mrs. Fenrich called
for the roll call vote:
In favor: Opposed:
Ms. Drew None
Mrs. Fenrich
Mr. Haffeman
Mrs. Kujawa
Mr. Rego
Mr. Winkler
The vote was unanimous in favor and the motion was passed. The allocation of up to $3,000
from the Membership Fund for the purchase of needed Curatorial and Archival supplies was
approved.
The board was then presented with the 4 th quarter reports from the Oshkosh Area Community
Foundation for the three museum funds held there. Eugene Winkler moved for the receipt and
filing of these reports. Rick Rego seconded the motion. The roll call vote went as follows:
In favor: Opposed:
Ms. Drew None
Mrs. Fenrich
Mr. Haffeman
Mrs. Kujawa
Mr. Rego
Mr. Winkler
With the unanimous vote in favor the motion for the receipt and filing of the Oshkosh Area
Community Foundations 4 th quarter reports was passed.
Mr. Larson then reported that the estate of Diane Russell (a Sawyer descendant) should be settled
in a month or two. The attorney handling the estate estimates that the Museum should be
receiving about $3,500. Mr. Larson recommended that when this is received, it should be placed
in the Exhibition Fund. Eugene Winkler then moved that the Diane Russell bequest be placed in
the Exhibition Fund when it is received. Diana Drew seconded the motion. The roll call vote
was taken after a brief discussion:
In favor: Opposed:
Ms. Drew None
Mrs. Fenrich
Mr. Haffeman
Mrs. Kujawa
Mr. Rego
Mr. Winkler
The motion to place the Diane Russell bequest in the Exhibition Fund was approved with a
unanimous vote in favor.
Mr. Larson then presented the next item on the agenda to be discussed. Since the
implementation of the Photography Policy in June 2010 wording in the policy has caused some
confusion. It is the wording "per staff member involved." The wording leaves the impression
that if a staff person is not involved there is no fee, which is not the case. Mr. Larson
recommended that the "per staff member involved" be stricken from the policy. Eugene Winkler
moved and Gary Haffeman seconded a motion to delete this wording from the Policy. A brief
discussion followed with the roll call vote at the conclusion which went as follows:
In favor: Opposed:
Ms. Drew None
Mrs. Fenrich
Mr. Haffeman
Mrs. Kuj awa
Mr. Rego
Mr. Winkler
The vote was unanimous in favor and the motion was passed. The wording "per staff member
involved" was deleted from the Photography Policy.
Mrs. Fenrich then asked Mr. Larson to present his Director's Report. Mr. Larson began by
discussing his recent discussions with representatives of Friends of the Fox, Inc. a non - profit
group seeking federal designation of a National Heritage Area for the Fox - Wisconsin rivers
corridor. Originally sponsored by Senator Kohl and Congressman Kagen, however with the
defeat of Congressman Kagen, the effort has now been taken up by Congressman Petri but he
will first offer it to Congressman Ribble.
The group felt that because Oshkosh is centrally located and has significant cultural and
recreational resources, the Friends of the Fox feels that the Museum could play an important role
in this effort especially with the Museum's proposed expansion and the exhibits being planned
around the waterway theme.
The final topic in the Director's Report was the consultation coming up with AECOM. They
have been provided with the necessary materials such as financial information, annual reports,
visitor demographics and the results of our Performance Management Study. The formal start of
the process will take place on February 17 at 9 a.m. and will end at noon on Friday, the 18 th .
Ms. Moldenhauer entered the meeting.
Mrs. Fenrich did not have a President's Report and there were no Board Member Statements.
Mrs. Shirtz gave the Auxiliary's Report by saying that the Auxiliary would be having a meeting
on Friday, February 4 to begin the planning of what they were going to do on the free day on
March 19 At this time she was thinking of a raffle and children's activities.
With no further business before the board, Eugene Winkler moved that the meeting adjourn and
Gary Haffeman seconded the motion. The voice vote went as follows:
In favor: Opposed:
Ms. Drew None
Mrs. Fenrich
Mr. Haffeman
Mrs. Kujawa
Mr. Rego
Mr. Winkler
With the unanimous vote in favor, the motion was passed. The meeting was adjourned at 4:24
p.m.