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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes MINUTES OF THE AUGUST MEETING OF THE OSHKOSH PUBLIC MUSEUM BOARD (Minutes were approved at the Sept. 6, 2012 board meeting) The regular August meeting of the Oshkosh Public Museum Board was held on Thursday, August 2, 2012. Board President Eugene Winkler called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm and asked that the roll be taken: Present: Ms. Drew Absent: Ms. Moldenhauer Ms. Fenrich Mr. Haffeman Ms. Kujawa Mr. Metz (came into the meeting at 4:13) Mr. Moore (came into the meeting at 4:19) Mr. Rego Mr. Winkler Mr. Mack (came into the meeting at 4:31) Also in attendance: Museum Director Bradley Larson, Assistant Director Michael Breza, Auxiliary President Barbara Shirtz and Brenda Hauber recording the minutes. Ms. Drew was designated to fill the vacancy of Ms. Moldenhauer. The minutes of the July 12, 2012 meeting were read. Rick Rego moved that the minutes be approved and Carol Kujawa seconded the motion. With no discussion, Mr. Winkler called for the roll call vote on the minutes. The roll call vote went as follows: In favor: Ms. Drew Opposed: None Ms. Fenrich Mr. Haffeman Ms. Kujawa Mr. Rego Mr. Winkler With the vote unanimous in favor, the motion was carried. The minutes of the July 12, 2012 board meeting were approved. The bill listing for August 2012 was read. Rick Rego moved that the bill listing be approved for payment. Diana Drew seconded the motion. Following a brief discussion, Mr. Winkler called for the roll call vote: In favor: Ms. Drew Opposed: None Ms. Fenrich Mr. Haffeman Ms. Kujawa Mr. Rego Mr. Winkler With a unanimous vote in favor the motion was passed. The August 2013 bill listing was approved for payment. 1 | Page Mr. Winkler then requested that Mr. Larson explain the next agenda item: use of the Collection Fund to support the conservation of a pre-1850 side saddle. The treatment proposal from the Midwest Art Conservation Center was in the amount of $2,010. Curators identified the saddle as a high priority due to its rarity and condition, and that it would be included in the autumn exhibit if treated. Mr. Larson went on to outline outstanding conservation charges against the Fund, noting that after they are paid the balance would be approximately $33,000. He requested a motion on the treatment of the pre-1850 side saddle. Carol Fenrich moved that the expense for the conservation of the side saddle in the amount of $ 2,010.00 be authorized to be drawn against the Collection Fund. Rick Rego seconded the motion. A brief discussion followed at the conclusion of which Mr. Winkler called for the roll call vote: In favor: Ms. Drew Opposed: None Ms. Fenrich Mr. Haffeman Ms. Kujawa Mr. Rego Mr. Winkler The roll call vote was unanimous in favor and the motion was passed. The authorization to use the Collection Fund to support the conservation of the pre-1850 side saddle in the amount of $2,010.00 was granted. The next item on the agenda was the authorization to use Durow Trust earnings to partially support the decorative arts portion of the exhibit, Outstanding Objects: The Oshcar Awards. Curator of Decorative Arts Sharon Clothier estimated the elements of the exhibit that pertain to decorative arts would cost $4,872. Mr. Larson requested that the board authorize this expenditure. Ron Metz came into the meeting during this discussion. Rick Rego so moved and Carol Fenrich seconded the motion. After a brief discussion, Mr. Winkler called for the roll call vote: In favor: Ms. Drew Opposed: None Ms. Fenrich Mr. Haffeman Ms. Kujawa Mr. Metz Mr. Rego Mr. Winkler The vote was unanimous in favor and the motion was passed. The amount of $4872 was authorized to support the decorative arts portion of the exhibit, Outstanding Objects: The Oshcar Awards. Mr. Winkler then asked Mr. Larson to deliver his monthly Director’s Report. He began with a report on estimated Durow Trust earnings, explaining that at the October board meeting he would bring forward a request for a distribution from the Durow Trust for 2013. The distribution would likely be in the $90,000 range, but could change pending the cost of health insurance next year. The next item Mr. Larson reported on was the status of the 2012 budget, explaining that the museum’s budget is a combination of tax levy and generated revenue, and that our budget is not looking good due to lower than expected revenue. He explained that in this case the museum 2 | Page has relatively few options. We could under-spend each line item, which is difficult to do since the budget is already down to or less than the absolute necessity. Additionally, we have over- spent the Building Maintenance account due to mechanical and roof problems. He has curtailed line item spending but stated that action would not close the funding gap. He noted that at this point the museum needs approximately $70,000 in revenue by the end of the year to balance the budget. Unfortunately the Toys exhibit is not attracting the number of paying visitors necessary to meet our revenue goal, and that given available staffing and other resources, the museum continues to base its annual income projections primarily around attendance. In developing the 2012 budget we projected higher visitor numbers for Toys based on visitation numbers at the exhibit’s previous venues, which is a generally accepted method of estimating visitor numbers. Unfortunately, lower than expected attendance numbers is not unique to just this exhibit. Mr. Larson said that in his estimation, it is not the quality or subject of the exhibits we present, nor how they are marketed. Instead, Mr. Larson believes it points out that the museum’s challenges run very deep and we face a combination of things that all must be addressed, from space and building limitations, to out-of-date long-term exhibits. The museum simply does not have the financial and personnel resources to address these weaknesses. He explained that the museum has never had the annual funding necessary to lift the institution from average status, and today’s visitor is not interested in spending money on mediocre; visitor numbers reflect that fact. Additionally, our staff and budget is not focused around development/revenue generation, enhanced visitor services and marketing, so it is challenging to direct staff to pursuing new ideas. To improve our status requires a major influx of public or private dollars, which is a significant challenge for a tax-funded entity in this economic environment. Moving on to the next topic, he explained that the 2013 proposed budget is progressing. Mr. Larson said he does not anticipate additional funding next year and there are increases that our current budget will have to absorb, thus requiring our limited dollars to stretch even further. On the positive side, he explained that staff is working on ideas for new sources of revenue. Next year’s budget calculations must include contingency plans for an overall 5% reduction, which translates into approximately $50,000. Reaching this will be difficult since 80% of our budget is personnel related. Therefore, this level of reduction would definitely impact staffing because it the only budget area where we can achieve 5%. Mr. Larson briefly addressed the fact that it had come up previously that perhaps the use of trust fund earnings might augment the operating budget, but explained that the trusts were created for specific, identified purposes and were not intended to supplement operating costs. Mr. Larson said he would, however, take a look at their purpose statements and see if it would be possible to transfer trust earnings to the budget. This concluded the Director’s Report. There were no reports or statements from Board members. 3 | Page Ms. Shirtz then presented the Auxiliary report. Their March 2013 program will be archivist Scott Cross, and they continue to plan for an evening gala on November 15. They will resume their meeting schedule on October 12. The board then went to the Carriage House to view the new storage system that was recently installed for the Native American collection, and to look at the floor load concerns and corrections submitted as part of the 2013 capital improvement program. With no further business before the board, Ron Metz moved that the meeting adjourn. Carol Fenrich seconded the motion. Mr. Winkler asked for a voice vote: In favor: Ms. Drew Opposed: None Ms. Fenrich Mr. Haffeman Mr. Metz Ms. Kujawa Mr. Rego Mr. Winkler The voice vote was unanimous in favor and the motion was passed. The meeting was adjourned at 5:16 pm. 4 | Page