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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013 24September - PMV Advisory - Mintues - FINAL Page 1 CORP0228—2/02 Minutes/Meeting Summary Pickering Museum Village Advisory Committee September 24, 2013 7:00 pm Main Committee Room – Civic Complex Attendees: Laura Drake, Chair, Pickering Museum Village Advisory Committee Brian James, Pickering Museum Village Advisory Committee Dragos Nita, Pickering Museum Village Advisory Committee Donald Hudson, Pickering Museum Village Advisory Committee Karen Emmink, Pickering Museum Village Advisory Committee Karen Chalmers, Pickering Museum Village Advisory Committee Paul Savel, Pickering Museum Village Advisory Committee Bill McLean, Regional Councillor, Ward 2 Marisa Carpino, Director, Culture & Recreation Tanya Ryce, Supervisor, Cultural Services Mike Dwinnell, Supervisor, Facilities Operations Katrina Pyke, Coordinator, Museum Operations Devin Poole, Clerk-Typist (Recording Secretary) Absent: Terry Arvisais, Pickering Museum Village Foundation Stuart Suckling, Pickering Museum Village Advisory Committee Graham Lowman, Pickering Museum Village Advisory Committee Item/ Ref # Details & Discussion & Conclusion (summary of discussion) Action Items/Status (include deadline as appropriate) 1. Call to Order and Welcome L.Drake congratulated staff and volunteers on the success of A Spirit Walk. 2. Approval of Agenda & Minutes Motion: That the agenda for September 30, 2013 be approved. Moved by P. Savel Seconded by K. Chalmers Carried Motion: That the minutes for June 19, 2013 be approved as amended by D. Nita Moved by P. Savel Seconded by K. Chalmers Carried Page 2 CORP0228—2/02 3. Capital Projects Update M. Dwinnell provided updates on site projects: • picnic shelter is scheduled October 1 - 22, 2013 • veneer stonework on the Collins House has been replaced • 2013 painting projects are complete • chimneys on the Miller Cole House are being restored • the foundation for the Craftsman Cottage was constructed in May. The Craftsman Cottage will be without power until 2014; however there is money in the 2014 budget to make it usable. To date, $65,000 has been spent on the Craftsman Cottage. • the bandstand project has been put off indefinitely; as it is sinking into the ground. Staff are considering storing the roof at the Operations Centre. Geotechnical studies will be done in October 2013 to support staff recommendations for suitable locations for the Oddfellows Hall as well as the bandstand. The cost of the initial soil sample is $2,000 and each subsequent sample is $500. The study will run from the Blacksmith Shop to the fence line. • the estimate to move the Oddfellows Hall ranges from $280,000 to $320,000, which has been budgeted for the 2014 fiscal year. L. Drake advised the committee that the PMV Foundation has funds that they can use towards the cottage. T.Ryce advised that she sent out a list outlining where the bingo funds can be used. M. Carpino notified the committee that the new Visitor Services Centre, the Gas & Steam Barn, and the Feasibility Study are in the capital forecast. M.Dwinnell to book in soil sampling in October List to be provided to L.Drake by staff 4. PMV Foundation Report No report - PMVF representative was absent 5. Sub-Committee Reports Feasibility Study Update K. Chalmers advised the committee that the cost for the feasibility study ranged from $25,000 - $80,000. T. Ryce has requested final comments from the Feasibility Study Committee on the proposed RFQ for October 16 and provided packages of similar documents for comparison. T. Ryce advised that there is currently $30,000 of contingency Page 3 CORP0228—2/02 money that has been allocated for the study; however she proposes removing these funds so they can be allocated to another project in 2014. Collections Sub-Committee Update Motion: That the Advisory Committee approve the acquisition of the following items into the Pickering Museum Village Core Artifact Collection, as recommended by the Collections Sub- Committee: • Cornerstone salvaged from 1911 brick school house at Sideline 30 (Federal lands); • Books and photographs from the Seebeck family of Locust Hill; • Date stone salvaged from 5170 Sideline 22, Claremont (Federal lands); and • Wool blanket and photographs of the Bentley family. Moved by: P. Savel Seconded by: K. Emmink Carried P. Savel advised the committee that a priority score sheet has been developed based on other museums’ criteria. Each item is given a value based on the following: • the item has a strong link to Pickering • written documentation exists • uniqueness • rarity, condition, and vulnerability Once the values are determined the numbers are all calculated and scored out of 4. The committee tested the effectiveness of the score sheet with an artifact, and were pleased with it. P. Savel advised that the committee will begin meeting more frequently to move forward on the artifact prioritization project and will target those artifacts with known provenance. K. Pyke informed the committee that this process is being put into place to determine artifact salvage priority in the event of a flood or a fire. P. Savel brought forward discussion regarding a written request from Ken Middleton, through Harold Quinton, Gas & Steam Club Crew Leader. P. Savel advised the committee that the items can stay on the family’s farm in Arnprior until the farm is sold, and that temporary storage from museum partners can be negotiated until proper storage can be created at the museum Page 4 CORP0228—2/02 for these objects. The Collections Sub-Committee has reviewed the request, and feels that these objects have strong provenance to Pickering and every piece in the collection is in exceptional condition. P. Savel advised that there would only be transportation costs associated with the acquisition of this collection. Discussion of whether foundation would be approached to fund transportation costs of the artifact from Bingo Monies. D. Hudson asked if Princess would become irrelevant. K. Pyke advised that Princess was purchased through a grant and therefore her use and maintenance would be subject to terms and conditions under which she was acquired; the museum may need to keep the engine, but all options would be considered. Motion: That the Advisory Committee approve the acquisition of the following items of the Middleton Collection, all from Claremont, ON, into the Pickering Museum Village Core Artifact Collection, as recommended by the Collections Sub-Committee: • 1928 Waterloo Steam Traction Engine in original condition and accompanying water wagon • Composite Lister Tractor and associated Buzz Saw • Buggy • Cutter • Miscellaneous tools and related bits. Moved by P. Savel Seconded by K. Chalmers Carried P. Savel reported that Ellen Tayles, the PMV Conservator has nearly completed the interior inventory of the objects in the Gas & Steam Barn. Special Events Sub-Committee Update L. Drake reported to the committee that 567 people attended “A Spirit Walk”, which took place over 6 nights. The revenue from these shows was $5,469.10 and the revenue in the gift shop was $458.82, resulting in a net profit of $3,002.34 for this event. P. Savel raised a concern regarding the purchasing of the tickets on the estore. K. Pyke notified the committee that this issue has already been flagged and staff will be working to resolve it. K. Pyke advised the committee that it’s a huge commitment to K. Pyke to update on eStore resolutions. Page 5 CORP0228—2/02 run this show however the show is a go for next year. L. Drake suggested that the committee start doing research now on how they can run other similar programs for future years. She suggested looking into grants to assist with the financial aspect of the programs. K. Pyke advised that Mandy Smiles has finished all the event reports and they will be presented at the next meeting. 6. Strategic Plan Action Ideas 2 minute presentations from each member of the advisory committee to present ideas on how items in the strategic plan could be assisted to move forward. D. Hudson – we need to do a competitive analysis of sales with other museums as well as conducting a survey with other museums. Should include expenses, total salaries, average maintenance cost per building. This information will give us some comparable costs against the other museums. K. Chalmers – One of our largest assets is our volunteers therefore we need to do more for them. We need to promote the museum as the community centre to the north through socialization. No other museum has the number of volunteers that we do. Councillor McLean – We all agree that what we’ve done is good however measuring success has always been a difficult task. It’s always been a challenge to get people through the doors. Once you get them through the doors they’ll come back a few times. People need to realize that there’s a ton of activities to do at the museum. M. Carpino - We need to make more efficient usage of our money. The number of people that attend the museum events isn’t balancing out with the cost of those events. We need to look at spending our dollars more wisely. T. Ryce – Having a better view of what it is that we’re achieving will assist with future planning. Continued reporting on events, programs and attendance along with completion of the advisory committee non-users survey will assist with effectively moving goals forward. K. Pyke – Two goals to focus on: 1) Would like to streamline the way we run programs and special events by creating achievable goals. 2) More dedication is needed for research because it always gets put on the back burner. Without adequate research we’re not properly supporting our museum Page 6 CORP0228—2/02 program development. Everything we do comes back to research. K. Emmink – A lot of the reason there isn’t enough time is because there isn’t enough staff. M. Dwinnell – He felt that continuing with the building survey reports would give us a better ability to budget for future expenses, maintenance and repairs. P. Savel – The collections need more storage seeing as we can’t take care of all our items right now. With the new welcome centre we need to make sure that we have adequate storage space. D. Nita – We need to implement what’s going to happen at the visitor centre. The committee needs to get together and discuss the financial figures to see if they reflect what we’re planning to do. B. James – The onus is on us to justify the funds that we need. We need more information on why people aren’t coming to the museum. L. Drake – We need to get our documents updated. Sustainability through succession planning. We need to look at who we’re training in the event that staff decide to leave the museum. We need to start planning for the right people down the road. 7. 2014 Budget Proposals M. Carpino distributed 2014 capital budget proposal and advised the committee that this is the meeting to make the recommended changes. 2014 – Craftsman Cottage - $35,000 has been allocated for the Craftsman Cottage in 2014. The City ran out of funds in the budget for 2013. Oddfellows Hall has been put into the budget for 2014. The PMV Foundation requested not to exceed their $80,000 budget for the Visitors Centre. M. Carpino advised that $30,000 is being taken out and suggested that they don’t reallocate the funds. M. Dwinnell informed everyone that the Craftsman’s Cottage Page 7 CORP0228—2/02 has an extensive list of items that must be addressed therefore the $35,000 in the budget must go a long way. Councillor McLean – focus should be placed on Oddfellows Hall because once we lose it, it’s gone. It’s an integral part of the museum. The structures that we have we can’t let a season go without repairing them. Motion: That the 2014 proposed capital budget be accepted as amended with $30,000 being removed from the budget. Moved by D. Hudson Seconded by B. James Carried M. Carpino reviewed and distributed the Capital forecast for 2015 – 2018. Motion: That the Capital Budget forecast from 2015 – 2018 be approved as presented. Moved by P. Savel Seconded by K. Chalmers Carried M. Carpino distributed a draft current budget and advised the committee that the proposed expenses have increased by 16% from last year whereas the revenue has increased by 7%.. She further advised that the increase was larger than the committee can expect to be endorsed at the next stage of budget review, and that recommendations for cuts will need to be discussed. K. Pyke advised that we need to look at the special events budget as a whole rather than individual lines; that there are stakeholders that we are accountable to consider before we make any major changes. T. Ryce advised that staff are currently reviewing the annual events and changes can be expected to be presented at the next meeting. K. Pyke informed the committee that there has been an increase in the number of people attending Kids in the Village as well as History in Action Saturdays. Following discussion, viable cuts were discussed, bringing expenditures into the range of an approximate increase of 3%. Page 8 CORP0228—2/02 Motion: That Advisory Committee approve the budget with the amendments recommended. Moved by P. Savel Seconded by D. Hudson Carried 8. Adjournment Next meeting – October 22, 2013 at 7:00 pm at Pickering Civic Complex – Main Committee Room. Motion: This meeting is adjourned at 9:45 pm Moved by P. Savel. Seconded by K. Chalmers Carried Meeting Adjourned: 9:45 pm Copy: City Clerk