Minutes and agenda archive

Historic Shepherdstown

Board Minutes

October 7, 2009

The October 7, 2009, meeting of the HS Board was called to order by President J. Griffith at 7:30 p.m.

Members present were: J. Bock,, L. Cox, E. Dunleavy, J. Griffith, A. Levitan, B. Lowe, C. Moore, E. Moore, F. Phillips, J. Shank, V. Smith, A. Wayt, and A. Wright.  Jim Ford, a Historic Shepherdstown member, also attended.

Minutes of August 12, 2009.    E. Dunleavy proposed that these and future minutes should include the Treasurer’s Report, both on the website and when they are circulated in any other fashion, as a means of increasing transparency of Board activities.  E. Moore moved that the August 12 Minutes be approved as corrected by the addition of the complete Treasurer’s Report.  V. Smith seconded.  The motion was approved unanimously.

Minutes of September 16, 2009.  During consideration of the September 16 Minutes, J. Griffith circulated new figures on rental income from C. Schott that revised those provided by E. Dunleavy at the September meeting.  J. Griffith reported that he has given the Visitors’ Center verbal agreement on renting the front room of the Entler to them, based on the Board’s agreement in September.  He is putting together a lease for submission to the Executive Committee and the Board.  He mentioned scheduling an Executive Committee meeting for Monday.  A. Wayt expressed concern about meetings of both the Committee and the Board that are scheduled with short notice, noting also that the Minutes should be available in a more timely fashion.  J. Griffith agreed on both points and said he would follow up.

E. Dunleavy suggested that the meeting minutes be completed expeditiously, e-mailed to the Board for approval and placed on the website.

E. Dunleavy asked that the Minutes be amended to indicate that C. Schott was also present at the meeting between J. Griffith and Carol Asam.  A. Wayt moved approval of the September 16 Minutes as amended.  J. Bock seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report.  Attached.  E. Dunleavy reported that, mostly because of reduced expenses, HS is doing better than the original budget projections, but he still expects a loss for 2009.

E. Moore moved acceptance of the Treasurer’s Report.  A. Wright seconded, and the motion was approved unanimously.

B. Lowe moved that the Treasurer’s Report be included with the Minutes of this meeting and with all future Board meeting minutes.  A. Wayt seconded.  The motion was approved unanimously.

J. Griffith and other members of the Board thanked E. Dunleavy for his work as HS Treasurer for the last 2 years.

Museum Update.  J. Griffith circulated a list of needs for Museum docents in October and during Christmas in Shepherdstown.  Many slots need to be filled.  Board members agreed to fill some of the slots.  V. Smith noted that Donna Northouse’s second teacher training workshop will occur in the Entler this Saturday, suggesting it might be helpful for anyone who serves as a docent

November Board Meeting.  J. Griffith stated that there will be no December Board meeting and asked if the Board wanted to meet on November 4.  L. Cox moved agreement to hold the November 4 meeting.  F. Phillips seconded.  The motion was approved unanimously.

Christmas in Shepherdstown.  J. Griffith noted that he would be talking with K. Maiden about repeating last year’s Christmas in Shepherdstown events.  He asked if the Board wanted to continue the activities of last year, and there was general support.

December 11 Holiday Party.  A. Wayt will contact Board members for contributions of food and liquor.  A. Wright volunteered to help with the invitations.  A. Wayt noted that invitations need to go out one month in advance of the party.

Report on Autumn Social.  C. Schott sent a report on the outcome of the Fall Social. 

              Attendance                     108

              Comp. Tickets                   41

              Paid Tickets                      67

              Net Receipts                $650

Last year, the event cleared $261.  E. Dunleavy pointed out that it would be more accurate to apply the appropriate amount from the membership donations to the receipts from the event, i.e. $40 for each of the comp. tickets.

Visitors’ Center Board Representation.  J. Griffith reported that C. Schott resigned from the Visitors’ Center Board today and indicated that HS needed to appoint a Board Member to represent HS on the Visitors’ Center Board.  It was stated that, in the 1990’s, C. Schott had been appointed to be the HS representative on that Board.  L. Cox moved that the decision on this issue be tabled.  F. Phillips seconded.  The motion was approved unanimously.  C. Moore, who serves as Rotary’s representative on the Visitors’ Center Board, noted that he has recused himself from all Visitors’ Center votes relating to Historic Shepherdstown.

Election of Officers.  C. Moore, Chair of the Nominations Committee, which also included L. Cox and J. Bock, presented a slate of officers for the coming year:

                            President:  John Griffith

                            Vice President:  Ann Wayt

                            Treasurer:  Jerry Bock

                            Secretary:  Donna Pratt

Since D. Pratt accepted the nomination as Secretary, her husband had become much more seriously ill.   However, it was agreed that she would stay on the slate.  If it turns out she is unable to serve, she can inform the board at that time.

J. Griffith asked if there were any nominations from the floor.  There were none.  L. Cox moved approval of the slate of officers as proposed by the Nomination Committee.  E. Moore seconded.  The slate of officers was passed unanimously.

General Discussion.

Building Repairs.  C. Moore initiated discussion of the planned repairs of the Entler, noting that Mayor Auxer has urged HS to move ahead with using the $60,000 loan approved by the Town Council.  J. Griffith has talked with Latimer about doing repair work on the roof and chimneys.  The request for bids was posted in the newspaper, but no other firm expressed interest.  J. Griffith will follow up with C. Schott about companies suggested by A. Levitan.  It was suggested that getting three bids for the initial critical repairs might be necessary to support future grant applications to the State.  A. Levitan suggested that HS do only the most critical work this winter, so that the rest of the funds could be used as part of the match in a grant application to the state.

Rental of Front Room to the Visitors’ Center.  L. Cox raised expressed concern about the Board’s approval at the last meeting of renting the front room the Entler to the Visitors’ Center.  She and others noted their reasons for opposing the rental.  Those included:

--The presence of the Visitors’ Center wouldn’t do justice to the historical nature of the building;

--Inadequate space for HS parties would be detrimental to the organization’s membership function;

--Rental income could be improved without renting out that space:  improved marketing, with a marketing budget, and greater visibility of the rental function on the website would make a big difference;

--Former strong HS supporters might be lost;

--The Entler would lose its identity and simply be seen as the Visitors’ Center;

--Making bathrooms available for public use would disrupt other uses of the back room and would be an inappropriate use of the Entler.

Those in support of the rental to the Visitors’ Center noted the following points:

--Rental income from weddings and art shows would not be likely to meet the proposed income from the Visitors’ Center rental--$8400/year at the start--in view of an average rental income of $7600 per year over the last 10 years;

--The original lease from the town indicated that the building should be used for “public purposes.  It was suggested that weddings and art shows are not public purposes, but the Visitors’ Center is;

--The Visitors’ Center function and the function of the Museum would provide some synergy because they are naturally complementary;

--Some supporters of HS might be lost if they perceive failing to rent to the Visitors’ Center as a poor financial decision;

--The bathrooms would not become public bathrooms—the Visitors’ Center will use the door that opens from the street into that space and will not have access to the rest of the building.

A. Levitan suggested as a possible compromise that the Visitors’ Center be asked to move out of the room when it is needed for functions and that this topic should be part of negotiations.

F. Phillips and others noted that the short notice for the special meeting to vote on the rental proposal meant that many Board members couldn’t attend and that there was inadequate opportunity for discussion.

B. Lowe asked what the parliamentary situation was.  It was explained that anyone who had voted for the original motion to lease the front (Morgan) room to the Visitors’ Center could make a motion to reconsider that vote.  J. Bock, who had made the original motion in September moved that the vote be reconsidered.  L. Cox seconded the motion.  Voting for the motion were: J. Bock, L. Cox, E. Dunleavy, J. Griffith, A. Levitan, B. Lowe, C. Moore, F. Phillips, J. Shank, V. Smith, A. Wayt, and A. Wright.  Voting against was E. Moore.  The motion passed.

J. Griffith will call a special HS Board meeting to vote again on the lease.  He will try to ensure that all members can be there and asked for the Board’s cooperation.

E. Moore suggested that an e-mail explaining the actual terms of the proposal to rent to the Visitors’ Center be e-mailed to members because there has been some misunderstanding.

J. Bock noted that the old town pump on Princess Street is badly deteriorating and asked if HS could take a role in restoring it.  He will look into ownership issues with the Town Council to determine if that is possible.  A. Levitan volunteered to help with the project.

J. Griffith adjourned the meeting at 9:28 p.m.

Vicki Smith

Board Member

In the absence of the Secretary