Nipissing Township Museum
Board Meeting Minutes
August 4, 2021
7 p.m., Nipissing Museum Gazebo
COVID Precautions in place
Present: Mary Heaseman, Kerry Kloiber, Chris Johnston, Gillian Bernais, Kris Croskery-Hodgins, Liz Moore, Steve Kirkey, Gladys Bateman, Brenda Lennon
1. Call to Order – The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Liz Moore.
2. Declaration of Pecuniary Interest – There were no declarations of pecuniary interest.
3. Acceptance of Agenda – The agenda was accepted as presented by Kerry Kloiber and seconded by Chris Johnston.
4. Acceptance of Previous Minutes – The minutes of the July 4, 2021 meeting were accepted as presented by Steve Kirby and seconded by Gladys Bateman.
5. Welcome to Township Staff – Kris Croskery-Hodgins was welcomed to our meeting. To improve efficiency of meetings one staff member will sit on all Township committees so questions pertaining to Township processes can be answered during the meeting.
6. Manager’s Report & Update from July 14 – See attached August Manager’s Report which was presented by Gillian Bernais. As well,
• The dehumidifier will be turned on at night and off during the day to address the heat issue.
• The computer has been fixed, but needs a new external keyboard.
• For Heritage Day, Paul Wilson is another musical option if the Powassan Jammers are unavailable. 60 hamburgers and 30 – 40 hotdogs will be donated by Foote’s. Steve Kirkey will donate buns, if needed.
• Students are interested in employment for next year and in providing evening events.
• Overview of large projects: Cataloguing falling behind, object collection almost complete, reference book list, oral/written history transcription, update the Township history book, organization of storage room, updated operations manual with museum best practices for new staff, rotation of collection. It was decided that the completion of the Staff Manual needs to be a priority.
• Patrons will be asked to fill out a ballot to agree to emails for notification of upcoming events.
• Ideas for next year: Potluck in evening, dinner/dance; paint night; concert in gazebo; harvest supper/potluck with local food/chefs.
• It was decided that each new artifact is to be catalogued as soon as received if it is accepted.
• Discussion around school programs.
7. Business Arising:
i. Heritage Day – See Manager’s report. The event will be posted on Facebook and Instagram and advertised in the North Bay Nipissing News, North Bay Now, Township Fire signs, Fire Department webpage. Posters will be posted in stores and sent to the radio stations by end of this week.
ii. Manager’s Last Day – It was decided that the Manager will stay on to use the full amount of her budgeted salary. Kris will let us know how much longer this will be. Duties will include: completing posts for social media, manuals, school program, museum close and preparing for next season.
iii. Painting – John Howse provided an estimate for staining of $2300. A motion was put forward by Liz Moore to accept John Howse as the contractor for staining the gazebo/deck and railings. Motion was accepted by Steve Kirkey and seconded by Chris Johnston. Carried. It was decided that all of the railings will be stained white and the deck skirting will be stained black.
8. New Business:
i. Museum Marketing – Kris discussed marketing of museum. Outside websites are not recommended and are expensive. The Township needs to maintain control over all website content. Updates to the existing website flow through the office and there is abundant room to add more content. Marketing platform using a Museum Newsletter can be piggybacked on the Township Jan/April/June/Sept newsletter mailouts to all taxpayers. Chris has developed a proposal for a Communications Toolkit (newsletter, recruitment of volunteers thru contact information/ emails, sign up for events, etc.) at a cost of approximately $300/yr. A Social Media toolkit (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc.) could be developed for approximately $360/yr. with a minimum of 200 posts needed. It was decided to put both items in the budget for next year. Chris will assist at no charge.
ii. Planning for 2022 Events – This will be discussed at the September meeting of the Board.
iii. Manager’s Hours – It was decided that it would benefit the functioning of the Museum to have the Manager working 3 days per week after Labour Day and from May until opening. This will be taken to council for approval. This would allow time for Board deemed priorities to be completed. Five days per week will be budgeted for next year.
iv. Budget Items – Miscellaneous items under $100 were discussed as well as a cover for the candy floss machine ($350) and a new computer.
9. Next Meeting: The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 1, 2021 at 7 p.m. at the Museum.
10. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned by Liz Moore at 8:47 p.m.