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| NORWALK HISTORICAL COMMISSION MINUTES |
JULY 25, 2007
ATTENDANCE: Peter Bondi, Chair; Eric Chandler; Douglas Hempstead;
Deborah Mathies; Kathryn Martino; David Park;
Marilyn Robinson; Gail Wall
GUESTS: Ralph Bloom, Scott Gibson, Friends of the Norwalk Museum; Chris Cooke,
Lockwood Mathews Mansion Museum;
Robert Koch, The Hour
CALL TO ORDER
Mr. Bondi called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES – June 27, 2007
The following corrections were made to the minutes:
Page 2: First motion was made by Mr. Park, not Mr. Hempstead
Second motion was made by Mr. Hempstead, not Mr. Park
Page 4: 7th paragraph, health, should read “healthy”
** MS. ROBINSON MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES AS CORRECTED
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
REPORTS – BOARDS
FRIENDS OF THE NORWALK MUSEUM
Mr. Gibson reported that he and some of the Commissioners met yesterday with Mr. Hazelkamp, the City’s Personnel Director. They met to find a solution to issues with access to the museum. At their meeting, they made several suggestions including installing doorbells to the Museum, providing the Curator with a cell phone and a wristwatch. Mr. Hazelkamp agreed to meet with the Commissioners again if necessary.
Mr. Gibson said that they had a very productive meeting. Ms. Wall asked if the Curator had submitted the work schedule for the next month. Mr. Bondi said that the schedule had been submitted. Ms. Robinson said that the Commission has to approve the schedule. Mr. Bondi said that the Personnel Director has to approve the schedule.
Ms. Wall said that the Museum voice mail is full and that a better system is needed. She suggested providing the Curator with a cell phone or a direct line. Mr. Chandler said that a cell phone is portable, and therefore a better choice. He suggested adding a buzzer at both doors instead of only one entrance.
** MS. WALL MOVED THAT THE COMMISSION PURSUE ACQUIRING A CELL PHONE FOR THE
CURATOR
** MR. CHANDLER SECONDED
Ms. Robinson asked why there were so many voice mail messages, which makes it impossible for people to get through. Mr. Bondi said that he has no problem getting through. Ms. Wall said that if the Curator had a cell phone, she could be reached 24/7 in the event of an emergency since she is the designated first responder.
** MOTION PASSED WITH ONE (1) VOTE IN OPPOSITION (MS. MARTINO)
Mr. Hempstead said that cell phone can get full too. The Curator needs to check messages on a daily basis. He added that he was not sure if the position requires the Curator to carry a cell phone 24/7. Mr. Bondi will look into this and report back to the Commission.
Mr. Gibson said that at the meeting they also focused on communication problems. Ms. Wall said that a proposal was presented to the Commission last moth for discussion at tonight’s meeting. Mr. Bondi said that it was not on the agenda and has to be reviewed by the City’s Corporation Counsel. He said that the proposal could be going against a union issue. Mr. Gibson said that this is not a procedural item, it is a political vote and it is a matter of getting a consensus. Ms. Wall said that she e-mailed and asked to have this item placed on the agenda.
Mr. Hempstead said that the proposal came to the Land Use and Building Management Committee and will have to go back and forth many times.
** MR. HEMPSTEAD MOVED TO SUSPEND THE RULES TO ADD AN ITEM TO THE AGENDA
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
** MR. HEMPSTEAD MOVED TO ADD TO THE AGENDA THE DISCUSSION ON THE PROPOSAL
FOR A NORWALK MUSEUM OPERATING AGREEMENT
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
THE PROPOSAL FOR A NORWALK MUSEUM OPERATING AGREEMENT
Mr. Chandler said that in reviewing the agreement, he does not see where the City paid Curator is included. Mr. Bondi agreed and added that most of the responsibilities in the Agreement are included in the Curator’s job description. Mr. Gibson said that most of those responsibilities were carried out by the Friends until 2000. He said that they have always worked with the Curator and are willing to do so now. He said that they left the Curator’s position out of the Agreement because they do not want to be involved in City business. Mr. Gibson said that their goal is to continue with what they have built here.
Mr. Bondi noted that a number of other items fall under the Curator’s job description. Mr. Hempstead said that this is a conceptual document; everyone will have an opportunity to suggest revisions to the document.
Mr. Hempstead said that an issue has always been with the hours of operation. He said that from a public perception, he thinks the Museum should be open more than it is and even more during the summer months. Mr. Hempstead said that he was sympathetic to having a private concern running the Museum.
Ms. Wall said that there is an operational problem that needs to be fixed. She added that the Friends had previously kept the Museum open six days a week at no cost to the City of Norwalk.
** MR. CHANDLER MOVED TO ADD THE WORDING “IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE CURATOR”
TO THE PROPOSAL
** MR. PARK SECONDED
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
The Commissioners reviewed the agreement.
** MS. WALL MOVED TO ACCEPT THE PROPOSAL AS AMENDED
** MR. CHANDLER SECONDED
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
The proposal will be forwarded to the Legal Department and the Land Use and Building Management Committee of the Common Council.
Ms. Mathies said that the issue of whether the Curator can open the Museum when they are alone has been debated for years. Mr. Bondi said that there was a schedule in place. Ms. Mathies said that if a Volunteer does not show up, the Curator could probably open the Museum up to the public.
LOCKWOOD MATHEWS MANSION
Mr. Cooke reported that Mr. Gerarden, former President of the Norwalk Chamber of Commerce, has been with them since April 1st and doing a terrific job. The Museum is extremely clean and organized now. They are in restructuring mode and short on employees. They are in the process of searching for a new Executive Director and one looks very promising.
The Volunteers have come back in a wonderful way and the Museum is now open seven days a week. An architect has been hired to develop a master plan for the Museum. Senator Duff has procured a $200,000 grant for the Museum and indicated that he was willing to sponsor other State grants.
Ms. Mathies asked Mr. Cooke about the communication problems between the Executive Committee and the Board. He said that the minutes of all of the Executive Committee meetings have been made available to the entire Board.
Mr. Hempstead said that he was frustrated because as a Board member of the Lockwood Mathews Mansion Museum he was not receiving any information.
Mr. Chandler asked if the master plan was open ended. Mr. Cooke said that he believed it was. Mr. Gibson said that there has been some debate if the grounds are landmarked. Ms. Robinson said that the Commission oversees and is in charge of City owned historic buildings. She said that this commission has the responsibility to have a say in what takes place at the Mansion.
NORWALK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Ms. Wall reviewed her written report. She announced that Scott Kuykendall was elected President of the Norwalk Historical Society. Ms. Wall said that he is a very delightful person.
Mr. Bondi said that they received two bids for the Fitch Law Office. Since there was a large difference between both bids, the work will be re-bid by the Purchasing Department this week.
Ms. Wall said that the 4th of July events were very successful. She said that the fundraiser was also very successful.
Mr. Bondi said that pest control will start at Mill Hill in August. Ms. Wall said that she would like to investigate climate control at Mill Hill in next year’s capital budget.
REPORTS – SUB COMMITTEES
FINANCE
Ms. Martino said that funds were transferred in the operating budget. Mr. Bondi said that those founds could not be used until the Board of Estimate and Taxation meets in August.
BUILDING
Mr. Park reported that the Smith Street barn was vandalized. He reported this to the Police who were able to identify the “tagging”.
The Commission discussed this at length.
** MR. PARK MOVED TO SEND A LETTER REQUESTING THAT THE PERSON OR PERSONS APPREHENDED
FOR THIS CRIME BE REQUIRED TO PAINT THE BARN UNDER SUPERVISION
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
Mr. Hempstead suggested creating a contract for the use of historical City buildings by movie production companies.
Mr. Bondi said that the trees at Mill Hill, Smith Street and Hubbel Lane were trimmed.
CEMETERY REPORTS
Mr. Park reported that he attended a public information meeting regarding the new Police cameras. He had hoped they could place a camera near the Transfer Station pointed towards Pine Island Cemetery, but it was determined that it would not be practical due to the distance and lack of visibility.
The signs are up at the cemetery and are very attractive. Chains were placed across both entrances to the Cemetery.
Evan Robins, an Eagle Scout as expressed an interest in doing maintenance at the Brookside Cemetery. He will give a presentation to the Commission.
Mr. Park announced that they received the application for the landmark designation for Pine Island Cemetery.
ROGERS-RITCH-MERRITT HOUSE
There was no report.
MUSEUM CURATOR’S AND ASSISTANT TO THE HISTORICAL COMMISSION REPORT
Mr. Bondi read the Curator’s written report. Ms. Wall said that it would be
helpful if the Curator were present to discuss various projects. Mr. Hempstead
said that for clarity, the report needs dates.
The Commission discussed the Curator’s report.
** MR. CHANDLER MOVED THAT THE CURATOR APPROACH THE NORWALK BOARD OF EDUCATION
TO ESTABLISH AN INTERNSHIP PROGRAM AT THE NORWALK MUSEUM
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
Mr. Bondi said that the Curator is working on building issues; he said that he feels that is a priority. Ms. Robinson suggested that he talk to the rest of the Commission to get a consensus before assigning tasks to the Curator.
Mr. Hempstead suggested having a Chairman’s report added to the agenda to keep the Commissioners more informed.
Ms. Wall said that the Commission meeting packets should be received by the Commissioners by the Thursday before the meeting.
OLD BUSINESS
There was no old business.
NEW BUSINESS
DONATIONS
SPORTS PHOTOS – DONATED BY THE LAUREL ATHLETIC CLUB
** MR. HEMPSTEAD MOVED TO ACCEPT THE DONATION
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
THREE NORWALK BOTTLES – DONATED BY PATRICK SKIDD
** MR. PARK MOVED TO ACCEPT THE DONATION
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
CITY OF NORWALK DIRECTOR – DONATED BY LEONARD GREEN
** MR. PARK MOVED TO ACCEPT THE DONATION
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
NORWALK HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 1922 YEAR BOOK – DONATED BY LEONARD GREEN
** MR. CHANDLER MOVED TO ACCEPT THE DONATION
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
COLOR POST CARD OF RED BRICK KILM – DONATED BY SUSAN GUNN-BROMLEY
** MR. HEMPSTEAD MOVED TO ACCEPT THE DONATION
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
ADJOURNMENT
There was no further business and the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 9:25
p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Rosemarie Lombardi
Telesco Secretarial Services
Norwalk Museum Report to the Historical Commission
For July 25, 2007 meeting
• Operating fund grant money was requisitioned in early July for the Historical Society and Lockwood Mathews Mansion.
• Request to hold over funds from 2007 year was made and will be reviewed at the August BET meeting.
• Purchasing has developed some new procedures for writing Purchase Orders. The Museum now has access to the Munis system and I am being trained to use it.
• Purchase orders were written for: Termites – Mill Hill buildings; Carpenter Ants, ants, insects and rodents – Mill Hill and Old Jail buildings; Tree and Brush removal at Mill Hill, the hillside behind the Old Jail and Barn on Smith St. and the Mill Hill Cemetery and the Gate Lodge center chimney repair.
• Tree and Brush removal has taken place.
• Termite, Insects and Rodents Pest Control will take place shortly.
• The Chimney repair will take place as soon as scheduling and cooler weather coincide.
• Fitch Law Office restoration proposals are being handled by the Purchasing Department.
• The garbage pick-up problem at the Old Jail has been rectified. The fire
alarm problem is being worked on with Glenn Iannaccone and Don Eleck.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
• The Curator is running the Museum, Archives and Reference Library. Visitorship to the museum is down as in most museums, however the researchers to the Archives continue at a steady rate as do email research inquiries. As many of the exhibits were recently redone the exhibits have not been changed so that time can be devoted to other museum organization.
• The museum has one active Summer Intern from the Mayor’s Summer Intern Program. Her name is Yahira Martinez. She is intelligent and a quick learner. We have been able to take care of many lingering small problems and to work on greater museum organization.
• The second summer intern has had some problems and may not be working this summer.
• The Friends have been having problems finding volunteers to work on Saturdays. There have also been problems with Friends volunteers not arriving on time or leaving before their shift is through. This past Sunday the volunteer also did not arrive. Thus, even if I am here and working, the museum has been shut on those days. This is a mutual problem that we all have to figure out how to solve, together.
• Steady progress is being made on the collection database. There are now over 8,600 objects entered into the master (protected) database. Some of the initial problems of transferring records that were entered on the other computers have been solved. The master database entries have been proofed.
• The office operations are improving as I have been able to spend time organizing the result of the office being moved at least twice, then rearranged by others with things (boxes, collections, papers) moved while I was out. The improvement is visual as well as operational.
• The museum has received additional new equipment that will allow us to better serve the needs of the museum, commission and most importantly the public. We have two new color printers, a used fax machine and a used cash register.
• The Friends continue to work on cleaning and sprucing up their gift shop and they seem to be adding to the Dunne Hardware Store display and in cleaning and prepping objects for their Christmas tag sale.
• Two movie set scouts have toured the museum for possible use.
• Plaza Management & Realty has been obtaining quotes for additional work to be done on the building.
• The revised emergency call list has been sent to Plaza, the Law Department, the Police and Fire Departments.
• We received the offer of several donations. A sheet describing the donations and identifying the donor will be prepared in time for the meeting. The donations are available for review.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Gunn Bromley
Curator
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