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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes of 10.25.2023MEMORIAL HALL COMMISSION October 25, 2023 5:00 p.m. Veterans Memorial Hall Members present: Craig White in the Chair, Randy Miller, David Grimm, Scott McDonald, Mel Wittwer, Frank McCaw, James Lentfer, Mike Mrzlak, John Mrzlak, Angela Hickok (A), Richard Berry (A) and Council Liaison - Belinda Creighton -Smith (Ward 4). Absent: Mike Hudson, Marilyn Robinson, Matt Carpenter (A). Also in Attendance: Nancy Higby, Secretary, City of Waterloo. Moved by Miller, seconded by Grimm, that the Agenda be approved. Ayes: Ten. Motion carried. Moved by Grimm, seconded by Miller, that the Minutes of September 27, 2023, be approved. Ayes: Ten. Motion carried. Citizen's Oral Comments Troy Elliott, American Senior Benefits, shared that they have been giving free haircuts for veterans at Becker -Chapman, Post 138 since June. They do this on the 1st Wednesday every two months on even months. The services are provided by the Salon Professionals Academy and they have a contract to continue doing this through all of next year. They are currently looking to expand their services to include both active duty and veterans and would be happy to set this up at other locations. He further provided background on himself and said he is a member of the Sons of the American Legion. David Grimm commented that Sport Clips in Waterloo is also offering free haircuts to veterans on Veterans Day. Treasurer's Report — Vacant Nancy Higby read the finance report for the period 9/21/2023 through 10/18/2023. • Brick Fund - $8,190.80 • Courbat Memorial Fund - $700.12 • Special Projects Fund - $600.00 • Artifacts Projects $316.99 Moved by Lentfer, seconded by Miller, to reimburse the Courbat fund in the amount of $300 from the brick fund. Ayes: Nine. Nays: One (McDonald). Motion carried. Jim explained that even though the commission approved the use of $300 for the purchase of flags, he would like to reimburse the Courbat fund so those monies would be available for use on the Courbat Canteen. Ray Miller concurred and said that even though Marcia was big on the flags, it makes better sense to use the money the family donated for the Canteen area in her honor. October 25, 2023 Page 2 Scott McDonald stated that he disagrees as this is going against the original idea to support Marcia's passion for flags for Memorial Day. Chairperson's Report Craig White reported that the fundraiser at the Cattle Congress was not very successful. He shared that he was contacted by the someone with the Courier to provide input for an article about the fountain. He further shared that he has received calls from people that said they have sent in donations, and he will be on the radio in various cities and counties to further promote it. Committee Reports Building, Grounds & Operations — Chairperson Mel Wittwer Mel reported he has set thirteen bricks and updated the database. He shared that he typically contacts each individual who purchases a brick and sends them a photo of the brick and its location. He stated that the invoice should be coming soon, and reiterated that the price change was effective on September 1, 2023. From this point forward, the cost to purchase a brick is $60 each and engraving will be $35. He commented that he recently received two brick orders that were on the old form, but doesn't know where they got the form. He added that this may happen from time to time and we'll need to honor the old pricing. He suggested that depending on how someone performs their online search, they might find the old form. Nancy Higby said she would talk with the IT Director to see if there is a way to locate any old links and delete or block them from future access. Mel also commented on the brick register sheets outside and stated that many pages have been removed. He asked if Nancy could check with IT to see if the entire list, currently ninety-nine pages, could be made available on the website, and if so, how it could be updated as needed. Operations — Chairperson David Grimm David Grimm commented that he attended a meeting at the Veterans Affairs where it was reported that Iowa veteran suicides are twice the national average. Women deaths are 2 1/2 times the national average; 73% of those suicides are with weapons vs. 23% for the regular community. There are 174,000 vets in Iowa, which is 7% of the population, and we rank 48 out of 50 for claims to the government for veterans. This is horrible and we need to work to get things changed. Dave provided a brief update on the following items. Rolling Thunder has bowed out for next year's Memorial Day Parade, and DAV is taking over. The Operations Policy has been finalized unless somebody here has a change from what was dispersed last month. Nominations for officers are due at tonight's meeting. The Veterans Day Ceremony will be at Post 31. We should probably have a motion to move the November meeting up one week to the 15th due to the holidays. Moved by Grimm, seconded by Lentfer to move the November meeting from the 22nd to the 15th Ayes: Ten. Motion carried. October 25, 2023 Page 3 Educational/Historical/Artifacts Preservation — Chairperson Frank McCaw Frank McCaw reported that the Civil War Round Table will have a program in June by Brian Matthew Jordan who is a Civil War historian and author who wrote a book called Marching Home. The book is about the history of what happened to the union army veterans after the war regarding claim benefits, health issues, etc. The book was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and he was runner up for the year it was written. Frank read the book and said that it sounds a lot like the Vietnam Veterans with all of the problems they faced. He said that invitations would go out to all of the veteran's organizations to attend the program. Frank reported that the UNI intern, Everett Henderson, has begun work on cataloging the book collection. We have also found another valuable first edition book in our collection and it is valued at $140-$200 dollars. This is now the third valuable first edition we have come across. He shared that they are currently working on a form that will be used any time an artifact is removed from the building. Finance/Fundraising — James Lentfer Jim Lentfer shared that he has made an appointment to meet with Paige Price, Program Manager, Waterloo Community Foundation. The meeting will be here at noon on October 30th, and he invited board members to join the meeting if they'd like, to help convey how we'd like to use any donations we may receive. Jim shared that he is in possession of $850 in donations for the fountain. He suggested the funds go into the account at the Foundation and allow the donators to get a tax write-off. He was holding onto the donations until the commission could vote. There shared that there is currently $2,000 in the account and stated that every month he will bring a report of the account balance. David Grimm shared that Kevin Dill will be donating through the Foundation to both the Memorial Hall and Honor Flight. A discussion followed on how accessible funds would be for various projects if the account has been earmarked. An example discussed was the fountain project and the question of what happens if the cost to repair the fountain far exceeded the donations. Moved by Lentfer, seconded by Grimm, to deposit the $850 received following Craig White's promotion of the fountain, go into the account at the Waterloo Community Foundation designated for fountain repairs. Voice vote -Ayes: Ten. Motion carried. Jim suggested that the commission consider having each committee submit a budget of their anticipated expenditures for the year. These budgets should be due in January of each year and the commission as a whole can discuss and vote to approve the budgets. Unfinished Business October 25, 2023 Page 4 Mel Wittwer said that there is an invoice in the amount of $335 from Black Hawk Memorial for the engraving of the thirteen bricks he reported on earlier. Moved by Wittwer, seconded by J. Mrzlak to approve the payment of $335 to Black Hawk Memorial. Voice vote -Aye: Ten. Motion carried. New Business Randy Miller commented that he has still not heard back from Mohammad regarding the parking situation. Councilperson Creighton -Smith commented that she would reach out to Mohammad to secure a date to meet with Randy. She shared that she spoke with the Mayor regarding the fountain repairs and said he told her there was money available to help with the efforts. Craig White announced that the floor was open for nominations, which are due at this meeting. Moved by Lentfer, seconded by Wittwer, to nominate Craig White as Chairman. Voice vote - Ayes: Ten. Motion carried. Moved by Lentfer, seconded by White, to nominate Randy Miller as Vice Chairman. Voice vote -Ayes: Ten. Motion carried. Moved by Miller, seconded by Grimm, to nominate Jim Lentfer as Secretary/Treasurer. Jim Lentfer respectfully declined the nomination. Craig White called for any other nominations and there were none. Craig invited everyone to Post 31 on November 11th for the Veterans Day event. The program begins at 10:30 a.m., with the Honor Guard at 11:00a.m. Food will be available at 4:00 p.m. and there will be live music from 7:00 - 10:00p.m. Tyson has donated the pork and we should be set with all the trimmings. If any organization would like to bring additional side dishes, please feel free to do so, or contact Randall's in Hudson to arrange for them to bring something in. Belinda Creighton -Smith commented that she will reach out to Maria at the Courier to see if she would interview a few of the commission members to bring awareness to the event. With no further business before the commission, it was moved by Miller, seconded by J. Mrzlak, that the meeting be adjourned at 6:00 p.m. Ayes: Ten. Motion carried. Nancy Higby Administrative Secretary