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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommissioin Packet - 10/25/2023 Date: 10/25/2023 S44111j MEMORIAL HALL COMMISSION ROLL CALL SHEET PRIMARY ALTERNATE Craig White Mike Hudson Matt Carpenter Randall Miller David Grimm Scott McDonald Mel Wittwer Marilyn Robinson 'Angela Hickok Frank McCaw James Lentfer Richard Berry Mike Mrzlak John Mrzlak Quorum Needed: 5 r \\ \\Alomain\waterloo\CLERKDAT\Memorial Hall\Roll Call Sheet.docx(rev. 12/20221 MEMORIAL HALL COMMISSION October 25, 2023 5:00 p.m. Veteran's Memorial Hall Pledge of Allegiance I. Roll Call II. Approval of Agenda, as proposed or amended. III. Approval of Minutes of September 27, 2023. IV. Citizens Oral Comments V. Treasurer's Report VI. Chairperson's Report VII. Committee Reports: 1. Building and Grounds—Chairperson Mel Wittwer 2. Operations—Chairperson David Grimm 3. Education/Historical/Artifacts Preservation—Chairperson Frank McCaw 4. Finance/Fundraising— Chairperson James Lentfer VIII. Unfinished Business IX. New Business X. Adjournment Nancy Higby Administrative Secretary 4q \ u i % •a) OS � \ fco g � � \ z to re �/ ] c � = \ CO CO rg eV0 \ \ \ \� \@ \/ \ola C. k " \ \ C u a) � � ^ ` 7 . CO — e CL co \ 4 q { G \ g g t 4 ) p im 2 sCl Cl c . Cl o Sod 4.1 f 0 ƒ \ \ \ \ __ \ } } ® U d al C e B� E a 2 \ a E � � d \ {\ e $ Z f 3 s e « ® » & 0 0 0 / § ) ) I Ce in kE ) f 0 ( ^ 3 H » )m o \ / § >CA LU g @6b 0 o cu \ } \ / 2 ( \ \ o / §x ( § a_ i § § } �re # = 0 a.a. < Ln ) } U-w>b o ( § \ 72 ( / § < 0Uo / \ o ±o ) \ o 0 §} § » ow „ ( ( / - > k ) § b U ( m \mom _ \ - \ ) ( / \ ƒ \ < 14 j = - b b ( k \ ( § ) e [ % } i- ® ` ` 0 & ] 0 7 » • \ 0 / / § o « § \ o ) / \ ) \ f 0 * o ± » X 0 0 ~` ` ® 1N /V 0 ) } } k* \ - m ` 0 \ 2 \ \ MEMORIAL HALL COMMISSION September 27, 2023 5:00 p.m. Veterans Memorial Hall Members present: Craig White in the Chair, Randy Miller, David Grimm, Scott McDonald, Mel Wittwer (arrived at 5:10), Frank McCaw, James Lentfer, Mike Mrzlak, John Mrzlak, Angela Hickok(A), Richard Berry (A). Absent: Mike Hudson, Marilyn Robinson, Matt Carpenter (A) and Council Liaison - Belinda Creighton-Smith(Ward 4). Also in Attendance: Nancy Higby, Secretary, City of Waterloo. Moved by Lentfer, seconded by Grimm, that the Agenda be approved. Ayes: Nine. Motion carried. Moved by Grimm, seconded by Miller, that the Minutes of August 23, 2023, be approved. Ayes: Nine. Motion carried. Citizen's Oral Comments Richard Hurtado spoke about the condition of the trees on the property and that many trees block view of the building. Randy Miller also commented on the condition of some of the trees. Treasurer's Report—Vacant Nancy Higby read the finance report for the period 8/17/2023 through 9/20/2023. • Brick Fund- $7,190.80 • Courbat Memorial Fund - $700.12 • Special Projects Fund - $600.00 • Artifacts Projects $316.99 Moved by Miller, seconded by Grimm,that the Treasurer's report be received and placed on file. Ayes: Nine. Motion carried. Chairperson's Report Craig White reported that the Vietnam Vigil was not well attended. He shared that he has spoken to several city leaders about the restoration of the fountain but has not heard back yet. Rick Hurtado questioned the total cost to fix the fountain. Craig White commented that the guestimate was $125,000, though he personally thinks it will be closer to $250,000. Committee Reports Mel Wittwer arrived at 5:10 p.m. Building, Grounds & Operations—Chairperson Mel Wittwer Mel reported that there are eleven bricks to be set hopefully by Veterans Day and that they have begun to work on the monument that is listing. The contractor has asked that the bricks be removed about 5-feet out to allow room to pour a new subbase, though that won't start until mid- October. Operations—Chairperson David Grimm David Grimm provided an update on the operating procedures, and thanked Frank McCaw for his work. He identified three small changes that were found after it was printed, and asked that the board members review the document and bring back any proposed changes. He would like to finalize the document and hopefully vote at the next meeting to approve. Dave commented on upcoming events to be held on the grounds and noted that the American Legion will hold its district meeting here on October 21, and said that this board should discuss the plans for the Veterans Day ceremony to be held on Saturday,November 11. Randy Miller September 27, 2023 Page 2 shared that Bill Quibell has agreed to sing the National Anthem and lead the pledge and prayer. Board members discussed the possibility of not holding a ceremony this year, as there are many other organizations are already holding events. Craig White suggested that there could be a combined event held at Amvet Post 31 starting at 11:00 a.m. The board agreed to this change and Randy Miller said he would get ahold of Bill Quibell and let him know of the change. Dave shared that he has not yet gotten a commitment from Rolling Thunder about the Memorial Day parade. Jim Lentfer stated that he will talk with them and let Dave know. Randy Miller commented on the wording"Commissions jurisdiction" on Page 4, Item II A— Extent of the Grounds, in the operating procedures. Frank McCaw stated that per his conversation with the city attorney,the building and grounds are owned by the City of Waterloo so the city is responsible for their maintenance. However, the commission manages the facility, artifacts and the grounds. Board members discussed and agreed to replace the word "jurisdiction" with"management". Board members discussed how to streamline communications with city staff so that multiple people are not speaking on behalf of the commission, facility or grounds. Mel Wittwer will be the point of contact and will coordinate any board efforts to meet with the mayor and/or city staff. Randy Miller reiterated the need to have city staff look at the trees that were mentioned earlier and the need to trim out dead or dying branches. He is concerned that some of the larger branches could break, fall, and injure someone. He also questioned if the ash trees were still being treated. Mel commented that he will discuss this with JB Bolger, and commented that he is still concerned about the tripping hazard at the door where the concrete has raised. Craig White commented that perhaps the contractor pouring concrete for the monument project might also address this concern. Moved by Frank McCaw, seconded by John Mrzlak, to add language to the operating procedures that identifies the Chairman of the Building & Grounds Committee as the single point of contact for coordinating communication with city staff. Ayes: Ten. Motion carried. Education/Historical—Chairperson Randall Miller Randy Miller passed out copies of the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for Soldiers Memorial Hall and Park. He encouraged the board members to review the information, as it contains a great deal of information on how this came to be a historic place and just how important this building was and continues to be. Artifacts Preservation—James Lentfer Jim shared that they were able to raise $153 by selling dinners but he is not sure they will keep it up. Frank McCaw commented that they held an Open House the same day as the Vietnam Vigil. He said that the artifacts had all been labeled and everything looked very nice and there were a lot of positive comments. He shared that he had an opportunity to speak with the city attorney on a few issue. First, was to learn who owns and controls the artifacts. Mr. Petersen said that it was his opinion that they belong to the City of Waterloo because the county conveyed both the building and the artifacts. However, according to the ordinance and the city attorney, the commission is responsible for managing the artifacts. Therefore, decisions about acquisition, display and disposition is up to the commission. He stated that if we decide that we want to sell an artifact because we have duplicates or it is not particularly relevant to our collection, we can sell those and deposit the monies designated into one of the accounts we have set up. He also shared that the artifacts are covered as part of the building insurance, which includes the structure and its contents. If an artifact happens to be particularly valuable it is still covered under the umbrella so no special rider is needed, and if an artifact should leave the building to be restored or loaned for display purposes, it is covered when it is off the grounds. Craig White questioned how a value would be placed on an item if it would be lost, stolen or damaged while on loan. September 27, 2023 Page 3 Frank said that one of the things we will need to do is come up with a Loan Agreement wherein we would set the value. He commented on the efforts to get another intern from UNI and said he was just notified on Tuesday that we would be getting one. Frank shared that he has spoken with the person on the phone and that he is very enthusiastic about getting started. He will begin work somewhere between now and November and will be able to give us a total of 15 hours. Mel Wittwer questioned the status of two artifacts that UNI was working to preserve. Jim Lentfer explained that the work was temporarily halted due to the refurbishing of the building and the dust that was creating. He will follow up and report back to the commission. Jim Lentfer noted that the city attorney cautioned them on the selling of artifacts because the ordinance could change at any time. Frank reiterated that currently, the ordinance stands and the commission is free to make decisions about artifacts until such a time as the ordinance is amended. Frank shared that we currently do not have a mechanism in place to allow for a tax deduction if someone wanted to donate an artifact. He stated that one possibility is to have the donation go through the Community Foundation somehow, or the other, is to have an agreement through the city, much like what Cultural and Arts does for donated artwork, etc. Finance/Fundraising-Position vacant. Jim Lentfer shared that as the temporary chairman of the finance committee, he did attend a meeting with the Martin Peterson (City Attorney), Bridgett Wood, Erin Tink of the Waterloo Community Foundation, Rick Hurtado, Dave Grimm, Richard Berry, Mel Wittwer and Randy Miller. At that meeting, he shared that he had found errors in our commission's account reports where the ending balance was not carried over to the next month's report on three occasions. Bridgett Wood said she would review our accounts for the past two-year period and will let us know where things stand. He noted that he was initially hesitant to have the review done, as two of the three were actually in the commission's favor. He explained that Erin Tink provided an overview of the different types of funds available through the Waterloo Community Foundation and shared that a donation of$2,000 was received from Garden of Memories. He further explained that we would need to set up a fund and identify how the monies would be spent, and that Craig White would be the authorized signer for the fund. He noted that it could be set up as a 501(c)(3) so that people would be able to get a full tax deduction and suggested that it be set up as a special projects fund and shared that there is a 2 percent fee (maximum of 3 percent) for their services. He commented that the UAW Veterans Committee sponsors a fundraiser every year and they would need a 501(c)(3) to donate any funds to, so he feels this would be the way to go. David Grimm commented that the Foundation would handle all of the paperwork with the City. He said that the request to approve this Designated Funds Agreement goes before the city council on October 2, at 5:30 p.m. He explained that he had an opportunity to speak with someone at the casino, and was able to let them know that we were looking to set up a 501(c)(3) through the Foundation and hopes that they would be willing consider donating to the Veterans Memorial Hall in the future. Unfinished Business Jim Lentfer would like to see next month's agenda reflect the current state of committee responsibilities. The changes shown in bold: • Operations—Chairperson David Grimm • Education/Historical/Artifacts Preservation-Chairperson—Frank McCaw • Finance/Fundraising—Chairperson James Lenter Moved by Lentfer, seconded by McDonald,to approve the changes as approved by the board and instruct the secretary to update the future agendas. Ayes: Ten. Motion carried. September 27, 2023 Page 4 New Business Mel Wittwer commented that on behalf of the White Clover Collection that AMVETS Post 31 did this year; they have donated $1,000 to the Veterans Memorial Hall. Mel suggested the monies be deposited into the Brick Fund. Craig White accepted the donation on behalf of the commission, recognized, and thanked those whose efforts helped raise the monies. Randy Miller commented on the rich history of the building and shared that he still has many important papers on the building and grounds that he plans to share with the city attorney. He stated that if nothing else, it is our mission to stand and speak for this building and these grounds and those veterans that served before us. With no further business before the commission, it was moved by McDonald, seconded by Wittwer,that the meeting be adjourned at 6:30 p.m. Ayes: Ten. Motion carried. Nancy Higby Administrative Secretary