AUBURN’S HISTORIC & CULTURAL SITES COMMISSION
Meeting minutes from June 23, 2004
Present: M. Vanek, D. Lamb, P. Copes Johnson, T. Hussey, B. M. Lewis, J. McCormick,
M. Alberici, P. Wisbey and J. Kline
Excused: J. Bryant, E. McHugh and S. Craner
Absent: S. Marteney, P. Anderegg, Rev. Carter, T. Bridenbecker, M. Weitekamp and
D. Dempsey
Chair M. Alberici called the meeting to order and D. Lamb read the mission and vision statements for the Commission.
I. Approval of the Minutes
M. Alberici asked for approval of the May minutes. T. Hussey noted that he was marked absent from the May minutes but he was present. J. Kline said she would make the change. P. Wisbey made a motion to accept the minutes with the requested change, seconded by B. M. Lewis. All were in favor and the motion carried.
Committee Reports
II. Planning & Development Committee
D. Lamb said there was nothing new to report.
III. Marketing Committee
As for leads from ads, M. Vanek said during the month of May the Tourism Office responded to 304 inquiries; the top producer being Better Homes & Gardens. Inquiries year-to-date total 2,124 and website visit are 3,559 year-to-date. M. Vanek said the pedestrian signs are finished, and sign locations have been flagged. We are just waiting for the City to install them. J. Kline said there was an article in today’s Citizen about the sign project.
M. Vanek said the Committee needs to meet to set the 2004-2005 budget. M. Vanek asked if people on this committee (M. Alberici and P. Wisbey) would stay behind to set a date. (The date was set for Friday, July 16th at 10AM at the Tourism Office.) J. Kline asked that directors and committee chairs submit their budget requests well before this meeting.
IV. Community Outreach Committee
M. Alberici said she visited several schools to present the prizes for the “Passport to History” program. Prizes include passes to the Skateboard Park and pool at Casey Park, and passes to Reva Rollerdrome. M. Alberici estimated that around 17 students from Seward School visited at least 5 of the 7 sites, and the other elementary schools, Owasco, Casey Park, Genesee and Herman averaged about 11 “completed” passports. P. Wisbey said Seward House attendance during the program remained about the same or less than last year, D. Lamb agreed. She said the timing of their show, “Both Ends of the Rainbow” was perfect for the students. J. Kline thought they had more traffic this year at the Tourism Office. K. Walker said the Chapel had a few more participants than last year.
M. Alberici commented how the sites’ weekday hours of operation are a problem for working parents trying to visit multiple places. It is also difficult to pick a night to stay open later since it will probably conflict with the students’ extracurricular activities. Many of the parents also lack transportation. M. Alberici continued that the faculty and students seemed very pleased with the program and the prizes. M. Alberici is curious about the statistics on how many students visited at least one of the sites.
J. Kline again invited everyone to TourCayuga, a tourism showcase sponsored by the Office of Tourism and the Downtown Auburn BID. There will be wine (and food) tastings, nice door prizes, awards and music. The Commission will be honored with an award. J. Kline said the Mayor could not attend to accept the award with M. Alberici, so Councilor Jacobs will come in his place. J. Kline encouraged the sites to invite their front-line staff since a large majority of the County’s attractions will have displays. M. Alberici confirmed the shifts for staffing the Commission’s display. The last open shift, 7:30PM – 8PM D. Lamb said she would fill. Then she can take back the Schweinfurth’s punch bowl from M. Vanek.
J. Kline said the Commission received a letter inviting the Commission to host a display at TomatoFest. M. Alberici reviewed the contents of the letter, and after a brief discussion, the group present agreed not do it this year. Staffing is too difficult and the local audience doesn’t come for tourism-related brochures. The cost is $30, and they do not provide tables this year. D. Lamb made a motion that the Commission not participate in TomatoFest this year, seconded by M. Vanek. All were in favor and the motion carried.
T. Hussey said Auburn’s Summer Celebration is set for August 7th, Great Race weekend. The hours are noon – 8PM. This event is free for not-for-profits to host a display. The group present thought the Commission materials should be on display there, but it didn’t need to be staffed. K. Walker will be there for the Chapel selling raffle tickets, and she offered to keep an eye on it. M. Alberici said if the sites have any special materials that they would like distributed, drop them off at the Tourism Office. J. McCormick made a motion to have the display at the Summer Celebration event, seconded by T. Hussey. All were in favor and the motion carried. P. Wisbey said the Commission could have their display at their Garden Party on July 10th.
V. Other Business
D. Lamb said the Common Threads brochures have gone to press, and she will be bringing them to Quilting by the Lake (last week in July, first week in August.) She is trying to arrange for a bus to come to Auburn for their free day. M. Alberici said Volunteer Night went well, and was well received for the first one. Unfortunately, accessibility was a bit of an issue with the road construction out front. Next time, we should also include a contact phone number to call if people have questions. The Tourism Office could traffic these calls. M. Alberici said she also has two friends that are interested, but couldn’t make it that night and Sue Muldoon has an interested student. The information went out in the Chamber newsletter, RSVP, a retired teacher’s meeting, the Sacred Heart bulletin, a poster was at the YMCA,
etc. If timing was better, the National Honors Society could have been approached. (We will work further in advance next year.)
M. Alberici said she was thankful the budget for the Commission was not cut, and will remain at $50,000 for another year. Many of the past budget year’s expenses were actually paid from the previous year’s, so this budget will be very tight. So, please submit your budget requests to the Tourism Office well before the budget meeting on July 16th.
M. Alberici wanted to discuss whether or not the sites should be charging a fee to administer programs, i.e. Cayuga Museum has charged a $500 fee for Passport to History and the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center has an admin. fee in their current Common Threads’ budget. M. Alberici checked with Councilor Dempsey and he felt the City would not be in favor of utilizing Commission funds in this way. Money could be better spent on promotion and programs. D. Lamb thought it was appropriate for the lead organization to be compensated for their staff time. For example, pulling together the information for the Common Threads brochure was time consuming. D. Lamb continued that the Office of Tourism is paid for their contribution; M. Vanek said that situation is different, since we are contracted by the City to fulfill
designated responsibilities, and we submit monthly reports detailing work completed, etc. CCCVB also has not increased their costs for four years.
K. Walker said the time she spends trafficking expenses for Common Threads she thought of it more as an in-kind contribution for the greater good of the Commission. Although this responsibility takes much less time than other projects, she can see both sides of the equation. She thought the question should be posed to the sites’ Board of Directors. D. Lamb didn’t want to involve her Board. P. Wisbey said that it is common for museums to receive a small percentage of a grant’s total for administration (5-10%). The group present agreed that perhaps the workload could be annually rotated, so one organization wasn’t always carrying the load. Job descriptions for each program, including the hours required to complete the project would further clarify this situation. D. Lamb said some programs benefit
certain sites and not others. K. Walker said they didn’t have great attendance at their Common Threads’ programs last year. The group present agreed that maybe another project could be created that would be more beneficial to everyone, i.e. a Tiffany themed event. M. Vanek said she had received a report through Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance which listed different project theme ideas, if they need a resource. D. Lamb was going to arrange for a site director’s meeting so these things could be discussed further before the next Commission meeting.
M. Alberici asked if the sites were utilizing the visitor survey. P. Wisbey said they were still hosting a large number of school tours, but once school was out it would be better. P. Wisbey said their Garden Party is set for July 10th, to coincide with the South Street Historic Homes Tour. D. Lamb said their next show is “Made in NY,” a juried exhibit of NYS artists. D. Lamb said they will be creating a catalog for their fall show, “John McQueen: The Weakest Verb,” which runs September 4 – October 31. He is an internationally known crafter/sculptor.
J. McCormick made a motion to adjourn, seconded by P. Wisbey. All were in favor and the motion carried. The Commission’s next meeting will held on August 18th at 3:30PM, 3rd Floor City Hall. The Commission adjourned at 5:05PM.
Recorded by Jesse Kline
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