 |
AUBURN’S HISTORIC & CULTURAL SITES COMMISSION
Meeting minutes from May 9, 2006
Present: D. Stankus, M. Vanek, B. M. Lewis, J. McCormick, M. Alberici, K. Walker, E. McHugh, P. Wisbey
and J. Kline
Excused/Absent: L. Leary, D. Lamb, S. Craner, S. Tucker, P. Copes Johnson, T. Bridenbecker, D. Dempsey,
T. Hussey and Rev. Carter
Everyone present introduced themselves to Diane Stankus, our new Commission member. D. Stankus has been involved with CPC and the Willard Chapel for many years.
I. Approval of the Minutes
M. Alberici asked for approval of the March 21, 2006 minutes. K. Walker made a motion to accept the minutes as submitted, seconded by E. McHugh. All were in favor and the motion carried.
Committee Reports
II. Planning & Development Committee
D. Lamb said the Site Directors had not met since the last Commission meeting.
III. Marketing Committee
J. Kline passed out copies of her monthly report, and said please review at your leisure. M. Vanek said, leads have increased since our ads are starting to run. Please refer to the Excel report prepared by J. Kline with the monthly tallies. For April there were 2,740 leads, with over 1400 coming from Family Circle alone. Things are going well with Jacobs Press; they are now handling mailings over 250 pieces.
M. Vanek said there is a copy of the budget draft in the packets. Last we heard, the ’06-’07 budget for the Commission was going to be $10,000. This amount, plus $3,000 anticipated from ILNY Matching Funds, puts the total to $13,000.
Going down the budget categories, brochure distribution remained about the same. This pays for having the Commission brochure at the information centers across the state. Memberships were cut in half, the largest being the NYSTPA Council ($500). We needed this membership to participate in the Meredith Publication buy, which we won’t have the money to do anymore.
M. Vanek said the line for Passport to History is $2,000, yet E. McHugh said she found a large supply of passports that will see us through the next two years. E. McHugh will also pursue getting bike donations, so this line can be changed to $750. The fulfillment amount was drastically cut since we don’t have the money to run many ads. Administration was also dramatically cut. J. Kline now spends about 17 hours per month doing administrative tasks for the Commission, moving forward, she will only have 4 hours a month. Decisions on how she spends that time will need to be made. For example someone else should consider taking the minutes, otherwise, there will be time for nothing else such as ad placement, web updates and brochure distribution.
M. Vanek moved onto the next item and said web maintenance is something that can’t be touched, and with the Passport for History savings, print advertising could be bumped up to $4,000. (J. Kline said, since we received more money than anticipated from ILNY, we have a few thousand dollars in the advertising line. She will check with her rep. from Meredith to see what he has coming up. We decided to go into the Sept. issue of Family Circle.) Everyone present was fine with the draft, and at the next meeting, we will hopefully now what the City budget decisions really are.
Next, the group present discussed the site directors giving brief presentations at upcoming Council meetings. J. McCormick offered to represent the Commission, with members in the audience giving support. (In lieu of this option, after the meeting, J. Kline e-mailed Debbie McCormick a statement for public record to be read at their next Council meeting.) E. McHugh said it is hard to plead our case when City workers’ jobs are on the line. Yet, our marketing efforts bring new money into the community, and other departments don’t. Last survey results showed that our efforts generated over $12,000,000 in revenue, which equals 242 times the original investment of $50,000. M. Alberici said she would get in contact with D. Dempsey to discuss the Council strategy.
Next, the idea of seeking accommodation sponsors for fulfillment funds, was discussed. Since they are listed in our brochure, we are marketing them as well. We could also offer to send out their materials with our fulfillment mailings. This could be offered on a first come, first serve basis. Ideally, Jacobs Press could handle this arrangement.
IV. Community Outreach Committee
E. McHugh said “Passport to History” is going well, and has been very well received with the schools, especially the more underprivileged ones. The timeframe is 6 weeks, and May 21st is the last day. During the first week in June, E. McHugh will be giving away the prizes.
V. Other Business
M. Alberici said the Sites Reception went well on April 19th. The Schweinfurth did a nice job hosting, thank you for everything. She only wished there were a few more people in attendance. Some Board members did come, but it was mostly site staff.
J. Kline said, as for open spots on the Commission, S. Craner had suggested asking a representative from the Auburn Public Theater. Everyone agreed, yet S. Craner is now on maternity leave, so someone else will have to follow up on that.
J. Kline passed out the Treasurer’s Report and went over expenses incurred since the last meeting. M. Alberici made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report as submitted, seconded by E. McHugh. All were in favor and the motion carried.
P. Wisbey said they had a very successful event with James Swanson’s “Man Hunt” presentation. They had 85 people attend at the House, and 400 people at East Middle School. Spielberg’s film adaptation of “Team of Rivals’ has been put on hold, yet the “Man Hunt” project is moving forward, and the script draft still currently includes the Seward attack. P. Wisbey said they have been very busy with school groups., and they will now be open longer hours Tuesday – Saturday, 11AM – 4PM. P. Wisbey also added that staff and directors from various women’s history sites in the Region will be meeting to discuss the creation of a women’s heritage trail in upstate NY. Once plans are sketched out, they will be exploring State involvement.
E. McHugh said they have a 1950s theme exhibit up now, and another on the history of Routes 5 & 20, in coordination with various sites throughout the Region, will open Friday.
K. Walker said Saturday is the Chapel’s spring fashion show. They will have two time slots, 1PM and 3PM. There will be new vendors and designers from last time, with one-of-a-king items and retail fashions. They are also gearing up for their historic house tour on July 8th. Two cemeteries will be added to the tour this time, and houses are located all over the City. A catered lunch will be offered at Dr. Stankus’s property. Tickets with lunch are $50, $40 w/o. Balloon’s is doing the food and wine, and there will be entertainment. Posters will be available soon, and please check out the chapel’s new website at www.willardchapel.org.
M. Alberici said her son Jeff’s 8th grade class is gathering information for the “Seven Wonders of Auburn.” The community can vote on-line, or send their ideas to East Middle School.
With no other business to discuss, the Commission adjourned at 5PM. The Commission’s next meeting will held June 19th at 3:30PM, 3rd Floor City Hall.
Recorded by Jesse Kline
| |
