Fort Meers Beach cultural and environmental Learning Center Advisory Board uh known as uh cab and it is Tuesday March 27th uh and it's at 1 pm exactly and I would like to call the meeting to order
and begin with the Pledge of Allegiance please I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for
all phonee have Jim that's good to see you nice to see you I'll begin with the roll call and I want to mention that Carrie Anderson is not uh Henderson is not here but her uh absence is excused and we
have Betty I mean Becky rolling in at the last minute so great to see you here I have to make a quick stop first it's a long way over here and I'm old and thank you for coming and the traffic can be unpredictable uh Becky can I just call
you for roll call absolutely all right Becky is here all right then we can start we'll start with um we'll start with our vice mayor Jim aderhold is here thank you Jim Carolyn mowen is here
Ellen vaugh is here Barbara Hill Sherry Smith Betty Simpson Adam Knight Jeff Hy Karina and Karina good to see you here all right um we have the approval of the minutes has everyone had an opportunity to review the minutes from
last month which was Thursday February 27th I moov the approval of the minutes from February 27 well I actually I have one one question um I had asked for clarification because Adam had indicated that the friends were paying $2,000 a
year for the kiosk domain and I question that since we had not been paying that for many years so so wondering if you were able to trace that down Adam uh yes it was well I should say now um in terms of answering your question regarding
like when the friends started and stopped paying that answer I don't have I still I'm going through it um but basically the short answer is it has been the last few years like two years at least well I suggest I suspect that it's a lot longer than that because I checked in with our Treasurer and she
has no recollection of that ever paying that and um I was not able to talk to Jim steel about it but um I never remember it coming up as a line item in the years that I've been involved and that goes back to 2015 the the only thing I can think of
it may have been lumped into the website through um the friend's uh BCD grant money that's the only thing I can think of okay that maybe the friends were paying it through the marketing Grant yeah well that would that would make sense because that's uh basically non
print and that would be covered under the grant so it was probably included in the grant so while it's not lining up as a line item on your books it is part of the grant that you all got okay so well and I certainly hope it's for more than
a domain because a domain name should cost $20 not $2,000 ah right that that that's really why I keep coming back to this yeah it was also for the server okay that Mak the host the websites kind of like the provider yes yes exactly so
it's like the our extended bill right right and yeah and but I'll keep looking into it yes please please do because it seems yeah or at least get it relabeled so that it's for web services yes web calling it web services and then I'll I'll stop no no clarification is always
a good thing thank you for pointing that out welcome so do you believe that there's any amendments that need to be made to the minutes or do they read as um as accurate well I would meend rather than calling it kios domain that it be
labeled as as web services domain and web services well domain is part of a web service I mean web service is is the generic terminology so if it's web service stort yeah and where meeting minutes meeting minutes uh last month's meeting minutes
uh s on approval of the minutes uh that's from the November's meeting right so I'll just say so the friends were paying $2,000 a year for domain Services web domain Services web services not domain whatever web services let's get
generic okay so yeah minutes um from the November 21st uh meeting uh has been amended um do we have an approval on that Amendment and we're going to have to resum the previous approval of the
minutes and go back to base one simply because we didn't really have a discussion so um going back to approving the amend Amendments of this uh change this uh web web domain
services i' like a motion to approve that Amendment so moved okay thank you Becky I'll second second okay thank you uh all right all approved I
yes um against no none thank you all right so that is approved and then with that Amendment uh the mo motion to approve the am minutes for the February 27th um meeting I'd like a motion to
approve the minutes I make a motion Thank You Caroline and I'll second okay all in favor I I [Music] oppos approved all right so Caroline that did the approval
minutes getting off to a very confusing start all right uh public comment we have no one in the audience so we'll just move forward for to the staff report uh thank you madam chair uh the staff report which is included in your
meeting packet is the single page document um with the numbers on one side and things to note on the back um you can see uh attendance remains pretty steady um especially our programming our programming really took off this uh
month uh these numbers by the way are as of March 25th when the numbers were captured um we've been doing a lot of Outreach um like the cattle drive the Shrimp Festival um you might notice I did based on uh the recommendations and advice
from the board um I did change the merchandise as a merchandise Revenue so you can see that clearer more clarification um rentals um social media remains our marketing campaigns are going really strong uh these are the
Impressions on the back page page two um of the the staff report and you can see uh two Mar Maring campaigns through expedient Travelers attended finished for winter spring is ongoing with an additional spring campaign through tripis marketing and we have ongoing
campaigns through Discovery maps and Le tram um some things of note staff training um the museum registar Briana uh vakaro spoke at a career panel for the University of West Georgia um we're bringing Mount house into fire Co compliance with new exit signs extinguishers
Etc um the museum registar attended an archaeological boot camp training at Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse through the Florida public archaeology Network getting her more familiar with Florida archaeology since she's coming from Georgia uh I gave an interview to wucf uh for a Statewide um PBS airing of
the Florida road trip series there'll be an episode on Fort Meers uh so it'll be the Edison Estates the Southwest Forida historical society and mountainous that will showcase the local history and things to do in Fort Meers is that the one that's Thursday at 8 on FGCU I don't have an airing time if I mean that's the
road trip I don't know what day it would be is Florida road trip that's it's an interesting program yes so it should air sometime in the fall ah so that be on the lookout for that and uh we're quoting collecting quotes for the landscape restoration after to basically replace the damage from Hurricane Milton
especially in that lower section by the observation Pier um staffa fix the existing irrigation system so hopefully that will help with um getting the salt off any future coastal flooding events um we have three new volunteers that are year round residents uh that are doing
kayaking and being Museum docents so that's a welcome addition we have a volunteer Appreciation Day on April 26 if you're a volunteer uh stay tuned for more information on details and then staff attended a service learning Workshop through Florida Gulf Coast
University and I'm happy to uh add any details or answer any questions um could you expand on the volunteer appreciation day yes so does that entail so that will entail um bit of a social as well as an
educational program to give some some updates but also just a chance for all the volunteers to come together at Mount house and thank them for their appreciation April being volunteer uh month um so just want to sh thank them reconnect with volunteers before U most of them head back up north and get
acquainted with the new volunteers especially and how many do volunteers do we have like including the kayak tours and in general I don't have that number on me but I can get it to you for next meeting okay um any questions for
[Music] Adam uh looks the figures really look good um I'm pleased that we are growing our membership although I would like to see a few more than uh we currently have but it's a start
um do you have many field trips still scheduled for this year uh yes uh we didn't have any this month but I think we have two or three next month excellent yes and what grade levels do they tend to be Elementary so usually that fourth grade core uh history requirement but staff are also working
on expanding the field trip offerings to include both um middle and high school aging to have really uh New Field Tri program lesson plans that are scalable um for elementary um even a couple that can be scaled to prek um especially
because there's such a huge demand for homeschoolers and they bring such a wide variety of Ages they do um so that that's going to be uh hopefully done by Fall okay and the FGCU program is is not in practice anymore it it is in practice
there just were not any scheduled colloquium tours in the month March gotcha okay I think there's one or two in April and then they continue around okay they're just none in March is it is it do I recall that the colloquium is no longer a graduation
requirement uh I believe so I'm not 100% sure um but in my conversation with staff I know there was discussion about ending that as a graduation requirement and making it an optional graduation requirement I think you can take additional courses or alternative courses or material to meet that
requirement but I I can't speak for Florida Golf Coast University I just wondered if if that would you would experience a significant change in participation if it wasn't requ I would imagine if it's no longer a requirement there would definitely be a drop off any other questions for Adam with
regard to the staff report no thank you Adam you're welcome okay uh next on the agenda is the underground exhibit you can give us the status on um what's happening uh unfortunately I wish I had more updates to share um basically it's
very similar to last month's update a lot of meetings conversations research and waiting back in collaboration with civil engineers uh the town's legal team um industrial hygienists we're still waiting on a time for scheduling
um working through our insurance company so looking all those ways to reopen it at what scale what level any possible solutions whatsoever because it's such a large complicated issue um unfortunately don't have a a clear answer on any of
those we're still waiting on feedback from those outside experts yeah it was nice um uh Chad shoots our environmental person here had a group of Engineers that were on the island for something else so they he he called Adam and said
I got this group of how many 50 27 30 Engineers Engineers that came down to look at it so we're we're waiting on some of their expert opinions to the they were going to write put them in writing oh they're going to give you an actual written report what kind of Engineers were they uh they're a mixed
of various Specialties but mostly civil engineers in addition to the structural engineers that we had so what was their response at viewing it uh it was a a mixture of responses um most of the responses were uh well one that it was
there that it was built in the first place um just because it's such an unusual structure they weren't EXP in it on a tour of you know uh Beach stability to see an archeaological site so they're kind of taken back by that and they're kind of um interested that it was built
below the grade was at sea level uh in 2009 so so it's definitely a a structure they were uh not accustomed to seeing especially a a Bas basically a structure with entry at grade into an archaeological site so it was mostly
shock and a little confusion onto what exactly they were looking at um but the good news is another thing in addition to the engineers we also had I've been uh successful in reaching out to is it Ike Park the architectural firm that did the designs for both phase one and phase
two uh and they're sending over their recommendations as well okay um did you have any contact remember the gentleman that was here Charlie streer and he said that he had a lot of contacts and people that would be willing to work with us as as far as prices go I was just wondering
if you've gotten in contact with him uh no we haven't um because we're still waiting on a lot of the real health and safety elements in the engineering before we discuss and move forward with pricing um we don't want to disqualify anyone by discussing pricing or through
a bidding process or request proposal process so I don't want to be too M to premature and then in the future months the year for now there's a road block yeah and that's pretty typical on our project because if you consult with somebody about it they can't bid on the
project oh so he wouldn't be in a position of bidding contract just make sense yeah we can do a Consulting but if if he has contacts I would hate to jeopardize what he has if we don't have a scope yet so I reached out to him um when I came back from from my travels
and had a lovely conversation with him and he's interested in in helping us as best he can he suggested that we look wide look widely and broadly he said that what we have such a unique right element to the property that it may be
of interest to International firms and he went so far as to say they might be willing to do the work pro bonome because it would be an interesting to have thing to have in their portfolio interesting so I told him that we would be discussing things and that I'd stay
in touch with him and he's very interested in being involved with us and that's Slater yeah I have this contact information yeah you have all the info okay and so I can share that um cuz I'm not sure that we have his name spelled properly in the minutes but I I'll double check with with my with my contact but any then I had this Epiphany
that I've been dying to share with my fellow people that care about the mound house and after Teresa Scher gave us such an impassioned presentation last month I wondered if we could bring her on as a consultant for this project what would that entail cost wise
I don't know she sort of says this is her million-dollar baby she might be willing to help us pro bono and I actually she mentioned that she did say I'm available if you need my help and I think we given all the detail that she provided about all the extraordinary
things they went to to engineer that properly so that those that were involved wouldn't be shocked by the what it is but yeah and it is and the fact that she shared with us that it was designed to be I'm going to use the term R periodically and nothing had been done
to the faces of it for 14 years undermines the way it was supposed to be maintained yeah and I was a little shocked that we didn't have a maintenance plan on that anyway so I'm wondering why that didn't come with uh yeah you know a lot of records were lost after Teresa left
okay well I think it would be poor judgment not to involve her because she seemed to know all the ins and outs and whever Peg and pin and right you know the whole layout I I was really impressed with her detail right so what
would be the protocol for uh asking her involvement and actually what is her time frame too because doesn't she go up to British Columbia oh don't know she's in Tallahasse how she said oh tah she still has her house here up in IA right
so so basically it' be a recommendation to to staff or councel to to look into that that'd be great someone that's familiar just like we have Bill Grace for but she I mean and she wouldn't be she would be there for Engineers that
come in and that are shocked to see what they see because it is unusual that she could explain what we have here I mean we have a a cultural gym there and and you know like Charlie said you know you can almost make it worldwide State light
people still talk about it is it open is it open is it open that's what they remember that's what they remember oh yeah yeah so I we need to really explore we we from a standpoint if she is offering to do this work pro bono that
would be something that would be up to staff the Town Council wouldn't have to approve that so if if you want to work up some kind of an arrangement with her um I had a question for Adam I I missed maybe just a bit you mentioned that the The Firm that did phase one and phase two was going to be consulted and
provide the recommendations have they come out and actually viewed the uh underground exhibit since the not since Milton but they did visit after Ian okay would they be making the recommendation after they've come out and seen it after Milton or are they going to just do it
what based on what they know now based on what they know in terms of the actual the structure they're not commenting about the archaeological thing they made that very clear than archaeologist because the underground exhibit isn't the archaeology the underground exhibit is the concrete that was made in 2009 uh as a modern structure so that they're
qualified to speak on in terms of its strength as a structure and its limitations and challenges so nothing's changed as a result of Milton that would help them assess the situation in terms of physically coming out and seeing it I'll check I'll check in with them again um but they seem pretty confident they
would be able to comment on and submit a written report on the challenges and opportunities associ I think it's a great idea I just wondered if they need to see it again after absolutely so do we need to pursue Dr Victor Thompson in any way I did speak with Dr Thompson a
while back and he seemed very um interested project clearly and uh was very pleased uh after our last meeting with regard to the support for looking into every possible means by which this can be repaired and reopened so I do
think that there are a lot of people that are advocating for the reopening um but what I'm hearing you say is that you actually since our last meeting there's nothing been concretely determined from any of the resources that we had that uh
in other words you haven't been reaching out where we were able to get a report of any kind it's just all still preliminary is what I'm hearing uh mixture of preliminary and still waiting on those reports so I have nothing tangible to submit to The Advisory board or to Jeff even okay and with regard to
the legal services that you were the legal issues you were referring to could you elaborate yeah in regards to um both state statutes when it comes to um 87 to uh the law dealing with human remains um
the historic preservation act of 1966 which is section 106 um nagpra uh and other culturally specific laws both on the federal state level and then also reviewing the town codes as it relates to archaeology Town codes yes there's
various Town codes yep the town of for Mar's Beach under Section 22 um I think section 22 yeah um under that code is uh there's a couple law uh ordinances that relate to archaeological archaeological sites so that actually was drawn up and
approved after the underground exhibit was because right that was when we incorporated so those rules those ordinances came into effect while we're dealing with the archaeological site so it could have been it seems to me that would be complimentary not uh in any
way deterrent yeah there are certain procedures that the the legal team looking into and like the right cuz some of the laws especially the state laws are very very very specific you can't deviate Once A law is triggered the town
has obligations to follow the law throughout and there's there's changing jurisdictions involved and yes there's a lot of things involved so I'm just making sure as a town that we're following the right thing of law so okay so make sure we do
it right just check all the boxes and then we go move forward yeah our uh our attorneys Our Town attorneys are have it in their hands okay so then their findings will be presented to us next month whenever they get to it I mean they got a lot on their plate too
so want to drag this out I don't either but we have other stuff going on right so maybe Adam could you kind of give me us a sense of Your Action Plan going forward for the next month in regards to the underground yeah um if there's an
update I'll provide it um um but I don't foresee an opening next month for the next couple months for the underground exhibit what do you mean the opening yeah like a reopening of the no no we're not talking about that at the last month
we we we were looking to you to provide the um basis by which we can better determine the steps forward I.E what is the feasibility what are the legal issues what is the you know if you've got the mitigation issue is that the
first step when is that going to happen and the budget for making all of this go forward we'd like to be able to get that next month that should be as what I uh I just think I mean Barbara you know what's going on with other Town property especially like the pool we spend two and a half years and we're barely
getting to to that whole process but that's that's an issue of funding and I we're not quarreling about the funding this is a lot this has other issues in funding though this has legality things that we're trying to clarify to make sure we're we're good and that's what we want
to do we just want to cover our bases but to know to like put a timeline on it I just I just don't know if it's fair because things just a time what do you perceive to be some of the legal issues he mentioned those earlier yeah mostly in regards to uh
follow following proper procedures because again if you deviate from anything whatsoever it could send us the project back even farther both in terms of cost and time and delays so I want have a clear roadmap and a strategic plan moving forward so you're talking about procedural things and not
procedural but also there is noted risk uh especially regards to human remains uh regardless of race gender everything the presence of human remains does complicate the situation greatly um especially in the eyes of the State uh 872 is a very procedural once it's
triggered there's no stopping it I think this is another reason why we should bring Teresa in as an advisor because she went through knew it yeah and Ju Just Just a comment I know that there's a lot of other things that need
to be addressed you know the rec center and stuff but I really feel that anything cultural on this island and that's about the only thing that we really have outside of the library now it just gets bottom you know we don't
get we don't get the attention that the others do and I mean cultural is one of the few things in the area that draws people we have something cultural on Fort Meers we still have I mean we are working on that we still have the M house I mean that is our attendance is
is up I mean we are working on it trust me we I don't want to see a close my dad and I were even talking about it last weekend he's he's been he's seen it he's like that's not going to close I'm like we're trying to make it not close not not to have it close not to make CL trying not to have it closed we just want to make sure
it's ethically financially I mean when when we go back I'm just going to be honest we probably won't have TVs down there we probably won't have a laser show that's fine all so I mean those are just realities structure wise we really working that's all we
want we don't need all the bills just and just think about how long it took to build the the first permit for the demolition of The Swinging pool was in filed in or completed in 2005 and it didn't open until 2010 right well there was a lot of archaeological work that went on in the
meantime and these people were were part of that effort so it wasn't as if it was the swimming pool was taken out and it was immediately put in there was there was right and as we know archaeological work is is long and slow and it's likely there will have to be in terms of a
mitigation a path forward might involve just like Teresa pointed out in terms of modifying the structure there might have to be additional archaeological work which as you just pointed out delays a lot of things both in terms of procedure science uh and the law anytime you dig a
hole on that property you have to it and that's what a couple of the engineers were suggesting is building another structure on top to house everything else so it's like no we can't really do that see that's yeah they're not qualified to put in their two cents I mean they can give us
their two cents about what's there what's there and how to mitigate loss for sure we are rest assured I mean we are working on it um both Adam and I meet weekly and talk about it um it just how
do you see that we can help you um I guess continue advocating and your role as the adviser board to Town Council just like Sherry pointed out to continue you know promoting um and amongst the community cultural uh
Heritage on the island um I guess that and to I mean thanks to our vice mayor who supported our vote in November he went to council and I gave that report and he was able to verbally get all the
council members to verbal verbally um affirm their support for reopening the underground exhibit once um all of the studies have been done and we recognize it's not going to happen tomorrow but we just like to see some
progress and if written status report uh that and not only that but perhaps if if you all don't object I would like to see uh Teresa is consulted uh and if she can help you provide an input that might be of value that would make the progress go
a little bit more efficiently I think we'd all be for that was just talking to her was she willing to do a pro bono well she said I'm happy to help you in any way I can that to me sounded like a proon I would certainly ask if she would
be uh in a position to do that well even if we had to pay her in some way I think it would be very valuable to the whole project exactly friends have yeah and the friends maybe could be in a position of supporting that that was a requirement on her part let's go the pro
bono vote first exactly that and let's save your money for something else right but yes let's let's go if that is in if that is agreeable to you I know that's a little sticky Wicked because normally when you have a director you don't go
back to get the input by the uh original director in any cultural institution not just this one um but I think because she was the one that developed it and really has the a lot of those records I think uh were lost with the subsequent
directors that came on board that really it would be um invaluable and I think help help um help the cause as it were well also she wrote so many grants initially and brought in a ton of money
did and since we need money hello well and that would be grant writing which I don't think she's in the position to do no but we could we could find that if we just had the source for the grants well a lot of those grants are
drying up but certainly we're looking Poss pull back imls for example that's just that entire program just been scrapped I mean we we applied for the SE Grant and they did it cut what how much
out of their budget yeah but no you're you're right you're right carollyn we we can definitely pursue grants okay Adam chair just could I ask the the the committee if our town attorney is currently doing a legal analysis we have
two fine Town attorneys but they are busy and they're also very alerted and very uh accomplished in their fields I guess my question would be because uh they don't have the institution U knowledge that this committee has if
they were to query someone on some of the history as they research these legal issues would Teresa be the person that would be best suited for them to reach out to she would could could could we is is could we have our town attorney reach out to Teresa as part of her due
diligence just to that would be great right aition be great yeah and a lot of it isn't too much interpretive honestly it's it's a history the history might help though prepare their defense and or response and I also think Susan Grace
could be a a source you know her husband was an attorney they are the ones who developed a lot of the stuff but they were in on it with Teresa and the development and the I just I just worry Our Town attorneys who are extremely competent but I think they don't have
that institutional or historical background actually yeah part of it's not um Becky and Nancy that are doing it they have another associate that more works on historical that's Chloe oh good so she's been taking this on that's great but but the get same holds true
for Chloe but but your point well taken yeah it doesn't yeah they have a firm that does a variety of things for the town they they just Becky and and uh and Nancy happened to be the lead but uh I just yeah Chloe's taking this one on I'd love to have Chloe talk to somebody with that history uh just to get some balance
and knowledge put together right yeah so I think those two sources both both Teresa and and Susan Grace right definitely but in addition to that certainly you know Teresa has this incredible institutional knowledge but she's been gone for what 15 years and of
course there have been laws that have been passed there have been Mark marked um changes in terms of how institutions are being recognized and how they're being supported and what is the value that perhaps wasn't as much of value
back when Teresa was director so we have to take that into account about you know the evolution of of any cultural institution and I think she would be a great beginning to do just that sure but she's not keeping up with you know the archaeology as it relates to the
mountain house from the last 20 years I mean you know since she's been gone with say it hasn't been I I also think that season might have an idea because Bill would have handled any legal issues having to do with some of those issues those are
everything that we're trying to explore so yeah those are good yeah so she might have a a real feel for what was going on perfect yeah I'm just saying you know we're advocating a lot for the underground but we don't need what we
had before right we don't need the TVs we don't need the neon lights we don't need we want we that's why I said I'm just trying to be real about this probably won't be down there because we want to keep it simple best, yeah natural yeah and we're not even to
that stage of exhibit development we're still looking at the foundational issues the physical structure process struct exactly this is It's again this is not not off the table by any means we're really fighting to to keep it open where a lot some of these Tom Pro Tom
projects we just kind of F and you know and that after they were destroyed the third or fourth time so we're really honestly trying to keep it open I don't I don't want your job I can't I can't imagine keeping up with everything so I
mean I'm not I'm not saying that's on the back burner at all it's just one of the things we're working towards you know it's one of the plates the town spinning and I'll talk about Newton here in a second so that's another and a question about the gentleman that was to come from um New Smyrna Beach and I
believe it was some kind of we're still trying to schedu him so I don't if that's going to pay now we may have to just end up paying for it Insurance okay so was he G to come down Pro or is no he was part of the insurance oh it's okay so so he's got all these other claims that he's going around and we're just
trying to so that's a waiting game then with him or is that all the could be he hasn't been very responsive so yeah it's definitely an issue of concern so the person in question is an industrial hygienist yes I know so we will still
pursue I wish would have gone through this process when they were doing um I didn't know it was such a thing until they came down and did BS uh that was not too that was recent but and yeah and that's when we came in and they came in and they said no this flooring should
have get taken out way earlier there's mold there's you know it wasn't at the levels where we needed to shut down shut down but after all these storms that's why we're going to do we're not going to put down a gym floor are we obligated to use this this person through the arrangement or we pay for another one
but we just need funds and how much is that going to cost I have no idea we haven't looked into another one yet we've been trying to get this guy done I haven't had good experiences with industrial hesis you know this is this has to come out this whole kitchen has to come out
no it there was no they were wrong pull the dishwasher as dri a bone back there no well I think that's one thing if you're a private owner but this is town for I understand that we have to do bye go the last thing I want I was
just thinking of the resources at Florida G coast and a lot of graduate students and and experts professors that oversee yeah I don't know if they have that that program but well they might not but you know it would be worth and our our number one goal here
is first and foremost safety of our the people that are going to be going in there so well I mean wouldn't M be one major Environ it could shut the whole project down forever that's that's my concern well and you know that's something we
have to face that's the reality I mean to me what I we have all been through it the first thing that anybody talks about is get that mold out of that building yes everybody says that first right off the bat as a town we have to have documented like B we had to have it
documented that it's it's safe because we're a government entity we're a public anti so that's just one of the many things we're looking at it's not but is I mean is it too late to go in as a as a mitigating um activity to just at least keep it from getting worse now I mean to
the we can so the again the issue is the the environment has changed since it's initial construction so it doesn't just it didn't just flood during Milton or it also flooded Helen Nicole idalia Ian and also I mean some of you were down there
before but also full moons I mean how many times would you go there with a group and there's a giant puddle of water the whole Basin is filled with water and it's a dark room filled with water mhm you on and off submersion empty submergent empty year after year
can mold ever get worse I mean is what's the worse it can get I don't know kind they're not all bad allergic to penell and molds and blue te and all that so I don't want to be tell that there mold I mean there's mold everywhere I mean that's right it
is but the the door we did build that temporary wooden structure to have have at least the doors open to ventilate it in some regards to start to mitigate any future growth or real explosions um but there still is that issue of again the continued flooding um so if you if you
visit the mountain house that's what that there's that big wooden gra the doors are open to try airing it out a little bit and that's what we did at for but again I'm I'm not a industrial hygienist or or a mold expert so if that's effective I'm sure it might but
to the levels of Public Safety I'm just and maybe that's another maybe that's another thing to consider is to not have it closed in yeah and that everything's on the table Sherry did you have a yeah Becky had you said that I think it was
Becky that that one of the ideas if you know it gets the point the mold the everything would be to build like a big plexiglass type thing in the front where people could at least look in I thought of that too you have a like a doorway
mhm a window these are all options that we can explore osy Point has where people walk through everything else is behind glass so that's another that maybe is another option and there is isn't open
it's just open and they have a giant Skylight to help with ventilation oh great idea um so they they don't have that air condition they just have it open which also is good for the stability of the shell so there's no like instability with the changing and humidity between the inside outside the door opening and changing it's you know
97 outside it's 72 inside so it's more stable so in regards to the you know the flooding so there again like Joe say there's a lot of things that we're considering just for again health and safety I would hate for someone to get
sick a staff member a volunteer or a visitor um from the poor air quality that's the last thing you want don't think it's as easy as spr mold like need lot of Leach Carolyn do you have a thought just
oh I was just asking question oh okay because if you have something to add no she was just asking and maybe Jeff could respond Carolyn was just asking does the the town already have a mitigation firm that they've worked with I assume you have at Bay Oaks um we either work with whoever
the insurance company gets or we have there's a division of FEMA that's that's mitigation um that came down after in um but no we don't have one currently on on staff they just like for let's just say for Bays or the water towers
we've had them come down and just take a look make sure the environment's safe um Jeff would a mitigation firm like that need an industrial hygienist to come in first to assess the situation I know for BS they did this time yeah they they that was one of the check marks they had
to have okay but one of the you know check marks it was just part of the process but um um yeah I mean so I think these are going to be conversations how would the process be different between BS and the underground exhibit why would that not
be treated the same depends how our insurance was set up at the the buildings ah so after Ian we would have never been able to do what we do here that's why it took so long to open the first time okay but we were very underinsured so we had boosted everything up so it just depends we'd have to look whether it was you know
flood wind whatever insurance that that would pay for it we had insurance we had we had flood insurance roundhouse in general and I believe FMA paid the town X number of dollars for you know the repairs of the damage what a part of
that was to the underground exhibit I don't I have to look I don't there's got to have been some stien for the damage to the underground exhibit from FEMA um those are always tricky ones we can put a valuation to it whether
they're going to pay it or not is the other so you don't know whether we won't know for another I mean right now they've actually froze a lot of the FEMA funds currently so they I'm sorry they've Frozen them oh currently they're they're working on it so it just depends I mean
we can't count on that money coming in five or 10 years uh we sure hope so we're very hopeful that that the money saying we didn't get any F of money for we haven't gotten any F money at all okay but insurance money insurance money we would have gotten I'll find out
figure that was but I I can't imagine it was a whole lot I can't remember you no see if I can pull it up and it was basically one pot it I know the mount house and underground are not separate line items which complicates things since they're separate structures I remember Allison saying that the mount
house was the one property that the town owned that was properly insured that that we know but in terms of an amount or how exactly we did spend quite a bit of money after Ian on that company that came down yeah um yeah but that was mostly the hisor I can get you those
figures and I can either send them out or or I won't won't have time now because I'm G to cut my report short have that for next meeting then okay yeah so we can kind of look through I mean I'd like to know you know from the insurance coverage that we did have
after Milton what um was allocated for the underground exhibit after Milton we wouldn't probably know that yet you wouldn't know that yet from the insurance I don't think the adjusters have done all their work yet oh really no wow I mean they they've been down
here to do site inspections but I don't think we've got any figures back interesting wow that's slow process that's been months nobody's really heed up to pay fast so I mean we're still working on insurance claims from I believe Irma and
FEMA claims from Irma so when you over doing the roof repair for the M house itself was was that money from Ian that was the in yeah yeah and we're just getting to the gutters as well yeah and that was two years ago two and a half okay anyway I'll get you those figures
next time to see how much we got but I think Adam's right I think it was it's all part of one um I also the looks I don't think they would have done it they would have done it as an exhibit not the grounds so those are two different categories um two out of of five but it would but the Mountain House
in general that would be the site itself would be the house it probably went with the house right so we had the house the shed the office right the shed too obviously yeah I'd love the breakdown of that if you can provide that next sure any other questions for
Adam um with regard to the underground isit I think um everybody brought out some really good interesting points about our steps forward um Newton Beach Park yeah I'm going to be brief and the careful
everyone I have some stuff going on this afternoon too so um it's right now the what we have permitted for is the ground that's there so hopefully you've driven by and taken a look yes um good that's what's going to go down there uh the restroom trailer should be moved in tomorrow morning as long as we
fpnl being a nice friend and put in the meter can um we'll have it open hopefully tomorrow so and that's the parking lot and the restrooms that's it the parking lot will be very rough right now uh we went we the curb stops um and
they're not in yet so yes you'll be able to park there we'll maybe put up some posts to kind of Define it a little bit um those will probably be in early next week but uh yeah the access is open it's I've been down there plenty of times in the past couple weeks and
access hey could you just comment because a lot of people drive by and wonder what's happening there's still piles of sand there and there's a big truck there what what just from a practical standpoint I was just noticed it coming by but people ask me all the time what is is there still is it Beach re nourishment stuff yeah Beach
renourishment is supposed to wrap up May 31st okay of this year um however John um I I get those same calls yeah um we are looking for another alternative
place to put sand because they're bringing in to fill the scourers um that kind of washed away uh some of it on I don't know if you've noticed the beach it has sometimes has like a seems like a three- foot drop off after we get some wave action or some storm so they're
trying to fill that in so um but right now the beach re nourishment has it kind of until they are complete which is supposed to be May 31st um at that point so that's what's going on so where you see the green fence that's all be
Beach renourishment they were um I don't know if you say nice enough because they were supposed to have that whole lot they were we worked together well it actually make the the restroom trailer happen down there um and have a piece of that property I know it sounds funny because it's ours but it's also our only
beach beach uh beach side access that we have for Beach nourishment so um so we have from the the green fence on for now um that's going to be parking we'll have about eight spots so you know don't think you're going to go down there with a ton of people but we'll we'll start
Beach walks once that's in too um and that'll probably be that way so we have the cdb um gdr money as well that we've been talking about for Newton Park uh 3.5 million I believe it is and we've talked
about that and how the park hopefully is going to look um we like the design so um hopefully we'll get the money on that and it again it's a very um unpredictable kind of scope but we're hoping in June or July we'll get that money after all the reviews are done so
it's got to go to the the the county first who who distributed then the county has their own we have title base in here they have their own company that that oversees their grants and everything and then it's got to go to HUD which is the federal level for there
to review those two steps so that's why it's taking so long so once we get the money and we've already been alloc I mean we've already been allocated the money we just haven't seen we haven't gotten it yet so um so that should happen and once we get it we can start
the Consulting uh to get the um landscape architect in there and do thing um so that's kind of the the timeline on that I'm sorry it's kind of choppy but I don't like to give timelines and dates because we know how timelines and dates go um but right now it's it's going to
fit our purpose for for now for beach access parking and restroom and then after the beach re nourishment is done and we get our cdbg Dr money then we're going to start the Redevelopment and it'll be awesome it'll be 3.5 million will go a long way in that park for
eight parking spots no that'll be a total that's just for now temporary yeah uh I think I think we can fit eight in there I might be give or take one or two but this is the temporary one this is not the ultimate the compet the other one will have more
spots than it had before you're talking originally about 17 parking spaces that would be adjacent to the beach ja 17 I thought it was in the 20s but 22 22 that's what 22 okay so ultimately it will be but I guess and I
don't if um you know what everybody's feeling is but it seems to me that it's so s short shortsighted sorry uh of the town to put in those eight spaces in that restroom only to have it moved to
the beach access area within a year I mean financially that doesn't seem to make sense could you explain why that is happening we had a um we've had I don't say outcry but a lot of residents that have voiced
their opinion to get restrooms and parking back there part of our our thing too is we need to start doing Beach walks is part of the Florida Land Trust Grant um and we've we've kind of gotten a pause on that but we really need to start doing them so we can get those in
and Report those and we just don't have any other parking down there so it really I I would say just financially yeah no is it somebody who uses the beach a lot walks along the beach takes bike rides there's no place to go to the bathroom and I think people who live along there people are using their
yards remember the the restroom itself was paid for by TDC right yes of course so it's just the earth work yeah um and the meter because that meter I mean we have to get power back there anyway anyway there was power there before um
so infrastructure wise it didn't really it's not it wasn't a huge expense is what years yeah we used to have the we used to have the Windom and the Outrigger and all kinds of nice places to stop they were always very generous with their facilities and it's just nothing it's kind of scary yeah and if
we just went with regular porta potties we know how that goes exactly so yeah this was a a I would say a priority for the town and the residents okay I'll just do yeah um Jeff
on your Beach walks um who will be doing those you oh sorry sorry sorry you said Jeff yeah uh so I'll def to the guy that run je Jeff mentioned it because so it' be staff and just like before staff and
a mixture of volunteers once we re get that kind of the beachwalk program reestablished right so it'll be just like before good because it's very very popular and that's one thing um with the the people that did the beachwalk they were very encouraging our membership to
the Mount house and once you start doing if hopefully this is the problem we have we have too many people that want to come we don't have enough parking spot so maybe they can park at the M house and we can van over or something like that we we'll think of some and I hope we
have that problem for sure but we're also within the next few days or early next week we'll have more trash cans down there too recepticles I mean we done a pretty good job of our staff going down and trying to clean it up even though it's an active construction site um I mean I went there and picked
up a handful of water bottles yesterday or you know it just blows in or people on the be you know it wasn't awful at all it actually was shouldn't be surprised but it was a lot more clean than I thought it was going to be um reports that it was filthy and there was trash everywhere um
there's a little debris in the in the construction site um which could be fenced off a little bit more but which we're working on great good good okay good any other questions with regard to Newton Beach Park
oh on the design is it my memor is a little fuzzy on did we sign off on a on a design for Newton Park we did um it was given to us by that DG what is the name drmp um r2p yes r2p okay but then
theany was that land Planning Group that charet that Workshop yeah where were they from drmp I believe no it wasn't drmp no the people that were here yeah no that was um so I guess my my brought those federal government brought those oh the right and then we we brought that
plan back to um and we voted okay so this is what will will be done is what we voted okay that was so it's a site plan that include where the restrooms were going to go where the parking was going to go where the Pavilion and I
think once we get a little further along that's going to come back to us because I I think there's been some Chang with regard to specifics about what will be as Fed so I think if I'm not mistaken Jeff are we going to be able to have another opportunity to revisit that site
plan before the um goes out yeah oh yeah well we have some time um it's we'll have to send this off um to you know we'll have to put it out for bid so that'll be you know at least 30 60 plus so the bid process will
probably take two and a half months okay not two and yeah about two and a half months two and a half months okay so then that could be brought back to cellc yeah just and I don't know if you guys hopefully all watch borab but um we had this discussion yesterday with Bor cab and and the kind of the process it's
it's going to be one of those things where we have a timeline to spend this money um they want to see it progress um which is awesome for this project because we've already looked at a design we like so like for the pool it's going to here's your design minor tweaks you
know that that kind of thing we know what the the general public wants from the r2p 2 for that too so um it's going to be a nothing's quick but quicker process than let's say the b Redevelopment that took years you know I think when we were
having that recommendation we voted in general that that site plan was um um acceptable and approved but then there was always a question you know whether we were going to take advantage of our vice chair's um recommendation for
swings or was there going to be the bot ball court which now has generated apparently new um proponents of the b b court so I think there were some fuzzy areas about that site plan that were still up for discussion I'm not quite
sure am I right Jim you are right we're going to want to make sure that swing set is aligned just right to see the sunset as you're swinging off looking at the picture right now they're in the background of this drum it's beautiful the ones yeah there swings back there beautiful yeah we'll see if we can fit B
was just wasn't used there that much was well that that was what I understood and then when we I think when the public heard that they were going away but you're not going to take I think that was k k who became an advocate for the bot ball K became an advocate for the
bot ball yes and they're not mutually exclusive we may be able to do both but I don't know you can play ball in the swing yeah it depends how much what we want in the park do we want more vegetation do we want more picnic I think we did want the you know
the pathways and the interpretive signage for the various plants and and the and the emphasis and the encouragement of planting native plants which you know after these storms is more vital than ever so Florida friendly I think the name is now not even though
they were Native they at least Florida some are coming off the list of and we're hopefully not closing the door on acquiring the property next door so that that's still I mean the grants as as as Adam and Jeff have said have have diminished a bit but we're still working
with the various land trusts to try to find those funds but it's a it's it's a pretty steep price take with that was for strand just what one thing and I I keep bringing it back up but I think it'd be a great way for us to get a
grant or some recognition is if in our park that we put some little thing for autistic children or challenged children or something like that I think it would it seems to be kind of the thing nowadays yeah and we're already we're
already putting in obviously we want to but we have it's got to be ad compliant and right you know the signs have to be a certain height so just something that seems to be going around today that's popular yeah we were I mean if we can put something even you know wouldn't
have to be big yeah and the um we're going to try to find a place to put the we did get the beach uh wheelchairs in we're putting them together now so we're trying to find a spot where to keep them and good we can't really put sheds out anymore
you know so did you say that that beach access is actually open now yeah to the public it's been open okay the whole time well not the whole time it's been open for I'd say 6 months at least at least six six and 12 month
okay good Jim in that strand View Property what's the price tag on that 14 I think yeah I've heard anywhere from 10 to 14 in in that range yeah last I heard was 14 yeah okay I I defer to Jeff on that $4
yeah take it so yeah it we actually we had a we had a conversation yesterday at Bard cab two about pocket parks in town um just little parks and requiring land and it's not always the easiest to do I
mean there's some that are attainable for you know we were talking about one 650 650,000 and yeah that might be our ceiling so 14 million we can get probably I mean we'd have to apply and all that but maybe a million in the
Florida land trust but we're still coming up a tad short I don't know if you had heard that that you know from our meeting at borab yesterday with regard to the property that seemed to be within that million dollar budget is 650,000 for the opportunity maybe to
have the town put in a little pocket park on Lagoon Street which is obviously you know the South part of the island obviously not well served by our Park system that we currently have with the town that would have been a nice
opportunity that I'd love for Council to continue to pursue that's a great idea we're not talking about like a pickleball softball baseball park nice park where you can ride your bike to or walk to even drive maybe have a couple parking spots and some benches yeah you
know maybe a little bit of workout yeah I mean there really is no public beach access on the south end so that would to have a pocket park there would be wonderful it's not be front so is this bont it's no it's not befront either towards the end of Lagoon yep
towards H what's that other uh I don't know I'm not familiar with that the one joy joy I think B Beach Lane maybe she lives on B Beach Lane Lagoon it was a threel like development like the development company
or because Lagoon is in not tropical Shores it's Lagoon Shores lagon so lagon is the street that goes around back around and I think where it curves is where there used to be some condos and that's the the location the property that's all Resident I mean that's all single family
residential was there there there's a couple condos it was it was a fairly decent sized area yeah which I thought cuz it's bucaneer that you come in cuz I walk in that all the time it's Buccaneer and then then then you get to what I can't the name I don't Ed schoonover
who's on bcab lives over there too he he knows the area so okay anyway not part of this conversation but we are looking at other Parks speaking of parks yeah because there yeah there's a lot of De yeah there's a lot of stuff that's not there anymore yeah well and I think I
think the goal here is for the town to acquire property so we can expand our amenities foration that's wonderful and I think that would that would would be worth pursuing an admirable goal but
that's on our agenda so that's one of my goals is to get something on the south end I know right and we know we can't afford beachfront so that's off the table and we do have Bayfront with with the the mount house for which we're very grateful and Newton Park of course F but
do Cole and partners that's the name okay that's the group of sorry just found it do Co thank you had to call them through my one or two emails drmp with the old b bs Community thing that's what that one all right let's move on uh
Museum Assessment program uh the map program which obviously you all are familiar with and uh I'll let Adam um speak to that yes uh so this isn't all of the uh map report you might notice it's been subdivided into a sub guess
sub point A B and C uh so those are the going to be the first three sections of the map report uh I hope you don't lose your copy I mean if you do I'll make another one but uh we'll be talking about the map report uh in this final map report from the peer riewer in the American lons of museums for probably
the next three meetings um and hopefully in uh implementing the recommendations as uh stated goal for the town to have the Mountain House accredited so this is again just like when the pie was here uh going to be our road map in terms of
fulfilling those best standards and practices set forth by the American Lance museums the uh overarching um for lack of better word governing Authority for museums in the United States uh this program very thankfully uh was free for the town uh
through funding from the American Lance museums and from uh funding from The Institute of Museum and Library services this was a free program that was a courtesy so uh yes so this was paid for all last year so thankfully uh the insute museum and Library services and
the American Lance museums uh covered all costs for the P VI to come down uh work on this program have staff from the American LS museums work with me and other staff uh part of that map team especially to work a good almost six months Barbara at least uh where the
members of the map team myself Jeff Karina which is why Karina is here if you're wondering uh Nancy Smith who I'm who I invited to this uh meeting today I haven't heard I didn't hear back from her okay um so hopefully she'll be here in the next meetings uh as we talk about and then of course our Madam chair uh
Barbara Hill was in attendance uh that four me the five person map team met uh almost every two weeks I'd say for a good six-month period to submit that report to give basically the whole inside out top bottom Florida ceiling of
what Mount house is the full institutional history um our various relationships what The Advisory Board is our management structure uh the ADV the peer reviewer in preparation for his visit um of course became familiar with
the town Charter Town ordinances State um uh and of course being from the American liance museums very familiar with best museum practices yes um so if you just to kind of back up a little more this was part of our strategic plan um absolutely which I also included in
your pocket this was always one of our goals when we did the plan this opens up other door possibilities as well absolutely funding funding yeah so very very excited that we were able to accomplish this huge hurdle towards
accreditation uh very very excited about implementing some of these policies to help make the mount house and all the various stakeholders involved with the mount house work in lock step in collaboration to make it even stronger and better than it is do we get it done
December 2024 uh was it done by then uh no so initially that was what we had in our student sorry uh well technically oh not bad though I know te technically uh I guess the so Allison had initially
applied for this program uh with Ian or well she applied for it before Ian and then Ian hit and then we had to withdraw you might remember that process but thankfully after things calm down in uh 2024 we were able to reapply and it was free
this time so I guess it worked out um for us did uh so the after visiting with two days meeting with various members of the Town staff uh cell cab and uh Council in that joint meeting meeting with the friends group um and then
reviewing the map workbook that was over 150 pages that work that map team worked on getting input from staff The Advisory Board and friends um the peer reviewer issued his final reports which were um as I'd like to point out again a
snapshot in time for the time he visited in the six weeks or so afterwards so while we were dealing with uh Helen in Milton he was typ in Oklahoma um so just to give you a better time frame of when this was submitted so a couple things we've already accomplished um like the
collection storage room um which will be discussed more next meeting um but a good part of the map program which is divided it used to be um you might remember Madam chair it was map 1 2 and three they've since updated it which it
was applicable for us they now subdivided map not as a step program but as a targeted Focus area on education uh collections management Community engagement and organizational and this is what this is so this is the
organizational Museum investment program and the real meat and potatoes for forgive the uh e or me the cliche yeah I know uh is really the governance of Mount house and again really trying to
help better Define roles and responsibilities between cell cab friends the Town Council staff which going through meeting minutes from cab and Town Council since the mounts was around has always been um a point of
confusion especially when new members are joining um every 18 months to two years it comes up during ccam meetings you know where does one start where does the next end in regards to roles responsibilities and again the goal of this program was to help clarify and
begin those conversations that have always kind of been of a uh what do you call it sticky sticky yeah or sticky uh and then helping us uh give that road map so we have a better sense of who's on first so we can go continue forward
in working most efficiently and uh most effectively especially with taxpayer money uh in regards to um everyone involved because there are a lot of people very passionate people involved in Mount house um and I guess if there's any questions
about like what this program is before we go on to I guess point a I'm happy to answer any questions about general question you receive my email with this I sent this out I did and I read the report and I've got some comments and concerns but but at the appropriate time
are we talking about governance I just want to make sure you received it no no thank you I did and and are we talking about governance right now uh uh no VI me Mr vice mayor we are we kind of just are at I guess the agenda topic the first part uh if there's any questions
generally about what the program was uh and then I guess it's up to discretion of the chair about moving forward through to Mission planning and then governance would be point B can I ask any questions please I have I do have an overview question and and I've read through the report and there's there's a
number of recommendations in the report are they and it was difficult from the gentleman who was here who was came before the council in our joint meeting to discern is are these just sort of in his opinion best practices or are these actual benchmarks to reach the
accreditation that that we're trying to achieve they're benchmarks okay so these are specific benchmarks okay yes uh at the beginning of each section so for example if you turn to page eight of the map report you'll see the first section Mission and planning and he relates the
related core standards um for what not only makes a good Museum but um uh also an efficient Museum and uh like you said those Meeting those steps towards accreditation Barbara the pages are number sorry the pages are number I know
I I was just thinking about that as a matter of fact wanted to compliment um Adam on his Jack report which was also numbered P two just I noticed I I did think about you when I did yes
ke I I had some as I read report um I highlighted some issu some topic well some concerns concerns thank you for that word Barbara uh well things that just aren't seem to be quite accurate and I'm not sure how specifically accurate this is supposed to be
um he listed stero Bay preserve as a state park It's actually an aquatic preserve which is a unique designation so and I know that we can we can make modifications so that the actual record is straight uh because I think that designation is going to be critical because there's there's pressure on the
state to rearrange it so that things can be developed so I think classifying noting it as a park and it's aquatic preserve I suspect might be legally something different and I don't think that this is actually going to be a legal doent that you know people you know say for example if we go through
funding or any kind of legal designation this is only his report as uh as a result of those map meetings that had I even think he called the town the city a couple times I mean it's to your point this isn't really a
legal document this is just his take on the meetings that we've had going forward okay all right well that because they also refer to the underground as a basement oh yeah many many people within the town say that FEMA FEMA had it classified when we were
well we just had a couple meetings on it because they're they're doing their site visits and stuff um for Helena Milton which they haven't even done yet so that tells you how backed up they are and they have it labeled as the basement yeah so that must be some Des we mostly
Adam has set them straight on that one and they um yeah and and again this was his recommendations after a two-day visit um there I mean I some sometimes get who owns Which property and sometimes I make mistakes and I've worked at the mountain
house for 5 years and there's people who you know have lived in this area the whole time who might get one or two semantic facts wrong uh but I don't think it should distract distract from the entire purpose of this report um thank you for pointing that
out what well and even the the acquisition of the properties that's information is not accurate either um because it's Flo Florida forever funds and it was the the activity to buy the property began in 2 in 1996 not in 2000
and and again it is hard to condense the complexity of the history of the Mountain House in a onepage report not focused on the history of the mountain house yeah I and I know I am nitpicking because it's it's it's the love of my life what are the loves of my life it's the non-human love of my life how's that
um yeah I don't I don't know I can't say where he got all this information maybe he got off online somewhere I don't even know but I'm sure he did his best to research what he and I also think it makes it sound like we don't know what we're doing because he said only three members knew the mission yeah that was I
remember that meeting I couldn't say it verbatim either we only had yeah no one could say it word for word and we're supposed to memorize it like you know and I didn't even speak up
and of course I I kind of knew what the mission statement was but I wanted to give everybody else you know an opportunity especially councel you know because you want to know that they know right and it doesn't help with somebody else who really has an accurate understanding of the meion to say that
and then they'll say whatever she said or whatever you said that's sort of an easy out for you know so it did not give us not give that um peer review an accurate and I know personally I'm called out in this a few times and it's like yeah I need I I didn't know I
didn't know the mission from start to end I knew it was 2000 years the store whatever but and I got to learn it but uh yeah I've been like personally I've just called out for not visiting enough or being there enough and all that so and I realize that that that that's a
deficiency of mine I have you know lot going on and I'm going to try my best to be there yeah and he also does highlight our strengths which he does say numerous times and if we go through strategic planning you know a good part of planning is recognizing all the
successes we've had so I don't think while there are a lot of challenges that we have to overcome in terms of you know reaching the ultimate standard of what makes an accredited Museum that's why there's only what 1% of all museums in the United States are accredited it's a high standard to achieve one we should
reach for but we should also be mindful of you know the unique history of Mount house uh the passion that the community has about Mount house uh the Staffing the the fact that town has a museum no other municipality in the southwest
Florida area has a museum as part of its government so it's a very rare treasure that sure we might have to polish it up a bit but it's still a treasure and I don't think we should you know Focus all on the negative we should also he does point out a lot of our successes we've accomplished especially after Ian I mean
like he points out on page one the town's lost 50% of its population through displacement and and we've recovering after five hurricanes and attendance is up at Mount house yeah which is phenomenal so there's a lot of successes we should celebrate as well so
I just want to keep that in mind as we go through the map process to focus on the positive as well and and I think that these full support of council throughout and this wasn't early on as we know it was pretty dicey at the very beginning because there were people on Council that didn't understand or
respect what this was going to be but um to the council's credit they have been so incredibly supportive um and that is always helpful especially during budget time yes the they have put a lot from the general fund into the mount house
which is needed but also generous absolutely absolutely okay Ellen more uh questions no no putting that in perspective I will I will stop with my nitpicking no and I have a couple of things too that I thought you know do
hurt to make notes like that I mean it is a document that we want to be as accurate as possible so I don't that's not out of the realm and it is just for our own personal records just like the chair said like if we find an error they they don't edit it yeah we can send it
back our notes that there's an error and they'll put it in our file but it it won't they won't change the report um we can put it on for our own knowledge like we know the a sterile it's atate aquatic res so in terms of our planning moving forward that's something we can refer
back to this document and have notes and appendixes that will help us moving forward um so we can definitely do all those things that you're recommended so in no way do I want to like shut down conversations I just wanted to remind everyone that there's also good things in the report as well oh yeah yeah yeah and and I and perhaps it's just a note
of adjustments because there are times when knowing the difference between something happening immediately and something having taken four years to accomplish can be meaningful I mean we don't know how this document is going to be used in the future so correct you want it you don't know want to know that
there's something that could be fixed that you don't fix yeah exactly that's something that's tangible that's here that we know yeah it's a Point of Departure too so you know as far as the conversation goes um and so we're locking in today the governance portion
of this and with the idea that this can be extended for subsequent meetings correct yeah so uh based on the agenda I guess the next agenda point is the mission and planning session on page eight uh so we kind of already talked about
the the mission statement um best museum practices that is that everyone involved in Mountain House can resite the mount house Mission because mission is core it's your identity it's your soul it's affecting our decision process moving forward with the undergone museum with
tours it's how volunteers are uh helping on kayak tour it's how um the finance department is helping us look for grants for Mount house so it's it's really core Tor Mission we can't really move forward without a solid foundation and a solid
soul to not to put it sentimental uh but of what the institution is before we can even discuss a strategic plan or planning for the future um so that's why it's so important that everyone do recite the mission and most Museum uh programs and
Museum thought is whenever you start a program whenever you start a meeting like before every cellc meeting for example we could recite this Mount house mission in the Newton Beach Park Mission um you know I've trained and through the National Association for interpretation they
train staff and I train the staff as well at the beginning of every program we State the mission statement last night of the lecture I stated the mission statement and I stated again we're owned by the town of Fort Myers Beach so there's some continuity about who we are and what we do why we're
having a lecture about food on the archaeology of food because which was great by the way last night thank you that's not abnormal for even like with youth programs the Boy Scouts um Scouts the Girl Scouts haven't been a part of that meeting so um you know little
league they recite so I mean it's it's a good good habit to be in to remind us what we're here for right yeah some of the not for-profits on the island do it too I'm sorry some of the not for-profits on the island do that do they really we do the pledge every meeting yeah yeah yes um they don't clean I just don't so
perhaps in the summertime uh before again we I've discussed this with the m chair um before we even talk about the Strategic plan which is one of the core documents required for accreditation of this big checklist of accreditation um a part of that is Mission uh so you know revisiting and he does recommend we
revisit our Mission um because he does point out that some of the staff maybe feel they may be doing activities that don't align with the mission um there may be a lack of familiarity with the mission and not a lot of communication about you know what what are we doing here you know so maybe a good time to
revisit the mission which is good practice anyway to that end and you know it it is the key point of why we exist and what we raised money for uh but when we did this when we first did did the uh strategic planning we had an outside
facilitator because we recognized that it wasn't just about what the town staff wants or what cell cab wants or what even what friends wants we wanted members of the community and their input when we'd have these workshops if you remember I think we had two or three for
each one of these we had one for the mountain house we had one for B Oaks and uh with the intent that you know because this is a community and we want everybody to be involved and engaged and supportive of the outcome uh that it is
uh an outside facilitator job to Garner that um emotion or that intellect or that idea into uh the mission plan that serves everyone so yeah I think that's valid we're doing that right now at the council level you know we have an
outside entity in here to help with the the so so you would advocate for our to do for us to do something similar um when we revisit the mission uh yes absolutely appropriate to do for sure yes good good I I think that would be right just like this is
a just like this is a you know an overview by somebody that that's impartial hasn't been with us knows knows what they're doing same as it's USIC plan someone that knows what they're doing what we need to be talking about you know it's same I would assess it the same as this maps program is
somebody from the outside coming in not having the heart and the emotion telling us how it is and what we need to do to go forward I think that's that's appropriate great I obviously we'll be involved I'm not saying that but somebody is serious of the right direction so which they're doing it at the council level right now and they
have little workshops and they split off into tables and and I understand at some point there was a conversation that our strategic plans would dub tail beautifully with the towns is there any effort toward that um there is however
what did they timeline is on ours I I know I know I know Jim said like two years it's it's it's yeah it's extraordinary and I don't want to quote Jim but it was like two years he said this will take two years and he's like I'd like to do it in six months which I agree with to be
different in two years we have we have elections the council will be different in two years it was I don't think it's about the the council per se it's about the town it's collecting dramatically with a new Council yeah yeah so I to my point
is I'm not sure how we want to do that I mean I I certainly do not want to wait two years no and I I I'm hoping that's not the actual case but maybe that's managing expectations I think it's going to take two years and
then you get it done and three months he so Adam what do you think is a good timeline for us to think about the Strategic plan I uh I was going to say say I think um in terms of a timeline I have
us discussing my my own internal timeline about thinking strategically about this process um I kind of estimated discussing the map report and just the report not really actionable items like taking notes of course and getting reactions and recommendations
you changing anything that might be you know Incorrect and updating that for own personal uh edification um through the May uh 2025 so the next April and May like you're talking about so this month next month so two more months uh and
then June maybe have that one just discussing Mission um and bring in and invite outside Community groups and outside stakeholders um to be involved in the mission and getting their Fe that require the facilitate facilitator it
could um in my opinion I think I think a facilitator is definitely a path we could go um but I don't think it's necess not I'm should to say necessary but a a required like Benchmark we have to accomplish um and of course there can be more discussion on that but that's my
own two sense that I think because we are you know we're the museum within the town um we're part of the town but we have this very uh inter interesting relationship um that I think at least
just having a meeting to discuss the mission and involve outside stakeholders and getting everyone's feedback input because it might be that everyone sits at the table go I love the mission and then you know so we could get to that point we love the mission and the facilitator is just there um you're
changing missions isn't I mean you all probably know you've been on committees isn't abnormal I mean I worked for the boys and girls though for 20 years and they were a part they were a part of boys and girls America for over a 100 years and at that point we had we changed the mission so it was very bizarre like it's been around for 100
years why would you change it but it's appropriate to what's going on yeah so are you suggesting then the conversation can be split between the two in other words the mission statement would be one conversation and the Strategic plan would be another that's what I'm thinking because we have again the mission being really that that Soul
guiding us and the Strategic plan being about you know so the mission being who we are and then also a vision statement we have a vision statement as well thankfully he asked me what the vision statement was I wouldn't know um from the mount house unless I looked on the Strategic plan but the vision statement
is so the mission statement is who we are and the vision statement is who do we want to be right um and the Strategic plan is how do we going to get to meet our Miss use our mission to guide us to our vision statement so I think establishing point a and point B then we can talk about have that next meeting of
discussing okay how are we going to go from point A to point B with that strategic plan okay meeting uh and I would imagine the implement it that makes sense and I would imagine the strategic planning will be lengthy uh not just a single meeting um though we
can try um uh do a speedrun um meeting but I I was envisioning going through probably October with this du plan and if we were done by this calendar year with this du plan um and have that established that' be my goal maybe October uh maybe in the November meeting
we could revisit some of the tabled uh items that we have like the collection management policy and discuss that in November and with the Mission Vision the strategy plan will'll have a better sense of reviewing the collective management policy and maybe get it approved in November and then we all take a nice deserved break in December
okay in what in what part of that timeline would our uh facilitator come in and have the uh issue of the Strate strategic plan discussed and before it's um finalized probably in the summer so
probably starting in June and then so June talking about the mission and then July August September October yeah we have to in Secure someone and hire them to come in and do the facilitating for us we could we could go that route yeah
I think that's necessary because I think you're talking about two different things because way the way we did the Strategic plan in 2016 it was it was a Saturday we spent literally Saturday we spent and it the whole day it was a six or an 8 hour day exact well didn't we do two I think we did two um Saturday we
did do two Saturdays so we we did it in two settings because because then you don't you don't lose your train of thought yeah and I'm just looking through the current one and yeah and the it says we need to replace the AV system which is accurate in the underground yeah and then he does
point out like we did have a facilitator last time the Strategic plan based on uh institutional standards is not a strategic plan it's more of a to-do list which is fine let's just redo it but I think the point is in terms of the our
structure so th those two Saturdays um didn't make a strategic plan it made a checklist because it doesn't have as he points out in his report um you know who's accomplishing it and then also when things would be accomplished there was no metric or measurable standards
yeah we had we had you know a um a timeline I mean we had a uh accomplished buy or something like that and then some were very big Target date yeah and some are very vague like secure collection right was a goal and like Ono physically
legally secure yeah on this one I don't know when this was updated but it says complete we just well was 2021 was this so but I think we updated this as we went yeah this is the 2021 version it said that the this was better
than what we had which was no strategic oh for sure yeah yeah the idea I'm just saying it was updated as we win the format that enabled us to kind of keep track of what our goals short and long-term goals were going to be no doubt that this can be updated obviously
this is 10 years old yeah I I completely part so I completely agree this is obviously better than nothing yes but I think we should enter into viewing and working on a plan and not view this as updating this document but entering with
a new mindset of what a strategic plan is what I understood a strategic plan to be is that it's not necessarily A a static document but it was something was going to be Revisited I believe we're
going to do that every six months to say okay you know who's doing this when was this uh successful are we going to add and and it was a living document it was a moving document as I recall why would that not be a good idea for us to
continue no in terms of its its format not it being a living document oh so I agree with you that it is a living document and you do have to update it but like for example as he points out in in in essence it was not a living document because accomplished goals were kept in right not not for own
edification but that you know why have a goal that's already met as a goal right yeah so it's a matter matter of how you're documenting it so these are the past accomplishments so it gets into an dependence exactly and I think the the issue here is that we as
volunteers do not do this it's the staff that does this and so the staff's got G other things to do like as case in point Karina and Adam uh so that if it's not being updated and if those goals that have been accomplished are not
eliminated and added you know with new ones then that's the staff responsibility that and if and if we're not doing it that's where you come in right so that's um so yeah just understanding the division of responsibilties Absol it's appropriate and know saying but I think it's
appropriate because you you all your job is to recommend right to give recommendations on it so yeah reviewing it every six months maybe a year I think we're doing hope we're hoping at bab to do every year at least but right um you know and whe what the staff does do it
is the staff's job you know if they don't have anything to do but yeah but mean taking recommendations I mean it's not like you don't you all don't vote it into policy you give recommendations which hopefully we're doing our best stewardship to whether it's a budget bu
budgetary time wise something like that to put it back in this plan and then if you look on page 10 are the actual recommendations that summarize his findings uh so kind of like what we are discussing you know the mission
statement should be reviewed if needed Rewritten um make sure it fully aligns what's being done at the site and what we want to be done in the future modify the stre plan to include human resources and partnership uh modify the streak plan to
include short-term goals priorities initiatives midterm objectives and long-term strategic plan so kind of expanding it out and stretching it into a multi-tiered scalable living document that's very flexible um with measurable items that
have specifically those TXS on how are we getting to point a point B who when where great with whom that's wonderful um and then evaluate it like we're saying at least qu he recommends so
that's a lot more yes it doesn't take a lot to put it on the agenda and at least review it I mean it really does it's not like we're developing it it's just going through and updating yes especially like those shortterm goals you know just keeping us surprised of you know the status of
these things yeah yes and that doesn't I think maybe we were talking about semiannually or I think quarterly was really being a little too ambitious every six months six months yeah okay do it quarterly if we don't have anything else to do just to see
otherly exactly so I'm I'm confused on this map Assessment program are we going to be going over it in in depth at meetings or we're just we're just dealing with the issue of mission and governance yeah so we just
went or we're in we're in the first section of right 10 so so during our meeting we're going to be going yes for the next two meetings at least before I'm sorry before we move on Z I need a break sure of course a restroom break
absolutely let's let's break it is 237 10 minute break 5 10 minutes whatever what everyone needs I just want to give the opportunity let's yeah I want everyone table let's do a five minute break and I should I'm standing because I'm still dealing with no that's fine
actually that's what made me think actually maybe we should take a little break anybody yeah it's been two and a half hours so yeah AG great hour and a half hour just if anybody need if you don't need it
e e e e e e e e e e
e e e e e okay okay all right all right so let's continue Adam you were in the conversation with the mission of planning yeah I I we are just I just one over the recommendations I
guess again this the these aren't my words I'm just reading it uh and kind of being the facilitator uh for the whole thing uh from the report to you as a body um but I guess any questions I've read it a
lot um or any comments on the recommendations and again these are these aren't binding recommendations that if we don't do exactly what AM says in this report they're not going to you know send us a note home to our parents or anything like that you know so if I
mean anything you know you could reject the whole thing you know you could accept the whole thing we could reject one or two accept one or two there's again this is this is for us this isn't a a report card or anything like that I think these recommendations were um I think
thoughtful and certainly based on the conversations we had during our meetings and as recommendations I think it is much in keeping with what we talked about today um and clearly a lot of this is the staff responsibility yes to um
Implement um these recommendations uh but if I'm not mistaken um I think we all agree that for the most part these recommendations make sense are are the recommendations such that we will have we would go through each one at some point and and discuss I
I was thinking about the May meeting the May meeting I think is a summary and uh final recommendations as a board action to recommend to council yeah I I would be very happy as a summ meeting to kind of revisit because again it's a lot information you might be driving home or
maybe hopefully driving uh on a stereo or sitting or sitting on your way home working on it uh and uh you might think of something that want to bring up next meeting or at you know in May so yeah we didn't we didn't bring this on and say
you guys we're good with it yes or no going to be some right you I mean it's pretty ambitious for us to even talk about the mission and the governance said this is going to be the next three meetings number of meetings so may I suggest that we do should we
tackle uh governance uh this afternoon or do you want to um table that until the next meeting I would I would like to talk about it if possible I think governance in the next the these these sections are really interchangeable or not interchangeable they really lock
with each other and DV off each other um especially the governance and public accountability sections I think those are the two most important ones that really in planning was the vision all for the initial part this governance and public trust is again a component okay
I'd like to do the whole thing so I don't have to go home and make dinner for my well at this at this rate we're going to make breakfast I know okay we're ready how do you know they're not watching this live
guys that was great there's filming this camera oh that was a good one so you can get home later so you can stay up later then more time with them right exactly exactly okay Adam I want you to run
through the the governance portion of this'll uh so again on just continuing on uh for governance p uh page 11 uh at Top Again has those core related standards which are kind of those benchmarks for accreditation and what
makes uh or rather guides successful museums and efficient museums um across the broad spectrums of what that word means as an umbrella um and really he dives into the um the
the core of it the the governance uh between the three stakeholders involved in Mountain housee Town Council The Advisory board and the friends of Mount housee um he notes there's no clear lines of roles or responsibilities between the three
stakeholders um and he he did point out some concerns and challenges in regards to um some better ways we could work more efficiently in terms of accomplishing our our goals and uh
moving forward with the mount house and making sure we're all working uh in the lanes that are best suited for uh that stakeholder group to make sure we're not stepping on any Toes or making sure that you know everyone's there linking hands and that we're not missing any links in
the chain of um really moving forward you know and I I remember the discussion on this one with I think it was with him um was that we kind of told went through the progression of the mound house and how when we first started you know the
town didn't have a whole lot of money so or oversight to the mous and that's really where the friends came from um but as we've evolved you know it's the roles are going to revolve evolve as as we've gotten you know we get so much money from the town as far as you know
the general fund and you know we're in a better position that way and you know um so we we did go over the progression of you know at first the friends were the part you know and I wasn't around back then but that's what I'm I hear from
from you all um and it's just evolved now that'll be a little bit more stable and um you know a place where we can we can go back to the way it's supposed to be well I think we have at least two or maybe three original yeah on this
committee so yeah can fill in the blanks are you talking about friends or self friends H the friends okay when when what was the date that in the town incorporation M Town yeah but I I just want to because
we know that the friends did a lot of the heavy work right away I mean I don't think that there was an organization though no the friend was very loose yeah I'm learning as I go too but I did want to give the friends a lot of credit to
to start that so it it was the group of people that then became formerly known as the friends that pulled the whole thing together made it happen that's and and so that began back in 96 95 96 um and then when the town bought the property in 2000 then the friends still
had their I mean they basically were pushing it pushing it Forward yeah and then Bill Grace had the wisdom to recognize we needed to be a legal entity so that wasn't until 2005 but it's the same people just they now they now and we're not now we're 50 and C3 yeah and I think that's where the lines got blurred
yeah he he does point out that um the having the same people as the friends and as ccab uh does cause confusion among staff in terms of operations um from his perspective and we all recognize recognize
it but they Remain the doers they show up at everything I mean it's just a natur there there there are certain I we don't need to get into I mean that part now but there are there are law law that go against yeah I'm not saying it was right I'm just talking about how it happened oh I understand that and we're having the same problem with with for
cab trying to get people to join the friends so here on page 13 there must be people in the local area not just on a stero Island that are history lovers I'm confident that they would jump at the chance to be part of these groups but they can't because the council said you
must be a resident of the island it's only preferential treat only for LPA and and yeah yeah I think that rules so if we have somebody in Fort Meers that has has been in the museum business forever we can have them
on the commit yeah because they have they have I'm sorry I didn't realize that that LPA and is there one more Jim uh commit have to live and that's because there're statutory committees Des by the state yeah if we have
somebody with expert knowledge and we want on the committee and on the original cell cab there were professors from Florida Gulf Coast University uh that served on The Advisory Board that's where corber came from yeah and right now for bcab we have for the friends that have they're
on our list we have two people guy that live in uh one not Indiana one person that lives in Indiana lives here just very parttime so they can be from anywhere yeah and yeah there were there were other applicants for uh
cell cab appointment um and two other ones yeah um and there are a few other people who are residents who uh have in conversations with one trying to recruit one to convince him to join cell cab um so he's very excited uh he just hasn't
been able to get back on the island but his condo is coming back on in the fall so he have to move back in the fall um not in terms of residency issue just an logistical issue of being here at the meetings um so hopefully we'll have more of that especially as the island comes back and a lot of the homes you know
people buy the homes for sale and the condos reopen and everything and then also like I think on murf there's a a member who comes from p p yeah yeah there was a woman that came
last night who drove from Badcock Ranch to come to that lecture last night I was stunned I mean that's like a good hour and 20 minutes away yeah so for her to drive out here do you have any sorry I know any conversations she heard about
it you know I didn't ask her about that I should have was it one of their Outreach was it she's a she's a member um so she was looking for kayak places this was a couple years ago and she became a member through kayaking and um she'll visit sometimes she's very
passionate she just kind of a data person and I like like what did they learn from an Outreach that they did or was it through a website or all of that does help so I think we've had this conversation many times and I know friends probably has had this
conversation many times uh but I while we have a lot of thoughts about how to clarify the role of ccab versus friends I think one of the issues is is the how
these cell cab members are appointed I mean obviously someone from Fort Meyers now can you know put in for a possible seat for cell cab so there could be several people waiting in the wings perhaps all of us could go out and see
if there some there would be somebody else that would also like to serve on so that when an opening becomes available that those people are in the wings ready to serve but the important thing though for the council to recognize that they
cannot appoint someone who is a current Friends board member and that would be kind of the way that could be more Equitable so that if a person who wants to serve on the cellc cap board is already a member of the Friends board
that they wouldn't be eligible to be a member so it would be the division of resp or they have to choose or they would have to choose exactly one or the other um yeah and yeah just recently we came up because the Anchorage is trying to run they're having a thing for their
voters out at Bayside Veterans Park and they wanted to fund raise and there's somebody that's appointed by the town cannot fund raise on behalf of the town right we to tell them no so that also is like I don't I hate having this
conversation by the way because I know you all are passionate and I'd love for you to be part of it on both sides it's just I am I would worried about you guys and honestly litigation I talked to the attorney the other day because this has
been an issue in some of the other things and she's like I've SE go to jail over Sunshine lav is I'm like I think I don't want I don't want to scare anyone but I just want to make it clear that that it is kind of serious okay I'm GNA I'm going to flip my hat around for a minute and say that the friends of the
mount house are in the process of having discussions we had one meeting a few weeks ago we're having one next week and we are we're we're we're formally separating things out so this will cease to be a problem oh good oh good good there will be no problem yeah there will be no more new problem you may lose your
whole friend board though well I have I have I have a plan for that too well and that's the part I don't I I know it has to be gradual because it should be done and what I I want to continue you have it let me let me offer a suggestion let
me offer a procedural suggestion if this is the will of the committee uh we can grandfather existing members of cell cab and then as they leave cell cab and who are also friends then of course in other words any new cell cab member couldn't
be a member of friends but we could certainly grandfather member just not of the board just on the board right oh yeah be a member for sure they can but I think why would that not I mean if you have the opportunity to um look at
several nomin several applications for a cell cab seat um and one of them happens to be on the board of the friends would you then as a council person say well while they have you know put in their name to be nominated they're not
eligible because they're a friends of the board member would you not want to do that immediately honestly I differ a bit with councel on this I'm not an attorney but if done appropriately I that Synergy between I
love the fact that there's somebody from the Friends board on Cell cam because it creates great communication and there's a Synergy there so it doesn't trouble me as much I think we need to be sensitive to any sunsh Sunshine violations we the town coun or the town attorney did work with Anchorage advisory
committee to create a path for them to do some fundraising for the boat uh the voter appreciation day uh so there is a path uh with proper councel I think we can navigate this I just don't want anyone to feel like they've got to leave cell cab if they want to be active in
the friends or vice versa we just have to be thoughtful about how we do it I know the recommendation when the attorney yeah when we did a a joint one was to the only way that would work and it still would work to have both you they just need to be public publicly
recognized and they have to be uh videotaped it have to be just like this meeting it have to be and so she said there is a workaround but those are the steps you need to take it would have to be open to the public since there's two members of of uh Advisory board on here
on this on friend I mean there she did have a work around I think we're for the friends we're solving the problem and and there's but but this might not be CC might not be the only issue I mean it could happen at bab it could happen
anywhere else I mean I I just want to make it clear at bcab we've already said you can't be right well we were able to do that simply because we understood what the nature of the problems are if we don't so at the outset we said you know if you want to be a friends of B Oaks you you know we on the board so we
were trying like crazy to get a friends of the of B established but we as borab members couldn't do it right we had to right now four outside people three friends as of yesterday yes exactly oh good so we're moving forward again I
don't I don't want to part of my heart that you guys love the B house so much that you want to be on both it it gets to me I I hate having to separate it but but you can be a member of both you can be a member of friends like I am and I'm on this board but there's no conflict
there because I'm not a decision making person but I I do appreciate Ellen that you guys are we're working are going yeah that's right you hear y yeah that's great to hear yeah because because the issue isn't being on the board of the friends it's that you're on Cell cab so
it's not a friends issue as much as it is a member of being cell cab so it's if you're a member of cell cab you can't talk to a me another member of cell cab or a member of Anchorage can't talk to another member of Anchorage so if one solution it's still when it solve the issue to the potential conflicts of
interest and confusion amongst which role you're speaking to um for staff and other agencies involved but one person could be on the friend's board and be on Cell cab but it's the cell cab member because there would be the only cellc
member if there are no other celf cab members at those meetings it's okay it's fine yeah yeah so there could be one person who's on the board of the friends and on the board of ccab again still causing confusion and and conflict of interest issues that the he recommends we should speak to our attorneys about
um but also it's it's not that you're on the friends it's that ccab members are talking about agenda items like the underground or marketing or uh Staffing or programs or events outside of
recorded meetings reason meetings that it's something you can't talk about and you guys probably all Sun um you know you can't talk about things you may possibly be recomending you're voting on to to vote on isn't it things that you're going like an underground but I guess you guys I suppose you guys vote
to recommend that would be your vote right I mean yeah no if well if it's going to be a potential agenda item period right which could be subject to a vote then you know that's off the table for any friends board member who also serves on Cell but just to know that's
the issue personal note I hate the way this goes Ian I know what needs to be done as far as governance but they're gonna I feel terrible because people have fought on both both um
committees for the same reason and now we're so so you were working on it you have a solution um to be deter I mean to be dis we're meeting next week so I don't want to speak prematurely okay you know we could do some and just if as
discussion goes you know have somebody here and be almost leaz onor give a report you know as as they do a council when we don't come up and do it so that's what I used to do before I was on ccab exctly and technically Becky you're the liaison between ccab and Council that was voted on in May 2022 oh okay
yeah all right because it again this is this is this is not the first time it's come up I think counted 12 different instances since 2006 that this same conversation has happened but nothing's been done it's not yeah so now it's time but you know I think when we established
the town that was something that we all were made so aware of was the Sunshine Law and it isn't something I don't think any of us take lightly because not you know just that that it was drilled into our heads keep your mouth
shut I mean the attorney gave the circumstance you're in the corner talking to somebody they don't know if you're talking about the underground or baking cookies and and the it's a it's a slippery one I understand yeah and the p does make that recommendation that we as
staff and I guess the town at large have to do a better job in having more onboarding material for new cell cab members at just like we do volunteer trainings at Mount housee there should be cell cab trainings just like staff goes to professional development it's
true Advisory board members should go to professional development as well to help you know improve their skills and help you know if they want to improve their skills on that note we are coming up with a plan where right after I guess after someone's appointed or after the appointment session um you know we have
a training with like we're going to be coming with every every cellc member every board C member every Advisory Board member we're going to have a Sunshine Law training and talk about you know the charters of what what your Advisory Board is so it's not just a cell cab thing it's no straight across
the board it's just good policy good policy corre So to that extent I think the one issue that um involved Council um was the issue of our sort of taking the responsibility of the Town Council
with regard to the decisions and recommending the recommendations that we make as ccab members to council and you know certainly in the last few years they've been extraordinarily supportive and in fact refering to us saying we're
the experts in the in the field but perhaps that's I don't know if that's the consensus of the entire Council I know that is of yours and we we love that I want to comment on this one because even though In fairness the
recommendations don't trouble me all that much some of the rhetoric in this particular report under governance does troubled me in the sense that and again I don't fault the author because he hasn't been through or we've been through the last two and a half years
right um but but the uh this concept that that that it's somehow inappropriate for the town of council at Fort Meers Beach to to delegate authority to the to cellc particularly given the unique nature of the membership of ccab and all of their
various experience uh and all the things they bring to the table seems to me a bit absurd in the sense that I'll use the example the mayor of Fort Meers Beach under the town Charter the town the town mayor is supposed to only the designation of being mayor is only
supposed to run the meetings and function in a in a ceremonial role in town functions that's it hard stop otherwise he's the same as every other Town counselor but this mayor post Ian appropriately so has assumed almost the
traditional role of Mayor out of necessity given the potian Dynamics that we've all faced and I think this is reflected in what we're going through now in the sense that the council has torn in so many different directions directions and when you have a have a resource like this committee we're crazy
not to delegate and lean on this committee during this somewhat Bizarro time nobody's ever challenged the mayor's uh none of the counselors that the town attorneys never challenged the mayor in terms of assuming roles that are traditionally reserved for the town
manager or traditionally reserved for a traditional mayor uh because it's out of necessity and everybody understands and respects it and I think that's what we're going through now but having said that having replaced Anita uh if that's possible the
leaz on here four years ago I never I saw the Town Council leaning heavily on ccab back then just because again the quality of the makeup and and I and I see here that Joe that that he references that that the uh they
shouldn't be involved in picking the color of the paint and this and that well I I don't see that happening and I've never it's not been my experience since being the leison of the committee so to empower this committee based upon their gifts and experiences to me seems like a really smart practical manage
managerial approach for the council particularly in this postan time and I tried to convey that to the author when he was here and In fairness he's run pulling every pulled in every direction and doesn't fully appreciate what we've all been through here so uh I again the
recommendations don't don't really address this this critique and I I from his perspective I get it but from a practical perspective I think it's very appropriate what we've done and i' just assume and I I think I speak for my colleagues we we would appreciate continuing to have that same difference
uh at least until we get out of the postan world and quite honestly having experienced being a lison to this committee prior to Ian uh I never saw any problems back then it all worked really well there was a Synergy between the council and and cell cab and I don't
I can't remember any dispute of any significant nature since I've been on the council and that's four and a half years and I'm I'm sure Anita would say probably the same thing but just just a thought on the on on some of the rhetoric and again I don't think it's mean-spirited or anything I just think it's a little bit for someone who
hasn't been through what we've been through I I could certainly understand how they couldn't understand some of the Dynamics here so but anyways but the recommendations to me are pretty harmless and and and so I don't think it's worth making a mountain out of a mole hill but I I thought it was important to say that well I appreciate
your words vice mayor as I know we all do here thank you um and we we appreciate that you are uh confident in our ability to deal with the issues and the agenda items and the recommendations and that
not only are we heard but that uh the recommendations are followed and much appreciated thank you thank you and you're right I mean it is an exemplary situation on all levels uh the cohesion that we've got between cell cab and
Council uh because of all the storms I think we've had to really pull together but I think on a more I hate to use the word spiritual level but that that sense of coming together in both the council and ccab and friends to come up collectively with
ideas that work best for the mount house and for the town solidifies our community so I think it's a good thing that we are collaborative in nature as we've been in the past yeah I think that's well said and I I uh I just don't
recall it ever being an issue even PRI prior to Ian and and and with the staff now the staff may feel differently now I just but I I did I don't get a sense that there is any micromanaging that go goes on is is collaborative It's usually
the staff reaching out to this committee and saying hey what do you all think if we did this or that and and then there's feedback and it's always very healthy and and organic and it seems to work well and I just I just felt like it was a bit again unintentionally mischaracterized in this report and and
I get it because you know he's just he's not from here and wouldn't know but but if there are issues I'm happy to address try to address them but in his recommendations he doesn't even really address any of that but he does in in the text of his report so anyways just as an old political scientist I thought that was interesting well and I I too as
a political science major my my comment at the end of that section was toned of yeah yeah well and I think they you know a lot of Museum people come from not a municipality form of sure governance they come from a
board of directors and the staff and then you have the friends perhaps so those are the three entities in this case there are four entities five actually staff counsel um friends and cell cab that makes it very confusing
and so from his point of view I could see where there was a lot of ambivalence as to is the one in charge here you know by Charter you guys are in charge we only are here to advise and recommend that's fair point Fair Point yeah even in in our in the and please correct me
if I'm wrong the early Charter or whatever it was that the town was at some point going to turn it over to a nonprofit to a to a foundation board to a foundation board you know it I don't know if it was it's because I don't think municipalities run these
kind of you know usually run Well normally and there there are a number of them but it's usually done as part of the funding mechanism so for example the Tampa Museum of Art is is uh run by a board as is the Edison board Foundation
the board it's so or the Estates itself uh they used to have a foundation and that um basically dissolved but the idea that um the town or the municipality would be partially responsible financially for
operations and programs was really sort of handled by the board of directors which is the 501c3 so there were two entities public and 501c3 and that simplifies so the Tampa Museum of Art is run that way a lot of
other museums are run that way now so for example the Sarasota Museum of Art is through the Ringling uh School of Art and Design so they have a partnership uh the Ringling Museum itself is under the guise of Florida State University so there is always that
partnership but you know in our case there are instead of three entities there are five entities and I could see where somebody coming in from the outside I would just speak a little closer to the mic I having trouble hearing you I would also say too is that having
having having just went on that diet tribe that I did I I am open to other models if if if you know I I just don't see the Town Council as the best Board of Directors for the mount house they're they're they're pulled in too many different directions they just don't have that subject matter expertise
or that history if you read the I mean if you I use I'm sure going through the charter and how it's supposed to work know and but we have a charter Review Committee coming up and and maybe we maybe we think of a better model I'm I'm open to anything different I I think
what he's saying is the council has ultimate ultimate Authority but he Intimates the fiscal respons responsib so you guys recommend to put in $20 million it's not like the council would just
automatically say yes but but that's fair but his his intimation is is that somehow the Town Council should be getting more granular into the mound housee and getting more engaged in the day-to-day and and meeting more with staff and more engaged which isn't a bad thing in a perfect world but you know they're torn in so many different
directions and we have this committee here that's not only well suited for it but has this amazing experience with the mount house so again if we restructure it or create a foundation or you know something a different type of um you body to manage the mount house within
the context of the Fort Myers Beach I'm open to suggestions I I'm not trying to say this is the way it's got to be but the way it is yeah the way it is now I just I just don't see the council as the ideal governing governance structure for the mount house it doesn't this doesn't make sense to me I think they need to to
in my opinion they just need to be the ultimate stewards of Town property in general that's true yeah and I I don't think and no offense Jim I don't think this is as big as issue he put in there than it is that we're making it but I think it's an opportunity for us to it's
it's also an opportunity for us to relook at our model maybe maybe this isn't the best model maybe the town is maybe they come maybe this Foundation comes to the town with a annual budget request and then we look at that budget request and that's it but to to to to to Envision the Town Council coming down
and meeting quarterly with staff and it just seems like doesn't seem terribly practical but there may be a better model and I'm open to it I'm not I'm not saying saying I I got called out on a number of things and one of them too is needing to be there more often and I know that and you know but I think
that's different than what we're talking about well it is is it different though Jee I mean you're the Public Works director I mean this I'm a community services director So This falls under my realm no no I know it falls technically under your realm but is that the best designation I mean should they have more Independence and I I don't know we have
managers each one too that's like I can't be everywhere all the time and I don't fault you for that CU I know you're where you're being pulled just like the council is and you've got a subject matter expert expert next to you that obviously you rightfully defer to so I I I think it's all very appropriate
I you know that no but I do know I feel guilty not you know even if it's going over and seeing the kids at the library I don't get there enough yeah well I person choice I think I think when your position was created I and I know that talked to Allison about this that she it
was it was a financial decision that they made at the time to give her both but it's really not the same portfolio and she had recommended that they two be separated again right yeah in fact they combined two more so so which is fine but we we did a different system so
right and Ian made things happen that wouldn't have happened otherwise right true and and and Tom manager's system is is just a little different than we had before which is is great because he does kind of you have the overarching top and then you have competent managers at each one that really do manage it I but my
job is to kind of run all of it make sure the budgets are there you know approve so yeah I mean I'm just thinking out loud no this this is probably a bad time for this review considering the distractions that everybody was under when he
came maybe he did a lot more policy review than I think he did yeah and one one thing that he did which I mean it's always we've always been a very smooth operation and we're small Tom everybody worked together there was never ever any
consternation and when he came and met with we the friends he put all sorts of things on us that we didn't know that we were supposed to do like that we can't use the logo we have to get permission
to use the mount house we have to you know and there were a lot of things that he you know and he said you only only fundraise which is fine with us if we know where we stood but we really we
really didn't I think in a typical setting and I point slap in our face it's not always a typical situation but I think normally that would be the case you know if you had you know we had uh I was back to my boys and girls club days we weren't associated with the
neighborhood association but we allowed them to use our our facility to have meetings but they it was more of an ask not not don't get me wrong we're happy to have you there but I think that's more of what he's maybe used to is outside entities
you know their own asking and we've always been small and work together and it was kind of a a shock I think why wouldn't you meet there kind of thing like Yeah we actually have we have we have documents that give us that lay out
what what our usage are that were Bill Grace laid that out ear yeah your um your situation is a little different than any other Advisory board right I mean you basically you don't have to get any permits which is unusual very unusual um because there's no reviews on
them for the friends but yeah so yeah Allison did a good job of setting us up for the future when she when she yeah yeah and so a lot of those according to him not always yeah I don't know that Allison was maybe as well directed in that area as she as Teresa was Teresa
certainly had a clear notion of what the division of what the friends did and I think um unfortunately that was muddied and and I think we need to go back to the way Teresa did it I mean the reason for a permit is check mark everything off the
list for safety yeah I'm not saying we do that I'm not recommending that right now I'm just say that yeah it's easier on our part to plan as far as a municipality yeah for a special event but my thought on that was we raise money and we have to pay to have a meeting there
uhuh why would do kind of bad M and that was my thought about that I mean it just to be able to meet there hold things was he saying that you have to rent the space no we have we didn't have the agreement and you're charging everybody else well we have
discretion but we have an actual agreement I know you do but either way we'd have discretion like we we allowed other groups to use it for free I mean you guys are so we we we come from a background that was not completely
friendly to the mound house or to ccab that that there was contentious I wasn't here but I've heard the stories about the very contentious years of this town and I think that's where the memories are yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I've heard the story there there were a lot of conflicts between friends ccab and the
Town Council uh at The Establishment um during Teresa there's conflicts there um after Teresa Patty Evans there is difficulties in NE in trying to understand again the
clear re and and then it wasn't until 2015 that ccab voted in your minutes to basically give all the duties roles and resp responsibilities of running the friends to
Allison and to just basically informally combine the two groups in 2015 so if you that was the first me that was the first that was her first meeting I think that was 2015 Patty Evans had no
background in museums and I mean she oh no that was that was that was why ccab was taking was was being so adamant about things as a group because there was there was no leadership we had to do it there was no leadership and she had
no expertise no background no history she was a PE person which is fine for forab and and you know for B sorry about that um she was thrown into it yeah and she was thrown into it and I think she did her best and then there was somebody
who had some guy and then we had rean I didn't remember a guy but remember a guy oh maybe I'm wrong someone said there was a guy for a short time the the first director Arden yeah there was one and then there was somebody and then there was and then
there was Teresa it was ridiculous and and then was it was it Reagan and then Patty Evans after re um yeah Patty and then Reagan and then Alison and then Allison so by those records having so then we have and then we have Adam
who they have background they know what they're doing and so you know socab had to step in that's a great point and that's that was kind of my point when we didn't have anybody running when we first Incorporated and you guys all took over you know kind of the friends too is
that's just the transition that we've gotten to and luckily now lately I guess lately being 10 years whatever it is we've had some good leadership yeah in here and going back to Jim's Point few on the council had to run the mount
house like this guy is saying and had to run the Anchorage thing and had to run you know what murf does and had to why not get more people involved in the town and and and give the council advice you guys then take it or
not it seems like it works well and it makes it possible for you to you know have a life outside they have other things to do besides our little committee well and the other the dynamic is somewhat interesting just since we're I think it's a good discussion I I would say that that that cellb is unique and
that with maybe maybe also true of Anchorage advisory committee and that you're we're managing a physical asset like the Public Safety Committee doesn't have a physical asset at managed sometimes they struggle for agenda item to think about and and and and the same would be true for murf sometimes they're
thinking there's no physical asset that they're baging so that's what makes me feel like this is more of a traditional governance board because you actually have a phys two physical assets to to manage and of course the moing field for the Anchorage advisory committee and the upin facility so it is a little it is a
little even in the advisory committee World they are there are different Dynamics yeah you're absolutely right yeah you're absolutely right yeah I think also the peer reviewer points out the key distinction you're you're under you know the town Charter and the ordinances you're you're you're under
you know the town Charter and the ordinances you're Guided by best museum practices and the Florida's communities trust agreement those are your your your Constitution if you're con you know and you're the you know Congress and the staff are the executive branch you know
and you know so there's these check-ins balances so he's calling for just you know again defining those roles and responsibilities that trusting the staff because we have a very qualified staff at the town that we're able to accomplish the goals based on our training as you pointed out in our
expertise and then you know if we do something out of line or you know ludicrous we install pickle ball courts in the underground I don't know um you're in trouble I know actually um I don't think pickle ball would work I think uh hand handball handball would work best
there's walls um or squash um so that's when you step in and you advise town Council hey you need to talk to the town manager so Jeff can but and I know that the you know this we talked a lot about student plan today too and as long as our programming
and values and whatever you call it aligns with our strategic plan I think that's what the staff needs to focus on Guan this is the guideline and then they do the day to-day based on the Strategic plan yeah so it's not that we don't like that program change the program it's are
you doing programs yes or no and that's and doesn't meet the mission yeah and that that is a collective conversation that we have when the when we draw up this plan to say okay this is what we all agree to now you guys implement it yeah and it's not just the individual
because I think there's a lot like in your discussion and review of the past directors it seems not so focused on the position but on the individual and relationships change based on who is a who's in the position
more so than the position person well and to be honest there's not a director that doesn't come in with their own right philosophy about what they believe is the right thing to do and to be honest I think each of our directors and
the current one brings a specific unique set of skills and a vision that has made the mount house become increasingly more successful you Adam bring this uh professional Museum background to bear on where we need to go going forward so
I do think that you know with each director that we've had that there has been a growth uh and certainly not unilaterally but in a particular area and we just need to be mindful of that well put so in other words the staff can
make all the changes they want and we don't have anything to say about it well this is I don't see I don't see it I don't see it that way yeah I don't see it that way it's to me it's always been a very healthy relationship where we've never had to delineate that because
there's been a mutual respect right and a mutual consultation exct I've never seen that that line of demarcation have to be drawn and and I sorry yeah no that's it yeah yeah um I I just I noted in here that the town of Fort Mars Beach Charter specifically say it's that so
okay board is just that an Advisory Board and advises but not run the mountain house so that's what the charter says we do not manage it's not our job no but we oversee totally different yeah it's it's it's all fungible a little bit it just you know
Common Sense has to enter enter into it at some point but it's like I'm sorry Mr R sorry yeah no it's just kind of a it's it's difficult sometimes to find those lines of demarcation and that's where that that comedy and mutual respect and civility has to kind of sort of win the
day and I think it has for the most part and Adam when you made the comment about it's not our priew to say what what the pro program is you run you pick the programs however the programs must be within the realm of what the mission in
the vision should be so if you want to run a program you're going to teach math lessons that doesn't yeah that's not not kind of where it's going unless you teaches math how using archaeology archaeology yeah I mean there there are a lot of great ways but it's not in
regards of you editing the lesson plans that Franklin's writing or um um what drinks are served at the volunteer appreciation I mean we're welcome to uh suggestions but but and advice uh we're not to micromanage but but
getting or like oh the tour shouldn't be 30 minutes long they should be 45 minutes long um you need to do tours at 11 the price should be this and we're welcome to the advice but in terms of um you know not as like marching orders but appreciate advice based on your own
experience and wisdom but in terms of you you you being the final authority of setting and us just being the arm I'm saying like again that check and balance that we're all working lock step we have our roles and responsibilities and you have our your responsibilities and then that oversight is to ensure if we do you
know we we don't follow a mission we don't follow best practices if we are violating the Lord of Community Trust agreement that's where you as the board come in and use that oversight and say hold up and if there's something that you you recommend like the I don't want
to bring up the underground again but I will you know you recommended to to council to vote to keep it do everything we can to keep it open like that those are appropriate things to definitely do yeah that's part of programming but that's also part of structure and so there's and the history of of the site
in general and the uniqueness of and and to be clear if you think about what we are as an Advisory Group obviously ccab and even with friends in no way do we have a conversation nor do we have the responsibility of handling the budget
the budget is the staff responsibility they're the ones that need to know well gosh I can't afford this or I can't afford this so um you know that's never been a concern of ours so we can't be in a position of saying well you're not successful or you are successful based
on the decisions you've made um but that's not our job that's the council's job yeah sometimes I feel like Joe ANUK over here when at Council meetings when we're like this do whatever it takes he's like oh oh my gosh it's gonna kill everything but but I'm going to take exception with
with one thing in after two managers that had no concept of Museum or archaeology or history or anything I think we strongly advocated for an experienced
manager and and Al that was Allison and that made so much difference and now we have Adam who really know how to to do things professionalize it yes so yeah but but I I would just say this to Adam and and I think you would agree with me
Adam is that on the flip side is is that as a museum manager who has to run the day-to-day operations if you're thinking of ideas and thinking of changes it would be shortsighted not to bounce them off this experienced crew here to get some feedback as to how you think that
would be received how historically that would mesh you know just kind of just you it's a symbiotic relationship absolutely yeah that's that's why I was really excited to present that year-long program calendar to CCAD for their advice and feedback um and that's why I
do my staff reports to make sure that we're I think that exchange is very helpful yeah yeah I mean creativity is a deep well but there is a limit sometimes so I welcome the additional ideas we hear feedback all day right Jim oh yes sometimes very direct yeah no I just
I just have a a question I mean maybe we've been with the mountain house too long but um when I was in it the other day and I was in the room where the chairs are the living the old living room and stuff
um Dan Hughes had given $110,000 as a donation to furnish that room and there was a plaque up there the plaque is gone is that a new rule I we we did discuss that um so if
we'd like to know what we can do when yeah we just talked about it on this Wednesday at our meeting um and part of it is our the way we accept donations the way it sits it would and I know it gets really Technical and I apologize but we don't have a naming
rights kind of thing and the plaque was so that it was a naming right so we're going to have to figure something else to recognize him and we don't want to not recog yeah I mean it was not it was never done appropriately that the bottom that was unfortunate and the does the family know that the plant is down have
you informed them uh no again because there's no there was no documentation on naming rights the donation um it was almost accidental as I recall I mean I wasn't there when it happened but the stories I've heard it was
completely it was not a cellc decision I don't think no I think that I I've heard the same story so the friends so it was technically the friends of Mount housee donated the room they so the money may
have come from Dan Hughes to the friends but in terms of the deed of gift from that for all those items the town accepted as as a legal custody the gift is not from uh Dan Hughes or his family it was from the friends and then the plaque itself from the stories I think
were on the same page with Becky it kind of just got put up at a party yeah um so I was trying to make sure the town was in legal compliance cuz any polies he didn't really like it but yeah he couldn't say anything on account
of who put it up sticky who we all know love and I think that happened was it were you in a magazine or something that got framed and we end up getting it was that you she bought it and she put it up and we couldn't because it was a museum we couldn't put this recognition about it in the museum it had to go in the
office so there's a bunch of yeah and as far as naming rights you know it's something that I and that we need to know yeah there's a few people we need to so in terms of like this I think this is a great example in segue based on that earlier conversation the management
was oh this might be putting the town in trouble this goes against the town's policy against naming rights or lack thereof so I have to step in to kind of take it down until there is an established policy drafted or accepted or approved maybe written by staff and
then approved by CCAP who recommends Council to vote on a naming policy for Mount house and then then it's all set and then in terms of like ethics like it's usually not good like it gets a little sticky when you start publicizing
donations publicly I mean you probably experienc with that with art museums doners sometimes don't want to be acknowledged you know assets so it opens more I know we've been talking a lot about you know all the complexities and those those laws we have to follow
unless of course it's millions of dollars and they do want to to be recognized go that's a difference on the other hand or somebody else tries to claim it and they want that recognition I understand your point and why it happened but I also think it would have
been good to say oh by the way because of this this this and this temporarily we've removed that plaque communication it's just it's communicating yeah I mean quite well taken yeah that that's true um just
communication there's a lot going on and it is the first room of the museum uh so I I guess I assumed it was since it's a public building uh but yeah I can definitely update you guys more regularly on those uh things like that um I think it would be appropriate to
update the the you's family yes as I think the friend that would be the friends cuz the friends are the again the the linkage the town had nothing to do with the we didn't take it down no but you guys you put it up you put it up
on public we'll we'll figure that part but you know but it was also there for years and years and years wasn't and I don't know naming rights I don't know anything about naming rights oh my God we don't Havey you pay to play that I mean no no I understand about that yeah
but the plaque was to say all he did was donate the money so we could furnish this room there is no naming for for the collections so like if you donate a piece of artwork no but it's not the Hughes it's not the Hughes parlor so the he wasn't asking I me it's
the furnit the furniture was donated by the Hughes family or by technically the friends again the the there's the the the clear lack of roles and responsibilities has gotten us into the situation that we're discussing currently over staff yeah but so again
the donation the money may have come from the Hughes family but under the legal document that the town has the legal custody changed from the friends to the town and the furniture was purchased by an outside vendor um hired
by the it was friends yeah exactly and then the friends put up this PL similar we don't recognize every single person that donates to the Friends well no so I think that's a friends decision since if he donated the friends then the friends have I guess a tax the tax right off would be given to
him or his family you know if he took one I don't know but the town wouldn't be associated with like that gift because the gift wasn't from him there's that connection it changed hands to this legal entity that is the friends and then the friends as a legal entity donated it to another legal entity so I think the
friends um I was my time I no I don't have any document documents I don't friends that we need a policy obviously I would drop it and maybe the plaque can go somewhere else that will make it legal or something I don't know
that we have to alert and and then also there was some so many visitors were coming in thinking so there a huge family lived here yeah I mean I can I could yeah I get so there is some confusion educationally as an exhibit and then I mean this points out later
the collections and Exhibits that the flow of the room doesn't change so if we do take that recommendation and as bar will say even permanent exhibits typically only last 8 to 10 years that's true um just like we change our programming we change our exhibits so what happens when we do change the
living room for another exhibit M because nothing can stay static course that involves budget and exactly and exhibit design and so so would that idea come before the cellc yeah oh yeah well I mean I think kind of did already
because we took out I guess the exhibit upstairs and made it the collection room or collection uh office so in that circumstance we did talk about that well in terms of what the exhibit will be according to best practices again this is all based and best practices the
staff decision on what the exhibit is the design of the exhibit whether it's going to be in-house the Contracting the bidding process that's all a staff decision and then again your role as an Advisory Board based on the town Charter and best museum practices if we're going
to put an exhibit about McDonald's you know that doesn't meet the mission or if we're you know we're just actually need board up that room and you people have to get the gift shop and then you have to go somewhere else mum that that's the Museum Store uh uh yes it's the Museum
Store so it would come to ccab in the terms of oversight and correction but not in terms of Are We is this an approval for the panels which ccab helped tremendously during that absence after Teresa in helping the museum but that's because there was no staff that
there was no director so for instance when we do the Strategic plan it'll say rotate exhibits based on museum standards and recommendations so that would be what what you all would do you'd put that in the jesic plan and that's up to the staff then
again if the staff's going to do it all and mention it to us at the at the end yeah and say well here's what we're going to do we're going to take out that room or or or the kaloa room or the you know the the early history room and we're going to do this I think this is
we don't we don't need to be in on the Strategic plan do we yeah CU you can set those goals that you just said it's the staff that's going to do this and then not even bring it and say we're thinking about it if it says we're going to be rotating one of our our Str plans
because of Museum practices is that we're going to rotate exhibits right then that's the staff's job is to take the Strategic plan and and um plan implement it Implement that either with programming or or moving the
exhibits I guess we've had a much closer relationship in the past and I'm having a little hard time and I was just going to say that I'm in charge of two advisory councils and they run much different on both one I come in and we just kind of say what we're doing we give the staff report yeah this is going
on we're starting this new program and it's more of informational this is the staff report because that's the staff's job is to implement those programs and and run the actual thing so that's how borab is r and then this one is a little
more Hands-On yeah so very mic I do understand in 2016 it does say a long-term goal is identify an employ rotating exhibits I I got no problem with but the idea that that they need to we'd like to know what it is we'd like
to have a little input that's all I'm saying I we already have I mean I think when they were talking about the collection changing the only you guys proposed that to us and we talked about it and voted yes twice I know you voted against it yeah I know I mean but that's
that's a love that's a committee and you just and you sit back and go yeah okay right I'm wrong well not I'm wrong but I disagree lot on like the plaques and what there's there's still a lot of things that have not come before us again that's like like he says paint
color font size those are that's day-to-day eye operations it I'm bringing it to your attention if it's when it's involved in policy so it's like your Congress you write the laws we the executive brants the staff we're implementing those laws laws
well it's not the job of Congress to go and enforce their laws they're written there are different checks and balances and I think the difference between what I just said about borab and cell cab is you guys have been in it your heart is so into it I mean I'm not saying borab
isn't but they they know like the staff can do it I just feel like there's not a lot of trust in what we're doing see and I would say taking down a plaque that's been there since it was instit Ed is is a policy I I think
you're absolutely right about that yeah but we need some sort of it's communication it's commun it's communication I I think I think we want to be in the when making we should have done was came in and and I way could have said by the way we took down the
plaque for this and here's why we have to take but I don't think it should have been you know today I took down plaque I need to email email no no no that would could have been in a staff report to be agenda I think those are
the differences that we're seeing is we should be able to do things as a staff where we're kind of getting feedback and push back if we do them and that's our role versus what a recommendation rep yeah it's a sticky one because it's sticky here's the sticky part of the
Sticky Wicket is that you know Adam through no fault of his own Didn't Know Dan Hughes and Dan Hughes and probably doesn't realize what an institution Dan Hughes was on our Island and what a what a leading figure he was and and everybody here knew Dan Hughes and
admired him and and looked up to him so and so there's probably a little bit of a disconnect historically so to me this is it necessarily should you think you're right literally in terms of procedures but good communication would be and again this this is sometimes these things happen because how are you
supposed to know that Dan Hughes is everybody knew and befriended him and still you thinks highly of today I mean you can't know that so I mean that was just a little bit of a breakdown it's not a federal case but I I do think that's where the communication thing is hey there's this black up here I don't know the history behind it but you know just we're going to take it down because
of X Y and Z and and we're going to try to revisit it and and that kind of communication but you know you're going to hit and miss some of those but you know I think they're the efforts there yeah and also I mean technically the loop is also named after Dan Hughes now that was that was that was the result of the council we were all against that
just so you know oh yeah yeah the May the mayor at the time uh pushed that pretty hard and and and of course we all love Dan H he hate to vote against that but but we were against that yeah and we're we're not Tyrant or anything just
I you know I think just where it all came in was probably when we had that lapse and we had to do so much of it and you know the signs of the font that was when we were doing the font we had to do all that stuff and now
we don't which is good yeah um but it's just it's an adjustment stuff adj done yeah and then we don't know it and then you feel like they don't age care I can attest and I'll just give a personal story and current we haven't had a a b
Oaks manager well sometime now and we got Neil on board which is awesome um or park parks Rec manager and I'm sitting here still running around trying to do my checklist I'm like I could just have him do it so I've been you
know he can like and I I need just need to be able to and I do I try it's only been two weeks but I do trust him that he's getting stuff done so it's kind of similar I mean you know I've been you guys were doing everything right now we have confident people that and anything
that changed was brought to self cab weting twice a month for like a couple of years and that was after Teresa left or before Allison was hired and we in the middle of Designing exhibits and then the exhibit designer went bankrupt
y so you can't even imagine what kind of chaos we were facing remember that Betty you bet you bet so we're we're trying it's kind of like being a a a helicopter parent it is we need and it's like
that's what all we realized you know step back a bit step back we've got we've got qualified leaders yeah and and this he does also recommend it'd be great I would love if like he recommends Council but also cell cab to visit
regularly right and meet with staff not just I did and you know he said me too you can say it uh I have there's a financial connection there I drive around a lot I just don't always stop you are perfect oh yeah right yeah
what can you ask for the best BX ever that would that would be good if we would meet and and be able to talk about some of these it would probably have to be individually because the sunshine La I'm and and not just meet with me just come by not in like a formal meeting
just swing by drop in on a program it is free for you guys by the way as members um go fishing if you want uh you go fishing but drop in on a program you know pop by for a visit have coffee with Franklin and Ashley learn about the education programs the new field trips
you know there's new things in the store um so there's a lot of things that are happen and cuz like the thing with the plaque I I I think I don't know what would be and what would not be a thing to notify
you like we trimmed this tree um we mowed the yard we moved the kayak Trail I think we're talking about we're talking about things that impact relationships with with notable notable local people families that were
instrumental in a lot of things was something that I think I can add perhaps for Adam and Jeff's benefit is that that parlor was furnished and Dan Hughes enabled an antique dealer to find
precisely the pieces that were uh from a photo of the original case house and Mr and Mrs case you know in front of the fireplace so it was a really big deal to honor the the the history of the house
itself um in addition to the mountain so that's why I think there's a lot of sentiment attached to that and an next they don't see it as another room in a house but as you know it's the welcoming parlor of the original family that
actually built that part of the house and then down the flip side to that I it could be double Advocate but I walk in and I have no idea and I think what is this yes of course as I did the first time I saw for a tour of that was my reaction I had
no idea until I read why is this here I was and it starts to come alive but there there's signage there that describes it all no it it does but I walk into the gift that that was my first reaction was I walk to the the museum store and then I hit a living
room I I guess my perception was something else when I walked that that goes back to having having volunteers do why we had a do cuz I would always stand right there I would say welcome to the and then sometimes do then and I didn't have that experience when I walked in
and then we would say and this is our this is our period room and this is why it's the period room and add that that context and then allow them to read it and it said if you would like to see the overview follow me into the orientation room and there's and I my my my story line was we have a three minute video
that's going to tell you 2,000 years of history and in my experience with museums is up you know when you take a tour sit in the room right away they gave you the tour of the place you know the visual well that was like secondary on the list so it just wasn't the way I
was used to exactly well that's why that that parlor has been Central to the the whole entrance and and the focus of the mountainous for what right 25 years I don't know the exact age of it goes back to the
mission back the cultural and environmental history of Fort Meers Beach y well that's the cultural history from 1920 from 1906 190 yeah I mean we're first and foremost in archaeological Museum we have a historic house as a resource as well that's not
secondary or anything like that it's also equal um but in terms of like so the decorative Arts which is what that room is there's not a lot of interpretation of because uh again when we had volunteers who were coming
regularly it it worked really well however that structure does not exist anymore well why why can't it be revitalized we can't get volunteers to come told us we weren't needed that's not you don't want us that's not true we have uh I we basically beg in
our volunteer newsletters in our Constant Contact newslet I'd like to hear things verbally I I mean we all felt totally slapped in the face right we were told dosens were not needed to come by I was welcome to come by and
visit exact words the staff said when in terms of scheduling volunteers and again this is another point of having volunteers on The Advisory Board and Friends members being the same that causes confusion for
staff and puts me in a very difficult awkward position how does it cause confusion for staff yes because I manage volunteers and then I come to a board that oversees me in my job performance it's the same people yeah it's a little awkward to be sure I can see that um so it makes me very
uncomfortable um so you're saying you don't want anyone that's in a leadership position to be a volunteer uh everyone as a volunteer and a cell cab it gets a little sticky again we get to those proportions but going back to your original question so I would like to it
I would just like to I think this is really important it is important we said because the summer was very very slow we were getting zero people days we would come we would have volunteers come and you know a big part of volunteer
retention is that engagement and that like trying to keep volunteers engaged with the history and we were receiving a lot of complaints from volunteers on the lack of visitors and not having anything to do so we said you do not have to come
anymore if you do not want to we would love to have you come but it is slow and you may find yourself bored so right now there's just not a lot of activities going on you're more than welcome to be here but right now you might find it very different than how you responded
we're working on getting more people here but in terms especially when the underground was closed there just wasn't a lot of demand for volunteers so we we try to be a part of that communication and honesty you know we don't we wouldn't want to lie to the volunteers and say
yes we need you we we were thronged by people and then for volunteers to show up because we have had volunteers join who later quit because there's not enough things to do and there's not enough people and they get bored and they say there's just no one here I'm just sitting here I don't know what I'm
supposed to be doing and they quit and it's and again we're recovering after HRI and Ian and we don't have a lot of these policies and procedures set forth in terms of volunteer training volunteer recruitment volunteer time so again part of that communication we were trying to be as honest as possible and saying
again you're more than welcome but to stop by and visit and also volunteer as well perhaps that was I'm hearing some it's on tape you can go back and look at the meetings on what we said
what was said and I said then how can I help as a volunteer and you said Outreach yes and that was it I would love for you that's still volunteering I'm confused you want want to speak to that Alan we have been doing Outreach
and we continue to do more Outreach we at the library left we can go Sunday well as the friends the friends volunteered not the mount house cuz we asked for outreach volunteers and we haven't had one Outreach volunteer see and see this is the difference between a volunteer and
the friends because we did that kind of Outreach all the time prior to Ian um I remember going to I can't even tell you which part that's how I saw a lot of the parks in Florida we all went we had a table and we did it and we did it as because we were volunteers and we were
also friends but it's the same people MH yes and you seem to have you have a hard time without being the same people but it's the people that care about it that are going to be friends that are going to going to be the volunteers and then when you tell them they don't you need need the volunteers and then I see in the in the monthly newsletter you're
looking for volunteers and doons and I'm thinking yeah how come nobody said an email and said hey we need you back that that that was the email you read no it wasn't an email that's a newsletter that was sent membership newsletter and the volunteer
newsletter is that on janary 11th is that communication with your people yeah I mean I I would think just having a mailing list of volunteers is is one way to have them feel like they're more than just reading a newsletter I guess I'm confused I think
and we could go on and yeah this is not this is it's now 4:00 actually 3:59 and this meeting has been going on for 3 hours we have hit a very touchy subject understand how emotional it is
for all that are here today I think that this is um this is something that needed to be said as long as this meeting's been that said this is all needed to be said and I think what you come down to
is that there's been a failure to communicate right and let's just say on both parts or maybe on all s we all need to do a better job of communicating in the future if things are you know a little touchy let's have it out let's
not divide let's not be polarized as a community we're too small for that so um in the in the guise of trying to get this meeting moving and ending I would like to table the rest of the public trust portion of this uh and then for us
to jump right back into the middle different forms the communication we realize that so we'll try to use as many as we can I mean to us that was communicating that's how we do our B Oaks newsletter that's how we do that's true so it's just a matter of how you interpret do I want a personal
invite yeah probably but that's just that we were getting the word out it's like we were trying to hide anything or you weren't trying to put anyone off but I think that might have been the perception that okay we
get it's it's a style of Comm so are you communicating a newsletter is communicating to the masses an email list to the members to the me an email list to the people that have been volunteers saying hey we need you back right that that's that's I mean and that's the way that's the way it had
always been done prior to the world falling apart so I just quick question do you have a plan in place for dosant now yeah it's the same plan that we've been having and offering various forms of volun here opportunities dosens which
are the people that right now under the current system of the exhibits stand in the living room and facilitate education okay um things like that there are Outreach volunteers which if you look on the staff report that's really the need of the museum and to best serve the
Museum from the staff's opinion um kayak Aid volunteers to assist staff in terms of loading unloading cleaning and kind of being that Sweeper for kayaking as well as field trip volunteers so you need a lot of different kind kind of volunteers exactly and not some people do crossover um some people just want to
be kaying some people just want to be dosent which is totally okay and that's but that's the someone was asking me the other day about because they had heard that that you know you weren't using dosin now and just was asking so I can tell them it's
a couple people in the building yeah a lot of volunteers have come to us that they've heard from other volunteers that volunteers aren't welcome and they come to us very heartbroken that it and we have to explain to them that that's not true okay but we were very thankful that they come to us and ask us instead of listening
to information how many volunteers do you have right now uh that information I don't have but it's not a lot a lot of is it a dozen or is it less probably less than a dozen in terms of regular volunteers so I I'd be happy to come back because I used to come I've done
multiple days of the week well then yeah and we sent that email out January 22nd um to Constant Contact and you read it um um as did Jerry and Becky so you sent out a direct email to former volunteers Constant Contact through constant contct
using our volunteer newsletter yes that's what but you're saying the newsletter I'm saying that what I'm saying and that's why I said there are different communication Styles yeah we just need to find the right ones I don't right because Ashley has been s would send out emails but people would say
that they weren't getting them so I told her to start using Constant Contact because some emails have changed and people have multiple emails well it also Constant Contact winds up in my spam so then I have to go fish it out I don't get Constant Comment I'm on medical leave anyway that's my yeah and that's
totally fine there's no pressure all right let's we're not we have to have another conversation this is a different topic yes and we're going to table the conversation until uh next month and we'll um continue with governance and address the issue of public trust and
accountability does that work Adam for you it works for the theard right everyone yes agreed about moving on okay um member items we'll start with um Carol I have nothing okay
thankie nothing right now no I'm good I I would just like to add that if this has been contentious but it's good contention because we're getting the we're clearing the air and that's what needs clearing all going to walk away happy yeah exactly I can tell that's the point yeah so I can go in on Saturday
and I can do my dosent thing please that I can yes welcome people and go over the timelines there you go yeah hot tiity and maybe I'll walk in and you can tell me what that Liv room come on back what one other thing I
will do it very quickly and just something to think about is kind of goes back not to the plaque but to recognizing people and I know we need to do it outside the building and we were almost thinking we're I was talking with Carolyn and about um like maybe a little
reflection area where we'd have a bench or something that'd be great so when did you talk to Carolyn I hopefully at the meting at friends you you guys are board members for God's sakes you are now on record
you know where I mention I did I mentioned at the memorial that's exactly right standing out beyond the but the issue is you're still board m whether sorry sorry guys but anyway um we do have and I know we can do something a little different but
we do have the memorial bench program that the town has so that's another thing you know we want to pick some people or yeah um we can talk about that and we can uh we don't not need to do a green one we can do a more decorative one who who do I need to call to get
information about that uh the bench program Deb height Deb height height actually Community Services um coordinator now there used to be a cell cab or was it friends had a
program and an idea that was a so we had Ben and we actually were picking out benches we were picking out benches and I don't know if we came up with an amount I think it's $5,000 per bench thought that was it was I think that was donations it was you had to pay to be able to have your name on the bench it
wasn't a it wasn't a freebie no these memorial benches too you have to pay you have to pay you pay exactly so if it's 5,000 yeah I mean I think that was the price back then I think that was a friends thing yeah I I don't think the town ones are that much money are they
no I honestly I don't I don't think they're only less than 500 I think we mentioned it as a we had somebody don't call me on that but it's we had somebody looking up prices and Designs um oh an was Anis
Annis thank you yeah okay so it went back to the friends right okay um you've done your member comment um Betty I think this meeting has been uh a real
Challenge and uh we've had a lack of communication so I think that it has really helped for us to be able to discuss these things and uh I would assume that things that stay here that
are sit here stay here I mean this is except what we're able to do and I think the logical step is what we want to do is to have the M house move forward and uh all of this has been building up to
that and uh so I think it's been uh a healthy meeting that we've had today and I think that's that's part of why we're doing this Museum um Assessment program is to have these things come out yes and
figure them out I think that's helpful so that's all I have okay thank you Betty well said well said okay um I think we can uh since there's no one here uh for public comment uh we've got
our next meeting scheduled for April 24th at 1 o' when is our next meeting April 24th if I'm not mistaken one o' one o' and I think we can use that as a standard uh
that seems to be agreeable to everyone I know Ellen we moved it because of your appr schedule yes thank you so much but if you can just put in your calendar that once a month on the what is that third Thursday of every month at one o' that will be I think that's what the
town has on their calendar to just double check right um and at this point i' I'd like a motion to adjourn I moved so Becky second second okay okay thank you