##VIDEO ID:7rPlx413rUw## uh this is a meeting of the fort Meers Beach joint session of the Town Council together with ccab uh it is the museum Assessment program peer review with regard to uh the governance of the mount house uh calling this meeting to order um and uh we will begin with a Pledge of Allegiance please stand I pledge alleg to the flag of the United States of America and the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay thank you and we'll begin with a roll call and I'll begin at this end uh Barbara Hill chair ccab Betty Simpson cell cab Scott Safford Town councel Karen Woodson councel Dan allers Town Council Jim anderle Town councils johnar King Town Council Sher Smith Vice chair cab Ellen B cell cab Becky Warner cell cab um we got we have to vote together yes I know I'm just about I didn't know if you wanted have to put you got to by a microphone so people can hear that's good share this one that's fine I'm fine can't you use the we're gonna have to vote to make to get you into the meeting so hold on one second so okay thank you we have to actually have two votes we have to vote first uh for the approv approval of having Carrie join us via phone and that's the um Board of the sub cell cab so all in favor of allowing car uh Carrie to be part of the conversation today say I I oppose none car's the motion carries unanimously and so then there has to be a vote for Council if you could um also approve that she can be part of this meeting this morning so moved second all those in favor I I oppos wonderful thank you oh so car you are now officially on board thank you for joining us via the phone okay um uh public comment I don't believe we have anyone that's um um present here to give public comment so we will move on to the items for discussion and this is a really a sort of more on um informational and uh conversational with regard to the Mount house and the uh assessment of the museum with regard to best practices uh that's designated by the American Alliance for the museum um organization and so with that I'm going to turn the meeting over to Adam who is the manager of the mount house and then he will introduce the peer reviewer thank you Adam everyone good morning Zab Town Council uh thank you all for coming out and having this uh special joint meeting uh Adam Knight Museum manager Mount housee culture parks Recreation Department uh this meeting is going to be basically a conversation and we're actually joined by a peer riewer from the American liance museums Dr Scott Neil uh I'll let him introduce himself in just a moment but the purpose of this meeting is basically a conversation and to promote dialogue between cell cab staff and Council over Mount house uh its operations governance and its future so we can help lay the groundwork towards a future process whereby we would hopefully seek accreditation from the American Alliance museums which is a high honor and a big stamp of approval for museums opening up a wide range of opportunities both in terms of not just Prestige but also possible funding opportunities in the form of additional grants and um really a mark of uh success within the museum field less than 1% of museums are accredited but as I said this process the museum Assessment program um it's not its purpose is not getting accreditation it's to make sure we have a clear defined role and responsibility between the various stakeholders that play part in the mount house as well as making sure that we're all on the same page between staff Council cell cab and the various other stakeholders that have a stake or interest in Mount house and then making sure that uh we have those roles and responsibilities all defined so I'll hand it over to Dr Scott Neil who will introduce himself good morning um so I'm going to do a brief introduction of my background so you understand where I'm coming from um um and then I'll kind of explain what I do as a peer reviewer and what this process entails and then I'll get into questions and like Adam said I want this to be more of a conversational um I'm going to kind of ask you questions I'm not going to present anything to you um I want to ask questions and get answers from you all so I can kind of see gauge the governance of the mound house and then when I write my report I can give uh suggestions that may help in the Govern um as well as Collections and various other things that were part of this this particular map uh assessment so as said uh Dr Scott Neil I am currently the director of the fort Sil uh museums and training Support Facility in Forts Oklahoma uh but my background is I have a bachelor's in anthropology archaeology from the University of California Santa Barbara a MERS in PhD in archaeology from the University of Nottingham in England and then I did a year about a year of archaeology up and down the East Coast before I got a job at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History I stayed there for about three years and then moved over to the National Air and Space Museum and was team leader for bringing all the major object objects and artifacts into the new udar hazi Center out by Dallas airport uh I assemble helped assemble the Inola gay brought in the space shutle Enterprise brought in the SR71 hung a number of planes uh I had a a a CR train license uh to be able to do all that and so um once down to the basics once I had uh found out that I was probably not going to make it any further than Smithsonian I got out and moved to Alaska with my wife um where I ran a small little Museum in the town of Wasilla and you've probably heard of it Sarah Palin um oh H so uh I I worked at that the small little Museum Dorothy G page Museum there and uh she was the mother of the idod race so we talked about the Iditarod and frontier life there I then uh stayed there for two years and was offered a job at the Alaskan native Heritage Center and I went down there in Anchorage and worked with the Alaskan natives uh telling their culture uh their stories um and I kind of jokingly say this but I was the only one of three white people there everybody else was Native American or Alaskan native and they welcomed me into their family and made me part of their cultures um that job came to a close because of funding and so I took a job at the Fort Sil National Historic Landmark and Museum um it is the oldest complete Indian Wars fort in existence built in the 1870s by Buffalo Soldiers and it also has a number of uh very famous Native American collection there uh gono Satanta um Kickingbird we have sh General Sherman's uh uh calling card with his signature on it so very very uh large collection for the Army and then two years ago I was promoted to oversee that museum the US Army uh artillery Museum and the Air Defense Artillery training Support Facility where we train soldiers in their Branch history so that kind of gives you a background of all the the experience that I've had I work started at as a museum technician and I am now a museum director so I've seen the good the bad the ugly the entire way of the step so the the map process that uh Adam and his team went through is as he said it's an important part of the American Alliance of museums their accreditation process it allows the museums before they go into the accreditation process to have a really good understanding of what is going to be required by them uh there's collections uh Museum assessment there's also the governance um there's also a community relations uh Museum assessment so uh this one is particularly uh focused on the governance portion of the mound house and so when I do this report it's not going to be a pass or fail it's that's absolutely not what I'm I'm here to do is to fail fail anybody or pass anybody it is more to collect the the information and then give you recommendations and suggestions to make things better make things work better for you all as well well as for Adam and his staff um so you know the joke is I'm from the government I'm here to help I am from the government and I am here to help I really am here to help you um okay and as I said you know I want to create the dialogue between the museum staff Town Council the cell cab and the friends group um when we have the friends group we're going to have a a meeting this afternoon with them and I want to try to get everybody take on what you feel the museum is doing right what is doing wrong what needs to be improved um long-term plans um those sorts of things so I'm going to ask some questions and I really just want you all to have a dialogue towards me but also between yourselves kind of talking I'm going to write down as much as I can and thankfully this is also recorded um so I'll be able to go back and and if I miss anything I'll be able to make sure that I capture what everybody has said in this report um so that does anybody have any questions before I start no no okay go ahead she said no no okay um okay so the first question is so do you all know what the mission of the mound house is without looking in your phones or anything like that do you know what the mission is yes yes if I could uh Dr Dr Neil my name is Jim aderhold uh history major University of Wisconsin uh I I I'm the leison from the Town Council to cell cab which is our over which is our advisory committee for the mound house I just thought I would just set the table just to give you since we're here to talk about governance just give you a sense of of how things work with respect to the Mount house the uh the council is in essence the legislative body the policy setting body uh our executive branch is Andy Our Town manager and Frankie and Jeff and Adam obviously and and then we partner together with this advisory committee the cell cab committee the advisory committee in essence is the functioning Board of Directors for the moundhouse in an advisory committee role it uh their decisions are not binding but I must tell you we have a very unique relationship here on Fort Meers Beach between ccab and the council our ccab Members First of all it's chaired by Barbara here who has an extensive Museum background and everyone on the mount house has extensive experience on the island on a variety of fronts including the mound house so it's been very unique I've been to leoon now for four years and I've never once seen a situation where the cell cab recommendation has not been accepted by the Town Council we have questions and we we try to get more informed but but the relationship is very symbiotic it's very positive i' there's never been a dispute there's never been a a a debate about in in in an adversarial way from a functional standpoint it's really been almost seamless now you might say you know are we doing our oversight role are we are we challenging are we pushing and I think that happens I think it primarily happens at the cell cab level because that in essence is the in effect the board of directors for the moundhouse so as we get into the mission piece you know I I I I would yield to others but from a governance standpoint I'm a political science major as well so I know a little bit about everything a lot about nothing but I but but at the same time it it functions from a Governor's standpoint in an really excellent uh manner this this advisory committee we have with ccab they really are are are everyday uh uh Board of Directors for Adam and for Jeff and they hold them accountable they ask tough questions they push it's all very constructive and positive but at the same time they're challenged but but when ccab comes to the council and I I I I think I speak for my colleagues their their their recommendations and their and and whatever their policy uh uh concerns are are taken very seriously by the council and it's a very it's a very uh positive Dynamic i' I've seen a lot of dysfunction in government at the federal state and even local level this is a this is one of the things that really works well and so I just wanted to premise that as because I know this is a governance function I'll let others comment on the on on the purpose of the about so the mission but I I just wanted you to get that background and I'm not just saying this it really is the truth you go back and watch the cell cab meetings you go back and watch Council meetings whether our budget process there's a very there's a very unique and positive relationship between all the entities involved here and it really works well so I don't I I'll try to be quiet but I just thought I'd set that set the table a little bit with that background okay thank you and I'll I'll follow up on on on Jim's comment I I was not a history major I was a political science major so I and I think of myself as kind of a newbie to this town I've only been here for 25 years um because you like we know that the town of Fort Meers Beach is a relatively young Community as political entity our anniversary is coming up next year the town will be 30 years old the town will have acquired the mountainous property 25 years ago and the museum will be opened it's either 10 or 13 my brain is a little muddled it's 10 okay thank you Adam um and and having been here for 25 years and in the beginning assessed the community from a distance because I was coming and going but having been a full-timer for more than a dozen years I can tell you that this is a well oiled machine the entire Community um there are differences of opinions on a lot of different issues however we really think of ourselves as one and that goes from the town government to all all the institutions in the town and we have been battle hardened most recently by Ian and we um we come together good okay so I had a few people say that yes they knew the mission um so I would ask what is the mission what do you think the mission is well since I have the mic I will continue on so the mound house as you know is both a mound and a house I love this that new phrasing that comes from one of our new Young staff members and it is to preserve the history of what is there and to let people know that there is this what Rich cultural resource on this tiny little island it's supp an archaeological site and it's a historic home and it cans 2,000 years of history and encompasses all the different peoples that have lived here and we need to tell that story in a friendly way so that people w't come back yes and we're also want to bring the culture and the environment and everything really to almost all of Southwest West Florida we want to bring in knowledge of um of our past Heritage for the whole area Okay um so and this one may be kind of off thewall this question but I've been asking it of everyone that I've been meeting with uh yesterday and and and also today so is the museum a town Museum do do you consider it a town Museum or do you consider it a separate entity under under cell cab under the friends group some a nonprofit how do you see the mound house we are a vend diagram to the nth degree the mountainous was acquired by the town it's owned by the town and staff that run the museum our town our town staff members and cab is volunteers from the community appointed by Town Council in order to provide overall direction I would say it's absolutely a town Museum I mean it's it's an attraction through various vacation bureaus that we we obviously use to try to draw people here to visit so I believe it's very much a town Museum yeah I I also think very much to town and I'm I'm a dosent on Saturdays and that's one of the things that I always mention in my opening speech is that we became a town in 1995 and in 2000 the town had the foresight to buy the property and the museum so it's a town entity okay all right anyone anyone else I just want to make sure that I get captur what everybody you know if anybody has any opinions I mean like I said good bad ugly I you know that's that's what I'm here for is to really try to bring all of that out so that I can make sure that things are where they need to be for Adam and his staff to do that uh accreditation process well I'll just add in addition to being a VIN diagram we all wear multiple hats because Sherry mentioned being a dosent I'm a dosent Betty's a do Betty Betty has been a dosent okay um so you kind of touched upon this uh so how do you see the uh role in the governance of the museum so the Town Council is the one that I mean you basically run the museum with them as the advisory committee and then you have a friends group that does I guess fundraising for the fundraising side for whatever the the the town cannot uh purchase for Adam um but you know it it's I just want to try to make sure I understand the role of the governance that happens yeah I would just Dr NE I would say that that the council particularly postan is extremely busy with rebuild efforts and to have the luxury of an advisory committee to to in essence serve as the board of directors of the mount house is appreciated and and respected and I think again the day-to-day operations uh of the mount house uh obviously the executive branch runs the day-to-day operations but in terms of the oversight and the policy guidance it really comes primarily from cellc cap because the council is so busy right now with other things and quite even quite honestly even before the storm there was a deference to ccab as as the in essence the board of directors of the mountainous their recommendations are always uh taken seriously and quite frankly I can't remember a time where they weren't adhered to so it's a it's a very unique situation there's never any contention the obviously the council we just had a budget uh uh two budgets or one budget session we're going to get ready to pass our final budget the budget for the mound house is is is always universally supported and the friends and I'll let others yield on the friends but the friends sort of supplements that funding it's not like the towns refused certain things and their friends has to it's a very friendly relationship there's certain sort of extras if you will that the friends comes in and helps with and it's it's it's a it's a wonderful luxury to have but but the not only does the money come in from the friends but it also engages the community and connects them to the mountainous so if you ever go to a friends event Friends of the mountainous fundraiser you'll see everyone in the community there all walks of life and it's a very uniting Dynamic and it keeps everybody engaged in the mound house and keeps it keeps it in the sort of uh uh uh on the front page of people's lives because they have so many opportunities to engage not just through Adams programming which is excellent and a lot of public engages that way but a lot of people engage often times to the Friends events because it's not only a fundraising Dynamic but it's a social Dynamic and it's a way for people to connect and support the moundhouse which is very popular on the island okay all right so just just so that I understand so the Town Council overall is the policy oversight governance the cell cab because right now this the town is very busy with post uh hurricane Ian you've kind of not delegated but allowed cell cab to pick up more of the governance uh piece of that and then once hurricane uh Ian cleanup has completed the Town Council will then reassume some of that I don't I may may have not made that clear Dr Neil the council traditionally has delegated that oversight function to cell camp and and even before the storm I just think after the storm it's even more appreciated because there's only so much time in the day for the council and we're thankful to have you I mean people with their level of experience on the island and history on the island to to to have an entity like that to be to show difference to they really do run the day-to-day operations and oversee the policy Dynamics and make recommendations the town is sort of the is the functional formal approval of these of the of the budget and the Dynamics but the informal workings of the mount house uh I shouldn't see informal but just the the the procedural uh uh uh policies and strategies of the Mountain House really are come from the cell cab recommendations and the council just is shows difference and yields to the cell cab recommendations just because not only are they are is the council busy but we also have tremendous respect for the people on Cell cab and their history uh on the island and their connection to the Mount house if that makes sense it's very unique yeah and that's why I want to make sure I understand that how how this plays out because typically if it's a town Town Museum it's from top down or think you think there'd be a Temptation for the town to medal and the Town Council to to micromanage and the town manager to stick their nose in but because of the strength of our cell cab advisory committee there's not only there just just hasn't been a need and and or a desire because there's so much deference and respect for the and I'm not just saying this they they really have you if you talk to each one individually and and get a sense of their history on the island it's pretty unique and so I think the five Council people are some you know we're smart enough to know what we don't know and and and these folks fill in that fill in that space quite quite well and we're very thankful to have them okay I'd like to add too that the friends of the mountain house is more than just a fundraising body I mean they they promote the heck out of the place and it brings the whole Community together too I mean the vacation rental companies the chamber the hotels they all encourage our guests to to come visit so it's it's more it's not just these three bodies it's everybody working together which is it's very unique that a town will promote a museum like like we we promote the mound house so it's it's kind of everybody's kind of chipping in together okay um during one of the discussions yesterday uh was my understanding there's also Historical Society here on on the island as well how does that play in in in any way or does it in terms of of friends group promotion helping out with with Adam or Adam helping out with them is there any kind of relationship there at all or do you think there needs to be I mean because my understanding is I guess it's it's having some problems right now not not a lot of people um are engaged in it in terms of like a board um I me maybe I'm wrong but that's kind of the impression I got yesterday during discussions I think that's pretty accurate uh mic the Historic Society excuse me uh the historic group has not had an opportunity to uh get back into uh the cottage until recently and uh there was quite a bit of damage done and now we have a lady that is in charge there uh it's a group that uh I think that the historic Cottage and there are two Cottages there actually but uh uh they were here and I don't think that there there isn't any conflict of any kind between the two of them I mean they're totally different and uh uh the historic is trying to build its uh its participation and uh we've got a couple of events coming up toward the end of the year and uh going to we're encouraging people to come back to the historic Cottage so uh but it is a we have quite a few new people on there and their interest is strictly the historic Cottage and there hasn't been discussion at the meetings that I've been at of anything with regard to the mountainous on that so that's an example of Betty is the quintessential Vin diagram because she's not only on ccab she's also part of the friends of the mountain house and she's part of the historic community so everybody wear so many hats on this island sort of like look the BM Well and I guess my understanding is from yesterday as well is is the population population has dropped um after about half or so so you you don't have a lot of people that can step up into roles to do the volunteers that you need to have done for cell cab or Historic Society exactly Etc okay I'd like to make a point about what uh vice mayor Jim was talking about earlier with regard to the U the the different roles and you're absolutely correct between the council and um cell cab and that symbiotic relationship however what we haven't discussed is the role of the staff in terms of implementing once we've had the conversation at the cell cab level provide the recommendations to council and then the council then direct staff is to what to actually go forward with with regard to budget constraints or strategic planning and you know what is a short term and a long-term goal and it's the staff that actually does the work so you know we have professionals on staff we have a growing staff um that is really doing the education um promotion doing the um grant writing uh running the institution um and really uh providing all of the services that a museum needs to provide so again it's it's a a multi faceted role so it's not just cell cab and Council it's the staff that actually does the hard work they're in the trenches on a daily basis none of us are and that was actually going to be one of my questions further on is is how um you know there's three entities that seem to have a stake in this I mean really um well three four um friends group um but you know three three groups have have a stake um friends group is one of the people but staff being one because after meeting them yesterday you know you can just tell how committed they are to making this Museum the best it can possibly be um very enthusiastic all of them were very enthusiastic they were very honest with me on how they see things progressing here in the future um so uh so that was going to be one of the things later on but you you've covered that now um so kind of the uh next question I have um and and number of youve already answered because you're s your dosin but um have you ever visited the museum and if so how long ago um have have you visited their recently or you know never at all five years ago 10 years ago um I just want to kind of get an understanding of you know how active is cell Cab in visiting and talking with the staff last Friday I'm sorry last Friday last Friday last Saturday we can just go down the row and everybody can answer I would think Ellen on Monday and then I'm I'm there on Thursdays okay and there I'm there on Saturdays it's probably been within the last year I don't remember exactly okay just just in the last week and I I would say too is that during after the hurricane because we had some real challenges with our physical plant here early on we actually had a lot of meetings at the mount house and a lot of our advisory committees met at the mount house including cell Camp which was really interesting but for example like my wife was just out at the gift shop last week getting some gift some cards have these beautiful cards greeting cards so so just this last week for me yeah at least at least once a month because our Public Safety Committee still meets there so we're there multiple times I would say at least 15 times a year okay once a month for the for the the Public Safety Committee and then for every event that the friends of Mount house holds or just going out and standing on the pier watching the people fish yeah yeah um I was there within the last month you know I'm also I'm Lea's unrolled a Bard cab which is Bay Oaks and so we had our meetings there for a long time after the hurricane um just recently had another one but there's also social events there's they're doing the singer songwriter the people are buying tickets to so it it's an active um site if you will for people to come together and events that happen and um promotions that take place so it it's not just a it's not a place that you go to once every two or three years you know just stop in and just look I love to walk the gardens you know we ride our bikes down there and walk the gardens so it's a different kind of place yeah I think I I go about every other month um I was there with leadership lease so it's not just the town they actually do some Outreach with with Lee County so that that was fantastic so the other members of of the Inland family can get to know what what they're all about um yeah it's it's it's fantastic but I I have a vacation real company and I know for a fact that last month uh I had at least three or four people that we sent down there and they really enjoyed it so well and of course it's got an outstanding gift shop and uh Through The Years uh one of the things that I've always enjoyed was uh how how much the uh the inventory continues to grow and uh uh having kids and grandkids uh they have the type games that uh you aren't going to find in a regular store and whether or not it has something to do with uh uh building a kit of some kind and seeing it explode and I use that word very cautiously because of course the parents would be there too but just the growth of being able to have these things uh uh it's continued to grow you know uh it isn't anything like it was at the very beginning but uh it's been a growth thing and uh oh you can always find little pieces of jewelry that the ladies always like and the gentlemen have an opportunity to look at for their significant others and uh you know I mean it's multifaceted really to have it so um with others I also had gone to a number of meetings at the mount house um and uh obviously meeting with staff which I did recently with Adam last week so I go to the Mount house often I actually signed up for a kayak um tour which I haven't yet done because of the rain but uh in any event um it is uh not only near and dear to my heart but very convenient it's only two canals away and then we have the person on the on the phone there Carrie what about you yeah I was just there last month last month okay okay um so this is kind of get going to get into the the heart of the matter here is what do you think the long-term plans for the museum um are there any should there be um do these Clans include the friends group in terms of the fundraising and doing the events there um and I and I'll be honest yesterday during the meeting with the staff um one of the staff members brought up about uh wedding and I looked out the window there and and it was like a light bulb going on it's like this could be an absolute perfect spot for a destination wedding which would which would then generate people going to the hotel which would then generate taxes which all come back to you for services um so that's something that I'm definitely going to put into my report is that I really think the council cell cab friends all need to look at how to get that the mountainous especially where there's that one spot where between the trees and you're looking out at the at the water to make that a destination wedding place um understanding that there's parking issues but um Adam and I had discussed a little bit of ways to get around that possibly um but what do you all think long-term plans um strategic plans um and I'm not talking two years I'm talking five 10 years 15 years down the road where do you think the mound house should be where do you think um what do you think the topics should be discussed in in terms of exhibits there um that's going to be all part of what he needs to know and and I've told him he really needs to have a long-term strategic plan specific to the mound house so that he knows where he needs to go have the uh the mile points of here's where we need to get to in two years five years 10 years and here's our ultimate goal sort of thing um and that's going to be in the report too but I I want to know from your all's perspective what do you think the long-term plans are well I think they need to work with Friends of the Arts as well I mean we we had some fantastic events uh before the hurricane we had a film festival and we had a movie night there and I I don't see why we can't have more of those movie Nights I mean you had we had a couple hundred people there it was it was a beautiful evening kids were running around I mean I think we had a Disney film but you know things like that that you integrating with uh the singer songwriter having having a couple concerts there uh movie Nights I mean I I not and Weddings But I I think it can become a place that you not only do we go down in the Bayside Park to listen to the concert hey why why can't the mountainous be that kind of destination and it's centrally focused you know in in the middle of the Island right so I think it alleviate traffic so I think during season we should absolutely I the weather's perfect we should look at having more events there well I also think we should take a little bit of a step back um Council right now and after we get through budgets and that type of thing we're we're going to be really going through our strategic plan with a fine tooth comb that we haven't done since 2017 um and I think once the town has their strategic plan in place I mean my idea of that would be that all of our advisory committees would then look at their strategic plans and align them with what the council has as Direction and moving forward and that you know takes place in budgeting and quarterly reviews and performance I mean it is kind of the governing it should be the governing body it should not be sitting on a shelf so I think we're in process of that I mean everything else is kind of bits and pieces and we're getting everything back together from the hurricane and moving forward but I think that's going to be a huge benefit and planning process for all of the friends groups and I I I wrot my big folder um and and we've been having strategic planning sessions with regard to both the mountain house and also Newton Park which is you know whatever it's going to be um from the time that I've been involved so I'm nodding at these people because they've been involved from the beginning I'm you know I'm the new kid on the Block I've been involved for like 12 years but Barbara Betty Sher and a little bit later than them but yes go back to the very beginning of the acquisition of the property they can tell you all where all the the stories are so but strategic planning and being thoughtful and methodical about how things are done has always been part and parcel having come in and gotten involved in this town basically about 12ish years ago I was impressed by the sophistication and the professionalism of what was being done on this tiny little person place yeah may I say the long with your your question with longterm I just marvel at what we have with our underground we have you have I don't think anyone has any idea how popular and how people want to see that people basically come to the mound house because they've heard about our underground and very very seldom do you get to see a whole crosssection of a kaloa shell Mound it goes back 2,000 years ago and people are totally Blown Away and to me looking in the future that's where I would like to see our resources go because we lost a lot of our um audio um the lighting and everything and if we could have something a little bit more and start working toward getting the underground back to where we had videos we had uh neon lights not saying we need all of that again but if we could bring the education back and the audio visual back to the underground it people are just absolutely abolutely blown away when they see it and I think that it's something that we really I mean they like the house also and the fact that the house has sat on this shell Mount but that underground I mean there's one other one in Sarasota and it's about half the size it's something that people don't have and we do there's a couple other things I think that I think about you know one of the long-term goals that we're looking at is incorporating a ferry service to help with traffic I think the mount house could be a very good destination stop along that fery ride I think if we could work with our partners in Estero Cape Coral Fort Meyers who want to be able to come here but don't want to sit in traffic if we can incorporate the mountain house as a destination stop if you've ever been to the Tampa Ferry IAL I talked about it recently we were just up there they have different stops along the way some are educational some are Recreation some are passive I mean it's just a really needed Venture I think having this is one of those key stops to be able to bring people in from the mainland without having to bring the cars in would be beneficial I'd also like to see an expansion of the fishing tournaments have the kids we always have a lot of kids fishing tournaments around to be able to expand that to be able to bring people in when we have the kids camps that come to Bay Oaks that could be part of their part of their weekend if you will to be able to bring them down to the hotel but they also get to go get to learn some culture and some history and do some fishing because it's some of the best fishing in the Back Bay back there with the snook and um so those two things have have been at the top of my mind as far as being able to help incorporate into the M house Vision yeah I would just add to that the fery concept is not some kind of a dream there's actually a private entity that's already looking at a faery service and they they think they can make the economics work and the mount house would be is already part of their stops for a proposed uh fery system for this area which would be tremendous but I one of the things I would just uh challenge our team on I think in terms of our I think that by the way the fery system those boats are going to hold uh I think up to 49 people so it could literally double the attendance of the mount house uh especially on a rainy day when people are looking for something to do I uh I think to that the the the uh the mount house can take advantage of uh loan exhibits from other museums I I'd love to see something from Edison Ford come over and do a special exhibit or other museums in Florida or even around the country and just give some unique new content maybe for a month or a six-month period just to drive attendance because if folks have been to the mountainous numerous times even though it's beautiful and there's a lot of other uh ancillary benefits of going to the Mount house just to have some new content every once in a while even if it's on loan or temporary I think could help Drive attendance as well well set so one of the things I would say to that is that's one of the the good benefits of getting accreditation the Smithsonian has a large traveling exhibit program and if you are an accredited Museum they are more than likely to allow their traveling exhibits to go to your location so that's part of this process here that I'm here doing this so he can get to that point and then you can get to those sorts of bigname um exhibits coming traveling exhibits obviously space is an issue um when I was in there you know there seemed to be space but I think it could be possibly utilized better um better flow to the uh to the experience for people um one of the things that I told the staff yesterday um was my understanding is you have your collections off Island 45 minutes away this young lady who you just hired has to drive there 45 minutes do her work to come back um and that's during the good part of the Season my understanding is it take an hour just to get from the mound house to the bridge um so one of my recommendations is going to be is to find some way to get the collections into the building itself into the house itself so that she stays on site because you have somebody from my conversations yesterday with her who is extremely excited she has a lot of good ideas but she actually said to me that she doesn't feel that she is needed there because her collections are elsewhere and I said absolutely Ely not you need to be part of this team because you with the rest of the team can do the brainstorming Concepts that come up with these great ideas for exhibits programs Etc so that's going to be one of my recommendations is to find some way to get the collections into the actual building um so that she can be on site8 hours a day or 10 hours a day um and yeah my understanding is you all do 41 for there just to make things easier for travel um so 10 hours so that way she is part of the team um that's one of the things that I from my professional experience is team building making sure the team is excited and not being frustrated because they have to travel and not be part of the team almost every single day um so yes I just want to clarify that that yes this this process you're going to be able to get some fantastic loans um there but I think the flow is going to have to be changed a little bit to accommodate those ideas of having a loan right now I don't see a place where you could actually put a loan a temporary loan exhibit traveling exhibit in place without really taking things out and that's going to be be part of the conversation I'm going to have with Adam today as well as in the report that maybe there needs to be some Gallery set aside that's a rotating a room that's a rotating exhibit space Scott getting back to the issue of storing the collection and um documenting it I understand that you know in a perfect world it would be great excuse me great to have it onsite of the entire collection but because of the small facility that we have there uh we understood that there was a possibility now that the Town Council is moving every all the operations to this new city hall this new town hall building that there would be adequate space for us to house the collection there are you opposed to having the collection on island but still off the premises but again within Town property itself isn't that a good alternative it it can be a good alternative um but because because of the the custody um a a looks at uh and if you have a museum background then you probably know some of the the challenges is you really need to it would have to be in a secure area that only the museum staff have the key access to no one else can get into not saying anybody's going to go in there and steal anything but things go missing give you an example at my my office we we have a World War II knife uh trench knife that just went missing this is on a military post Somebody went into a case took it and ran away with it and it's missing the These Are Soldiers officers somebody did that wouldn't think that would happen but it did so I'm not saying anybody's going to do it but it can happen so I'm not opposed to it I just think it would have to be really strict uh admittance into it Museum staff only Etc and I will put that into the report as well um but there has to be that chain of custody and making sure that that it is safeguarded so nothing can happen to it and with regard to long range plans it really has been part of our strategic planning all along to have rotating exhibitions this was our intent uh to get the museum open you know the idea of bringing in the furn ings and getting everything sort of to period level was certainly you know top on the plate of the shortterm um goal to open the museum up open to the public but long term the idea was to have rotating exhibitions and I think Adam coming on board when he did uh really is is very Pro uh moving that into a short-term uh category so I'm hoping that we can really work on that um I think that our exhibition to your point I mean we're talking about you know it being static right now because there are no changes to the actual exhibits that are there in any of the rooms nor had there been any changes since the museum opened nearly 10 years ago so the idea of bringing in a fresh exhibit whether it's through aam accreditation or through other means using part of our collection for a new exhibit will definitely have to be um a more short-term goal in in our strategic plan but that also provides the opportunity for the town to set aside extra funding to make that happen because that's a very expensive um Mission uh but it is part of our mission to do that always has been okay okay that's good to know along those lines I think it would it be looking at opportunities to potentially acquire some Land close by maybe even on the same street as you had mentioned earlier parking has obviously been an issue especially when there's bigger events there and the parking overflow parking currently is down the street a little bit further there are potential opportunities there are houses that are for sale close by there um I don't know that the town is in a financial position to be able to do that now doesn't mean that there's not potentially grants or something that we could go look at to acquire more land that could maybe do what you're saying about having a secure facility close by where she could walk you know just down the street so I would like to I would like to look at that possibility and you guys would know better than we would as far as what type of Grants are out there available to try to acquire land to put into a museum um that that's safe I guess is from from ever being sold again um there are there are uh like public trust um foundations that will buy land and then donate it to the city or donate it to then and and part of that caveat is nothing will ever happen to it forever um based on buying it um okay so let's see there okay well that was pretty much the questions that I had um because I just wanted to kind of get a an understanding of how you all feel or how you all see each each organization in the OR organizational chart for him who he kind of answers to you know um understanding that it's a a town Museum um that also has this committee here that will also play more of a governance policy um role um than what I had originally thought I was trying and I'll be honest when I first read I'm like what is this advisory committee here for if it's a town it should just be straight up and down I don't understand why there's this offshoot over here on the left that that is this committee I now have a better understanding of what they were supposed to do um so with that you know I I kind of want to open it up if you have any questions of me the process um any any concerns or anything like that like I said I'm here to be to look at this um I'm going to say it again the good the bad the ugly I mean that's that's what this is all about it's not not to embarrass this the town in any way Museum anybody it is more of you know it takes a lot of of guts for a museum to apply for the Museum Assessment program because they are actually admitting we have a problem we want to make sure that we understand this the the chain of command in this this uh instance collections we want to understand we know we have a problem with our collections how do we fix the collections um so it takes a lot of guts to do this because they're admitting to an outside person hey we need help and can you help us um and that's what I'm here to do is I'm trying I'm here to help like I said try to build this Museum to be the best it could possibly be and and and the the one of the the words that was used four or five times yesterday and I agree is you have a gem there um I worked in a small Museum that was a log cabin in Wasilla and that was a gem there you have one the same thing here um it's just a matter of making sure that everybody you know and I know this is not necessarily an army term but it's one that I've learned since being with the Army for the past 12 years everybody's staying in their lanes and everybody doing what their roles and responsibilities are and nobody crossing over because then that creates confusion with the staff confusion within each of the organizations of why are they talking to them talking about this who's doing that why are they doing this um so that's what I'm hoping to do with this this report is kind of layout in kind of black and white okay this is how what I got from you all this is how I see everybody's roles and responsibilities you all need to maintain these roles and responsibilities and never shall the the lines cross because we want to make sure that we uh we keep those responsibilities separate from each other I think one of the um challenges that we have uh and this has been sort of endemic uh primarily having to do with the Sunshine Law and because we are a small island and we have half of our residents now here uh hopefully we'll get new residents coming in we'll have some of the uh other ones come back that's the hope but in the meantime there's been um it's been a challenge on so many levels both for the town and for the volunteers to um make things um work and flourish but it's mostly a legal question because there has been some confusion about the role of a volunteer that serves on the board of one organization which is the 501c3 Friends of the mount housee which is the friend raising and fundraising arm not necessarily legal arm but an arm of the um Mound house initiative and then on the other hand there is ccab which is Town appointed to provide assistance to to the council in terms and to staff in terms of Direction kind of being an oversight committee to say well yes this is kind of where we were thinking about the original intent obviously you know staff changes Council changes we as ccab member change over time so this is obviously always going to be a fluid conversation but there's got to be uh some kind of rule set with regard to the um position of the role of being a board member of One and also being a board member of another because of the conflict of The Sunshine Law and I'd like the attorney to sort of speak to that sure thanks um Nancy St I get the pleasure of serving um the town as as its attorney today um basically what the sunshine law says is when there are two or more members members from the same board that um meet or have some type of interaction where there is discussion or a relay of information on a topic that's going to come before that board so and it and it is really the uh responsibility of the board members to be knowledgeful of the cine law and to adhere to it um we don't police whether or not there's a sunshine violation going on it is that person's responsibility individual because there are consequences to it um in the event that there is a um an allegation um that there is a sunshine violation and the state attorney will get involved and there could potentially be some um criminal um actions emanating from that so it's a very serious thing um unfortunately sometimes two people that are on the same board happen to be standing in a corner together um and somebody sees that and then all of a sudden it's like oh I bet they're talking about the next item that's coming up on the agenda when in fact they could be talking about a football game a recipe holiday uh Gathering it could be quite Innocent but if that allegation is made it is not a pleasant situation to be in if you happen to be one of those two people because it's the allegation it's the appearance you've got to defend it so we try to take a um a risk management type approach to to caution people don't be involved in a in a situation like that perhaps have a third party there who is neutral um that could attest if someone makes that that allegation does the town have a policy or would it be interested in forming a policy that would protect the individuals from actually being on two board simultaneously in other words that individual then has to decide I want to be on the board of the friends of the mount house or I want to be on the board at ccab uh maybe I want to be on the board of ccab but just be a member of the friends so then there's no conflict because if you're a board member you're part of a decision-making body so I think that's where the challenge is for us not necessarily for Council because that I think is fairly seamless but there's been an ongoing uh conflict and it's not just with ccab it's also with borab if you know right so uh it's it's a it's a question that I have for the town with regard to a a policy by which one cannot serve both at this simultaneously on the boards so that is in their rules of procedures and I think there's reference to the various committees in the code as well um the problem is filling those spots and I don't want to speak for the town um but we run across that in many um smaller communities where there's just not enough people if you only require one person to serve on one board um under the Florida Constitution there is a Prohibition against Dual office holding however service on these advisory boards is not considered an office but Nancy I'm not sure that you're still answering the question it's a private fundraising group and an advisory committee is there a conflict of one person being on both no not if it's private it's it that private entity is not going to be subject to Sunshine they're not a does that help you Barbara or the private nonprofit that works on behalf of the mount house is not a legal entity it's not a town created entity um I probably need to look a little further into that because if the only thing they're doing is related to the government it would just simply be like we have a independent contractor that's doing all the work for the government or for the for the town they're not technically a town employee but if that is their sole purpose um maybe but I don't think so my my initial reaction would be no but I I can look further into that based on what their goals and um objectives are and I think there is the confusion because so many of the goals are similar if not identical because obviously you know we're all advocates for the mount house we all work on behalf of the mount house some of us are volunteers some of us are paid some of us are corre legal question would be if there's conversations that occur at the Friends Meeting um is that a violation if it's the same people that are on Cell cab You' hit it right there but but is that same conversation going to occur at cell cab and if it does it doesn't matter if you're in a formal setting it's two members of the same committee getting together whether it's in a corner or at a restaurant or in another meeting talking about something that's going to be discussed so yeah I think that probably is a conflict I I'm going to I'm not on the Friends board I have been in the past I certainly have been on cell cab well after Betty and Barbara and Sherry but it is something we have been aware of on the other hand if you're on the fundraising thing it's very hard not to talk about what is going on and I think to me the big um the problem is people and if you separate the Friends board from cell cab you got nobody left that's right and if you're going to tell me well okay I mean I don't want to just raise funds that's that's not my thing but I will certainly be there to help out but but to not be able I mean it it is a very I I get the legal problem but if you're going to say to the friends you guys just shut up and raise money which is sort of the feeling I get I'm sorry that's just me and I will also tell you that very cranky we have not been able to move back onto the island yet and you all know how that goes so but you know but but it's it's a real thing um so so if I may and then this may be somewhat of a naive question but when the friends meet it's the exact same group often often yeah one two three four I'm not on the board but I'm ex aicio there's a few others that aren't yeah P oh yeah meeting in the sunshine and the Sunshine requirements are really not um so we meet on zo I mean we have zoom meetings all the time so do we just have to record those no the Sunshine Law requires you to meet in a public setting in a public place where the public has access it requires notification and it also requires that minutes be taken so that may be the solution to notification how uh posting on the website so the public knows that you're meeting oh that's easy um and if the public knows maybe they're more interested maybe they're inclined to donate um you just advertise it yeah because we we meet we meet monthly we keep minutes we post agendas and how how so if it's done in a public setting where there's access to the public and the at the mountain house so so how far in advance do the do the uh does the agenda need to be posted as far in advance as you can um there's no set rule um it has to be reasonable notice based on um what you're going to be discussing uh we like to do at least a week um yeah we can do a week right now we do 48 Hours U but we could we because I'm the president of the Pres um so we we do 48 hours right now but we could move it up to a week so if it's the same individuals then is it a cellc cap meeting at that point are very different okay but I mean you have two groups that are present basically because you have members of the other group there well not everyone that is on Cell cab is for example barbar is is not bar not on your board I am a member she's a member but not on the board and and Becky Becky comes as this ex officio because she's got a lot of history um Betty's the vice president Sherry's the secretary so again they're bottom line they're serving on yeah there are multiple people serving on both boards and that to me presents a conflict so that was that was the conundrum and because I know this is taking up a lot of the time of valuable Town Council Members I just wanted the council to also be aware that this while it's seamless on so many levels there is this underlying conflict that now because we're being reviewed by a peer to uh address appropriately and make sure that we're doing things correctly and thank you John for and I think I mean the intent is we do want to comply because obviously the concerns have been raised that maybe uh we we can comply a little bit better um and I think we can figure out the pieces and put the puzzle together um and come up with a a strategy for you I think um Andy's suggestion is a good one um and I'm happy to sit down I'm happy to sit down with you too so yeah we can hopefully clarify the it right because it's good work that's being done by both groups and I will say certainly in the past Not only was I on the board with the lady upstairs and across the hall you know and we would get together as friends and at some point one of us say oh we can't talk about that anymore and and we are aware of it on the other hand if you can never talk about anything that's going on at the mount house if there's two or more how how does how does that work I it's the handicaps um legal you know the the Town Council as well you see them in the grocer store and oh my God what are they talking about and I'm certain that what they're talking about is recipes and what's for supper football football but it it does make for very long meetings I mean that is part of the problem and that's why as Council I mean that's why our meetings go so long I mean yeah we have huge agendas right now but the fact is that we have to iron out and give opinions in front of public at all times and it takes a lot longer if we you know we can't have discussions of it beforehand before we get in front of the public meeting so it's the same thing with borab with cell cab with I mean it it's just the way our laws are that we have to abide by and it's a good law yeah yeah and you know you get all these accusations which are no fun and I it it drives me insane uned they're totally unfounded you know it's people just spouting off because there seems to be a lot of negativity right now um but it angers you because it's like you know if you're so why don't you step up to the plate you know it's like you get involved you put your time in you put your money where your mouth is I mean it does anger you once you get those accusations and trust me I've gotten them yeah so so so if I understand from putting my friends hat on if if we publish our our our agenda you're making it a public meeting public meeting and they've always have been nobody else comes but whatever um all right so we just publish our agenda and we meet publicly at the mountain house and it's actually we do have a zoom participation so I guess we could record it and then yes and we would probably put at the bottom that two or more members of cell cab may be present okay and may discuss or may talk May participate yeah we we often do that with Town Council as well if we think that there's a meeting that two or more of them may be at um just as a a safeguard sure Y and and I think we've made a real effort at the fundraising at the friends to only talk about fundraising we I think we've really been addressing that right because it's been a priority yes but doing this might be a good safety net just in case and you know transparency and the public participation is are very important policy um and I know each one of you adhere to that as best as you can but it's it's a little bit of a challenge under 286 okay thank you if I if I could Dr Neil uh on a on a positive note I think that was a good discussion uh you you had said uh that you thought we have a gem here on our hands but but as a seasoned Museum professional such as yourself can you just share with us as a professional that when you first visited the mount house tell us why we have a gym and and give us your again I know you not you've got to get granular in your report but just for folks where this is being televised so have have the public have a better sense of what kind of a gem we have on our hands from your your sort of independent perspective well I mean the the history of the site um itself um my background cultural anthropology archaeology um work with the Chumash Indians in in California Alaskan natives so I'm very interested personally in Native American history culture Etc so you have something there that by my understanding there aren't a whole lot of those left here um you have the history of of the tribe tribes being here groups being here building that up and then the family coming in and recognizing hey obviously this is a good spot because this mound is here so therefore storm surge Etc didn't do anything we're going to build a house here um but I think the biggest gem that you have is right there and the staff um personally because as I said when I met with all of them yesterday they were very passionate and very um open about challenges that they perceive um I'm all for communication that's my biggest thing when I tell new new employees coming communicate with me talk to me tell me what we need what we're doing wrong what we're doing right so we we're all in this as a team um you have an opportunity to uh really make that place shine destination wedding you've got films and other things and other events that could take place there drawing in the public um one of the things that I'm going to put into my report but one of the things I talked about yesterday a couple things I talked about yesterday um there is a free app that um the Bloomberg um philanthropies Foundation philanthropies right blo that but but it's called Bloomberg connect and they do free audio tours they they will set it up for you you provide the information they have technicians there it's free it's all free and it's worldwide they have worldwide museums and cultural centers that are part of this um so I recommended to to Adam you need to look at this I'm trying to look at it but I don't know from a federal standpoint if I'm allowed to join up with this so I'm trying to figure that out told the same thing for for a town you might be able to because it's not it's a smaller entity um the other thing uh that I talked about was the uh because of the and I asked the staff yesterday is there a requirement in education Florida education to learn Florida history there is an Oklahoma and we have a big event that's coming up in two weeks where on that Friday we're going to have 1,200 or 1300 school kids visit the one Museum where all the U the staff are all dressed in Period clothing from the 1870s um I dress as a deputy US Marshall um and talk about law enforcement in the Indian Territory but that satisfies a requirement for the schools who were able to book for Oklahoma history yeah my understanding is that there is a requirement for fourth grade third grade fourth grade so fourth grade um the AR Army museum Army women's museum has gone to this program that they will do online uh teaching classes with people that can't make it so you could reach out further into Florida talking about the history the Native American history um here the moundhouse history the history of uh Fort Meers Beach but it requires some technology being able to actually have somebody film while they're kind of walking the grounds talking Etc but that would get you more generate more visits more visits uh when when you're writing grants they want to know how many people are you reaching how many people are coming you start doing that your numbers are going to go up the the grant organizations will say oh look they're reaching 10,000 school kids a year it's tiny little place reaching 10,000 School kids so they're doing something right we need to support them um so that's going to be in my report is is you know looking into this kind of technology to be able to expand the educational Outreach that you all do right now my understanding is school groups come but again you got the parking situation how many schools can you reach you know you you have one school here on the island how many schools are going to want to come across that bridge you during during season probably not a lot because of the the amount of time it takes so now with a fery you know maybe small group 20 kids get on with the teacher and and can get there in a different way that would be up to them but um you you have an opportunity with this location to really do things with it um especially using new technology using um the best museum practices and standards which he's trying to adhere to by having this so I say it's a gem because you have good staff you have people that are enthusiastic you have room for expansion you have room to do new ideas and new programs which will draw in the people here the only limitation you have is one Road in one road out um so that's that's going to be a limitation having a ferry that's going to help um if it comes to fruition you'll be able to have people come in an easier way that aren't going to have to sit in the grid lock um you also have a place that H is High Ground you know that dur during during your hurricanes um you know I've not had to deal with that I've had to deal with tornadoes um and hail damage so I I I I've never experienced a storm surge so see seeing what I've seen on the pictures you have some a place that's on High Ground a lot of your your um records and stuff during during a a storm could could go there because it's going to be if you if it didn't nothing really happened to it during uh hurricane e in in um you've got a good place there for storage of Records or other things because it can take that that storm surge unless yeah but there's wind too can't yeah but but based on what I was told you didn't have a lot of damage there I mean compared to every 97% my understanding 97% of the build buildings here were gone so that's one of the few and and how old is that building and it and it survived that so you've got you've got a good place there um it's it it needs some work like I said with the kind of the flow and the information um that's one of the things whenever I go to a museum I'm always looking at how does this flow um it it upsets my wife greatly because I'm not looking at exhibit I'm looking how do they build it what's the lighting like what's the case like I'm not reading anything I'm I'm trying to figure out how how did they figure out this flow to make things work and is it following a timeline is it jumping around um right now it kind of jumps around because you got things upstairs that are mentioning uh a particular family you got things downstairs mentioning that same family there's there's no Rhyme or Reason really to the flow in my opinion so that's going to be one of the suggestion is to kind of look at the flow of the exhibits and the orientation space um but once you get all that sorted out I think I think you're going to be no problem at all I'd like to ask some of the uh council members uh to kind of clarify uh everybody's position on what the future role of the mount house will be some of you have already spoken uh to that with regard to additional events anybody want to expand on that kind of does tail in some of the things that I I was going to ask the doctor here Dr Neil in in your experience I know you've talked about like the Bloomberg thing and you just talked about the flow what would be some low hanging fruit for lack of better term that we could do immediately with the staff or with cell cab to implement to increase the visitor experience you know I come from a construction background and it's not talked about a lot at the mount house but it has survived a lot of Storms and and I'm a firm believer that we don't build things like we used to and they don't last like they used to I mean I would really like to see going into that future is is make more of how it was constructed and it's changed over the years right but the fact that it's made it through the storm sure we maybe lost some shingles and we've lost some things but the fact that that building has survived is a testament in in in today's world getting trades people is very difficult and it's almost come full circle I remember when I was younger coming up trades were people working in trades were were prevalent but there was no technology people now it seems like we have more technology and less TR so there's a push to get people to learn the trades because they're in high demand so for me that's that that's a perfect building to be able to show tradesmans ship from the past and how we can incorporate that into the future for better things along so those are basically my two things um if if you could give us an idea on in your expertise like one or two things that you see something very easily that we could Implement to increase that visitor experience so one of the first things I would do is probably establish a temporary Gallery where you can move things in and out quickly put something together put a couple of panels together and talk about construction of the the building that could be an easy thing to do is talk about the construction of the house and put that in a temporary exhibit and then you can move that off and bring something else in that's still there you can bring that that uh first exhibit back next year two years time five years time put it back up on the wall you're you're talking about it to new people who were coming through um so that would be kind of one of the things that I would would recommend is looking at maybe the orientation gallery that that we sat in yesterday maybe turning that into a a temporary exhibit space putting those panels into the living room talking about the house um because that you've got the living room there if I remember correctly not a lot on the wall put those panels in there talking about the house itself because that'll be the first thing that people are going to see when they walk in from the gift store and then you're going into that orientation gallery that has the film you could make the that space more of a temporary Gallery Orient orientation to the site talk about uh construction of it talk about the site itself the Native Americans establishing the mound um and and how it came to be you could rotate that in and out there um I I I do believe I don't think the ba the underground is should be the sole place that the mound has talked about it's an important part of it but I think it needs to be also talked about in the orientation Gallery more or as part of this this rotating Gallery exhibit um because you could give get the uh various universities around the area to also assist graduate students to assist interns to assist in doing the research coming together putting these things together because it looks good on their resumés as students that they help put an exhibit together um we have we have interns that come and work for us some interns that are cadets um come and work for us and they do a number of different things helping in exhibits collections doing uh uh Soldier education with us because that's our primary mission is Soldier education about their various branches and also General Army history so getting interns there more interns to come even if it's a summer intern but coming to help in the collections coming helping the exhibits Grounds Maintenance having them do a bunch of different things so that's a loow hanging thing looking at internships looking at uh getting the universities more involved getting the tribes more involved with with it um one of the things that we're going to we're trying to do at the National Historic Landmark is get what we call what we're going to call a cultural advisory committee um we had cultural advisory committees in the Alaskan native Heritage Center that I worked with extensively to talk about from their perspective their lives their cultures so same sort of thing could be something here not that they have a final say anything but have them there to also give you their perspective of are you telling our history correctly um you know in this day and age everybody knows Society has changed it's more about diversity inclusion all those sorts of things it's the way things are going and and everybody needs to step up and be part of that and and including them as part of this discussion is a very important step in that right direction and including them and getting them on your side because you get tribes on your side they're going to advocate for you when it comes for Grants or any other things that are happening uh traveling exhibits Etc and you can even get traveling exhibits from them and maybe have an exhibit on the seminal or you know other tribal may not be that specific tribe that was there but you can kind of Branch out a little bit and get that Southwest uh Florida history and put that into this uh rot exhibit so you know I'm kind of circling but rotating exhibit would be my my primary first thing to look at um and and figure out the flow of how how this house needs to be where you want to talk about what and uh because right now all the house just talks about the house when you're inside there that's it and and downstairs is the tribe I think I think some of that needs to be up some of that tribal stuff needs to be upstairs as well to that point and actually talking about lwh hanging fruit and what can the council do and how can it be more supportive with some of the goals that we currently have um is actually getting that underground exhibit operational Sherry talked about this earlier that is a core part of our programming that is currently not working it's not something that staff can do until Council approves the budget to make that happen and it's not going to be inexpensive uh it's already part I believe is what's called phase two I understand it's not in our fiscal budget for this year but if we can Bast track it in some way because it is core a core part of what we currently provide get regardless of what can be planned for rotating exhibits in the future let's get what we do have working which is not working right now sorry and and since it may further on in the fiscal year process that this would happen that's why it's imperative to try to get something upstairs as part of this so at least you're touching upon it while all this this this downstairs uh basement area is getting funded getting worked on getting it back to where it needs to be and what I understand from Adam is that there is this opportunity that they've already laid the groundwork they've done the research they understand you know what's feasible and something that is more resilient that what we may have had in the past for the underground exhibit to make it better than it was before but now that they've got all the pieces and parts that we need to be able to fund and Order and install we we've started that conversation we just need to get Council support to complete it so I think you touched a lot on some of the things what comes to mind for me is resources um you know you've heard how everybody doubles up on committees and that type of thing and it it's no different I mean I sit on probably four boards on the town and davel in all of them and some I do fundraising and some I'm operations and then I'm on you know that type of thing that's that's what happens here and it's even there's more emphasis now because we have lost half the population living here right now um so I think it's something that we need to look at the framework of people resources budgets what grants we can use and kind of start to put that together and what do we go after first second and third to have you know I'm sure there's grants out there that we don't even know about and who does find out about those and maybe you know you can help us with those kind of things but you know it it's kind of like the squeaky wheel gets the attention and I know baks has done an incredible job of getting the programs for the kids back up and running getting before school the after school the summer camps all of that kind of thing but they're running in 20 different directions at all times you know so what do we need to do to incorporate that kind of thinking with the mountainous um because when boks came on board again I mean we had very very little and now look at the programs again so I think that's something as a as a strategy session maybe or part of a strategic planning that we can all be looking at and yes we're right in the second meetings of budget but you can always amend budgets that's true you know if we find a grant we can always amend those things so I think that's part of the lwh hanging fruit too is just a plan putting a plan together so uh when I spoke with the fin people yesterday I did tell them that in my report I'm going to give them some ideas of of locations for Grants um good there there are a number of Foundations out there um some some are more uh Regional than others um there's there's one in the Northwest um and I think they just take care of the Northwest United States um but it kind of goes back to Bloomberg Bloomberg I'm sure there there's GRS there they have um because they're he's a big supporter of culture and art and museums um the Getty Foundation also has a number of Grants but I I think they're geared towards more artwork because there's the Getty museum out in Los Angeles um but I was going to do some research kind of find some ideas and include that in my report as well that here are some grant opportunities some locations that may be able to assist now matter of you know this young man right here should not be the one writing the grants and so um and there may be certain grants that the town cannot because of your your status it has to be a nonprofit so therefore that would fall to the Friends group to do the actual writing and administrating of the grant to be able to uh get that well and and that is the conundrum because if you're asking a private nonprofit organization to write the Grant and implement it then their function has actually changed it becomes administrative well we actually have a friends group that that works uh for the the museums there at Fort Sill um friends of Fort Sill um they go out and get grants for us that we can't go as a federal agency I can't get any grants at all um because taxpayer money I can't go anywhere else I have to just utilize the taxpayer money but we have them as our fundraising arm that that have uh donation boxes in the locations for people they they administer those um they will go and get the grants from a local uh Foundation where the friends group will put up $2,500 total between them and they get a matching ground of $2500 that goes into an endowment all the dividends go go back into the endowment and they've raised approximately $200 to $250,000 in an endowment for us um over over time and so you know I I understand what you're saying but it really kind of takes this if if the friends group wants to help and I know you all do they do it's it's you're going to have to to to help him out help the town out because there's going to be certain things that they can't do because of legal reasons especially with the grants that you're going to have to be the ones that actually apply for them WR for them and then do the administration of the paperwork that needs to be involved with it um and Barbara we've actually at Lovers Key we've actually hired contract grant writers and they donate their time to it and so and then the friends of lover key actually administers the grant and tracks it and does all the reporting of it so there there's ways around it so if you can find a good likeor in your um educational or or what you know the background that you need for these grants and that type of thing and get a contract grant writer and then they volunteer their work or you know maybe they get a um lifetime membership or something that's what we do give them a lifetime membership to lover Kei is it well that's you know writing a grant is a lot of work I'm surprised that you they uh well and you know you have to find the right people the people that are so ingrained and they're so interested like it for you it would be the history and everything you know with with Lovers Key it's the environment it's the state parks it's you know everybody has different motivations you just have to find it and it kind of goes back to what saying before you've got a gem there so people might be interested there may be grant writers out there that are interested in the history they want to promote Native American history they might might be historical building enthusiasts you never know and you can get them on board um and I didn't even think about that that there would be people that would be contract grant writers so is is it is it is it your experience that the grant writers are also good at administrating administering the grant once it's once it's achieved or is that set no that has to be the friends group has to be the friends group so the friends group has to invest in someone that has those skills and usually it's through the executive committee the treasurers involved the board of directors that type of thing but in our case it's always the executive committee that handles the administration of it and where the funds go and what's it used for because they also have limitations and you know this grant is for this and do not St from this kind of thing I think one of our problems is people some of us are aging out um you know and me you know I think one of my PO poor Adam deals with me all the time one of his hardest job is explaining me that you know that the museum was like Topsy it it grew and we had a an archaeologist starting out and that was wonderful and then then she was gone and then we had an anti nothing really happened and soab I mean we were doing the exhibits we were okaying the colors we were doing the fonts we were doing everything and and you well and then I got very possessed that this this is Adam problem very puts up and I think it's just perfect the way it is and I have to learn and he's teaching me that we can't be static we need to evolve we we may need to change some things in that wonderful living room parlor and and you know and some for some of us it's harder than others but you know but but but we need more people we need more people and it's a small island it's hard yeah the island needs more people the island needs young people we need to be able to make this an affordable place for someone to come that wants to raise a family in this environment and that's a big challenge in it we're not to Sol it unless that happens and I know that the um Council will need to be voting on who's going to be serving on advisory uh boards in the next month and so I guess I have a question for Council or maybe even to Amy how many new people have signed up to want to be on Bor cab or cell cab and is there new blood that's interested in coming in to our community I don't know I mean am's giving the one sign there's one new person one just one more well maybe we need to do more Outreach to the community to say you know we would like more we would like infusion of new uh blood on onto these committees and the deadline tomorrow and the deadline is tomorrow uh that makes that makes the council's um decision making far easier if there's actually people to choose from to serve but if there's no choice then you know council's kind of stuck they are with us they are it also makes it harder to you know to to move on and see you know and see progress and and you know that that that's an important thing I'm learning well to touch upon what you're saying about this growth and trying to get through that I I understand and what what that means I mean it it means a lot to um to anybody who's invested a lot of time into a project um but as you said you can't stay static things have to move you have to progress um and that's why my recommendations are you need to include more of the the Native American aspect into this and not just the house I understand the house is important to people but that Native American history is so important because if without that you don't have the house exctly there's no no no need to put a house there in in the first place so um and I and I know that there's there's angst among people of well we want to change this and do this but I think you know you've got a good person here that can make those decisions is this going to work is this not going to work and you just need to trust in him and the staff that they're not going to do anything that's going to harm the museum the Museum's reputation the town's uh Town's reputation in any way they just want to see what the best they can possibly do for the museum based on budget limitations Staffing limitations people on Council The Advisory committees limitations so you just really need to kind of step back let him do what needs to do advise him don't don't ask for colors of of paint and and you can't do this you can't do that you know trust that he he knows how to do that the experience that I've had with that prior to me coming into the National Historic Landmark the direct the curator there was that type of person staff could not do anything without his per permission he had to approve the fonts he had to approve the paint he had to approve the construction the type of materials being used nothing got done because he would rather be out giving tours to people instead of doing the Mana day-to-day management of what he was supposed to be doing so nothing got done when I came on board I told them you people are all adults you know what you need to do here's my vision go do it and that's what they've done well and I think at that point there was nobody in charge and and and there was also a time when I felt that ccab was maybe an entity that was helping to preserve the mound house from a council that was less than friendly and that was and that was yeah so there's that in the history these guys have been wonderful that's true these guys all donated a service of something an experience in our last fundraiser the council before that dressed up and did a style show for us that's coming don't forget we doubled down too yes did aside oh I'm sorry I'm sorry I was picking up you don't want to hear me anyway I can hear you but obviously they need to have a recorder so so our for the last few years our major fundraiser has been in a live auction and all of the Town Council Members kindly themselves up for auction yes they do and it was the biggest yeah the biggest source of revenue from that auction was the Town Council experiences and they all did something unique and they were all wonderful and yeah they were it was it was that was yeah and then they doubled them because the the bids kept going higher and higher and higher so they said well we'll offer two so it went to the top two biders nice it's good to have a Town Council that's involved like that it's huge an unfriendly one you better have an entity that's fighting to keep right this Gem of it was also in the midst of the monsoon that night exactly that there's one other thing I I'd like to just ask about too you talk about things that um that maybe that we maybe have a problem with and I we're a museum that's at the end of a residential street and right now I think we've got we've had to work for years but I think we've got the neighbors pretty well on board with yeah except for one for work working with us but um there really isn't that much signage so many people come in and they go where do I go I couldn't find you at least now they have uh they can put it in their GPS and and find it but I think we need a little more signage I know Adam does great on marketing but um but it just as as far as people finding us um well I'll give you my experience yesterday I had GPS driving in it got to the point they say you're here I'm looking around where where am I and I and I couldn't see it exactly and I went a little bit further and and out of the corner of my eye I saw parking and I was like oh there it is okay and because I was about ready to continue down the Shell Road think I had to keep going exact and around exactly so yes and and I did mention that that that signage kind of Blends in there it's not kind of morphed in your face arrows everything pointing GPS will take you to a certain point and then it says you're here and I'm looking around okay there's a house being constructed there's residential here there's nothing back over here where am I supposed to go and then it took me a double take to look at that so I did mention that yesterday to him and to Seth that you know you might want to look at the signage out front being a little bit not not entous but being something a little bit more um visible for people to see it when they're coming down to the end I saw the parking lot further up the road no problem Oh there's the Overflow no I don't want to be there because I know it's further down yeah because GPS is taking me down there so that was one of the things I did mention that yesterday um because I almost got lost and continued on down the Shell Road which then I realized no I probably should not be going down there cuz that doesn't look like where I need to be going M so yes that that is something I'm I am putting into the report that having a little bit better signage somewhere along the road there for parking and then maybe even further up the road to just say because you have the one sign that says Mound House Museum the brown sign there pointing the arrow but once you get down there there's nothing else until you get all the way down there so maybe another sign with that arrow pointing Straight Ahead that you're still continuing in the right direction you're not lost and and because you are in a residential area that that's not something that's usually done you usually more in eight town center for a museum exactly not in a residential area so people may get confused about that yeah good point to bring up Cherry yes and actually I do believe staff is already working on providing the new signage and then also uh revamping our parking and putting in additional parking spaces along the left side of Connecticut uh in front of the Museum so I think that it will be addressed um fairly quickly so uh your right is very frustrating uh we only have another 10 minutes left and we don't want to um um uh rush it but I do if there are any questions and other comments that we want to share in these last 10 minutes before we adjourn at 11 um Feel Free Jump in I have a qu I have a question actually for Dr Neil uh do other than the signage and and the custody of the the artifacts what what else do you think we can improve on um I haven't seen marketing so I don't know what you're actually doing with marketing to get the word out um one of the things yesterday was when uh Adam and I went to lunch um along with the actual uh menus it was a and maybe you can explain it better uh yeah we went to a uh local restaurant and with the menu they brought a flyer from Bay Oaks uh for fright night uh with the menus uh so that was great so great job on the boks team for thinking of that uh I I'll try to sneak in too but uh but but something like that doing something like that especially during especially during your high season um that would be a great thing to get the visitors you know um or people that aren't permanent res that may not know about the mound house that would be a good opportunity is to distribute some of those flyers to to those restaurants and have them handed out some of the restaurants too like waho Willies has that um advertising board board that screen that keeps going and more and more people are going to that that would be pretty easy to get both B Oaks and the mount house on that on that board to continually show that there's something there I know even though we're here we're I stare at it all the time I got it memorized but but things like that for marketing um the Outreach as I said for outreach educational Outreach there there's those sorts of things um that the staff could do along with the the town and the committee is the educational Outreach to outside schools uh more schools in Lee County or actually in Florida to help them with that that requirement um because obviously schools are looking for things to do they want to find things for their kids to to learn about whatever topic it is and if it's field trips it's field trips but if you can make it easier that they don't have to get a bus and leave at 7 o'clock in the morning and get back at 3:00 right before the Bell Rings Etc and you can do something where it's a online one hour here's a tour we're talking about this give them that then you're going to get an increase in that public Outreach portion which leads to funding which leads to being able to do more and more things that you all want to have done um based on what I'm hearing here you all are very enthusiastic about this Museum the mound house you you you all seem to have a lot of confidence and faith in Adam based on everybody's figure their has right now even um so and his staff so I mean the biggest thing is to continue that support and and and really try to help him out in terms of getting things done that he he feels needs to be done um helping him find not just saying no but finding ways to yes for him um it's it's it's easy to say no um I say no a lot and I've been forced to learn how do I find yes especially when it's the Commanding General Fort Sil saying I want this to happen at the Museum I can't say no to him I have to find a way to yes so I would ask that the committee and the council also do that don't just flat out say no find that way to yes find grants find other ways to really build up as much as possible to assist him as you can so with that I'm you know if there's anything else run out of time thank you Dr N I very much appreciate it what are the next steps in this whole historic so um I'm going to go back uh and write the report um and then I send it off to American Alliance and museums they will go through their process to make sure I've covered everything that's especially they have a list of of things that I'm supposed to look at and cover making sure that I've covered all of it uh making sure that the um I can't tell you what to do I can't tell you here's step by step by step I have to all I can do is give you suggestions recommendations so they're going to look and make sure I'm not telling you do this this this this um and then once they're done with that they will send a the report to Adam so that he has has a copy of the report um in one year's time I am to get in contact with him and and just say how are things going has that report helped you do you have any other questions any any issues any concerns and kind of help him work through any of those um in one year's time so he has about a year to kind of digest this you all to look at it and figure out is this going to be something that you can Implement are the are steps and recommendations in there are things that you can actually Implement if not then you don't it's it's it's just like I said not a pass or a fail this is just one person's opinion one person's suggestions and views on how to make this place the best it can possibly be are you expected to implement within that year a certain percentage of suggestions or anything like that no no no um obviously I think uh aam would like something at at least be implemented something even if it's a small little thing lwh hanging fruit sort of thing um then you then but he doesn't have to report back to to them at all I don't have to report back to them after a year it's just a courtesy how did how's it going any issues any problems any questions so that he can kind of give me that feedback for when I go and do somebody else did did did did it make sense to you you know those sorts of things because once I'm once I'm done with here I don't have any more contact with him um I write the report and then it's through a am at that point uh he and a do a lot of the talking until that one year is up okay and then there's map one map two and map three is that my understanding yeah and they've changed it so it's it's a collections map it's a governance map and if I remember correctly it is a community outreach map so in general we've been talking about all three of those specific initiatives and and the workbook does have places where I'm supposed to touch upon the exhibits I'm supposed to touch upon security uh collections I don't go into in depth my main focus for this is the governance but I I do have I have to put in a little bit about what I see for collections what I see for the exhibits Outreach but I don't go into any major detail there okay and so then there's a progression of accomplishment that we collectively uh want to achieve in terms of getting to the next level ultimately to reach the accreditation um designation by aam yes and so um you can do all three you don't have to do all three it's it's up to what you want to do if you feel that you're in place with the collections and community outreach and this governance is the only one that you apply for and do that's fine and then once you do the accreditation process they want to see the core documents um they have a list of core documents that they require they want to see those before you even get into the process because the process does cost money um I can't remember if it's $250 or $500 to actually do the application process um so they want to make sure you are lined up before you start spending money and get knee deep in this and oh come find out when they they send accreditation people and I'm not an accreditation reviewer they they'll send accreditation reviewers and they will go through everything governance collections community outreach everything those three maps are supposed to set you up for they will go through in depth and make sure that you have everything in a row and you are good to go and you meet their standards and if you meet their standards they will sign off on it in a committee they have a committee meeting they vote on it and then you uh get accreditation and then it's renewed every couple of years you don't have to go through this process again it's just they they they you have to do a small workbook make sure you're maintaining everything and you get to maintain that accreditation okay I don't think it's until 10 uh 10 years then they want to come back and do a full full review review re accreditation yeah yeah thank you all right any other questions for Dr Neil um and um thank you so much Dr Neil for coming down and this has been hugely informative uh interesting I'm hoping for everyone um and um with that it's uh almost time to adjourn may I have a motion to adjourn from the cell cab members I have to do it separately right so from cell cab members motion to adjourn so all right all in favor I Carrie thank you um oppose none okay that motion is carried so our meeting is adjourned and uh we'll have a motion then for joh councel move toour is motion in a second all those in favor signify by saying I