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Cultural Commission Minutes 2011 11-16-11 APPROVED 3/21/12 CULTURAL COMMISSION Wednesday, November 16, 2011 City Hall Conference Room 800 Game Farm Road, Yorkville, IL 60560 In Attendance: Committee Members: Howard Manthei Rick Falato, Yorkville Big Band Stephanie Todd, Kendall County Historical Preservation Other Guests: Robyn Sutcliff The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. Roll Call: Roll Call was taken by Howard Manthei. Citizens Comments: There were no citizens comments. Previous Minutes: The minutes from October 19, 2011 were approved. Motion was made by Stephanie Todd and seconded by Rick Falato. Committee Reports: Yorkville Has Talent - Howard stated that Tammy Eaton could not be in attendance tonight. Robyn stated that they have not had time to work on this because they were working on the Haunted Jail. Stephanie asked if we have the dates decided. Robyn stated that yes, the dates are set sometime in February. Stephanie stated that Don Zellmer said that he would be willing to help with whatever is needed. Robyn stated that it will be held at Yorkville Middle School Auditorium. Historical Jail - Robyn brought a report with the numbers of expenditures and income from the Haunted Jail for the committee to review. Robyn stated that she will keep this for future records. Robyn stated that there were very few expenditures this year. The event was open four different nights 1 and the total income was $3,624.83. The Committee agreed that it was a great effort to pull this event together for this year and it was a great success. Howard stated that he has had several people ask how many people showed up. Robyn stated she thought roughly 1,000. The Committee talked about having some sort of counting or doing a ticket system next year to get an accurate count. Howard stated that he thinks we need to re-evaluate having food next year. He stated that if we do not have food, that opens up another room to use. Howard stated that they plan on having the event next year. Howard said their balance is now $6,872.90. Howard said there is a $271.40 expense, which is a combination of things like paint and supplies for the jail. Howard said there is insurance that will be paid later in the year, which is $507.60, which covers the entire year. Howard stated that leaves about $6,100.00 in the account. Howard said that he feels that the kitchen needs to be next on the list. Stephanie stated that she feels there needs to be a plan before we start anything with priorities of what is done first. She stated that a building assessment would be a good idea. She stated that a lot of people that work on these old buildings don't know how to do the work properly and it can cause problems down the road. Stephanie stated that architects can do assessments. Howard stated that the state went through a detail before all of this came about. He said there are photographs etc. Stephanie said there are very few of us on the committee and it would be easier for us if we had a position of a general contractor to oversee things and the proper way to do it, it would be a good idea. Howard agreed that a restoration is a different thing to work on. Howard stated that we need to decide on the time period to restore the kitchen. He stated that someone needs to be the one to guide this process. Rick asked how the kitchen will be used. Howard stated that is something that we have to decide. Stephanie stated that we need to figure out a way that the Jail could earn some income. She said that other businesses could get involved. She suggested having a special meeting on getting others involved and get some other ideas. Stephanie suggested maybe during the warmer months April - September having the jail open one Sunday per month for tours. Howard stated somewhere in the agreement it was stated that the jail would be done in 2012. Robyn said that she feels that there needs to be a sub-committee just to focus on the jail. She stated that she has been talking to people. Stephanie asked if they have to be from Yorkville. Robyn stated no. Stephanie said that she had some ideas of people that could be on a sub-committee to work on the jail. She said there are some people that she would like to take through the jail and get their ideas. Howard agrees that it is a much bigger job than this committee. Robyn stated that in this committee there are a lot of other things we can do, and not all focus on the jail. Stephanie said it would be good to get citizens involved in the sub-committee for the jail. Howard stated that a woman from Oswego who has a business contacted him and asked about tours. He stated that they get groups to go to buildings and analyze it for a spiritual nature. Howard stated that we need to get policies in place as to when we will have it open to the public and will it be free or donations. Howard said there is a state agency listed for shooting films and we should charge. Howard stated that he knows a historic preservationist. Robyn stated that a plan needs to be created that Harold can follow. 2 Howard stated that Joyce Barrett is now living up north with her son and she has been in town. He said she is the one that gave me the documentation on the jail so we know what kind of motor and plaster is in there etc. Howard said that at one time when the courthouse was being renovated they pursued the jail to get national register. Howard said she gave him the name of a man in Springfield. Stephanie stated that it was determined that it was eligible for that, but we still have to go through the steps. Howard stated that Joyce's recollection was that if we removed that connector it might be more eligible. Stephanie stated that we couldn't date it correctly and the plan was to get rid of the connector anyway. Howard stated that it was after 1962. Howard stated that if we took that out, that kitchen would be opened up to windows for daylight. Stephanie motioned that the committee form a Historic Jail Sub-committee for the purpose of handling details and restoration of the jail and it was seconded by Rick Falato. The committee was in agreement to form a sub-committee. Public Relations - There was not anything to discuss. Grants - Howard stated that Harold is in charge of that and he is not in attendance. New Business: Committee Finances - Howard stated that he wanted to talk about getting some policies into place as to how things should be reimbursed. Howard said that this summer he did work and turned in the bills. Howard stated that he would be more comfortable getting a certain budget approved to make it official. He stated that it is nice that they have been trustworthy of us, but he would like a list of projects and a way to get things approved. The committee agreed. Stephanie also asked who speaks for the committee. She stated that she signed a note for Harold. We need to decide all of these kinds of policies. Stephanie stated that she will check into some of the museum polices that she has. Howard said that he would suggest putting polices on the next agenda. Christmas Activities - The committee discussed the idea of having a Victorian themed Christmas at the Old Jail. Rick stated that we could maybe get the High School Madrigals to sing. The committee liked the idea, but discussed that the jail needs to get heat and running water in there in order to hold the event. It was also discussed how to make it a fund raiser. Howard stated that maybe we could make it part of the house walk. Stephanie suggested that something could be done outside with caroling, chestnuts etc. Stephanie said that wouldn't' bring in money, but it would be a PR thing. Howard stated that it is hard to plan something for Christmas when we are already doing the Haunted Jail. Stephanie stated that is why it would be good to have things delegated and split up, but we need more people to get on this committee. Howard stated that it would be great to partner with Don Zellmer and maybe get something where actors do something in there for Halloween. Stephanie brought up the jail break idea. Old Business: 3 There was no old business to discuss. Additional Business: The committee discussed canceling the December 21, 2011 meeting. Stephanie Todd made a motion to cancel the December 21, 2011 meeting and it was seconded by Howard Manthei. The December meeting was canceled. Adjournment: Motion was made by Howard Manthei to adjourn the meeting and seconded by Rick Falato. The meeting was adjourned at 6:27 p.m. Minutes Respectfully Submitted by: Lisa Godwin Minute Taker 4