City Council

CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA HON. MARY KATHERINE GREENLAW, MAYOR HON. WILLIAM C. WITHERS, JR., VICE -MAYOR, WARD TWO CITY COUNCIL HON. KERRY P. DEVINE, AT-LARGE HON. MATTHEW J. KELLY, AT-LARGE HON. BRADFORD C. ELLIS, WARD ONE HON. DR. TIMOTHY P. DUFFY, WARD THREE Council Chambers, 715 Princess Anne Street HON. CHARLIE L. FRYE, JR., WARD FOUR Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401 Council Work Session April 28, 2015 Fredericksburg Area Museum The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, April 28, 2015, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall Conference Room. Council Present. Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, Presiding. Vice-Mayor William C. Withers, Jr. Councilors Kerry P. Devine, Timothy P. Duffy, Charlie L. Frye, Jr. and Matthew J. Kelly. Council Absent. Councilor Bradford C. Ellis, Traveling. Also Present. City Manager Beverly Cameron, Assistant City Manager Mark Whitley, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley, Budget Manager Amanda Lickey and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Others Present. Thomas Wack and Richard Harrison, Fredericksburg Area Museum & Cultural Center Board Members Fredericksburg Area Museum. City Manager Cameron presented a PowerPoint presentation. The PowerPoint discussed the Museum’s plan, why the City should consider helping the Museum, the recommended assistance from the City, annual cash flows in Fiscal Year 2016, conditions of the funding and the next steps. See Attachment A for additional information. Councilor Devine asked about the plans to renovate the building; she wanted to know the costs, whether the renovations were necessary and if they could be put off for a while. Mr. Wack said he did not have a line by line estimate, but the idea was not to do a major overhaul. They were planning to create a foyer off of Princess Anne Street, work in the basement to create an enclosure for permanent storage that could be used as an exhibit as well, walls in the gallery, offices in certain areas, and HVAC work. 1  Councilor Kelly said he believes the Museum was moving in the right direction, but he wanted to be sure the plan did not change. He said it was time for the Museum to take the lead. He was in favor of Mr. Cameron’s process for moving forward. He had a few specific requests and they were that he would like Market Square to be public property; he wanted it made clear that none of the City’s money was to go to the bank and there needed to be something that said the collections will stay in the City if something happened to the Museum. Mr. Harrison commented on the fundraising and said he did not want to set unrealistic expectations because many of the Museums donors had dried up. Mr. Wack said there was currently $240,000 worth of pledges and $100,000 of that was from one of the board members. Vice-Mayor Withers said he would like the City to match the museums donations but he questioned if the Museum would have to have four full-time and four part-time employees and whether there was an inventory to determine if there were duplicates and items of less value. He also said he was not sure he would like the City to fund the full $750,000. Councilor Duffy said he was concerned about the integrity of the collection and he wanted to be sure nothing happened to it and it should take precedence over staff. He was concerned with how realistic the numbers were and he was uncertain with moving forward without all the details. Mayor Greenlaw reiterated that the City Manager’s plan had steps along the way. Councilor Frye asked would it make sense to try to keep the Planters Building he also asked what the operating costs were for that building. Mr. Wack explained that the bank has the appraisal values of the building in the mid $2 million to the low $3 million and the bank expects to collect much of the $3.4 million. The operating costs were about $100,000. Mr. Harrison said that what caused the museum to fail was the debt service the museum could not handle. Mayor Greenlaw also explained that the attendance and revenues were not that much larger after the new building was added so the Board believes operating out of the old City Hall building would be sufficient. Councilor Devine stated that the City had a wonderful story and the Museum did a wonderful job at telling it. She said she liked Mr. Cameron’s benchmark and if the City moved forward in that direction she wanted to be sure the collections were secure and that the City would manage Market Square, but she wanted to see the Museum’s programs continue such as the Sounds of Summer. 2  Mr. Cameron said he would work on a new iteration of his plan to address some of Council’s concerns and bring it back to Council. Mayor Greenlaw said the City was committed to keeping the Museum and she was encouraged by the direction it was headed and City intends to work with the Museum and the Board to be sure it was successful. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, Mayor Greenlaw declared the work session officially adjourned at 7:11 p.m. ______Tonya B. Lacey____ Tonya B. Lacey Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 3