Community Fund Board

Minutes Montpelier Community Fund October 17, 2012 In attendance: Julie Hendrickson, Bernie Lambek, and Beth Boutin Absent: Eliza Dodd and Warren Vail Agenda: 1. Approve minutes from 10/10/2012 meeting. 2. Update on conversations with Sandy Pitonyak and Sandy Gallup. 3. Discuss the arts program grants. 4. Discuss finalization of application form. 5. Assign communication contact with nonprofits and individuals. 6. Plan for information session. I. Approve Minutes from 10/10/2012 meeting ‐ Minutes were not approved. The revised minutes should reflect that: Mayor Hollar requested the MCF Board to make a recommendation to the Council to keep the Arts Grant Program applicants intact as a group, rather than separating the applicants on the basis of organization/individual status, possibly by having the program included under the MCF umbrella. With this correction the minutes can be sent to the City for posting on the website. II. Update on conversations with Sandy Pitonyak and Sandy Gallup regarding the MCF Information Session. Julie discussed the MCF information session with both Sandy Pitonyak and Sandy Gallup. Sandy Gallup recommended initial public questions go through a single point of contact rather than to all or any of the Board members. She recommended Sandy Pitonyak as that point person. She will then funnel all questions to 1 person in our group. Julie will act as liaison to Sandy. Members at the meeting discussed developing a Frequently Asked Questions one‐pager for Sandy to use that outlines basic program information. A person responsible for this FAQ sheet was not identified. III. Discussion of the arts program grants The City Council discussed reserving $10,000 of the $118,000 for the Arts Grants Program but did not take a vote on this. Prior grant making of the program was on average $1,000 per grantee/artist/project. MCF board members are interested in reserving $10,000 and keeping the grants at  $1,000 and under for this purpose – with any remaining balance carried over to the next year. Discussion was had around continuing the City’s use of a contract with all arts grant program grantees. Bernie would like to review the contract template before our next meeting to see if we need to use it. Bernie will contact Sandy on this matter. Arts Grant Program Applicants will complete the same Montpelier Community Fund application as all other applicants. Edits were proposed to the Application to add applicant’s Federal Employer Tax Identification Number and/or Social Security Number – grantees will be issued an IRS 1099 for the grant. In previous years a group reviewed and decided arts group grant recipients. Discussion was had around possibly involving one or more members of the previous committee to informally assist the MCF board on the art grants received. The board agreed that this insight would be helpful and will reach out to one or more members of the group. IV. Discuss finalization of application form. With the addition of the as mentioned above (Federal Tax Identification Number/Social Security Number) the application form is final and okay to publish. Great work! V. Assign communication contact with nonprofits and individuals. Contact will be made to former awardees/grantees regarding the new process and the information session. Assignments are as follows:  Bernie – 1st column (left) on list ‐ Circle, Central Vermont Community Land Trust …  Eliza – Middle column of list ‐ Central Vermont Community Action Council, Central Vermont Council on Aging …  Beth – 3rd column (right) on list – Central Vermont Adult Basic Education, Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice…; and  Julie – all prior Arts Grants awardees & Montpelier Alive (requesting Montpelier Alive send the info out to its membership) Contact will also be made to the groups who submitted inquiries in writing already – Red Cross by Beth and OTHERS? ?? Warren will be utilized as back up if one of the above three is having difficulty meeting the deadline to connect with the groups. Deadline to contact is 10/22/12. Update MCF board on contact success by 10/23/12. VI. Plan for information session. Members of the Board outlined tasks and responsibilities for the Information session to be held on October 29th. MCF Board members will arrive at 3:30 in advance of the session to set up the room and welcome attendees.  Sign In Table ‐ Warren  Welcome and Introductions – Julie  Policy Overview – Bernie  Application Overview – Eliza  Questions and Answer Facilitation – Beth  Wrap Up and Close ‐ Julie Next Meeting: Monday, October 29 2012 3:30pm Council Chambers City Hall Agenda: 1. Prepare for 4:00pm MCF Information Session