Meramec Valley Historical Society

Meramec Valley Historical Society City of Pacific Pacific Government Center 300 Hoven Drive Pacific, MO 63069 Wednesday, September 14, 2022 5:30 PM This meeting is open to the public. The meeting will be streamed live on the City of Pacific YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9dxzhHQWbPulQJC1N6TSig 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Approval of Minutes 4. Treasurer Report 5. New Business a. Genealogy Center 6. Old Business a. Red Cedar Update b. Children’s Museum c. Red Cedar Signs Update i. Neon Sign (Route 66 Association) ii. Electric Message Board d. Past Perfect Software e. Collection Management Plan 7. Reports a. Alderman b. Research c. Director of Tourism 8. Miscellaneous 9. Adjournment  Meramec Valley Historical Society 300 Hoven Drive, Pacific, MO 63069 Wednesday, August 10, 2022 1. Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 5:30 PM by Jeff Titter. 2. Roll Call: Donna Graham, Bonnie Post, Tourism Director, Kelly O’Malley, City Administrator Roth, Director Myers. 3. Minutes: Chairman Titter stated the last meeting was not live, but there were minutes. He asked if there were any additions to the minutes. • Bonnie asked that those that were in attendance to please be added to the minutes. Those in attendance at the last meeting was Wayne Winchester, Donna Graham, Jeff Titter, Bonnie Post, Dennis Oliver, Steve Myers, Kelly O’Malley. Absent: Alderman Nemeth. • She continued at the last meeting it reads “take loans” and should this be “museum items” and this be added to the minutes. She continued that further down it reads “Jeff Titter said Jennifer Blakely was interested in getting information on the Cigar Vault”. She thought that was Dennis who said that. Committee members agreed. These corrections are to be added. Motion made by Donna Graham, seconded by Jeff Titter to amend the minutes as corrected. A voice vote was taken with an affirmative result, and the motion carried. 4. Treasurer Report – Chairman Titter stated he did not get with Kim to ask about the Treasurers Report. 5. New Business – The Society Mission Statement. Chairman Titter stated one was approved for the museum itself, but not the society specifically. What was proposed months ago was: “The Purpose of the Meramec Valley Historical Society is to discover, memorialize, and disseminate the prehistory and history of the Meramec Valley Area located in Franklin, St. Louis, and Jefferson counties. The communities included within these counties are Pacific, Robertsville, Catawissa, Gray Summit, and Villa Ridge”. He asked for any additional comments. Donna Graham thought this covered it and thought it should be accepted. Bonnie Post agreed. Motion made by Donna Graham, seconded by Bonnie Post to approve this as the mission statement for the Historical Society. A voice vote was taken with an affirmative result.  6. Old Business a. Red Cedar Update – Director Myers stated he has provided some photos as of today. The concrete slab in front of the front door is being removed and repoured by the end of the week. The part on the right will be refinished. The flooring is 30- 40% done. It is being patched with floorboards from the house that was at First St. & Osage. The chinking by the window has been painted white. There are some areas of the chinking that has only been cleaned, but not painted. The glass window has been installed by the stairway. The foundation of the outside area of where the pavilion will be someday has been backfilled. Alderman Lesh attended the construction team meeting this morning, Kelly was there, Katie with Navigate, and Tony with Patterhn Ives and himself. They spoke about the signage and it will be presented to the Board for a final decision on Tuesday. This is the sign on the concrete wall, whether it will be painted on or a metal cutout. There is also the signage that will go on the roadway. The Red Cedar neon sign, and where it will go, is still under consideration. Today, Tony with Patterhn Ives, had a photograph of the original sign, it is a smaller sign. Discussion followed. Bonnie Post stated that Dennis had made a motion last time to move the neon sign inside, but it was stopped because we were talking about the Rt 66 Association’s permission since they refurbished it. Director Myers stated a letter was received from Rt 66 and they are not in favor of moving the sign inside. Director Myers read from an e-mail and apologized, as he thought the group had been made aware of this. Chairman Titter stated since the Rt 66 Association paid to have it restored, he would defer to them, but the ultimate decision will be made from the Board of Aldermen. He would like to see it inside, but that was his personal preference. Donna Graham thought if it was lit up 24/7 that was good publicity. Director O’Malley stated she was concerned about the word “restaurant” on the sign. During Covid, she has been told that visitors stopped by thinking the restaurant was open. This is a concern to her. She loved the idea of moving it inside with a photo op concept. Chairman Titter asked if there was an agreement, when the sign was restored? Administrator Roth stated there was not. The Gallagher Family does have rights to the sign if the city doesn’t want to use it. When we acquired the building there was a provision of the sign and the bar area. We are using them both, but if we didn’t want to use it, then it would go to them, same with the bar. Bonnie Post agreed with Chairman Titter, and would defer to the Rt 66 Association. Director O’Malley and Director Myers will have another conversation with the Rt 66 Association and see if they can be agreeable to moving it inside. Trees – Director Myers stated we are losing one of the big tree’s closest to the north. The tree is not healthy and is being removed. Scheduling – Director Myers stated at the end of September the contractor will be moving out and should be done for the most part. Rt 66 Shield – Bonnie Post asked if there were any pictures of it. Director Myers did not have any this evening, but will email them out to the committee. Administrator Roth stated if this is changed to metal, it would be a change order. Director Myers stated that Katie was going to send the cost breakdown to him. They would like to see the metal cutout, and backlit at some point and thought it would give a great presentation. Of course, painted is acceptable. b. Society role – Chairman Titter stated at the last meeting we talked about the role we would have as a committee. He has a draft letter he will send to Mr. Roth and he gave the committee a copy tonight. He asked for any comments. Motion made by Donna Graham, seconded by Bonnie Post to forward to Administrator Roth. A voice vote was taken with an affirmative result. 7. Reports a. Alderman – Alderman Nemeth was not present. b. Research – Donna Graham stated Sue Reed and herself have been meeting with Derek Pryer on Fridays and going over suggestions, and information for the displays. She tried to highlight items in the packet that Janet had done. They discussed Derek looking through the tubs to see what he thinks would be good initially. Kelly is working on getting the shelves in order, and the inventory list. The displays that Derek is setting up is a way to have an idea on how to do them. Later on, we can change out the displays ourselves. She thought this would be helpful. c. Director of Tourism a. Software – Director O’Malley stated we talked about this last time. She spoke about the Museum system quote. This came in at $ 24,255, which is higher than she expected and thought this was out of our price range currently. She has also left a message with PastPerfect, but has not been able to speak with them. The largest package is cloud based and the first year was $ 3,490 and each following year is $ 2,245 to keep it updated. If we went with public access the first year is $ 4,990, second year is $ 3,745. She thought we may be able to use the next package: Without public access the cost is $ 2,490, year two is $ 1, 245. If we went with public access, it is $ 3,240 and year two is $ 1,995.00. She would recommend the last package with public access. This is still a little higher than she thought, but felt if we wanted to use a system this would be the best. She also spoke with the Washington Historical Society and they use PastPerfect. These are the two most popular systems. With PastPerfect in Missouri there are six places that have the online access. This means people can get online and see what we have. Director O’Malley would like to actually talk to PastPerfect for more information. She had also spoke to a few of the committee members about shifting the genealogy center over to the Parks & Recreation building and moving the backroom into a child friendly museum. Discussion followed. This is a suggestion; she has a PowerPoint and a written presentation and a cost. The cost would come from the exhibit budget, so there would be no additional cost to it. She would add to genealogy a camera system. Donna Graham stated the red binders have history of the Fire Department and Police; etc., how can we get them to realize this is more than just family names. Discussion followed on scheduling, camera’s, etc. Chairman Titter stated if we are going to move this, he would like to see a schedule set. Bonnie Post agreed. Motion made by Jeff Titter, second by Donna Graham to have a Children’s section in the back part of Red Cedar where genealogy was originally scheduled to be placed and genealogy be moved to the Parks & Rec building as long as it is accessible to the public. Chairman Titter asked for any more discussion. There being none, a voice vote was taken with an affirmative result. Director O’Malley thanked them all for their help. Bar side – Chairman Titter stated when this was first discussed it was discussed that no food would come from the bar side. He understands that Dennis brought it up, but he would like this Board’s opinion on having food on the bar side, or some kind of refreshments. Donna Graham stated if we had something that would be family orientated, not a wine bar. They also discussed coffee, frozen treats or something available. Chairman Titter stated originally, he was not in favor of any food, but he understands we have to evolve and have items that will draw people in. People stopping there are going to want a refreshment. He was not opposed to this. Chairman Titter stated funding the building is a concern, and we need options to fund it. Director O’Malley stated she has some ideas, but would like to get it to paper. There is a door to the outside at the bar, so she thought that would be helpful. Administrator Roth stated he has asked Kelly for an Operating Plan. This would include a point- of-sale system, furniture etc. This would then go to the Board of Aldermen for various purchases. The plan would be reviewed by this committee and Tourism then the Board. Digital Sign – no update Jensen’s Point – Bonnie Post stated the Point of Interest sign is up. Director Myers stated two signs have been installed. She asked if one was going to be installed for Red Cedar. Director Myers stated there will be signage there. Bonnie Post thought Blackburn Park also needed one. Discussion followed regarding companies helping with the cost. Bonnie asked if Jensen’s Point was in the plan to get on the Historic Registry. Director Myers stated in the past it was avoided, there are a lot of hurtles to jump. Part of this is ADA; for example; under the gazebo it is very invasive to get this ADA accessible. Procedural – Bonnie asked when we are making motions and votes, currently the liaison is in attendance less than 50% of the time. Who is taking the information forward. Director Myers stated if it requires board action he is, or Administrator Roth. She hasn’t heard anything about the digital sign or different things. Director Myers stated it was still being decided. She said at the last meeting Andy was supposed to take forward about where it stood and the old sign in storage and the choices, but she never heard that happen. Rt 66 Committee – Director Myers stated that the committee could help with getting these signs in place. Next meeting – September 14, 2022 at 5:30 pm. Adjournment – Motion made by Donna Graham, seconded by Bonnie Post to adjourn. A voice vote was taken with an affirmative result.