HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-05-11 Cultural Council Minutes r
Town of Reading
Meeting Minutes
Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
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Cultural Council
Date: 2020-05-11 Time: 6:00 PM
Building: Pleasant Street Senior Center Location: Arts and Crafts Room
Address: 49 Pleasant Street Session: Open Session
Purpose: Version:
Attendees: Members - Present:
Donna Schenkel, Mary Ann Kozlowski, Nora Bucko, Brian Kimerer, Nancy
Ziemlak, Kathy Natale, Frances Barba-Boyle, Jane Soloway, Megan Fidler-
Carey, Rosemary Lewis
Members - Not Present:
Others Present:
Erin Shaffer from the Town Economic Council; Kerr! Perry
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Rosemary Lewis
Topics of Discussion:
This meeting was conducted via ZOOM due to the Corona Virus Pandemic restrictions for
social distancing.
Call to order at 6:02 pm.
Minutes were approved.
Megan accepted the role of account administrator for the RCC Google Drive account.
Treasurer's report: lane picked up mail from town and submitted requests to cover the
$5000 from the town. We have $3395.00 in the account.
It was clarified that the Council can approve partial payments for projects not completed
due to the Corona Virus. We have not heard anything from several projects.
Reimbursement is available for money spent related to the project even if the project is
cancelled. According to the MCC guidelines, grantees must submit a written request the
local council to make changes. The Council must vote on approval and then track changes.
Those who haven't been able to use the grant money can defer to next year. Jane will
email those who haven't been in touch to inquire what their intentions are.
We have received requests from the Killam 100'^ Anniversary project and the Art Walk to
postpone until September. Motion was made and approved to accept these deferrals.
Publicity:
The survey was discussed. Nancy reported that Jenna from the town Recreation
Department volunteered to write up and publish our survey within the next 3 weeks. It will
be on the RCC website until August 1, 2020. There was discussion about adding a question
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about the Covid-19 pandemic. The MCC has put out its own survey. Erin Shaffer from the
Economic Council explained how gathering information at our local level about how various
organizations are adapting to the restrictions would help us understand the impact on the
grant process and perhaps open up conversation about how to address the changes.
The council voted to add the Covid-19 question to the survey:
How is your organization adapting to Covid restrictions?
Responses would include both a list of choices as well as open-ended response.
Nancy will firm up the survey process with Jenna. It will be emailed to our list of about
190; there will be a link on the town website. We will contact Your Community Connection,
newspapers and the library for their weekly email to include a link. Erin will post through
the town's Economic Development Office.
Donna reported that the sign on the Reading Town Common has been reserved for
September. An ad will run in Your Community Connection through August.
Megan reported she developed a Face Book page for RCC and she will administer it.
Other Business:
New Member recruitment. Donna described the activities of the Council officers. With
current member terms ending, there will be vacancies for Chair and Co-Chair, and
Secretary. Kathy expressed interest in taking on the Secretary position. Donna encouraged
Associate members to contact the town in lune about becoming a full member.
The community reception was cancelled. There was discussion about how to deal with this.
It was felt that a physical reception is not necessary, but that recognizing the recipients is
what's important. Mary Ann suggested we do this in September to promote the application
deadline of October 15. It was also suggested to ask Erin if there are other groups in town
that we could collaborate with, such as the Fall Street Fair, the rotary or RCTV.
Next year's meeting schedule was presented.
September 14, 20
October 26, 2020 Meet with grant applicants
November 2, 2020 Meet with grant applicants
December 7, 2020 Voting meeting
January 4, 2021 Start planning reception
March 1, 2021
April 5, 2021
May 10, 2021 Meeting followed by Community Reception
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:03 pm. The next meeting is
scheduled for 6/22/20 at 6:00 pm via ZOOM.
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