HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-08-17 Cultural Council MinutesRECEIVED
TOWN CLERK
4
911
READING, MA.
Town of Reading P� Meeting Minutes 2021 SEP 21 PH 5� 26
Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
Cultural Council
Date: 2021-09-17 Time: 7:00 PM
Building: Pleasant Street Senior Center Location: Arts and Crafts Room
Address: 49 Pleasant Street Session: Open Session
Purpose: Version: Draft
Attendees: Members - Present:
Brian Kimerer, Katherine Lopez Natale, Kerr! Perry
Members - Not Present:
Megan Fidler -Carey, Sherilla Lestrade, Bhartl Parris, Michael Smith
Others Present:
None
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Kern Perry
Topics of Discussion:
Call to order at 7:05 p.m.
The meeting was conducted by Brian Kimerer, Co -Chair. We had only three members in
attendance so we could still meet but there was a motion by Katherine to table the
treasurer report and minutes approval of prior meeting due to small level of attendance.
Kern seconded the motion, and the vote was unanimous to table these topics until our next
meeting.
Brian shared that we had one new member, Sherilla Lestrade and we can formally welcome
her in the next meeting.
It was discussed that the annual report with the Massachusetts Cultural Council is upcoming
and we are not certain yet the date and link for that yet. Brian shared some information
about the new online system and website. He shared that each member would need a
unique log in username and password, versus a shared log in. Members from prior years
that are still active members can request a password using their personal email as their
username within the site. Brian will work to establish membership on the site for new
members and will skip the self -identifying questions for members to complete directly and
privately on their own.
Brian shared we need to review and finalize current council Information and practices by
September 1, 2021 so that it can be established before the start of the grant cycle, as it can
not be changed during the grant cycle period. In establishing our council infonnatlon, we
needed a phone number to list, and Brian was going to check if it was ok if we used the
phone number for Reading Town Hall. We will update the information to include the new
Facebook page name and new Instagram if they ask for that as an option to include. The
website will be the town website for the council.
We reviewed the material from last year and discussed how the dates of application will
need updating for this year's cycle of 9/1/2021-10/15/2021 and how we do not know the
P"e I 1
amount for granting yet in FY 2022 to finalize that figure. We reviewed how it said those
applying for grants "must state date of performance, artist and venue to be considered" and
we discussed it would be preferred to have it state, "Proposals must state an approximate
performance date, confirmed artist and venue" and remove "to be considered". The
priorities we reviewed and agreed they still seemed relevant and align to the Survey Results
we had reviewed as a group in prior meetings (more new and diverse grants).
There was a motion by Kern to vote to finalize the about us, FY 2022 priorities and local
guidelines with the only changes being the grant cycle dates, amount of grants (once
determined) and rephrasing under priorities "must state approximate date of performance"
and remove "to be considered" as discussed. Katherine seconded the motion and the
members unanimously voted yes.
We needed to determine if we should allow direct grants to a group this year instead of the
past approach of grants being reimbursement based. There was some discussion. Part of
the requirement of the direct grant was that if the event does not take place, there is a
requirement claw back the money already distributed and paid. The member's opinions on
this were that It would be challenging to manage administratively. Katherine motioned to
vote if we should allow direct grants, Brian second the motion and it was a unanimous vote
of no. Grants would be reimbursement based again for this cycle. Brian stated he would
email to the group the finalized Priorities and local guidelines and update the website.
It was raised by Kern that on the Reading Town Website the Co -Chair, Treasurer and
Secretary are not properly notated and Brian said he would email the Town to get that
updated.
Timellne of upcoming grant cycle was discussed in regard to future meetings. Town Meeting
dates were reviewed and that our goal would be to have grant requesters interview with us
in November and we would deliberate in December. We discussed using a Doodle Poll to see
if Tuesdays or Wednesdays the first week of the month would work best to meet regularly.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:02 p.m
Page 1 2