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HomeMy Public PortalAboutCrosby Property Advisory Committee -- 2023-09-28 Minutes (2) MINUTES OF THE CROSBY PROPERTY COMMITTEE DATE: Thursday, September 28, 2023 TIME: 1:00 PM PLACE: Brewster Town Office Room A PARTICIPANTS: Diana Lamb (Chair), Cate O'Neill, Adam Kibbe, Rich- ard Archer, Peter Lombardi, Andrew Evans, Mark Flaherty Agenda Items 1. Call to Order - Chair Diana Lamb called the meeting to order at 1:00 PM. 2. Declaration of a Quorum - Diana declared that a quorum is pre- sent. 3. Meeting Participation Statement - Diana read the participation statement. 4. Recording Statement - Diana read the recording statement. 5. Approve Old Minutes - A motion to approve the August 2023 minutes was made by Adam Kibbe and seconded. Approved unanimously. There were no public comments. 8. Welcome Friends Volunteers - About a dozen members of the Friends of Crosby Mansion came to the meeting. Diana thanked the group for their donation of time and talent and noted that their participation over the years has been crucial to the improvements at the mansion. Many of the Friends provided feedback to the com- mittee: a. They are proud of Richard's leadership and feel that he has taken them "out of the doldrums". b. They feel new friends are accepted easily and learn from one another. c. The credit card reader. has been very helpful. d. Questions: "Where should we go next?" "How much money should they aim to take in?" Peter then explained the purpose of income. It must be only for mansion upkeep but that this could include personnel. e. Could the DPW mow to relieve Richard of that onerous task? No. Peter explained that would require using the general fund and then gave a short explanation of the funds. There was then a short discussion about operations. f. The group is delighted with expanded activities and would love, if anything, for them to expand further. g. There was some discussion of the wedding the previous week. Richard had to clean the floor afterwards. Transitioning from one event to another the next day can be a problem. Having Richard both open and close an event may be too much. h. They are frustrated with the delay in the approval of the mini splits. And why is the chimney work taking so long to begin? Will it be happening by spring? i. A few Friends described their work at the mansion: repairing, painting, spackling, scraping, cleaning, etc. j. They loved the Haunted Mansion in autumn 2022. (But a few lamented the fact that they had yet to meet a ghost in all their time at the mansion!) k. Peter noted the "thousands of hours" contributed by the Friends. "The town has incrementally devoted time to the mansion but it's nothing compared to what the Friends do." I. Adam wondered whether The Friends should be reconstituted as a 501. Peter said he was not sure why it was done that way previously and explained that the town doesn't need it now. m.The neighbors are happy with the attractive building restoration and glad the raccoons are long gone. n. There was a plea for an accounting of how donations are used. Peter, Andy, and Richard said a financial summary already exists and will be forwarded to all interested. Peter explained that some review of finances was done when the decision was taken to increase Richard's hours to 35 per week for half the year. o. Bus tours could stop at the mansion - especially after the mini splits are installed. But this might require more docents. It could be a nice source of income. p. We should be cautious with parking near the septic leaching field behind the mansion. q. The Friends like the expanded schedule of Open Houses. But there is a need to recruit more docents. And there are concerns about having a large event on a Saturday and then an Open House the next day. 9. Open House schedule for 2024 r. Twice a week in the summer in 2023 was an increase and this helped raise revenue. But it's a lot of work. s. The Friends have met to discuss this and think it's fine. t. It would be great to have more volunteers and maybe some younger volunteers allowing us to stay open even more! u. Maybe tours on a Sunday after a wedding ought to be curtailed. 7. Discussion of fees v. Diana, Cate, and others tried to find comparables - other wedding venues on or off the Cape that provide similar services. But this is difficult. For example, almost all include food and beverage service unlike the Crosby Mansion. w. Diana & Cate asked whether we should we charge extra for the ceremony itself the way other venues do. But Richard suggested that the ceremony does not cause extra work for him. x. Collecting a damage deposit should be considered over and above whatever words appear in the contract. y. Richard will look over some information about comparable sites that Peter got from the previous property manager Brian. Richard will put together a spreadsheet showing what we charge compared to others and send this information to Diana. 8. Property Manager's Report z. The mini splits and chimney repair will be the focus this fall. The mini split issue will be discussed at a "meet and greet" Peter will be attending soon and he will report back to the committee. aa. Richard is still working off a long list of tasks on a list developed by Brian. bb. The cottage rental season is ending. As always there will be winterizing and small repairs including a look at the chimney in the bungalow. cc.Richard is developing the event schedule for next year. dd. There are great photos from the recent wedding. The sun appeared as the bride entered ! ee. The Halloween Weekend prep continues. There will be four shows. ff. There is a wedding Columbus Day weekend. 8. Friends of Crosby Report gg. Wedding went well despite the hurricane. It was a wonderful event that showed the flexibility of the venue. 9. New Business a. The plans to renovate the third cottage will wait for the mini splits and chimney to be completed. b. The chimney repair plans go beyond just the brickwork itself. 10. Next Meeting - The November/December meeting will be held December 7, 2023 at 1 PM. 11. Adjournment - A motion to adjourn was made by Adam Kibbe and seconded. It passed at about 2:06. Respectfully submitted, Mark Flaherty