Present:         Charles Leighton - President                          Connie Merrill – Member at Large

                        Janet Leighton – Vice-President                     Lester Timofeev-Publicity Chair

                        Julie Brownie Sec/Treas                                 Barbara Timofeev

                        Lloyd & Audrey Bolstridge

                       

                                               

Call to Order:                        The meeting was called to order at 6:45 pm.

 

                                     The Secretary’s Report for May 05, 2005 was read and accepted with corrections.

                                    The Secretary’s Report for the special meeting of May 23, 2005 was read and accepted

                                   

The Treasurer’s Report was read and accepted.  The current checking account balance is $6491.23.  Received at the meeting were the following dues:  Bub & Peggy Curry $20; Everett Underhill Sr. $10; Everett Underhill Jr. $10; Lois Hawes $10 (new member); and, Sue & Warren Foss $20 (new members).  Twelve dollars was also submitted from calendar sales.  Lloyd & Audrey Bolstridge made a generous $100 donation.

Old Business:

 

1.      Mugs: Brenda Clark asked Buda Belly’s if they would handle the sale of the SHS mugs.  They said they would.

2.      Collection Jars: Janet Leighton took a collection jar to the Foss Farms.  The Fosses agreed to set it at their checkout area.

3.      Loan Update: Julie went back and talked to the loan officers at the Bank of America & Peoples Bank (TD North).  They both said that they would give us a $5000 guaranteed loan (some one would have to personally sign) at interest rates around 9% to 9.5%.  Over 5 years that would be $105 - $110 a month.  The Board was concerned about the high interest rate and Julie said she would contact the Merrill bank also.

4.      Leighton Building Donation: Charles Leighton told the membership that his lawyer recommends a 3-year lease on the building, and then review the arrangement after 3 years.  He also recommended that any disputes be settled by arbitration.  Charles asked that the membership seriously think about the building donation arrangement.  Some questions to ask ourselves are: How committed are we to the restoration and upkeep?  Are we comfortable with a 3-year lease?  The membership agreed that there are questions they would like discussed, such as how likely is it that after three years, the Leighton Trust will want the building back – or lease it to someone else? 

A motion was made and passed to have Ken Fredette draw up an agreement regarding the leasing of the building by the Leighton Trust to the SHS.  It was also decided to invite Ken to come and speak to the SHS about the agreement and answer questions that we may have.  The Society will compensate Ken for his time.

5.       Museum Building Insurance: President Leighton checked with an agent regarding insurance for the museum building.  While it is being renovated the Society cannot get liability insurance.  The Society can get $20,000 on the building and $10,000 on the renovations at a cost of $545 per year.  Once the Society occupies the building, we can get standard rates and liability insurance.

A discussion was held on whether the Society could and/or should have volunteer workers sign a liability waiver.  It was decided that a group of members would be designated to be at the site whenever work is going on (at least one member of the designated group).  Other volunteers could not work there without one of the designated group being there.

 

 

 

 

6.      Foundation Repair:  Costs for the foundation repair are estimated as follows:

Contractor:                  $8600

Timbers:                      $600

Insurance (approx):     $545   

Two small windows:   $40__

                                    $9785

 

The Society will borrow $5000 and will take the remainder out of current funds.

$4300 is required upfront by the contractor.

7.      Grants: The next step in our grant process needs to be taking an inventory of our collections.

8.      Fund Raising:

·         The Ladies Aid has not had breakfasts for 2 years.  However, Connie & Lloyd feel that suppers are better fund-raisers than breakfasts.

·         Lloyd offered a refurbished child’s tractor to raffle.

·         Lloyd knows someone who has some white house paint to spare.

·         Page Farm & Home Museum:  Lloyd & Audrey brought a fund raising flyer from this museum titled, “200 Special Friends”.  They suggested that we consider something similar as a fund-raiser.  It involves asking people to donate $100 a year for three years.  Lester will work up a brochure for the SHS to consider in a similar campaign.

·         WAL-MART has money available for organizations that include educational activities.

 

New Business:

 

1.      Maine Archives Workshops: They will be contacting Lester with the dates of the next set of workshops.

2.      Museum Building Yard Cleanup:  President Leighton estimates that it will cost $150 to clean-up brush around the building.  He would also like to have someone take down the tree closest to the driveway in front of the house.

 

 

 The next SHS meeting will be on July 7, 2005.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 pm.

 

 

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                                                                                                            Julie S. Brownie Secretary