Minutes_Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission 4 28 15 MINUTES
ARTS AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS ADVISORY COMMISSION
April 28, 2015
Lacy Board Room, Carnegie Stout Public Library
The meeting was called to order by Chair Sue Riedel at 4:33 p.m. following
staff assurance of compliance with the Iowa Open Meeting Law.
Commissioners present: Ellen Henkels, Katherine Kluseman, Marina O'Rourke,
Sue Riedel, Gina Siegert, Julie Steffen
Staff present: Debra Alleyne, Jill Connors, Maurice Jones
APPROVAL OF MINUTES of March 24, 2015:
Minutes were reviewed and amended to indicate Steffen's presence via
telephone. Motion by O'Rourke, second by Henkels, to approve as amended.
Motion carries unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS
Introduce the new Arts and Cultural Affairs Coordinator
Debra Alleyne was introduced to and welcomed by the commissioners.
Art on the River Update
Alleyne reported that she's working on the de-install and install dates with the
artists. She is discouraging early de-install requests and encouraging the
coordination of crane usage, in order to reduce costs (crane is charged for a 3-
hour minimum). Connors will follow up on the few contracts that have not yet
been received from this year's selected artists. Alleyne will work on finalizing the
speakers for the Opening on June 18th. Commissioners suggested tapping into
volunteers to help install/de-install the works, to host, etc.
Report on Special Projects Grant
Alleyne reported that following the Special Projects grant workshop, she
prepared an FAQ sheet that has been posted on the City's website. She also
made small adjustments to the application in order to provide room for
explanations of expenses.
Dates of submission deadline, scoring, and reporting to City Council were
reviewed.
General discussion about items needing review before next year's grant cycle,
including the scoring worksheet and the Operating Support fillable pdf, which had
some glitches.
Discuss Operating Support Grant
Commissioners agreed there was no need to discuss the scores of applications
where the range of scores was less than 10. This left 12 of the 16 submissions
i
to be discussed, to ensure all issues were addressed and understood, including
the financials of the organizations.
Commissioners were unsure how to interpret the financials of the Dubuque
Downtown Cultural Corridor, as the budget presented was for this arm of the
Dubuque Main Street organization, but all other financials presented were for the
entire organization. This made determining the amount to award as a
percentage of the operating budget impossible. The Commissioners asked staff
to provide via email the next day the financials provided from prior years from this
organization, in order to provide some clarification/comparison.
Kluseman exited at 6:55 p.m.
The Commissioners agreed that if the prior years' financials were significantly
different from those presented with this year's submission, that they would vote
to disqualify DDCC this year, due to incomplete information.
Staff agreed to run the figures once back at the office and to present scenario(s)
to the Commission that would provide funding based upon ranked scores, the
organizations' budgets, and within the $210,000 budget.
Commissioners discussed the importance of clarifying for next year whether
depreciation should be considered an expense in the operating budget, and also
thought it wise to include a fillable box on the application where the organization
could provide its operating expenses.
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 7:17 p.m.
This notice is given pursuant to Chapter 21, Code of Iowa and applicable local regulations of the City of
Dubuque. Persons with limited English proficiency or vision, hearing or speech impairments needing special
assistance should contact the City Manager's Office at 589-4110 or(563)589-4230 for TDD.
Respectfully submitted:
Jill Connors
Confidential Account Clerk, Economic Development
These minutes were passed and approved on
2 2.o l S
Ellen Henkels, Secretary