City of Sterling Municipal Band Commission met Aug. 13.
Here is the minutes provided by the commission:
Commissioners: Staff:
Gonzalo S. Reyes – Chair Annette Hackbarth – Director *absent*
Kevin O’Keefe – Vice Chair (in at 6:42) Paul Ausman – Band Manager
Amy Boze – Secretary
Allen Lee – Treasurer
Vacant position
Others in Attendance:
No members of the public were present
I. CALL TO ORDER
A regular meeting of the Sterling Municipal Band Commission was held on 8/13/2019 at 6:017 p.m. at Grandon Civic Center, Sterling, Il. 61081.
Commissioner Reyes called the meeting to order and attendance was taken showing four Commissioners were present.
II. CONSENT ITEMS
Commissioner Boze made a motion to approve the following consent items:
Minutes of 7/8/19 SMB Commission meeting
Band Director Report
Band Manager Report
There was not a Marketing Consultant’s report filed for the month of July.
Commissioner Lee seconded the motion which carried unanimously.
III. FINANCIAL REPORT
Commissioner Lee went over the financial report for the past month highlighting upon donations received to date since 5/1/2019 have exceeded our projected goal for the 2019-2020 budget, and that a number of City Council Members have personally expressed their gratitude towards the Commission and Annette for the job they have done during the Summer season.
Commissioner Boze made a motion to receive the Financial report. Commissioner O’Keefe seconded the motion which carried unanimously.
IV. COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC
No members of the public were present
V. OLD BUSINESS
Commissioner Reyes has been in communication with City Attorney Tim Zollinger regarding Cathy James’s private use of the Sterling Municipal Band name on Social Media, www.sterlingmunicipalband.com, current use of the 2019 SMB donor list, and the trademark she holds on Sterling Municipal Symphony Band. Mr. Zollinger will send Mrs. James a cease and desist letter.
Commissioner Reyes has met with Dr. Everett regarding SMB’s use of Challand Middle School’s old gym as a rain out location going forward for Summer seasons. Dr. Everett offered to let the Band use it for no fee and has it reserved for the Summer season. Commissioner Reyes will draft a letter to the Unit 5 School Board officially asking approval of its use.
Band Manager Ausman will begin to build a corporate donor list. Discussion of how the corporate sponsorship levels should take shape will be tabled until the September meeting so Band Director Hackbarth can share her knowledge and expertise of the topic.
Mr. Ausman suggested going with the cool weave version of the Band polo as the permanent option. If bought in sufficient quantity and at the right time we can control costs by taking advantage of special deals Lands End offers. Commissioner Lee will keep an eye out for them. He will also get a quote from JJM Printing in Sterling to see if they can be competitive in their pricing. Janna Groharing did provide two contacts at JJM, but did inform us that they outsource their embroidery jobs.
Commissioner Reyes will be putting together a calendar for items relating to the SMB Commissioners.
Commissioner Reyes will attend the next Diversity Committee of the Sauk Valley meeting to let them know that the SMB cannot give up one of our Summer concerts to play for their group’s events, nor perform and a back up band for their events. Commissioner Boze suggested instead that both groups could work together to sponsor a pre-show or Saturday night jazz performance. She also had a discussion with Nicole Oberg who suggested that we work with the United Way and the YWCA for our events since the events they take part in draw more people of color. Commissioner Reyes will start contacting local Churches in April to help spread the word of our Summer concerts.
Mr. Ausman reported that ROE Background Checks have been completed for the Summer Season. Thirteen checks were performed.
VI. NEW BUSINESS
The 2019 Music Under the Stars season was a complete success. Many band and audience members alike expressed their gratitude of the Military Appreciation Night, John Williams Night, and especially the Kids Koncert. Communication between the Commission, Administration, Band members and Audience was positive in nature which led to the ability to overcome whatever challenge which might have come to meet us.
A few of the things we can improve on for the future include: A second face painter for the Kids Koncert; New Donation bucket for the Carreta. Perhaps an old drum that is not being used; Relabeling the Instrument Petting Zoo. Many people thought we were going to have actual animals; Inviting the Dulcimer group to perform the Patriotic concert pre-show; Improving capability of the current sound system at GCC to perform the way we and the audience would like.
Commissioner Reyes will be attending GardenStock 2019 to scout potential pre- show entertainment.
Changes to be made to the current GCC Rental Application were discussed. The $25 Lighting fee will be clarified to mean the stage lights, and the overhead lights that are listed further down in the application will be clarified as the utility/security lights that come on at dusk. The code for additional lighting will match the rental code, and the SMB Commission and Administration staff will take care of turning on and off the stage lights should that option be selected. The rental fee of $50 will cover a four-hour block. Each additional hour will cost and additional $10. Mr. Ausman will make changes to the Application for Commission approval.
Graffiti was noticed by Mr. Ausman in three locations inside the shell at GCC on 8/1/2019. He reported it to the Police and notified all Commissioners. He painted the first coat to cover it up on 8/2/19 with a second coat following on 8/6/2019.
Suggestions to fill Mr. Segneri’s vacant Commissioner spot should be passed on to Commissioner Reyes as soon as possible to be able to get those names to Mayor Lee to present to the City Council. Chandra Meyer was one suggestion as well as checking with Janna Groharing and the Millennial Group to see which candidates should be considered. The desire is to select candidates that can help the Commission reach the 25-40-year-old demographic
VII. EXECUTIVE SESSION
Commissioner Lee made a motion to go into executive session. Commissioner O’Keefe seconded the motion which carried unanimously. The Commission entered executive session at 8:48
Commissioner O’Keefe made a motion to go into open session. Commissioner Boze seconded the motion which carried unanimously. The Commission entered open session at 9:22
VIII. MISCELLANEOUS
Commissioner Reyes brought up a potential need for handrails on the front steps of the stage at GCC. He also brought up the issue with the bottom steps of the rear stairs too. Since we are grandfathered into complying with ADA regulations we will have to find out if the addition of hand rails or an additional concrete step will force us to have to comply with all ADA regulations regarding GCC.
Commissioner O’Keefe asked if the Financial Report could be shorted so we could focus more time on matters that need discussing. He suggested making the report available prior to the meeting like the Director and Manager reports are so Commissioners can come to the meeting with any questions they have. He also suggested trying to limit the meeting time spent on the report to 10 minutes.
Mr. Ausman brought up getting thank you cards printed for us to use. He will get quotes to see what the difference between generic cardstock that we can print ourselves, custom printed cards, and generic pre-printed cards would be.
IX. ADJOURNMENT
Commissioner O’Keefe made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Lee seconded the motion which carried unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 9:43 p.m.
http://www.sterling-il.gov/docs/meetings/minutes/SMB08132019minutes.pdf
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