Board Members in Attendance:
Members Present: Susie Garretson, Chair, Sam Braun, Susan Golightly, David Connell, Sam Henderson, Jack Metzger, Barbara Poley, Katrina Rogers, Carolyn Shoemaker, Miguel Vasquez, Stephen Verkamp

Board Members Absent: Allan Affeldt, Rowena Dickerson, Drew Barringer, Leigh Kuwanwisiwma, LaVelle McCoy, Beverly Miller, Peter Pilles, Wayne Ranney, Octaviana Trujillo

Emeritus Board Members: Frances McAllister, Ben Smith (1990-98), Susan Olberding

MNA Staff Members in Attendance: Robert Breunig, Director; Elaine Hughes, Collections Manager, Kara Kelley, Registrar, Tracy Anderson

Sedona Muses Representative: Pat Pauli, President

Guest: Jill Korenek, JDS Professional Services, auditor.

I. Call to Order
Chair Susie Garretson called the meeting to order at 9:20AM without a Quorum. A quorum was reached at 9:44AM with the arrival of Jack Metzger.

II. Approval/Acceptance of Minutes
A motion to approve the Board of Trustees meeting minutes of April 7, 2007 was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.

III. Approval of Consent Agenda
A motion to approve the consent agenda: Governance committee Minutes of April 17, 2007 and May 22, 2007; Fundraising Committee Minutes of May 24, 2007; Executive Committee Meeting Minutes of May 31, 2007 was made, seconded, and passed unanimously; Programs Committee minutes of April 7, 2007 and May 23, 2007.

IV. Report from the Chair

Susie Garretson asked all board members to send in their Board/Staff Commitment forms. In addition, she discussed the importance of members serving as committee chairs in the coming year; this is an important board responsibility and she asked all to give it serious thought. Susie reported that the Executive Committee has discussed the idea of sending out an appreciation letter to the staff. They have also proposed a board-hosted staff BBQ at the Colton House on August 10, 2007.

There are board photos from the April photo shoot are on a disk. Susie will make copies for all board members and will email or send them out by mail.

In response to an inquiry from a prospective board member, Susie wanted all board members to know that the MNA has a two million dollar Director’s and Officers liability insurance policy. Susie also gave thanks to Katrina Rogers and Miguel Vasquez for their hard work and years of service to the MNA board. Welcome to emeritus status! We will miss them both.

v. Report from the Director

Building Assessment
Robert Breunig reported on activities following up on a discussion at the December board meeting regarding the possible historical significance of the five buildings to be removed for the construction of the Collection Center. Robert reported on a meeting with Pat Stein and a conversation by phone with the State Historic Preservation Officer. The SHPO did encourage photo and written documentation of the buildings.

To document these and other structures of potential historic interest. MNA has been working on a Historic Property Survey of the MNA campus with two NAU student interns and former Board member Susan Olberding. This survey involves the filling out of Historic Property Inventory forms documenting all of the buildings on campus over fifty years old. These forms will form the basis of a potential historic district nomination for the Harold S. Colton Research Center. This project will be reported on later in the Director’s report.

Accreditation
The museum received a letter on April 16 informing MNA of interim accreditation. Robert read excerpts from the letter and passed around copies. AAM will be looking closely at MNA’s long-term sustainability and at how MNA will set priorities and scale resources in the future. The next step in the process is a site visit by a Visiting Committee. October will likely be the earliest that the site visit can take place with two people appointed to visit MNA. AAM sent a list of names of potential site reviewers to MNA for review; none were considered problematic, so two names from this list will be selected by the AAM.

Collection Center
Robert has also been working with the Collection Center architect, Jim Roberts regarding the environmental assessment of the buildings to be removed for the construction of the new Collections Center. Asbestos was found, which necessitates remediation. The estimate for this is $45,000.00 or less. The target date to remove the buildings is mid-August. Next steps will include 1) relocation of utilities 2) salvage of building materials 3) the tear down and removal of the buildings. Also needed is the installation of a 400 foot 8-inch water line to a new fire hydrant near the new building.

Robert announced that the elevation drawings for the front of the Collections Center displayed on the dining room table and board members are invited to look at them. Ground breaking for the Center is expected to take place in late summer or early fall of this year. The goal is dedication in September 2008, the 80th birthday of the museum. Robert also reported that MNA’s new Collection Center would offer a stable environment for collection is the new building with minimum input of fossil fuel. This will be achieved primarily through passive design and proper solar orientation, insulation, the green roof, etc. Robert stated that the head of Community Planning & Historic Preservation for the City of Flagstaff, Karl Eberhard, said that MNA’s plan for the Collections Center was one of the best he has seen thus far in his position with the city.

Grants for Collection Center
MNA has received two major grants in recent months in support of cabinetry for the new Collections Center. The first was for $250,000.00 from “Save America’s Treasures” program. The second was a $550,000.00 NEH grant for additional cabinetry, and if MNA can raise a $25,000.00 match by 2010, there will be an additional $25,000.00. Special thanks and tribute go to Elaine Hughes, who received a letter from Charles Kolb regarding the grant. The grant panelists confirmed “unequalled in depth and breadth” of our collections. Therefore, to date, MNA has received $800,000.00 for cabinetry and associated equipment. Our original proposal to NEH was for $650,000.00; they did not grant our request for cabinetry for natural history collections. The collections staff will be working with conservators on a plan for packing and moving items into the new building.

Robert read several of the peer reviewer comments from NEH reviewers contained in a letter from NEH Program Officer Charles Kolb. It was suggested by Susan Golightly and David Connell that MNA make Charles Kolb’s comments widely available. Ben Smith commented that the Arizona State Museum in Tucson recently finished a state of the art facility for storage of over 20,000 (mostly Hohokam) artifacts and that board members might want to visit it to get some idea of the type of storage systems MNA will be achieving in the new collections center.

Exhibit Planning Process
Tracy Anderson, Education Director, then gave an overview and update on MNA’s exhibits and planning process, and long-term goals for exhibits. There is a five-year plan for exhibits, which will integrate all programs for increased impact for the museum visitor. Short-term exhibits are 4-6 months, intermediate term exhibits are 6-12 months, and long-term exhibits are 12-18 months. Each mission-based theme receives equal treatment.

She reviewed how exhibits are planned and selected. There is a proposal evaluation process, and then internal and external reviews. MNA also active seeks out different exhibits, such as the Namingha exhibit. There are a rich community of educators and curators to work with, along with community collaboration. If you have ideas on exhibits, please contact Tracy Anderson. Robert commended Tracy on her work on the exhibits and wanted to acknowledge her hard work.

Historic Property Survey
Susan Olberding gave a presentation on the Historic Properties Inventory at MNA. The inventory includes the Homestead, Colton House, and all other buildings of potential historic significance. Susan introduced, Morgan O’Connor and Donovan Wood, the two interns who presented a slide program on their survey. This is work was part of a History and Preservation class n the Geography Department at NAU. They passed out a map of MNA at this time and reviewed this history of key MNA buildings. The project mission was to: 1) Do a physical survey and photo documentation of all the buildings located at Coyote Range (Colton House), the museum grounds and Research Center campus, etc. 2) The creation of Historic Property Inventory forms for each structure. 3) The Submission of the completed property inventory survey to the SHPO.

The survey work started in November of 2006. The ultimate goal for the project was to explore the potential submitting a historic district nomination to SHPO’s office and explore the potential for a nomination of the MNA campus as a National Historic Landmark. Further objectives were to assess the potential for funding and/or grants through the AZ State Parks Heritage Fund, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Preservation Endowment, and Save America’s Treasures program. There were 34 structures to survey, ranging from administrative to storage facilities. Twenty-five of the structures are fifty years or older. Some interesting facts: the Potato Barn was built in 1886; Newberry was constructed in three parts and then put together from the pieces. Matthews Cabin was originally known as Vernon Bailey and was move from the site of the cinder block building now known as Vernon Bailey. All of these structures were original to Antelope Valley Ranch that was purchased by the Colton’s for the Research Center.

David Wilcox publication
There will be a book signing at the Branigar Chase Discovery Center on July 14 celebrating the publication of The Archaeology of Perry Mesa and Its World by David Wilcox and Jim Holmlund. The Bilby Research Center at NAU is the publisher.

T-Mobile Lease
In February 2007, T-Mobile approached MNA to lease land for a cell tower. Their contract was for $12,000.00 per year, for a 15-year lease. Patrice Hortsman has reviewed the lease agreement.

Motion: There was a recommendation for the Board to approve the idea of the T-Mobile lease, with the final terms pending based on final approval by the Executive Committee. The motion was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.

Private Family Grant
Robert and staff are working on a potential $500,000.00 potential grant. There would be $50,000.00 for the Discovery program, $25,000.00 for operating expenses, $25,000.00 for a van and $450,000.00 for a youth education endowment. Robert will continue to provide updates as the process proceeds.

VI. Report of the Program Committee
The Collections staff presented a few of the following items for review by the board:

• A circa 1942 Hopi blanket, from Dr. Robert Breunig, Karen Enyedy, Jonathan Day and Lynn Hagan

• A Two Gray Hills rug, Robert Draper watercolor, and three pottery jars from the Ralph Hanson Estate. The Hanson items are from a bequest to MNA, along with other estate items that are being sold in the Museum Shop.

• A Hopi bowl, Hopi drum made by Jimmy Kewanwytewa, and a bed headboard and footboard. These have been given as an unrestricted gift from Sat Best. All were owned by Dr. and Mrs. Colton and were given to Sat Best by Denise Colton.

• A Barton Wright scratchboard of what is now the Golightly Historic Courtyard, a painting, a plaque awarded to Ned Danson, a wooden carving of the MNA logo awarded to Ann Hitchcock in 1971 as an award for her teaching a museum studies class, and a small wooden box inscribed Harold S. Colton, 1900” and containing Edward B. Danson bookplates. All were given in memory of Jessica Danson by Ted Danson and Jan Haury.

• Rubbings of petroglyphs on cloth, photographs, and a notebook of petroglyph site locations and drawings, from estate of Elfrieda Tingleaf.

• An Anthony Honanie painting, with a recording of an interview with Honanie where he discusses the painting. Painting was a prizewinner from last year’s Hopi Show, purchased by MNA.

The Collections Committee had recommended that the Danson memorabilia items be accepted as a gift and the other items be accessioned into the MNA Collections.

Motion: There was a recommendation for acceptance of the Collections Committee recommendation to accept the Danson memorabilia as a gift and that the remaining items are accessioned for MNA Collections. The motion was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.

VII. Report from the Finance and Investment Committee
David Connell gave the Finance and Investment Committee Report. He reported that there would soon be a policy developed on using restricted cash for short-term cash flow needs.

As for the period through April, he reported, general donations are below what was budgeted for the period, but expenses are $88,000.00 better than plan. Over all, the budget $47,000.00 behind original projections for the year. The Finance Committee feels that MNA might be able to pull out this year if we are successful with additional unrestricted donations.

A question was asked on the status of the Gift Shop sales. Gross sales are $22,465 above budget through April, and $64,900 above last year’s sales at this time. Director and Comptroller are reviewing discount policies as our discounts numbers seem high. Gift Shop Manager Kalley Keams-Lucero resigned this month. Rita Alexander has been hired as the new Gift Shop Manager and will begin on June 11.

Motion: The Finance Committee recommended acceptance of the financial reports for April 2007 as presented. It was seconded, and passed unanimously.

With Kalley Lucero leaving MNA, the signature authority for the Shops account must be modified to remove Kalley Lucero and to add Rita Alexander to the authorized signature list for Gift Shop checks along with Robert Breunig and Lynn Yeager. This will be effective June 11, 2007.

Motion: Motion to change the signature authority for the Shops accounts was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.

Jill Korenek, CPA with JDS Professional Group presented the audited financials statements. JDS reported that they received full cooperation, from staff, that all information was presented in a timely manner, and that there were no disagreements or complications with staff during the audit. No fraud was detected and there were no management letter comments.

She presented the Audit Report; balances stayed relatively the same – shifts were large promises to give went down and cash and dividends went up. Liabilities were down $130,000.00. Line of credit was down $200,000.00. Net assets are up .8% from prior year.

The audit report does not show the comparative figures from last year due to the change in the fiscal year resulting in a one-time nine-month year. Administrative fees do compare to the prior year. Classification changes – revenue categories were changed; Science/Research, Education, Retail, and Rental. Supplemental services are at 29% same as prior year. This is similar to other comparable organizations. Change in net assets is $127,000.00. JDS did not issue a “Recommendations to Management” letter. There will be new AICPA audit standards issued. In respect to the audit fees, JDS works with each client to hone. MNA staff will provide documentation and help keep fees down as much as possible.

Motion: Motion to accept the January – September 2006 financial audit from JDS Professional Group was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.

VII. Fundraising Report
The Namingha Gala event is coming up; please encourage those you know to send in for tickets. There is a waiting list, and it will be used to fill unused corporate tables.

For the Board of Trustees attending, you will be contacted to discuss how you can help that evening.

The Fall Annual Appeal will be coming soon. At this October’s Board Meeting, you may be asked to sign letters and personal notes to go out to the membership. You can also host House Parties for new members, reintroduce static members, etc. There are other options too, so please contact the Fundraising Committee to discuss.

IX. Muses Report
Pat Pauli, President of the Sedona Muses had several handouts. First was the Sedona Muses President’s report for 2006-2007. There was also a financial statement on the Muses 2007-08 Budget, the summary of the 2006-2007 Programs, and the 2006-2007 End of Year Report.

X. Other Business
More Programs business: The future of the Ventures Program had been discussed in the last Program Committee meeting. The program has lost money over the past several years. Marketing has not changed significantly over the thirty years of the program; there is increased competition from other vendors, and increased costs (park fees, insurance and fuel). The program has struggled financially; this year expecting a loss of approximately $20,000.00. Options are on the table: discontinue, continue as is or revise and expand? The Program Committee believes this is important, and has non-financial benefits, and would like to see the program continue. There are different options: keep the program as it is now, ramp up marketing, etc. There is a new program manager, Bob Hoffa, with new ideas. Susie Garretson and David Connell originally became involved with MNA due to the Ventures Program and both feel it has mission related benefits beyond just the financial considerations. The Program Committee favored the option of investing more dollars, if feasible, and staff to keep the program running next year. The program does need help, and we hope that board members all will put together lists of people who would be interested in the trips and send the information to the Ventures staff.

Next meeting: Saturday, August 11, 2007; 9:00-4:00 pm; in PEARSON at MNA .