Des Moines Historical Society

Minutes 7/27/09

Minutes 7/27/09

DES MOINES HISTORICAL SOCIETY of DES MOINES, IOWA
MINUTES
MONDAY, JULY 27, 2009 at THE FOREST AVENUE LIBRARY

The meeting was called to order by the chair Pat Meiners at 5:30 p.m. Attendees were: Karen Smith, a graduate student at U of I who has done some research for Terrace Hill; Karen Hanley, a Des Moines native interested in the history of the city; Ted Lussem, a semi-retired Insurance agent who has written about the insurance industry history; Earl Short and Becky Short, Earl has worked extensively with railroad and streetcar history and Becky was a teacher; Barbara Plecas, who believes history is vital and has worked with properties on the National Register of Historic Properties; Jacob Shoemaker, a recent Grandview College graduate; Mark Heppner, the Executive Director at Terrace Hill; Brian Browning, the Administrator at Terrace Hill who is also interested in railroads; Max Knauer III, a retired teacher who is interested in the good of the community; John Wenck, with the DNR who is interested in river history; Natasha Moore, has a masters degree in history from UNI; Nancy Suby-Bohn, working with the history of Riverview Amusement Park; Rick Meiners, Secretary and Pat Meiners, President.

The City Council tonight discussed vacating an alley so a hotel may be built over some land that was very near the original Fort Des Moines II. John Wenck and Max Knauer III were in attendance and spoke at the meeting. There were also many emails sent to Council members. The request has been sent to the City Manager for further review. It was said that the DMHS should be involved in such issues to be sure historical reviews are done before these decisions were made. This subject of historical and archaeological reviews, especially in the downtown area, also came up when the Science Center was built and some archaeological excavation was done there.

A motion was moved, seconded and passed to dispense with the reading of the minutes from the prior meeting of June 30, 2009. A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of June 30, 2009. The motion was approved.

The chair asked for reports from the officers. The Vice President and Secretary were absent so no reports were made. The chair mentioned that a Promotion and Publicity Committee was formed with members, but a permanent chair is needed. The chair of the Bylaw Committee resigned so the President, Pat Meiners is acting as Bylaw Committee Chair. Natasha Moore moved that the report of the Bylaw Committee, in the form of the Draft Bylaws be accepted and voted on a section at a time with the final acceptance of the Bylaws being held off until a later meeting. The motion was seconded and approved. Part of the reason for voting on the entire bylaws at a later meeting is that it appears it will be possible to have the Des Moines Birthplace Memorial Cabin open for the group sometime in September. As an incentive to become a DMHS member, it will be promoted that members will be able to go through the cabin on that day. Also, some people would like to be listed as Charter Members and that is an added reason for joining at that time. The last Cubs game at Sec Taylor field will be September 7 this year. Volunteers will be needed to take dues and make sure only members enter the cabin. Mark Heppner mentioned that we should be able to use the Terrace Hill Carriage House as a meeting place. We will also have to elect officers and board members before the meeting. The Bylaws were based upon those in Roberts Rules of Order and the bylaws of other organizations, historical and community.

Article I specifies the name of the society. It was moved, seconded and approved that Article I be accepted. Article II is the purpose statement. It was moved, seconded and approved that Article II be accepted.

Bylaw Article III regards Memberships. It was moved that Section 2 be revised to delete the word ‘adult’ and also ‘age 18 or older.’ There should possibly be a restriction that officers be age 18. Other discussion was about what type of organizations could join and how they show they have legal status and that a membership list should be available to potential sponsors to show who we are and that reflects our credibility. It was moved, seconded and approved that Article III as amended be accepted. There was some discussion about Article X, and the way to change bylaws so that may be kept in mind while there is voting on the other articles. The subject of Article IV is Officers. It was moved and seconded that Section 7 of Article IV be amended to add to the end of the last sentence “, that are age 18 or over.” The amendment was approved. There was some discussion about the office of Vice President overseeing collections and having a collections policy. It was further moved and seconded that Section 3. Vice President be amended to add at the end of the last sentence “, including being familiar with the bylaws.” Article IV with the two amendments was moved, seconded and approved.

The subject of Article V is Meetings. It was moved, seconded and approved that Section 4. Minutes be amended in the first sentence to remove the phrase “for members to keep.” and changed to read “shall be made available electronically, or upon request, a printed copy will be available before the next regular meeting.” The quorum requirements were discussed and there will be no absentee or proxy voting. A motion was moved, seconded and approved that Article V be accepted as amended.

It was moved, seconded and approved that Section 5. Meetings of Article VI be amended to removed the words “unless the subject” and replace those words with except for any portion” and add the word “that” between “meeting” and “would.” It was also moved, seconded and approved that Section 6. Responsibilities be amended to replace the word “general” in the second sentence with the word “regular.” It was moved, seconded and approved that Article VI be accepted as amended.

Article VII concerns Committees. As written, the bylaws include a provision for a Nominating Committee, but the committee is optional if the Board chooses to have one. It was moved, seconded and approved that Article VII be approved as presented. Article VIII is about Elections, including a Proviso for the Initial Terms of Office Holders elected upon the approval of the Bylaws by the whole body. A motion was made, second and approved that Article VII be approved as written.

Finances, including a Proviso for the initial annual dues, are the subject of Article IX. The subject of bonding was brought up, but will be further discussed when needed in the future. Section 4 is a provision regarding Payment Limits. It was moved, seconded and approved that sentence two be amended by removing the words “both the Treasurer and President” and changing the words to “two Executive Board members.” The dues plan included in the Proviso will be effective for dues paid before the annual meeting in January of 2010 and covers dues for the period through December of 2010. It was further moved, seconded and approved that the first sentence be amended by removing all of the words after the comma and replacing them with “or an approved budget or Executive Board approved item.” It was moved, seconded and approved that Article IX be accepted with the amendments.

Article X is entitled Amendment of Bylaws. It was discussed that the title be changed to removed the words “Amendment of” and be only “Bylaws.” An amendment to Section 2 was discussed to add the words “made” and “30 days” to the sentence so it says “be made available to the membership 30 days prior.” The body also discussed an additional Section 3. Bylaws Review to read “The Bylaws shall be reviewed at least every five years, and maintained by the Vice President.” It was moved, seconded and approved that Article X be accepted with the three suggested amendments.

The subject of Article XI is Collections. There was quite a lot of discussion about the possibility of the DMHS receiving items and that they should be accounted for in some way. Pat Meiners has already received a few items due to her website for the former Polk County Historical Society. It was moved, seconded and approved that an additional Section 3 entitled Collection Management Policy be added to read “The Executive Board shall approve a Collections Management policy to supersede Sections 1 and 2. It was further moved, seconded and approved that Section 1 be changed to add the word “acknowledged,” before the word “marked” in sentence one. It was moved, seconded and approved that Article XI be accepted with the two amendments.

It was moved, seconded and approved that Article XII Miscellaneous be accepted as written. There was some discussion in regard to how the DMHS and non-profits could advocate or ‘lobby’ for their causes and that the DMHS needs to be informed about the restrictions. It was further moved, seconded and approved that Article XIII Dissolution be accepted as written.

There was a question whether the time period to enroll “Charter Members” could be extended for those who can not attend a September meeting. Pat Meiners will find out if this is possible. Nancy Suby-Bohn told us of going before the City Council earlier this day regarding historic sewers and creating a display to show what the old brick and ‘core’ wood sewers were like. It was hoped that a Nominating Committee could be discussed today, but there is not enough time and it will be discussed August 22. We also need to find volunteers to help with the September meeting at the Des Moines Memorial Birthplace Cabin. A future project may be for writing small books and having them published less expensively on CD or through the internet as ‘print on demand’ items. The next meeting will be Saturday, August 22, 2009 from 3:00 to 4:45 p.m. at the Northside Library at 5th Avenue and Euclid Avenue in Highland Park. Attendees are invited to bring a story or item to share next month if we have the time available. The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted


Richard Meiners, Secretary
Des Moines Historical Society