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   Discussion with the West Pasco Historical Society RE: Rao Musunuru M.D. Museum & Library

   discussed

   The West Pasco Historical Society presented a proposal requesting the City of New Port Richey provide an annual $40,000 grant to fund a museum director position at the Rao Musunuru M.D. Museum & Library in Sims Park. Bob Langford and curator Brian Schmidt described renovations, increased attendance, educational programming, and the museum's role as a cultural and economic driver. Council discussed the proposal favorably and directed staff to consider it during budget workshops.

   • direction:Council expressed support for the Historical Society's proposal and directed it be considered in upcoming budget discussions. (none)

   📍Sims Park🏢Beef and Ale🏢Finnish American Club🏢Greater Pasco Chamber of Commerce🏢Gulf High School🏢Jimmy's🏢Pasco County🏢Rao Musunuru M.D. Museum & Library🏢Rose's🏢The Social🏢West Pasco Historical Society👤Bob Langford👤Brian Schmidt👤George Sims👤Heather Fiorentino👤Jeff Miller👤Jen Stevenson👤Ken Waitman👤Mrs. Manz👤Rao Musunuru👤Vic Mallet#$40,000 annual grant proposal for museum director#14,000-year-old lithics from Hudson sinkhole#Comparison to Dunedin and Tarpon Springs museum funding models#Rao Musunuru M.D. Museum & Library renovation#Sims Park sculpture discussion

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   [00:00:30] The first item is a discussion of the West Pasco Historical [00:00:34] Society Museum and Library. [00:00:36] Mrs. Manz. [00:00:38] Mr. Mayor, this work session is being [00:00:41] called at the suggestion of the West Pasco Historical Society. [00:00:47] I'm aware of the fact that they have put together [00:00:49] a PowerPoint presentation for you this evening. [00:00:52] And we should introduce both Mr. Langford and then [00:00:59] Mr. Schmidt. [00:01:01] Thank you. [00:01:04] And Bob, are you going to lead things for us? [00:01:07] OK. [00:01:11] Good evening, Honorable Mayor and Council. [00:01:14] We're here tonight to make this presentation to you [00:01:17] so you'll have a good idea of what plans we're trying to make [00:01:24] and what additions we're trying to make to the city, [00:01:29] economic development, and the cultural development of the city [00:01:34] with the historical society. [00:01:36] I don't know if any of you have been there. [00:01:39] Well, we've been closed. [00:01:40] But if you haven't been there, since we've changed [00:01:46] and everything, I encourage you to come. [00:01:49] And you're welcome to come over and go through the museum [00:01:54] and see what kind of changes we've made in the past six [00:01:59] months or so. [00:02:02] And you'll see that it's completely [00:02:04] different than anything that we've had before. [00:02:08] And our board of directors have changed [00:02:14] to a real good board of directors. [00:02:18] And I think you'll be impressed at some of the people that [00:02:21] are involved with us now. [00:02:24] And we feel that we have a lot to offer [00:02:31] the city of New Port Richey in the cultural aspect. [00:02:36] And we can also drive the economic development [00:02:39] of the downtown. [00:02:41] I know that before we had to close our groups, [00:02:45] when we had groups from assisted living facilities and even [00:02:49] some of the schools, but especially [00:02:51] some of the assisted living facilities, [00:02:54] after they would come to the museum, one of the things [00:02:57] that they wanted to do is find out where they could go eat [00:03:01] or where they could go shop. [00:03:03] And we could send them down to Rose's or the beef and ale [00:03:09] and all that. [00:03:09] And so we told them where they could go. [00:03:13] And most of the time, they would do that. [00:03:16] And we would try to send them to the social. [00:03:19] But the social is not open until 4 o'clock. [00:03:22] So a lot of times, that leaves that out. [00:03:26] But the ones that are open, such as Jimmy's and some [00:03:29] of the other places, they would take advantage of that. [00:03:32] And they would go to the shops. [00:03:35] And so the way I see it right now, [00:03:37] we have very little cultural opportunities for the people. [00:03:45] And I think that we offer a lot of opportunities [00:03:50] for the people to come into the city [00:03:51] and be able to enjoy culture. [00:03:54] And it's always very family friendly. [00:03:58] And we want to work more with students. [00:04:00] And we want to work more with the assisted living facilities [00:04:04] and groups such as that. [00:04:07] And we want to increase our hours. [00:04:09] And we want to take up some of the gap [00:04:13] that, I'll just say I feel, that lacks with the Chamber [00:04:21] of Commerce right now. [00:04:22] We fill, to me, some of the void that the chamber has. [00:04:28] There's a lot of people that come to town, [00:04:30] I find, that don't even go to the Chamber of Commerce. [00:04:34] And they want to know things that the chamber would [00:04:38] typically tell somebody. [00:04:40] And now that the chamber has moved to the greater Pasco, [00:04:44] instead of the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce, [00:04:47] I think that we fill some of that void too. [00:04:49] And I'm going to turn this over to Brian Schmidt, our curator, [00:04:54] so he can go through this PowerPoint presentation. [00:04:59] And it's not long, so don't worry about falling asleep [00:05:02] or anything like that. [00:05:03] We're not going to put you to sleep. [00:05:05] So this is Brian Schmidt. [00:05:10] He's our curator. [00:05:15] All right, well, thanks for having me. [00:05:17] And Bob, West Pasco Historical Society. [00:05:21] Really, if you have not come to the museum yet, [00:05:23] you owe it to yourself. [00:05:24] I know a lot of you guys have been there. [00:05:26] And hopefully you're excited, as we are. [00:05:30] We're excited about New Port Richey and all the changes [00:05:32] that has happened here in the city over the last four [00:05:35] or five years. [00:05:35] And we know a lot of that is because of the work you all [00:05:38] did. [00:05:40] And likewise, we're excited about what's [00:05:42] going on at the museum. [00:05:43] So the idea today is to talk about the collaboration [00:05:47] that we can have to continue the future success. [00:05:53] All right, to this point, since 1983, [00:05:58] the city of New Port Richey has provided a rent-free location [00:06:01] in Sims Park to the West Pasco Historical Society. [00:06:06] In return, the West Pasco Historical Society [00:06:08] has contributed key services to the city. [00:06:11] So we certainly appreciate everything [00:06:13] that's done with the rent-free and the maintenance that's [00:06:16] done. [00:06:17] You fixed up the park so nicely and around the museum so good. [00:06:21] So some of the things that we've done, [00:06:22] obviously, we have a museum. [00:06:24] It's all freshly painted now. [00:06:26] And it's open three days a week. [00:06:29] We want to, as Bob said, want to make that longer. [00:06:32] Preservation, whether it be our artifacts or our lithics [00:06:38] or our photos, our records, maps, newspapers, [00:06:43] on and on, the heritage of this city is kept within our walls. [00:06:47] And we preserve that. [00:06:49] Education, Bob talked about our different groups [00:06:52] that come in, whether it be different social groups, [00:06:55] civic groups, or school groups. [00:06:59] We're not nearly doing as much with the school kids [00:07:01] as we could. [00:07:02] A lot of it is because we didn't really have a lot to show them [00:07:05] educational-wise. [00:07:06] But we have a lot of teachers on our board now. [00:07:08] Myself, I'm a past teacher. [00:07:11] Vic Mallet's on our board. [00:07:12] Heather Fiorentino's on our board. [00:07:14] Ken Waitman's on our board. [00:07:16] We're all past teachers. [00:07:17] We know what the schools want. [00:07:19] And we provided that with them now. [00:07:21] So we want to increase that a lot. [00:07:23] Resource, when anything, anything, [00:07:26] I got this smiling Jeff Miller up there. [00:07:28] And we all know Jeff Miller pretty much [00:07:29] knows more about history of this city than anybody else. [00:07:33] And whenever people, whether it be the government [00:07:37] or whether it be businesses around town or just people [00:07:40] wanting to know things about the history of a place, [00:07:43] they're always coming through our doors, calling us up. [00:07:46] And we're providing that service of historical resource [00:07:51] for the people. [00:07:52] Entertainment, I know a couple of people [00:07:55] here were at this function with Bob. [00:07:58] That's Jen Stevenson. [00:07:59] She was on The Tonight Show a couple times. [00:08:01] She's a world-class golfer. [00:08:03] She was here doing a wine tasting. [00:08:06] And she was telling about, she actually [00:08:08] almost married Donald Trump, if you can believe that. [00:08:11] And so she was telling about that. [00:08:12] We've had bands there. [00:08:13] We've had a harpist there. [00:08:15] And certainly, you all know, we often [00:08:17] will have authors and speakers there. [00:08:19] So we do provide entertainment and tourism. [00:08:23] Now, we used to, at our museum, it's all about local history. [00:08:27] And it still is all about local history. [00:08:29] But we also have a lot of things that [00:08:30] are used to more people, like Johnny Cash, and Gene Sarazin, [00:08:35] and James Irwin. [00:08:36] And so we've featured them in the museum now. [00:08:38] And so I think we have what it takes to actually [00:08:41] be a tourist destination. [00:08:46] So I want to talk a little bit about funding. [00:08:48] So we're not like a normal business. [00:08:50] As you know, normal business would have an earned income, [00:08:52] would be, you know, almost all of it [00:08:55] would be the earned income. [00:08:56] A museum, though, these are the benchmarks [00:08:58] of what you see at museums. [00:09:00] And you can see most of it is coming from donations, [00:09:04] either from the government or from private donations. [00:09:08] And we've always haven't been anywhere near these benchmarks. [00:09:11] We've primarily did it just from fundraising. [00:09:14] We had a USO show that used to go on. [00:09:16] And we'd fundraise just to be able to pay our doors [00:09:19] and keep things going. [00:09:20] But we were not progressing that much up until 2018. [00:09:27] So we've had a bountiful of riches lately. [00:09:30] 2018 and 19, the Historical Society [00:09:33] was able to hit those benchmarks with general donations. [00:09:37] So the last two years, we got a great donation [00:09:39] from Pasco County on both those years. [00:09:42] Dr. Musunura, our main beneficiary, [00:09:44] gave us a nice donation. [00:09:46] The Finnish American Club folded up, [00:09:48] and they also donated money to us. [00:09:51] Many individual citizens would give us money. [00:09:54] And we also got on that tax collector for the month. [00:09:59] We split it between. [00:10:00] There's another museum out on the east side of the county, [00:10:04] and we split it with them. [00:10:06] So we had a lot of money come in at the same time. [00:10:09] So we've hit those benchmarks. [00:10:10] And with that, we were able to do so much. [00:10:12] We updated the facility. [00:10:16] The floor plan is completely different. [00:10:17] We added walls. [00:10:18] We added air conditioning. [00:10:19] We added paint. [00:10:21] And all new, 40 new exhibits are put up. [00:10:25] And a lot of that costs a lot of money. [00:10:27] We did the same at our place. [00:10:29] And Dunedin just went through a similar restoration. [00:10:33] And they cost $450,000. [00:10:35] And I think ours is comparable to that. [00:10:37] And we did it for far less. [00:10:39] And it really shows. [00:10:42] We increased our events. [00:10:44] We did so many different events. [00:10:45] And we did outsourcing events. [00:10:48] We spoke at the college. [00:10:49] We spoke at the theater. [00:10:53] We did a lot of different events. [00:10:54] Some of you guys were at our night at the museum. [00:10:57] We increased our attendance. [00:10:59] So all we're talking about right now [00:11:01] is since the project ended was at the end of December. [00:11:06] So we're really only talking about January and February [00:11:08] before things fell apart. [00:11:09] But those two months, our attendance [00:11:12] was up fourfold over other years. [00:11:16] Our increase in retail sales, we used [00:11:18] to just have a little bit of a retail area. [00:11:20] Now we have an entire room and added so many things. [00:11:24] John had one of our t-shirts on. [00:11:25] I probably got it from there. [00:11:27] And so our retail sales went up. [00:11:29] So we did so much more. [00:11:31] And we were flying high, just like the city was. [00:11:35] And then we came to a screeching halt here, unfortunately. [00:11:38] But there's certainly no reason to think [00:11:40] that both the city of New Port Richey [00:11:42] and the Historical Society is not [00:11:44] going to pick up right where they left off [00:11:45] when everything gets going again. [00:11:48] So we compare, and I don't know if you realize it, [00:11:51] but a lot of the things that we have [00:11:53] compare favorably to any museum in Tampa Bay. [00:11:58] You couldn't say that about us before. [00:11:59] But now we compare favorably to any, [00:12:02] whether it be Palm Harbor or Dunedin or Clearwater [00:12:07] or Tarpon Springs or wherever. [00:12:09] We very much, we have enough items that are significant [00:12:15] that we can be competitive in that area. [00:12:21] So here's some of the examples of what we got. [00:12:23] It's just a different look. [00:12:25] It's a professional look now. [00:12:27] Ken Waitman is an art teacher, actually, at Gulf. [00:12:30] And he helped design and give that artistic flair [00:12:33] to a lot of our signage. [00:12:35] So as I mentioned, I'm an old history teacher. [00:12:40] And so we basically looked at it as making chapters in a book. [00:12:44] So there's signage about everything. [00:12:46] And everything's separate. [00:12:47] It's not just all thrown apart. [00:12:48] Everything tells a story. [00:12:50] And so when we bring those kids in, [00:12:53] we're going to be able to teach them a lot. [00:12:55] And we kept a lot of the things, too, [00:12:57] that were the traditional favorite type [00:12:58] things with the mannequins and so forth that kind of brought it [00:13:02] all to life. [00:13:04] And so this is something that people are going to enjoy. [00:13:07] And we're getting out. [00:13:09] And I think we can be a destination, [00:13:11] as Bob was talking about. [00:13:13] We can be a destination to draw people into the city. [00:13:16] And then from there, go on to eating at the diners [00:13:20] and going shopping and so forth like that. [00:13:24] As an example of how we're a destination, [00:13:27] this is throughout the year, 36% come from New Port Richey. [00:13:33] So that means we're drawing 64% of the people that [00:13:36] are coming to the museum from other places. [00:13:40] 24% from the rest of the county, [00:13:43] and then 7% from Tampa Bay region, state of Florida, [00:13:46] just other cities throughout Florida. [00:13:48] The United States, now certainly those people [00:13:51] that are coming down, maybe they come down for a month [00:13:53] during wintertime, or they come to visit a friend [00:13:57] or they're tourists, and they're just Googling. [00:13:59] We found we just did a whole new website. [00:14:01] Check our website out. [00:14:03] A lot of people are just Googling [00:14:05] when they're in Tampa Bay area, you know, museums. [00:14:09] That's one of the things you're going to Google. [00:14:11] You're going to Google for attractions, [00:14:13] and you're going to check out museums. [00:14:15] And then we're popping up, and people are coming to see us. [00:14:17] So we think that we can be that economic wheel, [00:14:22] or help to be that economic wheel in the city. [00:14:28] So this isn't the first to suggest [00:14:31] what we're suggesting here. [00:14:33] The cities of Dunedin and Tarper Springs [00:14:37] are very similar to us. [00:14:39] They're larger cities, but their museums are similar to us. [00:14:41] They support their historical sites with an annual grant [00:14:45] for the purpose of hiring a museum director, okay? [00:14:49] And so a museum director gives a lot of different benefits, [00:14:54] is we can expand hours, expand our programs, [00:14:58] expand our educational opportunities. [00:15:00] opportunities. When you have somebody there that's accountable, those things happen. So [00:15:05] you can ensure that the museum is represented in a professional manner. You know, we've [00:15:10] always had just all volunteers. You know, volunteers, everybody knows what it's like [00:15:15] to have volunteers. You kind of get what you get, right? And it's hard to say something [00:15:19] against a person that's coming and volunteering. And certainly in the past, you know, I'm sure [00:15:25] we had people on our board and volunteers and so forth that might have been a pain in [00:15:31] the butt for the city. If you have a director, though, that is being paid, then there's some [00:15:40] control that you have that they're representing. [00:15:43] Can I interrupt you real quick? Just because I love this photo and it kind of ties into [00:15:49] a work session or a gen item we had over the last couple of months regarding sculptures [00:15:53] and abstract sculptures throughout the city of New Port Richey and Sims Park, which [00:15:58] is where the museum's located, obviously. I don't think anyone up here was real excited [00:16:05] about the options we had to choose from, which was only one artist. I love this sculpture [00:16:11] in downtown Dunedin. It ties into the location. It was old Railroad Depot. It's very lifelike. [00:16:20] It's very historic. And it just ties into their history. If we do pursue the sculpture [00:16:26] thing throughout downtown, whether it be animal sculptures or something like this, to me, [00:16:31] that just looks a lot classier and ties in with our history much better than going with [00:16:36] abstract art. I know it's completely off topic, but I just wanted to point it out. Sorry for [00:16:40] the interruption. [00:16:41] Oh, it gives me a chance to breathe sometimes. I get so excited, I start talking so much. [00:16:46] Thank you. Absolutely. It's that cultural aspect that Bob was talking about. If we're [00:16:54] going to be the city, we're making all these improvements, and we have these apartments [00:16:59] going up and down. We've got these businesses. We have the social. We have all these things [00:17:03] that are happening, which is exciting. But we also have to provide the community then [00:17:07] with those cultural opportunities. This combines art and history. It really defines [00:17:15] of who you are with the train depot, and that's what the museum is, and people coming [00:17:22] to Dunedin. I would like to have the same sort of things for us in Sims Park. We were [00:17:27] talking about having George Sims out front or something like that. It defines us. Absolutely. [00:17:36] It will allow us to increase our hours operation. Again, for volunteers, there's only so much [00:17:41] time that you can expect them to work. But with a director, then not only can you get [00:17:49] more volunteers to help out, but also then they'll be there to be able to have those [00:17:54] doors open more often. Gives the museum the ability to conduct educational programs for [00:17:59] local schools. That's a big area that we've been missing out on. I mentioned all those [00:18:04] teachers that we have. There is no reason that we can't bring in Tuesday through Thursday [00:18:13] school groups, 50 school groups, 50 people at a time. We can tell them about the history of [00:18:20] the area, tell them about how our city has developed, and we can spread them out into [00:18:28] stations. We really can offer a nice educational opportunity for not only the school group kids, [00:18:36] but also we have so many of these social groups and assisted living homes and retirement [00:18:41] communities that would very much take advantage of it. And that's just bringing people to town, [00:18:46] and that they can see what's going on down here. I mean, a lot of people in our greater New Port Richey area don't even know. I live in Longleaf, and I talked to my neighbor, and I told him where [00:18:57] I worked, and I said, the museum? He said, what museum? I said, the one downtown. [00:19:02] Downtown where? You know, a little in 54? I'm like, no, downtown. And other people, you know, [00:19:12] in the teaching of the younger friends and so forth, we're the hip thing, you know? We're, [00:19:17] you know, I hate to say it, the new, the needy or whatever, but we are active. We're, people are [00:19:23] drawn to us right now. We're really doing well. And so the more people we can get here for whatever [00:19:29] reason, the more it's going to benefit everybody. Then with at least one employee, the museum is [00:19:36] eligible for most state and federal grants. And so like this fall, I went up to Tallahassee, [00:19:46] because we had these lithics. Just to go back a little bit, there's, in Hudson, in a sinkhole, [00:19:53] this guy found these lithics, these arrowheads, and he knew they were important. So I contacted [00:19:59] the state archeological department. They came down, and they inspected them, and took them up [00:20:05] with them, and studied them, found out these were 14,000 years old. No other museum has 14,000 year [00:20:12] old things in their museum. We have that there. So that puts us, that states us, people were here [00:20:19] in this area back in the ice age. That's unbelievable. And so I was able to go up there, [00:20:25] and we applied for, and, you know, we had to show that we could be responsible caretakers [00:20:31] of these lithics. And the thing that they asked me was, you know, are you an employee? [00:20:37] And well, fortunately, we had this, all this money at that time, and Dr. Mucinero hired me as, [00:20:44] in a short term, you know, as a contractor, basically. And so I said, yes. And so we were [00:20:50] able to get that, those lithics down here, and they're on display now. But that's what they want. [00:20:57] They want somebody, you know, you're not going to give money to people, to massive volunteers, [00:21:03] to any social club or something. You've got to make sure that you're giving it to someone that's [00:21:07] going to be held accountable, and then the money goes to, you know, what it should be going for. [00:21:12] So this would open us up for a lot more federal grants and state grants. [00:21:18] So here's the proposal, and this is very similar to what Dunedin and Tarpon Springs is doing. [00:21:25] So the city of Newport, which you would dedicate an annual grant of $40,000 to the West Pasco [00:21:31] Historical Society for the purpose of hiring a museum director. So it's the city's not hiring, [00:21:37] you know, the reason Dunedin and so forth doesn't do it where the city hires them, because then you [00:21:42] don't have to do with the benefits, and you don't have to do a lot of other things that weigh it [00:21:48] down. They're giving it to the Historical Society with the purpose of, they're going to do the [00:21:54] search and get a museum director. The Historical Society will furnish the city with an annual [00:22:01] report on its numbers of visitors, group tours, and events show the benefit of having all the [00:22:07] different things that will come with having a museum director. The city will include the Historical [00:22:11] Society on its website and promotional materials. I'm not exactly sure what that's all going to [00:22:17] entail, but we want to be more of a presence within the city marketing materials. And the [00:22:27] Historical Society will represent the city in good faith while serving as a liaison and welcome [00:22:32] center in Sims Park. We already are kind of doing that on an informal basis because we're in the [00:22:38] park, right? And so people come to park and they want to know where City Hall is, they want to know [00:22:43] where the Rec Center is, they want to know, well, you know, can we have a wedding here? All these [00:22:47] different questions, where to eat, they're coming to us and we're certainly there and answering [00:22:52] questions. But we can be there more so and we can open our doors and even make a little kiosk type [00:22:58] thing in our lobby area and be almost a semi-welcome center. Maybe taking, you know, some of the [00:23:07] void if the chamber is leaving for that area. And we could have different brochures about [00:23:14] different businesses in town and different government agencies and so forth like that. [00:23:18] I'll be more than happy to do that. And so certainly, and by the way, I'm certainly aware [00:23:26] that, you know, I'm kind of, you know, I would be the likely museum director. That's the role I'm [00:23:36] saying. But this is more of a long-term thing. So if I perish, you know, next month of [00:23:42] coronavirus, you know, they should be able to hire, you know, do a search and hire another [00:23:49] competent person to be that director and carry on what we've established. [00:23:55] We're almost done. We're getting there. Thanks for holding with me. [00:23:59] So future prospects, this is getting kind of to the numbers of what's going to happen. Our museum [00:24:05] attendance will double from 2,500 to 5,000 visitors annually. That'll happen, you know, [00:24:12] as soon as we get going again the next year, that will happen. And I would assume that it's going to [00:24:17] continue to increase the more programs that we offer and the more marketing that we do and the [00:24:23] more the word gets out there about us. And our tours for school groups and adult groups will [00:24:29] increase. From right now, truthfully, we're only having about five school groups come in, [00:24:33] and they're just smaller private schools. But there's no reason that can't immediately, [00:24:38] the first year, increase to 50 annually and go on beyond that each year and increase more. [00:24:48] We have the ability to do that. And as a history teacher, we're looking for things. You know, [00:24:53] I'd have to take my classes all the way down to Tampa Bay History Center. You know, [00:24:57] if we had something available that was right here and close to us, we definitely would have. [00:25:03] Just like they're going to Starkey Park for science, they could come here for history, [00:25:08] for civics lessons. We certainly can, you know, add that into where they learn about the government. [00:25:13] Maybe when we do something in here, we bring tours into here or something to that effect and learn [00:25:18] about how city government works. And then cultural events will be scheduled on a weekly basis [00:25:24] instead of monthly. So monthly, we've been having like something each month. But we're talking about, [00:25:31] you know, having a band each month out at the gazebo and underneath the lights where people [00:25:38] come in. And we're talking about doing the flashlight tours. We're talking about doing [00:25:43] art type thing. We've done kind of Sunday in the City type things, but expand on that. [00:25:48] We're going to bring in arts and crafts into our front yard. Again, that are the same sort [00:25:55] of people that come to the arts and craft and do the arts and crafts are also people that come into [00:26:00] museums. And so we get them into the city with our events, and then we bring them into the museum. [00:26:11] And the timing is right. I mean, it seems strange now with all the coronavirus going on and so [00:26:18] forth. But actually, we can be, you know, part of that engine that gets us kickstarted again. [00:26:24] And especially with things like the Hacienda, it's a natural fit. When the Hacienda opens, [00:26:30] it's naturally, if someone's going to go to the rooms in a historic hotel, they're going to also [00:26:34] want to know about the history of the area, and they're going to come over to the museum. And [00:26:37] likewise, same thing, when they come to our museum, they're going to want to see the Hacienda. So I'm [00:26:42] sure that we're going to have a strong relationship with the Hacienda. The museum can help attract [00:26:49] visitors, new poor rich, and aid in the recovery of the coronavirus. I am convinced that we can do [00:26:56] that. We can be, you know, part of the things. If you think, you know, the statistics that I show you [00:27:02] of, you know, an entity that is drawing people in from long distance, that would be us. And drawing [00:27:12] the right type of people that we want and that are going to spend money, that have that type of [00:27:18] income, that they're going to be able to help our economy. With new apartments, bars, restaurants, [00:27:25] and even a college opening, the museum is an important part of that strong downtown culture. [00:27:31] So for all these reasons, I really believe that we could go a long way to help position [00:27:40] new poor richie into the future with our strong culture and our education and our historical [00:27:47] opportunities that we can provide at the museum. And here's our present board of directors. [00:27:54] And believe me, if anybody knows some of these new people that we got on, [00:28:01] you see a lot of the similar names that we still have on our boards. But Heather and Vic and Ken, [00:28:08] these people are all first rate and are just itching to get going and doing things. And we've [00:28:14] done a lot just in the short six months that we've been together. And we're very excited about what [00:28:20] we can do in the future. So with that, any questions or anything that has one on? Questions anyone? [00:28:29] I don't have questions, but I'd like to talk a little bit since that's what a work session is [00:28:33] all about. That is indeed. I'm totally for this partnership, but I think this partnership isn't [00:28:40] necessarily the city and the museum. I think the partnership is the city, the museum, the [00:28:49] culture affairs board, the main street organization, because they're trying to [00:28:57] promote the city too. So I think there's probably five, but I think I mentioned four that should be [00:29:06] hand in hand to try to develop this. Go back to that last board of directors. And you actually [00:29:17] have up there too is Judith, which ties in the Spartan in my mind. If you're going to have a [00:29:22] large enough event and you need the space, you've got Judith, the board there to help you there [00:29:27] besides the line of teachers that you mentioned. So the partnership is real important, and I think [00:29:33] it's a partnership that should happen anyhow, no matter what we decide where we go from here. [00:29:40] I also think that we should be helping them since they're sitting in the middle of [00:29:47] park with marketing. We've got a marketing personnel, we've got the bridge between [00:29:52] those two people that we ought to be able to help them out and get their word out there. [00:30:00] I like the term that you used, because some people refer [00:30:03] to us as Dunedin, or we could be like Dunedin. [00:30:06] But I like the term you used. [00:30:08] We're the new Dunedin. [00:30:09] That means we're ahead of Dunedin, in my mind. [00:30:12] And I think we are, the advantages of the river [00:30:15] and what we're all going downtown. [00:30:18] And I knew this from working with you [00:30:20] before that you've been a welcome center. [00:30:23] And you had an event where some guy rented you some tents. [00:30:26] Tell us a little bit about that. [00:30:28] What kind of crowd did you get that? [00:30:30] I mean, you got it a whole big. [00:30:31] You were actually selling items, weren't you? [00:30:35] What all was going on that? [00:30:40] The crazy guy that was renting a tent was this guy, of course. [00:30:44] By the way, that was the day, if you guys remember that, [00:30:46] that was the day we had those 40 mile hour wind gusts. [00:30:50] And so it was no small feat to keep [00:30:53] those tents on the ground. [00:30:55] But a lot of guys were, we had an event that we wanted [00:31:00] to show off what was going on. [00:31:01] So we had an event first for our members, for our VIP members, [00:31:05] and so forth, called Night at the Museum, [00:31:08] which we brought people and kind of showed off what we had. [00:31:11] And then the next day, we had the tent set up [00:31:14] and we had an open house. [00:31:15] We had 250 people show up to that open house that day. [00:31:19] And so we were selling things from our gift shop [00:31:24] and it was all free to come in and look. [00:31:30] And we also had some things that were [00:31:35] things that we had in mothballs for years and years [00:31:38] that we brought out in redoing everything [00:31:41] that we were able to also offer up an opportunity to buy. [00:31:45] Another partnership that you had, [00:31:47] and boy, you're standing right there. [00:31:48] I want you to explain a little bit about when you, [00:31:50] you're like, what's he putting me up to now? [00:31:52] Yeah. [00:31:53] The partnership that you had with the theater, [00:31:54] what you did there with that, where Bob told me all [00:31:58] the pictures that he liked. [00:32:01] So we probably make, amongst our board members, mostly myself [00:32:08] and Bob and Jeff Miller, I probably [00:32:11] made probably about 25 different speeches [00:32:16] throughout the year around the county, [00:32:19] where we'd go to different retirement places. [00:32:22] We spoke at the college, PHSC. [00:32:25] We spoke and probably about 400 people or so were there. [00:32:29] We worked with the Main Street Outfit at the theater. [00:32:33] There may be 100 people were there [00:32:35] that we put on our little dog and pony show. [00:32:38] But we're doing a lot of outreach [00:32:41] and going to these different places around the area [00:32:45] and telling them the history and that we have something [00:32:47] to be proud of. [00:32:50] We're so far from this little podunk little place. [00:32:53] The reason I'm going there is basically because you can [00:32:55] tell me I live in this town. [00:32:57] But I think what I'm going to bring out [00:32:59] is the partnership. [00:33:00] You've partnered with the theater. [00:33:01] You've partnered here. [00:33:02] You've partnered there. [00:33:04] And that's what I'm saying. [00:33:05] You're kind of doing it anyhow. [00:33:06] And now you've come for us to help, [00:33:08] ask us to help partner with you. [00:33:09] Absolutely. [00:33:10] And I think we have some entities in our toolbox [00:33:14] that they could help partner with. [00:33:16] Mr. Mayor, if I may, were you done? [00:33:19] You had me at partnership. [00:33:20] You lost me when you started naming what organizations [00:33:22] you thought should partner. [00:33:24] First thing that comes to mind is, number one, [00:33:25] I love the museum. [00:33:27] At a time when people all across our country [00:33:28] are trying to erase history, we need to promote it, [00:33:32] in my opinion. [00:33:33] You guys have done a great job. [00:33:35] I give you so much respect for being [00:33:38] able to keep it open on a volunteer basis. [00:33:41] But it's not the city of New Port Richey Historical [00:33:43] Society and Museum, right? [00:33:45] It's West Pasco. [00:33:46] So I am personally, I'm not going [00:33:48] to throw out a number right now, but as one council [00:33:50] member out of five, I am for supporting your request. [00:33:55] However, I think we should look, before we just say, [00:33:58] yeah, we're going to give you $40,000 a year [00:34:00] for the next 20 years, I think we should look [00:34:03] into partnering with the county. [00:34:05] I don't think that we need to push the Main Street [00:34:07] organization on you. [00:34:08] If you guys want to work together and do things, [00:34:10] we can't even get the folks from the theater [00:34:12] to come in here and talk to us as a city. [00:34:14] So I don't, no offense to you, it's just my opinion. [00:34:16] I don't think it's our position to say, well, [00:34:18] you need to partner with Main Street. [00:34:19] You need to partner with them. [00:34:20] I've just said, what I was talking about [00:34:22] is they're trying to reach out and to partner with people. [00:34:25] So, you know, that's quite a commitment. [00:34:26] I want them to remain their own entity. [00:34:28] I think that's the best way to go and have separate funding [00:34:31] requests than Main Street, than the theater, [00:34:34] than other organizations. [00:34:35] But you mentioned the county, it sounds [00:34:37] like they've given you money at one time, donation, [00:34:39] maybe this year already. [00:34:41] If you'd like, I could reach out to a few county commissioners [00:34:44] to see if they'd be interested in a partnership, [00:34:46] and maybe we can fund half of it [00:34:47] and the county can fund half of it on an annual basis. [00:34:50] That would take a little bit of pressure off the city. [00:34:52] And once again, it is a county, it's [00:34:56] historical organization for the county, not just the city. [00:34:59] Absolutely. [00:35:00] And because we're the West Pasco Historical Society. [00:35:04] But, you know, because of our location [00:35:06] being here in New Port Richey, I mean, certainly New Port Richey, [00:35:09] we have a whole giant room that's New Port Richey, [00:35:11] and it's very much featured in New Port Richey. [00:35:15] And New Port Richey is benefiting the most [00:35:17] from our presence here. [00:35:19] But certainly, county involvement, [00:35:22] because we are representing the county, [00:35:24] and I do believe that the county will, you know, [00:35:27] that the key is going to be, you know, for our standpoint, [00:35:31] is the consistency. [00:35:32] So the county did come forward and give us [00:35:35] money in the last two years. [00:35:37] I don't know if they will be in the future. [00:35:39] But the important thing is the consistency of having [00:35:42] that we can depend on, so that. [00:35:45] If I may, it had to be a longer, long-term agreement. [00:35:47] But for you to say that you're benefiting our city, [00:35:50] our downtown benefits Pasco residents [00:35:52] that come here from all over. [00:35:54] Don't pay city taxes. [00:35:55] We're giving you free rent at your building, [00:35:57] which I'm fine with. [00:35:58] I think it's a great idea for us to do so. [00:36:00] And I don't think there's anywhere else in West Pasco [00:36:02] County where I would want the museum other [00:36:04] than where it is right now. [00:36:05] But please don't say that you're benefiting just [00:36:07] the city residents, because without Sims Park, [00:36:09] your museum wouldn't be what it is. [00:36:11] So a lot of county residents come into our downtown, [00:36:14] use our park, which I'm absolutely OK with, [00:36:17] use the boat ramp. [00:36:18] They don't pay city taxes. [00:36:19] So just because you're located here, [00:36:21] I don't think that we should be the only entity [00:36:24] that you should look to, in my opinion, [00:36:26] once again, for funding. [00:36:27] I'm not opposed to funding it. [00:36:28] I think it's a great idea. [00:36:29] But I think we need to open communication with the county [00:36:31] and see if they partner with us. [00:36:33] Absolutely. [00:36:33] I hear what you're saying. [00:36:34] And I didn't mean to come across as that was the situation. [00:36:37] But certainly, yeah. [00:36:39] Mr. Murphy? [00:36:40] Yeah, I just want to say, in my opinion, [00:36:44] we should help them and give what I call a boost. [00:36:49] Sometimes getting donations, doing fundraisers, [00:36:54] you work really hard. [00:36:55] You bust your butt to try to make things work. [00:36:57] And you just kind of get stuck at a certain level. [00:37:00] You need that little boost. [00:37:03] So even if it's just for a few years, [00:37:05] and then it's weaned off as you grow bigger, [00:37:08] you make more donations, you get more people involved, [00:37:12] that would be something I would be happy to support. [00:37:16] But I think it does take a little bit of help [00:37:18] from us, from the city, to kind of get to the next level, [00:37:22] definitely. [00:37:23] And so I think we really need to do that. [00:37:25] And as being a city, we pay more taxes. [00:37:28] So the city is expecting a little more. [00:37:30] So we want to make sure that we're doing our part to make [00:37:32] sure things are rolling along. [00:37:35] Good point. [00:37:35] Mr. Olin? [00:37:37] Yeah, my first point would be that this is a city council [00:37:42] work session. [00:37:43] We also wear a whole other hat as the CRA. [00:37:46] And so it's a separate organization. [00:37:48] It's funded by the city and the county through tax money [00:37:51] from the city and the county. [00:37:53] And so as the city manager is preparing the budget, [00:37:59] my suggestion is to examine our CRA mission [00:38:04] to determine if the promotion of the downtown and of culture [00:38:12] and all of that is potentially fundable through that entity. [00:38:17] I just know today the governor talking [00:38:21] about the number of vetoes, even his own budget request, [00:38:24] he's vetoing a number of the line items [00:38:26] there, that the state funding is going [00:38:28] to be tighter for communities that depend on it. [00:38:32] And it's the state funding that serves the general fund [00:38:35] through the sales tax and others. [00:38:37] So if you were coming to say, which one of the brothers [00:38:42] am I going to ask the money for, it [00:38:44] would be the brother who's got the money from the other one who's [00:38:49] on Social Security, because our general fund is kind of the we've [00:38:53] got a very limited revenue, and it doesn't have an upside. [00:38:58] As the property values rise, most of your mission [00:39:01] showed bringing that energy, it's a redevelopment mission [00:39:06] that you just gave us. [00:39:08] So I would suggest that that's the potential discussion [00:39:12] in that budget as well, if it's possible, [00:39:16] because I'm not sure the general fund is in a position [00:39:20] to increase its funding. [00:39:23] But there are funds there. [00:39:24] The other thing that came to mind when you were talking [00:39:29] about the outreach, of course, there's [00:39:31] the Friends of the Hacienda, which is another. [00:39:36] That might have been the fifth entity if you didn't mention [00:39:38] it, that is a nonprofit. [00:39:40] And I think some of you are members of that as well. [00:39:43] And there is a great symbiotic relationship between the two. [00:39:47] And so I think you're spot on that the location of the museum [00:39:51] next to the Hacienda adds to the appeal of the Hacienda [00:39:55] and to our city as a whole. [00:39:58] So part of the historical society, [00:40:03] when I went in Eatonville, I think Eaton, Georgia, [00:40:10] where the Uncle Remus books were written [00:40:13] and had a bunch of volunteers explaining [00:40:17] the way life was in the old days and how [00:40:19] the book was written by a preacher [00:40:21] to preserve the language of the African-American community [00:40:26] there, you get a whole different perspective [00:40:29] through history. [00:40:29] And as a history teacher, I think teaching the history, [00:40:33] we have the river. [00:40:34] We have the old houses. [00:40:36] So I believe that the museum is a place for a museum director [00:40:41] to operate out of. [00:40:42] But I think the city at large is a place [00:40:45] that we ought to be springing up with historic tours. [00:40:49] I know there was some discussion of that with golf cart tours [00:40:52] and other things. [00:40:53] So I would like just to encourage [00:40:56] you to find ways to support the growth of the city [00:41:02] and the appeal of it. [00:41:04] And I think through Chopper's comments, [00:41:07] the collaboration with the Main Street Program [00:41:09] that puts on events and you all perhaps [00:41:12] being able to help to provide the expertise or the tour [00:41:17] guides or whatever work. [00:41:19] And I imagine that's what you're talking about, Chopper. [00:41:22] Not a formal written agreement, but just getting everybody [00:41:26] to be on the same page. [00:41:27] Like I said, they're reaching out. [00:41:28] They're reaching out to a lot of them. [00:41:29] I just added them as another team of people [00:41:32] like you brought up there. [00:41:33] I think it's important that we do get that to gel. [00:41:38] The community seems to be trying to gel. [00:41:41] And some of these relationships that [00:41:44] can be supportive of each other, it's an exciting time. [00:41:49] And so I appreciate it, the professionalism. [00:41:53] The fellow that I talked to last year [00:41:57] from the Florida Public Archeology Network, Jeff Motes, [00:42:04] has offered to come in and bring actual lesson [00:42:09] plans for Native American that have been approved [00:42:17] in the school system, et cetera. [00:42:19] And provide them to us. [00:42:20] So I want to pass that reference back to you [00:42:25] and get you more involved in the Native American activities [00:42:30] of the Chasco Fiesta. [00:42:31] I could see the Historical Society [00:42:33] being a key player in that as that entity struggles [00:42:38] to keep our spirit going of the Chasco. [00:42:42] So it's very exciting. [00:42:44] This is not a day in a work session [00:42:46] where we make decisions. [00:42:48] But I think I heard everybody being open minded. [00:42:50] And so that should be, hopefully, [00:42:54] a good takeaway for you. [00:42:55] And our budget season is just around the corner. [00:42:59] The one you haven't heard from, actually, was me. [00:43:01] Conceptually, I don't have an issue with it. [00:43:04] I think it makes a lot of sense. [00:43:06] I was wondering, during the presentation, [00:43:09] the same point that you made is that this, [00:43:12] because of the economic development aspects of it, [00:43:14] this may be something that come out of the CRA budget. [00:43:18] I strongly suspect that the city's general operation budget [00:43:22] is going to be brutally tight this year based [00:43:27] on what we're seeing with falling sales tax [00:43:29] revenues, in particular. [00:43:32] And as a total aside, Mr. Starkey, [00:43:36] you were reading my mind. [00:43:38] With all due respect to the folks [00:43:40] from the Cultural Affairs Committee and that artist, [00:43:45] the artwork that we saw up on the screen [00:43:46] is much more my idea of the sort of thing [00:43:49] that we ought to be looking to fund here [00:43:52] from an art standpoint. [00:43:53] That's obviously a discussion for another day, [00:43:56] but I'm 100% in agreement with you on that. [00:44:01] That looks like the sort of thing [00:44:02] that we probably ought to have. [00:44:04] And it ties back to our historical background. [00:44:09] And I'm sure we could come up with something [00:44:10] that would work with that. [00:44:11] Mr. Davis. [00:44:12] I'm listening to all this talk. [00:44:15] I just thought I'd like to sum up for, [00:44:17] you know, Debbie always likes for some direction. [00:44:20] You know, she always says she gets direction. [00:44:22] So I just thought that, you know, [00:44:25] I thought maybe, you know, that you've got our support, [00:44:27] but I thought maybe you might reach out to the county [00:44:30] and see if there's some kind of seven year, [00:44:32] 10 year project that the city and the county [00:44:35] might look at supporting. [00:44:36] Yeah. [00:44:41] Yeah, it's possible. [00:44:44] If that's the wishes of the council, [00:44:47] I can do that or the folks that are soliciting funds [00:44:51] could do that as well. [00:44:54] I'll make a couple of calls [00:44:54] to a couple of commissioners from this side [00:44:56] and see what their initial thoughts are. [00:45:00] CRA funds going through my mind as well, just like it was the mayor's. [00:45:04] What's your initial thoughts? [00:45:05] Should we check? [00:45:06] The initial thought is that it's inconsistent with the plan document. [00:45:09] Okay. [00:45:10] So once again, personally, I love the plan. [00:45:13] I love having you guys there. [00:45:14] I didn't mean any disrespect by any means. [00:45:16] However, when it comes to funding, I'm always looking for options. [00:45:19] And this is part of our West Pasco history, and we see a lot of money going East Pasco [00:45:25] on the county basis. [00:45:28] And we have for years, especially the last 10 years or so. [00:45:32] So I'm not scared to ask my friends on the commission that, you know, here's a great [00:45:35] idea for West Pasco. [00:45:36] What do you think? [00:45:37] So I'll be happy to do that. [00:45:38] But I'm in favor of partnering or working out a number for the city to help fund it. [00:45:44] I think it's a great idea. [00:45:46] Great. [00:45:47] Well, thank you guys very much for coming. [00:45:48] We appreciate the fact that you were willing to come chat with us a little bit in an informal [00:45:53] session. [00:45:55] We've had these with Main Street in the past, and I'm hoping we're going to get another [00:45:59] one put together at some point in the near future with Main Street as well to get an [00:46:05] update on where they are and what they're doing. [00:46:08] And it just gives us all a chance to compare notes and try to come up with the best way [00:46:16] to head forward, even if it's on an informal basis with no votes going on. [00:46:21] Mr. Altman, you had a comment? [00:46:22] Just in follow-up, you know, your request was for funding for a position. [00:46:29] That may be the inconsistent issue. [00:46:32] I would suggest our document is public, our CRA document, that if you reviewed that, you [00:46:38] might find that there's a place in there where you could appeal to us for a particular service [00:46:43] or a particular function that would be worthy of coming back to talk to that agency. [00:46:50] So I would encourage you to look at the CRA document, not to doubt the answer of the city [00:46:57] manager because she may be probably right with respect to funding a position, but there [00:47:02] may be certain aspects of your budget or things that you're looking for or programming that [00:47:08] would fit. [00:47:09] So it's worth looking at, maybe something you might want to do. [00:47:13] I'll look at it again. [00:47:14] I've looked at it before. [00:47:16] All right. [00:47:17] Well, thank you all very much. [00:47:18] I know we've got the library wants to get a picture or something. [00:47:23] Yes. [00:47:24] Are we going to be able to do that with proper social distancing? [00:47:26] No. [00:47:27] That's what I was afraid of. [00:47:30] Probably not. [00:47:35] Thank you. [00:47:36] Thank you. [00:47:37] Thank you. [00:47:43] Perfect. [00:47:45] I would feel more comfortable right now. [00:47:51] I'm very concerned about what we're seeing with the COVID rebound, and I would like to [00:47:58] be able to live out my term. [00:48:03] Any communications or we'll save them for after the regular meeting? [00:48:08] Hearing none, entertain a motion to adjourn the workshop. [00:48:11] Motion.

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3. 3Communications
4. 4Adjournment