94-16
COUNTY OF ELGIN
94-16
By-Law No.
BEING .~ BY-LAW TO PROVIDE FOR THE OPERATION OF
of
and
THE ELGIN COUNTY PIONEER MUSEUM"
WHEREAS the Council of the Corporation of the County
Elgin passed By-Law No. 92-40 providing for the establishment,
operation and management of the Elgin County pioneer Museum;
WHEREAS, in an effort to integrate the Museum with County
~perations, it is now deemed desirable to update the provisions of
!the said by-law and to define the operations, organization and man-
agement of the Museum in a more comprehensive manner.
of the Corporation of
NOW THEREFORE the Municipal Council
the County of Elgin hereby enacts as follows:
The Elgin
shall continue to be
1. NAME - The name of the Museum
County pioneer Museum"
2. PROPERTY - The lands, buildings, furniture, equipment, goods
chattels, artifacts and objects of any nature whatsoever whether
acquired by or donated to the Museum and including objects and arti-
facts given to the Museum to be held in trust prior to the enacting
of this by-law shall be the property of the Corporation of the
County of Elgin.
The Museum shall have the right at its option to claim a lien upon
any article or artifact loaned to the Museum for display or upon any
article or artifact held in trust by the Museum where the Museum has
incurred substantial costs in the restoration or repair of such
object or artifact.
3. OBJECTIVES - The principal objectives of the Museum shall be to
collect, preserve and display for the benefit of the public items
and artifacts which relate to the history and development of the
County of Elgin and City of st. Thomas and without limiting the gen-
erality of the foregoing to provide educational and informational
services relating to the life and times of pioneer days in Elgin and
st. Thomas and to encourage public interest in the history of the
area
ORGANIZATION:
(a) The Museum operation and management shall be under the direc-
tion of an advisory committee which shall be known as the "Elgin
County pioneer Museum Executive Committee". said committee will be
solely responsible for the management of the institution, subject to
the reporting relationship outlined within this By-Law.
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(b) The said Committee shall comprise seven members to be appointed
annually by the Council of the county of Elgin at its December
Session and to be appointed in the following manner:
Two members of the Elgin County Council
One appointee from nominees provided from each of the following
organizations -
The East Elgin District of the Women's Institute
The West Elgin District of the Women's Institute
The Co-Ordinating Committee of the I.O.D.E
of the Corporation
One appointee to be nominated by the Council
of the City of st. Thomas
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One appointee to be named by the Council of the Corporation of
the County of Elgin who shall be an interested person, other
than a member of the County Council, or a member of any of the
preceding groups providing nominees, to be known as "Member at
Large" and that the General Advisory Committee have authority
to recommend interested persons to the Executive Committee,
with the Executive Committee Secretary to advise the County of
the nominee
5. OFFICERS - The Executive committee shall appoint a Chairman and
Vice-Chairman from its members at its first meeting in each year.
The Executive Committee shall also appoint a Secretary and Treasurer
at its first meeting in each year and these officers need not be
members of the Executive committee
The Executive Committee shall assist and guide a Curator to oversee
the day to day operation of the Museum and the fulfillment of the
aims and objectives of the Museum project upon such terms and condi-
tions as may be deemed advisable by the County Council. The Museum
Curator shall have a proper job description and terms of employment
and shall report to the County's Personnel Administrator and be
present at all meetings of the Committee
6 TERM OF OFFICE - The members of the Executive Committee shall
continue in office until their successors shall have been appointed
The members of the Executive committee, with the exception of the
members of County Council, shall be appointed for a term of three
years and provisions shall be made in the initial appointments for
members to serve for terms of one, two and three years so that the
expiration of members' terms of office shall expire on a successive
or 'staggered' basis with succeeding terms to be for a period of
three years. The two members of County Council shall be appointed
annually for a period of one year only. A member of the Executive
Committee shall not serve longer than six successive years, but
after an absence of one year may be eligible for re-appointment.
In the event that a member is absent from three successive meetings
of the Executive Committee without being excused by resolution of
the Committee, such member shall be deemed to have resigned from the
position and the Committee shall forthwith notify such member by
certified service mail and proceed to request the appointing body to
fill the vacant position on the Committee.
7. DUTIES OF OFFICERS - The Chairman shall be the Presiding Officer
of the Executive Committee. He shall arrange for meetings of the
Committee and preside at all meetings and be an ex-officio member of
all other committees
The Chairman should attend meetings of the Elgin county pioneer
Museum General Advisory Committee, report and interpret recommenda-
tions of the Executive Committee for the benefits of the General
Advisory Committee and generally act as a liaison officer in foster-
ing effective communications between the two Committees
The Vice-Chairman shall assume the duties of the Chairman in his
illness or absence and shall have when so acting all the authority
and responsibility of the Chairman
The Secretary shall maintain a record of the proceedings of meetings
of the Committee, provide notice of meetings, report attendance and
be generally responsible for general correspondence of the Committee.
The Museum Treasurer or the County Treasurer, unless otherwise
directed by County Council, shall be responsible for the receipts
and expenditures of the Executive committee and shall receive and
deposit all funds received from the operation of the Museum in a
bank account as designated by the Executive Committee. The
Treasurer will be responsible for the payment of all accounts as
authorized by the committee and may maintain for purposes of conven-
ience a petty cash account.
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The Museum Treasurer or County Treasurer will provide in suitable
form brief monthly statements to the Executive Committee and provide
accounts for audit by the Elgin County auditors when so required
The Museum Curator, reporting through the County Personnel
Administrator, shall be responsible for the general operation of the
Museum and for the care and custody of all the property of the
Museum as well as the development of plans and programs, displays
and publicity relating to the Museum operation. The Curator will be
present at meetings of the Executive Committee and report to the
Chairman as necessary, but will ultimately be responsible to the
County Personnel Administrator. A precise description of the
authority and responsibilities of the Curator will be provided in a
detailed job description.
GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
To make recommendations to a designated Standing Committee on matters
concerning the following:
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(a) The proper care, maintenance and repair of Museum site, build-
ings and contents and ensuring that adequate insurance protection is
maintained upon all the property;
membership fees and
Arranging schedules of admission fees
of operation of the Museum;
(b)
hours
(c) Establishing and maintaining a Museum Endowment Fund for the
receipt and investment of endowment monies and to regulate the
expenditure of the income from such funds;
as may be necessary from time
be required to operate and
(d) To cause to be taken such steps
to time to provide such monies as may
maintain the Museum and its effects;
(e) To suggest for appointment a Museum Curator and such other
part-time help as deemed necessary or expedient;
(f) To provide such reports of its activities and finances as may
be requested from time to time for the information of the County and
city Councils in such form and detail as the Councils may require;
(g) To hold an annual meeting in January of each year and such
monthly meetings of the Executive Committee as may be necessary to
conduct the business of the Museum. Special meetings may be called
by the Chairman at his discretion and must be called upon the writ-
ten petition of four members of the Committee. A majority of the
members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum at any meeting of
the Committee;
(h) In each year at the organizational meeting of the Executive
Committee or as soon thereafter as may be conveniently done the
Executive Committee shall appoint a representative committee of
citizens interested in the operation of the Museum composed of not
less than fifteen nor more than fifty members to be known as the
Elgin County pioneer Museum General Advisory Committee to assist the
Executive Committee and shall entrust to that Advisory Committee
responsibility for advising the Executive Committee on matters con-
cerning the fulfillment of the general objectives of the Museum.
GENERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
THE ELGIN COUNTY PIONEER MUSEUM
9
objec-
be to
advise the Executive Committee concerning the general
of the Museum;
Advisory Committee shall
The functions of the General
(a)
tives
promotion and
(b) advise the Executive Committee on the planning,
publicity of the Museum;
(c) actively pursue the goals of the Museum through the planning of
fund raising activities and do such other things as may be deemed
propitious for the promotion of the Museum;
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(d) furnish such reports and information on its activities to the
Executive Committee as the Executive Committee may from time to time
request;
(e) the General Advisory Committee shall not have any power to
spend or authorize the spending of funds nor incur any liability on
behalf of the Museum.
10. To ensure that the General Advisory Committee is truly repre-
sentative of organizations and individuals interested in the Museum
the Executive Committee shall consider composition of the Committee
with due regard to the following criteria:
(a) nominees from organizations interested in the welfare and
organization of the Museum;
(b) individuals with special interest in the Museum, but not allied
with any organization;
(c) population and geographical considerations;
(d) persons appointed to the General Advisory Committee may not
serve for more than six consecutive annual terms, but may be eligi-
ble for re-appointment after an absence of one year.
11. Meetings of the General Advisory Committee shall be held as
deemed necessary by the membership and shall be conducted by the
Chairman.
12. In the event a vote is to be taken on any matter before the
committee, only those persons appointed by the Executive Committee
to be members of the Committee shall be entitled to vote in respect
to the question before the Committee.
13. Where the masculine words "he" or "his" are used throughout
this by-law, it shall be interpreted to mean "she" or "her" in the
event reference is made to a female person.
14. That By-Law No. 92-40 be and the same is hereby repealed.
READ a first and second time this 26th day of April, 1994.
READ a third time and finally passed this 26th day of April 1994
~ . ~,
D. Vane Chute,
Warden.
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