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02-25 COUNTY OF ELGIN By-Law No, 02-25 BEING A BY-LAW TO PROVIDE FOR THE OPERATION OF THE ELGIN COUNTY PIONEER MUSEUM' WHEREAS the Council of the Corporation of the County of Elgin did pass By-Law No. 94-16 and amendments thereto providing for the establishment, operation and management of the Elgin County Pioneer Museum; and, WHEREAS, in an effort to integrate the Museum with County operations, it is deemed desirable to update the provisions of the said by-law and to define the operations, organization and management of the Museum in a more comprehensive manner. the Corporation of the County of Elgin the Municipal Council of NOW THEREFORE hereby enacts as follows: the Museum shall continue to be "The Elgin County Pioneer 1. NAME - The name of Museum" 2. PROPERTY - The lands, buildings, furniture, equipment, goods, chattels, artefacts and objects of any nature whatsoever whether acquired by or donated to the Museum and including objects and artefacts 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 artefact loaned to the Museum for display or upon any article or artefact held in trust by the Museum where the Museum has incurred substantial costs in the restoration or repair of such object or artefact. 3. a) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE - The principal objectives of the Museum shall be to collect, preserve and display for the benefit of the public items and artefacts which relate to the history and development of the County of Elgin and the City of St. Thomas and without limiting the generality 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. b) STATEMENT OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR AND PECUNIARY INTEREST - The Executive Committee, the Advisory Board, staff, and volunteers are obligated to ethical behaviour and the avoidance of conflict of interest, as a body and as individuals. ORGANIZATION (a) The Museum operation and management shall be under the direction 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. 4. (b) The said committee shall comprise seven members to be appointed annually by the Council for the County of Elgin at its December Session and to be appointed in the following manner: One member of the Elgin County Counci Elgin and O.D.E. Two appointees from the Elgin County Women's Institutes; one from East one from West Elgin I the One appointee from -2 One appointee to be nominated by the Council of the Corporation of the City of St. Thomas. Two appointees to be named by the Council of the Corporation of the County of Elgin who shall be interested persons, other than members of County Council, or members of any of the preceding groups providing nominees, to be known as "Members 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 nominees. 5. OFFICERS - The Executivè Committee shall appoint a Chairperson and Vice- Chairperson 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 Museum Manager 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 conditions as may be deemed advisable by County Council. The Museum Manager shall have a proper job description and terms of employment and shall report to the County's Director of Financial Services 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 one member 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 nine 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 Chairperson shall be the Presiding Officer of the Executive Committee. He or she shall arrange for meetings of the Committee and preside at all meetings and be an ex-officio member of all other committees. The Chairperson should attend meetings of the Elgin County Pioneer Museum General Advisory Committee, report and interpret recommendations of the Executive Committee for the benefits of the General Advisory Committee and generally act as a liaison officer in fostering e.ffective communications between the two Committees. The Vice·Chairperson shall assume the duties of the Chairperson in his or her illness or absence and shall have when so acting all the authority and responsibility of the Chairperson 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 correspondence of the Committee. The Museum Treasurer or the County Director of Financial Services, 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 convenience a petty cash account. 3 The Museum Treasurer or County Director of Financial Services 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 Manager, reporting through the County Director of Financial Services, shall be responsible for the general operation of the Museum and for the care and custody of al the property of the Museum as well as the development of plans and programs, displays and publicity relating to the Museum operation. The Museum Manager will be present at meetings of the Executive Committee and report to the Chairperson as necessary, but will ultimately be responsible to the County Director of Financial Services. A precise description of the authority and responsibilities of the Museum Manager will be provided in a detailed job description. All members sha RULES. OF PRQCEDURE Members shall be recognized by the Chair before speaking address the Chair. 1 8. others have had No member shall speak a second time on the same topic unti an opportunity to speak to the item 2 following the members of the The Chair shall be encouraged to speak last, Committee 3. debate after having provided members with mit The Chair reserves the right to sufficient opportunity to speak. 4. GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 9 to County Council on matters concerning the following: (a) The proper care, maintenance and repair of the Museum site, buildings and contents and ensuring that adequate insurance protection is maintained upon all the property; To make recommendations (b) Arranging sChedules of admission fees, membership fees and hours of operation of the Museum; (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 (d) To cause to be taken suCh steps as may be necessary from time to time to provide such monies as may be required to operate and maintain the Museum and its effects; (e) To suggest for appointment a Museum Manager and such other part-time help as deemed necessary or expedient; the Chair or his or her designate may attend interviews for vacant positions at the Museum at his or her discretion; (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 Chairperson at his or her discretion and must be called upon the written petition of a majority of the 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 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 4 Committee responsibility for advising the Executive Committee on matters concerning the fulfilment of the general objectives of the Museum. and that representatives shall hold a current membership to the Museum THE ELGIN COUNTY PIONEER MUSEUM GENERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE 10, The functions of the General Advisory Committee shall be to: advise the Executive Committee concerning the general objectives of the Museum; the (b) advise the Executive Committee on the planning, promotion and publicity of Museum; (a) (c) actively pursue the goals of the Museum through the planning of fundraising activities and do such other things as may be deemed propitious for the promotion of the Museum to the Executive Committee as (d) furnish such reports and information on its activities 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 no incur any liability on behalf of the Museum. 11 To ensure that the General Advisory Committee is truly representative of organizations and individuals interested in the Museum the Executive Committee shal 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; but not allied with any organization in the Museum nterest ndividuals with special (b) population and geographical considerations; (d) persons appointed to the General Advisory Committee may not serve for more than nine consecutive annual terms, but may be eligible for re-appointment after an absence of one year (c) 12. Meetings of the General Advisory Committee shall be held as deemed necessary by the membership and shall be conducted by the Chairperson. By-Laws No. 94-16 and No. 95-26 be and the same are hereby repealed 14. That the Elgin County Pioneer Museum Executive Committee shall have the authority to make recommendations to amend its constitution for consideration by County Council. That 13. 15. The Elgin County Pioneer Museum has an obligation to meet municipal, provincial and federal legislative requirements that have an impact on its decisions or activities. time this 24th day of September 2002. time and finally passed this 24th day of September 2002 G ~u . Wilson, Warden. and second READ a third READ a first