Waiheke Island Historical Society Inc.

Annual General Meeting 12^th April 2015

Meeting commenced at 2.05 pm.

Apologies: Arnie Aretz, Mark James, Marine Le Minor, Elsie Brown, Priscilla Tobin, Bert & Margaret Woolcott, Tanya Batt, Kara Nelson, Wes Burns.

Present: Christine Hoffman, Malcolm Philcox, Judith Phillips, Rosemary Burns, Dorothy Malan, Marlene Gray, Betty Tattersall, Don McKenzie, John Smeed, Trish Kinsler, Marnie Fabian, Merle Mason, R E Becroft, Brenda Becroft, Mary Batten, Vickie Worthington, Elizabeth O’Flaherty, Bob Anderson, Anne Anderson, Jan Vail, Glen Rogers.

All were welcomed by the President, Anne Anderson.

Minutes of the last AGM: Proposed as correct by Judith Phillips, seconded by Rosemary Burns.

President’s Report:

Good Afternoon and welcome to the Annual General Meeting of the Waiheke Historical Society and it is with pleasure I present the President’s Report.

I use the word ‘pleasure’ advisedly because, despite the uncertainty and angst engendered by the prolonged debate and subsequent hearings related to the leases for the Onetangi Reserve, we were (after 2 years being caught between a rock and a hard place) finally granted a lease to continue to operate the Museum. Not only that, but we appear to have security of tenure until 2022, which hopefully now gives the Historical Society the time and opportunity to attend to some of the more pressing needs in the maintenance of the buildings and the development of additional displays.

In addition, the Historical Society is the grateful recipient of a grant from the New Hope Shop which will allow us to repaint the Dixie Day Cottage, the toilets and the Police Cell, all of which are in real need of refurbishing. Once your committee has selected the paint colour (which must comply with the Auckland Council by-laws), a working party will be convened and the work undertaken. So if there are any willing volunteers, do please make yourselves known to Bob Anderson.

During the year, Goodwin Cottage has been repainted, and minor repairs and/or upgrading made where necessary eg replacement of rotting boards, the installation of an old watertank outside Champion, laying (donated) carpet in 2 of the buildings, replacement of broken glass etc and an ongoing battle with rats.

The Museum has added to its collection of memorabilia courtesy of donors who, like you, wish to see items of ‘old’ Waiheke preserved for future generations. Our grateful thanks to all those who have donated items. To add to the appeal of the Museum, your committee is considering several possible display possibilities including one to do with the development of the wine industry on the island. You may have also have noticed a facsimile of an old farm toolshed in the main Museum, and this is well on the way to completion.

Which leads me to the next point. Your committee does have a wish list for the Museum. For instance, the Store Room at the back of Dixie Day Cottage leaks quite badly, and really needs to be replaced; new paths would enhance the Museum’s access and appearance, and we would also like to undertake the re-print of Dixie Day’s book. But unless we can get large funding grants, these projects are out of the question. For example, the best quote to re-print the book would cost $8500 for 1000 copies, OR $11,400 for 2300, OR $16,700 for 5000 copies. We simply don’t have that sort of money, so our wish list remains just that for the present.

Visitor numbers continue to hold steady, but we are looking at ways to increase numbers. Feedback from the diverse range of visitors is always positive and, as always, it is a real pleasure to have school parties visit.

One of the constant problems we face is the limited number of people who are prepared or able to give time and effort to helping out with the Museum, either on Duty when the Museum is open, or in the garden or with the odd maintenance working party. My very sincere thanks to the small group of people who have worked very hard over the year to make sure the Museum delivers what was envisaged by those who originally founded it. In particular my thanks to Jan Vail who has undertaken the secretarial and treasurer roles, to Judith Phillips who has been on duty every Wednesday and is an absolute fund of local knowledge, and to Ted and Elsie who have spent many, many hours sorting through and cataloguing the archives. Also to Christine, Bob, Mary, Priscilla, Mark and Brenda for their staunch support.

Having said that, there is a strong possibility that we will be unable to open as often as we would like over the coming months. Winter is always problematic in terms of illness etc, and in addition, two of our duty members will be overseas for long periods, so if there is anyone here who could lend a hand it would be so much appreciated. Your Museum needs and deserves to be supported, so this is a plea for tangible assistance in keeping the Museum open and available to all.

Finally, my thanks to you, our members. With your support and encouragement, we will do our best to ensure the Museum of Waiheke remains a tribute to, and provides future generations with, a clearer picture of the values, achievements and hard work of the Waiheke Pioneers.

Thank you. Anne Anderson

Financial Report by Treasurer, Jan Vail:

I am pleased to present my report for the year to 31 December 2014 to the Members of the Waiheke Island Historical Society.

Financially, the Society is in a sound position. Our income from donations and shop sales was slightly higher than the previous year; however subscription income was lower with the loss of a few members. Expenditure was similar to the previous year. With the new lease signed on 8^th May 2014 the rent paid to Auckland Council is set at $1 per annum. There was an amount owing from 1 July 2012 to the 21^st February 2013, the commencement date of the new lease, due to an administrative error by the council and this has been paid in the current year. It will appear in the 2015 financial report.

Last year I told you that the new lease required us to have $5 million Public Liability Insurance and this could add another $1,000 to our insurance premiums. We were advised that Jardine Lloyd Thompson specialised in providing this type of cover to organisations like us and we were able to insure with them at a cost of $323.00 which is a considerable saving over what State Insurance had quoted. The museum assets remain covered by State with only a small increase in premiums.

We changed telephone and internet provider from Telecom to Slingshot and achieved a reasonable saving on this expense. We changed power supplier the previous year and I believe we are getting the best deal there. After adjustments for non-cash expenditure, there was a small operating profit of $549 for the year.

Visitor numbers were down from 2013 mostly due to fewer tour groups visiting the museum. This in itself does not affect the income of the museum as only a few of the tour group customers put anything in the donation box, considering perhaps that they have already paid their tour fees to the coach driver. Visitor numbers from normal visitors average out at approximately 25 each week.

We operated a water station for the Wharf to Wharf Fun Run in January and for our efforts with colourful shirts, hats and music, we received $250 from the W2W committee to add to our general funds.

As a voluntary organisation, the Society is dependent on your membership fees and donations from the public to operate the Museum. The committee thanks you for your ongoing support.

Statement of Financial Performance for the year ended 31 December 2014

Statement of Financial Position for the year ended 31 December 2014

I now move that the financial statements are approved, seconded Christine Hoffman, carried.

Nominations for Officers and Committee:

Nominations were received for the following positions:

President: Anne Anderson

Vice President: Mark James

Secretary:

Treasurer: Jan Vail

Nominations for Committee:

Judith Phillips, Christine Hoffman, Bob Anderson, Arnie Aretz, Brenda Becroft, Sue Philcox.

The nominations received no objections and were carried by all present.

General Business:

Mary Batten asked whether the cost of re-printing “Waiheke Pioneers” was for New Zealand or overseas. Anne replied that it was from Singapore. John Smeed said that there was a firm in Auckland that would print books on demand with no requirement to have a large number done at one time. John is to give us the details.

There was general discussion on maintaining the gardens of the Museum. Anne reported that we had recently employed a gardener to tidy the front fence area and a large amount of weeds had been taken to the transfer station. This was too expensive to do on a regular basis. Betty Tattersall suggested that one way to maintain the gardens would be for individuals to “adopt” a small area to work on at their leisure. All agreed this was a sound idea.

Marlene Gray spoke about the need for rat bait stations to be replenished every three weeks and offered to give advice on rat control if required.

GuestSpeaker:

Malcolm Philcox entertained the meeting with his reminiscences of his life farming on Waiheke Island with many stories from the floor as the members recalled the places and people Malcolm spoke about. Anne thanked Malcolm for attending the meeting.

The Meeting closed at 3.35 pm followed by afternoon tea.