Vegreville Regional Museum Society Turns Assets Over to the Town

Vegreville Regional Museum Society Turns Assets Over to the Town

Michelle Pinon News Advertiser

A chapter in Vegreville’s history has officially closed.

Board members of the Vegreville Regional Museum Society have voted in favour of turning over its assets to the Town of Vegreville.

That decision came during a board meeting on June 15 and was formally recognized by members of town council during its August 24 meeting.

As stated in a letter from the Vegreville Regional Museum Society to Mayor MacPhee and Council, that was dated July 6, the following motion was passed, “Moved that the Vegreville Regional Museum Society Board communicates with the Town of Vegreville the unanimously approved decision that its assets be turned over to the Town of Vegreville, in compliance with the Vegreville Regional Museum Society Bylaws Distribution of Property Section 18.01 Jerry Wilde/Ted Wilson. Carried.”

Under Section 18.01, “Upon the dissolution of the Society and after the payment of all debts and liabilities, the remaining property of the Society shall be transferred to the Town of Vegreville or such other charitable organization as the directors may select.”

Howard Austin, Vice-President of the Vegreville Regional Museum Society, signed the letter which also stated, “The present museum board will have to meet to determine if a replacement executive will come forward.” At the June 15 museum board meeting President Len Bullock and Treasurer Jerry Wilde advised members they would be resigning their positions before Dec. 31, 2020.

The letter went on to say, “We believe the present situation could become very awkward if all the present aging board members were to resign. There is no animosity that we are aware of on the part of any board member. The town administration is commended for recognizing that present operations could not continue.”

Back in December of 2019, town council passed a motion not to fund the Vegreville Regional Museum Society. Prior to that, the Society had submitted a letter of request to the town asking for $35,000 to fund its operations in 2020 and to have its lease extended to December 31, 2020.

Coun. Taneen Rudyk made a motion to receive and file the letter. Coun. Dave Berry stated, “It needs to be pointed out that we have actually met the museum executive and discussed matters going forward, and at that time, that the town would be accepting all of the assets of the museum and that we are encouraging a transfer of the Society into Friends of the Museum so they can still participate in some fashion. And I would suggest we make a motion to that effect.”

Mayor MacPhee stated, “I want to say we had a very good working meeting with the museum board July 21, and as a council we let them know we recognize the importance of some of those artifacts within the facility and that we would be wanting to keep them on display because they are important to this area.

Some things are going to change there, the way the building is used. I think they all agree something has to be done and we will be working with them, their ideas, and their input moving forward, and the Friends of the Museum will hopefully be a working partner with us moving forward.”

Coun. Berry made a motion to accept the artifacts and the assets and send official correspondence back to the museum board to notify them officially and confirm what was agreed upon.

MacPhee asked if there was anyone else who would like to say anything. Coun. Marielle Broziak wanted to personally thank the museum volunteers for all of their contributions. MacPhee also wanted to thank the volunteers for their years of service and said they would need their input moving forward.

Both of those motions were passed by council as well as another motion to spend up to $30,000 to replace the septic system at the museum.

MacPhee said they are currently looking at ways in which the facility and its grounds can be utilized in the future. Some of the ideas that have been discussed include renting out space to user groups, hosting visiting delegations, family reunions, farm to fork programs, and developing a campground. There have also been discussions regarding the artifacts and collections that are currently housed in the museum.