Museum must pay back unused funds
The Clutha District Council has stuck with its original decision to demand that the South Otago Historical Society return more than $14,000 in unused curator’s wages.
An extraordinary meeting of the council was called yesterday at Balclutha because the society was not given the opportunity to speak as a result of a clerical error when the matter was raised at a meeting on September 20.
The society had requested that it be allowed to keep $14,353 in curator funding to put towards employing a new curator for the next year.
This request was declined by the council then, but the council reconvened yesterday to review the matter.
Historical society president Kevin Barron spoke at the meeting in support of a roll over of the funds, which he said would enable the South Otago Museum to continue operating with a curator.
Run by the society, the museum has operated without one since the former curator, Gary Ross, left in February, and has been open to the public for limited hours staffed by volunteers.
It would cost about $34,000 to employ a curator for the year, and with having only $20,000 in its coffers for curators wages, the museum would struggle to re-open entirely, he said.
Barron spoke about the partnership that existed between the society and council to preserve the district’s heritage and presented the council with a historic photograph of Balclutha ‘‘to build bridges’’ between the two entities. It was accepted by Clutha mayor Bryan Cadogan.
Stuff reported earlier Barron’s criticism of the council’s handling of the request, the reasons for declining it and that the council had a problem with him personally.
However, during the ensuing discussion, Cadogan said he found these statements, along with other comments to media that the council was disinterested in the district’s heritage, as ‘‘offensive’’.
‘‘The only funding we’re stopping is the curator who finished on February 9, so it is frustrating to hear those comments.’’
He was in favour of sticking with the council’s initial decision, and was supported by other councillors, including Cr John Cochrane, who said the correct time to look at whether the museum actually needed a fully funded curator would be when the council reviewed its community grants later this year.
Cr Hilary NcNab and Alison Ludermann said they would have been in favour of a roll over if the society had shown any evidence of attempting to secure curator funding from elsewhere, and if the former curator had been shared around the district.
In reply, Barron said this would have been the society’s next move, but it wanted to follow through with the plans that were under way, including the proposal to move into the Balclutha War Memorial Hall redevelopment. The society could only do this if it had funding to pay for a curator for another year.
Three of the councillors who were originally in favour of the society retaining the funds maintained their stance.
The motion was eventually carried with 11-4.