Trmf letter to mayor & council sept 8, 2017

TUMBLER RIDGE MUSEUM FOUNDATION

Box 1348 Tumbler Ridge, BC V0C 2W0 www.trmf.ca

Registered charity number 863295853 RR0001

phone

(250) 242 3466

Under the distinguished patronage of Her Honour The Honourable Judith Guichon Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia

08 September 2017 Dear Mayor McPherson and Council I appreciated the opportunity to speak directly to you at your September 5th meeting, in follow-up to my July 26th letter to you. In response you read a prepared statement and asked for a further response from the TRMF – the purpose of this letter is to respond, as requested, to the issues that were raised in that statement. I will address them in the order in which they appear in the statement.

Programming and „kid-friendly environment‟: i)

Our regular programs of daytime dinosaur footprint tours to the Cabin Pool and evening lantern tours to the Wolverine River have continued in the summer of 2017, and are enjoyed by people of all ages.

ii) Likewise, our Gallery hosts continue to provide year-round tours of the Dinosaur Discovery Gallery to visitors. iii) Our summer education camps had 28 registrants and included a week-long Dinosaur Camp for kids. iv) As further examples of successful programming for kids, on June 30th forty Chinese exchange students came for a tour of the museum and Cabin Pool tracksite. Later this month we are hosting a class of 25 Grade 11-12 students for 2-3 days for their science field trip, as well as a group of 25 Grade 3-4 students. v) At least 60 kids participated at the table we had at the DTR’s Picnic-in-the-Park event – one of the activities they engaged in was the painting of replica dinosaur teeth. vi) We will have a table at the Grizzly Valley Fall Fair. vii) We are partnering with the Tumbler Ridge Public Library to offer combined programming for kids – this is something we successfully did years ago, and are looking forward to renewing. viii)

We operate a table annually at the Success by Six Health Fair for pre-school kids.

ix) In collaboration with the Community Centre we host day-care kids in the Dinosaur Discovery Gallery.

x) Our education co-ordinator hosts craft days for kids on special occasions like Mother's Day, Halloween and Valentine's Day. xi) With the support of DTR staff we installed haul truck tires for kids to play on as part of an interpretive exhibit outside the museum. xii) A group of teen-age Cambodian dancers and their chaperones were hosted through the Dinosaur Discovery Gallery and taken hiking. They enjoyed the playground mentioned above, following the gallery tour. They left singing the praises of Tumbler Ridge.

I hope that these examples serve to illustrate that our programming and ‘kid-friendly’ initiatives are thriving, and that the perception that these things have not happened is incorrect.

Recommendations from Royal BC Museum: I am not aware of any communication between Royal BC Museum and TRMF on the topics you have mentioned. We receive well-meaning advice from many institutions and sources, and will always consider how such advice can benefit our institution, community and region.

Budget structure with respect to research: Thanks to the support of the Peace River Regional District and other sources (such as the Dalglish Foundation in 2016), we have structured our budget so that none of the DTR funding is used for research purposes. The PRRD appears to have no concerns with this arrangement.

Community engagement: Many of the items mentioned above fall within the ‘community engagement’ category.

In addition to these, we have become a site of choice for community events – one example is the reception for the provincial Community Forest AGM. Our MLA, Mr. Bernier, appreciates being able to use our venue for events he orchestrates, such as the BC Medal of Good Citizenship presentation to Larry White.

For years our scientists have been delivering well-attended talks on their work as part of the Tumbler Ridge Public Library / WNMS Itchy Feet series.

We shared a booth at Grizfest this year with the Chamber of Commerce.

We entered a museum float into the 2017 annual parade and managed a first prize award.

“Being responsible with operating budget”: The timing of the DTR budget process continues to challenge us, and we compare this process with the ease with which the PRRD is able to meet its funding commitment to us. This is a topic

on which the TRMF would appreciate further discussions with you and your staff, as we have suggestions on how to improve things for the future.

My presentation to you ran a bit overtime, and I did not have the opportunity to mention how DTR funding has over the years allowed us to leverage millions of dollars in funding from other sources to allow things like our current renovation project, improvements to the infrastructure of the building we lease from you, economic development, etc. This has made the TRMF probably the most successful fundraising organization in the Peace Region.

One example is the quick response by Dr. McCrea to Pattern Energy`s request for assistance on their provincial application; this led to a $100,000 operational commitment from Pattern Energy over 25 years for TRMF educational programming.

Councillor Kirby asked about TRMF fundraising initiatives (such as the Emperor’s Challenge which the WNMS uses to raise funds for projects). In answering the question I did not want to mention the fund-raising event which the TRMF has planned for February, as our Board had not yet approved it. However this concept was approved at our subsequent Board meeting, and can serve as a further example of fund-raising.

Of note also is that we were the organization in town that voluntarily decided to have our financial affairs audited on an annual basis, and then suggested that other organizations with substantial budgets follow our lead. Along with this we suggested to the Mayor and Council of the day that such audited reports should be a required part of large funding requests, something which has since become accepted practice.

“Museum has treated every Council request as a fight and battle” This perception does not seem to me to reflect the respectful nature of our meetings in which we have tried to work out the best way forward between DTR and TRMF for the benefit of our community. Just as I assured you and Council during my presentation, and as you commented at the dinosaur skull unveiling ceremony, we have had occasional ‘bumps’, but have always managed to survive these and emerge stronger as a result. From the TRMF perspective, we wish to continue to do so.

“Museum then withdrew scientific support for the Geopark”: I hope that my letter, my presentation to you, and my personal meetings with you have made it clear that this perception is simply untrue, and was the result of a misunderstanding between us.

In fact the opposite is true, as we continue to act as a critical support and anchor for the Geopark, cherish its achievements, and wish to help in areas where we can constructively maximize the chances of successful revalidation in 2018 at the UNESCO Global Geoparks Network visit.

I appreciated Mayor McPherson’s suggestion that it might be useful for the TRMF to formally make this support clear to the Geopark Board. I have received approval from the TRMF Board to proceed with such a letter, and will cc you when this is sent. I had not realized that Mayor and Council were not aware of the UNESCO Global Geoparks Network recommendation that it was not appropriate for Dr. McCrea and Dr. Buckley to merely be Scientific Advisors to the Geopark, and that instead they should have a more direct role as Directors. I will therefore include this suggestion in my letter to the Geopark Board with full endorsement from the TRMF.

Conclusion: Your statement concludes with three topics: 1) Working with the Geopark to increase marketing, education and programming 2) Working with the Geopark to ensure revalidation 3) Making tourism development a priority As I commented after hearing your statement, these are goals that we share and that we wish to continue to working on with you. Of note on the first point is that our budget does not include a significant marketing component – our understanding is that such marketing falls within the responsibilities of the Geopark, and we will appreciate all the support we can get in this regard. In addition, our activities raise the profile of Tumbler Ridge to the outside world and are forms of marketing that deliver economic benefit – examples include our numerous high profile media releases, attendance at international conferences by staff and volunteers, profiling in CBC`s ``Still Standing`` program, the number of successful conferences we have hosted and partnered in, and TV items such as the remarkable recent CJDC news feature.

I have addressed the second point already – it is one we are absolutely agreed on. Likewise, with regard to the third point, tourism development has always been a priority for us – as I explained in response to Councillor Kirby’s question, our successful creation (with support from WNMS) of the Tumbler Ridge UNESCO Global Geopark is just the most obvious example of this, and I hope that with your support our proposed Northern Dinosaur Trail will be similarly successful.

I hope that my letter, my presentation, and this response which you have requested will assure you of our shared goals, and will correct any misunderstandings which have developed between us. I am concerned that areas remain where you are not fully aware of the depth, breadth and scope of our work, and how we have done our best to fulfil your expectations and perform all the vital functions of a museum for our community. I hope that our invitation to you for a visit and tour to our facility will be productive, and will provide an opportunity for any remaining misunderstandings to be removed and for questions to be answered. I am cc’ing the PRRD and MLA Bernier as they were involved in your initial correspondence.

Sincerely

Dr Charles Helm Acting President, Tumbler Ridge Museum Foundation