Monterey Museums and Cultural Arts Commission Meeting - July 2, 2026
Monterey Museums and Cultural Arts Commission Meeting - July 2, 2026
The Museums and Cultural Arts Commission met on July 2, 2026, at 2:55 PM (time indicated by transcript timestamp). Chair Kimsey presided, with Vice Chair O'Neill, Commissioners Fullop, Mukowski, Caldi, and Evans present. Commissioner Turgeon was absent. Staff present included Library and Museums Director Brian Edwards and Assistant Library Director Melissa McHia. The meeting covered updates on museum operations, annual commission appointments, the Colton Hall music program, and the Ferguson trust fund for the Presidio Monterey Museum. No public comments were received.
Consent Calendar
- No consent agenda items were presented.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public offered comments.
Discussion Items
- Update on Museums (Tour Fees and Hours): Staff reported that a new fee schedule took effect July 1, 2026, increasing the base private tour fee to $100 for the first four people (plus $15 per additional person) for sites including Pacific Biological Laboratories, Colton Hall, and Presidio Monterey Museum. A $100 school tour fee was also added. Online booking has been implemented, increasing tour volume (e.g., six Pacific Biological Lab tours scheduled for July). Colton Hall has returned to seven-day-a-week operation. Commissioner Evans expressed support for the expanded hours. Commissioner Mukowski questioned whether maintenance costs were factored into the fees; staff clarified fees are based on fully burdened salary, not capital maintenance, which falls under Public Works. Discussion also covered third-party booking vendor fees and the possibility of passing on convenience charges.
- Annual Appointments for Chair and Vice Chair: Staff reviewed the rotation policy. Vice Chair O'Neill was recommended to become Chair, and the vacancy for Vice Chair was open among Commissioners Fullop, Caldi, and Turgeon (all appointed same date). Commissioner Fullop accepted the vice chair nomination after Commissioner Caldi declined. A motion by Commissioner Mukowski, seconded by Commissioner Evans, to elect O'Neill as Chair and Fullop as Vice Chair passed unanimously.
- Colton Hall Music Program: Chair Kimsey reported that the 4 PM concert series was well-attended (up to 96 attendees). Three potential fall dates were discussed: October 10/11, November 14/15, and December 12. Staff confirmed availability and intent to continue the series. Commissioner Evans also raised the idea of a Halloween-themed ticketed ball at Colton Hall, inspired by a historic dance after the California Constitutional Convention. Staff expressed interest in exploring the event, noting occupancy and restroom considerations. Commissioner O'Neill (now Chair) offered to share Point Sur Lighthouse fundraising experience.
- Update on Ferguson Funds: Staff reported the Ferguson trust fund balance of $90,444.45, designated for Presidio Monterey Museum. Proposed expenditures include roof replacement (leaking, estimated 2,000 sq ft composite), a side door replacement (~$1,000), a Spanish soldier mannequin (~$500), a locking display case for Colonel Fitch's revolver (~$1,000), and a digital image rotator (~$2,000). The roof cost is unknown pending a new bid; staff expressed concern that interest earnings (~$2,800/year) cannot cover the roof, requiring principal drawdown. Commissioners discussed grant options (e.g., Community Foundation, Save America's Treasures, now defunct) and the possibility of creating a 501(c)(3) friends/foundation. Commissioner Caldi questioned returns on the invested fund. No action was taken; staff will return with roof cost estimates and bring a report to City Council for fund transfer approval.
- Staff Reports: Staff noted new historic flags on display at Colton Hall for July, and a $100,000 grant ($50,000 removal, $50,000 reinstallation) for the Granizo mural, with work likely after Car Week. The public art policy draft will be submitted to the city attorney within two weeks.
- Commissioner Comments: Commissioners thanked outgoing Chair Kimsey for his service. The subcommittee on the Monterey Angels reported being stalled due to conflicting events.
Key Outcomes
- Elected Officers: Vice Chair O'Neill was elected Chair and Commissioner Fullop was elected Vice Chair for the 2026-2027 term (vote: unanimous).
- Music Series Continuation: The commission supported proceeding with fall concert dates and exploring a Halloween ball, with staff to coordinate scheduling.
- Ferguson Fund Use: Staff will obtain roof replacement bids and return to the commission before seeking City Council approval for fund expenditures.
- Public Art Policy: Draft to be submitted to the city attorney within two weeks; anticipated completion within the calendar year.
- Next Meeting: Scheduled for August 6, 2026.
Meeting Transcript
How do we give us a hug Um sure and everyone make sure you have your mics pointed towards you and green light on if you're speaking in. Um Chair Kimsey. Here. Vice Chair O'Neill. Here. Commissioner Fullop. Commissioner Mukowski. Commissioner Caldi. And Commissioner Evans. Here. And Commissioner Turgeon has notified us that she will not be making it today. So we'll note that Ken Burley Turgeon is absent. And we have a cornerman from staff. We have Brian Edwards Library and Museum's director and assistant library director, Melissa McHia. And I can just note for uh members of the public that would like to comment today, please raise your zoom hand on the screen when notified. And if you're also attending uh by phone, dial star nine if you'd like to raise your um zoom hand during that appropriate section. I'll turn it over to the chair. So we have our first presentation, the update on museums. Yeah, so this is just a kind of a verbal presentation we could do. We could show it on the screen if if you prefer, but the uh once of update that we have changed the museum tour fees schedule as was approved by council during the master fee schedule. This is in an effort to get cost recovery in terms of the museum tours. So we have increased the base tour fee to a hundred dollars for four people as of July one. So any tours that come in, and these are for our tours for, these are for private tours. So this is sites like Pacific Biological Laboratories, Colton Hall, as well as Pacific Biological Pacific Biological Laboratories, Presidio Monterey Museum, and Colton Hall. We do a private tour. The museums are still free to open free to access at different public hours and time. So if you go to the Presidio Monterey Museum Saturdays and Sundays 10 to 4, you're welcome to go in there and go into the museum. But if you're scheduling a time for us to bring in a private tour, we will charge for that. And then we started adding a 100 school fee, and that was because we get a lot of when we have schools, we end up having to have generally multiple staff kind of help out to facilitate those school visits. And we do have a we've increased some of our other uh fees, which we haven't started yet. There we'll come back to the commission later. One of those was one that we talked about at one of the earlier meetings was to have a booking fee. We have to come up with kind of a procedure and policy with that, but that would be 250 dollars an hour minimum. It used to be $30 an hour when they used to do Pacific Biological Laboratories. So this would allow some use of some of these facilities once we create a policy. The policy would have to go through our city attorney as well. So that's why we would we're waiting on that, but created the fee schedule so that we could create the policy to match it later on. Outside of school tours, uh, do we get many private tours? Yeah, so I could say, for example, um, I won't put in the people's uh, what do you call it? I won't put in there um things on the screen because it's you know a lot of private information. But so, for example, this month um we have a so tomorrow we have a Presidio Monterey tour, we have a Colton Hall tour, we have a Colton Hall tour on Monday, we have uh two Pacific Biological Lab tours next week. Um the following week we have two Pacific Biological Lab Tours. We then also have the the clampers coming for Colton Hall and the Presidio Monterey that week. The following week, we have another Pacific Biological Lab Tour, a Colton Hall School Tour, and another Pacific Biological Lab Tour. So that's to say right now this month, it's not every day, but we have six Pacific Biological Lab Tours. Um we have four Colton Hall tours and two Presidio Monterey museum tours. So we have increased our tours, and part of that is because that we uh, thanks to Melissa for working on this was to add a book a tour web page. And one of the things before was you had to contact somebody by email or phone, and it was hard for people to figure out how to do a tour. So we put it on there that this is how you could book a private tour. So that has helped.
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