Red Cedar board approves light-meter purchase and authorizes commercial dehumidifier up to $700

The Red Cedar museum board approved purchase requests and formalized minutes corrections at its regular meeting. The board voted to buy a pocket light meter intended to measure harmful light levels on artifacts, and approved purchasing a commercial-grade dehumidifier with a spending cap.

Board members unanimously approved the minutes from the prior meeting after two corrections were raised, including a clarification that the vice chair (Jeff Titter) — not Chairman Dennis Oliver — had called the prior meeting to order. Bonnie Post called out that an item described in the miscellaneous section should explicitly reference the city website rather than a shorthand that read “city 1.”

On collections care, an unnamed presenter asked the board to approve a pocket light meter from Gaylord, an archival supplier, explaining the device "will allow us to figure out how much light is actually on these objects" so staff can decide how long items may be displayed. An unidentified board member moved to approve the purchase from the committee's $10,000 account; the motion received a second and carried.

During old business the board reconsidered a dehumidifier purchase. Members recalled a prior $300 approval for a small unit but discussed a commercial machine priced between about $500 and $700 that would better protect objects and address storage humidity. An unidentified board member moved "that we purchase the commercial grade dehumidifier not to exceed $700 pending information from the company"; the motion was seconded and passed with one member stating, "I'll say I oppose until we have the information." The board instructed staff to obtain vendor details promptly.

The meeting closed after routine updates on historical-plaque research, volunteers, and upcoming events. The board set its next meeting for Oct. 9 and adjourned.