Novato will enter into a six-month negotiating period with the city’s historical guild to potentially relocate the Novato History Museum to a vacant city property in downtown Novato.

Under the agreement, unanimously approved by the City Council on Tuesday, the city and the Novato Historical Guild will negotiate terms of a lease for the museum to occupy the Scott Home at 917 Sherman Ave.

Over the next six months, the guild will be required to hit several milestones, including submitting a cost estimate by October, submitting a renovation plan and supporting documents by November, and raising the estimated $2 million needed to complete these repairs by December.

City Manager Adam McGill said he anticipates that the guild would pay a $1 annual lease payment, which the city currently charges the nonprofit organization to lease its existing museum location at 815 De Long Ave. The anticipated term of the lease would be for 55 years, McGill said.

The museum is owned by the city but is operated through a longstanding agreement with the historical guild.

Novato Historical Guild member Patrick MacLeamy told the council on Tuesday that while the renovation costs would be high, the organization plans to raise all the funds privately through donations. Additionally, MacLeamy said the guild has $55,000 in its account to begin early forensic work to determine what repairs will be needed.

“We’re ready to go to work as soon as we sign on the dotted line,” MacLeamy told the council.

Historical guild members said the relocation is needed for several reasons. MacLeamy told the council that the De Long Avenue location is too small, which limits the number of exhibits it can put up at one time. Additionally, the current location has accessibility issues for disabled visitors and requires crossing the busy thoroughfare of De Long Avenue to access.

By comparison, the Scott House is roughly three times larger than the existing museum, is easier to access and has more parking, MacLeamy said. The guild also envisions having moveable exhibits to allow it to clear space to host meetings, lectures and other events.

“We want this to be a different kind of museum than the old one,” MacLeamy told the council.

The agreement comes as the city reattempts to breathe new life into its vacant properties in downtown. Earlier this year, the city sought proposals for new uses of its Simmons and Hanen homes located at 900 and 908 Sherman Ave., respectively.

Possible uses could include new businesses, restaurants and outdoor spaces. The City Council plans to meet Aug. 22 to review the proposals. City Manager Adam McGill said the applications are set to be published on Aug. 17 as part of the agenda packet.

To raise the estimated $2 million to renovate the Scott Home, the historical guild is seeking eight Novato families to each pledge a $250,000 donation. So far, four pledges totaling $1 million have been secured, according to MacLeamy.

The pledges would only be cashed out once the city and guild have agreed on a lease to avoid what occurred with the planned restoration of the downtown Novato Theater, which raised millions in donations but was never completed.

“We don’t want to fail,” MacLeamy told the council.

In response to a question from Mayor Pro Tem Mark Milberg on cost overruns, MacLeamy said the likely causes would be inspections finding unexpected repairs. Should that occur, MacLeamy said the guild would need to work to raise the additional funds before the deadline at the end of the year.

Should a lease agreement be secured, the guild is proposing to begin renovations in early 2024 and open the museum in 2025.

One point of disagreement in the negotiating agreement is a clause that would indemnify the city from legal action and liability relating to the guild’s inspection of the Scott Home.

“This is a common provision that the city includes in its contracts,” said City Attorney Gary Bell.

The guild is calling on the city to waive this requirement, which would require the city to use its insurance pool or possibly city funds to defend against any claims filed against it.

The guild is proposing to agree to purchase additional insurance to cover the city for any claims that may arise during the inspections.

“We need to keep moving. The timeline is critical to us,” MacLeamy told the council. “We don’t really want to come back to the council a month from now.”

Council members stated they were not comfortable with a full waiver but directed the city manager to continue to negotiate options with the historical guild on the indemnification clause.

City Manager Adam McGill said this would include checking with the city’s insurance pool to determine whether it would cover the city under this agreement should it waive the indemnification clause or if the guild provides additional insurance coverage. Should the discussion reach an impasse, the agreement would be brought back before the council at a future meeting.

“I’m confident they will be able to reach an agreement,” Councilmember Pat Eklund said during the meeting.