Thursday February 21, 2008
President Bill Wotkyns called the meeting to order.
Teton County Library
Board members Patricia Moeller, Anne Ladd, Holly Hunter, and Amy Robinson were present.
Also present were Director Deb Adams, Assistant Director Isabel Zumel, Communications Manager Margaret Thompson, Teton County Library Foundation Director Missy Falcey, TC Administrator Jan Friedlund (for TC Commission liaison Andy Schwartz), and staff members Sally McCullough and Kay Farmer.
Guest attending was Gayle Lien.
Correspondence from the public - A letter from Alta resident Katherine Dowson was emailed to the board regarding donations for the Alta Branch Library. A meeting was held with Missy, Katherine and Gayle Lien, which will be discussed later in the meeting as it pertains to Alta Facilities Planning.
Approval of minutes - Holly moved to approve the January minutes, Amy seconded, all voted in favor.
Section 215 Report - There were no requests under Section 215 of the Patriot Act.
Other Business – Dail is in Cheyenne at the State Legislature and asked Deb to update the board on the progress of the state-wide library endowment bill. The library endowment challenge would provide state funds to match foundation funds for all libraries in the state. A few different factors determine how it will be disbursed. At this point a call to one of our representatives or senators would be helpful to keep it moving through the legislature. Last year it didn’t make it out of committee and they basically ran out of time. Dail says it looks really good and WLA is very optimistic that it will pass, but will probably not be fully funded this first year. They will have to go back next year to get further funding. Deb passed the voter hotline information around for all to read.
Amy reported on her attendance at the YA Executive Board meeting. The board discussed whether or not a board member should continue to attend on a rotating basis. She will go to the next meeting and report back. Bill asked if the YA Executive board could possibly put it on a future agenda as to whether they would like a board member to attend. The next staff meeting will be March 11th, Holly is scheduled to attend. Patricia will attend the following meeting, which will probably be in May.
Facilities Planning: Main Library - The town and county have approved putting the library planning and design funding request on the SPET ballot. It will be on the general election ballot in November. The language for the ballot has to be complete by August. It was questioned whether we knew the exact dollar amount yet, Jan responded no.
Voters can vote on one, two, or all three but at least one project has to pass or the money goes away until the next SPET ballot. There have not been many projects that have failed.
The next Town-County Joint Information Meeting is scheduled for March 3rd at 3 P.M. Deb and Dail plan to attend. Missy has done research on the Foundation’s ability to be the umbrella organization for a Political Action Committee for the Library SPET initiative. The Foundation can direct up to 5% of its funding to political activity. She and Johnny Becker have started brainstorming about potential committee members and a chair. She asked for some feedback from board on how they would like to work with the Foundation on this. START and the library will be combined on the ballot. Projects only have to win by one vote. Nothing further can be done until August.
Alta - On February 12th the commissioners approved the contract to purchase the property. Anticipated closing is on April 15th. Until the County holds clear title we are in a holding pattern, then Dail can start the pre-application process to determine site requirements, such as parking, road access, septic etc. Jan thinks that the current owner can write a simple letter authorizing permission to begin the planning process earlier. Once we have those requirements Dail can get the rest of the estimates on paving etc. The previous quotes on construction were just for the facility. The next step is to go to the Commissioners for a funding timeline. They may need to spread this over more than one budget year, however more than one budget year doesn’t necessarily mean two years out with construction. The construction could still be completed without a time lapse. At that point the RFP process can be started, but bids are only valid for so long. The Board needs to think about how to inform and include the public. One model that Parks & Rec. did was three different designs. They then put it out to the public for comment. Deb thinks that this would be a great way to get the public involved in the process and give us feedback. The land purchase by the County is now public knowledge.
In regard to community participation, Deb, Missy, Katherine Dowson and Gayle Lien met. A lot of effort has been put forth by Katherine and Gayle and they had gone through the process of asking for pledges. It has been about a year since the initial planning by the community, but we were prohibited from accepting any pledges or gifts until the land is purchased. Time has elapsed and now how do we continue to move that positive energy forward. The Foundation can work with Alta on funding enhancements, in line with how Foundation funds are currently directed for the library. They will send out information to the original people interested, to keep them updated and ask that they bring their ideas forward to the Board. Missy says the county has committed to purchasing the land, so they won’t pursue any pledges for the land. Jan does not think that the county expects any money back on the land purchase. It was discussed that landscaping and technology are both great enhancements that the Foundation can help with. Essential operations will continue to be funded through the county. Some discussion followed on naming opportunities and how the relative dollar amount donated does not reflect actual costs. Anne was concerned about legal limitations on donations from the Alta community addressed in Katharine’s letter and the frustration expressed. Deb says that the library has used some tools in place to inform the public, such as our website, PSA’s, newspaper articles and blogs. We have not done any mailings yet. Deb anticipates having a community meeting after we find out whether the school will give us an extension.
Most Alta information is available in the director’s blog. Bill recommends encouraging people to go to our website to check on any changes. Deb says that we could also do a link on the website, from Alta to the director’s blog to update progress.
As soon as Deb receives information on the school board extension we can update the community. Pam Shea is researching some issues and until she‘s done, she can’t give us an answer. Some discussion followed on our alternatives. Dail is on a Listserve for bookmobiles but they are not widely available. Another possibility would be to ask St. Francis or the City of Driggs if they would rent us space for one year. The City of Driggs has space available in the community center. One thing to keep in mind is that any space has to be ADA compliant and meet public building codes. Deb assured the board that Pam will try to have an answer for them by February 29th.
Librarian’s Report:
Organizational Structure Update- Deb encouraged the board to check out the new computer/information center if they haven’t seen it yet. It is a lot more open, the tutors are using the former computer center space when they can’t get a study room, as well as wireless laptop users. We’ve recaptured some natural lighting that people gravitate towards. The signage was moved over President’s weekend. Teams are working with the new configuration and will do additional trainings in March. A few supervisors were gone in January but are back now and into their normal meetings. Everyone is in the settling in phase, finding out what’s working and what’s not. The management teams reviewed the annual planning process, and they are focusing on communications and collaboration. Deb went through the budget process with them. They are focusing on the integrity of communications library wide and the processes in place. The Wiki is an established tool that they are using. The management team will meet again in March. Bill asked how the staff has responded to the changes in structure. Isabel reported that we’ve received some very positive comments from public on CIC center. They are now looking at - What could be worked on? What additional trainings are needed? And they came up with a plan today. She says that there is a sense that staff wants to do the best job possible and is encouraging them to give it some time, it’s a learning curve and it will just take time. It’s a work in progress.
Review and approval of updated Library Policy Manual- Deb, Julie and Dail went over the proposed library changes to the Teton County Policies Manual, recently approved by the Commissioners. Deb informed the Board that Jalene has seen all of our changes. Modifications are typical of changes that we have done in the past and are in the wording where it makes sense, such as Library Board for Teton County Commissioners, TCL Director or department head for Elected Official etc. The Board needs to approve the modifications and then we take it back to the Commissioners for final approval. Holly questioned the terminology of the library following the county bidding processes and purchasing contract services, and grant applications. She would like to make sure that it is written down in the document that the library would follow the same pay/step grade scale as the county. A sentence was added to the first paragraph of the addendum to include “Teton County Personnel Policy” to the procedures.
Holly moved to approve the changes, with the addition of the added sentence, Patricia seconded, all voted in favor. The library is on the March 4th Commissioner meeting for final approval.
Financials:
Monthly Report-The January motor vehicle fees is likely the last significant deposit for this fiscal year. Property tax revenues now match projections, the next large deposit is expected in June after property tax bills are due. A staff member applied for and received a $1,500 grant to attend the ALA Mid-Winter meeting. Snowplowing expenses are expected to be higher for January.
Approve Vouchers-Amy moved to approve the vouchers, Holly seconded, all voted in favor.
Teton County Audit- Jan brought along the annual audit report and management letter. The county passed with flying colors. The county is rebidding the audit this year, the only submission to date being our former auditor. She says that the county to is much too large to be audited once a year. They are requesting bids to have a local accountant prepare financial statements on a monthly basis.
FY 09 Preliminary Budget- The budget is due to the county by March 14th. The Commissioners are asking us to do level funding this year. Deb reviewed the preliminary budget. Our cash carryover will be minimal this year, maybe $25,000. We’ve held as close to the line as possible, the personnel increase is for additional summer help during peak season. We will need more funds for library materials, as we’ve had the state legislature money ($120,000) for the past two years. These funds will be gone after this fiscal year. To maintain our electronic resources we will need additional funding, otherwise something that we currently have in place will have to go away. Our budget request is about $300,000 more for next year. Bill asked that we send out the proposed budget to the Board, as soon as possible after 2/29, to streamline the next Board meeting. The Board will contact each other with budget discussions. Deb will include a list of notes with the budget for the Board.
New Business – Deb recommends changing the March meeting to the 12th at 3 P.M. as the budget needs to be approved by the Board before submitting it to the Commissioners. The bulk of the payables will not be done yet but the vouchers can be approved at the next meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 5:00 P.M.
Minutes prepared by Sally McCullough, Business Manager
Approved on 3/20/2008
Press
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