February 17, 2011
Teton County Library Board Meeting
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Present: Deb, Andy, Nancy, Patricia, Bill, Lisa, Clark, Pauline
Correspondence from the Public: None
The library did receive information that a community workshop on March 10 on Public Art will be held at the Center for the Arts via email.
Approval of Minutes: Patricia moved to approve the December & January minutes, Clark seconded, and all were in favor.
Section 215 Report: There were no requests under Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Deb commented that Congress is reviewing the Patriot Act and may not approve this section again.
Friends Report: The Friends have been successful in securing a shared lease with the TOJ for the property at 174 N. King. They would share the space with the Law Library & The Children’s Museum. They are planning to do the book sales and associated tasks and the VITA program at that location. It would need to be upgraded to meet ADA standards and the Children’s museum and the town would do this. .
Foundation Report: The Foundation Board approved underwriting and managing of some bridge financing for the library project. Funding would be only for costs associated with borrowing the money. The Foundation board felt the requested interest cost coverage was probably too low and raised it to $75,000 from the original request of $50,000 . Some concerns about the sales tax revenue were mentioned but it was agreed that it was too soon to get a feel for the accuracy of the projections.
Deb did get another legal opinion to be sure this approach for funding was possible. There was discussion of what kind of document would be appropriate to help the Foundation borrow the money at a better rate. It was agreed to talk to Keith Gingery and get his opinion about the best way to proceed. Pauline informed the library board that the Foundation board has three new members: Scott Crisp, Peter French and Lyn Wagner.
Financials
Monthly Report-Q & A
Deb informed the board that the Snowplow category is up, otherwise, we are on track.
Preliminary FY 12 Budget Discussion
Deb said that the County will tell us to level budget and they would like to see a 5% reduction exercise. They have not explored any pay raises for staff and Andy said the CC is basically waiting on property tax figures to see if any raises would be possible. We will have a level budget but as we have a significant carry over, our property tax request will be less. Deb said her preference would be to restore hours to library staff members whose hours were cut for budget purposes if we have sufficient monies. Lisa requested that the lost Saturday hours be a priority.
Action Items: Approve Vouchers
Patricia moved to approve the vouchers, Bill seconded, all voted in favor.
Facilities Planning
Recommendation on Alta Cleaning Contract
Review of Status of Library Addition Project
Review of Legal Opinion on Financing of Library Addition Project: Next Steps
Action Item: Approve Alta Cleaning Contract
Clark voiced some concern about the costs of running the library after the addition and renovation. Deb explained that we submitted a good faith effort in the budget that was included in our SPET application. However, she said that it is very difficult to determine how much library attendance and circulation will increase and what will happen to certain avenues of funding from the county and Congress. PILT, federal block grants, state revenues, all could influence future budgets. This could have a direct effect on when the library could replace our lost employees. The library is very committed to do as much as possible with the current staff. However, realistically, we may need more depending on the use in the new facility to manage check outs, sorting, shelving, customer assistance with technology, readers advisory, children’s programs, etc. At a minimum, we need the ones we lost which were included in the SPET application numbers. Deb feels sure that improved technology can and will help us. She also emphasized that the architectural team has been careful about designing in a way to allow us to perform many library tasks with the same number of people. Certainly, maintenance costs will go up in a bigger facility and these estimated costs were also included in the SPET application.
Review of Status of Library Addition Project
Submissions for the CMAR are due tomorrow at 5:00PM. The selection committee will have a recommendation for the board at the March 17, 2011 board meeting. The board will also be reviewing and will need to approve the development permit submission to the TOJ. The management committee members present gave a short update to the rest of the board. After much research, it was decided to go with the recommended HVAC design. Clark explained that the raised floor in the CIC area was removed as IT felt there were other options for more flexibility with regard to technology. He also explained that there had been some debate about the canopy and the group agreed it needed to be there in some form. All felt the entrance and approach was a very important element in the community’s perception of the success of the project. It was agreed the architects should do the best design possible with a capped amount of money.
Review of Legal Opinion on Financing of Library Addition Project: Next Steps
Covered in Foundation Report
Action Items: Approve Alta Cleaning Contract
Patricia moved to approve a contract with Christa Penz, our new Alta library custodian, Nancy seconded, all voted in favor.
Librarian’s Report
Staffing Update: Substitute Hiring
Deb announced that Gretchen has hired a new substitute in Alta and Mike is interviewing for two new subs for here.
Review of Draft Updated Materials Selection Policy
Action Items: Post Draft Materials Selection Policy for Public Comment
Deb explained that the Draft Materials Selection Policy had been reviewed by the
collection development team and the management team. According to Keith’s advice, to pass policies using the Administrative Procedures Act, the library will post the policy for 45 days of public review and then bring it to the board for approval.
A short executive session concerning personnel was held at the request of the Director.
Clark moved to end the executive session, Nancy seconded all voted in favor. The regular library meeting resumed.
Bill moved to give the Library Director the discretion to deal with the Facility Manager’s
potential increase in pay as she sees fit. Patricia seconded, all voted in favor.
New Business:
Set next board meeting dates
March meeting dates will be March 10 at 3:00PM to review the budget and March 17 at 3:00PM for the regular business meeting. The April and May meetings will be the third Thursday of the month and the June meeting will be June 23, 2011.
Clark moved to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 5:30PM.
