TRUSTEE BOARD MEETING

Minutes

August 30, 2006

The meeting was called to order at 5:12 pm by Blaine Robertson. Board members present were Blaine Robertson, Tricia Galer, Gordon Timothy, and Judy Dewey. Lee Anne Kinghorn resigned from the board because she moved to Hawaii.

The minutes of the last meeting (May 24, 2006) were approved by acclamation. The bills were also approved by acclamation, and the checks paying the bills were signed. Signature cards for the new checking account at the Bank of Commerce were signed. Photocopies of the board members drivers licenses were taken as requested by the bank.

Celeste from Day & Night Carpet Cleaners presented a bid to the board to clean the library carpeting. She explained a bit about their company and their expertise. The board deferred the decision to the Director.

Amber Kent, a staff member, presented to the board the staff’s proposal for the library’s 85^th Anniversary Celebration on October 27th. See notes attached. The board was impressed with the plans and approved closing the library during the times mentioned in the proposal.

The board also approved recognizing those employees who went the extra mile and worked very hard during the week of the RFID conversion. Judy was asked to purchase $30 gift certificates at Lost Creek Steakhouse for those staff members.

A fairly lengthy discussion about the library’s interest in the Beehive facility was held. The library made an offer of purchase to the Church, renewing our $75,000 offer, requesting a right of first refusal to purchase the seminary building, and granting an easement to the Church so they have legal access to the seminary property. The Madison School District has decided not to offer to purchase the facility. The school district and the library district are the only two entities able to give the Church legal access to their seminary building, a problem just recently discovered by the Church. Judy had spoken in early August with Mark Davis, the church representative handling the purchase negotiations. He indicated the church was not happy with the library’s offer to give an easement only to the church because this would substantially devalue the seminary property when the Church decides to sell it. He said the Church would want a permanent easement. The board was not willing to change their offer. Judy was instructed to ask Mark Davis how much the easement is worth to the Church.

Stephen George of the Rexburg Children’s Museum talked to the board members about the museum’s willingness to support the library’s purchase of the Beehive facility and then, until the library had need of the property, leasing it to the museum for a nominal sum. He indicated that in his meeting with the Church representatives, they seemed favorable to this arrangement.

Judy reported on the status of the RFID conversion. 3M’s lack of training for the conversion has caused a number of problems for which Judy felt the library should be compensated. The board agreed. The board also agreed that the 1,000 additional tags sent by 3M was not enough compensation. Judy was instructed to contact the project leader, Chad Stratton, at SirsiDynix and request the library not be charged the second year’s maintenance fee (the first year being covered in the purchase price). The board signed the check for the full purchase price, with the stipulation that some adequate compensation be negotiated.

Three library patrons have indicated they are interested in serving on the board to fill the rest of Lee Anne’s term. The board asked Judy to invite them to the next board meeting, asking that they briefly tell the board why they would like to serve.

The final agenda item was the budget hearing. Judy and Roger had worked on a proposed budget for the coming fiscal year, and Judy had worked on a proposed budget adjustment for the current fiscal year. Revenues have exceeded the budgeted amounts and Judy requested that some of the excess revenues be used to cover some shortfalls this year. An exceptionally large number of children – 1,500 – participated in the summer reading program, causing that line item to exceed the budget. Professional development expenses also exceeded the budget, as did the payroll. Roger moved and Gordon seconded the motion to accept the 2005-2006 Proposed Adjusted Budget. The vote was unanimous in the affirmative.

Judy then presented some statistics showing where our library stands on such things as revenues, salaries, and service (see attached spreadsheet). Generally, revenues and salaries are below the state average for libraries serving over 10,000 people, while our circulation and other services exceed the state averages. All this was a prelude to Judy’s request that the benefitted staff be given a 10% raise this year, with the non-benefitted staff being also given substantial raises. After much discussion, Roger moved and Gordon seconded the motion to accept the 2006-2007 Proposed Budget. The vote was unanimous in the affirmative. The board asked Judy to ask Frank Nelson, the regional representative of the Idaho Commission for Libraries, what the salaries of various librarians are; i.e., Children’s, Reference, Cataloging, etc.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:15 pm.

Blaine Robertson, Chair of the Board                 Judith M. Dewey, Secretary

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