TRUSTEE BOARD MEETING

Minutes

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The combined annual budget and adjusted budget meeting was called to order at 5:10 pm by Blaine Robertson, chairman. Board members present were Blaine Robertson, Gordon Timothy, Pam Beard, Henry Benavidez (new), Jeniel Facer (new), and Judy Dewey. The board welcomed Jerry Glenn, a former board member who served when our current building was constructed.

After review, Pam made the motion to approve the minutes of the previous two meetings, Gordon seconded the motion, and the vote was unanimous in favor.

Swearing in New Trustees

The first order of business was swearing in two new trustees. Henry Benavidez was given the oath of office and welcomed to the board. Jeniel Facer was likewise given the oath of office and welcomed to the board. Jeniel was appointed to fulfill Jeanna Huff’s position. Henry was appointed to fill the remainder of Roger Jackson’s term.

Adjusted Budget Hearing

Because of unplanned expenses related to the bond election, it was necessary to adjust the 2007-2008 budget. Using the library’s new video projector, all the board members were able to see the spreadsheet Judy had prepared. After discussion, the adjusted budget was adopted upon Pam’s motion, Henry’s second. The vote was unanimous to adopt.

Additional Full-time Clerk

At a previous meeting a discussion had been held regarding the addition of a full-time, benefitted clerk to be a “floater” – essentially filling in for key personnel when they are sick or on vacation. A discussion was held. Judy explained the position and that the library already has the person on the payroll as a part-time employee. Gordon moved to approve the new position, Pam seconded the motion, and all voted in favor.

Budget Hearing

The budget was presented, discussed at length, modified to balance, and ultimately approved unanimously upon Gordon’s motion and Henry’s second. Highlights include a 5% raise for the staff, and a 30% increase in the materials and technical processing budgets. Blaine had a question about where we would house the larger collection. Judy explained that a vigorous weeding project is underway to remove old, outdated, worn materials and make way for new, updated materials. Utility costs have risen dramatically and interest rates on investments have dropped. The total approved budget was $4,613,506, which includes the bond monies.

Audit

Brad Reed from Rudd & Company presented the audit report. This report was for three years combined into one report. Everything looked to be in order. He cautioned that we should have at all times at least three to four months operating monies. Because of the small size of the library, he said the board of trustees should continue to approve all expenditures.

Bank Accounts

Judy was asked to gather signature cards before the next meeting from the banks and the state investment pool so they can be updated with the new trustees.

Circulation Policy

A patron wanted to pay fines and have her items renewed, but she did not have her library card or picture identification with her. She did, however, know her card number. After discussion at the time among the staff, the decision was made not to take her fines or renew her books unless she had the required card or picture ID. The patron sent Judy an email expressing her dismay. What staff later realized was she could have stepped outside and called us on her cell phone and we would have renewed her books. The decision not to take payment for fines was wrong as the procedure has been always to take fines but not give the patron the receipt without proper identification. Judy told the patron she would bring the matter before the board, which she did. The board was of the opinion this was procedural and not policy. Judy was asked to read the policy to determine if the policy needed changing. The matter had been discussed at a staff meeting and the staff had decided it would be proper to treat patrons who know their card numbers as if they had presented the card or picture ID.

Library Logo Shirts

Blaine had requested that shirts similar to those of the staff (blue polo shirts with the library’s green logo embroidered on them) be ordered for the trustees, with the addition of the word “Trustee” added below the logo. Judy collected sizes.

Building

Blaine noted that we are still within the 40-day waiting period before we can sell the bonds. The waiting period is required by law to accommodate any challenge to the validity of the election.

A meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, August 27^th, at 5:00 with the architects.

Before the board meeting, Blaine had met with a person at Planning and Zoning and the mayor. There had been discussion the city was objecting to the library’s planned main entrance off the parking lot. A city ordinance requires the main entrance be no more than 20 feet from the street. In the discussion with the mayor, he said the purpose of the ordinance is to make the street side look nice, so he didn’t see why the library couldn’t comply with the ordinance in the design of the building.

Another possibility for the entrance would be on First North; however, First North is ultimately slated to have five lanes. This would eliminate any on-street parking by the entrance, putting the library in the position of the Idaho Falls Public Library; i.e., a lovely main entrance which no one uses.

Having the required number of parking spaces has been a concern in planning the addition; however, it turns out the library is in the “downtown” area and there is no minimum requirement for parking. Another concern has been how close to the property line the addition can be; Blaine learned we can build right up to the property line.

Planning and Zoning wants the architects to meet with them. Judy was asked to contact the architects and request they have the meeting before next Wednesday’s meeting. Blaine would like to attend that meeting.

Blaine emphasized we don’t want to find ourselves in the position of the school district, who passed their bond and then waited to start construction until prices had risen to the point they had to ask the public for additional monies. We have no flexibility to do that since we cannot go back to the voters at this point. Therefore, he would like to see the final plans approved by the end of September, perhaps selling the bonds on September 15^th.

Judy was asked to contact Zions Bank and see if they could come to the meeting on August 27^th and explain the bonding process further.

A groundbreaking will be scheduled as soon as we have a firm date. The board would like to invite all of the board members and staff since the 1978 building was done.

Beehive Facility

The LDS Church and the Madison School District have been in negotiations regarding trading the Beehive Facility and the Junior High School Seminary building in exchange for ground on which to build a seminary building at the new high school. The library would then acquire the Beehive Facility property from the school district for a nominal sum. A school board meeting was scheduled for the next evening. We should have a definitive answer before our next board meeting.

A concern has been the LDS Church’s claim to a prescriptive easement across the library’s parking lot to access the junior high seminary building. The Rexburg city attorney is prepared to send a letter to the church saying they have no easement of any kind over the library’s parking lot.

LiLI Express

This reciprocal borrowing plan had been tabled at an earlier board meeting, and Judy had been instructed to include it on the agenda for the August meeting, after the bond election. After a short presentation and explanation, Pam moved, Henry seconded, and all voted in favor of joining LiLI Express. A concern had been the loss of revenue from non-resident fees, but, as one staff member commented, we will probably make up those lost fee amounts in fines incurred by the new borrowers. Rationale for joining LiLI Express included the following: an inexpensive way to do interlibrary loans among local libraries (patrons can pick up the materials themselves); our patrons having access to the Idaho Falls Public Library; providing good library service to all residents of the upper valley; promoting cooperation among the libraries in the upper valley.

Approval of Bills

During the meeting the checks paying the bills were being reviewed by board members. At the end of the meeting, Jeniel made the motion and Henry seconded it to approve payment of the bills. All voted in favor.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 pm upon Gordon’s motion.