Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Tom Bunger, Rita Lichtenberg, Antonia Matthew, Janet Patterson and Mercy Rodriguez.
President Steve Moberly called the meeting to order at 5:45pm in CATS Studio A. He indicated the Board had a quorum.
Steve presented the Consent Agenda for the Board’s consideration. He asked for any questions, corrections or comments.
Penny Austin said on page 2b, 4th paragraph “Jill McConner” should be “Jill O’Connor”. Same page, the third paragraph from the bottom, Penny indicated the sentence reads “less” in reference to the budget. Penny said it should read budgeted “more”. Also on page 2c, Penny indicated the word “pay” should be “paid”.
Steve said on page 2i, at the top of the page in the first sentence, the word “we” has been left out.
There were no questions regarding the Consent Agenda. Steve asked for a motion to accept the Consent Agenda with the minute corrections.
Linda Hunt moved for Board approval of the Consent Agenda.
John Walsh seconded the motion.
The motion passed unanimously.
It is moved to change the date of the Board's work session from Feb 13 to Tues Feb 12. That is to resolve a conflict with an IU home game at Assembly Hall. Fred motioned to accept the change of date for the work session. John seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Steve asked Linda to present the election of 2008 officers. Linda presented the motion and list of persons on the Board.
Steve seconded the motion and it passed by a unanimous vote. John Walsh was elected new President of the Board. Fred Risinger was elected Vice President. Penny Austin was elected Treasurer. Janice Stockton was elected Secretary.
Steve congratulated John and the other officers. Steve asked John to switch places at the table to signify John’s new position. They switched places at the table.
John indicated it had been a long year with lots of important issues, and John thanked Steve for his good guidance to the Board during his time in the position of Board President.
The Board members applauded at John’s comments.
John then thanked Linda Hunt who has finished up her term serving on the Board of Trustees. He stated Linda has done a lot of great work for the Library.
John asked Sara to give the status on the renewal of CATS contracts with the City of Bloomington. Sara reported to the Board that the Library doesn’t have the signed contract back yet and indicated that it is on the agenda for next month.
Sara explained when the budget is done each year there are always some differences from what was projected. The annual transfer of funds is just moving money from one account line to another to adjust for those differences.
John asked if there was a motion to accept the Annual Transfer of Appropriations.
Linda motioned for the Board to accept the Annual Transfer of Appropriations.
Steve seconded the motion.
The motion was approved unanimously.
Steve asked if the Board needs to sign the resolution.
Sara responded yes, the Board does need to sign for the transfer and passed the document to Penny to circulate around the table for signatures.
Sara explained to the Board the letter to the County Treasurer requesting an advance tax draw. The Library receives the distribution in July and late December if no action is taken by the Library. This letter is requesting the County Treasurer give the Library a part of that money throughout the year.
Linda moved the Board approve the letter to the County Treasurer requesting an advance tax draw.
Fred Risinger seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
John presented the Investment Policy and said it was recommended. Sara explained there was an internal review. The report was received a few months ago. She indicated there isn’t a lot of creative license in this policy. She said Monroe County Public Library doesn’t take any risks with their investments. State law prohibits that the Library take risks. Sara said the investments are fully guaranteed by the United States Treasury.
John asked Sara if it has been reviewed and asked for confirmation that it had been signed.
Sara confirmed it has been reviewed and signed.
Janice Stockton moved the Board approve the Investment Policy.
Penny seconded the motion.
The motion was approved unanimously.
John said if the Board wishes they can turn this into an action item. The resolution was set into motion a few weeks ago. John explained the cards were to be turned into the Board for verification. He said the employees in favor of the union had requested a neutral party to verify the cards. While the Board was not obligated to honor that request, the Board chose to use a firm to complete the task. John said today we just received a report from Stampfley & Associates who completed the verification that 40 sufficient cards were received and only 30 were needed. He indicated there are exactly 100 eligible employees. John asked Sara if there were any other updates about collective bargaining.
Sara responded there are no other updates.
John explained the action item is to accept the report.
Penny asked John if the Board is passing the resolution re-establishing policies with this motion. Penny stated she doesn’t understand the motion.
John explained the Board would just be accepting the report.
Randy Paul asked if there are copies of the report.
There is one copy that is passed around to the Board members at the table.
Randy responded he would rather not vote on a report he has not seen. Randy asked Sara if the union representatives have looked at the report.
Sara said yes.
Randy said okay.
Sara explained the letter received called for an independent party to receive the cards as a neutral party. She indicated a meeting took place that morning at a local accountant’s office where the cards were received and counted. The Library’s legal council, Jim Whitlatch, was present at the meeting. Sara listed the other people present at the meeting. She indicated both parties were represented and agreed to the results of the count.
Randy said he doesn’t want to slow this matter down. He asked if there are any representatives here from the union.
No one has any objections, so Randy indicates he is “fine with it”.
John said others may want to deliberate more on this matter.
Tom Bunger came to the podium. He suggested the Board accept the report and move forward in the process.
With that the Board indicated it does have a motion to accept the report.
Janice seconded the motion.
There was a unanimous vote to accept the report, and the motion passed.
Randy asked John to fill him in on where the process goes from here. Randy asked if this report will go on to the Department of Labor.
Sara responded yes. It is estimated they will have 60-90 days. She said it is an outside estimate there. She said she believes what has to be negotiated is the process. There will be two poling places, one at the main branch and one at the Ellettsville branch. There will be forums for all staff. Sara indicated the dates are not set for the forums yet. She and her staff are in the process of collecting questions from department managers who are taking the questions from the staff as a whole. The next step is to work with the Department of Labor. Sara said they realize it is a very important decision to make.
Randy thanked Sara for the report.
John introduced Mark Mobley, Facilities Manager, as he approached the podium. Mark indicated the board members were all here for his last update in 2007. He said his department has added some security spots in the last few weeks. There are currently some custodian staff positions to be filled. Duties for the maintenance staff include: repairs to equipment, work on the grounds and the removal of snow in the wintertime. Mark said he helps as much as he can. He and his staff maintain the new tractor, the vehicles, help with the book route, and do any other jobs needed in the building within the maintenance area as they come up. Marks said the custodial duties are obvious; trying to keep the building clean. He indicated he has his custodial staff try to clean the bathrooms at least twice a day. He said security staff handles all the money going in or out of the Library. Mark said his staff helps the Library’s business office by making deposits. His department does have a procedure in place stating there are always two people assigned to money handling. So there are checks and balances in place. Mark indicated his staff pretty much completes any task that requires facility attention. He said they do try to keep facility staff on the first and second floor. His security staff makes routine patrols both in and outside the building. His goals for the department this year go along with the lists and Capital money Sara had and how she would like to spend it. Some of his priorities are the landscaping needs such as trees and the sprinkler system. Mark wants to paint and remove some of the grime outside entryways. He said they need to purchase a new machine called a “Billy Goat”. Mark would also like to ask the Board to have a quarterly landscaping service. Last fall, after Sara came, they had a trimming service come. The service provided help with mulching and trimming. This provides him and his staff the opportunity to concentrate on upkeep. Mark said he wants to work on signage for the Library; some of the current signs are eyesores. He would like to update them. Mark indicated a problem with tree roots growing and they are pushing up the sidewalk. He said this makes it difficult to push snow. He stated he certainly doesn’t want a patron to fall. Mark hopes to buy ashtrays that would be suitable to use outside the Library’s entrances. He has started an initiative with Lean Green Committee for recycling efforts. Mark has spoken with Stephanie Holman from the Ellettsville Branch to get other staff involved. He is probably going to be purchasing carts for the Library that will make it easier for recycling. He and his staff have made recent changes in the PC Center, due to matters that required security to step in. His staff moved some computers out of the PC Center and rearranged the remaining computers. So far it has helped and even the computers moved out to the main floor are seeing more use by patrons. He indicated it was a solution that didn’t cost anything, so it was worth a try.
Mark indicated Dennis found a company in Louisville, KY that will rebuild the HVAC controllers. This company says they can complete the task, and the company will guarantee it for 3 years. He said it is about 1/3 the cost of what it would be to replace them. Once the controllers are working and balanced, this should save the Library money. Mark would hope that it will at least be worth the expense. He can’t give an exact price yet, but considerably less than replacing everything. Another thing Mark would like for the Library is a water evaporation unit. He wants to check with the City. He indicated IU uses one. The cost of the meters and having them put in is only $2500. Mark indicated he has a company working on the Main Library’s roof. The company came in a few weeks ago and found where some leaks are. He is checking with local firms to see if they can match or beat the quote.
Mark would like to start replacing carpet in the Main Library. He would like to replace some of the carpets with some other materials that are easier to clean than carpet. He would be happy to give the Board his list of what he would like to see replaced first. Mark also indicated the 1993 green, Plymouth van the Library owns should be replaced and says is not worth repairing. Those are the kinds of initiatives he and his staff have. Mark would like to go forward and make some changes.
Randy responded that maintenance and security do a great job.
Mark thanked Randy for the compliment.
Randy asked if Mark would put a priority on carpeting.
Fred added that he would ask Mark to work with Sara and give the Board a plan.
Sara responded they have that on the list for the next work session.
Penny asked about the van.
Mark said it needs to be retired.
Sara said she wanted to remind the Board purchasing a van cannot be done with the Capitol Projects Fund but there may be money in the Rainy Day Fund.
Janice commented that the Curry truck facility had some very simple white box trucks or maybe a van without windows. She asked if that would be a consideration.
Mark said usually the Ford dealership is the place the Library has done business with and could again.
Mark said they utilize the van for other things as well.
John asked if it is a full size van.
Mark responded no.
Steve noticed a divider now between the two urinals and makes it more professional looking. One thing Steve would like to see is trash containers at Kirkwood entrance. The current trash containers need to be cleaned or be painted or whatever needs to happen to improve them.
Penny said facilities staff have done a wonderful job.
Mark said thank you.
John thanked Mark and his crew.
Sara added that some of facilities staff members have moved to nights. It has made an improvement in their ability to clean.
Penny said that could solve security issues too. Penny commented it was good that someone is in the building.
The Board asked The Friends of the Library representatives to provide an update, but they were not present at the meeting so the Board indicated it will review this agenda item at another meeting.
John asked for any old business. No old business was presented.
John asked for any new business. Sara said she wants to thank Linda from when Sara was on the Board herself. Sara said she also wants to thank one other person; that is Ginger Thomas. Sara said she is very sad to see Ginger go, but it is a job of a lifetime and it is going home for Ginger. In the time that Sara has been here, Ginger has been barometer for how staff was feeling. The staff felt she was a person they could talk to confidentially. Sara indicated the department is planning a pitch in for Ginger on January 25 if the Board members would like to come. They have posted Ginger’s job today at IU’s Business School and SPEA, H-T and the Society of HR Professionals Nationally.
Linda asked if it was with similar qualifications and experience.
Sara responded yes.
John said that is an important position for the Library and Ginger will be missed very much.
Rita Lichtenberg would like to thank the Board members. She is really amazed at the materials and papers, meetings and reports. As a member of the public, we really appreciate the place the Library holds in the community and the City and State. Rita asked the Board to consider very carefully who they appoint to the Board of Trustees. Rita then thanked Linda for her service on the Board. Rita also gave a suggestion; she appreciated that Steve has been very nice and inclusive and has allowed the public to speak more often than in past. She suggested that when a critical issue comes up, she would appreciate that after the discussion, but before the vote, that the public would be allowed to speak first.
John Walsh adjourned the meeting at 6:32pm.
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Updated:
March 5, 2008
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