BOARD MINUTES, 11 November 1999

MINUTES

Board of Trustees Regular Meeting

Thursday, November 11, 1999

Traverse Area District Library

(minutes are unofficial until approved by the Board of Trustees)

The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by President Welch. Present were Welch, Nelson, Maxson, Mesch, Brown, Senger and Pratt. Also present were Judson (Counsel), McGuire, Vreeland, Schneider and Buchanan (Staff).

Motion by Senger, supported by Mesch to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of October 14, 1999, and of the Study Session of October 28, 1999. Carried.

There was no administrative report.

Maxson reported that the Finance Committee had not met since the last meeting. He and Schneider met with the Fife Lake Public Library Board on Wednesday, November 10, and had a very productive discussion.

Nelson reported that the Personnel Committee had met briefly before the meeting to discuss an anonymous letter received by all the trustees regarding non-library work being done on Library time. They agreed that even though McGuire had assured the Board that any outside work done at the Library was not done on Library time or at Library expense, it is essential to avoid even the appearance of any impropriety. McGuire assured the Board that he will discuss this with the individuals involved and will make sure that this situation does not happen again. Pratt said that the Policy Committee will work on a policy to address this, with assistance from the Personnel Committee.

Judson reported that he and City officials are still working on the details of a lease for the Carnegie Building. He hopes to have a lease ready for Board action at the next regular meeting.

There were no other committee reports, and no Member Library reports.

Motion by Maxson, supported by Brown to terminate the month-by-month agreement with C&H effective November 30 and begin custodial services in-house. Following discussion by the Board, the meeting was opened for the cleaning companies that submitted bids to address the Board. Ron Lemcool of C&H and Joe Stepanovich representing Sierra Cleaning Co., addressed the Board regarding their services. Motion by Nelson, supported by Pratt to table until the next regular meeting the motion to terminate the agreement. Motion carried with Maxson dissenting.

Motion by Nelson, supported by Senger to notify the Cherry Capital Cable Council of the Library’s desire to amend the public access agreement effective December 31 and to continue to perform administrative duties on a month-by-month basis after that date. Carried.

Motion by Senger, supported by Nelson to accept the architect’s recommendation regarding release of construction retainage and authorization of the final payment. Carried.

The meeting was opened for public comment. A. Burns of the Friends of the Library reported that the Friends’ Board has voted to buy a $3000- $4000 sculpture by a local sculptor for the Children’s Garden. K. Parker inquired as to the status of plaques honoring the donors to the new building. (McGuire hopes to have this taken care of by the first anniversary of the opening of the new building.) M. Vreeland reported that several staff attended the annual Michigan Library Association conference, which was in Dearborn this year. The conference was worthwhile, and Traverse City’s Jerry Dennis was honored as Michigan Author of the Year. B. Parker reported that League of Women Voters’ library committee is still active and will be meeting with a committee of the County Commission for interviews with applicants for the open County-appointed Library trustee position. M. Kroes reported that he had met with a college representative who felt that the college would be comfortable with tctv2 staying there until at least June 2000. R. Schneider reported that a new State Librarian for Michigan has been chosen. She was previously Assistant State Librarian in Iowa, and he knew her there.

There was no further public comment.