Board of Trustees Regular Meeting

Thursday, February 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, Senger, Nelson, Maxson, Brown and Mesch. Pratt was absent. Also present were Judson (Counsel), McGuire, Nowinski and Buchanan (Staff).

Motion by Nelson, supported by Senger to amend the agenda to include under New Business, item f.: Consideration of a recommendation by the Finance Committee regarding spending limits; and, as item g.: Consideration of changing the hours at the new library on Woodmere. Carried.

Senger asked that the minutes of the January 14, 1999, regular meeting be amended to reflect that he (Senger), not Mesch, supported the nomination of Welch for President. Also, in the minutes of the January 28 study session, the name Marilyn Black should have been Marilyn Vlach. Motion by Senger, supported by Brown to approve the minutes of the January 14, 1999, Regular Meeting and the January 28, 1999, Study Session as corrected. Carried.

Welch presented Senger with a Certificate of Appreciation for his leadership during the last two years.

Brown asked about the status of the punch list. McGuire said that it is completed except for some exterior items that can’t be done until spring, and the carpet and tile issue, which is still unresolved.

Senger reported that the Carnegie Committee met with City officials to discuss the possible uses of the Sixth Street building. There was no firm direction from that meeting. There are still questions that need to be answered before any decision can be made.

Maxson reported that the Finance Committee met Tuesday, February 9, to review the year-end financial reports. The Library ended 1998 with a surplus of $439,511.00 before any transfers to reserves. The Finance Committee would like to meet with the auditors before they begin the audit. Also, the committee is looking at revising the check-signing procedure.

With regard to the January financial report, there are already some significant variances from the budget, but the committee would like to postpone budget adjustments until the end of the quarter, after more experience in the new building.

There were no other committee reports.

McGuire reported that the Library received a letter from City Manager Richard Lewis in response to the Library’s letter to the City regarding the need for improvements for pedestrian access across Woodmere.

Welch reported that he received a copy of a letter from Long Lake Township to Peninsula Community Library thanking PCL for offering books weeded from PCL’s collection to the Long Lake Township Reading Room.

Motion by Senger, supported by Nelson to table until the next regular meeting consideration of establishing a branch library in Long Lake Township. Carried. Maxson requested that this item be ready for action at the next regular board meeting.

Motion by Brown, supported by Nelson to authorize payments as follows:

• to Bay Supply and Marketing in the amount of $7,109.86 for the design and purchase of book bags;
• to C & H Maintenance in the amount of $5,788.70 for janitorial services provided at Woodmere, Sixth Street and East Bay;
• to the City of Traverse City in the amount of $5,811.89 for utilities;
• to EDS in the amount of $126,474.66 for the purchase of desktop computers;
• to Michigan Library Consortium in the amount of $19,208.85 for the purchase of scanning and sensitizing equipment for the security system;
• to Minolta in the amount of $9,156.00 for the purchase of photocopiers; and
• to NorthMed in the amount of $8,720.91 for health care premiums.

Motion carried.

Motion by Maxson, supported by Senger to accept an offer from aai to study various uses of the Sixth Street facility. Carried.

Motion by Senger, supported by Brown to appoint a committee of Senger, Mesch and McGuire to explore the possibility of placing tctv2 under the Library; and, to request that the Cherry Capital Cable Council appoint two members to the committee; and, also to ask that Mike Kroes, tctv2 Coordinator, be a part of that committee. Carried.

Motion by Brown, supported by Nelson to refer to the Policy Committee a review of the Library’s Gifts and Donations policy. Carried.

Motion by Nelson, supported by Maxson to enter into closed session immediately following public comment to discuss strategy for negotiations concerning the pending collective bargaining agreement between the Library and Teamsters Local #214, as requested by McGuire on behalf of the Library, pursuant to Section 8(c) of the Open Meetings Act. Results of the roll call vote were as follows:

Senger – yes

Maxson – yes

Welch – yes

Brown – yes

Mesch – yes

Nelson – yes

Motion carried unanimously. 

Motion by Maxson, supported by Brown to amend the Budget and Disbursement Policy to increase the Director’s discretionary spending limit to $15,000 per payer per month. Following discussion, Maxson and Brown amended their motion to change the limit to ½ of 1% of the operating budget instead of a set dollar limit. Motion carried as amended.

Motion by Nelson, supported by Brown to change the scheduled hours open at the Woodmere Library as follows: Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Carried. Brown suggested doing counts at various times, especially near closing times, to determine usage.

The meeting was opened for public comment. The following people addressed the Board: C. Kennard, regarding aai’s review of the Sixth Street building; E. Long, applauding Peninsula Community Library’s spirit of cooperation with the Long Lake Township Reading Room; and D. Templeton, regarding funds for bringing the Sixth Street building up to code.

There was no further public comment. The meeting was recessed at 6:30 p.m. Following a Closed Session, the meeting reconvened at 7:05 p.m. There was no further business, and the meeting was adjourned at 7:05 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Dawn Buchanan, Recording Secretary
John Welch, President

[ Home ] [ Policies / Special Services ] [ Other Meeting Minutes ]

© 2003 Traverse Area District Library Questions and Comments: libadmin@tadl.tcnet.org                                       Last Modified: 06/19/03 by Webster

This system operates under the conditions set forth in the Traverse Community Network Acceptable Use Policy.