MINUTES

Board of Trustees Regular Meeting

Thursday, April 13, 2000

Traverse Area District Library

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

 

            The meeting was called to order at 5:03 p.m. by Vice President Brown.  Present were Brown, Senger, Maxson, Lawrence and Schermerhorn.  Mesch was absent.  Welch arrived at 5:15.  Also present were McGuire, Nowinski, Schneider, Buchanan and S. Bonhag (Staff).  Judson (Counsel) arrived at 5:30.

 

            Motion by Senger, supported by Maxson to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of March 9, 2000.  Carried.

 

            McGuire reported that the 500,000^th visitor to the new building had come through the doors sometime during the preceding weekend.

 

            McGuire suggested that the Policy Committee should meet to review the Meeting Room Policy, now that the Library has more than a year’s experience with the meeting room.

 

            McGuire introduced M. Kroes, tctv2 Coordinator, and suggested that the tctv2 Committee should probably meet again.

 

            Kroes reported that the tctv2 had met with representatives of Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District, who are willing to house tv2’s studios in their building if all the details can be worked out.  The tctv2 staff have found a contractor who’s willing to work with volunteers, so that the cost of converting space for studio use can be reduced.  The employees are working with architect R. Sommerville and looking for volunteers to do as much of the labor as possible.  McGuire mentioned that the Library’s agreement with the Cherry Capital Cable Council expires June 30 unless it’s renewed before then. 

 

In response to a question from Brown about paying for the costs of converting the space at TBA and moving the studios, McGuire and Kroes said that there are some funds in reserve and they could also use the money now budgeted for rent ($200/month), because TBA probably won’t charge rent.  They will need to work out the remainder of the funding.

 

            In response to a question from Schermerhorn regarding the time line for relocating the studios, Kroes, said that they would like to move during the summer when TBA is not in session.

 

Maxson reported that the Finance Committee had nothing to add to the February financial report that was included in the meeting packets.  Schermerhorn asked for and was given explanation of some of the budget line items.

 

There were no other committee reports.

 

Welch arrived, and Brown turned the meeting over to Welch.

 

J. Maxson, Peninsula Community Library, announced that PCL would be having a pancake breakfast at the Boathouse Restaurant on Sunday, April 30, 9:30-2:00, as a fundraiser for new shelving.  PCL was happy to receive a letter from the Friends of TADL Foundation granting $3000 for computers for the Member Libraries.  On behalf of the member and branch libraries, Maxson supported the rotation of TADL computers so that all of the libraries can have the same kind of equipment, and the equipment at the members and branches will be newer and less trouble-prone.

 

A report from Fife Lake Public Library was included in the meeting packets.  There were no other Member Library reports.

 

Motion by Maxson, supported by Lawrence to authorize payment in the amount of $28,113.60 to Mid-Michigan Library League for cooperative membership fees and processing charges.  Carried.

 

Motion by Brown, supported by Maxson to authorize payment in the amount of $423,006.25 to Old Kent Bank for bond principle, interest and fees.  Carried.

 

Motion by Senger, supported by Lawrence to adopt a letter of support of the Fife Lake Public Library’s efforts to build a new library facility.  Carried.

 

Motion by Brown, supported by Schermerhorn to enter into closed session immediately following public comment for personnel reviews, as requested by the affected employees, pursuant to Section 8(a) of the Open Meetings Act.  Motion carried on a unanimous roll call vote.

 

Shea Bonhag gave the trustees some background on the proposal to rotate and replace personal computers.  A written report was also included in the meeting packets.  Bonhag said that the Technology Department’s recommendation was to implement a three-year cycle for replacing computers.  The advantages of a regular upgrading cycle would be that all Member and Branch libraries would have consistent equipment; all PC’s at all libraries would be under warranty, and the heaviest-use machines would be replaced more frequently, so that down-time would be minimized.  In the first year of the cycle, the recommendation is to purchase 32 new Dell computers, placing 23 in the Computing Center, 4 in the Circulation Department, and 5 in the Reference Department.  The replaced computers would be distributed as follows:  2 to the email stations in the Computing Center, 26 to the members and branches, and 4 in the meeting room.

 

            Following discussion, motion by Maxson, supported by Senger to accept a proposal for the replacement of personal computers as presented, such funds to come from the equipment replacement fund.  After further discussion, motion by Brown, supported by Senger to amend the motion to state that the funds would come from the bond fund rather than the equipment replacement fund.  Amendment carried.  Motion carried as amended.  Brown and Welch requested that staff prepare for the next meeting a list of the equipment being replaced and a recommendation of what to do with all of it.

 

            The meeting was opened for public comment.  There was none. 

 

The meeting was recessed at 6:10 p.m. and reconvened at 6:32 p.m. following a Closed Session.

 

            Motion by Maxson, supported by Brown to approve various administrative employment agreements as proposed.  Carried. 

 

There was no further business.  The meeting was adjourned at 6:34 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Dawn Buchanan, Recording Secretary

John Welch, President

---

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

---