BAORD MINUTES, 11-April, 2002

MINUTES

Board of Trustees Regular Meeting

Thursday, April 11, 2002

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 Brown. Present were Brown, Mesch, Welch, Lawrence, Maxson, Quick and Luyt. Also present were Judson (Counsel), McGuire, Nowinski, Schneider and Buchanan (Staff).

Brown introduced new trustee Gregory Luyt, city appointee replacing Schermerhorn.

Motion by Welch, supported by Mesch to approve the minutes from the Regular Meeting of March 14, 2002. Carried.

McGuire reported that he is participating in a group called Link Michigan, which is made up of representatives from local governmental units, non-profit agencies, schools, Northwestern Michigan College, businesses and utilities. The group has decided to apply for a grant to study how to increase the communications bandwidth coming into this area. The grant request will be for $100,000, with another $33,000 to be contributed by the participating entities.

The Library of Michigan has asked McGuire to serve on a focus group formed to revise the State Aid report.

The Library has received Gosling-Czubak's report on the removal of the underground storage tank from the Sixth Street facility. Counsel is still reviewing the report.

The Eagle's Club recently donated $500.00 for large print books. They have donated funds for large print books for the last several years.

Delta Dental insurance rates will only increase 3% for the plan year beginning June 1, 2002.

Quick reported that the Facilities and Services Committee recently received a letter from City Manager Richard Lewis regarding tctv2. One of the issues in the letter had already been resolved, and McGuire has informed Lewis of that. The Cherry Capital Cable Council will soon begin negotiations with Charter Communications for renewal of the franchise. Quick suggested that the TADL Board should determine how long TADL wants to continue overseeing tctv2. This might require a study session. Brown directed McGuire to work with Kroes to develop a financial projection for ten years and to find a time to schedule a study session.

Welch reported that the Facilities and Services Committee met with the Breton Group, the architect, and representatives of the various groups to be involved in the feasibility study. Welch and Maxson both thought the meeting went well. The next meeting is scheduled for April 29. A draft of the intergovernmental agreement was included in the meeting packets. It was requested that trustees review the agreement and get any comments to either Judson or Quick by April 22.

Maxson reported that the Finance Committee had met to discuss ways to handle money that comes in at the beginning of the year (which is most of the Library's funding) so that the money works for the Library but still provides for sufficient liquidity throughout the year. A financial report for February was included in the meeting packets. Maxson corrected a mathematical error on the report.

Mesch reported that information from the study session for the Director's evaluation was handed out to the trustees prior to the meeting. A special meeting was scheduled for Monday, May 6, at 5:30 p.m. to complete the evaluation. McGuire requested that this meeting be a closed session. Mesch asked that any comments on the evaluation be submitted to her by April 24.

Judson said that he would be sending a memo to all trustees in which he would suggest that a policy be established for control of the confidentiality of closed session minutes.

Lawrence said that the Policy Committee and Counsel had completed work on the by-laws. Once the by-laws were signed by the Secretary, a copy would be sent to all trustees.

Connie Downey, Fife Lake Public Library, reported that FLPL will be staying open until 8:00 on Thursday evenings for the next two months and offering something special each Thursday. If this works out well, they may begin staying open one or two evenings a week on a regular basis.

There were no other Member Library reports.

Kage reported that the Friends' annual membership meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 7, at 5:30. State Librarian Christie Brandau will be the speaker for the meeting. All trustees are invited. Four new members are joining the Friends Board. This will be the first time in several years that all of the seats on the Board are filled. The Gift Shop will open June 1, with a Grand Opening June 14. Schermerhorn was the TADL Board's liaison to the Friends Board, so a new liaison needs to be appointed. Brown asked for volunteers. Quick expressed interest and was appointed by Brown.

Brown reported that he had received a letter from the Village of Fife Lake requesting a meeting between representatives from the TADL Board and from the Village. Brown asked McGuire to set up this meeting.

Motion by Welch, supported by Maxson to go into closed session immediately following public comment to review strategies for contract negotiations with Teamsters Local 214, pursuant to Section 8(c) of the Open Meetings Act. Roll call vote was as follows:

Welch - yes Maxson - yes

Lawrence - yes Quick - yes

Brown - yes Luyt - yes

Mesch - yes

Motion carried.

Motion by Welch, supported by Maxson to enter into the proposed Custom Service Agreement with Ameritech dated March 21, 2002. Carried.

Motion by Maxson, supported by Lawrence to authorize payment in the amount of $472,431.25 to Fifth Third Bank for bond principle, interest and fees, to be paid from the Debt Service Fund. Carried.

Motion by Quick, supported by Mesch to enter into an agreement with Richmond, Inc., for architectural services related to the prototypical branch library project at a cost not to exceed $7,500, subject to approval as to substance by the Library Director and as to form by Counsel; and to amend the General Fund budget, increasing Professional Services by $7,500 and reducing the General Fund fund balance by the same amount. Carried.

The meeting was opened for public comment. Nowinski brought to the trustees' attention a flyer included in the meeting packets listing May events. She added information on the May displays. Downey thanked Bonhag for an earlier compliment on FLPL's Thursday programs and corrected some information she had given earlier.

There was no further public comment. The meeting was recessed at 6:17 p.m. and reconvened in closed session at 6:20 p.m. The closed session was adjourned and the open meeting reconvened at 6:42 p.m. There was no further business. The meeting was adjourned at 6:42 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,