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Bozeman Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting
Library Director’s Office
Bozeman Public Library
September 15, 2004
4:00 P.M.
ATTENDANCE
Trustees: Ron Farmer, Chair; Jerry Bancroft; Al Kesselheim; Marilyn King; Wendy Lewis, Foundation Development Director; Marcia Youngman, City Commissioner; Terri Dood, Staff; and Alice Meister, Director. Guests: Chris Kukulski, City Manager; James Goehrung, City Superintendent of Facilities and Public Lands; Jacki McGuire, Library Foundation Treasurer; and Walter Goldstein, Library Foundation President.
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 4:04 p.m. by Chair Farmer.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of the August 16, 2004 meeting were approved as submitted.
CORRESPONDENCE
Meister received a letter of thanks from Jeane Martin in California, who was pleased with the service provided her by Reference Librarian Beth Boyson. A letter of appreciation was received from Syracuse University thanking the Library for supervising Mary Ann Childs’ internship. The State Library sent a letter and per capita/per square mile check, which was $600 less than last year due to legislative budget reductions. Children’s Librarian Sue Howe received a rose as a thank you from a patron who expressed appreciation for Sue’s help and “loyal service to the children, the parents and to me.” Children’s Librarian Cindy Christin wrote the Foundation to thank them for sponsoring the “Creative Workshops for Children” in August, which were most successful. The Library also received a thank you from MSU for helping with Move-In Day 2004. Meister was asked by Superintendent of Schools Mike Redburn to join a Superintendent’s Advisory Council, which she plans to do. The Library
received a letter from NorthWestern Energy verifying that $140,200 had been committed to the new Library and funds extended through 2006 due to the delay in bidding. The Library is to notify NorthWestern after acceptance of the construction bids and finalization of the scope of energy conservation work to be implemented so that a contract can be created, which must be in place before construction commences. Comments from the public included a request to fix the latches on the women’s bathroom doors (which was done); a request for a purse hook in the women’s bathrooms; concern expressed about crossword puzzles being torn out of the Seattle Times; a request for a stool on wheels in the new book section (the Library is looking for one); and a request for more young adult books-on-tape.
FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY REPORT
The new public copier is in place thanks to the Friends. Their co-sponsored program with the Montana Center for International Visitors (MCIV) will be this evening and features “Montanans in the World: International Aid and Development Issues.” The Friends are planning their annual meeting on November 10 to honor Bozeman author Mary Murphy, who won this year’s Montana Book Award. Their next meeting will be Thursday, September 23 at 7:00 p.m.
FOUNDATION REPORT
Lewis reported that 200 people have pledged $3,200,00 toward the Foundation’s goal of $4,000,000. The Foundation plans more advertising using the design work of Mercury Advertising, including an ad on the stock page, to encourage people to donate money and stocks. The Foundation will call the Kresge Foundation during the week of October 25-29 in order to pursue a challenge grant. The next fund raising event entitled “Hoot & Howl @ Your Library” will be October 29 at the Library. Lewis asked the Trustees to consider early closure in order to prepare for the event. Action Bancroft moved that the Library close at 3:00 p.m. on October 29, Kesselheim seconded, and the motion passed. The Foundation is hosting a Staff Appreciation Breakfast at the GranTree Inn this Friday. Terry Collings, Executive Director of The Seattle Public Library Foundation, will be attending that breakfast and meeting with Lewis and Meister later in the day. The next Foundation meeting is Wednesday, October
13 at 8:30 a.m. at the Foundation Office.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Meister reported that the August circulation increased nearly 3% and that reference and information questions increased 33%. The monthly financial report shows 18% of the budget expended at 20% of the year completed. The total Project Report for the new Library showed $4,506,758.40 spent to date. In her Director’s Report, Meister reported that there will be a presentation of the new Library design by Mark Headley, now of StudioFORMA Architects, tomorrow evening at 7:00 p.m. City Manager Chris Kukulski will speak at the Staff Appreciation Breakfast this Friday. The September 11 event at the Library attracted approximately 40-45 people but was very meaningful and emotional to those presenting and to those in attendance. The panel discussion of individuals directly involved through
assistance in New York or DC after the catastrophe was taped and played on National Public Radio September 14, and there was excellent newspaper coverage. The Library appreciates the help of the Community Mediation Center, the American Red Cross, Friends of the Library, and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle as co-sponsors. Many people also registered to vote that day thanks to the efforts of Montana Women Vote and League of Women Voters. Cindy Christin is a member of this year’s Chamber of Commerce Leadership Bozeman 17 class. She and Renee Meyer will be presenting a workshop on Raising Readers @ the Library at the State Library Fall Workshop in Great Falls September 24-25. Four other staff members will also be attending these free workshops. The new State Librarian is Darlene Staffeldt, who has been with the State Library for many years; she will take over from Karen Strege on October 15. There will be a “Thank You and Farewell” reception for Strege on October 13 in Helena. The
Library Team participated in the MSU Move-In Day on August 25 and had a table at Catapalooza to promote Library services and programs as well as Library card sign-up month all this month. Mary Jo Stanislao will have a Library table at MSU today as part of “Into the Streets” to let students know more about volunteer opportunities. Inventory is completed, and training for migration to the new Sirsi automated system takes place September 28-30 with a Montana Shared Catalog meeting scheduled for October 1. There is a new “Books & Babies” program on Wednesday afternoons, which Renee Meyer will coordinate. The Library Book Group is off to a great start this year with 16 attendees and an article in this month’s Balance magazine for women. Terri Dood will present a class on business information to a Chamber business class on September 21. A new Learning @ the Library class on Microsoft Word starts
September 16. The Great Decisions Discussion Group starts up this fall on September 22 with a program on “Diversity in Islam,” which will be moderated by Dr. Tony Goodman. The Library will celebrate Banned Books Week September 25-October 2. Bancroft, Lewis, and Meister met with Senator Max Baucus’ Legislative Director Sara Roberts and Field Representative David Cobb on August 31 to discuss future federal funding. Due to it being an election year, there will be no appropriations until November at the earliest and possibly even February of next year. The Library should be in the annual Transportation Appropriation Bill and a Labor, Health and Human Services bill. Meister showed some prospective buyers around the present building on August 30. The Library will sponsor a program on raptors given by Michael Myers on September 27 as part of the Raptor Festival. There will be children’s stories on eagles on September
29 and a raptor art exhibit on display until October 15. Plans are underway for the USS Constitution exhibit “‘Old Ironsides’ Across the Nation” at the Library on October 9-10. Museum staff visited the Library on August 31 to prepare for placing the 5000 pound gun deck in the east parking lot. There will be a public program at the Museum of the Rockies on October 6 with a reception prior to the program and a workshop for teachers on October 5. Meister will be on vacation October 11-22. There was an incident where the janitorial staff had a dog in the Library, which left a pile of excrement in front of the Information Desk. The owner of Squeaky Clean apologized for the incident.
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION: CALA; BUILDING PROJECT; SALARY INCREASES FOR NON-MPEA STAFF
Meister reported on a conversation she had with Acting City Attorney Tim Cooper earlier today about the Controlled Allocation Liability Act (CALA). Cooper has heard nothing new from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) since he last asked about the Voluntary Cleanup Plan (VCP). MDEQ is still conducting its initial investigation regarding past owners of the East Main Street property (and more have been uncovered), so there is still time before the point of no return when percentages of blame will be assigned to the different owners. The CALA process is still proceeding. However, the priority level was raised from medium to high due to the asbestos found on Wallace Avenue. Resource Technologies Inc. has filed a petition for closure on the property which has been cleaned up. Goehrung is working with Maxim Technologies to sample the property where the wooden buildings are located. Once clearance is given to the site, five companies have expressed interest in
bidding on removing the buildings. Meister next brought up the possibility of pay increases for employees who do not belong to the Montana Public Employees Association (MPEA) due to the fact they work less than 20 hours per week. Last year the Trustees approved the following recommendations, which would affect eleven employees: “The substitutes and regular part-time staff would receive the following increases: 0 to 1 year: 0% increase; 1 to 2 years: 1% increase; 2 to 3 years: 2% increase; 3+ years: 3% increase. The raises would be retroactive to July 1, 2004.” Action After discussion, Kesselheim moved to approve this pay scheme with pay retroactive to July 1 of this year, King seconded, and
the motion passed. Bancroft distributed a sheet showing non-building costs paid to date, encumbered, or included in another item, which showed a surplus of $183,840. He also passed out a sheet showing land and building expenditures through August 27, 2004 of $4,506,758, which matched the City’s accounting. The current building design has been reduced by 8,500 square feet to a total of 44,000 square feet and also by degree of detail. The budget goal is $6,511,000 for the building or $148 per square foot and $800,000 for the site, totaling $7,311,000. However, Bozeman is a high cost area and the dramatic cost increases of construction materials caused the April bids to be high, and there is still concern this might affect the new bidding process designed for January, 2005. In a letter dated August 24, architect Mark Headley explained that neither the architectural firm nor Martel Construction as cost estimator has control over the cost of
labor, materials, or equipment, and that they both worked very hard to bring the project in within the budget and gave personal time to the project. Due to the major redesign, StudioFORMA Architects is asking for additional fees but also offering an in-kind donation of $200,000. Goehrung and Bancroft met with Headley, who was asked to reconsider his fees. The question is whether to sign a new contract with Headley, especially after the City Commission meeting on September 7 when the Commissioners felt the Library was still many dollars away from viable bridge financing by the City. However, there is a need to start the architect very soon in order to meet the January bid deadline. Goldstein noted a need to reduce space, not quality. Kukulski felt a majority of the Commissioners were willing to front the sale of the current building plus another $500,000. He asked if it was possible to go ahead and fund raise for the most desirable
building possible. Kesselheim felt the Commission meeting transpired in an unfortunate way, and the Commissioners were not yet prepared to deal with the funding issue. Youngman said she was unwilling to commit all the City reserve funds, as it puts every program at risk. More money does need to be raised, so that the Library can meet the Commissioners half-way. Lewis stated that this is a civic project but there is no strong sense of commitment from the Commission. If the project fails, it is a failure for the City and the community as well as for the Library, and that there has to be a way to make it a successful project for all concerned. After more discussion, it was decided to have a Finance Committee meeting to discuss the bridge funding. There will be a public meeting tomorrow evening to show the site plan, elevations and a 3-D rendering to the public in order to gauge community response.
BOARD MEMBERS’ AND CITY COMMISSIONER’S REPORT
Youngman suggested a corporate challenge campaign instead of putting the project off, which raises costs in the future.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There was none.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:10 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Thursday, October 7 at 4:00 p.m. in the Library Director’s office.
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