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Bozeman Public Library Board of Trustees Regular Meeting
Library Director’s Office
Bozeman Public Library
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
4:00 P.M.
ATTENDANCE
Trustees: Ron Farmer, Chair; Holly Brown; Al Kesselheim; Marilyn King; Chris Mehl, Foundation Board; John Gallagher, Friends Board; Lois Dissly and Terri Dood, Staff; and Alice Meister, Director. Guests: James Goehrung, City Facilities Superintendent; and Mark Johnson, Resource Technologies Inc.(RTI).
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 4:05 p.m. by Chair Farmer.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Brown moved to approve the minutes of the July 19 and August 16, 2006 meeting, Kesselheim seconded, and the motion passed 3-0 (King joined the meeting later).
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION: NON-MPEA SALARIES; CALA UPDATE; PROJECT COSTS AND APPROVAL OF BIDS; MEMORANDUMS OF UNDERSTANDING
Chair Farmer changed the agenda so that “Items for Discussion” could be first. Meister reported that the Montana Public Employees Association (MPEA) had recently completed a salary survey and had established a hourly mid-point range. Library employees who are not MPEA members due to working fewer than 20 hours a week would be affected by this range, as some of their salaries already exceed the mid-point range. Meister was informed by Human Resources Director Pattie Berg that the Trustees should consider freezing those salaries and not automatically increasing them annually. Only five of the non-MPEA employees (Susan Anderegg, Camille Jackson, Mary Keefer, Renee Meyer, and Nancy Rosen) have salaries not exceeding the hourly mid-point range; Meister recommended that they receive their
annual salary increase based on the number of years worked. The Trustees approved her motion as presented. Goehrung noted that the contract with Mergenthaler needs to be massaged to cover more moving days than what is indicated in the contract. He also said that CTA LandWorks will have their plans out for bid soon, as they have been approved by the Montana Department of Transportation. The bulk of the landscaping is planned for spring; extra items though could be put in as alternates. He recommends a natural evolution be allowed to occur as far as adding extra items in order to see what is needed, since three years of expenditure are allowed as part of the highway transportation bill. Goehrung said that he and his assistant Pat Wold will be attending the training for the mechanical system. There will be a punch list meeting on October 3 to identify any and all items which need attention. There will be many leftover materials, such as
flooring, tile, paint, and so forth that will need to be stored. The roofing panels will go to the City Yards. The City needs to conduct formal inspections before temporary and final occupancy can occur. Mark Johnson from RTI had been invited to discuss CALA (the Controlled Allocation of Liability Act) through the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ); his firm had done the initial investigation and submittal of the Library’s Voluntary Clean-up Plan (VCP) to DEQ. He had recently met with Cindy Brooks, a DEQ lawyer, and Colleen Owen, the new case manager assigned to the library site. They reported that CALA notification letters will be sent soon, and the process will proceed unless the City withdraws. The City can pursue reimbursement for clean-up expenses from the MDEQ Orphan Share Fund, a special revenue fund established to pay for the share of clean-up costs that would be attributed to bankrupt or defunct polluters. These
funds are available to the lead party responsible for site clean-up. Through CALA, the potentially liable parties (PLPs) that are willing to participate in the process work together to select an allocator that assigns liability for site contamination on a percentage basis. Bankrupt or defunct entities are assigned the Orphan Share, which is now at a $4,000,000 level. There are three PLPs (Harrington, Empire, and Story Distributing Property) and five properties; clean-up is needed on these properties. CMC is now in bankruptcy proceedings, which means the indemnification given them by the Library is no longer applicable. Johnson felt there was the possibility of $1,500,000 to $1,800,000 that could be released from the Orphan Share if all properties are cleaned. The CALA letters will have a deadline attached to them and the VCP is due to expire a year from now, so little time remains to take advantage of the Orphan Share fund. The City
must take the lead in coordinating with the other property owners, and MDEQ would prefer to distribute money to a public entity such as the Library. Johnson encouraged the Trustees to continue the coordination effort with the neighboring property owners in order to take advantage of the Orphan Share; there is a possibility that the City might be held responsible for cleaning up the other properties however. Chair Farmer thanked Johnson for his report, and Johnson left the meeting. Farmer asked Goehrung for the opportunity to peruse CTA LandWorks’ plans. The Trustees agreed to eliminate the pathway through the plaza along with the steps. The Peets Hill Parking Lot is all right with its 30 spaces but might need to landscape after 10 spaces however. The stage is all right but more functionality needs to be added. Farmer asked that Goehrung add these changes to the plans. The memorandum of understanding between the City Commissioners and
the Trustees regarding the remainder of the project debt is still being negotiated.
CORRESPONDENCE
Meister received a thank you from a patron who had lost an item and been notified by the staff that it was at the Library. Editor Valerie Harms of Distinctly Montana Magazine had asked Kesselheim to write an article and then requested Meister furnish pictures in November to accompany the article. Library Aide II Judy Corcoran submitted her resignation effective October 13 after thirteen years of working at the Library. Several patrons had indicated dissatisfaction with the overdue notices that were inadvertently sent to all patrons of the Montana Shared Catalog, but one patron thanked Library staff for explaining what happened. Meister received an e-mail from the Paul Allen Family Foundation representative who had toured the Library and commented that “It’s really quite
breathtaking.” An out-of-town patron thanked the reference staff for giving him guest passes to check his business e-mail. A patron was confused about our sign regarding Sunday hours and suggested a change in wording. Another patron suggested that there be an additional display area for books that are
going from new fiction status to the shelves so that patrons can have newer materials for longer than 7 days. He also noted that, “All library employees deserve a raise!” Meister brought several workshops to the attention of the Trustees, including the 2006 Library Board Education Program (LBEP).
FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY REPORT
Gallagher reported that the Friends are still negotiating a lease with Wild Joe’s Organic Coffee shop. One recent stipulation is that there be a five year lease arrangement with provisions for a three year renewal. The Friends are still figuring how much money is needed to finish out the basement storage unit in the new Library. They are also setting up a process for selling the used books in the coffee/book shop space. Currently they are seeking new Friends Board members; one possibility is Mary Doyle who works for the Community Food Co-Op. Paula Beswick will probably be leaving the Friends Board at the end of this year. Gallagher is also working on the memorandum of understanding between the Trustees and the Friends and will copy Brown on any changes. The Friends are
pursuing printing the history of the Library book, which Phyllis Smith recently completed. They will probably reduce the number of copies printed though they plan to sell them in the book store. The next Friends meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 3 at 6:30 p.m.
FOUNDATION REPORT
Mehl reported that he is chairing the Grand Opening Committee, which is meeting regularly to set up the events of November 12 and the following week. He is also working on the sixteen-page insert that will come out in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle shortly before the Grand Opening on November 12. The next meeting of the Library Foundation is Thursday, October 12 at 8:30 a.m. in the new Library Board/Staff Conference Room.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Meister reported that the circulation for August increased 9.72% over last year’s circulation. Website visits increased 27.21%, and door traffic was up 1.15%. To date the new Library Project Activity shows $12,981,927.91 received in revenues with expenses of $14,811,044.27, leaving a deficit of $1,829,116.36 (the Foundation still owes $1,200,000 for its commitment to the City). At 20.8% of the fiscal year completed, the Library has spent 18.49% of its budget, leaving 81.51% yet to spend. The Library staff is gearing up for the move, which is planned to last from October 9-November 5. On October 8 from 2-6 p.m., there will be the Book Brigade to transport approximately 6,000 children’s books down East Lamme to Broadway to the new building. There will be refreshments, t-shirts,
and a celebration of the current building, which has been used for 25 years. Patrons can check out materials as late as October 7; materials are not due for eight weeks but cannot be renewed. Patrons can return these materials to the present building. Staff is also encouraging patrons to use the other public Gallatin County libraries and MSU Renne Library during the interim. Staff are preparing to order equipment for the new Library and also making plans for the Grand Opening week’s events. The MSU College of Technology-Great Falls Technology Center is planning on offering short workshops in the new computer lab that week. Cindy Christin, Ginny Cowan, and Liz Babbitt will be attending workshops at the State Library Fall Conference in Lewistown September 22-23. Meister will be attending the Montana Shared Catalog meetings on October 5-6 in Helena. Christin will also be attending the Montana Library Association Conference Planning
Committee meeting in Helena October 6. The Reference Department has completed the weeding of adult materials this week. A Reference USA database representative will be teaching a mini-workshop to staff on September 22. Copies of the Final Report of the City Local government Study Commission are available at the reference desk. Catherine McMullen and Nancy Hatfield have been hired as Library Assistant II substitutes to assist in reference; both have received the Montana State Library PEEL scholarships to work toward their master’s in library and information science through the University of Washington. Judy Corcoran, who works in circulation, will retire October 13, and McMullen plans to work half-time in circulation. Consequently there will be a full-time Library Aide II position open in circulation soon. Dood plans to meet with new Belgrade Community Library Director Gale Bacon about Belgrade Library helping out during the month our
Library is closed and to orient her to Montana practices. Reference Librarian Katie Biehl plans to provide training for the Belgrade staff in October. Reference Librarian Beth Boyson is working with the Human Rights Task Force about donating materials to the Library to commemorate Human Rights Day this December 10. Boyson has chosen titles which have been submitted to the Task Force for the board members’ consideration. Meister has prepared a Library Needs List of items not yet funded for the new Library. There was an incident involving a patron at one of the Internet stations viewing pornography; he was warned not to repeat this. Another patron was banned from the Library as he was bothering other patrons and not wearing shoes.
BOARD MEMBERS AND CITY COMMISSIONER’S REPORTS
There was none.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There was none.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 5:32 p.m. The next regular Library Board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 18 at 4:00 p.m. in the new Library Board/Staff Conference Room.
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