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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-03-2018 minutes COLUMBIA HEIGHTS PUBLIC LIBRARY 3939 Central Ave NE, Columbia Heights, MN 55421 BOARD OF TRUSTEES: MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, October 3rd, 2018 Approved 11/7/2018 The meeting was called to order in the History Room by Chair, Patricia Sowada, at 5:32pm. Members present: Patricia Sowada, Catherine Vesley, Stephen Smith, Nancy Hoium, and Tricia Conway (Absent: Robert “Bobby” Williams). Also in attendance: Renee Dougherty (Library Director), Nick Olberding (Recording Secretary), and Margo Ashmore (Northeaster). The Minutes of the September 5th, 2018 Board Meeting were approved. Bill List dated September 12th, and 26th, 2018, were reviewed. Each was individually moved, seconded, and approved. Accounting Sheet as of September was reviewed, and approved (63% spent in 75% of the year, not counting Sept. utilities/wages). • Questions and discussions based on Bills and Accounting: • Cool Air: Public Works does not plan to contract with them anymore, now that warranties have expired. • Spaghetti Dinner: Successful event; 225 tickets sold. • Gas (3830): Overspent; budget proposed to be increased next year. Monthly billing is in real-time, not averaged throughout the year. • Repair & Maintenance (4000): Is overspent due to the AMH Maintenance Contract renewal that was allocated to last year, but Finance decided it should be applied to 2018 budget because coverage was for 2018. • Building Maintenance (4020): Accounts for a larger cost because of bigger building and site with more sophisticated systems--HVAC, snowmelt, security, and increased landscaping (which needs more maintenance for several years until plantings establish themselves). • Information Systems (4040): Increasing over the years due to 3x the amount of workstations, plus other more advanced technology. The city changed the way it handles IT costs, in that it is charging labor back to the departments, rather than expensing it from the City’s administrative fund. Old Business: • Report on 2019 Budget Proposal Presentation at City Council Work Session: First, a snapshot of some statistics: From 2016 to 2017—visits increased 4.8%, meeting room use increased 50%, items borrowed increased 6.5%, and computer use increased 33%. 2017 to 2018 library visits are slightly down, but borrowing and meeting room usage is up, while computer use has remained the same. Board Members received a copy of the 2019 Proposed Library Budget. A budget increase of 5.3% is requested to cover these 3 areas: Personnel, Utilities, and Information Services. o Personnel: Due to turnover, half the staff is still working through the pay range steps, which adds instability to personnel costs; turnover also contributed to under-expending the personnel budget because it left gaps in several positions during the hiring process. o Utilities: We are still working on establishing a baseline for utility expenses, due to the new building. 2017 was the first full year in the new building, so utility budget increases will be based on actual usage from that year: 5% over actuals for gas/electric, and 2.5% over actuals for water/sewer. o Information Services: The City has been phasing in a new method of allocating IT service cost to the departments, so the increase for the library has been dictated by the City, based on a range of factors like number of workstations. During the Council work session, members inquired about E-Books, Meeting Room usage, and AV Systems (because of an unfortunate issue with the Community Room projector during a meeting, before staff were on -hand to help). • Preliminary Report of Community Room Usage: Library uses the room a substantial amount of time for programs-- approximately 315 hours of use from Jan-Aug, which was equal to the number of hours that community members used it. The City used it 43 hours, which included elections. Additionally, the room was vacant for 1800 open hours, and received $800 in after-hours booking fees ($25/hour). In the past there has been talk of raising the afterhours rate; to be revisited in the future. Tonight, Tricia brought up the idea of charging for the room at all times for non- city/library use. This idea was met with mixed feelings: feels against library ideals and seem petty, might deter usage and create a barrier, may create expectations that we should set-up/takedown room for them, and would not generate enough revenue to be worth it. Something that may be revisited when rates are discussed again… • City Services Expo Request: Saturday, March 2nd, 2019, 11-2. The now defunct North Metro Community Home & Garden Show (hosted in Blaine at the National Sports Center), which the City participated in will be replaced by a Columbia Heights City Services Expo in the Library Community Room. Each department will be in attendance, as well as groups like City Commissions, Boards, and possibly community groups like Sister Cities and HeightsNEXT. Catherine expressed interest in being there on the Board’s behalf; it will be discussed again as the date approaches. New Business: • Northeaster Photo Contest (CHPL Arts Advisory Committee Review Session…10/6): Submission deadline was October 1st, and it resulted in 106 entries. Margo has gone through them, numbered them, and sorted into preliminary categories. This Saturday will be a meeting of the CHPL Public Arts Advisory Committee, which will be held to go through the entries, and make the selections for the photo exhibition held in conjunction with the Library Open House in December. Saturday’s meeting is open to the public, although only specific people will be making the selections; it begins at 11am, and will be in the History room (unless attendance forces it to be moved to the Community Room). • Monument Sign Update: Ground has been broken, and footings have been installed. Unsure of the timeline, due to uncertain weather, and all of the rain in the forecast, but progress is being made. It should be operational before most of our Anniversary events occur. Items from the Floor: • Library’s 90th Anniversary History Program: Saturday, October 13, 1pm. • Tips for Using Ancestry.com: Monday, Oct 15, 6pm. • Healthy Life, Healthy You (Nutrition on a Budget): Monday, October 29, 5pm. • Anoka County Homelessness Audit: Thursday, October 25th. CHPL will be one of Anoka County’s monitoring sites. Staff is not required to do anything (Anoka County should have a representative here). Homeless individuals may visit to take a survey, and receive vouchers for services and other benefits. There being no further business, a motion to adjourn was made at 6:28pm by Patricia Sowada, and seconded. Respectfully submitted, Nicholas P. Olberding Recording Secretary, Library Board of Trustees The City of Columbia Heights does not discriminate on the basis of disability in the admission or access to, or treatment or employment in, its services, programs, or activities. Upon request, accommodation will be provided to allow individuals with disabilities to participate in all City of Columbia Heights services, programs, and activities.