Library Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes

March 9, 2009

The St. Charles City-County Library District Board of Trustees met at 7:00 pm on Monday, March 9, 2009 at the McClay Road branch, 2760 McClay Road, St. Charles, Missouri.

Board Members present:

Board Members absent:

Library Staff present:

President Gary Heggs called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Five members responded to roll call.  Mr. Heggs opened the floor for public comments.  No requests for time were received.

MINUTES

Ms. Crook pointed out that she was listed as absent and in attendance at the February meeting.  The change was noted by the recording secretary.
MOTION:  Mr. Dohrman moved to approve the minutes of the February 9th meeting, as amended.  Ms. Lowery seconded.  Motion passed five affirmative, zero negative, zero abstentions, four absent.

Mr. Thoelke arrived at the meeting at approximately 7:10 pm.

REPORTS

 

Financial Report

Mr. Schultz referenced the financial packet that was mailed to each of the Board members in their packets.  He noted that the report was for two-thirds of the fiscal year.  The library district will have $20.3 million in cash and investments on-hand at year end.  Interest rates continue to decline.  The projection on investment revenues has been changed to under $250,000, mostly due to interest rates.  Other revenues should be close to projection.  Just a reminder to the Board members, especially those who are new, individual line items are not voted on by the Board, only totals.  Different individual items are brought to the Board throughout each fiscal year, but the total will remain the same.  This allows some flexibility within the budget. 

 

Director’s Report

In the interest of time, Mr. Sandstedt did not expand on the hotline included in the Board packet; however, he did introduce Martha Radginski, Branch Manager of the McClay Road branch.  Mr. Sandstedt had some very kind words for Ms. Radginski and her staff as well as the customer service success at her branch.

 

Special Report, Branch Manager’s
Martha Radginski, Branch Manager, McClay Road

Ms. Radginski welcomed everyone to the McClay Road Branch Library.   Ms. Radginski informed the Board that McClay has shared some patrons with the Kathryn-Linnemann branch especially during their re-construction.  Currently, the branch continues to weed their reference section as well as moving some things around in order to create more face-out space on the shelves.  This “face-out” technique is a very useful marketing tool.  A couple of facts unique to this branch are:

With the upcoming expansion of Spencer Road and the determination of an architect for the project, Mr. Sandstedt pointed out that this branch was built by Lepique and Orne.  Lastly, Mr. Sandstedt asked Ms. Radginski to tell the Board what works well in their branch as well as what doesn’t work so well.  The layout is good; there is adequate space in the circ and staff areas.  The high ceiling really helps create the effect of a larger building.  The largest area of opportunity is the HVAC unit and its setup.  This seems to be a concern in most of the branches.

 

Special Report - Development
Kristin Williams, Planning and Development Coordinator

Mr. Sandstedt has asked Ms. Williams to give a monthly update on Development within the district.  Ms. Williams shared examples of posters that will be used as displays in the branches.  These posters will help the Library Foundation maintain a presence in each of the branches in addition to creating awareness about the group.  The Foundation held its first ELA (Emerging Library Advocates) meeting in February.  There were twelve people in attendance, not bad for the first meeting of a new group.  From a grant-funding perspective, the Foundation has applied for a $2500 grant from the United Way and a $66,000 grant for the Time and Print Management software from the state.  Ms. Williams will be meeting with Denise Leibel from the Community Council, Carol Conner, and re-open negotiations for additional parking at Middendorf-Kredell over the next month.

 

Special Report - Work Loads at Branches,
Jim Brown, Branch Manager, Spencer Road

Mr. Brown handed out an additional summary sheet for the Work Loads report that is in the Board members’ handout folder this evening.  The summary is very self-explanatory.  The report is very detailed.  Here are a few key points to note:

Mr. Brown touched on these points and also invited anyone with any questions about the report to contact him.

 

Statistics
Betty Murr, Deputy Director

This is the monthly report on circulation and gate count.  Ms. Murr pointed out that Kathryn-Linnemann’s circulation continues to increase to before-construction status.  This month, their circulation was 65,345;   Middendorf-Kredell’s circulation was over 88,000.  Overall, the district’s circulation is up over 6% from last year.  Gate Count is up over 6.5% from last year.

 

Activities Report

Ms. Preiss pointed out the Spring program calendars in everyone’s handouts this evening.  The calendars include the children’s programs, teen programs, and adult programs.  Ms. Preiss also shared with the Board members what opportunities the staff is taking to interact with the community.

Ms. Nielsen, Adult Programming, took this opportunity to share the huge success of The Big Read as well as this year’s Adult Reading Program.  The Big Read “touched”, or “interacted”, with over 7,300 patrons.  They checked out over 1500 books; and the library district gave away 1300 copies of Call of the Wild.  There were 1500 people that did both The Big Read and the Adult Reading Program.  There were 7,633 people who signed up for the Adult Reading Program and 3,500 patrons completed the program.  This is approximately a 10% increase over last year.

OLD BUSINESS:
PRELIMINARY AGENDA

09-04 South County Branch Replacement

There is nothing new to report at this time.  We do not expect any updates until after the town election in April.  The vote is on April 7.  Ms. Nielsen passed out a copy of the letter that went out to voters sometime the week of February 23.  The letter confirmed that there will not be a tax increase to fund the changes to the South County branch.  The library district has been asked to create a letter confirming our commitment to this project.  Mr. Dohrman also recommended clarifying the $90,000 “contribution” mentioned in the letter already sent to the citizens, possibly in our commitment letter.  The letter should try to go out in the March 20th mailing and should be signed by Mr. Sandstedt.

09-30 Spencer Road Branch Replacement

Mr. Sandstedt announced that the RFQ (Request for Qualifications) is out and we are getting interest from several architects, even some that we did not plan on.  Included in the Board packet is an agenda memo that provides a timeline for the architect selection process. 

FORMAL AGENDA

Old Business

 

09-39 Policy #C232 - Library Cards

Ms. Murr handed out an agenda memo for the Board members to review prior to making their decision on the current library card policy.  Currently, there is some concern regarding the age requirement for a library card.  Ms. Murr indicated that the ball is back in the Boards’ hands at this point.  Mr. Sandstedt commented that he believes that most staff would like to keep the current policy.  Mr. Heggs suggested tabling the item again due to the fact that he himself did not even start thinking about this until a month ago.  Also, he feels like he just now has the information he needs to make an informed decision. 

MOTION:  Mr. Dohrman moved to table the library card item.  Ms. Haupt seconded.  Motion passed six affirmative, zero negative, zero abstentions, and three absent.

Mr. Noto, Information Technology Coordinator, reminded Mr. Heggs to please allow some lead time needed to implement any programming changes, if there are changes made to the current policy. 

NEW BUSINESS: FORMAL AGENDA

 

09-54 FY08 Audit (Botz Deal)

Mr. Schultz has not heard from the auditors.  Mr. Sandstedt commented that, in his opinion, the auditors had not put forth the manpower necessary for the audit.  Mr. Heggs asked Mr. Sandstedt to call them and move the process along.

CONSENT AGENDA

MOTION:  Mr. Dohrman moved to remove Agenda Item 09-57 FY10 Budget Markup—SB711 Budgeting Procedure from the Consent Agenda.  Mr. Thoelke seconded.  Motion passed six affirmative, zero negative, zero abstentions, and three absent.

 

09-55 Policy #C256.5 Videoconferencing

The policy update includes an online application process, a standardized procedure, the requirement of a ‘facilitator’, eliminating access to the Administration Building after hours, and formalizes the District’s policy of not providing ‘for-profit’ use if the equipment due to E-rate and MOREnet restrictions.

 

09-56 Policy #E544 - Sunday Personnel

This formalizes the compensation rate for Sunday personnel, both new employees and current employees.  The policy also clarifies the scale at which each individual level, or track, or employee shall be paid.

MOTION:  Mr. Dohrman moved to approve the Consent Agenda as amended.  Ms. Crook seconded.  Motion passed six affirmative, zero negative, zero abstentions, and three absent.

Preliminary Agenda

09-57 FY10 Budget Markup - SB711 Budgeting Procedure

Mr. Schultz passed out a copy of the letter received from the County Registrar’s office.  The letter provides aggregate values to be used for tax calculations for 2009.  There appeared to be some confusion over where the values came from exactly because they did not match some of the numbers of some of the Board members.  Included in the Board members’ packets is a copy of the projected tax bill that will be sent to all taxpayers by June 15, 2009.  This new SB711 law requires that taxpayers be given a “heads-up” on projected tax rates prior to receiving their tax bills.  Due to the fact that assessed values have decreased due to the economy, in order for the library district to maintain the current level of service, there is a possibility that the Library District may have to “roll up” the tax rate to generate enough income for 2009.  Currently, the tax rate for the library district is 19.46 cents.  The voters have already approved a rate of 26 cents.  Therefore, the roll up rate, if necessary, may be more than the 19.46 cents, but less than 26 cents.  Mr. Thoelke commented that we need to try to provide citizens with the worst case scenario.  Mr. Schultz agreed.  The final rate is not set until a tax rate hearing is held by the Library District later this year.  Actual 2009 tax bills will be issued in December of this year.  The information that will be mailed out to voters includes tax rates for the past 3 years, the projected 2009 tax, the voter-approved tax, and contact information for any questions.  It is the sense of the Board that Mr. Schultz provide a proposed rate that will allow the district to break even, or generate slight growth in income.  There is no motion or action needed from the Board at this time.

 

09-58 Budget Markup- Materials

Ms. Murr reviewed the agenda memo included in the Board packet along with the proposed materials budget.  The proposed budget for FY10 is $3,058,096.  This reflects an overall decrease of 3%, or approximately $90,000.   Mr. Heggs inquired as to why we are decreasing our proposed spending over last year.  Ms. Murr explained that Mr. Sandstedt is trying to hold tight on spending this year due to the current, and possible future, economic situation.  Mr. Heggs and several other Board members asked staff to reconsider reducing the budget from last year.  In addition, it will be difficult to know now whether a reduction is necessary until the entire budget is complete.

09-59 FY10 Budget Markup—2009 Salary Survey

Mr. Sandstedt passed out the current salary survey.  A few points to note from the survey:

The managers and coordinators attempted a meeting regarding staffing for the upcoming fiscal year.  Mr. Sandstedt indicated that his suspicion is a 1% increase on July 1, then possibly 1 or 2%.  Mr. Schultz and Ms. Cinco agreed that the district does not give many pay increases other than the annual increase.  Therefore, many staff salaries are maxed out and individuals only receive what the Board members approve for them.  Mr. Dorhman asked Ms. Cinco if she would mind, once we begin the personnel budget process, providing the Board members with some detailed information on how health care costs and salary increases have changed over the last several years. 

 

09-60 Intergovernmental Agreement - Washington Public and Scenic Regional

Mr. Noto handed out an agenda memo.  The agenda memo had an excerpt from the Scenic Regional Library Board meeting minutes from January 27, 2009.  There was also an excerpt from the Washington Public Library Board meeting minutes.  Both excerpts validated each individual entity’s intentions on the project—regardless of grant funding.  Both intend to proceed with the project regardless of the amount of the grant.

 

09-61 Board Orientation

Mr. Sandstedt asked the two newest Board members whether they would prefer an orientation in the Spring or after the new fiscal year, possibly August.  Ms. Lowery and Ms. Haupt indicated that they did not have a preference at this time.

MOTION:  Mr. Thoelke moved to adjourn.  Mr. Dohrman seconded.  Motion passed six affirmative, zero negative, zero abstentions, and three absent.

The meeting adjourned at 9:13 pm.

Respectfully submitted
April C. Wootten
Recording Secretary

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