FONDULAC DISTRICT LIBRARY

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING

August 29, 2005

Vice President Herring called the Budget and Appropriation Hearing to order at 6:35 p.m. Members present were Mr. Brimberry, Mrs. Cole, Mrs. Herring, Mr. Johnston and Mr. Lasswell. Also present were Ms. Falasz-Peterson, Director, Miss McKeever, Assistant Director and Mrs. Geier, Administrative Assistant. There was some discussion on the budget. M/S/P (Johnston/Lasswell) to close the Budget and Appropriation Hearing at 6:50 p.m.

Members of the Fondulac District Library Board of Trustees met in regular session on Monday, August 29, 2005. Vice President Herring called the meeting to order at 6:50 p.m.

On roll call the following members were present: Mr. Brimberry, Mrs. Cole, Mrs. Herring, Mr. Johnston and Mr. Lasswell. Also present were Ms. Falasz-Peterson, Director, Miss McKeever, Assistant Director and Mrs. Geier, Administrative Assistant. Mr. Mingus was absent.

M/S/P (Johnston/Lasswell) to accept the minutes of the July meeting of the Board of Trustees.

The library statistical report showed receipts of $5,396.32 for August. There was a decrease in circulation for July.

The bills were presented for payment.

M/S/P (Johnston/Lasswell) to accept the Treasurer’s Report and payment of bills subject to audit.

Treasurer’s Report:

GENERAL FUND CHECKING

07/25/05 Balance 424,247.15

07/28/05 Checks issued – Payroll (18,457.20)

07/28/05 Payroll taxes (3,232.93)

07/28/05 Transfer – Checking to Investment (401,000.00)

07/29/05 Deposit – Fines, fees, misc. 332.05

07/31/05 Interest 3066700474 14.47

08/05/05 Deposit – Fines, fees misc. 484.49

08/05/05 Deposit – LSTA Grant 3,225.42

08/09/05 Transfer – Investment to checking 15,500.00

08/11/05 Checks issued – Payroll (19,556.89)

08/11/05 Check issued – Walmart (103.20)

08/11/05 Deposit – Fines, fees, misc. 353.55

08/19/05 Deposit – Fines, fees, misc. 657.88

08/22/05 Transfer – Investment to checking 19,000.00

08/25/05 Checks issued – Payroll (19,940.74)

08/25/05 Checks issued – Life Insurance (52.00)

08/25/05 Deposit – Fines, fees, misc. 242.93

08/29/05 Checks issued – Bills (26,070.47)

08/29/05 Transfer – Investment to checking 25,500.00

08/29/05 Balance 1,144.51

GENERAL FUND SAVINGS

07/25/05 Balance 3,495.40

07/31/05 Interest 3619307057 .30

08/29/05 Balance 3,495.70

GENERAL FUND INVESTMENT

07/25/05 Balance 23,153.33

07/28/05 Transfer – Checking to Investment 401,000.00

07/31/05 Interest 7139120393 208.82

08/08/05 Deposit – Replacement taxes 12,433.67

08/09/05 Transfer – Investment to checking (15,500.00)

08/18/05 Transfer – Investment to Working Cash (3,225.42)

08/22/05 Transfer – Investment to checking (19,000.00)

08/29/05 Transfer – Investment to checking (25,500.00)

08/29/05 Balance 373,570.40

WORKING CASH FUND

07/25/05 Balance 258,083.35

07/31/05 Interest 7139120401 678.96

08/18/05 Transfer – Investment to Working Cash 3,225.42

08/29/05 Balance 261,987.73

RESERVE FUND

07/25/05 Balance 1,258,396.60

07/31/05 Interest 7139120419 3,310.58

08/29/08 Balance 1,261,707.18

ENTERPRISE FUND

07/25/05 Balance 24,030.82

07/31/05 Interest 6900342215 5.08

08/05/05 Deposit – Rent 620.00

08/19/05 Deposit – Rent 250.00

08/29/08 Checks issued – Bills (1,458.39)

08/29/05 Balance 23,447.51

Mrs. Geier made five authorized transfers since last board meeting. The first transfer on July 28^th was for $401,000, the second on August 9^th was for $15,500, the third on August 18^th was for $3,225.42, the fourth on August 22^nd was for $19,000 and the fifth on August 29^th was for $25,500. The first transfer was from the Checking Account to the Investment Account. The third transfer of the month was from the Investment Fund to the Working Cash Fund as the final repayment of the LSTA grant. All other transfers were from the Investment Fund to the Checking Account.

Miss McKeever introduced herself and explained to the board what she has been working on for the last couple of weeks. She told the board that she has spent time with each staff member to get an idea of what they do in a day. The two main jobs that she has been working on, and will continue to focus on, are programming and public relations. She will be the point person for PR, all publicity will go through her before being submitted to the media. Both she and Ms. Falasz-Peterson had lunch with Jeanette Kendall from the East Peoria Times Courier. They also met with Rev. Newhall from the Methodist church. She will also be doing the newsletter as well as working on a customer satisfaction survey. She will also be working with Ms. Falasz-Peterson on ways to streamline the staff evaluation process.

Ms. Falasz-Peterson reported that the Annual Report was submitted on August 19^th. She was very pleased to see that 44% of our population holds library cards. Next she will be working on the per capita grant. She also reported that our annual audit was conducted August 2-4. She is waiting for figures so she can write the MD&A letter.

There was discussion on the building program and the schematic design from PSA. They have zoned the library keeping with Fred’s program. Nothing is yet set in stone and there will be many changes over time. Both Ms. Falasz-Peterson and Miss McKeever are working on setting up a field trip in September to visit some other newer libraries.

Mr. Johnston feels that a letter should be sent to the Stoll’s regarding the removal of a surveying stake, the board agreed. Ms. Falasz-Peterson will draft a letter.

Ms. Falasz-Peterson discussed the correspondence from Phil Lenzini regarding referendum. She had spoken with Mr. Lenzini in June at SPLMI and he told her at that time to contact him after Labor Day regarding this issue. Her understanding is that the board first needs to decide if they would like to pursue a referendum for the building project. They would then need to decide if we would do a bond issue or a note and mortgage to be paid, which is what was done to purchase the current building. The latter is a permanent tax increase and after the mortgage is paid, any surplus comes back to the library. After that decision, we would call Mr. Lenzini and have him draft a board resolution stating we would like to have a question on the ballot on the election date. The state law requires that we must file 90 days before the election. Therefore, in order to be on the March 21, 2006 ballot, the board would have to have a decision by December 21, 2005. Since our board does not have a December meeting, a decision would need to be made by the November 28^th meeting or a special meeting would need to be held. We would need to know how much we would be asking for and we would arrive at that figure by taking what is in the reserve fund and subtract that from the estimated project cost from the feasibility study. She would be happy to invite Mr. Lenzini to our next board meeting to explain the process in more detail. Mr. Johnston feels that this was sufficient information and that the board needs to remember that there is no push for next March. He feels that being ready for a referendum next March is unrealistic, but we would have an opportunity for next fall or even April 2007. Ms. Falasz-Peterson did remind the board that building costs will continue to rise and she feels that this is something the board should keep in mind. Mrs. Herring isn’t sure that right now we have enough to sell people on. She feels that once we get the model of the building that will be very helpful. Ms. Falasz-Peterson believes that the model is to be finished by November or December of this year. Mr. Brimberry agrees that we may not yet be ready to move forward. He thought the next step would be to get a little more specific about numbers. He also agrees that it would be nice to have the model for more than 3-4 months. Ms. Falasz-Peterson informed the board that she had attended an ALA pre-conference meeting on starting a referendum and the people who made the presentation suggested that you don’t want to have too many factors for people to say no. For example, if you have a model, it should only be for a short amount of time so the public is not looking at it for a year. Mrs. Cole does not want to rush through this process and she feels that if we try to get on the next ballot we would be really rushing. She also mentioned that Mr. Lenzini had stated in his email that we may want to look into hiring a financial advisor which she feels may be helpful. Mr. Lasswell agreed with Mrs. Cole. Mrs. Herring suggested calling other libraries to see if having a financial advisor was indeed helpful. M/S/P (Cole/Lasswell) to authorize Ms. Falasz-Peterson to investigate hiring a financial advisor.

Ms. Falasz-Peterson explained to the board that we were given an American Girl doll and book from ALS and we would like to hold a raffle. She has contacted city hall regarding raffles and has a copy of the ordinance. She needs a motion from the board to waive the bond for her, then when this month’s minutes are approved, she will take them and $10 to the city. Tickets will sell for $2.00 each or three for $5.00 beginning November 12^th thru December 10^th. Board is welcome to participate, staff can not. M/S/P (Brimberry/Cole) to waive the bond for Ms. Falasz-Peterson.

Ms. Falasz-Peterson reported that she meets regularly with the technology staff. They have been educating her on some of the more technical aspects of their jobs. One of the potentially major issues we are facing is a faulty switch. We received this switch through the Gates Grant. To replace the switch is a large expense, the one that the tech staff would like is $6,200. Mr. Lasswell suggested they check with Tech Soup, since they sometimes provide discounts. It was reported that this was the first place they looked and now Cisco no longer provides discounts for libraries through Tech Soup.

The board vacancy was discussed. Last month it was decided that board members would approach potential prospects to see if they would be interested in sitting on our board. Members would then bring these names to this month’s meeting. Mr. Brimberry spoke with Jerry Goff of STS Engineers. He previously sat on the board at Urbana Library as well as having some financial experience. Mr. Johnston spoke with Pam Van Antwerp, the Human Resource/Financial Director at ALS. She feels that this would be an opportunity for her to learn more about public libraries. Mrs. Herring stated that she did not talk to anyone regarding the board position, but feels that it should be someone prominent within the community. She asked if the board wanted to look further or if they were comfortable choosing from the two afore mentioned names. Mr. Brimberry stated that he wasn’t comfortable choosing from the two names that have been discussed. Like Mrs. Herring, he feels it is important to have someone who is “connected” within the community. He suggested looking at the names of people that served on the Long Range Planning committee. Mrs. Herring talked to Ms. Falasz-Peterson about possibly contacting Pete Perez. He is in the Rotary Club and may be able to think of someone also in Rotary that would be influential for us. In talking with area librarians, the director of Alpha Park shared with Ms. Falasz-Peterson a potential board information questionnaire. She would be happy to email a copy to the board if they are interested. Mrs. Herring stated that it wouldn’t hurt, but if the board is looking for a potentially powerful person it may not help. Mr. Johnston stated that he is not; he is looking for a person who wants to do a good job. He also stated that 17 years ago when the library was considering a move, they didn’t have anyone that was “connected” on the board. Mr. Lasswell then pointed out that the project then was on a much smaller scale and that we are now in a time when people are generally opposed to raising taxes. Mr. Johnston stated that if the board can find someone “connected” fine, but not to expect him to support it. Mr. Lasswell feels that it would be in the best interest of the board to find someone who wants to be on our board, but also has the abilities we need. Mr. Brimberry agrees, he feels the board is looking for a lot of qualities and he’s not sure he’s heard a name that brings them all to the table. Having broad political support in the community is the quality he’s looking for, so they can help us to develop the broad community support that we need for financial support. His hope is that we don’t reject someone just because they may be “connected.” Mr. Johnston feels that they could also polarize a community. Mrs. Herring feels we should be selective and broad. She stated that we will keep the two names before us, but should take this opportunity to look further within the community and see who we might develop. Mr. Johnston stated that he wants a name in 30 days. Mr. Lasswell reminded the board that we are not under any legal obligation to fill the position within that time period. He likes the process this board is going through to fill the position.

M/S/P (Lasswell/Cole) to adopt the Budget & Appropriation Ordinance # 05-232 as presented. There was some discussion.

M/S/P (Johnston/Lasswell) to adjourn the meeting at 7:45.p.m.