NORTHVILLE DISTRICT LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Regular Meeting Minutes
Thursday, February 25, 2010 – 7:30 p.m.
Northville District Library Carlo Meeting Room
1. Chairperson Joe Corriveau
called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.
1.1 Roll Call -
Present: Trustees Joe Corriveau, Robert Sochacki,
Alan Somershoe, Jean Hansen, and Mike DeFrancesco. Also
present: Julie Herrin, Director; Anne Mannisto, Assistant
Director; Judith Williams, Administrative Assistant; and Paul Snyder,
President of the NDL Friends. In the audience: Library staff
member Denise LaMotte. Also attending: Christopher Jones and
Kathleen Cikantar of Plante & Moran
Absent: Trustees Judy Sherman and Jim Morché.
1.2 Approval of the
Agenda: MOTION: Jean Hansen made a motion
to approve the agenda as presented. Alan Somershoe seconded
the motion. Motion passed.
1.3 Approval of the Regular
Board Meeting minutes for January 28, 2010: MOTION:
Jean Hansen moved to accept the minutes for the Board Meeting of
January 28, 2010. Mike DeFrancesco seconded the
motion. Motion passed.
1.4 Citizen Comments:
None
2. Correspondence:
Julie Herrin read a note from the Northville Housing Commission on
behalf of Allen Terrace, thanking the Library for the donation of four
desktop and four laptop computers.
3. Audit Presentation:
Chris Jones reviewed the Audit for 2009 with the Board of
Trustees. Although the Total Net Assets for FY 2009, as
indicated on page 3 of the audit, show an increase over FY 2008, Mr.
Jones cautioned the Board that the liquid assets (see Unrestricted) are
actually down compared to the prior year. He noted that 2/3
of the Library’s expenses are related to “people,” as we are a service
organization. Chris explained the new GASB regulations which
will require the Library to report unfunded post-retirement benefits as
a liability by the end of this Fiscal Year. The Library will
be preparing a spreadsheet detailing our liability for future Retiree
Health Care Benefits. He stated that the level of funding for
the Library’s contributions to Municipal Employees Retirement System
(MERS) will also need to be increased, to comply with 100% funding
requirement of an actuarial computed amount for eligible
recipients. Chris reviewed the required Management Letter
from Plante & Moran and commended the Library for its
long-range budget planning. He stated that the Library was
using sound assumptions in our 5-year forecast, given the current
economic conditions and the projected decrease in revenue in the years
to come. He briefly described the new GASB 54 regulations
which will take effect in 2011 and will be reflected in year-end audit
reports for the General and Reserve funds. .
4. Director’s Report:
Statistics: Julie noted that the January
statistics regarding database access were probably skewed by erroneous
information from Gale. She stated that the door count
comparison between this year and last year shows an increase of 3.5%,
while circulation statistics showed an increase of 3.8%.
Youth Programming: The Youth Department
held 32 programs this past month, with a total of 788 children
attending.
Adult Programming: The Adult Services
Department held several programs this month. The Foreign Film
Series hosted 14 viewers this month. The program on Resume
Writing had 13 participants and the Interviewing Program hosted
16. The Facebook Program had 24 and the Craigslist Program
had 36 people in attendance.
Teen Programming: The 2010 Battle of the
Books, to be held on Wednesday, March 24 at Northville High School,
will have 34 teams totaling 162 middle school students.
Facilities: Julie reported that Napoleon Wolfe, a
“green” lighting consultant, has begun the re-lamping of the
Library. He has installed new bulbs around the columns as
well as changing the halogen bulbs and the number of fixtures that
light the fiber art in the clerestory. He has also improved
the lighting in the Friends Gift Shop. His next project will be to
re-lamp the Adult Fiction area. Julie reported that we have
received the third quote for the audio/visual upgrade to the Carlo
Meeting Room. She will be making a presentation to the
Friends for financial assistance with this project, after Michael has
determined the best option. We are also proceeding on the
replacement of the security DVR and power supply with the addition of
cameras. Bids for leasing or purchasing equipment from ADT
were reviewed and the Library will proceed with the project.
RFID: Julie reported that we
have processed 90,000 items at this point and are on target to take the
RFID system live the first week in April. This coincides with
the closing of the Novi Public Library and will help our staff cope
with the anticipated increase in circulation volume during April and
May from Novi users.
Endowment Report: Julie distributed a
report from Barbara Glover on the state of the Endowment at the end of
2009. Jean Hansen noted that the Endowment Committee was
researching a new way to recognize gifts and memorials to the Endowment
Fund, such as a “Giving Tree”, with leaves engraved with names to
recognize contributors.
Contracts: Julie will present new
contracts for Anne Mannisto and herself at the March Board
Meeting. She and Anne are not requesting salary increases
this year as the union staff will not be receiving an increase.
5. Friends Report:
Friends President Paul Snyder reported that the Friends Annual Meeting
will be held on Sunday, March 21, beginning at 5:30 p.m. The
event will include comments from State Representative Marc Corriveau;
Dr. Charles Hansen, President of the Friends of Michigan Libraries; and
Irish music. Refreshments in the form of mini-subs will be
supplied by Genitti’s Hole in the Wall, with other possible donations
from Great Harvest. Paul reported that the Operating
Agreement between the Library and the Friends of the Library was
presented at the Friends of Michigan Libraries meeting and as a result
of this presentation there have been requests that it be added to the
Friends website. He also reported that the Friends of NDL are
revising their by-laws to assure compliance with the 501c3 regulations
in regard to conflict of interest.
6. Budget and Finance Review:
6.1 MOTION:
Treasurer Jean Hansen made a motion to approve payment of the
Northville District Library List of Bills over $1,000 for February 2010
as presented to the Board. Robert Sochacki seconded the
motion. Motion passed.
6.2 Jean distributed the draft
Financial Reports for January. She explained that
revenue has been slower coming in during the first months of the Fiscal
Year compared to previous years. She noted that the tax
refunds paid are already over $8,000 and it is still early in the
year. She commented that the Property and Liability Insurance
has been paid for this Fiscal Year and came in under budget, while the
Audit charges which have also been paid for this Fiscal Year came in
over budget.
6.3 MOTION:
Jean made a motion to transfer $176,158 from Operating to Reserve Fund
(unfunded expenses) in repayment of funds transferred into Operating to
cover early 2010 expenses. Robert Sochacki seconded the
motion. Motion passed.
6.4 MOTION:
Jean made a motion to transfer $13,357 from Operating to the Debt Fund
to apportion the funds paid by Wayne County and deposited into the
Operating Account, part of which rightly belongs to Debt.
Mike DeFrancesco seconded the motion. Motion
passed.
6.5 MOTION: Jean made
a motion to adjust the amounts with the Reserve Fund to reflect $20,000
being added to the Facilities Preservation line of the Reserve
Fund. This complies with recommendations from Duce Simmons to
fund Facilities Preservation with the remaining balance of the Building
Maintenance line of the Operating Budget. Robert Sochacki
seconded the motion. Motion passed.
7. Strategic Planning:
There was a discussion regarding evaluating the data from the Community
Survey and the next step in strategic planning. Jean Hansen
suggested that William Schroer be brought in as a facilitator for a
one-day meeting with Board Members, Library Staff and other interested
parties to explain the survey findings and identify areas of focus for
the next strategic plan. Julie discussed the need and costs
involved to have Mr. Schroer proceed. She will contact him to
outline the Board’s view and request a proposal for one day of his
services. Julie reported that she is still awaiting the data
on non-users of the Library.
8. Announcements and Comments:
The next Finance Committee will be held
on Tuesday, March 16 at 10:00 a.m. in the Carlo Meeting
Room. The March Regular Board Meeting will be held
at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 18, 2010, in the Carlo Meeting
Room. This meeting will be held on the third Thursday to
allow Julie Herrin and Anne Mannisto to attend the Public Library
Association Biennial Conference in Portland, Oregon.
MOTION: Robert Sochacki made a motion to
adjourn to the Regular Meeting to an Executive Session to discuss Union
Contract Negotiations. Alan Somershoe seconded the
motion. Motion passed. The Regular Meeting was
adjourned to the Executive Session at 9:25 p.m.
MOTION: Following the Executive Session
Jean Hansen made a motion to adjourn the Regular February Board
Meeting. Robert Sochacki seconded the motion.
Motion passed. The Regular February Meeting was adjourned at
9:35 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Mike DeFrancesco
JW 2/26/2010