CASTLETON PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES

Castleton Village Hall

February 23, 2015 at 7:00p.m.

                               

Welcome/Pledge of Allegiance:  The meeting was called to order by Trustee Karis-Nix at 7:02p.m.  The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Roll Call:              Olivia Karis-Nix - President

                                Doreen Truesdell - Vice President, excused

                                Janet Hiser – Treasurer

                                Margie Harris - Secretary

                                Nathan Hans - Trustee

                                Don McKnight - Trustee

                                Ryan Mullahy - Trustee

Visitors:  Pam Smith and Melissa Tacke

Adoption of Agenda:  Trustee Karis-Nix made a motion to adopt the proposed agenda.  It was seconded by Trustee McKnight.  None opposed.  All in favor.  Approved  6-0.

Public Comment:  None.

President’s Report:  Trustee Karis-Nix relayed to the board that Trustee Doreen Truesdell will be out for possibly a few months.  Trustee Truesdell had reported the following:   the bench and coat hooks have been received and will be installed within the next few weeks; more information is needed for the NYSERDA rebate and she is working with the company that installed the lighting to provide it; “Our Town” would like to run photos and publish an article about the library renovations and new director.  The deadline for the article would be March 20th.

It was agreed that Trustee Hiser would fill in as Acting President if both Trustee Karis-Nix and Trustee Truesdell are absent for the meeting in March.

Secretary’s Report:  The minutes from the January 20, 2015 meeting were reviewed.  Trustee Karis-Nix made a motion that the January 2015 minutes be approved.  It was seconded by Trustee Hiser.  None opposed.  All in favor.  Approved 6-0.

 

Director’s Report:  Pam requested clarification of the number of positions in the library for the 2014 Annual Report to New York State.  There is one full time position that was vacant in December 2014.  There are four part-time positions, one of which was vacant in 2014.  Melissa reported that she and the library staff attended training for the new Sierra computer software at the Upper Hudson Library System.

Friends Report:                  None.

Committee Reports:

                Administrative/Policy Committee:  Trustee Mullahy reported that committee working on the Library Personnel Policy met and that a policy from 1999 has been recently found in some library files.  The committee will review this policy and report back to the board next month.

                Finance Committee:  Trustee Hiser provided copies of the monthly Check Detail, Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss Budget vs. Actual, and Reconciliation Detail statements for January 2015.  She also presented a new report titled ‘The Village of Castleton-on-Hudson Library-Detail of Disbursements’ which will require approval by the Board and the Treasurer’s signature.  Trustee Hiser made a motion that the Check Detail report for January 2015 be approved.   It was seconded by Trustee Hans.  None opposed.  All in favor.  Approved 6-0.  Trustee Hiser made a motion that the Detail of Disbursements report for January 2015 be approved.  It was seconded by Trustee Hans.  None opposed.  All in favor.  Approved 6-0.

Trustee Hiser presented an update on the Payroll Account.  The overall objective is to identify options for housing and managing our payroll accounts that will give the library maximum control over the funds and their management.  After discussion, Trustee Hiser made a motion to adopt Option #1:  Provide the Village with funds to cover any necessary “float” and have the Village bill the Library for Payroll each pay period.  The Village would invoice us separately for monthly health insurance and quarterly for disability, worker’s comp., and do so with sufficient advance notice so that there would be no timing issue on the deposit of those funds.  It was seconded by Trustee Hans.  None opposed.  All in favor.  Approved 6-0.  Trustee Hiser will draft a memo to the Village of the Board’s decision.

Pam Smith reported that the library's request for an extension for our AUD Annual Financial Report was granted; the deadline for submission with the extension is now May 1, 2015. 

                Operations/Capital Projects:  None.

Old Business:

                Board member terms:  Trustee Hans reported that there are a maximum of 15 seats on the Board of Trustees.  He reported that last year the Library Charter was changed for terms to be 3 years instead of 7.  He will look into clarifying how the change dealt with current members that joined when the term was 7 years.  At present, with 7 members on the board, 4 members need to be present for a quorum.

New Business:

                Book drop shipping charge:  The company that is making the book drop for inside the library is charging an additional $400 to ship it.  Trustee Karis-Nix made a motion to pay the additional charge from the reserve funds.  It was seconded by Trustee McKnight.  None opposed.  All in favor.  Approved 6-0.     

Announcements:   None.

Executive Session:  At 8:14p.m. Trustee Karis-Nix made a motion to go into Executive Session.  It was seconded by Trustee Hans.  None opposed.  All in favor.  Approved. 6-0. 

Adjournment:  The Board returned from executive session at 8:27p.m.  Trustee Karis-Nix made a motion to approve a stipend of $300.00 from the reserve funds for Pam Smith for services she is providing to the library from February 9 through March 31, 2015.  It was seconded by Trustee Hiser.  None opposed.  All in favor.  Approved 6-0.

Trustee Karis-Nix made a motion to adjourn the meeting.  It was seconded by Trustee Hans.  None opposed.  All in favor.  Approved 6-0.  The meeting was adjourned at 8:30p.m.                

CASTLETON PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING

Castleton Village Hall

January 20, 2015 at 7:00p.m.

                               

Welcome/Pledge of Allegiance:  The meeting was called to order by Trustee Karis-Nix at 7:00p.m.  The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Roll Call:              Olivia Karis-Nix - President

                                Doreen Truesdell - Vice President

                                Janet Hiser - Treasurer, excused

                                Nathan Hans - Trustee

                                Margie Harris - Trustee

                                Don McKnight - Trustee

                                Ryan Mullahy - Trustee

Visitors:  Jen Pratico, liaison to the Village Board; Pam Smith, library staff representative

Adoption of Agenda:  Trustee McKnight made a motion to approve the proposed agenda with the addition of Survey Results under New Business.  It was seconded by Trustee Hans.  None opposed.  All in favor.  Approved  6-0.

Public Comment:  None.

President’s Report:  Trustee Karis-Nix reported that there are two contracts to be signed by her as President of the Board of Trustees.  One is with the Town of Schodack which was received on January 6, 2015.  The town will provide $104,000.00 in exchange for full library services.  This amount matches the library’s request for funding in 2015.  The second is from Rensselaer County and was received January 9, 2015.  The county is providing $3,325.00 to support library services at the Castleton Public Library in 2015.  The contracts may be reviewed after the meeting for anyone who wishes to do so.

Secretary’s Report:  The minutes from the December 15th, 2014 meeting were reviewed.  Trustee Mullahy made a motion that the December 2014 minutes be approved as amended by adding the following information for the dates for the Board of Trustees meetings in the second half of 2015 be:                                   July 20th

September 21st

October 19th

November 16th

December 14th

 It was seconded by Trustee McKnight.  None opposed.  All in favor.  Approved 6-0.

 

Director’s Report:  None.

Friends Report:                  None.

Committee Reports:

                Administrative Committee:  Trustee Karis-Nix shared that Trustee Hiser has been advocating for the Board of Trustees of the library to receive greater detail from the village with regard to the payroll account and payroll transactions.  The Board agrees that they need to make an overture to the Village and recommends that Trustee Hiser, who knows precisely what is needed,   be the one to send an e-mail to Pam Smith, the Village Treasurer, stating the specifics of our request.

                Finance Committee:  Trustee Hiser provided copies of the monthly check detail for December 2014.  Trustee McKnight made a motion that the check detail report for December 2014 be approved.   It was seconded by Trustee Hans.  None opposed.  All in favor.  Approved 6-0. 

                Operations/Capital Projects:  Trustee Truesdell reported that the library is starting movie nights back up and Pam would like to purchase 2 DVDs.  The Board agreed that they should be purchased as they normally would and approval from the Board is not needed.

Trustee Truesdell reported that all documentation has been provided to NYSERDA in order to apply for a rebate of the cost of installing the library’s new energy efficient lighting. If approved, the rebate would amount to about $600.

Trustee Truesdell reported that the coat rack and bench have been ordered and the magazine racks are finished and in place.  Trustee Truesdell also recommended that school district photos of the new library be posted on the library’s website.

Old Business:

                Vote on book drop:  Trustee Karis-Nix made a motion to approve a custom made book drop by Creative Library Concepts for inside the library at a cost of $1510.00 to be paid for from the reserve funds.   It was seconded by Trustee Mullahy.  None opposed.  All in favor.  Approved 6-0.

                Vote on Board officer positions:  Trustee McKnight made a motion to approve the following slate of officers for 2015:

                                President – Olivia Karis-Nix, 2nd year

                                Vice President – Doreen Truesdell, 2nd year

                                Treasurer – Janet Hiser, 3rd year

                                Secretary – Margie Harris., 1st year

It was seconded by Trustee Hans.  None opposed.  All in favor.  Approved 6-0.

New Business:

                Board member terms:  Trustee Hans suggested that terms for new board members be staggered by year.  The goal is to fix terms by the calendar year and not the month that members join the Board.  Trustee Hans will pull information together and report back at the next meeting.  He requested that Board members e-mail him with their understanding of when their term is up.  Trustee McKnight’s term is up in July.  The Board agreed that there is a need to recruit new members and will continue the discussion at the next meeting.

                Formation of policy committee:  There is a consensus by the Board that a policy committee needs to be formed to review and create a personnel policy specifically for the library.  Jen reported that the Village is in the process of examining their policies and that the Mayor urges the library to have one in place as well.  Trustee Karis-Nix appointed Trustees Mullahy, Hans and Harris to serve on the policy committee.  They are charged with reviewing the Village Personnel Policy, which has been the default policy that the library has relied upon, and recommending any changes that would be more in line with library personnel and operations.  Issues would include vacation, sick-time, leave and part-time employee benefits.

New Programming:  Trustee Truesdell reported that some children’s programming is being offered again.  Miss Linda is leading a pre-school story hour every Thursday at 11:30.

Survey Results:  Board evaluations were completed by each Trustee, anonymously, to determine how well the Board is functioning in the furtherance of its mission.  Trustee McKnight compiled the results and passed out copies.  He noted that the Board had high scores in finance and an overall score of 3 out of 5 for new member orientation.  All the comments were listed at the end.

Announcements:   None.

Executive Session:  The Board adjourned into executive session at 8:50p.m.

Adjournment:  The Board returned from executive session at 9:05p.m.  Trustee Karis-Nix made a motion to extend an offer of employment to Melissa Tacke.  It was seconded by Trustee Hans.  None opposed.  1 abstained.  Approved 5-0.  Trustee Karis-Nix will contact her by telephone to offer her the position and follow up with a letter if she accepts.

The board will draft a letter to the Village on an issue that was brought to their attention.

Trustee Karis-Nix made a motion to adjourn the meeting.  It was seconded by Trustee Hans.  None opposed.  All in favor.  Approved 6-0.  The meeting was adjourned at 9:10p.m.               

 

CASTLETON PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD MEETING

December 15, 2014

In attendance:

                                Olivia Karis-Nix                -              President

                                Doreen Truesdell-           Vice President

                                Janet Hiser         -              Treasurer

                                Ryan Mullahy    -              Trustee

                                Margie Harris     -              Trustee

                                Don McKnight   -              Trustee

                                Nathan Hans      -              Trustee

Welcome/Pledge of Allegiance: Meeting called to order at 7:02 p.m.; the Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Adoption of Agenda:     Trustee Hiser offered a motion, seconded by Trustee Karis-Nix, to adopt the agenda for the meeting.  Motion approved unanimously.

Public Comment:             None.

President’s Report:        President Karis-Nix reported that Trustee Hans had conducted research on the Library’s funding.  President Karis-Nix requested that Trustee Hans discuss his findings.  Trustee Hans reported that the Library’s funding was provided by the Town of Schodack and the Village of Castleton on an annual basis, without any guarantees regarding the amount of funding to be provided from one year to the next. Trustee Hans suggested that the Board seek to increase its annual funding from the Village of Castleton.  President Karis-Nix suggested that the topic be revisited after the search for a new Library Director has been completed, and a new Director has been put in place.  

Secretary’s Report:         The minutes from the Board’s October, 2014 meeting were reviewed.  Trustee Hans offered a motion, seconded by Trustee Harris, that the October, 2014 minutes be approved.  Motion was approved unanimously.

Director’s Report:            No report.

Friends Report:                                Barb Kelp of the Friends of the Castleton Public Library reported that their annual Barns & Noble fundraiser too place on November 22, 2014, at which $2,100.00 was raised to benefit the Library.  Ms. Kelp reported that this amount was down from last year.  The Friends have scheduled a breakfast fundraiser for early February, 2015, in conjunction with the Applebees restaurant.  Ms. Kelp also discussed the Schodack Island Winterfest, scheduled to take place in January, 2015, and expressed her desire to see the State Park and the Library work together for their mutual benefit.  Ms. Kelp indicated that the Park Manager has expressed interest in such collaboration. 

 

Committee Reports:

                Administrative Committee:        The stipend for the interim-Library Director was discussed.  President Karis-Nix reported that Pamela Smith was performing the duties of interim-Library Director while the search for a full-time Library Director was taking place.  President Karis-Nix explained that the work being performed by Ms. Smith as interim-Library Director is in addition to her regular duties and responsibilities and, as such, a stipend would be appropriate.  A stipend of $500.00 was discussed, to cover the twelve week period beginning on November 10, 2014.  

                Trustee Hans offered a motion, seconded by Trustee Harris, that the Board approve a stipend of $500.00 to be paid to Pamela Smith for the performance of her additional duties as interim-Library Director, commencing on or about November 10, 2014, and continuing for a twelve-week period of time, or until such time that a full-time Library Director is hired.  Motion was approved unanimously.   

                Finance Committee:      Trustee Hiser, as Treasurer of the Board, offered the Finance Committee report.  The Board reviewed financial statements, including reconciliation details, from October and November.  Trustee Hiser explained that the Library currently has six (6) months of reserve funds in its account.  Trustee Hiser further explained that the revenue allocation from the Town would not be received until mid-February, 2015, and that the revenue allocation from the Village would not be received until mid-July, 2015.                    

                Trustee Truesdell offered a motion, seconded by Trustee Hans, that the reconciliation details and financial statements for the months of October and November, 2015, be approved.   Motion was approved unanimously.  

                The Board reviewed the proposed Library budget for the 2015 fiscal year.  Trustee McKnight offered a motion, seconded by Trustee Truesdell, that the Board adopt the budget for the 2015 fiscal year.  Motion was approved unanimously.  

                Operations/Capital Projects:      Trustee Truesdell reported that the Library employees did a good job weeding the Library’s collection in the absence of a full-time Library Director.  The Library annex was discussed, including the need for a policy to regulate the use and supervision of the annex.  

                Trustee Truesdell also reported on technology issues, including issues relating to the location of the computer server.  Trustee Hans offered to review certain IT/technology issues on behalf of the Library.  

                Trustee Truesdell discussed the remaining furniture needed to complete the Library’s renovation, including a book drop.  The Board agreed to table any further discussions on furniture until such time that actual costs were available.  

 

 

New Business:

                Personnel Policy/Handbook:  President Karis-Nix reported that she will look into the issue of the Library’s personnel policy/handbook to determine what, if anything, was formally adopted by the Board relating to personnel issues. 

                Board Officers: the following slate of Trustees was put forth for Board Officer positions for the 2015 fiscal year:

                Olivia Karis-Nix                -              President

                Doreen Truesdell-           Vice President

                Janet Hiser         -              Treasurer

A vote on the Board Officer positions will take place at the Board’s January meeting.  

                Board Evaluations:  Board evaluations are to be completed by each Trustee, anonymously, to determine how well the Board is functioning in the furtherance of its mission.  Trustee Hiser will distribute blank evaluations to each Trustee via electronic mail.

                2015 Meeting Schedule:  The Board discussed dates for meetings for the 2015 fiscal year.  The following dates were unanimously approved by the Board:

                January 20, 2015

                February 23, 2015

                March 16, 2015

                April 20, 2015

                May 18, 2015

                June 15, 2015

 

                Payroll Account:  Trustee Hiser discussed the benefits of the Board Treasurer having access to the Library payroll account currently maintained and operated by the Village and the Board agreed with her assessment.  Trustee Hiser also proposed an arrangement whereby that the Village would perform payroll functions on behalf of the Library and thereafter invoice the Library to cover whatever payroll expenses had been incurred.  The Board agreed that both issues raised by Trustee Hiser should be reduced to a written agreement/memorandum of understanding with the Village so as to effectuate these changes as soon as possible.   

Executive Session:  The Board adjourned into executive session at 8:50 p.m. to discuss the employment of a particular person for the Library Director position.



Adjournment:  The Board returned from executive session at 8:50 p.m.  President Karis-Nix offered a motion, seconded by Trustee Hans to adjourn the meeting.  Motion was approved unanimously.