Library Board of Trustees

SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MARY RILEY STYLES PUBLIC LIBRARY Held in the Falls Church Community Center 223 N. Little Falls, Falls Church, VA 22046 January 8, 2014 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Board Chair Brad Gernand called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. The following Board members attended the meeting: Brad Gernand Chet DeLong Nancy Bentrup Sally Phillips Jeff Peterson Ed Rose Don Camp Also present were Councilman Phil Duncan, Director Mary McMahon and Senior Administrative Assistant Claudia Gutierrez. Councilman Duncan reported that the new Council liaison to the Library Board would be announced next Monday, January 13, 2014. 2. RECEIPT OF PETITIONS The Board was informed about a CLASS complaint that had been received from the City Manager’s office about water/ice on the sidewalk outside the library. The water was due to a frozen/broken water meter due to the cold. The ice and leaking water meter had been reported to Public Works, who had already reported it to Fairfax Water for repair. The City Public Works employees salted the area and placed cones to warn pedestrians. 3. APPROVAL OF DECEMBER 18, 2013 MINUTES Upon a motion made and duly seconded the Board unanimously approved the December 18, 2013 meeting minutes with two non-substantive changes. 4. CIP BUDGET SUBMISSION OPTIONS DISCUSSION AND ADOPTION The Director announced that there was a change in the proposal Option 1, which increased from $17M to $18M due to an increase in relocation costs from $1M to $2M to cover fees, storage, rent, relocation costs etc. to cover a two year period rather than one year. The library operating costs for FY17 will also be impacted due to an increase in employees, computers, and utility costs. It was noted by Board members that the suggestion to build on a completely different site is not an option for the Board unless the Council directs them to do so. The Board presumes that the best interest of the City is to try to make the current site work. After this brief introduction to Option 1, the Board discussed it. Several members then stated that they were not prepared to consider Option 2 (the $6.75M CIP proposal) as a viable CIP submission. They felt it was unworkable because: the square footage gained is below what is recommended; doesn’t make efficient use of space due to the shape of the final building; will increase the need for additional staffing; it does not solve non-compliance with ADA standards in the core of the present building that will be expensive to fix; and, HVAC problems will remain the same or worse with another addition to the current building. The Board also realizes  the importance of parking for the facility, but feels that it is something that the City and perhaps the EDA can coordinate and do something to benefit the entire area (City Hall, the Farmer’s Market, Cherry Hill Park, and neighboring businesses), not just the Library. The Board also feels that Option 1 is workable and that staying on the current property, which is centrally located, is more convenient, particularly given the limitations on the property deed. Discussion of Option 2 then took place. One member, Jeff Peterson, again spoke in favor of this Option. He cited some of the following reasons: cost of relocation is too high while a new building is being built; Option 2 is a workable solution with serious negotiation by the City as a result of a good faith effort to purchase property including a potential consideration of eminent domain if necessary the project cost is within the scope of the money already allocated in the CIP ($6.75M) so the Board is not asking for more CIP money than is already budgeted; while this Option would not get all the space needed according to the consultants, it gets about 10,000 sq. ft. of the 14,500 sq. ft. recommended; and, money not expended on the cost of purchasing the land could then be used to add an addition and tie it into the existing building and renovate the more problematic issues of the present building. Upon a motion made and duly seconded, the Board voted for Option 1 to be the only one to be submitted to the CIP. The vote was 6 ayes and one nay, Jeff Peterson. The CIP Description Project was reworded by the Board Members to present it to the Planning Commission. Upon a motion made and duly seconded, the Board approved the language as discussed and amended in Option 1 for submission to the CIP. The vote was 6 ayes and one nay, Jeff Peterson, who asked to be noted by name that he is opposed to Option 1 as the library CIP project and its submission to the City’s CIP budget for FY15. 5. LIBRARY REPORT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS The Library Director received the financial instructions for the FY15 budget due on January 24, 2104. They would raise the Library operating funds by 1.2%, or $5,259, which will probably only cover the cost of inflation increases to maintenance contracts and software databases. Instead, the Director asked the Board to please be thinking of “unmet needs” that can be included in the budget. She noted that she will be recommending to the Board that at least one “unmet need” will be to add temporary substitute staff to help cover public service desks so that staff can take vacations, have coverage when staff are sick, help with special programming, etc. She noted that substitutes are temporary employees who do not receive benefits and are not guaranteed a set number of work hours a week, thus they do not impact benefits such as retirement, health insurance etc. 6. BUSINESS NOT IN AGENDA The Foundation reports that contributions through Dec 31, 2013 were 20% more than last year with a total of $24,700 given. Also, since January 1st they have received another $2,000. The Foundation’s endowment fund, which is invested in Vanguard, had a total of $58,000 at the end of 2013. It was mentioned by one of the Board members that Appendix J in the Master Plan Development and Space Study Review shows some discrepancies about the square footage in the current library making it difficult to compare the current size with the newly proposed sizes  for each area. Upon a motion made and duly seconded, the Board voted unanimously to request that the Library Director contact the consultants to explain and fix the discrepancies in the total current square feet in the library in Appendix J. Upon a motion made and duly seconded, the Board voted unanimously to change the Board Meeting from January 15, 2014 to January 22, 2014 at 7:30 pm at the Library Conference Room so they could consider the FY15 budget submission to the City. 7. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, upon a motion made duly seconded, the Board of Trustees unanimously agreed to adjourn the meeting at 9:22 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Mary W. McMahon Library Director Approved: ______________________________ Bradley E. Gernand, Chair Copies: Board of Trustees, City Manager, Library Reference Desk, Staff Bulletin Board, City Clerk, City Council, Historical Commission, Library Web Page