Library Board of Trustees

MEETING MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MARY RILEY STYLES PUBLIC LIBRARY Held in the Mary Riley Styles Public Library 120 N. Virginia Avenue Falls Church, VA 22046 August 23, 2017 1. CALL TO ORDER Board Chairman Brad Gemand called the meeting to order at 7:00p.m. The following Board members attended the meeting: Brad Gemand Chet DeLong Ed Rose Stephanie Oppenheimer Terry Zawacki Don Camp Jeff Peterson Excused Absence: Youth Representative Tika Wallace Mr. Gemand informed the Board that Councilwoman Karen Oliver will not be present at this meeting; she will be present at the next meeting, September 20th. Mr. Mike Whitfield, Director of Public Works and Ms. Kim Callahan, Public Works Project Manager, Library Director, Ms. Jenny Carroll, and Senior Administrative Assistant, Ms. Claudia Gutierrez, were also present. Also present were Ms. Lorine Coyle, a City resident and Ms. Courtney Paul. 2. RECEIPT OF PETITIONS No petitions. 3. APPROVAL OF THE JUNE 28, 2017 MEETING MINUTES Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Library Board unanimously approved the June 28, 2017 meeting minutes with minor changes. 4. APPROVAL OF THE JULY 25, 2017 SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES AND JULY 28, 2017 CONTINUED MINUTES Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Library Board unanimously approved the July 25, 2017 special meeting minutes and July 28, 2017 continued minutes with minor changes. 5. DISCUSSION OF RENOVATION/EXP ANSI ON PROJECT Mr. Gemand introduced City Project Manager Kim Callahan. Ms. Callahan will be the designated library Project Manager. She is a civil engineer, a city resident and has 10 years' experience as a project manager in the private and public sector. Mr. Gemand added that some details from the plan that the former Director Ms. Mary McMahon had envisioned are changing and so is the task order. Ms. Callahan explained to the Board, using a graphic handout, the different phases of the project. Phase 1  1 will be Project Development, which has already started with the current master plan. The current master plan is four years old and needs to be revisited including the goals, visioning, programming, and community and staff feedback. Ms. Callahan and Mr. Whitefield will be working on the cost estimate to set the right expectations for what is affordable before designing. In phase 2 an architectural firm will be hired who will work on the task order. In phase 3 the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) will be selected. CMAR will keep the team updated on costs and will keep track of changes that are affordable. Once the team is assembled, phase 4 will start by working on the schematic design. It will cover the community goals and wishes for the new library with the assistance of the architects. Phase 5 will be the design development on the layout of the building. Phase 6 will include the site plan which will need to be approved by the Planning Commission. Phase 7 will be working on the construction documents and phase 8 the permits. Once all the construction documents are finished, phase 9 will be getting back to the CMAR to work on a GMP which is a Guaranteed Maximum Price which will be the bid. Once the bid is in place, the construction starts in phase 10. Then will move forward to phase 11 which is the construction completion and the last is phase 12 which is the project warranty. Mr. DeLong asked if they have to choose one of the two designated architectural firms. Ms. Callahan responded that the two firms vetted by the City will give a proposal for the project based on the scope of work provided to them. If the Board does not like any of them, an RFP can be done to look for other firms. The RFP process will take about 6 more months. Mr. DeLong said that the Board has worked with some sketches and a scope of work and they want it to be considered in the architectural presentations. Mr. Gernand mentioned that Mr. Peterson would like to revisit the option of buying the adjacent building and include it in the renovation process. Mr. Gernand explained that four years ago the Board reached out the owner of the building and she refused to sell. Then the owner passed away and her son inherited it. The son was contacted by the City and he didn't want to sell as well. There was a discussion about reaching out to the owner one more time before the library project starts. Mr. DeLong said that there was no money to buy the building. The library Director added that the master plan addendum assigned costs of the project and there was no money allotted to land acquisition. She also mentioned that she had a conversation with the City Manager Wyatt Shields and he said that if the scope of the project is changed then a new master plan and a feasibility study has to be done which will impact in the cost and the time of the project. Ms. Callahan mentioned that the budget for the library renovation/expansion is $8.3M after the bond amount; this will cover the construction and design cost. There are hard costs, which include construction, furniture, and shelving, that will take 75% of the budget and there are soft costs, which include consultant fees, engineers, architects, permitting fees, studies, surveys etc. These soft costs will take the 25% left from the budget. Ms. Callahan stated that if there is a plan to buy land with the same budget, it might not be enough for construction. Mr. Peterson expressed his concern about budget not being enough to build the 6,600 sq. ft. that they presented to the public, since it has been 4 years since the master plan was created. He said that the building next door could be a good option and it has parking. Mr. Peterson asked if the Board is prevented from purchasing the next door property because it's not in the current study or because it's not in the current referendum and another one needs to be done. The Director said that she will get more legal information from the City attorney Carol McCoskrie and will inform the Board. The Director also mentioned that even if it's possible to . purchase the next door property with the current referendum, it will take significant cost to rebuild the property because it's not adequate to the library needs and it's not an ADA compliant building. This will also reduce the options to upgrade the current library building. 2  The Board achieved a consensus for the Library Director to ask either City Manager Wyatt Shields or the City Attorney Carol McCoskrie about the legalities of purchasing the next door building. Mr. Peterson said that the administrative services can be relocated to the next door building and that will leave more public space to the current library building. Mr. Gernand mentioned that in the past the former library Director Mary McMahon stated that it was not a good idea to separate the administrative functions from the library building. The Library Director needs to be in the same building and have a day to day understanding about what is going on in the library community according to the current Director. Mr. DeLong added that the Board should be focused about the needs ofthe current library building only. Mr. Whitfield informed the Board that recently they went through an escalation cost with the Mount Daniel School and found out that Northern Virginia is more expensive than the surrounding areas not only in materials and labor but also in services. That is what they will face with the library project as well. It will be hard to get competitive bids. Mr. Rose asked him if he has an overall estimate of what the percentage cost has gone up by year. Mr. Whitfield said that it has been up in average about 4% to 5% a year and it's not stabilizing. Ms. Zawacki suggested getting a cost estimate on the library project and Ms. Callahan said they will get one updated before hiring the architects and engineers. Mr. Gernand said that the Board needs to inform Ms. Callahan on what their goals, objectives, priorities and vision are for the library in the future. He asked the Board if they are still united in wanting the expansion to be public space as opposed to staff space and if they are comfortable that the library staff agrees to that. Mr. Gernand also asked if the staff space should be revisited. The Director responded that they might need some re-working of the staff space and staff space should not decrease. Mr. Gemand indicated that what the public was told is that the staff space will be reorganized in order to be more space efficient. Mr. Rose asked the Director what is the current use of the Virginia Room in comparison with the past years. She said she will ask the Reference Supervisor Marshall Webster and she will inform the board. The Director suggested the Board decide on how much space will be given to each one of the library needs and then prioritize. Mr. Peterson is concerned that with the ADA compliance and new space, it will not be possible to keep the current collection size. Ms. Zawacki asked if it was possible to have flexible spaces for multiple uses. The Director mentioned that in the West side option there is a large space for programs which can be divided in two, which could be used for meeting room space and other uses. The priorities that the Board agreed to are: ADA compliance, keeping the same collection size 140,000 to 150,000, increasing public space including children's and the Virginia Room, flexible and multi-functional spaces for meeting rooms and computer spaces. The Director remarked that the use of space for computers may be down the next 5 years due to the increase in the use of smaller devices; this may give more space for other services. Ms. Oppenheimer emphasized that it is a priority to have natural light reading areas and spaces. Mr. Gernand expressed his concerned about losing the current ambiance that the library has, which is very welcoming, warm and comfortable. The Director agreed and said that comments like this are constantly heard from patrons about how much they like the ambiance of this library. Another priority is public restrooms. Mr. Camp mentioned that the Board needs to decide if the library project will go to the west or to the east. They discussed that the west will be the best option because public parking and the outside book drop would not be lost. Mr. Gemand mentioned that the book drop holds around 900 books and needs to be emptied 3 times a day, this service saves patrons the need to park to return items and it is a priority to keep it. Mr. Peterson was not in favor of going west because of the unresolved variance to 3 build 6,600 sq. ft. to the west or to the east. Mr. Gernand asked Mr. Whitfield if there is a concern about the variances. Mr. Whitfield said that there will be more impact eliminating parking going east than adding additional space to the west. Going west will lose some green space, and the variances can be overcome. The downside of going west is losing side walk space, but the architects should come with a solution for this. Mr. Gernand mentioned that staff said that they preferred the west option because it was more functional. Ms. Callahan told the Board that if they wanted the architectural firms to give them one option to the west and another one to the east, this will take more time and money; another option is asking the architects to give them 2 or 3 options to the west. Upon a motion duly made and seconded the Board recommends that the process of design look at the west expansion as their preference. It passed with Mr. Jeff Peterson dissenting. Ms. Callahan asked the Board to talk about major goals and objectives. Mr. Peterson was concerned about the costs on whether the library entrance will be on Park A venue or Virginia A venue. The Director said that if the architects can give multiple designs of the west expansion the Board can choose the best option where the entrance could be with less impact in cost. Mr. Peterson wants the Board to keep in mind not to lose the 6,600 sq. ft. that has been presented to the public. The Director remarked that the goal will be increasing public space and the priority will be having 6,600 sq ft addition. Mr. Camp said that in regard to community engagement, they didn't have a lot of audience in the town hall meetings in the past. He said that the focus of public engagement should be at the library where all the audience is. He also suggested if library staff can work on some displays showing what is the planning on the project and ask the public for ideas and suggestions; this might give some useful input. Ms. Oppenheimer commented that there is also the user survey that just took place at the end of March. Ms. Oppenheimer also mentioned that the tiles that are located in the main stairs should be kept in the building because they are part of the library's history; the Board agreed. Mr. Ed Rose recommended the Board to visit the Front Royal library to get some ideas from it. Mr. Peterson said that a public engagement has been done in the master plan process, and since money is so tight it wouldn't be worth spending money doing it all over again. Ms. Zawacki asked the Director if she can go through past surveys and gather public information for the Board as to what the patrons want. The Director said there has been plenty of public input through the process with the consultants and in the annual library user surveys. In terms of work flow and staff needs and wants, there might be some differences as to what is in the master plan. She also said that is important to get staff input on current needs. Mr. Camp said that flexibility is definitely necessary; no one knows what the library will look like 10 or 15 years from now. The more the Board knows about how the libraries will look in the future and the more the flexibility that can be built in the library design the better. It will be very useful if the project manager and the architect can see examples. The Director said that she found an article about the flexibility of design in the library's future and she will share it with the Board. Mr. Gernand mentioned that with this entire project there will be more interaction between the Board and the City staff. He also said that City Manager Wyatt Shields recommended having 2 Board members who interact as a standing working committee with the Director. Brad Gernand and Stephanie Oppenheimer volunteered for the working committee. Mr. Whitfield said that they will need to have input from the Library Board in sharing ideas and opinions. This committee will be very helpful and will keep consistency in the process. He also said that it will create confusion if individually people are asking or talking to on their own to the architects or the PM about how the project is doing. The team will consist of a selection committee including CMAR, a core team, architects, project manager and a building official. Ms. Callahan and the Director will be working constantly together. The Director will be getting feedback from the Board and Ms. Callahan from the architects and engineers. They will be working together and making sure the 4 project moves forward. Ms. Callahan will be the point of contact with the project. The Director said that if it gets complicated to meet, the communication can be via Skype and they will make the meetings work. Mr. Peterson wanted to be sure the decisions taken in this committee do not interfere with the operating guidelines of public meetings in making decisions for the public. There might be a person who criticizes this. Mr. Gemand asked Mr. Whitefield how this has been handled in his previous projects. He said that is it very common that the Board want to be involved but with committees it will keep them informed and still will have a voice in the project. The Director said that there will be touch points throughout the project where the Board as a whole will be involved and periodically review the detail design until the Board is comfortable with it. Mr. DeLong added that according to the City Attorney when there are 3 Board members is considered a public meeting but not with 2. Mr. Gemand suggested adding as an agenda item for next Board meeting the discussion about the working committee including the 2 Board volunteers. Mr. Peterson asked if it is possible to get a breakdown of bond financing costs and other services included in the $8.7 M referendum. The Director explained that the allotted money in the form of bond finance fees is there to be used to get the best deal the City can when issuing bonds. The City will not use the whole amount if it is not needed. It keeps the debt service low and it is not part of the $8.3M budget. Mr. Peterson said that the public voted for the $8.7M and if it's not all used in financing the bonds it should go back to the library budget. The Director said that due the way the referendum was written, the financing money belongs to the City's Finance Department budget. Since it is a City budget policy Mr. Camp suggested that Mr. Gemand send a letter to the City Manager Wyatt Shields asking to clarify the bond issuance process. He also said that this should be added to the agenda for the next Board meeting to follow up and discuss it. 6. LIBRARY REPORT AND ANOUNCEMENTS • A new Page has been hired and started working yesterday. Her name is Navi Chahil. • The Youth Services Supervisor position has been advertised. Jess Borchetta who is a Young Adult Librarian is currently acting as the Interim Youth Services Supervisor. • The new custodial services have started. The company is Sentral Services. • The Director reminded the Board that the library will be closing on Sunday September 3th and Monday September 4th due to the Labor Day holiday weekend • The outside library book drop was damaged and it's in the process ofbeing repaired. Ms. Oppenheimer suggested to put some poles to protect it but the Director said that it will interfere when opening and maneuvering the inside cart that holds the books. The Director also said that if the library expansion/renovation goes to the west the book drop will be inside the building so patrons can drop the books in. The road will be reversed for this purpose. • Two patrons had been banned from the library. They were fighting in the reference area. They have been in a verbal altercation before in the library. The decision was made to ban them because it wasn't the first time and they have been unpleasant to patrons and staff. The two patrons have also disregarded staff directions and yelled at staff. The Director mentioned that the banning is for 2 years. • The student liaison for the Board will be again joining the Board meetings starting in 5  September. Ms. Tika Wallace is an active library patron since she moved to the area 3 years ago. She participates in the library teen programming, attends the library teen book discussion group and volunteers occasionally. The Director asked the Board if they have any instructions for Tika since she will meet with her soon. Mr. Rose suggested that the Board would like to have some feedback about what the school wants of the library and let them know what the library offers. He thinks that the school and the library should work more together. He also suggested telling Ms. Wallace to write an article on the school newspaper once or twice a year about the functions of the Library Board. The participation of Ms. Wallace in the Board meetings should be only during the report that she will give to the Board from the school. Her role is to represent the school only as observational. 7. BUSINESS NOT ON THE AGENDA None. 8. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Approved: ~~ Bradley E. Gemand, Chairman Copies: Board of Trustees, City Manager, Library Reference Desk, Staff Bulletin Board, City Clerk, Library Web Page lfhe City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit ofthe Americans with Disabilities !Act. To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, call 703-248-5032, lfTY 711. / 6  MARY RILEY STYLES PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING August 23, 2017 SIGN-IN SHEET NAME ADDRESS EMAIL l-.tJr;2ne Co rfe_ l(-ro 5 Mtl(ffe- Aue.:it d..33 /or; ne.. eof!! ~fUa_ r K,"h1 fflllllfian t1o3 fi1aJ;':im Ln. ~fscL - 4 ~~ i/< (' iiJlw'-i h'-e ld 4io 5, tf!er/)/e }ve -¢6·;l lMw~ ,'f C,•efd t!?- [c;/5 cIt~ c / Cour~f~ <.../ 1~30 S-MTL/P\ (J~I'L [CQu_, ~ /)~,£) vYfTiiJ ~ -...) U I Page 1