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 June 19, 2019 1. CALL TO ORDER AND INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS Acting Chairperson Chet DeLong called the meeting to order at 7:00p.m. The following Board members attended the meeting: Chet DeLong Molly Novotny Stephanie Oppenheimer Jeff Peterson Kathleen Tysse Absences excused - Don Camp and Chrystie Swiney Planning Commission Liaison, Rob Puentes, was not in attendance. The Director mentioned that she did not receive notification from the schools, the CBC (Citizens for a Better City), or the Youth Representative, Tika Wallace in regard to ending her participation with the Library Board. Others present for the meeting included: Director of Public Works Mike Whitfield, Markon Project Manager Sara Wittmer, Council Liaison Ross Litkenhous, Library Director Jenny Carroll and her assistant Claudia Gutierrez. Mr. DeLong introduced the new Board member, Ms. Molly Novotny who is serving the remainder of the term left by Mr. Brad Gemand's vacancy. 2. RECEIPT OF PETITIONS No petitions. The Director announced that two chapters of the Comprehensive Plan- Demographics and Housing- had been updated and will be presented at July' s Board meeting. 3. APPROVAL OF THE MAY 15, 2019 MEETING MINUTES Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Library Board unanimously approved the May 15,2019 meeting minutes with minor changes. Ms. Novotny abstained from voting since it was her first meeting as a Board member. 1 4. LIBRARY REPORT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS • The Board received an invitation to attend the City Hall Dedication festivities on Monday, June 24 prior to the regular Council meeting. During the Council meeting, Delegate Marcus Simon will be presenting Service A ward Resolutions to long-serving employees including library employee Ester Pavia. Ms. Ester Pavia works as a Library Assistant II in the Technical Services department and has worked for the library for 25 years. In the same Council session, two consent items will be presented for the issuance of the purchase orders for books from Baker & Taylor for up to $130,000 and for eMaterials from Overdrive for up to $220,000. • The Director and Ms. Gutierrez are finalizing the closing of the fiscal year 2019 and are preparing for the new fiscal year 2020. New book carts and step stools have been purchased to replace those in poor condition along with other items needed for the temporary locations. • Management Team is working on performance evaluations, they will be submitted to Human Resources at the end of June. • Library substitutes Joey Hamilton and Emily Bunch have resigned. These positions will be posted along with openings for library pages as well. • The annual city employee picnic was held on June 14. City Hall, the Community Center and the Library were closed at noon for the day. Two food trucks were contracted to provide food and City staff enjoyed the beautiful day with games and activities for families. • Yesterday there was a power outage on Park A venue due to a truck hitting a pole; the Library, City Hall, and Community Center were affected. The Library was closed for almost an hour. • The summer reading kick-off open house happened today; so far, 200 adults, young adults and children have signed up. Sign-up started on June 1st which has helped alleviate the crowds that used to occur when the first day to sign-up was the Monday after City schools closed. • The Director will be out from June 18 through June 26. 5. LIBRARY FOUNDATION REPORT The Director presented the report emailed by Mr. Don Camp. The Foundation Development Committee continues to be very active and is planning a potential program before the library closes for renovation. It would be focused on the children's room and those who have used it over the years. The Foundation will be gearing up for their annual fall solicitation later this summer. For the first time the Foundation will have the benefit of the use of the MailChimp app which will increase their ability to reach donors by e-mail. 2  Ms. Tysse added that they are trying to increase digital participation and to be more accessible online; they are working on a new Foundation website. 6. COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT Mr. Litkenhous reported that Council is waiting for the library project final cost estimate (GMP) from the CMAR (Construction Manager At Risk) in September. There have been Council discussions about the progress on the library project, and the impact of Council's requests for streetscape and LEED Silver Certification to remain part of the scope of the project. Mr. Litkenhous acknowledged that it is a valid point that those requests were not part of the original scope of the project. He asked if there was any additional information regarding the project since the last presentation to Council. The Director reported that 65% Construction Documents had been submitted and a cost estimate was received from the CMAR. There was a revision to the documents submitted two weeks ago by BKV, and Centennial is working on the cost estimate. Mr. Litkenhous asked if the issue of the bond issuance fees had been resolved. The Director reported that the City had responded to the letter from the Board and that the bond issuance fees are only necessary to the issuance of the bonds. If there is a possibility that the budget would increase, then the bond issuance fees may not be a primary issue. From the perspective of the Board the referendum was for $8.7M, so that is the budget for the project. Mr. Litkenhous would like that issue to be resolved before September. Board members and Mr. Litkenhous expressed concerns about the increase in cost from when the referendum was approved until today, including the cost of Council's requests for streetscape and LEED Certification. Mr. Peterson stated that in the last formal conversation with Council it was the Board's understanding that Council wanted to proceed with the project, including the items that Council requested. The Board is developing a project that meets the initial goals laid out by the Board, recognizes the inevitable change in pricing, and accounts for the items that Council believes are important to the project. It is therefore likely that the project cost will come in at more than the original referendum. Mr. Peterson is worried that there might be a disconnect between what the Board is working on, what Council wants, and the budget. Mr. Litkenhous is concerned as well. Mr. Litkenhous stated that Council is aware that the Board is doing all that they can to bring the library project in on budget as stated in the CIP, however there is concern about finding additional funds due to all of the City projects. He believes that there is the general conclusion that the project will come in at over the original budget amount. There may be some who would like to have the project be as close to the original budget as possible, and some who would want to figure out how to get the appropriate amount of money for the project. Mr. DeLong emphasized not downsizing anything in the project since the budget had been reduced already from the original2013 Master Plan. He suggested focusing on how the library project could be funded. There were questions regarding other City and school projects coming in on budget, LEED certification, and streetscape. Mr. Litkenhous stated that the City is requiring new projects to be LEED certified--both commercial and City projects. Mr. Litkenhous asked if it was a viable option to only renovate the building. The response from the Board was "no"- the intention of the project from the start was increasing the public space. In addition, it would be a change in scope, which would be costly and contrary to what was presented to the public and it would affect the size of the physical collection. Mr. Litkenhous stated that the interests of Council include increasing the size of the local 3 history room, maintaining the commitment to the voters, public safety, ensuring that the voices of the citizens are heard in the design, and the budget. The Director asked that he communicate to Council that the Board is mindful of the budget and the items requested address the needs and goals as expressed by the Board and the public. It was requested that Mr. Litkenhous support the Board in asking Council to find the money for the library project. Mr. Litkenhous asked about the history of the project and how the budget of$8.7M was determined to prepare for a conversation about what went into cost increases. Mr. DeLong reported that the Planning Commission determined the project budget after the 2013 Master Plan of$18/19M was deemed too costly. The Director stated that in 2014 the consultants, MacMillan Pazdan & Smith, were tasked with preparing a project that cost $8M. The subsequent report put the project at $8.3M and the referendum added $400,000 to bring the total to $8.7M. Mr. Litkenhous asked about timing of the project. Mr. Peterson stated that in the CIP documents that the project date was pushed back. Mr. Litkenhous asked if the Board is committed to supporting a higher budget given that the Board has tried to stay within budget, and given the additional scope items and cost increases due to timing. The Board agreed and stated that they feel that they are putting a good project forward and it is a project to be proud of. Mr. Peterson reminded the group that the space is still needed whether the project is done now or later and the longer the wait the greater the increase will probably be. Ms. Tysse raised the question about the parking negotiations with 313 Park Avenue. Mr. Litkenhous has raised that conversation several times and stated the owners are willing to negotiate with the City. The Director remarked that this is a City issue since people may use the parking spaces to go to the park, the Broaddale Shopping Center, and Farmers Market--not just the library. Mr. Litkenhous will raise the issue again. 7. STUDENT LIAISON REPORT No report 8. ARTS AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL REPORT (CATCH) Ms. Oppenheimer informed the Board that there were no topics related to the library. The topics focused on public art opportunities in the pocket park next to the Lil City Creamery and the Founders Row Theater. Ms. Oppenheimer will not be attending tomorrow's meeting. 9. LIBRARY PROJECT UPDATE • City Meetings and Timeline: The GMP will be submitted to Council in September. The site plan has been submitted to Planning Commission. The Library project team will attend the July 1st PC work session at Council Chambers. At the regular session on August 51h, site plan approval will be requested. City planning staff requested changes to the corner sidewalk area including a flush-mounted historical marker. The architect will address the planning staff comments. The Architectural Advisory Board liked the site plan and the corner as presented in the original site plan. • Budget Update: There was a revision to the 65% construction documents to address the HV AC system. The decision according to the recommendation from the architects and the 4  engineers was to move forward with replacing the RTU 1 unit, and add the VAVs (Variable Air Volume) and the VVTs (Variable Volume and Temperature) for the entire building, which will address the needs of the building including humidity. • Moving into the temporary location: The estimated date to move is October. The Director, Ms. Gutierrez and Technical Services staff will be at the Gage House located in front of Cherry Hill Park to give more space to staff in the trailer. Ms. Tysse mentioned that the trailers have a name and it is JOY (Just Over Yonder). There will be public outreach in September. The library hours will be changed to avoid conflict with the school drop-off time; all the details are in the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). Parking in the area has not been zoned; it will be challenging but it's only temporary. • Tysons Website Article: They published an article about the library project. 10. APPROVAL OF FIVE-YEAR PLAN The changes requested by the Board--including adding the Local History Room--were made. City Manager Wyatt Shields requested adding to FY2020 tasks--evaluate staffing and programming in the new library building. Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Library Board unanimously approved the Five Year Plan as amended. 11. BUSINESS NOT ON THE AGENDA Mr. DeLong requested to vote for a new Chairperson at the next Board meeting. The Board agreed. The Director will send information on the Chairperson's duties and responsibilities to the Board. Mr. Peterson asked if it would be possible to consider money for the library' s HV AC system from CIP monies set aside for urgent maintenance needs (based on his recollection from past conversations with Cindy Mester, Assistant City Manager). The Director will ask Mr. Whitfield since he left the meeting earlier and will inform the Board. 12. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:25p.m. Respectfully submitted, 5  Approved: Copies: Board of Trustees, City Manager, Library Reference Desk, Staff Bulletin Board, City Clerk, Library Web Page The 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, TTY 711. 6  MARY RILEY STYLES PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING June, 19 2019 SIGN-IN SHEET NAME ADDRESS EMAIL HJ f MJt~ Pef J ~cJ fuA AvCi pq/k Ctvr.clt ltftik//W~IJ£.-r::/x:lr,rclt ~ · En \J.tkh\1\Q)( 400 s {y\o._(i.e_ -~.e._ - \Y\.o_,r\UD'(\ ISw~~f>J7d)IY'O.. V\t...oll-s: ((t ' '- D Page 1