Board of Public Library Trustees

Draft of Minutes of Board of Trustees Meeting of April 20, 2017 Salem, Massachusetts April 20, 2017 A meeting of the Board of Trustees was held on this date at 4:02pm at the Library with Trustees Buckley, Little, Merry, Salerno, and Glenn Yale present and presiding. Trustees Schild and Mayor Driscoll were absent. Miss Mansfield was present. Approval of minutes for meeting on February 16, 2017 – UNANIMOUS Current Financial and Library Use reports were distributed. Salem’s circulation numbers were third highest in circulation in February and March. Overdrive circulation placed Salem at third highest in February and second highest in March. Miss Mansfield noted that a quarterly distribution payment for online fine payments would be arriving soon. Miss Mansfield reported that Trustee Schild has been investigating options for preserving the Library’s fountain and had attended a Salem Historic District Neighborhood Association meeting and met some Community Preservation Commission members and several city councilors. Trustee Schild had also reached out to Creative Salem and Streets of Salem to investigate the possibility of creating a blog about the fountain. Trustee Schild contacted Historic Salem, and Emily Udy recommended procuring an updated existing conditions report and specification for rehabilitation. A meeting with Historic Salem was proposed, but not yet scheduled. Miss Mansfield will contact Gregory Curci to ask for an updated estimate for the fountain repairs. Miss Mansfield distributed a report of the findings of the Library’s HVAC consultation. The cost estimate for the recommended repairs was not available. Miss Mansfield reported that Michael Lutrzykowski, the City’s Public Property Assistant who was overseeing the consult, planned to work with RDK to create a RFP at the beginning of FY18. Responsibility for funding the project was discussed. Councilor Stephen Dibble joined the meeting at 4:40pm to discuss whether the Library’s building maintenance budget was sufficient and if some of the larger projects could be prevented with better maintenance. Discussion of past projects followed. Councilor Dibble noted that the Library has been a wonderful resource to his family and that he runs a very popular chess program at the Library every year. Councilor Dibble praised the staff for their wonderful service. Miss Mansfield reported that the Windows project had gone out to bid and the lowest qualified bid came in at $134,000. Miss Mansfield noted that the Library had a CPA grant for $102,000, $5,000 in CIP funds left over from the Brownstone & Brickwork project that was approved for repurposing for the Windows project, and $10,900 remaining in State Aid. Miss Mansfield noted the second State Aid distribution payment was due within the next two months. Miss Mansfield reported that architect Bob Farley had come up with options for scaling back the project to match the current funding availability. The Trustees agreed that completing the entire project was a priority. Funding the remaining $16,101 needed for the complete project was discussed. The Trustees agreed that if private funds beyond the architect fees were used for this project, architect fees for future projects would not be funded by the Trustees until the balance was offset. Trustee Yale moved: To accept the low bid from Meadows Construction and proceed with the project using state aid funds to cover the additional $16,101. Trustee Salerno seconded. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Miss Mansfield reported that the Library was included a city building mapping project to track maintenance. Miss Mansfield reported that the neighbor, James Sullivan, of 374 Essex Street had inquired about the ownership of the chain link fence between the buildings because he would like to replace it. North Shore Survey was contacted and did not have records of ownership, but confirmed that the fence was exactly on the property line. No records of ownership could be located. The Trustees discussed the fence and were agreeable to the replacement of the fence, on the condition it was in compliance with the Salem Historic Commission rules. Miss Mansfield noted that the Library’s CPA grant application for the Exploration of the Cracking Around a Third Floor Window had been rated a high priority by the Community Preservation Committee. Miss Mansfield noted that a new full time Library Assistant I had been hired, and that the Assistant Director had resigned. Miss Mansfield noted that there had been several incidents with a patron recently that had resulted in a No Trespass Order. Miss Mansfield reported that the Library had received bicycle locks from Mass in Motion and would be circulating them to patrons. Meeting adjourned at 5:15pm.