West Chicago Public Library District Board met September 28.
Here is the minutes provided by the Board:
A. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by President Nancy Conradt. President Conradt appointed Trustee Herbst as Secretary Pro Tem.
B. Roll Call:
Trustees Present: Nancy Conradt, President; Richard Bloom, Treasurer; Rosario Herbst, Secretary Pro Tem; and Diane Kelsey and David Reynolds, Members.
Staff Present: Ben Weseloh, Library Director; Amanda Ghobrial, Adult Services Manager; Dominique Mendez, Youth Services Manager; Gabe Cardenas, Circulation Services Manager; Michael Novy, Technical Services Manager.
C. Approval Of The Minutes:
1. Special Board Meeting: Budget & Appropriations - August 28, 2017: The Minutes of the August 28, 2017 Special Board Meeting have not yet been prepared; they will be presented at the October 2017 Board Meeting.
2. Board Meeting - August 26, 2017: Mr. Reynolds moved to approve the Board Meeting Minutes of August 28, 2017, as amended; seconded by Mr. Bloom. The minutes were amended as follows:
i. Page 1, Section D, second paragraph, second sentence should read: "This motion was out of order as not being listed as an action item on the agenda."
ii. Page 2, Section F, Agenda - Additions and Deletions, should read: "Mr. Fokta inquired about moving Section H, Communications, and Item K-1 up to follow Section F, Additions/Deletions of the Agenda, for the convenience of the public. The Parliamentarian agreed that this was within the jurisdiction of Robert's Rules to do so.
iii. Page 4, Item I-5, Finance Committee Report, was added to the agenda; however, the text of the report had not been included in the draft minutes. The text of the report was added to the final Minutes.
iv. Page 6, Item H-2, Ordinance 17-03, the correct figure should be $5,990,079.00. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
D. Recognition Of The Public: Kurt Jaros and Jake Warkentin were present.
E. Public Comments: Mr. Jaros thanked the Board of Trustees and Staff for entertaining the request that he and his wife made to remove This Day in June from the Children's Collection, as well as thanked the board for enlightening the public regarding the Board's policy on how it handles requests to withdraw a book. He also read a prepared statement of his position regarding the book.
Mr. Warkentin stated that he believes the Board acted properly with regard to retaining This Day in June in the Children's Collection.
F. Agenda - Additions/Deletions: None.
G. Treasurer's Report:
1. Approval of the Bills for September 2017: Mr. Bloom moved to approve expenditures in the amount of $139,517.18; seconded by Ms. Herbst.
Discussion was had regarding the water bill, which is created on a quarterly basis. The Water Department is behind on its billing due to installation of new water meters in West Chicago.
The irrigation system was shut off because of a suspected leak in the system. American National Sprinkler will be at the Library the first week of October to flush the system and shut it down for the season.
Roll Call Vote - Yes: Richard Bloom, Rosario Herbst, David Reynolds, Diane Kelsey, Nancy Conradt. Motion carried.
2. Financial Statements for August 2017: The Board Members have all received their fraud letter notification from the auditor. Each board member is responsible for filling out and returning the fraud letter by the deadline date.
H. Communications:
1. West Chicago Fire Protection District - Fire Alarm System Notification: Mr. Weseloh contacted Type 2 Integrated Security and completed the form, and he is waiting for the company provide a quote for the work requested. They are reworking the direct wire technology equipment in the 911 Communication Center that currently processes fire alarm signals, including signals which may be sent from the Library. Mr. Weseloh will follow up with regard to that system.
Discussion was had that the City is requiring the Library to change the communications system with the Fire Department, but yet the Library has to pay the City a significant amount of money to get a permit to do it.
2. City of West Chicago - TIF District Meeting: Mr. Bloom, as Library Board Treasurer, joined Mr. Weseloh in attending the meeting.
3. Metra/Union Pacific West Line held an Open House regarding the Third Mainline Track Project. The railroad has proposed that adding a third mainline track will remove a critical bottleneck along the corridor.
Mr. Bloom had a conversation with Julie Milavec, who was the West Chicago Library Administrator in the late 1990s/2000, now currently the Downers Grove Library Director. She asked to send her congratulations to the Board regarding the reconsideration last month of the book This Day in June; and she believes the Board came to the proper conclusion.
I. Reports:
1. President: President Conradt reported that Ms. Herbst has informed the President that Ms. Herbst will be resigning from the Board as of October 1, 2017, due to increased personal and family commitments. Ms. Conradt thanked Ms. Herbst for her service to the Library and hopes that Ms. Herbst will be back to serving the Library in the future.
The Library will post the position and accept applications for a resident of the District to fill out the remainder of the term. The Board will interview candidates, discuss candidates' qualifications in closed session, and make an appointment from the pool of qualified candidates. The deadline for applications is November 10, 2017. An individual appointed to this open trustee position will be required to run for office in 2019 if they wish to continue to serve as Trustee.
The President reminded the Board Members that when a Trustee makes a special request of the Director or the Staff, by long tradition the request is supposed to be made through the President; the President then would discuss the request with the Director.
Ms. Conradt stated that she was very proud of the Library and the community as a whole with regard to the proceedings of the book reconsideration conducted at the August meeting.
2. Library Director: A written report was provided in the Board packets.
Mr. Weseloh reported that as of the August financials, the fiscal year elapsed is 16.67 percent. The Library's revenues for the fiscal year have been collected at rate of 51.58 percent. As of September 1, the Library has received tax distributions in the amount of $912,451.83.
Janitorial supplies are above budget because the Library purchased tools for the maintenance position. The maintenance employee had previously been using his own tools, which should not have been the practice. This was a planned expenditure.
Insurance expenditures are at 98 percent; that is a front-loaded expense. Overall the Library is just under the budgeted expenditure rate for the fiscal year.
Mr. Weseloh reported that the reorganizing of the basement is nearly complete. Mr. Weseloh met with Bethany Bayci, the Special Events Coordinator for the City of West Chicago, to discuss strengthening the Library's relationship with the City with respect to participating in citywide events.
The new website is going to launch October 18, 2017.
LINC met at the Itasca Community Library on September 8, 2017. Discussion covered SWAN migration issues; and SWAN staff is meeting with each of the LINC libraries to discuss the migration and to answer questions from the staff of the migrating libraries.
3. Department Managers: Written reports were included in the Board Packets. Oral reports were provided by department managers for the Adult Services, Youth Services, Technical Services, and Circulation Services departments.
During August 159 new patrons were added from the District; the total number of cardholders is 13,752, which is 45.96 percent of the District population.
The new door counter provides the ability to obtain a visitor count for a discrete time frame which would be attributable to a particular program. The Library had a 7.67 percent increase in number of visits in August 2017 over August 2016. September is Library Card Sign-Up Month.
A total of 1,420 items were added to the Library's collection during August.
(Staff left.)
4. Finance Committee: The Finance Committee met this evening at 6:15 p.m. before the Board meeting. Present were Mr. Bloom, Chair; Rosario Herbst and Diane Kelsey, Members; Nancy Conradt, ex officio; and Ben Weseloh and Maureen Bajor, Staff.
Selection of and presentation to the board of an insurance broker was discussed. The committee finalized the development of a template of the process and how they want to present the goals and aims to prospective brokers who want to come and make a presentation to the Finance Committee. Brokers seeking to present will be provided identical information in advance of meeting with the Finance Committee.
Of the three insurance policies purchased by the Library, only the liability policy exceeds the $10,000.00 threshold which requires three bids; the other two policies are under $5,000.00, and therefore are under the purview of the Director to make a decision.
The Finance Committee will meet, interview brokers, and present to the Board at the November board meeting, providing the Board the names of prospective carriers of all three policies.
A request was received from the Director to include the Library's bookkeeper on the Illinois Funds account information list. This item will be addressed under New Business.
The Director and Maureen Bajor made a presentation to the Committee on the Health Savings Account. The health insurance is renewed each year on January 1.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:57 p.m.
J. Unfinished Business:
1. Projects List: Mr. Weseloh received two of the Projects Lists back from Trustees, and he has arranged the projects in order of importance, with safety items being addressed first. The list includes the estimated costs of each project.
Selection of the email archive solution needs to be completed. The recommendation is to move to Storagecraft.
The recommendation for interior signage is to incorporate universal messaging, which includes symbology utilizing graphic images rather than text. This approach allows for larger symbols which are easy to identify and are recognizable by persons who speak languages other than English.
The paver bricks are showing quite a bit of wear, and Mr. Weseloh would like to replace the pavers with concrete.
Locating handicapped parking closer to the front door is a large expenditure, and the Director acknowledged the Library currently does not have the funds to accomplish this goal. The Library has a plan from the architect that incorporates the relocation of the handicapped parking.
The drive-up book drop is a perennial patron request.
Mr. Weseloh will be working on the items in the order presented.
K. New Business:
1. Approval to Establish Access to Illinois Funds Account Information for the Bookkeeper: Mr. Bloom stated the Finance Committee recommends that Joan Happel's name be added as a person who has access to the Illinois Funds account.
Discussion was had regarding rationale for this addition.
Roll Call Vote - Yes: Richard Bloom, Rosario Herbst, David Reynolds, Diane Kelsey, Nancy Conradt. Motion carried.
L. Closed Session: None held.
M. Return To Open Session: No closed session held.
N. Adjournment: The President declared the meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m.
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