Abbott Library Trustees Minute Meetings
March 19, 2007
Present: John Mapley, Treasurer; Allison Mollica, Secretary; Rhonda Gurney; Peter Urbach, Chair; and John Walden, Library Director
Visitors: Paul M Pratt, Charlotte Brown, Brenda Dowst, Barbara Cooper, Nancy Chamberlain, David Brown, Catherine Bushueff, Anne Nilsen, Eleanor White, Stephen Nilsen, Jerry Karr, Brenda Shapiro, Robin Mapley, Linda Urbach, Stephen White, Mary Eprenian, Jean Wilson, John Wilson, Derek Tatlock, Betty Tatlock, Donna Gazelle, Harry Gazelle, Bernie Cooper.
1. Welcome of New Board Members
2. Approval of February Minutes – Minutes Approved
3. Chair report:
a. Final Report to Probate Court
i. Court report drafted and already reviewed by trustees, given to Rhonda for review
ii. Report indicates that the town voted to terminate the project.
b. Library Board Alternate Candidates
i. Three open seats for alternates
ii. Interested candidates: David Brown, Lisa Mean, Paul Pratt, Mary Epremium, Betty Tatlock.
iii. Rules permit up to 3 alternates. Rules require that trustees select the alternate by majority vote and make recommendations to selectman.
iv. A motion to nominate Betty Tatlock, Mary Epremium, and Paul Pratt be made alternates on the board. Seconded. Majority vote in favor.
c. Attorneys (Town Counsel and AG’s office) agree that the board needs to offer donated funds back to donors. Draft letter was reviewed and approved. Board will finalize minor changes in the letter via e-mail. It was agreed that in the absense of Allan and Sally – out of town for a month - Peter will sign the letter.
d. Legal issues will be discussed between the attorney general office and town attorney within the next few days. In response to a question, Chairman announced that he was not prepared to discuss publicly until the attorney’s have had their discussions.
e. Town was committed to send annual reports to court regarding the project and is required to submit a report on the termination of the project.
f. Question was asked how the report affects the campaign. The report is silent on the campaign because it is not relevant to the probate court.
g. Submission of report to the selectman approved unanimously.
4. Director’s Report
a. Automation System, Proposed Database Improvement
i. John Walden, Library Director requested a revision to the original automation system proposal to allow for an upgrade that would enable the TLC company to convert our records to standard MARC records that will result in an updated catalog without the imperfections from previous years and a smooth rollover to TLC. The total impact on the budget is $600 due to the $5000 downpayment on the contract that was made with the with the operating surplus from end of year budget (due to personnel changes). Approved unanimously.
5. Treasurer’s Report
a. Treasurers report reviewed. Motion to approve. Seconded. Approved.
6. Lisa Bozogan letter read by Rhonda Gurney regarding her requests to become more familiar with the accounts and finance before making decisions about funding and the returning of funds.
7. John Mapley announced resignation of Library Treasurer as soon as a replacement can be made. Lisa Bozogan was asked if she would take this position given her strong background in finance, but she declined. Discussion of a candidate will continue at the April meeting. Meetings will be set up with John Walden and John Mapley by Lisa Bozogan and Rhonda Gurney to review the financial records for the library and the trustees before the April meeting.
8. Building Planning
a. Old Building Closeout
i. Ski Tow Sign – Motion to remove the sign. Seconded. Approved unanimously. Peter will take the sign down with Steve White and Derek Tatlock, Harry Gazelle and Ben Cooper.
ii. Architect Construction Manager – All work effectively terminated February 9th in light of the impending vote. All bills are paid to the architects and construction firms.
iii. Fund Accounting –
1. Reviewed the source of donations, other receipts (events, interest on investments, town warrant articles) against the payments for building planning and campaign expenses. Reviewed Net Assets with a balance of 1.875 million at end of February.
2. Reviewed the future changes to that balance with the addition of $25,000 Library Capital Reserve from 3/13 vote, expenses paid in March, and the change in the expected proceeds from the sale of the Abbott Library.
3. Reviewed Building Fund and Campaign Expenses totaling $144,468. John noted the significant waste of money due to the recent events and his strong dissatisfaction with it.
iv. Donor Issues
1. The AG’s Office has expressed the view that Donors withdrawing their funds are entitled to interest.
2. The attorney’s rationale for the requirement to return funds is that the change in building location, design and timing for completion are all substantive changes that change the terms relied upon by the donor and the donor must therefore be given the opportunity to withdraw his donation.
3. The Campaign Committee and the trustees have treated donor lists and donated amounts as confidential information.. It now appears that these data are public records subject to public access. Donors who thought this was privileged information would be upset if it were released. The Board felt donors should be given and opportunity to make their donations anonymous as the law allows.. Only 2 of 770 names in the database are currentyl anonymous. In an effort to protect the anonymity of donors, a team will begin calling all major donors beginning no later than Tuesday morning to give them opportunity to submit a request for anonymity.
v. Donor Letter
1. Peter Urbach reviewed the letter to donors and forms
2. Several versions of the letter were presented for review.
3. Final letter was unanimously approved subject to minor additional changes dealing with anonymity and the “return within 60 days” clause.
9. Planning for New Building
a. General – Rhonda Gurney announced that a number of citizens had called her to volunteer their ideas for sites and building plans. She said these interested parties want the new plans to be a community effort. She proposed a public meeting to have all interested parties come and share their ideas. Rhonda agreed to meet with Lisa and report back to the board in April on how they want to begin this process.
b. Board will designate a building committee at the next meeting.
10. Revised Board Meeting Times
a. Discussion about changing the day and time of the meeting took place after request from Lisa Bozogan who has a work conflict with the time. After lengthy dialog concerning potential conflicts with other proposed days and times it was unanimously decided to keep the Monday time slot and set the new time to 6:00pm from 5:30pm in hopes of meeting the needs of all trustees. Steve White pointed out that most folks who run for a board or to serve as a public official need to make compromises in their daily schedule to accommodate meetings and the responsibilities of such a role and it is difficult to find one time that works for all.
11. Election of Officers – Postponed until next meeting. In the meantime, the current officers will continue their roles until new officers are elected in April.
12. Parking Issue – The owner of the convenience store next door to the library has requested that the parking that is owned by the store not be used by library patrons. Signs may be posted in the future. This relates to the two spaces parallel to Route 11 at the front of the lot.
13. An application for a check-writing account at Sugar River Savings account to return donations was submitted for signatures. Board unanimously voted in favor of the bank resolution opening the account.
14. Emails – Move to make board group emails public by adding the town clerk to the group list. Motion seconded. Unanimously approved. This will require coordination with Town Hall before implementation.
15. Steve White commented on record that although he did not vote for the Ski Tow Hill location, he did not support the Anti Ski Tow Petition because it negatively impacted the process. He thanked the board of trustees for all of their hard work and effort in this endeavor.
Adjourned 7:20 PM
Allison Mollica, Secretary
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