Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, November 25, 2014

 

Board of Trustees Regular Meeting
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
6:15 pm
Location: Youth Program Room
Agenda

1.  Call to Order
2. Public Comment (3 minutes per person)
3. Review/Additions/Approval of Agenda
4.  Approve Minutes of October 28, and November 18, 2014
5. Committee Assignments
6.  Whitcomb Foundation Donation
7. FY 2016 Budget
8. By-laws Revision  Reviewed as a consent calendar and voted on in one vote.  An item or items may be extracted for debate/vote.
9.  New Business
10. Executive Session
11. Review and Approve Warrants
12. Adjourn to next Meeting: December 23, 2014, 6:15 PM
or 27 January 2015 6:15 PM?

 

Personnel Committee Meeting Agenda: Thursday, November 20, 2014

Library Board Personnel Committee Meeting
Thursday, November 20, 2014, 12:00 noon
Location: Youth Department Program Room
Agenda:

1. Call to Order
2. Approval of minutes of October 9, 2014
3. Public Comments (Limit to 3 minutes per person)
4. Interview with the Library Director
5. Next meeting date: December 18, 2014
6. Executive Session (If necessary)
7. Adjourn

Posted November 18, 2014
The Youth Program Room is accessible by elevator at the entrance to the left of the main stairs.

Personnel Committee Draft Minutes: Thursday, November 20, 2014

 

Draft Minutes
RFPL Personnel Committee Minutes
Thursday, November 20, 2014 at 12:00 noon

Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes

Present were Doreen Aldrich; Pat Fowler; David Gould and Celina Houlne.

The meeting was called to order by Committee Chair David Gould at 12:08 PM and a quorum was declared.  Gould agreed to record the minutes in the absence of Carolyn Frise.

Doreen pointed out that the Inclement Weather Policy was to be presented at the next regular Board of Trustees Meeting.  (This issue was not presented at the Regular Board meeting of October 28, 2014.  It will be presented at the January 27, 2015 meeting.)  Doreen moved the draft minutes of October 9, 2014, be approved as printed.  Seconded by Pat Fowler.  Approved unanimously.

There were no Public Comments.

Celina shared her November Director’s Report which is included as an addendum.  She further stated that there were no problems between herself and any staff members, no problems between herself, the staff and patrons and no problems that the Board of Trustees should be aware of.  She is spending an unspecified amount of time collecting materials the renovation and the filed lawsuit against the architect for Chip and the town attorney.  She expressed concern that the Regular Board Meeting Agenda set for November 25, 2014, was not done in consultation with her.  She noted that sometime she has information that needs to be included in agendas before they are posted.

Pat Fowler expressed irritation and frustration that the Finance Committee Meeting scheduled for November 10, 2014, had to be cancelled because the warning of the meeting was not posted to the Library web page.  The cancellation of the meeting has caused delay in preparing the budget.  It was suggested that Celina develop a step by step procedure for the sending out, posting and warning of all meetings.

There being no other business the meeting was adjourned at 12:34 PM

Signed____David F. Gould____, Secretary, Pro Tem.   November 21, 2014

 

 

Director’s Report      November 20, 2014    Celina Houlne

October Programs and Statistics

 

* Youth Programs: 20 events, attendance of 445.  We had some great programs this year including the return of the Annual Family Halloween party, which was very well attended, afterschool programs, and more.
* Adult Programs: 19 events, attendance of 120. Bike Tour 350, a travel slideshow interspersed with live music, drew the largest attendance. Two other popular programs were the Spanish Conversation and Genealogy workshops. In addition, there were 28 one-on-one computer training sessions.
* Meeting Room and Program Room usage: 39 library, 23 non-library (including Boys &Girls Club)
* Adults Computer Use: 822 Public Access Computer Sessions, 332 Laptop and mobile devices
* Youth Computer Use: 396 Public Access Computer Sessions, 390 Laptop and mobile devices
* New Library Cards issued: 26
* New titles added to collection: 213
* Items checked out: 3,033
* Inter-Library Loans (ILLs): 66 items borrowed from other libraries, 38 items loaned from our collection.

Budget

* October’s monthly financial report is for the four months or 33% of the fiscal year.
There aren’t any specific changes of note to make compared to last month.

Building and Grounds
* Reorganization of storage spaces is ongoing. The historical collection items will be moved back from the Village Square Booksellers in multiple stages. This began November 19.

Director Activities
* Continuing education – I attended a VT Common Good webinar on budget planning. I also attended the Vermont Library Association and Department of Libraries Annual Conference with Friends President, Polly Montgomery, which was very useful as it focused on fundraising and grants.  I will apply what I learned for the annual appeal letter to go out in December.  I will let the Board know when they can come into to write personal notes on the letters.
* Staff – There will be a staff development meeting on Thursday, December 18. We will be closed in the morning and open at 1pm.  Anne has continued to learn library systems, and she has jumped right in to a very busy fall schedule, organizing some interesting programs.
* Community outreach – I attended the monthly Chamber mixer with Anne, to introduce her to
folks.  Also, I attended the monthly Departments Heads meeting at Town Hall.
* Selectboard Meeting – I attended the meeting to learn about the status of the town’s lawsuit concerning the renovation. I am now gathering information for Chip to help them prepare the case.
* Personnel Committee – I prepared information for the Personnel Committee meeting.  We reviewed the month’s activities and discussed the process of handling public records requests.
* Budget Committee – Mary and I attended the Finance Committee meeting to present the FY16 budget. I then gathered financial information from area libraries and other employees who work for the town, in order to compare comparison rates with the Library’s staff pay rates. We then attended the Special Board meeting to review the budget.
* Policy Committee – I attended this meeting where we reviewed the proposed policy for how to handle public records requests.
* Historical Collections Committee – Emily and I met with the committee to plan for the return of the historical items. I cleaned out the room while Emily supervised the move at the store. I continued to work on reorganization of other storage areas with Ellen.
* I am working with the Friends of the Library to prepare for the holiday party on Saturday, December 6, from noon to 1:30. The Friends have collected items for the fundraising raffle and they are also holding a silent auction for an historic quilt donated by Kathy Metelica Cray.  Information is available online, and they are accepting online bids for those who can’t make it into the Library.  Bids will close on Saturday, December 13, at 1:30pm.

Other
* Sam attended a daylong Literacy training workshop with Kathy Michael.
* Emily is gathering the input from the completed IMPACT Surveys and will have a report next month.  She is in charge of organizing the historical collections being returned to the Library.
* We are gathering statistics from FY14 to complete the Annual Statistical Report due to the State Library.
* The Boys and Girls Club continued to use the Youth Program Room after school. They were very appreciative to have been able to meet at the Library until their new space had been found, above the old Merchant’s Bank space in the Square.

 

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Draft Minutes: November 18, 2014

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
NOVEMBER 18, 2014

MINUTES

 

Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes.
Present:  Doreen Aldrich, Carol Blackwood, Hope Brissette, Karin Fischer, Pat Fowler, David Gould, L. Raymond Massucco & Jan Mitchell-Love, Trustees; Celina Houlne & Mary VanHartesveldt, Library; Absent:  Carolyn Frisa

Others:  Steve Geller & Joel Love

Call to Order:  Chairperson Blackwood called the meeting to order at 6:17 p.m.

Public Comment (3 minutes per person):  None

Approval of Agenda:  Approved by consensus.

FY 2016 Budget:  Blackwood asked Celina Houlne to explain the proposed budget to the trustees.  Houlne went down through the line items.  There were a few questions under “Revenue”.  It was the consensus of the board to leave $3,100 budgeted for “Book Sale”, $4,200 for “Direct Appeal”, $3,500 for “Fines” and $2,200 for “Non-Resident” library memberships.  Fines haven’t changed since 2008.  It was suggested that the board have a motion on the non-resident expenses at its next meeting.  Emily Zervas came into the meeting long enough to explain the proposed budget for tech equipment and software; what is needed and why.  There was a very long discussion on salaries.  Hope Brissette was not comfortable submitting this proposed budget yet as she needed more time to study some things.  Celina Houlne and Mary VanHartesveldt were asked to quickly go upstairs and run off some other salary scenarios.  David Gould moved that the salaries for the library director and staff be increased at the rate of 3% for the FY 2016 budget.  Karin Fischer seconded the motion.  There was discussion as to what percentage of the budget is on salaries. Celina Houlne thought about 70%.  She added that the 5.5% increase is the first in three years.  Jan Mitchell-Love said she was concerned about a 5.5% increase.  Massucco felt that if enough people were at town meeting, we might be able to pass it.  He added that we can’t continue to level fund it.  Karin Fischer called the question.  David Gould seconded.  The motion that the salaries for the library director and staff be increased at the rate of 3% for the FY 2016 budget failed with three in favor and five opposed.  Joel Love pointed out that the Chair was in violation of the Open Meeting Law as he had his hand up to speak before the vote and she would not recognize him.  He asked the secretary for the audio of this meeting on CD and said he would send an email request the next day.  Jan Mitchell-Love moved to table the budget until next week Tuesday and Hope Brissette seconded.  The chair cautioned that the board has a full agenda for next Tuesday.  The motion passed with seven in favor and one opposed.

At 8:45 p.m., David Gould moved to adjourn, seconded by Hope Brissette.  The motion carried.

Respectfully submitted 11/19/14___________________________________Secretary

 

Historical Collections Committee Special Meeting Agenda: Monday, November 17, 2014

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
NOTICE OF HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE SPECIAL MEETING
Monday, November 17, 2014
at The Rockingham Free Public Library, Youth Department Meeting Room
9:00am to lO:am

AGENDA

1. Call to order and welcome new committee member
2. Additions or changes to agenda. Adoption of agenda.
3. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
4. Plan for moving collection back to library
a. Update on moving and shelving Local History Collection
b. Discuss plans for moving the rest of the Historical Collection
5. Display and Exhibit Planning
7. Identify storage, housing and other supply needs for Historical Collection
8. New Business
9. Review agenda items for next meeting if applicable
11. Adjourn

The Library Meeting Room is accessible by the elevator at the entrance to the left of the front stairs.

 

Historical Collections Committee Meeting Draft Minutes: Monday, November 17, 2014

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Monday, November 17, 2014
at Rockingham Free Public Library
9:00 – 10:00 AM
DRAFT MINUTES

In attendance: Emily Zervas, Carolyn Frisa, Pat Fowler, Celina Houlne and Duane Whitehead
Call to Order—Meeting called to order by Carolyn at 9:10 am.
1.Call to order and welcome new committee member–Karin Fischer was absent but Carolyn announced that she is a new member on the committee.
2. Additions or changes to agenda. Adoption of agenda.–adopted.
3. Public comment–none
4. Plan for moving collection back to library
a. Update on moving and shelving Local History Collection
Emily and Carolyn met at the bookstore to evaluate the task and make a plan for bringing items back to the library. It was decided that framed items, “A” boxes, the cataloged photograph collection and any boxes of Hayes collection paper or scrap books would all be items to move over to begin with. The chairs and quilt frame should both also come back over soon. The quilt frame can be used to exhibit the silent auction quilt.
Emily is available on Wednesday Nov 19th at 8:30am and asked for assistance from any committee members who could help. She also will be contacting the highway department to see if they can come help move a flat file out of the storage closet and help move some larger items over.
b. Discuss plans for moving the rest of the Historical Collection
The committee agreed that the collection moving would need to be assessed step by step and that the priority was first moving some things out of the room so we could move boxes around and hopefully remove some of the archival shelving and set it up in the new collection storage areas.
5. Display and Exhibit Planning
Emily identified one exhibit that she could put together in time for the Friends holiday party. She also committed to finishing the installation cards for the hanging art in the library in time for the event.
7. Identify storage, housing and other supply needs for Historical Collection
The need for locks on the display cases was discussed. The only locksmith who seems to be available is very unresponsive, though he has visited and promised a quote for the work twice. Emily will call him and try to get him to give a maximum figure for putting locks on the cases that he has already looked at.
The committee discussed the need for some kind of frame storage rack. This will be assessed when we move all the framed items back to the library.
Celina discussed the possibility of creating more historical collections storage by building folding doors to enclose the inset corner of the upstairs meeting room.
The committee discussed hanging the Tucker Toll Bridge sign in the main area of the library.
8. New Business–none.
9. Review agenda items for next meeting if applicable–Next meeting Monday Dec 8, 9am.
11. Adjourn–10:06am.

 

Policy Committee Meeting Agenda: Thursday, November 13, 2014

 

Board of Trustees Policy Committee Meeting
Thursday, November 13, 2014
6:15 pm
Location: Youth Program Room
Agenda

1.  Call to Order
2. Public Comment (3 minutes per person)
3.Additions/Approval of Agenda
4.  Storage and access to trustee communications
5. Library operations manual
6. New business
7. Adjourn to next Meeting (Date TBA)

The Youth Program Room is accessible by the elevator entrance to the left of the main door.

 

Policy Committee Meeting Minutes: November 13, 2014

 

RFPL TRUSTEES POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING NOVEMBER 13, 2014
6:15PM
MINUTES

Please click here to download a .pdf of these minutes and all of the attachments.

Present: Doreen Aldrich, Carol Blackwood & Carolyn Frisa; Absent: L. Raymond Massucco
Members of the Public: Hope Brissette, Joel Love & Jan Mitchell-Love; Library: Anne Dempsey and Celina Houlne
Call to Order: The Policy Committee Meeting was called to order at 6:15 p.m.Public Comment: (3 Minutes per Person)

Additions/Approval of Agenda:Carolyn Frisa said while she was looking up model policies through the Vermont League City of Towns she found VLCT Model Ru1es of Procedure for Municipal Boards, Committees, and Commissions. She just had time this evening to go through and make recommended changes. Blackwood askea what that was for and Frisa said for following the open meeting law. It is.f0r gyidance for the board and a document that can be given out to the public. Blackwood calld for a vote of all in favor of adding a discussion about model rules to trustees to the agenda. There was no opposition and it was added under “New Business”. There was no dis ent on the agenda with the one addition.

Storage and Access to Trustee Communications: Frisa provided the template for Public Record Inspection, Copying and Transmission-.Policy so Blackwood turned it over to her to discuss. Frisa explained that the template was given to her by the Town of Rockingham and is a policy that the Select Board Village Trustees will be reviewing in their upcoming meetings so it is fully drafted. It was taken from VLCT andd to make it clear where she entered her suggestions, changes have a strike-through and additions are in all caps, bold. Some things are highlighted and those are things she has questions about or thought needed a little more information. Blackwood said VLCT puts this out, basically, as a template for towns to utilize if they choose to. As best as we understand, it has been reviewed by their legal beagles. Frisa added that it was her recommendation that this committee go over it tonight and make any changes we feel are appropriate and get the library board’s lawyer to review it before presenting it to the full board fordoption. Frisa added that she thinks the Select Board will look at it at their next meeting on Dec. 2nd. Blackwood said the hope would be by doing this, we’ve created an avenue for public review of communications and relieve individual trustees from having to individually answer with the same emails being sent multiple times from different people. Frisa asked what is the time for public comment. Blackwood said as a committee, we need to decide. Frisa proposed/moved three minutes per agenda item for public comment. Aldrich was ok with it; but asked if it was enough time. Joel Love thought it was a little brief. Blackwood suggested a friendly amendment to five minutes total per person and they can use it anywhere they want. Aldrich agreed/seconded and it was passed. Joel Love said there is a major hole in this and so does the town and so does VLCT in the fact that it says any written record or information with a public record regardless of physical form or characteristics which is produced or acquired in the course of public agency business. You are dealing with that which is acquired by the Rockingham Free Public Library. You are not necessarily covering all content that is in that superset which is produced if it was produced by you or your private email, or if it was produced by others . You are still custodians of those records. Blackwood agreed but; said if there is nothing else, then there is nothing to be sent. Love added if a public records request is sent to a trustee, the trustee cannot absolve themselves if it can be demonstrated with one instance that everything I have is in the repository of the library and is turned over by the custodian it’s only the things that are in that repository that are under the control of the library. The trustee as a public official is still responsible; they cannot absolve themselves of the responsibility. If the library, doesn’t provide it the person who produced it still owns it. Jan Mitchell-Love said what Joel is saying is that the repository contains copies of things generated. It cannot generate. The definition of a custodian is to generate and to receipt. You will always be the custodian of the emails and you will never be absolved of having to produce them or make sure. that the records requests are filled correctly no matter who you have doing it for you. If it goes to court, you will be the one responsible.Blackwood said she thinks we understand the point being made in that if she as a trustee sends an email and doesn’t send it to the repository and gets a records request, it’s her obligation to turn that over. lf she has done no business and it’s not in the repository her answer is zero. Loved added that on the other hand if everything that was carried on as business from the library was under the control of a library email system and under the control .of an administrator and everything occurred through that (which would be an additional expense to the town and for the library) then everything would be there by default. It and the custodian of that would be the administrator/controller of that. There is an issue from the state·archivist. Records, policies and procedures using record keeping practices needs to be taken into consideration with this. This particulur policy doesn.’t adaress these practices adequately. Blackwood asked if he had anything.written down abeut which particular thing it doesn’t address. Love said not off the top of his head; but he can draft up some examples. Houlne interjected that the town has a records retention policy that the library trustees can use as well. That would be the next step to take. Brisette. said her husband was on the school board and he has years of stuff he has to keep. Frisa said her qnderstanding is different than the public opinion here from talking with the Secretary of State and Attorney Steve Ankuda in the past. The trustees can designate a person to be the person responsible for discharging the duties of the custodian. Blackwood said the key is to make sure every email you ,send goes into the repository. Frisa feels this is the best way to do it because it is not reasonable to expect volunteers to maintain permanent records. Blackwood added that separate from a public records request, it creates a more organized system so that if someone wanted to do a history of the library and include trustee business in it, it would be in a much more organized and searchable fashion than a bunch of other ones. Frisa agreed saying when she is no longer on the library board and she moves somewhere she wants people to easily get that information. Brissette said she is unclear as to why this has become such a huge issue. She’s been on the board a little bit longer than Carolyn and has never had a problem filling any request. She feels it is more of a selfish personal reason that this is getting brought forward. She realizes some parts of this are important; but we have more things to do than all this. Mitchell­ Love said there is a difference between the Town of Rockingham and us. We have a repository that is volunteer. You can’t make anybody put their emails there. It also is if they remembered to put their emails there. She discovered this, not looking for it, and forwarded to Pat Fowler the other day; she didn’t copy the repository on the email. It happens. No matter what you do, the town is working on town computers and they can capture, unless they go home and write something; all of us have stuff spread out on our emails and we are custodians. She added that if somebody makes a public records request of her emails, she is going to fill it. No matter what the policy is, you can’t force her to have somebody else fill it for her when she knows, worst case scenario, she can be taken to court and she will be responsible for what somebody else doesIt is not a big deal; it’s our job to fill them. Frisa said she feels it’s a big deal because when somebody asks you for three years of public records, that is an enormous amount of time and she feels like that is being done as a way to intimidate board members, to make her lose money in her business and it is done at strategic times of the year. She doesn t think that is what the public record law was written for. Going forward, each board member gets an email account through the library’s email system. Existing emails can be forwarded to the repository or transferred by disc in whatever format they are kept in and you re done. You make it clear to new trustees that when they become a board member, if they are going to use email as a form of communication, they agree to use the email address and that’s it. It’s not part of this; this is more of a policy that is given to the public. There is a place to add that in there if you want to be specific in this policy. Blackwood said this policy doesn’t stop anyone from answering thier own requests if they choose. Everyone does have their own responsibility to make sure their records are in the repository and if it turns out they are not then that’s their issue to face if it were to come to a lawsuit. Mitchell-Love said this would be a very interesting legal thing. If you elect public officials, you can’t tell them that they have to have a library email and that you own their emails. If they say no, there is not a thing you can do. It is not enforceable and this policy is not enforceable. Brissette said she’s getting the impression that one trustee’s time is considered more valuable than other trustees. She has scads of emails. She feels it’s kind of selfish to think that someone feels put upon. She feels put upon; but it is her job to do it. Love said along those same lines in roughly May, 2013, Ray Massueco made a request for all of Jan s emails regarding the library. It took her over nine calendar days and well over 40 hours to fulfill this request. It was at the same time she was grading finals papers. She stayed up an enormous amount of time to get it done but; did it. She checked with Atty. Ankuda and he advised that she didn’t have a choice; she had to do it. Love added that he feels it is a wonderful thing to build a repository and to provide a custodian for digital artifacts and those should include everything including the emails and documents produced. Over the course of history, it would be a great thing for people to look at 50 years from now. The issue is you cannot absolve yourself of responsibility of public official by saying I don’t need to do this because I turn my emails over to someone else. It hasn’t been decided in court so fundamentally it will have to be decided in court, maybe even Vermont Supreme Court; but the reality of it is that the state has recently defined what custodian is so you have to use the normal or customary term of it and that is the person who has control of it and who has produced it. Love was reminded that his time was up. Frisa said that is why we as a committee should work on this and have a lawyer look at it. Brissette reminded the committee before getting an attorney to look at this, they need full approval from the board. Frisa said if you look on the State Treasurer’s web site, they also have a public records policy and they have appointed a staff member to act as the records custodian for purposes of receiving and responding to all requests for public records. Aldrich suggested presenting the policy to VLCT as there probably wouldn’t be a charge. The committee commenced going down through the proposed policy (template from VLCT/Rockingham Select Board). Blackwood explained that the yellow highlighted parts are new words added by Frisa using language from the Secretary of State.

Aldrich asked Love if he was ok with having a policy; but that individuals are still responsible for their own emails and he responded “yes”.

Regarding the fifth paragraph on Page 1 , Love said if the committee is limiting this to board communication, you’re severely limited and will look bad . It looks like you are protecting yourselves because it pertains to any record generated in the course of library business. It doesn t matter who it is by as long as it comes into the possession of any of you or of anybody at the library; not just the board members. That is point one. Point two, on page 3, “LlBRARY PUBLIC RECORDS ARE MAINTAINED IN STANDARD PORTABLE DOCUMENT FORMAT (PDF)”; if you check with the Assn. of American Archivists, you will find that they don’t necessarily recommend PDF anymore. They recommend a standard archival format. If you are going to build a repository for this, you ought to be building an apptopriate repository rather than limiting yourselves to a particular document format-which may or may not be extinct in a few years. Frisa said she doesn’t understand what in this document makes Mr. Love think it’s just the library board. Love said because it says “board-member all the way through this. It isn’t just the board’s public records; it’s all the business records all the public reocrds of the library. Blackwood interjected that Love is suggesting that all library business is email. Love said what he is saying is don’t limit it to just the board’s emails; it’s any employee’s emails as well. Blackwood said again it is becoming harder to enforce if you start including the whole universe; but she takes his point or perhaps Library director or people in a leadership position. Frisa said her assumption is that the library board of trustees has a policy and the library has a policy for Public records. Houlne asked that we refer this to VLCT. Right here “Town of Rockingham/Bellows..Falls Village Corporatjon” to her encompasses all the boards, all the employees, everybody. Do you Want to specifically say the library board or the Rockingham Library? Frisa apologized that Love thought that was her intent here. Typically, the way the policies are broken up, there are library staff policies and there are board policies.

Brissette said she feels it is a diservice that you are going to just include the trustees because there is a tendency to say “Oh well we’ll get back to that or do that later” with good intentions–­ “guilty”. Her thought on that is it might take time; but it might behoove this committee to think hard about employees/town related things that should go on there also. We being our own custodians of our emails are simpler. Brissette, Mitchell-Love and Love had other commitments and left the meeting at this point.

Blackwood recommended the committee continue going through the proposed policy so if we need our own, we’ve got it but; if the lawyer says we don’t need our own and we can just slide in under the town’s policy then we’re good. After lively discussion and public input the attached draft is attached hereto.
Please click here to download a .pdf of these minutes and all of the attachments.

Library Operations Manual: Take up at a future meeting; the policy committee will continue to work with the Library Director in refining it.New Business: Guidance- VLCT Model Rules of Procedure for Municipal Boards, Committees and Commissions. The draft will be discussed at a later date.

Please click here to download a .pdf of these minutes and all of the attachments.

The policy committee meeting adjourned at 8:20p.m. Respectfully submitted on Nov. 17, 2014

Secretary

 

CANCELLED Finance Committee Meeting Agenda: Monday, November 10, 2014

 

NOTICE OF MEETING

The Finance Committee of the Rockingham Free Public Library Trustees Board of Trustees will meet on Monday Nov 10, 2014, at 6:15pm at the Rockingham Library Conference Room.

RFPL Trustee Attendees:
Pat Fowler, Treasurer
Carol Blackwood, Trustee
Ray Massucco, Trustee
Jan Mitchell-Love, Trustee
Celina Houlne, Library Director
Mary Van Hartesveldt, RFPL Staff

MEETING AGENDA

1. Call to order
2. Additions or changes to agenda
3. Public comment (3 minutes per person)
4. Review of FY 15 Budget if required
6. Review of FY 16 Budget with staff (Chart of Accounts – bring your copy or additional copies will be available)
7. Other Business
8 Adjourn

 

CANCELLED Historical Collections Committee Special Meeting Agenda: Thursday, November 6, 2014

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA
Thursday, November 6, 2014
at The Rockingham Free Public Library, Youth Department Meeting Room
9:00 – 10:00 AM
 
 

  1.  Call to order and welcome new committee member
  2. Additions or changes to agenda. Adoption of agenda.
  3. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
  4. Plan for moving collection back to library
    1. Update on moving and shelving Local History Collection
    2. Discuss plans for moving the rest of the Historical Collection
  5. Display and Exhibit Planning
  6. Identify storage, housing and other supply needs for Historical Collection
  7. New Business
  8. Review agenda items for next meeting if applicable
  9. Adjourn

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, October 28, 2014

 

Board of Trustees Regular Meeting
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
6:15 pm
Location: Youth Program Room
Agenda

1.  Call to Order
2.  Recording of Minutes designation
3. Public Comment (3 minutes per person)
4. Review/Additions/Approval of Agenda
(Additions require Trustee majority vote)
5.  Approve Minutes of September 9, 2014
6.  Director’s Report
a.  Highlights (5min limit)
b.  Financial Reports
7.  Committee Reports
a.  Personnel
b.  Policy
Recommended By-laws Revision  Recommendations will be submitted as a consent calendar and voted on in one vote.  An item or items may be extracted for debate/vote.
c.  Finance
1)  Funds management
2)  Review of  Budget
8.  Continuing Business
a.  Review Options for Sign
b.  Unbudgeted funds usage
9.  New Business
10. Review and Approve Warrants
11. Adjourn to next Meeting: November 25, 2014, 6:15 PM The Youth Program Room is accessible by the elevator entrance to the left of the main door.

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: October 28, 2014

 

Rockingham Free Public Library
Board of Trustees Meeting
October 28, 2014

Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes.

Present: Doreen Aldrich, Carol Blackwood, Hope Brissete, Kain Fischer, Patricia Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, David Gould, L. Raymond Massucco and Jan Mitchell-Love, Trustees; Celine Houlne, Mary VanHartesveldt, Library

Others: Ian Eddy, Debbi Wetzel, Adam Wetzel, David DeRusha, Arnold J. Clift, Polly Montgomery, Joel Love, Elayne Clift, Diane Brown, Debbie Bump, Betty Haggerty, Deborah Wright, Susan Warner, Edward Warner, Susie Peters, Kathy Michel

Press: Alison Teague, Commons; Susan Smallheer, Rutland Herald; Dominic Polli, Brattleboro Reformer; FACT TV Joe Powers

Meeting was Called to order at 6:20 pm by Chairperson Carol Blackwood.

Public Comments:
Polly Montgomery, president of the Friends announced that the Friends will be sponsoring a holiday party on December 6th from noon-1:30pm.  A 50/50 raffle will be held along with raffles of gift certificates and other items to benefit the Friends.  She asked people to sign up to bring snacks and to solicit items for the raffles.

Arnold Clift spoke regarding what he sees an excess of public records requests.  He noted that over 22 individual requests have been made in recent months and that they are time consuming.  He suggested that the board not respond and to let the complaints go to court.  He suggested that the Library Director be named as the official custodian of records and he asked that his comments be entered into the official record.

Joel Love said that making the director the custodian would be illegal and that a custodian cannot be designated by the trustees.  He also asked Frisa to provide the past two years of her e-mails.

Frisa said that the board needs to have a clear policy for handling public records requests, and it was suggested that this be taken up by the policy committee.

Additions to Agenda:
Blackwood assured Mitchell-Love that items Mitchell-Love had requested to have put on the agenda had been included, although she might have used different language when listing them.

Two items added to the agenda were 1) clarification of the custodian for public records requests and 2) a letter from Deborah Wright that some board members had not
yet seen.

Blackwood spoke of the need for practicing civility and following an organizational structure in order to keep our focus on getting business done.  She requested one week’s notice for agenda items, and said that when submitting an agenda item, we need to do our homework such as having attachments and complete information so meetings can be efficient and organized.

Trustees voted in favor of adopting the agenda.

Approval of Minutes
Gould moved to accept the September minutes.  Mitchell-Love was opposed, all others voted in favor.

Directors Report
Highlights
Houlne noted recent memorial and landscape donations.  She encouraged people to participate in the survey the library is currently conducting on it’s services.
She noted that she recently waived a small fee for fulfilling a public records request, but clarified that in the future there would be a charge.

Financial
Mitchell-Love requested an explanation of spending that is currently surpassing 25% of the amount budgeted for the fiscal year. Houlne and VanHartesveldt explained that some bills come only once or twice per year, some amounts were from the past fiscal year, phone for new staff had not been budgeted, and overages for children’s program are being covered by the Friends.

Blackwood requested input from finance committee.  After some discussion of wording, Fowler moved that the board approve the recognition of expected overages, per worksheet of 10/22/14, so expenditures can be paid if they occur.  Mitchell-Love and Brissette abstained, all others voted in favor.

Committee Reports
Personnel
Gould provided information regarding differences in benefits for RFPL and town employees for review and future discussion with recommendations being contingent on budget.  Gould also noted having met with Houlne on 10/9.

Policy Committee re: By-law Revision
Brief public comments were taken, then Blackwood invited board members to indicate the articles they wanted to discuss individually.  Selected articles were discussed with brief public comments taken on each and changes were made as seen in the updated revision of the by-laws.

Finance Committee
Fowler moved to close out the matured CD at the Merchants Bank and move the entire balance to an existing money market account at River Valley Credit Union.  The board voted unanimously in favor of this.

Blackwood asked that we begin considering an wish list of possible expenditures for the next 3-5 years for discussion at the January meeting.

 

The next regularly scheduled meeting occurs the week of Thanksgiving.  Polling
indicated that enough board members will be available to have a quorum.

The board voted to schedule a special meeting for Tuesday November 18th at 6:15pm for the single purpose of discussing FY ’16 budget.  Mitchell-Love was opposed, all others voted in favor.

Meeting adjourned at approximately 9:45 pm.

Draft
Respectfully Submitted,
Karin Fischer
10/31/14

ARNOLD CLIFT
STATEMENT TO RFPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES (Oct 28 2013)

I have two points to make:
First, Public Records Requests
I understand that since the new Board of Trustees was reconstituted after the March Town Elections earlier this year, Ms Deborah Wright, a former Board member, has submitted several Public Records Requests to Trustees seeking information either from a particular Trustee or from each of them. This has necessitated over 22 separate responses from individual Trustees. In addition, Ms. Wright has made two Public Requests to the Library Director.  As a former Trustee, Ms Wright is well aware of the time consuming effort needed to respond to such requests, especially as some of them were very broad in scope.  One can only surmise as to the real motive behind making so many requests.

As provided in the Public Records Law (I VSA 319 d (3)), and Vermont Procedure No 11, the Court may impose penalties and sanctions against any litigant whose complaint is deemed by the Court to constitute harassment. I suggest that the Board of Trustees consider not replying to any further Public Records Requests from Ms Wright at this time and instead allow Ms Wright to pursue the matter in Court where it may be juridicially resolved.

Second, “Custodian” of Public Records
The Public Records law does not define or indicate who is, or should be, the custodian of official documents. There has been discussion among the Trustees as to who should be the custodian of official Library documents either “produced or acquired” by the Trustees and the staff. To clarify the situation I respectfully suggest that the Board pass a motion to the effect that for the purposes of the Public Records Request law, the Library Director be appointed the custodian of official records; that all official library documents, produced or acquired, by Trustees or staff be deposited with the custodian and that all Public Records requests be handled and responded to by the Custodian.

 

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY

BYLAWS

 

ARTICLE I:  Trustee Election

The affairs of the Rockingham Free Public Library shall be conducted by a board of nine (9) trustees.  Three Trustees shall be elected by the voters of Rockingham each year for a term of three (3) years at the Annual Town Meeting.  New Trustees shall immediately take an oath of office and assume their duties.   Shall a vacancy occur for any cause, other than normal term expiration, the Library Board of Trustees shall make a recommendation to the Town Selectboard to fill such vacancy.  The Selectboard will appoint an interim Trustee to fill the position, until the next Town Meeting when a replacement Trustee will be elected for the remaining term, if any, in accordance with 1 V.S.A. § 963 as amended.

 

ARTICLE II: Meetings

The Library Board of Trustees, as a first order of business after each new election cycle, shall adopt a set of rules for governance of meetings, such as Roberts Rules of Order.

All meetings shall be conducted as open meetings except as allowed by 1 V.S.A. § 313 as amended, for executive session.   Reasonable public comment will be allowed at all public meetings.

The Library Board of Trustees shall meet in regular session a minimum of nine (9) times per year in accordance with1 V.S.A. § 213 as amended.   The first meeting after an election cycle shall occur within seven (7) days, at a time and location agreeable to two thirds or more of the Trustees.   Subsequent meetings will be held at an agreed upon regular schedule.  The Chair shall schedule other Library Board of Trustee meetings in accordance with 1 V.S.A. § 312 as amended.

Notice (either via mail or electronic communication) shall be provided specifically to each Trustee at least five (5) days prior to regular meetings, three (3) days prior to special meetings, and twenty four (24) hours  prior to emergency meetings. Emergency meetings will only be called in extreme, urgent circumstance.   Notification will include date, time, place and agenda of meeting.   Public notification of all meetings will be done with a goal of maximal dissemination to the community and in accordance with 1 V.S.A. § 312 as amended.

 

ARTICLE III:  Quorum

A quorum shall consist of five (5) Trustees, and may include the Chair.

 

ARTICLE IV: Motions

For any motion to pass it must be seconded and receive an affirmative vote from a majority of the Library Board of Trustees or Library Trustee Committee members.

 

ARTICLE V: Attendance

So that the Library Board of Trustees may function effectively and with continuity, Trustees are expected to attend meetings on a regular basis.

 

ARTICLE VI:  Governance

The Library Board of Trustees shall make all necessary rules for the governance of the library, and shall conduct the same in a manner best calculated to serve the purposes for which the library was established.

ARTICLE VII:  Budget

The Library Board of Trustees shall develop and approve an  annual budget and submit it to the Town of Rockingham Selectboard, to be presented to the voters as a separate appropriation request at the Annual Town Meeting.

The Library Board of Trustees shall submit an annual report for publication in the Annual Town Report.

 

ARTICLE VIII:  Officers and Committees

The Library Board of Trustees as a first order of business after each new election cycle, shall elect from its members: Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer, with terms to expire at the next election cycle. To be elected, candidates must receive an affirmative vote from a majority of the Library Board of Trustees .  Additional elections may be conducted during the year, if one of the officers resigns, or when the Library Board of Trustees votes to elect a new officer.

 

The Chair may appoint committees which shall include a minimum of two (2) Trustees and may include community members and library staff to work on areas of particular interest.  Committees will include Finance and Policy. Other committees may include, but are not limited to  Fundraising, Long Range Planning, Personnel,  Buildings and Grounds,  and Historical Collections.

ARTICLE IX:  Library Director

The Library Board of Trustees shall hire and supervise a Library Director who shall be responsible for direct oversight of library functions, library staff and maintenance of its assets. The Library Board of Trustees will conduct a written evaluation of the Library Director annually, and additional written or oral evaluations as determined by the Library Board of Trustees.

 

The hiring or termination of the Library Director shall require a two-thirds majority vote of the Library Board of Trustees.

 

Article X: Record of Proceedings

A Secretary or designee shall keep a written record of the Library Board of Trustees proceedings at all meetings, including all committee meetings.  The minutes shall be made public in accordance with 1 V.S.A. § 312 as amended.

 

Article XI:  Borrowing Privileges

Borrowing privileges shall be granted to any person meeting the provisions of Rockingham residency or non-resident requirements as defined in the Library Operational Policy Manual.

 

Article XII: Library Policies

The Library Board of Trustees shall review Library policies at least every three (3) years and shall update as necessary after soliciting  recommendations from library personnel.

Article XIII:  Payment of Funds

No library funds shall be dispersed by the Town, unless the order, draft, or bill is reviewed by the Library Director and signed by the Treasurer of the Library Board of Trustees or two (2) Trustees if the Treasurer is not available.

 

Article XIV:  Donations and Gifts

The Library Board of Trustees shall accept monetary donations and other gifts as appropriate in accordance with the Library Operational Policy Manual.

 

Article XV:  Historical Collection

The Historical Collection shall be a permanent part of the library and shall be properly maintained and cared for in accordance with the Historical Collection Management Policy Manual.

 

Article XVI:  Bylaw Amendments

The Library Board of Trustees shall review these bylaws at a minimum of every three (3) years.  Proposed changes must be provided to the Library Board of Trustees and to the public at least thirty (30) days in advance of the meeting at which the amendments are to be considered. Two separate votes, each having a two thirds majority vote and not less than 30 days apart shall be required to amend or revise the bylaws.    Library Board of Trustees bylaws, as amended, supercede all previous versions.

 

Finance Committee Meeting Agenda: Monday, October 27, 2014

 

The Finance Committee of the Rockingham Free Public Library Trustees Board of Trustees will meet on Monday Oct 27, 2014, at 6:15pm at the Rockingham Library Conference Room on the top floor.

 

RFPL Trustee Attendees:
Pat Fowler, Treasurer
Carol Blackwood, Trustee
Ray Massucco, Trustee
Jan Mitchell-Love, Trustee
Celina Houlne, Library Director
Mary Van Hartesveldt, RFPL Staff

MEETING AGENDA

1. Call to order
2. Additions or changes to agenda
3. Public comment (3 minutes per person)
4. Motion required to recommend to the Library Board of Trustees that we move funds from matured Merchants CD to River Valley Credit Union account.
5. Review of FY 15 Budget
6. Review of FY 16 Budget with staff (Chart of Accounts – bring your copy or additional copies will be available)
7. Other Business
8 Adjourn

 

Finance Committee Meeting Minutes: Monday, October 27, 2014

 

Minutes

The Finance Committee of the Rockingham Free Public Library Trustees Board of Trustees met on Monday Oct 27, 2014, at 6:25pm at the Rockingham Library.

Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes

RFPL Trustee Attendees: Pat Fowler, Treasurer, Carol Blackwood, Trustee, Ray Massucco, Trustee, Jan Mitchell-Love, Trustee, Celina Houlne, Library Director, Mary Van Hartesveldt, RFPL Staff. Public: Arnold Clift and Joel Love

1. Meeting was called to order by Pat Fowler, Treasurer, at 6:25 pm.

2. There were no additions or changes to the agenda.

3. No public comments.

4. Discussion on moving funds from Merchants Bank Cd which has matured, to the River Valley Credit Union account.  Motion was made by Jan to move total balance to existing River Valley Credit Union money market account, seconded by Carol. Funds will be available for emergencies and .2 interest rate is the best that we can do without tying up the funds for 5 years. One signature can withdraw funds from the account, either Celina, Pat or Doreen as Town Treasurer. The name of the account has been clearly defined as belonging to the Library, rather than the Town. Vote unanimously passed.
5. FY 2015 Budget review: Committee reviewed areas of expected overages of spending greater than $1000, as is required in Celina’s contract. The total expected overage is $-8606 at this time. Last year’s unaudited budget showed a surplus of $13,393.  Motion by Carol, seconded by Ray, to approve recognition of expected overages for Board of Trustees to review so that expenses can be paid if they do occur.  Pat, Carol & Ray in favor, Jan abstained.

6. FY 2016 Budget Review: The Maintenance costs are estimated at $11,700. Technology costs proposal: we reviewed them and felt that we need additional information on the computer specifications from Emily. Salary Proposal: Emily and Sam’s salary will be determined under collective bargaining negotiations and Celina’s will be tied to their salaries.  Discussion on pay scale for library employees and whether or not to recommend a 5% increase (approximately 1% increase for 3 past years, none budgeted for this year). Committee requested that Celina prepare an analysis of what other local libraries of similar size pay their staff, along with what percentage payroll costs are of the entire budget, plus information on pay scale for Rockingham Town employees that she already has available. Discussion by the Committee of the large number of budgeted items that we have no control over spending. Improvement of Book Sale presentation to increase sales was also discussed, along with ways to increase direct appeal fund raising.  The committee recommended that the Board consider increasing the non resident membership cost to $60 to reflect increased operating costs and put their fee more on par with the per capita resident cost.

7. Other Business – none

Next meeting Nov 10 at 6:15pm

Adjourned at 8:55pm
Pat Fowler with notes from Carol Blackwood

 

Personnel Committee Meeting Agenda: Thursday, October 9, 2014

 

Library Board Personnel Committee Meeting
Thursday, October 9, 2014 12PM Noon
Location: Youth Program Room

Agenda:

1. Call to Order
2. Approve minutes of September 5 meeting
3. Public Comments (Limit of 3 minutes per speaker)
4. Interview with Library Director
5. Set next Committee Meeting Date
6. Executive Session (if necessary)
7. Adjourn

Posted October 7, 2014 The Library Meeting Room is accessible by the elevator at the entrance to the left of the main stairs.

 

Personnel Committee Meeting Draft Minutes: October 9, 2014

 

Rockingham Free Public Library
Personnel Committee Meeting Draft Minutes
October 9, 2014 12:00PM RFPL Youth Department Program Room

Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes.

Committee Members in Attendance: David Gould, Carolyn Frisa, and Pat Fowler. Library Personnel: Celina Houlne (Library Director) Members of the Press: Chris Garofolo

Chairman Gould called the meeting to order at 12:05pm.

Minutes of September 5, 2014 Personnel Committee- Carolyn moved to approv e the minutes as written, seconded by Pat Fowler and the motion carried unanimously. Rat Fowler reminded the committee the that proposed guidelines for inclement weather procedures need to, be resented to the board of trustees at the next regular trustees meeting.

No public comment was made.

The Committee conducted an interview wit Celina Houlne (Library Director) to discuss her progress/achievements and areas of concern during the last month.

The following ongoing and completed items were reported / discussed:

• The beginning of the fall season has seen increased use of the library by patrons and this is typical for this time of year.
• Houlne has been workingwith other staff to reorganize storage throughout the library.
• Houlne has trained the new library staff member, Anne Dempsey and reports she is a great and much needed addition to the library staff.
• Houlne is working extra desk hours in the last month to fill in staff vacancies due to sick and vacation leave.
• Houlne is developing a list of furniture and shelving needs to bring the Trustees. The friends have designated a $2,500 donation to be used towards their purchase.
• Houlne has asked for a second estimate from Keene Sign Works for the exterior library sign.
• Houlne has been working on the budget with staff for discussion at the upcoming Finance Committee meeting on October 21.
• Houlne is preparing statistics for the Annual State Library Report.
• Houlne attended a conference on Vermont Open Meeting Law and Public Records presented by the Vermont League of Cities and Towns on September 10, 2014. She is making a copy of all relevant info for access by Trustees to be kept at the library and has established a draft of protocol for responding to Public Records to be presented to the Trustees at their next regular meeting. She also reported on recent Public Records Request filled by herself and other library staff.
• Houlne continues professional develop coursework on financial issues through Vermont Common Good and is currently focusing on budgeting.
• Houlne is working with the Town’s CLG Officer on a potential funding source for the historic plaque that needs to be placed on the front exterior of the building over the old (no longer in use) book drop slot.
• Houlne has joined the Women’s Club and will represent the library at their meetings and other functions.

The following upcoming items were reported / discussed:
• Houlne will attend the “Money Matters” conference presented by the Vermont State Library Department on November 1 and encouraged other trustees to attend the meeting.
• Houlne identified the need to develop a no weapons policy and the need to review the library’s Behavior Code. She will bring recommendations based on the policy at the Brooks Memorial Library to the next regular Trustees meeting.
• Houlne reported on the chemical odor in the staff kitchen. She has asked for an evaluation from ARC Mechanical and will report the findings to the Trustees.

The third Thursday of the month at 2:00pm has been set as the regular meeting time for the Personnel Committee. The Committee will continue to meet in the Youth Department Program Room. The following will be the meeting dates for the rest of the term year:
• November 20, 2014
• December 18, 2014
• January 15, 2014
• February 19, 2014

Frisa moved to adjourn at 12:37pm,seconded by Fowler,and the motion carried unanimously.

Draft minutes respectfully submitted on October 15, 2014 by Secretary Frisa.

 

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, September 23, 2014

 

Special Meeting of the Library Board of Trustees
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
6:15 PM
Youth Library Program Room

Click here to download a .pdf of this agenda

Agenda

1. Call to Order
2. Approve Minutes of September 12, 2014 meeting
3. Public Comment (2 minutes per speaker)
4. Review, Modification and Adoption of Agenda
5. Board Chairmanship
6. Board Committee Assignments
7. Date of Regular Board Meetings
8. Adjourn

Posted and emailed September 19, 2014

The Library Meeting Room is accessible by the elevator at the entrance to the left of the front stairs.

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, September 23, 2014

 

Special Meeting of the Library Board of Trustees
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
6:15 PM

MINUTES

Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes.

Present: Doreen Aldrich, Carol Blackwood, Karin Fscher, Pat Fowler (late), Carolyn Frisa, David Gould, & L. Raymond Massucco; Absent, Jan Mitchell Love

Call to Order: Chairman Gould called the meeting to order at 6:16 p.m.

Approve Minutes of September 12, 2014: Carolyn Frisa moved to accept the minutes as printed; seconded by Karin Fisher.  The motion carried with one abstention.

The chairman asked that the minutes reflect that Hope Brissette, a member of the board, chose not to sit with the board. She sat as a member of the community.

Public Comment (2 minutes per speaker): None

The Chair advised that he received an email from Jan Mitchell-Love claiming that this meeting is in violation of the open meeting law because he didn’t send out the agenda.  Doreen Aldrich has followed up with that with the Secretary of State’s Office and according to that office (Brian Levin, Deputy Secretary of State) he feels everything was done according to Hoyle.  He has the authority to delegate someone else to actually send out the agenda and he presented that agenda to Celina Houlne.  H said he doesn’t have the necessary computer knowledge to get all the stuff together on to an agenda like the staff here.  It was sent out in plenty of time and he feels this meeting can be held in order. He asked if there any reviews of modifications to the agenda. At this point Pat Fowlr came in. Deborah Wright said her concern calling the meeting is tha the power of the chair or secretary calling the meeting is not the same as distributing he agenda or warning the meeting. That is totally different. At an open meeting, you have not designated or relegated that power to another member to do that. That is not calling a meeting. That is telling someone to send out an agenda; because of computer issues is not calling the meeting. He asked how she proposed a meeting be called. She responded that the chair contacts their members and calls a meeting.

Review, Modification and Adoption of Agenda: No changes. Carol Blackwood moved to approve the agenda as written, seconded by Carolyn Frisa. The motion carried.

Board Chairmanship: Chairman Gould read a letter of resignation as board chairman to the RFPL Board of Trustees dated September 23, 2014 and made a part of these minutes. Carolyn Frisa said her understanding is that someone needs to accept the resignation so sh moved to accept David Gould’s resignation as Chair. Karin Fischer seconded the motion. She added it was also her understanding now that as vice chair, she temporarily takes on the duties of the chair once the resignation is accepted. The motion to accept David Gould’s resignation carried unanimously. Frisa said, again her understanding is that she is acting as chair; but at this point she is not willing or able to perform the duty as chair due to her workload and her personal life. She is not willing to assume the chairmanship. Gould moved that Carol Blackwod be nominated as the chairperson of the Rockingham Free Public Library Board for the duration of the term. Karin Fischer seconded the motion. As Blackwood didn’t decline, it was assumed she accepted. The motion carried unanimously. Blackwood thanked the board members.

Board Committee Assignments: Blackwood said this board had previously felt that the personnel committee would be comprised of the executive board. The problem now is she is the chair; but is greatly vested now in policy committee issues and Gould is involved in personnel committee issues. She as chair would like to continue with the personnel assignments the same as before. David Gould will continue to be on the personnel committee and she will continue to be on the policy committee. Fowler said we have set a precedent of having th people who were on the exec board be on the personnel committee. Massucco said it is a function of the chair. Blackwood added that we can look at it later on; but right now there is a lot going on with the by-laws. She can’t handle both right now. Gould was agreeable to that. Frisa asked Fischer if she was still interested in serving on the historical collections committee. Fischer said Gould has already appointed her to the buildings and grounds committee after some discussion, Fischer said she would be happy to do historical collections as well. Karen will replace Carol on historical collections. Carol will continue on policy and David will continue on personnel and we can address any other committee assignments as time goes on.

Date of Regular Board Meetings: Blackwood said since our last board meeting, it was her understanding that the first and second Tuesday of each month are taken by either Select Board or Village Trustees; but neither of those groups have set meetings on the third or fourth Tuesday. Gould moved that the regularly scheduled meeting of the library trustees be on the fourth Tuesday of each month commencing on October 28, 2014 at 6:16 p.m. Fowler seconded the motion for discussion. If they have to have a join board meeting, that would be on the fifth Tuesday so we shouldn’t be interfering with them. The chair asked if there was public comment on the change of date. Geller said he assumed this will take the place of the meeting on the second Tuesday of October. The chair advised that was correct. The motion carried unanimously.

Chairperson Blackwood advised that through a clerical error — she had hoped to have one other item on the agenda tonight. Unfortunately, it fell off the agenda by accident. We may need to call another special meeting before the next regular meeting to deal with that issue. After much discussion, it was agreed to hold a special meeting the following evening, September 24th at 7:00 p.m.  Ms Wright called a point of order; it isn’t 24 hours. Frisa said if the meeting was at 7:00 p.m., we would have 24 hours. Five members said they could be there. The meeting agenda will be to address the issue of an allegation of open meeting law violation and she delegated to Houlne to send that out.

Adjourn: Frisa moved to adjourn at 6:50, seconded by Gould. The motion carried.

Respectfully submitted, _________________________ September 25, 2014
Doreent Aldrich

***********************
September 23, 2014

To the RFPL Board of Trustees:

Following recent meetings with my Health Care Providers in which accelerating deterioration of some health issues have come to light, I have been advised to reduce some of my civic responsibilities. As a result, I hereby resign my position as Chair of the Rockingham Free Public library effective immediately.

Please understand that in no way is my decision influenced or exacerbated by the Letter of Complaint submitted by Ms Deborah Wright.

I will continue to fulfill my responsibilities on the Library Board as well as Chair of the Personnel Committee.

It has been an honor and privilege to serve as your Chair. Thank you.

David F. Gould

 

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Agenda: Friday, September 12, 2014

 

Rockingham Free Public Library
Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees
Friday, September 12, 2014 9:00 AM
Youth Library Program Room

Click here to download a .pdf of this agenda

Agenda

1. Call to Order
2. Approval of Minutes of September 9, 2014 (If available)
3. Public comments (3 minutes per speaker)
4. Approval of expenditures of office furniture
5. Adjournment

Posted and emailed September 10, 2014 The Library Meeting Room is accessible by the elevator at the entrance to the left of the front stairs.

 

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: September 12, 2014

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SEPTEMBER 12, 2014
MINUTES

Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes

Present: Doreen Aldrich, Hope Brissette, Pat Fowler, Karin Fischer (9:05 a.m.), Carolyn Frisa (By Telephone), David Gould, Jan Mitchell-Love (9:06 a.m.), Trustees; Celina Houlne, Librarian

Press: None

Call to Order: Chairman Gould called the special meeting to order at 9:03 a.m.

Approval of Minutes of September 9, 2014: Not yet available

Public Comments: None; but Chairman Gould asked to add to the agenda the letter from Deborah Wright.

Approval of Expenditures of Office Furniture: Pat Fowler moved the expenditure as outlined of $704.37 for cabinets in the office area to come out of the Whitcomb Fund on the main library side. Carolyn Frisa seconded the motion. Fowler asked if the finish would match. Houlne advised that the staff will finish as they come unfinished. Hope Brissette said she sent an email after 5:00 p.m. asking for information on the Whitcomb Fund. Fowler replied that it is money collected when they were working on the renovation so it is for furnishings cut out of the budget.

Brissette asked if we need all of these cabinets. Houlne advised that they go above the cabinets that are on the bottom. Brissette asked who is going to install them. Houlne replied that Pepper from the town will install them at no charge. Mitchell-Love said that means at the tax payers expense. She added that she called Home Depot to ask if we could pick up the cabinets and save on the shipping and tax. Brissette said she could pick them up and deliver them. Fowler said when the chairs arrived, they didn’t pay for delivery into the building and they had to do it. Frisa said they have made deliveries into the building. Brissette said she wants to make sure that is the case.

Mitchell-Love said the Whitcomb Foundation is for kids. Can we spend on anything? She then asked for a copy of the Whitcomb Foundation donation. Earlier in the meeting, Houlne had distributed a summary of the donation which shows the original donation of $10,000 for the Youth Dept. and $15,000 for the main library. Brissette then asked if Houlne had shopped around. Houlne advised she did and these are matching. Frisa offered a friendly amendment to spend up to $704.37. Fowler was in agreement of the friendly amendment. A roll call was taken and Pat Fowler, Doreen Aldrich, David Gould, Karin Fischer and Carolyn Frisa were in favor of the motion (5). Hope Brissette and Jan Mitchell-Love were opposed (2). The motion carried.

Addition to Agenda: Letter from Deborah Wright. The Chairman wanted to discuss the email from Deborah Wright concerning the open meeting law. Both Mitchell-Love and Brissette

RFPL Trustee Minutes of 9/12/2014 2.

pointed out it couldn’t be done as there was no place on the agenda to add items. Gould did not pursue the matter.

Adjournment: At 9:16 a.m., Mitchell-Love moved to adjourn, seconded by Aldrich. The motion carried.

Respectfully submitted_________________________September 15, 2014
Doreen Aldrich

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, September 9, 2014

 

Library Board Regular Meeting
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
6:15 pm
Location: Youth Program Room

 


Click here to download a .pdf of this agenda
Agenda

1)  Call to Order
2)  Approve Minutes of August 12, 2014
3)  Public Comments on Items Not on the Agenda (3 minutes per person)
4)  Items to Add to the Agenda
5)  Director’s Report
a.   Financial Reports
6)  Committee Reports
Finance
a.  River Valley Credit Union Account – establish signatories
b.  TD Bank Account – establish signatories
c.   Recommendation for joint meeting with Selectboard
d.   Request for Whitcomb Fund expenditure for Youth Deptartment
Historical Collection
Personnel Committee
a.   Recommended Changes to Personnel Policy
Policy Committee
a.   Recommended Changes to By-laws
7)  Old Business
8)  New Business
9)  Review Tasks
10) Review Agenda Items for Next Meeting:  October 14, 2014, 6:15 PM
11) Review and Approve Warrants
12) Other Business
13) Executive Session – If Necessary
14) Adjourn

     Posted and emailed September 5, 2014

The Library Meeting Room is accessible by the elevator at the entrance to the left of the front stairs.

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: September 9, 2014

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY MEETING
OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
MINUTES

Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes

 

 

Present:  Doreen Aldrich, Carol Blackwood, Hope Brissette, Karin Fischer, Patricia Fowler,
Carolyn Frisa, David Gould, L. Raymond Massucco and Jan Mitchell-Love, Trustees; Celina Houlne, Library Director and Mary VanHartesveldt, Library Employee

Press:  FAC TV, Jacob Stradling

Others:  Arnold & Elayne Clift, David DeRusha and Joel Love

Call to Order:  Chairman Gould called the meeting to order at 6:23 p.m.

Approve Minutes of August 12, 2014:  Mitchell-Love advised that under Call to Order, “advised that Massucco would be late”, she would like to add a first name, “Ray”.  On Pg. 4, under New Business:  Anonymous Letter, under lines 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 & 13, at the end, “which is a direct slam on the Policy Committee”, unless whoever wrote this letter tells you, it is intended as a direct slam, it is conjecture and you don’t put conjectures or opinions in minutes.  “The letter emailed to Fowler” is a blow-by-blow of the conversation we had.  She wondered if it would be simpler to say, “Attached, David’s letter”.  She added that she noticed it was not in the minutes that she had said “It’s a good thing we were not being filmed because she wondered if this was libelous or slanderous.  It is unfortunate that this is blow-by-blow and a public record.  Her comment was not in the minutes and should be added.  Joel Love said it was mentioned that Gould was going to do a letter of response and asked if it was available.  Gould replied that it was not available at this time.  He did put a response together on paper and read it.  Fischer said she thought the board thought just having the verbal discussion was enough.  Elayne Clift advised that under Director’s Report, “Elayne Clift advised that Friends of the Library is not on the Director’s Report”.  She believes what she said was, “The August meeting of the Friends has been postponed from August to September”.  Clift also had a correction on a date, FY2015 should be FY2013; but could not find it.  Blackwood said Page 5, Question 4, we should add FY to 2014, add Ray’s first name in front of his last name (Massucco) under Call to Order and said that Jan Mitchell-Love didn’t like the tone; but was there a specific change?  Mitchell-Love said she doesn’t think we want that quote in there “which is a direct slam on the policy committee” (Pg. 4, Line 13); it is an opinion.  We have no idea whether the person who wrote the letter intended it as a slam on the policy committee or not.  Blackwood said that she as chair of the policy committee doesn’t feel offended.  It’s not naming any particular person so feels there is low risk of liability coming from it.  The point taken is thinking more about our meetings and how we speak and what we do going forward.  Those are very valid points she made.  She added that these minutes do accurately reflect the meeting.  Fowler moved that the board accept the minutes with the correction of the FY14, that the Friends of the Library Meeting was postponed and that we need to be careful about libelous slander.  Arnold Clift said he had a comment on the substance of the “Anonymous Letter”.  Frisa seconded Fowler’s motion.  The motion carried with seven in favor and two opposed.  Gould thanked Mitchell-Love for her comment; we do need to be more careful.

Public Comment on Items not on Agenda:  Gould read a letter from Elayne Clift dated 8/14/14 regarding her dismay at many of the things that occurred then.  Gould advised the letter would be entered into the minutes of this meeting.

Arnold Clift said he wanted to reiterate a point that the consideration of the by-laws was in a most transparent fashion.  Members of the public, such as he, had ample opportunity to participate.

Joel Love asked the board to consider changing its meeting date so citizens don’t have to make a choice between going to this meeting or the village board of trustees meeting or to change the time of this meeting.  David DeRusha commented that this board voted at the first meeting to adopt Roberts Rules of Order and they are not being used and in some instances, he thinks that Jan’s concerns and other concerns noted here tonight Roberts Rules aren’t being followed.

Items to add to the Agenda:  Jan said she wanted to talk about when they were meeting tonight and not wait until the next meeting which will also be on the 2nd Tuesday (same as Village Trustees).  Gould advised that back in June we considered changing the date and time.  A survey was sent to all board members to respond.  The item was taken up at the July meeting and it was the consensus of the folks present that we continue on the Tuesday evening at 6:15 p.m. Mitchell-Love said we used to meet on Thursdays.  Fowler responded that the meeting was pushed back because several of us have other jobs and cannot be available at 4:00 or 4:30 p.m.
We asked for 6:00 p.m. because Carol Blackwood has to commute from Keene.  Frisa said the other reason we moved it because several members of the public asked if we could please move our meeting time back to a later hour of the day so people who worked could attend our meetings.  Joel Love said it is not the time; it’s the day.  Motion by Jan Mitchell-Love and seconded, to add meeting, day and time to the agenda tonight.  It will go under ”New Business”.

The motion carried with seven in favor, one opposed and one abstention.

Director’s Report:  Houlne reported on August programs and stats, buildings & grounds, budget, Director’s activities and other.   Not on her written report, the front lawn sign.  Frank Hawkins gave her a quote for $4,500 for a double sided sign with concrete tubing in the ground and metal posts.  Under Director’s Activities, they finished interviewing for the part-time library position and she hired Ann Dempsey.  She works in Charlestown and has worked as a school librarian for 12 years.  She will begin on Monday.  The courses to be taken as asked for by the Personnel Committee.  She is looking at Common Good Vermont as Amy Howlett advised they have courses.  The Boys & Girls Club will meet here this month while they are waiting for their building to be repaired.  Sam Maskell made the offer.  There’s a Friends trip coming up on the African Heritage Trail and is in conjunction with the Compass School.  Students and adults will be attending.  The seats are $40.00 and include a lunch.  The date is October 17th.  Jan asked if the library makes any money and Elayne said yes; the Friends will.  Houlne also reported that they have started one-on-one computer training.  They are encouraging folks to come in and sign up.  Elayne Clift asked if we got any other bids besides Frank Hawkins on the sign.  Houlne said she doesn’t know; but there are not a lot of people who do this work.  Blackwood said she is inclined to bounce it back to Buildings & Grounds.  Massucco asked if we are asking for a quote, do we have some specifications.  Brissette said she doesn’t know what they are; but will find out.

Financial Reports:  Houlne advised that we are still early in the year and asked for questions.  Jan referred to page 3 of 4 of the Budget Status Report, Supplies are at 20%, Automated Library System is at 97% (Celina said we pay that out once a year). And on page 4, Property Liability Insurance is 82% and we pay twice a year?  That is concerning.  Grant Expense is at 490% of what we budgeted?  Houlne said regarding the grant, we only put in a small amount because we never know what we are going to get so when we expend a lot in that line, it’s because we also have all the money coming in up above in the revenue line.  Regarding the Property Liability Insurance, when this budget was planned, we put in a figure that had been estimated one and a half years ago.  There will be a new bill in January.  The building has been evaluated by VLCT so the bill should be going down.  They won’t know the actual figure because the bill won’t arrive until mid-December.  Massucco referred to the grants on the revenue side, the grant income is up 1,400% so we have a reciprocal income increase.

Finance:  Fowler presented the Minutes of Sept. 4th at the meeting.  The committee has recommendations for the full board.  They have two EIN’s, one is town and one is library.  They discussed the ramification of using the town I.D. and having Doreen Aldrich as a signatory because she’s the town treasurer and because she’s bonded and Fowler is not.  They are thinking of leaving it as is with the two numbers and new things going forward, use the town’s, i.e. petty cash account.  Brissette asked what the benefits are to putting the library in with the town.  Fowler said the benefit is that the town treasurer is bonded and grants we can get if under the town’s I.D. that we can’t get if we are on our own.  Mitchell-Love asked if the library’s money would be co-mingled.  Fowler said, “No”.  Mr. Love said he is concerned about co-mingling the funds.  He was concerned when the money for the renovation was put into the town’s general fund rather than being earmarked into a special account because it was voted for as a bonded item.  It was earmarked for a capital improvement project.  He suggested setting up a separate account for grants.  More discussion ensued.  The committee discussed the potential for which funds are restricted, i.e., the Whitcomb Fund – $10,000 set aside for the children’s room furnishings and for furnishings upstairs.  There is no solid recommendation for the board regarding the EIN at this time.  There was a motion at the committee meeting to sit down with the select board and enter into a written agreement to repay the overage from the renovation over a five year period.  Joel Love said this was a bonded project for capital improvement on a facility that is owned by the town.  It is not owned by the library.  It was an overage of a capital expenditure project.  There are financial protocols to follow.  Brissette said she believes one of the protocols is that if a bonded project goes over budget, the town comes back to the general public and requests the public to pay back the overage.  Jan Mitchell-Love added that at the meeting there was only Ray Massucco and she to make motions and seconds.  She asked to do a disclaimer that she is fully in favor of meeting with the select board, she wants to pay zero and the most she wants to pay is $27,000; but she didn’t want to pay anything because the town took over the renovations; we didn’t have anything to say about it nor was information shared with the board and it went way over, and the town does own the building.  Brissette said there are some costs on that overage that she is opposed to.  Joel Love wonders how the money is going to get paid back.  It still comes from the taxpayers.  The methodology being proposed by the town to give it the money and pay it back over five years is nothing but a back door way of not having to ask for the money in one lump sum.  He asked where the money is going to come from; from the annuity funds?  It has to be voted as part of the budget or they need to come out of existing finances.  Fowler said what’s important is that we start a discussion with the Select Board.  She moved that the Finance Committee recommends that the Library Trustees meet with the Select Board and proposes that the Library enter into a written agreement with the town to repay the overage from the renovation over a five year period at $27,065 per year and that the net recovery will be returned to the library after the court case with SMP.  Massucco seconded the motion.

Blackwood added, it’s a friendly suggestion to Fowler to accept or not to change the motion to empower the Finance Committee to set up negotiations with the Select Board to discuss the overage and come back to the Library Board of Trustees to accept or not.  Massucco said he would accept that.  He has been approached by folks asking what the library board is doing to address the deficit.  His concern is that at some point they will dictate, to the extent that they can, that the library makes repayment to the town or makes it a department of the town.  There are at least two Select Board members who want to do that now.  We’re talking about taking out of one pocket into the other.  It all comes out of Rockingham taxpayer funds.  His question is which budget does it come from, more important to the library; but a conversation that we have to start with.  Jan Mitchell-Love said if we are going to meet with the Select Board, we don’t send a committee; it should be board to board.  There are folks on this board who want to go to the meeting that are not on the finance committee.  People have slammed her for this assumption that we owe this money when they heard her for six months say the library board had heard nothing from the town while they ran the bills up.  Gould asked where the motion stood at this time.  Massucco made the suggestion to withdraw the current motion as amended and make a new motion that this board meet with the Select Board.  Fowler withdrew her motion and Massucco withdrew his second.  Jan Mitchell-Love made the motion that the Rockingham Library Board of Trustees meet with the Rockingham Select Board to discuss the renovation costs at a time to be determined and Chairman Gould will set it up to discuss the renovation overage.  Brissette seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.

The other motion made with Mitchell-Love &  Massucco was that the Finance Committee recommends that the Library Trustees open a money market account with River Valley Credit Union using the library EIN, with Celina, Pat & Doreen as signatories.  Fowler moved, seconded by Frisa that the Finance Committee opens a money market account with River Valley Credit Union using the library EIN with Celina, Pat and Doreen Aldrich as signatories and  Mary VanHartesveldt to have access to information only.  The motion passed unanimously.

Fowler said she recommends to the trustees that the library make changes to the TD Bank petty cash account to have Celina, Pat and Emily as signatories and made that as a motion.  This is the account for emergency funds for buying computer software, etc.  That account can only have $2,000 and will have a debit card.  Frisa seconded the motion.  VanHaartesveldt asked for access to information only and Fowler and Frisa agreed to add it.  The motion carried unanimously.

Fowler advised that she has talked with Chip Stearns and with the Select Board going to one meeting a month, he will have a couple of Tuesdays free to meet with the Library Trustees to go through the budget.  That would be the budget training.  Fowler will set that up.

At 7:54 p.m., the chairman declared an eight minute break before continuing with business.

Finance Cont’d.:  Request for Whitcomb Fund Expenditure for Youth Dept.  Houlne spoke of the Whitcomb donation that was a designated donation to the youth dept.  Samantha Maskell devised a plan and spoke about purchases for the young adult section.  She would like to buy café tables & chairs, a rug, a vinyl sofa and chair set, general use tables, and high grade vinyl graphics with a low-tack adhesive (safe for marmoleum) that will provide fun decoration in the YA section while not damaging the floor or presenting an obstruction to access.  The Whitcomb money totals $10,000 and they have spent $500-$600.  The cost would be $4,170.  After some discussion, Frisa moved that the trustees allow $4,170 from the Whitcomb fund to be used to purchase the furniture presented to the board of trustees, Blackwood seconded the motion.  The motion carried unanimously.

Houlne asked for additional funds from the $15,000 donation for the main library to buy cabinets so as to give back the shelving for moving back the historical collection to the library.  Fowler said it isn’t on the agenda.  Fischer moved to add the item under “New Business” seconded by Blackwood.  Mitchell-Love said she thinks it is illegal.  Blackwood withdrew her second.

Historical Collection:  Frisa advised that they have not met; but their first order of business will be starting to move items currently stored downtown back to the library.  A while ago, a number of metal rolling carts were purchased for historical collections and they have been temporarily taken over for other library items.  Without the shelves, they have no place to put the collections.  She asked for a special meeting to approve the money so they can have their shelves back.  After some discussion, Aldrich moved to call a Special Meeting for Friday, September 12th at 9:00 a.m., in the Youth Program Room for the purpose of approval of funds for storage, seconded by Mitchell-Love.  The motion carried with eight in favor and one abstention.

The chairman asked if the trustees wanted to table the Personnel Committee, recommended changes to the personnel policy and the Policy Committee, recommended changes to By-Laws.
Blackwood didn’t want to table By-Laws because she wanted to go on record that it was officially presented and people had the option to review it at this meeting so we don’t have to have a full discussion; but that people have a chance to see it so at the next meeting it is clear it has been presented twice and then we can have a vote.  Frisa moved to table the Personnel Committee Report until our next regularly scheduled meeting, second by Brisette.  The motion carried with five in favor and four opposed.

Policy Committee:  Blackwood reported that the committee has put together a complete revision of the By-Laws.  It was done with the hope of clarifying any ambiguities in the prior By-Laws and because there were enough areas that needed correction, it is a complete revision.  Love made a point of order, if you are going to split it you have to recess to a time definite to discuss.  He has multiple comments as there are many ambiguities and many contradictions.  Mitchell-Love moved to table the By-Laws until the next meeting of October 14th, seconded by Brissette.  The motion to table passed with five in favor and four opposed.

Old Business:  None

New Business:  Discussion on Changing Library Trustee Meeting Days & Times
Blackwood said considering we don’t know what the Select Board is going to do, it is silly to waste time plotting another night tonight.  Brissette agreed.  Mitchell-Love would like it in open meeting and suggested Thursdays.  Massucco can’t.  Frisa suggested leaving it on Tuesdays; but a different Tuesday from the Village Trustees.  The chair will follow-up and check with the Trustees as to what they decided tonight; if they are going to a single meeting a month and which Tuesdays would be open and check with Karin Fischer as to what her Monday schedule is.  Gould advised that he is appointing Fischer to the Buildings & Grounds Committee.

Review Tasks:  The Chair passed over.

Review Agenda Items:  The Chair passed over.

Review and Approve Warrants:  Warrants were reviewed.

Other Business:  Brissette advised that Labor Day Weekend the lights were on all weekend long.  Houlne will pass the information on to the staff.

Carolyn Frisa advised that she no longer uses e-mail.

Executive Session:  None needed.

Adjourn:  Motion to adjourn at 8:45 p.m. by Brissette, seconded by Frisa.

Submitted______________________________September 12, 2014
Doreen Aldrich

 

********************************************

Dear RFPL Board of Trustees: 8/14/14

Having attended the Trustees meeting of 8/12/14, and as a former Trustee myself, I would like to share with you my dismay at many of the things that occurred then.

It was distressing to see tensions arise among Trustees- “deja vu all over again”- over a number of issues relating to budget, committee business, and staff issues. It was astounding, for example, to see some Trustees, who have served for an appreciable time now; raise questions regarding the budget (e.g., what constitutes a “petty cash” account). It seems fair to say that one would expect them to understand budgetary matters at this stage, or to accept the explanations of the professional staff. It was upsetting to bear witness to accusations that a committee had acted inappropriately, indeed secretly, when in fact they functioned with all possible transparency. And it was deeply distressing to have the library director’s discretion, authority and judgment questioned with regard to staff salaries. The absence of support and appreciation for our outstanding staff, who as Celina said, carried burdens larger than anyone realizes in her absence, was inexplicable.

So too was the amount of time spent discussing two letters received by Trustees. In one case, the letter was anonymous. Were I still a Trustee, I would have moved that no unsigned correspondence be considered by the Board. Similarly, I would have moved that a letter of complaint and unfounded accusation such as the one sent by Deborah Wright not be considered without the letter’s author being present to discuss the matters raised with the full board and in open meeting. I am left to wonder: Is the tail still wagging the dog?

On the matter of repairing the sign, why not a straight up/down vote? Why another layer of bureaucracy (sending it to the Grounds committee)? We are talking about an important upgrade that costs a mere $300- something I’m sure the FOL would be happy to fund. Why drag out such a simple decision? Can’t such issues be voted on, thus streamlining the work of the Board?

I do not wish to be contentious. I simply need to be on record that what I observed was troubling, unnecessary, inefficient, and in some cases regressive. I sincerely hope this Board can go forward acting efficiently, courteously, and wisely in all matters -a hope that will require less contention and more “voice” from within your ranks.

Thank you,
Elayne Clift

Personnel Committee Meeting Agenda: Friday, September 5, 2014

Library Board Personnel Committee Meeting
Friday, September 5, 2014 8:30 AM
Location: Top Floor Meeting Room

Click here to download a .pdf copy of this agenda

Agenda:
1. Call to Order
2. Approval of minutes for July 21 meeting.
3. Public Comments (Limit of 3 minutes per speaker)
4. Review of differences between RFPL and Town of Rockingham Personnel Policies as outlined at the July 21, 2014 Personnel Committee meeting.
5. Adoptions of Recommendations to be included into the RFPL Personnel Policy
6. Interview with Library Director
7. Other Business
8. Next Meeting Date
9. Executive Session (if necessary)
10. Adjournment

Posted September 2, 2014 The Library meeting room is accessible by the elevator at the entrance to the left of the main stairs.

Personnel Committee Meeting Draft Minutes: September 5, 2014

Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes

Committee Members in Attendance: David Gould, Doreen Aldrich, Carolyn Frisa, and Pat Fowler. Library Personnel: Celina Houlne  (Library  Director)

Chairman Gould called the meeting to order at 8:35am. No additions  or changes to the agenda were proposed. No public comment was made.

Minutes of July 21, 2014 Personnel Committee- Aldrich asked that “the motion” be added before  “carried unanimously” for the two  recorded motions. Aldrich moved the minutes be approved as amended, seconded by Frisa, and the motion carried unanimously.

The previously identified differences between the current Town Personnel Rules (adopted August 31,2004 including amendments approved through January 31, 2012) and the RFPL Personnel Policy and Procedures Manual (adopted June 19, 2008 including amendments approved  through September 12,2008) were reviewed. Recommendations from the Personnel Committee regarding these differences will be brought to the Board of Trustees at their  regularly scheduled meeting on September 9,2014 for review.

The Committee discussed inclement weather closing procedures and reviewed the closures from the past year in comparison with  the lecal public schools. The committee concluded that inclement weather closing should be at the discretion of the library director,with the understanding that good discretion must be used. This will be brought to the full board for review  at the regularly scheduled meeting on September 9, 2014.

The Committee conducted an interview with Celina Houlne (Library Director) to discuss her progress/achievements and areas of concern since her rehiring. Upcoming projects requiring more attention/work from  Ms. Houlne were identified and discussed. A report of the interview will be presented to the Committee at their next meeting.

The next meeting of the Personnel Committee will take place on Thursday, October 9 at 12:00pm in the Youth Department Program Room.

Frisa moved to adjourn at 10:15 am,seconded by Aldrich,and the motion carried unanimously.

Draft minutes respectfully submitted on September 8,2014 by Secretary Frisa.

Finance Committee Special Meeting Agenda: Thursday, September 4, 2014

NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING
Click here to download a .pdf copy of this agenda

The Finance Committee of the Rockingham Free Public Library Trustees Board of Trustees will meet on Thursday Sept 4, 2014, at 7pm at the Rockingham Library Conference Room. (Pizza, water and soft drinks will be available for attendees)

RFPL Trustee Attendees:
Pat Fowler, Treasurer
Carol Blackwood, Trustee
Ray Massucco, Trustee
Jan Mitchell-Love, Trustee
Celina Houlne, Library Director
Mary Van Hartesveldt, RFPL Staff

MEETING AGENDA
1. Call to order
2. Additions or changes to agenda
3. Public comment (3 minutes per person)
4. Election of Finance Chair
5. Employer Identification Numbers Discussion
6. Discussion regarding two-signature accounts for investment accounts, accounts using Town Employer Identification Number (EIN )
7. Staff report on the termination of the Flex CDs at Merchants Bank
8. Discussion investment options for funds remaining at TD Bank and funds that will come out of Merchants CD.
9. Budget training from Town for Trustees
10. Budget review – Chart of accounts distribution. Next meeting- start to develop next year’s budget with staff
11. Other Business
12. Adjourn

The Library meeting room is accessible by the elevator at the entrance to the left of the main stairs.

Finance Committee Meeting Minutes: Thursday, September 4, 2014

Minutes

Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes.

The Finance Committee of the Rockingham Free Public Library Trustees Board of Trustees met on Thursday Sept 4, 2014, at 7pm at the Rockingham Library Conference Room.

RFPL Trustee Attendees: Pat Fowler, Treasurer, Ray Massucco, Trustee, Jan Mitchell-Love, Trustee, Celina Houlne, Library Director, Mary Van Hartesveldt, RFPL Staff. Absent: Carol Blackwood, Trustee

Meeting was called to order by Pat Fowler, Treasurer, at 7:20 pm (after refreshments). There were no additions or changes to agenda and no Public comment.

Pat Fowler was nominated by Ray as Finance Chair, with Jan seconding the nomination. Pat was elected and continued the meeting.

Employer Identification Numbers Discussion: Pat indicated that Celina had received paperwork from the IRS indicating that the EIN number which we have been using is still a valid number. Discussion regarding two-signature accounts for investment accounts, accounts using Town Employer Identification Number (EIN). Mary reviewed Bank Account Summary with Committee. Committee also reviewed the funds that we have that could be considered restricted, such as the $10,000 from the Whitcomb Fund for the use of furnishing the Youth Department. Discussion on total owed to the Town of Rockingham for renovation, which is $135,280.81 (surplus of funds not used by the Library was applied). If we agreed to repay the Town over a five-year period that would come to $27065 per year.

Ray explained the ramifications of the court case with the Town and SMP- it could take 2 years to come to trial. Legal costs will be high because of the time for depositions, etc. It was felt that a joint meeting of the Select Board and the Library Trustees should be held to discuss the case.

Jan made a motion,seconded by Ray, that the Finance Committee recommends that the Library Trustees meet with the Select Board and proposed that the Library enter into a written agreement with the Town to repay the overage from the renovation over a 5 year period at $27,065 per year and that the net recovery will be returned to the Library after the court case with SMP.

Mary reported on the termination of the Flex CDs at Merchants Bank – CD’s mature on Oct 26th and we have 10 days to move the funds.

Discussion on investment options for funds remaining at TD Bank and funds that will come out of Merchants CD. Committee discussed having a memorandum of understanding with the Town on the use of Library funds. Jan made a motion, seconded by Ray, that the Finance Committee recommends that the Trustees open a money market account with River Valley Credit Union using the Library EIN, with +Celina, Pat & Doreen Aldrich as signatories.

Jan made a motion, seconded by Ray that to recommend to the Trustees that the Library make changes to the TD Bank Petty Cash account to have Celina, Pat & Emily as signatories (account will have $2000 or less as a balance)

Budget training from Town for Trustees – Pat reported that Chip Stearns, Town Manager, has agreed to provide training at a special meeting of the Library Trustees. Date to be determined. Budget review – Chart of accounts was distributed to the Committee.

Next meeting- start to develop next year’s budget with staff

Other Business – none Next meeting Oct 7 at 6:15pm Adjourned at 8:55pm

Policy Committee Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, September 2, 2014

 

Library Board Policy Committee Meeting
Tuesday, September 2, 2014

6:15pm Location: Top Floor Meeting Room

AGENDA

1. Call to order
2. Additions or changes to agenda
3. Public comment (3 minutes per person)
4. Finalization of proposed changes to Bylaws, to be presented to full board at Sept meeting.
5. Other Business (if necessary)
6. Review Task List
7. Adjourn

Posted August 28, 2014

The Library meeting room is accessible by the elevator at the entrance to the left of the main stairs.

 

Policy Committee Meeting Minutes: September 2, 2014

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
 POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
MINUTES

Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes

 

Present:  Doreen Aldrich, Carol Blackwood, Carolyn Frisa, L. Raymond Massucco, Trustees/Policy Committee Members and Celina Houlne, Librarian

Others:  No public and no press present

Call to Order:  Chairperson, Blackwood, called the meeting to order at 6:23 p.m.

Additions or Changes to Agenda:  None

Public Comment (3 minutes per person):  No comments

Minutes of July 29, 2014:  Motion by Frisa to accept the Minutes of July 29th as printed and seconded by Massucco.  The motion carried.

Finalization of Proposed Changes to Bylaws to be Presented to Full Board at Sept. Mtg:
Blackwood explained that we would have to work from the previous document as the newest version of changes that she forwarded to the library couldn’t be opened.

The committee commenced looking at each article and suggested changes where they thought it was needed.  Most changes were to correct grammar, add or delete where sentences were not clear, i.e. ARTICLE I, line 4, Aldrich suggested “New Trustees shall take an oath of office immediately upon entering the duties of their office.”  ARTICLE XII was renamed “Library Policies instead of “Operational Policy Manual”.  ARTICLE XVI was renamed “Bylaw Amendments” instead of “Amendments”.

Blackwood advised that she would get the changes made promptly and email to all committee members before presenting it to the full board of library trustees.

At 8:45 p.m., Massucco moved to adjourn; seconded by Frisa.  The motion carried.

 

Respectfully submitted,___________________________ 9/3/2014
Doreen Aldrich

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, August 12, 2014

 

Library Board Regular Meeting
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
6:15 pm 
 Location: Top Floor Meeting Room

 

Agenda

Click here to download a .pdf of this agenda

1. Call to Order

2. Approve Minutes of July 8, 2014

3. Public Comments on Items Not on the Agenda (3 minutes per person)

4. Items to Add to the Agenda

5. Director’s Report

6. Financial Reports

7. Committee Reports
a. Finance

8. End of Year Payments for FY 2012

9. TD Bank Account Partial Transfer

10. Petty Cash Account Management

11. Signatures on Accounts

a. Historical Collection
b. Personnel Committee

12. See Handout
a. Policy Committee

13. By-laws Up-date

14. Trustees’ Policy

15. Old Business
a. Open Meeting Law Changes – Locations to Post Meetings

16. New Business

17. Anonymous Letter

18. Review Tasks

19. Review Agenda Items for Next Meeting: September 9, 2014, 6:15 PM

20. Review and Approve Warrants

21. Other Business

22. Executive Session – If Necessary

23. Adjourn

 

Posted and emailed August 8, 2014
The Library Meeting Room is accessible by the elevator at the entrance to the left of the front stairs.

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: August 12, 2014

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY MEETING
OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
AUGUST 12, 2014
MINUTES

 Please click here to download a .pdf of these minutes.

Present:  Doreen Aldrich, Carol Blackwood, Hope Brissette, Karin Fischer, Patricia Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, David Gould, L. Raymond Massucco and Jan Mitchell-Love

Others:  Elayne Clift

Call to Order:  Chairman Gould called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m. and advised that Massucco would be late.

Approve Minutes of July 8, 2014:  Frisa moved to approve the minutes as printed, seconded by Fischer.  Frisa then pointed out on page 2, second line should read ARC Mechanical and on page 3, skype was spelled incorrectly.  The motion to approve the minutes as corrected passed with five in favor and three abstentions.

Public Comments:  No comment

Items to Add to Agenda:  Mitchell-Love asked to add communication between the trustees and the public, an update on SMP negotiations, year-end financials and the email from Deborah Wright with questions. Gould said he’d respond under “New Business”.  Gould said another item to add is the request by Aldrich for equipment to transcribe the library trustee minutes from home.  Brissette asked to add Personnel, a procedure not followed by the board.  Houlne suggested passing on “Finance” until Massucco arrived.

Director’s Report:  The report was included in the packets and Houlne asked if there were questions.  Mitchell-Love asked about the handicapped parking.  Houlne said there is one in front of the building (on the Temple St. side). There is one for the staff in the back.  She added that she has talked with Frank Hawkins and he can repair the sign out front for $300-$400.  Fowler suggested that Brissette handle that under “Buildings and Grounds”.  The floor scrubber has arrived and all have been trained on the use of it.  Houlne said she has contacted a company listed in the ARC manual that specializes in HVAC installation and a representative will be here next week to assess the noise situation.  VLCT is having a workshop in Montpelier on the 10th of September concerning the new open meeting law, managing public records and how to respond to public records requests.  The fee is $60 for VLCT members.  Mitchell-Love asked why we were not awarded the grant for tables and chairs.  Zervas said she never got an answer; possibly because the request was for such a large amount.  Elayne Clift advised that “Friends of the Library” is not on the Director’s Report.  She urged the board to go forward with fixing the library sign.
Financial Reports:  Houlne advised that not all invoices have been received yet.  Year-end figures have not been finalized and we may not know until October; but we are in the black.

Historical Collection:  No report.

 

Personnel Committee:  Gould reported that the committee met with the Town (Chip Stearns & Kerry Bennett) on July 21st and reviewed both the town personnel policy and the library personnel policy to see where they are in step with each other and where they were not.  Brissette asked why the library has to be in step with the town.  Gould said there are several reasons; one of them has to do with finances.  The library accounts, as long as we are using the town federal I.D. number, the town treasurer must be a signatory on all of the accounts.  The town auditors raised that issue.  We are running in to issues where town employees are getting some benefits that the library staff is not and vice versa, particularly part-time people.  The committee is hoping to work around those and where there are differences, explain why those differences.  Fowler added that the personnel records need to be held at the town office for security reasons.  They will be held in a locked cabinet.  The auditors need access when they are doing the audit for the town.  Brissette said she understands finances; but the library is a separate entity.  Gould replied there are differences in time off and time for doctor appointments.  Mitchell-Love asked if almost everybody at town hall are unionized and we are not. Gould said the part-timers are not.  Gould referred to his handout at this meeting and the draft minutes of the personnel committee that were emailed to all.  Gould said he is not asking for any decisions now; but would like the trustees to look at them and if there are questions or additional thoughts, please get them back to him so we can arrive at some conclusion.  Gould said Brissette is right that we are a separate entity except that we are a hybrid.  The town owns the building; they do the payroll, etc. so we would like to be as close as we can in the personnel policy as possible with the understanding that we won’t be exactly the same.

Massucco arrived at the meeting at 6:48 p.m.

Policy Committee: 
By-Laws Update:  Blackwood reported that the committee met on the 29th of July and are very close to giving the board a new set of by-laws for review.  She is waiting for a complete thumbs-up from the committee before presenting it to the full board.  Brissette advised per the agreement Gould and Houlne both signed, that they were supposed to have monthly meetings.  She asked if they have had a meeting.  Gould said they have not; good point.

Trustees’ Policy:  Blackwood advised that the Policy Committee is currently working on the By-Laws; one thing at a time.

Old Business:  Gould referred to the Open Meeting changes; where do we post our warnings.  Houlne advised that they have to be posted in two public buildings and in or near the town clerk’s office.  The town posts at the BF Police Dept. and at the library besides the clerk’s office, and we can do the same thing.  Gould said the board will follow town hall for posting.

Finance Committee: 
End of Year Payments for FY 2012:  Fowler reported that according to the Due From/To Other Funds report from the town, at the open of business on July 1, 2012, the library owed the town $11,388.34, a figure that should relate only to Operating Revenue and Operating Expense.  This was also shown on the original Balance Sheet for June 2012.  Later reports included renovation monies.  For the purpose of clearing off non-renovation debt to the town before additional conversations are held about how renovation debt is to be paid, Fowler moved the Rockingham Free Public Library Board of Trustees authorize the Treasurer, Pat Fowler, to pay the Town of Rockingham $11,388.24 with a check drawn on the TD Bank Librarian’s checking account to cover the amount due to the town for FY12 operating expenses that exceeded revenue turned over to the town.  Frisa seconded the motion and the motion carried.  There were three abstentions.

Fowler asked for a motion on the excess amount of money the library has on hand in its account.  This came up with their meetings with Chip Stearns especially because of the fiscal responsibility the library has and since we’re using the same tax I.D. number, we have to be absolutely sure that whatever we’re doing is above board and clear.  Houlne said the TD account, the petty and checking account is supposed to be at $2,000.  You might just temporarily move it, depending on the motion, somewhere else.  Fowler said they need to move it somewhere else so the debit card and the petty cash account attached to that card that the maximum to be used would be $2,000.  That account would never get above $2,000.  Right now our director does not have a credit card so if they have to buy a computer, etc. they have a cushion there.  Brissette asked how often the petty cash gets replenished.  Fowler said every week she goes through the petty cash account with Mary VanHartesveldt to see what has been spent and she signs the warrant.  These are items that have been budgeted for and have to be taken out of the account.  Once the director has her credit card again which would have a maximum of $2,000 we wouldn’t have to be using this account for those expenditures.  Mitchell-Love was confused about the petty cash account.  Houlne explained that there is a box with $200 cash in it locked in her office and there is the checking account.

Fowler moved that the board authorize the treasurer, Pat Fowler, to move the balance of the former ING Annuity Fund in the amount of $44,891.40 from the TD Bank checking account to the River Valley Credit Union, realizing a fee of $25.00 for one share.  Brissette seconded the motion.  The motion carried.  Mitchell-Love said she didn’t realize there were two petty cash funds.  VanHartesveldt explained that it really is a petty cash account because you spend the money and it gets replenished.  Brissette asked where the replenishment comes from.  Fowler responded, from the warrant.  Fowler said the next thing to be discussed is the board adding the town treasurer, Doreen Aldrich’s signature and Celina Houlne’s signaure on two accounts.  Houlne explained that the town manager has said because the town has one treasurer who signs off on all bills to be paid, Aldrich has to sign off and because of that her name has to be on all the library’s accounts; investments, savings, checking, everything.  Fowler advised that they want to have two signatures.  VanHartesveldt advised that TD Bank doesn’t support two signatures.  Fowler interjected that maybe we need to look at another bank.  Houlne checked with other libraries and none have the town treasurer on their savings account.  Aldrich spoke up and asked if they use their town’s federal identification number?  Houlne said she didn’t know.  Mitchell-Love asked if the library had its own I.D. number and Fowler said, yes; but the IRS doesn’t recognize the number.  Houlne said it does.  Fowler advised that on the Secure Fore 5 account, we are using the town’s federal I.D. number.  The ING Annuity is using the old EIN.  After much discussion, Gould said this issue should go back to the Finance Committee and come in with a strong recommendation to do a, b, c.  Massucco asked Aldrich if because the town issues the payroll if that is why we are tied into the town.  Aldrich responded, yes.  Frisa said another issue is grant funding; we use the town’s EIN.  Massucco advised that the tax I.D. number is primarily for tax purposes.  It does not carry any authority to spend funds.

New Business:
Anonymous Letter:  Massucco said he received a letter addressed to him as rfpl trustee.  He has no idea where it came from but; they are what he perceives as complaints or allegations.  They talk about the trustees in their capacity as a policy committee have chosen to take their input from the public in private.  Massucco said he is not aware of any meetings being held in anything other than public sessions as required to do so.  He has no idea what the allegation is and that whole sentence says take their input from the public in private, or by strict definition, citizens of Vermont.  He said he doesn’t know what they have to do with each other.  It goes on, “In particular, one public participant who is neither a citizen of the United States, as he himself has so stated, nor an elected member of the RFPL body”.  “Additionally, suggestions by the public should be submitted in an Open Meeting (it was).  It speaks to secret emails.  Massucco said he has no control over who sends him an email, a phone call or anything else.  We do take suggestions from the public in open meetings; we have “Public Comment” at every meeting.  At the end, which is a direct slam on the Policy Committee, “It is clear the participation of this non-trustee has been given more weight than the other 5 trustees not on this committee”.  Massucco said he doesn’t know what the source of their information is.  Mitchell-Love asked if he had page two of that letter.  She said she did understand.  What he does, top of page 2, is four different versions of by-laws being considered by the policy committee.  One is the current working draft from Carol, one is from Carolyn Frisa, one is from Arnold Clift which she received as an email and the last is from David Gould.  All the trustees last year came up with suggestions to the by-laws and spent a very long time doing it and that is on here also.  Blackwood said the input has been incorporated into this draft.  Blackwood said she stands by what the committee is working on.  These are all drafts; none of them are final and the Trustees will see the final proposal.  She doesn’t feel this is worth further discussion.  People were free to come and give input.  Frisa explained that all those suggestions were on the screen at our open policy committee meeting.  She said she doesn’t know how you can get any more open than that.  Massucco said as far as he can see, everything has been done publicly.  Blackwood added that the emails have all gone to the repository.  Frisa explained that the emails were compilations of suggestions received by Blackwood and some were incorporated in the draft.
Letter Emailed to Fowler:  Fowler received an email from Deb Wright as she was preparing to go for surgery.  The email specifically said “if you have time, can you answer these questions”.  She was extremely busy getting business done before going for surgery.  Many of the questions were answered in the minutes which she couldn’t understand.  Within a couple of days, she was getting 2nd notice, 3rd notice, etc. which was upsetting.  She forwarded to the other board members.  We were specifically told that we were not to answer anything like this as an email.  Fowler called Wright to have her meet and Wright was upset about it.  Gould received the email as well and he read his responses.  Question 1 was concerning the Kersula’s re:  the HVAC.  Gould’s response was, “The present board of trustees is in the process of obtaining bids for the landscaping between the library building and the Kersula’s.  Unfortunately, the funding for the landscaping was scrapped because of changes in contractors due to the renovation of the building; we don’t have any landscaping money in our present budget.  Simply erecting a fence such as a stockade or picket between the two properties will not reduce the noise significantly.  The HVAC company has run into this problem in the past and they are trying to determine who and how they handle the noise reduction.  Frisa said this is recorded in the minutes.  Mitchell-Love asked if we also put on there that we need new zoning approval as well.  Houlne said if we got five lists of questions at every board meeting, we’d never get any work done.  Fowler reminded everyone that the Secy. of State advised not to answer anything like this as an email.  Brissette asked, could no one have sent her an email saying all the answers she’s looking for are in the minutes of the previous meeting?  Mitchell-Love pointed out that her understanding of the open meeting law is that when a member of the public is asking for information, the trustees can send the information.  Brissette asked that the board treat everybody equal.  Blackwood responded that this board is extremely cautious about email because there has been some past history and things being taken out of context, quoted, misquoted, etc.  She feels that if someone truly wants to know the answers to these questions, face to face at a meeting would be appropriate.  It feels like she is trying to back the board into a corner which we then fear is going to be misused.  Question 2 asks about the leaking roof; it has been fixed and there was no damage.  Question 3 asks about buying bike racks.  The library did not buy bike racks, the town got several in a grant and the library is the recipient of one of them.  Question 4 was concerning the floor scrubber already being purchased in FY14.  It was not purchased in 2014, it was done in 2015 and the board had another motion to purchase the floor scrubber in FY15 so there would be no confusion which budget it was being paid out of.  Question 5 was why hire another full-time staff member.  This is not a full-time position; it is a part-time position.  Mitchell-Love asked why the need for a part-time person.  Fowler explained because Wendy has been covering the extra hours.  Gould added we are going with a part-time employee because we have had a part-time person in the budget to be a program director/staff member.  Question 6 asks why put off a finance committee meeting if you have a quorum because someone cannot attend.  The finance committee could have met without all the members; it chose not to.  Question 7 pertains to a purchasing policy.  Gould said he was not aware the town had one and he has since got a copy from the town offices and passed it to Houlne and her staff for review asking for a report back on how well the library is adhering to the town purchasing policy.  Brissette interjected that it wouldn’t hurt if we all had a copy.  Gould said she could go to town hall and get it.  Question 8 refers to the petty cash level and the credit card once again to the library director.  That answer will be in the minutes of tonight’s meeting.  Question 9 refers to setting up an accounting class for all trustees to understand their budgets.  Gould said he is not aware of any suggestions to set up an accounting class for trustees although that may be a good idea.  Fowler said she has talked with People’s Bank and they are willing to do that.  Question 10 refers to “skype”.  Gould said to the best of his knowledge, there has been no real discussion about setting up meetings via skype.  Frisa said Blackwood asked about using skype for our finance committee meeting.  You can have one member who is not available to attend, skype.  Question 11 asked about a previous check warrant report showing payment for the floor cleaner. (Note: Skipped over; answered in Question 4?).  Question 12 refers to not being provided with the pay warrant and have not verified that the four staff whose wages were increased have been reduced to their previous rate.  Gould said pay warrants were provided and sent to the town’s payroll clerk in which they went back to the previous wage as of July 1st.  Mitchell-Love asked why the warrant for 8/01/14 says —– Houlne interjected that it was not July 1st.  She did it in August.  When she came back, the staff was continuing the duties as she was playing catch-up.  They have continued helping her with evaluations, etc.  Aldrich asked if she had the right to make that decision and Houlne said she did.  Brissette disagreed.  Frisa said the board approved an increase for two staff members who would be re-evaluated by the board once a new director was hired.  If the board hasn’t re-evaluated yet, you would keep them at the same pay rate.  Mitchell-Love said that was not what the board’s intent was.  Brissette left the meeting at 8:00 p.m.  Blackwood moved that the board endorses staff wages reverting back to their wages  prior to filling in for the library director position.  Houlne said that now she is back she is to do that; it isn’t the board’s job; it’s her job.  She added that the board does look at annual rates of pay when budgeting for the new fiscal year.  Mitchell-Love said money is our job; you absolutely are wrong.  You are supposed to hire and fire and review them; but we have the fiduciary responsibility.  Massucco said in general he agrees with what she is saying and he doesn’t have it in front of him but; there was a specific motion which you don’t have the authority to override.  Blackwood restated the motion that this board agrees with reducing the wages of all library staff who worked during the library director’s past to revert to their previous hourly wage now that we have a library director who is fully functioning.  The motion was seconded by Frisa and the motion carried.  There was one abstention.  Question 13 asked for a copy of the policy regarding petty cash.  Gould said he thought that was covered above.

Recording Equipment:  Aldrich has requested $125.00 for the software, earphones and a foot pedal in order to transcribe library minutes at home.  She didn’t ask for the digital recorder because it is quite expensive and she can use the town’s recorder for now.  Discussion followed.  Mitchell-Love moved to spend up to $125.00 for the software, earphones and foot pedal to transcribe minutes; seconded by Frisa.  The motion carried.

Review Tasks:  Personnel Committee – Review comparison sheet
Policy Committee – Follow-up on By-Laws & Trustees Policy
Finance Committee – Follow-up on signatory cards and which Fed. I.D. is being                           used with which account
Buildings & Grounds
Library Sign
Follow-up on HVAC/Kersula sound barrier

Next Meeting:  September 9th at 6:15 p.m.

Review & Approve Warrants:  Warrants Signed

Executive Session:  Not Necessary

Adjourn:  Mitchell-Love moved to adjourn at 8:10 p.m., seconded by Fischer.  The motion carried.

 

Submitted____________________________________August 14, 2014
Doreen Aldrich

 

Policy Committee Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, July 29, 2014

 

Library Board Policy Committee Meeting Tuesday, July 29, 2014 6:15pm
Location: Top Floor Meeting Room
AGENDA

1. Call to order

2. Additions or changes to agenda

3. Public comment (3 minutes per person)

4. Working group formulation of Proposed Changes to Library By-Laws

5. Other Business (if necessary)

6. Review Task List

7. Adjourn

The Library meeting room is accessible by the elevator at the entrance to the left of the main stairs.

 

Policy Committee Meeting Minutes: July 29, 2014

 

POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING
JULY 29, 2014
Present:  Doreen Aldrich, Carol Blackwood, Carolyn Frisa and L. Raymond Massucco, Trustees; Celina Houlne, Library Director

Others:  Chris Garofolo, Eagle Times; Arnold Clift and David DeRusha

Call to Order:  Chairperson Blackwood called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m. and explained that this would be a working meeting.

Additions or Changes to Agenda:  None

Public Comment (3 minutes per person):  Clift thanked Blackwood for her work and said he would explain, if necessary, his proposed changes in the by-laws.  DeRusha said Roberts Rules has some broad guidelines and should be incorporated in the By-Laws.  Clift agreed saying it needs to clearly state how business will be conducted.  Houlne also agreed and added that her suggestion would be to include Roberts Rules of Order.

Working Group Formulation of Proposed Changes to Library By-Laws:
Blackwood explained about the color coding in her handout.  The black type is the current working draft.  The red type shows proposed changes suggested by Frisa.  The blue type indicates proposed changes suggested by Clift and the purple type shows suggested changes by David Gould.

Blackwood asked about trustees taking an oath.  Massucco said it is not mandatory; but thought it would be a good thing to do.  The others present agreed.  It was suggested by Frisa to use captions or subject matter with the Article numbers.

The Personnel Committee proceeded to review all the Articles in the current By-Laws, making suggested changes.  Blackwood will email the draft to the committee members for review and comments.

Other Business (If Necessary):  None

Review Task List:  No Task List

Adjourn:  At 8:54 p.m., Frisa moved to adjourn the Policy Committee Meeting, seconded by Massucco.  The motion carried.

 

Respectfully submitted, ___________________________July 30, 2014
Doreen Aldrich

 

Personnel Committee Meeting Agenda: Monday, July 21, 2014

 

Library Board Personnel Committee Meeting
Monday, July 21, 2014 10:00 AM
Location: Top Floor Meeting Room

Agenda

Click here to download a .pdf of this agenda

Call to Order

Additions to the Agenda

Public Comment (3 minutes per person)

Approval of Minutes for June 3 meeting

Discuss difference between Town Personnel Policy Handbook and RFPL Personnel Policy Handbook

Recommendations for change to the Town and the Library Personnel Policy Handbooks

Other Business

Adjournment

The Library meeting room is accessible by the elevator at the entrance to the left of the main stairs.

 

Personnel Committee Meeting Minutes: July 21, 2014

Rockingham Free Public Library
Personnel Committee
Meeting Draft Minutes
July 21, 2014, 10:00AM RFPL Meeting Room
Recessed until July 23, 2014 at 8:30AM RFPL Meeting Room

Click here to download a .pdf of these draft minutes.

Personnel Committee Meeting Minutes
July 21, 2014, 10:00AM RFPL Meeting Room
Recessed until July 23, 2014 at 8:30AM RFPL Meeting Room

Committee Members in Attendance: David Gould, Doreen Aldrich, Carolyn Frisa, and Pat Fowler.
Library Personnel: Célina Houlné (Library Director)
Invited Guests: Chip Stearns (Rockingham Town Manager) and Kerry Bennett (Rockingham Executive Assistant).
Members of the Public: None.

Chairman Gould called the meeting to order at 10:04am with three committee members present. Fowler joined the meeting at 10:10am.

No additions or changes to the agenda were proposed.

No public comment was made.

Minutes of June 3, 2014 Personnel Committee – Aldrich asked that “motioned” be changed to “moved” under adjournment. Aldrich moved the minutes be approved as amended, seconded by Frisa and carried unanimously.

Differences between the current Town Personnel Rules (adopted August 31, 2004 including amendments approved through January 31, 2012) and the RFPL Personnel Policy and Procedures Manual (adopted June 19, 2008 including amendments approved through September 12, 2008) were discussed. Bennett and Stearns reviewed these differences with the committee members in detail. The following items were identified as discrepancies:

Holidays (Item 19, p. 10 of RFPL Policy)
RFPL full-time employees receive one more day (Columbus Day) than Town employees.

Vacation for full-time employees (Item 21A.2, p. 11 of RFPL Policy)
RFPL Policy                                                                            Town Policy
1-5 years      12 days                                                            1-48 months         12 days
6-10 years    17 days                                                           49-108 months    17 days
11+  years     22 days                                                           108+ months        22 days

Vacation for part-time employees (Item 21A.4, p. 11 of RFPL Policy)
RFPL employees do not have a minimum for weekly hours worked to accrue pro-rated vacation time. Town employees must work at least 20 hours per week to accrue pro-rated vacation time. Part-time staffing needs greatly vary between the two organizations.


Additional benefits for part-time employees
RFPL part-time employees do not receive pro-rated holiday or sick leave time. Town part-time employees receive pro-rated holiday and sick leave time in addition to pro-rated vacation time.

Retirement Benefit (Item 22.B,2, p. 14 of RFPL Policy)
RFPL full-time employees are required to join the plan after one year of full-time service. All new Town employees are automatically enrolled in the plan on the first day of the month following employment.

Group disability insurance (Item 22.E.2, p. 15 of RFPL Policy)
RFPL policy does not include any employment termination date. Town policy terminates employment once long-term disability commences after 89 days of short-term disability program coverage.

Group hospital and major medical insurance (Item 22.F, p. 15 of RFPL Policy)
RFPL policy does not indicate amount of employer’s contribution towards highest premium. Town policy states “the municipal contribution amount (80% of the highest cost plan premium) may be applied toward any of the plans”.

RFPL policy does not specify amount of cash incentive an employee will receive if hospital and major medical coverage is not provided by the employer. Town policy states the employee “will receive a pro-rated cash payment in the amount of 35% of employer premium cost for unused coverage”.

Employee assistance program (Item 22.I.2, p. 16 of RFPL Policy)
RFPL policy states “RAM provides counseling and assistance”. Town policy refers to EAP (Employee Assistance Program). “RAM” is an outdated acronym.

 

Bennett also recommended that the policies following Item 24 in the RFPL Personnel Policy  (p. 17 – 25) be listed as separate appendices to enable changes be made more efficiently since they are technically separate policies. This would also make the RFPL policy more consistent with Town policy format. These include:

  • Safety Policy
  • Sexual Harassment Policy
  • Drug-free Workplace Policy
  • Smoking / Tobacco Policy
  • Harassment Policy

Further discussion of differences in personnel policy matters included:

  • RFPL’s need for a personnel policy that is separate from the Town policy since library employees are not Town employees.

 

  • Difference in options for employees to use comp time vs. overtime. Town allows for comp time instead of overtime at a rate of time and a half; union employees can accrue up to 80 hours and non-union employees can accrue up to 40 hours. Item 6 on p. 17 of Town Policy states: “With the approval of the municipal manager, compensation may be offered in lieu of earned vacation time. This policy shall be implemented only under special circumstances arising from the needs of the employee or municipality.” Stearns stated if RFPL decides to allow compensation time for their employees, RFPL needs their own forms for application and approval of comp time.

 

  • Need for consistent and appropriate storage location and retention procedures for Library personnel records. Pros and cons of having this be the responsibility of the Town vs. RFPL were discussed.
  • Pros and cons of having RFPL employees as non-Town employees vs. Town employees from a human resource management perspective.

 

At 11:35am, Aldrich moved the meeting be recessed until Wednesday, July 23, 2014 at 8:30am in the Library Meeting Room; seconded by Frisa and the motion unanimously carried.

Chairman Gould called the meeting back to order at 8:40am on Wednesday, July 23, 2014 with all committee members present.

Recommendations for proposed changes to the RFPL Personnel Policy and Procedures Manual were discussed, with a focus on the differences between the Town and RFPL Policies identified at the beginning of the meeting. The Committee identified several areas where additional information was needed  – how do other comparable libraries in the region set their holiday calendars and define inclement weather closure policies? The need for more information on the legality of offering comp time was also identified. Library Director Houlné will provide committee members with this information. The Committee discussed the potential benefits of changing the leave policy for dental and medical appointments. Under current RFPL policy, all employees may be granted up to two hours leave [per appointment] to attend personal appointments with a medical or dental doctor or paraprofessional. Such absences are not charged against the personal leave category [sick or vacation], but will be subject to approval of the director. The Committee reviewed the pros and cons of changing policy so all employees would be required to charge these appointments against the personal leave category, which would incorporate the addition of 2 personal days [pro-rated for part-time staff] to help offset the loss of the previous health care appointment benefit. Storage location and procedures for retaining RFPL Personnel Records were also discussed.

The Committee will review all proposed changes to the RFPL Personnel Policy and Procedures Manual in detail before presenting them to the full Library Board of Trustees for discussion.

Frisa moved to adjourn at 9:50am, seconded by Aldrich, and the motion carried unanimously.

Draft minutes respectfully submitted on July 24, 2014 by Secretary Frisa.

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Rockingham Free Public Library
Library Board Agenda
Tuesday, July 8, 2014 6:15 PM
Meeting Room

Click here to download a .pdf of this agenda.

Call to Order

Additions or changes to Agenda

Approval of June 10, 2014 Minutes

Welcome New Trustee Karin Fischer

Public Comments (3 minutes apiece)

Director’s Report
— Financial Reports

Committee Reports
— Personnel Committee
Approval of Library Director’s Job Description

–Finance Committee

— Policy Committee
By-laws Up Date
— Buildings and Grounds Committee
Landscaping
Sign

— Historical Collection Committee

Old Business
— Meeting Dates and Times

New Business

Executive Session (If Needed)

Other

Next Meeting

Adjournment

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: July 8, 2014

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY MEETING
OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
JULY 8, 2014
MINUTES


Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes.


Present: Doreen Aldrich, Carol Blackwood, Karin Fischer, Patricia Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, David Gould, Trustees; Library Staff, Samantha Maskell and Mary VanHartesveldt
Absent: Hope Brissette, L. Raymond Massucco & Jan Mitchell-Love;
Others: David DeRusha

Call to Order: Chairman Gould brought the meeting to order at 6:17 p.m. He thanked Friends of the Library for the new clock in the meeting room.

Additions or Changes to Agenda: None

Approval of June 10, 2014 Minutes: Frisa pointed out that the minutes referred to the Directors’ Report being attached; but it wasn’t attached to the minutes sent to the trustees. It was noted that it is on the web site and Maskell said she will resend it to the trustees. Under Committee Reports-Finance Committee, the last sentence reads, “Mitchell-Love asked who the town treasurer is and Gould responded, Doreen”. Frisa pointed out that it should say “Doreen Aldrich”. Under Historical Collection Committee: No report. She asked committee members, should say Frisa asked committee members, etc. On page 3 under New Business, Frisa asked to add “Village Trustee Meetings” on the last line so as not to confuse it with Library Trustee Meetings. Fowler then moved to adopt the Minutes of June 10th as corrected; seconded by Frisa. The motion carried with one abstention.

Welcome New Trustee: Gould welcomed Karin Fischer, the newest board member and thanked her. Gould also welcomed Houlne back as Library Director.

Public Comments: VanHartesveldt explained to Fischer that if she had questions about the warrants, bookkeeping, etc. she was available to help.

Director’s Report: Houlne said that Gould had asked her to include the library stats in her reports. She had Maskell explain about the summer programs. Maskell advised that the summer reading program has started. It is in the second week and they have had a great turnout. The lunch program just started. Included in the youth programs are the school district wide visits and that is over 600. Houlne added because the classes actually run through the library. Maskell added that it is turning out to be a great summer.

Houlne advised the “No Smoking” signs are on their way. Regarding the sign out front, they may find out that it is too expensive to replace right away; but it doesn’t mean they are not planning to replace it. There may be money at the end of the year to get it redone. Houlne also reported that the HVAC is loud. When the building renovation was planned; they talked about putting up a sound barrier; but decided to wait before expending the money for a small wall. Houlne will get in touch with ARC Mechanical and find out what they do with their other sites.

Fowler interjected that the neighbors have been waiting for six months and are very upset because they are opening their windows now and hearing that noise. Houlne said she has talked with the Kersula’s and they understand. Fowler added that we need to act on this now and not wait until the end of the summer. It is not fair to those people. Houlne suggested calling a special trustee meeting once she has a figure.

Houlne reported that the flat roof at the rear of the building has been leaking for a while. The membrane is wearing out. She will get some estimates for repair. Maskell asked if Houlne would ask about having the roof looked at on the Temple Street side of the building where the snow slides off onto the sidewalk and ice builds up. Houlne said she would. Houlne reported that there are bike racks for the library; they are currently behind the village garage and she will get on them to get them installed.

Regarding the new Library Fund report from the town, when Chip started it, he didn’t separate out the operations costs from capital costs so Mary VanHartesveldt wrote on the report, the actual figures without the renovation. The second page shows the revenues without the renovation monies. The floor scrubber that was approved in April is on back order so we won’t get it for a few weeks. Houlne asked for a new motion to approve the purchase in this fiscal year. Gould said if we are waiting for invoices through July to be added to FY 14, why are we concerned about having a new motion about the floor scrubber. Frisa’s concern was that it could be turned around; that it was approved in April, 2014 but paid after the fiscal year ended.

Houlne asked if the board would like to participate in the staff evaluations of Sam and Emily. Blackwood said considering they were filling the function of our director and our plan is for the board to evaluate the library director, then it makes sense for the board to have input from the time they were acting library directors. Houlne asked if the board would like her to email the forms or would the directors like to stop by. Gould asked Houlne to email them. Houlne advised that she will advertise for the part-time position of programming, interview in August and, hopefulluy, have someone on board in September.

Maskell advised that Wednesday (7/9) she will be holding a national webinar. This is the first national webinar for her.

Houlne advised that Zervas has been working on a grant for folding tables and chairs.

Houlne reported that the state librarian testified about the importance of open internet at a Senate hearing and had a handout for the trustees. There will be a webinar per the state librarian about the open meeting law for library trustees. Frisa said it will be on Monday, July 21st from 6:00-7:00 p.m. Gould asked Houlne to send an email reminding the trustees of this. Houlne passed out updated information about the open meeting law for everyone’s Handbook.

VanHartesveldt reported on finances. The budget is looking good. Gould thanked VanHartesveldt and the staff for the diligence dealing with this budget year.

Committee Reports:
Personnel Committee – Approve Library Director’s Job Description

Houlne had a question on page 2, Financial Operations, third bullet, second line, “seeking approval from the Board of Trustees for any adjustment to the library budget above $1,000.”

She explained that we have a budget; but then there are line items where we have estimated what the cost is going to be; however, the electric bill may be higher. She asked is this current line items or is it total budget. Fowler replied that she thinks line items. After a lengthy discussion, Gould told Houlne if after three or four months, you feel handcuffed, we will revisit this.

Frisa had a question under Personnel Management, the third bullet; “Ensure correct wages are paid to staff.” Frisa suggested adding “wages and benefits” are paid to staff. Frisa noted on the last page, under Educational Requirements, there should be a period after “capacity”. Frisa moved that the board approve the Library Director Job Description as amended and printed. Blackwood seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Houlne asked who would make the changes. Frisa said she would.

VanHartesveldt asked about multi-year contracts and who should sign them. Blackwood moved to authorize Houlne to sign for a new elevator contract, a multi-year contract, with the appropriate company; seconded by Frisa. The motion carried unanimously.

Finance Committee: Fowler had no report as they can’t agree on a time to meet. The committee thought early Saturday mornings before recycling opens would be a good time; but Massucco is adamant about not meeting on Saturdays. Blackwood asked about Skype scipe. Fowler said she would ask Massducco; but he is on vacation in Maine right now.

Policy Committee: – By-laws Update – Blackwood said she would like to meet on July 29th here at the library at 6:15 p.m. Aldrich advised that she is available. The committee consists of Blackwood, Aldrich, Frisa and Massucco. VanHartesveldt added that if By-laws have been worked on, Karin Fischer does not have any of that in her handbook.

Buildings and Grounds Committee: Landscaping –Sign — Frisa explained before the Grand Opening celebration, someone printed the library logo on paper to cover the lockbox. It looked good; but now is looking awful. She suggested printing it again, getting it laminated and put up again.

Historical Collection Committee: No Report

Old Business: Gould reminded board members that at the last meeting, one of the members brought up the question that the second Tuesday of the month conflicts with the Village Trustee Meetings and asked if we would consider changing the meeting date. Maskell put together a survey and sent it out and not all the trustees responded. It looks like with the exception of Massucco Thursday evening might be good. After discussion, Gould ruled that we stay with our Tuesday meetings at 6:15 p.m. and Blackwood agreed. If there is something critical going on in the town/village, we could move our meeting on a case by case basis.

Floor Scrubber: Frisa moved that the trustees approve the $4,000 that was approved in April for the floor scrubber be moved into FY15. Blackwood seconded the motion and the motion carried.

New Business: None

Executive Session: None needed.

Other: Houlne said at previous meetings, any homework to be done before the next meeting or anything that had been committed to during the current meeting was the time to think of what would be put on the next agenda.

Next Meeting: August 12th at 6:15 p.m. Houlne will be at a family wedding in D.C. Fowler said she is having surgery on the 4th and does not know if she will make that meeting.

Adjournment: Frisa moved to adjourn at 7:40 p.m., seconded by Fowler. The motion carried.

Respectfully submitted________________________________July 11, 2014 Doreen Aldrich

Director’s Report
July 8, 2014
Célina Houlné

June Programs and Statistics * Summer Reading Program kicked off on June 23rd with the Stuffed Animal Sleepover and a fantastic science/magic presentation by Exordium. Lots of families, kids and teens have signed up and are keeping track of their reading for weekly incentives. See handout for full description of Summer Reading Program and activities, or visit the Library’s website: http://rockinghamlibrary.org/srp.html
* Lunch program at the Library runs from July 7-Aug 15. Lunches are available for free to any youth up to the age of 18. Adults may purchase a lunch for $3.60. There is no registration, but sign-ups are encouraged. A Library activity will follow the lunch program from 12-1.
Adult One Time Programs: 3 events, attendance of 77
Adult Ongoing Programs: 7 events, attendance of 33
Youth Programs: 8 events, attendance of 547
Meeting Room and Program Room usage: 20 events
Adults Computer Use: 703 library computer, 536 laptop
Youth Computer Use: 185 library computer
New Library Cards issued: 44
New titles added to collection: 353
Items checked out: 3,577

Building and Grounds
* No Smoking Signs – Emily and Sam met with Greater Falls Connection to order no-smoking signs from the state for the front of the Library and the bench. We are still awaiting their arrival and will be working with the Highway Dept to get them mounted.

* Landscaping – I’m seeking another bid from a company often used by the town.

* Sign – I’m seeking another bid from the maker of the Ludlow Library sign.

* HVAC Units – I spoke with Ellen Howard to explain we’re looking at alternatives for reducing the noise of the HVAC units at the rear of the building. We’ll need to bring the plan to her for review by the zoning board. I’ve called ARC Mechanical who installed the units, to ask for possible solutions, and I’ve contacted our neighbor out back to assure him we’re looking for a solution.

* Water leaks – Flat roof membrane needs repair along the juncture of the new addition. I’ve called the roofing company which installed it, for both the repair and to inspect the rest of the roof. Weather-stripping will be installed on the bottom of the door that accesses the roof.

* Bike racks – Several bike racks were procured through a town-level grant a few years ago and there are some still available to use at the Library.

Budget
* June 30, 2014 is the end of fiscal year 2014. Back-postings will be made this month and then the auditors will review the final figures in August.

* Aside from the overage of the renovation capital expense, operational expenses should come in under budget, as it did in the last Fiscal Year 2013, due to savings in various areas such as personnel and maintenance and repair lines.

* The floor scrubber was back-ordered from the warehouse and will arrive in August. As it was not paid for during FY14, it will be charged to the FY15 budget. The Board will need to vote to approve this expenditure for this fiscal year.

Other
* A staff workshop was held on June 16, the day I returned to work and it was led by Michael Roche, a Librarian from the Department of Libraries. We reviewed the process of the transition and since then I’ve begun to meet individually with staff members to review past activities and to discuss future goals.

* Staff evaluations are now underway, with input from Emily and Sam as they supervised the staff for much of the year. For Sam and Emily, I suggest that board members fill out an evaluation form for each of them, to cover the time they performed directorial duties, which I will then incorporate into their evaluations.

* I will be advertising for the part-time librarian position left open after Ed Graves departed last year. Hiring will likely happen in early September.

* Sam co-taught along with Mara Segal from the Vermont State Department of Libraries, a national webinar on Makerspaces in small and rural libraries for OCLC.

* Emily submitted a grant to the Thomas Thompson Trust for $13,000 towards wooden tables and chairs for the main floor. We should know the outcome by August.

* The Department of Libraries June newsletter has information about the recent changes made to the State’s Open Meeting Law: http://libraries.vermont.gov/node/415. It includes a link to Act No. 143: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2014/Acts/ACT143.pdf State Librarian Martha Reid testified about the importance of open internet at a US Senate Committee field hearing. Led by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) in support of network neutrality, the hearing “Preserving an Open Internet: Rules to Promote Competition and Protect Main Street Consumers” took place in Burlington, VT. More information is available on the Department of Library’s website: http://libraries.vermont.gov/node/417

More information and trainings will be provided by the Dept. of Libraries later this summer.

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: June 10, 2014

Rockingham Free Public Library
Regular Monthly Meeting Agenda
June 10, 2014
6:15 PM RFPL Meeting Room

Click here to download a .pdf of this agenda.

Call to Order

Public Comments 3 minute limit for each speaker

Approval of Minutes of May 13, 2014

Directors’ Report
Financial Reports

Committee Reports

Finance Committee

Buildings and Grounds Committee
Landscaping
New Sign

Historical Collection Committee

Policy Committee

Personnel Committee
Approval of Library Director’s Job Description
Executive Session to discuss the contract with Celina Houlne

Old business

Trustee Replacement

New Business

Other

Adjournment

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: June 10, 2014

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY MEETING
OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
JUNE 10, 2014
MINUTES

Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes.

Present: Doreen Aldrich, Carol Blackwood, Hope Brissette, Patricia Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, David Gould, L. Raymond Massucco, Jan Mitchell-Love, Trustees; Chris Garofolo, Eagle Times; Dominic Poli, Brattleboro Reformer; Allison Teague, The Commons and Jake Stradling, FACT 8, Press; Steven Ankuda and Richard Bowen, Attorneys; Emily Zervas, Samantha Maskell and Mary VanHartesveldt, Library Others: Karen Fischer, Steve Geller, Celina Houlne

Call to Order: The chairman brought the meeting to order at 6:20 p.m. He asked if it would be ok to change the order of the items on the agenda as members of the press were present and anxious to get to another venue.

Public Comments: None

Approval of Minutes of May 13, 2014: Frisa moved to approve the minutes of May 13th as printed; seconded by Fowler. Six were in favor and two abstentions as they were not present at that meeting. The motion carried.

Old Business:
Trustee Replacement: The Chair announced that we have a person who has volunteered to serve as a new trustee, Karen Fischer, and he introduced her. He added that he has known her for six or seven years and has enjoyed his association with her very much. He read her bio. Fischer added that she has been particularly interested in connecting with Frisa who she hadn’t met yet. A couple of years ago she spent time at the Williamstown Regional Conservation Laboratory, it was only a month long internship; but she is very interested in conservation work on paper so if there are any projects involving the historical collection, that is something she’d be happy being involved in. Frisa advised that they have a lot of work to do. Carol Blackwood moved to nominate Ms. Fischer to be a replacement trustee to serve out the remainder of Paige Pietrzak’s term until the next election and to notify the select board. Frisa seconded the motion and the motion passed with six in favor and two abstentions.

Directors’ Report: The report is attached and made a part of these minutes. One item not on the list; Mary VanHartesveldt reached her upper limit of approved vacation and hasn’t been able to take any time because of the hectic year. She has been shorted 11.93 hours of vacation time in the past two months. Zervas asked the board to consider asking town hall to restore that amount to her account. We hope she will be able to take vacation time soon. Frisa moved that 11.93 hours of vacation time be restored to Mary VanHartesveldt’s account; seconded by Mitchell-Love. The motion carried unanimously. Another announcement from the staff is that they will be closing the library on Monday, June 16th for a workshop with Michael Roche and will reopen the library at 1:00 p.m.

Financial Reports: VanHartesveldt presented printouts and advised there aren’t a lot of changes since last month. They’re still looking at having a positive balance at the end of the year. Mitchell-Love asked why some items are higher. On Page 2, Salaries Full-Time/Part-Time. VanHartesveldt explained that the full-time salaries are higher because the two full-time people who have been paid more have been working extra hours. Part-time are actually lower. Mitchell-Love asked about Page 3, Electricity – why is that higher than it was projected to be? VanHartesveldt asked if she was comparing it to the projection last month and Jan said yes. Mary said she thinks she dropped it last month because the last bill came in lower than expected. Jan then asked about the property and liability; is it higher because we’re still facing the situation with the town? VanHartesveldt responded “Yes”. Massucco asked VanHartesveldt how long after the fiscal year closes does she expect to have final figures for FY 2014. VanHartesveldt explained that they get the initial figures right away and then there are several other postings that happen, i.e. accounts payable that they don’t have invoices for, etc. They usually get two statements; but they are not final. They wait for the auditors which, typically, is October-November before they have real figures.

Personnel Committee:
Approval of Library Director’s Job Description: Not all trustees had a copy so this item put off until the next regular scheduled meeting. Executive Session To Discuss The Contract With Celina Houlne: Attorney Ankuda was not present so Mitchell-Love and Brissette proposed moving to Committee Reports.

Committee Reports:
Finance Committee: Fowler advised that she went to the bank in Springfield today and has a check for $5,606.00 which is from the Windham Foundation, the Whitcomb donation for computer material. Gould said it is his understanding that the library is now operating under the same federal I.D. number as the town; therefore, our town treasurer should be a signer on all of our accounts and the town needs to have a list of the various accounts and the town treasurer is to get statements. Mitchell-Love asked who the town treasurer is and Gould responded, Doreen.

Mr. Ankuda arrived and Fowler moved that we go into executive session to discuss the contract for the library director position and invite Atty. Ankuda in; seconded by Frisa. There was one abstention and the motion carried.

The regular meeting resumed at 7:27 p.m. Fowler moved to accept the contract with Celina Houlne as printed and Frisa seconded. The motion carried with six in favor, two opposed and the contract was approved. Ankuda recommended that the board authorize Gould to sign on behalf of the board. Massucco moved to authorize David Gould, Chair, to sign the contract on behalf of the board, seconded by Frisa. The motion carried.

Buildings and Grounds Committee:
Mitchell-Love asked if there is a list of who is on what committees and Gould said there is. She said she did not get that. Brissette asked for a list of trustees, their contact information and the committees they are on. Gould will get that out to all the trustees. Landscaping: The chair advised that Emily addressed the “Landscaping”; that she is working on that, west of the building. We did determine that the trees that are planted there now were purchased out of renovation money at $65.00 each and the neighbors next door purchased one to help offset the cost. Theoretically, we own the trees; but they have to be moved so we could probably sell those trees to interested parties and give them a break if they come in and move them. Brissette asked who met to talk about the trees. Gould responded that Emily and he met. Fowler asked who the building committee is. Gould responded, “Hope and myself”. Fowler added that Hope is wondering why no one consulted her. Gould said it is his fault and he will get it corrected.

New Sign: Gould advised that they are still concerned about the sign; but there is no immediate rush on that and it is possible that Frank Hawkins might be able to come up with something at a more reasonable cost that thought. This is ongoing.

Historical Collection Committee: No report. She asked committee members to stay after the meeting to schedule a meeting time.

Policy Committee: Blackwood said there have been multiple efforts to look at by-laws and it is time we make it happen. She looked at the previous efforts and how the by-laws currently exist and did a draft proposal which was sent out to the board for comments. It is her hope those comments will come back to the committee to come up with a finalized draft. One or two errors have already been pointed out to her so changes to this draft have to be made. She will be in touch with the committee to set up a time to go over and, hopefully, at the next meeting, we can present draft by-laws that will be acceptable to the board. Frisa asked if she wants comments sent directly to her and Blackwood said that would be good and she would send out to the rest of the committee. Mitchell-Love asked who is on the committee. Blackwood said herself, Aldrich, Massucco and Frisa. Mitchell-Love asked if they had input on this. Blackwood said that is why she put “Draft”. Mitchell-Love asked, “Your committee didn’t have any input”? Blackwood responded that the committee had input with the previous things; but that particular drafting was done by herself. That is why it is a draft. Brissette asked if soliciting information from trustees is breaking the open meeting law. Frisa said no; one trustee can email another on a document. Massucco said it is just one trustee sending to another. Mitchell-Love said if all the trustees send their comments and something needs doing —- it needs to be done in public. Fowler said we should all be copying the depository every time that we send an email out. Frisa said in order to write a document efficiently, one person writes a draft, sends it out and the individuals send comments back. That person compiles the comments and has a meeting.

New Business: Brissette asked if we could change the Tuesday meetings. She’d like to attend the Trustee Meetings. Maskell will work with Gould on a doodle poll.

The next meeting will be July 8, 2014 at 6:15 p.m.

Aldrich moved to adjourn at 7:45; seconded by Frisa. The motion carried.
Respectfully submitted__________________________June 13, 2014 Doreen Aldrich

Director’s Report June 10, 2014

Building:
• Floor Machine Update: After trying two different models, the library chose to purchase a $1,600 Viper floor machine through Keene Industrial Paper. It will be delivered in the next two weeks.
• Emily is working with different plant providers, installers, and the highway department to see if we can come up with a cost-effective plan to implement Julie Messervy’s landscaping design.
• No Smoking signs for both from entrances and the bench in front of the Library are being provided by Great Falls Connections (Formerly Greater Falls Prevention Coalition).
• ARC Mechanical visited the library to respond to some vents not working and errors showing up on the control panel. They showed Emily how to clean the various re-usable filters throughout the building and said this should be done 3 times per year. They also encouraged us to have our annual maintenance done soon. Emily is looking into different vendors for the annual maintenance contract for the HVAC system.

Programs and Services
• Summer Reading Program – Lots of elementary and middle school classes visited the Library over the last few weeks to hear about the summer reading program. Sign-ups have already started and kids are filling out their reading logs. The programs will be starting on June 23, which is about a week after schools get out for the summer.
• Little Lit: Math and Science – Sam provided two different Early Literacy – one for Math and Science Early Literacy for Parents and another training on Early Literacy for Caregivers. These trainings are provided through a partnership between the Library and the WNESU Early Ed Center with support from a Vermont Early Literacy Initiative grant.
• The Friends of the Library Plant Sale was well attended and enjoyed by all. It raised $668.50 for The Friends.
• The Library presented Tim Brookes’, “How the Guitar Conquered America”, to a small, but very enthusiastic crowd; this was a Vermont Humanities Council program.
• Wes Nies presented a genealogy program titled “Finding Your Royal Ancestors” on May 14th to the Geanology Work Group plus a few additional participants.
• Elayne Clift presented a wonderful program on doulas and the history of birth assistance on May 22nd.
• RFPL Reads, the adult book group, gathered on May 29th to discuss the various Hetty Green biographies that have been written over the years. The group also enjoyed looking at some of Hetty’s possessions and photographs of Hetty from the Library’s historical collections. The book group’s next choice is Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander. The group will meet on July 11th.

Other
• Librarians finished up putting in their final materials orders and we are getting ready to close out the fiscal year.
• Emily presented on Reference Service Using New Technologies at the Vermont Library Conference on May 20th.
• New library cards featuring our wonderful new logo have been ordered and will be available in a few weeks.

Personnel Committee Meeting Minutes: June 3, 2014

 

Rockingham Free Public Library
Personnel Committee Meeting
Minutes June 3, 2014
6:00 PM RFPL Meeting Room


Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes.

Committee Members in Attendance: David Gould, Pat Fowler, Doreen Aldrich, and Carolyn Frisa. Invited Guests: Steve Ankuda, Celina Houlné, and Richard Bowen. Members of the Public: Steve Geller.

Chairman Gould called the meeting to order at 6:04pm. He explained the outline for this meeting -­- Enter executive session with Ankuda to review the most recent draft of the Library Director contract and discuss previous response from Houlné and Bowen; invite Houlné and Bowen to briefly address the committee; and ask Houlné and Bowen to leave Executive Session so the Committee can continue discussion with Ankuda with the hope a final draft of the contract will be generated for presentation to the full Board of Trustees for review on June 10, 2014 at the Regular Monthly Meeting.

Public comment was made by Steve Geller (limited to 3 minutes) in which he shared his thoughts on the process for developing a mutually beneficial and successful contract between the RFPL Trustees and the Library Director.

Fowler moved to enter Executive Session with Ankuda for the purpose of discussing the Library Director’s contract for Celina. The motion was seconded by Aldrich and carried unanimously. Executive Session entered at 6:09pm. Houlné and Bowen were invited into Executive Session at 7:01pm and left Executive Session at 7:45pm. The Committee came out of Executive Session at 7:55pm.

Fowler moved that the Committee ask Ankuda to make the revisions to the Library Director’s contract as discussed and generate a final draft to be presented to the full Board of Trustees for review at their regular monthly meeting on June 10, 2014. The motion was seconded by Aldrich and carried unanimously.

Frisa motioned moved to adjourn at 8:00pm, seconded by Aldrich, and carried unanimously.

Draft minutes respectfully submitted on June 8, 2014 by Secretary Frisa.

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: May 13, 2014

Regularly Scheduled Meeting of the Board of Trustees
May 13, 2014
6:15 PM
RFPL Meeting Room

Click here to to download a copy of this agenda

Agenda

Call to Order

Public Comments (Limited to 3 minutes per individual)

Approval of Minutes of Previous Meetings
April 8, 2014
April 15, 2014
May 6, 2014

Directors’ Report

Finance and Budget Committee

Personnel Committee Report
Library Director’s Job Description
Library Director’s Contract

Buildings and Grounds Committee Report

Historical Collection Committee Report
Grand Re-opening Event Report

Policy Committee Report

Old Business

New Business

Other

Next Regular Meeting June 10, 2014 6:15 PM RFPL Meeting Room

Adjournment

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: May 13, 2014

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY MEETING
OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MAY 13, 2014
MINUTES

Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes

Present: Doreen Aldrich, Carol Blackwood, Patricia Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, David Gould, Trustees; Samantha Maskell, Mary VanHartesveldt, Library; Chris Garofolo, Eagle Times, Susan Smallheer, Rutland Herald, Press; Arnold Clift, David DeRusha, Celina Houlne, Donna Stevens, Others; Absent: Hope Brissette, L. Raymond Massucco and Janice Mitchell-Love

Call to Order: The chair called the meeting to order at 6:16 p. m. He asked for permission to move the agenda items around to accommodate for an executive session regarding the former Library Director.

Public Comment: Houlne thanked everybody who made the celebration of the grand re-opening so fantastic. Clift also thanked everybody involved.

Approval of Minutes 4/8/14, 4/15/14, 5/6/2014: Frisa moved to accept the minutes of 4/8/14, seconded by Blackwood. The motion carried. Frisa moved to accept the minutes of 4/15/14, seconded by Fowler. The motion carried. Fowler moved to accept the minutes of 5/6/2014, seconded by Blackwood. The motion carried.

Director’s Report: Maskell gave a rather extensive report attached hereto and made a part of these minutes. One thing not on the report is to bring in a facilitator to do a communications training workshop and team building exercises with staff to help re-design the concept of how the library is run. She contacted VLCT and the recommendation was to include Celina and the board. The fee would be $88.00/hr. plus mileage. The other is John Schottland who has worked with libraries on conflict resolution and communication training and the last is the Vermont Department of Libraries, Michael Roache. He specializes in communication and team building. and will only work with staff. They would like to bring Michael here in early June and he is free. They may close the library early morning for a couple of mornings and the workshop wouldn’t be a whole day. This is a proactive move to help make the transition smoother. The board endorsed this.

Finance & Budget Committee: VanHartesveldt passed out the Budget Status Report and Balance Sheet for period 10 and her Spreadsheet, focusing on her projection spreadsheet. She said we need to transfer funds to be credited to the renovation payable to the town. There is not much change; but on page 1 under the e-Rate Grant we are making a slight change in how we receive it and credit it all to our bill. Because we have a grant line, we’d rather show it here. There was discussion about the shortfall. Clift said when he looks at expenditures, the budget shows $364,270 and the projection shows $354,793. We have $14,000 plus projected in maintenance fees and another $7,000 for property and liability. That is about $21,000 and wonders where the savings are in that. VanHartesveldt replied that it was the Director’s salary not being paid. Fowler added, “And the additional services person”. Clift also asked about the line for property and liability insurance. It implies that our building is four times more valuable after our renovation as it was before. VanHartesveldt responded that the Town raised the value of the building. Clift said the property and liability starts at $7,000 and shoots up to $21,000; but what it implies is that our building is four times as valuable after the renovation as it was before and his point was that we should make sure that the library is only paying its portion of the property and liability insurance. Fowler moved that in order to cover FY 14, our purchases made from the Whitcomb Foundation, the Treasurer of the Board of Trustees is authorized to withdraw the amount of $5,606.00 from the Whitcomb Foundation donations held in a Merchants CD account in the form of a check made payable to the Town of Rockingham. Frisa seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.

VanHartesveldt said they have $1,000 in a TD bank account for petty cash/checking account. They use that money to buy computer items, movies for the library, etc. Sometimes when they need things, they have to wait for one purchase to clear and get a check from the town before they can make another purchase. She asked if the board would expand that to $2,000. Maskell said it would help move things a lot faster. Blackwood moved to expand the amount of the petty cash allocation to $2,000, seconded by Frisa. The motion carried.

Buildings and Grounds Committee Report: Gould reported that he has talked with the neighbors and they seem pleased that the lighting problem was somewhat taken care of; more pleased that something was happening. They also raised the issue of a possible fence and Emily is working through the landscape bids; but has not heard back yet. Frank Hawkins has given us a bid for a wood sign out front somewhere in the neighborhood of $4,000-$5,000. Gould stopped by KG Signs in N. Walpole and they gave a ballpark figure of between $1,000-$1,200 for a 4×8 sign that would be aluminum framed and vinyl with printing on both sides. Those in attendance didn’t seem in favor and Gould reminded them that library standard says we have to have a sign out front. Frisa suggested we ask Hawkins to revise his proposal. Aesthetically, you are going to get two very different products and that is something to think about. Houlne said she’d like to be involved in this when she returns in a couple of weeks.

Historical Collection Committee Report – Grand Re-Opening Event Report: Frisa thanked everyone who helped make the library’s grand re-opening a big success. Thanks to those businesses that donated food, the wonderful musicians, the speaker, etc. Thanks to the volunteers who helped set up, decorate and clean up afterwards. There will be a letter to the editor thanking people for their donations and service and they will send out note cards as well. Their next regular meeting will be June 3rd. She thanked Arnold Clift for all the 50-50 raffles he worked on.

Fowler said she asked Chip Stearns and Tom MacPhee about the smoking issue in front of the library on Saturday. There is an ordinance in town that there is no smoking on town owned property so she can contact the person about “Smoke Free Zone” signs or someone else can.

Personnel Committee Report – Library Director’s Job Description: Gould advised that there have been minor corrections. Blackwood said she has corrections; we need to improve some of the grammar as this is going to be a professional document. Gould was ready to move for adoption; but will put it off until Blackwood submits her corrections. Clift asked if a committee had been chosen to write the job description. Frisa responded that the board worked very closely with Zervas and Maskell to create the document. Frisa asked for a timeframe for these corrections. Blackwood said she could do it very quickly.

David DeRusha asked if any progress has been made in getting a replacement on the board. Gould explained that Bob DeRusha was interested; but Bob said there has been a change of plans so we don’t have anyone to serve yet. Fowler asked about Marguerite Janiszyn; she had expressed an interest. Gould said he didn’t know; but if anyone is interested, he would like to talk with them and if anyone has suggestions, let him know.

Library Director’s Contract: Frisa moved to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing the Library Director’s contract where premature general public knowledge would clearly place the library at a substantial disadvantage and invite Attorney Steven Ankuda to attend. Blackwood seconded the motion and the motion carried.

At 8:15 p.m., the open meeting resumed.

Policy Committee Report: None

Old Business: None

New Business: None

Other: None

Next Regular Meeting: June 10, 2014 at 6:15 p.m. RFPL Meeting Room

Adjournment: At 8:17 p.m., Blackwood moved to adjourn; seconded by Frisa. The motion carried.

_________________________________Secretary Doreen Aldrich – 5/16/2014

Director’s Report
May 13, 2014

Building

• Sconce on the south side of the elevator tower broke when the doorstop failed on a windy day and the door swung open to hit the cast iron scones. The Highway Department repaired the doorstop and Lawrence and Lober repaired the sconce at a cost of $375.
• Pepper from the Highway department fixed the doorstop and adjusted the door closer to prevent the door from swinging open with such force.
• The floor machine decision has yet to be made through Emily and Bob have tested two different models. We are waiting price information for one of them before the decision is made.
• The lenses on the lights on the back of the library were partially darkened. Emily spoke to the neighbors to let them know. The neighbors stated that their real issue going forward was the noise created by the HVAC units. They requested that the library explore the possibility of a fence that will redirect or muffle the sound.
• Emily has been pursuing quotes for the two phases of landscaping installation.

Events and Programs
• H.P. Lovecraft’s Whisperer in the Darkness drew a diverse crowd of 30 for a talk about the 1928 science fiction story set partially in Bellows Falls.
• An IMLS Preservation Grant for Smaller Institutions application was submitted. The grant is for $6,000 to rehouse the library’s glass plate negatives and purchase storage furniture and environmental monitoring equipment for the historical collections.
• The Friend of the Library have made tote bags with the Library’s new logo. They look great and cost $12. The design work for the logo was donated by Garret McIntyre.
• The Youth Department offered a free Red Cross Babysitter Training. This program was funded by a grant from the Mclure Foundation. The class filled up very quickly, and there was a wait-list. I’m hoping we can receive grant funding to offer more of these trainings.
• The Library participated in World Book Night along with the Village Square Booksellers, Wool FM, Fact TV, and other community givers. Through this program we gave away multiple copies of “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” by Ransom Riggs and “Code Name Verity” by Elizabeth Wein to light or reluctant readers. Since World Book Night Sam has heard directly from a couple of people who considered themselves non-readers, but then received and enjoyed “Miss Peregrine…” and came into the Library looking for more.
• The ongoing RFPL Reads bookgroup continues to be well-attended. This month, the group is reading different biographies of Hetty Green and discussing them on Thursday, May 29 at 7pm.
• The booksale was a success for the Friends AND the library, with the Library’s income being $ 1390.50 on Wednesday. Donations continued to trickle in for people who took books on Free Friday. Thanks to all the Friends and volunteers who did set-up, staffed the sale and did cleanup! And thanks to the highway department and recycling for managing the leftovers!
• The Library hosted the Greater Falls Connection’s Community Forum “More Dreams – Less Drugs”, which was attended by community members and community leaders to discuss current issues with substance abuse in the community and ways everyone can come together to respond to those issues. The event was filmed by Fact TV (Thanks to Joe Brissette for filming) and can be viewed online.
• The Youth Department’s Annual Magic: The Gathering Tournament was a fantastic success! We had a lively and enthusiastic crowd from ages 8 to 28. Thanks to Tony Angers again for his assistance as a judge and mediator and for running the tournament.
• The Library had a table at the recent Herrick’s Cove Wildlife Festival and again offered facepainting. This year’s table had some excellent teen volunteers who ran the table and managed to keep up with the crowd; thanks to Cyric Sherburne, Alecia Santors , Alex Dewitt, and Allegra Maskell.
• The Youth Department’s Winter/Spring 2014 session has come to an end. Programming will be starting back up again on June 23rd with the summer reading program “Fizz Boom Read” , a science-themed program. We have a lot of exciting things being planned for this summer. Over the next few weeks classes from the elementary and middle school will be visiting the Library to see the place and learn about the upcoming summer activities.
• Through funds donated to the Library in memory of Russell Capron the Rockingham Free Public Library Maker Space will be available soon. With this space and the tools and materials that will be available, the Library will be providing hands-on learning opportunities for all ages on a range of skills including basic electronics, robotics, sewing, knitting, bicycle repair, fabrication, and nearly anything else you can think of! The Library staff is currently seeking out people in the community with skills that they would like to share.
• We have a couple of upcoming programs in the next few weeks you should know about:
–How the Guitar Conquered America on May 15, 7 PM
–What’s a Doula? Facts, Feelings and the Philosophy of Woman Supported Birth (presented by Elayne Clift) on May 22, 7 PM
–Annual Friends of the Library Plant Sale on May 31 from 8-noon
–Little Lit: Math and Science on May 31 at 7PM

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, May 6, 2014

 

SPECIAL MEETING ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
TUESDAY, MAY 6, 2014
MINUTES

Click here to download a .pdf of these minute

Present: Doreen Aldrich, Carol Blackwood, Hope Brissette, Patricia Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, David Gould, L. Raymond Massucco and Jan Mitchell-Love
Others: Stephen Ankuda, Attorney and Constance Pell, Attorney
Press: Chris Garofolo, Eagle Times; Brian Bashaw, FACT8, Susan Smallheer, Rutland Herald and Domenic Poli, Brattleboro Reformer

Call to Order: The chair called the meeting to order at 6:17 p.m.

Public Comments: Joel Love called a “Point of Order”. He said this is a Special Meeting and Special Meetings are called for a particular purpose and does not include “New Business”. He said he thought the board would have to defer “New Business” to another meeting. Blackwood said we can certainly strike that from the agenda. Mitchell-Love asked if the board also needed to strike “Other”. The Chair and Trustees agreed to strike those two items from the agenda. The chair then announced that the public would get one turn, there would be no debate between members of the public and the board or one another and will be limited to three minutes as we had a potentially long meeting ahead.

Joel Love thought it was no secret what the trustees would be talking about in executive session; but regardless, it should be pointed out that facts can’t be refuted merely by disagreeing when they come to the forefront or by saying, “I disagree with that”. He pointed out that the former library director was found to give herself raises without approval or following proper business standards and protocol. She was also found in the review to be insubordinate and that was backed up by numerous instances in writing. She can’t demonstrate with facts and evidence that she achieved goals set for her for two years in a row. If any one of the trustees were to achieve less than 20% of our goals, we would most likely be terminated. The former director achieved less than 20% of her goals.

Arnold Clift reminded everyone that they had over six hours of puppeteering where all the accusations were refuted by Houlne’s attorney. At the end of the day, judgment on these kinds of matters are made by the voters. At the last election, Deborah Wright, former trustee, got 147 votes where the secretary got 800, the chairman got 700 and Frisa got 600 and about the same for Massucco. Clift said he feels that the people in the Town of Rockingham made their decision.

There being no further comments, Massucco moved that the trustees move into executive session for the purposes of discussing the ongoing litigation involving the former director, Celina Houlne, and that we invite attorneys Constance Pell and Stephen Ankuda to join us. Carolyn Frisa seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.

The open meeting resumed at 8:25 p.m. Frisa moved that the trustees ratify the “Terms Sheet” as proposed as a result of the mediation; Blackwood seconded the motion. Six voted in favor and two were opposed, no abstentions. The motion carried.

Massucco moved to adjourn at 8:26 p.m., seconded by Brissette. The motion carried.

Doreen Aldrich May 8, 2014

 

Historical Collections Committee Special Meeting Agenda: Monday, April 21, 2014

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE SPECIAL MEETING
AGENDA
Monday, April 21, 2014
at The Rockingham Free Public Library, Youth Department Meeting Room
6:30pm
1. Call to order

2. Additions or changes to agenda

3. Public comment (3 minutes in person)

4. Elect officers and set regular meeting time

4. Approve minutes of April 3, 2014 Special Meeting

5. Planning Session for Library Grand Opening Event

6. Other Business (if necessary)

7. Review Task List

8. Adjourn

Historical Collections Commitee Special Meeting Minutes: Monday, April 21, 2014

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE SPECIAL MEETING
Monday, April 21, 2014
at The Rockingham Free Public Library
6:30PM

Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes

In attendance:
Committee Members: Emily Zervas, Carolyn Frisa, Pat Fowler
Invited Guests and Members of the Public: Carol Blackwood Jane Mitchell

Draft Minutes

1. Call to Order—Meeting called to order by Carolyn at 6:40 pm

2. Additions and changes to the agenda. None.

3. Public comment—none.

4. Elect officers and set regular meeting time: Emily was nominated as secretary and Carolyn was nominated as chair. Passed unamimously.

5. Approve minutes of April 3, 2014 Special Meeting: Pat moved the minutes be approved as written. Carolyn seconded. Approve with Carol abstaining.

6. Planning Session for Library Grand Opening Event. In addition to tweaking the schedule represented in the Google Docs Schedule, the group made the following decisions:
-Emily will work with Alan on the oral history scheduling—interviews will take place in July.
-Emily will send out invitations to the volunteers who helped with the move along with thank you notes encouraging them to attend the celebration.
-Decorations will be made on Saturday the 26th and on the 29th at Works on Paper.
-WOOL radio will do a live broadcast as long as the internet connection meets their needs (Emily suspects it will).
-A banner will be made to go on the existing library sign to advertise the grand reopening.

7. Other business: discussed approving submitting the NEH conservation grant for the glass plate negative collection and holding off on the Tru Vue Optium grant until the application could be revisited and added to.

Next regular meeting of the HCC—June 3rd.

8. Adjourned: 7:56 pm meeting adjourned.

Personnel Committee Meeting Agenda: April 18, 2014

Personnel Committee Meeting
Agenda
April 18, 2014, 12:00 Noon
Reading Room, RFPL

Call to Order

Public Comment

Discuss and Review Draft Library Director’s Job Description

Prepare and Recommend Library Director’s Job Description for presentation to the RFPL Board of Trustees

Other Business

Adjournment

Personnel Committee Special Meeting Minutes: Friday, April 18, 2014

PERSONNEL COMMITTEE SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES
Friday,April 18, 2014,
12:00 noon
RFPL Youth Department Meeting Room

Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes

Members Present: David Gould, Pat Fowler, Doreen Aldrich, and Carolyn Frisa. Press: Chris Garofolo from The Eagle Times. Others: None.

Call to Order:
The chair called the meeting to order at 12:10p.m.

Public Comment:
None.

Discussion and Review of Draft Library Director Job Description Committee members reviewed and discussed the draft of the library director job description previously presented to the 2013 Board of Trustees. The Library Director Overview and Job Description approved by the Board of Trustees in 2008 was also discussed. These two documents are included at the end of the minutes. Two recent library director job descriptions posted on the Vermont Library Association website were also discussed.

Prepared Library Director Job Description for Review by the RFPL Board of Trustees
Committee members discussed and made recommendations for the library director job description based on the 2013 draft version. The proposed changes will be made to the electronic version of the document by Secretary Carolyn Frisa and distributed to the Personnel Committee. The Personnel Committee will present the proposed library director job description to the Board of Trustees at the Regular Meeting on May 13, 2014.

Other Business
David Gould reminded committee members that an application to the Union has been made by Emily Zervas and Sam Maskell. He recommended that any potential negotiations should be based on their regular salaries (i.e. excluding the 15% raise given to compensate directorial duties performed while the library director position remains vacant).

Chris Garofolo (The Eagle Times) enquired about the pre-­-existing director job description documents and the process for review. Garofolo also asked for confirmation of the date of the upcoming legal mediation with the former library director and confirmation of names of trustees serving on the mediation team. Aldrich motioned to adjourn at 1:20, seconded by Fowler. The motion carried. Minutes respectfully submitted, Carolyn Frisa, Secretary 4/23/2014

Library Director Job Description Draft from 2013

Library Director Job Description

This is highly responsible administrative work involving the direction of a broad range of public library functions.

Work involves responsibility for the management of full public library facility and services and for the provision of library services to patrons and community organizations. Duties include policy recommendation, departmental planning, and direction administration of library activities. The position is also responsible for making the most difficult library management decisions. The work requires that the employee have thorough knowledge, skill, and ability in every phase of the public library field.

Supervision Received
Works under the administrative direction of the RFPL Board of Trustees.

Planning and Policy Making
A clear statement of library policies insures that decisions about all aspects of the RFPL are consistent and fair. Working with the Board, the Library Director:
• Works with the Board and staff to develop, implement, track, and evaluate long range plans to support and promote the mission of the library.
• Develops short term plans to address specific issues facing the library as they arise.
• Formulates and recommends policies to the Board and implements the procedures to carry out these goals.
• Develops clear descriptions of staff positions including a non-discrimination statement, qualifications for employment, evaluation procedures, and causes for dismissal.
• Prepares narrative and statistical reports for the Town, the Library Board, and the State as appropriate.

Library Services
The regular assessment and development of library services is important to fulfilling the RFPL mission. To support these efforts the Library Director:
• Oversees the planning and organization of activities, programs, and services of the Library according to perceived needs of the community, Town departments, and seasonal demand.
• Provides leadership with regard to creation and implementation of “best practices” in library management/administration, consulting others in the field as appropriate.
• Supervises the development and maintenance of a public library collection of books, periodicals, Library records, films, electronic resources, and a variety of other library materials.
• Supervises the purchase, utilization, and maintenance of technology to deliver, monitor and enhance library services.
• Confers with State agencies, other public libraries, corporations, and community groups in the development of library programs for the Town and assists in coordinating interlibrary program efforts.
• Represents the library on regional and state committees and serves as the Town’s authority on library issues. Performs related work as required.
• Oversees the continual development of the Library’s web site so that it is an instrument for service delivery, information exchange, and public awareness.
• Stays abreast of demographic and usage trends to make efficient and effective use of limited collection resources.

Financial Operations
The coordination of all aspects of fundraising and expenses is vital to insuring the financial stability of the RFPL. In order to insure efficient and responsible management of the library budget the Library Director:
• Prepares the annual budget for Board review and approval in a timely manner.
• Presents budget requests with the Board to the Town Selectboard.
• Administers and monitors expenditure of library funds to stay within approved budget. Works with Treasurer to review monthly reports and keep abreast of various funds and accounts.
• Oversees the collection and accounting of fees and charges.
• Identifies, pursues, and supports all fundraising efforts through grant writing, planned giving, underwriting, and the annual appeal.
• Oversees grant proposals for state agencies, foundations, and other organizations for library funding and administrates grant funds.
• Acts as a conduit between Board, staff, Friends of the Library, and volunteers to ensure smooth implementation of fund-raising activities within the daily operations of the library and events.
• Negotiates non-monetary donations.

Public Relations
The RFPL Director:
• Supervises internal and external communication of the RFPL including but not limited to brochures, newsletters, fliers, and newspaper articles.
• Identifies and pursues public relations opportunities that engender good will toward and promotion of the RFPL.
• Develops, maintains, oversees, and regularly evaluates cooperative relationships with the Town and Village governments, the WNESU, the Historical Society, and other community organizations.
• Plans and implements procedures to augment library goals and services through Friends of the Library, and in cooperation worth community educational, cultural, civic organizations.
• Supervises a public relations program to promote and publicize the library’s collections, services, and programs within the community.

Personnel Management
As the immediate supervisor of all library personnel, the Library Director:
• Recruits, trains, evaluates, and, when necessary, terminates staff and volunteers.
• Assigns duties, defines staff responsibilities, and administers wages.
• Promotes staff development by providing opportunities for staff to attend workshops and conferences.
• Provides training and development programs for Library and other Town employees.
• Coordinates training and professional development among the staff.
• Manages personnel issues with individual employees.

Physical Plant Management
The Library Director oversees all aspects of the physical plant, grounds, and equipment. The Library Director:
• Schedules and supervises contract services, maintenance personnel, and takes appropriate action in emergencies.
• Purchases equipment and furnishings as needed.
• Provides leadership and direction for major development projects including construction and renovation of facilities.
• Directs the development, repair, and maintenance of the Library buildings.
• Oversees and approves scheduled use of library by outside groups.
• Directs maintenance staff on weekly cleaning tasks and special longer term maintenance projects.

Board of Trustees Representative
The Library Director informs the Board of Trustees of all relevant library business. As an ex officio member of the board, the Library Director:
• Participates in monthly meetings of the Board of Trustees and provides a detailed report of library operations and developments at each meeting.
• Provides professional expertise and guidance to the board including but not limited to presenting information on pertinent legislation from local, state, and federal agencies, discussing trends in library technology, funding, and management wherever possible.
• Serves as ex officio member on Board committees.
• Provides staff support to the Library Board of Directors by assisting with meetings, preparing reports, and implementing policy decided by the Board.
• Furnishes specific research information and materials to departments upon request.
• Notify Board members of meetings, prepare appropriate public notices, and maintain records of Board meetings in compliance with Vermont State Open Meeting Law.

Professional Development
To stay aware of new trends in library management and technology, legal issues facing libraries, and new ideas for programming the Library Director:
• Attends meetings, workshops and conferences.
• Maintains membership and participates in professional library associations.
The Library Director’s job also includes any other duties that are requested by the Board of Trustees or that are essential to ensuring that the RFPL provides the best possible library service to the community. The Library Director will be evaluated by the Board annually.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
• Thorough knowledge of the principles, theories, objectives, and practices of library management and library science
• Committed to excellence in customer service
• Strong oral and written communications skills
• Ability to work independently
• Ability to organize work for efficient use of time
• Ability to prepare administrative reports in a clear, logical manner
• Ability to understand and interpret library policies, procedures, and rules
• Ability to keep records accurately
• Ability to interact courteously and effectively with elected and appointed officials, town employees, library staff and volunteers, the library’s business contacts, and the general public
• Considerable knowledge of supervision, training, and staff utilization principles
• Ability to plan, organize, supervise, and evaluate the work of employees and volunteers in diversified library activities
• Ability to initiate, organize, and follow through on programs, services, and projects
• Solid knowledge of current trends and developments in the library profession
• Thorough knowledge of library resources: print, non-print, and electronic
• Knowledge of library automation
• Working knowledge of public relations procedures
• Ability to represent the library at professional and community meetings

Qualifications
A Master’s Degree in Library Science from an accredited college or university plus five years of progressively responsible library administration experience, including at least three years in a supervisory capacity, OR, an equivalent combination of education and experience substituting on the basis of one year for each year of education.

Director Overview and Job Description Approved by RFPL Board of Trustees in March 2008

Director Overview

Rockingham Free Public Library
65 Westminster Street
Bellows Falls VT 05101

30% Planning & Outreach
Director focuses on both short-term and long-term planning for the Library, using all resources available to: assess the current state of the Library; assess the needs of the community; develop and implement plans that will allow the Library to meet the selected needs of the community. This planning will include resource development of both monetary and community resources. It will be important for the Director to connect with the local community on many levels, to make the Library a visible and practical strategic community resource. Director will also seek grants, partnerships, and other means of funding special projects.
30% Management & Personnel
Director will develop and maintain a team management structure within the Library. This will include coordinating team assignments, providing training to staff, and fulfilling all personnel functions (hiring, firing, payroll, discipline, etc.) Through team management, the Director will implement regular reviews of all policies and procedures; and the Director will seek and use team feedback to improve all library services. The Director will interact with the Town of Rockingham at Department Head meeting and will seek to assist the Town with information management issues.
30% Operational & Instructional
The Director will maintain an accurate accounting of the Library’s financial situation and will work to propose budgets which are fiscally responsible. Director will coordinate maintenance and repair of the physical plant of the Library, including the building’s interior and exterior, grounds, and utility connections. Developing and maintaining a stable and user-friendly computer system will be a direct hands-on duty. This position will also directly interact and be visible to the public through teaching technology courses, troubleshooting computer problems, and occasional back-up assistance at the adult or youth services reference desks.
10% Community Liaison & Support
The Library Director will find and create opportunities to promote the Library by working and interacting with local, community, county, and state organizations. Supporting and participating in the professional library community will also be encouraged.
RFPL Mission Statement
The Rockingham Free Public Library shall provide books and materials for the information, recreation, research, intellectual development and enrichment of the people of the community. As a strategic community resource, the objective of the library shall be to serve the community as an educational, recreational, and cultural center for all ages, to provide a reliable reference service, to encourage self-education, to secure books and materials beyond its own resources, and to give guidance and assistance to community projects and improvements. The Library shall continue to collect, conserve, and archive historical documents and artifacts to assist in preservation of items record and reveal local history.
Rockingham Free Public Library Director Job Description

A. Advocacy
The effectiveness of the Library and the way the Library is viewed by the community are significantly influenced by the ways the Director and staff members advocate and promote the Library within the community. To advocate for and promote the Library, the Director needs to stay informed of what is happening in the community. Effective library advocacy and public relations require ongoing and coordinated efforts by the Director, staff, Trustees, Friends and patrons of the Library. The Director will coordinate publicity, network with and speak at meetings of local civic groups, and provide for a system of receiving suggestions and feedback from library patrons.

B. Budgets
It is the responsibility of the Director to develop a budget for the next fiscal year and present it to the Library’s Board of Trustees. Additionally, the Director will help present the library budget at the annual Town Meeting. It is also the responsibility of the Director to manage library finances so expenditures stay within the approved budget throughout each fiscal year.

C. Collections
The Director is responsible for the Library’s collections and historical museum; and the Director will supervise the selection, acquisition, processing, and cataloguing of books and materials meeting the diverse needs of patrons and local community members. This will include books, media, magazines, and other items for the adult and youth collections, as suggested by staff and patrons, with policy guidance offered by the Board of Trustees. Other duties will include the weeding out of unneeded and outdated materials, as well as ensuring participation in interlibrary loans and other ways of sharing materials.

D. Develop Policies & Procedures
Effective policies and procedures ensure that library services are consistent, fair, in the public’s interest, and in compliance with local, state, and federal laws and regulations. The Director is responsible for the initial development of policies for consideration by the Board of Trustees; and is then responsible for creating procedures which will allow these policies to be administered effectively and efficiently by the library staff. The Director will work with the Board to keep both policies and procedures current and up-to-date.

E. Envision and Plan for Future
The Library and its services constantly change and evolve. To ensure that these changes occur in ways that improve library services, it is essential that the Library and its Director envision and plan for the future. The Director and the Board of Trustees will work together to adapt and adopt long- range plans in conjunction with the local community. The Director will refer often to these long- range plans while overseeing daily, weekly, and monthly library functions.

F. Finances & Fundraising
The Director is required to maintain accurate and up-to-date financial records and to report the library’s financial position at monthly meetings of the Board of Trustees. The Director will write warrants not less than twice a month for the Town to pay bills, mail checks, file bills, pay and track expenses for the librarian’s account and petty cash, keep the Library’s checking account balanced and up-to-date, as well as track reports of investment accounts and report that information to the Board. The Director will seek grant moneys to support library programs, computers, and collections; and the Director will record and administer those funds appropriately and accurately. In addition, the Director will oversee and evaluate all fundraising activities, establishing and maintaining a working relationship with the Friends of the Library and any other supporting and contributing groups or organizations.

G. General Library Business
The Director is expected to offer and honor the library and its patrons a philosophy of service, responding to the varied needs of library patrons in positive, timely, helpful, and friendly ways. The Director will be familiar with laws and guidelines of the American with Disabilities Act as it pertains to library usage; and the Director will bring to the Board’s attention any needs or deficiencies in this area of access and accessibility.

H. Hiring & Staff Supervision
The Director will be responsible for the hiring and supervising library employees and volunteers, as well as ensuring the implementation of personnel policies established by the Board of Trustees. The Director will be expected to carry out tasks related to staff and personnel in conformity with Town personnel policies, as well as all state and federal laws. The Director is responsible for evaluation and discipline of employees, training staff members, encouraging staff members’ continuing education, and holding staff meetings on a regularly scheduled basis. The Director creates the work schedule, after consulting with the staff, coordinating workflow and accounting for staff work time. The Director will also evaluate day-to-day operations and will plan necessary improvements.

I. Trustees & Collaboration
The Library’s Director reports and is accountable to the Board of Trustees. The nine elected Trustees have the legal responsibility for governing the library, setting policy, hiring and supervising the Library Director. The Director offers assistance to the Board Chair preparing Agendas for Board meetings, compiles necessary materials for Board meetings; and distributes this pertinent information to Trustees three days before scheduled Board meetings. The Director assists the Board directly in developing Library policies; prepares, presents, and helps justify the annual Budget; informs Trustees in a timely manner of any problems and concerns connected with the Library; offers options and recommendations for dealing with Library concerns; and consistently collaborates with the Board of Trustees to help create, support, and maintain the best for the Library.

Revised March 2008

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Special RFPL Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes
Tuesday April 15, 2014
6:15 PM
Meeting Room, RFPL, Bellows Falls, VT

Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes

Present: Doreen Aldrich, Carol Blackwood, Hope Brissette, Patricia Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, David Gould, L. Raymond Massucco, Janice Mitchell-Love, Trustees
Press: None
Others: Tim Doherty, Steve Geller and Joel Love

Call to Order: The chair called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m.

Public Comment: Joel Love mentioned the letter written by Elayne & Arnold Clift and asked that it be entered into the minutes. He added, if what is written in the letter is true and the trustees indeed promoted themselves under false pretenses to get elected, it is a travesty. You said you had no agenda. Your first responsibility is to the voters and the citizens of Rockingham. Steve Geller spoke up and said that is true and the voters of the Town of Rockingham have voted a new board to turn this board around. His wife did her job well as Library Director. A vast majority spoke very loudly to bring back a Director that was a leader. He said he hoped the trustees would take that into consideration. He added that he trusts that we will be true to our calling. Tim Doherty said he voted for Gould and Aldrich because he believes them to be honest and that was all he wanted to say. Love added that Mr. Geller is an advocate for his wife and that’s ok; but asked the trustees to look at all the facts before they make a decision. Gould said the trustees have not made a decision yet; but would consider their comments.

At 6:20 p.m., Blackwood moved to go into executive session to discuss the upcoming mediation where premature general public knowledge would clearly place the RFPL at a substantial disadvantage. Massucco seconded the motion and the motion carried.

The trustees came out of executive session. Blackwood moved that Gould, Brissette and Massucco attend the mediation meeting, seconded by Mitchell-Love. The motion carried. Blackwood then moved to have a special trustee meeting on May 16th at 6:16 p.m. in the meeting room of the RFPL to discuss the results of the mediation. Frisa seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Brissette moved to adjourn at 8:00 p.m. seconded by Mitchell-Love. The motion carried.

Respectfully submitted, Doreen Aldrich, Secretary 4/19/2014

Letter submitted by Elayne and Arnold Clift
9 April 2014

Dear David, Carolyn, Carol, Doreen, Pat, and Ray,

We are writing to express the frustration and concern we feel, obvious at last night’s Trustees meeting, as the newly constituted Board moves beyond its first month in office.

The four newly seated Trustees were voted into office with a clear and compelling mandate: to end the travesty of Celina’s wrongful dismissal and to reinstate her. It was no secret that this was the mission of all of us who worked so hard to get out the vote. We hope we were correct in believing that this mission was shared by the slate of candidates we supported. We fought for you because we trusted that you would do the right thing – bring Celina back and end a painful year of mismanagement and bad behavior with all possible haste.

New trustees were voted in because a great many of us worked desperately hard for months. Hundreds of people in the community joined us by casting the largest number of votes for library trustees in recent years and handing the former vice-chair of the Board of Trustees, a principal architect of the former library director’s dismissal, a resounding defeat. When our candidates won a sigh of relief rippled through the entire community. But two meetings in, that sigh is now becoming a gasp of despair and frustration as this board appears to proceed as if it were little more than an appendage of its predecessor.

We note that the discussion yet again of a Search Committee, running ads and discussing possible candidates for Celina’s position is an appalling throwback. It is a continuing charade that had no place on the agenda last month, or this under current circumstances, and strongly suggests a betrayal of the public trust. We recognize that the Board seeks to be sensitive to the views of the minority, a sensitivity totally absent when they held the majority, but it is now quite misplaced.

The urgency of the majority of this board speaking with an unambiguous, unified voice with respect to Celina’s reinstatement as it enters into mediation on April 30 – let alone finding its voice at Trustee meetings – could not be more clear. We all know that Celina is asking for reinstatement. Board representatives need to go to that meeting bearing a clear message: The board, by majority vote, is willing to consider and indeed support Celina’s reinstatement assuming that a reasonable settlement can be agreed.

To enter mediation without that proactive posture is to invite prolonging the outcome to the detriment of everyone concerned, including members of this community to whom you pledged transparency, accountability, good judgment and a commitment to chart a new course. To be reminded of public sentiment in this regard, we urge trustees to re-read the many letters from former staff and trustees, Friends of the Library (one attached as example), and others that were submitted to the former board in support of expeditiously reinstating Celina.

We did not work as hard as we did on your behalf only to find ourselves experiencing “déjà vu all over again.” To be frank, we find the passivity and indecision the newly constituted board has demonstrated in its first two meetings puzzling, unsatisfactory, and very disappointing. We never thought we would be pleading with you to find your voice, take decisive and timely action, and live up to a mandate that is now an obligation. Once again, we find ourselves asking that the Board of Trustees act clearly and decisively to ensure that our beloved library returns to its respected place in the community. We hope our rather desperate cry will not fall on deaf ears as it has in the past.

Sincerely,

Elayne Clift Arnold Clift

cc: Jan Mitchell-Love; Hope Brisette; rfp repository

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, April 8, 2014

AGENDA FOR BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
6:00 PM RFPL Meeting Room
(Please note new time for regular meetings)

Click here to download a .pdf of this agenda

1. Call to Order

2. Announcements from the Chair

3. Public Comments

4. Approval of Minutes of March 18, 2014

5. Directors’ Monthly Reports and Financial Reports

6. Old Business
a. Historical Collection Committee
i. Library Grand opening Celebration May 8, 9, & 10
b. Search Committee
c. Buildings and Grounds Committee
i. Outside Lights
ii. Outside Sign
iii. Roof Snow Concerns
iv. Landscaping

d. Mediation Meeting April 30, 2014
i. Trustee Training April 22, 2014 6:00 PM

7. New Business
a. Library Logo
b. Committee Assignments

8. Executive Session (if needed)

9. Other Business

10. Next Meeting May 13, 2014 6:00 PM

11. Adjournment

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, April 8, 2014

RFPL Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
6:00 PM
Meeting Room, RFPL, Bellows Falls, VT
Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes.

Present: Doreen Aldrich, Carol Blackwood, Hope Brissette, Patricia Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, David Gould, L. Raymond Massucco, Janice Mitchell-Love, Trustees; Samantha Maskell, Mary VanHartesveldt & Emily Zervas, Library; Chris Garofolo, Eagle Times, Domenic Poli, Brattleboro Reformer, Press; Arnold & Elayne Clift, David DeRusha, Betty Haggerty and Celina Houlne; Others

Call to Order: The chair called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m.

Announcements from the Chair: Gould advised that he received a letter of resignation from board member, Paige Pietrzak and he accepted with regrets. The Trustees will now make a recommendation to the Select Board on an appointment to fill her position. Mitchell-Love asked us to consider a younger person. After the committee appointments, he would like the chairs of the committees to work out times with their committee members as to when they can meet, etc.

Gould said he tried to appoint people to committees and was informed by a citizen that he was in violation of the open meeting law so appointments will be taken up later this evening. He addressed the issue of public comments asking that people hold their public comments to three minutes and if what they want to speak to is an agenda item, would they wait until we get to that item on the agenda to make comments.

The chair advised that the board has warrants that need signing and asked the folks on the finance committee to do that at the end of the meeting.

Public Comments: David DeRusha said there has been a lot of talk about public trust of the board, etc. The Select Board takes an oath of allegiance and an oath of office by law. This board is not required to do so; but he questioned whether the board would be interested in considering an oath of office to say they take the job seriously. Frisa responded that Fowler talked about our By-Laws and that was one of the issues. They felt it was a good thing to pass.

Approval of Minutes of March 18 and March 11, 2014: Brissette asked if Aldrich would put the date when she completes and submits the draft minutes after her signature. Frisa pointed out that on page 2, it refers to Garrett as her husband and he is her partner. Blackwood moved to accept the minutes as amended, seconded by Frisa. The motion carried. No abstentions. Massucco moved to approve the minutes of March 11th as printed, seconded by Frisa. The motion carried. There were two abstentions.

Directors’ Monthly Reports and Financial Reports: Emily & Sam passed out their report. The new copier is working very well and is networked to all their computers. The E-rate filing has been completed. That is the filing that subsidizes our telephone and internet. There is an item not in their budget; it is an unforeseen expense for a floor machine. This library has far RFPL Trustee Meeting Minutes more hard floor than the last and they have been struggling this past winter. She had a person give a quote for cleaning. He gave the opinion that he didn’t think it could be done without a floor machine and if he was hired, would purchase one and leave it in the building. They looked at pricing and decided that the most cost effective thing would be for us to buy our own floor machine and have Bob operate it. Zervas advised that she has been looking at different models. It’s not in the “Fixtures” budget so it would be over-spending that budget and taking it out of other areas. There are a few different models, all under $4,000. They feel it is the best thing going forward and would save money in the long run. She added that technically they don’t need board approval; but she wanted to bring it to the board because it is not in the budget. She added that Mary has looked at cutting back in other areas to accommodate this need. Blackwood said she knows they talked about landscaping; but taking care of the floors is a higher priority. That might be an area to look at. Zervas explained that as much as the landscaping sounds like it would be nice, it is actually required by zoning so that is not optional. Arnold Clift referred to Ms. Zervas’ comment about not needing to come to the trustees for approval although it is not in the budget. He would have thought if something is not in the budget, she would have to come to the trustees. VanHartesveldt explained that they are not spending a lot of money out of the repairs and maintenance line this year so that is where the money would come from; but it will be posted to fixtures. Blackwood moved to make a change to the budget to allow up to $4,000 for the purchase of a floor machine, seconded by Frisa. Massucco said he’s guessing the cost per square footage for the marmoleum and hardwood floors is pretty significant; probably a couple hundred thousand dollars. We’re talking about $4,000 to protect that. Mitchell-Love asked if Bob would have time to take care of the floors. Zervas said she feels he would because it would save him a lot of time. Mr. Clift requested that the trustees consider having a discussion with the director as to what the delegated authorities are and the extent to which the director may switch budgetary digits from one subject to another. The motion to spend up to $4,000 passed. Sam went over her report. The “Friends of the Library” just donated two new folding tables. VanHartesveldt went over her report paying particular attention to the projections report. Fowler reported that she met with Linda Walker and she would like to meet with the Finance Committee to go over what to do with the other potential investments we have. We also renamed the annuity to be Rockingham Free Public Library, Town of Rockingham so it is clear that it is our fund and not the town’s because we are using their tax number.

Old Business:

Historical Collection Committee – Library Grand Opening Celebration May 8, 9, & 10

Frisa reported that they have had two special meetings in the last two weeks, the purpose of which has been to talk about the library’s grand opening celebration. She passed out a Calendar of Events that the committee has proposed for the celebration. They are working with the library staff and Friends of the Library. She has a sign-up sheet for people who would like to help. She was also hoping that we trustees would make some kind of monetary donation to cover the cost of the sheet cake. Massucco said he would sponsor the cake. A box was passed around for cash donations for paper plates, etc. Gould said he was impressed and thanked the committee for all the work they’ve done thus far.

Search Committee: Mitchell-Love said she doesn’t have a report because it is her understanding they will not be doing anything until after Friday the 11th. After that, the search committee will be doing something. Gould asked where we stand on the ad with the Vermont Library Association. Fowler said it is the American Library Association (ALA). Mitchell-Love advised that we have to pay it. They are telling her we should have a membership for $300 per year because we would have saved $116 on the ad. She asked why we don’t have the membership with ALA. Zervas wasn’t sure, it probably was an oversight. VanHartesveldt said as long as she has been doing the books, we have not been a member of ALA. We are members of Vermont Library Association. Fowler said we are being charged for the ad from March 11th through May 11th. Mitchell-Love said they charge two months no matter what. Fowler asked why we are only running the ad for the week. Mitchell-Love asked if they want her to run it for the full time. Massucco asked if there is a cost to edit it. Mitchell-Love didn’t know. Gould said at this point he has received one resume on the second go-around and it is somebody who applied on the first go-around that we chose not to pursue. Mitchell-Love said she got a call from someone that we are going to be really excited about who wants to re-apply. Arnold Clift said he is confused. Here we have a situation where the search committee has looked at the resumes and interviewed three candidates and came to the conclusion that there was no one they could recommend to the board “at this time”. Either a person is or is not worth pursuing. It seemed to him that the search committee came to the conclusion there was no one suitable. Common sense would say no, you’ve been through that. If there are new people, that is a different matter. We do have mediation with the former director scheduled for the 30th and he felt the trustees need to take that into account before asking a search committee to do more work on something that may or may not have a useful purpose. Brissette explained that what the search committee said was they didn’t feel they could recommend anyone at that point and time. They did not say they didn’t find anyone suitable. Fowler said the difficulty is that some people had taken other temporary jobs and might be available now. We were in a situation at that point that they were not ready to commit and we might be more able to see what’s going on at this point. We’re not really going to be doing anything until after the first part of the mediation. Elayne Clift reiterated that it makes no sense to her to even consider people until the situation under litigation is resolved. She feels the whole search committee needs to be put to rest until we know our former director is going to be reinstated. Mitchell-Love asked if we want the ad even though the due date would say April 11th. Would somebody submit their application and hope they would be considered? Brissette asked if we change the date, would we get charged. Frisa said her guess is that we would be. Elayne Clift said she’d like to understand to what end would the ad be running. She understands it’s a money issue but the money has been spent. To what end is the ad going to run given the circumstances that we’re in; that there is litigation that is not resolved. Arnold Clift suggested letting the ad run for what it’s worth. It’s hardly fair to people who are writing in. He suggests the trustees consider deferring any action on further searching for a director until at least April 30th and the mediation process is complete because that will be very important in determining to what extent you will need to recruit another director or not. Mitchell-Love was on the search committee. You are not going to get a committee together, people identified, the series of interviews, people hired by April 30th. For lack of a motion, the chair ruled that the search committee will meet after April 11th and proceed with whatever they need to be doing at that point with the understanding that the search committee will not even make any recommendations until after the mediation date of April 30th. We’ve paid for the ad, let it run.

Buildings and Grounds Committee:

Outside Lights: Zervas reported that Kevin Keefe said there is no shade available for the outside lights that we have and he gave her a quote for $165 to darken the lenses on three lights. She is going to move forward with it.

Outside Sign: Zervas advised that Pepper from the Town Highway Dept. took a look at it today. He says it’s in really bad shape which they know. She asked him if he could just make the bottom of the molding better in time for the grand opening and go forward from there until we have a new sign. They were planning on having Frank Hawkins do the new sign; but he is no longer going to be doing signs.

Roof Snow Concerns: Gould said his concern is the snow coming off the roof and blocking the fire escape. The building and grounds committee needs to look into that with some roofing people on how that might be diverted or stopped. He put it on the agenda so it doesn’t get forgotten when the nice weather comes.

Landscaping: Zervas reported that the staff will be the ones raising the money for the landscaping that we had talked about as being part of the grand opening. There are some issues with that. She looked at the plan that was approved by zoning and there are things we’re required to do now. It is in conflict with what’s back there now. We have crab apple trees that were planted; but not approved by zoning. We now have a planting list with certain things prioritized that need to go in this spring and certain things that can go in as needed. In the interest of fundraising, we’re not going to be having people adopt specific plants; but rather say if you donate at this level, it pays for a tree, etc. The committee needs to meet and bring a new plan to the zoning board. Mediation Meeting April 22, 2014 – 6:00 p.m. Blackwood suggested we leave this until the end and pick up with “New Business”. Arnold Clift said it was not clear to him that what we intend to discuss about the mediation is necessarily to be taken in executive session. He feels the public is entitled to know what the general arrangements are. There is nothing which prejudices the public interest by explaining the mechanism of the mediation and who is going to represent the trustees. Gould said after the executive session, we may make an announcement as to who will represent the board; but because mediation is part of the legal lawsuit, we can go into executive session. Clift asked if he was saying that the public was not entitled to know how the procedure works? Gould asked to hold off until they get to the executive session and deal with the library logo and committee assignments now.

Zervas added that VanHartesveldt had been waiting. She thought there was going to be a finance committee section where she could ask a question about the legal bills that need to be paid.

Fowler explained what the bills were for. There was a question on the bill concerning “Massucco Suit”. The other bills they expected. Mary will hold the bill concerning Massucco. Gould felt we should pay the others. Fowler signed the warrant; but said others would have to sign after the meeting.

New Business:

Library Logo: Maskell passed out two samples prepared by Carolyn’s partner, Garrett. Frisa moved to approve the square open book design, seconded by Mitchell-Love. The motion carried. There was one abstention.

Committee Assignments: See attached sheet. Frisa suggested, under Historical Collection Committee, that we not have a separate committee for the Grand Opening. Gould asked the trustees to cross out “Grand Opening Committee” and all the comments with it. Elayne Clift asked if the By-Laws called for at least three people. Gould said “yes”. It was brought up to him; however, he is ruling that we can change that because precedence has already been established that some committees have more than three. We need to address this in the By-Laws. Fowler said Paige has resigned so whoever fills her position, we can put in where we have only two. Brissette said the Search Committee is not a long term committee; it’s an ad hoc committee. Elayne Clift suggested a Community Relations Committee or community outreach. These would be folks to engage the community. Gould asked her to put something in writing for him.

Executive Session: David DeRusha said it is his understanding that executive session is to discuss mediation and to discuss nominating an additional board member. Gould responded that it is. Brissette asked how can we nominate another board member when we don’t know who wants to be another member. We may not be ready to nominate someone; but will discuss it. Arnold Clift asked if there was a process for advertising before one can take the position and one has to remember that this committee does not have the power of appointment; it has the power to recommend. His second point was if the trustees are going into executive session, they must state specifically, the subject and not discuss anything else. Brissette said we can discuss the process in open session. Frisa said if we want to throw out some names, we would do that in executive session. Before going into executive session, Gould explained how mediation works.

Elayne Clift said she doesn’t understand why everybody seems to dance around the issue that there is probably a majority on the board now that would reinstate Celina. That needs to come up for discussion prior to April 30th because it will hugely facilitate the resolution of all this. She suggested that the board revisit the evidence; but meet and vote prior to the April 30th date because it may be that is simply a negotiation for terms of reinstatement and then it’s done.

At 8:04 p.m., Massucco moved to go into executive session to discuss pending litigation where premature general public knowledge would clearly place the RFPL at a substantial disadvantage. Blackwood seconded the motion and the motion carried. The board came out of executive session at 8:38 p.m. We will warn a special meeting for April 15, 2014 at 6:15 p.m.

Blackwood moved to adjourn at 8:45 p.m., seconded by Mitchell-Love. The motion carried.

Respectfully submitted by Doreen Aldrich on April 11, 2014

Rockingham Free Public Library
Board of Trustees
Committee Assignments as of April 8, 2014
Committee Assignments

Personnel Committee
David Gould, Chair; Carolyn Frisa; Doreen Aldrich; and Pat Fowler (Present Board of Trustee Officers)

Budget and Finance Committee
Pat Fowler, Chair; Ray Massucco; Carol Blackwood; and Jan Mitchell-Love

Buildings and Grounds Committee
Hope Brisette, Chair and David Gould

Policy Committee
Carol Blackwood, Chair; Ray Massucco; Doreen Aldrich; and Carolyn Frisa

Historical Collection Committee
Carolyn Frisa, Chair; Pat Fowler; and Carol Blackwood

Fund Raising Committee
David Gould and Jan Mitchell-Love

Long Range Planning Committee

Search Committee
Jan Mitchell-Love, Chair; David Gould; Pat Fowler; and members of the community including Torin Brooks; Barbara Ternes; Cathy Bergman; Laura Senes; Amy Howlett; and Sam Maskell.

The only committee that needs to meet on a regular basis is the Budget and Finance Committee. All of the others can meet on a need-to basis or as issues come up. Each committee needs to elect its own chairperson and appoint its own secretary. Please remember when a committee meeting is called it must be warned at least 24 hours in advance, posted, and minutes of the meeting must be kept. Let’s do this by the book.

Historical Collections Committee Special Meeting Agenda: Thursday, April 3, 2014

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE SPECIAL MEETING
AGENDA
Thursday, April 3, 2014
at The Rockingham Free Public Library, 2nd Floor Meeting Room
6:30pm

Click here to download a .pdf of this agenda

1. Call to order
2. Additions or changes to agenda
3. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
4. Approve minutes of March 27, 2014 Special Meeting
5. Planning Session for Library Grand Opening Event
6. Other Business (if necessary)
7. Review Task List
8. Adjourn

Historical Collections Committee Special Meeting Minutes: Thursday, April 3, 2014

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE SPECIAL MEETING
Thursday, April 3, 2014
at The Rockingham Free Public Library
6:30PM
In attendance:
Committee Members:
Emily Zervas, Carolyn Frisa, Pat Fowler
Invited Guests and Members of the Public:
Kathy Michel
Jane Mitchell
Elayne Clift
Arnold Clift
Sam Maskall
Draft Minutes

  1. Call to Order—Meeting called to order by Carolyn at 6:43 pm
  2. Additions and changes to the agenda. None.
  3. Public comment—Arnold said he thought that this was a Friends of the Library Meeting.
  4. Approve minutes of March 27, 2014 Special Meeting: Pat moved the minutes be approved as written. Carolyn seconded.
  5. Planning Session for Library Grand Opening Event. In addition to tweaking the schedule represented in the Google Docs Schedule, the group made the following assignments of duties:

-plaque discussion was put off as there isn’t enough time to design, order and install one.
-Emily will work on a Library History display
-dignitaries and special guests: local representatives, the governer, previous library staff, former board members etc
-Alan asked for guidelines for the photographs—Emily will look at his show at VT Pretzel and give him suggestions.
-FactTV will lend their monitor for Alan’s slide show
-Pat and Carolyn are working on food donations
-A sheet cake will be donated by the board.
-Sam will find a helium tank for deocartion balloons.
-Pat will borrow the Chamber’s ribbon cutting scissors
-PR: Save the Date PR is out and Sam will write and release more complete PR.
-The adobt a  plant display will be developed by Emily.

  1. Other business: Next meeting set for Tuesday, April 15 6:30 (this was postponed til Monday 4/12 at 6:30).
  2. Adjourned: 8:03pm meeting adjourned.

Historical Collections Committee Special Meeting Minutes: Wednesday, March 27, 2014

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE
SPECIAL MEETING
Wednesday, March 27,2014
at The Rockingham Free Public Library
6:30PM

Click here to download a .pdf of these minutes

In attendance: Committee Members: Emily Zervas, Carolyn Frisa, Pat Fowler
Invited Guests and Members of the Public: Carol Blackwood Alan Fowler Kathy Michel Jane Mitchell Donna Stevens Chris Turco
Press: Chris Garofolo (Eagle Times)

Draft Minutes

1. Call to Order—Meeting called to order by Carolyn at 6:37pm

2. Elect new committee officers and set regular meeting time—Pat moved to table this and other committee members agreed.

3. Additions and changes to the agenda. None.

4. Public comment—none.

5. Planning session for Library Grand Opening Event:
Group introductions were done.

General schedule: Carolyn gave a brief summary of the plans for the library’s grand reopening. The group decided to not go through with the Friday Night Fundraising component of the original plan as the lead time is not enough to organize that kind of event.

Instead the schedule will be:
Thursday, May 8: Bill Hosely’s More Than Books event
Friday, May 9: events during the day at the library, movie event at night
Saturday, May 10: Big grand opening party 10-2.

Alan Fowler Photographs: Alan Fowler talked about his photographs of the renovation and possibilities for showing them during the grand reopening festivities. We decided to have a slideshow and display in the main room before Bill Hosley’s talk on Thursday the 8th and then display the photos throughout the library in the area where they were taken, so people could see before/during/after the renovation.

Oral Histories: Alan also talked about facilitating an oral history project. He said he already has a few interviews. The group decided that this was a huge undertaking and that it would be better to use the grand opening to promote the project and then collect the “library memories” afterwards. Alan is seeking a few more individuals to interview about the library before the grand opening so that there can be sample interviews.

Plaque: Emily will look into the budget for getting a plaque for the library dedication.

PR for the Event: Sam and Emily will work on getting initial PR together for the event—at this point just “save the date” info.

Gratitude project: Carolyn showed some examples of “thank yous” that could be made by the library to thank the many volunteers. She wanted to enlist Sam’s help. Emily will make a list of all the volunteers and businesses who helped.

Food: Friends of the Library, staff and board members will all contribute food Carolyn and Pat will approach local restaurants to see if they would be willing to donate platters. The possibility of the trustees donating a cake was discussed. As was the idea of having the library’s new logo on the cake.

A cake raffle/musical chairs type event was discussed. No decision was made.

Music: The possibilities of the Saxtons River String Band playing was discussed. Kathy Michel.

Ribbon Cutting: A formal ribbon cutting was discussed.

Fundraiser: The Friends will be doing their “adopt-a-plant” fundraiser throughout the event. This will raise money for the library landscaping plan. Emily will find the approved landscaping plan and pass it on to the Friends with prices.

Scavenger Hunt: A scavenger hunt that encouraged exploring the new building will be designed by library staff! Donated prizes?

6. Other business: Next meeting scheduled for 4/3/2014 at 6:30 in at RFPL in the upstairs meeting room. Potluck again!

7. Adjourned: 8:08pm meeting adjourned.

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Agenda: March 18, 2014

Rockingham Free Public Library Board of Trustees
Special Meeting
March 18, 2014, 4:30 pm
Agenda

1. Call to Order
2. Move into Executive Session (To receive the report of Ms Pell, Attorney for Vermont League of Cities and Towns)
3. Approval of Minutes of February 18, 2014 and Minutes of March 11, 2014
4. Public Comments
5. Investment Information
6. Review Search Committee Process
7. Review Committee Requests and Assignments
8. Review By-Laws Revisions
9. Review Director’s Job Description
10. Establish date for Trustee Training Session with Amy Howlett
11. Other
12. Adjournment

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: March 18, 2014

 

RFPL Board of Trustees Minutes
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
4:30 PM at Meeting Room, RFPL, Bellows Falls, VT

Present: Doreen Aldrich, Carol Blackwood, Hope Brissette, Patricia Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, David Gould, L. Raymond Massucco, Jan Mitchell-Love, Paige Pietrzak, Trustees; Steven Ankuda Parker & Ankuda Law and Constance Pell, Law Office of English, Carroll & Boe, Attorneys; Samantha Maskell, Emily Zervas, Librarians
Press: FACTV, Chris Garofolo, Eagle Times; Susan Smallheer, Rutland Herald; Allison Teague, Commons
Others: David DeRusha, Steve Geller, Celina Houlne, Roberta Streeter, Donna Stevens

Call to Order: The chair called the meeting to order at 4:35 p.m. At 4:36 p.m., Fowler moved that the board enter into executive session to discuss pending litigation where premature general public knowledge would clearly place the municipality at a substantial disadvantage, and that Steven Ankuda be invited to attend; second by Frisa. The motion carried. The board came out of executive session at 5:04 p.m. No action taken. At 5:05 p.m., Fowler moved that the board enter into executive session to discuss pending litigation where premature general public knowledge would clearly place the municipality at a substantial disadvantage, and that Constance Pell be invited to attend; second by Mitchell-Love. The motion carried. The board came out of executive session at 5:55 p.m. No action taken. The special meeting resumed at 5:56 p.m.

Approve Minutes of February 18, 2014 and March 11, 2014: Moved by Massucco and seconded by Mitchell-Love to approve the minutes of February 18th. The motion carried. Two abstentions. Massucco moved to table the minutes of March 11th until everyone had enough time to read them. Mitchell-Love seconded. The motion carried.

Public Comments: None

Investment Information: Fowler advised that the annuity the board is looking at investing with Secure Fore 5 is not FDIC insured. They guarantee to return any principle less any withdrawals made. She has read from AM Best, one of the best national rating companies and they have an A- rating. They were recommended by People’s United Bank and People’s is very conservative. People’s needs documentation from the board that we agree to invest in Secure Fore 5 and that it is self-insured. The $125,000 is currently sitting in a checking account. It is a five year annuity allowing us to take out 10% if interest rates go up. It is only getting 2.1% now. There is also another $57,000 +/- to be invested. Massucco said he’d like for the board to approve the investment as presented by Fowler and so moved. Mitchell-Love seconded his motion. The motion carried. Two abstentions.

Review Search Committee: Mitchell-Love had a hand-out and asked for more latitude. It is being advertised where it was before. Applications are due on April 11th. She has not sent letters to the candidates who applied this last time. She would like to soften the wording on the
RFPL Meeting 3/18/2014 2.
letter to the applicants. She went on line and she has one for candidates that we would like to see apply again and for candidates that we would not want anything further. It would just say, “We are currently pursuing other candidates whose background and skills more closely fit our current needs” and for candidates that we’re interested in, “We’re most appreciative of the time and effort that you put into this application process. Unfortunately, after careful consideration and assessment with the search committee and the full board of trustees, we have decided not to proceed with any applications at this time”. Blackwood suggested, “We chose not to act on that posting, we’re internally re-evaluating our job description for library director and we have decided to re-open and feel free to reapply” and send it to everybody. The board was agreeable to that and Jan will send the same thing to everybody; but softer and invite them to look at the job posting and feel free to reapply.

Review Committee Requests and Assignments: Three board members were not present at the last meeting, Hope, Jan and Paige. He asked that they submit a list of three or four committees that they are interested in serving on. They will email him. Frisa added that at the last meeting, we discussed the grand opening celebration plans which are tentatively scheduled for the first week in May. She is spearheading that effort as part of the Historical Collections Committee. She wants to have a meeting this week or next week at the latest. She will attend the Friends of the Library meeting and talk with them also. If the three are interested in working with her, please let her know asap.

Review By-Laws Revisions: Gould explained that it got started; but not finished with the previous board and he thinks things need to be added to the revisions as we found out last Tuesday. That will be ongoing.

Review Director’s Job Description: Gould said we’ve been talking about that. Fowler said she made the suggestion that the personnel committee is the executive board.

Establish date for Trustee Training Session with Amy Howlett: Gould has contacted Howlett about a time when we might get together as a board for trustee training. She gave him some dates and they were passed on to the board members. Maskell said Howlett gave her Tues. in April and it looks like April 1, 22 or the 29th for all that responded. Brissette said she is not going. Pietrzak said she is fine as long as it is after 1:00 p.m. Mitchell-Love said she probably won’t be coming.

Other: Maskell said she has been working Frisa on the grand re-opening. She has been talking with Garrett, Frisa’s husband partner about doing a refreshing of our library logo. Before spending a lot of time on it, she asked what the board thought of it and do we have any input. You can email it to her.

The next meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m.

Adjournment: Mitchell-Love moved to adjourn at 6:34 p.m., seconded by Pietrzak. The motion carried.

Respectfully submitted, Doreen Aldrich, Secretary

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, March 11, 2014

RFPL Board of Trustees Minutes
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
4:30 PM at Meeting Room, RFPL, Bellows Falls, VT

Present: Carolyn Frisa, Pat Fowler, Doreen Aldrich, Ray Massucco, David Gould & Carol Blackwood, Trustees; Absent: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette & Paige Pietrzak, Trustees; Emily Zervas & Samantha Maskell, Librarians & Mary VanHartesveldt, Staff; Steve Ankuda, Atty.; Alison Teague, The Commons, Chris Garofolo, Eagle Times, Chris Mays, Brattleboro Reformer, Susan Smallheer, Rutland Herald and Dagan Broad, FACT8, Press; Diane Brown, Donna Stevens, David DeRusha, Robert DeRusha, Betty Haggerty, Roberta Streeter, Susan Lampe-Wilson, Joseph Brissette & Joel Love, Others

Call to Order:
Pat Fowler, the only constitutional officer present, called the meeting to order at 4:36 p.m. Joel Love immediately called for a “Point of Order”. He said first off, this is an illegal meeting. It was improperly warned by your Article 2 and you do not have a quorum by Article 2 of your By-Laws. Fowler responded that we do have a quorum. Love read from the By-Laws: “A quorum shall consist of five members including the chairperson”. The chairperson is not here; you do not have a quorum. He added it is amazing you can accuse other people of breaking open meeting laws and you continue to do whatever you darnn well please when it suits your purpose. He asked to go on record that the trustees are breaking the open meeting law and violating their own By-Laws with this meeting which should be held next week. Fowler said there are situations where the chair is not re-elected. We have a co-chair that was not re-elected. The chair chose not to be here. Massucco said the By-Laws also provide for a vice-chair. There is no point in having a vice chair if they don’t serve in the absence of a chair. Mr. Love left the meeting at that point. Massucco continued, if Mr. Love’s argument, which is nonsensical, were to hold water we could never have a meeting. All the chair has to do is elect not to show up. That interpretation is absurd. We have a vice chair by our By-Laws. That position is currently vacant. The secretary’s position is currently vacant. The chair is not here. The only constitutional officer we have present is Pat Fowler. He added that he would take the position, as an individual board member, until we elect some of the other officers, Fowler is the acting chair. She is the only officer who can call this meeting. Six board members asked to have this meeting called. This is a regularly scheduled meeting, not a special meeting. The board had previously established the second Tuesday of each month to be the regularly scheduled meeting. The board has never changed that; they did not vote to change that. He understands the chair made an attempt to postpone or cancel this meeting. As long as she is chair, call a special meeting for next week. That may or may not occur depending on the outcome of today’s meeting; but for the time being Pat is the only constitutional officer we have. He didn’t see any other option for this board to function other than to call a meeting to proceed. The chair can simply elect not to attend and prohibit this board from ever meeting at any time. That makes no sense. The By-Laws also provide that the trustees shall assume their duties immediately upon their election which would have been 7:00 p.m. last Tuesday. This is the first opportunity we have had to meet as a board. Fowler said they did try to have an earlier meeting; but it was negated by the prior board. Brissette asked if the board feels it is acting in accordance with the By-Laws established by the library. Fowler responded, “Yes”. Brissette said he understands Massucco’s interpretation; but is that written in the By-Laws? Carolyn Frisa read Article 2 of the By-Laws to clear up the situation. Blackwood explained that because there has been an election and the By-Laws are a little bit vague about the first meeting, in essence, the person who held the chair from last year. There’s been a new election so you can have several scenarios. That person could still be on the board, that person could no longer be elected so really, right now there is no chair of this board and that is what this meeting needs to resolve and elect a new chair for the next year until the next town meeting. There is no provision in the By-Laws for the chairperson elected last year to continue to be chair to hold sway over a board that did not elect that chairperson. Steve Geller said this is a cynical attempt to prevent this board from carrying on its business. The way those By-Laws are written he believes from his experience, means the chair may be included as one of the numbers that make up the quorum. In order to distinguish the normal practice from the normal practices, the chair doesn’t vote except to break a tie. What that is saying is that there are five people including the chair that would be a quorum. The chair’s existed presence there is not excluded as the fifth member. It is in no way saying that the chair must be physically present in order for a meeting to take place. There are no By-Laws written on the face of this earth that are written that way. Serena Hickey asked if anyone had recognized that our librarian, Sarah Maskell, has been awarded the Ink Award by the Greater Falls Connection. There was applause. She added that hopefully we were going to vote on new officers and get on with hiring a library director soon. Bob DeRusha said he has had experience with other town boards and an understanding of the open meeting laws, an understanding of conflict of interest and also of nuisance requests. He agrees with Mr. Massucco’s reading 100%. He was speaking as former Zoning and Planning Commission chair. Blackwood said we have heard Mr. Brissette’s comments, that further debate on whether this is an illegal meeting is simply a waste of our time. She suggested that we continue with the meeting and if he chooses to discuss the legality with a lawyer, he has that option. Fowler asked Mr. Ankuda for his opinion. Ankuda responded he was asked by the chair to attend this meeting and as he understands it, it is a regularly scheduled meeting. By interpretation of the quorum, it takes five members of the board to have a quorum. He counts the chair as part of that quorum and you have six. His view of it is not so much governed by the By-Laws; but Vermont Statutes which says you have elected members of the library board of trustees and you are to have an organization meeting forthwith and the next regularly scheduled meeting though it may not be forthwith, may be later than forthwith. You could have met on town meeting night and had that meeting. He would think the constitutional officers, the appropriate person to initiate the meeting, the highest ranking officer who is also the lowest ranking officer that the first order of business would be to elect a secretary. Following Roberts Rules, the first rule is to keep order and that you hand over your role as soon as the chair is elected. Gould asked Ankuda for clarification; there was some statement about this meeting being illegal. His concern is that the board intends to take action that would not be legal without a proper quorum. He asked Ankuda if in his opinion we have a proper quorum and there is nothing illegal about this meeting. Ankuda responded that is his interpretation about the situation. His concern is that we are involved in some litigation and as the board’s attorney, he was reminding us not to talk about this. Ankuda added, that was his interpretation of why he was invited here today. Fowler asked Brissette if he wanted to say something else. Brissette said Mr. Ankuda’s interpretation was fine with him. Geller respectfully suggested that the former chair unilaterally requested the town attorney without hesitating, without board approval and that any charges that Mr. Ankuda levies should be charged to her individually and not the library. Fowler responded that is something for the board of trustees to discuss.

Organizational Business of the New Board:
Election of Officers: Massucco nominated Doreen Aldrich as Secretary, seconded by Blackwood. There were no other nominations. The motion carried. Blackwood nominated David Gould for chairman, seconded by Carolyn Frisa. There were no other nominations and the motion carried. Massucco nominated Carolyn Frisa as co-chair, seconded by Fowler. There were no other nominations and the motion carried. Gould then took over the meeting. Gould then nominated Fowler for treasurer, seconded by Frisa. There were no other nominations and the motion carried. As the new chair, he welcomed all of the board members and the new board members. He said it is a privilege to be serving the community. He thanked the public for being supportive of the library in its operation and helping us to get off to a good start. He also thanked Ankuda for being here and getting us started on the right foot. Thanks to the media for being here to help the community have an understanding of what is going on. Thanks to FACTV for filming the meeting. Ankuda said often governing bodies will elect to be governed by Roberts Rules for running a meeting. Massucco asked Ankuda if there was any preference to Roberts Rules or Roberts Rules for Small Boards. Ankuda responded, one of the questions that comes into play is whether the chair makes motions; whether the chair votes. Someone should make a motion and then discuss that. Massucco moved to adopt what is known formally as Roberts Rules of Order as distinguished from Roberts Rules of Order for Small Boards, seconded by Carolyn Frisa. Massucco added, as Mr. Ankuda mentioned, for small boards, because of the difficulty of obtaining quorums, etc. the chair would normally not make motions and only vote in case of a tie. Under the large board rules, the chair would be a fully participating member for purposes of motions, voting, etc. With nine members, he thought we could sustain adoption of the full rules; but would leave it up to the board to decide. There was no discussion and the board voted to adopt Roberts Rules of Order rather than Roberts Rules of Order for Small Boards. The motion carried.

Approval of Minutes of February 11, February 18 and February 25, 2014:
Frisa moved to approve the minutes of February 11th as printed, seconded by Gould. The motion carried. The secretary abstained. Frisa moved to approve the minutes of February 18th as printed, seconded by Massucco. There were two abstentions. The motion failed and the minutes of February 18th will be taken up at the next meeting. Frisa moved to approve the minutes of February 25th, seconded by Massucco. The motion carried with the secretary abstaining.

Establish Dates and Time for Trustee Meetings:
Gould asked to put off the “public comment” section until the board gets through the organizational portion of the meeting. Emily pointed out that Robert DeRusha submitted a letter that we might want to look at now. Blackwood said multiple board members have the same issues so it is not going to be a problem. Fowler asked the secretary if there is a conflict with Tuesday of the month. Aldrich responded that the only time it would be a conflict would be the Annual Town Meeting. She does prefer a later time. She works until 4:30 and had to leave at 4:00 today in order to have time to set up. Frisa said she was one that had requested a 4:30 time last year; but she had a two month old baby who is now 14 months so her life is very different. Blackwood added that she has similar issues with the time. She finishes work at 4:30 so the earliest she can get here is 5:03 if she leaves on time. Massucco moved to establish our regular meeting time on the second Tuesday of each month at 5:00; Carolyn Frisa seconded for discussion. Fowler said our member of the public asked that it be at 6:00. Frisa said she is open to that. DeRusha explained that 5:00 is still early. It is much the perception of access and being open. He finishes work at 5:00 and it takes a half hour to get here. He doesn’t have to come to meetings; but would like to. Blackwood added that the other thing about the perception of openness and she doesn’t know if the town or library has bought into this is to think about a subscription to something like “Go to Meetings” where people can observe the meeting over a PC of their choice in their own home to save the commuting issues. Massucco said he would welcome a friendly amendment if folks would like to push the meeting out later. Aldrich amended it to 6:00 and Massucco accepted that. Celina Houlne pointed out that Tuesday night is the same night as the select board meetings. Sometimes we have to go to those meetings. Frisa said she didn’t want to speak for Paige; but Tuesdays worked for her. Fowler added that Jan does not teach on Tuesdays so if we changed, it might not be good for her. Gould repeated that we have an amendment to establish our regular meeting time on the second Tuesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. Frisa asked about also having an end time. Gould said he would encourage the board to work toward two hour meetings max and maybe set policy saying at the end of two hours we are adjourned unless the vote that night is to continue the meeting. Maybe we don’t need it; but lets work diligently toward two hours. The motion carried.

Agenda Preparation and Meeting Warnings:
Massucco asked what the current confusion is. Gould said the confusion has been that the former director was charged with doing the warnings and that was changed so the chairperson was doing it. He just wants to know who is responsible from this point on. Massucco said from a statutory and By-Law position, the chair has the responsibility. The chair has the ability to delegate to the director. Massucco added, by establishing a regular meeting schedule, we are not obligated to warn the regularly scheduled meeting each month. If we wish to change the time, the day or the location we do. Special meetings have to be warned, emergency meetings not necessarily; but notice immediately given as we are able to do that. Even though we don’t have to warn the regular meeting now that it has been established, we still have to have an agenda. It would be nice to get them in advance. Frisa read from the Manual For Vermont Library Trustees that the librarian and board chair should develop the agenda together; but individual trustees should be able to add to it. She would like to follow those guidelines. Gould agreed. Blackwood moved that the board follow the recommended procedures by the Vermont Department of Libraries in its Manual for Vermont Library Trustees, seconded by Fowler. Blackwood said in addition, she would like to see the warnings in addition to the required paper locations be put on the town website and perhaps the library website. Frisa asked that the agenda also be posted there. Garofolo, Eagle Times, formally requested copies of the warnings and agendas. Zervas explained that the press has a standing request for special meeting warnings and agendas. Maskell added that it is a calendar year request. Frisa said we should discuss physical locations at which to warn meetings. She recommended that we be consistent with board and committee meetings. We posted this meeting at the bookstore, the kiosk and the library. Gould added that we should post at the store in Saxtons River. Zervas said she could post there. It was agreed to post at the clerk’s office, town hall lobby, the kiosk outside town hall, the public bulletin board in Saxtons River and the library. The motion carried. DeRusha brought up the necessity of having the minutes available five days after meetings. It can be done electronically and they should be noted “Draft”. Frisa added that they are posted on the library website and possibly the town website. Robert McBride suggested posting them on the screen before the movies begin. Geller asked that warnings and agendas be posted not just in as little time as required; but in as much time as possible and be made available for the public. It would be nice to put even the regular meetings on it and it would be good to have a regular procedure to put a notice in the calendar of the major newspapers that circulate in this area. Frisa asked when the chair feels the need to call a special meeting, that he call as many trustees possible first before setting the date.

Trustee Contact Information:
The chair asked for an up-to-date list of each board member’s name, email address, home address, etc. There were forms to be filled out and turned in by the end of the meeting. It was suggested that it be turned in to the Secretary. Frisa added that last year we established a specific email address which we would use. It would just be used for library business. Mary VanHartesveldt advised that the library maintains that list and will continue to do so if the board wants as they also need the information.

Trustee Contact Person with Attorneys Ankuda and Pell:
The chair asked to establish a contact person between the board and attorneys Ankuda and Pell during this time of litigation. Fowler suggested getting the full board’s approval first. Ankuda interjected that really is not workable because you have to have a meeting in order to authorize the chair. He added that is why you have a chair, the chair is the conduit. That’s how he works with every other board he deals with. Massucco supported Ankuda on this 100%. Massucco moved that we appoint the chair of this board to be the point person/contact person to interact with the attorneys for the board.; Steve Ankuda on behalf of the board and Connie Pell on behalf of Vermont League of Cities and Towns for the town and the board and that he use his discretion in those contacts with the request that he reports to the board on a regular basis and, if in his judgment, feels it necessary to call meetings, he do so. Frisa seconded the motion. Betty Haggerty asked why we would want to limit it to Ankuda and Pell; why not “attorneys”. Massucco said he would accept that as a friendly amendment; Frisa seconded the friendly amendment. The motion carried. DeRusha suggested the chair write a letter to the attorneys so it is unambiguous that there is one contact person. If anyone else wants to talk with them, it’s on their nickel. Secondly, Ankuda was requested to be here today by the board chair who is not now here. He suggested that since the board has gone through the open meeting law and public records access Mr. Ankuda could leave unless he chooses to stay here. Ankuda responded that he is happy to leave any time. He asked if next Tuesday’s meeting will be an executive session. He would like to be here to talk to the board about some things. Ray moved that Mr. Ankuda be invited to attend the special meeting of Tuesday, March 18th at 4:30 p.m. Frisa seconded the motion. The motion carried.

Review of Public Records Requests:
The chair advised that this is just a friendly reminder. If you are a new member, please review the Open Meeting Law. It is in the binder. Frisa asked that the board receive some training on this issue and on the next item, Review of Public Records Requests, in the near future. The chair advised that it will be discussed under Old Business, Invitation to Amy Howlett.

Committee Synopsis and Reports:

The chair said he had hoped there would be enough committee people who had committee experience to give about a two or three sentence description of what their committee does and then give a report on that committee. Budget & Finance: Fowler said she was on the budget & finance committee. They need more members. She is now the only member so she is looking for more board members and perhaps a member of the public with some expertise. She’s treasurer. She just went to the bank and reinvested our funds. The $125,000 she was designated to invest has been moved into a five year account at a bit over 2%. Unfortunately, that is as much as we can get. A copy of the paperwork has been given to Mary VanHartesveldt. Fowler said she would like to establish a binder where all this information is kept because it was difficult when she took over not knowing what the treasurer’s duties were. She has been working with Mary VanHartesveldt on the budget and with Sam & Emily on things and signing the warrants on Fridays. There was a By-Law change where we discussed that we would have two people sign; Hope has indicated that she would go; but we need to redo the By-Laws.

Policy: Frisa said in the most recent years, there were two policy committees and she was chair of one. The main thing done last year was to start reviewing the By-Laws. Her suggestion would be that there only be one policy committee going forward. Other than that, policy is pretty self-explanatory. The recommendation is that every year all library policies be reviewed by the board.

Communications/Fund Raising: Fowler advised that they did not meet the whole time and she suggested that there be no communications and fund raising committee. Rather there were questions and historical collection where either some fund raising or grants need to be looked at. There are questions about Buildings and Ground where there might be grants. She feels this committee should probably be disbanded and other committees assisted by the Budget and Finance group on whatever they want to do to develop a grant. She doesn’t think that having a stand-alone communications/grant group makes much sense.

Historical Collection: Frisa said the committee is responsible for the care and overseeing of historical collections from the library. This year there will be a lot of work bringing those things back to the library from temporary storage. They also want to start having rotating displays in the library as well. They have a couple of fundraiser projects they’d like to do. We just met last week and would like to come up with a work plan for the year. They also need new members.

Committee Assignment Requests: The chair asked board members to think about which committee the board members might like to serve on and put them in an order of 1-4. Blackwood asked about the By-Laws and Frisa explained that they are already outdated. The current By-Laws only establish three standing committees, Book, Building and Finance and such other committees as may be established. Ray & Laryssa Howard were on the book committee and they banned the books if necessary; however they never had to take any books off the shelves.

Fowler recommended that the personnel committee be made up of the officers of the trustees as is similar to the BFFDA Board and the Chamber Board, Parks Place and Our Place Boards. It is usually the chair, co-chair, secretary and perhaps the treasurer that are the personnel committee and they only meet when they have to. It is not a regularly scheduled thing. That is typical of all the organizations she has been involved with.

Frisa thought it would be a good idea to bring the board up to speed as to where they are on the By-Laws. A couple of weeks ago, the old board did meet to make the first round of recommendations; but those still have to be reviewed in writing twice and approved twice. The chair said his concern with the By-Laws is a description of what the committees do. Frisa said that is addressed in the Trustees’ Manual that each committee have something written down explaining their purpose.

Mary VanHartesveldt explained to the new trustees that what is in our binders are the By-Laws before any work was done on them, the policies before work was done on them. Any paperwork that has been generated that she did not have, the board does not have.

Public Comment: David DeRusha thanked the board members for their service. Joe Brissette asked who put together tonight’s agenda. Gould said he did with Pat Fowler. Brissette asked if she said last year’s board authorized the chair to put together the agenda and now this year you voted to have the chair get it together. Generally, it’s the job of the chair. Fowler said she being the treasurer did it. She and David discussed it, we came up with ideas, he printed it out for her. Joe’s point was that Jan was still chair so technically, it was still her job to make up tonight’s agenda. Massucco said he would take the position that she abdicated her responsibility. Brissette continued, she abdicated her responsibility now by not being here; but until this moment you didn’t know. Massucco replied that Jan indicated that she wouldn’t be here. Brissett said that this was an issue last year that citizens would come to the meetings citing violations of the open meeting law and it is not clear to him that David had the authority to make tonight’s agenda with Pat’s help. Fowler replied that she is sitting treasurer and Jan indicated that she probably would not be attending. This meeting was warned back in February. Frisa said if there is no chair coming to the meeting, it goes to the next lower down officer. Robert DeRusha said to move forward, there is other business to get to and every citizen always has the right to question through the Secretary of State’s Office open meeting issues. Serena Hickey said she appreciates the difficulties in getting this meeting going and appreciates that it was held now because it is convenient for her being a member of the public to see what this public board is up to. She also appreciates that the board has an agenda to work on and not just sitting here twiddling your thumbs. Steve Geller had a lengthy comment and submitted his written comments to be included in tonight’s minutes.

Director’s Report: The report was received. She asked if there were questions. Frisa asked Emily to explain the second to last item under “Other” concerning the E-rate grant. Emily said the E-rate grant is a federal grant for telecommunications funding for libraries and schools. We get a chunk of the state’s application monies because we have the state centered cyber connection. This is the first year that we are having it and we get it subsidized through the state. They do an application for all the different cyber libraries for the E-rate funding. We get a chunk from there and also a smaller chunk to help with the telephone service. The state chunk hasn’t come through yet in terms of what the rates were going to be. She has just been notified that it has just been processed. We will see a large credit on our Sovernet bills and from then on, we’ll see our Sovernet bills diminished. Right now it’s about $200 per month. We were anticipating the cyber internet was going to cost $100 per month. She thinks it will actually cost a little bit less based on what they’ve told her. She’ll know once the money comes down. We will get credit from Sovernet for the money already paid because the state money goes directly to them. One thing not on the agenda was to invite Mary Vanhartesveldt to take the board to the financial projection that she put together for us. Mary said she also wanted to let the new board members know about the reports they will be seeing monthly. There is a balance sheet, a budget status report both which come from the town and they reflect our account. At this point, they reflect the debt to the town largely due to the renovation. She asked if there were any questions. If anyone wants to come talk to her about the accounts, she will be happy to talk to individuals. The budget status report which comes out every month reflects our budget, our expenses and revenues so far and the per cents that we have achieved of our budget. The categories are grouped. At this point the renovation money is blended into it and reflected in the sub total for both revenues and expense. It can be taken out to look at the library’s month to month operations. The other report is a spreadsheet for the projections and has the same information but she has taken another step forward and tried to project to the end of the year what she thinks is going happen in different categories. She went over the financials with the board. Massucco thanked the public for supporting the library budget this year. He added that he thought Jiggs McAuliffe’s comments were also appropriate to be looking at how we eliminate our shortfall.

Old Business: Invitation to Amy Howlett for Trustee Training – The chair said he tried calling her today; but was not able to make contact. Fowler suggested an on-line package with meetings. We can get some dates from Amy and then people can comment. Gould said we will work through it. Library Grand Opening – Frisa said she has been thinking about this. One thing talked about at our most recent Historical Collection committee meeting is there is a date, May 8th where there is going to be a presentation here at the library. Emily said the library and the Historic Preservation arm of town hall have partnered to have Bill Hosely come and do a presentation about libraries, specifically historic libraries and how their services have changed and also about historic preservation of library buildings. He is available on that date. Frisa said her thought is that if that is an agreeable timeframe, it might be nice to plan a number of grand reopening events somewhere along that date of May 8th. Gould asked if anyone had stepped forward to chair this event. The response was “not yet”. Gould said this will fall under her bailiwick and he will be happy to step in. Frisa said once he has made the decision of committee members she would like to know as soon as possible. The committee is Carolyn, Pat, Paige and Emily at this time. We can adjust that if needed.

New Business: Copy Machine Lease – Zervas said she needs the board’s approval to sign a lease agreement with Canon. They are talking about doing a 16 month fair market value lease and the price with maintenance per month is $101 and then there is a charge for black & white copies and colored copies. It would be both the staff and public copier. The public computers will be able to print in color. Fowler asked what the cost per copy. Zervas responded that the copy for black and white is .0123 cents per copy. Our cost for colored copy is .08 cents per copy. We will charge more than that. Canon supplies the toner. It has been budgeted for since the beginning of the year; but because it’s a new contract she needs board approval. Frisa moved to approve the new contract for the copier as presented by Zervas, seconded by Blackwood. The motion carried.

Executive Session: Not needed.

Other: No other business.

The next meeting is scheduled for March 18, 2014 at 4:30 p.m. in the Library Conference Room to discuss pending litigation with Connie Pell, Attorney from VLCT and to conduct any other trustee business.

Frisa moved to adjourn at 6:25 p.m. seconded by Fowler. The motion carried.

Respectfully submitted
Doreen Aldrich, Secretary

Letter read by Steve Geller

Good afternoon. I’m Steve Geller. First and foremost, I want to congratulate the 4 new Trustees on their very successful campaign and election to the Board, and the voters of Rockingham for their good judgment and commitment to get out and vote in such large numbers to send such a clear and unequivocal message. What was that message? That they deserve a Board they can trust to serve the needs and interests of the Library, its patrons, and the community, in a transparent, civil and integrity-driven manner, instead of the narrow interests of a few individuals’ personal agendas.

How clear was that message? The election results tell it all. Let’s look at what they say: Deb Wright was the only member of the previous majority- the 5 whose actions drove the formation of the Trustees You Can Trust campaign -who ran for re-election. She was the embodiment of that majority- one of its primary leaders, and the architect of the allegations that were fabricated about the Library Director’s performance in order to justify their relentless drive to fire her, the truth be damned.

For that performance, Ms. Wright was fired by her employers, the residents of the Town of Rockingham, who soundly rejected her bid to remain on the Board to keep doing what she had been doing for the past 3 years. But the big news was not just her defeat; it was the scale of the defeat that is most significant:

• In the previous 4 elections, not a single Library Board candidate received as many votes as any of this year’s candidates, except for Wright.
• Wright, an incumbent (usually a large advantage), received only 143 votes, compared to 685, 757 & 837 for the other three-year-term candidates, which was only 6% of the total votes cast in that race; i.e., 94% of voters said essentially “Anyone but Wright’
• The next lowest vote-getter received 28% of the votes, compared to her 6%.
• If she had tripled her votes, she still would have been 128 votes short of getting elected. She would have needed to quadruple her votes to win a seat, and then it would have been by just 15 votes.

Let me be clear: My aim in focusing on the vote counts is not to disparage Ms. Wright’s re-election effort. Rather, it’s to make the point that elections have consequences: They convey the will of the voters to either maintain the status quo or to make needed changes going forward. The good news for the new Board is that you don’t have to guess about how to interpret the voters’ will in this case. Here’s why:

Ms. Wright was unambiguously, unapologetically clear and articulate in her defense of the previous majority’s actions and viewpoint: She insisted that they did the right thing every step of the way, had nothing to be sorry for, and would continue to do the same if given the chance; therefore the voters should re-elect her to fight to maintain the status quo for another 3 years. The scale of her defeat speaks volumes about the vehemence with which the voters rejected that argument, and by extension, the actions of the previous majority: The voters’ will was obviously to demand change, and for it to be immediate and dramatic.

This message is so self-evident that the term “message” is really inadequate to describe it.

It is truly a mandate…a mandate for the Board to:

1. Move forward toward community healing by swiftly turning back the reckless actions of the previous one-vote majority, in the areas of open meetings, public involvement, proper procedures, and, not least, the wrongful termination of the Library Director

2. Re-focus your efforts on the big picture – the mission, vision, direction, & fiduciary oversight- instead of micro-managing library operations. Empower and allow the Director and staff to do what they were hired for, and have the skills & professional experience to do best, instead of standing in their way and second-guessing them on every minute detail.

3. Stop worrying about how little community outreach and meeting notification, and public comment you can get away with doing, based on the minimum legal requirements, and start focusing instead on how much you can do to maximize the involvement of town residents, patrons, and other elected officials. Welcome and encourage community partnerships beyond what’s required rather than push away and discourage them.

4. Conduct your meetings, business transactions, relationships, and yourselves with the maximum feasible transparency, civility, and integrity.

The people of Rockingham have registered their demand for change with their votes and will be watching to see if their mandate is heeded and fulfilled. I know the new Board majority is committed to making that happen, and I and hundreds of other concerned individuals are excited to have contributed to that and to being a witness to, and a partner in its implementation going forward.

Thank you for your time and for listening to my comments. I request that they be made a part of the official record of this meeting.

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, February 25, 2014

RFPL Board of Trustees Warning
Special Meeting of Board of Trustees
Rockingham Free Public Library
Tuesday, February 25th, 2014
Time and Place: 4:00 p.m. at RFPL Meeting Room

1. Call to Order
2. Public comment: 2 minutes per person; 15 minute time period for all public comments
3. Community Search Committee: report and recommendation
4. Buildings and Grounds: emergency item: ice on roof – north side of building
5. Work session by trustees on trustees’ bylaws: work through Committee B’s recommendations.
6. Executive session, if needed
7. Schedule next work session and/or pass on results to new board
8. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, February 25, 2014

RFPL Board of Trustees Minutes – Special Meeting of Board of Trustees
Rockingham Free Public Library
Tuesday, February 25th, 2014 Time and Place: 4:00 p.m. at RFPL Meeting Room

Attendees: Board – Hope Brisette, Elayne Clift, Pat Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, Jan Mitchel-Love, Ray Massucco, Paige Pietrzak, Laura Senes (phone), Deb Wright. Staff: Samantha Maskell, Mary Van Hartesveldt, Emily Zervas. Public – Arnold Clift, David deRusha, Steve Geller, David Gould, Célina Houlné, Sue Lampe-Wilson, Joel Love, Donna Stevens. Press: Chris Garafolo, Dominic Poli, Susan Smallheer, Brian Bashaw filming for FACT TV

1. Call to Order at 4pm

2. Community Search Committee: report and recommendation. No recommendation at this time after interviewing 3 of the 5 candidates from the pool of 19. Elayne Clift made a motion that no actions or decisions for a director or interim director be made by this current board but that we should notify the current applicants that they were not successful. Yes: Clift, Massuco, Frisa Fowler. No: Wright, Mitchell- Love, Brisette, Pietrzak. Motion failed. Pat Fowler made a motion that the Chair of the Search Committee notify the current job applicants that they did not match our needs at this time. Seconded by Frisa. All voted in favor. Pat Fowler moved that we re-run the ad in the ALA and other places through March 31 with applications due on April 11th. Massucco seconded. Clift opposed, 8 other trustees in favor, Motion Passed.

Laura Senes left the meeting at 5pm

3. Public comment: none

4. Buildings and Grounds: emergency item: ice is building up on the roof on the north side of building discovered by Eric Clark. Emily Zervas and the Building Committee were directed by the Trustees to solve the problem. Emily will ask the Town not to plow the sidewalk in front on the side and cones and “Danger” signage will be placed.

5. Work session by trustees on trustees’ bylaws- changes were made by the Board with suggestions included from the audience.

6. Executive session: none

7. Schedule next work session and/or pass on results to new board – bylaws work concluded. Draft Bylaws will be passed on to the new Board. Brisette and Pietrzak left the meeting.

8. Prior to adjournment, Carolyn Frisa made a motion that the Board of Trustees hold an organizational meeting on March 5th. (not on agenda, so not a legal motion) Yes: Clift, Frisa, Fowler, Massucco. No: Mitchell-Love, Wright. Motion failed.

Meeting Adjourned at 6:44pm Submitted by Pat Fowler

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Agenda
Special Meeting of Board of Trustees

Rockingham Free Public Library
Tuesday, February 18th, 2014
Time and Place: 4:00 p.m. at RFPL Meeting Room

1. Call to Order

2. Public comment: 2 minutes per person; 15 minute time period for all public comments

3. Finance Committee: update on investment of annuity – Pat Fowler

4. Executive session (pending litigation)

5. Work session by trustees on trustees’ bylaws: work through Committee B’s recommendations.

6. Schedule next work session

7. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Minutes
Special Meeting of Board of Trustees
Rockingham Free Public Library
Tuesday, February 18th, 2014
Time and Place: 4:00 p.m. at RFPL Meeting Room

Trustees in attendance: Hope Brissette, Pat Fowler, Jan Mitchell-Love, Paige Pietrzak, and Deb Wright.
Trustees not in attendance: Elayne Clift, Ray Massucco, Carolyn Frisa and Laura Senes
Staff in attendance: Emily Zervas, librarian
Public Attendees: Arnold Clift, David Gould, and Constance Pell
Press in attendance: Chris Garafolo of the Eagle Times

1. Call to Order: the meeting was called to order by Jan Mitchell-Love at 4:11 p.m.

2. Public comment: 2 minutes per person; 15 minute time period for all public comments: David Gould asked if the public, particularly the Search Committee, was going to be briefed on the litigation timeline. Ms. Pell told him “no.” Arnold Clift read a statement urging the Board of Trustees to wait until an injunction, filed by the terminated library director, is ruled on before hiring a new library director. Mr. Clift read this same statement to the Community Search Committee on Tuesday morning. (This statement is attached.)

3. Finance Committee: update on investment of annuity – Pat Fowler: Pat explained that the annuity is now in a money market account earning 1.9% interest as Security Benefits, where we were going to take out an annuity for 2.1% interest, is under investigation. Linda Walker of People’s Bank is hopeful she can soon identify an appropriate place to invest the monies.

–Pat also told the board there had been an issue with a discrepancy with federal i.d. number originally assigned to the $182,000 that needs to be resolved at some point in the near future. Pat suggests that we have a binder for the future of the library’s investments, locked away, where all the financial papers are so that future boards will have these documents readily available.

— There was a conversation about what to do with the $57,000 currently at TD Bank. Deb Wright made the motion and Hope Brissette seconded that the treasurer investigate the money market funds available for investing the remaining $57,000 and report back to the board. The vote was five for the motion, zero against, and zero abstentions, motion passed.

4. Executive session (pending litigation): Deb Wright moved that we enter executive session to discuss pending litigation and invite attorney, Constance Pell, to enter as well. Hope Brissette seconded. The vote was five for the motion, zero against, and zero abstentions. The Board of Trustees entered executive session at 4:23 p.m.

At 5:18 p.m. the Board of Trustees came out of executive session. No action was taken.

5. Work session by trustees on trustees’ bylaws: work through Committee B’s recommendations: it was decided that there was not time to accomplish anything meaningful as the Board of Trustees were due to attend a 6:00 p.m. Selectboard Meeting, so no bylaws revision work was done and the bylaws work will be rescheduled.

6. Schedule next work session: the board identified 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 25th as the next meeting date. It was mentioned that this meeting also might have other items on the agenda than just bylaws revision.

7. Adjourn: Paige Pietrzak made the motion to adjourn, seconded by Deb Wright. The vote to adjourn was unanimous. The meeting was adjourned at 5:23 p.m.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Jan Mitchell-Love, Board Chair

Proposed Statement to the RFPL Search Committee on Tuesday February 18, 2014.

I understand from official sources that the Town of Rockingham has been served Notice of a Motion for Preliminary Injunction by Celine Houlne, former RFPL Library Director, to enjoin the Library Trustees from hiring a Library Director pending the outcome of her earlier Complaint to the Court for wrongful dismissal. I assume that this Notice has already also been served on the Board of Trustee or will be very soon.

In the interests of full transparency and proper integrity on the part of a public agency of government, I assume that this Search Committee will inform each candidate it interviews for the Library Director position, that this Motion to the Court for Preliminary Injunction has been filed and served on the Town.

I would appreciate hearing your intentions with regard to the matter I have just raised.

As there is no audiotape of this meeting, I request that the minutes of this meeting record as closely as possible to verbatim any further discussion of this matter in the Search Committee.

I request that this statement be entered into the record of this meeting.

Arnold J. Clift

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, February 11, 2014

AGENDA OF RFPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
Tuesday, February 11th, 2014
4:30 PM at Meeting Room, RFPL, Bellows Falls, VT

1. Call to order

2. Public Comment – 2 minutes per person; 15 minute time period for all public comments.

3. Approve minutes of January 14th, 2013 trustees’ meeting and January 21st special meeting

4. Director’s Monthly Report
a. Report
b. Financial Reports
c. Procedure for notifying press of meetings
d. Records requests – trustees’ and RFPL’s responsibilities
e. Other

6. Committee Reports
a. Building and Grounds – update on neighbors’ concerns
b. Communication – no report
c. Finance – Deb Wright and Pat Fowler
Reinvestment of annuity
Attorney bills update
Part-time staff benefits: personal leave and sick leave
d. Historical Collection – Carolyn Frisa – update
e. Policy – Reminder: bylaws meeting (for all trustees) on February 18th, 2014 at 4:00 p.m.
f. Personnel – Jan M-L – Search Committee update

7. Old Business
a. 2014 workshop with Amy Howlett
b. Correspondence – Attorney General letter on Open Meeting Law/SMP Pre Mediation Demand letter

8. New Business
Selectboard meeting – Tuesday, February 18th at 6:00 p.m. (probably the start time)

9. Review agenda items for next meeting. Current meeting date is Tuesday, March 11th at 4:30 p.m. in RFPL’s Meeting Room.

10. Executive Session (if necessary)

11. Trustees’ Comments

12. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, February 11, 2014

MINUTES OF RFPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
Tuesday, February 11th, 2014
4:30 PM at Meeting Room, RFPL, Bellows Falls, VT

Board members in attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Deb Wright, Pat Fowler, Elayne Clift, Carolyn Frisa, Ray Massucco and Laura Senes.
Staff in attendance: Mary Van Hartesveldt and Emily Zervas.
Public attendees: Kathleen Michel, David DeRusha, Steve Geller, Celina Houlne, Arnold Clift, David Gould, Joel Love, Tim Dougherty and Joe Brissette.

1. Call to order at 4:35pm by Jan Mitchell-Love.

2. Public Comment: Several members of the public suggested that the hiring of a new director should be deferred until after March 4. Several members of the public stated that they feel the hiring process should continue.

3. Approve minutes of January 14th, 2014 trustees’ meeting and January 21st special meeting: Pat Fowler made a motion to approve the January 14th, 2014 minutes with the amendment that Carolyn Frisa made the motion to approve the December 10, 2013 minutes not Elayne Clift. This motion, seconded by Hope Brissette passed with 6 in favor, none opposed and 1 abstention. Deb Wright made a motion to approve the January 21st special meeting minutes, with the amendment of changing ‘hiring committee’ to ‘search committee’ wherever it appears in the minutes. This motion, seconded by Carolyn Frisa passed with 6 in favor, none opposed and 1 abstention.

4. Librarian’s Monthly Report:
a. Report: Emily Zervas presented the Librarian’s monthly report. The ADA inspectors visited on Jan. 28 and 29 and inspected the top and bottom floors, but have not completed their inspection. The new story time rug is set-up in the youth program room. Copies of the Vermont Humanities Council Community Reads Book, “Wonder” are available. The first program will be on February 27 at 7pm.
b. Financial Reports: Mary Van Hartesveldt presented and responded to questions about the financial report. The library owes the town about $8,000 for FY12. There were questions about the increase in library liability insurance, which the Finance Committee will look into and report about at the next meeting.
c. Procedure for notifying press of meetings: Emily Zervas reports information from Sam Maskell who checked with the Secretary of State about standing orders from the press for notification of meetings. The press may make a standing order for notification of special meetings for 1 year. Emily Zervas will get the exact language and send it to board members. It was decided by consensus that the staff will be responsible for complying with this request, and whoever puts notification on the calendar will send out the warning. d. Record’s requests-trustees’ and RFPL’s responsibilities: Emily Zervas reports for Sam Maskell. The RFPL repository is a place to save public records, but it is still each trustee’s responsibility to comply with any public records requests. If a trustee needs to access the repository, he or she must come to the library to be helped by Sam or Emily.
e. Other: Emily Zervas reports for Sam Maskell to address questions about email forwarding from Celina’s library email address. This address still receives emails, which are then forwarded to Sam. Emails cannot be sent from this account. Wendy and Ed’s accounts are also still receiving emails.

5. Committee Reports
a. Building – Hope Brissette: The Building Committee checked with Lawrence and Lober who stated that the outside lights cannot be adjusted, but the glass can be painted and the timing can be changed. The Building Committee will meet again to address the noise issue, as any solution will need to wait until spring, and will need to go to zoning. (Carolyn Frisa leaves at 5:30.) Elayne Clift made a motion to pay to professionally adjust the lights at a cost of up to $300. Deb Wright seconds this motion with the friendly amendment to increase the amount to $350. Elayne Clift accepted this amendment. The motion passed with 5 in favor, none opposed, and 1 abstention. Hope will inform the neighbors.

b. Communication – no report

c. Finance – Deb Wright and Pat Fowler
Reinvestment of annuity: There is a discrepancy with the tax ID numbers that needs to get ironed out before we can reinvest. Pat has a call into Chip Stearns to figure this out and will update the board at the meeting next week. Attorney bills update: Deb Wright reports that the attorney bills have been paid. Deb Wright asked Mr. Ankuda about the charge for a conversation with Ray Massucco, but has not received any further clarification about this charge. Ray does not recall this conversation. Part time staff benefits: personal leave and sick leave: There is presently a bill in the state legislature requiring mandatory sick leave, which may be decided by town meeting day. It was agreed by consensus to table this topic until the March meeting.

d. Historical Collection – Carolyn Frisa – update: Presented by Pat Fowler. Recent tasks accomplished include repairs to the locks on the historical collections storage in the library, and repair and assessment of the grandfather clock. Upcoming projects were also presented.

e. Policy – Reminder: bylaws meeting (for all trustees) on February 18th, 2014 at 4:00p.m. There will also be an update by Pat Fowler on reinvesting the annuity. And Constance Pell the attorney from VLCT for the lawsuit will attend.

f. Personnel – Jan M-L – Search Committee update: The Search Committee has 5 candidates to interview. Also, the Search Committee would like the public to only address this Committee with issues pertaining to the Search Committee. Otherwise comments should be directed to the Library Board. Elayne Clift discussed a letter she emailed to the Board prior to the meeting that she had read at the Search Committee meeting. (Attached.)

6. Old Business:
a. 2014 workshop with Amy Howlett – This workshop has been cancelled because Amy Howlett had wanted to address this board.

b. Correspondence –Attorney General letter on Open Meeting Law/SMP Pre Mediation Demand letter: Jan Mitchell-Love will read a letter under director’s comments addressing the Attorney General letter. A letter has been sent to SMP stating intent to make claim for damages.

7. New Business: Selectboard meeting- Tuesday, February 18th at 6:00 p.m. (probably the start time): We will be first on the agenda, and then the Selectboard will enter executive session to discuss the lawsuit.

8. Review agenda items for next meeting. Current meeting date is Tuesday, March 11th at 4:30 p.m. in RFPL’s Meeting Room. Any agenda items should be sent to Jan Mitchell-Love.

9. Executive Session (if necessary): Not necessary.

10. Trustees’ Comments: Ray Massucco stated he believes the new Board should have input on choosing the new director. Deborah Wright disagrees. Elayne Clift expresses concern about hiring a new director considering the lawsuit. Hope Brissette thanked Laura Senes and Deb Wright for their service on the Library Board. Pat Fowler stated that she hopes recommendations for the new director go to the new Library Board. Laura Senes stated that the press and public should be more respectful in their treatment of volunteers if the public hopes to continue to get good volunteers from the community. Jan Mitchell-Love thanked those members who are leaving the Board and read a letter she wrote concerning open meeting law. (Letter attached).

11. Adjourn: Motion to adjourn made by Hope Brissette, seconded by Deb Wright, passed unanimously at 7:17 p.m.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Secretary Laura Senes on February 16, 2014.

Letter submitted by Elayne Clift
Statement to Search Committee, Feb. 10, 2014 by Elayne Clift, Trustee
First let me say that I appreciate the civility with which the Search Committee has conducted its business and the respect it has shown to members of the public who have attended your meetings.

However, I must say for the record that I have some deep concerns about recent decisions and actions taken by the committee. I am very disturbed by the letter that was sent on Friday to candidates selected for interview which failed to note either that the lawsuit in process cites wrongful dismissal and calls for reinstatement of the former director, or that within a matter of weeks there will be several new Trustees taking their seats. This is absolutely critical information for any prospective candidate to know. I am troubled that the letter sent to candidates is misleading in implying that the suit is without merit, that the Committee feels “secure” in the selection of a new director, and further, suggests that a “period of healing” has begun.

In fact, nothing could be further from the truth given that a majority of the current Board of Trustees were denied the opportunity – by some of their own colleagues, I note – to review and approve the letter sent to candidates, and that there has been total disregard for the new Trustees who will be seated in a mere 3 weeks. I think it is fair to say that not all of “our wonderful library and community” will be happy with the somewhat misleading letter sent to candidates, or with the fact that present and prospective Trustees have been shut out of the process by which a final candidate is being hastily identified and interviewed.

I suggest with some urgency that the Search Committee think very carefully indeed about what could happen once this runaway train crosses the bridge of the March 4th election. One scenario within the realm of possibility is that a candidate could be selected and resign his or her present position, only to find that before they have taken up the new post it is no longer available – a possibility that MUST be taken into consideration. Such an event, which cannot be ruled out, would create havoc and ill-will. It might even result in legal difficulties.

The Library Directorship has been open for several months now. While this has created a heavy workload for the present staff, the library is functioning well. What is to be gained by barreling ahead and ignoring the fact that new Trustees are soon to be seated which could result in important decisions being taken that are at odds with decisions taken by the present board? What is to be gained by ignoring the input of present Trustees? And most importantly, what could happen if you set up a situation in which an applicant might find themselves in a totally untenable position?

I ask you to carefully consider these questions before any damage is done. And I ask that this statement be entered into the record. Thank you.

Letter read by Jan Mitchell-Love:
To RFPL Board of Trustees and the Community-at-large:

I understand that at last night’s forum someone mentioned that I had broken Open Meeting Law six times. This is not a good thing. However, upon reflection it’s also not a very high number of violations. Just two days ago, on Sunday, one of the two trustees appointed to our board this summer – the one who is running for a three-year library position – violated Open Meeting Law by sending out a newsy e-mail to all the trustees. He’s been told time and again that this is breaking Open Meeting Law but continues to do it. About the same time the other trustee appointed to our board this summer – the one who is not running for a library position – sent out yet another of her long letters to all the trustees. She does this on a regular basis – my favorite e-mail from her came about a month ago when she stated that she knew she was breaking Open Meeting Law in sending out that particular e-mail but she had to – it was important.

My point is not that these two are terrible people for breaking Open Meeting Law. My point is it is hard NOT to break Open Meeting Law. Its concept is solid and laudable; we do want transparent government, and we do want citizens to be able to offer their opinions and insights at public meetings. But the current rules for Open Meeting Law make it almost impossible to follow the law without breaking it, and that is what is happening in many places, including our own town. My understanding is the legislature is going back and reviewing the Open Meeting Law details with the intention of making the law more user-friendly. In my opinion, this is a good thing because ultimately, you don’t want a law in place that people are not able to follow. You want public boards to be able to conduct their business and follow the Open Meeting Law – exactly — at the same time.

But let’s get back to me and my breaking of Open Meeting Law. The Attorney General identified several instances where I broke it, and I agree with most of them.

Number 1: the RFPL Board of Trustees did have an illegal vote in May to close the library. We were following our bylaws which turned out to be illegal when compared to Vermont law. This led to a lively discussion involving the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and several other state officials that went on for a couple of days at the state level. They decided late on a Friday afternoon that Vermont law trumped our bylaws and we needed to revote. I scheduled a meeting as quickly as I could get a quorum together and retook the vote. The Attorney General complimented me for taking care of this matter so quickly: I understand one of the library trustee candidates up for election – the one who is presently on the board because the Selectboard put him there – was critical of this at last night’s forum.

Number 2: I denied a citizen the right to speak at a July meeting. I did do this as I told the Attorney General. After the occurrence I went out on my own and researched the law, made the correction, and did not wait for the complaint from citizens to be made. I told this to the Attorney General when he wrote me about the complaint. In that letter, I also explained to him that I was following a precedent set by the Bellows Falls Trustees where I and other Rockingham residents were denied the right to speak because we were not Bellows Falls residents. Interestingly, this happened again at a January, 2014 joint Selectboard-Trustees meeting. I raised my hand to point out to Roger Riccio, Bellows Falls Trustees Chair, the Open Meeting Law violation he was committing, but someone else in the audience beat me to it.

So I said I agreed with most of the Attorney General’s findings in his December 16th, 2013 letter. Here is what I do not agree with, and interestingly, my disagreements all center around Elayne Clift’s complaints which only encompass about one third of the Attorney General’s letter.

First Disagreement: There is a quote from an April 3rd, 2013 e-mail I wrote – the contents of which we covered at our April, 2013 trustees meeting – where the first part of the quote is given but the last part is not. Basically what I said was that if you had a quorum showing up for a committee meeting, you had to warn the committee meeting as a trustees’ meeting or it either could not be held or some trustees had to leave – there cannot be a gathering of a quorum of trustees to discuss library business without warning it as a trustees’ meeting. The clear message of my e-mail and what I later said at the April, 2013 trustees’ meeting was that it was a simple matter of warning the committee/trustees meeting correctly so that any interested trustee could attend the meeting. The terminated director, Ms. Clift, and some of her followers have continued to only give the first line of this e-mail message and contend my intent was to prevent committees from meeting. To quote one line out of context and without the rest of the lines that go with it is a form of lying. I did not know until receiving the Attorney General’s December letter that Ms. Clift had said this about my April 3rd, 2013 e-mail, or I would have corrected the record with the Attorney General earlier. If I had sent the Attorney General the full e-mail message, my assumption would be that the Attorney General would have had no objection to what I said because it is correct: again, if a quorum of the board shows up for a committee meeting, the committee meeting has to be warned as a board meeting, not a committee meeting or it either cannot take place or some trustees have to go home.

Second Disagreement: Ms. Clift again lifts a line from a February 4, 2013 e-mail about Personnel Committee meetings not being public meetings. She failed to report that that was an inadvertent error on my part – quickly corrected so that the phrase reads that executive sessions of Personnel Committee meetings are not public. Ms. Clift has been corrected on this detail multiple times, so again I did not realize until receiving the December 16th Attorney General’s letter that she had reported this e-mail phrase to him without the correction. He correctly said that Personnel meetings were public meetings; I’m sure he would agree that the executive sessions of Personnel meetings are not.

Third Disagreement: Ms. Clift apparently told the Attorney General that I stated that the minutes of a meeting should only include votes taken with no discussion. I cannot account for this as a misinterpretation or twisting of my words on Ms. Clift’s part; this one is a total fabrication (that’s a synonym for lying). As a matter of fact, twice in the past eighteen months, in the fall of 2012 and again in the spring of 2013, I have brought in copies of the Open Meeting Law for all trustees, and we have reviewed what the law has to say on minutes. And it most definitely does NOT say that minutes should omit any discussion details — it does say that minutes should not include a blow by blow accounting of the discussions and that every public official is responsible for taking his/her own notes to augment what the minutes have to say. But minutes should give a flavor of the discussions that take place.

Fourth Disagreement: no minutes of the Personnel Committee were posted on the RFPL website. This is true; as a board, the trustees decided to only have minutes of trustees’ meetings on the website, not committee meetings. If members of the public wanted minutes of committee meetings, they could request them. However, Mr. Reynolds knows quite well that minutes were kept of the Personnel Committee meetings as, when five Friends of the Library wrote the original complaint to him in April, 2013 that Ms. Clift has apparently augmented as the year has gone on, one of the things he requested from our board was agendas and minutes for all committees for the preceding calendar year. Interestingly, the only missing minutes were from two of the signers of the April letter – former board members, Debbie Wetzel and Duane Whitehead – who could not produce some of the sets of minutes from the committees they chaired. The Personnel Committee’s paperwork was in excellent order as was every other trustees’ committee except for theirs.

Sorry to have gone on for so long, but linking my name to Open Meeting Law violations in an effort to besmirch my reputation and my board’s reputation has gone on for too long. Last night’s aspersions from one of the candidates for the new library board – the one who was appointed by the Selectboard against trustees’ wishes – made it clear to me that these charges should be answered.

I respect Open Meeting Law. As a matter of fact, I, along with Pat Fowler, were the only two library trustees who bothered to show up for the Secretary of State’s most informative November presentation. Certainly Ms. Clift was not present. My assumption is that attendance was not a high priority for her because that might involve getting her facts straight, and that does not appear to be what she is interested in. Character assassination, yes. Accurate fact reporting, no.

Lastly, I owe Mr. Reynolds a thank you. I appreciate your careful attention to the details shared with you about our RFPL board. I appreciate all the time you have taken in listening to our citizens. I appreciate the fact that you saw and stated that neither I nor my Board have ever intentionally violated Open Meeting Law. And your point is well taken that we should all continue to educate ourselves on the law. And we are endeavoring to do so. The November visit from the Secretary of State that I attended was immensely helpful in that regard.

Thanks to all for listening.
Most sincerely,
Janice Mitchell-Love

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, January 21, 2014

 

Minutes
Special Meeting of Board of Trustees
Rockingham Free Public Library
Tuesday, January 21st, 2014
Time and Place: 4:30 p.m. at RFPL Meeting Room

Board members in attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Deb Wright, Elayne Clift, Paige Pietrzak, Carolyn Frisa, Ray Massucco and Laura Senes.
Staff in attendance: Emily Zervas
Public attendees: Arnold Clift, Betty Haggerty, Celina Houlne, David DeRusha, Ian Ludders, David Gould, and Joel Love.
Press in attendance: Domenic Poli (Brattleboro Reformer)

1. Call to Order 4:39 by Jan Mitchell-Love

2. Public comment: None.

3. Second floor security update: Emily with rekeying expense information and possible lockout: No update as of yet. Emily has not received calls back.

4. Hiring Search Committee for new director: Personnel Committee presents list of interested possible members: The Personnel Committee suggested the following committee: Jan Mitchell-Love, Laura Senes, Pat Fowler, David Gould, Heidi Lucas-Moccia, Torin Brooks, Barbara Ternes and Amy Howlett will also advise. Alternates include Cathy Bergman, Jeremy from J & H Hardware who is thinking about it, and the Personnel Committee is still seeking a volunteer from Chroma. The Personnel Committee requested the staff compile a list of possible interview questions. It was decided the board would also like to see one staff member be a non-voting member of the Hiring Search Committee. Arnold Clift presented the board with a public records request to see the applications. Other members of the board also stated they would like to see the applications. Confidentiality of applicant information was discussed. Deb Wright made a motion that the Board accept the list for the Hiring Search Committee as presented by the Personnel Committee with the addition of one staff member, to be decided by Emily Zervas and Sam Maskell. This motion, seconded by Paige Pietrzak, passed with 7 in favor, none opposed.

5:26 pm. Carolyn Frisa leaves.

5. Work session by trustees on trustees’ bylaws: finished last bylaw under Policy Committee A and tried to work through Committee B’s recommendations: Bylaws VIII-X discussed, possible changes recorded by Jan Mitchell-Love.

6. Schedule next work session: Next work session will be on February 4, 2014 at 4:30 pm in the RFPL meeting room. Discussion will begin with Bylaw XI.

7. Executive session (if necessary): None

8. Adjourn: Motion to adjourn by Elayne Clift at 6:12 pm, seconded by Paige Pietrzak, passed with all in favor at 6:12 pm.

These minutes respectfully submitted by Laura Senes on January 26, 2014.

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, January 14, 2014

AGENDA OF RFPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
Tuesday, January 14th, 2014
4:30 PM at Meeting Room, RFPL, Bellows Falls, VT

1. Call to order

2. Public Comment – 2 minutes per person; 15 minute time period for all public comments.

3. Approve minutes of December 10th, 2013 trustees’ meeting; January 3rd special meeting; and January 7th special meeting

4. Update on new library director job posting/Search Committee formation

5. Librarians’ Monthly Report
a. Report
b. Financial Reports
c. Other

6. Committee Reports
a. Building – Hope Brissette: issue with neighbors/issue with building security
b. Communication – discuss committee
c. Finance – Deb Wright
* Reinvestment of annuity
* Attorney bills update
* Compensation to staff for extra duties: September, 2013 onward
* Part-time staff benefits: personal leave and sick leave
d. Historical Collection – Carolyn Frisa – update
e. Policy – Reminder: bylaws meeting (for all trustees) on January 21st, 2014 at 4:30 p.m. Committee appointments and the bylaws
f. Personnel – Jan M-L

7. Old Business
a. 2014 workshop with Amy Howlett – discuss venue
b. Correspondence – Highway Department thank you/Attorney General letter on Open Meeting Law

8. Review agenda items for next meeting. Current meeting date is Tuesday, February 11th at 4:30 p.m. in RFPL’s Meeting Room.

9. Executive Session (if necessary)

10. Trustees’ Comments

11. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, January 14, 2014

MINUTES OF RFPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
Tuesday, January 14th, 2014
4:30 PM at Meeting Room, RFPL, Bellows Falls, VT

Board members in attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Deb Wright, Pat Fowler, Elayne Clift, Paige Pietrzak, Carolyn Frisa, and Laura Senes.
Staff in attendance: Mary Van Hartesveldt, Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell.
Public attendees: Kathy Michel, David DeRusha, Steve Geller, Bob DeRusha, Ian Eddy, Arnold Clift, David Gould, Joel Love and Celina Houlne.
Press in attendance: Domenic Poli (Brattleboro Reformer).

1. Call to order at 4:35pm by Jan Mitchell-Love.

2. Public Comment: None

3. Approve minutes of December 10th, 2013 trustees’ meeting; January 3rd special meeting; and January 7th special meeting: Carolyn Frisa made a motion to pass the December 10, 2013 minutes after fixing the typographical error of “baggig” to “bagging” under #8. This motion seconded by Deb Wright passed with 7 in favor, none opposed. Hope Brissette made a motion to pass the January 3, 2014 minutes after changing the misspelling of Elayne under #6. This motion, seconded by Carolyn Frisa, passed with 6 in favor, 1 abstention. Hope Brissette made a motion to approve the January 7, 2014 minutes after deleting “2 minutes per person; 15 minute time period for all public comments” under #2. This motion, seconded by Pat Fowler, passed with 6 in favor, 1 abstention.

4. Update on new library director job posting/Search Committee formation: Jan Mitchell-Love reports an excellent pool of candidates so far; all applicants have post-graduate degrees, and most have a MLS. Elayne Clift read a letter concerning the hiring of a new library director, with specific concerns of a pending lawsuit by the previous director seeking rehiring.

(1 minute recess 4:53pm. Resume meeting 4:54pm)

Deb Wright made a motion to task the Personnel Committee with selecting the Search Committee members, which will review and evaluate applications, interview viable candidates, and make a final recommendation to the board on someone to hire, motion seconded by Hope Brissette. After discussion Deb Wright and Hope Brissette accepted the friendly amendment that the Personnel Committee will put together a list for the Search Committee and bring it to the next board meeting on January 21, 2014. This motion passed with 6 in favor, 1 opposed. Any suggestions should be sent to the Personnel Committee.

5. Librarians’ Monthly Report:
a. Report: Emily Zervas and Sam Maskell thanked all the volunteers that helped to shelve the book collection. The end panels have been installed. The library is doing a Food For Fines food drive, donations going to Our Place Drop-In Center. The Board thanked Emily Zervas and Mary Van Hartesveldt for an excellent presentation of the budget to the Selectboard. Emily Zervas encouraged the Board to meet with the Selectboard and Chip Stearns to discuss the renovation overruns before the annual meeting. Jan Mitchell-Love will contact the Selectboard to set up a meeting.
b. Financial Reports: Mary Van Hartesveldt presented and responded to questions about the budget.
c. Other: Emily Zervas requested that we use donated funds to purchase computer tables for the adult section and 1 ADA compliant table for microfilm and Internet access. Deb Wright made a motion to approve expenditure of $5030.00 from donated funds for the purchase of ADA compliant and non-compliant stations. This motion, seconded by Paige Pietrzak, passed with 7 in favor, none opposed. Sam Maskell requested that we use donated funds to purchase a story-time rug for the youth department. Pat Fowler made a motion to allow funds, not to exceed $700, from the Whitcomb donation to purchase a rug for the youth department. This motion, seconded by Hope Brissette, passed with 7 in favor, none opposed.

6. Committee Reports
a. Building – Hope Brissette: The Building Committee is planning a meeting with the neighbors to resolve issues. Also discussed concerns of the lack of ability to monitor activities in the third floor vestibule and bathrooms. Emily Zervas will look into the cost of rekeying the bathroom doors. Hope Brissette will research possible regulations involving monitoring and bathroom access.

b. Communication – discuss committee

c. Finance – Deb Wright
Reinvestment of annuity: Pat Fowler discussed the need to reinvest the annuity and would like approval for the Finance Committee to reinvest. Deb Wright made a motion to allow the Treasurer to reinvest the money as Mary Van Hartesveldt and Pat Fowler have discussed, seconded by Hope Brissette. Carolyn Frisa made a friendly amendment to allow the Treasurer to invest the minimum necessary to attain the greatest interest on the annuity account previously recommended through People’s Bank. Friendly amendment accepted by Deb Wright and Hope Brissette. This motion passed with 5 in favor, 3 opposed. Pat Fowler will make sure this investment is FDIC insured.

(Pat Fowler leaves 7:10)

Attorney bills update: Tabled until Ray Massucco is present.

Compensation to staff for extra duties: September 2013 onward: Carolyn Frisa made the motion that we approve a 15% pay increase as well as two additional comp. time days per month for Emily Zervas and Sam Maskell, and that we approve a 10% pay increase for Mary Van Hartesveldt and Ellen Allman, retroactive to September 18, 2013 until the new director’s start day, with the understanding that staff duties and salaries will be reevaluated at that time. This motion, seconded by Paige Pietrzak, passed with 5 in favor, 1 abstention.

Part-time staff benefits: personal leave and sick leave: The Finance Committee does not have a recommendation regarding part-time staff benefits. The finances are not extremely significant, approximately $4,000. (Deb Wright leaves 7:37.) Tabled until February Trustees meeting.

d. Historical Collection – Carolyn Frisa – update

e. Policy – Reminder: bylaws meeting (for all trustees) on January 21st, 2014 at 4:30p.m. Committee appointments and the bylaws: Elayne Clift read a letter to the Trustees concerning the board (see attached), and made a motion to suspend Bylaws discussion until a new Board is seated following March elections. This motion, seconded by Carolyn Frisa, failed with 2 in favor, 3 opposed and 1 abstention. This meeting will include the additions of the presentation by the Personnel Committee of suggested Search Committee members for approval by the Board and security in the third floor including the cost of rekeying the locks.

f. Personnel – Jan M-L

7. Old Business
a. 2014 workshop with Amy Howlett – discuss venue: Elayne Clift suggested moving the workshop until after the next board is seated and stated that Amy Howlett thought we should wait. Jan Mitchell-Love will email Amy to ask. The workshop will take place in the RFPL meeting room.

b. Correspondence – Highway Department thank you/Attorney General letter on Open Meeting Law

8. Review agenda items for next meeting. Current meeting date is Tuesday, February 11th at 4:30 p.m. in RFPL’s Meeting Room. Unfinished agenda items, from the Part-time benefits on, with the exception of 7a, will be tabled until the next regular Trustees meeting.

9. Executive Session (if necessary)

10. Trustees’ Comments

11. Adjourn: Motion to adjourn made by Hope Brissette at 8:01, seconded by Paige Pietrzak, passed unanimously.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Secretary Laura Senes on January 19, 2014.

Letter read by Elayne Clift
“Re: By-laws: On Jan. 9th I sent to all Trustees a lengthy document suggesting multiple revisions to the existing by-laws. This document represented many hours of work and a great deal of time and energy spent in the interest of developing a meaningful “working manual” for future Trustees of the Library. Sharing it ahead of the next meeting was the courteous and professional thing to do. It was my hope that my colleagues would read and consider it before our next meeting.

On Jan. 10the I received an email from Vice-Chair Deb Wright accusing me of being “self-aggrandizing,” “pretentious,” and “foisting this material on to all trustees.” In that email she refused to read the document “until [I] bring it to the meeting.”

This is not the first email of its kind that I’ve received from Ms. Wright (and I might add another Trustee) and frankly; I’m tired of them. Messages like this are rude, insulting, and unacceptable. No Trustee should be subjected to such discourtesy and lack of respect from another. This particular tone is striking insofar as Ms. Wright is seeking another term as Trustee.

It is clear that my recommendations will not be considered by Ms. Wright, or indeed by some other Trustees, although they are worthy of serious discussion. I therefore am left with no alternative than to Move that By-law revisions be tabled until such time as a new board is seated following March elections.”

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, January 14, 2014

AGENDA OF RFPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
Tuesday, January 14th, 2014
4:30 PM at Meeting Room, RFPL, Bellows Falls, VT

1. Call to order

2. Public Comment – 2 minutes per person; 15 minute time period for all public comments.

3. Approve minutes of December 10th, 2013 trustees’ meeting; January 3rd special meeting; and January 7th special meeting

4. Update on new library director job posting/Search Committee formation

5. Librarians’ Monthly Report
a. Report
b. Financial Reports
c. Other

6. Committee Reports
a. Building – Hope Brissette: issue with neighbors/issue with building security
b. Communication – discuss committee
c. Finance – Deb Wright
* Reinvestment of annuity
* Attorney bills update
* Compensation to staff for extra duties: September, 2013 onward
* Part-time staff benefits: personal leave and sick leave
d. Historical Collection – Carolyn Frisa – update
e. Policy – Reminder: bylaws meeting (for all trustees) on January 21st, 2014 at 4:30 p.m. Committee appointments and the bylaws
f. Personnel – Jan M-L

7. Old Business
a. 2014 workshop with Amy Howlett – discuss venue
b. Correspondence – Highway Department thank you/Attorney General letter on Open Meeting Law

8. Review agenda items for next meeting. Current meeting date is Tuesday, February 11th at 4:30 p.m. in RFPL’s Meeting Room.

9. Executive Session (if necessary)

10. Trustees’ Comments

11. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Agenda
Special Meeting of Board of Trustees
Rockingham Free Public Library
Tuesday, January 7th, 2014
Time and Place: 4:30 p.m. at RFPL Meeting Room

1. Call to Order

2. Public comment: 2 minutes per person; 15 minute time period for all public comments

3. Work session by trustees on trustees’ bylaws

4. Schedule next work session

5. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, January 7, 2014

 

Minutes Special Meeting of Board of Trustees
Rockingham Free Public Library
Tuesday, January 7th, 2014
Time and Place: 4:30 p.m. at RFPL Meeting Room

Trustees in attendance: Hope Brissette, Elayne Clift, Ray Massucco, Carolyn Frisa, Pat Fowler, Deborah Wright, Jan Mitchell-Love, and Laura Senes
Staff in attendance: Emily Zervas and Sam Maskell
Public in attendance: Celina Houlne, Steven Geller and Joel Love.

1. Call to Order: 4:41p.m.

2. Public comment: None

3. Work session by trustees on trustees’ bylaws: Review of previously discussed changes to Bylaws, Articles I-VII. Beginning discussion of other possible Bylaw changes. Carolyn Frisa recorded the discussed changes.

4. Schedule next work session: The next work session will be Tuesday, January 21, 2014, 4:30 pm. at RFPL Meeting Room.

5. Adjourn: Motion to adjourn, made by Hope Brissette, seconded by Deb Wright. Passed unanimously at 5:40 pm.

These minutes respectfully submitted by Laura Senes on January 8, 2014.

 

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Warning and Agenda: Friday, January 3, 2014

Warning and Agenda
Special Meeting of Board of Trustees
Rockingham Free Public Library
Friday, January 3rd, 2014
Time and Place: 2:00 p.m. at RFPL Meeting Room

1. Call to Order

2. Public comment: 2 minutes per person; 15 minute time period for all public comments

3. Discuss and vote on 2015 library budget

4. Plan to attend Tuesday, January 7th’s Rockingham Selectboard meeting to support library budget presentation

5. Discuss and approve moving January meeting schedule back to original plan: bylaws revision meeting on Tuesday, January 7th and trustees monthly meeting on Tuesday, January 14th

6. Other

7. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: January 3, 2014

 

MINUTES OF THE ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
Friday, January 3, 2014
2:00 PM
LOCATION: Meeting Room, RFPL, Bellows Falls, VT

Board members in attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Ray Massucco, Deb Wright, Pat Fowler, Elayne Clift, Laura Senes and Carolyn Frisa (by phone).
Staff in attendance: Mary Van Hartesveldt, Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell.
Public attendees: Arnold Clift and Joe Brissette.
Press in attendance: Domenic Poli (Brattleboro Reformer) and Allison Teague (The Commons).

1. Call to order by Deb Wright at 2:09 pm.

2. Public Comment: None

3. Discuss and vote on 2015 library budget: (Jan Mitchell-Love arrives at 2:18). Elayne Clift states she cannot approve a budget that does not include a 2% salary increase for staff. The staff has worked hard to present a level funded budget. Pat Fowler reports that it has been a difficult budget to manage even without potential staff increases. Deb Wright made a motion to approve the FY 15 budget at $364,270 of which $320,800 will be raised by taxes. This motion, seconded by Ray Massucco, passed with five in favor and two opposed.

4. Plan to attend Tuesday, January 7th’s Rockingham Selectboard meeting to support library budget presentation: The meeting is at 6:00 pm. Mary Van Hartesveldt and Emily Zervas will present the budget, but all trustees should attend if possible to show support.

5. Discuss and approve moving January meeting schedule back to original plan: bylaws revision meeting on Tuesday, January 7th and trustees’ monthly meeting on Tuesday January 14th: Discussed and agreed upon.

6. Other: Eagle Times article and back up docs: Elayne Clift gave a letter she wrote on behalf of the board thanking the highway department and information on the upcoming panel discussion to Jan to send out. Elyane Clift made a motion to appoint Ray Massucco to the Finance Committee. Jan Mitchell-Love stated that the motion was out of order because it is the chairperson’s job to assign committees and that you cannot take action on items under other business. Elayne Clift requested this be put on as an agenda item for the next Trustees meeting. Emily Zervas urged the board to vote on the staff compensation for taking on extra duties. This will be done at the next Trustees meeting. Pat Fowler asked about the outstanding bills for Stephen Ankuda. Deb Wright stated she has asked his office for further clarification and not received a reply. These bills were signed for. Hope Brissette thanks J+H hardware for sponsoring the filming of our meetings. Deb Wright presented an Eagle Times article about removing the library board as the governance of the library and making it an appointed position. Elayne Clift reminded everyone of the panel discussion on what your library can do for you on February 6, 2014.

7. Motion to adjourn: Deb Wright made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Hope Brissette, passed unanimously at 3:50 pm.

These minutes respectfully submitted by Laura Senes on January 8, 2014.

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, December 10, 2013

AGENDA OF RFPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
TUESDAY, December 10th, 2013
4:30 PM at Meeting Room, RFPL, Bellows Falls, VT

1. Call to order

2. Public Comment – 2 minutes per person; 15 minute time period for all public comments.

3. Approve minutes of November 12th, 2013 trustees’ meeting

4. Share new library director job posting materials

5. Discuss next steps for DOL paperwork for terminated library director
Executive Session (if necessary)

6. Director’s Monthly Report
a. Report
b. Financial Reports
c. FY15 Budget
d. Other

7. Committee Reports
a. Building – Hope Brissette
Pat Fowler on neighbor’s concerns
b. Communication – no report
c. Finance – Deb Wright
d. Historical Collection – Carolyn Frisa
e. Policy – reminder: bylaws meeting (for all trustees) on January 7th, 2014
f. Personnel – Jan Mitchell-Love

8. Old Business
a. 2014 workshop with Amy Howlett

9. New Business
a. Thank you to Highway Department

10. Review agenda items for next meeting and meeting date. Current meeting date is Tuesday,
January 14th at 4:30 p.m in RFPL’s Meeting Room.

11. Executive Session (if necessary)

12. Trustees’ Comments

13. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, December 10, 2013

 

MINUTES OF THE ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
TUESDAY, December 10, 2013
4:30 PM

LOCATION: Meeting Room, RFPL, Bellows Falls, VT
Board members in attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Ray Massucco, Deb Wright, Pat Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, Elayne Clift and Laura Senes.
Staff in attendance: Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell.
Public attendees: Barbara Stickney, Arnold Clift and David Gould.
Press in attendance: Susan Smallheer (Rutland Herald), Chris Garofolo (Eagle Times) and Allison Teague (The Commons).

1. Call to order 4:40 PM

2. Public Comment: One member of the public asked about an update on the board looking into raising the non-resident fee so it would be in line with the amount paid by taxpayers. This will be discussed under the Finance Committee. One member of the public asked about where meetings are warned, and commented that he found no warnings for the Personnel meeting on November 25th. Meetings warnings are always posted at the town hall and on the kiosk outside the town hall. They will now be posted on the bulletin board in the vestibule of the library. Another member of the public commented that it is difficult to hear if more than one person is talking at the same time.

3. Approve minutes of November 12, 2013 trustees’ meeting minutes: Ray Massucco made a motion to approve the November 12, 2013 trustees’ meeting minutes with the following changes; Ray Massucco’s name will be removed from list of those in attendance on 12/10/ 2013, Ray Massucco’s name will be removed from #8 as having attended the state workshops, #5 will be changed from Director’s Monthly report to Librarian’s Monthly Report, and Ray Massucco’s email that was discussed during the meeting will be added as and addendum to the minutes. This motion, seconded by Deborah Wright passed with 7 in favor, none opposed.

4. Share new library director job posting materials: Tabled until next week after the Personnel Committee has time to complete the job description and members of the board have time to review the job posting and description.

5. Discuss next steps for DOL paperwork for terminated library director. Executive Session (if necessary): Jan Mitchell-Love received and email from Chip Stearns asking if we wanted to appeal the benefits for unemployment for the terminated library director, which would be due by the end of the next business day, 12/11/13. Hope Brissette made a motion to have the department of labor look into an appeal on the terminated library director. This motion, seconded by Deborah Wright did not pass with a vote of 2 in favor, 5 opposed, no abstentions. No executive session necessary.

6. Librarian’s Monthly Report
a. Report: Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell presented the monthly report. The staff has initiated a fundraiser to adopt new library items. This year’s calendars are for sale for $12. Shelving is installed and volunteers have been helping with shelving books. More shelving volunteers are welcome to call to schedule a time.
b. Financial Reports: Deborah Wright asked a question about insurance costs, as over half the insurance budget has been spent and we are not quite half way through the fiscal year. Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell will ask Mary Van Hartesveldt and let the board know.
c. FY15 Budget: Tabled until next meeting.
d. Other: We receive about $2700/year in non-resident fees. Presently Westminster elementary school students must pay non-resident fees to use the RFPL. All other WNESU school students receive free student library cards. Ray Massucco moved to extend free student library cards to all Westminister public school students PreK-grade 6. This motion, seconded by Deborah Wright passed with 7 in favor, none opposed, no abstentions.

7. Committee Reports
a. Building-Hope Brissette: The committee has not met. Nothing to report. Will set-up a metting.

Pat Fowler on neighbor’s concerns: Pat Fowler received and email from David Kersula with complaints about noise from the compressors outside the library and the outdoor lighting. There is a need for noise screening, and for the light timing and direction to be fixed. The building committee will meet with the staff to take care of these issues.

The meeting was recessed until December 17th at 4:30 in the RFPL meeting room. Resume meeting December 17, 2013

In attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Ray Massucco, Deb Wright, Paige Pietrzak, Pat Fowler, Elayne Clift and Laura Senes (by phone).
Public in attendance: Joel Love, David DeRusha, David Gould, Wendy O’Connell, and Arnold Clift
Press in attendance: none signed in

Call to order at 4.37 p.m.

4. Share new library director job posting materials: tabled from last week. Deb Wright moved the following: “I move that the job posting for library director be submitted to the VT State Library listing sites, as well as all other appropriate posting locations, immediately, to be available online no later than 12/20/13.” Hope Brissette seconded. After discussion, including input from the public, the vote was taken. The motion passed with seven (7) in favor, none opposed and no abstentions.

A discussion followed on the Search Committee for the new director.

Laura left the meeting at 5:32 p.m.

6. c. FY15 Budget: tabled from last week. Mary Van Hartesveldt joined the meeting by speaker phone.

The trustees went over the FY 15 budget. Included is a 2% cost of living increase for staff. There is a total of a 3.5% increase or $11,234.00 increase. A discussion ensued over the amount allocated to fundraising on the proposed budget, the 2% staff increase, and the amount for legal bills. Elayne spoke in favor of staff receiving compensation. Then Emily Zervas went through the budget line by line noting, among others factors, that repairs and maintenance are going up. Pat Fowler made the following motion: “ I move that we approve this budget.” Elayne Clift seconded. More discussion followed. A member of the public noted that if the budget passed the board, both the Friends of the Library and the Board of Trustees should fundraise. Ray Massucco mentioned the possibility of a capital campaign. The vote was taken: the results were two (2) for, two (2) against, and one (1) abstention.

6. d. Other. Pat Fowler updated trustees on the People’s Bank annuity. The check will be mailed, the funds will be deposited in the TD bank account, and we will reinvest funds.

6. d. Other. Did not discuss financial compensation for Emily Zervas and Sam Maskell for their performance of co-director duties on top of their work in their regular positions.

7. Committee Reports

c. Finance: the following was mentioned: the part-time staff benefits in rescinded 2012 Personnel Policy – this has been sent to the Finance Committee for discussion.

d. Historical Collection: no report as Carolyn Frisa was not present.

e. Policy – reminder: bylaws meeting (for all trustees) on January 7th, 2014. Ray Massucco proposed that we move the trustees’ meeting to January 7th and the bylaws meeting to January 14th. All present agreed to that.

f. Personnel – no report

8. Old Business
a. 2014 workshop with Amy Howlett – the group decided on a Tuesday, January 28th date from 4:30 to 7:30 with either a potluck dinner break or people brown bagging their dinners. The snow date would be Tuesday, February 4th.

9. New Business
a. Thank you to Highway Department – Elayne Clift will write this and send it to the chair to sign and send out. 10. Review agenda items for next meeting and meeting date. Current meeting date is Tuesday, January 14th at 4:30 p.m. in RFPL’s Meeting Room. This trustees meeting has been switched to January 7th at 4:30 with bylaws meeting taking place on January 14th at 4:30 p.m. Both meetings will take place in RFPL’s Meeting Room. Hope Brissette and Paige Pietrzak left at approximately 6:15 p.m.

9. New Business – Emily brought up two more new business items.

b. Emily would like to ask Wendy O’Connell to fill in on desk shifts on an as-needed basis at a salary of almost $13.00 an hour. Those trustees still present thought this was a good idea since Wendy has worked at the library and would require no training. As this would cost no money (Wendy would fill in for part-timers who would not be paid when they could not work or for full-timers who would be taking vacation), no vote was necessary.

c. Emily would like to replace the current adult computer table which is not ADA compliant. Since Gaylord’s is having a 20% off sale through 12/31/13, she would like to move ahead with the purchase. As there was not a quorum of trustees left, a vote on this could not be taken. Emily is going to check to see if Gaylord’s will extend the sale until the January 7th meeting; if not, trustees can hold a special meeting to vote on this before December 31st.

11. Executive Session (if necessary) – none needed

12. Trustees’ Comments: Pat is disheartened at the workload of her committee work. Jan thanked everyone for coming out to meet despite the snowy conditions

13. Adjourn – the meeting was adjourned at 6:58 p.m.

These minutes respectfully submitted by Laura Senes and Jan Mitchell-Love on December 19, 2013.

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, November 12, 2013

AGENDA OF RFPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
TUESDAY, November 12th, 2013
4:30 PM at Meeting Room, RFPL, Bellows Falls, VT

1. Call to order
2. Public Comment – 2 minutes per person; 15 minute time period for all public comments.
3. Public records requests – Library attorney, Stephen Ankuda, available for trustees’ questions (sent legal opinion letter on November 8th, 2013)
4. Approve minutes of September 10th, 2013 trustees’ meeting and the following special meeting minutes: August 29th, 2013, October 1st, 2013, October 22nd, 2013, and October 29th, 2013.

5. Director’s Monthly Report
a. Library sign – information and quote
b. Coordination of library ‘thank you’ effort
c. Generating a Library Wish List
d. Meeting Room – draft Policies and Procedures
e. Financial Reports

6. Committee Reports
a. Building – Hope Brissette
b. Communication – no report
c. Finance – Deb Wright and Pat Fowler
Information from Pat Fowler’s meeting with Mary Van Hartesveldt
Peoples’ Bank informational/training meeting for trustees — Pat
d. Historical Collection – Carolyn Frisa
e. Policy – schedule bylaws committee meeting
f. Personnel – present director job description/get approval for next steps

7. Old Business
a. Get approval to correct DOL paperwork on terminated former director.
b. Update on installation of lockout feature for library’s elevator
c. Update on plans for library’s grand opening celebration

8. New Business
a. Discuss possible 3 hours workshop/retreat with Amy Howlett – schedule if agreed to?
b. Reminder: Attorney General’s Open Meeting law presentation on November 22nd.
c. Reminder: Selectboard/Library Board of Trustees joint meeting, 6 p.m. on November 13th

9. Review agenda items for next meeting and meeting date. Current meeting date is Tuesday, December 10th at 4:30 p.m in RFPL’s Meeting Room.

10. Executive Session (if necessary)

11. Trustees’ Comments

12. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, November 12, 2013

MINUTES OF THE ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12th, 2013
4:30 PM
LOCATION: Meeting Room, RFPL, Bellows Falls, VT

Board members in attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Deb Wright, Paige Pietrzak, Pat Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, Elayne Clift and Laura Senes.
Staff in attendance: Mary Van Hartesveldt, Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell.
Town Attorney: Stephen Ankuda
Public attendees: Arnold Clift, Kathleen Michel, Anne Parkman, Donna Stevens, Célina Houlné, Wendy O’Connell, David Gould and David DeRusha.
Press in attendance: Susan Smallheer (Rutland Herald), Chris Garofolo (Eagle Times). Domenic Poli (Brattleboro Reformer) and Allison Teague (The Commons).

1. Call to order 4:38 PM

2. Public Comment: None

3. Public records requests- Town attorney, Stephen Ankuda, sent a legal opinion letter on November 8th, 2013 and presented at the meeting to answer trustees’ questions. Elayne Clift made a motion to establish an email address as a repository for the RFPL public records. This motion, seconded by Carolyn Frisa, passed with 7 in favor, none opposed. Carolyn Frisa made a motion that the Board of Trustees not blind copy (BCC:) in sending emails. This motion, seconded by Deb Wright, passed with 7 in favor, none opposed. A motion was made by Carolyn Frisa that the Board of Trustees create a policy regarding Trustee email communication. This motion, seconded by Pat Fowler, passed with 7 in favor, none opposed.

4. Approve minutes of September 10, 2013 trustees’ meeting and the following special meeting minutes: August 29th, 2013, October 1st, 2013, October 22nd, 2013 and October 29th, 2013-Deborah Wright made a motion to pass the September 10, 2013 trustees’ meeting minutes. This motion seconded by Hope Brissette, passed with 5 in favor, 2 abstentions. Deborah Wright made a motion to pass the August 29, 2013 recessed meeting minutes with the amendment that the meeting recessed at 10:10, not 11:10. This motion, seconded by Hope Brissette, passed with 6 in favor, 1 abstention. Hope Brissette made a motion to pass the October 1st, 2013 meeting minutes with the addition of the names of 2 public attendees. This motion, seconded by Deb Wright, passed with 7 in favor, none opposed.

A motion was made by Elayne Clift that in keeping with best practices re: meeting minutes, this Board includes in its minutes all action items that arise during the course of a regular Board meeting, that any documents shared with the Board be appended, that all Trustees receive Draft Minutes within five days of any Trustee meeting as required by law, and that all participate together in making amendments, corrections, or additions during regular Board meetings in order that those minutes can be adopted. This motion, seconded by Carolyn Frisa, passed with 5 in favor, 1 opposed and 1 abstention. A motion was made by Carolyn Frisa to pass the October 22, 2013 minutes after the removal of a public attendees’ name that is also listed under attendees from the press. This motion, seconded by Hope Brissette, passed with 7 in favor, none opposed.

A motion was made by Paige Pietrzak to pass the October 29, 2013 minutes with the amendment that brief public comment will be allowed on all agenda items. This motion, seconded by Carolyn Frisa, passed with 7 in favor, none opposed.

5. Director’s Monthly Report
a. Library sign- Frank Hawkins has provided us with a design and broad quote. Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell will take this to the Building Committee.
b. Coordination of library ‘thank you’ effort-This will be tasked to the Communications Committee.
c. Generating a Library Wish List- Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell are compiling a wish list for fundraising. This fundraising will be tasked to the Communications Committee, with the exception of the cleaning of the antique clock that will be tasked to the Historical Committee.
d. Meeting Room-draft Policies and Procedures– Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell presented a Meeting Room Regulations and Application form. A motion was made by Hope Brissette to approve the Meeting Room Regulations and Application form with suggested amendments. This motion, seconded by Carolyn Frisa, passed with 7 in favor, none opposed. Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell will send the amended form to the Trustees.
e. Financial Reports- Mary Van Hartesveldt presented the FY13 budget status and balance sheet. Pat Fowler informed the board that our ING Annuity fund matures on November 18, 2013 and the Finance Committee and Ray Massucco will meet with Linda Walker to look at other options to invest this money. Pat Fowler made a motion that the Treasurer’s special committee meeting with Linda Walker from People’s Bank on November 25th to evaluate the ING annuity account be given the authority to surrender the ING RFPL policy if it is financially beneficial to the library because of Market Value adjustment. This motion, seconded by Carolyn Frisa, passed with 8 in favor.

Carolyn Frisa made a motion to recess the meeting until November 19 at 4:30 in the RFPL meeting room. This motion, seconded by Paige Pietrzak, passed with 7 in favor, none opposed.

Resume meeting November 19, 2013

In attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Ray Massucco, Deb Wright, Paige Pietrzak, Pat Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, Elayne Clift and Laura Senes.
Public in attendance: David DeRusha, Célina Houlné, Betty Haggerty, Steve Geller, and Arnold Clift.
Press in attendance: Chris Garofolo (Eagle Times) and Domenic Poli (Brattleboro Reformer).

Call to order at 4:39 PM.

6. Committee Reports
a. Building-The committee has not met but will schedule to meet with Frank Hawkins about the sign.
b. Communications-The committee has not met but will schedule a meeting to work on the wish list
c. Finance-Deb Wright will call to clarify certain items on the attorney’s bill. The staff is working on next year’s budget, which will be ready to present in December. Finance will also find out from Chip Stearns if this is needed in December or January.
d. Historical-The Historical Committee is meeting the first Wednesday of every month for one hour. The Historical Committee will take on the task of fundraising to clean the antique clock.
e. Policy-The next meeting to work on Bylaws is scheduled for January 7, 2014 at 4:30 in the RFPL meeting room.
f. Personnel-The committee presented the Job Posting they were tasked to create. They will meet again to work on this further with Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell.

7. Old Business
a. Get approval to correct DOL paperwork on terminated former director-A member of the public stated that this must be done in executive session.
b. Update on installation of lockout feature for library’s elevator-The lockout feature is installed.
c. Update on plans for library’s grand opening celebration-The celebration will take place in the spring, after the new shelving is installed. A date will be picked at the January Board of Trustees meeting. The FOL Holiday party is December 7th at noon. Raffle tickets are on sale and donations are being accepted for the raffle.

8. New Business
a. Discuss possible 3 hour workshop/retreat with Amy Howlett-Jan Mitchell-Love will check with Amy about possible dates and the requirement that everyone attend.
b. Reminder: Attorney General Jim Condos will be giving a presentation on Open Meeting law on November 20th at the Bellows Falls Opera House.
c. Reminder: Selectboard/Library Board of Trustees joint meeting, 6 p.m. on November 13th-Already occurred.

Emily Zervas asks the board if it is appropriate to call the highway department for certain small jobs in the library. Pat Fowler made a motion to allow Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell to call the highway department for small items as needed and inform the trustees in the director’s report the next month. This motion, seconded by Ray Massucco, passed with 7 in favor, 1 abstention. Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell will also contact the town manager as needed for information about which vendors to talk to if building problems arise.

Elayne Clift reported on visiting state workshops with Pat Fowler. The importance of involving the community in strategic planning was discussed. There is a panel discussion planned for 2/6/2014 to answer questions about the library and what it does for the community. The FOL would also like to plan a meeting with the community and Trustees in April. Elayne Clift will type something up to put on the agenda for the December Trustees meeting.

Ray Massucco discussed an email he wrote to the Trustees concerning emails between Jan Mitchell-Love, Deb Wright and Chip Stearns. Ray Massucco expressed concern that Jan Mitchell-Love and Deb Wright were acting outside the limit of their authority and wanted reassurance that this would not continue. Jan Mitchell-Love and Deb Wright explained that they felt they did not step outside of their authority in the emails with Chip Stearns, and also stated they would not take authority from the Board.

9. Review agenda items for next meeting and meeting date: Current meeting date is Tuesday, December 10th at 4:30 p.m. in RFPL’s meeting room. Send agenda items to Jan Mitchell-Love

10. Executive Session-Hope Brissette made a motion to go into executive session to talk about the DOL paperwork and a personnel matter. Ray Massucco said there must be a more specific reason given than personnel matters. The matter by which the director was terminated is inaccurate on the DOL paperwork. Hope Brissette made a motion to have Deb Wright contact the DOL to amend the reason for termination of the previous director as the evaluation, not the CAP. This motion, seconded by Laura Senes did not pass, with a vote of 2 in favor, 3 opposed and 3 abstentions.

Compensation for Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell was discussed. Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell request the whole board approve any action items they are being asked to do. Also, that Trustees should send any director related emails to both Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell. Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell suggest a 15% pay raise and 2 days vacation/month as compensation for the increased work load in taking on director’s duties, retroactive to September 18th. They also suggest Mary Van Hartesveldt and Ellen Allman each receive a 10% pay raise. The Finance Committee will look into this further and report at the December 10th meeting.

11. Trustees’ Comments– Carolyn Frisa would like to see this agenda item be consistent going forward.

12. Motion to adjourn made by Paige Pietrzak, seconded by Deb Wright, passed with 7 in favor, none opposed at 7:52p.m.

These minutes respectfully submitted by Laura Senes on November 24, 2013.

Letter from Ray Massucco

Dear Trustees,

If the leadership of the Board of trustees had not already done enough damage, they have now managed to totally dismantle any support from the Municipal Manager, and in all likelihood, the Selectboard. It is inconceivable to me that they can be allowed to continue to operate as petty tyrants without authorization from the full board taken at a duly warned meeting.

When was Deb Wright authorized to dictate that Sam Maskell and Emily Zervas [whom she incorrectly characterizes as “…the RFPL appointed interim directors …”] could not continue to work with the Municipal Manager to efficiently and productively orchestrate the re-installation of the library? It appears to me that Chip, Sam and Emily were simply trying to coordinate the efforts by the Town to help minimize any additional costs to the Library. I am not aware of any board action that authorized Deb or Jan to exercise any direct control over either Sam or Emily. We do not have a library director, nor any interim directors. Neither Jan nor Deb are authorized to act in that capacity. Only the board as a whole has any authority at this point. I have spoken to both Emily and Sam personally and confirmed that neither of them feel as though they have been managed or controlled in any manner by Chip; in fact, they are grateful for his practical and accessible assistance during and after the move.

As a direct result of Deb’s and Jan’s interference, we may have lost the use of the Highway Department at no cost to the library. That is absolutely unacceptable and should be condemned by the rest of the board. Jan’s accusations to Chip regarding the Highway Department are absurd and her willingness to make totally unfounded charges demonstrate complete unfitness to lead the board of trustees. Perhaps Jan or Deb will offer to pay the costs that may now be charged to the library by the Town.

Jan’s email to Chip of November 7, 2013 is equally disturbing [she also appears to be unaware that Sam and Emily are not the “interim library directors.” She makes the unequivocal statement that Celina “…was terminated in part for taking unauthorized salary increases…” when there was no such finding of fact to support that in the board vote. If Celina did not have a legal cause of action against Jan for defamation previously, I believe she does now. She is clearly not speaking for all trustees when she says that “…the Library Trustees are ready – no, eager – to respond to the State Department of Labor (DOL).” If the DOL allows the unemployment filing to be reopened, only the entire board will be authorized to re-submit a response.

Unfortunately, I will be in Boston at the time of today’s board meeting and unable to attend. However, I would urge the board to take two actions:

1. Pass a resolution condemning and censuring Jan and Deb for their unreasonable interference with a process that had been working quite smoothly between Sam, Emily and Chip and for acting outside the scope of any authority granted to them by the entire board of trustees.

2. Remove Jan as Chair and Deb as Vice-Chair from the board of trustees, and elect other trustees to those positions. Their conduct in operating independently and without board authority repeatedly is totally out of control at this point and cannot be condoned. If the board continues to turn a blind eye to their conduct, they are implicit in their support of such rogue behavior.

If the board fails to act decisively and soon, there is a genuine risk that the end result will be the dismantling of the library governance structure and the library will become just another town department under the direct control of the Municipal Manager. There is already a movement to do just that.

Please enter a copy of this email into the minutes for today’s meeting in its entirety. Since Jan had previously informed me that she would no longer inform me of meetings, agendas, etc, I do not know what is on the agenda today other than the informational attendance of Steve Ankuda and a preliminary discussion of the open library director’s position. Here is the text from the email which Jan sent me on October 25, 2013. As the chair, one of her obligations is to inform other board members of the date, time and place of any meetings. There is no requirement that she may limit her communications to email [former trustee, David Buckley, did not have email and was informed by phone or hard copy, hand delivered].

“Hi Ray — Got your e-mail. Since e-mail is the way notices of Board meetings, agendas, etc. are warned, I will expect you to check in regularly by phone? mail? or whatever method suits you to keep yourself up to date on what is going on with the Library Board of Trustees.

As requested, I’m now removing you from the distribution list.

Jan M-L, Cha

P.S. As I wrote you earlier today, I’m trying to set up a special trustees’ meeting for next week ,and I asked about your availability. Since you have not responded, I’m letting you know there will be a meeting, but I do not know when it will be as yet. You can call or write to find out.

JLM-L”

Unlike whichever board member included the media on their communications with Chip, I have not, so they will not be aware of this unless they show up at the meeting this afternoon.

Ray Massucco
L. Raymond Massucco, Esq.
Massucco & Velto, P.C.
90 Westminster Street
Bellows Falls VT 05101-1537
802.463.3303 ext 101 Voice
800.726.3203 Toll Free
802.463.2222 Fax
ray@massuccolaw.com

http://www.reformer.com/localnews/ci_24502520/tensions-rise-at-library-trustees-accuse-municipal-manager# Page 1 of 2 Nov 12, 2013 09:15:11AM MST
Trustees accuse municipal manager of abusing power
By DOMENIC POLI / Reformer Staff Brattleboro Reformer

Posted: Reformer.com
BELLOWS FALLS —
The municipal manager has fired back at the Rockingham Free Public Library trustee chairwoman, who says the manager abused his power while overseeing the renovation of the newly reopened facility at 65 Westminster St.

Willis D. “Chip” Stearns II replied to an e-mail in which Chairwoman Janice Mitchell-Love claims Stearns overstepped his authority by managing the library’s interim directors after Célina Houlné was terminated from the position in September. Mitchell-Love also suggests the library’s board of trustees has not been kept adequately updated on the renovation project and has learned second-hand about important aspects of it.

Stearns apologized for any confusion but said assisting the interim library directors should not be perceived as managing them.

“I am sorry again, the Municipal Manager does not work for the RFPL Trustees, though I have been answering questions/attending meetings as requested by RFPL Trustees and staff,” Stearns wrote in his reply. “My intentions continue to be for cooperation with all requests to best of my abilities.” He also said he never abused his authority, as the library is owned by the town and governance of the library was taken over by the Rockingham Selectboard after general contractor Baybutt Construction failed to uphold its end of its contract when it ran into financial problems.

Rockingham Selectboard Chairman Tom MacPhee defended Stearns and said he never overstepped his authority.

“The library is owned by the town. The day-to-day operations of the library are handled by the library trustees,” he told the Reformer. “But we had to take over the construction when things went south. “We would never be anywhere near where we are today if it wasn’t for Chip,” he continued. “He’s been trying to turn it back over to the trustees but there has been no direction from the library trustees that I’m aware of.”

MacPhee also said going over budget was probably inevitable because of the issue with Baybutt, which had been hired by the Selectboard but had its contract terminated after not paying its subcontractors for work already done. MacPhee said items were dropped from the initial wishlist in order to save money. Stearns previously told the Reformer custom-made metal shelving is still needed to make the renovations complete, and MacPhee defended the decision to get new shelves, saying it would have cost nearly as much to reinstall the older, less attractive shelving.

Houlné, who was fired in September following allegations of misconduct from the trustees, also said Stearns always worked very well with library staff and never crossed any sort of line.

“He was a really good listener and he was very responsive,” she said. “We didn’t know what would happen with Baybutt. He had to figure out a way to save (money) but that doesn’t mean that you don’t still run into unforeseen problems.”

She also said it is crazy to suggest Stearns tries to boss around library staff or town employees. Mitchell-Love had also been disappointed the Rockingham Highway Department was used on the project without that information being given to the trustees. She said she was shocked to hear Stearns tell the Rockingham Selectboard on Tuesday that he had authorized 381 hours of highway department labor to assist library staff, which she says will add to the renovation project’s overrun, which Stearns said has reached $151,734.73

“I was also shocked to hear that you have exceeded your original deficit estimate by over 300 percent — and counting! I am sure that the taxpayers will want a detailed and accurate accounting of this. Unfortunately, you will be reporting next Wednesday in the joint Selectboard/Library Trustees meeting on monies already spent that you did not correctly forecast,” she wrote, referring to the meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. in the Rockingham Town Hall Lower Theatre. “Perhaps this would not have happened if you had kept the Library Trustees in the loop; we had, among other cost-saving measures, volunteers lined up to help move.”

She told the Reformer she is simply trying to protect town taxpayers, who will have to foot the bill for the overrun.

MacPhee said things still needed to be done at the library and Stearns was using some of town employees to do them.

Stearns, in his reply, took responsibility for his use of the highway staff and said the department’s workers have not been expensed against the renovation, though that may happen in the future. He also said it was disheartening to feel such ungratefulness toward the workers and volunteers who helped get the library reopened on Friday, Nov. 1.

For her part, Mitchell-Love said she is dismayed over what she perceived as a lack of intention to return the governance of the library to the trustees and over having no control of the accumulation of bills. “This is my job and I am trying to do right by the taxpayers,” she said. “The deficit is three times what it was supposed to be.”

The library trustees have a meeting scheduled for 4:30 p.m. in the library’s meeting room today. Domenic Poli can be reached at dpoli@reformer.com, or 802-254-2311, ext. 277. You can follow him on Twitter @dpoli_reformer.

Board of Trustees Meeting Notice: Tuesday, October 20, 2013

RFPL Board of Trustees Special Meeting Notice

NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING

The Rockingham Free Public Library Trustees Board of Trustees will meet on Tuesday, October 29th, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. at Town Hall, 3rd floor meeting room, Bellows Falls, VT

This is a special meeting on personnel, library move-in update, and housekeeping issues.

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, October 29, 2013

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 at 2:00 PM
LOCATION: Town Hall, 3rd floor meeting room, Bellows Falls, VT

Board Members in Attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Ray Massucco, Elayne Clift, Deborah Wright, Paige Pietrzak, Pat Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, and Laura Senes.
Staff in Attendance: Sam Maskell and Emily Zervas.
Public in attendance: Arnold Clift, David Gould, and Barbara Stickney,
Press in attendance: Susan Smallheer (Rutland Herald), Chris Garofolo (Eagle Times) and Allison Teague (The Commons).

1. Call to order to order at 2:09 pm by Chairwoman Jan Mitchell-Love.

2. Task Personnel Committee to begin Director search process—Jan Mitchell-Love requests the board task the Personnel Committee with developing a job description to use to recruit a new director, using past job descriptions, descriptions from other libraries and input from Sam Maskell and Emily Zervas. The Personnel Committee will bring recommendations to the November 12 board meeting. The board agrees with this plan.

3. Library move-in update — Sam Maskell and Emily Zervas report a successful move. The staff has been working hard and there have been a lot of volunteers from the community. The board thanks the staff and community for all their hard work. The board also thanks Pat and Alan Fowler and the Friends of the Library for donating chairs for the upstairs meeting room. The library opened Friday, November 1, 2013.

4. Housekeeping Details—public record requests, open Treasurer position, and scheduling committee meetings—Deb Wright made a motion that Pat Fowler fill the open Treasurer position and sit on the Finance Committee. Pat Fowler accepted. This motion, seconded by Hope Brissette, passed with 7 in favor and 1 abstention. Pat is making arrangements with People’s Bank to have a budgeting workshop for all Trustees to attend.

Two newspapers have requested emails from all trustees. Elayne Clift presented documents about public records law and requests they be included with the minutes. Carolyn Frisa reports having consulted her own attorney, who advised her to consult the board’s attorney. Ray Massucco presented bills for consultation by Jan Mitchell-Love to Mr. Ankuda concerning previous requests for public records. Elayne Clift made a motion to invite Mr. Ankuda to attend a board meeting to educate the board on public records requests for 1/2 hour time limit. This motion passed with 7 in favor, 1opposed. Jan Mitchell-Love will see if Mr. Ankuda can give us something in writing earlier for us to discuss at the November 12 meeting.

The next by-laws meeting will be scheduled at the November 12 meeting.

5. Other Business

5 a. The interim co-directors, Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell, were asked and agreed to print out the following for monthly trustees’ meetings: a list of every warrant and the monthly payroll list.

5 b. Deb Wright passed out copies of the legal penalty for not filling public record requests by their due date.

5 c. Deb Wright reported that the Town responded to the Vermont Department of Labor about the former director’s termination – rather than her employers, the Trustees — because the library does not have an EIN number and, instead, uses the Town’s. Chip Stearns stated he has no copy of the paperwork. Jan Mitchell-Love was tasked with asking Chip for copies of the paperwork for the Trustees.

6. Executive Session – if necessary: there was no executive session.

7. Public Comment –

7 a. Comments were made urging public comment be scheduled at the beginning rather than the end of meetings. Jan Mitchell-Love agreed to do this for the next regular trustees meeting on November 12th.

7 b. Carolyn Frisa requested a public records request in her name from the newspapers. Chris Garafalo did this orally to Elayne, Carolyn, and Rayfor the Eagle Times and the Rutland Herald. Carolyn said she would comply.

8. Adjourn – the meeting was adjourned at 3:40 p.m.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Laura Senes, Secretary.
November 5, 2013

 

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, October 22, 2013

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2013 at 5:00 PM
LOCATION: Lower Theater of the Town Hall in Bellows Falls, VT

Board Members in Attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Ray Massucco, Elayne Clift, Deborah Wright, Paige Pietrzak, Pat Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, and Laura Senes.
Board Attorney in Attendance: Stephen Ankuda
Public in attendance: J. Celina Houlné, Arnold Clift, Ann DiBernardo, David Gould, Steve Geller, Nancy Korakeff, Deirdre Fuchs, Lynne Lewandowski, Alma Beals, Eric Bye, Donna Stevens, Diane Brown, Carol Blackwood, Allison Teague, Allegra Maskell, and Joel Love. Press in attendance: Susan Smallheer (Rutland Herald), Chris Garofolo (Eagle Times). Domenic Poli (Brattleboro Reformer) and Allison Teague (The Commons).

1. Call to order to order at 5:05 pm by Chairwoman Jan Mitchell-Love.

2. Executive Session – deliberative session on the Celina Houlné appeal. Deborah Wright made a motion to go into a deliberative session on the Celina Houlné appeal for the evaluation of an employee. This motion, seconded by Hope Brissette, passed with 5 in favor, 4 opposed. Attorney Stephen Ankuda was invited into executive session. Enter executive session, 5:13. Exit executive session at 7:06 with no action taken. Ray Massucco made a motion that based upon the evidence including the exhibits and testimony presented at the two public hearings and the board’s deliberation in executive session this evening that we vote to reverse our September 18, 2013 decision to terminate Ms. Houlné. This motion seconded by Carolyn Frisa, failed with 5 opposed, 4 in favor. Deborah Wright made a motion that based upon the exhibits and testimony presented at the hearings that we not reverse our September 18, 2013 decision to terminate Ms. Houlné. This motion, seconded by Hope Brissette, passed with 5 in favor, 4 opposed.

3. Public comment-Many members of the public expressed their disappointment with the board’s upholding the decision to terminate Ms. Houlné. Members of the public also expressed disapproval of placing public comment at the end of the agenda. One member of the public thanked the board for their time and service to the community.

4. Motion to adjourn made by Deborah Wright, seconded by Paige Pietrzak, passed unanimously at 7:25 pm.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Laura Senes, Secretary. October 29, 2013

 

Board of Trustees Special Meeting: Tuesday, October 1, 2013

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
MINUTES FROM BOARD OF TRUSTEES SPECIAL MEETING
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2013
4:00 PM at Village Square Booksellers in Bellows Falls

In Attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Ray Massucco, Deb Wright, Paige Pietrzak, Pat Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, Laura Senes, Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell.
Public in attendance: Alma Beals, Joel Love, Serena Hickey, Donna Stevens

1. The meeting was called to order at 4:03 pm by Chairwoman Jan Mitchell-Love.

2. Public comment: None.

3. Discuss candidate recommendations to Selectboard for open trustees’ position: The board was unable to find a time with enough trustees to make a quorum to discuss this position. Members received an email with letters of interest from Elayne Clift and Tim Dougherty and were asked to respond with their preference. Jan received 5 responses in favor of Tim Dougherty and informed Chip Stearns. The other three members of the board stated they were in favor of Elayne Clift. Jan stated she would share the recommendation of 5 in favor of Tim Dougherty and 3 in favor of Elayne Clift at the Selectboard meeting scheduled for this evening.

4. Discuss interim director duties (Executive session if necessary): Prior to this meeting the Personnel Committee went through the Director Overview and Job Description to come up with a list of duties and then met with Emily and Sam for input. The Finance Committee met to determine fair compensation for these duties. A motion was made by Ray Massucco to appoint Sam Maskell and Emily Zervas to be interim directors until further direction of the board. Carolyn Frisa made a friendly amendment to state that Sam Maskell and Emily Zervas will share the directorial duties but retain their present job titles. This motion, seconded by Deb Wright, passed with all in favor. The board reviewed the duties with Sam Maskell and Emily Zervas. Trustees will help with searching and writing for larger grants, using the Communications Committee or the committee to which the grant pertains. Sam Maskell and Emily Zervas will continue to seek and write grants pertaining to their areas. Sam Maskell and Emily Zervas asked for help in dealing with records requests. Ray Massucco will advise. Next year’s budget will be proposed by Sam Maskell, Emily Zervas and Mary Van Hartesveldt, with the help of the Finance Committee. Sam Maskell and Emily Zervas stated they received a lump sum and vacation time after filling the position of temporary interim directors in 2008. The Finance Committee will look into this prior to giving a recommendation on compensation for the additional work of taking on the duties of director.

5. Discuss future employee hirings (timeline, etc.): Tabled.

6. Appeal date and location: Thursday, October 10, 2013, 7 PM Lower Theater of the Town Hall.

7. A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Hope Brissette, seconded by Deborah Wright, and unanimously approved at 5:29 pm.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Laura Senes, Secretary.
October 7, 2013

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, September 10, 2013

MINUTES OF RFPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10th, 2013
5:00 PM at Village Square Booksellers, Bellows Falls

In Attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Ray Massucco, David Buckley, Deb Wright, Paige Pietrzak, Pat Fowler, Laura Senes and Célina Houlné.
Public attendees: Willis D. “Chip” Stearns, II, Duane Whitehead, Mary Van Hartesveldt, Betty Haggerty, Deirdre Fuchs, Wendy Kress, Emily Zervas, and Joel Love.

1. Call to order at 5:04 pm

2. Public Comment – Betty Haggerty read a letter signed by members of the FOL written in support of library director Célina Houlné. Letter attached as requested.

3. Approve minutes of August 12th, 2013 trustees’ meeting-Hope Brissette made a motion to approve the minutes of 8/12/13 and to include the director’s report of 8/7/13. This motion, seconded by Deb Wright, passed unanimously.

4. Renovation/moving update from Chip Stearns-We received a full certificate of occupancy yesterday. Some vendors will need to come back and do training on new systems. The projected budget overage will be $50,000-$70,000, money the town hopes to recoup. Members of the board and public thank Chip for all his hard work in helping to complete the renovation project.

5. Director’s Monthly Report-9/6/2013 Director’s report included in minutes. Holiday Party is planned for December 7th.

Financial Reports-It is early in the fiscal year, and we are waiting for final reports for FY13.

6. Committee Reports
a. Building – Hope Brissette-The Building Committee will meet to help plan the move. The sign is rotting and needs to be replaced. The new sign will be double sided and turned sideways. Frank Hawkins is working on a plan. The antique clock needs to be cleaned; the estimated cost is $1000.

b. Communications – no report

c. Finance – Deb Wright-Deb Wright made a motion to instruct the treasurer to sign the attorney’s bill to pay the for services incurred. This motion, seconded by Hope Brissette, passed with 5 in favor, 2 opposed and one abstention.

Deb Wright made a motion that any costs that could be included in the renovation budget should be moved into the renovation budget, such as money spent on library relocation costs, rent, propane, attorney’s fees, and related items. This motion, seconded by Ray Massucco passed unanimously.

The Finance Committee will meet on 9/19/13 at 9:00AM to review the financial impact of the changes made in the currently rescinded 2012 Personnel Policy.

d. Historical Collection – Pat Fowler reports Carolyn Frisa will be chair of the committee and Emily Zervas will be secretary. We received a grant for display cases on the first floor. Discussing a special exhibition for the grand reopening of the library. Next meeting is scheduled for 10/2/13 9:00AM at Works on Paper.

e. Policy – next meeting is Tuesday, September 17th, 5 p.m.

f. Personnel-Continuation of 8/29/13 special meeting to take place 9/18/13 9:00AM in third floor of town hall.

7. Old Business
a. Staffing – discuss open position, etc.-Review of Job description for Programming/Community Relations Librarian. Célina Houlné will remove part -ime benefits of pro-rated personal and sick leave from the description. Ray Massucco makes a motion to authorize Célina Houlné to fill the position of Programming/Community Relations Librarian, to place advertisements as appropriate for positions of this type, interview and hire. This motion, seconded by David Buckley, passed with 8 votes in favor.

b. 2008 Personnel Policy- The board will meet after the Finance Committee meeting meets and provides financial guidance.

8. New Business
a. Communications — discuss recent correspondence, etc.-Jim Mitchell asked if the Board of Trustees had any knowledge of the agenda item to remove handicapped parking from in front of the library to be discussed at the 9/10/13 Bellows Falls Village Trustees meeting. The board was unaware of this agenda item.

9. Review agenda items for next meeting and meeting date. Current meeting date is Tuesday, October 8th at 4:30 p.m.

10. Executive Session (personnel)-Not needed at this time. Will schedule executive session for 10/18/13 9:00 AM at the Town Hall.

11. Public Comment – Joel Love thanked the board for its decision to close the library.

12. Directors’ Comments

13. Adjourn- Paige Pietrzak made a motion to adjourn at 7:10, seconded by Ray Massucco, all in favor.

These minutes respectfully submitted by Laura Senes, September 17, 2013.

LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT September 6, 2013 Célina Houlné

Staff
* Emily and Sam continued to work out some of the kinks in the VOKAL migration.
* Emily reviewed technology layout and fiber delivery for renovated library.
* Sam begun planning for youth programs in the renovated library.
* Emily provided reference services at the Windham County Historical Fair.
* Staff members have been covering for each other as we’ve been taking vacation.
* I prepared for and attended the monthly board meeting, Special Board meeting, Historical Collections Committee meeting and the Building Committee meeting.
* I worked on the preliminary FY13 budget report. * I arranged for Chip to give the staff a tour through the renovated building. * I worked on layout plans for the collections and offices in the renovated library. * I’ve been working on my response to my annual evaluation by the Personnel Committee. Programs
* Upcoming fall programs: Bully – this is a collaboration with several organizations and will include multiple screenings of the documentary around the community.
* School visits will be happening when we’re settled in the new space, and Youth Services will have storytimes, afterschool programs, family programs and Halloween programs.
* BFUHS Literary Kick-Off: The book we’ve been reading is “The Last Shot” by Darcy Frey, we will be hosting documentary screenings of related films in the fall and the winter. More information to be announced.
* September is Library Card sign-up month; students in K-12 have until Sept 20th to show their card at the Library to enter into a drawing to win a $10 gift certificate to the Village Square Booksellers.

Building * I met with the Building Committee and Ray was given some questions to ask Chip.
* The town manager is finishing up the punch list and once the inspection is complete we’ll be emptying the trailers and begin setting back up.
* Eric Clark will resume mowing the lawn.

Budget/Finance
* August’s end-of the month financial reports: we are just two months into FY14 and there is not anything notable to report.
* A preliminary FY13 budget analysis has been done and will be emailed to you.
* Auditors have been reviewing FY13 financial records for the last two weeks so we may have a final FY13 report next month, which will depend on the town manager.
* When town buildings get looked at for insurance purposes this fall, the library will be appraised at that time.
* The Friends of the Library will have a table at SEVCA’s Annual Flea Market on September 28 and will be selling raffle tickets, drawing to be held at the holiday party on December 7.

An open letter to the Rockingham Free Public Library Board of Trustees

At a meeting of the Friends of the Rockingham Library on September 4, 2013, members present were shocked to learn that on August 29, 2013, the Personnel Committee of the Rockingham Free Public Library Board of Trustees recommended to the Trustees the dismissal of Célina Houlné, as Director of the Library. The Trustees adjourned the meeting to be reconvened on September 18, 2013, to give Ms. Houlné time to respond to the charges against her.

The leadership of the Friends of Rockingham Library, an organization of patrons and citizens designed to support the library in its mission, is appalled by the actions of the Personnel Committee. Many of us on the Friends’ board have worked closely with Ms. Houlné and know that she has served with the utmost professionalism during her tenure, has the full and abiding endorsement of the library staff, the support of a large number of library patrons, and the respect of other librarians throughout the state of Vermont. She has done an outstanding job of providing library services to the library patrons and the general public throughout the very difficult period of the library building renovation, and has overseen the relocation of the library into temporary space during the final phases of the renovation. Ms. Houlné has provided stellar leadership with grace, charm, and integrity. Rather than seeking to dismiss Ms. Houlné, the Personnel Committee should be writing letters of commendation and recommending a salary increase in appreciation for a job well done.

As a result of our first hand knowledge and experience with Ms. Houlné, we feel the Personnel Committee has made a grievous error in judgment and that the error must be rectified.

Therefore, at the reconvened meeting of the Rockingham Free Public Library Board of Trustees on September 18, 2013, we the undersigned, as officers and other board members of the Friends of the Rockingham Library and as concerned citizens, call for: A) the Personnel Committee to withdraw its recommendation for Ms. Houlné’s dismissal, and/or B) the library Trustees to vote down the Committee’s recommendation. For the Personnel Committee or the Trustees to do otherwise will be a miscarriage of justice that will affect our library for years to come. We ask that members of the Personnel Committee and all of the Trustees of the Rockingham Free Public Library set aside any personal issues that may be involved, and do what is right for Ms. Houlné, the library, and our community at large.

Elayne Clift President, FOL Arnold Clift, FOL Board member
Nancy Kovaleff, Vice President, FOL Susan Warner, FOL Board member
Betty Haggerty, Secretary, FOL Susan Lampe-Wilson, FOL Board member
David Gould, Treasurer, FOL

Historical Collections Committee Meeting Agenda: Wednesday, September 4, 2013

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
at Works on Paper (7 The Square, Bellows Falls)
9:00 – 10:00 AM

1. Call to order
2. Additions or changes to agenda
3. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
4. Election of officers (chairperson and secretary)
5. Review of work done in 2012
6. Plan for moving collection post-renovation
a. Discuss timeline and logistics for move
b. Review available storage and exhibition spaces
7. Exhibition planning for Library Grand Reopening
8. Next steps for Historical Collections Committee / set new tasks
9. Review agenda items for next meeting / set meeting date
10. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Thursday, August 29, 2013

AGENDA
SPECIAL MEETING OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES
ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
THURSDAY, AUGUST 29TH, 2013
9:00 a.m.
LOCATION: Town Hall, 3rd floor meeting room; Bellows Falls, VT

1. Call to order

2. Public Comment – 2 minutes per person; 15 minute time period for all public comments. Note: Public comments are limited to non-agenda items.

3. Executive session – personnel

3. Adjourn

Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes: Thursday, August 29, 2013

 

SPECIAL MEETING OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES
ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
THURSDAY, AUGUST 29TH, 2013
9:00 a.m.
LOCATION: Town Hall, 3rd floor meeting room; Bellows Falls, VT

In Attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Ray Massucco, David Buckley, Deb Wright, Paige Pietrzak, Pat Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, Laura Senes and Célina Houlné.
Public attendees: Dutch Walsh

1. Call to order 9:09 AM

2. Public Comment: None

3. Executive session – personnel: Laura Senes makes a motion to enter executive session for the purpose of discussing personnel issues. This motion, seconded by Hope Brissette, passes with 7 in favor, 2 opposed. Enter executive session 9:15 AM. Leave executive session 11:03 with no action taken.

Hope Brissette makes a motion to approve the director’s evaluation as written, seconded by Deb Wright. Ray Massucco makes a friendly amendment to alter the motion to provide the director with a copy of the evaluation and allow her time to read and respond to the board in writing or orally in 15 calendar days. This friendly amendment accepted by Hope Brissette. Motion passes with 8 votes in favor. Deb Wright makes a motion to recess the meeting until September 18 at 9:00 AM in order to allow the director time to read and respond to the evaluation. This motion, seconded by Hope Brissette, passes unanimously. Meeting recessed at 11:10 10:10 to resume on September 18, 9:00AM, location to be announced.

Resume meeting September 18, 2013 at Town Hall, 3rd floor meeting room

In attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Ray Massucco, Deb Wright, Paige Pietrzak, Pat Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, Laura Senes and Célina Houlné.
Public in attendance: Jacqueline Hewitt, Bob Hewitt, Barbara Stickney, Joel Love, Anne Parkman Debbi Wetzel, Adam Wetzel, Susan Lampe-Wilson, Richard K. Bowen, Esq., Alma Beals, Deirdre Fuchs, Betty Haggerty, Sam Maskell, Steve Geller, Andrew Smith, Lynne Lewandowski, Kathleen Michel, Donna Stiles, Helen P. Carroll, Wendy O’Connell, Deborah Bump, Diane Brown, Joe Brissette.

Call to order at 9:05 AM. Deb Wright made a motion to enter executive session for the purpose of discussing personnel issues. This motion seconded by Hope Brissette, passed with 5 in favor, 3 opposed. Enter executive session 9:08 AM. Exit executive session at 9:56 AM. Deborah Wright made a motion that the Trustees of the Rockingham Free Public Library vote to approve the library director’s 2013 evaluation and terminate Celina J Houlne, Library Director, in accordance with Section 14, Subsection F-5, of the Rockingham Free Public Library’s Personnel Policy and Procedures Manual, Adopted June 19, 2008, such termination to be effective immediately. This motion seconded by Hope Brissette passed with 5 in favor, 3 opposed. Deborah Wright made a motion to make Emily Zervas acting interim director of the RFPL. This motion, seconded by Hope Brissette passed with 5 in favor, 3 opposed.

4. Motion to adjourn made by Deborah Wright and was seconded by Hope Brissette, passed unanimously at 9:58 AM.

These minutes respectfully submitted by Laura Senes on September 23, 2013.

 

Building and Grounds Committee Special Meeting Warning/Agenda: Wednesday, August 30, 2013

WARNING/AGENDA
SPECIAL MEETING OF BUILDING AND GROUNDS COMMITTEE
ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30th, 2013
9AM
LOCATION: Massucco & Velco P.E. 90 Westminster St Bellows Falls VT
1. Call to order

2. Updates on construction exiting the building from Chip

3. Cleaning plans
A. Options and costs
B. Volunteers-FOL, others
C. Antique clock needs professional cleaning. moving and possibly appraisal?

4. Moving plans
A. Options and costs
B. Volunteers-FOL, others

5. Grounds
A. Town plans-Ellen Howard
B. Lawn care and snow removal
C. Plant installation

1. Plant Donations
2. Maintenance and care

6. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Monday, August 12, 2013

AGENDA OF RFPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
MONDAY, AUGUST 12th, 2013
5:00 PM at Village Square Booksellers, Bellows Falls

1. Call to order

2. Public Comment – 2 minutes per person; 15 minute time period for all public comments. Note: Public comments are limited to non-agenda items

3. Approve minutes of: July 22nd, 2013 trustees’ meeting, July 31st trustees’ special meeting, and August 7th trustees’ special meeting

4. Director’s Monthly Report

Financial Reports — if available

5. Committee Reports
a. Building – Hope
b. Communications – no report
c. Finance – Deb Wright
d. Historical Collection – no report
e. Policy – bylaws revisions, discuss future policy on handling of public information requests and board notification
f. Personnel – schedule special meeting for CAP and draft evaluation discussion

6. Renovation update

7. Old Business
a. Staffing – discuss timing of Ed’s replacement, etc.
b. Open Meeting Law tweaks – online meetings
c. Privacy issues – e-mails

8. New Business
a. 2008 Personnel Policy – moving forward
b. Communications — discuss recent correspondence, etc.

9. Review agenda items for next meeting and meeting date. Do we change the day? Current meeting date is Monday, September 9th at 5:00 p.m.

10. Executive Session – personnel issues: CAP update

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: August 12, 2013

 

Rockingham Library Board of Trustees
August 12, 2013
Held at Village Square Booksellers

Attendees: Library Trustees- Hope Brisette, David Buckley, Carolyn Frisa, Pat Fowler, Ray Massucco, Jan Mitchell-Love, Paige Pietrzak, Laura Senes, Deborah Wright. Celena Houlné, Director
Public Attendees: Deidre Fuchs, Elayne & Arnold Clift, Alma Beals, Wendy O’Connell, Serena Engermann, Steve Geller, Audrey Boerum, Joe Brissette, Donna Stevens, Lisa Delmar, Chris Garafalo (Press), Alison Teague (Press)

Meeting was called to order at 5:05pm

Public Comments- Arnold has questions about the activities of the vice chairman. He gave a letter to Jan who indicated that the questions would be covered under the agenda. Elayne read a letter from the US Postal System about the sending of a postcard addressed to the Rockingham Library Board of Trustees to an individual PO Box in Saxtons River.

July 22 minutes- Carolyn moved as approved Hope seconded- aye votes from all Trustees except Ray who abstained.
July 31 minutes- Arnold asked that it be added into the record that Mr Massucco did not withdraw his candidacy – Pat stated this was an error on her part in interpreting Ray’s email to Jan. Carolyn noted that trustees found out on the 31st that clarification was needed on who actually appoints the position- the trustees or the select board. The continuation of the Trustee meeting was on personnel issues discussed in executive session. Six trustees voted to pass the minutes: David & Ray abstained.
Aug 7 minutes – moved by Carolyn, seconded by Ray. Passed unanimously

Director’s report of August 7: Library will need to start to move back to our building.

Financials- no report yet. KOBO will be donated to the Friends of the Library Raffle from Village Square Booksellers & Vermont Festivals has donated Roots on the River June 2014 tickets. The Friends will have a booth at the SEVCA flea market Sept 28 The Friends have planned to have their holiday party on December 7.

Donna asked about the staff reporting of informational requests requested by Library Personnel Committee. Jan indicated that this will be discussed later during the meeting.

Building Report by Hope- Ray has agreed to be on the Building Committee. We will have a Certificate of Occupancy EOM, then the contractor will have to do punch list – priority will be set on what the construction company will pick up, the building needs to be cleaned end to end. Celina will be off 9th-20th for a wedding. Are there any groups that can be approached to help with the cleanup? We will need volunteers. Discussion ensued. Outside landscaping- Hope has plants ready to plant. For cleaning, we need a list of materials and equipment necessary- ladders, wetvac? Should we use ServPro? What can be covered under the Repairs and Maintenance budget? Carolyn asked if we can get cleaning quotes. Can we use student volunteers for community service? Steve suggested we get quotes showing differentiate levels of cleaning. Donna wondered if we can ask the master gardeners to assist in outside planting. Celina reminded the board that we have a landscaping plan from Julie Moir Messervy. Deb asked that the landscaping issue be put on the agenda for the September meeting. Celina will talk to Chip about utilizing the $100 day prison system.

Finance- Deb indicated that Pat has agreed to be on the Finance Committee with David & Deb. We need to evaluate the financial impact on benefits. Deb has asked Chip for more information. Arnold asked that copies of documents be made available during discussion. Deb has an over/under budget worksheet.

Historical Collection– no info

Policy Committee- board will be meeting on August 26th.

Personnel Committee- public information requests- Concern that documents not given to trustees, but public have them. We need a future policy on this. Handout from Jan discussed. operating budget is a public record. Ray indicated that the owner of document has control of it. We need to know who is custodian of the document?. State of Vermont- requires that we comply within 10 days. Carolyn suggested that any documents handed out at the meeting should be added to the minutes. And be made available online. Ray indicated that the town & village have a one page form. Laura moved that if the library director gives out public info document about library business (such as individual bills), that the trustees should also be included in the distribution. Deb seconded but the motion did not pass.

Aug 26th meeting to discuss bylaws will be a Personnel executive session instead to discuss the CAP report and evaluation.

Renovation update covered in earlier email with info from Chip.

Staffing- Celina asked about replacing Ed’s position. Pat asked if there is money in the budget for benefits- personal and sick time and vacation costs. Celina can review. This is a 25 hour position. Deb mentioned that benefits might be an unfunded liability; can a person bank the time? We need Finance Committee meeting to evaluate. The Finance Committee should present info on this to the board at next meeting. Personal leave is not in finance report from Chip.

Discussion on open meeting rules – in reference to online meetings – emails- can send out but cannot answer to “all”. Ray indicated that it is an “invitation to conversation” if you put an item into an email that requires an answer. We can ask who can attend meeting but there can be no substantive discussion of library business. This refers to FaceBook postings also. Use reply to sender if asking when you can meet. Discussion on public contact information for Trustees: phone, email address, etc-

Break for 10 minutes – reconvened at 7:04. Deb left during break for family emergency. Joel Love indicated that he will give us some advice on privacy and contact info – and we can choose what info can be distributed to the public.

Agenda item 7c Personnel Policy- we need a financial policy and need to settle the issue by Sept 30th. Finance Committee is David, Pat, and Chair Deb.

Agenda item 8a- done-

8b- correspondence. letter from Martha Reid. Reply was made by several individual Trustees.

Need an agenda item to schedule dates in September & October and coordinate with Martha.

Diedre asked if Jan had received a letter from the Attorney General’s office about observing open meeting law. Jan sent info from Jan. 2012 to mid-May 2013- warnings, agendas & draft meetings for committees. She also sent 1 set minutes from the committees – finance, communication & policy missing. There is a backlog and we have no reply yet. She sent the items through Town Attorney Steve Ankuda. 5 individuals thought we were not following open meeting law. Jan is not allowed to comment per attorney. Secretary of State indicated that we need to educate folks about open meeting law- he will help us learn about it if need to- it was an inquiry, research.

Carolyn indicated that the Attorney General has not answered her query either or the citizens group. Jan has received letter from the Attorney General about allowing Mr Geller to speak since he is from out of town. Carolyn asked if all letters re business of full board should be reviewed by the whole board- board’s action as a whole. Jan reminded Caorlyn that the board reviews all letters when they come in. Arnold asked if letter from the Attorney General is public record.

Discussion on the postcard: since Deb was called away, she will have an update for next meeting. The objection is that the postcard is addressed to the Board of Trustees c/o a PO box. PO box is not owned by member of the Board of Trustees. However, it appears that the Board sent it out- it has the library logo. It may be a federal case of mail fraud. Deb has the federal case number since it involves the US post office (no mail delivered to houses in Saxtons River). The PO Box holder must list authorized names with the post office-One of the postcards was dropped on the street and picked up. Elayne spoke to the post office today. She asked if Deb Wright’s call to the Reformer was discussed with the full board prior to talking to them about the postcard. In Elayne’s letter she stated that the Friends of the Library were not involved in the post card campaign; it was the friends of the library with a small ‘f.’ However, the postcard looked like the Board of Trustees had sent it out because it did not have a return address. Arnold apologized for any misconception as it was unintentional and asked that his apology be entered into the minutes.

Next regular meeting Sept 10 at 5pm

Next Personnel Committee special Meeting August 26

Bylaws meeting Meeting adjourned at 7:52 pm

Pat Fowler

 

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Wednesday, August 7, 2013

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES
Wed Aug 7, 2013 5:00 PM
LOCATION: Village Square Booksellers in Bellows Falls

In Attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brisette, Laura Senes, David Buckley, Ray Massucco, Deb Wright, Pat Fowler, Paige Pietrzak, Carolyn Frisa and Célina Houlné.
Public members in attendance: Elayne Clift, Arnold Clift

Meeting was called to order at 5:15 PM by Jan

A vote was taken to go into Executive Session. Y- Hope, Jan, Deb, Paige. N- David, Carolyn, Ray, Pat. Motion failed. (Laura was late attending the meeting)

Jan welcomed Ray Massucco as a new member of the Trustees.

Arnold Clift asked why there was no Public Comment section at this meeting- Jan stated that this is a Special Meeting for a special purpose and Public Comment is not required. Public comments are limited to the topic under discussion. Jan reminded the public that no formal decisions were going to be madethis is a working session to discuss making changes to the Bylaws. Paige stated that at least two meetings will be required.

Jan asked that all Trustees take their own notes on the changes to the Bylaws so that they can refer to their notes at future meetings.

Discussion of Bylaws from Article I to VIII.

Carolyn offered to revise her draft copy of the Bylaws to reflect the changes we are considering so that we have an updated copy to consider at the next Bylaws meeting.

The next meeting of the Board of Trustees to discuss the Bylaws will be held on August 26 from 5- 6:30pm at Village Square Booksellers.

Meeting adjourned at 6:35pm

These minutes respectfully submitted by Pat Fowler on Aug 10, 2013

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Wednesday, July 31, 2013

 

SPECIAL MEETING OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES MINUTES
ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
WEDNESDAY, JULY 31ST, 2013
Meeting time: after conclusion of adjourned July 22nd Trustees’ Meeting
LOCATION: Village Square Booksellers; Bellows Falls, VT

In Attendance: Hope Brissette, Jan Mitchell-Love, Deborah Wright, Pat Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, Paige Pietrzak, Laura Senes and Célina Houlné.
Public in attendance: Arnold Clift and Steve Geller

1. Call to order 6:00pm

2. Formally recognize addition of new trustee to RFPL Board of Trustees: At the July 22nd meeting the library board of trustees voted to recommend Tim Doherty to the Selectboard to fill the vacant position. The library bylaws state, “Should a vacancy occur in the board for any cause other than the expiration of term of office, such vacancy shall be filled by the Library Board with the approval of the Board of Selectmen until the next Town Meeting.” The Vermont Director of Elections, Will Senning, says that our bylaws conflict with Vermont statute 24 V.S.A. §963, which states that the Selectboard shall fill any vacancies on the board. This needs to be changed in the RFPL bylaws. In accordance with the library bylaws, Laura Senes made a motion to recommend Tim Doherty to the selectboard and if approved he will be recognized as a new library trustee at the beginning of the next meeting. Motion seconded by Carolyn Frisa, passed unanimously with 7 votes in favor.

3. Motion made to Adjourn by Deb Wright, seconded by Hope Brissette, approved unanimously. Meeting adjourns 6:20pm.

Respectfully submitted by Secretary Laura Senes on August 7, 2013.

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Monday, July 22, 2013

AGENDA OF RFPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
MONDAY, JULY 22nd, 2013
5:00 PM at Village Square Booksellers, Bellows Falls

1. Call to order

2. Public Comment – 2 minutes per person; 15 minute time period for all public comments. Note: Public comments are limited to non-agenda items

3. Approve minutes of: June 10th, 2013 trustees’ meeting, June 4th, 2013 trustees’ special meeting, & June 25th, 2013 trustees’ special meeting

4. Director’s Monthly Report

Two Financial Reports: Library Balance Sheet (2 pages) and Library Status Report (4 pages)

5. Committee Reports
a. Building – no report
b. Communications – no report
c. Finance – Deb Wright

Executive Session – if necessary

d. Historical Collection – Carolyn Frisa
e. Personnel – schedule special meeting on bylaws revisions

6. Renovation update

7. Old Business
a. Report on move to 41 The Square & moving expenses
b. Director’s updated staffing schedule for time at temporary location (41 The Square)

8. New Business
a. 2012 Personnel Policy – request Finance Committee report for August trustees’ meeting
b. Communications: discuss possible retreat
Discuss trustees’ training

9. Review agenda items for next meeting and meeting date. Current meeting date is Monday, August 12th at 5:00 p.m.

10. Executive Session – personnel issues: Board of Trustees’ opening and Director’s evaluation

11. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Monday, July 22, 2013

RFPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES
MONDAY, JULY 22nd, 2013
5:00 PM at Village Square Booksellers, Bellows Falls

In Attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Laura Senes, Deborah Wright, Pat Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, David Buckley, Paige Pietrzak, and Célina Houlné
Public members in attendance: Alma Beals, Emily Zervas, Betty Haggerty, Barbara Stickney, Wendy O’Connell, Serena Hickey, Steve Geller, Elayne Clift, and Arnold Clift.
Representatives from the press: Domenic Poli (Brattleboro Reformer) and Allison Teaugue (The Commons)

1. Call to order at 5:10 PM.

2. Public Comment: Several members of the public expressed appreciation that public comment was placed at the beginning of the meeting. Also, members of the public expressed that audio recordings should be made of all meetings. The public asked if the board has received any response from the Attorney General about the letters sent. The board has not received any response from the Attorney General. The public raised questions about legal fees being accrued by the board and the board’s reversion to the 2008 Personnel Policy. The board was presented with 2 petitions, one with signatures of public not wanting the library to close, the second calling for the chair and vice chair of the board to resign. Questions were also raised about the cost of moving the library. Carolyn Frisa read a letter written by Deirdre Fuchs wondering about taking money from annuity funds to pay for moving. This will be addressed under Finance.

3. Approve minutes: Motion to approve draft minutes of June 10th, 2013 trustees’ meeting, with the inclusion of the letter read by Arnold Clift, made by Hope Brissette, seconded by Carolyn Frisa, passed unanimously.

Motion to approve draft minutes of June 4th, 2013 trustees’ special meeting with the addition of ‘These minutes respectfully submitted by Secretary Laura Senes, June 11, 2013,’ made by Carolyn Frisa, seconded by Hope Brissette, passed with a vote of 7 in favor and 1 abstention. Motion to approve June 25th, 2013 trustees’ special meeting draft minutes made by Hope Brissette, seconded by Deb Wright, passed with a vote of 7 in favor and 1 abstention.

4. Renovation update: Chip Stearns presented detailed update on the renovation. The renovation is on target to be completed August 30th. Trustees will get a tour this week in groups of 4 or fewer. Financial projections at this point show slightly under $12,000 unclaimed, but some costs are still unknown.

5. Director’s Monthly Report: Staff has been busy with the move. The library has changed over to a new computer system and is working out a few quirks. Over 100 people attended the program about turtles. The library will be set up for Old Homes Days for Lego and face painting.

Two Financial Reports: Library Balance Sheet (2 pages) and Library Status Report (4 pages): The end of the year report should be ready in August. It appears the library is over budget, but this money will be covered by the renovation. The library should end the year with a surplus.

6. Committee Reports

a. Building – no report
b. Communications – no report
c. Finance – Deb Wright. The finance committee has not met. Pat Fowler has agreed to take Steve Fuller’s place on the committee. Deb expresses concerns of areas over budget. The idea of using money from the investment accounts to pay for moving the library was discussed. The board agreed by consensus not to use this money if it is not necessary. The idea of using inmates from the offender work program and students needing community service hours was discussed. The money for the move so far has been taken from the repairs and maintenance budget.

The bill from the lawyer was also discussed. This bill covers personnel matters, to determine if the library director has a contract and related to CAP, review of the 2012 Personnel Policy and matters related to letters written to the Attorney General. The library doesn’t have a line in the budget to cover legal fees. It was agreed by consensus to include this in future budgets. Members of the public expressed concern about incurring legal costs.

d. Historical Collection – Carolyn Frisa. Nothing to report
e. Policy– A special meeting on bylaws revisions will be held at 5:00 on Wednesday, August 7th at the Village Square Booksellers.

7. Old Business
a. Report on move to 41 The Square & moving expenses. The library has $100 plus left for the move.
b. Director’s updated staffing schedule for time at temporary location (41 The Square): Staffing is as previously discussed. Both Sam and Emily are working 40 hrs. per week. The staff is rotating vacation time, and no one has been hired to fill the vacant position, giving a savings of about $4000.

8. New Business
a. 2012 Personnel Policy – request Finance Committee report for August trustees’ meeting. Célina Houlné expressed her belief that the revised policy did go through proper channels, because the board agreed on the changes and that it did not need to be reviewed by the Policy Committee. A date will be chosen at the August 12 board meeting for the Policy Committee to meet.
b. Communications: discuss possible retreat: Dot Reed has offered a place to hold a board retreat. Discuss trustees’ training: Martha Reid, State Librarian, has offered to train on the different duties of the library trustees, Friends, and Director.

9. Review agenda items for next meeting and meeting date: Next meeting will be held Monday, August 12th at 5:00 p.m at the Village Square Booksellers.

10. Executive Session to discuss personnel issues: Board of Trustees’ opening and Director’s evaluation. Motion made at 7:37 to enter executive session to discuss personnel issues made by Hope Brissette, seconded by Deb Wright, passed unanimously. Leave executive session at 8:00 with no action taken, with unfinished business. Deb Wright made a motion the trustees recommend Tim Dougherty to the Selectboard as a replacement for Steve Fuller, seconded by Paige Pietrzak. Motion passed 5 in favor with 1 abstention. Adjourn/recess at 8:05 and will reenter July 22nd meeting to complete executive session on July 31, 2013 at 4:30 at the Village Square Booksellers. Call to order July 31, 2013 at 4:38. Motion made by Carolyn Frisa to enter executive session to discuss the director’s evaluation, seconded by Hope Brissette, passed unanimously. Enter executive session at 4:41. Leave executive session at 5:53 with no action taken.

11. Motion to adjourn made by Carolyn Frisa, seconded by Deb Wright, passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned 5:55pm. Respectfully submitted by Secretary Laura Senes August 2, 2013.

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Notice: Tuesday, June 25, 2013

 

RFPL Board of Trustees Special Meeting Notice
NOTICE OF MEETING

The Rockingham Free Public Library Trustees Board of Trustees will meet on Tuesday, June 25th, 2013, at 3:30 p.m. at BFMS (Bellows Falls Middle School). The meeting will be in the Community Room on the lower level. Look for directional signs. This is a special meeting on the 2012 Personnel Policy.

Request: if you are a potential audience member and have a portable, fold-up chair, would you mind bringing it to sit in for the meeting? We have no idea what the availability of chairs will be. Many thanks in advance for your help on this.

 

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, June 25, 2013

RFPL Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, June 25th, 2013, at 3:30 p.m.
Community Room, BFMS (Bellows Falls Middle School; Bellows Falls, VT)

In Attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Laura Senes, Deborah Wright, Pat Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, Paige Pietrzak, and Emily Zervas.
Public in attendance: about a dozen members of the public were in attendance, but did not sign in.

1. Call to order 3:35 pm.

2. Executive Session – Personnel-Hope Brissette made a motion to enter executive session to discuss a personnel issue. The motion, seconded by Deborah Wright, passed unanimously. Exited executive session at 4:05 with no action taken and resumed the regular meeting.

3. 2012 Personnel Policy-The 2012 Personnel Policy was not approved of properly, as it never went through the Policy Committee before being voted on at a regular meeting. A motion was made by Deborah Wright to rescind the 2012 Personnel Policy and revert back to the 2008 Personnel Policy.

A friendly amendment was made to include an anticipated completion date to review the Personnel Policy by 9/30/2013. This motion, seconded by Hope Brissette, passed with 5 in favor, 1 opposed and 1 abstention. The 2012 Personnel Policy will go to the Finance, Policy and Personnel Committees and the Town’s attorney. A letter written by Ellen Allman, read by Carolyn Frisa, expressed the importance to the part-time staff of keeping their present benefits. The board discussed the idea that any benefits consistent with the 2012 Personnel Policy may be approved retroactively to July 1st, 2013 if the 2012 Personnel Policy is reinstated after review.

4. Executive Session – Not needed.

5. Public comment-Members of the public expressed the fact that they would like to see public comment be moved to the beginning of the meeting.

6. Adjourn-The next monthly board meeting will take place on July 8th at 5:00, location TBA. Steven Fuller has stepped down from the board. Anyone interested in being appointed to the board should write a letter to the RFPL Board of Trustees, in care of Jan Mitchell-Love, Chair. The trustees will pass a recommendation of an appointee to the Selectboard that will make the appointment. Motion to adjourn made by Hope Brissette. This motion, seconded by Carolyn Frisa, passed unanimously at 5:10 pm.

Respectfully submitted by Secretary Laura Senes, July 1, 2013.

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Monday, June 10, 2013

 

RFPL BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES
MONDAY, JUNE 10th, 2013
4:45 PM at 300 Bridge Street, Bellows Falls

In Attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Laura Senes, Deborah Wright, Pat Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, Steven Fuller, David Buckley, Paige Pietrzak, Emily Zervas and Sam Maskell.
Public members in attendance: Elayne Clift, Anne Parkman, Diane Brown, Arnold Clift, Barbara Stickney, Jackie Hewitt, Betty Haggerty, Allegra Maskell, Bob Hewitt, Bob Patch, Ed Warner, Wesley Nies, Deirdre Fuchs, Alma Beals, Donna Stevens, Debbi Wetzel, Adam Wetzel, Susie Peters, Cathy Bergmann.

1. Call to order 4:52 pm.

2. Executive Session: A motion was made by Hope Brissette to move into executive session to discuss a personnel issue. This motion, seconded by Deborah Wright, passed with 7 in favor and 2 abstentions. Executive session ended with no action taken. Call meeting back to order 5:03.

3. Approval of past minutes: May 13th, 2013 trustees’ meeting: The draft minutes have two errors. Under #4 Director’s Monthly Report and Financial Report, the motion was to move the funds available from propane from the renovation budget to the operating budget to cover the expense of the new phone system. Célina Houlné can approve the work order as soon as possible. Under #7 Renovation plans the minutes should say ‘Monday-Friday 9-2, and Friday evening 7-9.’ Motion to approve May 13, 2013 minutes as amended, seconded by Steven Fuller, passed with 7 in favor and 2 abstentions.

May 18th, 2013 trustees’ special meeting: Motion made by Hope Brissette to approve the draft minutes for May 18, 2013, seconded by Paige Pietrzak, passed with 7 in favor and 2 abstentions.

May 22nd, 2013 trustees’ special meeting: Motion made by Hope Brissette to approve the draft minutes for May 18, 2013, seconded by Laura Senes, passed with 7 in favor and 2 abstentions.

Outstanding, unapproved draft minutes: April 8th, 2013 trustees’ meeting, April 17th, 2013 trustees’ special meeting, May 1st, 2013 trustees’ special meeting, and May 6th, 2013 trustees’ special meeting: Jan Mitchell-Love and Pat Fowler will meet next week to review these minutes to check for accuracy, professionalism and legality and then bring recommendations back to the full board.

4. Monthly Financial Report: three documents: a. Balance Sheet Current Year – Period 11 May (2 pages); b. Current Yr Pd: 11 Year Budget Status Report (4 pages); & c.

Investment Accounts July 2012-May 2013 (1 page): Review of reports. Any questions may be directed to one member of the finance committee (Deborah Wright, Steven Fuller and David Buckley) who will email Mary Van Hartesveldt.

5. Committee Reports
a. Building – there will be no reports until we are back in the library building.
b. Communications – no report, as the committee has not met.
c. Finance – Deb Wright will contact Mary with any questions.
d. Historical Collection – Carolyn Frisa: Committee has not met. Planning on meeting in the next few weeks.
e. Personnel – Jan Mitchell-Love: The committee will meet on June 13th, 9:30 at Mack’s Café in Grafton about this year’s evaluation.
f. Policy A: Has not met again.
g. Policy B – Hope Brissette: Met in an emergency meeting to discuss Union membership, which will be covered under agenda item #9b. They also reviewed the bylaws from #9 to the end. A meeting will be planned with policy group A to review all suggested revisions.

7. Renovation plans – see Chip’s e-mailed report of June 6th, 2013/9 a.m. sub meeting on Tuesday: The elevator is now scheduled to be installed in late July. At this point the town is about $62,000 short on the library project.

8. Old Business from 6/4/13 meeting

a. Updated moving expense report – Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell present new and revised estimates. Sovernet has waived the fees for moving circuits, and there will be no fee for the security system. Our accident policy through the Vermont League of Cities and Towns covers up to $50,000. Deborah Wright made a motion to extend up to $2000 in moving costs, not including network money or rental costs. This motion, seconded by Hope Brissette, passed with 6 in favor, 2 opposed and 1 abstention.

b. Director’s staffing schedule for next 2 months at 41 The Square location: Not needed, covered at the last meeting.

c. Review/Discussion of 41 The Square contract requiring authorized RFPL signature to execute: Pat Fowler made a motion to allow the chair of the trustees to sign the contract to rent 41 The Square for the period necessary for the elevator to be installed and certified, and a certificate of occupancy is issued. This motion, passed with 6 in favor, 2 opposed and 1 abstention.

d. Discuss Letter of Concern – Deb: Discussion of letter written from Carolyn Frisa sent to State Librarian Martha Reid, the Deputy Secretary of State and the Vermont Attorney General, with a copy to the town lawyer. Deborah Wright discussed the need to support each other as a board. Carolyn Frisa stated that the letter reflected her personal opinion and that she sought legal counsel prior to sending the letter. Jan Mitchell-Love advised that letters should not be sent to the town lawyer, as we will be charged for his time.

9. New Business

a. 2012 Personnel Policy: This version of the policy was not approved of properly, as it never went through the Policy Committee before being voted on at a regular meeting. Steven Fuller made a motion to send the 2012 Personnel Policy back to the Policy Committee to compare to the 2008 policy, and bring back recommendations to the board. This motion, seconded by David Buckley passed with 8 votes in favor and 1 abstention.

b. Union #92 membership request – Emily Zervas and Samantha Maskell: An emergency policy committee meeting was held to discuss union membership request of the full time library employees. Deborah Wright made a motion to voluntarily recognize local #92 for an appropriate bargaining unit to be determined. This motion, seconded by Hope Brissette, passed with 6 in favor, 1 opposed and 2 abstentions.

10. Executive Session: Not needed.

11. Review agenda items for next meeting, Monday, July 8th at 4:45 p.m.: Agenda items to include the training by Amy Howlett and discussion of 2012 Personnel Policy. The meeting time will be changed to 5:00 pm, by consensus.

12. Public comment: Several members of the public questioned the safety of having volunteers help move to 41 The Square. Members of the public discussed having public comment at the beginning of the meeting and being accepted during the meeting. Arnold Clift requested his letter written to the Rockingham Board of Trustees be read and included in the minutes.

13. Adjourn: Motion to adjourn made by Hope Brissette, seconded by Paige Pietrzak, passed unanimously at 6:44 pm.

These minutes respectfully submitted by Secretary Laura Senes, June 19, 2013

Letter submitted to the public record by Arnold Clift:
ARNOLD J CLIFT
P O BOX 299, SAXTONS RIVER, VT 05154
June 6, 2013

Dear Trustee,
For your information I attach a copy of a Statement I made to the Town of Rockingham Select Board on June 4 2013, regarding the Trustees’ handling of current matters affecting the Rockingham Free Public Library. I request that this statement be read aloud at the next meeting of the Trustees and entered into the record. Thank you.

Sincerely yours,
(Arnold J Clift)

STATEMENT TO THE ROCKINGHAM SELECT BOARD June 4, 2013

Members of the Select Board and some of the public present here today will be aware of the decision of the Library Trustees to close the Library building until current renovations are complete. There are no valid reasons why the building should not have remained opened. The decision by the Trustees was made despite a unanimous resolution passed by the Select Board that the Library should remain open. It was also made with complete disregard for the views of many library users, including Friends of the Library, who also felt strongly that the library should remain open during renovations. The library has already been closed for a week and we still do not know for certain when library services will be available at an alternative location.

I have just come from a Meeting of the Library Trustees where estimates were discussed for moving library services during renovations to the old Merchant Bank building. These estimates ranged from $7,000 to $10,000—of taxpayers’ money. Why did not the Trustees not consider cost factors before reaching a hasty and ill-considered decision to close the Library building? At to-day’s meeting the Board could not even agree to finance the cost of moving nor sign the contract for leasing the Merchants Bank’s space. What a fiasco! More immediately, members of the public have recently become aware that the Library Director has herself come under direct personal criticism from a number of Trustees for the way in which she has performed her duties. These Trustees have concocted an eight page “Corrective Memorandum” which, among other things, accuses her of “improper fiscal management” and imposes unreasonable additional demands upon the Director. Some believe that this is all part of a campaign by some of the Trustees to create a pretext for dismissing the Director.

Those who are close to the Library and use its services are quite appalled at this turn of events. Many current library users, including a number of former Trustees, can attest to the diligence, efficiency, enthusiasm and total dedication of the Librarian and her staff in making Rockingham a model library. As a leader, the Librarian has won the respect and strong support of all her staff. They are together a wonderful team and the public must not allow their achievements to be undermined.

I urge members of the public to make their views known by writing to the Board of Trustees c/o the Rockingham Library.

Arnold J Clift

 

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Notice and Agenda: Tuesday, June 4, 2013

RFPL Board of Trustees Special Meeting Notice

NOTICE OF MEETING AGENDA

Tuesday, June 4th, 2013, at 4:00 p.m
WOOL-Radio, 33 Bridge Street, in Bellows Falls

1. Call to order
2. Director’s revised moving expense report-Celina
3. Director’s staffing schedule for next 2 months at 41 The Square location-Celina
4. Review and Discussion of 41 The Square contract requiring authorized RFPL signature to execute
5. Discuss Letter of Concern-Carolyn
6. Renovation Project update-if any
7. Executive Session – if necessary
8. Discuss change in Trustees’ Regular Meeting date from Monday June 10, 2013
9. Public comment
10. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, June 4, 2013

 

Minutes for RFPL Board of Trustees Special Meeting
Tuesday, June 4th, 2013, at 4:00 p.m
WOOL-Radio, 33 Bridge Street, in Bellows Falls

In Attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Laura Senes, Deborah Wright, Pat Fowler, Carolyn Frisa, Steven Fuller and Célina Houlné.
Public members in attendance: Samantha Maskell, Ponnie Derby, Alma Beals, Betty Haggerty, Edward Warner, Joe Brissette, Arnold Clift, Elayne Clift, and Donna Stevens.

1. Call to order at 4:07 p.m.

2. Director’s revised moving expense report: Célina Houlné reviews handout of Estimated Moving costs to #41 the Square. Volunteers were used to pack boxes. Laura Senes made a motion to approve moving costs and hire BC Moving to move on Friday. This motion seconded by Carolyn Frisa and failed with a vote of 3 in favor, 3 opposed and 1 abstention. Trustees requested the library director seek out two other moving quotes and check with our insurance carrier about liability coverage if using volunteers to help move. Carolyn Frisa made a motion to approve costs for network, internet and phone lines at 41 the Square once the contract for lease is approved. This motion, seconded by Laura Senes, failed with a vote of 3 in favor, 3 opposed and 1 abstention.

3. Director’s staffing schedule for next 2 months at 41 The Square location: Célina Houlné reviews employee schedule and payroll budget for summer. She will schedule 4 librarians per hour on site. She will not refill Ed’s position until the end of summer but will increase Emily Zervas and Sam Maskell’s hours slightly to make up for the extra work. This will provide a savings of about $3,900. Célina Houlné will be taking medical leave starting Thursday for 3 weeks. Emily Zervas and Sam Maskell will be in charge of library operations in her absence.

4. Review and Discussion of 41 The Square contract requiring authorized RFPL signature to execute: The contract has been checked and amended by the town lawyer who also requested we check to make sure our insurance will cover the library at alternate sites. This was checked and confirmed. Pat Fowler made a motion authorizing the chair to sign the contract to rent 41 the Square, seconded by Laura Senes. The motion failed with 2 in favor, 1 opposed and 2 abstentions.

5. Discuss Letter of Concern-Carolyn: tabled until next trustee meeting on June 10th.

6. Renovation Project update: Chip will give an update at Monday’s board meeting.

7. Executive Session: not needed.

8. Discuss change in Trustees’ Regular Meeting date from Monday June 10, 2013: No longer necessary.

9. Public comment: One member of the pubic asked where and when meetings were posted and why there has been no agenda with the notification recently. Notification of meetings can be posted at any public building but generally can be found at the town hall and police station. For special meetings it may be difficult to set the agenda early enough to post. The State Attorney General has confirmed that agenda does not need to be posted with notification of meetings. One member of the public requested that the board of trustees revisit the decision to close the library building and asked why minutes have not been posted online for the past 6 weeks. A committee has been formed to review the minutes of April 8th, April 17th, May 1st and May 6th to check for accuracy, professionalism and legalityand to then bring recommendations back to the full board. This committee is scheduled to meet next week. Any changes will be altered in open meeting.

10. Adjourn: Motion to adjourn made by Hope Brissette, seconded by Steven Fuller, and passed unanimously at 5:48 p.m.

These minutes respectfully submitted by Secretary Laura Senes, June 11, 2013.

 

Finance Committee Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, May 28, 2013

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING
Tuesday, May 28th, 2013
5:00 PM at 33 Bridge Street, Bellows Falls Warning and Agenda

1. Call to order
2. Approve minutes of 10/29/12, 4/25/13 finance committee meeting Minutes of 10/29/12 finance committee not submitted to date
3. Review proposed contract for rental of Merchant’s Bank building for submission to RFPL board Review town attorney recommendations on proposed contract
4. Executive Session – if necessary
5. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Wednesday, May 22, 2013

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
MINUTES FOR BOARD OF TRUSTEES SPECIAL MEETING
WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2013
9:00 AM at 300 Bridge Street, Bellow Falls

In Attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Laura Senes, Deborah Wright, Pat Fowler, Paige Pietrzak, and Célina Houlné. Public members in attendance: Samantha Maskell, Emily Zervas, Michel LaLiberté, Adam Wetzel, Steve Geller, Mary Van Hartesveldt, Jackie Hewitt, Bob Hewitt, Martha Rowley, Susan Warner, Edward Warner, Nancy Tusinski, Joel Love, Tim Doherty, Ed Graves, Debbie Wetzel, and Bob Patch.
Representatives from the press: Chris Garofolo (Eagle Times) and Domenic Poli (Brattleboro Reformer).

1. Call to order at 9:05 AM

2. Update on renovation plans-moving forward: Chip Stearns provided an update on the renovation. There have been a few snags, but also a lot of great progress. Deborah Wright discussed the Selectboard’s decision to reconsider the library’s use of the Waypoint Center under certain criteria. Célina Houlné discussed her visit to the Waypoint Center and Train Station and presented a handout outlining the various library needs and services and what is available at the Waypoint Center, Train Station and the old Merchant’s Bank location. Deborah Wright made a motion that the RFPL rent the old Merchant’s Bank location from early June until we can repossess the existing library building. Motion seconded Paige Pietrzak, passed with 5 in favor and 1 abstention.

3. Executive Session-if necessary: Jan Mitchell-Love made a motion to enter executive session for personnel reasons. Seconded by Deb Wright and passed unanimously. Enter executive session 9:54 AM. Leave executive session and reenter the regular meeting at 10:10 AM. Deborah Wright made a motion that the Trustees approve the Corrective Action Plan presented to the Director on Tuesday, May 14, 2013, authorize the board chair and vice-chair to act as the Trustee’s representatives in the meeting with the Director as provided in the CAP, report the progress in achieving the CAP to the Personnel Committee after such meetings and the Personnel Committee report on such progress at each regularly scheduled Trustee’s meeting and sooner if the Personnel Committee determines that the CAP needs to be modified or other action needs to be taken. Célina Houlné voiced her concern that she works for the full board and that the CAP has not been discussed by the full board. She also stated that she has sought the advice of legal counsel. The above motion seconded by Hope Brissette, passed with 5 votes in favor and 1 opposed. Célina stated that she will request a meeting with the full board.

4. Public comment: Chair Jan Mitchell-Love requested that members of the public state their name and place of residence when recognized and that only residents of Rockingham are welcome to speak. Jan Mitchell-Love also stated that she has never applied for and is not interested in the position of Library Director. One member of the public was not recognized by the chair to speak, as a nonresident. Many members of the public expressed displeasure with the board and wanted to have nonresidents recognized to speak. One member of the public expressed concern about the CAP and that the board is trying to micromanage the library director. One member of the public thanked the board for making a decision about choosing the temporary library location and moving forward.

5. Adjourn: Hope Brissette made a motion to adjourn. Motion seconded by Deb Wright, passed unanimously at 10:25 AM.

These minutes respectfully submitted by Secretary Laura Senes, May 28, 2013

 

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Monday, May 18, 2013

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
MINUTES FOR BOARD OF TRUSTEES SPECIAL MEETING
MONDAY, MAY 18th, 2013 MINUTES
7:00 PM at 300 Bridge Street, Bellow Falls

In Attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brisette, Laura Senes, Deborah Wright, Pat Fowler, Paige Pietrzak, and Célina Houlné. Public members in attendance: Steve Geller, Arnold Clift, Susan Warner, Edward Warner, Nancy Tusinski, Lois Smith, Ponnie Derby, Nancy Kovaleff, Joel Love, Tim Doherty, Joe Brissette, Gary Fox, and Susan Smallheer from the Rutland Herald.

1. Call to order at 7:04 PM

2. Update on renovation plans-moving forward: On Friday it was discovered that the RFPL bylaws that require a simple majority to pass a motion does not follow state law that requires a majority of the full board. Steven Ankuda, the town lawyer, recommended taking another vote on the library building closure. Pat Fowler made a motion that in the interest of serving the public, we continue services (book browsing and loans, computer services, historical research, children’s programming) in the present building until such time as the Board of Trustees have an alternative site confirmed (plans designated and building spaces committed-leased or loaned). The motion was not seconded. Deb Wright maked a motion that the RFPL, which is currently closed, remain closed until end of July 2013, or until such time as the new elevator is certified fit for use and the fire suppression system is complete. This motion seconded by Hope Brissette, with the friendly amendment to state that it is the library building, which will remain closed. Laura Senes reads a letter that she had sent to the local papers explaining the reasons for her supporting closure of the library building. This letter is included at the end of the minutes. Motion passed 5 in favor, 1 opposed.

3. Executive Session-if necessary: Laura Senes made a motion to enter executive session for personnel reasons. Seconded by Deb Wright, and passed unanimously. Enter executive session 7:25. Leave executive session at 7:31 with no action taken. There will be a special meeting of the board of trustees on Wednesday, May 22nd, 9:00 AM at 300 Bridge Street.

4. Public comment: There were several members of the public who felt it was disrespectful to leave public comment to the end of the meeting. Also, there were members of the public who complained about the short notice and timing of this meeting. Another member of the public expressed confusion with the board’s decision to close the library building, but to allow the staff to continue working in the building. A couple of members of the public thanked the board of trustees for all their work, and expressed concern with members of the public pursuing issues with the superior court and costing taxpayers money.

5. Adjourn: Deb Wright made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Paige Pietrzak, passed unanimously at 8:05 PM.

These minutes respectfully submitted by Secretary Laura Senes, May 23, 2013

To the People of Rockingham,

I am writing this letter as a Trustee of the Rockingham Library. This letter does not represent the views of the entire board. I feel a need to express some points that do not seem to be getting across to the general public. People are up in arms about the decision to close the library building in order to finish up construction, and seem not to be listening to the many reasons why the board has voted to close the library building.

Before discussing the reasons, I want to point out that the board voted to close the library building, and to find another site to provide services to the community. We do want to make sure the community has a place to go to enjoy the library services this summer. People seem aware of the fact that part of the reason to close the library is due to the lift not working, and therefore being inaccessible for some patrons. Perhaps you don’t think that is important, and perhaps some people who can’t get into the library don’t mind the inconvenience in the short term.

Another reason the board has decided to close the library is that the sprinkler system is not working, so there is no adequate fire suppression system. If the library were to remain open, we would be utilizing just the front, historic section of the library (where I should point out, there are no bathrooms). I do not believe it is safe to have patrons, potentially overcrowded, in a building undergoing major renovation, without a fire suppression system. Apparently the fire chief will let this slide because construction is in the process and this is only temporary. But do you think it is safe? Do you want your kids spending time in a construction zone that is not up to code? We have had enough difficulties during this renovation; the last thing we need is a serious disaster.

Another big issue is money. Every week we go over deadline (August 31st) will cost taxpayers an additional $10,000 per week to pay the contractors. I believe this project has the potential to be finished faster if there are no patrons in the building. If we move the library we can provide services in a safe and accessible space. Yes, it costs some money to move. Yes, it is a lot of work for our library staff. Our staff has done incredibly with the strain of the renovation, and I know moving may feel like the straw that broke the camel’s back. But part of my job as a trustee of the library is to make sure the staff is working in a safe environment. I do not believe this to be true anymore. I also believe that they are a fantastic staff that can handle the move, and then we will be able to move back into a completed, accessible and safe building.

I was not at the meeting during which the board voted to close the library building and find another site to provide services. But I do agree with the decision. Now the community can get behind the board it elected to help us find a place to provide services, or people can keep wasting our time and money. I believe if the community would support the decision of the board, and work with us to help find a solution, we can have safe facilities and be able to provide services that everyone in the community will be able to access this summer.

Thank you,

Laura Senes
Saxtons River
Trustee for the Rockingham Library

 

Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes: Monday, May 13, 2013

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
MINUTES FOR BOARD OF TRUSTEES MONTHLY MEETING
MONDAY, MAY 13th, 2013 MINUTES
4:45 PM at 300 Bridge Street, Bellow Falls

In Attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brisette, Laura Senes, David Buckley, Deborah Wright, Pat Fowler, Paige Pietrzak, Carolyn Frisa, Steven Fuller (arrived at 5:15) and Célina Houlné.
Public members in attendance: Martha E. Rowley, Carol Blackwood, Willis D. “Chip” Stearns II, Donna Stevens, Nancy Witherill, Susan W. Brace, Ponnie Derby, Michel Joseph Lucian LaLiberté, Deborah A. Wetzel, Adam Wetzel, Martha Deacon, Susan Venman, Guy Payne, Allegra Maskell, Samantha Maskell, Roberta Streeter, Barbara Stickney, Jackie Hewitt, Bob Hewitt, David Gould, John Janiszyn, Stephen Geller, Emily Zervas, Ed Graves, Ian Eddy, Mark Piepkorn, Beth Elaine Smallheer, Susan Warner, Edward Warner, Nancy Korakeff, Arnold Clift, Elayne Clift, Kathleen Michel, Moira Brace, Ronald Lake, Serena Hickey, and Jeremy Maskell. (One name on the attendance sheet was signed and not legible).
Representatives from the press: Susan Smallheer (Rutland Herald), Chris Garofolo (Eagle Times), Domenic Poli (Brattleboro Reformer). Filmed by Joe Brisette.

1. Call to order at 4:54 PM

2. Executive Session- if necessary: not necessary.

3. Discuss accuracy, professionalism, and legality of minutes: how to move forward.

List of draft and unapproved minutes:
April 8th trustees regular meeting
April 17th trustees special meeting
May 1st trustees special meeting
May 6th trustees special meeting

Deborah Wright made a motion to form a committee to review the minutes of April 8th, April 17th, May 1st and May 6th to check for accuracy, professionalism and legality, and to then bring recommendations back to the full board. This motion seconded by Hope Brisette, passed with a vote of 5 in favor, 2 opposed and 1 abstention. Jan Mitchell-Love and Pat Fowler volunteer to be on this committee. Steven Fuller will be asked if he would like to be on the committee.

Carolyn Frisa made a motion that all draft minutes from this time forward will have ‘DRAFT’ stamped across it. This motion seconded by Deborah Wright, passed unanimously.

It was also agreed by consensus that all draft minutes will be retained.

4. Director’s Monthly Report and Financial Report:
Célina Houlné reviewed the Director’s monthly report. Reports a successful book and plant sale, in which the Friends of the Library raised over $500. Also, reports failing phone system that will be replaced during the renovation. She has received 3 bids, and the cost will be about $2600.

Célina Houlné reviewed the financial report. A motion was made by Deborah Wright to move the bill for expenses of propane from the renovation budget to the operating budget. This motion seconded by Steven Fuller, passed unanimously. Célina Houlné can approve the work order as soon as possible.

5. Review access to Board meeting minutes: Célina Houlné proposed this agenda item, to clarify a decision made at the April 8 meeting, #6 on the agenda. Draft minutes will not be posted online, but will be available upon request within five business days of the meeting. Carolyn Frisa recommended posting online approved minutes for all trustee and committee meetings, and agendas of all trustee meetings and committee meetings. Approved minutes from January 1, 2012 to the present will be posted online and remain on the website for 1 year. Due to the potential of a great time lapse between committee meetings and approval of draft minutes, Carolyn Fisa suggested posting a short written summary of 2-3 sentences for committee meetings until approved minutes are available. Agreement reached by consensus.

6. Committee Reports and Issues
A. Building- Hope Brisette: Nothing to report since there have been no meetings. The board requests Chip Stearns contact Hope Brisettte as the liaison for the trustees if they are having meetings. The board also requests Chip Stearns provide a weekly written summary of the renovation project, to which he agrees.
B. Communications-no report
C. Finance-Deb Wright: Nothing to report, as they have not met since the last report.
D. Historical Collection-Carolyn Frisa: The last items have been moved. The grandfather clock and historic painting will be protected and kept on site. Next meeting will be June 4th at Works on Paper.
E. Personnel-Jan Mitchell-Love: Presented draft minutes of last meeting.
F. Policy A-Carolyn Frisa: Constructive first meeting. Discussed and decided on recommendations, which are included in draft minutes. Will meet with Policy B after they have met.
G. Policy B-no report as have not met yet.

7. Renovation plans – moving forward: Jan Mitchell-Love sites Robert’s Rules which state that the only way to reconsider a motion is if someone who voted for the motion asks to reconsider the decision.

Jan Mitchell-Love received a phone call from Kim Brittenham from the Vermont Center for independent living, who stated that if the library is open we are required to provide equal access to programs and services. Providing services by taking books and magazines out to the curb for patrons is acceptable.

July 16th is the municipal training on ADA liability access at the Bradford Library.

Hope Brisette contacted Heidi Lucas-Moccia who said we could use the BFMS community room from July 8-August 2, Monday-Friday 7-9, Monday-Friday 9-2, and Friday evening 7-9 for no cost. Cost would be $30/hour for off hours.

We can have programs at Wool radio for free.

Samantha Maskell is planning to have the summer reading program at other sites, such as the recreation center.

Deborah Wright is still looking into the Waypoint Center, as the library does provide educational and historic information to the public. Merchants bank would be $500/month, and is 2200 square feet. Pat Fowler brings up concerns of parking and safety issues if using this site, especially for children and elderly patrons. There is an unattended children policy in place that requires children must be 8 years old to be left unattended. This space would be available June 4th.

Deborah Wright made a motion to close the library building effective June 3rd until the end of July. This motion seconded by Hope Brisette, amended by the group to change the date to close the library to no later than June 7th. This motion did not pass, with 4 opposed, 2 in favor, 2 abstentions.

The library will be closed from May 15th-May 18th for asbestos abatement, and will not reopen to the public on May 20th.

6:45: Jan Mitchell-Love calls for a 3 minute break
6:50: Call meeting back to order

7. Other Amy Howlett’s trustee orientation: Will take place at the next meeting Trustee meeting, on June 10th.

Phone system—potential needs and updates: Covered during Director’s report.

Social Media—policy needed?: Carolyn Frisa suggests we need a policy for social media for trustees. The board decided by consensus to table this discussion until we meet with Amy Howlett.

Breakdown in communication between trustees and director/staff: David Buckley made a motion to table this discussion. Motion seconded by Steve Fuller, passed unanimously.

8. Executive Session, if necessary: Deborah Wright made a motion to enter executive session to discuss a contract matter. Seconded by Laura Senes, approved unanimously. Célina Houlné is invited to be included. Executive session ended. 7:10: Call meeting back to order

9. Review agenda items for next meeting: Meeting will be Monday, June 10th at 4:45 pm, agenda to be determined.

10. Public comment: Many members of the public spoke against the board’s decision to close the library, and informed the board that a petition is circulating to keep the library open. One member of the public asked that Jan Mitchell-Love step down as chair of the board. Several members of the public requested that the entire board step down.

11. Adjourn: Motion to adjourn approved unanimously at 7:38.

These minutes respectfully submitted by Secretary Laura Senes, May 18, 2013

 

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Agenda: Monday, May 6, 2013

AGENDA (REVISED)
SPECIAL MEETING OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES
ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
MONDAY, MAY 6th, 2013
4:15 PM
LOCATION: Village Square Booksellers in Bellows Falls

1. Call to order

2. Public comment

3. Update on renovation plans – moving forward
A. Scenario A
B. Scenario B

4. Executive Session, if necessary

5. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Agenda: Wednesday, May 1, 2013

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
AGENDA FOR BOARD OF TRUSTEES SPECIAL MEETING
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1st, 2013
5:30 PM
LOCATION: Village Square Booksellers in Bellows Falls

1. Call to order

2. Additions or changes to agenda

3. Public comment (3 minutes per person)

4. Update on renovation plans

5. Discussion of written communication

6. Executive Session, if necessary

7. Adjourn

Finance Committee Special Meeting Agenda: Thursday, April 25, 2013

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
SPECIAL FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING
Thursday, April 25th, 2013
5:00 PM at 33 Bridge Street, Bellows Falls

1. Call to order
2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
3. Approve minutes of October 29th finance committee meeting
4. Discuss financial aspects of library construction impact scenarios
5. Executive Session –if necessary
6. Adjourn

Policy Committee Group A Meeting Agenda: Tuesday, April 23, 2013

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
POLICY COMMITTEE GROUP A MEETING AGENDA
Tuesday April 23, 2013 at the Library
1:00 PM

1. Call to order
2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
3. Election of committee chairperson and secretary
4. Phase I of Revision of Library Trustee Bylaws 1-9
5. Set New Tasks
7. Review Agenda Items for Next Meeting and Set Meeting Date
9. Adjourn

Policy Committee Group A Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, April 23, 2013

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
POLICY COMMITTEE GROUP A MEETING MINUTES
Tuesday April 23, 2013 at the Library
1:00 PM
In attendance: David Buckley, Carolyn Frisa, Laura Senes and Emily Zervas

1. Call to order at 1:05 PM

2. Public comment (3 minutes in person): No public in attendance

3. Election of committee chairperson and secretary: A motion was made to elect Carolyn Frisa chair and Laura Senes secretary for Policy Committee group A. The motion passed unanimously.

4. Phase I of Revision of Library Trustee Bylaws 1-9: Committee members read through the bylaws of our library and several other libraries. Some minor revisions were discussed, which will be typed up by the secretary.

5. Set New Tasks: Suggested revisions will be sent to Policy Committee group B. Confer with Policy Committee group B after they have met.

6. Review Agenda Items for Next Meeting and Set Meeting Date: Next meeting agenda and time to be set.

7. Adjourn at 1:55 PM.

These minutes respectfully submitted by Secretary Laura Senes on April 25, 2013

 

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Agenda: Wednesday, April 17, 2013

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
AGENDA FOR BOARD OF TRUSTEES SPECIAL MEETING
WEDNESDAY, April 17TH, 2013
4:45 PM

LOCATION: WOOL Radio, 33 Bridge Street in Bellows Falls

1. Call to order
2. Additions or changes to agenda
3. Public comment (3 minutes per person)
4. Update on renovation plans
4. Executive Session – (Contract and Personnel Matters)
5. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Monday, April 8, 2013

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
AGENDA OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
Monday, April 8th, 2013
4:45 PM at Immanuel Episcopal Church

1. Call to order
2. Additions or changes to agenda
3. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
4. Approve minutes of February 14th Board meeting
Approve minutes of March 14th Board meeting
5. Director’s monthly report & financial report
6. Discuss access to Board meeting minutes – Celina
7. Review dates for meeting with Amy Howlett, and Town Officers Education Conference
8. Review content of Trustees’ notebooks
9. Discuss committee assignments and meeting schedule
10. Other
11. Renovation Project update – Hope Brissette
Discuss April 5th Selectboard meeting and future project plans
12. Executive Session – if necessary
14. Review agenda items for next meeting, Monday, May 13th at 4:45 p.m.
15. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Thursday, March 14, 2013

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
AGENDA OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, March 14th, 2013
3:30 PM at Immanuel Episcopal Church

1. Call to order
2. Additions or changes to agenda
3. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
4. Approve minutes of February 14th trustees’ meeting
5. Election of Officers:
Suggested Slate of candidates: Chair, Janice Mitchell Love; Vice-Chair, Deborah Wright; Co-Secretaries Carolyn Frisa and Laura Senes; Treasurer; David Buckley
6. Set Date & Time of Board Meetings
7. Discuss Committee Appointments
8. Discuss Trustees’ Orientation & Training
Annual Town Officers’ Education Conference: April, 2013
9. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
10. Committee Reports
a. Policy – Steve Fuller
b. Building – Hope Brissette
c. Historical Collection – Carolyn Frisa
d. Communications – Deb Wright
(fundraising on hiatus) – David Buckley
e. Renovation – committee in hiatus – no report
f. Finance – David Buckley
g. Personnel – Jan Mitchell-Love
11. Renovation Project Update – Hope Brissette
12. Other
a. Code of Conduct – Jan Mitchell-Love
12. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date
13. Executive Session – if necessary
14. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Thursday, March 14, 2013

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
DRAFT MINUTES OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, March 14th, 2013
3:30 PM at Immanuel Episcopal Church

In Attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brisette, Laura Senes, David Buckley, Steven Fuller, Deb Wright, Pat Fowler, Paige Pietrzak, Carolyn Frisa and Célina Houlné. Public members in attendance: Duane Whitehead, Deb Wetzel, Bob Hewitt and Steve Geller.

1. Call to order 3:39 PM

2. Additions or changes to agenda: None

3. Public comment (3 minutes in person): Several members of the public commented on concerns about statements made in a local blog. The board was urged to take some type of action on this. Concerns were also raised about the conduct of the trustees in general.

4. Approve minutes of February 14th trustees’ meeting: Tabled until April meeting.

5. Election of Officers:
Suggested Slate of candidates: Chair, Janice Mitchell Love; Vice-Chair, Deborah Wright; Co-Secretaries Carolyn Frisa and Laura Senes; Treasurer; David Buckley: Carolyn Frisa stepped down as a candidate. Motion was made to approve the slate of candidates. Motion approved unanimously.

6. Set Date & Time of Board Meetings: Monthly board meetings will be held on the second Monday of each month at 4:45. Location to be determined.

7. Discuss Committee Appointments: Board members were asked to give their top 4 choices for committees to Jan Mitchell-Love, who will compile this information and make appointments.

8. Discuss Trustees’ Orientation & Training
Annual Town Officers’ Education Conference: April, 2013: 5 board members are planning to attend this conference.

9. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report: Fundraising trip to Boston is planned for April 13th. If enough tickets are not sold to break even by March 28th, the trip will be cancelled. Poet Laureate of Vermont, Sydney Lea will be presenting at the library on April 1 at 6 PM. See the director’s reports for more details.

10. Committee Reports
a. Policy – Steve Fuller: Nothing to report
b. Building – Hope Brisette: Nothing to report
c. Historical Collection – Carolyn Frisa: Two items from the historical collection will be loaned out to a museum in Connecticut. The museum will be paying to have these items appraised.
d. Communications – Deb Wright: Working on organizing trip to Boston.
(fundraising on hiatus) – David Buckley
e. Renovation – committee in hiatus – no report
f. Finance – David Buckley: Nothing to report
g. Personnel – Jan Mitchell-Love: Nothing to report

11. Renovation Project Update – Hope Brissette: Engelberth should be finished up the beginning of next week. The lift needs at least $2500 to possibly work. A motion was made by David Buckley to not pay any money to fix the lift. This motion was approved unanimously. Jan will also contact the town to look into the warranty.

12. Other
a. Code of Conduct – Jan Mitchell-Love: There is presently no code of conduct in the library board of trustee guidelines. Jan will ask Amy Howlett if she has any recommendations, and check with the town of Rockingham and the League of Cities and Towns. The policy committee will be involved in adding this to the trustee guidelines.
b. A motion was made to reject any implication that the library director has conducted herself with anything but professionalism and integrity. This motion was made by Hope Brisette, seconded by Deb Wright and amended by the board. Approved unanimously by the board.

13. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date: The next meeting will be held April 18th at 4:45.

14. Executive Session – if necessary: No executive session.

15. Adjourn at 5:48

These minutes respectfully submitted by Secretary Laura Senes on March 21, 2013

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Thursday, February 14, 2013

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
AGENDA OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013
3:30 PM at Immanuel Episcopal Church

1. Call to order
2. Additions or changes to agenda
3. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
4. Approve minutes of January 10th trustees’ meeting
5. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
6. Annual Town Meeting on Monday, March 4th at the Bellows Falls Opera House
7. Committee Reports
a. Policy – Steve Fuller
b. Building – Hope Brissette
c. Historical Collection – Carolyn Frisa
d. Communications – Deb Wright
(fundraising on hiatus)
e. Renovation – committee in hiatus
f. Finance – David Buckley
g. Personnel – Jan Mitchell-Love
7. Renovation Project Update – Hope Brissette
(going forward from here)
8. Future plans:
a. long-range planning
b. request for monthly staff payrolls, comp time, overtime reports, etc.
c. request for monthly bills and warrants
8. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date
9. Executive Session – if necessary
10. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Thursday, February 14, 2013

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
DRAFT MINUTES OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013
3:30 PM

Location: Emmanuel Episcopal Church

Trustees present: David Buckley, Steve Fuller, Duane Whitehead, Jan Mitchell-Love, Carolyn Frisa, Hope Brisette and Deb Wright Additional persons present: Célina Houlné (Library Director); Mary VanHartesveldt

1. Called to order by Jan Mitchell-Love at 3:35.

2. Additions or changes to agenda
• Carolyn Frisa asked that we review Open Meeting Law rules. See Section 10 below.

3. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
• Mary VanHartesveld thanked David Buckley for his involvement with recent fundraising efforts.

4. Approve Minutes of Board Meeting – January 10, 2013
• Célina Houlné requested that the heading include the word “Minutes”. Steve Fuller moved to approve them with this change; seconded by David Buckley; approved unanimously by the Trustees.

5. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
• Célina Houlné summarized the information previously provided to the Trustees in the two reports.
• Additional information – a second donation from the Richard and Barbara Whitcomb Foundation in the amount of $10,00 has been received. These funds have been deposited into the Library’s CD account.
• Duane Whitehead questioned changes to staff responsibilities mentioned in the report. Célina Houlné explained that Ed Graves now performs some additional public relations duties.
• Deborah Wright asked about the recent meeting of the Director with the Town Financial Officer and Mary VanHartesveldt. Célina Houlné explained this meeting was held to review the town-provided insurance policy.
• Deborah Wright questioned why the revenue for the annual budget is lower than projected. Célina Houlné explained this reflects a reduction in from the funds in savings accounts and lower interest rates. She reported the library has also been less busy due to construction, as expected, therefore generating less revenue from late fees. Late fees were also recently waived due to the closure of the library for renovation.
• Duane Whitehead questioned why programming was higher than expected. Célina Houlné explained this was due to a $500 donation from the Friends after expenses were reported. These funds will cover the rest of the expenses for the year.
• Mary VanHartesveldt reported that the line item of $16,900 for insurance was not accurate and will be lower; this figure will be corrected on the next financial report.
• Hope Brissette asked if the budgeted amount for repairs and maintenance was sufficient and if it carried over annually. Célina Houlné explained that it does not carry over and that if funds were left over they were put into the Library’s CD.
• Deborah Wright questioned why CD is listed as “cash”. Mary VanHartesveldt explained this categorization is determined by the town and a CD is considered to be a “cash asset”.
• A discussion about the projections for the following year ensued.
• Deborah Wright asked who was responsible for managing the library’s CD and savings account. Célina Houlné reported this has been done by local lawyer, Ray Massucco, in the past. Library accounts and management procedures will be reviewed by the Finance Committee this December.

6. Annual Town Meeting Day on Monday, March 4th
• Jan Mitchell-Love reminded Trustees of this upcoming event and encouraged all to attend. Célina Houlné provided Trustees with printed copies of the Town of Rockingham Annual Report.

7. Committee Reports
• Policy – Steve Fuller
-nothing to report
• Building – Hope Brissette
-see under renovation
• Historical Collections – Carolyn Frisa
-Library received an AIC grant to upgrade an antique bookcase to archival display standards.
-The Connecticut River Museum has requested two items from the collection be loaned for an exhibit on historic bridges. The objects are the Tucker Toll Bridge Sign and an oil painting of the bridge. The exhibit will take place from April – October 2013.
-A motion was made by Steve Fuller to approve the loan; seconded by Deborah Wright; and unanimously approved.
• Communications – Deborah Wright
-Deborah Wright is the new Chair and anticipates a name change in the coming year. She reported on the success of the NYC trip and encouraged Trustees to promote the upcoming trip to the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum on April 13.
-the next Friends meeting is on February 20 at 9:00am at the library and will include election of officers.
• Renovation – committee in hiatus
• Finance – David Buckley
-nothing to report
• Personnel – Jan Mitchell-Love
-meeting was held on 2/6/13 included discussion of long range planning (see below). Future goals include a review or Personnel Policies, including the generation of a contract for Célina Houlné, which most likely involve council from the Town Attorney.
-A motion was made by Deborah Wright to authorize Jan Mitchell-Love to consult the Town Attorney to discuss the potential need for a contract for the Library Director. Hope Brissette seconded the motion; discussion ensued; the motion was unanimously approved.
• Célina Houlné requested that it go on record that her job duties have been changed now that it is up to committee chairs to warn their own meetings and formulate their own agendas without the assistance of the Library Director unless requested.

8. Renovation Project Update – Hope Brissette
-Roof is on and building is weather tight. Town officials continues to handle the project; all information from the Town Manager sent to Jan Mitchell-Love is then sent to all Trustees by Jan. The Town Manager asked that only one trustee attend the meetings and Hope Brissette is doing this. Discussion ensued.
-David Buckley asked that Mary VanHartesveldt continue to print and organize all renovation-related project information.

9. Future Plans
a. long-range planning
-Jan Mitchell-Love spoke with local library representative, Amy Howlett, and her recommendation was that the Trustees wait until a few months after the renovation project is over. Ms. Howlett will be making a presentation on this topic to the Trustees in the next few months.
b. request for monthly staff payrolls, comp time, overtime reports, etc.
-Jan Mitchell-Love asked Trustees what type of format would be best. Célina Houlné reported staff do not get comp time or overtime and that the other information is available in print at the library for Trustees to review.
c. request for monthly bills and warrants
-Jan Mitchell-Love requested that a change be made to current policy so that any Trustee (i.e. not just officers) be able to review and sign warrants. No further action was taken at this time.

10. Other – Review of Open Meeting Law for Committees
-Discussion revealed there is still uncertainty about how Open Meeting Law applies to Personnel Committee meetings, and until this is determined they will follow these regulations.

11. The next Library Board of Trustees meeting will be on April 14 3:30pm at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church unless otherwise warned. Amy Howlett will most likely present information to Trustees on Open Meeting Law.

12. Executive Session – No Executive Session was necessary.

13. A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Steve Fuller; seconded by Carolyn Frisa; unanimously approved at 5:25pm.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Carolyn Frisa, Co-Secretary March 20, 2013

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Thursday, January 10, 2013

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2013
4:00 PM at Lower Theater in Bellows Falls

Regular trustees meeting after executive session at the Immanuel Episcopal Church

AGENDA: Call to order

1. Executive session with Rockingham Selectboard at 4 p.m. in Lower Theater
Regular meeting afterwards at Immanuel Episcopal Church at close of Executive Session

1. Additions or changes to agenda
2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
3. Approve Minutes of December 10, 13 and 18 Board Meetings
4. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
5. Annual Town Meeting and Nomination Petitions
6. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Policy
b. Building
c. Historical Collection
d. Communications – Fundraising
e. Renovation
f. Finance
g. Personnel
7. Renovation Project Update
8. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date
9. Executive Session – Contract
10. Adjourn

Communication Committee Meeting Agenda: Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Library Board of Trustees
Communications Committee Meeting
Wednesday, January 9, 2013

9:00 AM at Dish On Main Restaurant Saxtons River

Agenda

1. Public Comment
2. Additions or Changes to Agenda
3. Approve minutes of November 7
3. Report on NY City Trip & Open House, follow-up comments
4. Fundraiser Committee
5. Friends of the Library events, sales
6. New business: Spring Trip, Book Sale
7. Tasks for February

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Thursday, December 13, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2012
4:00 PM

LOCATION: WOOL Radio, 33 Bridge Street in Bellows Falls

AGENDA: Call to order

1. Additions or changes to agenda
2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
3. Approve Minutes of November Trustees meeting and special meetings.
4. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
5. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Policy
b. Building
c. Historical Collection
d. Communications
e. Renovation
f. Finance
g. Personnel
6. Renovation Project Update – discuss Tuesday, December 18th Selectboard Meeting
7. Fundraising Committee Update
8. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date
9. Executive Session: Personnel
10. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Thursday, December 13, 2012

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2012
4:00 PM

LOCATION: WOOL Radio, 33 Bridge Street in Bellows Falls

Trustees in attendance: David Buckley, Duane Whitehead, Hope Brissette, Carolyn Frisa, Deborah Wright, Deb Wetzel, Jan Mitchell-Love, and Laura Senes. Also present: Célina Houlné (Library director) and Serena Hickey for public comment.

AGENDA: Called to order by Jan Mitchell-Love at 4:05.

1. Additions or changes to agenda-Change made to add the discussion of contracts to the executive session portion of the meeting.

2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)-Serena Hickey presented to thank the board for not meeting at the library, as the meetings can be loud at times. This is especially true now with the reduced available space in library. The board will continue to have board meetings outside of the library until there is room available.

3. Approve Minutes of November Trustees meeting and special meetings.-
Motion to approve as written the minutes for the special meeting on November 8, 2012 passed unanimously.
Motion to approve as written the minutes for the monthly trustee meeting on November 14, 2012 passed unanimously.
Motion to approve as written the minutes for the special meeting on December 10, 2012 passed unanimously.

4. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report- Célina Houlné gives directors report, including renovation update. Célina is working on the annual appeal letter and needs the trustees to come in and help write personal notes on them.

5. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Policy-Nothing to report
b. Building-Nothing to report
c. Historical Collection-Carolyn Frisa reports that there was a meeting of the Historical Collection committee. We did not receive the grant we had applied for. They are presently planning the grand opening exhibit.
d. Communications-Deb Wetzel reports the NYC trip was a success and made about $1800. There were about 75 people present for the open house.
e. Renovation- Célina Houlné suggests the trustees approve of PR-13 for the full $1213.00 for essential electrical work. At the last meeting the trustees approved to pay for $905. A motion was made to approve paying the whole $1213. This motion did not pass with 3 votes for, 3 votes against, and 2 abstentions. Any issues with the architect or Baybutt on this matter will be directed to Jan Mitchell-Love.
f. Finance-Nothing to report
g. Personnel-Nothing to report

6. Renovation Project Update – discuss Tuesday, December 18th Selectboard Meeting- The Selectboard will meet on Tuesday. There will be an executive session to discuss contract matters starting about 7:00 that the library trustees will attend. The library trustees will meet at 6:45 in the hall for an update from the Tuesday construction meeting.

7. Fundraising Committee Update-Nothing to report

8. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date-The next meeting will be January 10th at 4:00, location to be announced.

9. Executive Session: Personnel and contract matters-Motion to go into executive session at 4:45 approved unanimously. Discussion of personnel and contract matters. Executive session adjourned at 5:50.

10. Adjourn-Motion to adjourn meeting 5:58 approved unanimously.

These minutes respectfully submitted by Co-Secretary, Laura Senes on December 21, 2012.

 

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Monday, December 10, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
MINUTES FROM BOARD OF TRUSTEES SPECIAL MEETING
MONDAY, DECEMBER 10TH, 2012
4:30 PM
LOCATION: WOOL RADIO MEETING ROOM

Trustees in Attendance: David Buckley, Duane Whitehead, Laura Senes, Hope Brissette, Carolyn Frisa, Deborah Wright, and Jan Mitchell-Love.
Invited Guests in Attendance: Célina Houlné (Library Director), Tom MacPhee (Rockingham Selectboard Chairman), Tim Cullenen (Rockingham Municipal Manager), Chip Stearns (Rockingham Finance Director), Peter Stolley (Renovation Committee) and Pat Fowler (Renovation Committee).

The meeting was called to order by Chairwoman, Jan Mitchell-Love at 4:37pm.

No additions or changes to the agenda were made.

No public comment was made.

David Buckley moved that that the Trustees and invited guests enter Executive Session; the motion was seconded by Deborah Wright and unanimously approved. Discussion ensued. Carolyn Frisa motioned to adjourn Executive Session at 5:40pm; the motion was seconded by Deborah Wright and unanimously approved.

Hope Brissette motioned to adjourn the meeting at 5:41; the motion was seconded by David Buckley and unanimously approved.

These minutes were respectfully submitted by Co-Secretary, Carolyn Frisa on December 12, 2012.

Historical Collections Committee Agenda: Tuesday, December 4, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
3:00 PM

AGENDA: Call to order

1. Additions or changes to agenda
2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
3. Update on Packing/Storing Historical Collections Remaining on First Floor / Mezzanine of Library during Renovation Project
4. Update on Grant Applications
5. Next Steps for Historical Collections Committee
6. Review Previous Task List and Set New Tasks
7. Review Agenda Items for Next Meeting and Set Meeting Date
9. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Wednesday, November 14, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
MINUTES FR0M BOARD OF TRUSTEES SPECIAL MEETING
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14th, 2012
5:00 PM

1. The meeting was called to order at 5:05 by chairwoman Jan Mitchell-Love.

2. No additions or changes to the agenda were made.

3. No public comments were made.

4. Discussion of Renovation Project Proposal Requests #11, 12, 13, & 14
• Proposal Request #11 – Costs associated with wiring the HP3, HP4 and ERV in crawl space (external heat pumps) $5,419.00
-David Buckley motioned that the Trustees accept the proposal provided by Baybutt as written. Jan Mitchell-Love seconded the motion. Discussion ensued – this figure includes the $368 for labor to re-enter crawl space and excludes the OH/profit markup of $812 previously proposed by Baybutt.
-The motion to approve Project Proposal Request #11 (including the amount of $5,419.00) was passed by the Trustees.
• Proposal Request #12 –
Costs associated with Elevator Lockout Feature $1,006.00
-Steve Fuller motioned that the Trustees accept the proposal provided by Baybutt as written. Jan Mitchell-Love seconded the motion. Discussion ensued – includes $131 OH/profit markup.
-The motion to approve Project Proposal Request #12 (including the amount of $1,006.00) was passed by the Trustees.
• Proposal Request #13 – Costs associated with switching the breakers for ERVs to accommodate three-phase power $1,213.00
-Steve Fuller motioned that the Trustees accept the proposal provided by Baybutt as written. Deborah Wright seconded the motion. Discussion ensued – there are inconsistent calculations on the paperwork provided by Baybutt and Lawrence & Lober (electrical subcontractor), including a double charge for the subcontractor markup for OH/profit ($158) on the proposal from Baybutt (the $1,055 includes the $158 subcontractor markup in the quote from Lawrence and Lober. Trustees feel the cost of labor should not be the responsibility of the Library as this was an error made by a subcontractor.
-The motion to approve Project Proposal Request #13 (including the amount of $1,213.00) was rejected by the Trustees.
-Deborah Wright made the motion to amend Proposal #13 by changing the amount of funds approved from $1,213.00 to $905.00. Hope Brissette seconded the motion. Discussion ensued – this cost includes one charge for OH/profit and excludes the labor costs as this error was not the fault of the Library.
-The motion to approve Project Proposal Request #13 with the amended amount of $905.00 was approved by the Trustees.
• Proposal Request #14 – Proposed Roofing Change – 1909 Bay Window
-An explanation of the proposed change was explained in greater detail. No vote to approve the proposal request was needed as no cost is associated with this change order.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:45pm. Trustees in attendance: Duane Whitehead, David Buckley, Deborah Wright, Steve Fuller, Hope Brissette, Jan Mitchell Love and Carolyn Frisa. Additional parties present: Célina Houlné, Library Director. These minutes were respectfully submitted by Carolyn Frisa, Co-Secretary, on November 15, 2012.

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Thursday, November 8, 2012

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MEETING MINUTES
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2012

Meeting called to order at 4PM

Present: Celina, Hope Brissette, Debbi Wetzel, Jan Mitchell-Love, Deb Wright, Steven Fuller and Duane Whitehead

No changes or amendments to the agenda no public comment

Minutes approved from September 13th meeting…look back and approve Oct.23rd minutes when ready and amended

Directors report given by Celina

Committee Reports:
Policy- Steven had nothing to report
Building-Hope asks if storage is being checked regularly, answered yes.
Historical Collection -discussion on process for display cases and report of bronze plaque for book drop empty space
Communications-Debbi reported on successful trip to NY with about $1,500 profit. Volunteer baskets to be given out before Thanksgiving and staff breakfast scheduled.
Finance – new bill from Baybutt, renovation expenses chart, and unseen changes expense chart , distributed to Board. FY budget 14. Celina gives details on biggest change in line item (pg 3 of financial report) pertains to data base, the new tech equipment includes cost of new server, to make change this fiscal year in Feb. KOHA agreement will be changed to VOKAL (annual fee $1,000 savings). Motion made by Steven Fuller to move $1,000 out of line 120 on FY 14 Budget automated library system, move to property and liability insurance line…all in favor..approved.
Make an * notation for tech equipment savings and maintain to pay for server upgrade and electric all in favor…approved.
Renovation – PR#12 pertaining to lock out feature of new elevator vote.
PR #11 vote tabled to be dealt with by special meeting asap.
PR #14 pertaining to change in roof flashing /edging, after consideration by Ellen Howard at town office. Motion to approve made by Deb Wright…all in favor..approved.
Personnel Committee- no report

Next Trustees Board meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 13 @ 4PM

Meeting adjourned at 5:30 PM

 

Historical Collections Committee Meeting Agenda: Thursday, October 25, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE MEETING
Thursday October 25, 2012
5:00 PM

AGENDA: Call to order

1. Additions or changes to agenda
2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
3. Update on Packing/Storing Historical Collections Remaining on First Floor / Mezzanine of Library during Renovation Project
4. Tru-Vue Grant Application Summary
5. Next Steps for Historical Collections Committee
6. Review Previous Task List and Set New Tasks
7. Review Agenda Items for Next Meeting and Set Meeting Date
9. Adjourn

Historical Collections Committee Meeting Minutes: Thursday, October 25, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Thursday October 25, 2012
5:00 PM

The meeting was called order at 5:05pm by Chairwoman, Carolyn Frisa.

1. Additions or changes to agenda
• Duane asked that we discuss display furniture and shelving – to be covered under Next Steps (Item 7).
• Duane asked whether we needed to create a timeline for upcoming projects. This will be done on an as-needed basis.

2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
• No public comment.

3. Update on Packing/Storing Historical Collections Remaining on First Floor / Mezzanine of Library during Renovation Project
• Packing supplies have been obtained by Emily.
• Emily plans to pack Friday, Oct. 26 from 9:00 – 3:00 and any help is welcome. She will continue to pack on Monday and Tuesday of next week. Carolyn is available to help on Tuesday.
• Thursday November 1 is the final packing and moving day. Debbi will provide a vehicle and help. Others are also welcome to assist with the move. Exact time to be determined by Emily.
• The packing of the historic clock is nearly complete. Packing materials will be installed just prior to crating by Baybutt.
• Baybutt is also responsible for protecting the oversize painting with polyethylene sheeting.

4. Tru-Vue Grant Application Summary
• Emily provided the committee with a summary of the grant application which is due on Nov. 1. If funded, the historic 5-shelf barrister’s bookcase will retrofitted to make it museum-quality and theft-proof. Emily will provide the committee with a copy of the grant application when it is complete. Grant notification should be approximately 6 weeks from submittal deadline.

5. Next Steps for Historical Collections Committee
• Insurance assessment for entire Library will occur following renovation project. The committee will prepare a list of items identified as potentially needing separate riders (the clock is currently the only item in the collection with a separate rider).
• Continue to work on exhibit plans for Renovation Opening Display. The theme will be the History of the Rockingham Public Library and will most likely include original photographs and enlarged display copies, as well as other library-related ephemera/memorabilia. Exhibits will be rotated every four months (i.e. three times per year).
• Create either a specific line item within the Library Budget or create a separate Historical Collections bank account to ensure donations designated for the Historical Collections are clearly designated and spent accordingly.
• Establish an amount of $500 for Historical Collections in the new FY 2013 budget. This will include $250 for rehousing supplies and $250 for rotating exhibits expenses.

6. Review Task List
• Previous tasks were reviewed.

• Emily
1) purchase plastic sheeting to protect items on Mezzanine.
2) contact Karen Becker (clock restorer) re: current insurance value on clock
3) contact Brattleboro Public Library re: shelving units for historic reference books in reading room
4) assess remaining display units / shelves on 3rd floor with Carolyn (to reuse or discard)
5) pack and move remaining Historic Collections items by end of next week
6) continue researching deaccessing methods. Contact VHS re: borrowing books on subject
7) complete and submit Tru-Vue grant by November 1

• Carolyn
1) assess remaining display units / shelves on 3rd floor with Carolyn (to reuse or discard)
2) assist with packing of Historic Collection
3) continue researching deaccessing methods
4) assist with Tru-Vue grant application
5) provide vendor information and cost estimates for creating historic photo facsimiles for display

• Celina
1) provide furniture/display catalogs and websites for next meeting
2) make additions to FYI budget for Historical Collection
3) bring architectural renderings of first floor showing potential location of display and shelving units to next meeting

• Duane
1) bring criteria list for historic reference book collection shelving to next meeting

• Debbi
1) assist with packing and moving and provide transportation to complete project by end of next week.

7. Next meeting is set for Tuesday, November 20th at 3:00pm.
• The primary topic will be display cases and book shelving units. This will include cases to be used for rotating exhibits of various types of objects from the collection as well as bookcases for the Local History Reference Collection.

9. The meeting was adjourned at 6:19pm.

Committee Members in Attendance: Célina Houlné, Emily Zervas, Duane Whitehead, Debbi Wetzel and Carolyn Frisa.

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, October 23, 2012

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
MINUTES FROM BOARD OF TRUSTEES SPECIAL MEETING
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23rd, 2012
5:00 PM

1. The meeting was called to order at 5:05 by Chairwoman Jan Mitchell-Love.

2. No additions or changes to the agenda were proposed.

3. No public comment was made.

4. Discuss of Renovation Project Issues
• Discussion of PR 11 (proposed change to elevator key access control panel) and PR 12 (proposed changes to heat pump unit / system
• The Trustees recommend Baybutt’s waive the markups for overhead and profit for BOTH PRs.
• The Trustees recommend that the Library be responsible for paying for materials ONLY on both PRs. Ideally this price will reflect the cost of materials when the orders for the elevator and heat pump unit systems were made initially.
• The Trustees ask that David Buckley negotiate these matters with the architects and construction management companies as appropriate.
• Duane Whitehead stated that the elevator decision must be made by November 9.

5. An Executive Session was not called.

6. A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Steve Fuller, seconded by Deborah Wright, and unanimously approved at 5:39pm.

Trustees Present: Jan Mitchell-Love, Debbi Wetzel, Steve Fuller, Duane Whitehead, Carolyn Frisa, Hope Brissette, and Deborah Wright. Also present: Célina Houlné (Library Director) Minutes respectfully submitted by Carolyn Frisa, Co-Secretary October 23, 2012

 

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Agenda: Thursday, October 18, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
AGENDA FOR BOARD OF TRUSTEES SPECIAL MEETING
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18TH, 2012
3:30 PM

1. Call to order
2. Additions or changes to agenda
3. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
4. Roles in the Renovation Project:
a. Trustees at the Contractors’ Meetings
b. Trustees’
c. Library Director’s
5. Executive Session
Contract Matter – Negotiating Update
6. Set date for special meeting on 115.1, missing part for elevator.
7. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Thursday, October 18, 2012

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
MINUTES FROM BOARD OF TRUSTEES SPECIAL MEETING
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18TH, 2012
3:30 PM

Trustees present: Deborah Wright, Hope Brissette, Steve Fuller, Carolyn Frisa, Laura Senes, Duane Whitehead, )Jan Mitchell-Love, David Buckley Additional members present: Célina Houlné (Library Director)

1. The meeting was call to order at 3:36 by Chairwoman Jan Mitchell-Love

2. No additions or changes were made to the agenda.

3. No public comment.

4. Review of Roles in the Renovation Project
a. Trustees at the Contractors’ Meetings
b. Trustees
c. Library Director

Discussion about roles covered the Trustees responsibility as individuals and as a whole Board of any money spent and that the Library Director acts as the primary advocate for library staff and building.

5. Executive Session on Negotiating Contracts for Renovation Project
A motion to enter executive session was made by Carolyn Frisa; seconded by Duane Whitehead; unanimously approved at 3:57pm. The Executive Session ended at 4:17pm.

6. The motion tabled during the Board Meeting on 10.18.2012 concerning the negotiation of renovation project contracts was withdrawn by Duane Whitehead.

Steve Fuller motioned that David Buckley act as negotiator on behalf of the Trustees to negotiate the renovation project contracts as necessary; seconded by Deb Wright; no discussion; unanimously approved.

6. The next Special Meeting concerning the missing part for the new elevator will take place on Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 5:00pm at the Masonic Temple.

7. A motion to adjourn was made by Carolyn Frisa; seconded by Steve Fulller; and unanimously approved at 4:20pm.

Respectfully submitted by Co-Secretary Carolyn Frisa, October 18, 2012.

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Thursday, October 11, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY |
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012
4:00 PM

AGENDA: Call to order

1. Additions or changes to agenda
2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
3. Approve Minutes of Board Meeting – September 13, 2012
4. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
5. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Policy
b. Building
c. Historical Collection
d. Communications – Fundraising
e. Renovation
f. Finance
g. Personnel
6. Renovation Project Update
7. Fundraising Committee Update
8. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date
9. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Thursday, October 11, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012
4:00 PM

In Attendance: Jan Mitchel-Love, Hope Brisette, Laura Senes, Duane Whitehead, David Buckley, Deb Wright, Deb Wetzel, and Célina Houlné.

AGENDA: Called to order 4:10

1. Additions or changes to agenda: None

2. Public comment (3 minutes in person): none

3. Approve Minutes of Board Meeting – September 13, 2012
• Motion to table approval of minutes to allow Caroline an opportunity to resubmit minutes if she wants. Motion approved unanimously.

4. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
• Celina Houlne reviewed the director’s report. Fall programs have begun. 65 people came out to the Star Wars Reads day, and the Eagle Times covered this event. The Banned Books week was observed and broadcast on FACT-TV. Celina also solicited questions on the financial report.

5. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Policy: none
b. Building: Hope asked about having the masonry of the chimney looked at. Celina will ask Jason LaCombe about this so he can be prepared to address this at next Tuesday’s construction meeting.
c. Historical Collection: The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for next Thursday at 3:00.
d. Communications – Fundraising: The committee just had a meeting. The New York City trip is sold out, with just four seats left on the bus to sell. This trip will make a profit of about $2000. For the holidays, the open house is scheduled for December 8. There will also be a staff appreciation breakfast paid for by the Friends of the library. The volunteers will receive gift baskets. The Friends are also hosting the cocktails for a cause event next Thursday at Popolo’s.
e. Renovation: David reports that the furniture committee met with the company representative, who will get back to the committee with more information.
f. Finance: Celina is presently working on the budget for FY14. She also pointed out that the financial reports have been improved to include percentages of the budget spent.
g. Personnel: Laura Senes made a motion to pass Celina Houlne’s personnel evaluation. The motion was approved unanimously. Celina will write a response that will be included with the evaluation in her file.

6. Renovation Project Update
• David Buckley made a motion we ask each party involved in the renovation project to pay 1/3rd of the additional payment requested by the architects. This motion was tabled. David read the contract, which states that the architects are contracted to work for 20 months from when the contract was signed. This differs from the letter received by from the architects. The board authorized David Buckley to call Eric Palson to clarify this issue.
• A motion was made to approve the change orders for removal of the cement wall and to sheetrock the wall in the children’s room. The motion was passed unanimously.

7. Fundraising Committee Update
• The fundraising committee met and will be looking into getting donations from foundations connected with Vermont, and with an interest in libraries. They are also requesting all members of the board of trustees of the library financially contribute.

8. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date: Review of the agenda items deferred at this time. Next meeting set for November 8 at 4:00.

9. Adjourn: Move to adjourn meeting approved unanimously at 5:40.

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Rockingham Free Public Library
Board of Trustees Special Meeting
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Time and Place: 4 p.m. at Masonic Temple

1. The meeting was called to order by Chairwoman Jan Mitchell-Love at 4:15.

2. Public comment (3 minutes per person) –No public comment.

3. Renovation Update
-The Trustees are still waiting for update from architects on how to handle additional architectural consulting fees due to extended completion date.
-Duane Whitehead reported SMP Architects plan to present options at the upcoming Trustee meeting on October 11

4. Executive Session with Trustees only – Personnel
-Steve Fuller moved to go into Executive Session; Laura Senes seconded the motion; the motion was unanimously approved at 4:20.
-Carolyn Frisa motioned to come out of executive session; Duane Whitehead seconded the motion; the motion was unanimously approved at 6:33.

Carolyn motioned to accept the draft of the director’s evaluation with edits as recommended by Trustees. Duane seconded the motion; the motion was unanimously approved. Jan will send the final evaluation to Trustees and the Director.

5. Adjourn
-Carolyn Frisa motioned adjourn the meeting; Duane Whitehead seconded the motion; the motion was unanimously approved at 6:35.

Trustees in attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Steve Fuller, Duane Whitehead, Hope Brissette, Laura Senes, Deborah Wright, and Carolyn Frisa.

Additional Attendees: Célina Houlné (Library Director)

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Rockingham Free Public Library

Board of Trustees Special Meeting
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Time and Place: 4 p.m. at Masonic Temple

1. The meeting was called to order by Chairwoman Jan Mitchell-Love at 4:15.

2. Public comment (3 minutes per person) –No public comment.

3. Renovation Update
-The Trustees are still waiting for update from architects on how to handle additional architectural consulting fees due to extended completion date.
-Duane Whitehead reported SMP Architects plan to present options at the upcoming Trustee meeting on October 11

4. Executive Session with Trustees only – Personnel
-Steve Fuller moved to go into Executive Session; Laura Senes seconded the motion; the motion was unanimously approved at 4:20.
-Carolyn Frisa motioned to come out of executive session; Duane Whitehead seconded the motion; the motion was unanimously approved at 6:33.
Carolyn motioned to accept the draft of the director’s evaluation with edits as recommended by Trustees. Duane seconded the motion; the motion was unanimously approved. Jan will send the final evaluation to Trustees and the Director.

5. Adjourn
-Carolyn Frisa motioned adjourn the meeting; Duane Whitehead seconded the motion; the motion was unanimously approved at 6:35.

Trustees in attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Steve Fuller, Duane Whitehead, Hope Brissette, Laura Senes, Deborah Wright, and Carolyn Frisa. Additional Attendees: Célina Houlné (Library Director)

Historical Collections Committee Meeting Agenda: Monday, September 17, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE MEETING
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012
2:00 PM

AGENDA: Call to order

1. Additions or changes to agenda
2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
3. Plan for Packing/Storing Historical Collections Remaining on First Floor / Mezzanine of Library during Renovation Project
4. Update on NEH Preservation Assistance Grant Application
5. Next Steps for Historical Collections Committee
6. Review Task List
7. Review Agenda Items for Next Meeting and Set Meeting Date
9. Adjourn

Historical Collections Committee Meeting Minutes: Monday, September 17, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2012
2:00 PM

Members Present: Carolyn Frisa (Chair), Debbi Wetzel, Emily Zervas and Célina Houlné

Call to order at 2:10pm.

AGENDA

1. Additions or changes to agenda
• None.

2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
• None.

3. Review Plan for Packing/Storing Historical Collections Remaining on First Floor / Mezzanine of Library during Renovation Project
• Carolyn & Emily reported approximately 20 framed artworks and the grandfather clock remain in their original locations on the first floor and these need to be either packed and move or protected in place ASAP to prevent potential damage during renovation.
• Discussion followed about how best to deal with the oversize painting of Bellows Falls – until the basement is finished and storage space is available, the painting should be protected with polyethylene sheeting (taped securely to walls surrounding painting). Emily will purchase the sheeting from J&H Hardware and Célina will ask Baybutt to install it. Once on-site storage space is available, the painting will be packed and moved to the basement or third floor (before the painting process if not sooner). Baybutt will also be enlisted to help deinstall and move the painting at this time.
• Célina will ask Baybutt to construct a protective wooden crate for the grandfather clock and Emily will protect the clock bonnets with Ethafoam (Carolyn will check her studio for scraps to donate). Carolyn suggested that Emily create a sign to post on the crate explaining why it is there; Emily agreed to do this.
• Discussion about what do to with items currently stored on Mezzanie. These were packed and stored here because they were deemed either too fragile, too valuable, or too awkward to safely transport to VS Books for storage during the renovation project.
-some items in boxes could be moved to VS Books
-chairs that are regularly used by library patrons can also be moved
-The remaining items will be covered with one large piece of plastic sheeting in addition to the small sheets currently covering objects locally. Emily will also create a large sign indicating CAUTION is necessary when working near this are.
• Emily questioned when pack/move the objects (mostly books) in the Haynes Room. Célina will get the schedule from Baybutt and these items will be moved to VS Books prior to construction in this area.
• Debbi offered to donate a new roll of bubble wrap and Emily will order any additional packing materials in the next few weeks.
• Emil will solicit volunteers to help with the packing process; Debbi and Carolyn can provide vehicles to transport items to VS Books; Célina suggested we also ask Bob to help (he typically works Mon, Wed, Fri from 8-11am).

4. Update on NEH Preservation Assistance Grant Application
• Emily provided an update on the NEH PAG application. She and Carolyn worked on this proposal and it was submitted on May 1, 2012. Notification of awards is scheduled for November 2012. She will email a copy of this application to the Committee.
• Focus of grant application was on rehousing and storing the rest of the Historic Photograph Collection (the rehousing of the other part of this collection was funded in 2010 by a grant from IMLS which Emily and Carolyn also worked on). Items requested included a new flat file and folders for storage of oversize photographs, housing materials for the very large glass plate negative collection, and an electronic data logger to monitor environmental conditions in the new collections storage room. Carolyn explained that having this data logger in place is highly recommended for future successful grant applications for the Historical Collections.

5. Next Steps for Historical Collections Committee
• Take steps to clearly define the deaccessioning process for the items that need to be deaccessioned. Books have been identified as the most likely first group to be deaccessioned.
• Develop program for rotating exhibit for grand reopening celebration of library; there will be at least one display on each floor of the Library. This also includes deciding what types of display cases are necesary to do this.
• Set up specific bank account for Historical Collections.

6. Review Task List

• Carolyn
1) post query on online forum, Connecting to Collections, about what methods other I nstitutions have used for deaccessioning.
2) look for ethafoam scraps at studio and deliver to library for clock.
3) look into potential funding for display cases from Tru-Vue

• Emily
1) purchase necessary packing supplies and organize pack/move dates with volunteers
2) send NEH PAG grant application to Committee
3) create wish list of new display cases/furniture prior to meeting with furniture consultant Heather Rowan
4) make signs for clock crate and mezzanine areas

• Debbi
1) deliver donated bubble wrap roll to Library
2) work with Emily to establish packing/moving dates and provide use of van

• Célina
1) Talk to Baybutt about constructing crate for clock, protecting oversize painting with plastic sheeting, and work schedule for all areas on first floor with historic collections
2) Include display furniture items in final wish list for new library furniture to be presented to Heather Rowan
3) Set up Historical Collections bank account.

7. Next meeting will take place on Thursday, October 11 at 2pm at the Library.

8. A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Carolyn; seconded by Debbi; unanimously approved at 3:30.

Communications Committee Minutes: September 17, 2012

Rockingham Free Public Library
Communications Committee Minutes
September 17, 2012

Meeting started at 1:00 PM.

No Public Comment.

No add/changes to August Minutes.

Report on November trip to NYC…..tickets sold out, and 6 seats sold. Ask $60 for just seat on bus to NY. Make handout for spring trip to Boston with clip board. First choice will give map of area to hand out.

Fundraise meeting will be held October 3 at 6Pm Jan Mitchell- Love will take over direction .

Holiday Open House – check with Friends for agree on date December 8, time 2-4 ?

Staff Appreciation and donation of small gift baskets and certificates to volunteers. Debbi- 6 baskets, Jan-cookies, Celina-clementines and certificates, will make addition from Friends contribution. Breakfast for staff of 10at Dish on Main in Saxtons River in October…Debbi check with restaurant for open dates, and will Friends pay.

Date for next meeting October 11 at 3:00 before Trustees meeting.

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Thursday, September 13, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2012
3:30 PM
Location: Emmanuel Episcopal Church

AGENDA: Call to order

1. Additions or changes to agenda
2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
3. Approve Minutes of Board Meeting – August 9, 2012
4. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
5. Renovation Project Update – Review finishes
6. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Policy
b. Building
c. Historical Collection
d. Communications – Fundraising
e. Finance
f. Personnel – review of Trustee duties and rules of Executive Session
7. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date
8. Executive Session – Director’s Evaluation
9. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Thursday, September 13, 2012

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2012
3:30 PM
AMENDED MINUTES

Location: Emmanuel Episcopal Church

Trustees present: David Buckley, Laura Senes, Steve Fuller, Duane Whitehead, Jan Mitchel-Love, Debbi Wetzel, Carolyn Frisa, Hope Brissette; Deb Wright arrived at 4:15. Additional members present: Célina Houlné (Library Director)

AGENDA: Called to order by Jan Mitchel-Love at 3:33.

1. Additions or changes to agenda
• Error discovered in April 2012 minutes – “worked with Personnel Committee to allow free Library memberships to All Town Employees…” should have been listed under general business rather than under “Personnel Committee Report”. A motion to correct the April 2012 Minutes was made by Steve Fuller, seconded by Hope Brissette and unanimously approved.
• A question was raised as to whether the Trustees would like to create a separate document defining the specific roles of the Trustee Renovation Representatives (Duane Whitehead and Hope Brissette) and Célina Houlné (Library Representative). The Trustees felt that what has already been written in various Trustee Meeting Minutes is sufficient.

2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
• None

3. Approve Minutes of Board Meeting – August 9, 2012
• Hope Brissette moved to approve them as submitted; seconded by Steve Fuller; approved unanimously by the Trustees.

4. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
• see Director’s Report and Financial Report for details
• A question was raised concerning losses/profits of providing coffee to patrons. The Library Director will look into less expensive sources for coffee.
• A question was raised concerning the 169% budget line for Adult Programming. The Library Director provided an explanation of the overage and reported funds are available from the Friends to cover these additional costs.

5. Renovation Project Update – Update on Letter to Fred Baybutt and Review of Interior Finishes
• The Library Director provided the Trustees with copies of the response letter from Fred Baybutt (received earlier today). Discussion followed.
• The Library Director provided the Trustees with the Renovation Expense Report through 9-17-12. A request that a percentage line be added to future reports was made.
• The Library Director presented the Trustees with the interior finishes recommended by the Renovation Committee as a result of their meeting on Tuesday. Steve Fuller motioned to approve all recommendations made by Renovation Committee; seconded by Hope Brissette. No discussion. Unanimously approved. A discussion followed about the potential use of chalkboard or magnetic paint in the Youth Department area.
• Furniture: Jason Lacombe (SMP Architects) recommended contacting furniture consultant Heather Rowan at the Renovation Committee meeting. Creating a “wish list” is the first step in the process. A meeting with Ms. Rowan will be set up on either Sept. 24th or 25th at 5:00pm – Trustees are encouraged to attend.

6. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Policy – Nothing to report.
b. Building – Hope Brissette reported a meeting will be needed in late spring to organize information pertaining to all of the new equipment and systems in the building.
c. Historical Collection – Carolyn Frisa reported there will be a meeting on Monday, Sept. 17 at 2pm; the agenda has been sent to the Trustees and everyone is invited to attend.
d. Communications / Fundraising – Debbi Wetzel reported their will be a meeting on Monday, Sept. 17 at 1pm, that the fundraising project is going to pick up soon and the Holiday Open House date is tentatively Dec. 8, 2012. She also reported the November fundraising trip to NYC has sold out; possibly one seat is available that has not been paid for but there is a waiting list.
e. Finance – David Buckley reported the committee is satisfied with the report that was recently submitted by the Town Finance Director.
f. Personnel – Review of Trustee Duties and Rules of Executive Session
-Library Chairwoman Jan Mitchel-Love stated that the written evaluation of the library director is one of their three primary duties and reminded them that all discussions in executive session are confidential and that no decisions can be made in Executive Session.
-Library Director Célina Houlné discussed her ideas concerning the evaluation process and provided a written response to the evaluation draft she was previously given by the Personnel Committee.
-Jan Mitchel-Love recommended that the Trustees enter Executive Session today without the Library Director as Part I of the process to be followed by a second executive session at a later date in which the Director will be invited to attend and discuss her evaluation with the full Board.

7. The next Library Board of Trustees meeting will be on October 11, 2012 at 4:00pm at the Library unless otherwise warned.

8. Executive Session – Director’s Evaluation
-Jan Mitchel-Love motioned to move into an executive session with Trustees only; seconded by Deb Wright; unanimously approved at 5:10pm. -Executive session ended at 6:15pm.

9. A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Hope Brissette; seconded by David Buckley; unanimously approved at 6:15.

Minutes respectfully re-submitted by Carolyn Frisa, Co-Secretary October 18, 2012

 

Personnel Committee Meeting Minutes: Friday, September 7, 2012

Rockingham Free Public Library
Minutes of Board of Trustees Personnel Committee Meeting
Friday, September 7, 2012
Time and Place: 10 a.m. at Masonic Temple

In attendance: Hope Brissette, Carolyn Frisa, Celina Houlne, Jan Mitchell-Love, Laura Senes, and Duane Whitehead

1. Call to Order – called to order at 10:17

2. Public comment (3 minutes per person) – there were questions about the evaluation process in general, where the trustees and the Personnel Committee were currently with the 2012 evaluation process, and what could be tweaked in future processes after the current evaluation is finished. This will be discussed with all of the trustees present; the current evaluation will be discussed on Thursday and future evaluation processes will be discussed after the director’s 2012 evaluation is completed. Celina expressed her preference to not discuss the evaluation with the Personnel Committee but wait to discuss it with the whole Board of Trustees. The Personnel Committee, though eager to get Celina’s feedback to make sure the current draft is as complete as possible, told Celina that she would need to express this preference in executive session.

3. Executive Session – Director’s Evaluation – moved, seconded, and passed to go into executive session at 11:30. The committee plus Celina came out of executive session at 11:35.

The Personnel Committee chair stated no action was taken.

4. Adjourn – moved, seconded, and passed to adjourn at 11:36

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Minutes: Thursday, August 16, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES SPECIAL MEETING
THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2012
5:10 PM
Board Members in attendance: David Buckley, Duane Whitehead, Laura Senes, Steve Fuller, Carolyn Frisa, Deb Wright, and Jan Mitchell-Love. Additional Attendees: Célina Houlné (Library Director), Peter Stolley (Renovation Committee), and Pat Fowler (Renovation Committee).

The meeting was called to order at 5:15 by Jan Mitchell-Love.

AGENDA:

1. Additions or changes to agenda
No additions or changes were made.
2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
No public comments were made.

3. Renovation Project Letter about Schedule
• Jan Mitchell-Love recapped the scheduling/delay issues recently presented to the Renovation Committee by Baybutt. The most recent schedule (sent on August 6) states that Phase I of the project is scheduled for completion on January 18, 2013. No schedule was provided at this time for Phase II.
• Jason LaCombe (consulting architect from SMP) recommended the Board write a letter to the owner of Baybutt Construction voicing our concern. He provided Célina and Jan with list of suggested topics to include prior to this meeting. Jan wrote a draft letter that was sent to Board Members and Renovation Committee Members for review prior to this meeting.
• Célina Houlné reminded reported that one major issue is the Library only has funds allocated to cover architect’s consulting fees/attendance at Renovation meetings through December 31, 2012 as this was the previously agreed completion date for the entire project.
• Discussion ensued and edits to the letter to Fred Baybutt were proposed and approved accordingly. Carolyn Frisa agreed to send the edited version of the letter to Jan and the rest of the Trustees by the next day.
• This letter will then be sent to Fred Baybutt by USPS and via email.

4. Renovation Project Update
• The meeting room on the 2nd floor was recently given a maximum capacity of 49 people during a fire safety inspection performed by the State of Vermont. At this point, it is unclear as to why such a low figure was given; John Edwards (Baybutt Project Manager) believes it because of the size and orientation of the original 1909 doors leading to the stairs. He will be following up with the state inspector to confirm this and to formulate a plan to remedy the situation (most likely will be to replace the doors with ones that better meet current safety codes).

5. Adjourn
• A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by David Buckley at 6:00pm. It was seconded by Steve Fuller and agreed upon unamimously.

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Thursday, August 9, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING |
THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2012
4:00 PM

AGENDA: Call to order

1. Additions or changes to agenda
2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
3. Approve Minutes of Board Meeting – July 12, 2012
4. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
5. Renovation Project Update & Revised Schedule
6. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Policy
b. Building
c. Historical Collection
d. Communications – Fundraising
e. Finance
f. Personnel – Director’s evaluation
7. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date
8. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Thursday, August 9, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2012
4:00 PM

In Attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Laura Senes, Duane Whitehead, David Buckley, Deb Wright, Deb Wetzel, Célina Houlné and Carolyn Frisa (by phone).

AGENDA: Called to order 4:07

1. Additions or changes to agenda

• Change to agenda to cover committee reports first, and then cover renovation project update and revised schedule.

2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)-None

3. Approve Minutes of Board Meeting
• July 12, 2012-Motion to change “renovation committee meetings” to “construction meetings” approved unanimously.

4. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
• August 29 and 30 talk on Lyme disease will be at the Mason’s.
• The part time job has been offered to Ed Graves from Rutland. He will start after Labor Day.
• There will be a break in programs after finishing up with the summer programs. The Masons do not heat during the winter, so other arrangements will need to be made for the winter.
• This is the first month of the fiscal year. We are still awaiting final numbers from last year’s budget.

5. Renovation Project Update & Revised Schedule
• Because the renovation is behind schedule and to ensure the new heating system will be installed in time for the cold weather, it has been recommended the library close temporarily. Last night the renovation committee narrowly voted to recommend closing the library from August 18th to Sept. 3rd. A motion was made to approve a two-week closure, form August 18th to Sept. 3rd. This motion passed 6:3.
• One of the leaded windows that the board of trustees previously approved to have a minor repair for $200 will need a more extensive repair. A motion was made to approve an additional cost of $600 to fully repair this window. The motion passed 7:1.
• Continued discussion about lien wavers. The decision was made to not pursue lien wavers at this point. A motion was made to table this discussion until the next meeting. The motion passed unanimously with one abstention.
• The next renovation committee meeting will be Wed. August 12th at 5:00.

6. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Policy- Nothing to report
b. Building– Nothing to report
c. Historical Collection- Nothing to report
d. Communications – Fundraising
• There are just 3 tickets left for the trip to NYC. There are also a couple of seats on the bus for sale.
• December 8 from 2-4 will be our annual open house and raffle.
• The next fundraising panel development meeting will be August 28th, time to be determined.
e. Finance
• Still awaiting final end of year numbers from the town.
f. Personnel – Director’s evaluation
• Committee is still working on the director’s evaluation and will have it completed by next month.

7. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date
• Next meeting September 13th at 4pm at the library.

8. Adjourn-Move to adjourn meeting approved unanimously at 5:56.

Communications Committee Minutes: December 10, 2012

Rockingham Free Public Library Communications Committee Meeting

December 10, 2011 3PM

Call to Order @ 3:15 PM

No Public Comment

Approved November Minutes…none

Holiday Open House and Raffle, December 10, 3-5 PM, ticket packets handed out to Trustees, and round up all 27 donations for display. Poster seen at BF Opera House movie screen, list for food donations for party, set up at 2:00, ask Betty Haggerty to announce winners, tree for next year to decorate, send tax deduction forms and thank you letters

Fundraiser trips discussed. Jan contacted Paul Guftason at GFT ( Greater Falls Travel ) Montreal by train is out, Boston Red Sox game late June, request more catalogs from First Choice Tours.

Appeal letter date for signing by Trustees December 14th at 9AM

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Thursday, July 12, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012
4:00 PM

AGENDA: Call to order

1. Additions or changes to agenda
2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
3. Approve Minutes of Board Meeting – June 14, 2012
4. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
5. Renovation Project Update
6. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Policy
b. Building
c. Historical Collection
d. Communications – Fundraising
e. Finance
f. Personnel – Director’s evaluation
7. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date
8. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Thursday, July 12, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012
4:00 PM

In Attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brissette, Laura Senes, Duane Whitehead, Steven Fuller, Deb Wright, Carolyn Frisa, Debbi Wetzel, and Célina Houlné

AGENDA: Called to order 4:05pm.

1. Additions or changes to agenda-Change to the agenda to cover the renovation project update first, and then will cover the director’s monthly report.

2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)-None

3. Approve Minutes of Board Meeting – June 14, 2012:
• Change to record presence of Steve Fuller. Motion to amend and approve minutes passed unanimously.

4. Renovation Project Update
• Fire Chief William Weston attends to discuss his recommendation of installing a municipal master alarm box. The advantage of this system is that the fire department is contacted directly. Other alarm systems go through a second party before reaching the fire department. The fire chief recommends his system, but agrees that as long as the system used meets UL requirements it would be adequate. A motion was made to not accept the master box recommendation. This motion passed with 7 votes in favor, and one opposed.
• Jason was in attendance by phone to answer questions about changes regarding the scope of the window work at the 1909 and 1929 sections of the building. These changes will be made at no additional cost. A motion was made to accept Baybutt’s proposal, with a change that the new replacement windows match the present design of the 1929 windows. The motion passed unanimously.
• Hope will begin attending renovation committee meetings, in addition to Duane. A motion was made that Duane will continue to be a primary signer to approve of needed changes under $5,000. Hope will be a secondary signer if Duane is not present. This motion passed unanimously.
• Discussion on whether the library should request subcontractor lean waivers from Baybutt, and if so, for jobs over what dollar amount. Celina has a call in to the town attorney for a recommendation, and she will forward this response to the board. This will be discussed again at the next meeting.
• Celina is the contact person for construction meeting notes. She will forward these minutes to trustees. Any responses or questions should go through Celina.
• The insulation in the roof is almost done. Installation of the front lift begins tomorrow, and will be tested early next week.

5. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
• Celina is still waiting for the final end of year figures.
• There is a poetry workshop coming up on Wed. at 7 pm.
• The next Friends of the Library meeting is Monday at 9 pm.
• We received our first donation of the year, from Michael Obuchowski.
• We are getting a banner that says “Open During Renovation.”

6. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Policy-Nothing to report
b. Building-Nothing to report
c. Historical Collection-Nothing to report
d. Communications – Fundraising
• There are only 9 tickets left for the trip to NYC. We also have 6 seats on the bus we can sell.
• Next fundraising meeting will be August 7th. The time is still to be determined.
e. Finance-Nothing to report
f. Personnel – Director’s evaluation-Individual trustee evaluations are being compiled, and written up for presentation to Celina. The final draft will be ready for the board in August.

7. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date.
• Next meeting August 9th at 4 pm at the library.

8. Executive Session – Personnel Issue- Motion was made to enter executive session, which passed unanimously. Executive session begins 6:30. Motion was made to leave executive session, which passed unanimously. Executive session ends 7:08.

9. Adjourn-Move to adjourn meeting approved unanimously at 7:10.

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Agenda: Thursday, July 5, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES SPECIAL MEETING
THURSDAY, July 5th, 2012
5:00 PM

AGENDA: Call to order
1. Additions or changes to agenda
2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
3. Library renovation update
3. Library renovation – review/discuss master firebox change order request
4. Library renovation – review/discuss communication
5. Other
6. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Special Meeting Draft Minutes; Thursday, July 5, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES SPECIAL MEETING DRAFT MINUTES
THURSDAY, JULY 5, 2012 AT THE LIBRARY
5:00 PM

Trustees in Attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Hope Brisette, Laura Senes, Duane Whitehead, Deb Wright, David Buckley, Carolyn Frisa, and Debbie Wetzel Invited attendees: Célina Houlné (Library Director)

The meeting was called to order by chairwoman Jan Mitchell-Love at 5:08pm.

1. Additions or changes to agenda
• None.

2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
• None.

3. Library renovation update
• Nothing to report on general progress since most recent regular Trustees meeting.

4. Library renovation – review/discuss master firebox change order request
• Discussion about purpose of firebox included questions about whether or not this is required by the Bellows Falls Fire Department, the possibility of modifying or upgrading the existing firebox and alarm system that is currently monitored by Countryside Lock and Alarm, and concern that if it is required, why this was overlooked (and by whom – Baybutt or SMP? Both?) and not included in the original project budget. A quote for installation from the subcontracted electrician was provided and discussion about who is responsible for covering the cost followed.
• The Renovation Committee will be meeting with the Fire Chief and Jason from SMP Architects on Tuesday, July 10 at 10:00pm. Jan Mitchell-Love will also attend the meeting and asked Trustees to send her any additional questions or concerns about the issue and she will send the final list of questions for review to the Trustees before the meeting.
• A motion was made by Deborah Wright that any decisions regarding the additional firebox be deferred until after the meeting on Tuesday. Steve Fuller seconded the motion. No discussion followed and the motion was unanimously approved by the Trustees.

5. Library renovation – review/discuss communication
• Discussion about whether construction meeting minutes (generated by general contractor Baybutt) should be provided to all Trustees and members of the Renovation Committee. This was requested by some members of the Trustees and Renovation Committee – discussion followed and everyone agreed it would be helpful to receive these minutes on a weekly basis. Célina Houlné will email a copy all minutes to the Trustees and Renovation Committee and also provide a printed copy at the Library for David Buckley.

6. Other – no additions or changes to the agenda were made.

7. Move to adjourn meeting made by Steve, seconded by David and unanimously approved at 6:10pm.

Board of Trustee Meeting Agenda: Thursday, June 14, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2012
5:00 PM

AGENDA: Call to order

1. Additions or changes to agenda
2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
3. Approve Minutes of Board Meeting – May 10, 2012
4. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
6. Renovation Project Update
7. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Policy – Leaves
b. Building
c. Historical Collection
d. Communications – Fundraising
e. Finance – Projection
f. Personnel – Part-time position, Directors’ Evaluation Update
9. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date
10. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Thursday, June 14, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2012
5:00 PM

In Attendance: Jan Mitchel-Love, Hope Brisette, Laura Senes, Duane Whitehead, Deb Wright, David Buckley, Carolyn Frisa, Célina Houlné, Debbie Wetzel

AGENDA: Called to order at 5:05pm.

1. Additions or changes to agenda – None.

2. Public comment (3 minutes in person) – None.

3. Approve Minutes of Board Meeting – May 10, 2012
• Change to record presence of Deb Wright. Motion to amend and approve by Steve and seconded by Laura, approved unanimously.

4. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
• Two Changes to Summer Program Brochure: Mark Breen will be presenting July 9 at 7pm for Myth-steries: Stories in the Sky. Puppets Dream Big will be on July 12 at 5pm.
• Please read the email sent by Célina about Library Advocacy – Commitment Online Educational Program, especially relevant for Communications. Register directly online.
• Célina reviewed the Director’s Report previously sent to the Trustees.
• Preparing for summer session (today was first day of summer break).
• Sam is redesigning the website using Adobe Cloud. Once in place, this will incur a monthly fee of $50.00, hopefully starting in July.
• Electrical engineer is coming Friday June 15 at 2pm to review cable/fiber optic plans. Célina is sourcing estimates from two telephone companies for design for new phone system lines.
• Célina is finalizing job description (part-time public services position) and will interview in July, hire in August. This will be a 20-24 hour position.
• So far progress is going well on renovation project. Minor delay in the temporary lift, but it has shipped out and is on the way.
• Roofer visited this week and informed Célina that the slate is the best quality slate (no longer available). He thinks there will be approximately ¼ to 1/3 that needs to be replaced (less than initially thought). A similar kind of slate can be sourced from Canada for replacement pieces. Deb Wetzel is going to talk to roofer about keeping some of the broken slate for fundraising projects.
• While dumpsters are here, Waste Management Service is on hold since rubbish can be thrown into dumpster (saving of approximately $40/month).
• Budget report for month shows RFPL is slightly under annual budget.
• Friends will have table at Saxtons River Parade selling popsicles and frozen candy bars. They need volunteers to help run the booth.
• Because the new position will only be part-time, Célina plans to raise the existing part-time positions to the next pay level (Grade 4). This is still one level below the recommended pay grade for their positions. Jan requested that Célina present information to let us know what would be necessary to raise pay levels to a more competitive level over the next few years.

5. Renovation Project Update
• Primary work is going on in basement, attic and exterior of building.
• Discussion this week about sprinklers in the top floors and other locations in the building.
• Rory Brennan has been stabilizing the plaster in the third floor.
• Jan asked for an estimated time of arrival for elevator. It should arrive next week and will then take a couple of days to install once it arrives.
• Someone will be cutting the grass outside in the next couple of days.
• Someone reported unsafe practices being done by roofers to OSHA, but OSHA came and found no infractions.
• David asked that Duane find out from Baybutt what has not yet been finalized in terms of contracts for the project.
• Steve asked that Duane make sure the new slate looks good with the old slate (either a close match or if different, mixed in a way that is inconspicuous).
• David proposes a Renovation Committee Meeting / Tour be held June 26 in morning or midday (exact time to be determined).

6. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Policy – Leaves
• See revised policy concerning leaves. Part-time and full-time employees will both get pro-rated sick leave and vacations days.
• Carolyn motioned to adopt the policy changes as written; seconded by David. Discussion followed. Approved with one abstention and one no vote  passes.
b. Building
• Nothing to report.
c. Historical Collection
• Nothing to report.
d. Communications – Fundraising
• Deb Wetzel reports the Christmas Spectular program is underway and passed out flyers. These 15 tickets need to be sold ASAP to secure deposit funding.
• Fundraising Brainstorming session tonight at 7:00pm.
• Excellent job on plant, book and bake sale.
e. Finance – Projection
• Nothing additional to report.
f. Personnel – Part-time position, Directors’ Evaluation Update
• Evaluation forms were sent by Jan earlier today. They are due June 22, 2012.

7. Discussion about tonight’s Fundraising Open Meeting
• Duane has several questions he feels the Trustees may need to address?
1) Do we need to hire a consultant to help with this process? Preferably not since this would require additional money. Hopefully brain storming session will come up with good ideas.
2) What about funding needed for fundraising? This will hopefully also be discussed at tonight’s meeting and will involve donations. A budget will eventually be necessary once fundraising plan is place.
3) What kind of training is appropriate for fundraising? Jan has had capital campaign training. Carolyn suggested that someone attend the September 17-18: Maintaining, Adapting and Fundraising for Public Buildings session hosted by the Preservation Trust of Vermont.
4) What amount of money are we looking for
 $106,000 for solar
 $20,000 for restoring leaded windows
 $70,000 for furnishings
 $10,000 for landscaping
TOTAL: $206,000
5) Will fundraising be a Library driven or Community driven? Hopefully community. Separate account would be setup and run through the Friends of the Library for non-profit reasons. Duane passed out helpful information on campaigning to Trustees.

8. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date
• July 12 at 4:00pm at Library.

9. Move to adjourn meeting made by Steve, seconded by David and unanimously approved at 6:30pm.

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: Thursday, May 20, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY

BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2012
4:00 PM

AGENDA: Call to order

1. Additions or changes to agenda
2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
3. Approve Minutes of Board Meeting – April 12, 2012
4. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
6. Renovation Project Update
7. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Policy
b. Building
c. Historical Collection
d. Communications – Fundraising
e. Finance – Projection
f. Personnel
9. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date
10. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: Thursday, May 10, 2012

 

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2012
4:00 PM

In attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Duane Whitehead, David Buckley, Hope Brissette, Steve Fuller, Debbi Wetzel, Laura Senes, and Celina Houlne.

Call to order: Jan Mitchell-Love called the meeting to order at 4:04pm.

Additions or changes to agenda: No additions or changes.

Public comment: No public comments to report.

Approve Minutes of Board Meeting: April 12, 2012-The minutes were approved unanimously by the Trustees.

Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report: Celina reports the renovation has begun. The spring programs are winding down, then there will be a little break, then programs will start up heavily again with the summer reading program. At this point we are looking at a financial shortfall of about $8,000 (it might be a little less). This is better than last year but not what we hoped for for this year. There is still some money from insurance that could possibly be applied to this shortfall.

Also discussed was the impact of the renovation on our price of insurance. The cost of insurance will be reassessed after the renovation.

Renovation Project Update: the Renovation Committee presented bids from HVAC and plumbing contractors to the board. Not all contractors have the required certification from Mitsubishi. A motion was made to accept the renovation committee’s and architect’s recommendation to hire ARC Mechanical for HVAC Mechanical and Pluming, who are Mitsubishi-certified. This motion was accepted unanimously.

The board also requested some information on the new heating system. Celina will get this information to the board. Baybutt has started demolition in the children’s room. They will finish taking out asbestos tiles which will occur when the library is closed.

The elevator and stairs will be built first. Details will be worked out in the next few weeks.

The board discussed fundraising projects to cover the costs of new furniture and solar panels and of restoring the lead windows, a $200,000 goal in all. A fundraising strategy meeting is to be held June 14th from 5-6. The board will ask members of the community to come, in hopes that a committee will be formed as a result. Jan will write something up for the newspaper.

Committee Reports and Issues
Policy: Nothing to report
Building: Nothing to report
Historical Collection: Nothing to report
Communications: A fundraising event, a Book, Plant and Bake sale is planned for May 19, from 8 to 3 p.m. Debbi will send out a sign-up email for trustees to work the book sale. Donations are now being taken for books, and plants go to Betty. Also, the committee is planning a NY city weekend trip before Christmas.
Finance: Nothing to report
Personnel: Will schedule time to work on evaluation forms and getting forms out to be completed by trustees and staff.

Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date. The next meeting will be June 14th at 4:00.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

 

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: April 12, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2012
4:00 PM

AGENDA: Call to order

1. Additions or changes to agenda
2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
3. Approve Minutes of Board Meeting – March 8, 2012
4. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
6. Renovation Project Update
7. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Policy
b. Building
c. Historical Collection – Update
d. Communications – Fundraising
e. Finance – Projection
f. Personnel – Review meeting dates
9. Report on Town Officers’ Education Conference
10. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date
11. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: April 12, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2012
4:00 PM

The meeting was called to order at 4:05 by Jan Mitchel-Love.

1. Additions or changes to agenda
Celina requested that we add a discussion of extending free library membership to Rockingham Town employees who are not town residents. This will be added under personnel on the agenda.

2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
No public comments.

3. Approve Minutes of Board Meeting –
March 8, 2012 Steve motioned to approve. Deb Wright seconded. Unanimously approved.

4. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
• Library staff and volunteers have done an excellent job so far in preparing for the Renovation Project. This sentiment was echoed by numerous board members.
• Sam and Emily are sharing some of Wendy’s previous duties and the part-time staff have picked up the other components. A new person will be hired in summer (probably advertise in June) so the new employee will be trained and ready to start in the fall. This will be changed to a part-time position.
• Spring programs are coming to an end, there will be a short break, and then summer programs for adults and kids are going to begin and will include all-ages events. Summer programs will be promoted at the Opera House before movies and live events.
• Board members wholeheartedly approved the upcoming 3% pay increase for Library staff.
• Book sale and plant fundraiser is coming up on May 19th. Board and staff will provide books to add to existing sale books (can’t do as many because of storage space issues).
• Approximately $600 was raised at the GALA dinner; $125 prints of Debbie Wetzel’s painting are now for sale.

6. Renovation Project Update
• Progress continues on bids.
• Duane motioned to reinsert the bonding line for Baybutt Construction for$21,000. This will be accomplished by removing the $26,685 allocated to leaded window restoration. The excess $5,685 will move into the owner’s portion of the expenses and go towards restoring the window in the worst condition on the front of the building above the steps. The Library will contract with the window restorer for this part of the project. Steve seconded the motion. Unanimously approved.
• Duane suggested that Trustees get a copy of the Schedule of Values for the final bids awarded.
• The next renovation meeting will be Wednesday, April 18th at 3:00 or 4:00pm. Celina will confirm time via email.
• Carolyn brought up that the current plan for historical collections storage is not sufficient, but some changes are in the works.
• Duane questioned the process for approving change orders without calling a special meeting for discussion amongst the Renovation Committee. Changes of $5,000 or less can be made without calling a Renovation Committee meeting with a cap of $15,000 accumulative changes. Historical and aesthetic changes may need to be determined without consideration to change in expense. The Renovation Committee will also be approached for these recommended changes when warranted. Trustees are always kept informed about Renovation Committee meetings via email and are invited to attend.

7. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Policy – Nothing.
b. Building – Nothing.
c. Historical Collection – See info under renovation project update.
d. Communications – Nothing.
e. Finance – See Director’s report for info about insurance.
f. Personnel – Meeting will be set for early May.
• Library cards for Rockingham Town Employees, including WNESU, be given to anyone who can present a payroll stub. This offer will be sent to the appropriate manager’s to send to their employees. Hope motioned we approve. Steve seconded. Unanimous approval.

9. Report on Town Officers’ Education Conference
• Jan has extra copies of the Manual for Vermont Library Trustees. This info is also available online.
• She reported on the various sessions she attended.
• There is an upcoming free online training for public advocacy within libraries that a Communications Committee member is encouraged to attend.

10. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date
Next meeting is set for Thursday, May 10th at 4:00pm in old meeting space on 1st floor.

11. A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Carolyn at 5:40. Seconded by Steve. Unanimously approved.

Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda: March 8, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2012
4:00 PM

AGENDA: Call to order

1. Additions or changes to agenda
2. Public comment (3 minutes in person)
3. Approve Minutes of Board Meeting – February 9, 2012
4. Election of Officers
Slate of candidates: Chair, Janice Mitchell Love; Vice-Chair, David Buckley; Treasurer, Duane Whitehead; Co-Secretaries Carolyn Frisa and Laura Senes
5. Set Date & Time of Board Meetings
6. Appointments to Committees
7. Orientation & Training for Trustees
Annual Town Officers’ Education Conference: April 10 or April 18
8. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
9. Renovation Project Update
10. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Building
b. Historical Collection – Project
c. Communications – Fundraising
d. Finance
e. Policy
11. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date
12. Adjourn

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes Thursday, March 8, 2012

ROCKINGHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2012
4:00 PM
Called to order at 4:09 by Jan Mitchell-Love

In attendance: Jan Mitchell-Love, Duane Whitehead, Deborah Wright, David Buckley, Steve Fuller, Carolyn Frisa and Célina Houlné.

1. Additions or changes to agenda: None

2. Public comment (3 minutes in person): No public comments.

3. Approve Minutes of Board Meeting – February 9, 2012
-page 2 should be Deborah Wright, not Deborah White.
-Steve moved to pass as amended, seconded by Deborah Wright. Unanimously approved.

4. Election of Officers
Slate of candidates: Chair, Janice Mitchell Love; Vice-Chair, David Buckley; Treasurer, Duane Whitehead; Co-Secretaries Carolyn Frisa and Laura Senes
Steve moved to pass slate as written, Deborah Wright seconded. Unanimously approved.

5. Set Date & Time of Board Meetings – Will keep current date and time (second Thursday of every month at 4:00). May need to move location during renovation project.

6. Appointments to Committees
Carolyn Frisa will chair the Historical Collection Committee.
David Buckley will chair Finance Committee.
Deborah Wetzel will chair Communications Committee.
Hope will chair Building Committee.
Jan will chair Personnel Committee.
Steve will chair Policy Committee.
Jan will update the sheet before the next Trustees meeting.

7. Orientation & Training for Trustees – Annual Town Officers’ Education Conference: April 10 or April 18
Jan and David will attend the April 10th meeting. Deb Wright may also attend this session as well. Jan will be responsible for registering for everyone from RFPL.

8. Director’s Monthly Report & Financial Report
1) moving is happening in several weeks. The library continues to prepare. See report for details.
2) Wendy has turned in her resignation and her last day will be April 5. Library staff will organize a farewell tea or similar event. David suggested giving her two tickets to the fund-raising event. Or a gift certificate. Trustees are not responsible for hiring. Filling her position will be deferred. Emily and Sam will increase to 40 hours and divide some of Wendy’s duties. Ellen will supervise volunteers.
3) Trustees are encouraged to attend the Renovation Committee Meeting on March 28 at 2:00pm to review bids. Location may be in the lower theater at the Opera House. We will be informed of exact location next week. The Board will call a special meeting in early April to approve the revised cost summary presented by the Renovation Committee.
4) Célina provided the Trustees with the FY 2013 Budget Worksheet. Explanation is provided in the Financial Report. Discussion ensued. More accurate projected budget will be provided in June.

9. Renovation Project Update
1) Discussion of Baybutt’s General Conditions Summary at 60% of Design Stage.
2) Information to public about Library closure from March 26 – 28 is in the works.
3) Célina provided Board with Renovation Move Schedule.

10. Committee Reports and Issues
a. Building: Nothing additional to report.
b. Historical Collection: Nothing additional to report.
c. Communications – Fundraising: Book Sale and Plant Sale will be held on May 19th. Discussion of additional fundraising ideas. Next meeting is April 4. Email ideas to Deb Wetzel before this meeting. David has some excellent suggestions for a New York City trip “free itinerary” in late Nov/early Dec so people could go to see Rockettes or do their own thing. What about doing something during Roots on the River? Alumni weekend?
d. Finance: Nothing additional to report.
e. Policy: Nothing additional to report.
f. What’s new in books email like Brooks Memorial Library. Carolyn will get info.

11. Review Agenda Items for next meeting and set date. Next meeting will be April 12 at 4:00pm.

12. Adjourn David motioned to adjourn at 5:25. Steve seconded. Unanimously approved,
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