Chambana Sun

City of Urbana Free Library Board of Trustees met January 9.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

Call To Order:

The Urbana Free Library Board of Trustees met in the Lewis Auditorium of The Urbana Free Library on Tuesday, January 9, 2018. The meeting was called to order by the president, Chris Scherer, at 7:00 p.m.

Attendance:

Present: Geoff Bant, Barbara Jones, Anna Merritt, Jared Miller, Chris Scherer, and Jane Williams

Absent: Barb Bennett, Beth Scheid, and Michael Weissman

Staff present: Becky Brown, Celeste Choate, Rachel Fuller, M.C. Neal, and Anke Voss

Also present: Shauri Gonzalez, Mark Netter, and Simon Rosenzweig

Additions, Corrections, Modifications Of The Agenda:

None.

Approve The Agenda:

It was moved by Jared Miller, seconded by Barbara Jones, and passed unanimously to approve the agenda as presented.

Call For Executive Session:

There was no call for an executive session.

Public Comment:

Mark Netter thanked the Board for Resolution 2017-13, which thanked him for his years of service to the Board, although he felt he could not take credit for several of the items listed in the Resolution. He was, however, pleased to have been on the Search Committee that hired Celeste Choate as Executive Director. Mark asked the Board to consider changing the dynamics of the Board with future members, bringing in younger and more diverse members.

Presentations:

Joe Lightcap, of Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP, gave a presentation to the Board, via Skype, on the Library’s FY17 audit. He discussed two documents, the Financial Statements and the Communication to Those Charged with Governance and Management. The auditors issued a clean or unmodified opinion on the financial statements, which states that the financial statements are reasonable in all material respects. Joe touched on various pages in the Financial Statements report that highlighted the year, commenting that these give good detail on some of the activities during the year. The management letter contains comments that are consistent from the past years about the need for controls. It is anticipated that the new accounting system will help put controls into place. Joe gave Administration credit for finding ways to implement controls outside of the current financial system.

M.C. Neal presented to the Board the latest revision of the Technology Plan. He gave the Board a quick update on various objectives in the plan. Chris Scherer asked about the Technology wish list. M.C. said that part of the wish list will be rebuilding infrastructure, including replacing networking equipment and upgrading the back-up power supply for the server room. These was discussion about budgeting and ranking the wish list. Chris expressed appreciation for the way the report was laid out. He suggested making the wish list public to solicit donations. Geoff Bant asked if teens would be included in the survey. M.C. answered that the survey is also for teens and is meant to reach as many people as possible.

Action Items (Consent Agenda):

It was moved by Anna Merritt, seconded by Jane Williams, and passed unanimously to approve the consent agenda as presented.

Action Items (Individual):

Anna Merritt suggested a non-substantive wording change, changing “free from” to “free of”. After discussion, it was moved by Jared Miller, seconded by Barbara Jones, and passed unanimously to approve Resolution 2018-01 approving the Respectful Workplace Environment policy as amended.

It was moved by Anna Merritt, seconded by Jared Miller, and passed unanimously to approve the FY18 Budget Amendment as presented.

It was moved by Jared Miller, seconded by Geoff Bant, and passed unanimously approve the updated Technology Plan as presented.

It was moved by Jared Miller, seconded by Anna Merritt, and passed unanimously accept the FY17 Audit as presented by Baker Tilly.

Discussion Items:

As required by the Per Capita grant, the Board discussed whether to review or modify the Board of Trustees Bylaws. It was the decision of the Board to table the discussion since three members were absent.

Reports Of Liaison Officers:

Friends of the Library-

The Friends will not be meeting again until March 2018.

The Urbana Free Library Foundation-

The Foundation’s annual campaign is going well with $45,000 in cash donations and approximately $10,000 in stocks, to date. Several of the donations have been designated for the front porch and landscaping the corner lot.

Illinois Heartland Library System-

Geoff Bant reported that IHLS hired a new SHARE director and approved the Illinois Public Act 100-0554 on sexual harassment.

Administrative Reports:

Celeste attended the City Council meeting last night. The Mayor and the Financial Director, Elizabeth Hannan, spoke about the City’s financial forecast for the next five year. Celeste expressed gratitude to the City for the $125,000 given last year for the boiler replacement and for the time given by various City Departments to help the Library. Another big piece of the financial picture is the impact of State decisions on City and Library finances. City is looking to increase its reserve fund from 15% to 25%. The Library would like to do something similar. Celeste reminded the Board that when the auditor talks about a large reserve fund in June, that fund includes the June taxes, which are the major part of the revenues needed to cover expenses through next June. A more accurate place to look at the Library’s reserve is the end of May, before the taxes come in.

Anke Voss asked to Board to plan for a special meeting to move along the chiller replacement process. The chiller replacement needs to move more quickly than the CTS project is moving to allow the Library to get on a contractors’ schedule and get the chiller replaced before cooling season. Quoted prices may also increase the longer the project waits. New information is coming in every day.

Unfinished Business:

Barbara Jones reported for the Nominating Committee. She and Jane Williams met at 6:45 p.m., before the Board meeting. They set the next meeting for April 10, 2018 at 6:45 p.m. The Committee meeting tonight was to nominate a replacement Vice-President to finish out Mark Netter’s term. Beth Scheid volunteered and has been nominated by the Committee to fill the term.

Closed Session:

At 8:05, it was moved by Jared Miller, seconded by Barbara Jones, and passed by roll call vote to move into closed session pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(21) for the purpose of approval of closed session minutes and the semi-annual review of closed session minutes as mandated by Section 2.06.

Yes votes: Geoff Bant, Barbara Jones, Anna Merritt, Jared Miller, Chris Scherer, and Jane Williams

No votes: None.

At 8:27, it was passed by roll call vote to move back into open session.

Yes votes: Geoff Bant, Barbara Jones, Anna Merritt, Jared Miller, Chris Scherer, and Jane Williams

No votes: None.

New Business:

It was moved by Jared Miller, seconded by Anna Merritt, and passed unanimously to approve the closed session minutes from October 20, 2006, November 10, 2009, September 13, 2011, and July 11, 2017.

It was moved by Jared Miller, seconded by Anna Merritt, and passed unanimously to open the closed session minutes from October 20, 2006, September 13, 2011, and July 11, 2017.

Adjournment:

The meeting was adjourned at 8:39 p.m.

https://www.urbanaillinois.us/sites/default/files/attachments/01-09-18_Minutes.pdf