Minutes of Meeting of the Board of Trustees Highland Public Library Thursday, June 29, 2017 30 Church Street Highland, NY 12528 Attending: Joanne Loewenthal, President; Darlene Plavchak, Vice President for Internal Matters; Nancy Hammond, Vice President for External Matters; Frances Brooks, Recording Secretary; Mark McPeck, Assistant Financial Officer and Technology Director; Julie Dempsey, Library Director Absent: Eric Norberg, Melissa Burdash Guest: Angela Grieco, Friends of the Highland Public Library The meeting was called to order at 6:15 p.m. The members recited the Pledge of Allegiance Nancy moved to accept the minutes of the May 25, 2017 Board Meeting. Darlene seconded. All were in favor. Financial Report: We have only one month left in our current Budget. Financial report shows budget on. Mark moved as follows: Be it resolved to accept the Financial Report for May 2017 as received from Rose Turmo Woodworth, CPA. Nancy seconded. All were in favor. Fran moved as follows: Be it resolved to approve the warrants attached for operating expenses for the month of June, 2017. Darlene seconded. All were in favor. Nancy moved as follows: Be it resolved to approve the warrants listed below for the Capital Construction Project as presented for payment June 30, 2017. Arris - $105,546.83 Ashley Mech. - $6,175.00 Barone Construction - $7,498.08 Butler Rowland Mays - $5,118.25 Town of Lloyd - $2,824.52 Fran seconded. All were in favor Director’s Report: There was a change order from Profex, Inc. because of rocks they hit which caused an additional cost of $6,495.20 for hammering. There is a change in the summer reading program this year. This year we are offering a basket for prizes for all ages even adults. Every time someone reads a book, they get a raffle ticket which they put in front of the basket they want. The one with the most raffle tickets wins the basket. There are also summer reading t-shirts with the phrase “Build a Better World”. We have some new e-resources: Comics Plus and Qello Concerts at no cost to us. We had a surprise from Senator Amendore – $3,000 gift. There has been a lot of interest in the Church Street building; but no acceptable offer yet. The asking price has been reduced from $275,000 to $235,000. Old Business: There was a millwork change order proposal from Arris. Put back in the budget is the circulation desk in the children’s area and the main area. Trees for the entrance to the Children’s room were also put back in the budget. This represents a cost of $55,751.66. Nancy moved to pay the additional $55,751.66; Fran seconded. All were in favor. Fran moved to table the ITC proposal for telephone and cameras recommended by Carson Block until the July Meeting. Darlene seconded. All were in favor. Personnel Action: Fran moved to approve the hiring of Sofia CrimiVaroli as a part time page for 6 to 10 hours per week at a rate of $10.00 per hour; effective June 6, 2017. Nancy seconded. All were in favor. Fran moved to approve the hiring of Jessica Hammond as a part time page for 10 to 12 hours per week at a rate of $10.00; effective June 7, 2017. Mark seconded. All were in favor except Nancy who abstained. Fran moved to approve the hiring of Genie Fernandes as a part time clerk for 16 hours per week at a rate of $11.50 per hour; effective June 1, 2017. Mark seconded. All were in favor. Construction Update: The Construction Committee meets every two weeks. The Construction Manager and Arris weren’t on the same page and there was a special meeting on June 13, 2017 to iron out construction issues. The Construction Manager felt that Arris did not have enough people on site. Arris indicated that there were no union workers available to add to the workers on Arris’ staff. Alan Barone wrote a letter to Arris regarding what needs to be done and by what date. A realistic timeline for substantial completion of the new Library is October 15, 2017 with move in by Thanksgiving. There will be a December opening to the public. Some work is being done with trees including the neighbor’s trees. There has not been any conflict with the neighbor. Friends of the Highland Public Library: Springfest 2017 was not as profitable as in past years. They are working on the 4th of July and will have a bouncie castle and popcorn all day if they get enough sponsors. They are advertising the summer reading program and baskets. Fundraising is very active. The annual Meeting will be August 26, 2017 at the Library at 10:15 a.m. Next Meeting: There will be a special meeting of the Board on Thursday, July 6, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. regarding the reorganization of the board. There will also be a Board Meeting on Wednesday, August 6, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. which will be a regular meeting and approval of Warrants. Executive Session: Fran moved to go into Executive Session. Darlene seconded. All were in favor. The Board moved into Executive Session at 7:30 p.m. Nancy moved to go out of Executive Session. Darlene seconded. All were in favor. The Board came out of Executive Session at 7:53 p.m. Personnel Committee: Nancy moved to accept the Library Director’s evaluation. Darlene seconded. All were in favor. Fran moved to accept the salary adjustments as recommended by the sub-committee of the Personnel Committee. Nancy seconded. All were in favor. Nancy moved to adjourn. Darlene seconded. The meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.