MEETING –BOARD OF TRUSTEES HIGHLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY 14 Elting Place Highland, NY 12528 Thursday March 25, 2021 MINUTES In attendance: Melissa Burdash, Mark McPeck, Laura Finch, Darlene Plavchak, Fran Brooks, Nancy Hammond, Director Julie Kelsall-Dempsey (Eric Norberg signed in 5:10) CALL TO ORDER 5:04PM Minutes: February 25, 2021 Move to accept-Fran, Second-Nancy, Approve-all. Financial report: Financial committee met to go over the budget. On track except electricity is a little high, and supplies budget due to PPE and Covid mitigation supplies. A. Be it resolved to approve the warrants attached for operating expenses for the months of March 2021 move- Fran, second-Mark, approve-all B. Be it resolved to accept the February 2021 financial report as prepared by Rose Woodworth, accountant move-Nancy, second-mark, approve-all Director's Report: Doorbell-wireless doorbell installed so patrons can ring instead of having to be called to be let in. So far working out well. Painting with April-update-1st one went really well, but then interest seemed to level off a bit. May offer an adult only night in the future. Covid-status- Ulster county numbers are up, town of Lloyd numbers are up. Still waiting to get to <5 new cases for 7 consecutive days in order to reopen. Most staff have been vaccinated, non-vaccinated staff are wearing double masks or mask plus face shield out of an abundance of caution. Old Business: Trustee position- Jacqui Burke will be running to fill the vacancy left when Mark’s term is up. Tax cap waiver- Move to accept-Fran, second-Nancy. Approve-all by roll call Melissa Burdash-yes Mark McPeck-yes Laura Finch-yes Eric Norberg- yes Fran Brooks-yes Nancy Hammond-yes Darlene Plavchak-yes Budget 2021-22-Discussion: Library materials budget keeps trending downward in order to offset some of the costs that inevitably rise (electric, salary, health care, etc). Hoping going over the tax cap next year will help us get back on track. The only other way is to cut staff, which we are not willing to entertain. We can look for grants, Friends can fundraise. Line items can be shifted and if there is money left over in one line we can move it to bolster the materials money available. Move to accept budget: Fran, Second-Eric, approve-all by roll call Melissa Burdash-yes Mark McPeck-yes Laura Finch-yes Eric Norberg- yes Fran Brooks-yes Nancy Hammond-yes Darlene Plavchak-yes Lawn care/Snow removal-Don’t need RFP per procurement policy-need 3 written estimates. Facilities committee should review RFP to make sure everything is covered before proceeding. Will meet after Easter. New Business: ELection workers- Lisa Gill, Election Clerk Angela Grieco, Chief Election Inspector Julie Kelsall-Dempsey, Chairperson Standing Committees: Facilities-No report Personnel-no report Trustee Training- no report Friends Liaison- Leslie Benson/ Eric Norberg- none Public Comments-none Other- Bylaws- must be reviewed every 5 years. We have started to review and update. BOT should review between now and April Meeting, will vote then. Adjournment: 5:42pm.