Text

Description automatically generated 

Minutes of Meeting of the Board of Trustees
Highland Public Library
14 Elting Place; Highland, NY  12528


Date: January 25, 2024


Attending: Melissa Burdash, 1st Vice President; Jacqueline Burke, 2nd Vice President, Patrick Mason; Finance Officer; Laura Finch, Secretary; Milena Barrett, Trustee; Mark McPeck, Trustee; Julie Dempsey, Library Director


Absent: Elaine Rivera, President


The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m.


Jacquie moved to accept the minutes of the December 7, 2023 meeting.   Patrick seconded.  All were in favor.


Financial Report:
Jacquie moved as follows: Be it resolved to approve the warrants attached for operating expenses for the month of December, 2023 and January 2024. Mark seconded. All were in favor.


Mark moved as follows:  Be it resolved to accept the November 2023 financial report as prepared by Rose Woodworth, Accountant.  Jacquie seconded. All were in favor.


Agenda Items:


Director’s Report:
Coat Drive: Coat drive donations have been given to Ascension Church on Grand St.  Some were saved for Veterans.  2 boxes have been filled so far.


Advocacy Day in Albany/Feb 7: Legislators schedule meetings with library systems if trustees are interested in attending.  Governor Hochul did include some money for library systems, albeit less than hoped for.  Advocacy day is an opportunity to keep the libraries front and center.  Assemblyman Jacobsen has been very supportive to date.  Julie will forward materials to participate in Advocacy Day.


Boiler Issue/December: Boiler had shut down.  The drain had gotten clogged, triggering a shut-down.  Julie requested that drain checks could be included in semi-annual checklist for service.


Motion Detector Issue: Program room motion detector has gone off in error twice, resulting in the trigger of a burglar alarm twice.  The placement has been adjusted so that it will hopefully no longer trigger.


Children’s Room Ottomans: Fabric is wearing off.  Accent furniture will provide pricing for replacement and reupholstery. Julie may pursue replacement as part of a grant-funded package for upgrading other items in the children’s room as well.


Free Trees for Earth Day: Kids sign-up in advance for trees from Neighborhood Forest.


Old Business: N/A


New Business:


Budget Vote: April 24th (tentative); traditionally 4th Wednesday in April.  Board meeting would be April 23rd.
Motion to set the date as April 24th by Mark.  Seconded by Patrick.  All were in favor.


Committees:


Facilities: n/a


Friends Liaison:  Leslie came to meeting to report.  March 23rd will be the next meeting in their quarterly cycle.  Donation will be $3500 in February.  Membership will be collected through Feb 1st.  Their first fundraiser will be a lottery scratch off tree.  Leslie will be ‘retiring’ from the position in June.
 
Trustee Training: n/a


Personnel: n/a


Other:
Next meeting:  February 22nd, 2024; 5:30pm


Public Comment:


Jacquie moved to adjourn. Patrick seconded.  The meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m.


Respectfully Submitted,
Laura Finch, Secretary