Library Trustees Meeting Minutes 6/12/23

Meeting date:

Monday, June 12, 2023

MEETING of the MONTEREY BOARD of LIBRARY TRUSTEES

Held at the Monterey Library and via Zoom on June 12th, 2023

Present: Mickey Jervas, Cheryl Zellman, Rebecca Wolin, Judy Kamenstein, Sam

Reggio

Zoom: Nancy Kleban

Director: Mark Makuc

Historical Society: Rob Hoogs

Meeting was called to order at 7:08 PM

MINUTES: The minutes of May 15th 2023 were corrected and approved by a motion made by Rebecca and seconded by Sam. The vote was 6-0. The vote was unanimous.

FRIENDS: The Monterey175th Anniversary book will be released in 2023.

HISTORICAL SOCIETY: Rob discussed the placement of a sign in front of the library that allows the public to know the Monterey Historical Society is housed at the the library.

Rob discussed a Walk and Talk with Housatonic Heritage that is scheduled to take place in September.

He also discussed a walkway with interpretive signage on library property for the future. Signage on the library balcony was brought up as this overlooks the site of Brewer’s Mill.

A new display from the Historical Society may be completed this July.

The Historical Society also has a planned event for June 15, 2023, to take place in the library.

Rob thanked Mark for all his help and assistance.

DIRECTOR’S REPORT: Mark shared a card sent by MBLC Commissioner Stacy DeBole regarding the MBLC meeting on May 4, 2023. She was impressed how well the library worked and the “ inclusiveness of the donor banner” when entering the library. She also made great mention of how delicious the cupcakes were!

Mark went on to discuss the annual C/W Mars Network Agreement. The cost will go up but not to exceed $2, 015.

Other good news was regarding the Pay Pal Giving Fund. The Friends of the Monterey Library will receive a check for $2000.00.

Although Julie Shapiro and Mary Paul Yates were not at the meeting, they asked Mark to make a request for help regarding the Knox Gallery shows. Additional help at this time would be greatly appreciated by Julie and Mary Paul.

Mark is busy balancing his library accounting vs. the accountant’s records which should be completed by June 30, 2023.

The library, as well as other Monterey municipal electrical users, have signed up to purchase their electricity from Nexamp which provides electricity produced by solar power. We “rent” a number of solar panels and pay Nexamp as billed. Nexamp provides a credit to our National Grid account. The payments to Nexamp and their credits to our Grid account are not consistent. We realized after receiving a large credit on our most recent Grid bill that we should talk to Nexamp about making an adjustment to the number of panels we rent. The difference in cost of Nexamp vs. National Grid billing is minimal, just over 3% increase. We are using solar power.

Due to increased electric usage, plus the increase in cost, we found that our total cost for electricity for FY23 exceeds the amount budgeted. After some discussion it was decided that we would take the money for that increase from our State Aid account and forgo other uses of those funds.

During the construction phase those on the building committee emphasized that a flag pole that was dark-sky compliant was important to the community. The flag pole with its dark-sky light cost an additional $2,500.00. When a complaint from a neighbor about being disturbed by the light was received, Mark took down the flag. He has tried to find ways to eliminate the problem, but has found none. On Memorial Day the flag was hung. A veteran approached Mark and thanked him for hanging the flag. Both Mark and Mickey agreed that one veteran’s positive response to seeing the flag fly again needs to be respected. The Trustees agreed and so as of Flag Day the flag will fly again at the Monterey Library.

Mark then went on to discuss the memo sent from HR regarding a training session for full time and part time town employees. There are specific times and dates for this mandatory meeting that may possibly interfere with a person’s work schedule. Sam wanted to know who wrote the memo and why is this a “mandatory meeting”. Mickey presented a draft of a memo to HR in answer to her memo with comments on the impact to part-time employees.

After discussing the costs, in time and money, for part-time employees to attend mandatory meetings, it was decided that library employees who attend a training or mandatory session be paid a 4 hour minimum. A motion was made by Rebecca and seconded by Judy. The vote was unanimous.

A summer intern was hired. She is a student a local middle school student. She will be helping out with story hours on Saturday as well as summer reading logs, and many other summer programs.

The Maintenance Manual is moving along nicely as well.

STRATEGIC PLANNING REPORT: There was nothing specific to report other than the Strategic Planning Report is moving along nicely.

POLICY SUB-COMMITTEE: The Policy Sub-Committee drafted a collection development policy and Library Resource Form. Maura Deedy , Library Advisory Specialist, plans on visiting the Monterey Library toward the end of the month to discuss these policies and the Library Bill of Rights.

CHAIR: The Trustees had all received copies of Mark’s proposed FY24 contract. Mickey discussed the changes made from the FY23 contract. All approved and two copies of the contract were signed.

Two transfer of funds to help close out the FY23 budget were presented to the Finance Committee and were signed by both.

As required, a memo stating the salary and wages to be paid to library employees in FY24 was sent to the Town Administrator.

Mickey stated that she would like to amend the Trustees’ By-Law to indicate that there are meetings scheduled every month. There is a procedure for making a change which will commence at a regularly scheduled meeting.

Mark’s goals, as set in his last evaluation, were briefly discussed.

Each year we try to set goals with the Friends, called the wish/needs list. Mickey asked the Trustees to each develop a list which can be discussed and finalized at our July meeting. She would like to schedule a meeting with the Friends to discuss the wish list and other joint needs and goals

OLD BUSINESS: None

NEW BUSINESS: None

The meeting was adjourned at 9:04 pm by a motion made by Rebecca and seconded by Judy. The vote was 6-0. The vote was unanimous.

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Library Trustees Meeting Minutes 6/12/23