Minutes
ALLEGAN DISTRICT LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
January 18, 2010

The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by President Susan Jerkatis. Present were Trustees: Jerkatis, Hellmann, Watts, Kiella, Garofalo.

Trustee Watts made a motion to excuse Trustees Antkoviak and Bortz. Motion carried. Director Ann Perrigo and Administrative Assistant Evelyn Lyzenga were also absent.

There were no additions or changes to the agenda.

The minutes of the December Board meeting were approved with the following corrections:

• 3rd paragraph under Finance Committee – “retreat” should be changed to “meeting.”
• Total amount of bills approved ($9,608.70) should be shown.
• Under New Business – Director Perrigo did not have the copy of longevity pay at the December meeting.

It was also noted that Rob Marciniak, of Edward Jones, will not be addressing the Board at this time as it is more likely that he will be speaking individually with staff members with regard to their retirement programs.

The Retreat minutes were approved with the insertion of the word “check” between “will” and “whether” in the last Finance Committee paragraph.

The December Statistical and Financial reports were reviewed and approved.

Bills to be paid were approved (with correction of two small typo errors) in the amount of $8,437.63.

LIBRARIAN’S REPORT

With regard to Director Perrigo’s notes, Trustee Kiella moved we send the longevity pay topic back to the Personnel Committee, to be discussed further at the February Board meeting. Motion carried.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Friends Committee: Trustee Garofalo reported that the January Book Sale brought in over $600.00. Upcoming events at the Library are a Valentine Stamping Workshop at 6:30 p.m. on January 28, and the annual John Pahl lecture, which will be “Allegan at War,” at 2:00 p.m. on January 31. Trustee Watts said that now that our Regent Theater ad is up and running, he can easily make a slide to advertise any upcoming events.

Budget Committee: No report.

Personnel committee: The committee distributed corrected copies of the Job Descriptions and the Role Profile and Compensation Matrix, reflecting changes discussed at the Retreat. Trustee Kiella moved we accept the Matrix as corrected. Second by Trustee Watts. Motion carried. The Job Descriptions were noted with minor corrections on headings and review dates on bottom of pages. Trustee Kiella moved they be accepted as corrected. Second by Trustee Hellmann. Motion carried.

Trustee Watts suggested we instruct Director Perrigo to put together a short Job Description for the Pages, to complete our coverage of Job Descriptions for all Allegan District Library employees.

Trustee Kiella stated that he will make all corrections on the Job Descriptions and forward them to Director Perrigo so that she may instruct the staff to replace the old ones with the corrected versions.

Performance Review and Compensation Policy: Trustee Kiella noted that the Board will not discuss Item #2 at this time because the longevity issue remains unresolved. With regard to Section 3, discussion ensued with regard to the exclusion of a date in paragraph 2 by which performance appraisals should be conducted by the Director. The consensus of the Board was that we state the appraisals be conducted during the month of March. Trustee Kiella moved the Performance and Compensation Policy be tabled until the February Board meeting. Second by Trustee Watts. Motion carried. The Personnel Committee will continue to research points of discussion for the longevity issue so that the Board can make a decision on this matter at the February Board meeting.

It was the consensus of the Board that Director Perrigo be instructed to begin a search for a Youth Services Librarian to replace Barbara Osborn, who will retire in April.

Emergency Closing Policy: Moved by Trustee Watts, seconded by Trustee Kiella, that we accept the Emergency Closing Policy as set forth by the Personnel Committee, with the replacement of the word “Public” for “District” in Section 1. Motion carried.

Finance Committee: Trustee Watts presented the recommendation of the Finance Committee for the Employee Retirement Plan. Questions 1 and 2 were discussed, with #2 focused on Barbara Osborn’s upcoming retirement, and #2 addressing the use of a graduated vesture scale to reward longevity. Trustee Watts recommended, based on research of other comparable libraries, that Director Perrigo be vested at 12% immediately. The Board will discuss the graduated vesture scale at a later meeting.

Trustee Watts moved we accept Rob Marciniak as Portfolio Manager, and also the Hartford Plan he proposed for ADL staff. Second by Trustee Kiella. Motion carried.

Credit Card Guidelines: Trustee Kiella moved, seconded by Trustee Hellmann, that the Credit Card Guidelines be accepted as presented by the Finance Committee, with the addition of a stated “Lifetime of the policy” of 1/31/12 at the bottom of the page. Motion carried.

Bylaws Committee: The bylaws will be voted on at the February Board meeting, after Trustee Watts mails the amended version, via U.S. Postal Service, to Board members within the appropriate 10 days prior to the February meeting. Tonight’s meeting constitutes the required second reading of the amended bylaws. It was also noted that Section 10, Publication of Minutes, has been corrected to reflect our new status as a District Library.

Millage Committee: Trustee Watts moved to instruct Director Perrigo to have our attorney insert the words “by law” in the Downtown Development Authority sentence at the end of the Ballot Proposal. Second by Trustee Kiella. Motion carried.

OLD BUSINESS:

Building Issues: Trustee Watts moved the Board form a Facilities Committee to look into taking advantage of the available Downtown Development Authority Façade grants, and other possibilities with regard to our physical building. Second by Trustee Hellmann. Motion carried. Trustees Garofalo and Jerkatis expressed interest in being named to the committee.

Public Relations: Trustee Watts stressed that we continue to keep our name in front of the public in a positive manner, the Regent ad being a good example. Trustee Hellmann noted the recent article on ADL’s downloadable audiobooks in the Allegan County News, and Trustee Garofalo said we should be thinking ahead to plan for a celebration for the 100th anniversary of our library in 2014.

NEW BUSINESS:

Trustee Kiella suggested we may want to consider purchasing a digital device to aid in the recording of meeting minutes. Trustee Watts indicated that there are recorders available that could be plugged into a computer and will create a digital file for the minutes.

Public Comment: None.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m. The next meeting will be February 16, 2010.

Carol B. Garofalo, Secretary