Rumney Library Trustees - 12/10/14

MEETING MINUTES – Approved 1/14/2015 BOARD OF TRUSTEES BYRON G. MERRILL LIBRARY Rumney, NH December 10, 2014 – 12:30 p.m. The meeting was opened at 12:30 pm. Present were Trustees Roger Daniels, Tom Wallace, Leina Smoker and Library Director Susan Turbyne. REPORTS 1. Review Draft Minutes - It was moved (Roger Daniels) and seconded (Leina Smoker) that the minutes for 10/15/2014 be accepted as read. The motion was passed. 2. Treasurer’s Report a. 2014 Income/Spending to date – $30,661.49 of our appropriation (approx. 82%), has been spent thus far this year. b. Accessibility Fundraising Status – Tom reported that $8,650.00 has been raised from the book sale, memorial gifts, and brick sales. After a review of the figures, however, it became apparent that this amount was not correct and did not reflect all income. Tom will review and correct. 3. Library Director’s Report – The Holiday Open House at our library will take place on Thursday, December 18th from 6 until 8pm. Music will be provided by Rhubarb Pie, John Allen will do a reading, and punch and cookies will be served. Leina volunteered to make cookies and Roger will bring his oil lamps. OLD BUSINESS 1. 2015 Library Budget a. Revised Budget Amount – Tom met with the Select Board on Nov. 3, 2014 to present our 2015 budget request. The select board suggested that he increase our request by $150.00 to cover expected increases from the telephone and electrical companies. Our request is now for $37,880.00. b. Library Trust Fund expenditure authorization – We will request on the March warrant, as we have done in the past, that $1,000.00 be expended from Library Endowment Funds, ie the Lucille Little Fund, for the purchase of books. c. Construction Warrant Article – We reviewed a first draft of the Construction Warrant Article which will be finalized and placed on the March 2015 town warrant. Tom will review it with Anne Dow to make sure the wording meets legal requirements. d. The decision made at the October 15 meeting not to request Capital Reserve Funds at the March 2015 meeting this year was reaffirmed. 1. Accessibility Project a. Status Contract/ Bidding Documents – Everything is complete and has been forwarded to CCI to begin the bidding process. The bids are due December 23rd, 2014 and we should have a firm construction cost the first full week in January. b. Historic Review/ Approval – Elizabeth Hengen, the Architectural Historian has signed off on the addition design but will want to see brick “mock-up” and final color selections before final approval. c. Exterior Materials – Color boards prepared by the Architect of specified bricks, cast stone, roofing, window color and paint colors were reviewed. d. Flooring – Entry & Stairs – We also looked at flooring samples for the entry and stairs. The pebble finish proposed for the stair treads is the same as at the Pease Library which appears to be standing up well. However, the yellowish color proposed by the Architect for the stair tread and intended to be similar to the wood flooring in the library was found objectionable. e. It was agreed that we need to start focusing on the political side of the accessibility project. The Trustees and the Lift Committee will work together to come up with a list of supporters of the project that we can encourage to attend the March Town Meeting. Leina agreed to work on organizing the list of potential supporters to help with this effort. 2. Grant Applications a. Tom reported that we were not awarded a grant from Meredith Village Savings bank as applied for. b. USDA Rural Development (Jan. 16, 2015 Deadline) – This grant will be for furniture and equipment and we will pursue it. c. CDFA – CDBG (Jan. 26, 2015 Deadline) – Tom will be pursuing this grant. NEW BUSINESS 1. New Donations – It was moved (Roger Daniels) and seconded (Leina Smoker) that we accept donations received from Oct. 16 through Dec. 9, 2014 in the amount of $5715.00. The motion was passed. 2. Mouse Problem – Tom reported on his success rate catching the annoying library mouse population... one to date. Susan also reported that the flushing mechanism on the library’s toilet was broken. She has notified Carl Doe of the problem 3. Tom announced that his 3-year term as Library Trustee will end in March 2015 and that he has decided not to run for another term for a variety of reasons. Discussion followed with Susan stating that she will also be retiring as Library Director as well. All agreed that finding replacements for these two positions would be a challenge and Leina advised that she felt she would not be able to devote the time necessary for this. It was agreed to discuss further at our next meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 1:45 PM with no other business. We will tentatively meet next on Wednesday, January 14th at 12:30pm at the library.