ANN ARBOR DISTRICT LIBRARY BOARD
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
MONDAY, MAY 18, 2007
07-182 I. CALL TO ORDER
President Leary called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m.
07-183 II. ATTENDANCE
Present: Cahill, Greene, Head, Leary, Murphy, Barney Newman, Surovell
Absent: None
Staff: Davis, Nieman, Parker, Wilson (recorder)
07-184 III. RECESS TO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR DISCUSSION OF DIRECTOR’S EVALUATION
07-185 IV. RECESS TO PUBLIC HEARING ON BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2007-2008
President Leary opened the Public Hearing at 7:10 p.m.
Trustee Murphy was absent from the remainder of the meeting.
07-186 V. CALL TO PUBLIC
There were no public comments.
President Leary closed the Public Hearing at 7:11 p.m.
07-187 VI. RECONVENE REGULAR MEETING AT 7:15PM
President Leary reconvened the regular meeting at 7:12 p.m.
07-188 VII. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
(Item of action)
Trustee Surovell, seconded by Trustee Cahill, moved to approve the agenda.
AYES: Cahill, Greene, Head, Leary, Barney Newman, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
07-189 VIII. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF APRIL 16, 2007
(Item of action)
Treasurer Barney Newman, seconded by Vice President Head, moved to approve the minutes of April 16, 2007.
AYES: Cahill, Greene, Head, Leary, Barney Newman, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
07-190 IX. CITIZENS’ COMMENTS
There were no citizens’ comments.
07-191 X. FINANCIAL REPORT
Associate Director Nieman took the floor and reported the following:
As of the end of April, $13.6 million in tax receipts have been received. In May we received delinquent taxes from the Washtenaw County Treasurer which will place tax revenues over 100%. There are four line items currently over budget year-to-date in April. A resolution for a budget adjustment to correct one of the line items is on the agenda. Northeast Project disbursements for April were $291,000. As discussed at the Budget and Finance Committee there are two new reports in the Board packet. One is a detail of the Grants and Gifts line item. The second report is a breakdown of monies received from the Friends within Grants and Gifts line item. The undesignated fund balance is currently at $6.5 million.
There were no questions from the Board on the Financial Report.
07-192 XI. APPROVAL OF DISBURSEMENTS
(Item of action)
Treasurer Barney Newman, seconded by Vice President Head, moved to approve the disbursements.
AYES: Greene, Head, Leary, Barney Newman, Surovell
NAYS: None
ABSTAIN: Cahill
Motion passed 5-0-1.
07-193 XII. DIRECTOR’S REPORT
In addition to the regular report in the Board packet, Director Parker reported that Skidmore Studios has notified the library that “AXIS” which is the publicity piece for our teen programming will receive an award at the International Association of Business Communicators meeting in Detroit this month.
07-194 XIII. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. BUDGET & FINANCE
Treasurer Barney Newman presented the Budget & Finance Committee report. The committee met with Administration and reviewed the revised proposed 2007-2008 budget. It was the consensus of the committee to approve and recommend approval of the 2007-2008 budget as revised.
Trustee Cahill requested clarification of monies returned to the budget. Associate Director Nieman reported that under Salaries & Wages, one full time position was added to facilities, a youth librarian position scheduled to be added in the fourth quarter of the year will be added in the first quarter. Under Employee Benefits health insurance costs came in at an 11.5% increase instead of the estimated 10% increase. Employee Taxes increased because of the increase in Salaries & Wages. The Materials line item was increased and included some monies for digitization projects. Supplies, Repairs and Maintenance and Capital Outlays were also increased.
B. PERSONNEL
In absence of Trustee Murphy, Chair, President Leary reported that the Personnel Committee had met and completed work on the Director’s evaluation. The committee has written a letter to Director Parker that President Leary read into the record:
“Dear Josie,
“She’s a great librarian” said one of the Board members; “She’s a great library director” said another’s written evaluation; “Were lucky to have her” quoth a third. Each year’s Board evaluation of your work has been more enthusiastic than the last’s, and it becomes difficult to find new ways to comment on your strengths and accomplishments, so forgive us if we repeat ourselves. You are an exceptionally talented administrator and librarian who has built a capable and hard-working team and used the resources of the AADL in responsible and creative ways. Overall, you continue to do a superb job creating a vibrant and effective library of which the whole community and even the whole state can be proud of. It’s important for the record that we list some of the achievements and this is just some of the achievements of the past year: You and the staff have reached the goal of holding the operating budget steady, even after the Pittsfield opening and are continuing to manage continued growth within our millage. We once again had a clean audit, with no management comments, other than about new changes in regulatory oversight and no material weaknesses. You continue to analyze and organize staff roles and people to use our current staff in the best possible ways and have encouraged education, growth and training, especially by continuing to promote from within wherever possible. Your decision to analyze and incorporate L.E.A.N. principles into our materials handling and distribution function for Circulation and Facilities has resulted in our ability to manage the continued increase in transactions with greater staff efficiency and decreased down time for materials. You have worked with architects and builders on the design and development of the new Northeast Branch and kept the project on time and on budget in the face of extraordinary challenges. You’ve overseen yet another year of excellent staff and labor relations. Your election as President of the Michigan Library Association, as a member of the national Public Library Association Board and your work on the Capacity Building Group of the Urban Libraries Council have brought important recognition to AADL. Your local work with Rotary, the Ann Arbor Public Schools, the University Musical Society, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the University of Michigan bring additional kudos. And you manage your national, state and local commitments in a way that takes nothing away from your attention to AADL. Through all of this very busy year, just as in years past, you have continued to work with the board with integrity, honesty and good humor. Because of these and your many other accomplishments of the past year, the AADL board looks forward, with gratitude, to many more years of working together. With best regards, thank you Josie.”
07-195 XIV. OLD BUSINESS
06-125 A. UPDATE ON NORTHEAST BRANCH
Associate Director Neiman reported that concrete walls are being poured. The basement is beginning to take shape. Concrete pillars are up now where the underground parking will be. Concrete will be poured for several more weeks. The project is still on schedule. The budget has not changed.
07-024 B. UPDATE ON STATUS OF FRIENDS OF THE ANN ARBOR DISTRICT LIBRARY
Director Parker reported she attended the Friends Annual meeting at Malletts Creek Branch this past Saturday. In attendance were twenty-one Friends’ members and five AADL Board members. The Friends elected a board and new officers. That election completed the requirements the library had placed on the Friends showing that their organization was back on track. We will be working with their Board in June to establish an agreement that will be brought back to the Library Board. The Friends are ending their year just short of $11,000 from last year’s revenue.
07-146 C. UPDATE OF THE SPACE NEEDS STUDY OF THE DOWNTOWN LIBRARY
Director Parker reported that Providence Associates will be meeting with her to review the preliminary document in June. The document will be formally presented to the Board at the June 18, 2007 meeting.
07-196 XV. NEW BUSINESS
07-197 A. RESOLUTION TO ACCEPT PROPOSED 2007-2008 BUDGET
(Item of action)
Secretary Greene, seconded by Trustee Cahill, moved to approve and adopt the budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008 as presented.
Trustee Cahill stated he was pleased to be a unit of government that is solvent and able to increase programming in these times. Director Parker noted that State Aid was eliminated totally from the budget. President Leary thanked the Budget and Finance Committee for all their work.
AYES: Cahill, Greene, Head, Leary, Barney Newman, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
07-198 B. RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE MILLAGE RATE TO BE LEVIED BY TAXING AUTHORITIES
(Item of action)
Vice President Head, seconded by Trustee Cahill, moved to authorize the millage rate to be levied by taxing authorities.
AYES: Cahill, Greene, Head, Leary, Barney Newman, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
07-199 C. RESOLUTION TO ADOPT THE 2007-2008 BUDGET AS A LINE ITEM BUDGET AND COMPLIANCE OF DISBURSEMENTS
(Item of action)
Treasurer Barney Newman, seconded by Vice President Head, moved to adopt the 2007-2008 budget as a line item budget and authorize compliance of disbursements.
Trustee Cahill read a statement regarding his non-support of this resolution:
“There are two problems with this resolution that make me unable to support it in its present form. The resolution would establish a policy on disbursements which involves the following requirement from the Department of Treasury’s Manual:
“All disbursements must be approved by the legislative body prior to disbursement unless addressed otherwise in the charter. The legislative body may establish a formal policy to authorize payments prior to approval to avoid finance or late charges and to pay appropriated amounts and payroll (including related payroll taxes and withholdings). This policy must be very limited and a list of payments made prior to approval must be presented to the legislative body for approval.” (Emphases added.)
The first problem is that the language requirement of the Manual shows that it does not apply to a library. A library board is not a “legislative body.” Cities, villages, townships, and counties have legislative bodies. A library board does not have a “charter.” Cities, villages, some townships, and some counties have charters. So while the requirement of the Manual may apply to these local governmental units, it does not apply to us.
But let us assume for the sake of argument that the Manual does apply to a library board. The second problem is that the policy which we would establish by adopting the resolution violates the requirement of the Manual. The Manual says that any policy to authorize payments prior to approval must be “very limited.” However, the proposed policy would authorize all disbursements governed by the policy to be made prior to approval. So our policy would be directly opposite to what the Manual requires.
This second problem is created by paragraphs 1 and 4 in the proposed resolution. These paragraphs appropriate the entire budget and authorize the disbursement of all budgeted funds. This policy is not “very limited.”
We adopted a virtually identical policy resolution last October 16 governing the 2006-2007 budget. Under that policy, how many disbursements have we approved prior to the disbursements being made? None.
We should not continue to violate the requirement of the Manual, assuming that it applies to us, by adopting this resolution.”
President Leary stated the resolution was reviewed and recommended by both the library’s accounting and law firms. Trustee Surovell stated his opinion regarding the resolution. Trustee Cahill commented that Trustee Murphy had suggested to him that discussion regarding the resolution take place at the Board Retreat.
AYES: Greene, Head, Leary, Barney Newman, Surovell
NAYS: Cahill
Motion passed 5-1.
07-200 D. RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE 2006-2007 APPROVED BUDGET
(Item of action)
Vice President Head, seconded by Trustee Surovell, moved to amend the 2006-2007 budget and transfer $25,000 from Legal Expense to Communications Expense.
Trustee Cahill inquired as to why the Communication Expense line item required an adjustment. Director Parker responded that the T-1 lines exceeded estimated expense.
AYES: Cahill, Greene, Head, Leary, Barney Newman, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
07-201 E. SET REGULARLY SCHEDULED 2007-2008 BOARD MEETINGS
It was the consensus of the Board to approve the 2007-2008 calendar of Board meetings as presented.
07-202 F. VOTE FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION AT THE JUNE 11, 2007, 6:30PM, SPECIAL BOARD MEETING FOR DISCUSSION OF LABOR NEGOTIATIONS
(Item of action)
Roll call vote
Trustee Cahill, seconded by Vice President Head, moved to hold an Executive Session at the June 11, 2007 special board meeting for the discussion of labor negotiations.
A roll call vote was taken.
AYES: Cahill, Greene, Head, Leary, Barney Newman, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
07-203 G. VOTE FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION AT THE JUNE 18, 2007, REGULAR BOARD MEETING FOR DISCUSSION OF LABOR NEGOTIATIONS
(Item of action)
Roll call vote
Trustee Cahill, seconded by Vice President Head, moved to hold an Executive Session at the June 18, 2007 regular board meeting for the discussion of labor negotiations.
A roll call vote was taken.
AYES: Cahill, Greene, Head, Leary, Barney Newman, Surovell
NAYS: None
Motion passed 6-0.
07-204 XVI. ADJOURNMENT
Trustee Surovell, seconded by Trustee Cahill, moved to adjourn.
The meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.