Estacada Public Library Board of Trustees
Minutes Special Meeting
Attending: Bruce Whiting, Suzanne Mahan, Dennis Weber, Katinka Bryk, Margaret Palandech, Malana Ganz.
Guests: Randy Ealy, Brent Dodrill
Called to order
The Board welcomed City Manager Ealy and Councilor Dodrill to this special meeting. Introductions were made all around.
There was a discussion on the Board’s role. Mr. Ealy stated that the Board makes recommendations to the City Council on budget and library personnel matters, as does he. He encouraged the Board to work collaboratively with him and was pleased to begin with this meeting. He stated that the Board was within its rights to question unbudgeted expenditures, such as the attorney fees and the $10,000 payment to the County for inclusion in the service district. Those expenses will be taken from the City’s General Fund. In the future, the City Manager will inform the Library Director of any proposed unbudgeted or over budget expenditures, and the Director will relay that information to the Board for Board discussion and/or approval. The City Manager will wait to hear the Board’s decision before proceeding, and stated the Board would have the opportunity to back out of any expenses they deemed inappropriate.
Mr. Weber commented that as Treasurer of the Board of Trustees he felt a serious responsibility to watch closely all expenditures and welcomed this open communication.
The results of querying the city attorneys on the status of the existing 451 special district are that they believe it was formed exclusively for construction. In order to be used for operations and maintenance, it must be dissolved and reformed as an operating district. Can one dissolve a district when the bonds are not yet paid off?
Who owns the library? The City owns outright the land beneath the building. The Board assumed the building belonged to the City and was therefore the City’s responsibility. Mr. Ealy will look into what the current status of the building is, considering there are still construction bonds out.
There was discussion on the monies the library pays to the city for personnel and other city hall expenses. The Board feels that it is not the responsibility of the library to pay for City Hall expenses, particularly as the City does not contribute any significant amount to the library budget and the money sent toward City Hall administrative and maintenance services is county funded library operating monies. Mr. Ealy expressed surprise that the library fund was paying a portion of the janitorial service at City Hall, in addition to a portion of the telephone bill and other expenses. The Board stated they were comfortable paying for payroll and accounts payable services if they had to, but felt that paying additional salaries and City Hall maintenance may be construed as misuse of county funds. Mr. Ealy said he would look into exactly what is being spent and why. Ms. Bryk stated that the current budget format that includes city salaries and maintenance in the same line items as library expenses makes it difficult for the Board and the citizens to know what is really being spent for library operations. The Library Board, in light of the fire department financial debacle, wants to have the budget and the expenses as clear as possible.
Some options for next year’s budget were discussed. The Board would like to see the current levels of service maintained, which requires money to be transferred for the City General Fund. If the budget must be cut, Ms. Bryk mentioned the possibility of closing days (reducing hours) and reducing the collection development budget. Mr. Ealy had previously proposed using the entire library contingency, reducing the collection development to zero and reducing staff. The Board has serious concerns about these extreme measures. They will meet again with Mr. Ealy in the next few weeks to discuss budget options in more detail, so everyone will be comfortable with any difficult decisions that may need to be made.
There was discussion about the Library Strategic Plan and the reaction of some council members. The work session in March will be an excellent forum to answer their questions and concerns. Ms. Bryk will invite the Strategic Plan Committee members to attend.
Meeting adjourned
Next regular meeting
Tuesday Feb 26,