Session 04-09, a Regular Meeting of the Library Advisory Board was called to order on September 7, 2004 at  6:03 p.m. by Chair Mauger at the Homer City Hall Conference Room located at 491 E. Pioneer Avenue, Homer, Alaska.

 

PRESENT:       BOARDMEMBERS: SEAMAN, MAUGER, WAGNER, LORD, HAWFIELD, BURSCH

                        STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE HARRISON

 

STAFF:            LIBRARY DIRECTOR HILL

                        DEPUTY CITY CLERK JACOBSEN

 

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

 

1.      Approval of the Minutes of the August 3, 2004 meeting

 

Boardmember Lord said that under Comments of the Board, Boardmember Keffer’s statement should read that she concurred with Boardmember Bursch, not conferred.

 

Boardmember Wagner said under the Capital Campaign Committee report the information about the fish being displayed in the library should read the fish will be displayed at the new library. 

 

The corrected minutes were approved by consensus of the board.

 

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

 

The agenda was approved by consensus of the board.

 

LIBRARY DIRECTORS REPORT

 

4.A.            Statistical Report for August 2004

 

Library Director Hill reported that test proctoring is winding down now that the college and the Connections offices are open again.  The tourist activity is winding down, but the after school activity is picking up, and story hour continues to be busy.  Ms. Hill said she is working on the budget for 2005, and the Department Heads have been asked to keep funding at the current level for maintenance and operation and any other increases need to be documented, and if the vote on the sales tax increase passes the Department Heads have been asked to submit a wish list.  Ms. Hill said she has asked for an additional .5 employee for 2005, she is having a hard time covering lunch hour and she would like 2 people in the evenings, primarily as a safety issue.  Ms. Hill reported that office and operating supplies have increased 5% to 9% over the last year, and the cost for fuel has risen.  Typewriter maintenance has to come out of Anchorage now but can be continued at a lower price.  Postage is going up a bit because interlibrary loans have increased and even though the person requesting materials reimburse the postage, the money goes back into the general fund.  Books, periodicals, audiotapes and videotapes are going to stay the same but she is going to put those on her wish list since there is always a demand for new titles.  The materials for the medical and science fields are no longer current and really need to be updated.  Tools and Equipment are down because some the server was replaced 2 years ago and the public printer was replaced last year.  Membership dues are up because the Alaska Library Association  had to raise their dues, so that will be an increase for the library staff. 

 

Chair Mauger said that a question she hears is “Where is the money for the new books”., and her response is that for every new book that goes on the shelf and old book has to come off.  Ms. Hill said that they really do have a lot of old information that needs to be weeded out and current books brought in, but the costs for the medical and science books are in the $40-$60 range.  She said it would also be nice to replace the reference materials because they are getting pretty tattered.  The internet helps, but there are standards that should always be in print.  Ms. Hill said that 100% of the State Grant that the Library gets every year, which is about $6000 is used for books.  Boardmember Bursch asked Ms. Hill about the requirements for a larger book budget for the new library.  She explained that when the space needs study was done for this size of a community, at a moderate standard, it requires a library with about 45,000 books and the current library has approximately 31,000 books.  This is gauged by looking at the circulation statistics, by the size of the collection and the number of times the books are checked out.  Right now the ratio is more than 3 to 1 so on average everything in the library is being checked out more than 3 times a year, which is a very high ratio.  She said a year or so ago she had done a report that showed the average age of the material in the library is 1985 and a public library should be more up to date than that.  Boardmember Bursch said when you walk into the library you can see there is an obvious need for space, but now he sees there is an obvious need for current materials as well.  Chair Mauger said through the research they have done with the capital project they have found there are foundations that are interested in grants for materials for the collection rather than the building, and the Friends of the Homer Library will keep that ball rolling.  Boardmember Lord said that there are also people who have personal collections they are willing to donate.  

           

2.      Committee Reports

 

A.        Capital Campaign Committee

 

Boardmember Lord said that the Fall Community Drive has been underway.  They have been selling the big fish to the businesses and are getting ready to start selling the smaller ones for individuals.  She said she got another $1000 donation from a private individual and Arby’s is going to start having a library day where a portion of their profits for the day go toward the library.  Ms. Lord said that Special Projects Coordinator Holen has been working on various grant applications, including the application for the Rasmuson Foundation, which is due on September 15th.  They have also been working on the budget. 

 

B.            Publicity Committee

 

Boardmember Keffer reported that their fundraising goal had been met and exceeded.  They have raised $54,000.  She said that they have not found a co-coordinator for the spelling bee yet, but are still working on it.  

 

C.        Building Committee

 

Boardmember Wagner reported that the timbers she had spoke of in the last meeting had not come through because they did not take down the warehouse after all.  There are some other projects that may be able to provide timbers.  There is a red wood water tank that is coming down and parts from that could be used as accents at the new library.  Ms. Wagner said that Public Works Director Meyer told her The Manley Terminal Building on the Spit that the City owns is set to be torn down, but it is not a priority.  The committee is hoping some of the materials could be donated for the new library.  They are looking desperately for recyclable materials because the costs for materials are going up.  They are set up to go straight from 65% to 95% and soon to 100%.  The Committee is considering bringing on a contractor earlier to help negotiate some cost savings into the plans, but also having to consider the costs involved in hiring a contractor during the design phase, so they are weighing the options there.  Ms. Wagner said they got great feedback from the Planning Commission. 

 

Mr. Chesley commented about the Manley Terminal Building.  He said the building is going to be part of the RFP Project in hopes that someone will rehabilitate the building and use it.  If the building does get torn down they City is hoping some of the costs will be covered by the salvage value.  He recommended that the board to keep in touch with the list of people who bid on the RFP.  In terms of the design process, Mr. Chesley said that he works for Sun Land Development Company and they are building the new Seldovia Village Tribe Medical Clinic.  He said that something the tribe did to help save costs was to hire a general contractor to do a design build.  If the contractor is involved earlier they may be able to help influence construction flow decisions, which can help in cost savings.  

 

Mr. Fenske said an issue that he is hearing out in the community is the senior citizens and Councilmembers Stark & Ladd are trying to get relief and asking the city to come up with $200,000 forgiveness of taxes, because of inflation, currently it is at $150,000.  The tax burden is then deferred to the people who do pay taxes.   If the council decides to go along with this, the seniors would be more apt to vote in favor of the .5% tax increase so, it may be good to target the senior center before the vote on the proposition comes up.  Mr. Fenske said he is very optimistic about the new library.  Homer has had a very good summer for visitors and a very good building period with a lot of new properties going in and as a result there will be more property taxes coming in, and if the propositions pass for the long term debt and the sales tax increase, that will take a lot of pressure off of the people involved with the new library project.

 

3.      Communication/Visitors

 

Mr. Chesley introduced himself as Chairman of the Planning Commission and as a candidate for the City Council 2 year term seat.  He posed the question what sort of support does the Library Advisory Board need from the City Council? 

 

Chair Mauger said 2 things the Board needs immediately, one of which Mr. Chesley could help with as a city voter and that is a positive vote and the other is council approving the 65% building design.  After that it is important to keep the project as a top priority for the City in terms of getting the building complete, and developing an operating budget and staffing that is sustainable, making sure that the last 2 years efforts of many volunteer hours come to successful completion.

 

Boardmember Hawfield said that if Mr. Chesley does join the Council, that he become an advocate for the so-called soft areas of the budget, like the library and non-profit organizations.  It is easy to stand up for the roads, or the Police or the Fire Department,  for example, but some of the other issues that touch on the quality of our community need a good steady voice on the council.

 

Boardmember Lord thanked Mr. Chesley for coming to talk with the Board and educating himself on the project.  She asked that if he hears questions or concerns from the community, if he would make the board aware so they can respond with good information back to the community. 

 

Boardmember Bursch said that if Mr. Chesley becomes a Council Member that he look at the needs of the library.  The new building it is an effort to bring the community closer to average and hopes Mr. Chesley helps the council and people recognize that the purpose of the new library is not to go above and beyond anyone or anywhere else, but come to a level that meets the current and future needs of the community.  He thanked Mr. Chesley for coming to their meeting. 

 

4.      Unfinished Business

 

A.        Draft Proposed Operating Budget for New Library 

 

Library Director Hill passed out information for the proposed budget for the new library that listed the proposed budget as well as the current 2004 budget for comparison.  She said the numbers could still fluctuate.  She is still getting information from the architect for the utilities costs.  The figure she has for fuel and electricity is based on very gross estimates right now.  She has talked with Petro Marine about fuel, which was more than they thought it would be, and HEA about the electricity, which was less than they thought it would be.  She worked with Finance Director Baugh on to make sure the full time people matched with full time benefits and part time employees match with part time benefits, which increased the proposed personnel costs, but she said she feels better about the numbers to send to the Rasmuson Foundation with their application.  On property and liability insurance, the property insurance is the same because it is based on square footage.  The liability insurance is based on the number of employees and Mr. Baugh was able to get that amount down, which helped out a lot.  Those were the only changes to the report since the August meeting.  Boardmember Lord asked Library Director Hill to elaborate on the fuel increase.  Ms. Hill said the current library has a pretty inefficient furnace that was installed in 1979 and uses about 1000 gallons of fuel per year.  The gross estimate that the architect gave is that the new library will use 15,000 gallons per year.  She called Petro Marine about the estimate and they thought it was high.  She asked if they could check the usage for the Islands and Ocean visitor center and in comparing them, the new library may use about 10,000 gallons.  Ms. Hill said the mechanical system that is being installed in the new library is going to be sensitive to the number of people in the building and whether a window is open.  The building will also have radiant floor heating and that will help, so it may be even more efficient.  It is based on the building size and for specifics it would be best to consult the architect.  There was discussion about Ms. Hill preparing an explanation of the items that have increased significantly.  Chair Mauger asked if Ms. Hill was trying to prepare a budget that shows the library at the Alaska averages.  Ms. Hill said that yes she is trying to get closer to the average of the Alaska Public Library expenditures per capita for collections.  She said that she sent it off to the library consultants Sue Curzon & Ron Hersberger and they thought it looked very modest and reasonable.  Boardmember Lord said that if this is the proposed budget for the Rasmuson Foundation maybe it would be better to have a bigger budget, then when the Council needs to approve the actual budget in the future, adjustments could be made.  She said she doesn’t want the Rasmuson Foundation or other funders to think that we are not planning an adequate budget and therefore not support the project.  Ms. Hill asked the Board if they felt she should send the comparison between the proposed budget and the current budget.  Ms. Lord said the foundation would most likely be interested in seeing the comparison of the bottom line.  She also said she thought it would be justifiable to go ahead and adjust the personnel up another .5.  The rest of the board agreed that was a good idea.  Ms. Hill said she would talk to some other library directors who are in communities similar in size to ours and see what their budgets are compared to the proposed budget.  Mr. Vondersaar said it seemed reasonable to believe that with the larger facility there will be more volunteers.  Ms. Hill said she thinks that there will be more volunteers and if that is the case, she will need a volunteer coordinator to help with training and scheduling when people can come in. 

 

5.      New Business

 

HAWFIELD/WAGNER MOVED TO SUSPEND THE BYLAWS TO ADD THE REPLATTING ISSUE FOR DISCUSSION.

 

VOTE:  YES:  UNANIMOUS CONSENT

 

Motion carried. [1]

 

Boardmember Wagner reported that last week at the Planning Commission meeting platting issues were discussed.  The land that the City has for the new library is currently eight parcels.  When the City gave it to the library, they said it would be replatted as one.  She said that it was proposed to replat it as two lots, one with the library and one without, which was something they were afraid might happen because the City would be able to come in later and decide to do something different with the empty lot.  The Planning Commission suspended decision until the Library Advisory Board could discuss it and make a formal suggestion to the City.  Boardmember Lord said she spoke to Public Works Director Meyer about the reasons for the proposal and one of the issues is the costs involved in vacating the easement for Lucky Shot and that the City may want to use that easement in the future.  Ms. Lord said there are neighboring landowners who said they would be willing to help with or pay for the costs to vacate the easement.  The Board discussed the issue of replatting, the main concern being what might happen to the second lot.  The plan is to have the green area around the library to give it a park feel and community feel with the green buffer and integrate it into the Town Square project.  There was also discussion about costs and who would pay them and again, that neighboring property owners being willing to assist in the costs. 

 

HAWFIELD/SEAMAN - MOVED THAT THE LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD STRONGLY RECOMMENDS TO THE CITY COUNCIL AND PLANNING COMMISSION THAT IT IS IN THE BEST LONG TERM INTEREST OF THE LIBRARY FOR THE 8 LOTS IN GLACIER VIEW SUBDIVISION NO. 26 TO BE REPLATTED TO ONE LOT, WHICH WAS THE ORIGINAL INTENT.

 

 

VOTE:  YES:  HAWFIELD, SEAMAN, KEFFER, WAGNER, MAUGER, BURSCH

              ABSTAIN:  LORD

 

Motion carried.

 

Boardmember Wagner said it would be good to have a Boardmember at the next City Council meeting to help dispel some of the myths of the new library, and remind the City Council that it is not an extravagant building, but that it is very moderate and will bring the Library to a level that will support the communities needs.  Boardmember Bursch said he would attend the meeting.  Boardmember Lord said  she would attend the Meeting of the Whole.

 

6.      Comments from the Public

 

Frank Vondersaar asked that the Board help get the word out to people to vote yes on  Proposition 1.  

 

7.      Comments from the Board

 

Student Representative Harrison said she was approached and asked to write letter to editor regarding the vote for the new library.  Ms. Harrison read her letter to the board and the board advised her on some minor changes.  She thanked Library Director Hill for her excellent budget and told Boardmember Keffer that she would be interested in helping the publicity committee with projects they may have coming up.

 

Boardmember Bursch said he had no comments.

 

Boardmember Hawfield thanked Student Representative Harrison for preparing her letter to the editor.

 

Boardmember Lord reminded the Board that the Friends of the Library Meeting is September 8th and said that she would be out of town until October 14th.  Ms. Lord also said she spoke to Al Waddell and he said he would be happy to let them put signs on his lot for the election.

 

Boardmember Wagner passed out flyers to hang in cars and hand out to people and said Printworks is going to be printing signs for them also.  She reported for the Get out the Vote Campaign, they would like to speak to people who aren’t voting but will influence voters, for example parents hearing through their children that they want a new library and they will also be doing radio ads. 

 

Boardmember Keffer said her husband was asked to come up with a letter to the editor, which he is willing to do but will not be signing with his professional title to the letter.  She asked when would be a good time to submit the letter.  Mr. Hawfield said next week would be good  to make the Sept. 23rd issue of the paper. 

 

Chair Mauger thanked Boardmember Wagner for her extra positive energy that she is putting into the building campaign.  She reminded the board to keep talking up the new library.  She said even though you may think that people are aware of what is going on, she has been surprised how many people have asked her about it, so keep talking to people.  She thanked everyone for their efforts.

 

Boardmember Seaman thanked everyone for all of the work they are doing. 

 

ADJOURNMENT

 

There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.  Then next Regular Meeting is scheduled for October 5, 2004 at 6:00 P.M. in the City Hall Conference Room located at 491 E. Pioneer Avenue, Homer, Alaska.

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                               

MELISSA JACOBSEN, DEPUTY CITY CLERK

 

Approved:                                                                   

 

 

 

 


[1] It was the intent of the motion to suspend the rules not the bylaws.