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03-06-2007 LIBRARY BOARD EDGEWATER PUBLIC LIBRARY REGULAR MEETING MARCH 6, 2007 3:30 P.M. MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairwoman Haughwout called the Regular Meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. at the Edgewater Public Library. 2. ROLL CALL Members present were: Chairwoman Jean Haughwout, Marie Goodrich, Laverna McGinnis, Delores Shaw and Irene Mackie. Anne McDevitt and Barbaradale Gilmore were excused. Also present were Head Librarian Ruth McCormack and Recording Secretary Lisa Bloomer. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Regular Meeting of February 6, 2007 Ms. Shaw moved to approve the February 6, 2007 minutes, second by Ms. Goodrich . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . 4. REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN Ms. McCormack commented on capital improvement projects that are going to be done to the building this year including the storage closets that are in process, painting the exterior of the building, carpeting the public area and the offices, as well as new tile in the kitchen. They are getting some new lighting in the reading area. They are also going to repaint the book drops in front of the library and various things they have around the building. She mentioned the Library possibly being closed or they may be running a minimal access to part of the building while the rest of the building is being worked on. Ms. McCormack presented a recent count of how they are running activity wise for the month of February. They checked out 16,510 items for the month. She feels that is Page 1 of 6 RegularMeeting March 6, 2007 monumental. The item count, which includes books, tapes, videos and DVD’s was 59,360. They recently did a purge of expired cards, which bumped them down a little bit on their patron count. They are still at nearly 10,000 patrons after they purged the cards that had not been used in three years or that had expired. Ms. McCormack then reported on the changes in fees. She explained the library cards are free but there will now be st a $5 charge for a replacement card as of April 1. She also reported that the County Council approved raising overdue charges to $.25 per day as well as $1 per day for movies. If people lose a book, the charge went up to $10 for a processing fee. 5. COMMUNICATIONS There were no Communications at this time. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Discussion regarding Volunteer Luncheon Chairwoman Haughwout confirmed the theme and the items that would be brought by the Library Board members. The theme is “Volunteers are the Spice of Life”. Ms. Gilmore was bringing the ham and the condiments. Ms. Goodrich was bringing potato salad. Ms. McGinnis was bringing potato salad. Ms. McDevitt was bringing tossed salad and beans. Ms. Shaw was bringing jello, napkins, plates, and decorations. Ms. Mackie was bringing iced tea. Ms. McCormack was bringing coffee and rolls. Recording Secretary Bloomer was bringing ice. Chairwoman Haughwout was bringing the dessert. Ms. Shaw showed what she had as an idea for a favor for each of the volunteers. Ms. McCormack suggested using potted pepper plants for the centerpieces for the tables. She agreed to look for those. She asked Ms. Shaw how many they would need. Ms. Shaw suggested eight or ten but felt eight would be enough. Ms. McCormack informed her Eddy might like to help. Ms. Shaw informed her she was going to get Eddy and Celia to help. Page 2 of 6 RegularMeeting March 6, 2007 Chairwoman Haughwout advised everyone to be there by 11:00 the day of the luncheon to set up. Ms. Shaw advised her she would set her stuff up the day before. B. Update regarding the acquisition of property from City Council Meeting of March 5, 2007 Chairwoman Haughwout reported that the City Council does not want to pay any more than the appraisal. They voted no to go ahead with the purchase. Mr. Stull, who owns the property next to CVS, got up and spoke. It was like no one knew about this before. She and Ms. McCormack had put a packet together for the Council that included the three properties in it. She stated Councilwoman Rhodes suggested they look into Mr. Stull’s property. She has a call into City Manager Williams to find out where they go from here. They can’t negotiate with Mr. Stull because the property is listed. They need to go through the listing agent. She could do that but she needed some direction to find out if they are going to get an appraisal and have them share the cost. Chairwoman Haughwout reported Mr. Stull paid $250,000 for the property in 2005. It is on the market for $465,000. Ms. McCormack stated last night he offered it for twenty percent less. Chairwoman Haughwout stated he offered term too and said he would hold the note. The size of the lot is 150’ X 208’. Ms. Goodrich asked where the Council would get the money for the purchase of the three properties. Ms. McCormack stated they were negotiating and talking last night about how they could conceivably work this out. Had the seller come down and if they had reached a point, she felt they would have had a sale last night if they would have reached a consensus on the price. She mentioned money the City expects to be getting for some shell and something in ParkTowne plaza that they were able to trade something and somehow free up some money. They didn’t seem overly concerned about the fact that this property would be twice as much as they were talking about. They will see what happens. Chairwoman Haughwout mentioned that money not being readily available. Ms. McCormack stated it wasn’t readily available but they were figuring out how they could conceivably come up with this cash had they reached a consensus on the price. Chairwoman Haughwout stated this issue just came to light on Friday. Ms. McCormack stated the next step on that is Page 3 of 6 RegularMeeting March 6, 2007 exploring what the City would be willing to pay, what the gentlemen would be willing to accept for the property behind CVS. Ms. Mackie asked where that money would be coming from if they anticipate on buying that. Ms. McCormack stated at this point she didn’t think they could figure that out or even expect that they will have it or won’t have it. All they can do is come up with the proposal and see how it pans out. They might have had that money available last night and it might not be available next month. There is no way to predict. She felt if they could put something together that everybody can accept that they are still behind the Board as far as wanting to acquire additional property. Chairwoman Haughwout stated one gentleman got up from the audience and said they could sell this property and relocate. They would stay crammed before they did that. Ms. Shaw asked if Mr. Stull’s property would be as feasible as the other two properties. Ms. McCormack informed her it is bigger. Chairwoman Haughwout mentioned work needing to be done in order to relocate the street. Ms. McGinnis stated she drove through to check it out and people could still come out of the motel. They could close the street before it curves. Ms. McCormack stated or move the street down by CVS. It is every bit as feasible, maybe more so then the two homes. Chairwoman Haughwout stated they have to go with what the City Council wants. They can’t just barge ahead. She needs direction. Ms. McCormack understood the City wanting to be responsible as far as the money is concerned. The point was made that if they pay too much for this one, then they will pay too much for the next one and that would not be beneficial. Since they are spending taxpayer’s money that is completely understandable. Ms. Mackie asked if the house next door was more expensive than the other house. Chairwoman Haughwout felt they were probably talking $300,000 for the one home and $189,000 for the other home. She mentioned the price of Mr. Stull’s property minus the twenty percent being $373,000. Ms. McCormack stated Mr. Stull’s property would be cheaper and bigger than buying the two homes. The good part is they aren’t at a point where it is an urgent need. They know it is a need and they know they have to plan and work toward Page 4 of 6 RegularMeeting March 6, 2007 it but it isn’t urgent. They can work out of this building for a good long while and be able to take care of their customers. It is better for them to be planning it and working toward it now then waiting five years and frantically trying to get a piece of property anywhere near the center of town. Chairwoman Haughwout stated they have to wait and see what happens and where City Manager Williams is going with this. If they can get that piece of property, the question is what the appraiser is going to do. Ms. Mackie stated it is too bad they couldn’t get a private person where they could borrow and then pay them interest on it. Ms. McCormack stated they couldn’t really purchase anything as an entity. It is the City that has final say. Chairwoman Haughwout stated she asked about that and what they would use as collateral is an issue with the City. She has held mortgage before but she has collateral by having a lien on the property. She didn’t know if they could do that with the City. She commented on this being a learning experience. Chairwoman Haughwout informed the Board, if anybody could go, tomorrow there is a planning session for the future at City Hall at 9:00. She saw it in the paper and felt they needed to check on it. 7. NEW BUSINESS A. Board appointment – Laverna McGinnis Chairwoman Haughwout felt they needed to take into consideration is where they are on the applications for the Library Board. After consideration, Ms. Goodrich moved to recommend Ms. McGinnis be reappointed, second by Ms. Shaw . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . 8. MISCELLANEOUS There were no Miscellaneous items to be discussed. Page 5 of 6 RegularMeeting March 6, 2007 Ms. McGinnis asked when the Council said they would be bringing up the purchase of property again. Chairwoman Haughwout informed her they didn’t say. Ms. McCormack stated Chairwoman Haughwout would stay in touch with City Manager Williams and let the board know how things progress. 9. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, Chairwoman Haughwout adjourned the meeting at 4:10 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer Page 6 of 6 RegularMeeting March 6, 2007