SCARBOROUGH PUBLIC LIBRARY
Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Trustees
June 16, 2022
4:30 p.m. - Video Conference
Attendees: Bill Donovan, Susan Powell, Jon Anderson, Dave Dittmer, Emily Ward, Judy Johnson, Ellen Detlefsen, Allen Paul, Kim Corthell, Lenore Rapkin, Anne Janak, Catherine Morrison (Ass’t. Director), Nancy Crowell (Director).
Absent: Jim Kupel.
The meeting was called to order at 4:30 by the President, Bill Donovan.
Adoption of the Minutes of April 21, 2022: Motion to adopt made by Judy Johnson, seconded by Allen Paul. Carried unanimously.
Allen added the comment that Councilor Nick McGee had told him that he supported the Library.
Treasurer’s Report: Dave reported that our expenses were down below budget, and that we have received some significant gifts, so we are doing well.
We have realized $199,000 on the sale of stock left to us by Danuta Barnard, and her jewelry has been evaluated at about $7,000. She asked that the gifts be given in her memory. The Hammond gifts were $284,797.23 in cash and $9,700 in retirement funds.
Nancy reported that the first of the Anne Hammond poetry series was given by the Maine Poet Laureate earlier this month, and we will dedicate a special area of the library to house the desk Anne left to the Library. Around $5,000 of this money has been earmarked for our expansion campaign.
Bill and Nancy will be meeting with Tom Hall on July 20th to discuss the language for the referendum.
A motion was made by Allen Paul to accept the Treasurer’s report, and seconded by Susan Powell; carried unanimously.
Library Director’s Report: Nancy reported that Danuta Barnard’s jewelry has now been sold.
There will be an open house to meet Deanna McNamara, the new Youth Services Director, on Wednesday, June 22nd from 3:30-5:30.
We have issued a No Trespass order to a homeless person who has been violating our behavior policy. The police have been training new members how to deal with homeless people and the mentally ill, but patrons had been expressing concerns. We had been warned about this person by the police—the Town has been trying to help this person for some time.
Town Councilor’s Remarks: Jon reported that there had only been a 16% turnout for the election earlier this month.
The Council will hold a workshop on July 20th to address pending projects including the library and the schools.
In his capacity as Chair of the Communications Committee of the Council, Jon prepares weekly notes for distribution to the councilors. His latest notes concentrated on facilities, emphasizing free access to learning. The Council tabled to its July meeting its discussion on homelessness; paying to house the homeless in hotels is becoming a problem, but the Council is committed to addressing this issue. Public assistance is not enough to enable people to pay their own way.
Emily wondered why 230 ballots cast for the Town Council were left blank and wondered if voters were just not informed enough to vote. Allen replied that a number of people turned out to vote but left ballots blank when they saw races that were uncontested. The November ballot will have a number of charter questions, might these cause problems? Allen thinks these questions will be totally separate, but Dave commented that bond issues tend to go to the top of the page in any case.
President’s Remarks: Bill extended thanks to those who manned the table on election day (Judy, Kim, Susan, Kate Borduas, Nancy, Catherine, Mike, Tom, and Bill). Bill was very encouraged by the level of support, as was Judy. A lot of people signed up to go door to door for the Get Out the Vote campaign. Susan added that there was a steady stream of people and they were absolutely supportive.
Work is going forward collecting information for the Council: we need to confirm the project cost; and Nancy, Susan, John Lanham, and Bill are working on the actual language for the ballot. We can use the example of the Public Safety building.
Bill applauded the energy shown by Jim Kupel and his group.
Consent Calendar: Emily Ward moved to accept the Consent Calendar. Motion seconded by Judy Johnson and passed unanimously.
Unfinished Business
Building Project Update: Susan has met with the sustainability person; our sustainability will be net zero, i.e. utility costs will be equal to or less than current costs. Our highest utility cost will be electrical, no current numbers available just now. We plan to use renewable building materials, and the area around the building will be habitable friendly, including more electrical chargers and bird friendly window glass.
Fundraising Campaign: Nancy has reported that we are just under $4,000 short of our goal of $52,000.
Citizen Campaign: Nancy commented on the quality of the committee, which includes Kevin Freeman, Art Dillon, and Laurie Warshaw. EveryLibrary hosts the website, and we have additional enhancements for which we pay a few cents per voter. Bill and Nancy spoke with an attorney, who said we have lots of leeway because we are large and have a large operating budget. We get free advice because of our membership in the Maine Association of Non-Profits.
Board of Trustees Skills Assessment: Emily reported that there is still work to do, especially in the area of Board Self-Assessment.
New Business
Motion: The PNG Committee moves to approve the election of the following for terms to expire in 2025: Susan Powell (2nd full term, re-election); Judy Johnson (1st full term, re-election); Dave Dittmer (1st full term, re-election). The motion was seconded by Emily Ward, and carried unanimously.
Discussion on meeting schedule for July and August, to include need for special meetings and Board retreat: After some discussion we agreed to tentatively meet on Thursday, July 14th at 4:30. Leadership will have documentation ready for us to discuss before sending it to the Town Council on the 15th. This is the precursor to the Town Council vote as to whether or not we can go to referendum.
At 5:25 Bill left the meeting and Susan took over the Chair. Due to the lateness of the hour, we will discuss the Retreat at a later time.
Motion: The PNG Committee nominates the following Board officers for Fiscal Year 2023: President: Bill Donovan; Vice-President: Susan Powell; Treasurer: David Dittmer. The motion was seconded by Ellen Detlefsen. Allen strongly supports maintaining our current officers, particularly at this time. Motion passed unanimously.
Items for the Next Agenda
The Bond question; workshop materials; standard updates; election of secretary.
Trustee Comments:
Emily reported that Mike Shaw, the head of Public Works, will be retiring.
Allen reported having spoken to Tom Hall about the expansion, and wondered exactly what the cost would be to citizens. He also mentioned the next steps in the Policy Review Process: We should start with policies where the last update is unknown.
Jon replied to Allen’s query about the cost to tax payers of the bond: 19 cents per $1,000 valuation, approximately $60 for the average $400,000 Scarborough household.
Allen commented that he thinks our competition is the projected community center, for which there can be alternative funding.
Susan commented that the projected Center would accommodate 125 people, would be adjacent to athletic activities, would have both Teen and Senior meeting rooms, and, as she said, is sounding more like a recreation center. And it is really just an idea right now.
At 5:56 the meeting was adjourned following a motion by Allen Paul, seconded by Judy Johnson.
Respectfully submitted,
Lenore Rapkin,
Acting Secretary