Board Meeting Minutes 3/22/2022 (html)
LIBRARY BOARD MEETING
SILVER FALLS LIBRARY DISTRICTTuesday, March 22, 2022
Silver Falls Library Program Room or Zoom
Zoom Meeting ID 857 4683 3533
410 S. Water St., Silverton, Oregon
Board Members Present: Staff Present:
Michael Milhausen Christy Davis, Director
Kathy Beutler Stacy Higby
Ralph Sorensen
Ingrid Green Public Present:
None
Board Members Absent:
Dmitry White
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Milhausen called the meeting to order at 5:31 p.m.
REVIEW OF AGENDA
Additions under Old Business:
Motion: To approve the February 22, 2022 Board Meeting minutes as printed/circulated
(Motion by: Kathy Beutler. Second by: Ingrid Green).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
FINANCIAL REPORT, FEBRUARY 2022
The Board received and reviewed the following reports:
Statement of Cash Receipts:
Board question: State Timberland Funds revenue is much lower than budgeted. This revenue is always unpredictable. Christy tried to learn more about its distribution, especially after all the salvage logging that’s been done after the fires, and will share more during the Director’s Report.
Statement of Cash Disbursements
Board question: Why is there a negative amount in Bookkeeping and Audit (-$5864)? We reversed the check written to Pauly Rogers, after they failed to deposit it in a timely fashion. The negative amount is that check ($6000) minus the amount paid to ADP for payroll processing.
Board question: What is the charge in Miscellaneous for $0.10? It is the amount charged for LGIP transaction/transfer fees.
Check Register
Board question: What is check #16944 to Findaway World? This vendor sells Playaways and Launchpads.
Board question: What is check #16935 to Capital City Door? We had the automatic door recalibrated to meet ADA requirements.
Motion: To approve the February 2022 Financial Report as presented, including checks #16924 through and including #16949, and all EFT’s for a total of $81,189.55.
(Motion by: Kathy Beutler. Second by: Ralph Sorensen).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
Questions from the auditors:
(Finishing up the last three questions)
OLD BUSINESS
1. Status of efforts toward codifying Board attendance policy through the legislative process.
Letters have been written to be sent to OLA (Oregon Library Association) and to all directors and board members of library districts in Oregon. They will be sent when MaryKay Dahlgreen from Lincoln County Library District returns from traveling, hopefully in early April. OLA is being brought up to speed on the work that’s been done so far and being asked for support in lobbying for this item. Michael has agreed to be the contact who will record the responses as they come in. Once a reasonable amount of responses are received, we will share the information with the Board, OLA’s and SDAO’s legislative committees, and the directors and board members from other library districts. The SDAO legislative committee reconvenes in September to set their agenda for the following year.
2. Audit Report
For the first time ever, we did not have any significant deficiencies and don’t have to write to the Secretary of State.
3. RFP for auditing services updates
We have not received any proposals yet, but the deadline is 3/29 and we are likely to receive proposals at the last minute. One audit firm responded that they had staff retirements and would not be bidding. Another heard that we were requesting proposals and asked to be included, so we sent one out to them.
4. COVID and the workplace updates
Concern is rising about omicron variant B, which is not substantially different from variant A, but is causing case numbers to rise again in the UK and expected to do the same here within a week to a month. The same people seem to be most affected: those with compromised immune systems and those who are unvaccinated. Christy will continue to pay attention to OHA, OSHA, the State Library, and other libraries. We will likely continue Zoom story times until after summer reading. The program room will be made available for the public to reserve starting April 15. Adult program participants will be polled to see if they prefer in-person or continued Zoom programs.
5. Accepting revisions to Policy Manual Chapter 4, sections: Confidentiality of Library Records, Fines and Fees, Collection Development
Motion: To approve revisions to Chapter 4, Sections: Confidentiality of Library Patron Records, Fines and Fees, and Collection Development as corrected.
(Motion by: Michael Milhausen. Second by: Ingrid Green).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Review Draft Reconsideration of Library Content form
When discussing the Collection Development policy, the Board noted they had not seen the form that patrons use to request reconsideration of library materials. The current form, called a Statement of Concern, is a little outdated and patronizing, so Christy looked at 7-8 forms from other libraries and pulled what she thought was best, modifying it into the proposed “Request for Reconsideration of Library Content” form. Overall, the Board liked and approved of the changes, asking only for Christy to add “Is there anything else you would like us to know about this matter?” as a final question on the form.
2. Policy Manual Review: Chapter 4, section 7: Public Internet Access
Michael asked if our public access computers have programs to cleanse the computer of anything that’s been downloaded by a patron. The answer is yes, the computers are “wiped” each time a patron signs out. In addition, there’s really no way to save anything to one of the public computers without a USB drive. Patrons cannot create a temporary file or save anything to the desk top or hard drive. Ingrid asked if this was true for people who sign in to our Wi-Fi using their own devices. The proposed policy addresses this issue, and we have recently added a “Terms of Use” button which people must agree to before accessing our Wi-Fi. This resets after 24 hours, so people who use the Wi-Fi regularly have to agree to the terms again each day.
Motion: To approve the revisions made to the policy manual Chapter 4, Section: Public Internet Access as proposed.
(Motion by: Michael Milhausen. Second by: Ralph Sorensen)
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
3. Budget Hearing on April 26th – Hybrid meeting considerations
PLA (Public Library Association) and SDAO are both having conference sessions and webinars about conducting hybrid in-person and online public meetings, which is now required by Oregon state statute. There are some issues, including at City of Silverton’s meeting last night. Christy will look into microphones and other equipment and ideas that might make it easier, but doesn’t want to spend a lot of money on things that may not work. Christy will also ask Brian at City of Woodburn (our IT department), and she and Stacy will work on setting things up more effectively for the Budget Committee Meeting in April.
LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Director Davis reported on the following:
Good things:
Challenges:
· Last Wednesday, we had a repeat performance of backed up toilets. As before, only the two restrooms in youth services were functioning. Budget Rooter came out but after snaking for over 65 feet said they were afraid to go further and needed to come back the following week with a drain camera and power flusher. Friday, the two working toilets stopped working. Fortunately, Oregon Sewer and Drain who work with the City of Silverton and who are headquartered here in town were able to get to us right away. They used their camera and pressure flushing system. There is what is called a catastrophic break in the 4 inch PVC pipe that goes under the road across Water St. While we are most likely responsible for the plumbing bills from a month ago and last week, we hope the City will move on repairing the pipe before this happens again. The breakage is on their side.
I wrote to the Assessor’s Office last week and asked why and I received a reply yesterday. It turns out the Marion County Assessor’s Office had just gotten new software when they ran the calculations last April and that it had not programmed in the Urban Renewal values that are normally deducted before we are sent our numbers. When you combine this shortfall with the revenue hit that the Timberlands funds have taken this year, it makes our budget very tight. However, we are going to be OK and we will stay in the black. What this means though is that you will see a rather flat budget next year as our revenue with CCRLS dropped due to low lending during the pandemic closure. Essentially our budget will remain very similar in the coming fiscal year. We are being cautious with the new projected revenue amount of $1,004,405.00 (an increase of 4.31% and wholly typical) and calculating it at 95% rather than the typical 96%-97% we traditionally do. This will make our current property tax budget for fiscal year 2022-2023 at $954,185.00, just a little over $5K from what we budgeted this year for that revenue line item. We will likely do this lower percentage calculation for a couple of years as we’re watching for what kind of recovery we’ll be making as we get more perspective on the impacts of the pandemic and natural disasters. We anticipate that our net lending amount with CCRLS will return to normal in the following fiscal year as well and that we’ll see more revenue from overdue fees from adult materials.
· Since our last meeting I spoke with Polk County Commissioner Craig Pope as he is on the Forest Land Trust Advisory Committee at the Oregon Department of Forestry. My goal was to find out why Timber Funds are so erratic and unpredictable. It appears this is a politically fraught question which should not be a surprise. Essentially, timber can only be cut when it can be cut, and the only distributed funds to Districts are when the sales are made within the county where a District resides. There is a formula for distribution although I still don’t know what that formula is.
Changes:
ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA OPEN TO PUBLIC, BOARD & STAFF PARTICIPATION
Reminders:
ADJOURNMENT
Motion: To adjourn the meeting at 7:10 p.m.
(Motion by: Ralph Sorensen. Second by: Kathy Beutler).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
__________________________________________
The next Library Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 26, 2022 immediately following the Silver Falls Library District Budget Committee at 5:30 p.m. in the library program room.
Approved: _________________________(date)
_______________________________________
Michael Milhausen
Chair, Library Board of Directors
Silver Falls Library District
SILVER FALLS LIBRARY DISTRICTTuesday, March 22, 2022
Silver Falls Library Program Room or Zoom
Zoom Meeting ID 857 4683 3533
410 S. Water St., Silverton, Oregon
Board Members Present: Staff Present:
Michael Milhausen Christy Davis, Director
Kathy Beutler Stacy Higby
Ralph Sorensen
Ingrid Green Public Present:
None
Board Members Absent:
Dmitry White
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Milhausen called the meeting to order at 5:31 p.m.
REVIEW OF AGENDA
Additions under Old Business:
- audit results
Motion: To approve the February 22, 2022 Board Meeting minutes as printed/circulated
(Motion by: Kathy Beutler. Second by: Ingrid Green).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
FINANCIAL REPORT, FEBRUARY 2022
The Board received and reviewed the following reports:
- Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Fund Balances (as of February 28, 2022)
- General Fund Statement of Cash Receipts (as of February 28, 2022)
- General Fund Statement of Cash Disbursements (as of February 28, 2022)
- Check Register – Citizen’s Bank (February 1-28, 2022)
- LGIP Account Statement (as of February 28, 2022)
- Purchase Order – Visa (closing date February 24, 2022)
- Journal Entries (as of February 28, 2022)
Statement of Cash Receipts:
Board question: State Timberland Funds revenue is much lower than budgeted. This revenue is always unpredictable. Christy tried to learn more about its distribution, especially after all the salvage logging that’s been done after the fires, and will share more during the Director’s Report.
Statement of Cash Disbursements
Board question: Why is there a negative amount in Bookkeeping and Audit (-$5864)? We reversed the check written to Pauly Rogers, after they failed to deposit it in a timely fashion. The negative amount is that check ($6000) minus the amount paid to ADP for payroll processing.
Board question: What is the charge in Miscellaneous for $0.10? It is the amount charged for LGIP transaction/transfer fees.
Check Register
Board question: What is check #16944 to Findaway World? This vendor sells Playaways and Launchpads.
Board question: What is check #16935 to Capital City Door? We had the automatic door recalibrated to meet ADA requirements.
Motion: To approve the February 2022 Financial Report as presented, including checks #16924 through and including #16949, and all EFT’s for a total of $81,189.55.
(Motion by: Kathy Beutler. Second by: Ralph Sorensen).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
Questions from the auditors:
(Finishing up the last three questions)
- #9 - Is the business office adequately staffed to allow for proper segregation of duties? No, not according to our auditors, but it was not noted as significant deficiency in this year’s audit.
- #13 – Are there any new pronouncements on the horizon that may require additional staff time or disbursement of funds to properly implement? Not that we know of.
- #15 - Have you been asked by the Superintendent to do anything that makes you uncomfortable or to present any information you feel is inaccurate? No.
OLD BUSINESS
1. Status of efforts toward codifying Board attendance policy through the legislative process.
Letters have been written to be sent to OLA (Oregon Library Association) and to all directors and board members of library districts in Oregon. They will be sent when MaryKay Dahlgreen from Lincoln County Library District returns from traveling, hopefully in early April. OLA is being brought up to speed on the work that’s been done so far and being asked for support in lobbying for this item. Michael has agreed to be the contact who will record the responses as they come in. Once a reasonable amount of responses are received, we will share the information with the Board, OLA’s and SDAO’s legislative committees, and the directors and board members from other library districts. The SDAO legislative committee reconvenes in September to set their agenda for the following year.
2. Audit Report
For the first time ever, we did not have any significant deficiencies and don’t have to write to the Secretary of State.
3. RFP for auditing services updates
We have not received any proposals yet, but the deadline is 3/29 and we are likely to receive proposals at the last minute. One audit firm responded that they had staff retirements and would not be bidding. Another heard that we were requesting proposals and asked to be included, so we sent one out to them.
4. COVID and the workplace updates
Concern is rising about omicron variant B, which is not substantially different from variant A, but is causing case numbers to rise again in the UK and expected to do the same here within a week to a month. The same people seem to be most affected: those with compromised immune systems and those who are unvaccinated. Christy will continue to pay attention to OHA, OSHA, the State Library, and other libraries. We will likely continue Zoom story times until after summer reading. The program room will be made available for the public to reserve starting April 15. Adult program participants will be polled to see if they prefer in-person or continued Zoom programs.
5. Accepting revisions to Policy Manual Chapter 4, sections: Confidentiality of Library Records, Fines and Fees, Collection Development
- Add “suspected of” perpetrating a violation to Page 2, in the second to last paragraph.
Motion: To approve revisions to Chapter 4, Sections: Confidentiality of Library Patron Records, Fines and Fees, and Collection Development as corrected.
(Motion by: Michael Milhausen. Second by: Ingrid Green).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Review Draft Reconsideration of Library Content form
When discussing the Collection Development policy, the Board noted they had not seen the form that patrons use to request reconsideration of library materials. The current form, called a Statement of Concern, is a little outdated and patronizing, so Christy looked at 7-8 forms from other libraries and pulled what she thought was best, modifying it into the proposed “Request for Reconsideration of Library Content” form. Overall, the Board liked and approved of the changes, asking only for Christy to add “Is there anything else you would like us to know about this matter?” as a final question on the form.
2. Policy Manual Review: Chapter 4, section 7: Public Internet Access
Michael asked if our public access computers have programs to cleanse the computer of anything that’s been downloaded by a patron. The answer is yes, the computers are “wiped” each time a patron signs out. In addition, there’s really no way to save anything to one of the public computers without a USB drive. Patrons cannot create a temporary file or save anything to the desk top or hard drive. Ingrid asked if this was true for people who sign in to our Wi-Fi using their own devices. The proposed policy addresses this issue, and we have recently added a “Terms of Use” button which people must agree to before accessing our Wi-Fi. This resets after 24 hours, so people who use the Wi-Fi regularly have to agree to the terms again each day.
Motion: To approve the revisions made to the policy manual Chapter 4, Section: Public Internet Access as proposed.
(Motion by: Michael Milhausen. Second by: Ralph Sorensen)
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
3. Budget Hearing on April 26th – Hybrid meeting considerations
PLA (Public Library Association) and SDAO are both having conference sessions and webinars about conducting hybrid in-person and online public meetings, which is now required by Oregon state statute. There are some issues, including at City of Silverton’s meeting last night. Christy will look into microphones and other equipment and ideas that might make it easier, but doesn’t want to spend a lot of money on things that may not work. Christy will also ask Brian at City of Woodburn (our IT department), and she and Stacy will work on setting things up more effectively for the Budget Committee Meeting in April.
LIBRARY DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Director Davis reported on the following:
Good things:
- Local Government Investment Pool notified us last week that our interest rate was moving from 0.45 to 0.55 percentage points.
- On Tuesday, March 15th we had a tremendous number of patrons come through our doors. Some people told our staff that it was their first time inside the library in over two years. In a normal month we make about 25 new library cards. That day we made 17 in one day and also issued 6 replacement cards.
- This week, the national Public Library Association conference is in Portland at the Convention Center. Dena, Tina, and I are all attending. Masking is required and we also had to provide proof of vaccination. We will all be attending some sessions live and some of us will access some of the sessions virtually.
- We finally got confirmation from the Evergreen Aviation and Museum that we can purchase a Cultural Pass membership from them. It grants admission to two adults at a time. We expect it will be popular. The Oregon Garden has also allowed us to purchase a Cultural Pass membership. Just a reminder that Cultural Passes only check out to full patrons who live inside the District. These rules are often set by the institutions who issue the passes as well as the libraries. For example, Silver Falls District residents do not have access to the Cultural Passes subscribed to by McMinnville Library, etc.,
Challenges:
· Last Wednesday, we had a repeat performance of backed up toilets. As before, only the two restrooms in youth services were functioning. Budget Rooter came out but after snaking for over 65 feet said they were afraid to go further and needed to come back the following week with a drain camera and power flusher. Friday, the two working toilets stopped working. Fortunately, Oregon Sewer and Drain who work with the City of Silverton and who are headquartered here in town were able to get to us right away. They used their camera and pressure flushing system. There is what is called a catastrophic break in the 4 inch PVC pipe that goes under the road across Water St. While we are most likely responsible for the plumbing bills from a month ago and last week, we hope the City will move on repairing the pipe before this happens again. The breakage is on their side.
- Recently, we noticed that our tax revenue wasn’t coming in quite as robustly as we had hoped. I went back and reviewed the Projected Growth statement we received from the Marion County Assessor’s office in early April 2021. The levied current year tax was set at $988,253.00, a 7.26 % increase over the prior year. It seemed a remarkable jump but it was not unprecedented. With this number, we did our usual calculation of 96% of the projected assessment for budgeting purposes. That amount, as listed on the budget as current property tax, is $948,723.00. As always in October, we receive another document from the Assessor’s Office that states the actual taxation amount that is imposed for the District (what it all adds up to after the tax bills have been calculated). It is nearly always a bit higher than what we budget for, and this year, it was no exception, coming in at $964,350.00. However, what we didn’t notice was that this amount was $24K less than the amount that was projected in the spring. Because this sort of decrease had never happened before, I didn’t think to check it. However, if we calculate the October amount at 96% that comes out to $925,776.00. That’s almost $23K less than what we budgeted for current year property taxes for the fiscal year we are in.
It turns out that the increase on property taxes inside our District was only 4.88 % and not the 7.26 %.
I wrote to the Assessor’s Office last week and asked why and I received a reply yesterday. It turns out the Marion County Assessor’s Office had just gotten new software when they ran the calculations last April and that it had not programmed in the Urban Renewal values that are normally deducted before we are sent our numbers. When you combine this shortfall with the revenue hit that the Timberlands funds have taken this year, it makes our budget very tight. However, we are going to be OK and we will stay in the black. What this means though is that you will see a rather flat budget next year as our revenue with CCRLS dropped due to low lending during the pandemic closure. Essentially our budget will remain very similar in the coming fiscal year. We are being cautious with the new projected revenue amount of $1,004,405.00 (an increase of 4.31% and wholly typical) and calculating it at 95% rather than the typical 96%-97% we traditionally do. This will make our current property tax budget for fiscal year 2022-2023 at $954,185.00, just a little over $5K from what we budgeted this year for that revenue line item. We will likely do this lower percentage calculation for a couple of years as we’re watching for what kind of recovery we’ll be making as we get more perspective on the impacts of the pandemic and natural disasters. We anticipate that our net lending amount with CCRLS will return to normal in the following fiscal year as well and that we’ll see more revenue from overdue fees from adult materials.
· Since our last meeting I spoke with Polk County Commissioner Craig Pope as he is on the Forest Land Trust Advisory Committee at the Oregon Department of Forestry. My goal was to find out why Timber Funds are so erratic and unpredictable. It appears this is a politically fraught question which should not be a surprise. Essentially, timber can only be cut when it can be cut, and the only distributed funds to Districts are when the sales are made within the county where a District resides. There is a formula for distribution although I still don’t know what that formula is.
Changes:
- We hired two new subs in Circulation. Nicole Ver and Alysia Castro are our latest additions to staff. Nicole has some prior library experience and Alysia was our paid intern last summer. She is getting her masters in library science from the Portland cohort of Emporia State University out of Kansas.
- If all goes as scheduled, by this time next week we will have steady heat in the Youth Services area. Next Monday March 28th is when Pace Loren’s is set to install the HVAC system that replaces the 1968 model that is heating and cooling the original part of the library. It has been going through multiple failures a day over the last few weeks and entire side of the library has been uncomfortably cool.
- Taking Ralph’s signage request into consideration, Christy, Tina, and Joan attended library signage workshop, where they learned about contrast, information, wording, and more. Spring went back and watched the workshop later as well. We are working on creating high contrast, bordered signs with a uniform look. We’re considering putting signs on the endcaps that will show several major themes of what can be found in that row. We are also going to get a good poster showing the Dewey Decimal system. We are still thinking about the best place to put signs that won’t look too cluttered.
- Director’s time off since last report: 3 hours of sick leave and 8 hours of vacation.
ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA OPEN TO PUBLIC, BOARD & STAFF PARTICIPATION
Reminders:
- April 26th is the annual Budget Committee Meeting at 5:30. The regularly scheduled April Board Meeting will follow the Budget Committee Meeting.
- No May Board Meeting.
- June 14th Board Meeting. June 28th Board Meeting if business for the year is not completed at June 14th meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion: To adjourn the meeting at 7:10 p.m.
(Motion by: Ralph Sorensen. Second by: Kathy Beutler).
Vote: Unanimously in favor.
__________________________________________
The next Library Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 26, 2022 immediately following the Silver Falls Library District Budget Committee at 5:30 p.m. in the library program room.
Approved: _________________________(date)
_______________________________________
Michael Milhausen
Chair, Library Board of Directors
Silver Falls Library District
