Old Bridge Township, New Jersey

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

OLD BRIDGE PUBLIC LIBRARY

July 10, 2002

Present: Steven Goldman President
Mary Chamberlain Vice President
Mary Gannon Treasurer
Rita Peterson Secretary
Roman Sohor Trustee
Barbara Cannon Mayor
Arthur Freihon Superintendent of School's Alternate
Margery Cyr Director
Maria Nowak Executive Assistant

Absent: Dr. Robert Lipp Trustee
Joseph Nuzzo Trustee
Louisa Colon Mayor's Alternate

The President called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. and announced that the meeting had been advertised and would be conducted in accordance with the Sunshine Law. The Secretary called the roll.

The Board asked Mrs. Cyr to write Dr. Nicole Okun, the new Superintendent of Schools, a letter welcoming her to the Library Board and letting her know how happy the Board has been with Arthur Freihon in his role as the Superintendent's alternate.

Motion: made by Arthur Freihon, seconded by Roman Sohor, to approve the June 12, 2002, board minutes as amended. Unanimously approved

Statistics were placed on file. Mrs. Peterson pointed out that AV Materials Added was lower this May from last as the budget for this category had been spent.

Motion: made by Mary Gannon, seconded by Mary Chamberlain, to approve the bill listing in the amount of $105,138.15 as presented. Unanimously approved.

Mrs. Cyr informed the Board she has a draft ready of the operating budget for the 02/03 fiscal year. This draft budget is very tight and she would like to meet with the finance committee to discuss it.

Finance Committee Chairperson, Mary Gannon, set a committee meeting for Wednesday, August 14 at 6:30 p.m.

Mrs. Cyr asked the board for a motion on the following movement of monies from the 01/02 budget to Commitments Payable effective June 30, 2002 for outstanding bills, employer reimbursable SUI monies to the Department of Labor, for the purchase of a new computer for the director, additional equipment and furnishings, cleaning of carpet and all fabric and leather chairs in the building, replacement of carpet, repair of outside lobby mat and other necessary maintenance of the library building:

Books $711.71 Books Books
$3,984.29 Utilities/Central Books
$500.00 Building Maint./LH Books
$5,196.00

Library Supplies $ 310.78 Processing Supplies Library Supplies
$2,000.00 FICA Library Supplies
$2,310.78

On-line Services $47.03 RAE On-line Services
$854.05 On-line Services On-line Services
$1,268.50 Utilities/Central On-line Services
$3,652.74 Automation On-line Services
$3,232.13 Building Maint/Central On-line Services
$1,388.29 Building Repairs On-line Services
$1,153.31 Custodial Supplies On-line Services
$11,596.05

$3,125.55 Payroll SUI
$1,821.20 MF SUI
$1,626.20 Periodicals SUI
$292.82 AV SUI
$1,771.71 Building Repair SUI
$2,508.41 FICA SUI
$965.26 Disability SUI
$558.79 Processing Supplies SUI
$200.00 Accounting SUI
$1,156.09 Telephone SUI
$10,395.00 Utilities/Central SUI
$273.56 Utilities/LH SUI
$75.81 Custodial Supplies SUI
$81.62 Postage SUI
$156.78 TTD SUI
$63.78 RAE SUI
$95.76 Equipment Maint. SUI
$442.35 Building Maint/LH SUI
$343.95 Building Maint/C SUI
$343.96 Legal SUI
$26,298.60

Motion: made by Mary Gannon, seconded by Roman Sohor, to approve the above list of moving of monies from 01/02 budget to Commitments Payable effective June 30, 2002. Vote: 6 yes; 1 no

Motion: made by Mary Gannon, seconded by Arthur Freihon, to approve the hiring of Oleg Shvets as Library Page for Technical Services and Circulation Department, at an hourly salary of $5.25 effective July 1, 2002. Unanimously approved.

Mrs. Cyr reported the department heads are in the process of reviewing how the annual evaluations of staff are done. There is a general dissatisfaction with the current status of the evaluation process. Evaluation forms are being gathered from other places to try to devise a process that works more effectively than what we have now.

Mrs. Cyr informed the board custodian, Darren O'Keefe, is working on cleaning the exterior of the building on weekends and is being helped by a community service volunteer. The quotes are being gathered for a professional cleaning of the carpet and furnishings as they have not been done in almost ten years.

Mrs. Cyr informed the board she has met with Mario Barone and toured the Library to look at other areas that need lighting. Mr. Barone is hoping to have the entire design plan completed within a month. He also does not want the job done until the fall due to the cost.

Mrs. Cyr asked if the board wants to meet with him as a whole or with the building and grounds committee. The board will meet with him as a full board.

Mrs. Cyr reported she attended a pre-bid meeting on July 9 and several contractors were in attendance. Mr. Vitale explained the process and shared the specs for the project. The roof was toured and the bidding process explained. Mr. Vitale is writing in the requirement that the project will start on or about September 10, 2002 due to cost. The bid opening will be on July 18, 2002 at 10:00 a.m.

Mrs. Cyr said the Township Council approved a certain amount of money for the Cummins contract which included the preparation of the specs. Township required some changes to the specs. The Cummins Company has sent a bill for an additional $500.00 above what has been approved by council. The bill has been sent over to the library from Alayne Shepler and Mrs. Cyr asked Mayor Cannon if the bill should go back to the council for approval.

Mayor Cannon agreed that this would be necessary and asked Mrs. Cyr to call Alayne Shepler and have her put it on the council agenda for the next meeting.

Mr. Goldman suggested Mrs. Cyr call Dr. Lipp and ask him to call Jay Eriv from Grounds Keeper.

Mrs. Cyr reported she is hoping the garden club being formed at the library may be able to maintain the garden in the future.

Mrs. Cyr said she plans to go to Lowe's and Home Depot to ask if there are possibilities for completing the landscaping project in front of the building as a community service grant.

Mrs. Cyr informed the board about the damaged carpet under the coffee cart. It appears that the carpet was damaged by bleach that had been applied to the carpet. An open container of bleach was found behind the coffee cart. Bleach that has been stored in the janitor's closet next to the cart has been moved to the locked janitor's closet. Mr. Sinofski has been informed about the damage to the rug and that the repair or replacement of the carpet will be at his expense. He has also been asked to purchase a new floor covering for under the cart.

Mr. Goldman said Mrs. Cyr is going to have to deal with Mr. Sinofski. Mrs. Chamberlain said she feels that if the coffee cart is not doing well, it is not the responsiblity of the director.

Mr. Goldman said he is not disappointed with the cart; he is disappointed that Mr. Sinofski is making no effort to promote the cart.

Mrs. Cyr said she has made numerous suggestions to Mr. Sinofski in regard to advertising the cart to no avail.

Mrs. Cyr reported that the notaries have agreed to waive the fees and asked for a motion to amend the Notary Public Service Policy.

Motion: made by Roman Sohor, seconded by Mary Chamberlain, to amend the Notary Public Service Policy eliminating the $1.00 per signature and the $.50 for administering an oath or for executing an affidavit and to reflect the fact there will no fees charged for the notary services in the library. Unanimously approved.

The Policy Committee met at 6:30 p.m. before the Board meeting and will meet again on Wednesday, August 14 at 4:30 p.m.

Motion: made by Arthur Freihon, seconded by Roman Sohor, to increase Marcy Kagan's base salary by 10% in accordance with the union contract for performing out of title work retroactive to January 2002. Unanimously approved.

Two temporary summer employees were hired after the two positions were posted in the library. These positions were needed as the electronic resources unit is understaffed with one of the librarians on leave and one resigned. These summer employees will help with installation and maintenance of computers as well as video cataloging. The Mayor asked that in the future all library jobs be advertised on the township website and on Channel 70.

The Policy Committee of the board will address future hires and their relationship to board members and library administration when they draft a personnel policy.

Motion: made by Mary Chamberlain, seconded by Arthur Freihon, to adjourn the meeting at 8:28 p.m. Unanimously approved.