Ethelbert B. Crawford Public Library

Trustee Meeting Minutes - December 17, 2015

Approved January 21, 2016

The December 2015 meeting was called to order by President Lynn Skolnick at 5:06 p.m.  All members of the board were in attendance. Marcia moved to accept the minutes of the November meeting and Steve Sharoff seconded the motion.  There was one abstention from board member Connie Keller.  The motion passed.

Terry Epstein audited the bills presented to be paid.  Marvin made a motion to pay all bills as presented.  Connie seconded the motion.  Discussion followed about the NYSEG bills in the new building.  The air is constantly circulating and some lights are left on.  After the discussion, the vote was taken and it was unanimous to pay all the bills as presented.

Committee Reports;

 Programming Committee

      This committee has been unable to meet. President Skolnick has requested a statistical year to year comparison done on our programming statistics so as to better plan for future programs. Marvin has volunteered to serve on this committee.

Directors Report

·        The old building continues to be emptied.  Mr. Silverman has announced that the furnace is irreparable.

·        Mary Paige has requested the hiring of a part-time Library Multi-media Technician, which is a civil service position. Sari Rosenheck moved that the board authorize this hiring and it was seconded by Marcia.  It passed unanimously.

·        Signage for ‘No Overnight Parking’ as well as the ‘Robert D. Norris Community Room’ is yet to be installed.

·        The leak from the entryway overtop has not yet been successfully repaired.

·        Arris is looking at what will fix the cold air that comes in from the stove pipe.

·        Two additional book cases from the old library are being cleaned and moved over for use in the Conference/local history room.

·        We continue to investigate policies for use of the meeting rooms by groups other than the library.

·        The RCLS Construction Grant is nearing completion. Funds need to be transferred from the saving account to the capital fund.

·        Mary Paige will be contacting Aileen Gunther about the Community Capital Assistance Grant.  

·        We are not pleased with the lack of quality consistency on the banister.  Arris’ CEO was here to discuss the community room.

New Business

Steven Sharoff made a motion to transfer the construction grant funds received ($63,000) to our Capital Fund.  Sari seconded the motion and it passed.

The library water bill was sent to 393 Broadway.  It was received in a mutilated USPS envelope.   As a result it was received late. It will be paid after inquiry is made with the Village about the condition it was received in.  Check will be taken to the Village Friday.

Two days in February are planned for income tax help.  It used to be an AARP- sponsored program and is now sponsored by AARP & the IRS with assistance from CCE.  We are unsure about the criteria for eligibility of this service.

Who can use the library’s rooms? Marvin Newberg will look at this for us.  Mary Paige has a template to guide us.  Marvin N. will walk us through this at a later date. Any concerns by the board must be made known to Marvin.

After looking at the budget, Lynn moved to transfer the surplus from the Hospital insurance budget line (an overage) so that it can cover the salaries.  Sari seconded the motion and it passed.  Emails will be sent out about this.

President Skolnick and the board thanked Terry Epstein for her years of service to the board.  Terry is retiring at the end of this month.

The board is reminded that the next meeting is January 21, 2016, at 6 p.m. Having no further business the board adjourned.

Most respectfully submitted,

Terry M. Epstein