##VIDEO ID:7yanfq5M-Ug## [Music] this is the October 2nd 2024 meeting of the kushit public library Board of Trustees we are being audio taped and videotaped and we do have a quorum our first item of business on the agenda today is the secretary's report from August T does anybody have any clarifications to those minutes or questions no all right motion to accept anybody for a second second all in favor I next on the agenda is the budget no worries come on in we just [Music] started no [Applause] problem all right so we just wrapped up the first quarter of the new fiscal year um we are on a a very tight track for our salaries line so for the director and Patron Services Supervisor um we are there's not much wiggling there as for the library technicians and the children's room assistant um we are almost at 18% spent um there are coming holidays so uh Thanksgiving and Christmas uh holidays um there are some technicians who get their holiday pay so that will jump up a little bit I'm going to try to see if we can have a staff meeting um in either at the end of the year or the beginning of of uh 20125 um and then as for our operating line um I haven't received well September's Energy bill but August and July's are there and we're at 10% so we're pretty good but these are our low months for using energy um the telephone line um we are getting more use out of a fax machine fax machine so our bills have been slightly higher um I think we might run into a problem a few months from now um but the solution for that will to be to use uh will be to use a state a to pay those bills and then coming in uh budget season uh FY 26 we have to bump that up because of the usage of our fax machine I think because it's newer and it sends fact faxes super fast that's good yes it's fantastic and and it's and it's been working out really well um on material line um we are a little bit under um 23% spent I have a few more invoices to process that those will be processed on Friday um but I will need to spend a little bit more aggressively because I want to make sure that is spent out before the end of fy2 um any questions regarding the budget currently I don't have anything looks good anybody else no no okay get a motion the pl second I'll favor I I next we have old business we have the update on the Portico our favorite topic the Portico I am now in contact with Seth D Ro from the D Construction Company John gave Seth my phone number uh two weeks ago Seth and Dan from the DPW came to the library to look at the Portico downstairs so they were downstairs they came back up and Seth said that they need to actually put some type of roofing on it so it's not complete so I told him okay let's let's get this done when do you want to do it um he was like well my day starts at 7:15 I'm like okay I will be here to open the building to make sure you could come in and work on that so I gave him my phone number I haven't heard back yet so unfortunately I didn't get his cellep phone number so yesterday I reached out to John so that I could get Seth's phone number and I contacted him today uh we want this ptical up before Halloween um so if there's anything that we can do to expedite this um I am waiting on a response back from Seth to see what uh what came be done um in the meantime it's still I store it's still not that and hopefully um I will get a response when I get back to my office after this meeting um and that's all I really have to say about that right now um unfortunately I will be away for on vacation so um um towards the end of October if this needs to be done uh we might have to I will have to either ask rck to come in earlier or figure something out but it needs to be done so that's where we stand with the ptical right now any questions about the ptical any questions comments hopefully he'll respond quickly get this done yes fortunately putting a little bit of roof in on it won't be a problem I they'll just put some rubber roof on that's what I mean I'm assuming I mean I don't know what I'm looking at when I go down there but um probably just like a roll what they put on before they put shingles I'm assuming well they they would do that but there may actually take he'll probably put a piece of rubber roof on it and and probably his biggest problem is finding a spare piece KCK around somewhere yeah um and then so you know Dan was when they were out they came they were outside they were measuring so they they're ready to do it you know they both were here so you know the DPW has the heavy equipment it's just it kind of went flat all of a sudden I was so excited but um we'll see try to light a little fire yes I would just continue to follow up M just every other day or whatever until we can get a response at this point the squeaky ra gets the grease yeah and it's you know it's getting colder and okay and the next uh item is the update regarding the flower beds so our flower beds have been an ongoing issue an also in isore um I received a message from the town ministrators assistant about a women's group from fa uh from new baed um called stepping stones that they were interested in doing um projects around the town so I was like fantastic we can they can definitely come here they have their own equipment um and then the conversation was flat so I reached out again the issue was they don't have transportation so Lauren from the counseling on Aging was going to use or try to to use their van to bring them over to the town properties um and that's where it ended I haven't heard anything I don't know where um when this is going to happen I don't know what the holdup is but in the meantime the ground has been very very soft and I've been pulling so um I you know I think it's fantastic that this group is reaching out and we're looking and they have their own equipment um and then in the side conversation that I had with the new uh maintenance Forman Matt um he said that he would also help when they came but I haven't heard back from them yet so yes so that's where we are with the flower beds okay anyone have any comments or questions concerns that's kind of a neat idea get the counts on Aging Vehicles ofing the people over yes and and they're in the B I don't know exactly where they're located but you know it's not too far I just maybe they need permission I don't know what the holdup is but I I need to reach out back to I need to reach out to uh Lauren to see what's going on um I know Lauren just a that she St get she said it's going to happen y it's just I mean maybe the vehicle being used for the daily programs at the council I don't know they are they doing flower projects in the rest of town they I think they are I just don't know which I think the C agent was one of them and then us and I don't know where else um so it was but she said that she knew the library was urgent so they would come here first and I'm like I really appreciate it yes that's interesting I think the council has been done by and I don't think they've been I think doing it as yes yeah it would be good if we could get on some sort of schedule yes like way they come you know once a month or whatever but you know I mean now have there right now and and I just been pulling the dead things and um it's just the the crab grb and your spare time yeah you know what the dead Things Are let's just say I came in the other day with like Leslie what is this she's like that's a bulb okay she put it back for it I did okay that's thing I think we need to follow we need to follow up with the about that before we end up with no flowers are there the M the moms are there Elizabeth this is how you learn I mean I mean there are things that I know are dead and just caught and so forth but would it's the you didn't know when you accepted this job that you would be a no add that to the manyu many of right hats they wear all right okay all right on to new business outdoor signage okay so this is our big topic of our this meeting um so I know I've mentioned this a few times but our our sign and our street sign so our hour sign is the sign that is on the driveway right by the book drop um so I reached out to a couple of different companies a sign companies so the only one who reached back to me was po science I met with Bethany from plant science and I expressed um what I wanted um which is just a replacement for the hours on that sign that's over there um so this is where it gets a little bit complicated so with the hour sign um it takes a little bit longer for them to design to show me different drafts they will be using the posts that are there so it's just the actual sign that's on the um the post that will be replaced um so when I have an idea of pricing uh idea of what it's going to look like um I will be reaching out to the Friends group who have expressed interest in purchasing the replacement great um I think we we don't have to I don't know if we have to vote on saying yes this can happen or we can just wait until I know more information about the hour sign uh the other sign is an En dire need of fixing so I also brought Bethany over to the street sign that um has been cracked since we might have moved here um the hour sign the street sign is also off of one of the posts I did not know that um so I explained uh talking about Bethany I don't know anything about sign so she said that she believes that the two columns are Hollow that there might not be wood in them so if you look at the sign it's leaning like this the left corner is not even nailed into the OR screwed into the the to the column so I asked um could she put a quote in for me of having this resetted have the sign taken down put back up have the columns fixed um that will be quicker getting a quot than the hour sign I she I I got the impression that it looks like it's going to fall at any second um she was like this doesn't look good um I mean I'm not looking at the hours at the street sign often so I want to have that fix before it gets damaged even more so the crack in it is now on both sides um to fix the crack it would be a lot more work they would have to physically take the sign match the sign um but if they could just replace the post s it again um it would prevent the crack from even going further because the I I've only mentioned the hour signed to the friends I don't think I I don't I don't know if I should ask for have both fixed but or have funds from the friends for both because this one is urgent and it might be done sooner than later uh with the winter coming up I wanted to actually use uh state aid to fix it the problem is I don't have an estimate of how much it is to to fix um so I was thinking of either having a up to amount and then if it goes over I would use the building fund um because once this happen once this you know because we meet once a month um i' rather have permission to do it before um it gets delayed for another meeting right right right yeah so I don't know how to actually go the hour sign is fine that is you know that is it's just an eye store but that sign if that sign falls if it cracks even more um the person who created it I don't think does it anymore that if that goes that's going to be a bigger issue of of replacing so I want to have it at least fixed so that it stays there for another 20 years or so um but I just don't know estimate wise how much it will cost to to reset it um and I know I've mentioned the as a project for the previous um maintenance um but it was it was too looked at yeah and it might be too much work um because it is heavy and you know the ground is so soft and she doesn't even know if those columns are in cement she doesn't know if there's wood um the the way the the sign is there is just one nail going through both as opposed to having two so I don't know why that's like that even me I don't know anything about construction like this doesn't seem right and that's why it's lifting and all it's going to take is one gust of wind or one of you know little Hur or tropical storm that could just fly off or fall off you reached out to John about this cuz John's and his kids from school actually put that sign up John Ro yeah I have it no um I need to know more as far as how it was put in that's um but the bottom line that's got to be fixed right it's got to be is you know I'm at the point where I don't want to rely on people to have emergency things done like to have urgent things but your question yes especially the cement or there cement there or you there the ground is so soft and you know there's mulch dirt and there's bushes around but it's so soft and you can just go like this and the it's like and and I know you know back when I was part time 2017 that sign was already Crook and it had a crack and I've already and I know it's gone further and further and all of a sudden it's really leaning so I um want that want to get that fix because if it does fall if it does break then we're going to look at Thousand or tens of thousands to get a new sign you know so if it at least can be reset and sturdy enough to survive um you know our Winters and our our hot summers and the wing tunnel that surrounds this building right um I would U um did they give you any time frame as want quote or the quote for this she said about maybe two weeks the our sign it has to go through design team and so forth and that was probably a month or more um so I this is what I was thinking I was thinking the maybe up to 5,000 from state aid and then if if it's more than 5,000 to use another 5,000 from um the building fund or yes if I can just ask I don't yes don't know a lot about the state aid um I assume this is something that qualifies for you yes state aid I can use towards any and yes and do we in general during a year use all of our state aid or no okay no we don't use it all um I use it to supplement for materials programming but CD is what uh public libraries apply for every year okay um and we will I just fin finished our application um but there is there is funds there um but it's there's no restrictions on I mean you can't use it for salaries but um but anything operating in building and there be left over for the normal State a things we do yes so um when I just finished the financial part so they'll start awarding or looking at applications in December so they do multiple rounds so last year we were on the second round I think I found out in January for the first first award and then they do a second award in either March or April um I will say that the uh the budget that the the Massachusetts library board commissions they the government assigned over 2 million for state aid to public library so there's more than what they were asking for I don't know if it means anything but it a little bit so my only question would be wouldn't would would it be better to use the take the full amount from the new library which I assume is the building the build account that you were talking about would it be would it be better to use just use the money from that like or as a whole or you could budget more than the 5,000 right that way if we can say Hey listen like you know we can up up to a certain amount because we have to vote on a particular amount m um but then it'll all be coming from one place or did you did you really want to just take it out of state aid first and then I mean the building fund um I know we have the Portico still to come from okay so and I think that was up to 4,000 I'm not sure you know how long ago that was taking it out of the building fund ahead of any possible state aid does that mean we foro that state aid so in other words once we do that do we not get reimbursed for like we did it so we're not going to give you the I'm not saying a grant something similar no they they no they don't once you awarded the money they don't they don't right we already have the state so that's that's our our yes you know y account for different things that we can't do within our own budget okay so we want to do so we want to say $5,000 from state aid and then the rest from up to how much more for the building I mean do we what do we want to do I mean I can't see spending $10,000 to fix the sign like I said if we're going to spend $10,000 I think we get a brand new sign neon sign like I like I said I'm being very generous here I have honestly I mean labor I would think would be a thousand or so you know um I mean and I know why we're doing it so that you know you can get the ball rolling before the next meeting and I understand that I mean it's not that it's a not to exceed I mean it could come in at at $1,200 it's but um just you know now that I'm thinking about it I it doesn't make more sense to use the building and why am I drawing a blank on the name of the actual the new Li it's the the money the account for the new library yes which was used for the plumbing and so forth so um I think it actually makes more sense to use that for the building so I think I want to switch my idea my thought of using state aid C can be a supplement to if if whatever reason yes because I can't use the building fund for materials correct that's right I think that would just make a little bit more sense in that account just as a gas which one building still quite a bit it's still yeah I I I can't give you a number I don't want to say but I don't know if the top it's quite okay okay yes so really taking this money from it isn't going to have a dramatic impact on that okay no no no I mean it was I know when we moved here it was I think over 200 okay um but I but it's gone down since everything I don't know if it's because I don't use it I don't often at all so but I can get do that but since this is for I mean we've already we've already voted to have the uh spend up to $4,000 for the Portico so we have to obviously subtract that because yes subtract it and that it's there but it's not there and then if we you know we have to fix the sign I mean we have to fix the sign right yes it it it needs to be done and and I agree I mean repairing it if we can repair it I mean you can't see the crack if you don't know it's there you can't see the crack from far away I mean I know it's there so I see it all the time but I but I don't think anyone can really see it so I don't think it's it's and because it's leaning it's cracking more you know but I but I don't think my point was I don't think that if we repair it that we're then going to have to replace it like I think it's if we can repair it I think it's going to be good to go right I think that it's not like we're oh hey we need to fix it so let's spend all this money to fix it and then we have to replace it cuz that would seem you might as well just take it down so okay so we'll uh well let's do you want to do let's do up to $5,000 and then leave it at that and then if it ends up being more then you'll have to we'll have to either call a special meeting or we can figure out you know okay when we need to do that so okay this is so make a motion that we appropriate $5,000 from the building fund uh for repairs to the main sign um subject to Elizabeth approval not to exceed yeah $5,000 I second all in favor I I I thank you all right and then nothing else on the signage right no it was wait for the quotes on the on the the friend sign I still need to Y get approval by the friends okay so and that our time is not anything okay it's actually in better standing even though it's been taped over and that's that came from the old liary yes all right so we have an update regarding the state so I completed the final um part of state aid which is a financial report um the only thing I really want to highlight is so in order to apply uh to receive state aid you have to SP to receive 100% of state aid you have to spend 16% of material of your budget on materials so our 16% was $ 47,800 5 52,900 spent uh but I did and that's it for um speed Aid once this gets signed I will submit it and then we will wait to see uh what happens after that how much you know if we get awarded and indust for what did we get awarded last year for State um I'm sorry maybe I should I'm trying to catch up on that's I have here when does it come so it comes out in uh two different times they do rounds so it's usually December and then again in either March or April I'm dra so if I'm not M first so this year we received 29,7 182 wow that's great yep and it's always and it's been increased so the previous year so um we received 27,485 [Music] a lot of of um out of out of town residents as they call it um but that's just a tiny tiny thing of it but um yes so this is very time consuming but it's done and um we will wait and see great great moving on to the director's report all right so direct before we get to the director's report if you don't mind um new business in it was going to be in our uh last month's meeting the curriculum policy had been listed on that I don't know I um I scratched that um I still need to go over it with staff and think about it so it's it's it's nothing CRI Ur not at all not at all all right so very quickly on our statistics so I obviously I don't have um September statistics um so very quickly in August uh we have an increase in ya circulation which is I think might be the first time that has happened um also DVD circulation went up um and I think that's due in part of I've been ordering uh more DVD titles um and our E Resources our Audi books are extremely high everything went up um even ebooks and I've been purchasing very aggressively for um new books um so some books I've been purchasing two titles for and for Audi books their holds list is is in the hundreds and I just been purchasing those because people are using it um and that purchase um does count for materials when I do state aid next year um our high highly highest daily St was a Monday August 5th with 185 items there was no program that day it was just a regular Monday um and I think that's it for our the statistics for August um for the director's report I have we have added a additional story time so it's a cozy story time that's at Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m. um and Lori has been absolutely wonderful um we've had a quite a few programs on some fresh ideas here um I as for administrative things I've started applying for local cultural grants I will have um those completed before um October 15th um so we'll see um last year we were awarded 2,000 from the Kush Council cultural free town we awarded $250 Rochester $300 and I'm going to apply again and I'm going to um maybe expand a little bit further there's no harm in applying so the worst thing they can say is no and those we use for our summer conscient series and um uh for summer additional summer programming um I met with the new teachers here uh from the chush at Public Schools I gave a tour of the library uh explained some of our resources they also met Lori who is a former teacher so um it was good to see new faces here and um some of the teachers have been back for borrowing so it's been really good that um they're thinking of us and um and you know working we will be working with them for um for uh throughout the school year um so I met with Matt the new maintenance Foreman um to discuss some of the projects that were on Dave's list um so one of the the decks the shaking of the hole the handrail is one of the projects that's was listed uh one of the floorboards is lifted so D um Matt is aware of it um some minor things Matt fixed our flag pole that was broken since February um he also removes the when we have overflow of the Boy Scout Flags he takes them or Dave was taking them to to the Council on Aging and now Matt is aware of it and then he took it over um so I'm just trying to keep him in the loop of of things that were happening when it could be done um and then I also met with the Town Administrator um to discuss um or to to remind that snow removal um plan that we had uh last year um so that that it should be fresh in everyone's mind at at Town Hall um and let's see I am this just happened this morning I will be meeting with the town administr next week to discuss FY 26 so I will be sending an email to the um the budget committee um just to ask questions or or know I'm not throwing numbers yet um just to to get an idea of of what can what can be discussed or what I missed this time um and then another thing that I didn't write on here was um so over the summer I had a patron or a concert goer who was like I did that concrete walkway out front I'm like oh cool he's like that needs to be sealed I'm like okay so he's like I will do it for free labor you just have to pay for equipment for the supplies so okay so I reached out um unfortunately um it's too late to have it sealed and then also I thought like wait a minute they're going to need heavy equipment to put the ptical up so maybe it's a good idea that we you know wasn't done now um but that being said come April or May I'll be reaching out again uh to this Patron to have that sealed correctly he so he's the one that actually did it um but that will be something coming up in the spring and um we will have to use um some building materials uh funding for it um it shouldn't be more than it shouldn't say thanks cuz I right yeah but it it you know it it takes like 30 minutes he said to do and he said I'll do it on a Sunday you know so but that's something to um I have to keep on my radar so when the spring comes and when the port goes up we will um be all nice and shiny and you out front all right and that's my director's report any questions about the director's report questions right we're good anybody else have any questions okay um I have the next meeting can everyone do Tuesday November 12th at 12:30 except for Steve can you can you are you back oh yeah from are you sure well we have a drop dead date of being back by the fifth all right so you're good so and that Tuesday at the it's a Tuesday at 12:30 that works and I'll do my best to on time appropriately we can we can give you a reminder if youd like that's fine you sent me m well that works for everyone okay then our next meeting is going to be Tuesday no November 12th at 12:30 um we don't have any other business I just need a motion motion to Second all in favor I this October 2nd 2024 meeting of the acran public library Board of Trustees is officially adjourned it is 102 [Music]