BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES

DRAFT MINUTES

Date of Meeting:  Tuesday, November 9, 2021 @ 7:00 pm

Members Present: Nancy Heckel (Chair); Jen Call; Emily Cooper; Nancy Glynn (Secretary); Marcy Vierzen (Treasurer); Elizabeth Geraghty (Library Director);Betsy Anderson (Alternate) 

Members Absent:

Note: This meeting was conducted on ZOOM for all present. 

Public Present: Casey Biuso; Betsy Forsham; Kathy Gill; Charlotte Leary; Joanna Murphy; Kristin Snow via Zoom;  

The Board met in person at the Sutton Free Library for their Board of Trustees Meeting. The public, per the Governor’s Executive Order 2020-04, Section 8, Emergency Order #12 Section 3, had the option to Zoom in to this meeting.

CALL TO ORDER:

Roll Call, Introduction of Guests
The SFLBOT meeting was called to order at 7:03pm by Board Chair Nancy Heckel, and roll taken. Six members of the public were present. No other members of any households of Trustees were present within listening of this meeting. 

 

Public comment: 

Members of the public addressed their concerns and support with the newly installed storywalk located along the fence by the falls. 

 

Review of Minutes
Minutes from the 10/14/2021 meeting were reviewed with corrections made. Board Chair Heckel invited a motion to approve, with revisions, the minutes from the 10/14/2021 meeting. Board Member Marcy Vierzen made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Board Member Jen Call. The motion was carried unanimously in the affirmative.

 

 

Correspondence

Director Geraghty reports no new correspondence.

 

REPORTS:

Old Business

Financial/Treasurer’s Report
Board Member Vierzen noted the beginning balance of the Trustee Account for Sutton Free Library in 

September was $6,195.56. Board Member Vierzen reported little activity on the account. Board Member Vierzen reports that SFLBOT has a $100.00 balance in restricted funds. 

SFL received a check from the Friends in the amount of $1208.00 to be used for the storywalk project.

SFL also received a check from the NH Humanities Council in the amount of $5691.71 which is the total of the SHARP grant funds. This check is to be deposited into the trustee account but as restricted funds.

Board Chair Heckel makes a motion to accept the funds from the Friends and NH Humanities Council via the SHARP grant. Board member Nancy Glynn seconds the motion. The motion was carried unanimously in the affirmative.

Board Member Vierzen reports she is doing research on obtaining a debit/credit card from Sugar River Bank. 

The bank balance on the Trustee account at the end of October was $6,296.88

 

Building and Grounds

A giant “Thank you” to LaValleys of Newport for their generous donation of the posts and cement used in the construction of the Storywalk.

Director Geraghty reports that the spigot located outside of the library seems to not be connected to anything. The observation was made while mixing cement for the Story Walk. The library would benefit from having the spigot reconnected. A plumber will be contacted to evaluate reconnection.

Director Geraghty reports Capitol Alarm installed the alarm system. There are four cameras located throughout the building. Camera locations include: one outside at the back of the building, one outside in the front of the building, one by the desk upstairs and one downstairs. Director Geraghty reports that she is currently working on developing a policy for recording before the cameras go live. Director Geraghty shares that we will need to ask Capitol Alarm to come back and reinstall one of the cameras as it is not functioning properly. In addition to the security cameras, three panic buttons were also installed. After realizing that the library smoke detectors had not been tested within the recent years, Director Geraghty also requested that smoke detector tests be included for an additional charge.

The SFLBOT discussed placement of the outside bulletin board which is to be purchased using the funds from the SHARP grant. The bulletin board would need to be cemented into the ground. The board discussed if there would be a need for public input as to where to place the bulletin board. Installation most likely will happen in the spring. 

Board Chair Heckel reports there is a great need to gut the front of the library landscaping. 

 

Director’s Report

Director Geraghty reports she is designing bookmarks to hand out to patrons that will have the new hours of the library listed. Director Geraghty also reports that after only three weeks of offering our new library cards 54 patrons have already received new cards. The new assistant librarian is working out great and is tremendous help to Director Geraghty.

 

Director Geraghty researched the dates of holidays in 2022. She shared a list of holidays that could warrant the library to close. Most Federal holidays are on a Monday and the library usually closes for these dates. Director Geraghty makes a request of the SFLBOT to commit to discussing which holidays the library will be closed. 

 

Story Walk: 

Director Geraghty reports that the installation of the new Story Walk is complete. Thank you to Chris Geraghty and others for their support. Story Walk Week is scheduled for November 15th. The Board discussed what should be displayed in the Story Walk first. 

 

BUDGET:

A draft of the budget was discussed with changes appropriate for next year. A motion was made to accept the 2022 proposed operating budget with corrections by Board Chair Heckel. Board member Glynn seconds the motion. The motion was carried unanimously in the affirmative.

The budget committee is scheduled to meet on November 22nd at the Town Hall and on November 29th at the Fire Hall.

Non-Public Session:

Board Chair Heckel makes a motion to go into non-public session per RSA 91-A:3 (1: when divulgence of the information would likely adversely affect the reputation of any person, other than a member of the board itself.) The motion was seconded by Board Member Marcy Vierzen. The motion passed with a unanimous vote in the affirmative. Board Chair Heckel noted that with this motion, the board move into a non-public session. 

The Board decided to come out of non-public session.

Board Member Cooper makes a motion to seal non-public minutes. Board Member Vierzen seconds the motion. The motion was carried unanimously in the affirmative.

The next Sutton Free Library Board of Trustees Meeting is Tuesday, December 7th at 7pm.
Board Member Glynn made a motion to adjourn the meeting, and this was seconded by Board Member Call. The motion was carried unanimously in the affirmative. The Board of Trustees meeting ended at 10:23 pm.