Board Minutes
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Board Minutes - June 17, 2008
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OF THE CHAPPAQUA LIBRARY
June 17, 2008
Board Members Present: Brian Socolow
Milan Tyler
Stan Kurzban
Janet Himel
Evelyn Bloom
Others Present: Pamela Thornton Director
Martha Alcott Assistant Director
Gerri Carpino Staff
Jo Lunetta Staff
Carol Birch Staff (from 8:10 P.M. to 9:37 P.M.)
Dennis MacDougall Maintenance Consultant (from 7:34 P.M. to
9:25 P.M.)
David Busing Library Architect (from 7:34 P.M. to 8:35 P.M.)
Barbara Lowenthal Trustee Elect
I. Call to Order
President Brian Socolow called the Board to order at 7:34 P.M.
II. Board Administration
A. The Board unanimously approved the May 20, 2008 minutes.
B. The Board set July 17, September 9 and October 21 as the dates of the next three meetings.
C. The date for the Library Retreat will be Sunday, June 22, 2008, beginning at 10:00 A.M.
The Retreat will be an open meeting at which Library matters will be discussed.
Members of the Library Staff and Board Trustees will participate. Library Department Heads
will discuss the activities and services provided by their various Departments. Ms. Siobhan
Reardon, Executive Director of the Westchester Library System, will speak on “The Library
of the Future.” Her talk will be followed by Roundtable Discussions on pertinent Library topics.
D. Mr. Socolow congratulated Barbara Lowenthal, our newest trustee, and welcomed her to the
the Library Board.
III. Finance
A. The Board unanimously approved the May 2008 minutes.
B. The Board reviewed the May 2008 Capital Fund.
C. The Board unanimously approved the June 2008 bills.
D. Mr. Socolow announced that the Library Budget was passed in the May 2008 election.
IV. Space Study Plan – Options for Improvement of the Chappaqua Library.
A. David Busing, Library Architect, looking at the footprint of the existing library, presented four
different architectural options covering certain critical library areas and cited the costs involved
in each option.
1. Special attention was paid to proposals for enlarging and reorganizing the Children’s
Room. Some of the current obstacles are: the book stacks are too high; the present
location cannot accommodate the various age groups; and the need for a family toilet
area;
2. Mr. Busing felt that the Teen Area was indistinguishable from the rest of the Library and
suggested that a relocation would promote more active teen use.
3. Mr. Busing said that the Services Area was tight, congested and awkward and that certain
offices, i.e. the Director’s Office, might be relocated.
4. Mr. Busing stated that the 47 parking spaces now available were insufficient for a building
the size of the library. He presented plans for increasing the parking spaces to 54 or to
94. These two alternatives were based on the Architectural Plan submitted in 2000.
The costs of each would be $125,000.00 and $1,900,000.00 respectively. The latter
would involve closing the parking area for seven to eight months and would demand an
Environmental Impact Statement.
5. Mr. Busing felt that the Adult Area of the Library worked well and was not overcrowded.
He recommended new public toilets near the entrance as a part of another project.
6. Mr. Busing discussed in detail the rationale for either keeping or renovating the Public
Courtyard. He recommended improvements to remove hazards and to promote public
use for reading, exhibits and receptions. Some members of the Board and of the library
staff expressed their desire to maintain the Public Courtyard as an open space and to
improve it in order to bring in more natural light. Ms. Thornton noted that the Public
Courtyard was built over storm drains.
7. Mr. Busing found that the library theater functions well and that improvements might be
limited to equipment and to furnishings. As to the possibility of using the Readers Digest
Theater and to renovating our own for other uses, Ms. Thornton said that the entire
Reader Digest property question was still being discussed. Ms. Bloom stated that the
Chappaqua community uses the library theater for diverse functions and that these groups
would not want to travel off-site. Mr. Tyler added that changing the nature of library
theater was not in the best interests of the community and to take the suggestion off the
table. Ms. Thornton noted that other libraries envied the Chappaqua library having
such a facility.
8. Mr. Busing discussed the uses of alternate energy sources and said that there were
possibilities of using such sources with any new construction. He said that there were
qualified firms in the area that could do a study of these energy sources. Ms.
Lowenthal inquired into the qualifications of these firms.
B. Mr. Socolow thanked Mr. Busing for his work and for his presentation. Mr. Busing responded
by saying that he would be happy to return to speak at another Board meeting.
Mr. Socolow suggested that for the July meeting, the Board carefully think over the
architectural study so that there would be further discussion about the various options.
V. Personnel
Jared Bednowitz has resigned as part-time theater custodian and is returning to college.
Geoffrey Q. Ralls has replaced him and is currently on the job.
VI. Building and Grounds
A. Ms. Thornton reported that the bids for the cooling tower were re-advertised with a new due
date of June 26, 2008. There was also a mandatory walk-through scheduled for June 17 at
10:00 A.M. involving the cooling replacement. Mr. MacDougall participated in this walk-through.
B. Mr. MacDougall has been in contact with Chris Licurse regarding the soffits. Mr. MacDougall
will report back in July regarding these soffits.
C. Mr. MacDougall reported on the infrared scan of the roof. He will email the Board on the
results of the scan.
D. Ms. Thornton announced that woodpecker deterrents will be purchased to be placed on the roof
of the Library. After checking with the Cornell University Department of Ornithology Data-
base, it has been determined that the best deterrents are owl decoys and mylar streamers.
E. Mr. MacDougall believes that the renovation of the restrooms should be put out to bid as a
separate matter. This renovation will call for an architect familiar with the building code
and able to meet ADA compliance. Ms. Thornton said that the fixtures should be updated.
Mr. Socolow asked Mr. MacDougall to take the first step contacting an architect, and
report back to the Board at the July Board meeting.
F. Ms. Thornton reported that the window cleaning of the Library will be done in July.
G. Last month, Mr. Socolow asked Mr. MacDougall to investigate energy efficient possibilities for
the Library. On June 13, 2008, Mr. MacDougall participated in the walk-through energy audit
to determine the possibility of adding solar electric panels to the building. He said that there are
excellent opportunities for both solar electric and photovoltaic panels to be mounted on the
library roof. The solar panels could produce about 35% of the electricity needed for the building.
Solar thermal panels could offset the amount of natural gas required to heat the Library.
Mr. MacDougall added that other energy efficiency opportunities exist such as lighting upgrades,
automatic water faucets and valves, high efficiency motors and occupancy censors. Mr. Socolow
asked about the savings involved if such systems were installed. Mr. MacDougall
responded by saying that an engineering study would be necessary to determine the amount.
Ms. Thornton stated that government construction grants for energy efficiency are available and
that the Library would take advantage of these grants. Mr. Socolow asked Mr. MacDougall to
report back to the July Board meeting with specific recommendations.
H. Ms. Thornton reported that the Library is still investigating DVD theft deterrents.
VII Reports
A. Ms. Thornton announced that the Friends Book Sale of June 2-8, 2008 made over $16,000.00
In addition, the library was able to replace certain worn and missing titles from our collection,
resulting in a savings of $3176.00 for adult books and $1088.00 for children’s books.
The total saved added up to $4264.00.
B. Ms. Thornton distributed copies of the children’s “Sleeping in the Stacks” evaluation.
Thirty-five people (twelve families) participated and contributed their opinions to the survey.
C. Ms. Thornton announced that the Library will participate in Chappaqua Sales Day on July 26.
It is also called Chappaqua Family Fun Day
D. Mr. Socolow asked for a report on the number of children who use the Children’s Room. This
statistic will aid in providing a further basis for improvement of the Children’s Room.
VIII. Public Comments
A. On June 5, 2008, Ms. Thornton, Mr. Kurzban and Ms. Bloom attended the Westchester
Library System program on Legal Issues for Library Boards. Mr. Kurzban, reporting on
the Workshop, advised that every Trustee read the provisional charter, permanent charter
and by-laws of our Library. He described the various topics discussed at this meeting i.e. the
Open Meeting Law.Mr. Kurzban was especially interested in the changes recently made in the
Wicks Law.
B. Mr. Socolow asked Ms. Thornton about the status of the NCCTV’s finding a new broadcasting
location. Ms. Thornton stated that there will be a meeting on June 19, 2008 at Horace Greeley
High School to address this matter. Ms. Thornton will send a report of this meeting to the
Board by email.
C. On the occasion of Mr. Tyler’s completion of his Library Board term, Mr. Socolow spoke for
the Trustees when he thanked Milan Tyler for his extreme dedication to the Library, for his
creative ideas and for his willingness to undertake new things. Mr. Socolow announced that
a Guatemalan wall hanging will be presented to the Library and another to Mr. Tyler as the
Trustees’ gift. Mr. Tyler expressed his appreciation and stated that it was an honor and
privilege to have served as a Trustee.
IX. Adjournment
Mr. Socolow adjourned the meeting by common consent at 9:37 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Evelyn Bloom
Secretary
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