MCFLS Board Minutes 10/05

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MILWAUKEE COUNTY FEDERATED LIBRARY SYSTEM
Board of Trustees

Regular Meeting Held Monday, October 17, 2005
At
Milwaukee County Federated Library System
709 North Eighth Street
Milwaukee, WI 53233

ROLL CALL

Present:                   Dick Maslowski, Acting Chair
                                Ron Tays, Treasurer
                                Dora Montoya, Trustee
                                Paul Ziehler, Trustee

Excused:                  Martin Schreiber, President
                                Ryan McCue, Vice President
                                Mike D'Amato, Trustee

Staff:                       Jim Gingery, Director
                                Steve Heser, Library Systems Administrator
                                Judy Kaniasty, Business Manager/Personnel Assistant (Recorder)

Others:                   Arnie Gutkowski, TAC Chair and Brown Deer Public Library
                                Beth Carey, Shorewood Public Library
                                Terri Delke, Greenfield Public Library
                                Bruce Gay, Milwaukee Public Library
                                Mary Murphy, Wauwatosa Public Library
                                Taj Schoening, Milwaukee Public Library

I. CALL TO ORDER. Due to President Schreiber’s absence and Vice President McCue’s absence Director Gingery called the meeting of the regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the Milwaukee County Federated Library System Board of Trustees to order at 8:33 a.m. Per the bylaws it is necessary for an action to appoint a chairman for this meeting. Trustee Ziehler moved and Treasurer Tays seconded a motion to appoint Trustee Maslowski as Acting Chair for this meeting. Unanimously approved. Trustee Maslowski accepted.

II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES. Trustee Ziehler moved and Treasurer Tays seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the meeting held Monday, September 19, 2005 as presented and shown as Attachment A of the agenda packet. Unanimously approved.

III. PUBLIC COMMENT. Arnie Gutkowski, Brown Deer Public Library Director, stated that he had heard at the most recent Technical Advisory Committee meeting that the Cataloging Contract between MCFLS and Milwaukee was increasing $50,000 and he would like an explanation as to the reasoning behind such a large increase. Is it based on volume, increased OCLC costs, etc. Director Gingery responded that this item would be on the agenda for the next meeting and an explanation as to the increase will be provided at that time.

IV. TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE – REPORTS. TAC Chair Arnie Gutkowski reviewed his report from the October TAC meeting which is shown as Exhibit 1attached to these minutes. Consensus of the Committee to Accept and Place on File.

V. ADMINISTRATIVE AND COMMITTEE REPORTS REQUIRING ACTION.

A. Finance and Personnel Committee.

1. Financial Report – August 2005. Treasurer Tays reported that the Finance & Personnel Committee reviewed the August 2005 financial report which is shown as Attachment B of the agenda packet and recommends Board approval of the report as presented. Nothing stands out as out of the ordinary and Treasurer Tays moved and Trustee Ziehler seconded the motion to approve the August 2005 financial report as recommended. Unanimously approved.

2. 2006 West Milwaukee Charges. Treasurer Tays reported that Attachment C of the agenda packet reflects a slight increase of 3.7 percent or $4,500 over last year’s activity and that the Finance & Personnel Committee recommends approval to send the invoice to West Milwaukee as is customary. Treasurer Tays moved and Trustee Ziehler seconded a motion to approve the 2006 West Milwaukee charges as calculated and presented. Unanimously approved.

Trustee Ziehler questioned whether any agreement between MCFLS and West Milwaukee had been located and Director Gingery as well as Acting Chair Maslowski indicated that there is indeed a signed contract for library service to West Milwaukee residents.

3. 2006 Delivery Contract – MPL. Treasurer Tays reported that Attachment D of the agenda packet reflects a 7.3 percent or $4,200 increase from last year’s cost and that the Finance & Personnel Committee recommends approval. Treasurer Tays moved and Trustee Ziehler seconded a motion to approve the 2006 delivery contract between MCFLS and Milwaukee as presented. Unanimously approved.

The increase in cost is due to this contract funding a driver position and the cost of salaries and benefits had increased.

4. 2006 ILL Contract – MPL. Treasurer Tays reported that Attachment E of the agenda packet reflects the renewal of the interlibrary loan contract for the same price as last year. The Finance & Personnel Committee recommends approval. Treasurer Tays moved and Acting Chair Maslowski seconded the motion to approve the 2006 ILL contract with Milwaukee for $36,000. Unanimously approved.

Trustee Ziehler questioned why this contract price was not increased. Taj Schoening responded that the State did not increase their contract with MPL and therefore there was no need to increase the MCFLS contract.

5. CountyCat Server Replacement Recommendation. Treasurer Tays referred to Attachment F of the agenda packet and reported that the Finance & Personnel Committee does recommend approval of the recommendation as presented. Treasurer Tays moved and Trustee Ziehler seconded a motion to approve the CountyCat Server replacement purchase. Unanimously approved.

Trustee Ziehler asked how MCFLS was anticipating getting the $30,000 needed over the next couple of years. Director Gingery responded that the funds would come from continued funding of the hardware capital fund line item that is currently in the budget.

Trustee Ziehler questioned whether bids were solicited for this purchase recommendation. Director Gingery responded that Innovative Interfaces provided two bids—the difference was $20,000 between the two options. The recommended option is the lower cost option and (on basis of configuration comparison) the superior platform. The recommended option is running successfully at many large III sites and is III’s recommendation for us as well.

Trustee Ziehler questioned how MCFLS knows this is the cheapest option. Director Gingery responded that MCFLS investigated the cost of this hardware if purchased independently and concluded that Innovative is offering hardware choices at very little profit. Buying hardware through III allows us to enter into a Software Full Agreement with them. III is responsible for initiating hardware service calls for the 3 years of warranty-covered maintenance. It also offers us a smoother path for transitioning from one server to the other. Arnie Gutkowski (Brown Deer Public Library Director) added that the purchase price is $100,000 lower than what the current server cost 5 years ago; he feels MCFLS is getting a lot of equipment for the money.

Arnie Gutkowski questioned whether Innovative Interfaces is now able to work with SUN equipment since that was not the case when MCFLS owned SUN equipment years ago. Director Gingery responded that when we chose SUN 10 years ago, very few III sites were using SUN and no large sites were using SUN. Now, 10 years later, Innovative has 12 very large SUN platforms running very well; the major issue that caused us problems years ago (delays in synching of data) no longer exists.

6. 2006 MCFLS System Plan and Program Budget. Treasurer Tays reported that the Finance & Personnel Committee recommends approval of the 2006 MCFLS System Plan and Program Budget shown as Attachment G of the agenda packet. Treasurer Tays moved and Trustee Ziehler seconded a motion to approve the 2006 MCFLS System Plan and Program Budget as presented. Unanimously approved.

Director Gingery reported that the System Plan and Program Budget needs to be submitted to the State by mid-October for the release of 2006 state aid monies in November. Director Gingery also noted that he had made one significant change in reflecting broad program categories. The cataloging contract expense (468K) has been placed in the Technology program category rather than the Interlibrary Loan category. Cataloging expense is part of the cost of our shared automation system and placed in the Technology program category.

7. Request by MCFLS Director to Attend WLA Conference – October 25-27. Treasurer Tays reported that the Finance & Personnel Committee recommends approval to allow Director Gingery to attend the conference as requested. Treasurer Tays moved and Trustee Ziehler seconded a motion to approve the conference attendance as requested. Unanimously approved. Director Gingery noted that the auditors recommended Director expenditure oversight and that is why the request is being made officially.

B. Legislative and System Services Committee.

1. State Legislative Issues.

a. WLA Legislative Agenda 2005-2007. Chair Ziehler referred to Attachment H of the agenda packet and reported that staff recommends that the Committee and the Board support the WLA legislative agenda for 2005-2007.

b. SB 272 “Reform Bill.” Chair Ziehler referred to Attachment I of the agenda packet and noted that staff recommends support of SB 272. Chair Ziehler moved and Treasurer Ziehler seconded a motion to support SB 272 as recommended. Unanimously approved.

c. SB 273 “Language Bill.” Chair Ziehler reported that Attachment J of the agenda packet was primarily housekeeping and technical aspects and staff recommends support. Chair Ziehler moved and Treasurer Tays seconded a motion that the MCFLS Board support SB 273. Unanimously approved.

d. SB 258 Requires Proof of Parental Consent for Libraries to Loan R-Rated Movies to Minors. Chair Ziehler referred to Attachment K of the agenda packet and reported that the TAC and others feel this legislation is unnecessary and it should be left to local control. Chair Ziehler moved and Treasurer Tays seconded a motion to oppose SB 258. Unanimously approved.

e. AB 483 Repeal of Maintenance of Effort. Chair Ziehler referred to Attachment L of the agenda packet. It is staff’s recommendation to oppose this legislation since the Maintenance of Effort clause is in place to protect libraries. Individual cities have other feelings and support this legislation since no other agencies have this type of protection. Director Gingery pointed out that the maintenance of effort also protects library systems and that is another reason to oppose AB 483. Treasurer Ziehler moved and Acting Director Maslowski seconded a motion to oppose this legislation. The motion passed with three yes votes; Chair Ziehler abstained from the vote.

Director Gingery reported that he attended an LD&L meeting and the status appears to be that the reform and language bills have potential to be voted out of Committee this coming Wednesday and possible action taken later this year or early 2006. SB258 and AB483 are languishing at present.

VI. ADMINISTRATIVE AND COMMITTEE INFORMATIONAL ITEMS.

A. Legislative and System Services Committee.

1. ByLaws Review Update. Chair Ziehler reported that the Committee has completed its work on updating the bylaws and the TAC suggested name change to Library Directors Advisory Council will be incorporated into the document prior to being sent to the member communities for comment before the next MCFLS Board Meeting where action will be taken.

B. Director’s Report. Director Gingery reviewed Attachment M of the agenda packet and also noted that there will be a lot of issues
for the next MCFLS Board meeting.

Trustee Ziehler asked if action will be taken to send letters to contiguous counties requesting funding of out-of-Milwaukee-County use of the Milwaukee Public Library. Director Gingery referred to a letter presented at last month’s meeting from Kate Huston shown as Exhibit 1 attached to Attachment A of the agenda packet asking that that not occur.

C. Member Agreement. Trustee Ziehler requested a discussion of timeline of member agreement and wonders how MCFLS will proceed with the negotiations of the next member agreement. Trustee Ziehler stated that Jim Ryan of Hales Corners is the new Chair of the ICC Library Subcommittee and Trustee Ziehler wonders if MCFLS will defer to that ICC committee or will MCFLS come up with a solution, thread of water, etc. Will MCFLS take a lead? It was the consensus of the MCFLS Board to wait until all seven Board members are present to discuss the topic. Trustee Ziehler moved and Treasurer Tays seconded a motion to put this agenda topic on the November MCFLS Board meeting agenda. Unanimously approved.

VII. NEXT MEETING DATES.

A. MCFLS Board of Trustees – November, 2005. Director Gingery reported that the November 21 date needs to be changed and suggests either November 28 or December 5 (with that then being the last meeting of the year). November 28 works for the four in attendance today but it was asked that the other three members of the MCFLS Board be polled by Director Gingery.

B. Finance and Personnel Committee – November, 2005. Date to be determined.

C. Legislative and System Services Committee. Date to be determined.

VIII. ADJOURNMENT. With no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 9:08 a.m. on a motion made by Trustee Ziehler and seconded by Treasurer Tays. Unanimously approved.

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