South Central Library System Board of Trustees Minutes
2/24/2022, 12:15 p.m.

Chester Room
4610 S. Biltmore Lane, Suite 101, Madison, WI  53718

Meeting held remotely via BlueJeans & in person

Action Items: 
Approved the Purchase Sale Agreement for 5204 Graham Place from the City of Madison

Present N. Brien, B. Clendenning, P. Cox, S. Elwell, S. Feith, N. Foth, M. Furgal, J. Healy-Plotkin,  N. Long,  M. Nelson, R. Nelson, G. Poulson, T. Walske, K. Williams

Excused: J. Honl

Absent:

Recorder:  H. Moe

SCLS Staff Present: J. Anderson, M. Van Pelt, K. Goeden

Guests: Devin Flanigan, Keller, Inc.

Call to Order: 12:15 p.m.  G. Poulson, President

a. Introduction of guests/visitors: 

b. Requests to address the Board:  None 

Approval of previous meeting minutes: 1/27/2022 

            a.   Motion:  N. Long moved approval of the 1/27/2022 minutes.  S. Feith seconded.    
            b.   Changes or corrections:  None

            c.   Vote:  Motion carried.

Financial Statements:  K. Goeden provided an overview of the financial statements.   

Bills for Payments:  The payment amount is $101,072.12

a.   Motion:  S. Elwell moved approval of the bills for payment.  N. Foth seconded.

b.   Discussion:  None.

            c.    Vote:  Motion carried.

Presentation:  Jean Anderson, SCLS Consultant Services – The SCLS consultants and duties were briefly discussed.  You may view the PowerPoint of the consultant staff in the documents online.

Discussion:  Funding proposal from Baird.  Does the board want a presentation from Baird?  M. Van Pelt and K. Goeden and met with Justin Fischer and Kevin Mullen of Robert W. Baird & Company Inc. (Baird) to discuss the possibilities for SCLS to finance the new building through the issuance of bonds.  Technically the issuance of bonds would be to refinance the $5.5 million BCPL loan at a lower rate with a projected savings of 10% over the life of the loan.  The most cost effective option would be to have one of the seven SCLS member counties issue the bond on behalf of SCLS.  The county would take out the loan on behalf of SCLS by issuing the bonds and would then loan SCLS the funds.  Baird is projecting interest rates in the realm of 2.7-3.25% which they estimate could save SCLS at least $550,000 over the life of the loan (10%).  They would then issue a separate $1 million loan bid for banks at closer to 3% interest.  The 2 loans together would have an annual cost of $450,000, which means SCLS would be saving money over renting by year 6.

If the board would like to pursue this option, Mr. Fischer and Mr. Mullen are willing to do a presentation to the board in March.

MVP reached out to the PCPL director who reached out the Portage County executive, but they are already in the process of building a jail, so it is unlikely they would be willing to participate.  It was suggested that Dane County be contacted. 
The board had several questions about this topic and requested that Baird give a presentation to address the questions as well as provide talking points and advice for how to approach a county if they decide to pursue this avenue.   M. Van Pelt will ask the Baird representatives to provide a presentation at the March board meeting.

Committee Reports

a. 2022 Committee Assignments:  SCLS webpage has been updated
            i.  Advocacy:  Suma Elwell, Chair
            ii.  Budget:  Mary Nelson, Chair

            iii. Personnel:  Joan Honl, Chair

b. Advocacy:  Library Legislative Day was in February.  SCLS received a certificate of commendation and a photo with Governor Tony Evers was taken.  G. Poulson and S. Elwell shared their experiences.  S. Elwell noted legislators are looking into the difficulties small businesses are having in finding employees.  M. Van Pelt noted M. Jochem created a survey which was completed by systems across the state regarding library staffing shortages.  The results of that survey are in the documents online.

Action Items

a. Approval of Purchase Sale Agreement for 5204 Graham Place from the City of Madison

i. Motion:  S. Elwell moved approval of Purchase Sale Agreement for 5204 Graham Place from the City of Madison.  K. Williams seconded.
ii. Discussion: Contingencies have been listed and many have been met.  S. Feith inquired about the soil borings.  D. Flanigan noted there were no red flags, no alarming fill sites, organics, volatiles, etc. 
iii. Vote:  Motion carried.

The TLE is a temporary easement.  There is a park behind the new building site owned by the City of Madison and we need to create a swale to allow water to flow into the ditch.  The swale has been approved, but a maintenance plan needs to be created. 

            b. Approval of Easement (TLE) – This item will be referred to the March meeting.

i. Motion:  N. Long moved approval to refer the approval of Easement to the March meeting.  S. Feith seconded.
ii. Discussion: 
iii. Vote:  Motion carried

SCLS Foundation Report:  M. Van Pelt noted a special fundraising meeting was held to discuss the new building and 2022 Cornerstone event.  The Foundation Board recommended to give $37,000 to the new building and dedicate this year’s Cornerstone toward the new building professional collection space.   The Cornerstone event will be held in Waunakee and the Lone Girl Restaurant was recommended as a venue for the event.

System Director's Report:  You may view the System Director report online.  There are five director openings in the system mainly in the small libraries.  Part of the issue with director vacancies in small libraries is the education required and the amount of responsibility isn’t being compensated.  COLAND is looking at boosting awareness of boards to support directors.  County supervisors and boards need to be educated about what directors do to receive more pay.  S. Feith noted Wood County Board is very supportive of libraries.

Administrative Council (AC) Report:  Met 2/17/22.  

Other Business:  None

Information sharing:
M. Nelson noted Francis Cherney had a great influence on the Wood County support of libraries.  N. Foth noted she is in Alabama and ran into a Monroe Public Library patron who had very good things to say about SCLS. 

Adjournment:  1:15 p.m.

For more information about the Board of Trustees, contact Martha Van Pelt

BOT/Minutes/2/24/2022