South Central Library System Board of Trustees Minutes
5/26/2022, 12:15 p.m.

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

Meeting held via BlueJeans & in person

Action Items: 
Approved the Wisconsin Public Records Board Local Units General Records Schedule -WI Public Libraries and Public Library Systems and Related Records


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

Excused: N. Brien, J. Chrisler, J. Honl

Recorder:  H. Moe

SCLS Staff Present: 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:  Linda Ross, Columbia County Alternate Trustee.  The board introduced themselves.

b.      Requests to address the Board:  None 

Approval of previous meeting minutes: 4/28/2022 

            a.   Motion:  B. Clendenning moved approval of the 4/28/2022 minutes.  P. Cox 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 $114,693.79

a.   Motion:  M. Furgal moved approval of the bills for payment.  T. Walske seconded.

b.   Discussion:  None.

            c.    Vote:  Motion carried.

 

Presentation:  Fundraising for new building – T. Walske noted $340.50 was raised at a fundraiser for the Foundation at the Paint and Sip event!  The Cornerstone event will be held at the Lone Girl Brewing Company in Waunakee on September 15th at 5:30 p.m.  We are currently reaching out for sponsorships for the event.  If there is an organization that you know of that would want to sponsor the event, please let M. Van Pelt know.  The funds raised at the Cornerstone will go toward the professional collection space at the new building.  The Foundation approved $37,000 from the 2020 and 2021 Cornerstone events and accrued interest toward the new building.  Foundation board members have been applying for grants toward the new building.  M. Van Pelt acknowledged N. Brien and K. Williams for writing and submitting the grant for solar panels, which has been put on the list for federal funding from Senator Baldwin.  M. Furgal was also acknowledged for pursuing local opportunities in his community.  J. Pugh has been doing the same for funding. 
T. Walske noted Starbucks on Pflaum Road will support an event with pastries and coffee.
S. Feith inquired about the grant writing webinar.  M. Van Pelt will send the information to the board.

Committee Reports

a.         Advocacy:  S. Elwell inquired about Intellectual Freedom.  S. Brommer and T. Miller provided a presentation in March.

Action Items

a.         Accept the Wisconsin Public Records Board Local Units General Records Schedule - WI Public Libraries and Public Library Systems and Related Records)

i. Motion:   J. Healy Plotkin moved acceptance of the Wisconsin Public Records Board Local Units General Records Schedule.   K. Williams seconded.
ii. Discussion: Do you suggest all member libraries accept this schedule?  Yes.  Where do you find the general requirements for retention?  It is online and we have a copy of the record retention requirements.  Shannon Schultz, DPI, will be speaking to the SCLS staff regarding record retention rules on June 13th.  How do we ensure it’s being done?  We can retain the records longer than retention rules and the files will be labelled with termination dates for future reference.
iii. Vote:  Motion carried.

 

SCLS Foundation Report:  M. Van Pelt noted the tax forms were approved.  The 2021 taxes and audit are complete.

System Director's Report:  You may view the System Director report online.  Four of the eight director positions have been filled:  Amherst – Lizzie Gburek, Vesper - Wendy Wilson, Wyocena – Darrell Fehd, Mazomanie – Brian Cole.  Spring Green is advertising for a new director and Carrie Portz will be the interim director over the summer,
Tessa Michaelson Schmidt will be the new Director of the CCBC.

 

Discussion:  Results of New Building bid opening and future plans

M. Van Pelt discussed the bid opening.  It did not go as planned unfortunately.  7 bidders showed up for the bid opening.  Most bids came in higher than the amounts projected by Keller.  27 bid units needed to be bid upon. We received about half.  We did not receive bids on critical work such as earthwork, carpentry, and landscaping.  Keller called 650 contractors ahead of time to encourage them to bid.  Many said they would and then didn’t.  With the bids that we did receive and estimates for the rest, Keller is projecting the cost to now be at $9 million to build the new building.  The approved budget is $7 million.  We currently have $5.5 million in our bank account from the BCPL loan which is at 4% interest.  On May 19th BNAW met and made a list of possible alternatives and options to move the project forward.  We have asked David Haug, our realtor, to see what properties are available for purchase.  When SCLS started this project it was cheaper to build but now the market has changed.  There are many office spaces available at a reasonable cost due to many employees working remotely.  Warehouse and storage is becoming desirable and we need both.  The July 13th ground breaking has been postponed.  We are reevaluating and the BNAW is meeting to work through solutions.

 

Devin Flanigan illustrated changes in HVAC, PVC, and concrete prices.  The pandemic is growing and it’s affecting everything.  Lead time and prices are crazy.  It’s disappointing and frustrating and hard to forecast due to an ever changing environment.  Construction has problems and projects are stretching out due to delays in receiving inventory. 

 

K. Goeden noted the bid outcome was disappointing.  The BNAW was formed in 2018, intentionally well in advance of the date our leases end, to evaluate our building and space needs.  The work group has worked very hard, and members are feeling a bit deflated.  K. Goeden shared an email she sent to the BNAW sharing her pride in the group’s work, the timeline they followed and the building they designed. The work group accomplished its goal of designing a new facility that meets the needs of the system, staff and its members.  Unfortunately with the pandemic, the cost of construction has escalated beyond the level that SCLS can afford.  Therefore the group will now need to pivot and explore other options that still meet the needs of the system.  The work group discussed several options, but the main three options at this point are:  Build the new building with Keller owning 25% of it with a buy out option after 20 years; re-evaluate the plans to determine what we need and what we can do without and provide revised plans to determine if we cut enough to get the project back within budget; and the 3rd option is to look at commercial buildings that are for sale.  We are learning that buying an office is less expensive than building one.  How much is the delivery portion of the building?  2/3 of the budget is office build out and 1/3 goes toward delivery.  We could modify a current building and add Delivery onto it. There is a tour scheduled to view the Lakeland University property on Friday, May 27th.  Any of these options will still involve some level of construction.  It’s important for us to exhaust all of the possibilities and explore every avenue available.  Which direction makes the most sense to go?  The ultimate goal is to save money, have a facility that works better than one we have now and combine delivery and administration.    

The next few weeks we will be exploring options and will update the board next month.

M. Nelson expressed sympathy, admiration and gratitude for the work put into this project.  We don’t own the land by the City of Madison at the proposed building site yet, so we can walk away from it. 
K. Williams noted this project started as a labor of love, but she is finding it taxing and challenging in light of the current circumstances.  She indicated she will be out of town for a month and inquired if another board member would be able to attend the BNAW meetings and visit potential properties in her absence.  BNAW meetings are held the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month.  S. Feith volunteered to attend the Lakeland College property tour.
B. Clendenning noted the jail project in Wood County will be $20 million over their original budget. 
Does the building need to be in Dane county?  It has to be on the MUFN fiber due to the data center and in Madison due to Delivery. 
J. Healy-Plotkin stated the BNAW has done a great job during this process and appreciates their ability to hit the ground running and pivoting.  Thanks for being willing to step away from “building only” and taking advantage of the time frame to walk away cleanly from the city.  Good luck in making informed and unemotional decisions.

T. Walske may be interested in attending BNAW meetings in place of Kristi or will share the responsibility with S. Feith for the month of June.  Is there mileage reimbursement? No.  There is a virtual option to attend meetings.
S. Feith inquired if there is a zoning issue when looking for existing property with building the delivery portion?  It depends on the municipality.  We can get a conditional use permit. 

Suma noted her feelings go out to everyone involved.  She inquired about bids for building the delivery portion and at what point may it be tabled due to cost?  Can we extend the lease at St. Johns for headquarters and Delta properties for delivery?  The leases end next year in May 2023 and we can extend the leases.  However if headquarters does a month to month lease with St. John’s we would pay a premium rate. 
G. Poulson requested an update to the board with any “breaking news” to keep them informed of the process.  As a reminder, the BNAW minutes are posted on the SCLS website. 

Administrative Council (AC) Report:  All Directors Met 5/19/2022.  You may view the minutes online.  SCLS piloted a new voting system, created by Tim Drexler, which worked great for those participating in person and remotely.  This is what we will do going forward.  The directors approved the circulation of multipart DVD and Blu-ray, which allows entire seasons to be checked out as one.  Two libraries recently went fine free – Brodhead and Cambria.  66% of SCLS libraries are fine free. 

Other Business:  None

Information sharing:

Adjournment:  1:38 p.m.

           

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

 

BOT/Minutes/5/26/2022