February 2015 Minutes

MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE PLATTEKILL PUBLIC LIBRARY: February, 2015

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Present were: Lynne Ridgeway, President; Valerie Smith, Vice President; Keith Canfield, Treasurer; David Padilla, Trustee; Will Farrell, Trustee; John Georghiou, Director; Barbara Jacobini, Bookkeeper; Donna Ebanks, Secretary

→ Motion to accept the minutes of January 8, 2015 was made by Keith Canfield and seconded by

Bookkeeper Barbara Jacobini informed the Board that every year the Board must approve the prepayment of the payroll and payment to Central Hudson. It was also noted that each Board member must have a copy of the warrant of checks; one Board member must review and initial a copy of the warrant, which will be filed with the minutes. Barbara also stated that at future Board meetings the signers and the auditors of the checks may not be the same persons in order to satisfy best practices.

→ Motion to prepay the payroll and Central Hudson for the fiscal year 2015 was made by Valerie Smith and seconded by Will Farrell; all others were in favor.

→ Motion to approve the payroll for the month of January was made by Valerie Smith and seconded by Keith Canfield; all others were in favor.

Barbara reported the accounting firm of Nugent and Haussler would be doing the Library’s, the State Comptroller’s report, the 990 Form and if required the CHAR 500. Additional discussion followed;

· The Library is awaiting information from the State Comptroller’s office in order to complete the State Report for Libraries

· Annual report is downloaded to the Bookkeeper’s computer and will be emailed to the Board

· January of each year all Board members must sign a Conflict of Interest statement. Each Board member received one in their packet of materials for the evening; please sign it and return to Barbara

Barbara also stated the accountant has written a letter to the State to resolve the misunderstanding regarding the Friends tax identification number and the Library’s tax identification number.

A discussion ensued regarding collateralization documents. It was determined that an amount of $250,000 must be collateralized. Accounts are separated into interest and non-interest bearing accounts; if they do not equal $250,000 no collateralization is necessary. M&T Bank monitors the accounts and alerts the Library when collateralization is warranted.

→ Motion to approve the Director’s discretionary spending up to the amount of $400 on the M&T debit card account was made by Valerie Smith and seconded by Will Farrell; all others were in favor.

→ Motion to pay the bills pending audit was made by David Padilla and seconded by Will Farrell; all others were in favor.

→ Motion to approve the recommended transfers as listed was made by Will Farrell and seconded by David Padilla; all others were in favor.

Barbara informed the Board that to date, the Library has not received their tax levy check from the Town Supervisor’s office.

The Planning and Operations committee met and has submitted to the Board four recommendations for policies, all of which are required. The Fixed Assets Capitalization Policy will be sent to the Auditor.

→ The P& O Committee recommends adopting all four of the following policies: Code of Ethics; Freedom to Read; Freedom to View; Fixed Assets Capitalization. Motion to adopt the four policies was made by Keith Canfield and seconded by David Padilla; all others were in favor.

The Board will review the narrative of the meeting of the Personnel Committee in Executive Session.

→ Motion to approve the appointment of Joe Egan to the Grants Committee was made by Valerie Smith and seconded by Keith Canfield; all others were in favor.

Lynne received a call from the Realtor on January 12. The Realtor stated she has been unable to reach the seller. Barbara asked that the two checks being held for the seller be voided. The Board concurred.

The revised MOU from the Friends has been received; Lynne is working to incorporate the revisions into the proposed MOU.

Library Advocacy Day is on February 25; Director John Georghiou will be attending.

Lynne informed the Board that Rebekkah Smith Aldrich will be attending the April Board meeting to present on the topics of Committees and the roles of Directors and Trustees. Ms. Aldrich will meet with the Board at 7pm; regular Board meeting to follow.

→ Motion to enter into Executive session at 8:08pm was made by Keith Canfield and seconded by David Padilla; all others were in favor.

→ Motion to approve the Director’s Performance Evaluation as amended was made by Keith Canfield: seconded by Will Farrell; David Padilla abstained; all others were in favor.

→ Motion to adjourn at 8:49pm was made by Keith Canfield; seconded by Will Farrell; all others were in favor.