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3.1 LIBMIN 04-27-20213.1 Members Present: Members Absent: Guests Present: Council Liaison: Meeting of the Elk River Public Library Board Held via zoom video Tuesday, January 26, 2021 Chair Mary Keifenheim, Commissioner's Isaac Blaske, Rita Dreissig, Carole Boelter, Michelle Hegarty none Karen Olson, Liz Lewis Garrett Christianson Staff Present: Ryan McCormick, Patron Services Supervisor — GRRL Robbie Schake, Library Services Coordinator - GRRL Dawn Larson, Recording Secretary, City of Elk River Cal Portner, City Administrator, City of Elk River Tim Sevcik, City Street and Park Superintendent I . Call Meeting to Order 2. 3. Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River Public Library Board was called to order at 5:31 pm by Chair Keifenheim. Consider January 26, 2021, Agenda Moved by Commissioner Dreissig and seconded by Commissioner Hegarty to approve the January 26, 2021, agenda. Consent Agenda 3.1 Secretary's Report • October 27, 2020 Meeting Minutes 3.2 Treasurer's Report ■ October, November and December 2020 Revenue and Expense Reports Moved by Commissioner Hegarty and seconded by Commissioner Blaske to approve the Consent Agenda. Motion carried 5-0. 4. Open Forum S. General Business Elk River Public Library Board January 26th, 2021 5.1 New Business Page 2 a. Election of board positions ■ Moved by Chair Keifenheim and seconded by Commissioner Boelter to appoint Commissioner Dreissig Chair. Motion carried 5-0. ■ Moved by Chair Dreissig and seconded by Commissioner Keifenheim to appoint Commissioner Boelter as Vice Chair. Motion carried 5-0. ■ Moved by Commissioner Boelter and seconded by Commissioner Keifenheim to appoint Commissioner Hegarty as Secretary. Motion carried 5-0. b. Welcome new board member Isaac Blaske ■ Commissioner Blaske introduced himself. The attending board members and staff introduced themselves. 5.2 Old Business a. Finish discussion and vote on changes in by-laws, article III, and article IX, article X and 2021 meeting dates. Cal Portner, Elk River City Administrator presented. ■ Mr. Portner reviewed his notes and changes to the bylaws based on the October meeting's discussion. He also let the board know that the attendance requirement in the bylaws has been suspended due to Covid-19. ■ Chair Dreissig questioned the board about the decision to change the meeting dates for the year. ■ Mr. Portner pointed out that article IX under a. in the bylaws could be removed. He said it is a city rule and not a library one. Also, Mr. Portner said the financial reports are listed for review, but it is not necessary to take the time to review them in that much detail. Mr. Portner typed out suggested changes to article IX and X while the board discussed. ■ Article IX: At the Spring meeting the Library Board shall prepare an annual report to include updates and goals to be presented to the City Council at a later date. ■ Article X: a. The Library Board shall forecast a list of annual goals and projects at their last meeting of each calendar year. b. At their first meeting of each calendar year, the Library Board shall review the goals and projects recommended and budgeted for by the City Council. c. The Library Board shall receive and review a goal and project status list at each ensuing meeting. r ar�Ft�e �r rNATURE Elk River Public Library Board January 26th, 2021 Page 3 ■ Ms. Schake questioned if Mr. Portner's timeline would match her budget submission to council. Her clarification was that if the list created at the end of year would be for the next budget year. Ms. Schake also asked for clarification on the timeline for article IX. She said that April/May would work best if the board wanted to present to council with her. April or May is when Ms. Schake presents an annual library update and July or August is when she presents her budget report to council. Mr. Portner said the board could come up with ideas throughout the year and then formalize the process for presentation. ■ Commissioner Keifenheim said she agrees with the suggested article changes and said she supports it if it works with Ms. Schake's goals for the library. Commissioner Boelter agreed as well and believes it goes along with the library board's purpose. ■ Chair Dreissig questioned the board on whether this year would be too soon to present their goals to council. Commissioner Keifenheim said it would be a great time to show the Council the boards new mission and purpose etc. Mr. Portner agreed that it would be good to formalize the decision as far as when the board plans on presenting to council each year for planning purposes. Chair Dreissig said she would like to have more time to discuss. Commissioner Boelter and Ms. Schake explained to Chair Dreissig that it can just be stated in the bylaws that preparation for the annual report will be done at the April meeting, and presented to council at a later date. ■ Chair Dreissig questioned the need to lay out specific meeting dates. Ms. Schake explained that is necessary due to the need to plan around the library board meeting dates and the use of the community room. Chair Dreissig asked for confirmation on when the bylaws must be done and suggested waiting on finalizing them so there can be more discussion. Secretary Larson explained to the board that it is not currently operating under the old bylaws and the work in progress bylaws have not been completed and filed in over a year. Secretary Larson said she would check with the City Clerk to confirm when the bylaws need to be completed. ■ The board discussed if it was necessary to continue discussing the bylaws or if they should just vote on them now to finalize where they are at and make changes in the future if necessary. Moved by Commissioner Keifenheim and seconded by Commissioner Hegarty to accept the changes that were made today to the bylaws. Motion carried 5-0. b. Master Gardeners input on raingarden changes and their continued involvement in library ground. • Master Gardeners, Karen Olson and Liz Lewis joined the discussion via zoom. Ms. Schake explained that she and previous Chair Keifenheim had met with Karen Olson and Liz Lewis in the fall and identified that the priority is to replace the planter boxes that were r R M E R f 1 R I NATURd Elk River Public Library Board January 26th, 2021 Page 4 removed last summer. The second part of the discussion should be around plants for the rain garden that were discussed at the last meeting and the continued involvement of the master gardeners with the library and grounds. • Chair Dreissig asked Ms. Olson and Ms. Lewis about moving the planters to a different location. Options were either closer to the butterfly garden or north of the raingarden closer to the library. For watering purposes closer to the library would be most convenient. Ms. Schake also pointed out that right outside the community room would be safe and convenient for the kids. Ms. Lewis runs the Junior Master Gardner program with the library. • Mr. Sevcik agreed that closer to the building would be better as far as grounds maintenance is concerned. He said that that most important thing is that the boxes do not block a sprinkler head. He said he was not concerned about the extra weeding. Ms. Schake pointed out that where the boxes had previously been in the middle of the parking lots was not safe for the kids due to proximity to cars. She also mentioned that based on the walk through she, former Chair Keifenheim and the master gardeners had in the fall, the south side of the building and the butterfly garden would also be unsafe due to kids needing to cross the parking lot. It was suggested that the board decide on whether the master gardener program continue to be supported and then the box location could be determined later. The board agreed that they did want to continue to support the program. ■ Ms. Schake said that there is a cost to replace the garden boxes. Ms. Olson said that the master gardeners are looking at purchasing 2 foot by 14-inch corrugated metal and cedar boxes. The total cost would be $500. The master gardeners are asking that the city share half of the cost. Mr. Sevcik said that would not be a problem since there is about $3,000 in the current landscaping budget for the library. Moved by Commissioner Keifenheim and seconded by Commissioner Hegarty for the Elk River Library Board to continue to support the Junior Master Gardener program with the library and in doing so, the master gardeners and city staff can determine the location of the new garden boxes and share in the cost at 50% for the City and 50% for the Master Gardeners. Motion carried 5-0. c. Continue discussion and decide on request to replace plants in the raingarden from Ms. Dietz and Ms. Stombaugh in October. Commissioner Keifenheim explained that a few years ago she remembered that the library had spent $2,000 on the garden and when it got dry everything in it died. The board asked Mr. Sevcik if parks maintenance had time to water and do a lot of maintenance on the library gardens. Mr. Sevcik confirmed his staff do not have the time to dedicate extensive support for the gardens with everything else they have to maintain. The board discussed the need for a plan 10 V E0E1 1r AWRY Elk River Public Library Board Page 5 January 26th, 2021 for maintenance responsibility and the concern for continuing to invest in garden areas when the plants will not survive. High maintenance plants should not be planted in areas where the only watering is from rainwater and snow and salt damage are consistent in the winter. Chair Dreissig asked if the master gardeners are willing to maintain the gardens if the new plants are put in. Ms. Olson explained that she discussed this with the other master gardeners at their recent meeting and it is not part of their mission to be responsible for garden maintenance. The master gardeners focus on education. Maintaining gardens is out of their scope of practice. Commissioner Boelter questioned if the board should put more money into plants if they will not be maintained. Mr. Sevcik confirmed that that his staff in parks maintenance can move the boulders in the parking lot raingarden. The board is concerned that whatever is replanted in that location will just die. Mr. Sevcik suggested planting a butterfly seed mix that would maintain itself once established. Commissioner Keifenheim suggested adding mulch as well once the boulders are removed. Mr. Sevcik also suggested decorative grasses for planting with 1 year of parks maintenance watering support for establishment. Commissioner Keifenheim and Chair Dreissig said they would support native grasses and plants. The board discussed that they would not support the plan presented at the October meeting due to concerns about the survival and maintenance of the plants. Mr. Sevcik can provide a plan and give it to the board at the meeting in April. Mr. Sevcik and Ms. Olson will get together to put a plan in place. The funds are available in the landscaping budget. The board will then review the plan in April and vote. Ms. Olson believes that the master gardeners would support the natural grasses idea and she is willing to meet with Mr. Sevcik before the next meeting. Ms. Schake said she defers the landscaping decisions to Mr. Sevcik and will support him in what he decides. Ms. Olson left the meeting and Ms. Schake thanked her and Ms. Lewis for their contributions. Moved by Commissioner Keifenheim and seconded by Commissioner Boelter to decline the proposed plan of plantings presented at the October meeting due to concerns about plant replacement costs and maintenance. Motion carried 5-0. 5.3 City Council Report I�0*kBEI i� NATUREI Elk River Public Library Board January 26th, 2021 Page 6 y Councilman Christianson told the board about the new council members Mike Byer that replaced Councilman Nate Ovall. He also mentioned that there are several applicants for the open commission positions. 5.4 Patron Services Supervisors Report ■ Mr. McCormick presented his staff report. 5.5 Library Services Coordinator Report in Mrs. Schake presented her report. She also pointed out that the library's goal this year is to improve access to the library and support at home learners. The library has filled one of their open positions since her report was sent. The library will be reposting the other open position. Chair Dreissig asked about virtual programming. Ms. Schake spoke about virtual programming, including monthly adult book club, schooled in art, and possibly adding virtual story time. 6. Announcements 7. Adjournment Moved by Commissioner Keifenheim and seconded by Commissioner Hegarty to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 7:18pm. Minutes submitted by Dawn Larson. Tina Allard, City Clerk Rita Dreissig, Chair rI I*EBEI I1' ATUR�