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Board Minutes
HEARTLAND LIBRARY COOPERATIVE MEETING
March 14, 2007
HLC Governing Board members present: DeSoto—Paul Erickson, Felton Garner; Hardee—Gloria Davis; Highlands—Perry Newport, Guy Maxcy; Okeechobee—Marion E. Davis, Robbie Chartier, Elvie Posey. Librarians: Mary Myers, Michael Pate, Margo Taylor, Fred Lohrer, Diane Hunt, E.M. Kenney. Other attendees: Highlands Co. Administrator Carl Cool.
Chairman Erickson called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m., with the invocation and pledge led by Felton Garner. Notice of meeting was read. An addition to the agenda, #8, on travel policy, was added. The motion to approve the amended agenda was made by Robbie Chartier, seconded by Elvie Posey, and unanimously carried. Robbie C. moved the minutes of the previous meeting for approval, seconded by Comm. Garner, and carried.
COORDINATOR’S REPORT
Fred Lohrer asked if there is a ratio of cardholders to public access computers. Coordinator Myers stated that there is a state standard, but our limitation is dictated by our space available in all the libraries. That is the reason for going to wireless access, however, bandwidth is being used close to capacity, making upgrading a priority. Hayes E-Government Resources is now overseeing the bandwidth instead of FIRN. Future bandwidth upgrade may be a big expense for the cooperative. Commissioner Posey asked if the public could be charged for the cost of any upgrading. Coordinator Myers said, instead, we could engineer it so the public got less bandwidth and the library system (circulation, etc.) received more. Our revenue limits will make the decision for us. On the bright side, the legislature is considering raising all cooperative’s base grant. Mrs. Chartier moved to accept the coordinator’s report, seconded by Newport, unanimously carried.
Mrs. Chartier commented on the financial reports, asking for some revision in how it reflects the budget. She moved that we request from Carlos Roman’s office a report that shows the available budget rather than the targeted budget, seconded by Comm. Posey, and carried.
INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT
Highlands County Administrator Carl Cool reported to the board members that the internal audit was now complete and that a concurrent agreement with the auditors had been reached. A committee of himself, Assistant Director Rick Helms, Human Resources Director John Minor, and Mary Myers, had drafted a to-do list. Some of the items the Board will have to look at: the Interlocal Agreement—does it give the right to sign contracts with agencies to interlibrary loan with them, or should all four counties have a say? Mary noted that this right to sign contracts is already in our Interlocal Agreement. Can we contract with an outside CPA? Mrs. Myers said this power is given to the Board in the Interlocal Agreement.
Do we need our own lawyer rather than using the four counties lawyers?
Robbie Chartier asked whether we need an attorney or not? Coordinator Myers agreed she would research this issue for our May meeting.
How do we or should we reimburse employees when they work for the cooperative? (This was one of the issues of lack of separation of time worked for the county and the cooperative.) It is requested that those who work part-time for the cooperative use two separate time sheet forms to track the amount of time they will be paid by either the county or the cooperative.
The secretary is to send a basic agenda packet for each meeting to the four county commissions.
For future audits, Highlands County will issue an RFP, and whichever firm is chosen will also do the cooperative external audit.
Perry Newport voiced the boards thanks to Mr. Cool for his work on our behalf.
COOPERATIVE VEHICLE USE POLICY
The written policy was changed on #3, first paragraph, and second line, to read “Cooperative vehicles shall not be operated by anyone who is not an employee of a member county.” Robbie Chartier moved to approve the amended vehicle policy, seconded by Marion Davis, and carried.
TRAVEL VOUCHER FORM & POLICY STATEMENT
Carl is willing to sign travel vouchers. Mary noted that the cooperative would be using its own travel voucher modeled on the state travel voucher form. The Heartland form will be online, with the policy statement, so it will be easy to fill out and print. An addition to the policy is, “We will use the current resolution for reimbursement as adopted by the host county.” Comm. Garner moved to approve the amended travel voucher form and policy statement, Gloria Davis seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
COMMENTS
Commissioner Guy Maxcy commended the work of Michael Pate and the library staff during the internal audit.
NEXT MEETING IS SET
The next meeting date is May 23, Wednesday, at 10 a.m., at the Lake Placid Memorial Library. Meeting adjourned by Chairman Erickson at 11:55 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn Hesselink
Administrative Secretary
