##VIDEO ID:OooLRckOPlg## e e e I'd like to call the the um December 10th meeting of the Edison Library board to order let the minutes reflect that it is 7:00 p.m please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance Al the flag of the United States of America to the for stands Nation indivisible withy and justice for all as required by the open public meetings Act of 1975 adequate notice of this scheduled meeting has been provided to the public by notices given to the home News Tribune Star Ledger and Sentinel posted on the library bulletin boards and website and given to the township clerk's office roll call please miss me yes Miss O'Neal present Miss Pam you miss Krauss here Mr dequal here Mr Patel uh excused absence Mr Romano here miss ly here and Miss Massie here all right we've got a COR um hopefully everyone has had an opportunity to review the November 12th 2024 minutes from the regular session are there any questions or comments all right hearing done uh the minutes of November 12th 2024 are approved by unanimous consent I'm sorry I just have to abstain from that because I wasn't present thanks thank you okay and uh hopefully everyone had an opportunity to review the minutes from the special meeting on November 21 first uh any questions or comments about that that meeting or those minutes all right then hearing nonone those minutes of November 21st 2024 are approved by unanimous consent okay uh I you probably have already um you've probably already heard that the governor signed the freedom to read bill uh yesterday at Prince Public Library um it's exciting that that has happened especially since Edison Public Library uh did decide to endorse um uh now I can't even think of what it is sanctuary City Sanctuary library book Sanctuary so we are a book Sanctuary um the 2024 virtual trustees Institute was held on Saturday November uh 16th it really was very good and the recording will be shared um there was only one session that was like a little questionable um it is going to be shared with all the New Jersey library trustee Association members and posted on their website in case you were unable to attend or want to listen to a session again the sessions on artificial intelligence Ai and sustainability were um particularly intriguing and I know that Allan mentioned AI uh in his report um really very very interesting and if you if you didn't have a chance to catch that they uh she shared a lot of different um tips on how to use them uh and the session on Capital planning uh was a good reminder that every every Library needs to have a capital plan um I do want to remind everybody that the second r round of the bids for the north uh con North uh construction Bond project are to be opened uh next week on December 17th hopefully we will be able to award a bid um at a meeting on December 23rd and I attended the Friends bake sale the popup bake sale uh on November 23rd and that was really excellent I was able to purchase some really nice streets uh I also attended the human relations Commission meeting on zoom on December 3rd and gave some announcements some updates on the on the library and shared that the friends were meeting on December 4th so that is it for my report now let's move on to the financial reports hopefully you had an opportunity to review the financial reports are there any questions on them not on the bill list but on the financial reports any questions or comments on those all right let's move to the um Bill list are there any questions or comments on the bill list I have one question yes I know we have one General Bill list you know on everything but I know we have the different bank accounts we have the construction Bond bank account we also have you know the main renovation is a separate account account and we have one um thing are how is that being handled is it being reimbursed from one account to the other and transferred or are you paying um separately uh yes um yes the the checking account is the operating account so when we we've not actually um utilized and moved too much of the money uh from the capital um as you could see the the um if you go to the first page um the main library uh Capital account is uh now like 1.7 96 and we started a little bit over two so we're now starting to use that from the main library we transfer that over uh and pay the Architects and everything like that and yeah we we've been able to utilize some of the operating funds to not have to use the capital um but wasn't purpose of the capital yes but we're saving the capital because there's a lot of stuff that needs to be done probably isn't on the uh original yeah um and also well we have um part of the things for the capital plan are really the main library so um uh we're trying to uh make sure that we have enough for that it's not really the change orders it's really about the other things such as the furniture um the uh uh new um um return system that has to be put in those kind of things so um from here on now we will be transferring money as we do the payroll so I believe for example we have uh a bill on the bill list here from the contractor for I think about 400 and something thousand so we'll be transferring that uh tomorrow um so that it shows up in the um operating uh will also be bringing to the finance committee hopefully next week um some proposals as we move forward for the 2025 budget the capital uh and any transfers that we need to make uh before the end of the year okay thank you any other questions or comments on the bill list all right hearing none do we have a motion to approve so moved all right do we have a second second all right roll call vote please miss me yes Miss O'Neal yes Miss Pam yes Miss Krauss yes Mr D Pasqual yes Mr Romano yes Miss ly yes and Miss Massie yes motion carries thank thank you um all right then we did receive the draft of the 2023 audit report um I'm going to uh hopefully uh I know we have a lot on the agenda for the 23rd I'm going to uh uh try to see if I can get uh Bob or one of the other folks in the uh firm to come and make the presentation to the board um uh what he has discussed with me basically is that the audit itself is pretty clean but now that we have Christopher um he would like us to be uh doing things uh a different way moving forward so you'll see a slightly different uh with um once the we close out the uh books for 2024 um there's much more that they want to have for example um all the bank accounts linked in in Edmonds which we were only using the operating uh those kind of things they're really housekeeping things um other than that the audit's been pretty pretty good um with as you saw there's basically only two recommendations in here um and so one was in the general ledger that he wants to make sure we're keeping track of things pluses and minuses um instead of uh the way we were doing it now and I um you and I can't remember the other one but it was really very minor um we also um have talked to him about he would like us to have a more substantial Financial manual um that um uh basically just uh runs through all our financial procedures How We Do Everything uh we have one but it's a few years old and so now that we have a full-time person doing it a lot of things are different for example Manda is not going to the bank anymore for example so those kind of things we need to uh adjust um so uh I see hopefully Bob will be there um but um he would like the board to look at this um if they don't see anything they will publish it um uh the final draft so uh final I guess the final final um so that's why I've G given you the draft and then they give you that um bound copy that we then um uh use for our records and we send to the township and we sent to this state um so um I'll uh see if he can come on the 23rd uh if not then um he would come for the reorg reorg meeting um the first meeting in January all right thank you uh quick quot yes um not really a question more of a clarification you were saying now Lis I'm sorry I can't hear you oh sorry is this working okay um just more of a clarification than a question you were saying at the beginning now that we have Christopher can you please clarify because most people do not know who Christopher is you know don't just say he or give a first name uh Christopher is our um uh what title did we give him operations manager for of the business finance operations manager uh and so he parallels um what Amanda does Amanda is basically working with um the HR part the payroll uh and he's working on the finance piece um so they basically do work hand inand but um uh Amanda uh operates uh since she was doing Edmonds um uh she uh can fill in if he's on vacation or whatever and he's going to start to learn how to do payroll so we have redundancy for two staff members um I can of course do um uh Edmonds and Deborah can do payroll so we have um a redundancy in the office so uh I believe we had uh Christopher come to the October meeting uh to meet the board um so um anyone want to look at the um the meeting online you could take a look at Christopher and and uh be able to see him thanks Lisa thank you any other questions or comments all right then I think we can move right on to your your report um Miss Massie already mentioned yesterday was a a big banner day for libraries uh with Governor Murphy signing the freedom to read act um we'll put this up on the um uh the packet I gave out um this is the press release uh from the governor's office um which outlines um the freedom to react um and it uh really does not um it really reinforces what we're already doing um we already have a strong collection development policy and reconsideration uh policy uh and U we think we um that really does help us provide a a good Balan collection for the township of uh of Edison so um um we'll know more um over the course of the next year this doesn't go into effect immediately uh but there's some regs that have to be um adopted uh Once A law is done so that will probably take uh several months um uh okay let me go through this list that helps me keep focused which would be fine if it if it decides to separate there we go there we go um and not in any particular order um Miss Massie already mentioned um the North Edison Branch um we hope that um the bids come in on the 17th and we can have the board uh approve the RFP on the 23rd um we are still uh looking for alternative sites uh for uh the branch um and we'll be looking at some uh at this point perhaps uh some space on Oak Tree Road will know more next year week um Banner Day for the main library top floor we are getting very close carpeting was start to be laid today um so about one5 of the top floor has been has been done um and they'll be working all the carpeting should be in by Friday um and we have the final punch list for things that were on the base bid um um next week on Tuesday which means we can start to uh move uh things from the first floor and things in the garage and get our storage and our shelving back uh to get the the Upper Floor um up and moving um nothing really new in the Clara Barton Branch uh for this um uh month um nothing new with the bookmobile um we working on our uh spring schedule um we're looking at doing more Lobby stops which we've not done which is basically bring the library into a facility uh for an hour or two uh instead of uh actually um doing the the bus outside to engage people uh where they live because many people particularly when it's not great we don't want to to come out so that was the whole idea in having the Sprinter so that we can get the carts that could be wheeled out uh and brought into the facilities um we had our second um meeting for the logo rebranding we expect to see um some um uh I think we'll be looking at three different options probably right after the the first of the year um uh the library Foundation uh has done a um appeals letter um we got some response but it's the first time we've done it probably in years or if ever um and the foundation is looking at several product projects over the next year including uh enhancing programming enhancing technology enhancing the book collection and general capital for improvements inside the building so we'll see how that goes um uh it's kind of funny and ironic um uh Mr McCoy who is our president and and I think most of the board members know um uh Mr McCoy as uh the interim director before I got here and also is our foundation president uh gave a uh very good talk today to one of the sections of the New Jersey liary Association on foundations and I'm trying to get him to to do um a followup on that at conference so a lot of libraries are really uh interested in um uh Foundation uh and how they could enhance um what they are already uh doing I think Pat you already mentioned the friends of the library um we had a great meeting next week um the friends are really excited and and working and and uh also enhancing uh what we do and the um thousand books uh before kindergarten project will start in February we thought because January will be closing for part of the main library we didn't want to start and stop it so um generally that was it staff changes we have one Library associate yes well that was this month or ER that yes since the last meeting Sher started oh yeah yeah yeah we have one new Library associate um Sher race so she's still in training and we've toured the um branches she's doing great she's very friendly she has a lot of customer service in her background Toast Masters and um other things so hopefully we will have you guys will get to meet her soon and um I'm sure she's going to come as a holiday party yes we do have a holiday party on for the staff and the board on the 20th which is a Friday starts at 6:30 it's it's anywhere after we close yeah we close at 6:5 so um and then just a quick plug we have a um tea blending program next uh this coming Saturday at Clara where you get to create your own tea and then there's a tasting um little event afterward anything else I guess that's it from from did see about this tea blending it looks very very interesting and Deborah I don't know whether you want to add anything to your report but I just have to say an overall thank you to all of the staff because when I read that it's just I was going to pick out names but it's like everybody is working so hard and doing so much uh it really is it's it's wonderful so thank you for giving us the update on what everybody is doing I I mean and I'll um Echo that the staff you know we've had changes since I've been here um and I would say all in the positive um there's been a a big shift and definitely culture change on the new people who have been hired are all interested in and uh in customer service and working with our patrons and are friendly and want to help doing anything they can um and so um I uh I I I could see when I'm out um observing what's going on the floor you could see um the definite Patron satisfaction change uh from when I first started and I was getting complaint letters and emails you know one or two times a week um those don't happen in fact we got a commodation letter from a patron today from one of our staff which was really really nice so we have to share it with him so yeah oh that would be nice to share yeah oh yeah yeah we just got it today so I put it in his personnel file are there any other questions I any other questions for okay if not thank you all right then we can move to committee reports um the only meeting that we have had uh and and more than one is the uh Personnel so um yeah Personnel committee's been we've been meeting so we can get through the um Union negotiations which is still plugging along a little slower than we might have liked but uh hopefully we are making a little bit of progress and we'll see how it goes at the next meeting right right exactly exactly um all right do we have any unfinished business the only thing that we have listed is the shared services agreement and I think as we said there there is no nothing has happened with a shared services agreement the only thing that I can share is at the trustee Institute there was a session on shared services agreements and it is perfectly clear that uh there are many approaches many approaches the the recommendation is that you do have a written shared service agreement but uh I think I've mentioned it before if you if you ask 10 different municipalities what they do you might get five different answers um so we we don't have anything uh to report on the shared services agreement we do have new business um we do need to have a motion to approve a motion to hold a board meeting to cover matters on December 23rd 2024 so moved thank you do we have a second second all right any questions or comments all right could we have all right yes question will yeah I am very sorry that you're not going to but but you can't be in two places at one time and we are hoping um that there are a few end ofe things to uh wrap up including um awarding a bid for the North Edison project hopefully fingers crossed yes K I guess on a similar note my concern was that if the bids do come in you know if we have to reject the round of bids again will this meeting still be taking place I just want to confirm that um yes I think because we've have a whole bunch of things including we're hopeful that we may have a contract for the library board to approve so you it's it's which is why it's it's I think we'll have a whole bunch of things and we might have uh the 2025 Budget on it and the 2025 capital budget so yeah it's like a whole meeting but I hopefully it won't be too long thank you right thank you yeah good question um all right roll call vote please miss me yes Miss O'Neal yes Miss Pam yes Miss Krauss yes Mr D basal yes Mr Patel is absent Mr Romano yes Miss lirry yes and Miss Massie yes motion carries all right thank you then let's see we have a resolution actually we have two resolutions um for the Edison Public Library to be enrolled in the New Jersey State disability plan effective January 1st 2025 now I can read these resol right I I I'll read these resolutions um uh let me see which one's first yeah please so that we you have a better idea of why this is necessary okay um so we have whereas the library sought to participate in the state of New Jersey disability insurance benefits program administered through the New Jersey Department of Labor as to provide temporary disability coverage benefits for Library employees and whereas the library contract it with paychecks to enroll in the state disability program and where whereas the library has learned that enrollment in the state disability program was not perfected and whereas the Department of Labor has confirmed that the library may become a participating employer as of January 1st 2025 by a way of resolution by the library Board of Trustees and whereas the library desires part uh to participate in the state disability program so as to provide temporary disability coverages benefits for Library employees now there therefore be it resolved as follows the library Board of Trustees confirms that it desires to participate in the state of New Jersey disability insurance benefits program administered through the state through the New Jersey Department of Labor the library Board of Trustees authorizes the library director or his design to perfect the application for participation in the state disability program with the Department of Labor and to provide a copy of this resolution and any other documentation required by the Department of Labor in order to do so okay so here is the resolution are there any questions or comments about this resolution okay hearing none um could we have a roll call vote please um I well no let's first have we have the resolution let's have a motion question is that before we were not in this well that's why I thought there might be a question um I believe and maybe Alan can explain but it was we we went with paychecks and you can explain what what we were told was paychecks um has been sending the money to the state uh but they did not um validate our account the money is in our account and waiting for us to validate it so of course they never told us we had to validate it with a board resolution and so it's been sitting there until we um started to do some homework on it and found that that was what we had to do um so um there are two resolutions I know um we don't well we shouldn't really talk about it because um there's not a we don't have a a motion and a second on the floor yeah so we need a motion to approve this particular resolution I'll move to approve this resolution okay do we have a second second did you second okay cat thank you um all right do we have any questions or comments about this resolution can I uh yes yes yes please uh this is for the library Associates only I'm sorry is this for the library Associates only no it's for all staff all staff contribute to the employees all all of the libraryies uh employees contribute to New Jersey sui okay and I I have a question but I can't say it [Music] okay now no it's inappropriate to talk about it unless we go to close session so uh I'm in I am in favor of this with some reserves yes okay yes F so the money that um was being contributed what happens to that money um I think if you read um we have two choices if you look at the second resolution um it can stay in our pot which means if staff go on sui the pot is already there or we can ask for a refund in which then we would refund that money back to the staff um uh Dominic am I correct in that yeah um yeah so just so yeah so taking one resolution at a time the first resolution is just to get us onto the state Pro and because we've already been contributing to the state program thinking that we were in it there's a pot of money there so the second resolution when we get to that will be to direct to to give the library director the authority to do the appropriate thing with that pot of money which would either be or both um leave it with the state um so that it would cover uh you you know be applied to any expenses Etc contribution that we may need or you know if for some reason if there was something that fell through the cracks while we thought we were covered and we weren't that needed to be resolved with that we could resolve it with that money for example if someone had you know applied for the disability and not gotten it then they might then we could use those funds because we have them and it would have been applied to that anyway we could use those funds to correct any problem that there might be with that that's what the second resolution is so um say we leave the money in the pot they would still have to contribute to the to disability again going for going forward it you contributed in every one of your paychecks no I know we contribute in every one of our paychecks but they've contributed and got nothing for it and that's where the second resolution comes in when you say they contributed and got nothing that's not necessarily true they contributed and there's there were supposed to get coverage right so to the extent that there wasn't coverage there could have been a gap but there and when you're talking about close session is whether anybody falls into that pot or not um we don't think that there's anybody that falls into that pot May there may be and if there is somebody then um this money would be applied to cover that I understand but what uh is being very vague is before before this date back we do have an issue no well before this back right this was being handled through the township so in other words before our payroll switched over to the township payroll would go through the township and the township would handle things like workers comp and disability Etc this is this would be this would be handled through the township disability plan right so if someone was disabled before we did this um that would go through the township disability now even while we were doing this there were people who were going through the township disability plan so that's why I'm saying to you that there coverage there may not be anybody who was not covered as a result of this so to put it in more Lay's terms I'm trying but uh let's let's put let's take it out of the public sector for a second you're with an insure you're with a private uh company you're an employee you're getting your health insurance paid turns out that there's some problem with the health insurance and the insurance company denies a claim you still paid into that and you would should have gotten your claim your claim should not have been denied so that's what the second resolution is for in that event if let's say a claim was denied we still have this money and it's still there and everybody paid into it so we would then cover that claim almost like a self-insured so that there's no harm no foul see I I do understand that I'm just concerned about an issue I can't talk about okay well if you would like if there's a certain if there's an issue that you want to bring up about a particular case in closed that's appropriate we could go close but that doesn't address this thank you no no problem at all how long have they been being into this not being covered it was this during the switch over the to yes it was it was it was when the um well and I'm not saying that I'm I don't think that they were not covered they were what I'm going to say is that they were not covered through the state dis the state disability plan the libraries through the libraries um Contracting with the state disability plan nobody to my knowledge has not received benefit benefits uh from workers comp or something like that um because of that uh so it's and the pot of money is still there so we are able to provide the coverage that there was a gap in coverage right how long ago was the switchovers is my question that's what I'm just saying so other words you how long January of 2023 okay I'm just curious how long it was that's fine it's it's been about a Year's okay let them any other questions or comments Joe looks like he wanted to say no no no good right could we have a roll call later could we have a roll call vote on the uh on this current resolution okay do matter um miss me yes Miss O'Neal yes Miss Pam yes yes Miss Krauss yes Mr D Pasqual yes Mr Romano yes Miss liry yes Miss Massie yes motion carries all right thank you uh then we have the second resolution whereas the library Board of Trustees has taken steps to become a participating employer in the state of New Jersey disability insurance benefits program administered through the New Jersey Department of Labor uh of January 1st 2025 and whereas the library board Board of Trustees has been advised that the library May apply to the Department of Labor for a refund of contributions which were made by the library to the Department of Labor During the period of time when the library was not considered to be a participating employer in the state disability program now therefore be it resolved as follows the library Board of Trustees authorizes the library director or his design to apply to the Department of Labor for a refund of any contributions made to the do by the library During the period of time when the library was not a participating employer in the state disability program the library Board of Trustees further authorizes the library director or his design to return any funds recovered from the Department of Labor in accordance with paragraph one above to the library's operating account and or to use such funds to Rectify shortfalls in employee disability insurance coverage if any which may have occurred as a result of the library not being a participating employer in the state disability program during 2024 all right do we have a motion for this resolution so moved all right do we have a second second thank you do we have any questions or uh comments about this resolution how many money is that is there an amount that we know of how much is that Alan do we have an idea of the amount um but we don't we don't have it on the top of our head um they they have told aand to amount so um um it's whatever the contributions were since the first payroll in January so you're looking at generally it's a few dollars from for each paycheck so we're not talking about we're going to get back $10 million believe me right um I mean that and put that in the bank I mean basically it's it's if you look at uh from a paycheck point of view that's the least of anything that comes out in contribution wise percentage wise so it really is uh uh even if we add the fact that we had um the max we didn't haven't always had 50 staff uh for 26 payrolls uh for two years um I can't do a guesstimate but I don't think it's going to be that much just just want to know how much but was it that's okay it's a 2% of the usually the I'm sorry Pam 2% of the paychecks usually goes to the disability I think I'm it's less than 2% usually .9% I think the disability rate is right okay any other questions or coms yeah so one more question for me um so the money goes back into the paychecks right of the employees what about past employees who contributed would they be getting a refund as well uh if the board would like to refund then everyone would get a refund yeah but that resolution doesn't say that no the no the resolution doesn't say that the resolution yeah the resolution as written would be that the employees have paid into the into the fund for the coverage the and the coverage has been provided it's just there was an imperfection in the coverage because the state didn't provide the benefit so the LI this provides that the library provided the benefit so the state the the funds would be returned to the library for the use of providing the B for distribution back for for for for use as almost as a self-insured with respect to any claims that occur during that period so in another this isn't nowhere near 1.8 million it's prob it's it's a nominal amount but it's this is a nominal amount okay okay any other questions or comments so just going back into the operating account for use with in conjunction with the health benefits disability benefits thank you all right if there are no other questions or comments could we have a roll call vote please sure uh miss me yeah Miss O'Neal yes Miss Pam yes Miss Krauss yes Mr Divas squal yes Mr Romano yes Miss liry yes yes Miss Massie yes motion carries all right thank you uh and now we'll move to public comment if there's any public comment yes please we're missing one um oh sorry excuse me wait hold on I missed one thing um we have the proposed thank you good catch uh proposed Board of Trustees meeting schedule for 25 uh 2025 and 26 um um I have a question on that do we have a motion do we have a motion to approve that um quick question on that why is it it's a moved to the Clara Barton main library not here anymore we will not be meeting in this well that I I don't know whether we should have a motion and a second before we even yeah we should have a motion in a second and then we can discuss it right I think we need to follow Robert's Rules of Order okay so still moved thank you do we have a second second thank you okay now uh questions and comments yes um Alan do you want to Administration is making the proposal that it would be more beneficial for the library board and the library um to have the meetings at the branch Es as we could see even by the last special meeting that we had someone from the community who wanted to address the board was uh able to come because we were in her neighborhood um I think this shows uh visibility to the community and also to the staff um I think it also uh gives an opportunity for the board to see the happenings in the branches if they don't necessarily uh have a chance to visit each one of the branches on a regular basis and obviously for next year since North will probably be closed we hope keeping our fingers crossed um it is uh scheduled for Maine and Clara this is just my suggestion uh if the board uh would um want we can um come back here uh to council chambers um but if you even recall when we had our Consultants uh Allan and lesie berer one of their recommendations was that the board should be meeting at the branches um similar to and and they weren't even thinking about the Board of Ed um but I think it's uh a good morale booster for the staff too to see the board and um for them if they want to uh to come and intend part of the board meeting so they feel more involved in what's happening so this is my recommend Commendation um it doesn't have to be voted on tonight I can go if if you want me to go back to the regular schedule meeting here um tomorrow I will confirm with Cheryl what dates we have um and we can vote on it um at the meeting on the 23rd I have a question are we going to be able to record the meetings if we're at the library because I know people do look forward to watching them on the you know channel 15 Yes actually I mean we've been recording everything's been recorded in any time that we meet in the branch we're actually also we had a discussion today about um which we think we would get better quality instead of using um the owl in fact if we uh did Regular streaming and streamed it on YouTube um and then we can send that it seems to be coming out a better um copy um and actually all of our previous meetings that we've recorded Ed have um show up on our YouTube channel they show up on Edison TV and they also show up as a link on our uh trustees page so the also the main library we expect somewhere probably March or April um we'll have the ability to do a more professional um programming we're looking at doing hybrid programming uh starting with the main library um so uh the answer long answer is yes P any other yes please will all La Library board members uh will the superintendent of schools will the council members uh be allowed to attend you mean you can answer you mean at our branches yeah of course well you're sure now be be honest here now buddy how go I'm I'm talking to you now buddy straight straight to face well if you're not available I would expect that would show up are they allowed to show up of course are they going to be abused oh oh I I oh you want to go there let's go there I'll go there in a heartbeat um I don't heare the meeting no um no you will well you're doing a real good Sid ship you you want to go again I was like flabbergasted at that at that yeah was so so was I so was I at that time I'll be there to protect are we okay oh I'm fine I don't care I'll yes on the resolution have you heard that did you hear that oh I heard that but I don't understand it oh you that's right you couldn't go there only me I was on the hot seat we talk about it later all right let's focus on the on the schedule on the meeting schedule yes please so if you don't you're saying you wouldn't use the owl system what would you use like a Clara Barton well we going to start with the owl until we get our um uh camera set up okay so you'll have a better better equipment for the Clara bar and then yeah okay that's yes please quick question as well um we have alternate dates on here and it looks like all of them are the week after except for the January meeting where the alternate is January 24th which is a Friday I was just oh wondering oh then that that's a typo yeah it should be what the alternate date is snow rain um um whatever which I'm used to actually doing in other libraries that should be the 21st oh I would not be meeting Friday night no that's a very good catch not be meeting Friday night um that's a very good catch what me neither no um but you know I have seen in other libraries you know there are have been some close occasions here that we've not been able to have a quorum because of of a of a reason and then this way people know the alternate dates rather than we we don't have a quorum or we have a problem and then we try to come up with a date that works with everyone so obviously if we meet on the on the original meeting date we don't have to worry about that that next meeting date it also gives us an opportunity given some of the construction things we're doing that if we don't have to then call for a special meeting it's already been noticed that this will be an alternate meeting date so it's already in here and we wouldn't have to go putting legal notices every time we put a special meeting it gives a gives you the board an extra uh leeway if they need it got it thank you yeah that does make sense uh and it does go back to the Strategic plan I do remember uh that the advice was that we met in the branches so that people people had an opportunity to actually um visit and to attend so do we have any other questions or comments I'm being abused okay hearing none could we have a roll call vote please uh with the corrected date right that the that the January 21st is the January 21st miss me yeah Miss O'Neal yes Miss Pam yes Miss Krauss yes Mr D Pasqual yes Mr Romano yes Miss ly yes Miss Massie yes motion carries all right and I do think that we need to vote on the December 23rd meeting that it is going to be held uh um does that make that did we did we do that already all right thank you thank you that's fine all right now we're going to move to public comment and thank you for being yes thank you thank you for your patience hello all right it's on this time um good evening everyone uh my name is Sarah Nasser 59 Pleasant Avenue um I'm going to keep my comments brief today as you can see we actually have uh my fellow neighbors here um that would also like to speak um I'm here not only as the president of the friends group but more so as an Edison resident um first an update from the friends um as president Massie mentioned uh we held another bake sale in November another successful bake sale um these fundraisers have been a great way to interact with our library patrons and we're looking forward to kicking off some new fundraisers in 2025 to do all that we can to support the Edison Library secondly as a resident I wanted to take a moment to say thank you um to this board as this is the last meeting of the year before we have the reorg in January um I've been attending these meetings for the past year you guys have been you know uh bearing with me as I uh say all the awesome things that the library has done for not only me but for all of our residents here um I've been able to observe firsthand the leadership and support in making Edison Library stronger and better perfect example of that is the creation of the friends group also the book Sanctuary I mean not how many cities in this country have can say that they're a book Sanctuary um that is actually a very good um very good a very big deal rather anyway my conversation here today is to cat so as the representative of the mayor um I urge you to keep this momentum going with the way that this board has come together under the leadership of um president Massie and vice president O'Neal um as we consider what we have to do in 2025 and onwards let's keep this momentum going so that is my brief comment for today I going to hang it off to anyone else that would like to speak from Edison thank you hi Jean Martin 13 wal Tuma Avenue in Edison uh I just want to pretty much reiterate what Sarah said um we had uh so much upset with the claraa Barton library and then we started the friends and at first especially in the claraa Barton area it was all about the claraa Barton Branch but with the help of Miss Massie and miss Neal the friends became more than that and now it's really like all three branches our family it's not US versus them or it's it's become really a pleasure to go to each of the branches and to work to install programs and uh do fundraising and we've become really a family among the three branches instead instead of it just being um more of a silo now and I really do feel that that's uh in part by uh president Massie and vice president O'Neal and and Allan of course um so please if you could do whatever it takes to keep this going we really would appreciate it thank you thank you anyone else hi Maria orid 83 Jefferson I came here to express thanks for everything that you do for the library the library enriches all our community I urge that President Patricia Massie and vice president Sue O'Neal get reappointed next year you've been invaluable to this community and thank you Alan for all of your efforts as well thank you hi I'm 79 6 Street Edis in New Jersey and um I support everything they came here to say and um we don't want to run around we tired I've not been here for a while but because um president M uh part is here and every of the women and the representative from the school everyone on board the Anthony we just want it this way for now so that we know what is going on you've done a tremendous job we're so proud of you and we pray we urge everybody to just let it be this way for now we go a long way to s a lot of problem and by the way this is the only board in the community that is actually working so we're proud of you thank you drct Nasser Pleasant Avenue um so I feel like we probably should have scrubbed the walls a little bit before we had this meeting everything was going so well but I feel like some of the negative energy from yesterday rubbed off here a little bit but in general I have seen these meetings they work out very well I appreciate how um president Massie went ahead and brought this meeting back and so it's really important to have a meeting uh I actually wanted to start off with saying happy holidays but I forgot to do that so I hope that anyone that celebrates these uh next few holidays are coming up that you have a good time and also everyone have a good New Year's so I want to thank you guys for coming here it's something that you volunteer for you don't get paid for it and you're doing a good service for the Greater Community of Edison there are a lot of amazing changes that are happening in the libraries and I look forward to seeing all those things that are happening it's good for the entire Community I'm also here to go ahead and hope that the mayor will reappoint vice president U Mr Neil and president Pat Macy for Pat Massie sorry for to continue doing the great work that they have done um in the last year I've been able to get to know Miss Massie for lots of times because she's been going to the Friends of the library meetings and I know I haven't gone for like the last three because I've been very heavily involved in the township I'm sure everyone's aware of that um and I feel like she's a positive person she has a presence and she has also come to some of the council meetings to go ahead and advocate for the library and I know that she has come to many of the different events that the friends have sponsored so it's my humble request that we allow the board to continue its good work this board seems to work well and if there are no issues with it I think we should continue as is thank you very much thank you is there anyone else who would like to speak from the public hello Kish final Street okay there we go uh good evening first I would like to say thank you all for the work that you do it is greatly appreciated I'm speaking here today to support president Massie and vice president O'Neal's reselection for the next term on the library Board of Trustees as I'm sure we all know libraries are a key location for fostering community and lifelong learning I have been visiting the Edison Library since I was a child and I'm now registered as a friend and also Vice chair to show my unwavering support for everything that library has done and will continue to do the diligent work the current president and vice president have done to make Edison Library the book Sanctuary facilitate Renovations and Revitalize the friends of the library is more than enough reason to select them both for another term as a person of color with many queer friends the widespread Banning of books educating the public about the lgbtq plus community and other minority groups has been terrifying to say the least so it was more than a relief to learn that the Edison library has been designated a book Sanctuary Miss Massie and Miss O'Neal have worked tirelessly to push for this to be the case supporting the core values of the New Jersey Library Association by doing so they advocated for the safety of all Edison residents and ultimately setting an example for the rest of the state ensuring that the right ensuring the right for all patrons to access to accurate information accurate information and promoting a well educated and kind community and now Governor Murphy has signed the freedom to read act as we discussed preventing arbitrary book Banning and promoting intellectual freedom in the state of New Jersey Building Maintenance and construction tends to be a sore spot when it comes to Municipal man ma matters sorry often times too many cherish Community buildings are lost due to lack of funds or general support however to avoid this very fate Miss Massie and Miss oal have actively involved themselves in the renovation and construction projects of the main and North branches through the New Jersey library construction Bond by attending countless meetings with the Architects engineers and other relevant parties Miss Massie and Miss O'Neal ensure that all the right steps will be taken to create more up-to-date and safe facilities beneficial to all patrons seeing these spaces evolve shows that our institutions grow with us if we advocate for it on all sides Miss Massie and Miss O'Neal know our town deserves nothing but the best regarding our community centers like libraries and they actively work to make that goal a reality after attending some of the librar programs I enthusiastically signed up to become a friend of the Edison public libraries and became one of the vice chairs specifically thanks Sarah learning about that opportunity discovering this new way to be more involved in my local community was exciting and I have Miss Massie and Miss O'Neal to thank for that they both work with the director and interested patrons to revive our Town's Friends of the library group under this existing foundation and because of their work the library now has another means of raising funds to support its needs and the needs of its visited because of their work people like me who want to give back to the establishments like the library can do so in a way that gets us to meet our neighbors and work together for a common cause and because their work because of their work I met so many kind and intelligent people who share the same passion for reading learning and connection Miss Massie has done so much in her 10 years in office for the Edison libraries and she has so much more to give Miss O'Neal has been absolutely pivotal in achieving these accomplishments as well and I'm so grateful for the work that they have both spearheaded to guarantee that our library sered as pivotal places for Learning and connection their efforts to preserve intellectual Freedom further the development of our facilities and Champion the friends have left a lasting and valuable Mark to continue making Edison a town of innovation and curiosity for people of all ages please seriously consider reselecting Miss Massie and Miss O'Neil for the next term thank you thank you oh my is there anybody else would like to speak uh it's it's it's overwhelming that you have come out in support and we really appreciate it obviously we have nothing to do with our reappointment um but uh but thank you thank you for your for your kind words all right okay so we we don't need um a closed session this evening uh and announcements our Council on well I don't know if anyone's heard about this there's a little brewhaha that started in Council on November 25th but I know it's flown beneath the radar so some of you may not have heard about our flag controversy um and oh there were plenty last night are you sure um it will probably continue into tomorrow night's meeting we had three hours of public comment about the flag situation the bottom line is that it was a very ill-advised or a very ill-advised ordinance and it was a it was basically a hammer looking for a nail and it's created so much disruption so we are trying to put the uh put the toothpaste back in the in the tube as they say and we have a resolution that is saying No in fact the flag is not banned and you can bring you can bring a constitution you can bring Bibles you can bring whatever the bottom line is and I've said this all along in my opposition to the ordinance that this is about the common sense and discretion of the presiding council president and so um that was not used and I think we got some not so great legal advice about it but uh we're we're in the process of fixing it and hopefully we can get back Back in the New Year to the business of the council um I wanted to find out uh from you Alan was there any progress in speaking to Liz Han about the uh about the rehousing of the Edison arts society exhibits did exch a email I Friday or Thursday so we just need to get together to talk I wanted to wait till um we at least can take her upstairs so we can look around and so that will be next week but yeah we've uh exchange emails that's great that's great we had two people in the public comment about the um the shame of the fact that the uh that the Edison art Society is being moved out of the building so um I did announce that we it looks good for the library to be able to house them for at least the time being well it's really wonderful for us because we've tried over the years to get exhibits in and we've had a really hard time so I think working with the art Society is just going to be a plus for us that's great that's really great um thank you for that uh finally first of all I want to speak about Pat C about Lisa krow who has given so much to this board and to much so much to this town and even though I've only been the Le on here for two years I know how much you have contributed to this this community and you will be very very much missed here but you you deserve your your time away from it but we cannot thank you I know I'm speaking on behalf of everybody and thanking you for all you've given to the to the library board and to the community um I also wanted to cap off what the public has said said here in my remarks and appealing to you cat to talk to your boss about this I feel so strongly that Pat Massie and Sue O'Neal need to be reappointed and keep their positions this is it's the old saying where if it ain't broke don't fix it and not only ain't this broke but it's in good shape and why in the midst of everything else that's going on why change this they have done so much again what I can see in these two years so much has been contributed that I am appealing to you as the Lee is on to the administration to keep these two very fine very fine people very very fine um members of this board I am appealing to you to make the strongest case on their behalfs and finally I want to say to everyone uh happy holiday happy Hanukkah ha merry Christmas happy K Quanza happy New Year healthy new year thank you everyone thank you thank you and yes ditto on everything that you said about Lisa yeah definitely yes um cat okay go uh I got to say yes I got to say nice things okay come on now I'm only kidding on uh the uh next the next board meeting of the of the Edison Board of Education will be on uh 12th uh we have a groundbreaking actually uh dedication at the John Adams Middle School uh we are it's the new gym and some classrooms uh we're doing uh some renovations to the building to the entrances and exits then we're uh no a library is in the next project and the problem see first of all there's projects that are set forth and we're going in a in a schedule we had some money that came in every year from the state as state aid now we've used that state aid money at Herbert Hoover Thomas Jefferson woodo Wilson John Adams Lincoln all all done they're almost finished and not one tax dollar of the township of Edison there was no tax increase we're talking about in the area of about $60 million one of my issues while I sit here and talk about Allen is that it takes so long planning making sure everything is right before we start to actually break ground I've complained to ad Allan more than once but the fact is is it takes so long to put this stuff together it's just not like going down a Home Depot and picking up what you need we have something that's called a switch gear system and that's the Electric System at Edison High School that switch gear is going to be over a million dollars but we're upgrading it for the next 30 Years Ben Franklin lyen al Washington School these these schools need switch gears for more electric you've heard people talk about air conditioning air conditioning is a is a great thing it makes things better but we need electric so in other words when you go home and there's and there's not enough plugs that's what we're talking about switch gears we're talking about funding from the state for new lighting that's less expensive we're talking about solar panels in some of our facilities now it will cost nothing but over the long run it cost money in the beginning but over the long run it saves US money it saves I let me repa it saves we We the People it saves US money and remember whenever we take and do a renovation or a project in any of our schools it takes months and months of planning before we even break ground you had a problem uh last year over at John uh no I think it was at JP Stevens well the gutters weren't the problem it was the sewer system that couldn't handle the war water so you see there's Renovations but we have to take and think about everything when I talk to you about putting an air conditioning in a system we have to have the electric when I talk to you about renovating the system that's actually the drainage system there's a thousand things that go together so when we talk here at the library board about a bid we have to make sure that the bid is 100% right so in other words we start to do something and we find out there's something else wrong we can't start and do that we have to be able to look at it look at it thoroughly and come up with a plan to do it right the first time we can't afford to do it again now when we do something if we if we Bor money or we have a pilot program which is payment in Le of taxes or we do something called it it's called a tiff tax increment financing or we Bond it that's where we go out and we Bond the issue the fact of the matter is is all three of those are great ways to do things but if we have a referendum this is the problem when we take and ask the public for a referendum on a $100 million 60% comes from the state 40% comes back to the township the problems are are vast we make we make decisions when we have the correct the correct information that's what takes so long we had a bid process in this facility right here the problem with the there was a there was a problem with the bid I got yelled at that we were kind of we were we were circumventing the township we were telling the public no no we no what happened was simple it was an issue we we posted the trouble we posted the change of date we posted this and we got yelled at for it I asked the public to take and understand and realize that when we do something we thoroughly thoroughly look it over we just don't look as okay well we'll change this what it entails when we change this that's the issue we have to make sure it's done right because it's your money that we're using if I take and tell you it's $10 million you could bet it's going to be 10 million and if there's a change order in the bid process there's money already there it's called an alternative so when a bid comes in and there's two Alternatives they actually tell us the numbers now those numbers if they Comm in less the job gets done for Less we don't just give that money away we have to do things right for we the people you see that's the Constitution that's the American flag it's we the people and we the people are the ones who vote and we the people the people that are sitting on this Das the people in this audience it's called We the People for one reason and one reason only we're here to protect we want to make sure that when we make a make a motion and we second it that it's done right I want the public to know that that we don't intend to make mistakes that's why we have Consultants that's why we have project Engineers that's why we have Architects that's why I sit here and argue with Architects over things that some people just don't understand when I argue at my board meetings I'm telling you I know the facts I know when the public came to me and said this demographic study well I voted against it because there were people that did not respond to the demographic study I can make competent decisions if the demographic study is done correctly there was three houses off of Woodbridge Avenue they knocked the three houses down and they built 95 apartment style buildings each apartment style building according to statistics gives you 1.5 students I don't know where you get the 1.5 I have no idea where the 0.5 comes from so to be perfectly honest when we do things we do this things for a reason we ask questions the public has a right to answers when I sit in my board I say this can you please your give your name and your contact information to the gentleman that's sitting on the right of the podium so we can get you the correct information there was a gentleman that got up up and spoke about a $819 chair but the chair was replacing a chair that was 20 years old so if you take that chair of $819 and divided it by how many years I think we got a use out of it but it's our students and it's our students that use these public libraries and you're Absol right we have a school that does not have a library because there isn't enough room and if I could fix that I would but I can't fix that until the public understands we're not the enemy we are the people that are here to make sure that it's done correctly that's our problem and when we and when we talk to Allan or we talk to other people that's really calm compared to when I really talk to him I want you to understand yes in the town it's called We the People and yes that's my flag and yes that's my Constitution and you will not tread on me thank you Patty thank you for your time thank you very o thank you thank you and and Lisa we're going to tie it to the chair have a night have a real nice night happy holidays to all yes all of us yes any other comments announcements um hopefully I can keep it together I have served on the board it's been my honor to serve on this board for 18 years this is the end of my 18th [Applause] year so I'm sure you can understand at this point I think it's time for me to step aside and make room for a new voice um I on it I've seen this board through a lot of a lot we have weathered um Financial setbacks we have weathered um Financial ups and downs we've weathered a lot of different uh Mayors a lot of different people on the board some with pure intentions some out for whatever they could get and now that we're in a good place I feel very comfortable stepping aside and letting some letting new a new voice in and maybe one day I'll come back I'm not closing that door but again I think it's it's a It's Time thank you very much I truly appreciate especially you know all the support everyone has given yeah we can't thank you enough we can't thank [Applause] you yeah we Lisa we can't thank you enough for all of the work that you have done um it's amazing just the the changes that we've seen in in the last 10 years it's it's it's incredible um but I think we all want to wish one another a happy holidays and that everybody enjoys the holiday season I hope that I'm able that that we're all together on December 20th at our uh at the staff party that would be wonderful um and thank you to all of you who for coming out yes yes do we have a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn second second oh thank you all right this all those in favor all right this meeting is adjourned at 8:24 thank you I have meeting left was very for