##VIDEO ID:mOmiu8a4OJM## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e yes Jody can you hear us okay good all right good evening I'd like to call the uh November 12th meeting of the Edison Public Library board to order let the minutes reflect that it is 7:01 PM please stand for the Pledge of [Music] Allegiance Al to the flag the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and 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 lger and Sentinel posted on the library bulletin boards and website and given to the township clerk's office roll call please miss me here miss O'Neal here Miss Pam I think she's here yeah she's here but can you hear who's in control with the yeah is the I don't think the audio is working here I don't think she can hear I can hear can you hear I'm here okay you're here Mr Romano excused absence Miss Krauss here Mr de Pasqual here Mr Patel here uh Miss liry excused absence and Miss Massie here all right so we did not get copies of the agenda so let me pull this up so that I follow it we're trying to be sustainable yes yes but you could have given me a heads up it's it's in the it's could have given me strategic plan yeah here we go okay um I know the first thing on the agenda is the minutes hopefully everyone has had an opportunity to review them the minutes of October 17th 2024 are there any questions or comments I move to approve the minutes all right but before we do that I would just like to say that the only thing that needs to be adjusted is that we did in fact have Personnel committee meetings because we met for negotiations on a number of times um so yes we could approve the minutes um if there are no further comments or Corrections uh by unanimous consent with that one update okay so now with my report uh I'm very happy that that the bids were open um for the north uh Branch project on Thursday but because they were only opened on Thursday and we really have to do our due diligence and make sure everything is is um the way it should be they are now on attorney review under attorney review and we're not going to be able to vote on on assigning or um you know having a a contract for uh setting up a contract so we may have to have a special meeting at some point um to do that so I just want to make sure everybody is aware uh all of this just came about today um because of the holiday yesterday which is why um there's no opportunity to vote on anything tonight I can report that when I uh attended the one of the construction meetings at Maine uh in late October I was really very impressed with the with the progress that they have made that they continue to make so if you haven't stopped by Maine uh I would suggest you know any of the trustees might be able to check out what what has been done I also volunteered at the Friends book and bake sale the recent one uh and hope you had a chance to stop by and I am very happy to announce that they're going to have a popup fake sale on um Maine on November 23rd and more information will be provided later on um and I do want to remind everybody that the 2024 virtual trustee Institute will be held this Saturday and I hope you have registered uh to attend and that's that's about it for my report um so now let's continue hopefully everyone has had an opportunity to review the financial reports are there any questions or comments about the financial reports or balance sheet before we get to the bill list are there any questions on the bill list if I could just make some comment in regards to a question from last month that um Chris um was was able to answer for me on the first page the ZZ Z Z ZZ zzz just enables um this to run all the accounts that's all it means there's no there's no other thing to it it just means all the accounts get get um run instead of just choosing some accounts okay I do have a request from now on if you're if we're not going to be getting this um on paper can you turn the page because this is sort of hard to read sideways I'm sorry I couldn't hear a thing you said Lisa Sor um if we're not going to be getting a hard copy of this can you turn the page around when you save it so that we can see it I don't see a way to turn this page around and I'm try like I'm trying to read this sideways yeah you would have to download yeah all right we we will try to well we haven't been um doing paper of this in a while but I will try to do that because um you have um a uh landscape two landscape pages and everything else is Portrait so we'll figure something out you got there yeah the only solution right now is to download it and then everything downloaded separately yeah okay okay we can all right okay any other questions or comments about the bill list all right hearing none do we have a motion to approve the bill list uh dated November 9th motion okay do we have a second second thank you any additional comments all right roll call vote please miss me yes Miss O'Neal yes Miss Pam yes Miss Krauss yes Mr D pasal yes uh Mr tell yes and Miss Massie yes motion carries thank you all right now we are at the director's report the director's report um I would uh say mostly what what we have been working on um the last couple of weeks are all the construction projects um you've already heard um Miss Massie talk about uh the main library it's um make the second floor um is making a good progress um we are still on target for uh it to be completed somewhere around uh December 15th and so um I hope that we will have this year's a holiday party uh on the uh second floor on December 20th which would give all the board members a chance to uh view the the new second floor um we are now working on the the uh spackling um painting um the lighting is coming in this week um they're working on the uh computer cabling recabling um the carpeting is expecting to go down the first week in December um for and that is pretty much the last thing to be uh done um once the carpeting is put down on the uh basically the empty side is the best way to put it of the floor plan um we've been told we can start to um bring up the shelving so that gives us about an extra week uh to get the second floor um up and running so um once they they'll be working pretty much on on the right side as we work on the on the left side so that that was good news um um Miss Massie already mentioned the bids were opened on Thursday uh for North Edison Branch um we're really excited and um we'll wait to hear uh attorney review um so we can move forward um we haven't set a date yet uh for the special meeting once that's all done we'll have a a a better idea of um um when that's going to go uh claraa Barton Branch took a little while um but um bolesta finally finished the um uh front patio project which includes the flag pole it looks really really nice um right at the entrance so hopefully that will bring um people into the the branch um thinking that is definitely a municipal building um we are getting um I would say probably lo I what's the difference between many and loads I don't know we are getting many requests for the bookmobile in the printer uh from schools daycare centers and um care1 so uh as we begin our January February March schedule um we'll be adding more stops uh mainly uh with the the Sprinter um we expect to have have a um logo uh meeting uh for uh the project and it's I believe it's uh I've got to check the date on that um uh so that will get the our uh Consultants to talk to the focus group um to work a little further uh in the um on the uh rebranding project um so we've been holding off on on some new um flyers and things so we can get the uh rebranding um no staff changes uh and the only grant that we received was our grant from the New Jersey Council on the humanities which is to fund um our Clara Barton project to um look at um uh how we can better serve uh the neighborhood so that's pretty much it in um in summary um uh it was interesting with school out this past week um not every parent goes to Florida uh with their kids I will tell you the main library particularly on Monday and Tuesday of last week were absolutely packed um and so um we are still the only entertainment in town and the place where parents bring their children um not only uh for education and Recreation but but when school's closed um we're the other educational uh Center that they want to bring their kids to so um pretty much that's about it um I sat in on the um uh two meetings of the Union um Library board negotiations for the new contracts um we're currently um working on the proposed budget so we probably would need a finance committee uh meeting with between now and uh the December board meeting um so that we can uh maybe get the um proposed budget out uh way before the the board packet uh and we can vote on it uh December uh and we're working on um the um uh meeting dates for next year so the board could approve that as well as the December meeting so that's about it from from myself um Deborah is not here she's under the weather this evening um but she did uh prepare um her lengthy report uh her reports uh summarize not only what she does um but she tries to give you a snippet um most of the the uh um professional and paraprofessional staff all um do reports for us each month and she pull Snippets out of all of their reports it kind of gives you a snapshot of all the things going on in the library so that's my report um I welcome any questions that anyone has about uh anything I mentioned or something I forgot thank you are there any questions for Alan all right well thank you I have a difficulty in hearing sorry I did not see Jody um I'm having difficulty hearing uh Alan's uh spe when he's talking is there audio any issues that very low voice I yeah your microphone is a little low maybe is that better that's a lot better I'll put it closer to me is that better a little better it's still low but it's better than before I could not hear anything before so it's we'll see when he speaks next time I have no problem hearing from your this side of the table okay thank you no no questions okay all right let's move on we have committee reports as Allan mentioned the focus this month was uh on the construction projects and on Union negotiations so really the only committee that did meet was the Personnel committee and they met several times uh for negotiations and that is it in terms of the committee reports and I do not think we have anything to report on the shared services agreement um all I can report is what I had I think mentioned last month was that at the uh trusty Institute there will be a session on shared services agreements and um it's almost as the same as what the mayor had said a few months ago that if you ask five different townships what they do you'll get t five different answers um so that's what we are finding but it is it is very very interesting to to to get more information on that um now under new business we have we are not approving the bid received we're tabling that since it's under uh attorney review and I think even though it's under new business we don't have to table it it's just we're not we're not taking action okay we do however have a resolution to approve the contract um with Mark Bowski you may an Associates you may remember that Mark Bowski and his company was approved as our owner uh representative and um overall you know overall overseer of the North Pro the North Branch project and that contract took him through the bid process but now that we're going to be you know moving from the bid process to actual construction um we need to we need I I strongly feel that we should continue to have him as the owner's rep for that project uh so do we have a motion to I have a question first how long is the contract for is it 28,000 for the length of the project it's the length of the project I that's what I um saw in the contract where it was at least for 13 months for the length of the project once it gets once it gets started okay yeah I just want to make sure wasn't a monthly cost oh no oh no no you never know any other questions you never know no no no but I think it was it was specified in there any other questions about that contract do we have a motion I move we approve the contract for $28,000 okay do we have a second second all right thank you um could we have are there any other questions or comments all right hearing none could we have a roll call vote please miss me yes Miss O'Neal yes Miss Pam yes Miss Krauss yes Mr de Pasqual yes Mr Patel yes uh Miss Massie yes motion carries thank you all all right and then I heard you before mention uh something about the holiday party um and that's on the agenda um since we are expecting that the second floor will be completed um around uh the 15th um we um thought we would like to hold the uh staff and holiday party on the 20th uh on the new second floor uh probably will not be open to the public yet um and so it'll give the board uh a good opportunity to uh see this uh and also to celebrate the completion of all the hard work um that the board has um uh done in making it happen oh that's that's a nice idea I know I you I know it always there's there's always conflict so all we can do is do our best so we're open till 6 um but uh upstairs would not be open yet so we will probably uh start uh you know people could start to come at 5:30 uh whatever works like 5:30 to 8 um and we'll have a an open house next door uh upstairs excellent all right that sounds that sounds good we can hopefully all attend that'll be that would be excellent um all right do we have any public comment at this time yes please see if I can figure this out today oh all right then um good evening uh my name is Sarah naster I'm the president of the friends of the Edison Public Library um as Pat mentioned we had our bake sale and our book sale on October 25th and 26 we raised uh $1,049 and many thanks to Pat and Allan and Michael and Tyler and John and Caitlyn from the library staff and uh came together with our teen volunteers as well as our friends volunteers to put this out uh it was a lot of people coming into the library just for the Bak Goods as well as the book sale so it was really nice to see everyone come together and um you know for the love of books um as we continue to grow within the friends organization we're going to continue to have more of these fundraisers and we do have a popup bake sale that's going to be happening on Saturday uh November 23rd at the main library and the reason why we're calling it a popup is because we didn't plan this um when we had the original bake sale but we uh found a lot of people were interested in a lot of the big Goods that came through so we wanted to do um and we had a lot of volunteers that wanted to bake um that didn't get a chance to from October so we will have quite an array of baked goods um on November 23rd so come out and support us um for that in general we're trying to like I said increase the the scope of our organization and we are um we want to hear from you in terms of what you think we should do with all of these funds that we have been raising for the last year um I know that we started the Thousand books under kindergarten um or before kindergarten uh that has kicked off with the library we're looking forward to seeing um that being implemented by the end of the year hopefully um and then after that we're not really sure how we want to use these funds and what kind of projects that we want to do because the we want to hear from the public and we want to hear from um the board as well as what you think we should be um supporting as we move forward so if there are any recommendations here Joy I I have heard about the yoga um the senior programs that we have and I did see that Clare Barton actually has chair yoga um that they are doing for seniors so that was a nice thing that was coming through that's right I think there's Cher yoga and Tai Chi right at Main Cherry yoga and Tai yeah yes so um so whether it's seniors programs or whether it is um you know uh young adults or or childrens we're looking forward to kind of understanding what the needs are um and better implementing as we go forward any questions no but thank you all right well hopefully you guys can come out November 23rd um it is from 10:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. that 4: p.m might be a little if we run out of bit Goods before 4 pm sorry um uh but it'll definitely be there starting at 10: a.m. all right well oh that's good to know thank you thank you all right all right and let's see now we have excuse me um we have announcements now you know Margo is not here our Council on however um she is attending a Veterans Day program which is uh a veterans event tonight so I did promise that I would um give everyone her best wishes and wishes for Happy Thanksgiving and she also wanted to make sure that everybody knows that uh tomorrow's council meeting on the agenda agenda it includes voting on The ordinances about cutting down public speaking time and rules of decorum uh she will be voting against these or ordinances um and that is what she wanted me to report um our mayor's rep was not able to attend tonight so there's no report there and our superintendent rep uh unfortunately had a had a um of Education meeting that I guess was not originally scheduled so it it wound up being a conflict um I did promise Maria orett that I would um announce uh what they are doing and that is uh creating their bylaws they collected a box full of donations for the Hands of Hope and their next meeting will be with Dr aldarelli uh on December 3rd at 7:15 p.m. so uh does anyone else have any other announcements I think we all want to wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving and that we all be kind to our ourselves and and one another uh but if we have nothing else on the agenda uh I think do we have our next regular meeting will be de December 10th at 700 p.m. at council chambers that's what it is right now um and then as I said before we may wind up needing a special meeting um but do we have a motion to adjourn so moved all right do we have a second all right all those in favor all right our meeting is adjourned at 7:27 p.m. all right good night everybody good night for