Minutes of the Meeting of the Special Library Committee
Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by Scot Simpson at 6:40 p.m. in the Senior Room at City Hall.

Roll Call

Members Present: Mayor Wehrle, Ted Anderson, Stuart Harper, Kathy Addison, Kevin Koester

Members Absent: Mark Bartels, Kathy Kolb

Staff Present: Scot Simpson, Alan Tollefson

Guests: Charles Lange, Grant County Historical Society; Rick Udelhofen, Grant County Historical Society; Kim Leamy, Lancaster Jaycees; Dave Timmerman, Herald-Independent

Minutes

The minutes of the September 19 meeting were approved as mailed. Motion by Addison, second by Koester. Carried unanimously.

Report on Group Participation

All affected groups have committed to the project, with the exception of the Genealogical Society.

Next Steps

Subcommittees for Building and Fund Raising and Architect Selection

Scot Simpson recommended two committees: a building committee with Alan Tollefson as staff person and a fund raising committee with himself as staff person. A proposed new timeline was reviewed. Scot indicated the City Council would be asked to reiterate its support once the new committees were formed, but no further action on its part would be required at this time. There was consensus that two committees were needed.

A question was raised as to whether the current committee would continue. Consensus was that this group would continue to meet to pull everything together, but perhaps not as often. At a minimum there would be sharing of minutes.

Scot reported that he has talked to Sun Prairie and Edgerton and both followed similar processes to what is being proposed for Lancaster in building and/or expanding their libraries. Both cities raised more than their feasibility study had predicted.

There was discussion of details of the timeline. Questions were raised as to exactly what the fund raising consultant would do and how long a campaign would take once the feasibility study is completed. The answers were that the consultant would take an active role in managing the campaign, which might take 4 to 6 months.

Scot proposed the following composition of the building committee:

• Two City Council designees
• Two Library Board designees
• Two Historical Society designees
• One Library Foundation designee

Other groups such as the Chamber and the Band would be called in as needed to review and discuss their parts of the project. The building committee would be the one to make decisions. If an architect presents two options, the committee would be the one to decide which option to choose.

Scot said public input needed to be part of the process. The public should be able to see drafts of drawings and have a chance to react. They should be able to talk about concepts.

Reactions included:

• The composition of the committee seems appropriate.
• The Library Foundation had concerns about losing control when it would be the largest contributor to this phase of the project. The Foundation was concerned about forwarding its contribution to a City account and would rather keep the money in its checkbook and disburse it as needed.
• Scot described the account he was proposing as a City Capital Account that would be project specific. Technical control of the account would be the City Administrator, but obviously he could only disburse money for the intended purpose. The City couldn't divert the funds to some other City project.
• There was a question as to who would sign a contract for the services of the architectural firm. Scot indicated he would not sign a contract unless he knew he had the required funding.
• There was a suggestion that the building committee should have a more creative name.
• There was a question as to who would be making decisions to disburse funds.
• Scot acknowledged that he may have oversimplified things by envisioning that groups would put their funds together in one account. He said he was following the procedure the City follows in all of its other projects.
• The view was expressed that the City will be the owner of the building and consequently has the ultimate responsibility. Building projects of this nature are traditionally placed in a City's Capital Improvements Program.
• It was clarified that funds received so far have been placed in the Community Development Fund until the City Council approves the 2007 budget which includes the Library Building Fund.
• There was a question as to what would happen to funds left over if the planning phases come in under budget. Mayor Wehrle suggested it would be used for the next phase of the project.
• Scot suggested a one-page Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Mayor and the Library Foundation to address concerns.

There was discussion as to whether to move forward according to the timeline. Stuart Harper moved, second by Ted Anderson that the timeline be accepted. Carried unanimously. It was clarified that acceptance of the timeline also meant acceptance of the recommendation to use consultant George Lawson to prepare the Request for Proposals according to his proposal to provide services. The committee indicated it wished to review the RFP before it is sent out. Groups were told to approve names to fill the slots on the building committee as proposed. The City Council and the Library Foundation will do this in December and the Library Board in January. The Historical Society already has its two designees: Chuck Lange and Rick Udelhofen.

Fund Raising Consultant Selection

This was continued to a future meeting.

Next Meeting

The next meeting was set for Tuesday, December 12, 2006 at City Hall in the Senior Room if available or Council Chambers as second choice.

Adjourn

On motion by Addison, second by Anderson and unanimous approval, the meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.

Adjourn

The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Alan Tollefson, recorder

Library Expansion Project | Community Minutes | History of Facilities | Historical Society | Needed Assistance | Space Estimate | Process | Band Needs