Minutes

Town of Mendon Library Steering Committee

April 2, 2008

Mendon Town SupervisorIan McNabb called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Committeemembers present: Margaret Bailey, Dave Beinetti, Mary Church, Thomas Dooley,Anne-Marie Gordon, Laurie Guenther, Ian McNabb, Anne Shannon, and MaryTichenor. Absent: Charlie Johnson and Bill Lane.                                   

1.     Housekeeping

a.     The Committee agreed on an agendaformat.

b.     Ian McNabb explained the openmeetings law, and the Committee agreed to welcome public comment at the openingand close of each meeting.

c.     It was agreed that the work of theCommittee would be a team effort and that members were committed to advocatingfor the project.

d.     Mary Church was appointed CommitteeSecretary.

2.    MeetingSchedule

a.     It was agreed that the Committeewould meet on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month.

3.     Chairpersons

a.     The Committee agreed that Ian McNabbshould serve as Chairman, with a recommendation that Charlie serve asCo-Chairman.

4.     Mission and Responsibilities of theSteering Committee

a.     The need for a new library has beenclearly established. The Town Board has charged the Library Steering Committee withorganizing and shepherding a process that will meet the Town’s defined objective:opening the doors of a new facility.

b.     The Library Steering Committee is therebycharged with organizing and overseeing subcommittees, undertaking research, andsubmitting recommendations regarding the new library to the Mendon Town Board.

c.     The Committee has the fiduciary responsibilityof advising the Town Board if it is determined that the proposed site (land occupiedby and adjacent to the current library building, including the recentlypurchased Mantegna parcel), which is owned by the Town, is not a suitablelocation for the new facility. Decision will be predicated, in part, bytopographic analysis by MRB and architectural design by Labella/othercontracted firm.

5.     Subcommittee Structure

a.     After discussion, the following foursubcommittees were defined:

                                     i.     Facility (Tom Dooley, Chair; supportprovided by Dave Beinetti, Mary Tichenor, Margaret Bailey, Anne-Marie Gordon)

1.     Design and Construction

2.     Program

3.     Technology

                                    ii.     Development (Anne Shannon, Chair;support provided by Dave Beinetti, Tom Dooley, Margaret Bailey, and LaurieGuenther)

1.     Grants

2.     Fundraising

3.     Capital Campaign

                                   iii.     Communications/Public Relations(Mary Church, Chair; support provided by Ian McNabb, Mary Tichenor, and LaurieGuenther)

b.     It was also recommended that aVolunteer Coordinator be selected. It was suggested that Bill Lane be asked toserve.

c.     The following members were selectedto serve as liaisons with local institutions:

                                     i.     Ian McNabb – Town Board

                                    ii.     Laurie Guenther – LibraryBoard

                                   iii.     Charlie Johnson – VillageBoard

                                   iv.     Bill Lane – Historical Society

                                    v.     Ian McNabb (with support from MaryChurch) – HFL School District

d.     Subcommittees will schedule meetingsand notify Mary Fletcher, who will disseminate that information to Committeemembers and post it for public awareness.

6.    Visionof the Project

a.     Submit suggestions to Anne Shannon by April 15, 2008. She will then craft a draft VisionStatement. In addition, community members will be actively encouraged/surveyedto submit their vision of the library’s significance.

7.     Timeline

a.     Perhaps the most significantmilestone/benchmark identified at this time is August 22, 2008. That is the initialdeadline for a potential $500,000+ Library Construction Grant from the State ofNew York. Final grant application is due to the State by September 12, 2008. Acopy of the grant application and guidelines will be forwarded to Committeemembers for consideration. Requirements (e.g., amount of matching funding, newconstruction vs. improvements to current facility) must be clarified. Committeemembers will attend grant training in Seneca Falls on May 2, 2008.

b.     If we are awarded this grant, wemust break ground on the new facility within 180 days of September 12, 2008 andconstruction must be completed by the end of 2011.

c.     Development Subcommittee willresearch additional grant and fundraising opportunities.

d.     Ian McNabb, Dave Beinetti and TomDooley will draft preliminary project timeline.

8.     Volunteers

a.     Volunteers will be activelyrecruited (e.g., Library Steering Committee applicants, pool of volunteers onfile with the library, those recruited through Cougar Creations/Festival on theGreen/other community events and public appeals), and a database ofvolunteers/skill sets will be maintained.

9.     Cougar Creations

a.     Cougar Creations 2008 is scheduledfor Friday, April 4, 2008. Laurie Guenther has reserved a table in the MiddleSchool lobby and has prepared a display. Representatives of the Library Boardand Library Steering Committee will be on hand to field questions and solicitvolunteers.

b.     We will be using this forum tolaunch a poster competition. Mary Church is drafting a flyer that will announcecompetition rules and be distributed for the first time at Cougar Creations.

10.  Next Meeting

a.     The next meeting of the Library SteeringCommittee is scheduled for 7:00pm, Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at the Town Hall.

There was no publiccomment. Chairman Ian McNabb adjourned the meeting at 9:30 p.m.