Whitman County Library Board of Trustees Meeting
Colfax Branch
April 20, 2010

Present: Becky Dickerson, Jon Kehne, Teresa Myott, John Aune, Leslee Miller, Kristie Kirkpatrick, and Peggy Bryan.

John Aune, board chair, called the special meeting to order at 4:10 P.M. on the second floor of the U.S. Bank building, adjacent to the library.

Continued Business:

Kristie gave an update on the renovation project, noting the skylight is complete and can be viewed from all three floors. She invited board members to tour after the meeting. She thanked John & Jane Aune for their generous donation to the building project, providing new windows in the basement meeting room. Board members also thanked John for the donation.

Kristie announced the new anticipated date of completion will be May 24, according to George from Blews Construction. The tree will be installed in the Hayden's Corner the following two weeks. A tentative reopen date will most likely occur in July. A grand opening may be pushed back to early fall.

Kristie spoke with an official from USDA today. She was shocked to learn that WCL did not qualify for a grant, only a loan on the renovation project. USDA failed to notify WCL, so we've been pursuing it ever since.

Kristie discussed the Hamilton Building & Art Education Center. A donor has made an offer on the building and would like to donate it to the library district. She went on to review Larry Kom's initial feasibility study and architect plans, both of which are attached. She further discussed how the library would use the building. The projected cost of renovating the building is $490,000. She noted that the funds to renovate would come from grants, donations, etc. An update of her plans, pros, challenges and new pressing questions is attached.

John Kehne mentioned early payoff on our USDA Loan from 40 to 20 years. A loan repayment schedule is attached that he presented. All agreed this is a great goal, regardless of the Hamilton decision.

A discussion followed and included issues regarding the tax climate, consideration of county-wide opinions, and the timing of the project. After a lengthy discussion, the board recommended that Kristie investigate a contract that the building would revert back to the donor should we not secure grant funding. She will email her findings and the board will vote via email on to proceed.

The next meeting will be May 11 at 4 p.m. in Colfax. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:30

_______________________________________________________ Peggy Bryan, Recording Secretary

________________________________________________________ Kristie Kirkpatrick, Director

______________________________________________________ John M. Aune, Board Chair

If you have any questions, please contact:

Kristie Kirkpatrick

Whitman County Library

102 S Main Street

Colfax, Washington 99111

509 397-4366 or toll-free 1-877-733-3375