Columbus Public Library, Columbus, Nebraska


Minutes Meeting of the Columbus Library Board January 13, 2005 The regularly scheduled meeting of the Columbus Public Library Board was called to order at 4:30 PM on Thursday, January 13h by the President of the Board, Jerry Jirka. Other Library Board members present included Jolaine Nielsen, Lynne Rambour, Craig Neid, and Jim Schaefer. Also in attendance was Robert Trautwein, Library Director. Notice of this meeting was given in advance with a copy of the agenda posted at City Hall, the County Court House and in the Public Library. All proceedings hereafter shown were taken while the convened meeting was open to the public. A motion was made by Jolaine Nielsen and seconded by Lynne Rambour to enter into “Executive Session” to discuss the performance appraisal of the Library Director. This motion passed by voice vote. The Library Director excused himself. A motion was made by Jolaine Nielsen and seconded by Jim Schaefer to exit from the “Executive Session”. This motion passed by voice vote. Regarding the performance appraisal, Mr. Jirka told the Library Director that he would meet with him early the following week to review the Board’s appraisal of him. The minutes to the December 9th Library Board meeting were reviewed and allowed to stand as submitted with a motion from Jolaine Nielsen and a second from Lynne Rambour. The motion passed by voice vote. The Library Director distributed the January financial reports for the City Library, the Platte County Library, and the Library Foundation. He noted that the reports were for the 4th month of the fiscal year. Following a review of the reports, a motion was made by Jim Schaefer and seconded by Lynne Rambour to accept the reports. This motion passed by roll call vote: Jirka-aye, Nielsen-aye, Neid-aye, and Schaefer-aye. Trautwein reviewed his monthly report. There were no committee reports. There were no items of correspondence. Under Old Business, Trautwein said that the reception for the installation of the Villasur photo panels was held on Monday, January 3rd from 6 to 8 pm. Prior to that date, there had been an article in the Columbus Telegram about the panels. The article included an invitation to the public to attend. In addition to the public announcement for the reception, he said that he had also sent out around 150 invitations. Trautwein said that the attendance at the reception was low—around 20 people--because of the cold weather. Trautwein said that on February 24th, the Library will be hosting an all-city-employee meeting at 7:00 AM. At that meeting, he will be highlighting the photo panels. Under new business, Trautwein said that the City had contracted with a company to review and revise the “City Code”. The current code has not been thoroughly revised since 1966. The City Clerk as been working with this company (American Legal) since that time. A few weeks ago, the Clerk sent to each department that section of the proposed revision that applies to that department. Trautwein said that when he read the proposed revision, he became concerned with the generalities in it. He was particularly concerned that it did not seem to follow the Nebraska Revised Statutes as they apply to public libraries. He met with the City Administrator, the City Clerk, and the City Attorney on the morning of January 13th to review the proposed revision. At that meeting he expressed his concern and pointed out discrepancies. All agreed that the proposed code was probably a “boilerplate” from another city and did not adequately address the Library and the Library Board. It was decided that Library Director should work with the City Clerk and the City Attorney to rewrite the current code to bring it up to date. Under “Announcements” it was noted that following the February 10th Library Board meeting, the Library Foundation will meet at 5:15 PM. A motion to adjourn was made by Jim Schaefer and seconded by Jerry Jirka. This motion passed by voice vote.