The view from the entrance of the downtown Ann Arbor District Library, looking west. In the foreground is construction from the Fifth Avenue streetscape project. Across the street is a city-owned surface lot that will be closed when the AATA rebuilds the Blake Transit Center, seen to the right.

Vibrations from work on the Fifth Avenue underground parking structure, just to the north of the library building, have caused problems with the building’s HVAC system – the library temporarily lost air-conditioning as a result. In a related move, the library board voted to award a contract for HVAC maintenance and repair to Pace Mechanical, despite arguments that it should go to a local company.

And in her director’s report, Josie Parker noted that a public parking lot used by library patrons will close as early as next spring, due to the rebuilding of the AATA’s Blake Transit Center. The city-owned surface lot is located at the northwest corner of Fifth and William, directly across from the library.

The Chronicle followed up with the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority, which oversees management of the surface lot for the city, for more details on possible contingencies for patron parking, as well as other access issues that could arise when Fifth Avenue along that block is closed for at least a year, starting Aug. 1.

Parking, Access for the Library

In her director’s report to the board, Josie Parker reminded board members about the DDA’s ongoing Fifth Avenue and underground parking garage construction projects and their effect on the downtown library, which is located at the northeast corner of Fifth and William. The library will remain open during the construction and patrons will still be able to access the doors opening onto Fifth Avenue. However, until the garage is completed, pedestrians are only able to walk to the library from the sidewalks running south to William Street – pedestrian access along the east side of Fifth, north of the library, is blocked by the construction site.

Parker noted that the downtown library temporarily lost its air conditioning recently as a result of the construction. She said the building’s 25-year-old chillers haven’t been holding up well against the vibrations coming from the construction site. Additionally, she reported that next spring the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority is planning to demolish and rebuild its Blake Transit Center, located across the street from the library. That will result in a loss of surface lot parking used by library patrons.

In a phone conversation with The Chronicle later this week, DDA executive director Susan Pollay said her organization has been working to minimize impact on the library and to accommodate the upcoming AATA project as well. The DDA has committed the Fifth & William surface lot to the AATA to use as a bus staging area, as soon as construction begins on the new Blake Transit Center. The AATA is in the design phase, and would need to gain site plan approval from the city before starting construction. That might happen as soon as the spring of 2011, but it could take longer.

In addition to a parking structure a block away, on Fourth and William, there are metered street parking spaces on William just south of the library that can be used by patrons, Pollay said. The DDA recently widened the sidewalk in front of the library along Fifth down to William, removed large planters and installed an ADA-compliant ramp there, she said – all to provide better access for patrons during the construction process. Previously, the ramp to the library entrance was oriented toward the north side, which is now adjacent to the DDA underground parking project.

The changes to the front of the library are also intended to address some concerns that had been expressed about accessibility to AATA board meetings, which are scheduled to take place there starting with the regular August meeting.

The changes to ease access are also in preparation for the closing of South Fifth Avenue between Liberty and William, which will likely occur on Aug. 1. That stretch is expected to remain closed for about 12-18 months. Access to the library for police and fire services was a concern, Pollay said – the widened sidewalk and ramp will make it easier for those emergency services to quickly get to the library’s front entrance from William Street.

Back to the Board Meeting: Financial Issues

During their June 21 meeting, the board amended the budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2010. Board members unanimously approved a resolution to make the following transfers:

• $15,000 from capital outlay expense to communications expense
• $60,000 from capital outlay expense to supplies expense
• $50,000 from other operating expenditures to utilities expense
• $60,000 from other operating expenditures to communications expense

Eli Neiburger, associate director of IT and product development, said the communications budget needed to be amended due to a high demand for Internet access and some phone system issues, which he said are in the process of being resolved. Utilities expenses for the past year also came in over budget. Neiburger told the board that the library regularly adjusts its supplies budget at the end of the fiscal year, due to the high cost of items such as hardware.

As of May 31, 2010, the library’s unrestricted cash balance was $8,147,403. The library has also received $11,556,341 in tax receipts, 99% of its budgeted amount for the current fiscal year. AADL director Josie Parker informed the board that they are waiting on a payment from the county on tax delinquencies for the final 1%. The library also had a positive fund balance of $7,370,875 as of May 31.

Parker noted that the library has received half of its promised state aid: $20,536 for the Washtenaw Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled @ AADL program. She said they anticipate receiving more aid before the end of the state’s fiscal year, for a total of about $40,000. This is a drop from previous years, when the library received about $120,000 annually in state aid. Parker said the library’s decision to leave The Library Network, a Southeast Michigan library cooperative, is responsible for the loss of revenue. AADL voted to leave the cooperative at its January 2009 meeting. From The Chronicle’s coverage of that meeting:

Just before the vote, Parker said the library was assuming too great a financial risk by being a member. Because of its size and resources, AADL doesn’t tap services from the cooperative. Yet if state aid that funds TLN isn’t sufficient to cover the cooperative’s costs, members would be on the hook to pay the difference, she said – even members that don’t use its services. Though co-ops were originally designed to share the wealth by providing services that smaller libraries could use, there hasn’t been a recent analysis about their effectiveness, Parker said. Because of the way state funding is structured, if AADL is not a member of the cooperative, it would receive only half of the $120,000 it gets annually from the state – although that funding is never guaranteed.

AADL trustee Barbara Murphy wanted to know if not being part of the cooperative affects the library’s day-to-day operations. Parker responded that it doesn’t at this time, although the library had depended on the cooperative for some “very minimal” things in the past such as magazine subscriptions.

The board also voted unanimously to approve various disbursements for the month of May.

HVAC Contract

At its May meeting, the board had discussed which contractor should receive the contract to provide HVAC equipment maintenance and repair service for the library for a three-year period. The library’s current mechanical services contract with Pace Mechanical expires on June 30, 2010.

The library started the bidding process earlier in the year and received responses from three companies: Pace Mechanical, Goyette Mechanical and Campbell Inc. Pace presented the library with a bid of $261,985 for 2010-2013. Campbell bid $262,500, and Goyette’s bid amounted to $79,000. At a post-bid meeting, library administration later determined that Goyette did not understand the scope of the agreement, quoting a price for quarterly maintenance instead of total coverage.

Although they found both Campbell and Pace to be highly recommendable, reliable and capable of providing quality service, library administrators recommended that Pace receive the contract, since the company is the current contractor and is therefore the most familiar with library equipment.

Kevin Rodgers, a Campbell Inc. maintenance solutions specialist, spoke at the May meeting, reminding the board that the Ann Arbor-based company had worked for the library previously. He also said his company would conduct a feasibility study of all library buildings in order to determine ways to lower operation costs.

The agenda for the board’s meeting this month included a resolution to be voted on, awarding the contract to Pace Mechanical. During the public commentary portion of the meeting, representatives from both Pace and Campbell spoke concerning the board’s decision.

Pace Mechanical service manager Don Lawson told the board he just wanted to be present for their decision concerning the contract. He reminded the board that his company has served the library and taken good care of their equipment for the past four years.

Campbell vice president Dominick Cuda stressed to the board that his company is locally based and connected with the Ann Arbor community. He questioned why the library didn’t decide to use a local contractor, a company that contributes to and pays taxes in the city of Ann Arbor.

HVAC Contract: Board Discussion

When the board discussed the HVAC contract resolution later in the meeting, Parker personally thanked Cuda and Lawson for attending. Parker said she and Ken Nieman – AADL associate director of finance, HR and operations – considered the statement Rodgers made at the previous month’s meeting but ultimately did not change their recommendation that Pace receive the contract. She said this was due to the lower cost of Pace’s services as well as the fact that they felt it was best to keep their current contractor. She pointed out that with the construction currently happening near the downtown building, the library’s equipment is especially vulnerable due to hazards such as dust and vibrations.

“We’re not comfortable changing contractors while we’re in that process,” Parker said, referring to the construction. She added that their decision was not a reflection on Campbell.

AADL board secretary Margaret Leary agreed, saying she had thought a lot during the past month about how the construction threatens the building’s sensitive and aging equipment.

“It seems to me that it’s in the best interest of the library and its patrons to continue with the company that’s done well, although that’s not a disparagement of Campbell,” Leary said.

Board president Rebecca Head agreed with Leary and Parker, while vice president Jan Barney Newman said she supports the library using local companies whenever it can. Ultimately, the board voted unanimously to adopt the resolution and granted the contract to Pace Mechanical.

Director’s Report

Parker informed the board that AADL’s 2010 Summer Reading program — with a “Make it Happen” theme — would kick off on Wednesday, June 23 at The Ark. She described it as an event full of music, singing and dancing aimed at preschool-aged children. Summer reading runs through Aug. 23. Children receive stickers, stamps and prizes as they work toward reading or listening to 10 books. There are also prizes and drawings for teens and adults. Parker said there will be more reading-related events and programs throughout the summer.

Retirements

Parker’s written report noted the retirement of two library employees. Richard “Dick” Durham retired on May 31, 2010 after working for the library for 15 years. In an email to the AADL staff, Durham stated, “I’ve seen us go from a sleepy little library with three small, overworked branches to the high tech organization we are today, with three new branches, each of which is large enough to be a main branch in most cities. I’m proud to have been a part of it and proud to have been associated with the wonderful people here.”

Sue Budin will retire on June 30. Budin worked for AADL as a librarian for 29 years. Parker’s report stated that Budin is known for her work with teens as well as her passion for poetry. She served on the Teen Advisory Committee for the Michigan Library Association and began the Short Story Writing Contest at AADL with her colleague Vicki Browne 18 years ago.

“We will miss Sue’s gentleness and how her presence alone makes one slow down and take a little more time to consider,” Parker wrote in her report.

The board unanimously passed two resolutions of thanks to Budin and Durham upon their retirement.

Present: Rebecca Head, board president; vice president Jan Barney Newman; treasurer Prue Rosenthal; secretary Margaret Leary; and trustees Carola Stearns, Ed Surovell, and Barbara Murphy. Also: AADL director Josie Parker.

Next meeting: The board’s next regular meeting is on Monday, July 19, 2010. The public portion of the meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the library’s fourth floor board room, 343 S. Fifth Ave., Ann Arbor. [confirm date]

Chronicle publisher Mary Morgan contributed to this report. About the writer: Helen Nevius is a freelance writer for The Chronicle.

As first reported by The Chronicle, the board of trustees two-day retreat at the Westin Book Cadillac hotel in Detroit cost a total of $9,910.70, including dinner at the hotel’s 24grille restaurant and $5,887.43 in hotel charges. WCC’s paper The Washtenaw Voice later reported that the dinner bill included $573 worth of wine.

Whitworth said the cost of the meal was higher than anticipated due to the fact that he missed a detail on the menu that 24grille faxed him before the retreat. Specifically, he didn’t read the fine print stating that the restaurant would charge $100 per person for the meal, not including tax and gratuity. Whitworth said he expected to pay about $2,000 and was shocked when he saw the bill.

Whitworth said he wanted to assert his culpability in response to a May 26 AnnArbor.com article, which was based on a press release issued by Lonnie Scott, a Democratic candidate for the 54th District state representative seat. Scott criticized fellow candidate and WCC board of trustees treasurer David Rutledge for attending the retreat dinner, calling the $4,023.87 bill excessive and a waste of taxpayer money.

The board has also received criticism for spending an extravagant amount on a dinner just before its members voted to increase WCC’s tuition by nearly 10% – or $7 per credit hour.

During Wednesday’s briefing, Whitworth stressed that Rutledge and the other board members are in no way responsible for the cost of the meal and were not aware of the expense at the time of the retreat. He called blaming the trustees “wholly and totally inappropriate.”

“I thought it was very, very unfortunate that Lonnie Scott would somehow think David Rutledge was responsible,” Whitworth said. “I want to take full responsibility.”

Whitworth also emphasized that the dinner was business-oriented. He said it’s important to isolate the trustees away from their other obligations once a year for the retreat so that they can concentrate on important matters pertaining to the college. He also defended the tuition increase, saying that it was necessary to maintain the quality of the college’s vocational and technical programs. He noted that the college will lose about $3.5 million in local tax revenue this year and therefore needs to raise tuition rates.

Whitworth said that in order to remedy his mistake, he has personally reimbursed the college for the dinner with a $4,024 check. He said he wasn’t pressured by the board of trustees in any way, and the reimbursement was entirely his idea.

“This is my error,” Whitworth said. “If you’re going to be responsible, there ought to be a consequence.”

The Chronicle initially reported the dinner and other expenses in the context of covering the March 5-6 retreat, where the trustees and staff discussed the possibility of opening a satellite campus in Ann Arbor – possibly in partnership with the Ann Arbor District Library. Other topics included financial updates, a discussion about tuition increases, a briefing on student demographic data, curriculum changes, and building projects.

Following the retreat, The Chronicle submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for expenses related to the two-day event. In addition to the $4,023 dinner tab, the college paid $5,887.43 in hotel charges that included individual guest charges, catering and Internet charges. [.pdf file of receipts from Westin Book Cadillac, in response to a FOIA request]

About the writer: Helen Nevius is a freelance writer for The Ann Arbor Chronicle.

Board members also discussed awarding a contract for HVAC work, and heard from the representative of a company that’s not being recommended for the contract. The board revised the library district’s boundaries in the Northfield Township area, and approved new legal compliance and conflict of interest policies.

AADL 2010-11 Budget

The board began the meeting with a public hearing on its proposed budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year, which begins July 1. No one came to speak at the hearing.

In his presentation to the board, Ken Nieman – AADL associate director of finance, HR and operations – noted that the library’s millage rate for the next fiscal year is set at 1.55 mills – unchanged from the current amount it levies. [Last year, the board had lowered its millage rate from 1.92 mills to the current rate of 1.55 mills. (One mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s state equalized value, or SEV.) See Chronicle coverage: "Library Plans to Lower Millage" and "Ann Arbor Library Board OKs Budget"]

Later in the meeting, the board voted unanimously to approve a resolution authorizing the millage rate to be levied by taxing authorities at 1.55 mills.

Nieman outlined changes in the budget since the board discussed it at its April meeting. [See Chronicle coverage: "Library Board Addressed Budget Shortfall"] Library staff has revised the anticipated decrease in tax revenues: The proposed 2010-11 budget now projects a 3.3% drop in tax revenue, rather than the previously forecast 6% decrease. A 3.3% drop would put tax revenue for the 2010-11 fiscal year at $11.29 million instead of the $10.99 million the library previously anticipated. [Taxing authorities, including AADL, received additional data in late April from the Washtenaw County equalization department, which presented a report on tax revenues at the April 21, 2010 county board of commissioners meeting. The report showed that while property values in the county dropped, the decrease wasn't as much as expected.]

The extra $300,000 in revenue eliminates a previously anticipated $200,000 shortfall, which would likely have been covered by tapping the library’s fund balance.

As discussed at the board’s April meeting, the library is making cuts in several areas, given the anticipated drop in revenue. Those include cuts in capital outlays (down to $190,000 from $234,843 for the 2009-10 fiscal year), communications (from $214,451 to $200,000) and software licenses and maintenance (from $152,375 to $130,000). Library programming funding also is being cut from $290,517 to $250,000 in the fiscal 2010-11 budget.

However, the additional $300,000 in tax revenue that the library staff factored in since last month resulted in some alterations to the proposed budget. The budget for materials will see a roughly $20,000 increase (from $1.83 million to $1.85 million), as opposed to a $30,686 cut that was previously recommended. Utilities also received a boost to $465,000, up from $415,000 in the originally proposed budget. The library has maintained the same proposed funding for employee salaries and wages (with $5.844 million allotted for salaries and wages and $1.5 million for benefits) and circulation ($75,000). The library’s total proposed operating expense for the 2010-11 fiscal year is $12.3 million.

In addition to unanimously approving the 2010-11 budget, board members also voted unanimously to adopt the 2010-11 budget as a line item budget and to authorize various disbursements related to the budget.

Other Financial Business

Ken Nieman informed the board that the library’s utilities and communications were over budget for April. Utilities costs were $33,995 compared to the budgeted $31,250; communications were $37,095, but had been budgeted at $12,833. AADL trustee Carola Stearns wanted to know whether utilities were over budget due to rates or usage. Nieman responded that it was mostly because of rates, although usage also factored in to some extent.

The library also received $20,536 in state aid during the past month for the Washtenaw Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled @ AADL program. Nieman said the library will receive another, similar amount of funding from the state later this year.

HVAC Equipment and Maintenance Contract

The board discussed which contractor should get the bid to provide HVAC equipment maintenance and repair service for the library. Nieman explained that the library’s current mechanical services contract with Pace Mechanical will expire on June 30, 2010. The library began the bidding process earlier this year and received responses from three companies: Goyette Mechanical, Pace Mechanical and Campbell Inc. The library later removed Goyette Mechanical from consideration after it became clear at a post-bid meeting that the company did not understand the scope of the agreement, quoting a price for quarterly maintenance instead of total coverage.

Library staff determined that the remaining two companies are highly recommended, reliable and capable of providing the necessary service. However, Nieman said the administration recommends that the library award the bid to Pace Mechanical, since the company has served as the library’s contractor for the last four years and is more familiar with recently installed equipment.

Kevin Rodgers, a Campbell Inc. maintenance solutions specialist, spoke during the public commentary portion of the meeting. He informed the board that his company had previously worked for the library – about four years ago – and they lost the contract due to the bidding process and not due to their performance. Rodgers said Campbell Inc. has advantages in that it’s based in Ann Arbor and is familiar with the library’s facilities. He added that his company would provide more than Pace Mechanical, specifically by conducting a feasibility study of all library buildings in order to determine ways to lower operation costs.

Nieman told the board that he thought the feasibility study could be helpful in lowering energy costs, although he acknowledged that he didn’t know much about the subject. AADL board secretary Margaret Leary questioned whether investing in improving operating costs would be worth it, specifically in the case of the deteriorating downtown building. However, AADL treasurer Prue Rosenthal said she thought it would be interesting to see what Campbell had to offer.

Nieman said that the library would not be committed to take any action in response to Campbell’s study. Overall, board members seemed to like Campbell’s status as a local company; Pace does not have an office in Ann Arbor. The board did not vote on the issue during its May meeting.

Changes to Boundaries, Bylaws, Policies

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Library District Boundaries

The board voted unanimously to approve a resolution to modify the library district’s boundaries so that there’s no overlap with the Northfield Township Area Library’s district, located north of Ann Arbor. Residents in Northfield Township’s district will continue to have access to AADL resources. [.pdf file of boundary changes]

The board adopted the bylaw revisions it had discussed at previous meetings, including its April board meeting. AADL board president Rebecca Head reminded the board that the bylaws were altered to stay in sync with the Ann Arbor Public Schools board of education election schedule. Under the revised bylaws, board members’ terms start in November instead of July, and the board’s annual meeting is moved from July to the first meeting of each new calendar year.

Conflict of Interest Policy

Board members voted unanimously to adopt a proposed conflict of interest policy that they discussed during their April meeting. The new policy was written at the suggestion of the library’s auditors and applies to the library’s administrative employees with significant decision-making authority (called “interested parties”), such as the director, associate director and staffing coordinator. The policy serves to prevent conflicts of interest that occur when “an interested party directly or indirectly benefits or profits as a result of a decision, policy or transaction made by the Library.”

Legal Compliance (Whistleblower) Policy

Another resolution that gained unanimous approval involved adopting the proposed legal compliance policy the board discussed during its April meeting. The legal compliance policy makes it clear that the library will comply with all applicable laws, and employees who report policy violations will be protected. The policy states that employees who have concerns regarding a suspected violation should report it to the director or the chair of the board of directors. It states that they will not be discharged, threatened or discriminated against for reporting the violation.

Director’s Report

AADL director Josie Parker informed the board that the Washtenaw Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled @ AADL held a vendor fair – “VISIONS 2010: What’s New In Technology and Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired” – on May 12 at Washtenaw Community College. Parker said the event was very successful, with more than 500 participants and over 35 vendors.

Parker also announced that the library would hold an awards ceremony for its 2010 Teen Short Story Writing Contest on Saturday, May 22 at the downtown library from 1:30-3 p.m. The library received 253 submissions from kids in grades 6-12.

The board discussed Parker’s experience representing AADL as a panel participant at the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies Annual Symposium on May 15, 2010 at the Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor. The topic of the symposium was “Expansion of Knowledge in the 21st Century Library” – the event also was sponsored by the Book Club of Detroit. Parker said the symposium was a great opportunity to talk about public libraries and national trends relating to them.

Director’s Evaluation

Head read the board a memo concerning Parker’s performance evaluation. Parker was praised for her outstanding work, accomplishments and visionary leadership. Specifically, the board praised Parker for not increasing her own salary during recent difficult economic times. The memo summed up the director’s financial management as “excellent” and noted her commitment to providing remarkable customer service. The memo concluded by declaring Parker an “excellent and outstanding” library director. Parker responded by thanking the board, saying she appreciates the opportunity to serve as AADL director.

In its last action of the meeting, the board voted unanimously to begin its next regular meeting with an executive session for labor negotiations, discussion of real estate and opinion of legal counsel.

Present: Rebecca Head, board president; treasurer Prue Rosenthal; secretary Margaret Leary; trustee Carola Stearns. Also: AADL director Josie Parker.

Absent: Trustees Ed Surovell, Jan Barney Newman, Barbara Murphy.

Next meeting: The board’s next regular meeting is on Monday, June 21, 2010. The public portion of the meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the library’s fourth floor board room, 343 S. Fifth Ave., Ann Arbor. [confirm date]

The board is expected to vote on its budget for the coming fiscal year at its May 17 meeting.

2010-2011 Budget Discussion

During her report of the budget and finance committee, board treasurer Prue Rosenthal said she and trustees Ed Surovell and Barbara Murphy had met with AADL director Josie Parker and library staff to discuss different ways to address the library’s projected $200,000 budget shortfall for the coming fiscal year. Rosenthal said the board has three options: raise the library’s millage, make additional cuts to expenses, or use part of the fund balance to cover the shortfall.

By way of background, last year the board voted to lower its millage rate from 1.92 mills to the current rate of 1.55 mills. (One mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s state equalized value, or SEV.) [See Chronicle coverage: "Library Plans to Lower Millage" and "Ann Arbor Library Board OKs Budget"]

At the board’s April 19 meeting, Rosenthal said the budget and finance committee unanimously decided to recommend that the board take money from the fund balance to balance the budget. Committee members felt this would be the best course of action, she said, since cutting the budget would mean cutting personnel and raising the millage didn’t seem appropriate at this time.

Ken Nieman – AADL associate director of finance, HR and operations – later noted that in order to make up for the shortfall, the library would use up only 1.27% 2.8% of its fund balance. At the end of March, the district’s fund balance stood at $7.258 million.

“Even if we take it out of the fund balance, we’d still be healthy financially,” he said.

At Parker’s request, the board briefly discussed the committee’s recommendation later in the meeting. Parker explained that although library staff had already managed to cut expenses by about $700,000, she didn’t anticipate them being able to pull off another $200,000 without service cuts or layoffs.

Trustee Carola Stearns said she would support spending the fund balance to cover the shortfall. Nieman informed the board members that there is also the possibility that the tax base will drop more than 6% and the shortfall will be more than the expected $200,000. He said the library will have the final numbers by the board’s May meeting.

Nieman briefed the board on details for the FY 2010-11 budget. The library’s proposed operating budget is $12.2 million, compared to $12.289 million for 2009-10. Nieman noted that the projected tax revenue at 1.55 mills for next year –  $10.99 million – was calculated under the assumption that the library’s tax base will drop 6%.

Due to the anticipated tax base decrease, the budget for the new fiscal year includes some cuts. Nieman said IT and capital outlays are some of the areas that will receive less funding. The 2010-11 budget for capital outlays is $190,000 compared to $253,343 for 2009-10. Communications (which includes Internet expenses) is down to $200,000 from $212,433; and software licenses and maintenance has been cut to $130,000 from $154,007. Nieman explained that the library had bolstered those areas in the past couple of years, so the staff felt they could afford to make cuts in the coming year.

The funds allocated for library programming also will drop from $286,082 to $250,000. Nieman explained that the reduction will not result in a decrease in the number of programs the library offers, but in cutting back on the amount of program-related advertising. Additionally, the new budget includes a $30,686 cut for materials. Nieman said that decrease was a result of the library’s decision to no longer provide databases that patrons rarely used.

The 2010-11 budget also includes some increases. Circulation supplies are budgeted at $75,000 from $46,605, due to the library’s need for more library cards, book cards and other supplies to keep up with increasing circulation. The library hopes to keep other expense categories frozen.

Nieman said they have proposed no increases or cuts for employee salaries and wages. Salaries and wages are allotted $5.844 million in the proposed 2010-11 budget, compared to $5.822 million for 2009-10. Nieman also said the library would like to keep employee health insurance rates the same, although they won’t be able to determine the expense for sure until they get renewal rates at the end of April. Employee benefits are projected to total $1.562 million for the current fiscal year; the budget for next year is $1.5 million.

Stearns asked why the repair and maintenance budget had decreased to $265,000 from $280,371. Nieman explained that the library was trying to accomplish as many maintenance projects as possible by the end of this fiscal year in order to make cuts in next year’s budget. For example, Parker said the library aims to reseal its parking lots during Memorial Day weekend (since the library will have to close for a day for the resealing). [In addition to the lot where the underground parking structure is currently under construction, the library has a lot on the east side of its downtown location.]

Monthly Financial Report: March 2010

In addition to discussing the FY 2010-11 budget, Ken Nieman, AADL associate director of finance, HR and operations, gave his monthly financial report to the board. The district’s cash balance at the end of March was $9,699,319, down from $10,415,047 in February. Additionally, the library had received tax receipts for a total of $11,391,791 as of March 31, or 97% of the budgeted amount for the current fiscal year.

Nieman also noted that the library had a positive fund balance of $7,258,959. He said there was nothing out of the ordinary, although utility bills were higher than normal in January through March; the library will possibly have to move funds to that line item. Additionally, phone and Internet charges have also been more than the library expected. Other line items that are over budget through March include custodial (for carpet and window cleaning that took place in July and November) and supplies (due to archive shelving purchased in January). The board also unanimously approved various disbursements for the month of March.

Changes to Bylaws, Policies

Trustee Barbara Murphy reported that the policy committee met twice between the board’s March and April meetings to discuss a change in the board’s bylaws and two new policies.

The bylaws were revised in order to stay in sync with the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education election schedule – this means members’ terms will start in November instead of July. Additionally, the board’s annual meeting has been changed from July to the first meeting of each new calendar year. Murphy said the board will vote on the bylaw changes at its May meeting.

In addition, two new policies were created after the IRS AADL auditors during an annual audit suggested that the library create specific guidelines for dealing with conflicts of interest and whistleblowers. Murphy said the committee members worked with the library’s attorneys, who drafted the new policies.

Proposed Conflict of Interest Policy

Murphy said the conflict of interest policy is new to the board; it was written by the library’s attorneys at the suggestion of the IRS library’s auditors. AADL director Josie Parker stressed that the proposed policy would not apply to all employees – only to those who could compromise the library financially. The section of the policy addressing how it should be applied reads as follows:

This policy is intended to supplement, but not replace, federal and state laws governing conflicts of interest applicable to the Library and its operations, with respect to potential conflicts of interest involving Library Administrative Employees (as defined below).

This policy applies to Library Administrative Employees with significant decision-making authority as follows: Director, Associate Director, Administrative Assistant, Manager, Staffing Coordinator, and Purchasing Agent (collectively, “Administrative Employees”). Persons covered under this policy, as well as their relatives and associates, may be referred to in this policy as interested parties.

The policy defines conflicts as occurring when “an interested party directly or indirectly benefits or profits as a result of a decision, policy or transaction made by the Library.” One example would be if the library agrees to lease or purchase goods, services or properties from one of the interested parties. Murphy noted that the library’s administrative employees would be required to sign a copy of the policy to indicate that they have received and read it.

Trustee Margaret Leary questioned whether the policy should also address conflicts of commitment, which concerns the amount of work employees do for entities other than the library. Parker responded that the library’s human resources division handles conflict of commitment issues. The board did not vote on the proposed policy.

Proposed Legal Compliance (Whistleblower) Policy

Murphy said the proposed legal compliance policy makes it clear that the library will comply with all applicable laws, and employees who report policy violations will be protected. The policy states that employees who have concerns regarding a suspected violation should report it to the director or the chair of the board of directors; furthermore, they will not be discharged, threatened or discriminated against for reporting the violation. The board did not vote on the proposed policy at its April 19 meeting.

Friends of the AADL Agreement

AADL board secretary Margaret Leary reported that the special issue committee had determined the library’s agreement with the Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library did not require any changes.

Later in the meeting, the board voted unanimously in favor of extending its space use agreement with the Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library by one year from its expiration date on May 18, 2010. Leary said the board members were all “very pleased” at how the agreement had worked out so far and that it had clarified the relationship between AADL and FAADL.

Director’s Evaluation

AADL board president Rebecca Head said the director’s evaluation committee had compiled a document to be shared with the board at a later date in closed session. Head said the evaluation would be finalized by the time of the board’s next meeting.

Director’s Report

AADL director Josie Parker reminded board members that the previous week had been National Library Week and the library had held numerous events in its honor, including a FestiFools Parade Robot costume workshop and a seminar on coping with low vision as a health issue.

Parker also noted that the Ann Arbor District Library’s Traverwood branch was recently featured as the cover story in the Ann Arbor Observer. Parker said the Ann Arbor Ad Club also awarded the AADL Traverwood branch’s sustainable features brochure a 2010 Silver ADDY award in the collection material, brochure, four-color category. Karen Moeller Design created the brochure, with oversight from AADL staff member Jenny Hoffman.

Board members present: Rebecca Head, board president; treasurer Prue Rosenthal; secretary Margaret Leary; trustees Carola Stearns and Barbara Murphy. Also: AADL director Josie Parker.

Absent: Ed Surovell, Jan Barney Newman

Next meeting: The board’s next regular meeting is on Monday, May 17, 2010. The public portion of the meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the library’s fourth floor board room, 343 S. Fifth Ave., Ann Arbor. [confirm date]

Vicki Honeyman gives Doug Wathen a haircut in her shop, Heavenly Metal, which shares space with her other business, Vicki’s Wash & Wear Haircuts. In the background to the left is a sandwich board sign for Heavenly Metal, tucked into the corner since Honeyman was notified that it's illegal to put it outside the store.

Vicki Honeyman’s Heavenly Metal is easy to miss. Not only is it the sole retail shop on East Ann, but the business is also set back from the street. Until recently, Honeyman relied on a portable sign she set up on the northeast corner of East Ann and Fourth Avenue to bring in business. But earlier this month, a city official told her she had to take her sign down. In Ann Arbor, it’s illegal.

Honeyman says that since the city made her take her sign down, she’s seen a significant drop in the number of customers coming into Heavenly Metal. Without the sign, people don’t know her business is there.

“It’s completely affected my business,” Honeyman said, describing it as “devastating” to her income.

The Ann Arbor city council considered a measure in February that would have amended the sign ordinance to make portable signs legal, allowing businesses to buy annual permits to use them. But when that resolution was voted down, city officials decided to step up enforcement of the existing sign ordinance. Business groups and retailers have protested – it’s likely that city staff will propose a new permitting system for council to consider next month, one that’s based on sidewalk occupancy permits.

Sign Ordinance: Some Background

Honeyman’s sign was in violation of Chapter 61, Section 5:508 of the city code, which prohibits a variety of signs: exterior banners, pennants, spinners and streamers; portable exterior signs; and signs erected in the public right-of-way (excluding portable “open house” signs).

The ordinance hasn’t been strenuously enforced – in fact, the chair of the city’s sign board of appeals quit out of frustration about the issue.

There have also been efforts – so far unsuccessful – to change the ordinance. At its Feb. 16, 2010 meeting, Ann Arbor city council discussed a measure brought forward by councilmember Sabra Briere (Ward 1) to amend the sign ordinance. It would have regulated, through a permitting system, the placement of portable “sandwich board” signs, which are widely used.

During a public hearing that night, council heard from people on both sides of the issue. From Chronicle coverage:

Kathy Griswold raised concerns about possible interference of such signs with sight distances. If the system were to be complaint-driven, she warned, there could be delays in getting signs removed that obscured sight lines.

Also during the public hearing, Susan Pollay, executive director of the Downtown Development Authority, read a brief statement on behalf of the DDA, saying that sandwich board signs are part of what makes for a vibrant downtown experience. She suggested that the system be adopted without permits and then reviewed after one year to determine if there was adequate compliance.

Carolyn Grawi of the Center for Independent Living pointed out that sandwich board signs can pose a problem for people with disabilities – for the blind, the signs are in unexpected places, and for those who use wheelchairs, the signs can pose access issues. Grawi cautioned that vibrancy did not necessarily mean cluttering.

During deliberations, several councilmembers – including Briere – said they felt the ordinance needed more work. It was unanimously defeated, and an increase of enforcement was foreshadowed:

What would the effect of defeating the measure be on those who were already using such signs? The city attorney’s office is recommending that the ordinance – which does not allow use of such signs – be enforced. Marcia Higgins (Ward 4) expressed her concern that business owners be made aware that there would be enforcement efforts starting.

The issue was also discussed at a March 30, 2010 retreat of the Ann Arbor planning commission. From Chronicle coverage:

Commissioner Jean Carlberg questioned plans to dissolve the current Sign Board of Appeals and move their work to the Zoning Board of Appeals. Chris Cheng, project manager for efforts to amend Chapter 61 of the city code on sign and outdoor advertising, said one goal was to reduce the number of committees and boards. [...]

Wendy Rampson reported that the former chair of the [Sign Board of Appeals], Steve Schweer, had quit because he was unhappy over a lack of enforcement of the sign ordinances. That’s about to change, she added – Cheng would be starting to ramp up enforcement in April. Looking somewhat glum about that prospect, Cheng said, “There are a lot of illegal signs out there.”

Enforcement Picks Up, Businesses Protest

The city’s Community Standards Unit and Planning Division began issuing written warnings concerning portable signs on April 1. Business owners in violation were told to remove the illegal sign within 24 hours. The warning informed them that if they failed to do so, city staff would remove the sign and the offending individual would receive a citation and face a fine ranging from $100 to $500. City officials would also confiscate the sign in question without notifying the business owner if the warning wasn’t heeded. The code violation would qualify as a misdemeanor.

Wendy Rampson, the city’s planning manager, told The Chronicle that at this point no tickets have been issued, just warning letters. She said several people have contacted her to say they feel the timing of the enforcement is less than ideal, given recent economic conditions. Those who have voiced complaints have said businesses are doing everything they can to bring in customers right now, and making them take down their signs isn’t helping.

Rampson explained that the city decided to start enforcing the ordinance in part because members of the public – including people with disabilities – have complained about signs obstructing the pedestrians’ right of way in the downtown area. Another factor, she said, was the city council’s unanimous rejection during its Feb. 16 meeting of the proposed ordinance amendment that would have made sandwich board signs legal.

“We felt we needed to move forward with a comprehensive enforcement,” Rampson said.

Separately, the city’s planning and development staff has been working for the past year to amend the sign ordinance in order to remedy inconsistencies, unrelated to the portable sign prohibition.

Businesses Weigh In

Honeyman said her sign was in a garden off the sidewalk, so it didn’t create an obstacle for pedestrians or create a hazard for handicapped individuals. The city’s actions in enforcing the sign ordinance are hurting small businesses, she said, and by extension the local economy and even the city’s personality. She accused the city of shirking responsibility for shops like Heavenly Metal in favor of big corporate entities like Google.

“The city of Ann Arbor needs us,” Honeyman said. “We’re the people who add color to the town.”

On the same day that she was issued the warning because of her sign, Honeyman said she sent letters of complaint to mayor John Hieftje, city council and Susan Pollay, executive director of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority. She has not received a response.

“Now I just have to wait and see what’s going to happen,” Honeyman said. “I’m not doing anything bad. I’m just trying to make a living. I’m not trying to be a rebel. Please, city of Ann Arbor, support me.”

Jeff Pickell, outside of Kaleidoscope Books and Collectibles, his shop at the corner of North Fourth and East Ann.

Jeff Pickell, who owns Kaleidoscope Books and Collectibles on the northeast corner of North Fourth and Ann, just down the street from Honeyman’s Heavenly Metal, also received a warning about his sign usage. Pickell expressed confusion at the city’s action, saying that his sign had been on private – not city – property, and didn’t pose a threat to pedestrians.

“It’s not part of the traffic process,” Pickell said of his sign. “It’s not a danger or impediment. It’s off the sidewalk area. What’s the city trying to say?”

Pickell said he had contacted the city about the issue but also has not received a response. He said that taking down his sign likely won’t have a major impact on his business, since his store is more visible than Honeyman’s. However, he understands how the prohibition on signs hurts those whose shops have less of an obvious presence. Like Honeyman, he said the city doesn’t treat small businesses as kindly as it should.

“People are drawn to the city in part by the differences of the stores that are downtown,” Pickell said. “Small businesses should be protected. Not harassed. Not fined. It’s not only unnecessary. It’s stupid.”

City Backs Off, New Sidewalk Permitting System Possible

In light of the conflict surrounding the sign ordinance issue, Rampson said the city administration, planning staff and police department agreed to hold off on issuing any tickets or giving out any more warnings in order to discuss new approaches to portable signs. She said the Main Street and State Street area associations and the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce have shown interest in finding a way to make portable signs legal in the downtown area.

Members of the downtown merchants associations have suggested adding portable signs to the city’s current sidewalk occupancy permit system, Rampson said. Businesses currently file for sidewalk occupancy permits to reserve space in front of their establishment for dining or outdoor sales.

City officials are considering allowing business owners to use the same system, which would allow them to pay a fee for an annual or temporary permit to place portable signs on the sidewalk (with certain restrictions on, for example, the size of the sign). [.pdf file of current sidewalk occupancy permit application] A daily permit for sidewalk occupancy costs 5 cents for every square foot of sidewalk space. An annual permit costs $1 per square foot.

Although that’s the only solution to the portable sign issue being considered at this point, Rampson said other ideas might come up. In any case, city officials are looking to take action in the next couple of weeks.

“There is an interest in moving quickly,” Rampson said.

Ann Arbor city councilmember Sabra Briere (Ward 1) said she has drafted an ordinance that uses the same concept: changing the language of the sidewalk occupancy law to allow for portable signs. Briere said she sent the draft to city administrator Roger Fraser last week. Subsequently, she was notified that city staff will present the council with a memo on May 3 outlining a permit system that would make portable signs legal.

This week Fraser confirmed that his staff is working on a draft of an ordinance that would address the sign issue by modifying the rules for sidewalk occupancy permits, similar to the proposal that Briere has drafted. He also confirmed that city staff hope to present the ordinance draft to the city council for action at council’s May 3 meeting.

A Sense of Urgency

Briere said the legality of portable signs has been an issue for a long time. Not long after Briere first became a councilmember in 2007, Honeyman contacted her about finding a solution to the sign problem. In the summer and fall of 2009, Briere chaired a committee to come up with a way to make portable signs legal. The committee included Honeyman, South University Area Association director Maggie Ladd, Linda Briggs from the Ann Arbor Commission on Disability Issues, members of other merchants associations and the city’s planning department.

They concluded their meetings in November 2009. The proposal they drafted – which focused on changing the language of the city’s existing sign ordinance, rather than altering rules for sidewalk occupancy permits – was the one the city council voted down during its Feb. 16 meeting. Briere said the city attorney’s office and city staff had objections to the draft.

After voting down the proposed amendment, councilmembers asked city staff to continue working on the issue. Originally, Briere said, Rampson told the council that staff could have a revised ordinance ready in four months. Briere and other councilmembers, along with Ann Arbor business owners, felt that wasn’t fast enough. Though Briere said she understands that staff has a lot to do, she feels the city needs to take action soon.

“It’s getting to be warm weather,” Briere said. “People are walking around a lot. The city has a need to enforce the law. So, we should make it clear what the law is. Right now, we have not been enforcing the law for a number of years, so people believed what they were doing was legal. Now, people feel like we’re taking their rights away.”

And what about Honeyman and Heavenly Metal? Briere said including portable signs in the sidewalk occupancy permit system might allow Honeyman to place her sign on the corner of Fourth and Ann (something that the sign ordinance would not permit, since business owners are not allowed to place a sign on someone else’s property or on a street where they don’t have frontage).

Under the sidewalk occupancy permit rules, however, businesses that have frontage and/or a street-level presence on a certain street simply have first dibs on the sidewalk space. It’s possible for others to obtain permits for the space – this happens most prominently during the annual Art Fairs.

“[Honeyman] could get permission from the people on Fourth,” Briere said. “So, in theory, this could work for her. But whether people would allow it to happen, I just don’t know.”

The board got a monthly update on the library’s finances, and were briefed on a $50,000 donation from the Friends of the AADL. They also heard a report on a project to digitally archive the program history of the University Musical Society – the first project of its kind in the world, according to AADL director Josie Parker.

Financial Report

The board reviewed the library’s financial summary for last month. As of Feb. 28, the library’s unrestricted cash balance was $10,415,047, compared to $11,486,059 in January. Additionally, the library has $11,296,440 from tax receipts. Overall, the library had a fund balance of $7,184,310 at the end of February. AADL’s fiscal year ends June 30.

Several operating expense line items were over budget through February. This included custodial expenses, as a result of carpet and window cleaning in July and November; utilities, which had higher bills than usual in January and February; communications; and supplies, due to the purchase of shelving for the Ann Arbor News archive storage in January. [See Chronicle coverage: "Library Nears Deal on Newspaper Archives" – the deal was finalized at the end of 2009.]

Ken Nieman, AADL associate director of finance, HR and operations, told board members that the library has been paying more in Internet and phone charges than they had anticipated. The library budgeted $12,833 for communications in February, but the actual cost totaled $19,123. Year to date, expenses related to communications are $141,622, compared to a budgeted $102,667. “We just didn’t budget correctly,” Nieman said.

Disbursements and Committee Reports

The board unanimously approved a list of various disbursements for the month of February totaling $654,246. Board members then heard committee reports, starting with the budget and finance committee.

AADL director Josie Parker said the finance committee had met and discussed local economic conditions and the current funding landscape for libraries. They did not yet have a proposed budget for the board to review for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2010.

There was no discussion at the board meeting about AADL possibly partnering with the Washtenaw Community College on a new downtown building. That topic had been raised at a recent retreat by WCC trustees. [See Chronicle coverage: "Ann Arbor Satellite Campus for WCC? Options include partnership with Ann Arbor District Library"] After AADL’s March 15 board meeting, Parker told The Chronicle that she had nothing to say on the topic.

Jan Barney Newman, the board’s vice president, reported that the policy committee had discussed changes in the board’s bylaws that would affect the officers’ terms. The changes relate to a previous board decision to move the date of the elections for board trustees to November instead of May. Newman said the committee would make its recommendations concerning the matter during the board’s next meeting on April 19. [Election changes were discussed in detail late last year – see Chronicle coverage: "Ann Arbor Library Board Moves Elections"]

Five-Year Strategic Plan

AADL board president Rebecca Head gave a report on the strategic planning committee, saying the group had made some minor adjustments to the draft of the AADL strategic plan for 2010-2015. The changes included adding the board’s vision, mission and values statements to the document, and making some minor wording changes in the text. [The board had discussed the plan in detail at a February working session – see Chronicle coverage: "Board Renews Library Building Discussion."]

At their regular monthly meeting on March 15, there was minimal discussion, aside from a question about one of the objectives in the section related to products:

Sustain the community value of the public library amidst closed digital content markets and decreasing availability of physical materials by designing digital products that establish new distribution relationships with content producers, push the boundaries of current copyright law and ensure public ownership of and access to content.

Prue Rosenthal wanted to know what constituted “closed digital content markets.” Eli Neiburger, AADL associate director of IT & product development, explained that iTunes would be an example of such a market, since the library can’t obtain a license to purchase music from it.

Rosenthal made a motion to adopt the proposed strategic plan, which includes objectives for the library in the areas of finances, communications, and organizational development as well as services, products and facilities. Jan Barney Newman seconded the motion. The board voted unanimously to adopt the plan. [.pdf file of AADL's five-year strategic plan]

Donations and Projects

AADL director Josie Parker informed board members that the library had received a $50,000 donation from the Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library, a nonprofit that runs a bookshop in the library’s lower level and donates proceeds to the AADL. Parker said the organization had made another $50,000 donation earlier in the year.

Parker also discussed the library’s efforts to digitally archive the program history of the University Musical Society. She said the library has digitized the first 100 years of program history so far, with 30 years left to go. “This is the first archival program like it in the world,” Parker said.

The library also plans to create a digital database of the UMS card catalog, which contains information about performers.

Board president Rebecca Head announced that the library is currently working with AnnArbor.com to host a PEEPS photo contest, an annual tradition the library took over from The Ann Arbor News, which ceased operations last summer. Guidelines for the contest – creating dioramas using the marshmallow treats – are available on the AADL website.

Board members present: Rebecca Head, board president; vice president Jan Barney Newman; treasurer Prue Rosenthal; secretary Margaret Leary; trustees Barbara Murphy, Carola Stearns and Ed Surovell. Also: AADL director Josie Parker.

Next meeting: The board’s next regular meeting is on Monday, April 19, 2010. The public portion of the meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the library’s fourth floor board room, 343 S. Fifth Ave., Ann Arbor. [confirm date]

The retreat on March 5-6 covered a range of other topics, from the college’s projected drop in revenue and possible tuition increases to its shifting student demographics and a raft of facility renovations.

The Chronicle attended the first day of the retreat – the second day was held in closed session. The location – including an overnight stay at what the Book Cadillac website describes as an historic, luxury hotel – was intended to help focus trustees’ attention, according to board chair Stephen Gill. The cost of the retreat came to $9,910.70.

Satellite Campus in Ann Arbor Explored

To accommodate WCC’s growing student population, the board has been considering various options for satellite campuses, including the McKinley-owned building on East Liberty in downtown Ann Arbor, formerly known as Tally Hall. [See Chronicle coverage: "WCC Considers Ann Arbor Satellite Campus"]

At this month’s retreat, WCC president Larry Whitworth said McKinley initially offered to lease the 30,000-square-foot space to WCC for $30 per square foot. But Damon Flowers, WCC’s associate vice president of facilities development and operations, pointed out that to build an educational space out of it – including improving ventilation, putting in a false ceiling, installing computers and other requirements – would have cost considerably more.

Whitworth said that after negotiations, McKinley offered a price of $10.50 a square foot for a 10-year lease. McKinley also offered to pay for all of the necessary buildout.

“Obviously, this is an extremely good price,” Whitworth said.

But that location is not the only option the college is considering. After rejecting an offer from the University of Michigan to rent classroom space, Whitworth said WCC is considering partnering with the Ann Arbor District Library. The library board and administration are considering moving ahead with rebuilding their current downtown facilities. [Chronicle coverage: "Board Renews Library Building Discussion"]

“I thought to myself, if we were thinking about the future, working with the library makes all kinds of sense,” Whitworth told trustees. “[AADL director Josie Parker] thinks that joining forces makes it a much more doable project. We’ve got all the meeting rooms. We’ve got the conference center. We’ve got parking. The bus depot is coming in,” he said, referring to AATA’s plans to rebuild the Blake Transit Center, across the street from the library’s downtown building on South Fifth Avenue.

[Mentions of the parking and conference center refer to an underground parking structure being built by the Downtown Development Authority on the city-owned Library Lot, just north of the library's downtown building. The city also is reviewing proposals for possible development on top of the parking structure – including a possible hotel/conference center.]

Whitworth added that Parker believes AADL will likely move ahead on the library building project over the next year, including going to voters to ask for a millage to pay for construction. “Basically, it’s a 2.5- to 3-year proposition,” he said. “I think we could make do for 2 to 3 years. The synergy that comes about with the library is such a phenomenal connection.”

Before there was any further discussion of satellite campus options, trustee David Rutledge stated he was “very uncomfortable” with discussing the topic in a public setting. He moved that since it was an issue of purchasing real estate, the board should discuss it in closed session.

“We don’t know how our discussion would impact others,” Rutledge said.

The other trustees supported his motion, and agreed that the board would discuss the satellite campus options on the second day of the retreat, in closed session.

Budget and Financial Concerns

Earlier in the meeting, the board discussed a projected drop in revenue over the next five years or so. For the current fiscal year, the college is expected to generate a $1.5 million budget surplus. However, there might not be a surplus in coming years, due to a decrease in the college’s primary source of revenue: property taxes.

According to a WCC financial report presented to the board, there is a projected 7% to 8% decrease in property taxes for the next fiscal year, due to a drop in property values. That amounts to a funding decrease of about $3.5 million.

Property taxes account for 51% of WCC’s total revenue. At the board’s Feb. 23, 2010 meeting, trustees approved a revised fiscal 2009-10 budget, with $98,706,906 in total revenue. Property taxes account for $50,299,300 of that figure.

“I think we’re going to have to understand that over the next four or five years … it all depends on what kind of a college we want to have,” said WCC president Larry Whitworth, referring to the projected loss of revenue. “Do we want to cut or freeze employment, or do we want to raise tuition? We’re probably going to be talking about $8 to $10 a year for tuition increases [per credit hour].”

Whitworth said that a $10 increase in the cost per credit hour would generate $2.95 million annually. According to WCC’s website, the current cost per credit hour is $82 for distance learning courses, $80 for in-district students, $131 for out-of-district students and $174 for out of country or state. He and the trustees discussed how much to increase the credit-hour cost in order to balance the budget and avoid eating into the college’s fund balance. According to WCC’s financial report for the 2008-09 fiscal year, the college has a fund balance of $23,775,264.

“We do have to think seriously about how we move forward and start to consume some of our fund balance without consuming all of it, too quickly,” Whitworth said.

Pamela Horiszny, vice chair of the WCC board, said she felt a $5 increase would be enough to balance the budget. However, Whitworth said upping the credit-hour cost by only $5 would “come back to bite us next year.”

“Even at $10, we’re starting to consume all of these reserves that we have,” Whitworth said.

In talking with The Chronicle after the retreat, board chair Stephen Gill said that another budget concern is the state faculty pension – the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System (MPSERS) – that the college pays into each year. This past year that payment went up $3 million, for a total cost of about $8 million.

According to a financial report given to the board at their Feb. 23 meeting, WCC was notified by the State Fiscal Management Division that the MPSERS rate will increase from 16.94% of gross salaries to 19.41%. The report states that WCC anticipates the rate will increase 2% each year for the next few years. [A detailed explanation of how MPSERS works is included in a Chronicle report of a Feb. 17, 2010 Ann Arbor Public Schools board study session.]

“It’s costing us a lot of money,” Gill said. “That’s really hurting us.”

Student Demographic Data

Linda Blakey, WCC associate vice president of student services, presented demographic data on the college’s student population. Given the current state of the economy and the subsequent rise in people turning to school to prepare for a career change, WCC has seen a considerable rise in enrollment recently.

In the past year, enrollment has increased by about 4,000 students. There are currently 12,214 students enrolled for WCC’s winter 2010 semester. That’s an increase of  7.5% – 989 students – over the winter 2009 semester. There were 14,202 students enrolled for the fall 2009 semester – 10% (1,290 students) more than in fall 2008. 

The increase in enrollment has led WCC to consider establishing a satellite campus to accommodate the increased enrollment, a topic which the trustees addressed later in the retreat [and reported in an earlier section of this article]. Blakey’s presentation noted that the college has seen the biggest increase in the 18- to 20-year-old age group.

Between the 2004-05 academic year and 2008-09, the number of 18- to 20-year-old males in WCC’s student population went up 2.4%. Female students in the same age group increased by 2.2%. Blakey said the raw numbers for all other age and gender groups – including men and women aged 21 to 24, 25 to 34, and 35 and up – have also increased. However, the percentage of the student population they account for has decreased in some instances, due to the 18- to 20-year-olds taking up such a large portion. For example, the proportion of new students who are males aged 25 to 34 has dropped by 1%.

“I just think it’s important to again point out in terms of raw numbers, all age groups are going up,” Blakey said. “The younger students are just taking up a larger percentage of the group.”

Blakey also presented data concerning the majors that new students are declaring upon enrollment. Between 2005 and 2009, the college has seen a significant drop in the number of 18- to 20-year-olds going into business and computer science, from nearly 700 students to just over 400. The number of business and computer science students also dropped for those aged 21 and up.

However, the number of students in the 18 to 20 age group going into health increased by over 200. There was also an increase in individuals studying math and science.

Blakey said the increased interest in math has resulted from more students enrolling with the intention to transfer as pre-med majors. WCC president Larry Whitworth noted that in general, the number of students who plan to transfer has gone up, particularly among the rapidly rising population of 18- to 20-year-olds.

“We surveyed students … about 70% of the students indicated that they planned to transfer,” Whitworth said. “The actual numbers are increasing pretty dramatically at this point.”

Trustee Pamela Horiszny commented that the downturn in the economy has resulted in recent high school graduates opting to attend community colleges instead of four-year universities in order to save money.

Data presented during the retreat about the percentage of high school seniors opting to attend WCC reinforced Horiszny’s statement. Graduates from Ypsilanti High School attend the college at a rate of 33.5%. WCC’s penetration rate is 36.6% for Manchester community schools, 22% for Milan, 14% for Chelsea and 20.6% for Brighton.

“We’re certainly attracting more recent high school graduates,” Whitworth said. “We have one of the only strong vocational technical programs at a community college anywhere. We have a reputation as a good academic school. That old stigma that used to be associated with a community college just isn’t in place anymore in the minds of most students and their families.”

The board went on to examine data concerning the student population’s geographic distribution. Between 2,500 and 2,699 students live in the 48197 zip code region in Ypsilanti. Between 1,500 and 1,699 students live in the 48198 area in Ypsilanti. Overall, Ann Arbor zip codes 48103, 48108 and 48105 account for 22.5% of the student population for the fall and winter semesters from 2008 to 2010, compared to 29.2% for the two Ypsilanti zip codes.

The student population isn’t as concentrated west of Ypsilanti. Some of the trustees questioned whether there are actually 1,000 students living within a mile of downtown Ann Arbor, a statistic that has previously been used to bolster the college’s consideration of establishing a satellite campus in that location. Whitworth confirmed that the number is correct.

“Downtown Ann Arbor is still the central hub,” Whitworth said. “We’re already serving the Ypsilanti populations that we’re looking at here. The current campus basically serves that population. Once you get on the other side of Ann Arbor, it’s so sparse that you don’t get any concentrations. Ann Arbor then becomes the next concentration point.”

WCC trustee Richard Landau – considering an “If you build it, they will come” theory – proposed that the student population might be concentrated in Ypsilanti simply because of the college’s location.

“Is the reason that we draw so much from Ypsilanti that we’re effectively in Ypsilanti?” Landau asked. “If you had a campus in the 48103 zip code, would you see those numbers go up significantly?”

The board also discussed how the age distribution of the population that the college serves may change in coming years. The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) predicts that Ann Arbor Public Schools will see an 8% decrease in residents aged 5 to 17, a 19.1% decrease for 18- to 34-year-olds, and a 189.3% increase for those 65 and older between now and 2035.

The trustees noted this is significant to the college because the senior vote factors considerably into passing millages to generate funding. They discussed a possible explosion in continuing education classes. Whitworth joked that WCC might start offering courses in euchre and square dancing for the older population.

“It’s going to be very, very different as we move forward,” Whitworth said.

David Rutledge, the board’s treasurer, brought up another trend: the shift in jobs away from manufacturing and the growing number of people returning to school for retraining.

Whitworth referenced Dan Pink, an author who has written several books on the changing world of work. He said Pink warns that everything routine is going away.

“The whole nature of the work is going to change pretty dramatically,” Whitworth said. “As we look to the future, it’s going to be those individuals that bring creativity, innovation to the workplace that are going to be successful.”

In order for WCC students to succeed in this changing work environment, Whitworth said the college should consider whether they need to change their academic requirements.

Five-Year Facilities Plan, Parking Project

Damon Flowers, WCC’s associate vice president of facilities development and operations, presented a capital projects and construction plan for the fiscal years 2009-10 through 2013-14. The total for the capital projects budget for the next five fiscal years is $20,172,900.

Improving the OE Building

The plan includes numerous renovations for the Occupational Education Building. By July 2011, the college aims to replace existing air-handling equipment and the pneumatic temperature control system. The plan also includes replacing the OE Building’s roof, which is over 20 years old. Other replacements include the electrical system and switchgear. All of this construction will cost an estimated $13.5 million.

The Student Center

The facilities plan also includes improvements for the college’s Student Center Building. The proposed renovations include replacing galvanized domestic water pipes ($250,000), reconfiguring the loading dock ($200,000), and renovating the first-floor dining areas ($1,007,100) by 2011. WCC president Larry Whitworth commented that improving the Student Center’s condition is an important project.

“We have to redo the first floor of the Student Center,” Whitworth said. “It’s worn out – it’s starting to look bad. We’ve got to look at those reserves that we’ve been putting aside to do these kinds of things. This is, of course, extremely important for long-term financial health because this is how we bring people to the campus.”

Morris J. Lawrence Building

The Morris J. Lawrence Building – which Whitworth called the college’s “front door” because of the many public events that are held there – is up for a proposed storage addition and a new entrance that goes directly into the Towsley Auditorium. Currently, people have to pass through the building’s lobby on their way to the auditorium. The renovations would be complete in 2011 and cost $580,800.

Family Education Building

The facilities plan includes replacing the mechanical systems equipment, upgrading electrical systems and fire alarms, improving the public restrooms, and replacing the outdoor playscapes for the Family Education Building. The project would cost a total of $200,000, with an estimated completion date of summer 2010.

Skilled Trades Annex

Flowers told trustees that the proposed facilities plan includes renovating the 7,500-square-foot skilled trades annex, including classrooms, a residential construction woodworking shop and the faculty offices. The building would also be set up to use geothermal energy for heating and cooling as well as for hot water. The renovations – with a 2011 completion date – will cost an estimated $1.3 million.

Other Projects

The facilities plan also calls for a $50,000 heating pump retrofit, which “provides for the automation and storage of water, which would then be mechanically cooled and recycled back into the central plant heating pumps for reuse.” This would allow the college to use less water.

The plan also includes a $1.15 million thermal storage chilled water upgrade, to be completed in 2012. According to Flowers, the upgrade would provide backup for the college’s existing cooling system, in case one of their existing chillers breaks.

“Things do go wrong,” Flowers said. “We really can’t cool the campus with one chiller. We lose one, and we’re in trouble.”

The facilities plan also suggests replacing the failing valves in the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning tunnel system on campus. This project would be completed in 2012 and cost $40,000. Additionally, the plan calls for repairing eroded asphalt on the campus’ perimeter roads, a $180,000 project to be completed by the summer of 2014.

Parking Structure Project

Flowers also presented information on the parking structure WCC plans to build. He estimated that with approximately 655 spaces at $17,500 a space, the construction alone would cost $11,462,500. Additional costs would bring the subtotal for the project to $14,612,500. Flowers said after the retreat that the grand total for the project is still “up in the air.” Right now, it would probably come to around $15.5 million. “Most of the administration wants to get it to $12 million,” Flowers said. The total budget for the project will be presented to the board in April.

Three-Year Internet Technology plan

Amin Ladha, WCC’s chief information officer, discussed the college’s technology plan for the next several years. Ladha’s goals for WCC’s IT department include establishing streaming video services for distance learning, marketing and other academic purposes; looking into “cloud computing,” the use of leased storage space; a wireless network upgrade; a Microsoft Office 2010 upgrade; and enacting disk-to-disk backups for improved data restoration following disasters.

Ladha also spoke to the board about future trends in technology, such as the increasing popularity of mobile devices. For example, Ladha said the college could make it possible for students to access the online student directory or look up their grades and coursework on the WCC academic site – called Blackboard – using their iPhones.

Ladha said he believes Apple’s new iPad will prove popular among WCC students, and the college’s IT division should look into ways that these devices can be incorporated into academics. The trustees discussed the possibility of students purchasing their textbooks electronically and reading them as ebooks on mobile devices.

“I think it’s absolutely coming,” trustee Richard Landau said of electronic textbooks. “It’s just a factor of the devices themselves right now costing $400 to $500 apiece. You’re going to have to see these devices come down to $150 dollars apiece, and then it’s going to explode.”

Ladha said there is already a class at WCC that uses ebooks and the Kindle, an electronic reader from Amazon.com. “There are instructors who will start doing it,” Ladha said. “There is already an example. I see the trend coming.”

Curriculum Changes

Linda Blakey, WCC associate vice president of student services, and Phyllis Grzegorczyk, interim vice president of instruction, informed the board about changes in the college’s general education requirements, as well as the addition of some new programs.

The change in the general education requirements involves a change in the language of the college’s requirements. Previously, WCC’s general education requirements stated:

Students entering degree programs in Fall 2001 and thereafter also will need to demonstrate computer and information literacy … by competency testing or completion of course work as a degree graduation requirement.

The new language reads:

Students enrolling in associate’s degree programs in Fall 2010 and thereafter will need to meet general education area VIII, Computer and Information Literacy, by completing the specified courses.

Grzegorczyk said instructors’ complaints about their students’ lack of computer skills inspired the change. Previously, she said students would put off fulfilling the computer literacy requirement until they were almost finished with their program. Now, they will be strongly advised to fulfill the requirement before taking the majority of their courses – although completing the computer literacy course work before taking other classes will not be required.

Blakey added that they plan on evaluating departments and instructional areas. If computer skills are absolutely necessary for a particular class, they will make the computer literacy course a prerequisite or concurrent prerequisite. She said many instructors use the college’s Blackboard site to post grades and assignments, and many require their students to use Microsoft Word and other basic software.

“If students don’t have the computer skills, they just have a really difficult time,” Blakey said.

Although the option of competency testing has been eliminated, students still have the option of meeting the computer literacy requirement through “credit by exam,” the equivalent to taking the final exam for the course. Blakey noted that many students think they have adequate computer skills, but they might only know how to update their Facebook status and be clueless about creating an Excel spreadsheet.

“You’d be surprised,” Blakey said. “Even though people have computer skills, they have holes in those computer skills.”

Grzegorczyk said competency testing was eliminated due to the excessive expense and human resources that would be needed to test everyone who thinks they can use a computer well enough to bypass the requirement. WCC president Larry Whitworth agreed, saying that everyone would try to take the competency test, and that would be implausible, given the growing number of incoming students.

“If you just had a competency exam, you would be testing 4,000 people,” Whitworth said. “They’d all go, ‘Well, I can use a computer.’ This is beyond what most of them think.”

In addition to the altered general education requirements, the college is adding an environmental science program. Its requirements will consist of existing courses and two new environmental science courses that are currently in development.

There will also be a new commercial building facility maintenance program. This area of study was specifically designed for University of Michigan maintenance mechanics; UM is supporting the program’s development. No one else will be allowed to enroll initially, but others might be allowed to enroll in the future.

Finally, WCC will introduce a new nursing transfer program designed to prepare students to enter Eastern Michigan University’s nursing program as juniors after they graduate from WCC. The college hopes to start offering this program next fall.

“This is very similar to the nursing transfer to UM that we did about 15 years ago,” Grzegorczyk said. “This is probably the best-kept secret in the county because the admission to UM and EMU has a specific number of slots for our students to move directly into.”

A Coda on the Retreat’s Location: Why Detroit?

Following the retreat, The Chronicle inquired into the choice of the Westin Book Cadillac hotel for the location of the two-day meeting, which included an overnight stay. Stephen Gill, chair of the WCC board of trustees, said they chose to have the retreat in Detroit in order to keep the trustees focused.

“We’ve had experience having the retreat in Ann Arbor, but people are just too distracted by other things,” Gill said. “By having it out of town, far enough away, you commit the time to that two-day retreat. We get everybody’s full attention.”

Gill added that the trustees wanted to get away, but still stay in Michigan. “We liked the idea of being in Detroit because it helps the economy in Southeast Michigan,” he said.

The Chronicle submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to find out the cost of the retreat. The board paid $5,887.43 in hotel charges, including individual guest charges, catering and Internet charges. The board also had dinner at the Westin Book Cadillac’s 24grille, which cost $4,023.87. The total cost for the retreat, including the hotel charges and dinner, was $9,910.70. [.pdf file of receipts from Westin Book Cadillac, in response to a FOIA request]

Present: Board of Trustees: chair Stephen Gill, vice chair Pamela Horiszny, secretary Anne Williams, treasurer David Rutledge, trustees Mark Freeman, Diana McKnight-Morton and Richard Landau. Administration: WCC president Larry Whitworth, executive assistant to the board Mary Faulkner, associate vice president of student services Linda Blakey, associate vice president of facilities development and operations Damon Flowers, interim vice president of instruction Phyllis Grzegorczyk, and chief information officer Amin Ladha. Several other administrators also participated in the retreat.

The WCC Board of Trustees meets on the second and last Tuesdays of each month at 4 p.m. The next regular meeting will be on March 23 in the Board of Trustees meeting room on the second floor of the Student Center Building. For more information, visit the board’s web page.

At a Feb. 18 working session to discuss AADL’s strategic plan, board member Ed Surovell pushed the board to act. “We are not in charge of our budget or our reserves or our fate because the building is falling apart,” he said. “On any given day of the week, it could be closed for an extended period of time because something deadly goes wrong with it.”

If they move ahead, the project would likely include asking voters to approve a millage that would fund construction.

Concerns over the library’s main building, located at Fifth and William, were part of a wide-ranging discussion as the board and key staff members worked through the draft of a strategic plan for July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2015. Other topics included phasing out the Dewey Decimal System as the primary way to classify materials, marketing to those who don’t use the library, and adapting products and services to reflect changing technology.

Downtown Building: The Elephant in the Room

The big issue at the meeting – which was referred to as the “elephant” – was the renovation or rebuilding of the downtown library. Board members and administrators agreed that the building sorely needs to be rebuilt. However, the current economic climate had them wavering between simply maintaining the current building or taking steps toward completely renovating it. The strategic plan draft included the initiative to “develop and maintain clean, safe physical facilities that creatively meet the needs of the community and staff with an emphasis on sustainability, accessibility and flexibility.”

AADL board president Rebecca Head began the discussion by noting that the board voted last year to lower its millage rate. “There’s a real recognition of what our economic situation is,” she said. “Renovating is even a strong word. When the time is right, we’ll know in terms of replacing the library, and the time is not right now. It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s where we are right now.”

Other board members pointed out a complicating factor: They cannot anticipate how much it will cost to keep the current building functioning. They don’t know what will break, or when. [The same issue arose at the board's October 2009 retreat. Over the past year, the building required two major capital expenditures: $300,000 to replace two air-handling units, and $113,000 for a freight elevator.]

“The board has to decide how much you spend when things break,” said Carola Stearns. “How much money do you put into a building that we know needs significant renovation?”

Trustee Ed Surovell said the issue of renovating or rebuilding should be taken out of the strategic plan altogether. The building isn’t on the same level as the other initiatives, he said, and the board should address it using a separate process.

Surovell went on to say that the building no longer represents what it should on a utilitarian level, due to its failing structural elements.

“We are not in charge of our budget or our reserves or our fate because the building is falling apart,” Surovell said. “On any given day of the week, it could be closed for an extended period of time because something deadly goes wrong with it.”

Surovell proposed that the board move forward with the task of rebuilding the downtown library. He said they should hire specialists and start a public relations program to get community support for a millage to fund the project.

“We can’t get away from it,” Surovell said. “The building’s falling apart. It’s time to do something.”

Board treasurer Prue Rosenthal agreed with Surovell, although she said the working session wasn’t the time to address the issue. She suggested arranging a retreat specifically to discuss the building.

“It’s not something we can do in this format,” Rosenthal said. “I think Ed’s absolutely right, but I don’t think we can start now to talk about whether we should build a new library.”

AADL director Josie Parker said she also feels the board needs to act now on the issue of rebuilding the library. She said that in spite of the current economic situation, they should not simply aim to maintain the current building at this time.

“If we table it and mothball it, so to speak, we won’t pull it back out,” Parker said of the decision to rebuild. “We will be guilty of letting the building fall down around us, and it will cost a lot more. Prices will be higher. I don’t think it’s a question about renovate or replace. You made that decision. Replace.”

Parker went on to say that they need to first gain the public’s confidence and to explain why they need to pursue this project. She said this would involve conducting a survey to see if people would vote to fund rebuilding the library. Based on the results from that survey, the library board and administration could then decide whether or not to move forward. In the meantime, Parker agreed that the facilities issue should be removed from the strategic plan to be dealt with on its own.

“I would like to take the facilities piece away from the normal things and pull it away and deal with it differently,” Parker said.

Unlike previous discussions of the downtown building, board members did not talk about the impact of development on the city-owned Library Lot site – other than an offhand remark by Surovell calling the process a “circus.”  The city is reviewing responses to its request for proposals, which called for development on top of an underground parking structure being built there. The lot is located between Fifth and Division, just north of the downtown library. In the past, board members have expressed concerns about how that development might affect the library’s future. [See Chronicle coverage "New Downtown Library? If, When and Where" and "Visions for the Library Lot"]

Ultimately, the board decided to arrange a later meeting to further discuss the issue of the downtown building.

Services: Where’s Dewey Decimal?

In addition to facilities, the strategic plan covers several other areas: library services, products, finances, communications, and organizational development.

The AADL service initiative includes the goal to “increase independent access to collections by utilizing patron-oriented classification schemes.” Translation? Eli Neiburger, associate director of IT and product development, said that means looking at where the Dewey Decimal System works and where it should be phased out.

Library staff already organizes their CD collection and DVDs according to genre instead of the Dewey Decimal System, he said. “You can walk into a Barnes & Noble and find what you want like that. Why shouldn’t we have that here?”

Another goal in the services category: “Ensure access to a balanced collection of materials, information resources and services for our community’s rapidly growing and culturally diverse populations.” Part of this would involve a focus on world languages, said Celeste Choate, AADL associate director of services, collections and access. The library would examine the community’s demographics and decide, based on those figures, whether to provide books on CD in Arabic, Spanish or any other language spoken in the area.

The services initiative also includes plans to “increase opportunities for fine and fee payment and forgiveness.” An example of this, Choate said, would be holding a teen poetry reading event and giving those who recite their poems onstage a coupon to eliminate $5 of their library fines. She said this allows people whose cards were previously invalid because of accumulated fines to start using the library again.

“That’s very rewarding for us and for them,” Choate said. “Kids say, ‘Wow, I can use my library card again.’”

Products: A Digital Future

The bottom line of the strategic plan’s product initiative? The library needs to adapt to changing information-sharing tactics as distribution becomes more digital.

“Our place in the distribution of material up to this point has always been something that we could buy a physical item and put in on the shelf,” Eli Neiburger said. “If the new way that people consume content is a licensing model instead of a purchasing model, how does a library find a place in that economy?”

One idea is to enhance the library patron’s experience by borrowing ideas from Amazon.com’s selling techniques, such as the feature that recommends other books to shoppers based on one purchase.

“Amazon.com has kind of trumped the library industry in that they’re providing better bibliographic data in many cases,” Neiburger said.

Neiburger also mentioned the online community LibraryThing as a source of inspiration. The site not only recommends books that its users might like; it also informs them of which books they would likely hate.

Another goal: “Create a repository and distribution models for locally created and produced content.”

“This is something that we’ve started in the form of pictureAnnArbor, where people can submit their own photographs,” Neiburger said.

The strategic plan also calls for developing “products that will customize library borrowing to fit individual needs and require less time and management by patrons.” Currently, Neiburger said, the system doesn’t deliver things to people the way they want. Someone might put themselves on the waiting list for six books and end up getting all of those books the day before they leave on vacation.

Neiburger suggested improving this system through software that would allow patrons to specify the number and delivery date of the items they request.

“There are models out there – Netflix is the most prominent one – that let people say, ‘Here are the things that I want, but I don’t want more than two of them at a time,’” Neiburger said.

Additionally, print-on-demand technology could be explored. Neiburger explained this could allow library users to print individual copies of works in the public domain or to print versions of their own original work. “The library could play a role in taking the stuff the public creates and bringing it to wider audience,” he said. “This is going to change a lot over the 5-year term of this plan. You could conceivably see a device that’s not that much bigger than a current laser printer.”

Finally, the strategic plan calls for designing “digital products that establish new distribution relationships with content producers, push the boundaries of current copyright law and ensure public ownership of and access to content.” As an example of what this might involve, Neiburger brought up Netflix again, specifically the service that allows customers to watch streaming videos online instead of renting a physical DVD.

“It’s clear that Netflix sees an exit point from the physical delivery of items,” Neiburger said.

Finances: Sustainable Funding

In the strategic plan, AADL’s goal for finances is to “develop a multi-year financial process that assures adequate, sustainable funding for the next 20 years.”

AADL director Josie Parker said that although library staff already engage in informal conversations about multi-year financial strategies, the process has not been formalized and put down in writing. Additionally, Parker said there are too many economic variables at this time to establish a concrete plan for the coming decades.

“The reason we haven’t talked about a multi-year financial process now is that we don’t know,” Parker said. “It’s still a goal. It’s still something we should try to do.”

Communications: Widening AADL’s Reach

One of the library’s main communications goals is to reach people who don’t use the library. Associate director Eli Neiburger said the question is how can they reach as many individuals in the community as possible. Over the past year, 52,000 borrowers have transacted business – meaning they checked something out. However, there are others in the community who avoid the library for any number of reasons.

“Because our core audience is so fervent about using the library, it makes it easy to forget people who never use the library,” Neiburger said.

In order to reach those who aren’t already perusing the shelves, the library needs to determine what message they want to send out to show the surrounding community that the library is a valuable resource. Neiburger said this shouldn’t be “elevator talk,” or something along the lines of “Hey, summer reading is great.”

“How is that a compelling value proposition to the people we are most trying to reach?” he said.

Who exactly are those people? As board member Prue Rosenthal put it, they are “people who are scared to come in here, for whatever reason.”

AADL director Josie Parker elaborated, saying that potential patrons might pass up the library because they don’t read, can’t read, don’t speak English, or are intimidated by the Dewey Decimal System, among other reasons. And “there are people who don’t think they need us,” she said, describing them as having an “If I want a book, I’ll just buy it” attitude.

Neiburger added that the library has to fight against bad experiences people might have had 30 years ago with their elementary school library. Overall, libraries and the people who work in them don’t have the most exciting reputation.

“You see it in the newspaper,” Neiburger said. “What does a librarian look like in the newspaper comics?”

AADL hopes to combat those mental images of sour-faced shushing librarians by informing the community about all it has to offer besides books. Associate director Celeste Choate said points of emphasis might include computer classes or the facility’s Internet stations.

Another emphasis: the events that the library regularly hosts. Recently, they had a visit from Ben Huh, founder of the popular online “Cheezburger Network,” where people post captioned pictures of cats (known as “lolcats“).

Parker agreed that AADL gets a lot of big names, like famous presidential correspondent Helen Thomas, who was in town last November. That’s partly because the library staff will “knock themselves out” to accommodate their guests, she said. Another factor is the audience.

“They know Ann Arbor will turn out,” Parker said.

Another aspect of the library’s communications and marketing goals is developing stronger partnerships within the University of Michigan. Doing so will help library staff know, for example, the right bulletin board to pin a notice on about an event to reach their target audience, Neiburger said.

“It’s such an enormous organization,” he said, “and it’s challenging to reach pockets within it.”

Organizational Development

According to the strategic plan draft, AADL seeks to “develop sustainable, adaptive organizational practices that allow the Library to thrive internally and externally.” Board member Barbara Murphy objected to this phrasing, saying that it was too general and could apply to any organization.

“I would somehow like to know what that means,” Murphy said. “What is there about the library thriving? How would we know if it’s thriving?”

Associate director Eli Neiburger responded that the statement was intentionally broad to take into account future shifts or changes in what would make the library successful. “A thriving library in 2015 might be different from a thriving library in 2010,” he said.

AADL director Josie Parker said she felt the beginning of the statement was more important than the section about thriving. “Not everyone is going to develop sustainable, adaptive organizational practices,” Parker said.

Ultimately, several board members proposed ending the statement after “practices.”

The library’s specific organizational development goals are to “improve and strengthen collaboration with other organizations to achieve mutual goals.” This could involve creating partnerships with other libraries. Neiburger said these types of collaborations “enhance and expand the bounds of library services” and show leadership on the part of AADL.

The library’s strategic plan also calls for improving its internal marketing to “increase staff opportunity to maximize the marketing value of casual patron interactions.”

Neiburger said this might mean that if someone is checking out Spanish language books, the staff member helping them could suggest a story time or event related to those books. In general, staff members would casually promote the library’s events to patrons.

Draft Language: Seeking Clarity

The draft’s language was a recurring topic of discussion throughout the working session. It began with the first bullet point under services: “Increase independent access to collections by utilizing patron-oriented classification schemes.” Several board members said the statement was too confusing, and the public would not be able to understand it.

“It’s one of the first things people will see on the strategic plan, so I’d like it to be a little clearer,” board president Rebecca Head said of the statement.

Murphy agreed that they should clarify the language – otherwise, she said the public would accuse AADL of using “gobbledygook.” Associate director Eli Neiburger defended the existing language, explaining that using general statements allowed the library to cover more activities with its initiatives.

“I think the equivalent is a blueprint,” Neiburger said. “Not everyone can read a blueprint. It’s what comes from them that you’re able to make sense of.”

Board members seemed to agree that adding examples to the plan would make it easier to understand. Head said she liked the idea of adding accomplishments to the draft to clarify the language.

“As we populate it with projects, it does become clear,” AADL director Josie Parker said in agreement. “If we can use this as it is and populate it with projects that explain it, then we’ll be OK.”

At the conclusion of the meeting, the board agreed to consider holding more frequent retreats in order to keep up to speed with changing technology and its impact on the library.

The board expects to vote on the strategic plan in March, after another working session.

Present: AADL board members Rebecca Head, Jan Barney Newman, Prue Rosenthal, Margaret Leary, Barbara Murphy, Carola Stearns and Edward Surovell. Staff members Josie Parker, director; Ken Nieman, associate director of finance, human resources and operations; Eli Neiburger, associate director of IT and product development; and Celeste Choate, associate director of services, collections and access.

The next regular AADL board meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 15, 2010 at 7 p.m. in the board room on the 4th floor of the downtown library, 343 S. Fifth Ave.

The barns and out buildings at Staebler Farm, on Plymouth Road in Superior Township. Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation bought the farm in 2001, and will be developing a master plan for the property in the coming years. (Photos by The Chronicle.)

“I’m open to suggestions,” Staebler told The Chronicle, “and willing to give up plenty of what I know.”

During their presentation about a five-year master plan for the parks system, county staff outlined plans for the Staebler Farm – a proposed $2.3 million investment – as well as for several other county parks, recreational facilities and preserves. It was one of three public meetings to get input on the master plan; the next meeting will be on Wednesday, Feb. 3, at the Dexter Library, starting at 7 p.m.

A draft of the master plan – which is also available online – includes items in an extensive capital improvement program that was approved last year by the county’s Parks & Recreation Commission. Several of the largest projects are planned for Rolling Hills Park, including the addition of a dog park, an expansion of the water park and construction of softball fields and an amphitheater. The county also plans to invest nearly $12 million in greenway and non-motorized trails over the next five years.

Shaping the Master Plan

The Washtenew County Parks & Recreation department manages 3,654 acres of land, including more than 1,800 acres protected through the Natural Areas Preservation Program. The parks system has 35 permanent employees who work as park planners, administrators, supervisors and field workers, among other positions. The department also hires as many as 400 seasonal workers throughout the year to provide services such as life guarding and facilities staffing.

The parks system receives most of its funding from two county millages, each levied at 0.2367 mill. One millage, which runs through 2020, pays for capital improvements and park development; the other goes to park operations, and expires in 2016. Other funding sources include fees, federal and state grants, concessions and private donations.

In addition, a third millage – at 0.25 mills – funds natural areas preservation, bringing in about $3 million annually, according to Bob Tetens, the county’s parks director. That millage expires in 2011, and would need to be put on the ballot for renewal this year. [See Chronicle coverage: "County Natural Areas Tax Up for Renewal"]

The department, with a budget of about $8.5 million, does not receive support from the county’s general fund. It has a fund balance of $21.5 million for parks and recreation, and another $6 million fund balance for the natural areas program.

Those fund balances will be used for some of the projects in the pipeline, as laid out by the master plan. The parks system updates its master plan every five years – for the current plan, the county hired the private consulting firm URS Corp., which in turn enlisted the planning firm JJR. The process of drafting the plan included examining state and national recreational trends, reviewing the county’s demographics and meeting with county recreation staff and officials.

In addition to the public meetings on Jan. 26 and Feb. 3, the master plan will be open for public comment at the March 9 meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission. That meeting runs from 7-9 p.m. at the parks administration office at County Park Farm, 2230 Platt Road in Ann Arbor. Park planner Richard Kent said the commission will likely adopt the master plan at its regular monthly meeting in April, at the earliest. Then the plan will be sent for approval at the state level – a requirement necessary in order to be eligible for state recreation funding.

Parks Projects through 2014

Within its broad goals – such as preserving the county’s natural resources and promoting an active lifestyle for community residents – the parks system has a range of specific projects outlined in the master plan over the next five years. [.pdf file of complete parks capital improvement program budget] Here’s a sampling.

Rolling Hills Park, Ypsilanti Township

Just over $13 million in projects – or about 40% of the park’s five-year capital improvement program – have been identified for this 363-acre park off of Stony Creek Road, between Bemis and Merritt in Ypsilanti Township. Proposed actions over the next few years include continued upgrades to the playground, tree house, pavilions, dock and fishing pier. About $3.2 million is earmarked for work on paved trails and the main road. Another big-ticket item is $3.6 million to expand the water park and build a promenade and new bath house.

In addition, the master plan for Rolling Hills calls for expanding a disc golf course, constructing a mountain bike course, putting in a dog park, and building an amphitheater and softball facilities. The department also has allotted $50,000 to conduct a feasibility study for a new recreation center. Other projects include installing soccer fields, expanding the park’s prairie acreage, installing interpretive signs in natural areas and gardens, and forming a trail connection with the adjacent Hewen’s Creek Park.

County Farm Park and Meri Lou Murray Recreation Center, Ann Arbor

The 141-acre County Farm Park is located on Ann Arbor’s east side, at the southwest corner of Washtenaw and Platt – behind the Meri Lou Murray Recreation Center. For the park, proposed projects include ongoing playground improvements, renovation of the Platt Road entrance, renovation of the Platt Road pavilion restrooms, adding restrooms and water service at the Medford Lot entrance, reconstructing the Platt parking lot, replacing signs at the entrances, renovating the trail system and replacing the fitness trail equipment.

The Platt Road entrance to County Farm Park, where the administrative offices for Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation are also located.

Other anticipated projects in the master plan include expanding natural areas in the park, reducing the acreage of mowed lawn, renovating the perennial gardens and pergola, collaborating with stakeholders on creek restoration, increasing programming related to horticultural gardens and creating a system of signs for the park’s planting areas.

Action items for the recreation center include making improvements and updates to the building, investigating solar applications, and improving connections to County Farm Park and the surrounding neighborhoods.

Independence Lake Park, Webster Township

Located northwest of Ann Arbor, Independence Lake Park is slated for $3.3 million in proposed projects over the next few years. That includes a new nature center, a new boardwalk and observation deck, and a new access drive, among other projects.

Other facilities and parks included in the master plan are Parker Mill in Ann Arbor Township; Sharon Mills Park in Sharon Township; Pierce Lake Golf Course and Park in Chelsea; Park Northfield in Northfield Township; Park Lyndon of Lyndon Township; the Osborne Mill Preserve in Scio Township; and Cavanaugh Lake Park in Sylvan Township.

Greenways and Non-Motorized Trails

The county park system is looking at investing nearly $12 million over the next five years in greenways and non-motorized trails – or 34% of the total capital improvement program. That includes ongoing development of the county’s Border-to-Border Trail system, as well as $600,000 each year made available to local municipalities for connecting their parks with the Border-to-Border network.

Staebler Farm

And, of course, there’s Donald Staebler’s farm in Superior Township. The master plan calls for improving the entrance drives, possibly renovating the farm house and coming up with other projects in a master site development plan. Nearly $2.3 million is allocated for this project.

Mary Staebler, Donald Staebler’s sister-in-law and caretaker who also attended the Jan. 26 meeting, seemed to have faith in the county’s ability to take care of the farm.

“They have done such an excellent job on everything they’ve done,” she said. “I’m sure they’ll do equally as well with the Staebler Farm.”

About the author: Helen Nevius, a student at Eastern Michigan University, is an intern with The Ann Arbor Chronicle.