Boelter suggests monthly stipends for district library board members

On Dec. 13, at his last meeting as a member of the Belleville Area District Library Board, Michael Boelter suggested a monthly stipend for the seven board members.
He said the city council in Belleville and the township board members in Sumpter and Van Buren get paid.
He suggested $40 for board members and $60 for the chairperson, making a total of $300 a month.
Boelter did not run for reelection to the board and he wouldn’t benefit from this pay. His replacement, Alma Hughes Grubbs, will take over his seat in January.
Library Director Mary Jo Suchy said the state act caps such payments at $30 a meeting.
“I didn’t get a chance to research this,” said board attorney John Day, who wasn’t informed of the proposal before the meeting.
“We don’t want to act on something without researching it,” said chairwoman Sharon Peters. “We have to look at it with some kind of process.”
She suggested sending it to the bylaw committee, chaired by John Juriga.
Peters said that Boelter has a long length of service on the board, since 2010, and as long as he has suggested this they should look into it since Boelter felt it was important.
“A stipend is a tax-deductible item,” Boelter said.
“We need to act in a way that’s well-researched,” Peters stated.
Boelter is the great-grandson of Fred C. Fischer for whom the Belleville library was built and named. A few years ago the name was changed to the Belleville Area District Library.
Boelter said he did not run for reelection because of conflicts with his work schedule.
In November, voters approved a bond and millage to build a new library and increased millage for operation of the new library.
At the end of the meeting, the board and audience enjoyed chocolate cake to celebrate Boelter’s service. Mary Jane Dawson said she suggests they make the address of the new library “1 Fred Fischer Drive,” which pleased Boelter.
“We were appointed by the townships and the city in the beginning and we didn’t know a lot of what we were doing,” Boelter said. “We learned. We have a very strong board now.”
Board chairwoman Sharon Peters said she enjoyed working with Boelter, “who has the blood of Fred C. Fischer coursing through his veins.”
In other business at the Dec. 13 meeting, the board:
• Approved a 3% raise for Library Director Mary Jo Suchy who turned down a raise last year in able to use that money for staff raises. She makes $75,000. Boelter, chairman of the personnel committee, said the seven members of the board finished their evaluation of Suchy and offer and approve that raise this year. He said staff is getting a 2.5% raise;
• Heard Suchy summarize her goals for 2017. The theme for the year is “Renewal,” like when a homeowner moves and has to reevaluate possessions, like old tapes, 50-year-old tables, files. There will be a lot of cleanup, while maintaining services. “I would like to have more staff,” she said, adding she will bring a staffing proposal to the next meeting;
• Approved hiring Midwestern Consulting, Inc., based in Ann Arbor, for a fee of $17,700, for a topographic and boundary survey of the land parcels involved in the new library project. Midwestern included a $1,200 fee for the portion of Fourth Street being vacated, which was not included in the other four bids, but definitely is needed since there is no legal description for the street. Midwestern said the survey will be completed within 45 days of authorization. The fee includes dealing with snow. Other bidders were Spicer Group of Dundee, $27,750; and from Ann Arbor, Smithgroup JJR, $25,611; Washtenaw Engineering, $19,600; and Nederveld, $16,500. “We can’t wait until spring,” said architect Dan Whisler. “We’ve got to expect there’s going to be delays”;
• Heard Suchy and CPA Ron Traskos of Post, Smythe, Lutz & Ziehl of Wayne, discuss the draft library audit report for 2015-16 done by Alan C. Young that has a good “unqualified” report. Suchy said they were able to put more money in the fund balance and Traskos said that was $55,199 for a total of $371,808, which is “very healthy.” He said on Dec. 31, they get taxes and the new fiscal year starts in July;
• Approved continuing the bookkeeping service by Sharon W. Duckworth, CPA, at a cost of $2,000 per quarter, and new construction accounting services by Traskos at a cost of $150 per hour not to exceed $1,500 per month for a period of about two years. He will be working with the construction manager and the financial people and noted, “It’s going to be a fun project”;
• Heard building committee chairwoman Joy Cichewicz report that Belynda Domas, who owns the HD Accounting building next door at 360 Charles Street that is being purchased by the library for $200,000, is getting ready to vacate, but the library won’t be read to take it over until April, so her property tax will be paid by the library, as agreed. Also, Cichewicz said she talked to Sumpter Township Supervisor John Morgan and he said the DPW building will be ready whenever the library is ready, for the satellite library;
• Heard board attorney John Day report he has had preliminary discussions with Sumpter attorney Rob Young and met Nov. 30 with city attorney Steve Hitchcock about what needs to be done to start putting together the details for construction. He said they need to get a plat map, know when they can close the street, infrastructure dedication, joint parking lot agreement, lot splits, and a stake survey to identify issues. “This is one of the largest projects in downtown Belleville in the last 50 years,” Day said;
• Approved 2017 board meeting dates of Jan. 10, Feb. 14, March 14, April 11, May 9, June 13, July 11, Aug. 8, Sept. 12, Oct. 10, Nov. 14, and Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. Special meetings will be posted at least 18 hours prior to any special meetings; and
• Approved closed dates for 2017 as: Jan. 2, New Year’s Day observed; Jan. 16, Martin Luther King Day, April 14, Good Friday (in-service day); May 29, Memorial Day; June 16 (in-service day) and June 17, Strawberry Festival days; July 4, Independence Day; Sept. 4, Labor Day; Nov. 11, Veteran’s Day; Nov. 23-24, Thanksgiving; Dec. 22-25, Christmas; and Dec. 30, New Year’s (plus Jan. 1, 2018).