Belleville Area District Library at end of construction expenses

O’Neal Construction presented its final construction project bill to the Belleville Area District Library at the library board’s November building committee meeting.
At the regular board meeting on Nov. 8, the board approved amendments to the current Capital Project and Debt Service budgets, noting most of the $14 million in construction is done.
There is $247,950 construction work in progress and the remaining funds of $543,900 were transferred out of the Capital Projects Fund Budget to the Debt Service Fund. The Capital Projects fund balance now is zero for the 2022-23 fiscal year.
The annual audit of the 2021-22 fiscal year ending June 30 will be on the agenda of the Dec. 13 regular meeting and is expected to show a favorable variance in the $2 million approved budget.
“We budgeted conservatively, for the worst-case scenario,” said board chairperson Sharon Peters. “It’s better than finding ourselves in the hole.”
Library Director Mary Jo Suchy said she will miss the monthly meetings with O’Neal, “but they will always remain a phone call away to assist us in any building issues or future needs.
“We have some small remaining items to address but will be closing out the project portion of our budget during the coming months,” she said.
Suchy said one of the HVAC units was not functioning, resulting in a warmer-than-normal second floor. She said ThermalNetics, the HVAC controls company, came out and fixed it.
Joy Cichewicz, chairperson of the building committee, said they met a week ago with O’Neal and John Juriga noted that he, as a committee member, had spent 258 hours from the beginning of the new library project. Juriga had spent more because he comes into the library almost daily to check on details. Juriga agreed to continue to monitor the library.
Besides Cichewicz and Juriga, the building committee consists of Mary Jane Dawson and Suchy, with Peters usually in attendance as well. Instead of dominating committee reports in meetings, as it had over the past few years, in the future the building committee will be able to give brief reports like the other committees.
Treasurer Tanya Stoudemire thanked the building committee for their years and years of work.
Cichewicz said the library had a guaranteed construction price from O’Neal and will be getting $80,000 back.
She said the library gave its final payout to O’Neal. They will be available in the future by the hour.
Chairperson Peters said O’Neal was a good group to work with and they will still be available to help deal with little switches and things.
Cichewicz said they put a groove in the entryway to the meeting room to drain so it is not slippery in the winter. She said that decision took lots of discussions before it was done.
She also noted that there is still a sidewalk issue on Roys Street because the Baptist church’s font is draining there and they are concerned it is not draining properly. City DPW Director Rick Rutherford is looking into the problem so the sidewalk can be poured there.
In other business at the Nov. 8 meeting, the board:
• Heard Linda Priest announce she, as chairperson of the personnel committee, is working on the evaluation forms for board members to fill out for Suchy’s evaluation in December;
• Heard Dawson, chairperson of the policy committee, report the committee had a very productive meeting, prioritizing policies that will be addressed first. The committee took an initial look at the library behavior policy template that was received from attorney Anne Seurynck and Suchy was relaying some questions and suggested changes to her;
• Heard Suchy report that the library is working with seniors from Belleville High School’s New Tech program on their oral history project. Students toured the library and Amy Greschaw shared library resources that they could use and Nikki Pickeral gave them a presentation showing them tips and tricks to assist them with their project. Pickeral has a degree in historical preservation/museum studies and has conducted oral history interviews in the past. Dawson recommended Phyllis and Richard Smith should be interviewed since they know so much of the history of Belleville;
• Learned that each Sunday the library has been open it has seen an increase in people visiting. On Oct. 16 (the first day it was open on Sunday) it was 79, on Oct. 23, it was 88, and on Oct. 30, it was 120;
• Heard Peters say that Michele Montour, who chairs the art committee, personally hung the prizewinning art pieces in the library that were part of the recent Community Art Show put on by the Belleville Area Council for the Arts;
• Learned Santa will be inside the library in December and hours for that part of the library will be extended and the area roped off; and
• Drank a toast of sparkling juice at the end of the meeting to honor Dawson’s 12 years on the board and the election of four board members in that day’s election. Dawson did not run for reelection and Dan Fleming was elected to her seat. Reelected were incumbents Peters, Priest and Stoudemire.