March 2025 Board Meeting Minutes
ADDISON TOWNSHIP PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD
MEETING MINUTES Tuesday, March 18, 2025 @ 7:00 p.m.
Call to Order: The Library Board President called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM, in the Addison Township Public Library, 1400 Rochester Rd, Leonard, MI 48367
Board Members Present: J. Baldiga - Yes, J. Elsarelli - Yes, C.Meininger - Yes, J. Newby - No, W. Pack - No, M. Szost - Yes.
Pledge of Allegiance Most in attendance participated
Approval of Agenda:
J.Elsarelli moved to accept the agenda, 2nd by J.Baldiga. All in favor, none opposed, motion carried.
Call to Audience: (two minutes per visitor) Per Linda Meininger the Friends of the Library will be having a Mother’s Day raffle from April 7-May 7,2025. There will be several baskets of goodies. People who purchase tickets can put their tickets in the container that corresponds to the basket. The library staff felt that a raffle would be more profitable than a silent auction, because most patrons would not likely return to make a second bid on an item.
Consent Agenda:
● Approval of February 21, 2025 meeting minutes
● Approval of February 2025 bills and expenses as paid
J.Elsarelli moved to accept the consent agenda with amendments to the meeting minutes, 2nd by M.Szost. Roll call vote; J. Baldiga - yes, J. Elsarelli - yes, C.Meininger - yes, M. Szost – yes; all yes, motion carried.
Financial Report:
J.Baldiga moved that Mike McDonald(Township Treasurer) and M.Szost be added to the LGIP account. 2nd by J.Elsarelli. Roll call vote. J. Baldiga - yes, J. Elsarelli - yes, C.Meininger - yes, M. Szost – yes; all yes, motion carried.
J.Baldiga moved that $120,357 be moved from the savings account to the LGIP account, 2nd by J.Elsarelli. Roll call vote; J.Baldiga-yes, J.Elsarelli-yes, C.Meininger-yes, M.Szost-yes. Motion carried.
J.Elsarelli moved to file the Financial Report, 2nd by M.Szost. Roll call vote; J. Baldiga - Yes, J. Elsarelli - Yes, C.Meininger - Yes, M. Szost – Yes. Motion carried.
Director’s Report:
Director presented a proposal to digitize back files from current paper format. Cost would be less than $8,000. Director will e-mail proposal to board members for review.
M.Szost moved to accept the Directors report, 2nd by J.Baldiga. All in favor, none opposed, motion carried.
Committee Reports:
New Building: J. Elsarelli to meet with builder to review budget and start date. Soil erosion permit is still pending.
Public Information:
● Signage is still to be coordinated with builder.
Policy: Changes to the “Circulation Policy” and “Lost or Damaged Item Policy” were reviewed. J.Baldiga moved to accept the changes, 2nd by J.Elsarelli. All agreed. Motion carried.
Finance: none
Capital: none
Communications: none
Old Business:
● Purchase agreement for selling parcels 05-27-256-009 and 05-27-254-007
○ Approve purchase agreement
After receiving construction bids from July of 2022 to build a library on the donated property, it was concluded that the site was too costly to build on. That was mainly due to the cost for site preparation: 11,000 yds of fill, land clearing and construction of a stormwater management system.
During the September 19, 2023 Board meeting there was approval to sell property for $120,000 to the township. Their plan is to use the land for a park and the proceeds of the sale will go towards the new building at 900 Lakeville Rd. This sale and new use of the land was acceptable by the land donor and the original donation would be revised to allow this.
J.Elsarelli moved to proceed with the sale of the donated property using the purchase agreement presented and listed corrections along with the property information records that have been provided to the township and previously approved in the December 26, 2024 meeting.
Listed corrections for the purchase agreement,
- Address for the township should be changed to 1440 Rochester Rd and the Library shall be listed as 1400 Rochester Rd.
2nd by C.Meininger, roll call vote J.Baldiga-yes, J.Elsarelli-yes, C.Meininger-yes, M.Szost-yes. Motion carried.
○ Approve letter from donor with agreement to sell property
A revised donation letter was created by the attorney for the Library, Foster and Swift, and presented to the donor for agreement on new use of the donation. The letter was reviewed with the Township attorney prior to be delivered to the donor.
This letter sufficiently covers the liability for both the Library and Township to allow the donated land to be sold to the township with the proceeds going towards the construction of the new library building.
J.Elsarelli moved to proceed with accepting and completing the “AGREEMENT
REGARDING REAL PROPERTY” letter from the donor with the understanding that both parties have reviewed the letter and agree that it adequately covers the liability of both the Library and Township on the intent of the donation. 2nd by M.Szost, roll call vote J.Baldiga-yes, J.Elsarelli-yes, C.Meininger-yes. M.Szost-yes. Motion carried.
New Business:
● Discuss By-Law update to incorporate new section for conduction meetings with trustees attending remotely. J.Baldiga and J.Elsarelli to investigate with Foster and Swift(Library Board Attorneys)
Public Forum: no comments
Next Meeting: April 15, 2025 @ 7:00 p.m. (unless otherwise posted)
Adjournment: J.Elsarelli moved to adjourn at 8: 32 PM, 2nd by C.Meininger; all in favor, meeting adjourned.