Minutes for the May 21 Trustees Meeting

The meeting convened at 6 p.m. in the library. Present were Carol Wilson, Melissa Strayton (librarian), Rachel Kurland, Cindy Binzen, Curt Albee and Marty Frank.

Minutes from the regular April meeting and the special meeting earlier in May were approved.

Librarian’s Report: Melissa reported things are going OK. She acknowledged that she hasn’t been ordering as frequently as she had planned but said a new order should be done soon. The after-school program has a couple of weeks left in the year and she is now planning for the six-week summer program that will start July 1. One of those programs will be the now-traditional fire truck night, with the others focused on this year’s theme, “Universe of Stories.” 

Sydney Lea has agreed to be the featured guest at the Friends’ annual meeting in October. Stuart Smith is still planning to arrange a benefit concert in October, although the date is still up in the air. The Kanopy movie-streaming service has been launched. There have been a few glitches with people signing on, but most of the feedback has been positive. The program has been promoted in the Strafford News, but Melissa said her intention was to go slowly at first. Melissa reminded the trustees that the laptop used for circulation needs to be replaced.

Friends report: This year’s book sale will take place July 5 and 6. Curt observed that our front lawn may be in rough shape from work on the septic system and that we may need to find an alternative site.

Treasurer’s Report:  Rachel distributed the most recent profit and loss statement; in terms of the regular operating budget, we’re doing fine. She talked to our insurance agent, who was apologetic for our experience with The Hartford and suggested we get flood insurance. Rachel said that considering the cost — about $1,000 a year — and the seemingly freakish nature of our recent problem, she was skeptical about the advisability of adding that significant expense. We will be changing insurance companies when our current policy expires and Rachel will get quotes from three companies. 

Septic System: Curt reported that Tom Otterman and son showed up last Friday, oversaw the digging of a few test holes and determined we have a suitable spot in the far corner of the back property. The plan is to put in a small leach field that will have a bed of stone and two 15-foot runs of perforated pipe. One possible concern is the proximity of our well to the tank that will be installed. Otterman said we’ll need to be more vigilant about regularly testing our well and may, at some point, find ourselves needing to drill a new one. The work will require us to drill through the foundation and cut through the walkway to the side entrance. Curt said that the excavation work necessary to put in the system presents a good opportunity to replace the existing iron pipe that runs from the well to the building with a plastic one. Curt said the work shouldn’t be too expensive and really ought to be done. Otterman should be sending us his design soon at which point we’ll submit it for a state permit and then contact Brent Cadwell to put the system in. 

Miscellaneous: Service Master has not responded to our letter questioning their bill for cleaning our flooded basement. Rachel said she talked to Doc Bagley about our arrangement with the solar energy enterprise established by Dori Wolfe and remains as confounded about how it works as everyone else who has tried to grasp it. Dori is supposed to be in the area soon and the trustees hope to meet with her to get some help in understanding the arrangement.

The next meeting will be June 10 at 7 p.m. at the library.

Submitted by Marty Frank