BELLOWS FALLS — Rockingham Free Public Library renovations are nearing completion, and the beleaguered project will likely come in under budget, trustees said at Monday night's meeting.
That was the good news amid ongoing drama that included committee and renovation updates, a director's financial report, and moving expenses to the library's temporary digs in The Square - and a petition that called for two board members to resign.
The board heard that library renovations are nearing completion and apparently will come in under budget.
The meeting began with several residents thanking the board for moving the public comment period to the beginning of the meeting.
Southeastern Vermont Community Action Director Steve Geller said the move made the public feel that the board was interested in their opinions and “reinvests trust between the trustees and community.”
Elayne Clift submitted two petitions to the trustees: one “moot” petition for the public record showing what she described as public interest in the trustees' actions, and another calling for the immediate resignation of chair Jan Mitchell-Love and vice-chair Deb Wright.
Clift said that petition had three pages of signatures and was “still out in the community.”
The petition lists four reasons for the sought resignations: a rejection of the reasoning behind closing the library and moving to a new location; the taxpayer expense of moving to and setting up a new location; the hardship some feel the library's closure and move will bring to the community; and what petitioners call “unreasonable demands upon the library director and staff and … a bullying manner toward the director despite her proven record of competence and professionalism.”
Clift said later that the three pages of signatures served only to inform trustees that they were “being watched.” She said Mitchell-Love and Wright should step down or face being voted out.
Wright's term ends in 2014. Mitchell-Love faces reelection in 2015.
Several other residents read prepared questions to the board. One asked whether anyone on the board had been in communication with Vermont Assistant Attorney General Bill Reynolds, and whether the full board was aware of these communications.
Mitchell-Love said she was unaware of any such communication after May but later, during the library financial report, acknowledged receipt of a July 16 letter from the attorney general's office.
That correspondence discussed a complaint from Geller, who reportedly had not been allowed to speak at the May 22 trustees meeting.
It was unclear whether the rest of the board had seen this letter prior to the meeting.
Also during public comment, Arnold Clift asked the board about unbudgeted legal fees.
Clift cited an invoice from attorney Steve Ankuda, received June 14, seeking $3,150 for “trustee issues.” This year's approved library budget does not mention legal fees.
More than $700 of that expense was for the corrective action plan (CAP) the board delivered to Library Director Celina Houlné in May, Clift said.
He reminded the board they had been at odds over the moving cost estimates Houlné had given the board, as well as expenses covering a temporary location during renovations earlier this summer and move into 41 The Square.
At the time, trustees approved a budget of $2,000, cutting Houlné's estimate by more than half.
Ankuda charges the town $150 per hour for legal services. Itemized expenses included:
• $375 for a May 14 public records request, research and personnel issue review, and response to a public records request;
• $412.50 on May 4 to “read personnel rules; lengthy telephone conference w/Jan [Mitchell-Love]”;
• $487.50 for reading documents, exchanging emails, speaking with the attorney general's office “and letter” on May 6; and
• $187.50 for a June 13 lease review and telephone conference with Mitchell-Love “re: employee and review email disclosure.”
Ankuda's 21 hours of service between April 24 and June 3 totalled $3,150.
In Mitchell-Love's response to Clift, she attributed part of the expense to the Wetzels' filing of a complaint of violation of open meeting law. The complaint resulted in the attorney general's office's July 16 letter notifying the board of the complaint and requesting a response.
Mitchell-Love also said public records requests added to the bill, as they had to go through Ankuda.
She later noted that the board had been “disinvited” from two possible venues for meetings in town over “the behavior of the public.” She said she requests the presence of Police Chief Ron Lake at all meetings in the wake of public sentiment following the board's spring decision to close and move the library.
Lake attended Monday's meeting, at Village Square Booksellers, as did 10 people, including press.
The board discussed Ankuda's invoice again later, during Houlné's financial report, when the library director said she needed to clarify several “accusations.”
Houlné responded to the board's actions at a June meeting, concerning prior votes on personnel policy in 2012 and early in January.
That “not remembering,” she said, resulted in the board rescinding those decisions as invalid and insinuating that minutes had been altered.
Houlné provided documentation of the votes, including the attendance and the original minutes of the meetings.
In discussing Houlné's financial report, she was asked to explain what appeared to be $700 in over-budgeted items.
Houlné explained the original figure was a “place holder” for grants the library expected at the time the budget was written.
She said that this was normal budgeting practice akin to Town Manager and Financial Director Chip Stearns “drawing down” monthly bills and expenditures to bring the renovation budget under budget, as he had reported he'd done earlier in the meeting to the board's satisfaction.
Treasurer David Buckley sought to understand what advice Ankuda presented the board, but said he saw no individual “prejudice” at work.
Mitchell-Love clarified that matters pertained to personnel contracts and public records requests.
Selectboard member Ann DiBernardo said she was “astounded” by the amount of legal fees the trustees had accumulated in one month.
“They need to be more careful,” she said. “It does seem that there should be some reining in of that speeding train.”
“There is no line item approved” for legal fees in the library budget submitted to the town, DiBernardo noted. “If they had done things correctly in the first place, we wouldn't be having these high attorney fees.”
DiBernardo also expressed concerns about future legal fees should the current personnel issue between the board and Houlné go to court.
Houlné hired an attorney as soon as the board issued an eight-page corrective action plan, or CAP, that delineates her alleged violations.
Members of the public have also expressed concerns with further unbudgeted legal fees should this personnel matter escalate into litigation.
Return to the library
Stearns offered a lengthy review of the status of renovations, estimating that staff could begin to unpack and set up books and materials inside the library as soon as Aug. 31.
The youth library and a small space above it on the second floor, as well as the elevator, will be opening first.
Stearns estimated that an abatement cleanup would close the library for a few days just prior, but that by September, much if not all of the renovations would be complete, and the library fully functioning.
He noted that while it appeared the renovations were over budget on paper, by the time he had “drawn down” everything over the next month, he estimated the library renovations would actually come in under budget.
Ankuda, the town's attorney, continues the process of recovery resulting from earlier issues with Baybutt, the former contractor for the project that has filed for bankruptcy protection.
Houlne said her staff would organize the move back into the library throughout August as the contractors finish their work. Stearns told the trustees he estimated the library could reopen - at least partially - by the end of August.