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Record of Proceedings

Fitchford Library Board Meeting — April 15, 2026

Common Council & City Boards — Wednesday, April 15, 2026
BodyFitchburg, Wisconsin
SessionCommon Council & City Boards
DateWednesday, April 15, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 26:19

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:00

Hi, I'm Jeremy Progby.

0:01

And I'm Nick Boucher.

0:02

We're your host for the program that's all about your city.

0:05

Talking Fitchburg.

Speaker 2

0:06

Every weekday, we pull together the news, events, and information you need to stay on top of what's happening in the city of Fitchburg.

0:12

Find

Speaker 1

0:12

Talking Fitchburg on Cable TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and our live stream on the web.

0:18

Plus, you can find all our headlines and stories on Facebook, YouTube, and our video on demand service.

Speaker 2

0:23

This is your city.

0:24

Keep up with Talking Fitchburg and the issues affecting you and your neighbors.

Unassigned speaker

0:29

Get

Speaker 3

0:30

connected, Fitchburg.

0:31

Sign up for Fitchburg Connect, the city's monthly e-newsletter that keeps you informed about all the events, services, and updates that matter to you.

0:39

Get it in your inbox once a month.

0:42

Sign up today to get Fitchburg Connect.

Speaker 4

1:08

Welcome to the April meeting of the Fitchford Library Board.

1:13

Call the meeting to order at 5 31.

1:17

Public appearances.

1:18

I don't think we have anything.

1:20

Approval of minutes of the March meeting.

1:23

Can I have a motion to approve those minutes?

Speaker 5

1:26

I'll make that portion.

Speaker 4

1:27

John, thank

Unassigned speaker

1:28

you.

Speaker 4

1:29

Any uh discussion, questions, comments, concerns, corrections, anything for the minutes.

1:36

Another fine job, Tim.

Speaker 6

1:38

Right.

Speaker 4

1:40

Okay, so all in favor say aye.

Speaker 6

1:43

Aye.

Speaker 5

1:44

Aye.

Speaker 4

1:46

And opposed.

1:48

Nothing.

1:49

Okay.

1:51

Financial report, the motion to look at the January financial register and overview.

1:57

So moved.

1:58

Thank you.

Speaker 7

1:59

All right.

2:00

So we're looking at January.

2:03

I'll run through a couple things in the register first.

2:06

You'll see a lot of large payments highlighted in yellow.

2:11

That is typical, very typical for January of any year.

2:14

So these are mostly coming out of our contract account.

2:17

So this is in an annual contract, so of course they want to be paid early in the year.

2:24

We will point out two charges in the 240 account.

2:28

So that is building repairs.

2:30

This is not great news.

2:32

One of them is from Masters for the Chiller Repair.

2:34

One of them from Helm.

2:35

So this was all when the chiller went out, stopped heating last November.

2:40

We thought this was the extent of the damage, which is bad enough, but we did get another $4,000 bill.

2:46

So not great.

2:47

But it is up and running perfectly, so we're happy about

Unassigned speaker

2:52

that.

Speaker 7

2:54

We'll also see in account 325 some charges for annual conference registration.

3:00

So that was the public library association.

3:02

Phil and Lisa and I went to that uh two, three weeks ago now.

3:06

Really good conference.

3:07

It was in Minneapolis.

3:09

Um they were very happy to have us.

3:11

Um said we were the first big conference that has been there since all of their um issues.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Engagement█████████████████████████████████████████41%
Budget Equity Analysis█████████████████████████25%
Engineering And Infrastructure████████████12%
Library Standards██████████10%
Procurement████████8%
Procedural███3%
Tree Preservation█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Fitchford Library Board Meeting — April 15, 2026

The Fitchford Library Board met on April 15, 2026, beginning at 5:31 PM. The board approved the January financial report and the 2025 post-audit financial report. The Director provided updates on the children's library renovation, ongoing HVAC and solar repair issues, the transition to a new library catalog system, and changes to city purchasing procedures.

Routine Approvals & Consent Calendar

  • Approval of March Meeting Minutes: A motion by board member John was approved unanimously.
  • January Financial Report: The board unanimously approved the January financial register and budget overview. The Director noted typical year-start payments including annual contracts and the Overdrive/Libby e-book pool, alongside significant chiller repair costs. The fund balance was updated to approximately $964,000, with the endowment at $127,000.
  • 2025 Post-Audit Financial Report: The board unanimously approved the audit report for the prior year. The library ended the year with $69,880 in surplus moving into the fund balance. Total spending on CIP projects was $138,000.

Discussion Items

  • Statistics and Operations Update: The Director presented a reworked monthly statistics document comparing year-to-date figures for 2025 and 2026. March figures trailed slightly behind the previous year, which the Director attributed partly to a weather closure. Overall performance was stated to be solid.
  • Facilities Issues:
    • The library spent $10,536 of its amended $12,850 HVAC repair budget.
    • The front door key card swipe on Lacy Road is non-functional and needs repair.
    • A $9,000 quote from Arch Electric for solar array repairs was received; the Director stated the library lacks the funds and has referred the matter to city administration.
    • The Children's Library project meetings have begun with the design firm Bachman. The theme is expected to be 'nature.' Additional meetings are scheduled with youth staff and board members.
  • Personnel: The library is posting for an LA1 position and a summer outreach assistant.
  • Library System Migration: The library closed for a day of staff training for the transition to the Link Cat system. The Director anticipates going live shortly and requested public patience during the rollout.
  • New Programming: The first program at the Hostaquohi community center (Traceway) was held and declared a success by the Director.
  • City Procurement Ordinance Changes: Board member and City Councilor Wendy announced that the City Council approved changes to procurement ordinances. The Director's purchasing approval limit increased from $5,000 to $10,000. Purchases between $10,000 and $25,000 require additional staff approval, and purchases over $25,000 must come to the full board. Some public notice requirements were moved online to save costs and staff time.

Key Outcomes

  • The Director will be absent for the May meeting; board member Rachel will likely act as chair.
  • Officer nominations were deferred to the May 20th meeting.
  • The next regular meeting is scheduled for May 20, 2026, at 5:30 PM. The meeting was adjourned.

Meeting Transcript

Hi, I'm Jeremy Progby. And I'm Nick Boucher. We're your host for the program that's all about your city. Talking Fitchburg. Every weekday, we pull together the news, events, and information you need to stay on top of what's happening in the city of Fitchburg. Find Talking Fitchburg on Cable TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and our live stream on the web. Plus, you can find all our headlines and stories on Facebook, YouTube, and our video on demand service. This is your city. Keep up with Talking Fitchburg and the issues affecting you and your neighbors. Get connected, Fitchburg. Sign up for Fitchburg Connect, the city's monthly e-newsletter that keeps you informed about all the events, services, and updates that matter to you. Get it in your inbox once a month. Sign up today to get Fitchburg Connect. Welcome to the April meeting of the Fitchford Library Board. Call the meeting to order at 5 31. Public appearances. I don't think we have anything. Approval of minutes of the March meeting. Can I have a motion to approve those minutes? I'll make that portion. John, thank you. Any uh discussion, questions, comments, concerns, corrections, anything for the minutes. Another fine job, Tim. Right. Okay, so all in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. And opposed. Nothing. Okay. Financial report, the motion to look at the January financial register and overview. So moved. Thank you. All right. So we're looking at January. I'll run through a couple things in the register first. You'll see a lot of large payments highlighted in yellow. That is typical, very typical for January of any year. So these are mostly coming out of our contract account. So this is in an annual contract, so of course they want to be paid early in the year. We will point out two charges in the 240 account. So that is building repairs. This is not great news. One of them is from Masters for the Chiller Repair. One of them from Helm. So this was all when the chiller went out, stopped heating last November. We thought this was the extent of the damage, which is bad enough, but we did get another $4,000 bill.

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