City Council Minutes 2004

January 13, 2004

Ted Stillman said the City participates in the Utah County Bookmobile Program at an annual cost of $8,800 and each year it is asked that we renew the agreement. Mr. Stillman went over the 2002 report for the Bookmobile use and last year the bookmobile served 673 families and spent 8 hours in Alpine. Kent Hastings asked about the possibility of the bookmobile spending more hours here and going to Westfield Elementary and if the cost would increase if the hours increased.

January 27, 2004

Ted Stillman said the city participates in the Utah County Bookmobile Program at an annual cost of $8,800 and each year Utah County asks us to renew the agreement. At the last City Council Meeting it was suggested that we research the cost of serving Westfield Elementary School with the Bookmobile and the cost to serve that location would be $6,600 per year. Kimberly Bryant contacted Westfield Elementary and they are not interested in having the Bookmobile service; however, Timberline Jr. High is interested and this would cost us the $6,600. Kent Hastings suggested we take advantage of the available slot and approve this for one year to see if it is used. Mayor Barker asked if we get any help from Highland and it was noted that Draper children would be going to this school when the road comes over the mountain. Jannicke Brewer said she has used the Bookmobile for 25 years and it is a great resource.

February 24, 2004

David Adams introduced Joel Kester and Brent Israelsen, other library committee members, and brought the council up to date on the
concept plan for the library. Mr. Adams said the committee has settled on a location for the building, which will be by the Alpine Art Center. The committee is committed to raise the funds to purchase the building and land and then the books. The committee wants this to be a gift to the citizens of Alpine. Brent Israelsen said that with the 501C Corporation in place and they are now going into a strong fund raising mode and Mr. Israelsen explained the different groups contributors would be placed in depending on the amount of their donation. Joel Kester said the annual operation of the library needed to be discussed with the city along with Highland and Cedar Hills to determine how much each city is comfortable in providing so the committee can set and present their budget.

April 27, 2004

Arts Council – Should the city fund the Arts Council that would promote arts and asked for $10,000 to help fund the concerts that have been held at Alpine Art Center and what kind of structure would work the best? Thomas Whitchurch said he had been asked by the Mayor to work with the Arts Council and they are still working on a charter. The Arts Council is involved in Alpine Days and money is put in the budget each year for Alpine Days. The Arts Council asked if they could use some of the money that is set-aside for Alpine Days to fund a concert with the possibility of putting this money back in the budget. Kent Hastings stated that when the Alpine Arts Council was organized they did not want city funding. Eagle Mountain recently disbanded their arts council and Alpine City has historically had a policy to not fund these types of requests.

May 11, 2004

[Council's project priorities listed with $30,000 for Recreation Program.]

Parks – Park maintenance costs have increased because of the upgraded park maintenance
program. It is recommended that the Park Maintenance Budget be increased from $195,660 to $210,890.

May 25, 2004

Recreation Program – The city currently contracts with American Fork for recreation programs such as the Jr. Jazz. The city pays American Fork $30,000 per year to operate the Recreation Program.

Arts Council – Some cities fund Art Councils, which promote the arts. The estimated cost to operate the Arts Council would be $10,000.

Family Priority Days – Councilman Hastings has asked that $3,000 be included in the budget for this event.

June 8, 2004

Recreation Program – ... Councilman Puriri felt we were overpaying American Fork and if we offered them $20,000.00 American Fork would accept our money. With the $10,000.00 we saved we would have enough money to spend on the Arts Council.

Arts Council – Some cities fund Art Councils and the proposed estimated cost to operate Alpine City’s Arts Council is $10,000.00 based on a formal agreement. Mayor Barker said the idea is that we would allocate $10,000 this year to help create an independent organization.

Kent Hastings had some reservations and for him it is the principal of having government support the arts. Councilman Hastings felt that if we spend $10,000.00 this year the cost next year would only go up.

All the councilmen with the exception of Kent Hastings were in favor of including the $10,000.00 in the budget for the Arts Council.

Family Priority Days – Councilman Hastings had asked that $3,000.00 be included in the budget for this event. Kent Hastings said that in Alpine we are faced with child and spousal abuse and hoped this family-centered activity would reduce crime. The council agreed on including the $3,000.00 in the budget.

June 22, 2004

State law allows for the General Fund balance to be 18% of what was budgeted and in our case $1,845,325 was budgeted in the General Fund, which allows the City to have 18% or $332,159 balance at the end of the year. It is anticipated that the General Fund Balance at the end of the year will be $890,000.

[Selected revised line items:]

• Administration $240,000
• Emergency services $784,870
Parks and recreation $219,500
• Transfer to Capital Improvements Fund $184,000

July 13, 2004

Ted Stillman said the city has traditionally budgeted $30,000 per year for the American Fork Recreation program and during discussions of the 2004-2005 Budget this amount was reduced to $20,000. ... American Fork Recreation staff ... have informed us they cannot offer the recreation program for $20,000. ... Staff recommended that we fund the American Fork Recreation Program this fiscal year and then join with other cities to see what could be done next year.

Hata Puriri ... asked if there was the possibility of negotiation since our population has doubled and participation has gone down. Councilman Puriri questioned why there was a higher cost for Alpine residents to use the Fitness Center and swimming pool and Mr. Bailey said the Recreation Program and Fitness Center are handled as two different programs. It was noted that Alpine City’s proposal of $20,000 would be rejected by American Fork City. [$30,000 authorized.]

November 23, 2004

Ted Stillman said ... American Fork has increased their non-resident library card fee to $65.00 per year and Cedar Hills and Highland have both increased their Library Card reimbursement to $40.00 per calendar year. Ted Stillman said we have had citizens request that we raise our reimbursement fee to $40.00 per year. The number of Library reimbursements that we have given each year are as follows:

• 2001 275
• 2002 300
• 2003 264
• 2004 222 ( to date)

December 14, 2004

Ted Stillman said the City participates in the Utah County Bookmobile Program at an annual cost of $10,962.00. Each year Utah County asks that we renew our Bookmobile Agreement and it is the same as last year. Kent Hastings asked if we could get a monthly or quarterly usage report.

Survey: November 2007

The Arts Council survey results:

Senior Center
53% Good time for Cultural Arts
67% Great need for a Senior Center
88% Some people would benefit from a Senior Center

Library
55% Alpine would benefit from a children's library
72% Alpine would benefit greatly from library summer programs for children
63% Alpine needs a gathering place
78% Prefer library in Alpine rather than Highland

Full Stage Theater
59% Want a full stage theater
51% Want an amphitheater
63% Want a gathering place for Alpine residents

Post Office
91% Want a post office in Alpine
88% Want post office boxes to receive mail

Funding the Arts in Alpine
45% Prefer total funding by private, corporate, and foundations
50% Prefer combination of private funding and household assessments
1% Would bond

Oral history grants

http:/history.utah.gov/historical_society/oral_history/grants.html

"The Utah Humanities Council and Utah State History ... offer grants for oral histories and transcripts.

"For requests under $1,500 there is no deadline and awards are made on a rolling basis.
"For requests $1,501 to $3,000, there are two deadlines per year: September 1 and March 1. ...

"Oral History Grants provide financial support for oral history research and transcription,and are open to organizations, including, but not necessarily limited to:

* historical societies
* museums
* government agencies
* colleges and universities
* tribes
* statewide heritage organizations
* other nonprofit and ad hoc organizations engaged in oral history
* research

"There is no deadline for funding requests up to the maximum of $2,000 and awards are made on a rolling basis. The oral history grant committee meets a minimum of four (4) times a year, and applications may be submitted at any time. A maximum of $2,000 per organization may be awarded per year. Please note that deadlines are subject to change. Funds for Oral History Grants are made possible through state appropriations and a special We The People appropriation from Congress to the National Endowment for the Humanities."

For guidelines and applications, go to Guidelines.

Alpine's property taxes

Alpine has one of the lowest property tax rates in the county. American Fork's rate, for example, is more than twice as much, and it would still be if Alpine increases its taxes by $4/month per average household.

Here are the property tax rates (measured in mills) of Utah County cities and towns. Keep in mind that even though Highland, Lehi, and American Fork have substantial commercial tax bases, their property tax rates are still higher.

Goshen 0326
Genola 0988
Alpine 1029 (current)
Spanish Fork 1033
Salem 1070
Alpine 1130 (with a $4/month average tax increase)
Payson 1172
Eagle Mountain 1230
Lindon 1296
Cedar Fort 1320
Springville 1413
Santaquin 1434
Draper 1528
Highland 1565
Orem 1578
Vineyard 1802
Pleasant Grove 1806
Lehi 1901
Saratoga Springs 2019
Provo 2122
American Fork 2426
Cedar Hills 2596
Mapleton 2655
Woodland 3600

Sources: Utah County Treasurer; 1193 mill tax rate with a $4/month average household: Ted Stillman email to Scott Kenney, 1 April 2009

Card reimbursements

Alpine reimburses residents up to $40 for library cards purchased to use other county libraries.

In 2007-2008, Alpine paid $7,170 to partially reimburse approx. 180 families who purchased library cards to use area libraries.

In the 2008-2009 budget to date (March 2009), $6,326 has been paid to approx. 158 families.

Source:
Annalisa Thomas to Jennifer Baker Xanthos, March 23, 2009.

Capital Improvement Fund

The most flexible fund in Alpine's budget is the Capital Improvement Fund. It is largely funded by impact fees which are paid for construction permits and must be disbursed to approved projects for things like sewer, water, pressurized irrigation, parks, streets and storm drain impact fees. Presumably library construction could be added to the approved project list in the future.

In the recent past approximately 70 permits were granted annually, but in fiscal year 2007-2008, only seven building permits were granted, necessitating in heavy cuts in the 2009-2010 budget.

At present, more than half of the 2009-2010 Capital Improvements budget ($545,500) goes to develop the 100 South Park, with $250,000 going to 600 North, which borders the park.

• 100 South Park $545,500
• Sidewalk safety $20,000
• Overlays/chip seals $115,000
• Equipment replacement $54,000
• 600 North improvement $250,000
• Total $1,090,000

Source: Ted Stillman email to Jennifer Baker Xanthos, March 18, 2009.

Book leasing

Leasing:

In this blog, "book" includes audiobooks and DVDs.

Leasing can be a valuable component of a library's acquisition strategy. Instead of buying multiple copies of best sellers and being left with an excessive number when their luster wanes, libraries can lease copies and return as many as they like when they are no longer needed.

Leasing companies send libraries a monthly list of likely best-sellers, three months ahead of their release dates. The list, which includes brief descriptions, is based on the size of the print run the publisher has ordered, the author's reputation, timeliness, and other factors.

The library director orders one or more copies of each desired book up to the number of books contracted for. Highland's contract is for 240 a year.

The number of books contracted is almost as important as their retail prices. Books retailing under $26.00 count as one book, while $26.01 books (and up to around $35) count as two. So, a library can get twice as many $26.00 books as $26.01 books.

The number of leased books a library can have on hand at any given time depends on the size of the package. For instance, Highland pays $3,625.00 a year for 20 books a month and can keep as many as 400 before some have to be returned.

The leasing company does all the prep work (labeling, bar coding, etc.) so the books arrive shelf-ready at about the same time they hit the bookstores. Prep work takes considerable time and cataloging expertise. So much so that some libraries will not accept donated books. The employee's time is worth more than the book.

Leasing companies pay all shipping costs, to and from.

They also refurbish returned books and offer them at a deep discount. Distributors sell new books at a 40% discount (some more, some less). Baker & Taylor offers refurbished books at a 75% discount. They also allow libraries to keep one book for every 5 leased books returned free. McNaughton also discounts refurbished books but the literature I don't yet have the details.

Leasing is a great way to build a collection if the library, but its is determined largely by the director's level of sophistication in assessing the community's interests, and in evaluating a book's value relative to leasing price strucures.