Pahrump Community Library
Minutes of the October 14, 2024 Meeting
1. Call to Order
Meeting called to order at 10:07 am.
2. Members Roll Call
In Attendance: Secretary Kelly Green, Trustee Matthew Morris, Trustee Dee Mounts, Vice Chair Runion, Chair Shewalter, Commissioner Frank Carbone, Senior Deputy District Attorney Michelle Nelson, Barbara Ferido, Kim Thomas, Julie Butland, Acting Director Shanna Gibbons
3. Pledge of Allegiance
Secretary Green led the Pledge of Allegiance prior to the Call to Order.
4. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT: (*Action will NOT be taken on matters considered during this period until specifically included on an agenda as an action item.)
Caroline Logue talks about today being Indigenous People’s Day. Chair Shewalter thanks her for her comment.
5. Trustee/Director/Liaison Comments – This item is limited to announcements, brief discussions of public comments, correction of factual inaccuracies, direction to staff, or topics proposed for future board meetings. (Lengthy deliberation of topics not on the agenda is prohibited by the Nevada Open Meeting Law.)
Commissioner Carbone says he is sick and probably isn't going to stay for the full meeting.
Acting Director Gibbons has no comments.
Secretary Green says the American Library Association’s previous president is no longer president and they have a new president. She would like the board to consider a future agenda item to rejoin the American Library Association.
Trustee Mounts says thank you to the staff for working very hard on Tales with Pebbles. There are flyers out.
Trustee Morris says last month he had some reservations about the cameras, but his reservations have been appeased.
Chair Shewalter thanks everyone for being here. He says thank you to Ms. Gibbons for everything she has been doing in the absence of a director.
With no further comment, item 5 is closed.
6. Approval of October 14, 2024 Agenda (Non-action item)
Item 7 is struck as there are no emergency items.
Without objection, the September 9, 2024 agenda is approved.
7. For Possible Action: Emergency Items
There are no emergency items.
8. For Possible Action: Discussion and deliberation to approve or amend and approve the meeting minutes for September 9, 2024.
Vice Chair Runion makes a motion to approve the meeting minutes for September 9, 2024. Trustee Mounts seconds the motion.
There is no public comment.
Chair Shewalter calls the question to approve the meeting minutes for September 9, 2024. The measure passes 5-0.
9. Presentation: Treasurer’s Report by Shanna Gibbons for discussion of monthly expenditures and revenue for September 2024.
Acting Director Shanna Gibbons reads from her report beginning on page 9, item 9 of the backup.
10. For Possible Action: Discussion and deliberation to approve or amend and approve payment vouchers for September 2024 through October 2024.
Acting Director Gibbons reads from the backup beginning with the credit card breakdown on page 10 and then the vouchers beginning on page 11.
Trustee Morris asks for clarification on the frequency of the fire inspection item. Acting Director Gibbons says they had to replace some fire extinguishers that were over 10 years old and they come out and do a report every quarter for safety.
Chair Shewalter asks about Johnson Controls. Acting Director Gibbons says they came out the initial night of the leak when there was a water main break in town and when they turned the water back on it flooded our system and sprinkler. Acting Director Gibbons says the fire alarm went off and we evacuated the building and the fire department said we were the third to call due to the same issue. Someone had to come out with a lift and fix the pipe. Chair Shewalter asks how many fire extinguishers Statewide Fire replaced. Acting Director Gibbons says 2-3. He asks for clarification on Nevada Public Agency Insurance POOL and whether it is above and beyond what we pay insurance for. Acting Director Gibbons will email and BCC the information about POOL.
Acting Director Gibbons reads the backup for the petty cash.
Chair Shewalter makes a motion to approve the payment vouchers for September 2024 through October 2024. Vice Chair Runion seconds.
Public comment:
Caroline Logue asks if there are quarterly or annual profit and loss statements that come out.
There is no further public comment.
Chair Shewalter calls the question.
The measure passes 5-0.
11. Presentation: Librarian’s Report by Shanna Gibbons for discussion on library activity for September 2024. Report activities include patron traffic, books checked out, books returned, fees collected, online story time, STEAM, internet use, website usage and materials added.
Acting Director Gibbons reads from her report on page 13, item 11 in the backup.
Julie Butland reads the kids’ stats and talks about upcoming programs.
Chair Shewalter asks when Tales with Pebbles started. Trustee Mounts says September 4th. Chair Shewalter asks Julie what we are doing to publicize the program. She says we are handing out flyers and advertising on the website, newspaper, Facebook, in her classes, and on the children’s event bulletin board.
Trustee Mounts says we had quite a few no shows in September and were still trying to get advertising out to the public and that is why the numbers were low. Chair Shewalter says he thinks it is a good start and it will build.
12. For Possible Action: Discussion and deliberation to 1) approve, amend and approve or reject an agreement with Avena & Sons to install a camera system, 2) Execute the Agreement, and 3) Funding to be determined by the Board.
Acting Director Gibbons reads the specifications for the new camera system on page 20 of the backup. Chair Shewalter asks Senior Deputy District Attorney Michelle Nelson if there are any legal issues with using facial recognition and she says if it is not used in an inappropriate manner there should be no issues.
Secretary Green says she thinks we need more than one bid to choose from.
Trustee Mounts asks if the cameras are hardwired, and Acting Director Gibbons says they are.
Trustee Morris says he agrees with Secretary Green that it is good to have more than one bid, but he found no other people in this town who can do that job or want to bid, and people from Vegas didn’t want to come out. He is reversing his opinion from last month after spending the last month seeking other bids and finding none.
Vice Chair Runion says it is a good idea and he is in favor.
Chair Shewalter says the state legislature set the limit at $25,000.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Michelle Nelson asks Acting Director Gibbons about signage indicating that cameras are in use and whether the company is providing signs. Acting Director Gibbons says if they don’t she will be sure to get some.
Chair Shewalter makes a motion to approve an agreement with Avena & Sons to 1) install a camera system, 2) execute the agreement, 3) pay the $9,455 out of capital improvements and to exclude the $9.99 per month extended warranty.
Trustee Morris seconds.
Public comment:
Caroline Logue says she appreciates that this item came back.
Karen Waldman says she has cameras at home and camera placement is important. Local companies respond to service calls faster and easier than an out-of-town company.
With no further comment, public comment is closed.
Chair Shewalter calls the question.
The measure passes 5-0.
13. For Possible Action: Discussion and deliberation to 1) approve, amend and approve or reject an agreement with Industrial Light & Power, LLC to install vape detectors in the public restrooms, 2) Execute the agreement, and 3) Funding to be determined by the Board.
Chair Shewalter invited someone from Industrial Light & Power to come but they were unavailable and gave him some information. He says it is not just a vape detector, the Triton Pro Safety System can be set up to recognize keywords, aggression, crowding detection, and cell phone detection.
Chair Shewalter calls a 10 minute recess.
The meeting is called back to order at 11:11 am.
Secretary Green asks why we need it and says it seems expensive.
Trustee Mounts says she needs information.
Chair Shewalter asks Acting Director Gibbons to explain what happened in the restrooms.
Acting Director Gibbons says we have had what we believe is drug usage where they are leaving clouds of smoke behind. A mother and child went into the restroom after someone else left and walked right into a cloud of something. In the men’s room the janitorial staff found foil balls with residue. Chair Shewalter asks what else was found in the men’s room. Acting Director Gibbons says men’s bodily fluids were being found and cleaned daily by the janitorial staff and clarifies that it was someone masturbating in the bathroom. We think we trespassed the culprit because that stopped, but someone else is going in there and urinating on the walls.
Chair Shewalter asks security guard TeAndre Small to speak about what has been happening in the bathrooms.
TeAndre Small says there have been people masturbating, pee on the ceilings, people doing drugs. He has smelled weed and cigarettes and something else he has never smelled before.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Michelle Nelson says the additional things the vape detectors were said to do were not listed in the quote and only the items in the quote would be enforceable if they do not work as otherwise represented.
Trustee Mounts says since she has been doing Tales with Pebbles, she has seen a couple guys come in every time at the same time and they go into the bathroom.
Trustee Morris says to keep the riffraff out and keep it clean and professional and a place where people don’t have to worry about walking into a fog of something. It is important for people to have a clean place to come.
Vice Chair Runion says the vape detector is great and hopefully can catch other smoke too. He asks if it is able detect hostility, does that mean it always listening. You expect privacy in the restroom.
Chair Shewalter says it has been 2-3 years of fighting, drugs, bathing, sleeping, in the restrooms. We have a responsibility to protect patrons, many of whom are children.
Chair Shewalter discloses that the company who bid on this did our lighting, and he has developed a casual friendship with the owner since the lighting project, but has no pecuniary interest and will be participating in this item.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Michelle Nelson asks whether it would influence his vote and he says no.
Chair Shewalter makes a motion to approve an agreement with Industrial Light & Power, LLC to install vape detectors in the public restrooms, 2) Execute the agreement, and 3) Fund from the capital improvements fund.
Trustee Morris seconds.
Public comment:
Lora Stewart asks how long this has been going on. If it has been going on a long time why has nothing been done until now. Maybe you should have to ask for a key.
Ginny Okawa agrees that maybe we should have a lock on the door and go to the front desk to ask for a key.
Ann Underdahl says we would probably have to have signage letting people know there are vape detectors. Signs might act as a deterrent.
Robin Niedecker says 2 months ago she suggested a code system like what Starbucks has. You could memorize or write the code down. Then nobody would have to give anyone the key.
Caroline Logue says she researched this and that she has family members in the industry.
D.M. Franke thinks a lock is sufficient because the security guard should not be exposed to health risks entering the bathrooms.
TeAndre Small says he has been here since February 6 we have been trespassing people causing problems. He thinks we need the detectors.
Kraven Betancourt says before we had security, there was an incident where a can of Sprite went all over the walls and ceiling and staff had to clean it up. Shanna came in before hours with a power washer and he helped. It would help to know when an incident occurs so it does not carry into the next day.
Shanna Gibbons says we did try locking the bathrooms and having security unlock. He can’t go in the women’s room and can’t watch what they do. A code wouldn’t work because we have the same patrons day after day and once they have the code they can just go in and out all day. We would have to change the code every time someone went in the bathroom. Having a code wouldn’t stop them from doing something illegal.
Karen Waldman says she is concerned about the employees and patrons having to deal with the homeless problem.
With no further comment, public comment is closed.
Trustee Mounts says we have already tried other things with the lock situation, like Shanna said. We want to keep our employees as safe as possible.
Chair Shewalter says we are forbidden by NRS to prohibit access to this building to anyone unless they have been trespassed. It took the previous director 9 months to hire security to address the problems with the restrooms.
Chair Shewalter calls the question to approve an agreement with Industrial Light & Power, LLC to install vape detectors in the public restrooms, 2) Execute the agreement, and 3) Fund from the capital improvements fund.
The measure passes 5-0.
14. For Possible Action: Discussion and deliberation regarding 1) a new Point of Sale system from Clover Business Solutions and 2) Funding to be determined by the Board.
Acting Director Gibbons reads the specifications for the Clover POS system as found on page 28 of the backup. We would get one for the circulation desk and one for the reference desk.
Chair Shewalter makes a motion to purchase a new Point of Sale system from Clover Business Solutions and 2) to pay for the equipment from the Capital Funds and to pay the monthly fees from the General Fund.
Secretary Green seconds.
Chair Shewalter calls the question.
The measure passes 5-0.
15. For Possible Action: Discussion and deliberation whether to revise the Pahrump Community Library Policy Manual relating to the employees’ annual leave accrual and sick leave accrual.
Acting Director Gibbons reads from item 15 on page 30. The county discovered that the annual leave as written in our policy does not match what we have been getting from the county since at least 2012.
Public comment:
Lora Stewart says she loves libraries and the employees deserve everything they get and more.
Ann Underdahl says the employees should be getting what they deserve.
Caroline Logue says she would like to see a description of what is being changed in policy.
Chair Shewalter makes a motion to revise the policy manual to read: “All regular full-time employees will earn annual leave as follows:
Hire date to 10th anniversary date: 10 hours/month
10th anniversary date to 15th anniversary date: 12 hours/month
Beginning with the 15th anniversary date until the date of separation: 14 hours/month”
Trustee Runion seconds the motion.
Chair Shewalter amends his motion to make it effective as of today’s date.
Secretary Green seconds the amended motion.
The measure passes 5-0.
16. Trustee/Director/Liaison Comments: - This item is limited to announcements, brief discussions of public comments, correction of factual inaccuracies, direction to staff, or topics proposed for future board meetings. (Lengthy deliberation of topics not on the agenda is prohibited by the Nevada Open Meeting Law.)
Acting Director Gibbons says the next meeting date is November 11, which is Veteran’s Day, so we will have to choose a different day. She proposes Tuesday, November 12.
The next meeting will be Tuesday, November 12 at 10 am.
Secretary Green thanks everyone for participating.
Trustee Mounts says Tales with Pebbles will be at Coyote’s Den Trunk or Treat on the 26th.
Trustee Morris thanks everyone for coming and thanks Ms. Logue for the extra research.
Chair Shewalter directs Acting Director Gibbons to ensure the accrual policy is updated in the manual.
17. Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 12:15 pm.