The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About05/16/1995 - Regular Minutes - Bryan College Station Library System Advisory Board MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BRYAN LIBRARY BOARD MAY 16, 1995 1111T1 . On the 16th of May 1995 the Library Board of the City of Bryan, Texas 410onvened in a regular session in the Council Chambers Municipal Building, 29th at Texas Ave. at 5:15 p.m. and the following members were present: 2. ATTENDANCE Member Present/ # of meetings # of meetings Absent held since attended since appointment appointment Mrs. Victoria Bienski, Pres. P 24 21 Mr. Bill Barzak P 6 6 Mr. Neil Bockelmann, V. Pres. P 24 18 Mr. Don Gilman P 6 6 Mr. Auston Kerley P 6 6 Mr. David Moore P 6 5 Mrs. Mary Evelyn Tielking P 8 7 Also present was Mrs. Clara B. Mounce, City Librarian and secretary Laura Mills. Librarians present were Ms. Kathleen Dill, Ms. Ann Moore, Mrs. Nan Ross, Ms. Catherine Ezzell, and library assistant Cathie McQuistion. 3. Visitors present were Fire Chief James Bland; Asst. Police Chief Gary Wentrcek; Roger Dempsey, Maintenance and Project Coordinator, Facilities Services; Lt. Freddie Komar, Police Services; Cindy Kirk, Risk Manager; Mary Evelyn Tielking, President, Friends of the Library; Joe Brown, Public Information Officer; Michelle LaVigne, Water Services Asst. ; Dr. John Blackburn, Community Services; Elizabeth Miller, Main Street Project Manager; Loyd Deen, Computer Services; NationsBank Representatives, Bob Weston, Rodney Hodges, and Larry Beaumont. Brent Zwerneman from The Eagle, and a cameraman frau Channel 3 TV was present. Minutes from the last meeting were unavailable. •. The statistics were also unavailable due to the fire. 6. The nominating committee recommended that Mary Evelyn Tielking be elected President and David Moore, Vice President for the next term. They were elected. 7. In the librarian's report, Kathleen Dill reported that there will be two large Sumner Reading Club activities to be held at the Palace Theatre instead of weekly ones due to the fire. Joe McDermott will appear June 23rd at the Palace Theatre. A second date is not yet confirmed. 8. There was no unfinished business. 9.A. In hew business, status reports on the fire that damaged the library on were given. Cindy Kirk, Risk Manager, began the report stating that the City's insurance through Texas Municipal League had a $25,000 deductible and that sane costs were not covered by the policy. Gary Wentrcek, Assistant Police Chief, gave a capsule summary of the incident. At around 3:00 a.m. on March 28, a man who delivered the Houston Chronicle newspaper to the library reported a fire to the police department. The police believe that it was started intentionally along with vandalism that occurred at the Masonic Lodge and property destruction to six City of Bryan vehicles. Over 1200 hours of investigation and $11,000 in overtime funds spent produced evidence that led to the arrest of two suspects, Clyde Settles and Ronald O'Neal, currently being held in the Brazos County jail without bond. A third adult is also a suspect. A juvenile was also present with the suspects at the scene of the crime and has cooperated with the police investigation. The child is in the custody of his mother according to police records. Police believe that Settles who was arrested in Bryan in 1984 for disorderly conduct is gliesponsible for the fire. While jailed, he assaulted a peace officer and was NROnvicted of aggravated assault and served jail time. Asst. Chief Wentrcek said that Settles and O'Neal will appear before the Grand Jury by the end of May with a trial date set within the next few months. rik7---Fire Chief James Bland summarized the actions of the Fire Department. The fire department received a call at about 2:45 a.m. on March 28 and dispatched ,fire trucks to the scene of the library fire. He stated that the fire had -I'been started near the windows on the north side of the building in the lina azine and newspaper section. Tremendous heat buildup dislodged asbestos on .he ceiling. The fire destroyed the entire current periodical section; however, considering the inventory in the library, further fire damage was contained to the talking book section, a small paperbook section, and five chairs near the fire. Smoke damage was extensive and a layer of soot covered every square inch of the building and items therein. The fire was put out with chemicals rather than water in minimal time, and without further damage to the building. Because of the asbestos contamination, special gear was used by firemen and police to investigate the crime. He camiended the cooperation between the police and fire departments of both cities in handling the fire and during investigation procedures last month. Roger Dempsey, Maintenance and Project Coordinator, Facility Services, handed out copies of the Project Schedule and Cost Projection for the Bryan Library Restoration (attached and made a part of these minutes) Major areas of concern are additional expenses for asbestos abatement, asbestos consulting, replacement of light fixtures, smoke detection system, fire escape relocation, carpet replacement and ceiling spray-back. The staff of facility services, and Texas Department of Health recommended total asbestos abatement rather than encapsulation. This expense will be about $130,000 over the $151,000 allowed by the insurance company for the procedure. The replacement of light fixtures will provide 60% more lighting. The schedule for final move-in is sometime mid-August. Almost 9,000 boxes of books have been cleaned and ozoned along with 1,000 boxes of desk contents and stored in a warehouse on 29th Street. Computers are in the process of being decontaminated, cleaned and . ilirepaired and completed by the end of May. iary Evelyn Tielking, President of the Friends of the Library, reported that ver $38,000 had been raised to help cover the deductible and other expenses not covered by insurance. NationsBank presented a check for $2,000 for library rehabilitation with „G.lation to the City Librarian and staff and all those involved in the fire tragedy. Efforts to continue the fund- raising will continue with the Friends taking the leadership role. Joe Brown, Public Information Officer, recounted the early moments the fire was reported and stated that he began alerting media outlets around 4:35 a.m. March 28th. Radio stations broadcast the news of the fire immediately. There was on-site coverage from the Eagle and Channel 3. His job as public information officer was to make sure that the information dispatched was factual and commended the media for expressing the hurdles that needed to be faced with the fire tragedy. Clara B. Mounce concluded discussion of the fire with appreciation to all those involved, frau the early reporting to the intensive investigation by the police and fire departments to the staff who helped at the cleaning facility and other areas of involvement. She recounted the numerous outpourings of sympathy fram citizens and school children who wrote letters to her. B. Michelle LaVigne reported that the Xeriscape project for the Carnegie was underway and should be completed by the first of June, 1995. The Friends of the Library are holding the funds from Water Services for the project. JoAnn Powell, Community Development Project Coordinator, was unable to be present but provided'a summary (attached and made a part of these minutes). The report stated that due to sane delays in the grant administration process the project will not officially start until City Council approval probably in June; then the process of selecting an architect will take approximately 3 41tths with 2 or 3 more months spent developing plans and specifications. struction could begin as early as the first of 1996 with project completion by years' end. Vti-CleA.(.,- Pg\e/W/t---lt e Q.Q11.Q 15. WI,,„„_---- Mrs. Vickie Bienski Mrs. Clara B. Mounce PrP.sidAn1" (:ifv I ihrar-an