Fontana Regional Library board finds footing, but challenges loom
The Fontana Regional Library Board met at the Hudson Library in Highlands.
Kyle Perrotti photo
The palpable undertones of tension felt at the last several Fontana Regional Library board meetings seemed to have subsided at last week’s trustees meeting, but the system’s challenges continue to mount.
During the meeting, held March 10 at the Hudson Library in Highlands, trustees announced that after the better part of a year without legal representation, they have found a large firm to take on FRL as a client, and following last month’s departure of Director Tracy Fitzmaurice, interviews with two candidates are already scheduled later this month, with more expected. Showing more unity than in the past, the board also voted unanimously on all items other than a lone abstention on a few votes.
However, the board is also navigating tricky personnel situations and financial hurdles ahead of Jackson County’s withdrawal from the three-county system, leaving Macon, Swain and the FRL board to put everything back together.
As of Feb. 26, Fitzmaurice’s last day on the job, the library system has been without a director. The job is currently posted to the FRL website with a salary range of $65,000-$90,000. For now, Board Chair Bill McGaha is serving in the role on an interim basis. McGaha said that he expects the board will announce a special called meeting to appoint an interim director in the coming days, something that must be done by March 26 to comply with the bylaws.
New board member Denise Boothby, of Macon County, was introduced at the March 10 meeting. Boothby replaces Marsha Moxley, who resigned from the board in January. Boothy was appointed by Macon County commissioners in February. Boothby said she moved to the area with her husband and dog, Zeus, in 2021. She discussed a lifelong appreciation of both the mountains she now calls home and its libraries.
“This is my favorite thing is to get to go to the library every week and pick up big books,” she said. “I think it’s worth so much imagination and creativity. It helped with my education and inspired me and motivated me, and so I’m really proud to be a part of the Fontana library board.”
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While Boothby abstained from voting on some items and was reticent during some of the conversation, she did have some input when discussing certain items, largely urging a measured approach to financial decisions.
One matter thoroughly discussed by the board involved personnel decisions ahead of Jackson County’s withdrawal from the system. The board’s personnel committee met with Jackson County Manager Kevin King and HR Director Kathryn Breedlove and agreed to post job announcements for the five current FRL vacancies in that county under the condition that new employees are offered the chance to stay employed in Jackson following the split. Those announcements aren’t yet posted on the FRL website but should be soon.
At this point, current FRL employees working at Jackson County Libraries need to be officially informed that their positions in the system are being terminated. At the meeting, the board voted unanimously to pass a reduction in force plan. The plan dictates that a formal letter will be sent to affected employees, as many as 29 people if all vacancies are filled by then.
The March Fontana Regional Library board meeting was new member Denise Boothby’s first. Kyle Perrotti photo
Prior to her leaving, Fitzmaurice sent a note to board members saying she was concerned that employees’ health insurance would lapse for a month due to the termination of their positions in the library system.
The U.S. Department of Labor offers Continuation of Health Coverage plans, known as COBRA, to employees who lose their job or suffer a reduction in hours that affects their health care coverage. McGaha noted that to maintain coverage for the lapse they’ll face, employees would have to pony up about $1,100 to get coverage for the month of July. The board voted unanimously to give every current Jackson employee who remains with the system through June 30, the day before Jackson’s withdrawal, a stipend of $1,500 (before taxes). While it’s intended to bridge the insurance gap, employees can do whatever they want with that money.
Another issue brought on by the withdrawal will be an increased share of the financial burden shouldered by Macon and Swain counties. Every year, the board must approve “budget input” numbers, the amount of tax dollars it will request from each county for annual operations. This year, Jackson didn’t factor into the calculations, meaning more will be paid by the remaining two counties to sustain basic operations previously split by all three.
Because Swain County only has the Mariana Black Library and Macon has the Hudson Library, the Macon County Library and the Nantahala Library, it has a higher share of the remaining cost. McGaha said the board anticipates an increase in expenses of at least $186,000. There is also a projected revenue decrease of about $155,000, meaning an overall budget hit of about $371,000.
After going without legal representation since last summer, it was announced that King Law, which has offices in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, will now represent FRL. The board discussed a number of items already in the “queue” for attorneys, which will be ordered by priority. Some of the high-priority items that must undergo such review before coming before the board for a vote are the new collection development policy, the RIF letters and changes to the bylaws.
The law firm will charge the board for time spent on communications in blocks of six minutes. Trustees said they want to avoid duplicative or otherwise unnecessary communications to avoid shelling out extra money. Along with unanimously voting in favor of signing a contract with King Law, it voted to designate the board chair, director and finance officer to communicate with the attorneys.
