Village authorizes full time security for Library
Garden City NY Feb 16 2020
At the Village Board of Trustees’ meeting on Thursday, February 6, the board approved funding to hire security guards for more than 68 hours per week, even though the Library Board had only requested 40 hours per week coverage.
The Library Board’s request for a transfer of funds to cover the 40 hours was scrapped by the Board of Trustees’ liaison the Library Board, Trustee Colleen Foley. Instead, after removing the pending approval of the annual cost of $59,804 for Securitas.
Foley began a discussion that resulted in other trustees voicing their support for the contract to be extended, before it begins, and allow for up to the full 68.5 hours per week that Garden City Public Library is open. This increased the bid award for Securitas to $99,762 for one year.
The Village Board was asked to fund $5,809 as a transfer into the Library’s Operating Budget “Contracted Services” account, in order to pay for the retention of Securitas for one year, as the amount originally budgeted was $53,995. The Village Board would have also authorized the award of the GCPL security contract as initially drafted, and the contract would be renewable after a one-year period. However while village trustees decided to permit a substantially higher cost to cover the 68.5 hours instead of 40 per week, they plan to see the funding be allocated from a Library account around the time of a one-year renewal, for both a short-term plan of February through May 2021, and in full for year 2021-22 as that timeframe would approach the next village budget development cycle.
“Approximately a year ago (March 2019) the Library came before the Village Board at their budget work session and pressed for funds about their security at GCPL, which we granted. They put their specs together and the report to village trustees and the village administration by Library Director Marianne Malagon is extremely detailed and I want to commend her on that. On January 27 this year the Library Board met and Securitas would meet their needs, and the amount for Board approval tonight is for 40 hours a week of security. In the review of the RFP’s there was also an option for 68.5 hours a week, and a couple of items stood out to me. After working with the library board as a liaison and attending GCPL Board meetings, hearing the recent problems and concerns of constituents, I think they would need professional security at the building full-time. This library is the only building in our community that is completely open to any person at any time and without issues of residency someone can walk in. And over the years GCPL has had some concerns that have required the assistance of police,” Trustee Foley said.
She noted the consultations of Police Commissioner Kenneth Jackson in drafting an RFP for security firms to offer bids on, and prior to that step in late 2018 the recently-retired GCPD veteran Inspector Michael Doyle attended a Library Board meeting to outline areas he’s identified to beef up security at the library (reported on in The Garden City News on December 14, 2018).
At the time of budget discussions for the current fiscal year (2019-2020) almost 11 months ago, Library Board Chairman J. Randolph Colahan told the Village Board that Inspector Doyle had contacted Summit Security Service because the Port Washington and Hempstead libraries both used that vendor for security guards. Last year’s budget presentation for GCPL revealed the anticipated $53,000 cost as part of an increase in GCPL expenses in 2019-2020, of $104,000, 3% over the forecast and $56,000 from the 2018-2019 adopted budget (as presented last March). The security bid that GCPL received came in slightly higher for the 40-hours a week coverage.
Trustee Foley noted last week that Securitas is considered to have the most amount of library and public building security experience of the three vendors who bid to provide GCPL’s security.
“But what struck me in Ms. Malagon’s report is our own Commissioner’s recommendation that we investigate the potential for 68.5 hours of guards — that would provide consistent security and then it doesn’t create a two-tiered system with our own (GCPL’s monitors) employees. Securitas is a professional security company, and there’s potential reduction of overtime. Of the $99,762 we have funds available and GCPL’s budgeted of $53,995. The additional funding would be $45,767 and I have asked Treasurer Irene Woo to prepare information for the Board on how we can fund this amount going forward in order to get the proposal going as soon as possible. It looks like we can pull some of the funding from amounts budgeted but not used for renovations of the first floor library bathrooms,” Trustee Foley said
The carryover amount that would still need to be allocated in spite of money saved from the GCPL bathrooms project would be $6,765 that Foley suggested taking from the Village General Fund.
Trustee and former mayor Brian Daughney said he agreed with increasing the contractual amount and going for the 68.5 hours of security service because he was not keen on the two-tier system, which would leave GCPL without a security guard for another 28.5 hours in a week that the building would be open, including on weekends.
The question of monitors continuing to work at GCPL was discussed briefly by the Board, and Deputy Mayor Robert Bolebruch said “if the Library Board decides to continue to employ those people then they can. It is their choice and they can do whatever they decide to. But the bottom line is that the contract increased by another $45,000 and as far as spending another $37,000 a year on monitors along with the initial $53,995 contract, it would basically be offset.”
Trustee Foley stated that the deployment of Library personnel going forward should be a matter resolved by the Library Board of Trustees independent of Village Board input.
Budget transfers to increase the price of approval for Securitas to the $99,762 and simultaneously amending the bid award to reflect the 68.5 hours per week of security were both approved by the Board of Trustees. Trustee John Delany clarified that the contract would run through February of 2021, and the GCPL Board should be prepared to formulate its funding for the period of February through May 31, 2021 before the start of the 2021- ’22 Village Budget and Garden City Library fiscal year.
“We have to opt to approve a one-year contract for Securitas and by authorizing that, the Library Board is covered for the last six months of the (2019- 2020) budget expiring May 31 and then the first six months of the next budget. In their budget planning for 2020-’21 they would need to cover six months of that. In the following budget year the GCPL budget would absorb the full cost,” Trustee Foley said.
