Board of Trustees
of the
Huntley Area Public Library District
Minutes of the Regular Meeting
September 16, 2026
Call to Order: A Regular Board Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Huntley Area Public Library District was held in Program Room 3 at the Huntley Area Public Library District, 11000 Ruth Road, Huntley, IL 60142 on September 16, 2026. President Threadgill-Smith called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
Attendance:
Trustees Present: Linda Benigno, Sandy Domagalski, Katie Kunde, Jerry Reedy, John Schmelzer, Leslie Threadgill-Smith, and Stephanie Weil
Trustees Absent: None
Library Staff Present: Natalie Starosta Library Director; Lindsey Jarr, Business Manager; Michelle Mattes, Friends Liaison; Natalie DelFavero, Head of Marketing; Sergio Ramos, Head of Maintenance; and Elizabeth Steffensen, Head of Public Services
Visitors Present: Pamela Kampwerth, Genevieve Hochwater, Marjorie Smith, Carol David, Shirley Nowak, Vito Benigno, Katie Chineme, Jordan Francisco, Paul Inserra, and Natalia Tokakska
Pledge of Allegiance: President Threadgill-Smith led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Public Comments: Linda Benigno praised the newsletter
Paul Inserra, going over the financial statements briefly, the independent auditors report. ATA group present fairly in all respects revenues, expenditures and assets liabilities on modified cash accounting Budget came in under revenues 2026 vs 2025 The library has fulfilled all the information necessary to complete audit and will be submitted to the county.
Paul Inserra left the meeting at 6:47p.m.
Secretary’s Report: No comments
Benigno motioned; Kunde seconded; The Board approve the minutes of the following meetings:
Regular Board Meeting August 19, 2026, as presented
All Ayes. No Nays. Motion carried.
Benigno motioned; Kunde seconded to approve the 2026 Budget and Appropriation Ordinance, as presented. Roll call vote- Benigno-Aye, Domagalski-Aye, Kunde- Aye, Reedy- Aye, Schmelzer- Aye, Threadgill-Smith- Aye and Weil- Aye. All Ayes No Nays. Motion carried.
Financial Reports and Checks:
Benigno motioned; Weil seconded to approve the checks and financial report for August 2026 as presented. Roll call votes were Benigno-Aye; Domagalski-Aye; Kunde-Aye; Reedy-Aye; Schmelzer-Aye; Threadgill-Smith-Aye; Weil-Aye. All Ayes. No Nays. Motion carried.
Monthly Income/Expense Report (Discussion): Trustees reviewed the Income/Expense Report-August 2026 and there were no questions.
Library Director’s Report: Presented by Starosta
Introduced the new Head of Marketing, Ann Marie DelFavero. Attended the Huntley Chamber’s lunch and met with members of the community. Sergio fixed the condensation leak. The new cleaning company is onboard and is doing well. McHenry County will supply Narcan for the library and will provide training for the staff on November 5th in-service date. Outsource solution group will provide a report on IT. Starosta attended the Friends Foundation meeting last Friday and will attend the upcoming meeting this Friday.
Committee Reports:
Policy: There was no report.
Finance: There was no report.
Facilities: There was no report.
Friends’ Liaison: Presented by Mattes. September book sale sold over $1,769 dollars. Over 142 hours were volunteered. Next Friday, friends will host Natalie Starosta at their meeting. Culvers fundraiser coming up on
Director Search: Will discuss voting to disband later in the meeting
New Business:
Transfer from Operating Fund to Special Reserve: Reedy motioned; Weil seconded transferring $400,000 from the Operating Fund to the Special Reserve Fund.
Roll Call Vote Benigno-Aye, Domagalski-Aye, Kunde- Aye, Reedy-Aye, Schmelzer- Aye, Threadgill-Smith-Aye, and Weil- Aye. All-Ayes No- Nays. Motion carried.
Transfer from Zion Bank: Reedy motioned; Domagalski seconded to transfer $100,645 from Zion Bank to FNBO Operating Fund. Roll Call Vote Benigno-Aye, Domagalski-Aye, Kunde- Aye, Reedy-Aye, Schmelzer- Aye, Threadgill-Smith-Aye, and Weil- Aye. All- Ayes, No- Nays. Motion carried.
Intergovernmental Utilities Purchasing Cooperative (IUPC) Agreement to join the intergovernmental utilities: Bengino motioned; Weil seconded to sign the IUPC utilizes agreement. No questions Roll Call Vote – Benigno – Aye Domagalski – Aye Reedy-Aye Weil- Aye – Schmelzer- Aye Threadgill Smith – Aye All Ayes. No Nays. Motion carried.
Short-term natural gas agreement recommendation. Benigno motioned; Schmelzer seconded to approve the short-term natural gas agreement with Constellation.
Reedy asked if it was an increase in what is currently paid. This will allow us to join the agreement in the future and will hopefully keep the cost lower. Roll Call Vote – Benigno – Aye Domagalski – Aye Reedy-Aye Weil- Aye – Schmelzer- Aye Threadgill Smith – Aye All Ayes. No Nays. Motion carried.
Disband Director Search Committee Weil motioned; Reedy seconded to disband the Director Search Committee. All Ayes, No Nays. Motion carried.
Library of Things Policy: Benigno motioned; Threadgill-Smith seconded to approve the Library of Things Policy.
Discussion: There was a donation for a library of things. Starosta worked with collection management and other libraries to develop a policy. Policy was reviewed by legal and came back with no changes. Threadgill- Smith asked for a signature for minors line. All Ayes, No Nays. Motion carried.
Executive Session:
Kunde motioned; Benigno seconded for the Library Board to convene an Executive Session under the exception of the Open Meetings Act – – ILCS 102/2 (c) (1) The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity
All Ayes. No Nays. Motion carried.
Board Entered Executive Sessions at 6:20 p.m.
Benigno motioned; Schmelzer seconded to exit the Executive session.
Board exited the Executive Session at 6:40 p.m.
Board reentered Regular Board Meeting at 6:42 p.m.
Old Business: None
Board Name Badges: Benigno motioned; Weil seconded to approve the name badges the same as the library staff with Trustee title added. All Ayes. No Nays. Motion carried.
Approval of Semi-Annual Treasurer’s Report:
Benigno motioned; Weil seconded to approve the Semiannual Treasurer’s Report. All Ayes. No Nays. Motion Carried.
Approval of Annual Treasures report:
Kunde motioned; Reedy seconded to approve the Annual Treasurer’s Report. No questions Vote All Ayes. No Nays. Motion carried.
Motion to Amend May 20th Board Minutes:
Benigno motioned; Kunde seconded that two corrections to the May 20, 2026 Regular Board Meeting minutes be added as an addendum.
1) It was incorrectly stated that the part-time Friends Liaison position was created at the request of the Friends Foundation Board and that the Friends Foundation Board did not request the creation of this Friends Liaison position. This position was in reality created by the prior Library Director and implemented by that prior Library Director and the prior business manager.
2) It was incorrectly stated that several changes regarding support to the Friends Foundation were made by the prior Director and the business manager. These changes to the support and cooperative efforts of the Friends Foundation and the HAPL Library were in reality made and implemented at a later date by the Acting Library Director.
Six Ayes. One Nay. Motion carried.
Upcoming Dates: The next Regular Monthly Board Meeting of the Board of Trustees will be Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.
Board Retreat November 7, 2026 9:00 a.m.
Board Discussion: New folder for Board will be put with the employee mailboxes for Board business outside of meetings as needed. Friends Foundation will meet and agree to a Memorandum of Understanding with the Library Director, Natalie Starosta.
Adjourn:
Weil Motioned; Kunde seconded to adjourn the Regular Board Meeting
All Ayes. No Nays. Motion carried.
Regular Board Meeting adjourned at 7:18 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
__________________________________________
Stephanie Weil, Secretary
