Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 9/18/06
Meeting Opened at: 8:35am
Select Board Members Present: Michael Storch, Chairperson, Jonathan Sylbert, and Wayne Burkhart
Also in attendance for the meeting: Laurily Epstein for the Monterey News
The board met with the Director of Highways, Maynard Forbes and reviewed the following items:
1. The Select Board inquired as to when the flags hanging through town would be taken down.
2. Select Board reviewed the letter received from the Tyringham Board of Selectmen requesting Monterey open our end of Brace Rd making it a passable road from Tyringham through. M. Forbes stated that it would probably be a $20-30k project. A response will be sent to the Tyringham Board of Selectmen.
3. 6 of the 9 culvert crossings were finished on Sandisfield Rd and the remaining 3 will be finished today.
4. All the tops of the basins in town were cleaned.
5. A small Volvo excavator will be brought down to test out from Tyler Equipment in Longmeadow.
6. There was a complaint about the leftover conduit left by the electricians in the basement, assessor files as well as the garbage from the police storage room. M. Forbes said he will not throw anything away unless asked to. M. Storch asked about removing the paint cans from the cage downstairs; M. Forbes is looking for a new home for them. The space under the stairs was also inquired about; D. Torrico stated that if you are to use it for storage you’ll need to sheetrock it.
7. Half of the department attended an equipment show in Dalton on Friday.
8. Fairview Rd; there will be a meeting there this week.
9. M. Forbes met with the Planning Board about the Monterey Subdivision Control Laws and driveway permits and they plan to meet again to discuss this further.
10. M. Forbes will call Gennari to have them come back now that the heat is being used on the cold days.
The board met with Building Inspector, Donald Torrico and reviewed the following items:
1. Issued Building Permits were reviewed.
2. D. Torrico has not heard back from the SBRSD as of yet; a CI has not been issued yet. D. Torrico is waiting on the analysis from SBRSD’s engineer. D. Torrico will make a call today and send a letter to the Head of Buildings, cc’ing the Superintendent.
3. Plumbing Inspector Alternate; D. Torrico will look into possibilities and speak with our current Plumbing Inspector and get back to the board. An alternate is needed for when the Plumbing Inspector is on vacation or if there were a conflict of interest. D. Torrico suggested having both the Plumbing and Electrical Inspectors come in for a meeting with the board on 9/25/06 at 8:30am.
The board met with Town Secretary, Melissa Noe to review the following items:
1. M. Noe contacted several surrounding towns about the phone systems they use and has made calls to one company in Springfield and one in Gt. Barrington, both will be submitting quotes.
2. The board reviewed the response from Town Counsel regarding the Town Secretary position and combining all the positions into “Inter-Departmental Secretary”; the board reviewed and finalized the job description for the Inter-Departmental Secretary. M. Noe will check on the available alternatives for a Procurement Officer through the Inspector General’s Office.
3. The post office box will be kept for the back up server tapes.
The board met with Town Accountant, Barbara Gauthier to review the following items:
1. B. Gauthier inquired of L. Epstein about bills for “I Love Monterey Day”
2. B. Gauthier asked J. Sylbert to speak with P. Mielke about the specs and ordering a new computer for the Accounting/Treasurer’s Department that was budgeted for.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. Reviewed letter received from C. Mielke regarding the Cemetery Records and his position on the committee and suggested changing the committee to an appointed committee vs an elected committee.
2. Interview: Jenna Ford of Berkshire Mediation Services will be in at 11am on October 2nd
3. B. Lazzarini came in at the request of the board to discuss the filing cabinets and garbage left down in the basement by the Assessor’s office. B. Lazzarini did receive written permission to discard the old records and thought they had been put in the garbage pile. The 2 – 2 drawer filing cabinets are empty and the monitor should be stored as it’s good and in working condition.
4. Meeting Notices and the time stamps; several notices have been received in the Town Hall that don’t meet the 48 hour meeting notice timeframe stamp. It was stated that the Town Clerk should be available to the public for these to be handed in directly to the Town Clerk in a timely fashion according to Chapter 303, Acts of 1975 (Open Meeting Law). M. Storch called the Town Clerk during the meeting to find out the procedure she follows; The Town Clerk stated that the procedure is if you bring in a meeting notice you need to call the Town Clerk to let her know you are submitting one and that this is how you do it in a small town. It was
suggested that a file be put on the outside of the door with the Town Clerk’s meeting notice procedure clearly stated on the file, J. Sylbert will speak with the Town Clerk about this.
5. T. Lovett came into discuss the Bally Gally rental; 2 applications have been received and are being reviewed. Both applicants are interested in moving in as soon as possible.
6. Michael Johnson, Monterey Resident and neLani Moore of the Railroad Street Youth Project in Gt. Barrington came into discuss a proclamation supporting an international day of peace. The Railroad Street Youth Project would like the Town of Monterey to sign a proclamation of peace assigning September 21st as a National Day of Peace. The resolution calls for peace and non-violence awareness. A motion was made to sign the proclamation, which was seconded and approved unanimously, and the board signed the proclamation. J. Sylbert suggested in the future townspeople should have a way of participating in the signing of the proclamation,
perhaps through the annual town warrant or public meetings, and also in the event. Copies of the resolution were given to the board. The board will make an effort to have the church bell rung at noon on the 21st.
7. David Smith and Kathy Finkle of the Sheffield Kiwanis (serves 7 surrounding towns) appeared before the board to discuss a community project. November is Kiwanis Family Month and they would like to do a community service project on Sunday, November 26th. They are proposing to do a highway cleanup in Monterey and they have all the supplies necessary (provided by Mass Highway) to proceed with this project with the board’s approval. The board suggested starting at the flats and going 2 miles from there. The Kiwanis also requested and was granted permission to dispose of the garbage at the local Transfer Station. The
board requested a letter be sent to the board and Police Chief summarizing this meeting and the plans for the clean up.
8. Minutes from 9.11.06 were amended and approved.
9. The Select Board asked that a memo be sent to the Finance Committee asking them to come in to next week’s meeting.
10. Drawdown; letter received from ENSR reminding the board that they are still interested in writing the NOI for the Lake Garfield Drawdown. The board needs to check into any Procurement issues that may be present in choosing a vendor and finalize how they will decide and hire.
11. Correspondence from MIIA was reviewed. The board recommended signing up for the free HR service offered by MIIA and inquiring with them about Mediation services.
12. A Monterey resident came into inquire about opening up Scott Rd to at least pedestrian traffic. The board informed the gentleman that it is a private road and that the town does not have any control in that situation.
The meeting adjourned at: 11:42pm
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
Town of Monterey
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