Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 1/8/07
Meeting Opened at: 8:30am
Select Board Members Present: Michael Storch, Chairperson, Wayne Burkhart and Jonathan Sylbert
Also in attendance for the meeting: Maggie Leonard of the Monterey News
The board met with the Director of Highways, Maynard Forbes and reviewed the following items:
1. New diesel truck was delivered last week; it now needs to go to NH to get the dump body put on.
2. Ballpark electrical work has been completed.
3. M. Forbes gave some suggested changes to the transfer station operation for the upcoming fiscal year. W. Burkhart asked M. Forbes opinion on keeping the Solid Waste Committee intact since there is now an active Transfer Station Manager overseeing daily operations. M. Forbes suggested keeping the committee on an as needed basis.
4. CET items received through a grant have not arrived yet.
5. J. Sylbert commented that he went down and visited the beach but the boat ramp was dug out too deep when the boulder was removed, there is now a 2 ½ to 3-foot drop-off. The Parks Commission will be made aware of the situation and asked to come to the 22nd Select Board meeting.
6. Harmon Rd and Wellman Rd were cleared last week.
7. The tree company will be here next week to do some trimming of branches that affect the power lines that the power company is covering financially and some branches/trees to be cut will be coming out of the Highway Departments tree cutting budget.
8. M. Storch asked M. Forbes to put together a schedule of how he plans to utilize the backhoe. M. Forbes stated that he can not produce a schedule but he can give a list of projects that will require the use of the backhoe.
9. M. Storch asked the Police Chief to clean out the back police storage room so that M. Forbes can finish cleaning out the upstairs office at the Highway Department and move the items into there.
10. D. Tryon inquired about the length of the Highway Department’s lunch break. M. Forbes stated that the crew takes a half hour lunch break.
The board met with Building Inspector, Donald Torrico and reviewed the following items:
1. The Assessor’s Department forwarded information to S. Peplowski to se if that could be integrated with the new building department software the town is looking to purchase. We are waiting to hear back from S. Peplowski.
2. Dept of Labor - Workman’s Comp Division is currently investigating an accident reported to have happened on a Beartown Mtn Rd building project.
3. J. Sylbert requested a list of 2006 building permits that were issued.
4. Catching up on work going on in town without permits.
5. Inn on Art School Rd – An enforcement letter is going to be sent to the owner on record.
The board met with Police Chief, Gareth Backhaus to review the following items:
1. Alarm on Hupi Rd, Gould Farm, Main Rd, and Mt Hunger Estates.
2. Well being check on Beartown Mtn Rd.
3. Disabled vehicle on Carrington Battelle Rd.
4. Christmas Day – noise complaint on Williams Lane at 3:30am
5. DMV on Pixley Rd.
6. Assisted New Marlborough Police with an overdose on New Year’s Day.
7. Large Pine tree down on Sylvan Rd that took the power lines down. The power and phone companies were notified.
8. Columbia County mental health called about a suicidal person in Monterey that called them. This person ended up being transported by a friend that they had called for a ride. Their arrival at Columbia County was verified by the Police Department.
9. Assisted State Police with an arrest warrant on West Rd.
10. The satellite phone purchased several years ago on a grant had an external antennae installed on the cruiser this week (also done through a grant).
9:43am – 9:47am
D. Mielke of the Finance Committee came in to inform the board that the budget request forms were distributed ahead of schedule to all departments so everyone has a little over a month to return them to the board for review. D. Mielke announce officially to the Select Board that she will not be running again for the Finance Committee.
9:48am – 10:10am: Edith Wilson House
Shirley Olds, Gige O’Connell, Jerry Shapiro and Joe Baker came in to discuss the following:
1. Interpretation of the Edith Wilson House will: it is understood that the town owns all of the property and it’s use will be at the Select Board’s discretion. The FWMH are requesting to resolve the conflicting interpretations of the will and who has the power to make decisions about the structure and it’s potential limitations and boundaries.
2. The Friend’s of Wilson McLaughlin House reported that they are unable to get the large donations needed for the cost of the current proposed project. The general consensus from fund-raising events held is that the project is too expensive for what the town would be getting.
3. J. Sylbert of the Select Board will ask Town Counsel to review the will and advise how to proceed and can the Select Board rebuild the structure from the ground up for municipal purposes due to the hardship that would be incurred to keep and modify the existing building and then the FWMH should present the proposed plans to the Berkshire Taconic Foundation.
10:15am – 11:25am: School Committee Meeting
Mary Makuc, Chuck Mielke, Debra Mielke, Deborah Mielke, Catherine Miller, School Committee Chairperson and Valerie Spriggs of the SBRSD came in to discuss the following:
1. Lower enrollment in Monterey.
2. The current issues before the school district to continue to keep the Monterey School in operation according to current building codes.
3. How do we make the Monterey School more viable?
4. What can we do to increase the attendance numbers for the Monterey School?
5. J. Sylbert requested the current 5 town numbers and the 5-year projection numbers.
6. The SBRSD provided numbers for the following: District Births from 2001-06, Enrollment by Towns as of 10/1/06, School Attending Children as of 10/1/06, Enrollment by town and school as of 10/1/06 and Enrollment of District Students by Grade as of 10/1/06.
7. The Town of Monterey needs to come up with a solution for another building and location in Monterey within the next 2 years. J. Sylbert asked what the building standards would need to be with regards to ADA and state compliance.
8. Communication issues were addressed.
9. Future meetings need to be planned prior to the Town Meeting to discuss all the possibilities and to find out which way the town wants to go.
The board met with Inter-Departmental Secretary, Melissa Noe to review the following items:
1. M. Noe let the board know that as of January 1, the new Conservation Commission Chairperson will be Rick Andrus.
The board met with Town Accountant, Barbara Gauthier to review the following items:
1. December expense reports were handed out; B. Gauthier advised that the Select Board will want to keep these for the budget process.
2. B. Gauthier inquired about the water bill received for the Edith Wilson House and whether the town hall should still be paying it. The lease was reviewed and it states that the “Lessee shall be responsible for all utilities used on the premises, including, but not limited to, electricity, heat, hot water, sewer service, rubbish removal and telephone service.” It also states that the “Lessee agrees to be responsible for the structure (WMH) and all associated utilities and operating systems until the termination of this Lease.” B. Gauthier will speak with Joe Baker and send the bill to them.
3. The new accounting software module proposal was reviewed. The amount needed for the software isn’t currently in the budget. B. Gauthier is requesting a special town meeting to be held a half-hour before the regular town meeting and/or scrutinizing the budget to see where funds might be able to be transferred. B. Gauthier will speak with the software company to see what arrangements can be made based on our situation. The Select Board authorizes B. Gauthier to continue negotiations with the software company.
4. The warrant for next week will be done on Friday since the board will not be meeting on Monday due to Martin Luther King Day.
5. B. Gauthier looked up the law for transferring funds and reported to the board.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. M. Storch met with Smitty Pignatelli last Friday about several items including wireless access and cell phone service for Monterey, a public boat ramp, the rising cost of health care, auto insurance rates, fire department grants, NIMS training, and dairy farms and the rising cost of milk.
2. Article in the Berkshire Record was discussed and how the picture the Berkshire Record printed and stated was Heron Pond is actually Brewer Pond. M. Storch will contact the Record and let them know of their mistake.
3. Articles were given to M. Storch to give to the Bidwell House.
4. The proposal from Berkshire Mediation services was reviewed and a letter will be sent with the list of people the Select Board decided on to interview.
The meeting adjourned at: 12:12pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe
Inter-Departmental Secretary
Town of Monterey
cc: Website
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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