Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 9/10/07
Meeting Opened at: 8:30am
Select Board Members Present: Jonathan Sylbert, Chairperson, Wayne Burkhart and Scott Jenssen
Also in attendance: Deborah Mielke of the Monterey News, Michael Storch, Suzanne Hoppenstedt, Brian Puntin, Rodney Palmer and Seth Kaufmann
The board met with the Director of Highways, Maynard Forbes and reviewed the following items:
1. CET grant was discussed. W. Burkhart will look it over to see if there is anything that Monterey can use and will call CET directly with any questions.
2. Sandisfield Rd shoulder work, paving swales and drainage was the main project all last week. Everything should be completed in 1-2 weeks.
3. The excavator has come in very handy in cleaning up the culverts and drains around town. W. Burkhart mentioned that those spots that have been tidied up look great.
4. M. Forbes has winter sand bids in (washed sand), low bid was Donovan. 5% salt is mixed in for dirt roads. Straight salt is used on the main roads.
5. M. Storch mentioned that B. Morin (supervisor at Verizon) has not been returning Monterey’s calls about fixing the low hanging wires around town.
6. Misc. Highway Department agenda items and their status were reviewed.
7. Complaint received by S. Jenssen about the attendant at the dump was discussed. S. Jenssen asked how situations where someone doesn’t have a sticker and wants to dump should be handled. M. Storch mentioned that using the elderly (recent vote at 2007 Town Meeting) to sell tickets on Saturday would be helpful. M. Noe mentioned that she spoke with the Police Chief about this and he stated that in any situation like this the Police should be called and a license plate should be written down.
8. Dead tree at addressStreet39 Main Rd – Electric Company will be removing this.
9. Insurance claim from a tree that fell on a resident’s car was discussed. M. Forbes mentioned that when the town is unaware of an issue and something happens it’s coincidental and an act of nature. If the town were aware of a problem (i.e. a pothole, dead tree, etc) and didn’t fix it and something happened then the town would be liable.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. Suzanne Hoppenstedt, a Monterey resident, came in with questions about the letter from the building department to the firehouse that the proposed project for a training tower would be a matter of right. It was noted that the firehouse has yet to apply for a building permit. She was looking to find out what the training facility was going to be used for. M. Forbes stated that what the firehouse was looking at was a 2 story steel structure of different levels and different type roofs. One room would be a burn room to start practice fires in. It could also be used for mock search and rescue events. Any questions should be
directed to Ray Tryon, Fire Chief. Resident Seth Kaufmann asked why a small town like CityMonterey would construct a facility like this when a bigger city like placeCityPittsfield couldn’t afford to keep their facility open.
2. Seth Kaufmann, resident on placePlaceTypeLake PlaceNameGarfield came in requesting a definition of “access” for people that do not live directly on the lake but have lake rights. He was complaining about the mooring of a boat adjacent to his property that is blocking his view and has been unregistered all summer. He wanted to know who issued the mooring permit and wanted the specifications for issuing mooring permits. He states the access on his property is a footpath not for boat access. Mr. Kaufmann also questioned whether or not parking on addressStreetHupi Rd. was permitted. When the Chief returns next week, this
will be discussed in greater detail. The boat has been pulled out for the season now but the mooring is still there. It was suggested that Mr. Kaufmann contact Dean Amidon, the Deputy Harbormaster about the mooring and to request copies of the mooring permit regulations.
3. Brian Puntin asked about the status of the public boat ramp situation and the letters that were written. The town has not heard anything back yet from the Thorns, Smitty Pignatelli or Terry Smith.
4. Mail was reviewed.
5. A reminder memo was written to all boards about contacting town counsel. The only people to contact town counsel should be the Chairperson of any Town Board.
6. The Special Town Meeting held on Friday, September 7th was discussed.
7. The minutes from 8.27.07 were approved as written.
8. Robert Lazzarini came in to discuss the remaining 2 CityplaceHudson parcels and their 61B status.
place9. Southern Berkshire Waste Management is paying for the state mandated yearly inspection for transfer stations.
10. Dan Moriarity of the Finance Committee came in to commend J. Sylbert on a job well done at Friday’s meeting and to see if the Select Board needed anything from the Finance Committee.
11. The returned special town meeting warrants (for bad addresses) were given to the board to review. They will be given to the Clerk’s office to correct the addresses.
12. S. Jenssen received a call from Dean Amidon of the ZBA expressing his displeasure in the Select Board for not appointing the Zoning Board of Appeals recommendation for an alternate.
13. S. Jenssen relayed to the board some constructive criticism received about a recent town employee appointment. These will be discussed with the immediate supervisor next week.
14. This ongoing issue between the Town Clerk’s office and the Inter-Departmental Secretary’s office was again discussed and how to go forward with an investigation or disciplinary action of some sort. Town Counsel’s advice on how to proceed with the situation was discussed. It was noted that the Town Clerk has refused to come in either formally or informally to discuss the situation. Town Counsel is coming in next week to review the options the board has available to them as well.
The meeting adjourned at: 11:45am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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