Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 10/1/07
Meeting Opened at: 8:30am
Select Board Members Present: Jonathan Sylbert, Chairperson and Wayne Burkhart
Also in attendance: Michael Storch
The board met with the Director of Highways, Maynard Forbes and reviewed the following items:
1. The Board reviewed a proposed Salt Shed plan. The Board asked M. Forbes to send a copy of the plans to Representative Pignatelli to see what funds may be available to help the town with the mandated purchase.
2. Drawdown for Lake Garfield was discussed. M. Forbes is waiting for the Conservation Commission to notify him what can be done (6ft or 3ft) and when. (M. Noe will make the Conservation Committee aware and ask them to contact M. Forbes).
3. Starting to get ready for winter; sandblasting and repainting one of the plows, marking the catch basins.
4. R. Tryon made a complaint to W. Burkhart about the logs still being in Rawson Brook and to complain that Tryon Construction’s machine might be to big and that R. Tryon should be hired to use his smaller machine. He also made a complaint about the drainage on Wellman Rd, M. Forbes stated that the drainage is working fine on Wellman Rd and he doesn’t want to do anything that may change that.
5. Brace Rd; The Tyringham Select Board would like to come in to meet with the Board about updating Brace Rd on the Monterey side. M. Forbes stated that right now it is passable in a pickup truck. A lot of trees and brush would need to be cut down but at this time it isn’t a priority and there isn’t a reason to do the work necessary to open it up and maintain it. J. Sylbert will contact C. Johnson, a member of the Tyringham Select Board for more information.
6. M. Forbes was asked where the Town part of Sylvan Rd ends and the private section begins. M. Forbes stated that D. Amidon has maps and has been to provide M. Forbes with copies several times but to date hasn’t provided them; M. Forbes has also gone to the Registry of Deeds looking for recorded information with no luck. W. Burkhart suggested that M. Forbes contact R. Hoogs who has stated that Foresight Land Services has copies of all the Town Highway Maps.
7. M. Forbes will contact Lipton about the replacement thermostat for the Police Office.
8. The orange poles on Tyringham Rd in front of the Town Beach have disappeared.
The board met with Police Chief, Gareth Backhaus to review the following items:
1. Complaint on Art School Rd about barking dogs.
2. The driver of the little school bus complained about people driving past her flashing lights (police will be monitoring).
3. Break in at the end of Main Rd.
4. Loose dog complaint on Main Rd.
5. Domestic call on Williams Ln
6. Abandoned 911 call on Main Rd.
7. Complaint received about increased traffic between the hours of 2-4am on Hupi Rd, the vehicles are playing loud music while driving down the road.
8. G. Backhaus was asked if there was a bylaw concerning barking dogs; G. Backhaus stated that there isn’t one for dogs but there is a disturbing the peace law that the officers enforce before 7am and after 10pm.
9. W. Burkhart asked G. Backhaus to follow up on a missing motorcycle from John’s Garage that belonged to a guest at Gould Farm.
The board met with Inter-Departmental Secretary, Melissa Noe to review the following items:
1. M. Noe informed the Board that Practical Solutions (our network administrators) has ceased operations however, Tom Roy, former partner of Practical Solutions has offered to remain our network admin and has given his contact info to M. Noe. A memo will be sent to all departments with the new contact information.
2. M. Noe informed the Board that she has been called for jury duty on Thursday, October 4th.
The board met with Town Accountant, Barbara Gauthier to review the following items:
1. B. Gauthier came in to inform the Board that the porta potty at the Transfer Station is costing the Town $105/month ($1260/yr) and it seems excessive when there is an available bathroom at the Highway Garage. B. Gauthier asked M. Forbes prior to coming to the meeting if he had any issues with the attendant using the Highway Garage’s bathroom and he stated he did not. W. Burkhart suggested having the potty there only in the summer months. The Board will discuss this with M. Forbes at the next Select Board meeting.
2. $392,829.00 has been certified in Free Cash by the Department of Revenue.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. Mail was reviewed.
2. Minutes from 9.24.07 were approved as written.
3. The Board reviewed the interested applicants for the newly formed Broadband Committee and has appointed the following members for a one-year term:
a. Virgil Stucker, Karen Schreefter, Monica Webb, Will Marsh, Cliff Weiss and Adam Goodman. A letter will be sent to all requesting a meeting with the Board.
4. The Board voted to close on Monday, December 24th, no meetings will be held.
5. The Board agreed to ask M. Forbes about installing 2 ceiling fans in the meeting room.
6. B. Puntin asked the status of the school budget; the town is waiting on the results of New Marlborough’s town meeting.
7. B. Puntin informed the Board that Laurily Epstein is resigning from the Planning Board so there will be an opening to fill. J. Sylbert informed Brian that he should advertise the opening to all interested applicants and then make a recommendation to the Select Board for an appointment.
8. B. Puntin asked for the status on the Thorn property and boat ramp; no response has been received to date.
9. B. Puntin asked about the “Regulations for Access to a Public Way”. J. Sylbert stated that it is a Select Board regulation that was drawn up over 20 years ago. The Planning Board is working on developing a common driveway bylaw and wanted to know how that fit in.
10. P. Murkett came in to ask the Board if there was anything that he could do to aid in the ongoing situation between the Town Clerk’s office and the Town Secretary. He is aware from his time on the appeals board of the conflicts that occurred then. The Board stated that at this time the Town Clerk refuses to come in and meet officially with the board to discuss the matter and has stated for the record that she has no interest in solving the problem.
In conversations with J. Sylbert the Town Clerk stated that part of her animosity toward the Inter-Departmental Secretary is that Barbara felt she should’ve been included on the “committee” that reviewed the applicants applying for the Town Secretary job (J. Sylbert noted for the record that this was odd considering that she was one of the applicants applying for the job and that would’ve been a conflict of interest) and in creating the job description for the position so that the Town Secretary would also perform duties for the Town Clerk although it was also noted that she has an assistant.
M. Storch stated for the record that when the Berkshire Eagle interviewed the Town Clerk about the ongoing issues in a video documentary on their site she’s asked what the reason is in her opinion, for the conflict between her and the Select Board Secretary and she states she doesn’t know what the problem is and that the interviewer would have to ask her (referring to the Select Board Secretary).
The Board decided to enlist the services of Berkshire Mediation again to mediate the problem between the Town Clerk and Inter-Departmental Secretary, a letter was written to Berkshire Mediation Services, Barbara Swann and Melissa Noe will be cc’d.
11. D. Moriarity came in to ask the Board if the Finance Committee could be cc’d on any memos that come in to the Town Hall for various departments about eligible money available to towns for various projects. The Board informed D. Moriarity that there are a lot of memos that come in to the Town Hall and various departments however they don’t always apply to a town as small as ours but they’d be happy to place a copy in the Finance Committee’s mailbox. W. Burkhart suggested that the BRPC may have the resources to help with this.
12. D. Moriarity has been working on a project with regards to the flooding issues and health and welfare at Lake Buel. He provided the Board with a copy of the research to be presented in a future meeting. D. Moriarity stated that the end goal is to install a water controlling device at the mouth of Lake Buel. He has received $10,000 to date from the Lake Buel Association voters that have become frustrated with the situation. An engineer has been hired but he’s running out of money and needs at least another $10,000.00. He’s asking the Town of Monterey and Town of New Marlborough for matching funds to help with this project. He requested $10,000.00 from the Board to which they replied they’d need to speak with the Town Accountant and that this would probably have to go to a Town Meeting vote since funds were not allocated/appropriated for this specific request. He also requested emergency funding if that was possible as his funds are depleting. J. Sylbert recommended
that the committee involved with this project put the request in writing and include a timeline of the necessary steps involved.
13. D. Moriarity also asked to borrow the Select Board’s copy of the Lake Garfield Notice of Intent.
The meeting adjourned at: 12:00pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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