Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 10/15/07
Meeting Opened at: 8:30am
Select Board Members Present: Jonathan Sylbert, Chairperson, Wayne Burkhart and Scott Jenssen
Also in attendance: Michael Storch, Deborah Mielke of the Monterey News
The board met with the Director of Highways, Maynard Forbes and reviewed the following items:
1. Al Wilcox and Peter Curtain of the Tyringham Select Board came to discuss opening Brace Rd. They reported that the road is 1.9 miles long (1.4 of it being in Tyringham). They would like to open the road for emergency reasons and to have Monterey open and maintain their side to connect the two towns. J. Sylbert mentioned that the issue right now wouldn’t be access but the numbers involved to create that access. M. Forbes explained that a lot of trees would have to be cut, the road would have to be widened a bit and some gravel would need to be placed, at a minimum this could be done for $25,000 and it then would only be open
for the summer. Right now a 4wheel drive pickup can get through as long as it’s not too wet. Mr. Wilcox and Mr. Curtain of the Tyringham board stated that the Tyringham side is not open or plowed in the winter and they would not expect the Monterey side to be either. J. Sylbert stated that they would need to go visit the road together and then they would need to ask the town if they feel the need to open the road and put up the money to do so. The Select Board will make a site visit and contact the Tyringham Board later this week.
2. Shed proposal was reviewed.
3. The trees have been removed from Rawson Brook adjacent to Mr. Tryon’s property.
4. National Grid came and cut some trees and will come back in a couple of weeks to finish the remaining ones.
5. Fairview Rd was graded on Friday.
6. M. Forbes has left messages for R. Hoogs regarding obtaining a copy of the county maps that Foresight has.
7. S. Jenssen asked if the Highway Dept hires outside contractors to help plow. M. Forbes stated that if there’s a prediction for 18 or more inches he brings on one contractor and if it seems like there will be more snow than that he’ll add an additional contractor.
8. The Board asked M. Forbes his opinion on the $105/month porta potty at the Transfer Station (the Town Accountant asked the board to reconsider its need because of the cost). M. Forbes will speak with the attendant about only having it there in the summer months.
The board met with Building Inspector, Donald Torrico and reviewed the following items:
1. D. Torrico and the Monterey Health agent met with Town Counsel two weeks ago to give him the legal packet the Select Board received regarding the Inn on Art School Rd.
2. A special permit is required for Mass Electric to place a tower on Mt. Wilcox (under the town’s wireless communications bylaw). This hearing has been set with the Zoning Board of Appeals for November 15th.
3. D. Torrico asked M. Forbes if 911 numbers had been assigned for the 3 new staff cabins at Gould Farm (they have and M. Forbes will provide another copy of the applications if necessary).
The board met with Police Chief, Gareth Backhaus to review the following items:
1. 3 false alarms on Main Rd (same address, same day)
2. Disabled MV at Mt Hunger & Main
3. Tree across the road on Carrington-Battelle (cleared by Officer Dondey)
4. Medical call on West Rd.
5. Two calls to a house on Pixley Rd regarding a rabid raccoon which couldn’t be located when the Officer arrived.
6. Officer Dondey will have a pre physical agility test this week, the actual physical agility testwill be next week; after this is done the application for the full time academy can be filled out and mailed in.
7. The new part time officer qualified last week and will now be placed on a training schedule.
The board met with Inter-Departmental Secretary, Melissa Noe to review the following items:
1. M. Noe passed along to the Board two complimentary emails received from 2 Conservation Commission members regarding the work she does for their board. The Board asked M. Noe to include the comments in the minutes:
a. One from Rick Andrus, Chair of the Conservation Commission that stated, “…I have been a great help to the board and that using the tape recorder for the minutes was sheer genius.”
b. The other was from Tim Lovett, member of the Conservation Commission that stated, “Melissa, I can’t tell you how different it is to go into town hall since you started working there. It is the most pleasant and best managed since I moved to Monterey – hands down!”
The board met with Town Accountant, Barbara Gauthier to review the following items:
1. B. Gauthier asked why the Town paid for an additional DSL line setup and modem and will pay an additional monthly fee for the Town Clerk’s office. It was asked why this was necessary when the Town already has a DSL line that could’ve been used and no further costs would’ve been incurred. The Select Board replied that the voters will have to question the extra spending at Town Meeting.
2. Warrants were signed.
3. B. Gauthier provided the Board with a copy of the Free Cash Certification letter.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The minutes from 10.15.07 were approved as written.
2. Kenn Basler of the Monterey General Store came in to discuss an Entertainment License for the store and its musical evening entertainment. The evening programs that involve music will continue (alcohol is not served). S. Jenssen thought that any licensing would come from ASCAP and Mr. Basler confirmed that he is all set with them. Mr. Basler also confirmed that he has purchased the store and its real estate. Because of the purchase Mr. Basler will be applying to transfer the current liquor license from Ricardo Boehm to himself. The Board asked M. Noe to call around to surrounding towns for copies of their regulations regarding
entertainment licenses.
3. Pat and Julio Rodriguez of the Lake Garfield Association thanked Kenn Basler for taking on the task of collecting money for the fireworks for this year’s LakeFest. The Lake Garfield Associations plan for next year is to collect the money in advance before signing a contract.
4. Julio Rodriguez spoke with Dean Amidon (as suggested by the Board at a previous meeting) regarding where the public part of Sylvan Rd stopped and he stated it was 27ft from where his (Dean’s) property ended and Julio stated that this came right to where the paved section ended. The Board stated that it is trying to obtain copies of the county survey and county maps that had been done years ago (see Highway Section).
5. Peter Murkett came in to see what has happened with the situation between the Clerks office and the Inter-Departmental Secretary’s Office and the request to mediate. To reiterate, the Board voted on 10/1/07 to enlist the services of Berkshire Mediation. It was confirmed that the Inter-Departmental Secretary verbally agreed on the phone with Berkshire Mediation to participate in the mediation.
The Town Clerk asked the mediator to reply to the Select Board members at their home addresses stating that she will not meet in mediation as she see the issue as a much bigger issue but did agree to meet with the three Select Board members in a private and confidential environment (she suggested the church basement) to discuss where she is falling behind in her clerk duties and wants concrete evidence (copy of the letter is available at Town Hall). She also stated through the mediator that she is not a tenured clerk nor does she want to be. The Board discussed the letter and agreed that the Clerk’s suggestion does not solve the ongoing problem between her office and the Inter-Departmental Secretary’s Office.
A letter was sent to B. Swann asking for direct confirmation that she is refusing to participate in the mediation between the two offices. The Board again stated for the record that the main problem has never been her duties it has been the hostile situation between her office and the Inter-Departmental Secretary’s.
M. Noe has been receiving harassing emails and letters with no return address or signatures which at Town Counsel and the Select Board’s direction have been turned over to the Police Department and Postal Inspector to investigate.
The Board can only meet with Ms. Swann in an Executive Session or at a publicly posted meeting but can not “meet in the church basement in a confidential environment where no one can overhear or interfere” as she requested.
It was suggested by a resident in attendance that since a problem has arisen that is affecting the Board’s ability to govern effectively; the Board should hire an attorney (not Town Counsel) to see if there is a case to pursue with regards to defamation of character that the Inter-Departmental Secretary is being harassed with. The attorney could then take depositions and investigate the situation as an outside party.
B. Gauthier stated for the record that this situation with the Clerk’s office did not begin with Melissa Noe starting as the Town Secretary; the Town Clerk created problems and a hostile work environment with two previous secretaries for the Town.
6. Deborah Mielke, School Committee Member was present to discuss last week’s school committee meeting. D. Mielke was not present for this meeting. The meeting was reviewed with the rest of the board. J. Sylbert also reviewed the October 9th New Marlborough Town Meeting. The Board discussed the next school committee meeting which will be on Thursday, October 18th, 6pm at Mt Everett (Mt. Everett was called to confirm this date).
7. The response from the Thorn’s was reviewed. They are willing to discuss the purchase of a portion of their land for public access once an unrelated issue with the Board of Health was resolved. The Select Board wrote a letter confirming that the issue was resolved and looks forward to the meeting. The Board sent a reply to the Thorns.
8. Fred Vorck came in to let the Board know that he received a letter from the Town’s insurance company stating that they have denied his claim because the Town had no way of knowing that this tree was going to fall. He stated that a copy of the letter was cc’d to the Town (the Board has not seen a copy of the letter to date). Mr. Vorck has tried to contact the adjustor for the Town’s insurance but has not received a return phone call. The Board believes the letter would’ve been sent to the Town Treasurer who handles the Town Insurance and they will contact her for a copy.
9. Mr. Vorck asked the Board to ask M. Forbes to let out the water slowly from Lake Garfield so that Lake Buel does not get flooded.
10. Mr. Vorck complimented Jon Sylbert on a job well done at the Monterey Town Meeting regarding the school budget issues.
11. The Select Board declined the invitation to the Select Board Association dinner on 10/18/07.
The meeting adjourned at: 12:23pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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