Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 10/29/07
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
The board met with the Director of Highways, Maynard Forbes and reviewed the following items:
1. M. Forbes informed the board that he got an angry phone call from Dan Moriarity stating that the gate at Lake Garfield was wide open and it was causing Lake Buel to flood (M. Forbes stated that the gate was closed on Friday and was not open). D. Moriarity will be coming in at 11:30 this morning to discuss his concerns.
2. Weekly report was reviewed.
3. Sand and salt have been delivered in preparation for winter. The trucks and plows are also being prepared.
4. Lake Garfield is done draining.
5. The electronics recycling company will be changed to a company the Town used in the past. All types of batteries will be accepted and the town will not have to purge anything. Everything will be placed in a container. The board reviewed the company’s proposal and approved the switch. Once the container is in place something will be placed in the Monterey News to inform the residents of the changes.
6. S. Jenssen asked about the status of removing the porta potty from the Transfer Station for the winter. This is on the agenda for next week.
The board met with Police Chief, Gareth Backhaus to review the following items:
1. 2:30am call to assist surrounding Police Departments with a high speed chase and a possible case of a woman being held against her will. The chase ended in Sheffield but Stockbridge will be handling any charges as this is where it began and where the accident occurred.
2. The new officer, Tom Martin began his training on Wednesday.
3. Assisted GBPD with a MVA.
4. Abandoned 911 call on Gould Rd.
5. MVA at Rt 23 and Rt 57 intersection.
6. False alarm at the Town Hall. No one was here when police arrived.
7. Abandoned 911 (hang up) on Steven’s Lake.
8. M. Storch asked if it was possible to retrofit the speed trailer to have a solar cell on it to recharge the battery so it didn’t have to keep being moved to be charged. Chief Backhaus will look into this for the new trailer; he doesn’t have the money in his budget to do it right now.
The board met with Inter-Departmental Secretary, Melissa Noe to review the following items:
1. M. Noe informed the Board that she did get in touch with two towns regarding Entertainment Licenses:
a. Lee issues ones annually to establishments that have liquor licenses and they do not charge a fee. Entertainment licenses for not for profit agencies are approved on a per event basis.
b. Lenox requires the licenses for any type of entertainment and they charge $10 annually. They do not have a bylaw.
2. The Board completed the application to be mailed to the State Agency for Federal Surplus Property.
The board met with Town Accountant, Barbara Gauthier to review the following items:
1. B. Gauthier asked the board if there will be any future mediation sessions regarding the school issues as the Treasurer will be away for the next three weeks and no checks will be issued during that time. The board informed her that there are no more mediation sessions scheduled.
2. B. Gauthier brought in the letter the DOR requested to be signed by the Select Board and Accountant stating the town’s school district operating obligation amount and its certified free cash.
3. Three payroll warrants were signed. Vendor warrants will be ready this afternoon.
10am: Board of Assessors Classification Hearing
Stanley Ross, Chairperson came in to establish the percentage of the local tax levy with the Board of Selectmen. He confirmed that the Town Assessments have gone up. Total growth in Monterey is $13million. The Board of Assessors recommends using a single tax rate and not dividing it between residential, personal and commercial/industrial property. The Board of Selectmen agreed unanimously. The Board of Selectman signed off on the excess levy limit capacity.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The Board appointed Michael Storch as an additional member of the Broadband Committee.
2. The Board discussed the following with Chief Backhaus and M. Forbes:
a. Lowering the speed limit to 20mph or 15mph for the last 500 yards to the intersection of Tyringham and Main Roads. Chief Backhaus determined that people are already lowering their speed by the time they hit that corner. M. Forbes and the Chief both stated that the problem appears to be that the houses are too close to the road and due to that it feels as though the cars are going faster than they actually are. The Board agreed that when you are very close to a car going 20-25mph it appears very fast. Due to the amount of houses there and the curve in the road it would be very difficult to run radar on traffic there. The consensus
is that the speed limit will not be lowered and new posts will not be placed out until the spring (because of winter plowing).
3. A letter was written regarding statements in the Berkshire Eagle today concerning the recent mediation session.
4. A letter was written to the SBRSD formally requesting all iterations of the Regional School agreements starting with the original.
5. The minutes from 10.15.07 and 10.22.07 were approved as amended.
6. The Board voted unanimously to give the reward earned through the business rewards program to Inter-Departmental Secretary, Melissa Noe.
7. Peter Murkett came in to discuss the following:
a. Multiple drafts of the letter of support for the Inter-Departmental Secretary to be submitted to the Monterey News. Signatures are being collected.
b. He asked if there had been any further communications from the Town Clerk in response to the Board’s recent letter; the Board confirmed that there has not been a response.
8. Dan Moriarity came in to discuss the following:
a. The Monterey Finance Committee spoke with Prue Spaulding (New Marlborough Finance Committee meeting member) at the recent SBRSD mediation session. She’s writing a letter reviewing the discussions that took place at the mediation to distribute.
b. The certified letter he sent earlier this month. He also brought a letter to the Select Board from the Lake Buel Watershed Committee regarding the Lake Garfield Drawdown procedures. Dan is going to meet with New Marlborough tonight to discuss the long term fixes (control device being installed) to control the flooding issues. He is also going to ask permission of the Town of New Marlborough to breach the dam; a trapper is coming in after November 1 to remove the beavers.
9. The Board would like to look at amending the regional agreement in several ways, one of which is the capital assessment and would like public comments. A notice will be put in the Monterey News that the Board of Selectmen is considering amendments and welcomes public comments.
10. Liz Goodman, Pastor of the Church came in to discuss the following:
a. Liz offered her support with the ongoing conflict between the Town Clerk and Inter-Departmental Secretary’s offices. She offered the building and her services. She mentioned that we need to be looking at what’s best for the Town in these types of instances. She doesn’t have any specific ideas in mind but mentioned that the church is hoping for a positive outcome and is willing to help in any way possible. There would be ground rules set for a meeting of this type. J. Sylbert stated that it might be possible to use the church basement to hold a public meeting, as has been done in the past.
11. A response was received from the Attorney General’s office regarding the recent Special Town Meeting. The Board does not need to take any action. A copy of this response will be sent to the Agricultural Commission.
12. Mail was reviewed.
The meeting adjourned at: 12:00pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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