Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 11/5/07
Meeting Opened at: 8:30am
Select Board Members Present: Jonathan Sylbert, Chairperson, Wayne Burkhart and Scott Jenssen
The board met with the Director of Highways, Maynard Forbes and reviewed the following items:
1. S. Jenssen asked the highway department to remove the tire that is in the road across from Andrus’s driveway. One of Century Acquisitions cement truck’s tires blew off and they left the shredded bits there. M. Forbes will contact the company that left it there; M. Forbes will also speak with them about the damage done to the Wool property when they went off the road. The property damage and littering will be reported to the Police Department to handle accordingly.
2. M. Forbes met with D. Amidon this weekend to review the maps he has. M. Forbes was not allowed to take them or make copies of them. In reviewing the maps M. Forbes was able to determine the lines for Sylvan Rd (where the Town portion ends and the private section begins).
3. A resident on Norwalk Acres called with a question about 911 numbers and posting them. The resident has a right of way and has posted his 911 number but the owner of the property where the right of way is located continues to take it down. M. Forbes sent the resident a copy of the bylaws that state you have to post your 911 number for emergency vehicles.
4. It was decided to keep the porta potty at the transfer station year round.
The board met with Police Chief, Gareth Backhaus to review the following items:
1. Two mutual aid calls in Gt. Barrington on Halloween; convenience store robbery and a CHINS warrant.
2. A resident walked in and reported an identity theft that took place.
3. Motor vehicle on Cronk Rd crashed into a resident’s fence.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. Dean Amidon came in to discuss the following:
a. Veteran’s Day: there will be a celebration at 11am at the library. It will be very informal and the Select Board’s presence is not required.
2. The minutes from 11.5.07 were approved as written.
3. The Broadband Committee (Cliff Weiss, Will Marsh, Monica Webb, Adam Goodman, Karen Schreefter and Virgil Stucker) came in to discuss the following:
a. The Board would like the Committee to petition our politicians and existing companies to provide us broadband access. The people to be contacted need to be identified and then the committee needs to be persistent in their efforts.
b. The Select Board and Broadband Committee combined should meet with Berkshire Connect.
c. The Board suggested that the committee also call the cable company.
d. Michael Storch, another member of the Broadband Committee could not be present today but he has a direct contact at Verizon that should prove helpful.
e. Monterey is not a fully serviced community; satellite service is sketchy due to the terrain, DSL is not available to everyone and cable services are not available.
f. High speed access for everyone in Monterey is the goal of the committee; the method or service providers should be researched and then proposed to the board. Any additional services acquired through the research (voip, cable services, etc) would be a bonus.
g. The Board would like the Committee to perform a fact finding mission first and foremost. Gather all the pertinent information; how many people have DSL currently, how many need DSL, how many are interested in getting DSL, who owns the poles. Berkshire Connect has probably done a lot of this fact finding and should be contacted.
h. The Committee will meet with the Select Board again on December 3rd at 9:30.
4. The Board sent a letter of congratulations to Mari Enoch, Tax Collector for successful certification as a Certified Massachusetts Municipal Collector.
5. The Board agreed to offer an option for a third year to the tenants at Bally Gally. The lease will be reviewed and amended at the next meeting.
6. The response from the Town Clerk regarding mediation was reviewed; she requested to meet with the mediator and each Select Board member individually. The Board responded that any productive mediation would require all parties involved in the dispute be present.
7. A follow up letter was sent to Town Counsel on a September correspondence not yet heard back on.
8. Peter Murkett came in to discuss the following with the Select Board:
a. Barbara Swann’s response to the Board regarding mediations (see item #6 in Misc). Peter Murkett noted that her responses have in effect been a refusal to mediate the issue.
b. Peter has written a letter with about a dozen signatures (all current or formal officials in town) that will be printed in the November Monterey News. This letter calls on the Select Board to provide a specific venue to solve this issue. Since the letter is addressed to the Select Board it will be imperative for the Board to respond to it.
c. The Board needs to decide on their next course of action and whether or not to open an investigation.
d. Wayne Burkhart feels that by bringing attention to the matter between the two offices it will increase the negativity and the “conspiracy theory”.
9. Kathleen Frome came in to discuss the following with the Board: Dr. Engo, speaker at the next community dinner (11/14/07). Ms. Frome’s hopes are to form a core of interested people to continue to support Dr. Engo through the Center for Peace Through Culture.
The meeting adjourned at: 11:30am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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