Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 12/10/07
Meeting Opened at: 8:30am
Select Board Members Present: Jonathan Sylbert, Chairperson, Wayne Burkhart and Scott Jenssen
Also in attendance for parts of the meeting: Michael Storch, Leroy Thorpe, Raymond Tryon, Dan Moriarity
The board met with Building Inspector, Donald Torrico and reviewed the following items:
1. The Alternate Plumbing Inspector recommendation was discussed.
2. The Board was updated on the Inn at Art School Rd that the Town has heard is operating as an unpermited B&B.
3. D. Torrico asked the Boards permission to file a criminal complaint against individuals that performed illegal work while a stop work order was in effect which in turn would involve Town Council.~ D. Torrico can not use the Towns resources without first receiving permission from the Select Board; he can proceed on the CMR side by filing complaints against individuals through the Building Code/Statute process. The Board approved using Town Counsel if necessary.
4. The Board agreed that for the safety of the renters, D. Torrico should go forward with the complaint to be sure that the rental units meet all safety requirements.
The board met with Fire Chief, Ray Tryon and reviewed the following items:
1. R. Tryon came in to speak with the Board about smoke detectors and false alarms. He feels it would be difficult to determine a false alarm with regards to the fire department and therefore doesn’t feel that there should be false alarm fines when the fire department is called.
The board met with Police Chief, Gareth Backhaus to review the following items:
1. The Chief, Building Inspector and Select Board discussed the transformer complaint at Art School Rd. The residents stated that they have gotten DEP involved. The Chief has spoken with National Grid and was told that as soon as the complaint came in the transformer was changed and put on a rubber pad, the residents don’t believe this, National Grid has turned it over to their legal department. The residents also called the State Police who have turned it back over to the local authorities to handle.
2. MVA in front of Post Office.
3. Loose dog on Art School Rd that was turned over to the ACO.
4. False alarm at Woodland Dr.
5. Mutual aid call in Egremont.
6. 911 hang up on Mt Hunger
7. Transformer fire on Chestnut Hill.
8. Complaint of gunshots on Steven’s Lake
9. The cruiser has a transmission problem (it’s a 2005 that was purchased in 2004 and has 100,000 miles on it), it will be $1600 to rebuild it with a 6 month warranty or a rebuild from Ford can be purchased for $3000 with a 3 year warranty. The Police Department is scheduled to purchase a new cruiser in 2008 (the purchase was postponed last year). The Board agreed that purchasing the $1600 rebuild with the 6 month warranty was the best option.
The board met with Inter-Departmental Secretary, Melissa Noe to review the following items:
1. The Board was given a list of those departments that have not yet turned in their department’s town reports and asked how they wanted it handled. The Board asked M. Noe to send out another notice that individual reports not received by the end of the month will not appear in the Town Report to be sent to the printer in January.
The board met with Town Accountant, Barbara Gauthier to review the following items:
1. Warrants were signed.
The board met with Director of Operations, Maynard Forbes to review the following items:
1. Reviewed two weeks of weekly reports (M. Forbes could not attend last week’s meeting due to the weather).
2. M. Forbes informed the Board that the Town has received more money from the State for the flood in 2005 (Tyringham Rd), this money will go into free cash at the end of this year.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The minutes from 12.3.07 were approved as written.
2. The Board reviewed the consultant’s report for the ZBA hearing to place a tower on Mt Wilcox.
3. The Board reviewed the email from the MODR regarding the fee for tonight’s meeting moderator and approved the 1/5 payment of $100.00 to be mailed on Wednesday.
4. The rental renewal text (sent by T. Lovett) was reviewed and approved by the Board. The form will be passed along to the Town Treasurer to add the tenant’s info and mail out.
5. The Board wrote a letter of intention to the SBRSD which was reviewed and approved during the meeting by Dan Moriarity, Chair of the Finance Committee.
6. Leroy Thorpe came in to discuss the following: Parks Budget and the pay phone at the beach. The phone is costing the Parks Department a lot of money ($90-100/month and Verizon takes the money collected in the phone). They want to take the pay phone out and replace it with a land line that can only make local calls; this would be located outside and would need to be weatherproof. The Board had no objection as long as the Town received the same service. They asked L. Thorpe to look into a call box similar to what you see on the highways for motorist aid.
7. Dan Moriarity of the Finance Committee came in to discuss the following: tonight’s public meeting with the DOE, letter from the DOE regarding the official takeover of the budget, FY09 budget request timeframes and action plan, Lake Buel.
8. Changing the school committee members to elected positions; the Board needs more info on this.
9. Town Office Investigation:
a. The basis for opening the investigation would be for the Select Board to investigate complaints received regarding the Town Clerk’s office.
b. The Board decided that in all fairness for the purpose of this investigation all Board’s would be asked to come in.
c. The Board discussed whether or not witnesses would be subpoenaed or not and how to handle the interview process. The Board agreed that Town Counsel would be present for all interviews, which would be held in Executive Session and that the Boards to be interviewed will be sent a letter with a couple of Monday options and a letter of explanation for the investigation. A draft letter was written which will be sent to Town Counsel to review.
10. The Board is going to write another letter to Representative Smitty Pignatelli and Senator Downing about financial aid for the proposed Salt Shed once M. Forbes gives the Board an update.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:51pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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