Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 2/11/08
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, Nora Hayes and Raymond Tryon
The board met with Police Chief, Gareth Backhaus to review the following items:
1. Burning complaint on Rockwell Rd.
2. DMV on Mt Hunger Rd – car was gone when officer arrived.
3. Domestic call (1am).
4. Loose horse on Main Rd (5am).
5. Section 12 assistance.
6. Pixley Rd – assist with an out of control teenager.
7. DMV near the Hayloft.
8. Assisted with a CO alarm for the Fire Department.
9. The Board asked the Chief to arrange for the 100 and 700 training in the Emergency Management courses for S. Jenssen.
10. Continuing transformer complaint from a residence on Art School Rd.
The board met with Inter-Departmental Secretary, Melissa Noe to review the following items:
1. The Board reviewed 3 weeks worth of weekly reports and submitted related documents.
The board met with Town Accountant, Barbara Gauthier to review the following FY09 budget items:
1. The Board reviewed and completed the FY09 budget requests for the Select Board accounts.
a. S. Jenssen removed himself from the discussions regarding the Building Inspector’s budget items due to a conflict of interest.
b. S. Jenssen asked if there was ever going to be a point in time that salaries would be capped and the Board discussed that that couldn’t happen since you need to be competitive with other towns to retain employees.
c. The computer budget was cut in half and it was stated that any specific offices in need of repair should come out of their individual department’s budget.
d. S. Jenssen questioned why the school’s marching band wasn’t given a contribution for their participation in the Memorial Day Festivities; B. Gauthier explained that the Town is not allowed to make donations.
e. Town Counsel’s request. The Board discussed that several times when he was asked to represent or advise the Town on something, he has told the Board that it is a conflict of interest for one reason or another. A letter was written to Town Counsel asking him to meet with the Board at 9am on March 3rd.
f. The Housatonic Valley Association request for money was reviewed. The Town has never given money in the past and has decided not to place the request on the warrant.
2. The Board discussed the CPI with regards to cost of living adjustment increases. Social Security set COLA to be 2.3%, the Boston CPIW was 3.2%, and the CPIU was 3.4%. Historically it averages 3% over the long term. A motion was made to keep the COLA for FY09 at 3% (same as last year).
3. B. Gauthier asked the Board to review elected health insurance benefits and the interpretation of MGL Chapter 32B with Town Counsel.
The board met with Fire Chief, Ray Tryon and reviewed the following items:
1. R. Tryon asked when the Board was going to do the Budget items; the Board stated that they were okay with everything that was presented last week and his forms should now be submitted to the Fire Department. R. Tryon asked about the Fireman’s Compensation and stated that he’d like to give the guys $25/hour, up from $20/hour. R. Tryon stated that they average about 60 calls per year. R. Tryon commended his firemen on what a good job they do.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The minutes from 2.4.08 were approved as corrected.
2. W. Burkhart attended the Veteran Services meeting 2 weeks ago and updated the Board.
3. The Town discussed the Town appointed Veteran’s Service Officer (VSO) position. The Town checked the appointment list and confirmed that we did not currently have one. W. Burkhart will follow up on the compliance requirements and get back to the Board.
4. The Board interviewed Michael Storch for the Planning Board appointment to fill a current vacancy. The Board was invited to attend the Planning Board’s next meeting on February 13th at 7pm to vote on the recommended appointees. The other applicant to be interviewed did not respond to the Board’s request to meet this morning.
5. Nora Hayes, ACO had come in for her 10am appointment for the Investigation of the Town Clerk’s office that was cancelled (Nora had not been aware of the cancellation that was posted in the February Monterey News). While here she discussed the following items:
a. Animal Control Officer update: Nora informed the Board that she has passed the Animal Control Officer Certification course. Nora informed the Board that the biggest animal control issues in Monterey involve barking dog and loose dog complaints and children being bit by dogs. Nora feels that better communication, notification and training will decrease these incidents and increase the quality of life in the Town of Monterey. Nora has started a dog bite prevention program through New England Keswick and the first meeting was yesterday. Nora has increased her budget for FY09 by $1000 to cover these types of prevention and educational
trainings.
b. Any wounds of unknown origin on a house pet that goes outside needs to go through the rabies protocol.
c. With regards to the testimony she was to give today (which she still wanted to give even thought the investigation was cancelled) Nora stated that she didn’t feel it was one individual’s problem but that there definitely is a deeper issue in the communications process and functions between the offices in the Town Hall; when she was first hired as the ACO/Dog Officer it took her six months to officially be appointed as the Animal Control Officer due to a dsyfunctionality between several of the offices (Select Board, Board of Health, Town Clerk and Town Counsel).
6. J. Sylbert updated the Board on the recent School Committee preliminary budget meetings.
7. The Board agreed to give the latest Business Reward gift card to Mari Enoch.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:28pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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