Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 6/9/08
Meeting Opened at: 9:00am
Select Board Members Present: Wayne Burkhart, Chairperson and Scott Jenssen
Also in attendance for parts of the meeting: Sue Protheroe for the Monterey News, Michael Storch (Finance Committee), Raymond Tryon (Fire Chief) and Susan Cooper (ZBA Alternate)
The board met with the Director of Highways, Maynard Forbes and reviewed the following items:
1. Curtis Rd paving will begin on Friday and should take about 2 days.
2. M. Forbes provided the Select Board with his recommendations on the truck bids received last week. M. Forbes stated that the lowest bidder did not meet 100% of the specs; the next bid up met all the specifications and was only $470.00 more than the lowest bid. The truck chosen has an aluminum cab which won’t rust which is beneficial to the Town and its available immediately. The low bid truck was not immediately available and had a steel cab. The winning bidder was Tri-State Diesel. A motion was made to accept M. Forbes’ recommendation which was seconded and approved. Notification letters will be sent to all the
bidders.
3. River Rd.; the Select Board received an email and a letter from the Town of New Marlborough stating that they were closing Hatchery Rd indefinitely due to a dangerous portion of the road located in New Marlborough falling into the river. M. Forbes stated that this could cause a problem in the winter for snowplowing as Monterey will not have anywhere to turn our trucks around (Monterey was previously turning around at Mt. Everett Sanitation located at the end of Fish Hatchery Rd in New Marlborough). Currently the Fish Hatchery is not accessible from Monterey’s River Rd. W. Burkhart plans to attend the New Marlborough Select Board meeting
this evening to discuss this further and will report back to the Board next week.
4. Michael Storch asked what was happening with Fairview Rd; M. Forbes stated his observations and does not feel that there are any serious problems at this time.
5. Michael Storch asked if someone ran up Art School Rd with something that had large treads. M. Forbes stated that it was not a Town vehicle and was not aware of any other vehicles/companies that may have left the marks.
6. M. Forbes was notified that the person that does the roadside mowing will not be returning this year. M. Forbes is going to research tractors to be placed on next year’s town meeting warrant so that the crew can do it themselves. The highway department will be renting one for this year. M. Forbes has spoken with National Grid about the possibility of them doing this (mowing under the lines); they stated that it was not cost effective for them and they were not interested in starting that program.
7. Next Monday is the pickup truck bid and transfer station bid openings.
8. The Board spoke with M. Forbes about the roof at the Bally Gally rental. It is not currently leaking but a new cricket and reshingling is on the list to be done by a local contractor. The tenants requested the option to put a wood stove in; the Board is going to speak with the Treasurer about the Town’s insurance coverage regarding this. M. Forbes stated that there is not currently a thimble there and they would need to work with the Building Commissioner to meet current building code.
The board met with Police Chief, Gareth Backhaus to review the following items:
1. MVA on Rt. 23 – party left the scene, an extensive amount of guardrail damage was done. There is a county wide “BOLO” for the missing, damaged vehicle.
2. Assisted Gt. Barrington Police at Eagleton School for a runaway.
3. Assisted the Fire Department with a medical call on River Rd: unresponsive person.
4. Assisted the Fire Department with a CO alarm call on Buckingham Lane.
The board met with Inter-Departmental Secretary, Melissa Noe to review the following items:
1. Weekly report was reviewed.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The Board approved the minutes as written from 6.2.08.
2. The Board reviewed their mail.
3. Michael Storch asked about affordable housing in Monterey and the possibility of building something on the Wilson McLaughlin property or the property behind the Firehouse pavilion prior to where Fox Hill Rd begins, discussions ensued.
4. The Board received a letter from the BRPC regarding appointing an alternate delegate for Monterey; W. Burkhart will speak with the Planning Board.
5. S. Jenssen mentioned that Dean Amidon, Vice Chair of the ZBA spoke with him over the weekend about one of their alternates, Susan Cooper and their understanding that she will be out of the country for an extended period of time (under Chapter 40A of M.G.L. the Select Board is the appointing authority for ZBA alternates). Shortly after this conversation, Susan hand delivered letters to the Board of Selectmen and one to the Chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals requesting that her leave be viewed as a sabbatical or leave of absence with her duties to be picked up again upon her return in mid-June of 2009. A letter was written to Town Counsel to advise
the Board on how to appoint an interim alternate.
6. The letter from the State Ethics Commission regarding a Parks Commission member that would like to also work for the Town as a lifeguard was reviewed. As suggested in the Ethics Commission’s letter a motion was made and seconded to designate Parks Commission member Valerie Zantay as a special municipal employee pursuant to Section 1(n) of G.L. c.268A, the conflict of interest law. As also suggested in the letter a motion was made and seconded to approve to allow said member of the Parks Committee to work as a paid Town Beach Lifeguard.
7. A letter from the Southern Berkshire Household Hazardous Waste Collection Program regarding an extension of the agreement between CET and the Town of Monterey. This letter will be written and signed at next week’s meeting.
8. S. Jenssen spoke with the local bagpiper about performing at next year’s Memorial Day festivities and will follow up with him throughout the year on his availability and interest.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:17am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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