Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 8/25/08
Meeting Opened at: 4:00pm
Select Board Members Present: Wayne Burkhart, Chairperson, Scott Jenssen and Jon Sylbert
Also in attendance for parts of the meeting: Sue Protheroe for the Monterey News, David Monyahan, Leroy Thorpe (Parks Commission), Michael Storch (Finance Committee and Broadband Committee), Dan Moriarity (Finance Committee), and Linda Thorpe (Assistant Town Clerk)
The board met with the Director of Highways, Maynard Forbes and reviewed the following items:
1. Yearly employee review was signed and a copy will be placed in M. Forbes’ personnel file and one copy will be given to M. Forbes.
2. Wellman Rd: half of the road has been mowed already; to date no contact has been made directly with L. Scheffey. M. Forbes will mow the other side of the road once he gets his new mower. J. Sylbert will touch base with L. Scheffey.
3. Salt shed: Peter Niles from District One called M. Forbes. M. Forbes explained the situation to him and faxed him all the paperwork he has. Peter will be the one to approve or disapprove this project and send it to Boston. M. Forbes stated that Mr. Niles seemed supportive and would push it as far as he could.
4. Recycling containers (mentioned in last weeks minutes): M. Forbes stated that the recycling containers were not the totes that the Board thought they were, they are tall bins which have been placed in the Town Hall, J. Sylbert asked that one more be ordered for the Beach and the cans & plastic one currently in the Town Hall be placed out at Greene Park. M. Forbes also stated that the rain barrels the Board wanted weren’t free, the Town would have to take pre paid orders for them and then would be responsible for distributing them; after 6 months a survey of the people that purchased them would need to be done to see how they’ve been
using them. M. Forbes stated that he would like to order the mercury shed to collect mercury thermometers and fluorescent lights.
5. New Marlboro Rd bridge: all the boards will need to be replaced at some point in time. The highway crew has screwed the loose boards down for now and it’s on the schedule to be permanently fixed next year.
6. Fairview Rd: the residents are concerned that if it gets paved there will be an increase in speeding cars but all concur that the road needs to be improved and the efforts that have been made to date haven’t worked. The Board agreed that if the road gets paved the police would make an increased presence to deter speeding. M. Forbes will draw up a plan with proposed costs and present it to the Board. The Montgomery’s still have not responded to the letter sent by M. Forbes.
The board met with Building Inspector, Donald Torrico and reviewed the following items:
1. Current violations at KSA-Mass. The Board discussed the current Board of Health violations (2 separate unpermitted camps have been running and applications for the camps were not submitted until the camp owner was called on the matter). The Board of Health has asked what the Select Board’s opinion is on letting them continue to operate as the Board of Health has the ability to shut them down or fine them but wants to be sure that all Town boards are on the same page before taking any action(s). A motion was made to close the camp immediately. The motion was not seconded. Another motion was made to request information from
the Board of Health on proceeding with charges being filed in the Southern Berkshire District Court and what fines would be imposed. This motion was seconded and approved unanimously. D. Torrico was present for the discussions and mentioned that the camp has responsibilities to make sure CORI checks of the staff working with the children have been performed and these can be requested of the camps at any time by the Boards. M. Noe, Secretary for the Board of Health made the Board aware that the permits that were issued by the Board of Health to Kutsher’s to operate as a camp and to allow food services were conditional on all of the state and local requirements being met and the complete satisfaction of the Building Deartment and expired on August 16th (which was the date the applicant put on their camp application that the camp was to end). S. Jenssen asked if the camp was in compliance with the special permits that were granted by the
Zoning Board of Appeals – D. Torrico confirmed that they were not. The first special permit which was for the camp use is lacking a final approval from DEP on the shared septic system (which all agreed was an administrative issue). The second special permit that was issued for additional structures was granted however stop work orders were issued by the Building Department as the applicant started building the structures without the proper building permits. S. Jenssen asked if they were in compliance with the building department for a Camp Certificate of Inspection – D. Torrico has confirmed that as of today he has not received the paperwork from the architect of record attesting that everything has been completed, there are 2 cabins and a computer room lacking a final sign off and Don was informed that the builder of record has been laid off and to date has not requested a final sign off on the open building permits and that a Certificate
of Inspection has not been issued. A motion was made again to instruct the Board of Health that the Board of Selectmen is in favor of closing the camp due to all of the liabilities placed on the town and camp for their operating without the proper permits. The motion was not seconded. Another motion was made to inform the Board of Health that the Board of Selectmen support a decision to close the camp if the Board of Health finds that there is a liability placed on the town for their operating without the proper permits. The motion was seconded. The motion was approved unanimously.
The board met with Police Chief, Gareth Backhaus to review the following items:
1. Yearly employee review was signed and a copy will be placed in G. Backhaus’ personnel file and one copy will be given to G. Backhaus.
2. David Monyahan came in to interview for a position as a part time officer. David is currently a part time officer working in Egremont. Chief Bucknell has agreed with Chief Backhaus to share Officer Moynahan to cover some shifts here. The Board agreed at Chief Backhaus’ recommendation to appoint Officer Moynahan as a Part-Time Officer.
3. G. Backhaus submitted a vacation request which was approved unanimously.
4. Abandoned 911 call on Mt Hunger Rd – phone issues, another one on Hupi Rd (phone programming error) and another on Fairview Rd.
5. Lockout at the beach.
6. Suspicious person walking on Main Rd with a clipboard was reported but could not be found.
7. Fender bender in town center.
8. Mutual aid call to Gt. Barrington.
9. Two speeding stops that ended with charges for driving with suspended licenses.
10. J. Sylbert passed along concerns about an increase in speeding near the firehouse. The Police will make an effort to patrol more frequently there.
At 4:55pm the Board discussed the need to go into Executive Session to discuss a personnel matter. Roll call was taken by the Chair. All Select Board members were present. A motion was made to go into executive session, seconded by and approved unanimously. The Board agreed that they would return to an open session. Open session was resumed at 5:03pm.
The board met with Inter-Departmental Secretary, Melissa Noe to review the following items:
1. Weekly report was reviewed.
2. M. Noe reminded the Board (via a memo) of the following appointment position vacancies:
a. BRPC, alternate delegate for 1 yr
b. Employee Compensation Committee, 1 Fin Comm, 1 Select Board, 1 Citizen and 2 employees (1 year each)
c. Historical Committee for 3 yrs
d. Wiring Inspector 2 yrs
e. Alternate Wiring Inspector 2 yrs and
f. Plumbing/Gas Inspector – 2 yrs
3. M. Noe updated the Board on the current situation with KSA-MASS and the Monterey Board of Health. Peter Kolodziej has suggested that when KSA comes in on September 8th to meet with the Board of Health that the meetings be combined so that there is no confusion as to what is expected of KSA by the Town. The Board of Selectmen agreed.
4. M. Noe reminded the Board that she is using 2 vacation days this Thursday and Friday.
5. Yearly employee review was signed and a copy will be placed in M. Noe’s personnel file and one copy will be given to M. Noe.
The board met with Barbara Gauthier, Town Accountant to review the following items:
1. Warrants were signed.
2. Yearly employee review was signed and a copy will be placed in B. Gauthier’s personnel file and one copy will be given to B. Gauthier.
3. Reserve fund transfers were reviewed.
4. There will be 2 warrants to sign this week.
At 5:38, Dan Moriarity, Chair of the Finance Committee came in to discuss the following items with the Board:
1. D. Moriarity asked M. Storch to sign the reserve fund transfers but M. Storch declined stating that a public meeting needed to be held by the Finance Committee to discuss the requested transfers and sign them.
2. On a separate matter, D. Moriarity came in to discuss matters of Lake Buel and he was requesting the participation of one Select Board member to participate in the Lake Buel Watershed to be kept in the loop. The Watershed Committee is now seeking significant funds from FEMA and MEMA as well as out local representatives. S. Jenssen volunteered to be a Select Board representative.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The minutes from 8/18/08 were approved as written.
2. Mail was reviewed.
3. There will be no meetings on Monday, September 1st in observance of Labor Day.
4. The Board asked Chief Backhaus and Maynard Forbes’ opinions on the USPS ZBA application. G. Backhaus felt it was a bad situation currently and that allowing the proposed addition would make things worse. Chief Backhaus is not in favor of this and doesn’t see the need for it as there doesn’t seem to be a grand increase in the mail. The Board discussed the Building Inspector’s comments which state that it is the responsibility of the ZBA to make the applicant responsible to do a study to determine the impact the proposal will make on the town. M. Forbes also noted that the application came in as a variance
(although the ZBA posted it as a special permit and was made aware of the error but hasn’t responded) and in order to apply for a variance you need to prove a hardship as per our town bylaws and the applicant hasn’t done this.
5. Leroy Thorpe came in to inform the Board that the lifeguards have all gone back to school so the sign to swim at your own risk will be put back out. He also complained about the number of boats being moored and the owners of the boats swimming from the beach and under the ropes to get to their boats. He feels that if Dean is going to issue these permits they should be accessing their boats from his property. Leroy would like to meet with Dean and the Board to discuss this. Leroy feels that his lifeguards are only responsible for swimmers inside the ropes and they instruct people to not go beyond the ropes.
6. J. Sylbert asked L. Thorpe to also spray the tires on the playground as there are wasp nests there now too. The Board also confirmed that Leroy got the message about the plantings to go on the Town line and Leroy asked that they make sure they don’t hit or impact the water line that is located there.
7. A motion was made to reappoint Janet Cathcart as the citizen representative on the Employee Compensation Committee and to appoint Michael Storch as the Finance Committee representative and to reappoint Scott Jenssen as the Select Board representative. All motions were accepted unanimously.
8. Linda Thorpe came in with a notice and application for an Open Meeting conference to be held in Pittsfield from 7-9 on September 25th sponsored by the DA’s office. A memo will be sent to all boards and committees that hold public meetings and take the required minutes of those meetings.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 6:07pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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