Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 8/10/09
Meeting Opened at: 4:00pm
Select Board Members Present: Scott Jenssen, Chairperson, Jon Sylbert (arrived at 4:32pm) and Wayne Burkhart
Also in attendance for parts of the meeting: Sue Protheroe for the Monterey News, Dan Moriarity, Fred Vorck, Chief Backhaus (also Harbormaster for the Town), Paula Hatch, Valerie Zantay, Kyle Pierce and Meta Ukena
Lake Buel Boat Ramp:
- Chief Backhaus informed the Board that several irate boaters called him on his cell phone while on vacation to complain about the illegality of closing the Lake Buel boat ramp. Scott confirmed that he has also received threatening phone calls and gestures because of his involvement in the closing of the boat ramp and apologized to the Chief for having his vacation interrupted.
- Chief Backhaus stated that he spoke with Jack Sheppard from the Public Access board today who told Chief Backhaus that the Town had been adequately notified that the boat ramp had to be reopened and was illegally closed. Chief Backhaus suggested to Jack that the Board is looking for a letter with specific instructions ordering the Board to open the boat ramp which has not yet happened.
- The Chief stated that no matter what measures are put into place it is ultimately comes down to boater’s being honest about where their boat has been and what precautions they have taken to prevent the spread of zebra mussels.
- Chief Backhaus has reviewed the Lake Buel Preservation and Restoration’s 35 page charter and noted that the first page states very clearly that they must follow all state and local laws/regulations. Lake Buel belongs to the State and everyone has the right to use it.
- Scott and Jon summarized the highlights of their recent 2 hour phone conference with Mary Griffin (head of DCR) and three other individuals from departments in the Commonwealth of Mass. regarding the Lake Buel boat ramp. Recent conversations with Town Counsel were also summarized.
- Dan Moriarity came in to discuss the handling of his recent request to put his repaired boat back on to Lake Buel.
- The Chief provided documents that were faxed to him from the State regarding the closure of any state boat ramps (that had been previously sent to the Select Board). It states very clearly in one of the documents that any boat ramp closed without the State’s permission must reopen. The Chief felt that an additional letter from the State ordering the Board to reopen was unnecessary. Jon pointed out that these letters were dated prior to Monterey closing the Lake Buel boat ramp. The Chief did not feel this made a difference.
- Scott stated that he was ready to take a vote to reopen the boat ramp; he feels that the Board’s recent actions in closing the boat ramp and the various letters sent to all involved have forced the State to take a closer look at the potential problem. Jon stated that he feels the ramp should stay closed until the State comes up with a plan or sends us a specific “cease and desist” order.
- Paula Hatch felt that any invasive problem is going to fall onto the deeded homeowner’s on the Lake to rectify the problem. She stated that the ph in Lake Buel is 8.5 and that it is in a calcium bed (the test numbers have not been received to date on the actual calcium level). Someone stated that it’s been determined that the Stockbridge Bowl and Otis Reservoir are not hospitable for supporting zebra mussel growth and that this is why they have reopened. She asked that the Board consider the ramifications to the Lake if a vote is to be taken tonight to reopen the ramp.
- Chief Backhaus reiterated that what the Select Board is doing in closing the boat ramp without State permission is illegal and that the Lake Buel Preservation and Restoration Committee has no jurisdiction in the decision. It is the responsibility of the residents and boaters that use Lake Buel to take the proper precautions so that the spread of a potential invasive species is eliminated.
- Chief Backhaus noted that he keeps hearing about all of this stuff that the Lake Buel Preservation and Restoration Committee has done to get rid of the milfoil and while it’s great what they have accomplished, if you went back to when the milfoil began one of the main reasons it was here in the first place was because of all of the cottages located on the lake that had their septic systems emptying directly into the Lake. He noted that this particular invasive species (zebra mussels) has been in the area for years and closing the State access for the remaining few weeks of this summer season isn’t going to prevent anything.
- Jon compared this act of civil disobedience (closing the boat ramp illegally) to the illegal Boston Tea Party of 1773 that forced government to change. Jon felt that his responsibility in this matter was to protect the long term health of the Lake.
- A motion was made to cease barricading the state boat ramp and to work as well as we can to protect the lake. The motion was not seconded and failed.
- Scott commended Paula and the Lake Buel Preservation and Restoration Committee on their efforts in educating the public but he feels that the Board has done all they can do without further opening themselves up to individual lawsuits.
- A new motion was made to remove the barriers blocking the Lake Buel boat ramp on Monday. The motion was seconded. The Board felt the issue has been discussed enough and agreed to not open the motion for discussion. The motion passed to reopen the boat ramp and remove the barriers on Monday, August 17th, 2 to 1 in favor. The Board instructed M. Noe to make the Highway Department aware.
The board met with Inter-Departmental Secretary, Melissa Noe to review the following items:
1. Weekly report was reviewed.
2. Time off request was approved.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The minutes from 8.3.09 were approved as written.
2. The Board reviewed their mail which included:
a. A letter of complaint regarding the temporary transfer station sticker price for residents or their renters that do not have a consistent license plate number. No action was taken.
b. Contact information update form for the U.S. Census Bureau for the LUCA program.
3. Valerie Zantay, Parks Department member came in to discuss the following with the Board:
a. Garbage; some parks members want the beach to be carry in/carry out your own trash and some want to remove the big belly receptacles completely from the Beach and Town Park. The Highway Department was asked to start picking up the garbage by Bridget Krans but M. Forbes told the Board at last weeks meeting that they can not add this to their responsibilities at this time. Valerie stated that there have been several incidents with drinking on the beach and those involved filling the container with bottles and household trash. There have also been some recent vandalism incidents with people knocking it over and causing damage to the container. Chief Backhaus was not aware of this and asked that he be contacted directly if this should happen again. Valerie questioned
why the Highway Department used to pick up the trash at the beach and park but mysteriously stopped mid-season. She stated that when this happened (several years ago) that Dennis the Transfer Station attendant began doing it but since he no longer has a truck a Parks Department member’s husband has been doing it but is unable to continue. Scott suggested that the Highway Department let Dennis use one of their vehicles to pick the trash up 3x a week at both locations. It was noted that Dennis is not a Town employee (he works for the Master Garbologist) and this would present insurance coverage/liability issues. Valerie is going to call and get quotes from local haulers on picking the trash up 3x a week until Labor Day and then once a week thereafter. She will email this information to Town Hall.
b. New emergency beach phone: A situation occurred recently that
i. Alerted the Town Hall that the pay phone had been removed and that a new phone was installed with a new phone number.
ii. When the Town Hall notified the Parks Department that it needed the new number to give to callers looking to reach someone at the beach and to post on the website; the request was met with resistance. The Parks Department stated that they did not want the lifeguards answering the phone and/or searching for people, it was agreed by everyone that the lifeguards are there to lifeguard and if the phone rings it should be answered by a beach attendee. The Select Board and Police Chief have both stated that there needs to be a pay phone there for emergencies. The Police Chief is going to look into options available for an emergency phone similar to the one to be installed on the outside of the town hall.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 6:15pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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