Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 12/6/10
Meeting Opened at: 7:00pm
Select Board Members Present: Jonathan Sylbert, Chairperson, Wayne Burkhart, and Scott Jenssen
Also in attendance for parts of the meeting: Michael Storch, Maynard Forbes, Shawn Tryon, Daniel Moriarty, Joe Baker, Cynthia Weber and Laurie Shaw
The board reviewed Director of Operations, Maynard Forbes’ weekly reports for the weeks ending 11/27 & 12/4/10 which included:
1. Checking beaver ponds and culverts, replacing plugged culvert on Fairview.
2. Picked up new truck in NH, had it inspected and calibrated the sander.
3. Install gates on salt shed.
4. Pick up trees on Main Rd, Tyringham, Fairview and Griswold.
5. Patch pot holes on Beartown, gravel and grade.
6. No heat at town hall – have problem fixed. Furnace is scheduled for a cleaning on 12/10/10.
7. M. Forbes stated that he was asked by Ormsbee’s if there was a place to park a bus that needs to be plugged in at the Highway Garage. There is a spot next to the new building and Ormsbee’s has offered to pay for the electricity they use. The Board had no issue with this.
8. Gould Farm has requested a name change for Sunset Rock Rd (private rd). Gould Farm changed it to Barry Cosgrove Drive over a year ago without anyone in the Town being made aware and they were having problems with deliveries. M. Forbes stated that he now has to change this in the 911 database and according to Town Counsel the Select Board has to approve the name change by law. A motion was made to accept the change which was seconded and approved. Wayne recused himself from the vote as he works for Gould Farm.
9. Bally Gally: The roof has been fixed and there is still a leak along the backside of the chimney showing up on the brick. The Board agreed to try and seal it for the winter and see what the options are in the spring.
The board reviewed Police Chief, Gareth Backhaus’ weekly report for 11/29-12/3/10 which included:
1. Complaint on Mt Hunger Rd about a person hunting on his land without permission. Hunters were found and informed they can’t hunt there.
2. Well being check on Hupi Rd.
3. Well being check on New Marlboro Rd.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. Shawn Tryon, Fire Chief came in to speak with the Board about the following:
a. Fire Dept. compensation budget: There have been 44 calls this year and have spent $32,000 of their $60,000 budget in just 5 months. This is on track with last year which had a $15,000 overrun. The Fire Dept. will only have Wed. night trainings for the rest of the year. The Select Board suggested asking for the expected $15,000 overrun for this year at the special town meeting to be held at 9am which will handle the FY11 budget before the annual town meeting for the FY12 budget.
b. Shawn suggested that for the FY12 budget the compensation line item be raised to at least $78,000. Jon stated that the fire department really needs to work out their philosophy on how they pay and who responds and amount of people who respond to calls to keep the budget closer to what they’ve requested. Shawn felt that the only way to handle it was to have a budget big enough to handle the calls and payroll. He felt if you tried to micromanage calls you would lose members. Jon stated that what the Board was suggesting was that if you knew you had xx number of guys that only xx number initially respond to a medical call versus having the whole fire department show up.
c. Capital items: Shawn is going to come up with an updated list so there are no surprises of what the department will need and when. For instance Engine 1 will need to be replaced in 2016. Rescue 5 will need to be replaced sooner rather than later. The radios and pagers will all need to be updated this year per the FCC mandate (this will also include the highway dept. radios, the police radios were done through a grant). The Fire Dept. will be bidding out the sale of the 1992 truck and the 1987 army truck. The 1992 - 3500 will be replaced with the 2000 – 550 truck that was upgraded at the highway department.
2. Dan and Michael stated that they have reviewed the reports provided by the Accountant and are comfortable with where things are right now. The Finance Committee and Board discussed who should be responsible for salary requests for the Police Chief, Director of Operations, Building Commissioner, Town Accountant and Inter-Departmental Secretary. All agreed that these should be handled by the Select Board as the employees mentioned above report directly to them. The potential school budget was also briefly discussed.
3. The minutes from 11.29.10 were approved as written.
4. Warrants were signed.
5. Inter-Departmental Secretary’s weekly report was reviewed which included a time off request which was approved.
6. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. 2011 package store renewal for the Monterey General Store. A motion was made to approve the renewal for the 2011 year, which was seconded and unanimously approved. The paperwork will now be sent to the ABCC for their approval.
7. (Scott was not present for this part of the meeting) Joe Baker, Cynthia Weber and Laurie Shaw of the Friends of Wilson McLaughlin House Committee came in to discuss the renewal of the WMH lease.
a. A date was added for the completion of the driveway which Maynard changed to a later date. The Committee is concerned that by changing the date will just keep pushing the project back. They are also concerned that the money for the driveway was approved for this FY and if it’s done next FY will the money still be available? The Board assured them that the money will still be there. The Committee anticipates that there will be a need for handicap access for the community garden this year and would like to see the driveway done for the gardening season, not after or half-way through it. The Committee just found out that the water line for Bally Gally goes under where the proposed driveway will go which will need to be taken into consideration when the work is
done. The Board would like to speak with Maynard about the completion date before making any changes and/or approving the lease.
b. Changes were made to the Phase I proposal which includes what will be done in the next 5 years.
c. Maynard also would like the MGL for procurement procedures be added but the Board did not feel that was pertinent to the lease even though it is a requirement therefore they are not inclined to add it. Maynard also requested that something be added to the lease about the oil tank that is leaking and must be removed. Joe stated that 5 years ago a hazardous material outfit was hired and identified all the materials in the building that were hazardous one of which was 2 tanks in the basement. In the spring the Committee put out a notice for bids to remove them and no one responded. The ad was placed again with no response so Tryon Construction was hired and the work is scheduled to be done and the money has been raised. The Committee also felt that in the
“Assignment” section of the lease this issue was already addressed.
d. The Board requested that M. Noe send a draft copy of the lease to town counsel to review and if all is approved the lease will be signed next week.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 8:35pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary via audio recording
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
| 
