Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 3/12/12
Meeting Opened at: 9am
Select Board Members Present: Wayne Burkhart, Chairperson and Scott Jenssen
Also in attendance for parts of the meeting: Muriel Lazzarini, Attorney Fred Dupere, Stanley Ross, Donald Torrico, Maynard Forbes and Shawn Tryon
The board met with Director of Operations, Maynard Forbes’ to review the following:
1. Transfer station fees: The contract with Master Garbologist has an increased fee for trucking and the quantities hauled. The Garbologist’s per trip fee has increased. Last year we didn’t raise the budget enough and actually had a deficit. The Board explained that they’ve always planned on the transfer station sticker fees to offset the costs to run by 40%. Maynard did remind everyone that our stickers are still relatively low and you are allowed to dispose of a lot without any additional fees. There was discussion on raising it to $50; the Board will discuss this with the Finance Committee before making a final decision. Maynard will speak to the Garbologist about having the attendant be more visible, helping folks with their trash and disposal of and
making sure things go in the right bins.
2. The crumbling wall at 223 Main Rd was discussed. The town’s main concern and obligation is to make sure the road is safe and can not get involved in any repairs or removal of the wall (with the exception of any crumbling of the wall into the road presenting a safety hazard) as it’s on private property.
3. Chapter 90 money was discussed.
4. Repairs were made to the Kenworth and grader.
5. Salting, sanding and plowing were done on Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the week ending March 3rd.
6. Salting, sanding and spot plowing were done on Monday and Tuesday of the week ending March 10th.
7. Potholes were patched on Main Rd, Art School & Beartown Mtn Rd.
8. Sections of New Marlboro Rd were repaired.
The board met with the Building Commissioner, Donald Torrico to review the following items:
1. The Statement of Work between the Town and Full Circle was reviewed for the new building permitting program that BRPC has been involved with. Don is looking for the Board’s approval to sign on the town’s behalf once town counsel has approved the wording of the contract. There is an annual fee to the town based on population size and we have applied for grant money to help with the necessary equipment. This program eliminates paper applications and allows everything to be done online; the only paper used would be to print the job placard. There would be a public access terminal at the town hall for those that do not have access to a computer or online availability. A motion was made to authorize Donald Torrico to enter into the contract pending town counsel’s
approval. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The minutes from 3.5.12 were approved as written.
2. The Board met with Attorney Dupere at Town Counsel’s recommendation (as it is out of his realm of expertise) to discuss the proposed employee contracts. Atty. Dupere has been an attorney for 34 years and specializes in labor relations. He represents over 60 municipalities and schools throughout MA. Atty. Dupere stated that prior to today’s meeting he reviewed the Select Board minutes from the meetings with employees up to now as well as the proposed contracts that the employees presented. The Board explained that they are looking for his expertise on the matter to keep things from getting too complicated and too formal and to ensure what is being proposed is legal. The most common terms for contracts range anywhere from 1 – 3 years. The primary issue according
to Atty. Dupere with having salary increases in an employment contract is if the amount isn’t approved at town meeting the town would be in breech of contract however he suggested that a “reopener” could be added to the contracts for years 2 and 3. “Just cause” and how it can be used in a contract was discussed. M. Forbes clarified at Wayne’s request that the reason the employees are seeking contracts is because right now they have no sense of permanence and feel that their jobs & salaries rely on the whim of the Select Board and Finance Committee. The employees feel there is no continuity and that in the past they have not been given a lot of opportunity to give input. Atty. Dupere stated that while other towns he represents do have employment contracts with non-union personnel they are not ever given to each individual employee, only for higher end positions such as Directors, Engineers and Administrators.
Currently without a contract the employees are considered “at will” and would be entitled to what benefits currently exist. Stan suggested that an alternative would be to have a clearly spelled out employee handbook which Atty. Dupere stated is helpful but still leaves employees at the whim of voters at town meeting however an employee handbook would provide clarity. He stated that it is not typical to list each individual employee’s salary on the town meeting warrant and emphasized that town meeting does not hire employees and therefore can not discuss or vote on any individual’s employment or performance at town meeting. The Board stated that the goal here is to give the employees a sense of security and protect them as much as possible from any excessive criticism at town meeting. Atty. Dupere does not recommend listing out each individual employee’s salary as a separate line item on the warrant and suggested speaking
to town counsel further on this. He suggested picking the most important issue right now with employees to address at town meeting, most likely salary increases and then after town meeting work on the complexities and legal issues that contracts or collective bargaining agreements might prompt.
3. The proposed school budget numbers were discussed. Wayne stated that the school may have a warrant article for this year’s meeting to change the due date of one of the quarterly payments from March to February for all of the towns.
4. Shawn Tryon, Fire Chief came in to inform the Board that KME was here on Saturday to work on the oldest fire truck which had to be sent with them to fix. The problem has been determined to be an electrical issue. This repair may push the Fire Department over their allocated budget for this year and would require approval at the special town meeting held just before the annual town meeting.
5. The Board agreed to meet on Tuesday, April 17th at 9am since Monday the 16th is a holiday.
6. The Board agreed to post something in the April Monterey News announcing that they would like to form a committee/study group to research the future of the Monterey School. The parameters of what the group would be responsible for researching will be determined in the next few weeks.
7. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. A renewal proposal from MIIA Health Benefits Trust for 7/1/12 – 6/30/13. The rates will increase 5.8% for the 7 full time employees on the plan and the 1 Medex 3 (former elected official). The Board approved this and Wayne signed the proposal which will be returned to P. Mielke, Treasurer.
8. Inter-Departmental Secretary’s weekly report reviewed.
a. As requested M. Noe provide in her report that a postage meter could be refilled by check however this option will not solve the issue of when parts are needed from companies where we do not hold an account, for our annual domain renewal and other such instances when a credit card is the only option. Her report also stated that since leasing a meter would only solve part of the problem she did not feel comfortable having the town pay $548/year for something that doesn’t solve the whole issue but that ultimately it is the Board’s decision to make.
b. M. Noe updated the Board in her report of her conversations with S&A on the proposed HVAC system (previously referred to as central a/c which was incorrect). The Board had wanted to know if S&A offered any kind of energy efficiency/usage calculations to help them make their decision. S&A stated that what we are looking to install is a more efficient system than central a/c or single unit window a/c’s and that the mini-split system can actually provide heat & a/c. They have no duct work and it allows you to save on heating oil. S&A noted that these systems are very quiet.
c. M. Noe informed the Board of a correction that needs to be made to the Feb. 27th minutes which stated that the fire department was requesting to purchase a thermal imager for $210,000 and it should’ve said that they were requesting a rescue vehicle.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:11am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary via audio recording
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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