Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 6/24/13
Meeting Opened at: 9am
Select Board Members Present: Muriel Lazzarini, Chairperson, Wayne Burkhart and Scott Jenssen
Also in attendance for parts of the meeting: Susan Gallant for the Monterey News, Julio Rodriguez, Howard & Gail Leavy, Gerry Green, Christine Golfinger, Elizabeth Wolfe, Josh Allentuck, Emily Johnson, Beth King and Peter Heller
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. Residents of Beartown Mtn Rd came in to complain about the double yellow lines recently painted on their road. They are requesting that the town show them the mandate requiring the lines be on their road. Christine Goldfinger read the following letter addressed to the Board from Kevin Roche of 92 Beartown Mtn Rd: Friends: I turned the corner last week off Fairview Road and there it was – an unmistakable coded message that said: Don’t Pass! For God’s sake whatever you do, Don’t Pass! Well, (a) I wasn’t going to pass; (b) there wasn’t anyone there to pass even if I had wanted to; and (c) there wasn’t anyone around who might have wanted to pass me. It’s rare that there are ever two vehicles going in the same direction along here, and rarer
still where one of them would want to pass the other and need some guidance as to whether that would be permitted. (The answer is clearly no.) We have here a fix for a problem that didn’t exist, not to mention an opportunity for continuing maintenance and expense that needn’t be incurred by town tax payers. Perhaps one day traffic will be such that impatient drivers will be lined up straining to overtake slow pokes, and they’ll need to be told to cool their jets. At least until the pavement runs out. If that day comes, we’ll call for the heavy yellow hand of the state to weigh in on the matter. Fortunately, that day is not today. Regards, Kevin Roche. Chief Backhaus was called for his opinion and he stated that he believed that the lines may be required due to Chapter 90 funds having been used on the road but this really falls under the Highway Department’s jurisdiction. The Board will check with Maynard when he returns from vacation. They will also request that the edges be
filled in with something other than gravel.
2. Howard Leavy and Julio Rodriguez came in to present a proposed plan for multi-purposed recreation area behind the pavilion which would include a pet exercise center, tennis courts, basketball court, bathrooms and an amphitheater leaving more room in the lower Greene Park for parking. Those present stated that they feel that the current proposed location of Jamie’s Court may not be the best location. It was also suggested to move the playground up there as it was brought to everyone’s attention that it is over the town’s septic leaching field. This proposal hasn’t been presented to the Parks Commission yet. Josh Allentuck, Chair of the Parks Commission stated that if this request were to be placed on next year’s annual town meeting warrant finishing of
the whole project could be approximately 3 years. There were also concerns about drainage and wet areas on the proposed lot behind the pavilion. The next step would be to have an engineering study of the land and to determine where the money for that would come from. The Board was excited by the proposal.
3. The Board reviewed the special town meeting warrant articles. There were questions about the Accountant’s information on the septic loan program. Maryellen Brown informed the Board last week via an email from M. Noe that we do not owe anything to the State on the septic loan program so Jim Podoloak (from the State) stated that we just need the article to request permission to terminate the program.~ Those that still have loans out (2ppl) will continue to pay the town and the money will go to the general fund.~ If we want to use the money in there right now for something specific then we would need an article to transfer the funds otherwise once it’s terminated the money will go to the general fund. The Board signed 7 copies of the warrant in front of the Town Clerk which will now be
signed and posted by the Constable and then the Clerk and M. Noe will fold and address them.
4. The Board asked M. Noe to prepare the thank you letters from the Board for the Memorial Day festivities and asked the Monterey News to put a thank you in the July edition as well. They also requested that the wreath be disposed of from the Veteran’s Memorial Park.
5. The minutes from 6.17.13 were approved with one correction.
6. The Board finalized the letter to the auditors which will be mailed today.
7. The Board discussed the town’s insurance policies responsibilities and which department should be handling them. They felt that based on information they have received from the police and fire departments and employees regarding things not being completed (bonding of the town clerk was late, police coverages were not updated and health insurance coverages have also not been updated) that this needed to come back under the responsibility of the Board thru Melissa. Muriel will contact MIIA to have a representative come to a future meeting to go over all of our policies and to explain to M. Noe what she will need to be responsible for.
8. Town Accountant search: The Monterey News reporter provided a little blurb she wrote up looking for someone willing to learn the position that may not have municipal accounting experience or experience with the town’s accounting software. The Board liked the write up which will appear in the July edition.
9. The Annual 2nd homeowner’s meeting will be on Saturday, August 3rd at 10am here at the town hall. M. Noe will post the meeting with the Town Clerk and online. The Board reviewed the minutes from last year’s meeting so they could follow up this year on what has been done.
a. Cell tower update – it is the Board’s understanding that this should be operational by the end of summer. Putting the overlay map online; M. Noe stated this cannot be done as the maps only make sense when read with the abundant amount of material and the recording from the meeting(s).
b. Dump stickers – putting address on the stickers instead of license plates. The Police Chief and Director of Operations have weighed in that this is not a good idea. The Board agreed, sticker procedures will remain as is.
c. Putting beaver trappers on website – we do not put businesses on the website as we do not want to give the appearance of any kind of favoritism.
d. Using lifeguards to park cars & direct traffic: The Board mentioned this to the Parks Chiar last year and he did not feel this was within the lifeguards job descriptions and would take away from making sure that swimmers are safe.
e. Swap shack – it is not the Transfer Station Attendant’s job to keep this neat.
10. Muriel had concerns that the only posted hours for the Building Department are Mondays from 9:30 – 11:30am by appointment. Muriel feels that the “by appointment” should be removed and the Building Inspector should be available every Monday no matter what. Muriel also stated that she has received several complaints about the difficulty in receiving tent permits and she has been informed by Gould Farm that Mahaiwe Tent charges an additional $100 to people in Monterey due to their percieved difficulties in obtaining a permit. She also received complaints that phone calls are not being returned in a timely manner. Don will be asked to attend next weeks meeting.
11. Wayne updated the Board on the annual Water Company meeting held last week which was attended by 7 people and has been rescheduled because there were not enough Water Company board members present.
12. The Board suggested seeing if Del Martin would be interested in being an additional citizen representative on the ECAC. Scott also suggested that Fiona DeRis might be interested. Muriel will follow up with both and report back to the Board.
13. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. Request to support no fracking in MA – The Board requested that M. Noe get more information on it from the provided website and sender of the email.
14. Warrants were signed. Muriel questioned why one warrant is ready on Mondays and the other is not ready until late Tuesday evening. M. Noe explained that this is because the Accountant is here on Mondays and the Treasurer is here on Tuesday evenings.
15. Inter-Departmental Secretary’s weekly report reviewed which included:
a. M. Noe’s request for items she would like to see in a contract as is permitted under MGL Chapter 41, Section 108N. The Board made a motion to change M. Noe’s title from Inter-Departmental Secretary to Executive Secretary which is more appropriate and fitting to the duties she performs. Muriel was not in favor of a contract when not required by law (as is the case for the Police Chief) and that the employees should remain at will. M. Noe was asked what her fears were that precipitated requesting a contract and she stated it was a protection issue so that benefits or things associated with the job cannot make changes on a whim – the contract would require research and negotiations. Wayne suggested that this be brought to the ECAC to discuss and Scott
suggested that the other employees be asked their opinion on one employee having a contract that other departments would not be offered. Scott was in favor of offering the contract if it helped make that person feel more secure in their position.
b. M. Noe’s requests and concerns if the insurance responsibilities are to be transferred to the Select Board and M. Noe. The Board reviewed them all and had no issues with any of the requests.
c. M .Noe provided copies of opinions from the Inspector General’s Office, former Town Counsel Jerome Scully and copies of the minutes regarding abolishing the Chief Procurement Officer position back in September of 2006. After reading the documents it was agreed that the Town does not need a Chief Procurement Officer however there should be someone to assist the smaller boards and committees with putting items and services out to bid. This person would only be a resource and would not advise or be responsible for things done improperly. M. Noe suggested that all of the necessary info and assistance is available on the Inspector General’s website. A memo will be sent out to all the committees advising them of the website and where bidding assistance can be found.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 10:58am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Executive Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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