Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 12/16/13
Meeting Opened at: 9am
Select Board Members Present: Muriel Lazzarini, Chairperson, Wayne Burkhart (arrived at 9:10am) and Scott Jenssen
Also in attendance for parts of the meeting: Susan Gallant for the Monterey News, Richard Pargament, Winston Wilson, Maynard Forbes, Barbara Cohen, Alex contractor for National Grid, Robert Kuhner and Kenn Basler
At 9am the Board opened the joint pole hearing applied for by National Grid and Verizon on Blue Hill Rd. The petition is to install 13 joint owned poles as shown on the documents provided. Maynard Forbes stated that the legal document submitted was full of errors which included the wrong directions, incorrect names of streets, etc. Maynard stated that the documents need to be resubmitted and the hearing rescheduled. Maynard stated he notified National Grid of these issues 2 weeks ago and hasn’t heard anything back from them. There were questions about what changes would be made to the telephone service as well. The Board asked that the map be more detailed as it currently is difficult to understand. A letter was submitted by abutter Richard Pargament which is on file at the
town hall; he is advocating that the trees that National Grid wants to remove are not completely dead and dying as National Grid is claiming and should remain. Winston Wilson the Tree Warden stated that he viewed the trees and the bottoms of many are rotting and are a danger. Maynard stated that when the proper documents are submitted and the hearing is rescheduled that a representative from Verizon also needs to be present. It was also noted that not all the abutters were properly notified. A motion was made to require that the documents be corrected and resubmitted at which time another hearing will be scheduled. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
The board met with Director of Operations, Maynard Forbes’ and the Tree Warden, Winston Wilson to review the following:
1. Ash trees in Monterey: Winston Wilson spoke with the state forester who has said that there aren’t any state plans, funding or grants to deal with the issues. He also stated that there was no danger of a massive loss of trees at this time. The state forester suggested that the Tree Warden will need to increase his budget.
2. Robert Kuhner had concerns about the drainage on his side of Blue Hill Rd and stated he has spoken with Maynard about this and was offered several suggestions to alleviate the problems which have yet to be implemented. He claims that the embankment has been cut in several times which Maynard said was not done by the Highway Department.
3. The Board asked if Maynard felt that the WMH maintenance budget should be included in his budget rather than creating a separate line item created. He will bring the research he has which supports a separate line item and not adding it to his budget. He will also address several other concerns he has which the Board needs to consider.
The board met with Police Chief, Gareth Backhaus to review the following:
1. Lost llamas on Norwalk Acres.
2. False alarms on Woodland Dr, Main Rd and Art School Rd
3. Harassing phone calls complaint on Main Rd.
4. Car stolen on Main Rd, later located. The Chief encourages everyone to lock their car doors and not leave your keys in the car. He also stated that you should not leave the car running when pulling up to the Post Office, General Store or Town Hall.
5. Call from a party at Gould Farm that needed medical attention.
6. Two calls for “suspicious” activity on Blue Hill Rd.
7. Sandisfield Rd – game camera reported stolen. The other camera that wasn’t stolen did catch several trespassers. The Chief wanted to take this time to remind everyone that if it isn’t your property or a public way you do not have the right to be on it.
8. Disabled MVs on Hupi Rd., Main Rd (x2),
9. Neighbor dispute on Mt Hunger Rd.
10. Medical call on Tyringham Rd
11. Bus stuck on Chestnut Hill Rd. Another reminder from the Chief that if you see a sign that says “Road Closed”, there is a reason for that and you shouldn’t attempt to travel it.
12. Complaint of a barking dog on Art School Rd
13. Dog found on Hupi Rd, the dog’s tags helped to return it to its owners on Sylvan Rd.
14. Well being check on Chestnut Hill.
15. Car removed from Main Rd and Blue Hill Rd which was impeding the snow plow removal.
16. The Chief reminds everyone that their private snow plowers should not be pushing the snow across the street; this is illegal and causes dangerous situations.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. Kenn Basler came in to recommend Mary Paul Yates be appointed to fulfill the vacancy created by Lois Storch. A motion was made to appoint Mary Paul Yates until the next election. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
2. The minutes from 12.9.13 were approved as written.
3. Multi board meeting: The Board will hold a meeting to discuss building and planning for Monterey. It will be on Tuesday, January 28th at 7pm and M. Noe will notify the Planning Board, Highway Dept, Library, School Committee Rep, WMH Committee, Building Inspector and Parks requesting them to attend.
4. The Board discussed the items that M. Noe submitted to the Board that she would like to see in a contract which is allowed under MGL. Muriel stated that she is not in favor of offering a contract to anyone other than the Police Chief which is required by law and would allow the other 2 Board members to make the final draft if they approved of the idea. Wayne was hesitant at this time. Scott was in favor of offering M. Noe the contract and felt it is important to allow for some of these protections and felt that it was fair that M. Noe requested only a few simple items rather than what she could have requested. Scott and Wayne requested that the ECAC as well as Town Counsel review these items and weigh in on the decision making process.
5. Eric Kinsherf, the gentlemen helping the Town Accountant had to re-schedule to next week. The Select Board suggested that this be paid out of the Accountant’s Expenses line item and any overages can be handled by the Finance Committee at a later date. Pat Mielke will be coming in today to go over errors that have been found in the Trial Balance report (double payrolls that need to be fixed, accounts that need to be closed, etc).
6. The Board asked M. Noe to request that the Treasurer pay anyone that is paid semi-annually be paid this week to have their checks before the holidays.
7. The Board continued to review the capital expense planning spreadsheet.
8. It was noted that Linda Thorpe has returned to the Town Clerk’s office the documents of adoption records of a resident’s children that were from a foreign country.
9. The Board was reviewing expense reports and noticed that several payroll items don’t appear to be posting to the expense reports. M. Noe will follow up with Bethany to determine if a step is being missed.
10. The Board will not be meeting on Monday, January 23rd.
11. Warrants were signed.
12. Executive Secretary’s weekly report reviewed.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:10am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Executive Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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