Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 3/11/13
Meeting Opened at: 9am
Select Board Members Present: Scott Jenssen, Chairperson, Muriel Lazzarini and Wayne Burkhart
Also in attendance for parts of the meeting: Susan Gallant for the Monterey News, Chief Backhaus, Chief Tryon, Linda Thorpe, Stanley Ross, Maynard Forbes and Pat Mielke
The board met with Police Chief, Gareth Backhaus to discuss his FY14 Budget requests:
1. Chief Backhaus provided the Board with details explaining his budget request for FY14. He prefaced this by reminding the Board that he has been doing this for 20 years and in that 20 years he has received over a ¼ million in grant monies to cover most of the items he’s requested over the years. Unfortunately grant money isn’t available like it used to be and that is one of the reasons why his budget has risen more than in years past. The state no longer pays for training but requires that officers attend them. Rising fuel costs are a large part of the increase to his operating expenses. Chief Backhaus confirmed that the hourly rate for the part time officers will remain the same.
2. Chief Backhaus gave a rundown of the costs associated with the request for a new cruiser. The computers being requested for the cruisers are refurbished with a 3 year warranty but have the updated technology the officers need. Included in the total request are upgrades to the radar unit in the cruiser we are keeping and a new radar unit for the new cruiser. One of the problems is that they are no longer making Crown Vic cruisers so the current equipment is not transferrable. The radar units have decreased in price so the total for the special article for a cruiser and all the associated equipment will be $49,205. The Finance Committee recommends buying this vehicle outright rather than taking a loan out.
3. Proposed salary increase for the Sergeant position: Chief Backhaus stated that over the years training new officers has taken a very different approach in preparing an officer to work in our Town. Sergeant Johnson has put together an extensive Field Training Program for Monterey which he is certified to teach. He has also taken the Sergeant’s training and the salary recommended by the ECAC is based on what full time officers (not Sergeants) in surrounding towns are starting at. Chief Backhaus stated that Monterey has a tremendous asset with Sergeant Johnson and he should be paid accordingly. Raising his salary to the recommended $50,960 will also change the position to salary from hourly.
The board met with members of the Cemetery Commission to discuss their FY14 budget request:
1. Linda stated that the Cemetery Committee has level funded their request for the last two years. Of the $24,350 budgeted last year there is $19,000 left which the Cemetery Commission plans to use towards trees and tree work. The Board agreed based on Linda’s explanations and future work planned to keep the budget level funded.
2. Cemetery Maintenance and Cemetery Lawn Care will be combined into one line item.
The board met with Fire Chief, Shawn Tryon and Asst. Fire Chief Maynard Forbes to continue discussions on his FY14 budget requests:
1. It was confirmed that the dues and association fees paid each year is level funded and is not part of the $8,000 increase being requested. The $8,000 increase broken down as follows: $5,000 for rent, $1,400 for diesel fuel for the trucks, $600 for the internet and $2,100 for the replacement windows for the truck. There are additional increases to cover items the fire department needs that Shawn didn’t include like foam which is approximately $2,000. The Board took all this into account and decided to raise the expenses by $10,000.
2. Compensation: Shawn feels that changing the way the firemen are paid will cost the town more in the long run. Cutting the pay will cut the enthusiasm of the men responding, just the talks of changing the pay structure is already affecting the morale. The Department is not a volunteer fire department it is a paid on call department. The $15,000 increase to the compensation line budget includes a $5,000 increase to the Chief’s stipend (making it $7,000 a year), increasing the Asst Chief by $1,500 (making it $2,700 a year) plus the hourly wages for training and calls for all firemen, including the Chief and Asst. Chief. If there is a decrease in calls and the extra money requested isn’t spent it goes back to free cash. It was suggested to only raise the compensation line
item by a smaller amount and if the number of calls remains the same or increase to transfer the needed funds from reserve to cover the overage; this idea was not well accepted and felt that proper planning was appropriate was to proceed. Wayne and Scott agreed to the request and Muriel did so reluctantly.
3. When questioned about the transparency of the Fire Company’s finances Shawn stated that the Fire Company is 100% transparent and any information someone is interested in learning more about should be directed to the Fire Company. Maynard stated that all of the documents they are required to file are available for anyone to view on irs.gov
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The Board inquired of Linda if there is anything they need to do with regards to Debbie’s resignation as Town Clerk effective April 1st and Linda performing the necessary duties at town meeting and the town elections. She stated no, that in the absence of the Town Clerk the Assistant may perform all the Clerk duties.
2. Maynard informed the Board that if the Governor’s budget is approved and funded as written RT 23 will be completely finished in FY14.
3. FY14 Budget:
a. A 2% increase was added to the Assessor’s Clerk line item.
b. The Board asked M. Noe to round up or down all the figures once the budget is complete.
c. Line 158 was lowered to $250 from $1,500 as we no longer purchase the hard bound law books which were what this line item was used for. The Accountant confirmed that lowering it is acceptable on his end of things.
d. Levy limits and the levy ceiling were discussed.
e. Proposed salary increases for the Chief and Sergeant were kept at the recommended amounts from the ECAC however Wayne and Scott noted that they were in favor of making these salary increase requests $65,500 and $45,500 instead of the ECAC proposed numbers of $70,500 and $50,960 but would leave it to the voters to discuss and vote on. They both felt that requesting $10,000 increases to 2 positions in one year was a large request. Pat Mielke suggested having a warrant article that would give a particular position a step raise of xx amount of dollars of xx amount of years. She stated this was done approximately 10 years ago for the highway department. This will be looked into and discussed further next week.
4. Pat Mielke came in to collect the 6 notes and certificates that the Board needs to sign.
5. The Board instructed Pat Mielke to wait on both properties until the board has had the opportunity for a site visit on the lake front lot. At that time a decision will be made on the two parcels.
6. M. Noe presented a proposal from the 7 full time employees regarding changes to the current health benefits in an effort to reduce this cost to the Town (full text available at the town hall):
a. The employees recommended changing the current retiree Medex plan from the current plan to the next plan down (which is the comparable plan to the current HMO for active employees and still a very generous plan). This year there will be 2 new retirees added to the plan and making this change versus keeping the current plan will save the Town $2,065.50 for the year.
b. The employees also recommended changing the active employees plan from the current HMO to the next plan down contingent upon adding a couple’s tier which will save the Town $3,578.15. The couple’s tier would be a lower premium for married couples without dependents.
c. A motion was made to accept the employee proposal as presented. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
7. The minutes from 3.4.13 were approved as amended.
8. Mail was reviewed.
9. Warrants were signed.
10. Inter-Departmental Secretary’s weekly report reviewed.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:30am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
| 
