Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 3/25/13
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, Stanley Ross, Donald Torrico and Deborah Mielke
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The Board reviewed and finalized the FY14 warrant:
a. The Board agreed to transferring $200,000 from Free Cash to reduce the tax levy for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013.
b. The Board agreed to take the current Accountant’s suggestion and stop putting funds into the Receipts Reserve Septic Loan Fund for the Community Septic Loan Program.
c. The Board and Stanley Ross discussed the suggestion made last week by the Accountant to close the septic loan and move $45,500 to free cash. The previous Accountant was consulted and explained that she did not believe you could move money to Free Cash so the Board was now inquiring of Steve and Stan on how to word the article. It was decided that an article was not needed to transfer money from the Receipts Reserve Septic Loan Fund.
d. The Board discussed the opinion from the previous accountant who was consulted regarding the current accountant’s suggestion to no longer transfer money from Overlay Surplus to the Reserve Fund and instead add $15k to line 132 which the former accountant stated actually increases the budget instead of the way it has been done in the past as a special article as it gets subtracted when figuring out the levy limit. The Board agreed to continue doing the transfer from Overlay to the Reserve and not add $15k to line 132.
e. The Board would like a detailed contract with the Fire Department breaking down where the town approved funds are appropriated for. This will be requested from Chief Tryon.
f. Muriel noted that during her research on the budget she found that Monterey has the 7th lowest tax rate in Massachusetts and 4 of those are on Martha’s Vineyard.
g. The Board reviewed the future capital expenses in relation to the proposed FY14 budget. The future expenditures are expected to be less than this year’s until FY16 when it is expected that the Fire Department will request a new engine.
h. The warrant and budget were finalized and Deborah Mielke came in to witness the signing of the warrant (multiple copies).
2. Don Torrico came in to ask permission to use another IT person to set up the new computers and tablets for the new permitting software which he expects to be about $200. The Board had no issues with this and agreed that if any access to the town server was necessary that our usual IT person would be called in to assist.
3. The minutes from 3.18.13 were approved as written.
4. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. An email clarified by town counsel that comments made by Steve Pullen at last week’s meeting requesting to rescind the 2006 vote to provide retiree health benefits is not an option. MGL Chapter 32b Section 10 states: Notwithstanding the provisions of any general law to the contrary, neither the acceptance of this chapter nor the acceptance of any individual section thereof by a governmental unit shall be revoked or rescinded.
b. Resignation from Michael Storch from the Finance Committee.
c. Interest from Ian Jenkins in filling the above vacancy on the Finance Committee. It was noted that the Board knows of 2 other interested parties for this spot and are waiting to receive their letters of interest.
d. Breakdown of the $31,000 request from the WMH for annual town meeting.
5. Muriel asked to Board to discuss the following:
a. Employee handbook; it was suggested to add a paragraph on exit interviews which Muriel provided a sample of for everyone to review. It was also suggested to amend the mileage reimbursement policy to ensure that it is clear that approval for mileage reimbursement must be received ahead of time by your supervisor and in the case of a volunteer requesting reimbursement, approval would be required from the Select Board first. The ECAC will work on this.
b. The Board reviewed the list of exemptions allowed from taking the Ethics Test. The applicable list will be given to the ECAC to review and will then be added to the Employee Handbook
c. The employees have requested to know if the Board is in support of adding Memorandum’s of Understanding (MoU). If the Board is not in support of offering them the ECAC members will not continue their research on the matter. The Board would like to know what types of things the employee’s are seeking to have included in a MoU.
d. The Board discussed the ECAC recommendation of condensing the budget portion of the warrant – they have agreed to look at samples of how we could do this with our own budget in preparation for the FY15 warrant. It was agreed that if this were to occur, supplementary paperwork would be required to promote transparency.
e. MGL Chapter 151A Section 2 (paying a position as a contractor) and the Principal Assessor position. Muriel stated that it is her opinion that this particular position is not a contractor position as it does not meet the requirements of the above mentioned MGL. It was noted that currently he is paid as a contractor and is reimbursed for mileage (which it was agreed by all that he should be reimbursed for mileage if being paid as a contractor). The Board reviewed the data from the surrounding towns and how their Principal/Assistant Assessor’s are designated (employee or contractor). Paying him as an employee may cost a bit more as the Town would need to pay into workers comp insurance, unemployment insurance and Berkshire County Retirement. The Board is going to
digest this information and discuss it again after town meeting.
f. M. Noe confirmed that Smitty and Ben have received copies of the information provided by Dan Moriarity on Lake Buel.
g. M. Noe will follow up with the Library on job descriptions for the part time library staff and trustees.
6. Warrants were signed.
7. Inter-Departmental Secretary’s weekly report reviewed.
8. Scott and Wayne will not be at next week’s meeting. Muriel will come in from 9 – 10am should anyone like to talk and/or ask questions but noted she will not be able to make any decisions.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:05am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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