Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 5/6/13
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, Maynard Forbes, Mark Makuc, Ray Tryon, Mike Johnson and Emily Johnson
The board met with Police Chief, Gareth Backhaus to review the following:
1. The Chief thanked the Board for their support of the employees at town meeting and throughout the year.
2. “Suspicious activity” on Blue Hill (multiple calls). Scott asked if a chart could be created to determine if there is a pattern to when the calls are made or if they coincide with the lunar cycle, etc.
3. False alarms at: Town Hall, Brett Rd, Stevens Lake Way and Woodland Dr
4. Summons served on Lake Ave.
5. Shots fired reported on Beartown Mtn Rd – the person shooting was within their legal rights
6. Loud crash reported on Beartown Mtn Rd – nothing found, no other reports
7. Abandoned 911 calls on: River Rd and Main Rd (turned out to be an assault and the party was arrested)
8. Suspicious activity on Main Rd – investigated and turned out to be someone waiting for a ride
9. Tree on wires on Wellman and New Marlboro
10. Suspicious activity reported near the church – nothing found
11. Injured/rabid raccoon on Elephant Rock Rd – put down by the police
12. Mt Hunger Rd – dispute between neighbors; trespassing
13. Reported MV theft – ended up being an unauthorized use of the vehicle, person was picked up in Hamden County
14. Medical call at the town beach.
15. Out of control brush fire reported on Hupi Rd – turned out to not be a brush pile it was a discarded lit cigarette
16. Call on Main Rd about a party opening mailboxes – investigation proved it was someone putting their business cards in mailboxes for free advertising which is a felony.
17. Loose cows on Main Rd
18. Complaint on Fairview Rd of a shot fired – ended up being a turkey hunter on state land and they were within their rights
19. Criminal charges are being filed on a party stopped for driving without a license
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. Maynard had the Board sign documents regarding the New Marlboro Rd bridge project confirming that the Conservation Commission has been notified.
2. Members from the library, fire department and police department were present to discuss sharing Broadband through the new fiber connections. Mike stated to do this we would have to create a local area network. On review of the proposal from CJ Day of Cornerstone it appeared that they would not charge anything additional to create the network needed. The Police Dept is still researching this but they had been informed that they were supposed to receive the broadband services for free through EOPS. The library has already signed a contract with Cornerstone for the public. A meeting will be set with Cornerstone reps for more information.
3. The minutes from 4.29.13 were approved as written.
4. The Board confirmed that if David Grover is available to perform at the Memorial Day festivities they’d like him to be there from 1:45 – 2:45pm (depending on his rate).
5. The Board is requesting comments on the audit performed from the Accountant and Treasurer’s Office. M. Noe will ask for them to be submitted by next Monday’s meeting.
6. Ray Tryon, Constable provided M. Noe with a copy of tomorrow’s election ballot and stated that there is an issue. Ray stated that the Assistant Town Clerk (who has since resigned) did not put the debt exclusion question on the ballot as was discussed and requested by the Board at the end of March/beginning of April and he’s inquiring if they should be reprinted with the question or how the situation should be handled. The Board could not understand why the question was not placed on the ballot but decided to have an insert with the ballot question handed to every voter with their election ballot.
7. The Board asked M. Noe to send a thank you letter to Maggie Leonard for her willingness to step in as Town Clerk at the Town Meeting.
8. The Board made a motion to appoint Barbara Swann as the Interim Election Clerk for tomorrow’s elections and for a period of 7 days following. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
9. Due to the recent resignation of Linda Thorpe the town was without a town clerk and no one authorized to print out the voter’s lists for tomorrow’s election. After much discussion a motion was made to appoint Emily Johnson as the Assistant Town Clerk until the swearing in of the newly elected Town Clerk. A motion was made to appoint Emily Johnson as Assistant Town Clerk. It was seconded and approved unanimously.
10. Muriel asked to clarify a misstatement made at last week’s meeting. According to a Swiss website they do use salt on their roads and in fact their motto is “to use as little as possible but as much as necessary”. They even refer to road salt as “white gold”.
11. Exit interviews discussion: Muriel thought the suggestion to add a HR person or Personnel Manager to handle exit interviews was an excellent suggestion and she suggested a couple of names. Wayne did not agree. It was also suggested that this person could be approached with employee grievances. Mickey Jervas suggested to Muriel that the incoming Select Board member hold the position for 3 years and continue the seat until they resign or are not re-elected to keep consistency. This position would have to be an appointed position. Wayne felt that this kind of position would have an unaccustomed power and he wasn’t sure that Monterey was ready for this advanced of a “cure” to a problem we aren’t sure we yet have. Wayne felt it was complicating our government and
more research was needed. It was suggested to speak with Gary Rosenberg who works in the HR field for his suggestions on how to handle the situations like what we have been trying to manage. It was also suggested that the ECAC meet again to weigh in on the issue of exit interviews. Scott agreed that it might be more beneficial to give anonymous surveys to the current employees regarding work situations which may eliminate the need for exit interviews.
12. Historical Commission: Muriel suggested sending letters to the current members of it requesting any suggestions of people who might be interested in joining and/or if in fact they wanted to continue the mission of the Historical Commission.
13. Muriel asked that the FY 2014 rent and utilities paid to the Fire Department be clarified, is the $10,000 paid in a lump sum with supporting invoices, etc? The Board also stated they would like to see the training compensation be set at a specific amount and once that has been spent, that is it; this line could not go over (if you have 100 hours of training you budget for that amount times xx number of firemen). Scott suggested that the calls budget should be separated out from training as it is understood that the number of calls is unpredictable.
14. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. Email suggestion from Jon Sylbert regarding the Employee Compensation Advisory Committee.
b. Resignation received from Linda Thorpe, dated May 4, 2013 as the Assistant Town Clerk effective immediately. A copy will also be given to the Accountant.
c. Association notes from the Select Boards Association.
15. Warrants were signed.
16. The Board consulted with Town Moderator Mark Makuc about the need for him to swear in both the "interim election clerk" and the "assistant Town Clerk". He was aware of the need and planned to follow through.
17. Inter-Departmental Secretary’s weekly report reviewed.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:10am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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