Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 5/20/13
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, Chief Backhaus, Mark Makuc, Michael Johnson, CJ Day of Cornerstone, Barbara Gauthier, Don Torrico and Mickey Jervas
The board met with Police Chief, Gareth Backhaus to review the following:
1. False alarms at Mt Hunger Rd, Gould Rd and Hupi Rd
2. Abandoned 911 call on Mt Hunger Rd by the housekeeper cleaning the phone.
3. Hiker reported lost at Beartown forest – found at a home on Beartown Mtn Rd
4. Large bear reported on Mt Hunger Rd
5. Lost dog found on Main Rd – returned to owner
6. Assisted GBPD with a missing person (runaway)
7. A complaint was received by the Police Dept and a Select Board member about a light being to “blinding” on the cruiser’s light bar. It is a standard light and would need to be rewired to try to “fix” this. It is really a safety light and when you see the cruiser lights you should always slow down below the minimum speed limit.
He also stated that the new cruiser would have a different configuration of lights and that it would not present such a problem to other drivers at night.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. Memorial Day details were discussed. The Board asked M. Noe to purchase some tubs for the soda and invite the Community Garden members to march in the parade. M. Noe was asked to order 250 more 12 x 18 flags on a stick. M. Noe is also going to check on the rates to have the ice cream truck at the festivities. Fiona from the Roadside Grill will be cooking the hot dogs.
2. Copies of the reports filed with the State by Barbara Swann regarding the town meeting and town elections were provided to the Board by Emily Johnson, Town Clerk.
a. Barbara Swann reported to the State that the town bylaws were not followed regarding posting of the warrant. The Select Board stated that this was false as copies were posted in town hall, the post office and along Main Rd at or near the intersection of Swann Rd. The other Town bylaw that she highlighted as not being followed states that any motion to raise and/or appropriate money by issuing bonds or notes of the Town shall be voted upon by secret written ballot at Town Meeting. The Select Board noted it is the responsibility of the Moderator and the Clerk of Town Meeting, which was Barbara Swann, to have done this properly.
b. She also included in her tally for the debt exclusion issue 8 blank votes that she added to no votes in determining the 2/3 majority which she claimed was not reached. Without counting blank votes the 2/3 majority was reached and the debt exclusion passed. A letter will be sent to Gerard Perry at the Division of Local Services correcting Barbara’s miscalculations and accusations.
3. Julio Rodriguez and Michael Johnson came in to discuss the Memorial Day festivities for 2014 on behalf of the Veteran’s Memorial Committee. The Committee should be making a formal recommendation to appoint Julio and Mike to the committee to officially assist with planning next year’s Veteran’s Memorial and parade festivities. The Council on Aging has purchased half moon bunting banners for the front of town hall. It was decided that next year’s Memorial Day budget should be doubled.
4. CJ Day of Cornerstone, Chief Backhaus, Mark Makuc, Sgt, Johnson and the Board all were present to discuss the idea of using the town hall as a hub and transporting the internet bandwith from the town hall to the library and firehouse. The public and private needs of the different departments were discussed. It was agreed that if the hub was to be created that the yearly fees should be paid by the Town and not split up amongst the departments for FY15 and the Board will speak with the Finance Committee on how to divvy this up for FY14 since the money was not allocated. A motion was made to accept the hub proposal. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously. The contract was signed.
5. Barbara Gauthier, former Town Accountant came in to accept the request to have a “refresher” with the Select Board and Finance Committee regarding levy limits and Proposition 2 ½ however she suggested that it wouldn’t be worth doing it until budget time so that the information is not forgotten as it isn’t information that is used or referenced all that frequently. Barbara reiterated to the Board that if there does end up being an issue with the debt exclusion ballot question from town elections this year, not to worry as it can be put on the 2014 election ballot. She concurred with the Boards concerns about the 2012 election ballot and agreed that the Board needs to find out if the debt exclusion question was placed on the 2012 ballot by the Town Clerk for the fire
department rescue vehicle. Muriel stated that as of yet the Town Clerk has been unable to locate last years ballot
6. Don Torrico, Building Inspector came in to discuss charging an additional fee to applicants that refuse to use the new permitting system or need the Building Department to fill it out online for them. Don is suggesting a $20 administrative fee. The Board did not have an issue with this and a motion was made to add the $20 administrative fee for those that refuse or need Building Department assistance to fill out applications online. The motion was seconded and approved. He mentioned that there is another training coming up in Lee at the end of the month which will be advertised and is open to anyone to attend.
7. Don also informed the Board that the Building Permit for the antennas on the cell tower have been applied for and should be issued this week.
8. Muriel clarified that a debt exclusion request does not have to be on the warrant. As per the Proposition 2 ½ manual it is only required to be on the town election ballot and is only a courtesy to be placed on the warrant too.
9. Maynard submitted a request that the Board accept the bid from Milton CAT for the purchase of a new grader which was approved at town meeting. Scott wanted to hold off as he felt that there were too many uncertain events surrounding this purchase and the election/debt exclusion vote. Wayne also felt uncertain and was hesitant to stop the purchase but supported Scott’s request to wait on accepting the bid. Scott was also concerned with how it will affect our levy limit if we are to borrow the money and the debt exclusion is not approved at next year’s election and/or if the one from this year that did pass is deemed to be invalid. The Board agreed to hold off on this for a few weeks until our financial situation and levy limits can be determined.
10. Mickey Jervas came in with a letter from the Trustees recommending that Beth Reiter be appointed to fulfill Denise Andrus’ vacancy until the next election. A motion was made to appoint Beth Ryder until the next election which was seconded and unanimously approved.
11. Mickey Jervas also commented with regards to Dick Tryon’s comments at a previous meeting regarding the salt and she suggested looking into what CT and NY do with liquid salt and beet juice.
12. Muriel provided the Board with a letter from Emily Johnson, Town Clerk resigning from the position effective May 31, 2013. Muriel explained that Emily has been contacting her since taking office with several concerns about what appears to be numerous problems and missing and/or incomplete information she has found dating back several years. Emily is especially concerned as she does not want to be held responsible for the actions/mistakes of others. Emily has stated that each call to the State to fix a problem has unearthed 10 more. Town Counsel was consulted on the matter before receiving the resignation letter. There was a discussion about bringing in an outside agency to perform an audit of the office. The Board discussed their options for filling the position and decided in lieu
of the recent information it would be best to find someone outside of Monterey to be appointed until the next election to take over the office and get it running properly.
13. The minutes from 5.13.13 were approved as written.
14. SBRSD is holding an event tonight “SBRSD on Parade”.
15. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. Email from Jon Sylbert following up on his email from last week regarding his ECAC suggestions. Muriel read her suggested response and the Board approved it, M. Noe will type it on official letterhead and mail it this afternoon.
b. Thank you letter from Berkshire South for the $1,000 allocated for this FY.
16. Warrants were signed.
17. Inter-Departmental Secretary’s weekly report reviewed.
a. The Board confirmed that any time worked over 40hours per week by the Inter-Departmental Secretary will be paid 1.5 times in compensatory time off.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:15am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Inter-Departmental Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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