Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 12/9/13
Meeting Opened at: 9am
Select Board Members Present: Muriel Lazzarini, Chairperson (left at 10:30am), Wayne Burkhart and Scott Jenssen
Also in attendance for parts of the meeting: Susan Gallant for the Monterey News, Richard Tryon, Steven Wiesz, Dennis Lynch, Donald Clawson, Marty Chernoff, Ray Tryon and Ray Coddington
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. M. Noe reported that Eric Kinsherf has quoted the town $1,200 for 7 ½ hours of face time which will be on 12/16 from 11 – 6:30pm. The Board was excited to get Brendan the help he needs.
2. Don Clawson reported to Muriel that Jim Podolak from the State worked with Brendan last week and they only need 2 or so more numbers to be able to set the tax rate.
3. Muriel stated that the Town Clerk made her aware that a long time resident came in requesting copies of adoption records of her children that were from a foreign country. The resident stated she filed them in person with Linda Thorpe but Emily was unable to find them in the office. Emily has emailed Linda Thorpe requesting information on where they might be and Town Counsel has also been notified.
4. The minutes from 12.2.13 were approved as written.
5. The Board inquired if the Tree Warden has responded to the Board’s inquiry/request regarding the town’s ash trees. M. Noe will contact Winston again. It was determined that a meeting with a person from the State Forestry Service who could inform us of the nature of the ash tree situation would be important. This meeting should include the tree warden, Maynard and the Select Board .
6. The Board signed a letter to the Library Trustees regarding the FY15 budget: The Select Board has begun discussions regarding the FY15 budget and we are considering breaking out the labor costs from the Library General Fund (line 610) on the Annual Town Meeting warrant. This line item presently lumps everything together and in keeping with how other departments are represented on the warrant as well as providing more transparency to the citizenry we would like your comments about this possible change.
7. The Board discussed holding a meeting sometime in January with members of the library, WMH, highway, Monterey School Study Committee and anyone else interested to discuss the building needs as a whole for the Town of Monterey.
8. The Board reviewed the Special Town Meeting which took place on Friday evening.
9. The Board began reviewing budget items for FY15. Additional money items that need to be on the warrant are:
a. Monies to fix the town owned portion of Sylvan Rd. The Board wasn’t sure if this would be added to the highway budget or if it would be a special article.
b. Monies for the air exchange system in the basement.
c. Monies for maintenance to the WMH property. Muriel and Scott felt that this should just be included in the highway budget and not as a separate line item but the Board will discuss this with Maynard.
d. Additional money to the retiree stabilization fund based on the actuarial study done.
e. The Board discussed whether or not a separate line item should be created to cover absences in the Accountant’s office. It was suggested that one thing to consider is that part time positions do not receive benefits and it has been mentioned that should a position that does not receive benefits take time off, the pay for the time off should go to the person covering. The Board will consider this and any other options and continue this discussion later. The ECAC is also reviewing this.
f. The Board changed the title of line 158 from printing and stationary to Meeting Warrant Printing and Postage.
g. Lines 145 and 165 (Assistant Town Treasurer and Assistant Town Clerk) should be at $0 for FY15 as these positions were created for FY14 only to assist the new people in the elected positions. More discussion is needed about these items.
10. Don Clawson provided further information on the septic loan to the Board which he received from the state. Prepayment of this loan is only permitted with written consent of the trust. The loan has a 0% interest rate and the current balance is $29,477.
11. Dick Tryon asked the Board if they promised the Superintendent to pay for a new building when he stopped in for an unplanned visit. The Board stated that they did not promise anything but discussed several options worth looking into. Dick felt that the regional school agreement states that the district must pay for the maintenance of all the buildings that are a part of the district and therefore Monterey shouldn’t solely foot the bill for anything. The Board is trying to maintain a district where all the towns have a say and it remains the best of all possible worlds. Dick feels that we need to get the district to put the money necessary into the Monterey building to get it up to speed. Dennis Lynch had questions about the survey that was sent out and if the results will be
available by the proposed meeting (above) to discuss the town’s building needs. The survey closes on the 23rd of January and the date of the proposed meeting has not been set yet. Steven suggested that the Finance Committee be tasked with presenting figures of what a potential new school building would do to the tax rate. Steven and Dennis also thought it would be beneficial for the town to come up with a master plan for the town as a whole.
12. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. Notification from the MMA regarding their annual business meeting.
b. Email from Julio Rodriguez commending the highway staff for their outstanding work on keeping all the roads safe in Monterey and in particular the 250ft section of Sylvan Rd during the recent inclement weather.
13. Warrants were signed.
14. Executive Secretary’s weekly report reviewed.
a. M. Noe informed the Board that Aflac (our optional disability insurance for employees wishing to participate) notified us that our policy has been canceled as they hadn’t received payment in over 3 months. M. Noe contacted the Treasurer and Accountant and asked them to follow up with Aflac. The Accountant stated that a check was processed on the 12/2 warrant. A note was left by the Treasurer that this bill had gotten stuck to another and that was the reason for the delay.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:34am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Executive Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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