Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 1/6/14
Meeting Opened at: 9am
Select Board Members Present: Muriel Lazzarini, Chairperson, Wayne Burkhart (arrived at 9:20am) and Scott Jenssen
Also in attendance for parts of the meeting: Susan Gallant for the Monterey News, Emily Johnson, Town Clerk, Maynard Forbes, Robert Lazzarini, Tom Ryan of DCR, Josh Allentuck, Donald Clawson, Dan Moriarity and Stanley Ross
The board met with Emily Johnson, Town Clerk to review the following:
1. Emily was asked to update the Board on what it was we are waiting on from the State with regards to the OmniForm software the Town purchased that the former clerk Barbara Swann still has. Emily stated that the State is waiting to let us know if all the missing marriage licenses need to be re-entered which would require the software or if they (the State) are going to come up with another solution.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The minutes from 12.21 and 12.30.13 were approved as written.
2. Muriel reported that she spoke with Brendan about the extremely productive meeting with Eric Kinsherf and the Treasurer. Several errors have been corrected and they are much closer to reconciling the books.
3. The Board asked M. Noe to get the YTD figures Bethany has paid in firemen compensation and YTD figures that Brendan has paid in firemen training for next week’s meeting with Chief Tryon.
4. The Board met with Tom Ryan of the DCR and Maynard Forbes to discuss the Ash Tree situation in Town. Tom stated that this is affecting all types of Ash trees but there isn’t a crystal ball to determine how quickly it will kill them. The State is doing its best to limit the movement of firewood. This was first found in Michigan and from a federal standpoint they attempted some quarantines which all failed. There is still a quarantine but it is geared more toward education. Tom stated it appears to be a low level infestation right now and in his opinion before the infestation the Ash trees were not doing all that well to begin with. Tom highly recommends adding to the budget to deal with the trees as he can’t say with any certainty that there will be any State funds
to assist with this issue. As we are going through our normal tree maintenance any Ash trees that we come across that are showing signs of deterioration should be dealt with sooner rather than later. Maynard noted that the State owns 20% of the wooded areas in Monterey and wanted to know what they will be doing to deal with the issue. Tom Ryan is going to give Monterey a contact which could help with an inventory of Monterey to determine what we might be looking at.
5. Josh Allentuck came in to ask the Board how we proceed with Jamie’s Court… what is the next step. The Board asked that he organize the next steps with Maynard and hopes that it can be done in the early Spring.
6. The Board met with the Finance Committee (FC) to discuss the following:
a. What is Monterey’s maximum allowable levy for FY15? FC: This cannot be answered until the recap is completed.
b. The Board stated that the FY14 levy limit was $2,953,386, our operating expenses were $3,286,878, our total operating and special articles was $3,697,221: the difference between our FY14 levy limit and our actual spending approved at town meeting is puzzling. The Board would like this explained. FC: This is because there are other incomes received other than taxes collected which can add up to around $600 – 700k. Last years other incomes which have been certified are $265,000.
c. What is levy capacity as opposed to levy limits or ceilings? FC: The levy capacity is the difference between the maximum allowable levy and the current levy.
d. Stan stated there is about $750,000 right now in stabilization, about $30,000 in the reserve fund and $200,000 in free cash. These numbers have not been verified by the Treasurer, she was asked last week and commented that these numbers were not available until her office and the Accountant’s Office can reconcile their books and the State certifies our free cash.
e. Muriel spoke with the Finance Committee about the Accountant and individual department’s budgets: Muriel feels that the Accountant should be directed to hold/flag any payments requested on the warrant that will put a department’s budget over so that the Select Board is notified and can make an educated decision on whether the check is cut or not.
f. The Accountant will be reminded that each department should be receiving monthly expenses reports regularly so that each department knows where their budget stands.
g. The Finance Committee stated that any department overages are covered by Finance Committee approved transfers from the Reserve Fund (later this account was referred to as Free Cash).
h. The Finance Committee’s goal is going to be to spend less money this year. It should be noted that compared to other small towns Monterey is still in very good shape.
i. The Board gave the Finance Committee Maynard’s projections for a future budget to keep the WMH operating once opened so they can be aware of any large additions to the budget should the Community Center open in the fall as is being projected. The FWMH Committee will be coming in next Monday to begin discussions.
j. The Finance Committee will be meeting this Thursday.
7. The Board requested and was given copies of the WMH Memorandum of Understanding.
8. The Board discussed how to handle the documents that Linda Thorpe was requested to return to town hall by today. The Board has also been made aware that she is in receipt of checks for payment of dog licenses and cemetery plots that have never been cashed according to the residents that wrote the checks. The Board is going to see if there might be a personal connection that could help us to get all of these documents/items returned to the town.
9. The Board took home copies of the amendments made to the Employee Handbook and will review them to be approved/accepted next week.
10. After reviewing the minutes from Select Board and ECAC meetings which show that the topic of a contract for the Executive Secretary was already discussed and not objected to by the ECAC, the Select Board at M. Noe’s request will forego asking the ECAC to review this matter again and will continue the discussion about a contract for the Executive Secretary at next week’s meeting.
11. Mail was reviewed.
12. Warrants were signed.
13. Executive Secretary’s weekly reports for 12/13-12/26/13 and 12/27/13 – 1/2/14 were reviewed.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:39am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Executive Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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