Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 1/31/14
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, Michael Banner, Joe Baker, Christine Goldfinger, Julio Rodriguez, Mary Makuc, Cara Carroll, Wendy Germain, Pat Salamon, Cynthia Weber, Elizabeth Maschmeyer, Shawn Tryon, Kenn Basler, Mark Makuc and Mary Paul Yates
At 9am the Board met with members of the Wilson McLaughlin House Committee to discuss the following:
- The Board needs to know if the house will be ready for use any time prior to June 30, 2015 so that any monetary items necessary can be represented in the FY15 budget requests at town meeting. Everyone reviewed Maynard’s suggested operating figures and presented revised figures. The FWMH feel that the parking lot and landscaping have always been town responsibilities. The FWMH has projected that the Town would be responsible for approximately $6,450/yearly in expenses and $13,500 in capital expenses and that the FWMH would be responsible for $1,600/yearly in expenses and $5,700 in capital (see attached). fwmhccprojexpJan2014.pdfThe FWMH foresee the cleaning expenses to be much lower than Maynard’s projections as they see people that use the building to clean up after themselves and then plan to have a monthly in-depth cleaning. They also stated that there will be a lot of volunteer help as well. The logistics of co-managing the building will need to be further discussed and the plan put into writing.
Program wise the Committee sees themselves running the daily operations; scheduling, accounting, etc to get a feel of how much time it is going to take over the next year and go from there.
- The Board asked the Committee their feelings on the recent article written in the Monterey News. Some present felt that a town meeting is in fact a civic event and civic events are allowed for in the agreement.
- The Committee asked about how to access the funds that were voted on for the renovation at Town Meeting as inquiries to the Treasurer have gone unanswered. M. Noe informed the Committee that the money cannot be released until an invoice for payment for actual services performed is submitted, then the Accountant will put in for a check to be paid to the vendor or person being reimbursed accompanied with receipts. The Committee was unclear that this was the process.
- The Committee stated that their fundraising efforts have not ceased in fact they are moving forward and will remain for the life of the center.
- The WMH Committee gave the water bill back to the Select Board to pay as it was Joe’s understanding that the Select Board would pay this bill even though their lease agreement specifically states that the lessee must pay for all utilities. Joe is going to research past Select Board minutes where he believes the Select Board agreed to pay the water bill for the entire lease.
At 9:45am the Board met with Chief Tryon regarding the following:
- $91,500 for compensation for FY14. The Board feels the need to separate this into two accounts, one for education and one for calls (which has been done internally and will be formally done on this year’s warrant). To date $12,700 has been spent on education and training (which Shawn stated is incorrect, it should be $14,200). To date $31,620 has been spent on calls. They asked for Shawn’s suggestion on a cap for training for this year. It was agreed that the emergency calls cannot be controlled but it was agreed that of the $91,500 only $30,000 is to be paid out for training and education which leaves $61,500 for calls for the remainder of the year. As of today there have been 60+ calls. The Accountant and Treasurer will be notified of this.
- FY15: Shawn will increase his budget for education and training to $36,500 and the calls to $63,800. Expenses will be increased $200 to an even $50,000.
- The Board asked why the spending went over on the purchase of the airpacks; Shawn stated that he had added something to the order. The Accountant will be made aware that the overage items should come out of fire department expenses and not out of the line item for air packs.
- The Fire Department will have one capital improvement request for FY15 due to standards that are changing in 2015 for defibrillators. The Police department only has one old unit and should have 2 and the Fire Department needs 4 which will cost approximately $14,500 for the 6 total.
At 10:15am the Board met with Julio Rodriguez and Pat Salamon regarding the following:
- Julio updated the Board that the proponents of the dog park have looked at all of the properties that the Town owns and none of them were suitable or would cost an exorbitant amount of money to prepare. Julio wanted to know if an item could go on the warrant for $15,000 for dog park fencing to be held until a suitable site is found. The proponents are going to speak with the Executive Director at Gould Farm regarding the possibility of leasing a one acre section of the Farm. Gould Farm will require a list of items about maintenance (in fence and out), parking, rules and regulations, safety, etc, the same items that Town Officials want to know before agreeing to anything. The Board was unsure if the Town would cover insurance coverage if the park was located on property that was not owned by the Town. The
Board asked M. Noe to follow up with our insurance company to see if we could insure coverage for a dog park not located on Town owned property. Muriel felt that if money was going to be asked for at town meeting a location and all the information above needs to first be determined.
At 10:23am the Board met with Mark Makuc, Mary Paul Yates and Kenn Basler about the following:
- Library grant: it’s due in Boston on Friday, Mark isn’t quite done with the paperwork so it’s not ready to be signed yet. Mark has also been speaking with his contacts for the grant on the possibility of a shared building for a school/library. He will need at least one Board member’s signature when the application is complete. The Town will know by June if we will be awarded the grant.
The board met with Police Chief, Gareth Backhaus to review the following:
1. Responded to a request from the Highway Department on Beartown Mtn Rd for a tractor trailer that was stuck and needed to be backed all the way out so that the Highway Crew could access the road.
2. Lost dog – located and returned to owner.
3. 2 car MVA on Tyringham Rd. Fire Department extricated 2 people.
4. 5 calls for “suspicious activity” on Blue Hill Rd.
5. Trees down on Mt Hunger and Hupi Rds.
6. Motor vehicle stop which turned into an unregistered and uninsured stop. Vehicle was towed.
7. Sick porcupine.
8. Lost cell phone turned into the Police Department. Apple Security is tracking down the owner.
9. Responded to a fire on Sackman Way.
10. Suspicious vehicle on Tyringham Rd – was someone that was lost
11. Trespassing complaint made on a property off of the lake.
12. Another unregistered motor vehicle stop. Vehicle was towed.
13. Cronk Rd – complaint of a vehicle on their property, it was an accident from the night before and the person was charged with leaving the scene of an accident.
14. False alarms: Beartown Mtn Rd and Northeast Cove Rd.
15. MVA on Main Rd
16. Motor vehicle stop on Main Rd for multiple lights out at night; further investigation caused the Officer to determine that the vehicle was unsafe to be on the road and was towed.
17. Tree on wires on Sandisfield Rd.
18. Lost dog on Brett Rd – police were unable to locate
19. MVA on Sandisfield Rd
20. Motor vehicle stopped turned out to be unregistered and uninsured; vehicle was towed.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The minutes from 1.6.13 were approved as written.
2. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. Email from Ricardo Boehm (attached) re: Jon Sylbert’s article in the Monterey News. He states that there is no sound justification for Town funding of the Community Center. boehmemailJan2014.pdf
b. Email from Ian & Christa Lindsay (attached) re: Jon Sylbert’s article in the Monterey News. The Lindsay’s wrote to express their support of Jon Sylbert’s piece in the Monterey News. lindsayemailJan2014.pdf
c. Current expense reports were reviewed from the Accountant.
d. Thank you card from Peter & Susan Leprevost
e. Business Associate Agreement for Cabot Risk Strategies LLC with regards to HIPPA privacy and security requirements. Documents were signed and will be returned.
3. Warrants were signed.
4. Muriel updated the Board on the last ECAC meeting:
a. The Committee’s unanimous recommendation for salary increases (with Muriel abstaining as she would be discussing it with the Select Board) is as follows: a 2% merit and 2% COLA raise for the Director of Operations, Foreman, Highway 2, and Executive Secretary and that Highway 3 will be level funded. It was also recommended that the remaining half of last year’s proposed increases ($5,000 for the Chief and $5,460 for the Sergeant) be given to them in addition to a 2% COLA and that the part time police officers be given a $2/hr increase.
b. The Committee would like the Board to institute a policy that all departments need to submit detailed time sheets for any hourly employees (for example the Assistant Town Clerk and Assessor’s Clerk).
c. The Handbook subcommittee will start working on a code of conduct section, disciplinary procedure section and termination policy section.
d. The non-attendance or scarce attendance from Fiona and Chris was discussed. Muriel is going to call and speak with Fiona.
5. The Board asked M. Noe to notify the Treasurer and Accountant that beginning today no bills should be paid and/or no checks should be issued if a department is close to having spent all of their budget or has already spent all of their budget until that department meets with the Select Board and/or Finance Committee and receives approval to go over. No exceptions.
6. The amended handbook was approved with one minor change: the sentence “This includes malicious gossip or rumor spreading.” in the harassment section will be removed. A motion was made to approve the amended handbook with that sentence being struck which was seconded and unanimously approved.
7. Executive Secretary contract: New information was brought to the Board that corrected the previously held notion that a contract was required to be offered to the Police Chief. MGL Chapter 41 Section 108O states that you may offer a contract. M. Noe has respectfully requested that since this option is being offered voluntarily to the Police Chief that the same consideration should be offered to the Executive Secretary as is allowed under MGL Chapter 41 Section 108N. Scott made a motion to enter into a contract with the Executive Secretary. The motion was seconded and discussion ensued. The motion failed 2 to 1.
8. Scott did not have time to speak with a local person regarding helping out with getting the town records returned to the Town from Linda Thorpe.
9. The Board wanted to publicly thank Lynne Horvath for her email regarding the Emerald Ash Tree Borer seminars at the Philadelphia Flower Show. We are very appreciative of her interest in and concern for the town.
10. Muriel announced that the GSA has adjusted mileage reimbursement rates effective Jan. 1, 2014. The new rate for privately owned vehicles is $0.56.
11. The Board asked M. Noe to send a letter of appointment to Tom Sawyer for appointment to the Planning Board. A joint meeting of the Planning Board and the Select Board unanimously agreed to appoint Tom Sawyer to the vacant position until the next election.
12. There will be no meetings next week due to the holiday.
13. Executive Secretary’s weekly report reviewed.
a. The Board thanked M. Noe for her responsible decision to cancel her attendance to the MMA Annual Conference trip.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:42am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Executive Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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