Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 2/3/14
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, Winston Wilson, Maynard Forbes, Jan Ramsey, Arborist for National Grid, Mark Cohen and Brendan Fletcher
At 9am the Board opened the Joint Pole Hearing for National Grid and Verizon on Blue Hill Rd. Richard Pargament an abutter of the project called this morning stating he was unable to make the meeting as he’s out of the state but asked that his concerns stated in a letter from the previous hearing be noted again (the full letter is available at the Town Hall). Maynard Forbes stated the map is correct this time but he would like National Grid to notify the highway when they are going to start this work as they would like an opportunity to prevent any damage by removing the stakes that are near a few culverts. Maynard was concerned that we had specifically asked that a representative from Verizon be present today to discuss reliability on Blue Hill and they were not. Winston Wilson, Tree Warden
also voiced his concerns.
Jan Ramsey, Arborist for National Grid presented the case for the trees that are proposed to be removed. National Grid agreed to mark the trees that will be removed with a spot and remove the ribbons from the trees that the Board and National Grid agreed to save. The good logs will be left for people to take for firewood and the butt logs and rotted pieces will be removed by National Grid. Jan reviewed the map with the Board and confirmed which trees the Board agreed would be saved and which would be removed. After the meeting the Tree Warden and Jan from National Grid were going to make a site visit to mark the trees and remove the ribbons as agreed upon.
Mark Cohen, abutter to the project expressed his concerns at Verizon not being present as he has several issues to discuss with them regarding the spotty service and non-existent high speed. He felt that some sort of political pressure needed to be placed on Verizon.
A motion was made to accept the modified plan. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
The board met with Director of Operations, Maynard Forbes’ to review the following:
1. RT 23 project: Maynard read an email from Frank DePaola, MassDOT Highway Administrator which stated: From what he can determine, the project was omitted from the list contained in the Draft Capital Investment Plan 2014-2018. He has given instructions that this project be included with spending in FY 2014 & 2015 since it will bridge both years. Their highway project information system has it scheduled for advertisement this spring. He commented that all of our state funded work is currently on hold pending passage of the State Transportation Bond Bill. Advertisement of contracts is currently being delayed until they have a better understanding of the anticipated date that funds will be available for obligation. They anticipate passage, late March or early April.
2. Regarding the easements, Maynard is having difficulty getting the proper documents needed from our Town Counsel. The Board asked M. Noe to follow up with Town Counsel.
3. Paper compactor that is broken at the Transfer Station: Maynard thought it had been fixed on Friday but several residents have stated that it still isn’t working as of Sunday.
The board met with Town Accountant, Brendan Fletcher to review the following:
1. Prior to Brendan coming in Muriel read an email she received from him that stated: The process of closing last year’s books is simply not an easy task while the DOR has requirements that are time consuming, by far the most time consuming has been the reconciliation with the Treasurer. There were several mistakes made from the previous Accountant which have been frustrating and difficult to correct. He has been coming in during the evenings to try and get this done. He is projecting that he will have the books closed by Thursday. The Board has given Brendan permission to contact Eric Kinsherf if he needs further assistance.
2. The Board asked Brendan to check and see if the leftover parking area money for the WMH property was indeed put back to free cash or if it’s still available.
3. Muriel informed Brendan that the Board has received some complaints about items being charged to the wrong accounts; it was noted that most of these items were payroll and would be handled by the Treasurer not the Accountant. Brendan expressed his concern with trying to get information from the Treasurer as well as her lack of knowledge to fix these issues.
4. Brendan has a scheduling issue and has asked permission to change his hours for the upcoming school semester to Mondays and Wednesdays from 8am – 12noon so that he may take the final class needed to finish his degree. The Board agreed.
5. Brendan came back in regarding the Cornerstone services; the Library and Police Department have received bills and we were all under the impression that the bill coming to the Town was a bill for the Town Hall, Library and Fire Department. M. Noe will follow up with Cornerstone on this.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. Monica Webb came in to provide a WiredWest update and keep the Board informed about developments that may be coming up that will require borrowing money. Monica doesn’t believe this will be ready by annual town meeting but sometime after that.
2. M. Noe contacted MIIA regarding the additional questions the Board had regarding insurance coverage at a proposed dog park. MIIA has informed us that all dog bites are excluded and you cannot purchase coverage for this. Ultimately, the dog owners are responsible, not the town. ~They recommended that this should be in the signage somewhere at the park.
3. The minutes from 1.27.14 and 1.28.14 were approved as amended.
4. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. Email received from Riccardo Boehm regarding the Community Center (attached). boehmemailfeb.pdf
b. Packet of information from S.B.E.T.C. regarding how our town’s appropriation is used. (packet on file at Town Hall).
5. The Board inquired if M. Noe had received any comments from the current Historical Commission members regarding appointing Steven Weisz and who the current chair is. M. Noe stated that she did hear back from Cynthia Weber and Barbara Tryon and neither had any objections to this appointment. Barbara noted that this committee has been quite inactive for a very long time and that they do not have a chairperson. A motion was made to appoint Steven Weisz to the Historical Commission for a 3 year term. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
6. The Board discussed the following from the all boards meeting held last week:
a. Muriel read a letter from Michael Banner which requested that the Board reconsider holding the next meeting on a Tuesday night and instead hold all future meetings on Saturdays so that the second home owners can also attend and weigh in. The Board agreed that after the meeting to be held on Tuesday the 25th any future meetings will be held on Saturday mornings.
b. Muriel suggested that at the next meeting the 4 groups in town that have projects planned be asked by the Select Board to refrain from requesting any money at annual town meeting until a plan is created to best deal with all of the projects needed.
c. M. Noe inquired about the conversation at this meeting with regards to a new website being created for scheduling and surveys. She wanted the Board to be aware that our Town website already has the ability to have a calendar specifically for the Community Center and we can also purchase the module they have for surveys although she noted that SurveyMonkey is much better as it analyzes the results and she believes is less expensive.
7. Muriel suggested that all the Board members read the article by Jon Sylbert in the Monterey News to be discussed with the Finance Committee at next week’s meeting.
8. Warrants were signed.
9. FY15 Budget:
a. The Board reviewed an email from M. Noe with regards to creating new line items for the BRPC regional assessment, SBETC and WMH Community Center maintenance and operations as recommended by one member of the Finance Committee.
b. Muriel suggested that with regards to the Fire Department’s budget for training that the occasional training off site that Chief Tryon talked about at a meeting a few weeks ago be a requirement to be a Monterey Firemen and that the additional $6,500 be denied bringing their budget to $30,000. Scott agreed as did Wayne.
c. Sylvan Rd monies should come from Chapter 90 funds that the Highway Dept gets instead of being placed on as a special article.
d. Muriel also suggested taking off one of the trucks that Maynard is requesting and raising his Machinery and Tools budget as requested if the truck was to be removed from the budget to cover the anticipated repairs. Scott suggested paying for one of the trucks being requested by the Highway and the cruiser being requested by the Police with money from stabilization and removing the smaller truck that the Highway is requesting from this year’s capital expenses.
e. The Board will speak to Maynard regarding the projected costs to operate the WMH property; the Board would like to confirm if the number submitted is for a full year or for the partial year the center may be open in FY15.
f. Muriel felt that when considering all of the proposed raises that if any raises are to be given it should at least be the other half of the agreed upon increases from last year for the Police Chief ($5,000) and Sergeant ($5,460).
g. The Select Board is going to level fund their salaries and expenses.
h. The Board lowered the Retiree Health appropriation from the suggested $21,000 to $5,000 (this suggestion was from the OPEB actuarial study).
i. All of these items will be discussed with the Finance Committee at the next joint meeting.
10. Executive Secretary’s weekly report reviewed.
a. M. Noe provided an update on the estimates for Phase II of the air exchange/air cooling system for the basement, server room and meeting room. She is calling 2 other contractors for estimates and will get back to the Board as soon as she has more information.
b. M. Noe has notified all of the employees that are enrolled in the life insurance benefit and will notify the Treasurer of the new deductions for next week’s payroll.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:15am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Executive Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
| 
