Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 3/10/14
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, Stanley Ross, Kenn Basler, Dan Moriarity, Donald Clawson, Ray Tryon and Robert Lazzarini
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The minutes from 3.3.14 were approved as written.
2. Muriel reviewed the meeting from Friday with Barbara Gauthier:
a. Barbara suggested that a meeting be set for 2 weeks from now with the Treasurer, Accountant, Finance Committee and Select Board so that Barbara may go over her recommendations to increase the communication and flow of information between the Accountant and Treasurer.
b. The Board asked M. Noe to make Bethany and Brendan aware that they will not receive any state distributions due to the fact that the Schedule A was not submitted to the state by the March 14th deadline. Barbara will be returning in 2 weeks to assist Brendan in completing the Schedule A.
c. Barbara also suggested that she be paid from the temporary employee account which currently only has $1 in it but the Finance Committee can make a transfer to this account.
3. Muriel reviewed the meeting from Thursday with the Employee Compensation Committee:
a. The ECAC feels that there needs to be a more consistent policy with regards to part time employees. Some are paid hourly and some as a stipend and the ECAC feels this needs to be consistent and that all part time employees should be paid hourly and should be required to submit timesheets for their hours worked each week. Wayne inquired as to what departments aren’t currently doing this and Muriel stated that the Assessor’s Office is one (their clerk) and she believes there may be a few others.
b. The Aflac explanation needs to be updated in the handbook to note that all employees are eligible for the cancer and accident policies but only employees that work a minimum of 19hours each week are eligible for the disability insurance.
c. The OBRA section also needs to be updated to reflect that employees that work less than 20 hours per week are required to participate in this program. The ECAC would also like to have a representative from the Berkshire County Retirement come to a Select Board meeting to review the retirement benefits available, what is required and what is voluntary. The ECAC will also attend this meeting when it is set up.
d. Conversation ensued regarding justification for merit raises was discussed and whether yearly employee reviews should be instituted: the Chief and Highway Superintendant both feel that an annual review is not necessary as they meet regularly with the Select Board to discuss any concerns, comments, praise, etc. It was suggested at the ECAC meeting that regular communications should be scheduled with M. Noe. Wayne felt that we already have regular communications with Melissa and it wasn’t necessary to increase that.
4. The multi-board committee to be formed:
a. Muriel is concerned with their suggested list of items to be worked on as it doesn’t focus on the cultural aspect that it was supposed to. She is also uneasy that the suggested name for the committee “Monterey 2020” already has a website which is registered to a private citizen and has been since Dec of 2013, long before discussions started regarding the formation of this committee. It was made clear that the website and anything to do with “Monterey 2020” is not an official part of town government and has no affiliation with the town.
b. The Board is going to continue the discussion on the area and focus that they envision for the multi-board committee. Wayne will speak to Steve Weisz and thank him for the work he has done to date and let him know that the direction they envision is not the same as the Select Board’s vision, however we do wish them luck in their endeavor.
5. FY15 budget:
a. Barbara Gauthier has informed M. Noe that the Berkshire Regional Planning Assessment should not be a line item on the budget as it is done on the tax recap sheet.
b. Barbara also stated that it should be double checked to make sure that the district assessment number isn’t included in line 543 Veteran’s Benefits as the district assessment is also done on the tax recap sheet.
c. Emily Johnson came in to update the Board on the King Information Systems proposal. She stated she is upset with the company as they charged her without her knowledge or permission for the time they came out to evaluate the storage room and she is leaning toward working on the project herself. The Board suggested that this might be an opportunity to use some seniors that may be interested through the tax work off abatement program. The Board was extremely upset that we were billed $1,300 without approval for their evaluation and instructed Emily that the bill should not be paid. The Board asked M. Noe to compose a letter for them to review to be sent to King letting them know that they will not be paying the bill and feel it is unacceptable to bill for sales time when it
was our understanding this was a free evaluation to let us know how much a project like this would cost.
d. The paper compactor issue is still unresolved and may need to be added into the FY15 budget.
e. Muriel asked for an update from the Finance Committee on the educational aspect of her increased budget (line 145 Treasurer Expenses). The Board also still did not understand how the supplies are shared and do not feel they can justify this additional expense. The Board will request a meeting with Bethany later this week as the Finance Committee has not been able to connect with her.
f. The increase to the Police Expenses includes dues increases and a $1/hour salary increase for the part time employees which would bring them to $16.20/hour.
g. Muriel stressed that the Finance Committee really needs to get an explanation on the Fire Department’s budget. The Fin Comm is also going to speak with the Fire Department on their request for 4 defibrillators.
h. The Finance Committee still needs to speak with the COA regarding their request for an increase in their budget.
i. The Finance Committee decided at their last meeting that they were going to level fund the Parks Commissions budget and will speak to them about this decision.
j. Cruiser replacement: Muriel spoke with the Chief about trade in values and the new cruiser specifications. The Chief stated that this purchase could wait an additional year but the purchase price may increase by $5,000 or more if we do. Barbara Gauthier has recommended that if we do replace the cruiser this year that it should be a raise and appropriate article not transferred from stabilization. A motion was made to change the schedule to replace the cruisers every 4 years and balance the use on the vehicles we currently have and to hold off on the replacement of the cruiser until FY16. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
k. 4500 truck replacement: Maynard has told the Fin Comm that this truck is costing between $14,000 - $16,000/year in repairs and that now is the time to replace it as you don’t keep putting good money after bad. If the Board decides to push this purchase of a year then Maynard has requested that another $16,000 be added to his budget for repairs. The Board is in agreement that this purchase should be made this year from stabilization. The Finance Committee will inquire of Maynard what equipment we currently own that can be transferred to the new truck and does the $117,000 estimate include a trade in.
l. Tax Collector computer increase is due to the assumption that there will be a necessity for preliminary bills to be sent as it is a re-evaluation year.
m. The Board asked M. Noe to follow up with CHP to see how the money we give them is allocated and to remind them that they are supposed to be submitting an annual report.
n. The Finance Committee will follow up with Mark Makuc to confirm that the $1,600 increase to their budget is for salary increases to cover the additional programs.
o. Salary increases: Muriel’s first thought is that if salary increases are given at all it should only be for the 7 full time employees and that the two elected officials that have requested that they be given the same increase as everyone else is getting be level funded. The COLA for the northeast is 1.5%. Stan suggested that if we want to remain consistent that everyone should be given the same increase with the exception of the 2 new people in their positions of Accountant and Treasurer. Scott is not in favor of different amounts being given to different positions (for example $5,000 extra for the Chief and Sergeant positions) when other positions that may be just as deserving will only be getting a small percentage increase. Scott reminded everyone that there was
never a promise to give the 2nd ½ of the proposed increases to the Chief and Sergeant’s salaries and Wayne agreed (Scott suggested that the Select Board minutes of these meetings be reviewed if needed). Wayne also noted that he was not in favor of the original $10,000 increases proposed last year and felt that the $5,000 given last year was more manageable and that was why he reluctantly agreed to it last year. Dan argued that you get what you pay for and that we need to honor the 2nd half of the proposed increases. Wayne did not feel that we were lessening the value of our emergency services by not giving these large increases, and felt that in reviewing the surrounding town comparisons our Chief and Sergeant are in line with the towns of our size (they are not the highest or lowest paid but in the middle). According to Stan the gross cost of the police department in this town is a ¼ of a million dollars. Scott
made a proposal to give a 2% raise to the Executive Secretary, Town Clerk, Highway Department (excluding highway member 3), the Chief and the Sergeant and that any other increases would have to be amended and defended on the floor of town meeting. Discussion ensued and Wayne questioned whether this increase should also be given to the Building Inspector and Sanitary Inspector. It was agreed that this should only be for the full time positions noted above. The Select Board is going to consider this proposal over the next week and will discuss it further next Monday.
6. Kenn Basler came in for an update on the status of repairing the dam behind the library. The Select Board stated that Maynard did inform them that this project is slated for the spring/summer. They will check in with Maynard at his next visit.
7. Emily Johnson came in to clarify that the debt exclusion ballot question for the grader was voted on but was never included in the report or the minutes sent to the State by Barbara Swann so it will need to be on the ballot again for this year.
8. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. Email from Jon Sylbert regarding the proposed increases to the Chief and Sergeant positions (attached). jonpolicesalariesemail.pdf
b. Select Board Association dinner invitation.
c. Renewal proposal for 7/1/14-6/30/15 for our health insurance which is a 3.76% increase. This was accepted and will be returned to our insurance agent MIIA.
d. Complaint from Andrew Bigda regarding a recent motor vehicle stop. The Select Board has spoken with the Chief regarding this and feels comfortable that the letter isn’t totally forthcoming on the events that took place.
9. Warrants were signed.
10. Executive Secretary’s weekly report reviewed.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:31am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Executive Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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