Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 4/14/14
Meeting Opened at: 9am
Select Board Members Present: Muriel Lazzarini, Chairperson and Wayne Burkhart
Also in attendance for parts of the meeting: Susan Gallant for the Monterey News, Maynard Forbes, Mari Enoch and Gareth Backhaus
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The minutes from 4.7.14 were approved as written.
2. Gareth Backhaus, Maynard Forbes, Melissa Noe and Mari Enoch came in to speak with the Board about the ongoing issues they are having with the Treasurer:
a. Gareth provided the Board with a copy of a letter that Mike Johnson, Lyman Thomson and he received letting them know about a mistake that the Treasurer had made with the employee’s contributions for health insurance (the correct amount had not been updated for this year for Gareth and Lyman and was not updated since FY12 for Mike). This update should also have affected Rich, but he was not a recipient of a letter. The letter states that over the next 7 weeks an additional $100-150 will be taken out of these employees checks to repay the difference owed (the amounts were different for each employee that this affected). The Select Board was very concerned by this letter. An email had been sent to Bethany earlier in the week by the Board’s secretary asking how
many people this mistake affected, how long it had been going on and what was the plan to rectify the problem; Bethany did not respond to this email. The Board is going to send a memo to Bethany today asking her to hold off on taking out the additional amounts owed from each employee until a payment plan can be arranged with each employee that meets each employee’s individual circumstances. The memo also points out that this correction should be made to Rich’s check as well. The employee’s and Muriel all objected to the way Bethany handled this and questioned why the time frame was 7 weeks instead of 10 weeks which is what remains of the fiscal year. The Select Board doesn’t feel that the solution to this problem should’ve been one that the Treasurer made on her own, it should’ve been discussed with the Select Board first.
b. There is also a mistake with the retiree’s portion of the health insurance. Bethany is currently getting their portion from Berkshire County Retirement (the amounts are deducted from the retiree’s pension check) however Bethany isn’t turning this over to M. Noe to apply to the health insurance invoice and at the end of the year this line item will be over.
c. Gareth and Maynard also informed the Board that bills are not being paid in a timely fashion and the Police and Highway Departments have both had accounts cancelled due to non-payments. The Board was also notified that twice in the last 6 months the Aflac insurance account has been set for cancellation because of unpaid bills (which are paid entirely by contributions taken from the employee’s paychecks).
d. Muriel, Gareth and Melissa are both upset with the lack of responses to questions sent to Bethany regarding important town matters. Bethany either doesn’t answer or answers with an “it’s being worked on” with no further details, leaving the Board in the dark. Melissa has begun cc’ing the Select Board on her communications to Bethany to show that her communications are in fact being sent in her role as the Secretary for the Board.
e. The employees stated that they are sick and tired of what is going on and it cannot go on any longer. The employees also noted that they are becoming upset that the Accountant has also not been available on the days when he is posted to have office hours. They feel that the town is running like a two bit operation and that the Select Board as the governing authority needs to do something about it.
f. The employees noted that all of the mistakes that are occurring have made it a very time consuming process for the employees to investigate and figure out what is going on and why accounts are being cancelled. Emails and phone calls to the Treasurer to investigate these problems that are arising are not answered and that makes it even more frustrating.
g. It was also noted that town records are being taken to the Treasurer’s home and the employees do not feel that town records should leave town hall.
h. It was questioned whether or not Barbara Gauthier may also be able to assist the Treasurer as she is doing with the Accountant. It was noted that she has offered her assistance next week when she is here. A meeting with the Select Board, Treasurer and Barbara Gauthier has been arranged for Thursday, April 24th at 4:30pm.
i. Everyone agreed that the problems seem to be getting worse not better and all are concerned that in a few months when this fiscal year has ended that we are going to be in the same situation again.
j. The Board agreed that Muriel will meet with Bethany tonight to request that she voluntarily resign. All agree that Bethany is a lovely person which makes this request all the more difficult, however the Board’s first responsibility is to the town and not to an individual person. Both agreed that she apparently does not have the time necessary to devote to this job. The Board also asked M. Noe to find out from Town Counsel how to handle filling a vacancy due to a voluntary resignation. The Board is ashamed that this issue has gone on for as long as it has and that their previous efforts at correcting it have failed.
k. It was asked whether or not Pat Mielke would be of any help to take over for Bethany. It was noted that there would likely be issues with this: 1.) She is family and may be upset with the Board’s request, 2.) She is not in town on a regular basis. It was felt that a fresh set of eyes is needed.
l. There is a meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 24th at 4:30pm to get an update from Barbara on the financials and meet with Bethany on her progress.
3. The Board signed a special town meeting warrant for the Planning Board to fix an administrative error in the bylaws. The special town meeting will be at 9am on Saturday, May 3rd. The Planning Board will be paying for the postage to mail these warrants out.
4. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. Response from Town Counsel regarding a memo from previous Town Counsel Hugh Cowhig regarding how the percentage of premium is determined with regards to the health insurance split (attached). The Select Board determines the split, not town meeting.
b. The state contract for pothole monies we are to receive was signed and will be submitted.
c. Notification from MIIA of participation credits that are being returned to members.
d. Notification from MassDOT letting the Board know that our FY15 Chapter 90 apportionment will be $198,152.
e. Notification of the Theirot Grant for beaver assistance. The Town is not eligible for this funding as we trap and kill beaver and do not meet the requirements of the grant parameters.
f. Invitation to a workshop given by the Association of Town Finance Committees. Muriel felt it would be helpful for the new selectperson elected to attend this. M. Noe will look into signing up a “John Doe’ until we know who has won the election.
5. Executive Secretary’s weekly report was reviewed.
a. Time off request was approved.
b. M. Noe updated the Board on the fiber issue with Cornerstone.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 10:05am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Executive Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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