Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 6/30/14
Meeting Opened at: 9am
Select Board Members Present: Wayne Burkhart, Chairperson, Scott Jenssen and Kenn Basler
Also in attendance for parts of the meeting: Jacob Edelman for the Monterey News, Robert Lazzarini, Gareth Backhaus, Michael Banner, Roger Tryon, Steve Weisz, Maynard Forbes, Brendan Fletcher and Josh Allentuck
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The Board discussed the email received from Bethany regarding a 10 day vacation (exact date were unclear and not provided) she is taking which prompted questions on how and when vendor bills will be paid during those 2 weeks. The Board’s minutes from March of this year were reviewed and the Accountant and Treasurer were both notified (in March) that they are part time employees (whether elected or appointed) that do not receive benefits and when time off is taken the office needs to be covered and coverage will be paid directly from the Treasurer or Accountant salary line item. The Board had issues with the timeliness of the notice given by the Treasurer for this planned time off. Brendan was called in to ask how this affects the financial office. Brendan was unclear if vendor checks
were going to be done remotely by Bethany. Kenn offered to stop in tonight to speak with Bethany to clarify what the arrangements were that she made since the Board was not provided with enough information but in the end it was decided that Wayne will follow up. Brendan stated that in his opinion with regards to his own personal circumstances he agrees that he would not expect to get paid and would understand that the pay to cover any extended absence would come out of his salary not from any other line item.
2. Josh Allentuck, Chair of the Parks Commission stated that the shed for the ballpark is being delivered today and it is moving slightly from the original location and the Conservation Commission has signed off on the project. Josh updated the Board on the status of lifeguards for the beach. The beach opened this week and there will be coverage. Josh has heard from Maynard that the Jamie’s Court work is slated to start in July which the Parks Department will have some involvement in.
3. The Board agreed that there will need to be a discussion regarding the policy for the use of the Highway Truck that the Director of Operations uses and to create a policy with regards to the use of gas and weekly reporting of the gas purchased and used.
4. The Cultural Council has requested that Hannah Fries be appointed to the Monterey Cultural Council. A motion was made to appoint Hannah Fries which was seconded and unanimously approved.
5. The Board was made aware of an error in the Employee Handbook. On page 8 of the handbook it currently reads: Employees who retire from the Town of Monterey prior to reaching the age of 65 that have met all of the retirement requirements with the Berkshire County Retirement System may remain on the Town’s HMO or PPO policy (including spouses) until the age of 65 with the same premium costs as before their retirement. A motion was made to remove the erroneous sentence, “with the same premium costs as before their retirement”. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved. M. Noe will make the correction and notify the employees.
6. The Board discussed the mistake made at last week’s meeting by the Finance Committee that the $1,000 to cover the overage in the Treasurer’s salary was going to be made from the Reserve Fund according to the Finance Committee. After an email from Barbara Gauthier it was determined that the money should actually be transferred from the extra $1,000 that is in the Accountant’s Salary not from the Reserve Fund. This transfer when it occurs will require the Finance Committee and Select Board to sign their approval.
7. Roger Tryon, Robert Lazzarini, Steve Weisz, Michael Banner and Gareth Backhaus all members of the resume review group were all present along with Maynard Forbes and the Board to review the 4 resumes we received for the Director of Operations position. Raymond Tryon’s resignation from the review group was read due to a conflict of interest. In an effort to streamline the process and in hopes of having a little overlap between the new hire and Maynard (his last day is August 1st) originally it was going to be the Select Board performing the interviews however this is open for discussion. This is such a critical and crucial job to the town and the Board does not want to take this responsibility lightly. The resumes received were reviewed and discussed. It was noted that
2 of the applicants already hold multiple jobs within town that raise many questions about how many of the positions can be held if they were to be offered the Director position. The group wants to hear from the candidates on how they would handle multiple jobs. 8. Maynard stated that there is a lack of knowledge amongst the group as to what the Director of Operations job requires and holding multiple positions can work as Maynard has 6 positions within town that he does and does well. Maynard stated that the 4 applicants that applied are all qualified and should be interviewed to answer questions that have arisen with regards to other positions and past work history. Gareth agreed with everything Maynard said and felt that personally interviewing all of the candidates should be the next step. There were concerns from several of the group members that one of the applicants is also the Fire Chief and the son of one of the town’s largest
contractor’s used. There were concerns about possible conflicts of interest in future contracts that go out to bid as 2 of the applicants are current employees of a large contractor that the town uses consistently. The Ethics Commission will be contacted for their legal opinion. The group created the core interview questions to be asked. All 4 applicants will be interviewed.
8. Maynard submitted his written resignation from all positions effective August 30, 2014 with his last day of work being August 1, 2014.
9. The Board asked Maynard to have him schedule the work for Jamie’s Court to start ASAP and to notify the Board of the expected start date and approximately how long this job will take.
10. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. WiredWest requested that a copy of a letter provided be sent to WiredWest, the town’s State Representative and the State Senator regarding an IT Bond Bill that includes allocation for the last mile funding.
b. The Board unanimously agreed to send a letter to Senator Downing opposing any attempt to pass S.2183 or any amendments to the Senate’s economic development bill that would strip cities and towns of the ability to regulate wireless antennas.
11. Kenn inquired as to whether or not Stephen Enoch was still serving on the Board of Health since Kenn was informed that Stephen is no longer living in Monterey. Wayne did not feel it was the Board’s business to police this.
12. Kenn followed up on the insurance issue that came up for Montereyfest and after speaking with other insurance companies agrees that the Town cannot provide liability insurance for the boat rides given during Montereyfest if the event is not a Monterey sponsored/run event. He suggested that the Board should begin speaking about our involvement in future Montereyfest activities earlier in the year for 2015.
13. Kenn reported that he has spoken to Stefan Grotz regarding Bally Gally and it has been confirmed that if Bally Gally were to be sold the will is very clear that any proceeds would go to the scholarship fund. There is a question as to whether or not the rent collected for Bally Gally should in fact come to the town or go to the scholarship fund.
14. Executive Secretary’s weekly report was reviewed.
15. Police Chief’s weekly report was reviewed.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:29am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Executive Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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