Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 11/24/14
Meeting Opened at: 8:30am
Select Board Members Present: Wayne Burkhart, Chairperson, Scott Jenssen and Kenn Basler
Also in attendance for parts of the meeting: David Irland for the Monterey News, Larry Klein, Alice Berke, John Fields, Shawn Tryon, Winston Wilson, Josh Allentuck, Eric Ives, Kelly Funk, Muriel Lazzarini, Greg Carnese and Don Torrico
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. Email from Barbara Gauthier regarding the Town Hall Structure Committee and her non-acceptance of the appointment for reasons stated (attached). The Board discussed that fact that there appears to be a lot of hidden agendas on this committee. Kenn personally feels that this committee is the wrong direction and the only way to be constructive and unbiased would be to hire an outside company but he is willing to see what the results of the internal committee are first. The Board is going to try to speak to Barbara to change her mind.
b. Email from David Hastings with a request to set up a meeting to discuss the engineering study we are having on the Monterey School. M. Noe will let him know that once the Board receives a copy of the engineering report they will be glad to set up a meeting.
c. Email from Rhonda LaBombard, Town Administrator in Sheffield requesting to see if any of the Board members are interested in meeting with Sheffield and New Marlborough regarding shared services. The Board is interested and Kenn offered to attend. It was agreed that before entering into any shared services the Board would like a recommendation from the Director of Operations.
d. The Board discussed an email received from the Town Clerk regarding the agenda item to review Town Counsel’s response regarding elections and the police officers scheduled to work them. She was concerned that this was regarding her role in running the elections but was assured that this was with regards to paying a detail rate to have an officer on duty when the law states that a Constable is suitable and/or an officer at regular pay/shift. The Clerk did note that the current Constable goes home at lunch and often doesn’t return. Kenn did report that he has spoken with the Police Chief regarding concerns that the Board has with the number of details and the Chief has worked out a report that will be submitted to the Board providing more information on details (who
requested the detail, rate, officer working the detail, etc).
e. Letter from SBETC regarding an upcoming meeting – this will be forwarded to the Council on Aging members.
f. Email from Environment Massachusetts requesting the Board’s support of solar energy urging Governor Elect Charlie Baker to continue Massachusetts’ record of solar leadership and set an ambitious goal of 20% solar by 2025 – all three agreed to sign their name to it.
2. Administrative Assistant’s weekly report was reviewed.
3. A motion was made to approve the one day alcohol permit request for the Colonial Thanksgiving Event at the Bidwell House on November 29th. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
4. Larry Klein came in as a Board member for WiredWest concerned about the proposal that Adam Chait is making to anchor institutions in Monterey which Larry states is illegal unless he is a POI. Larry explained that the Town has a vested interest in supporting WiredWest’s objectives as these independent contractors will be competing against the town’s municipal light plant. A letter will be drafted to send to the residents of Monterey urging them to support WiredWest and the reasons why.
5. Payroll services: Kenn explained that there had been a misunderstanding on the information Kenn had given Bethany the Treasurer to follow up on which has since been cleared up and she will make the calls this week.
6. A motion was made to join the aggregation with Colonial Power. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
7. Wayne attended the SBRSD finance subcommittee meeting and updated the Board on the discussions that took place.
8. Kenn and Wayne attended the RT23 project meeting and reported that they are going to relook at the culvert issue. Kenn also contacted Smitty Pignatelli for his help with the issue and that new asphalt shouldn’t be placed over old culverts.
9. Warrants were signed.
10. Police Chief’s weekly report was reviewed.
11. Muriel Lazzarini came in with regards to the last Select Board minutes and police details and officers at elections. She is concerned with the Board’s sudden attention to the affairs of the Police Department which in her opinion is the envy of several surrounding towns. She pleaded with the Board to try not to micromanage the Police Department and that they shouldn’t give equal weight to the voice of a part time officer as they do the leaders of the department. Kenn stated that he meets on a regular basis with the Chief and any issues brought up are not micromanaging but are requests for information to make things more transparent. He said there are small areas of concerns which affect the town’s budget and the Board is working with the Chief on addressing these issues.
12. Don Torrico let the Board know that the town along with 7 other towns won a technology award for the building permitting software.
13. Don informed the Board about a difficult resident/situation that arose last week with regards to public records and the permitting of a project on Mt Hunger Rd.
The board met with Director of Operations, Shawn Tryon to review the following:
1. Shawn and the Tree Warden came to speak to the Board about all the tree issues that there are around Town. John Fields, Arborist was asked to be here as well to help devise a plan. Winston explained that part of the issue is that there are so many trees that the tree warden’s budget is not large enough to handle the amount of trees to take down. Winston explained that he would offer his services at $25/hour to cut down the trees if he could use the town’s equipment; the Board noted that this is not possible seeing as the Tree Warden gets a set salary for this type of work. John Fields offered to drive around town with the Tree Warden and make a plan of all the trees that need to come down and prioritize them with regards to the urgency that they need to come down. He
stated that this will take about one day’s time and he will donate his time for making the list. They will report back in 2 – 3 weeks with the list as well as a proposed maintenance plan to handle to amount of trees to be cut over an extended period of time.
2. Eric Ives of Berkshire Wildlife Solutions and the trapper for the Town was asked to come in to discuss the beaver issues around town and the policy for trapping primarily at the outlet of Lake Garfield. Eric stated that there aren’t any leg hold traps in Massachusetts, they are all trapped in cages and treated humanely. He stated that the Beaver Deceiver has to be maintained and does not control the population. He stated that the Towns of New Marlborough and Sheffield use the deceiver and he recommended that the Board call these towns to see how they are working in those towns. The Town is not against having Mike Callahan take a look to see if the Beaver Deceiver would work at the dam but Kenn stated that he has already taken a look and told the Town it wouldn’t work.
Shawn reminded everyone that the town traps when there is a public safety issue.
3. The Board asked Chief Tryon what Adam’s Chait involvement is at the Fire Department. He stated that Adam is their IT person and provides broadband there as well. There was concern about this seeing as the Town pays for broadband at the firehouse, library and town hall through Cornerstone already. The Board suggested that Town Counsel will have to be consulted on the matter of providing broadband because the Board has been made aware that he is unable to provide services to the anchor institutions. The Board would like clarification from MBI that Adam Chait’s private company is legally allowed to provide services to the anchor institutions such as the firehouse. Chief Tryon will work on this.
4. Members of the Parks Committee and Greg Carnese came in to talk about Jamie’s Court. Currently there isn’t enough money to finish the project. The excavation costs went over by $10,000 due to an unexpected problem. This project also started in 2008 and prices have increased a lot since the then with the project being delayed. A fence has been proposed by the Director of Operations as an addition to keep the surface free from traffic and to prevent damage from loose balls to the cars parked nearby. $27,000 and change has already been paid for the construction of the court ($4,000 of that was town funds). At this point in time the Jamie’s Court people can put another $3,500 towards the project leaving a balance of more than $25,000. The Parks is also
requesting that the $3,000 that the Parks Department paid this fall toward the overage be reimbursed to them at the special town meeting the Board is planning to have as this has caused their budget to go over. The Parks Commission will review all options and get all scenarios and their costs and will present them to the Board at a future meeting to make final decisions on.
5. Shawn requested a beer and wine one day permit for the Drag Extravaganza to be held this Saturday thru the Fire Company. He apologized for not turning in the application in the proper time frame but it was a last minute decision to help make some money for the Fire Department. The Board agreed to approve the permit request providing an insurance certificate stating “alcohol liability” on it, a copy of the TIPS certification for the person serving the alcohol, a completed application and the $25 fee are turned into the Administrative Assistant before Saturday’s event.
6. Sheffield and New Marlborough are trying to organize sharing of services/equipment. Shawn stated that the equipment we could share would be a roadside/boom mower, paver, roller, trailer unit and hot box. Shawn was in favor of sharing equipment and has given a list of what we are interested in sharing to New Marlborough and Sheffield. There are still items to be worked out like where it would be stored, how maintenance would be performed and how the costs of the equipment would be split. The Board conceptually thinks it’s a good idea but is concerned about this year’s budget and adding another large item that isn’t needed right at this moment. A motion was made to continue the shared services discussions with New Marlborough and Sheffield. The motion was
seconded and approved unanimously.
7. Shawn updated the Board on the sand bid which Wilkinson Excavating came in as low bidder but there are concerns about the sand he has freezing in the trucks.
8. Shawn updated the Board that the brakes were done on the fire truck a few weeks ago and it still won’t stop; there may be a need to replace Engine 1 at the annual town meeting. Shawn thinks it is something inherent in the truck and not the brakes and might have something to do with more weight being on the truck than should be.
9. Shawn has spoken with the Master Garbologist and they are a little upset with the article written in the Monterey News. Shawn informed the Garbologist that it will be rebid this year. Shawn stated that he has done some research and if the Garbologist leaves he will take the bins and will be sending a bill for $8,000 for work done on the compactor that he didn’t charge the town for because he had a verbal agreement with Maynard that he would haul for the next 3 years. Shawn suggested that if we are going to look at redoing the Transfer Station the town should purchase their own compactors.
10. Shawn thanked the Board for waiving the building permit fees at last week’s meeting.
11. Shawn inquired about the turkeys that the Board usually gives the employees; it was noted that the Board does give turkeys each year at Christmas time and that if Shawn wanted to use his highway budget to buy his men turkeys for Thanksgiving as well that would be his choice.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 12:15pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Administrative Assistant
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
Town Clerk
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