Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 1/28/14
Meeting Opened at: 7pm
Select Board Members Present: Muriel Lazzarini, Chairperson, Wayne Burkhart and Scott Jenssen
This meeting was held to discuss the town’s options regarding all of the building projects within town that are all competing for the same tax dollars. The Select Board feels that the town can certainly benefit from all of the projects but feels that more creative planning and discussions need to occur to make that happen.
Muriel requested that a representative from each of the current projects within town give a current status and their vision of the future.
Joe Baker of the Friend of Wilson McLaughlin House Committee (FWMH) stated that the future of the Community Center project is a total unknown. Currently the project is in the middle of simultaneously fundraising and running a construction project. The building is owned by the Town and because of this the FWMH are required to follow the State’s competitive bidding and prevailing wage guidelines. The FWMH are attempting to build a Community Center which would be a true municipal facility, not a membership driven facility which will be available to anyone and everyone. Once the doors are opened the FWMH involvement will be finite. The terms of the lease with the Town and the Memorandum of Understanding state that the FWMH will co-manage the building with the Town once it’s running
for 2 years at which point it will become the Town’s responsibility to run the facility. The FWMH stated that they recently agreed with the Select Board that they will run it entirely for the first year and that the Town would help with the expenses associated with being open.
Lisa Smyle, Chair of the Library Trustees stated that the potential project on the table for the library is that they have just applied for a planning & design grant, state funded project, very long term. Lisa turned the discussion over to Mark Makuc who stated that a long range study was done a few years ago that determined that everyone in town wants a library. Currently we have a building that was built in 1931 which now needs some attention. The grant that the library has applied for would be for $50,000 which would need to be matched by the Town. This study would include options for renovating the current building or building new. The Town will not know until June whether we have received the grant or not. The Trustees have also started raising money for this
project.
Kathryn Roberts of the Bidwell House which is a 501(c)3 (private, non-profit) and is comprised of 16 board members hosts lectures, educational programs and other various events. Kathryn stated that the roof is in need of repair and they are in the process of applying for a grant to help with this project. The Bidwell House is a historical building and because of this requires a lot more than other projects within Town would. Barbara Palmer, the Executive Director continued with the presentation. Barbara stated that Town funds are not used at the Bidwell House but they will need the continued support of the Town.
Scott Jenssen of the Select Board and the Monterey School Study Committee (MSSC) stated that they were charged with researching whether or not it was feasible to fix up the current school building, build a new building or discontinue a program all together in Monterey. A survey was recently on the Town’s website asking how the taxpayer’s felt about funding construction of a new school. Scott stated that in hindsight the survey may not have conveyed entirely the objectives of the survey and wanted to expand on that throughout the next few meetings regarding the future of the Monterey School. Copies of the survey results were made available at the meeting. The consensus of the survey was that the taxpayers in Monterey were not in favor of paying for a new school building solely by the
taxpayer’s of Monterey. Scott stated that the topic isn’t dead in the water; the Board still wants to hear from the public regarding a school program in Monterey. He felt that we spend $650,000 - $700,000 every few years on a fire truck, we spent almost $400,000 on a salt shed and we are asking for somewhere between $500,000 and one million for a new school isn’t that much more. Scott stated that the Board has tried to reach out to the WMH to share the building as a Community Center and School but the FWMH were not in favor of this as they felt that their donors which had given money for a Community Center might be upset if the nature of the building’s use changed.
Maria Rundle, Monterey’s School Committee Representative stated that the district’s understanding is that the current building is not ideal or suitable for an educational program (which she stated may or may not be true) but with that current understanding the district is hesitant to put more capital funds into the existing building. There is a meeting happening right now in Sheffield with the Buildings and Grounds Subcommittee where they are discussing capital funds and renovations for all of the buildings. Maria felt that the attitude of the district has shifted considerably and that they are putting money into some of the buildings where needed. The School Committee has already voted that the educational program in Monterey is fully supported by the Committee and the Superintendent.
She also noted that if over 30% of the value of the building is spent on renovations (approx.. $120,000) the district would be required to bring the entire building up to code (which are currently grandfathered) which would include handicap accessibility. Bringing it up to handicap accessibility standards would require handicap parking which would require purchasing more land. She also noted that New Marlborough Central is almost at capacity and would not be able to absorb Monterey’s kids should a program be discontinued here.
Josh Allentuck, Chair of the Parks Department stated that they are working on Jamie’s Court which will replace the existing basketball court behind town hall which will use mostly donated funds but will require some town monies. The Parks Department is also involved in a search for a location for a dog park which may come up again at Town Meeting. The Parks Commission is also working on cleaning up a trail that goes around Brewer’s Pond with the possibility of a kayak access.
At this point the meeting was opened up for public comments and suggestions.
Elizabeth Silk asked for a general summary of what each of these projects were supposed to offer (specifically the Community Center). Joe Baker stated that they see it as a place to be used for any type of purpose. It’s providing a space that isn’t otherwise available in Town. People that wish to use the center for things like painting classes would be charged a fee to reserve the room as they would be charging admission for the classes but someone who would want to host a book club would not be charged fee. Kathryn Roberts of the Bidwell House stated that they support the Community Center as it will give their Board a place to meet and host lectures in the winter months when access to the Bidwell House is limited. Cara Carroll added that the Community Center provides a place for
the community to rent for family events such as picnics, weddings, etc. Michael Banner stated that they are also working with other towns to try and coordinate events with other towns.
Steven Weisz felt that one of the first questions that needs to be answered is whether or not the residents of Monterey want to continue a program in Monterey but Lisa Smyle stated that it isn’t really up to the Town of Monterey, there is an agreement in place with the district that addresses all of this and a protocol to follow to close a program. Steven stated that presuming that the answer is that Monterey wants to keep a program here, the second question should be how do we keep it in Town. Steven was part of a private group of individuals that visited the school and they determined that a “freshening up” of the building could be done without triggering the code requirements that would make it much more expensive.
Jon Sylbert stated that it was great to have these discussions but it is all dependent on funding and what we can realistically afford.
Lisa Smyle pointed out that while a multi-use building is a great idea in theory it may not be practical as a lot of these projects are seeking state funds which wouldn’t allow the monies being applied for to go toward mixed uses; the funds are targeted for a specific purpose. Jon Sylbert stated that it is more likely that the state wouldn’t even consider giving us the money if they knew there would be another use attached to it.
Wendy Germain commented that the Town should consider creating a Master Plan with a committee tasked to do so. It was also suggested that a survey should be sent out to all the homes in Monterey to address the issues brought up tonight to determine how the Town should proceed. It was also suggested that the Board for the Monterey Church should also be included in these discussions as they are facing some of the same issues being raised tonight.
Don Torrico, Building Commissioner wanted everyone to be aware that the Monterey School is inspected annually by the public safety departments and they get a certificate of inspection that it is deemed safe. He acknowledged that there are problems there and that any repairs or renovations made within a 3 year period of building permits that exceed 30% of the fair cash value of the structure would require the portions of the building being worked on be compliant with the Architectural Access Board enforced by Massachusetts. He also noted that Massachusetts does not enforce the ADA requirements, these are federal requirements. Don noted that renovating this building would require several variances being granted by the Architectural Access Board.
A suggestion was made by Muriel Lazzarini to consider renovating the Bally Gally rental into a school building.
Will Marsh wanted people to be aware that the Monterey News is a good forum to involve more people in the process that aren’t able to attend every meeting or that don’t have internet access.
The Board will meet next on Monday and will discuss the ideas presented tonight and to determine the next steps. It was suggested that the next meeting should be on a weekend so that the 2nd homeowner’s could attend, the Board agreed but felt that it should be in a few months when the snowbirds are back in Town. The next meeting was set for Tuesday, February 25th at 7pm.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 8:45pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Executive Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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