Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 2/24/14
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, David Hastings, SBRSD Superintendent, Bruce Turner, SBRSD Business Manager, Stanley Ross, Dan Moriarity, Donald Clawson, Wendy Germain, Steve Weisz, Emily Johnson, Linda Hunt, Pat Tigue And Chris Chartrand
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The Board met with David Hastings, SBRSD Superintendent and Bruce Turner, SBRSD Business Manager to discuss the following:
a. Muriel inquired as to what the reactions were from Sheffield and New Marlborough regarding the school’s budget request. David stated that they have both requested that the budgets be cut. David said they are going to meet next week and hope to cut about $150,000, most of which will be in personnel. Three positions have already been eliminated. Muriel stated that over the last 5 years Monterey’s transportation and operating budget has increased about 33%.
b. Regarding the capital budget; Muriel questioned the largest item on there which is for carpeting. Bruce stated that the carpeting in the high school area is the original carpeting from 1990.
c. The school was designed for 1200 students and there are currently only 700 children. Muriel inquired as to why the administration isn’t looking into segregating off some space and renting out the rooms as offices or such. Bruce said there are only a few non-isolated rooms that aren’t being used.
d. Muriel stated she supports the idea of a 4yr old kindergarten program but the transportation budget seems to be increasing at a larger rate than the capital so she is curious as to how much the transportation budget would be affected if this were to be instituted this year. Bruce stated that there are 4yr olds already utilizing the transportation so there shouldn’t be too much of a difference. He also stated that there may be Chapter 70 reimbursements for this program.
e. The Board emphasized the need for more PR in promoting our school district.
f. Stan inquired about the state of the union contracts; we are in the 1st year of a 3 year contract with Unit D and are in the 2nd year of a 3 year contract with Unit A.
g. Wayne inquired as to how Monterey can respond in a respectful way to request money for our school when the other towns are so openly against supporting our community school. It was noted that David is very supportive of the programs in Monterey and Egremont as is the current school committee.
h. David Hastings mentioned that it was likely that the Secretary of Education of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts would be visiting the Monterey School in a month or two. The Secretary was interested in the fact that we still had a one-room schoolhouse.
2. The minutes from 2.3, 2.10 and 2.17.14 were approved as written.
3. Muriel stated that due to the persuasive powers of M. Noe, Barbara Gauthier will be coming the 1st week of March to assist Brendan in closing the FY13 books. Everyone agreed that Barbara Gauthier needs to be paid for her time here and that everyone can think about what an appropriate figure would be to be discussed next week. Bethany has informed Muriel that as far as she’s concerned the Treasurer’s side of closing the books has been completed and she will be available if necessary after 4pm. However this contradicts the email sent in which she states that she’s working on bringing the cash books up to date, she made a few errors in the software and is working on correcting them.
4. Wendy Germain and Steve Weisz came in to inquire if anything was needed for tomorrow night’s meeting. Muriel reviewed her list of items to be discussed.
5. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. Resignation of Emily Johnson from the Parks Department effective upon electing or appointing a replacement but no later than May 7, 2014.
b. 2nd notice from the State that our Schedule A which was due November 30, 2013 still has not been submitted. The Schedule A must be submitted no later than March 14th to avoid any delays to our state aid. The books have to be reconciled before this can be completed.
c. Cost estimate from the BRPC with regards to a Community Facilities Assessment Study. They are estimating a cost of $8,500 to perform an an assessment of town buildings, and to facilitate a planning process involving community facility stakeholders from the Town.
d. Notice of annual public hearing for the SBRSD to discuss the proposed 2014-15 operating and capital budgets.
e. Progress report from WiredWest which includes a letter of assessment for FY15 for $1,000.
6. The Board and Finance Committee discussed the following FY15 budget items:
a. The WMH has requested a special article in the amount of $23,600 for the continued renovations of the WMH. They will be in next week to discuss this further. Muriel and Scott are not in favor of putting this on the warrant and Muriel intends to request at tomorrow night’s multi-board meeting that the library and WMH refrain from requesting any funds this year.
b. Muriel requested that the date of finalizing the warrant be moved up one week to March 24th as the following week is going to be very busy for her personally and she wants to make sure the proper amount of time is given to it. The Board agreed.
c. The Board asked M. Noe to confirm with Bethany if a payment was made to the Septic System Loan program for FY14 as this payment was not approved on the FY14 warrant.
d. The Board has learned that there is approximately $39,000 in the septic reserve account which could pay off the $29,000 we owe to the State for the Septic Loan Program. They asked M. Noe to find out if transferring money from this account to the loan requires a town meeting vote.
e. The Board asked M. Noe to confirm we have the proper wording for the 2 articles to purchase the 4500 truck and police cruiser and pay for them from stabilization.
f. The Treasurer has confirmed that there is a balance of $14,168 in the retiree stabilization fund.
g. The Treasurer also justified that the reason for her requested $2,000 increase in expenses is because she and the Accountant share office supplies and there will be schooling available in the summer months (which used to be split between 3 towns for the previous Treasurer).
h. The Treasurer confirmed that the reason her bank charges went up by $440 was because both the banks we use are now charging for our payroll and vendor checks which used to be of no charge.
i. The Finance Committee will meet with the Fire Department to get a better break down on what expenses the town pays for.
j. $10,000 was added to the highway maintenance line item for the paving of Sylvan Rd (the town portion) since Chapter 90 funds will not cover this particular project. The Board is going to speak with Maynard to see if he can absorb this project in his current budget without addind in an additional $10,000.
k. Regarding the Parks Department’s request for $15,000 more; the Board and Finance Committee feel that all of the ideas are great ones but they are not in favor of instituting them all this year. The Finance Committee will speak with the Parks Department.
l. WMH operating and capital expenses which are new line items to be created for this year once the Community Center opens up which everyone is anticipating will be for about ½ of FY15. The Board and Finance Committee are split on adding these two line items this year and would like more information on the projected opening. It was decided that this is not the year to add these items. The Board questioned if the Community Center was still projecting to be open within the next year if the renovations are still not complete and since they do not have enough funds to cover the remaining renovations.
m. Scott brought up that in reviewing the past Select Board meeting minutes he did not see any conversations that justify adding another $5,000 to the Sergeant’s salary on top of the $0.50/hr raise and new title given 2 years ago and the additional $5,000 given last year. Dan felt that the increase was justified as the Sergeant has implemented quite a few new programs and need to be properly trained to handle any and all situations that may arise. This discussion will be continued next week.
n. The Board discussed the funds that are usually requested for Montereyfest and whether it should be less or not at all this year. It was noted that Lake Buel does not request nor receive any town money for the party that they host each year. The Board has issues that there isn’t an organized town committee or town oversight that monitors the town money being spent. Wayne noted that this money shouldn’t be expected and it might be wise to skip this year.
o. Brendan stated that there is $3,997 left in the account which was appropriated to finish the driveway at the WMH. The Board will check with Maynard to see how much he estimates the remainder of the project will cost.
7. The Board signed the indemnification agreement in connection with the Genovesi/Rt 23 easement.
8. M. Noe informed the Board that she has received 3 quotes for the mini-split cooling/air exchange systems for the meeting room, basement and server room. LePrevost came in at $15,520, Gennari came in at $13,060 and Moran was $7,955. Maynard has reviewed all three and recommends that the Board accept the quote from Moran Mechanical and to use the money available in the Berkshire Housing Refund account.
9. Pat Tigue and Chris Chartrand from King Information Systems came in with the Town Clerk and Assistant Town Clerk to present a quote and plan to assist in organizing the archives room as well as the current filing cabinets.
10. The Board signed the required easement for the Genovesi/RT 23 project.
11. Warrants were signed.
12. Executive Secretary’s weekly report reviewed.
a. M. Noe provided confirmation from the Attorney General’s website which states that the Open Meeting Law is silent with regard to holding meetings on Sundays and holidays. The AG’s office states that the best practice is not to hold public meetings on Sundays or holidays when access to public buildings may be limited and when the public does not normally anticipate the scheduling of a public meeting.
b. M. Noe confirmed that the life insurance employee deductions have been corrected.
c. Permission was given to attend the MMA legislative breakfast on 2/28 which will address other post-employment benefits.
d. Time off request was approved.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 12:25pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Executive Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
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