Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 5/12/14
Meeting Opened at: 9am
Select Board Members Present: Wayne Burkhart, Chairperson, Scott Jenssen and Kenn Basler
Also in attendance for parts of the meeting: Alan Salamon, Steve Weisz, Josh Allentuck and Richard Tryon
The board met with Chief of Police, Gareth Backhaus to review the following:
1. The Board reviewed, signed and unanimously approved renewal of the one year employment contract with the Chief for FY15.
2. The Board asked the Chief’s opinion on keeping the DSL line. He stated that he doesn’t have the money in his budget to keep it but his thoughts are that until we are confident that Cornerstone will stay up and running we should keep the DSL line as a backup. Keeping it is a redundancy right now and costs the town $1,200/year. Kenn suggested that since we received a 2 month credit from Cornerstone for the outage that we use that credit to keep the DSL for another 2 – 3 months.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. A motion was made to appoint Wayne Burkhart as the Chair for the year. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
2. The Board welcomed new select board member Kenn. Scott and Wayne reviewed procedures for voting during the meeting and reviewed the following:
a. It was requested that the members be respectful to each other and try to let each other finish their thoughts before adding anything additional.
b. The protocol of the Select Board is to officially acknowledge any requests to speak from the audience.
c. The Board reviewed Melissa Noe’s role as their Executive Secretary. Wayne explained that Melissa is very thorough and seems to have a handle on what the Board expects to be covered in the minutes and they commended her on the job she has done to date. The Board always has the right to correct possible misinterpretations and/or reword paragraphs to flow more smoothly. Wayne asked everyone to remember that Melissa does a lot of work for the Board and this has been going smoothly and should continue to do so. Wayne noted that there have been a few situations that have escalated a little and encouraged Melissa to try harder to keep things on a positive note and that everyone should try to complain less.
d. Kenn feels that the most important issue to begin dealing with are straightening out the financial issues within town hall and making sure that the people in those positions have the support available to get this done. He feels that the people giving the necessary information to the Select Board have to be knowledgeable and be able to give it to the Board in a way that all can understand which has not happened during this last rocky year (according to the Select Board minutes from the last year). Wayne acknowledged that getting the correct information with regards to the financials of the Town hasn’t happened since Barbara Gauthier retired. Larger issues are coming to some closure on the proposed Community Center and the school issue and bring them both to a positive
conclusion. Alan Salamon commented based on his readings of the minutes of the upsets that have occurred and are still occurring in the Treasurer and Accountant’s offices that if he were on the Board he would personally resign as he would feel responsible for their financial failings. It was noted that the Board doesn’t meet with the Treasurer on a regular basis but they do get reports from the Accountant. Scott and Wayne feel that Bethany and Brendan understand that there will be no more excuses and that they need to get the jobs done and done properly or the Board will have to take other actions.
e. Alan Salamon also commented about the questionnaire that was sent out last year that was trying to gauge the town’s residents feelings for building a new school building in Monterey 100% funded thru Monterey taxpayer’s and he disagreed with the responses made that the questionnaire wasn’t worded properly and feels that it is as if the Select Board is completely ignoring the word of the people and doing what they want anyway. He suggested that if the Board feels that the questionnaire wasn’t worded properly then it should be sent out again and done with better wording. Scott clarified that the misconception was that the survey focused on whether or not the residents would support paying for and building a new school building solely with Monterey taxes.
Alan feels that the townspeople are not in favor of continuing to spend money to build a new building or maintain the current one. Kenn felt that sending out another survey may be necessary. Steve Weitz felt that there may be some confusion around town with regards to the school as the program itself and the building is 2 different issues.
f. Signing of the town warrants; Wayne currently signs the payroll warrant digitally, Scott comes in to sign them and Kenn will come in on Tuesdays to sign in person. The warrants are emailed to the Board by the Treasurer when they are done and ready to be signed.
g. The Board discussed whether or not the Board/Town should look into making the Treasurer position an appointed one versus an elected one to eliminate some of the issues that we’ve had due to it being an elected position. Kenn suggested that this should only be a consideration to any positions that deal with town finances. Wayne admits he is reluctant to this.
3. Steve Weitz inquired about Dr. Matt Malone’s visit to the Monterey School. As of right now the time of the visit is unknown. Steve suggested that if the Select Board supports the program that they should declare a statement prior to his visit. Steve also noted that the Historical Commission of Monterey which he is the Chair has made a declaration that the Monterey School building itself is a significant historical asset of Monterey.
4. Sergeant Johnson came in to update the Board on the Memorial Day festivities.
5. The minutes from 5.5.14 were approved as written.
6. The Board approved the annual earth removal permit for Tryon Construction for 2014. Wayne recused himself from the vote as he manages the gravel bed.
7. Steve Weisz formally congratulated Kenn on his victory and wished him the best of luck in his new role as Selectman and thanked him for running a respectful campaign. He offered his assistance to the Board in any matter they see fit.
8. Josh Allentuck, Chair of the Parks Commission came in to notify the Board that the Parks Department has been unable to find any lifeguards to hire for the summer season (there aren’t any certified applicants). Josh is working with Berkshire South to try to add another lifeguard certification course and is proposing that anyone that takes it and works for Monterey for the full season will be reimbursed the cost for the class at the end of the season. A call will be made to Town Counsel to see if there are any liabilities to the Town to run the beach without lifeguards with posted signs stating “No Lifeguard on Duty, Swim at your Own Risk”.
9. The Board briefly discussed the need to open up a dialogue on whether or not currently volunteer boards and commissions shouldn’t begin receiving some sort of stipend.
10. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. Copy of the permit applications for Jesse and Barbara Taub and Robin & Myrna Kruuse for simplified dock licenses.
b. Barbara Tryon’s resignation as an election officer.
11. Executive Secretary’s weekly report was reviewed.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 10:38am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Executive Secretary
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
| 
