Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 2/23/15
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, Jennifer Brown, Stefan Grotz, Chief Backhaus, Barbara Gauthier, Dan Moriarity, Shawn Tryon, Michael Banner, Christine Goldfinger, Don Clawson and Ray Tryon
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The Board discussed whether or not meetings should continue to be recorded. It was decided that for the next 3 – 4 weeks the Select Board will stop using the audio recorder for their meetings and see how it works.
2. The Board discussed the vacant Clerk position: Jennifer Brown who will be running for the vacant seat in May came in to discuss filling the vacancy now. Town Counsel’s opinion was sought and reviewed on filling the vacancy. The Board’s interpretation of the law provided by Counsel is that the Board can appoint someone until the term expires which would be this coming May as Emily was just filling the remainder of Debbie’s term which was 2 years expiring this May. Jen explained that she has had municipal experience as the Treasurer in West Stockbridge for 3-4 years but has not worked directly in the Clerk’s office. The Board asked M. Noe if she would reach out to the Berkshire Managers Group she belongs to, to see if any surrounding towns may have a part time clerk
that would be able to offer assistance to Jen in the initial stages. A motion was made to appoint Jennifer Brown until the May 2015 elections. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved. Jen was sworn in by the Select Board. Jen was asked to coordinate with John Makuc in scheduling the rabies clinic for March. The Board discussed with Jen what her schedule would be. Jen stated that she plans to work 9-12 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The Board stated that they plan to be as supportive as possible to the Clerk and asked that if Jen needs anything to please not hesitate to contact the Board.
3. Attaching documents to the minutes posted on the town website was discussed. It was agreed that copies of documents will be attached to the minutes kept at town hall but the items will only be listed on the online version and if someone would like to view the attachments they will need to come to town hall. The Board asked M. Noe to follow up with the Attorney General’s Office on how anonymous/unsigned letters should be handled as the Board and Counsel are of the opinion that they should not be given any weight.
4. March Select Board Corner article was discussed. It was agreed that the format for the question of the month needs to be reevaluated and will be started back up in April. The article for March will focus on road conditions and the use of salt and sand.
5. Stefan Grotz came in to inquire about a tree on his property that is just off the road and ready to fall; he would like to know how he goes about determining if this is a town tree or his. Shawn will facilitate a visit from the Tree Warden.
6. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. Resignation of Assistant Town Clerk, Linda Hunt effective February 20, 2015.
b. Kathleen Purcell’s resignation from the Historical Commission effective February 11, 2015.
c. Final versions of the job descriptions for the Assistant Assessor, Board of Assessors and Assessors Clerk.
d. Copy of the Preliminary FY16 SBRSD budget.
7. Kenn is going to attend the MMA Legislative Breakfast in New Marlborough on March 13th.
8. Recently the Board was made aware that employees that work in certain multiple positions for the town that cumulatively work over 40 hours are entitled to overtime (hours worked are not calculated by department by rather as a whole for time worked for the town). After confirming with the U.S. Dept. of Labor we have one employee that works for the highway and police departments that would be owed back monies for any weeks in which his total hours for both departments was more than 40. (On call positions such as firemen do not count as they only work sporadically and their time spent working is infrequent or irregular) The Board agreed that the town will need to rectify this for hours already worked but would like to speak with the Police Chief about this particular situation going forward; he
will be asked to attend next Monday’s meeting.
9. The Board was made aware that the Library Trustees are proposing to increase the Library Director’s hours for FY16 to 20/week. Doing so will make this position eligible for health insurance benefits, will add this person to the Berkshire County Retirement System and after being vested will also make this position eligible for retiree health insurance benefits. The Board will discuss this further next week.
10. Meeting notice postings: A motion was made to notify the AG’s office that the town website is our secondary alternate posting method which currently is handled by the Administrative Assistant. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
11. Administrative Assistant’s weekly report was reviewed.
12. Warrants were signed.
The board met with Chief of Police, Gareth Backhaus to review the following:
1. Weekly report was reviewed.
2. The Board asked the Chief for his official opinion on the status of the roads this season and he said he is concerned that there have been less black surfaces this year which lead to the possibility of more accidents. It was acknowledged that there has been a county wide salt shortage this year that has made it difficult to plow down to a black road.
3. The Board had several positive responses to the reverse 911 call made notifying residents of the low salt availability and felt that we should be using this service more.
4. The Board stated that they do hope that we have all gotten past the misunderstandings of the last few weeks and they hope to begin a process of meeting with the Chief and Sergeant outside of regular meetings with just one Select Board member (Kenn has volunteered to take the reins on this) at least once a month if not more.
The board met with Director of Operations & Fire Chief, Shawn Tryon to review the following:
1. Shawn provided an update on the operations during the last few storms.
2. Turnout gear special article request: The request is for $60,000 which would by 20 sets at $2,500 – 2,800/set. These are supposed to be replaced every 10 years.
3. Dam inspection and maintenance increase request: Shawn is requesting an increase of $5,000 and this is due to a matter brought to Shawn by the DEP. Brush is not supposed to be growing on the dam and needs to be taken care of or we will be issued an Enforcement Order. The $5,000 will cover 2 days for an outside tree contractor to come in and clean up the brush and remove the stumps. Shawn will follow up with the Conservation Commission on if this will require a filing.
4. Highway maintenance increase request of $29,057: Shawn explained that this line item has not been raised in some time (only $2,500 over 6 years) and this will help to keep up with the work that needs to be done around town.
5. Transfer Station Attendant: It was agreed that a 4th highway member/transfer station will be proposed at the annual town meeting. This person will run the transfer station and work part time for Shawn as well. Doing so will knock $20,000 of the Transfer Station operations contract as they will no longer need to supply an employee. Scott suggested that any new employees should come on at a 75/25 split for health insurance. There is an ECAC meeting scheduled for the beginning of March where this will be discussed and recommendations can be made. It was made clear that this position would not be responsible for any mowing but Kenn felt that future discussions should be had on looking at having the highway department take over the parks and cemetery mowing once the current
contracts are up to save money. Shawn noted that if the highway department were to take these over with the current and proposed 1 new staff member, the crew would be stretched thin.
6. Chris Goldfinger and Michael Banner came in to complain about the deterioration of the status and maintenance of Monterey’s roads. Christine stated that this past Saturday night most roads in Monterey weren’t even plowed whereas the surrounding towns’ roads were. She felt that this was a very dangerous safety concern. It was explained that Monterey chose to hold off on plowing this past Saturday as there was an anticipation of rain and freezing rain which would be easier to plow up off the snow versus off the black road. It was also noted that in these types of weather situations people should reconsider going out for things other than emergencies. It was agreed going forward that the Board and emergency services will make better use of the reverse 911 calling
system.
7. Michael Banner extended his thanks to Shawn and the Highway Department for their help in keeping the Monterey Community Center plowed.
8. Transfer Station Upgrade: Shawn is lobbying for a new facility with no covering which would cost approximately $300,000. The main issue there right now is the traffic flow and the only way to improve this will be to construct new roads and reconfigure. Kenn feels that if the town were to own our own equipment it would allow us more flexibility in fixing things in a timely manner and not waiting on an outside contractor. There is also a possibility to rent or lease compactors instead of buying. After much discussion it was suggested that more firm numbers need to be presented to the Board for all aspects of the proposed project to allow the Board to better assess the best option for meeting the needs of the transfer station as well as the pros and cons for the current setup and proposed
setup but that upgrading/reconfiguring the current setup seems like the best plan. This upgrade will also make the area safer to navigate. $7,100 is needed right now to have the area drilled and an official engineered plan drawn up, it was suggested that the money from the disposal area line item should be used and if it goes over then the Finance Committee can approve a transfer from the Reserve Fund.
9. Shawn’s time off request was approved (1 day).
The board met with members of the Finance Committee and Barbara Gauthier, former Accountant to review the following:
1. Reviewing the current budget requests for FY16.
2. Barbara was given permission to resume working with the Accountant and Treasurer to make sure we are financially all set.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 12:20pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Administrative Assistant
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
Town Clerk
Documents received at the meetings:
1. LHuntResignation
2. KPurcellResignation
3. AsstAssessorJobDescription
4. BdofAssessorJobDescription
5. AssessorClerkJobDescription
6. SBRSDpreliminaryFY16budget
These are attached to the hard copy of the minutes at town hall.
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