Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 4/13/15
Meeting Opened at: 4:15pm
Select Board Members Present: Wayne Burkhart, Chairperson and Kenn Basler
Also in attendance for parts of the meeting: David Irland for the Monterey News, Ray Tryon, Larry Klein, Don Clawson, Bob & Muriel Lazzarini, Shawn Tryon, Dennis Lynch, Pat Salomon and Julio Rodriguez
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. Members of the Town Hall Structure Advisory Committee were present to request that the Board put the following article on the annual town meeting warrant: To see if the Town will vote pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 41 Section 23A to authorize and empower the Selectmen to appoint a Town Administrator who may be appointed by them for a term of one to three years and to remove him or her at their discretion, or take any other action relative thereto. A motion was made to place it on the warrant which was seconded and approved.
2. The MRF renewal contract was signed.
3. The Board approved the May Select Board Corner article.
4. The Board was made aware of 2 complaints that were received today with regards to the Treasurer’s Office:
a. One was from Berkshire County Retirement stating that the communication issues have not improved and that a way to work with the Treasurer in person during business hours rather than via email after hours needs to be worked out.
b. The other was from the Postmaster stating that there are 3 pieces of certified mail going back to February for the Treasurer that she has been notified about several times but has not picked them up. One of the pieces is from the IRS, another from a bank and the last from the Department of Revenue.
5. Don Clawson presented a long range spreadsheet showing our debts which are only going to be increasing in the future and the town isn’t growing enough to cover these growing debts. Discussion ensued about the impact of the WiredWest bond article. High speed internet access is crucial to the future of the town and collecting residential taxes; people don’t want to live in a town that doesn’t have access to high speed internet.
6. Julio Rodriguez came in to report on the Veteran’s Memorial Committee meeting held this morning. They have planned out the service to be held at the park. They will need 2 more stone markers which are going to cost about $6,000 each. He is requesting that $1,000 be put on the warrant for this year to start building a fund. The Board will need to check on how this type of account should be set up to allow a fund to accrue money rather than being spent right away. The Board agreed to place this on the warrant pending the correct article wording and confirmation with the State that it should be done this way.
7. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. FY16 renewal proposal for property and liability worker’s comp insurance. This was signed and will be mailed back.
8. Administrative Assistant’s weekly report was reviewed.
9. Warrants were signed.
The board met with Director of Operations, Shawn Tryon to review the following:
1. Transfer Station: Plans for the redesign of the transfer station as well as preliminary estimates for the project which came in at $353,314. These were all single price estimates which include contingencies, once it goes out to bid it will go out as a whole project versus by job. Dennis asked about the health and safety issue of any methane migration and the potential impact from the old landfill since the new location of the transfer station is proposed to be closer to the old landfill than the existing station (by 100 feet at most) as well as any liability issues. There were questions about whether our previous dump was actually a landfill. Shawn suggested that they would look into methane monitoring if this is the case. Shawn stated that we have been working with DEP and other
numerous agencies and will follow the proper permitting procedures. Dennis suggested that a Solid Waste Engineer should be called in to run any tests to test for methane. The Board will certainly look into this as they would not want to be responsible for any harm to anyone. It was suggested that the solid waste advisory committee or task force be reconstituted to look at the issues and hold off on presenting this to the town until all pertinent information can be sought to bring to the voters so that they may vote intelligently. The Board was asked why pursuing this now is such a pressing issue, what dangers exist that is propelling this forward. The Board stated that the current station is deteriorating (one resident called it an abomination) and poses several safety issues for staff, residents and haulers. Kenn felt that putting the project off will just make it worse and more expensive. Shawn will start looking into the concerns that
were brought forward tonight. A motion was made to keep it on the warrant which was seconded and approved.
2. Town hall roof: We only received one estimate which was for $25,500 (asphalt shingles). An estimate for doing half the roof with metal roofing has not been received yet but originally it was $60,000 for the whole building. It was suggested to put an article on for $30,000 which presumably would cover half the roof with metal and the other half (the newer portion of the building) could be done at a later date. The amount could always be changed on town meeting floor if need be. A motion was made to put the article on for $30,000. This was seconded and approved.
3. Kenn reported that the cost of replacing the 40 culverts on Main Rd.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 5:45pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Administrative Assistant
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
Town Clerk
Documents received at this meeting:
1. Longrangespreadsheet
2. TrnfStationProposal
These are attached to the hard copy of the minutes located at town hall.
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