Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 6/15/15
Meeting Opened at: 4:15pm
Select Board Members Present: Scott Jenssen, Chairperson, Kenn Basler and Steve Weisz
Also in attendance for parts of the meeting: Jacob Edelman for the Monterey News, Barbara Gauthier, Ray Tryon, Mike Mielke, Joe Kellogg, Catherine Twing, Berkshire Record reporter, Shawn Tryon and Larry Klein
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. Barbara Gauthier came in to report that after giving it more consideration she has decided not to resign as the Municipal Financial Consultant. She reviewed the current expense reports and what accounts can and should be carried forward and which should go back to free cash and provided a timeline of financial tasks that need to be done and when throughout the year.
2. The Board signed a special town meeting warrant for Monday, June 29th at 7pm at the firehouse which will have one article to see if the Town will vote to transfer and carry over $50,000 out of account 422 Highway Maintenance and $50,000 out of account 429 Highway Capital FY15 budget to be put into a special revenue account named "Account for Repair of New Marlboro Bridge" with the understanding that this money will be spent after the close of fiscal year 2015, or take any other action relative thereto.
3. The Board reviewed the candidates that were interviewed last week for the Transfer Station Manager position. Winston Wilson has withdrawn his name for consideration. The Board would like to offer the position to both Ben and David. The proposal is to have both individuals work on Saturdays and Sundays together and alternate Wednesdays for at least the busy months to be reevaluated later in the year. Doing this will take some of the stress off the Highway Department to cover any absences. The individuals will be offered $18/hour which will still be less than what we were paying for one individual through the Master Garbologist. This position does not come with benefits and there will be a 3 month probationary period. The Board feels that by having the 2 employees work the
weekends it will save the town money in the long run by being able to control what is being tossed and who is tossing it (preventing unstickered cars from dumping). The Board would like them to start asap. Both applicants were called during the meeting and accepted the position starting work this Wednesday.
4. Steve has spoken with another company (govpaynet) that can accept credit cards however we still run into the issue of how to pass the fees along to the payee. The city of West Springfield currently uses this system and Steve has gotten a positive review of the system.
5. Kenn reported that he has spoken to counsel with regards to continuing the contract with Master Garbologist for the next year and he didn’t have any concerns.
6. The Board met with Joe Kellogg to discuss the following:
a. The Board would like to hire Joe as a consultant and felt that Joe should start by spending time in the town hall evaluating the departments and how they currently function and to make recommendations to the Board on how things might be improved which may include the implementation of a Town Administrator. Joe recommended that the first step should be creating a job description for a Town Administrator and the Select Board to determine what exactly it is the Board is looking for. He stated that the Town Administrator would report to the Board and would have no independent authority. Joe stated that to have an Administrator be effective the Board should not go into the hiring of one believing that they will be doing clerical work and that those functions would most likely remain
with the Administrative Assistant. Joe recommended that if the Board does decide to go forward with a Town Administrator it would be best to have the Board be unanimous rather than 2 to 1.
b. The Board questioned how the Board can become more involved and educated about what they should be doing and what should be delegated to a Town Administrator or Administrative Assistant. Joe suggested that maybe once a month he attend a Select Board meeting where a set of 10 questions could be asked and reviewed to help the Board better understand the jobs of all the departments within the town.
c. The Board would also like help with reviewing the current job descriptions of all the departments and how the implementation of a Town Administrator might affect the current job descriptions of the departments within town hall.
d. The Board is going to look at the job descriptions of surrounding towns for their Boards and Town Administrators and draft one for Monterey that suits the Board’s needs. Once that is done Joe will come back (sometime after July) and he will be able to consult a few hours a week.
7. Larry Klein came in to discuss the following:
a. The issues with the rifles on Memorial Day – he stated that only a few fire and they all jam. He asked that whoever has possession of the rifles send them out for reconditioning; he wasn’t sure who was responsible for this and requested that the Board follow up on it. Larry stated he did ask Sgt. Johnson about this as he had handled this in the past and was told he no longer has anything to do with this. Sgt Johnson will be coming in on another issue and the Board will speak to him about this then.
b. Larry inquired about a grant application received for MBI in the value of $5,000 which would be used as seed money to help start the planning of the wiring. Larry stated that the application is onerous but responsibility of acting on our behalf to prepare the grant can be granted to WiredWest. The Board asked for clarification on who the money would go to; if WiredWest fills out the grant application WiredWest will direct where the money goes and if Monterey fills it out themselves we would have the final decision in deciding where the money will go in the design process. It was noted that Monterey has passed the 40% sign up requirement; the towns that have passed this mark will be the first towns to be designed out. Kenn made a motion to sign the grant application
allowing WiredWest to prepare on our behalf.
c. Larry stated that he was informed by Monica that Adam Chait has requested an Executive Session for trade secret purposes; he wanted to clarify that this is only allowed for municipal energy plants and not for private companies and WiredWest is concerned about Monterey allowing him to meet in Executive Session possibly setting a precedent for other towns meeting with Adam. Kenn stated he felt that WiredWest is crazy to push back on this and it doesn’t help WiredWest’s cause. Our counsel has already advised the Board that we can meet with Adam in Executive Session and if WiredWest wants to fight it with the Attorney General so be it. Larry thanked the Board for the support they’ve given WiredWest and is by no means questioning their integrity. WiredWest’s concern with any private companies (and there are more than just Adam’s) being allowed to discuss trade secrets in Executive Session are with regards to being able to openly encourage competition.
8. The Board denied M. Noe’s request to be reimbursed for legal fees incurred with regards to the Town Hall Structure Advisory Committee not adhering to the Executive Session Open Meeting Law.
9. The Board asked M. Noe to schedule Brendan to come in next week to update the Board on the end of year figures and status.
10. Kenn gave an update on the enforcement order that was issued in 2012 for work the town did at the dam on Beartown Mtn Rd; the remediation has been completed and this will be closed out at the next Conservation Commission meeting in July.
11. Kenn reported on the meeting with DOT, Smitty Pignatelli, Shawn Tryon and the person in charge of bridges regarding the New Marlboro Rd bridge. In their minds this bridge project has a million dollar price tag on it under the state’s standards ($90,000 of which would be for engineers). Kenn has spoken with Chris Blair of the Conservation Commission about what will be required to be permitted for the work. Temporary bridge options were discussed.
12. Kenn noted that Shawn has reached out to M. Noe for help; M. Noe reported that this meeting went well.
13. A suggestion was made to hire someone from Monterey that would be responsible for seeking available grants, present them to the Board and apply for those that the Board felt were worth applying for; if successful the grant writer would be offered a percentage of the grant total. Steve has one person that comes to mind that might be interested; he will follow up with this person.
14. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. Sanitary report for the water company.
b. Revised Master Garbologist contract was accepted and signed.
15. Administrative Assistant’s weekly report was reviewed.
16. Warrants were signed.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 6:42pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Administrative Assistant
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
Town Clerk
Documents received at this meeting:
1. FinancialTimeline
2. RevisedMGContract
These are attached to the hard copy of the minutes located at town hall.
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