Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 7/13/15
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, Gareth Backhaus, Jennifer Brown, Stanley Ross and Maria Rundle
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The Board reappointed Gareth Backhaus as the Chief of Police for a 1 year term.
2. After meeting with the Town Clerk (see below) discussion ensued about how to “remove personalities” when dealing with issues to help town hall run more efficiently and effectively. Discussion ensued about whether or not this was an argument for hiring a Town Administrator; Steve felt that a Town Administrator is still going to run into the same roadblocks the Board is (especially with regards to elected officials) but at a much higher salary. The Board will continue the discussion next week on whether or not they want to hire a separate person to sell transfer station stickers and answer general questions on Saturdays as well as to possibly cover other time frames and duties when the Administrative Assistant takes time off. Steve will volunteer to come in this Saturday to work from
10-12 selling transfer station stickers.
3. After meeting with the Police Chief and the Town Clerk separately (see below) Kenn stated that he doesn’t feel that the current liaison system is working properly and has concerns that employees and elected officials have are not being passed along to the entire Board. Scott and Steve noted that time off requests reported to an employee’s liaison also are not being reported to the Board as a whole. The Board will continue working on this new system to remove any bugs.
4. Kenn stated that he reviewed the summary on page 14 of the most recent Beacon with the Chief on how to deescalate situations and suggested that the Board members should also read it.
5. Administrative Assistant’s weekly report was reviewed. M. Noe was granted permission to attend the monthly Berkshire Manager’s meeting tomorrow and was asked to find out from the other managers how they deal with Saturday services.
6. The Board unanimously approved the special event permit request for Monteryfest (non-theatrical, no music, no alcohol).
7. The Board asked M. Noe to schedule Joe Kellogg to come to a meeting in August to request he come in and assess all offices and give the Board a recommendation of what the current status is and what direction we should move in.
The board met with Chief of Police, Gareth Backhaus to review the following:
1. Police contract renewal: The Board reviewed the items they wanted amended with the Chief as well as items they wanted further explanation on including allowing Chiefs to be eligible for details. Steve noted that going forward this contract should be prepared and presented by the Board and not by the Chief.
2. Weekly report was reviewed.
3. Coverage downtown on weekends: The Board would like to have coverage directing traffic downtown on the weekends; The Chief explained that in the past this was done by new officers being trained and we don’t currently have anyone being trained. The Chief is actively looking for new officers and will try to arrange for a temporary solution in the meantime.
4. Speeding on all roads: The Board has received several complaints about speeding in several areas of town. The Chief is looking into purchasing more permanent speed signs like the one located near the school and will increase radar.
5. The Board discussed with the Chief the possibility of keeping the cruiser instead of trading it in and using it as a backup and or deterrent as they do in other towns. The Chief suggested that they look at the condition of the old cruiser when the new one arrives and assess the situation then.
The board met with Town Clerk, Jennifer Brown to review the following:
1. Jen informed the Board that she has appointed a new Assistant Town Clerk (Nadine Hawver) that is willing and able to cover town hall on Fridays and every other Saturday if the Board would like to hire her for that.
2. Jen stated that for the time being she will no longer be open on Saturdays as she found it difficult to perform Clerk duties when people were coming in looking for items not handled by the Clerk. After conversations with Jen, Scott clarified that the state statutes are clear that the items the Board is looking to be handled on Saturdays are not Clerk functions and if the Board is interested in having someone here to field questions and issue transfer station stickers the Board will need to look at hiring someone themselves. Scott also noted that the Clerk’s position is an elected position and the Board needs to respect this. Steve thanked Jen for offering this compromise and felt that it will get us closer to the goal of meeting the resident’s needs. When asked about Saturdays
Jen stated that the reason she stopped holding office hours on Saturdays temporarily was because she didn’t like the way she was being treated by the Board specifically Kenn; she felt that it wasn’t fair that Kenn was coming into town hall, ignoring her office and making things uncomfortable. She also noted that she is the 4th Town Clerk that hasn’t had Saturday hours over the last few years; she’s not against working them she just needs a break at the moment. Scott stated that the onus is on the Board to fill Saturdays as was done when we realized that we needed town employees to run the transfer station.
At 5:13pm the Board discussed the need to go into Executive Session as per MGL Chapter 30A §21(a)9. Roll call was taken by the Chair. All Select Board members were present as was Maria Rundle. A motion was made by to go into executive session, seconded, and approved unanimously. The Board agreed that they would not return to an open session.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 5:13pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Administrative Assistant
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
Town Clerk
| 
