Monterey Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 8/31/15
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: Jill Pajka for the Monterey News, Joe Kellogg, Bethany Mielke, Brendan Fletcher, Robert Lazzarini, Muriel Lazzarini, Susan Gallant, Ray Tryon and Mike Mielke Jr.
The board met with Town Accountant, Brendan Fletcher and Treasurer, Bethany Meilke to review the following:
1. They are almost reconciled. Right now there is an excess of $40k which is most likely a double entry, Mari has agreed to look over the Treasurer and Accountant’s reports tomorrow to see if she can find where the error may be. Brendan is hoping to have the entire end of year forms completed by the end of this week which aren’t due until October.
2. Brendan reviewed the end of year reports/numbers for FY15. We were under budget by approximately ¼ million dollars. Scott inquired how this affects our levy limit; no answer was provided.
3. Payroll: Bethany stated that we are all set for a Sept 5th start date and everything has been worked out with the Fire Departments payroll submission for their hourly employees on a monthly basis. Kenn suggested looking into going to an every other week payroll to try and save money.
4. Steve requested Bethany’s presence here as soon as possible to help finish the set up of the govpaynet credit card system. Bethany stated that she’s available Monday evenings which doesn’t work for Steve due to the Select Board meetings. They will work on setting up a time that works for both.
5. Bethany asked about the “term of treasurer” item on the special town meeting list and what it meant. The Board explained that they are going to try to make the term of treasurer 1 year instead of 3 so that if the town accepts to change the position of treasurer to appointed from elected so that it would become appointed after 1 year instead of after 3.
6. Brendan submitted his 2 week resignation due to personal reasons.
7. Bethany submitted her resignation as well but it was unclear whether it was effective immediately or in 2 weeks. Mike Mielke suggested that the Board should’ve seen this coming and felt that Kenn played a huge role in this happening as he’s never been supportive. Steve will call Counsel to find out how this position is temporarily filled being that it is an elected position.
Miscellaneous Select Board Items Reviewed:
1. The Board asked Joe Kellogg to come in as a consultant to assess the current town hall departments/operations and make recommendations to the Board. Joe stated that he is not available to do this but emphasized based on his experience that it is really important to have all 3 Select Board members on board with hiring a Town Administrator (TA) before interviewing and hiring someone. If a Town Administrator is hired it basically needs to be a team of 4 (the TA and the Board). He recommended creating a job description first and deciding what kind of authority the TA would have and then once a TA is hired they would come in and sit with the various departments to observe and help expand/amend the job description to reflect what is actually needed versus what people might think is missing. He
noted that with a TA the Select Board is still the authority for the town. Scott was hesitant to create a job description for a job he isn’t aware of what the responsibilities for it are. When asked about one Select Board member spending time in town hall; Joe stated that it is an absolute positive to have a Select Board member spend as much time as possible in town hall as long as everyone understands that one member has no legal authority to make decisions without at least one other member of the Board during a publically posted meeting. He also commented that while it is a positive to have one member in town hall all members should be aware that they should not be working on projects in a solo manner; all Board members should have the same knowledge on all matters. Joe was asked to give the typical requirements of a TA; he suggested a Bachelor’s and 5 years’ experience or a combination of both. A less qualified person is
acceptable if their personality fits with the existing employees. Joe stated that a realistic salary range for a part time TA would be $30-40k for 20 hours a week with benefits and reiterated that a part time TA will need a full time clerical staff and didn’t see any necessary changes to the current administrative position that exists now and stated that this positions workload will most likely increase as they would now also be administrative support for the TA. The Board agreed to review surrounding town job descriptions for TA’s and begin working on a template for Monterey as well as getting town meeting approval for a TA salary and benefits. Steve was asked to explain why he’s not fully on Board with hiring a TA right now; he feels that an experienced TA would certainly be helpful but an inexperienced TA could create an additional burden to the Board and he’s skeptical and concerned what kind of applicant’s would be available for
the money Monterey can offer – he referenced what New Marlborough went through and how long it took them to find someone. He’s concerned that Monterey will fall in love with the idea of a TA but will end up with someone that is basically a placeholder because the right candidate can’t be found due to potential salary constraints.
2. A motion was made to allow Michael Banner to collect under the Senior Tax Abatement Program for the mowing done at the Community Center. This motin was seconded and approved unanimously.
3. Town Counsel was contacted during the meeting to schedule an emergency meeting to discuss all of the items that have arisen at tonight’s meeting. A meeting was scheduled for 4pm on Thursday. Kenn asked that M. Noe prepare a packet for each Board member of the ethics information she provided him at his request last week.
4. Steve reported that there was an illegal dumping at the transfer station over the weekend; the trash was gone through and the video will be reviewed and the Police will be asked to follow up with the perpetrator based on the identifying info found. Kenn suggested that a policy be created to address violators with corresponding fines.
5. Discussion ensued and accusations were thrown about with regards to a concern M. Noe had with the accuracy of the information provided to the new payroll company. It was noted that any involvement M. Noe had with the payroll program was given to her by way of the Board voting to make her a backup.
6. With a growing frustration over the resignations and in Scott’s opinion unchanging discord in town hall, Scott cancelled the teambuilding event scheduled for next Wednesday stating that he is sick of everything going on in town hall.
7. The Board Signed the Disclosure by Non-Elected Municipal Employee of Financial Interest and Determination by Appointing Authority as Required by G.L. c. 268A, §19 for Shawn Tryon with regards to his father and brother’s businesses.
8. The Board approved a help wanted ad for the Accountant position.
9. A suggestion was made with regards to the creation of a TA position that the Board reconsider hiring the Collins Center out of UMASS to come in and make an independent report relative to the organization and operations of the Town. Kenn and Steve both thought this was a good idea and worth looking into, Scott was not present for the conversation but will be brought up to speed at the next meeting.
10. Administrative Assistant’s weekly report was reviewed. Approval was given to attend the Berkshire Managers Meeting on Sept 10th as well as to take a personal day on Sept 2nd.
11. Warrants were signed.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 6:25pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Administrative Assistant
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
Town Clerk
Documents received at this meeting:
1. BMielkeresignationltr
2. BFletcherresignationltr
These are attached to the hard copy of the minutes located at town hall.
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