Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 6/20/16
Meeting Opened at: 8:30am
Select Board Members Present: Kenn Basler, Chairperson, Steve Weisz and Carol Edelman
Also in attendance: Chief Backhaus, Shaun Courtney, Mike Germain, Hy Rosen, Adam Chait, Bonner McAllester, Pat Solomon, Julio Rodriguez, Shawn Tryon, Kelly Tryon, Richard Jaffe
The Board met with Police Chief, Gareth Backhaus to discuss the following:
1. The Board met with Shaun Courtney. Police Backhaus requested Shaun be appointed as a reserve intermittent part time officer. A motion was made to appoint Shaun Courtney as a reserve intermittent part time officer for a 1 year probationary term. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
2. The Board inquired about the bear(s) that have been roaming town one of which has 2 red tags. The Chief stated that the police have received calls about them. He recommends that people refrain from putting bird feeders out and storing garbage outside or in garages. He stated that he can shoot them with rubber bullets to deter them from coming back as a last resort.
Miscellaneous Items Reviewed:
1. The minutes from 5/23, 5/31, 6/6 & 6/13/16 and were approved with amendments. Kenn stated that he will no longer be a part of the approval process of the minutes as he feels they are inappropriate.
2. The Board reviewed the candidates interviewed for the grant writer position. Discussion ensued about hiring multiple people for the position and dividing up the grants based on each person’s area of expertise and our needs. The Board is going to approach this as a pilot program. The Board will send their key areas to focus on finding available grants for to M. Noe to compile into 1 large list and will continue this discussion next week.
3. Carol did follow up with the Accountant on the payroll issues she was having and this is all set.
4. Carol left a message with the Town Clerk about returning the Board of Health recorder she borrowed for the annual town meeting. Kenn is going to come in tomorrow to resolve this issue.
5. Kenn stated that he has spoken with the Treasurer regarding the distribution of paychecks; she has stated that she will be available in her office from 10 – 2 on Thursdays and they can be picked up there and/or she will distribute them before she leaves.
6. The Board has had no response from the Treasurer with regards to setting up the credit card system for the transfer station – Kenn will follow up on this with Jen tomorrow.
7. Kenn has requested that the Finance Committee become more involved with the Treasurer to create a better system.
8. The Treasurer has not responded to the request made by the Board to come to a future meeting on a date that will work for her.
9. The Treasurer has received the required bond.
10. With regards to unsecured cash in the Treasurer’s Office – M. Noe has given the Treasurer her old locked, fireproof safe.
11. Bulletin/announcement board in front of Town Hall – Steve suggested that this Board be used for town functions only, and not for individual groups. These groups should use the bulletin boards available at the post office or general store. This policy was approved unanimously.
12. The Board met with members of the Friends of Lake Garfield to discuss the following:
a. NOI filed to use herbicides in Lake Garfield – the Con Comm is working on this currently. The FLG is working on draft conditions that the Con Comm has requested which will include not using herbicides during the banned timeframe. The FLG confirmed they will not be withdrawing the application. For the record it was also noted that there is at least one confirmed home using the lake as their drinking supply; the Board of Health is aware and looking into this.
b. It was noted that the Board is in the process of forming a working Lake Garfield panel to review the management of the lake involving a broader group of townspeople to present the best possible solution for the lake management. The Board is working on a mission statement for this committee. Mike requested that this committee also help with finances such as where to spend grant funds received and getting assistance with the boat ramp. Pat Solomon suggested that the committee should be comprised of people that will be able to reach a consensus and not people from opposing sides that will be unable to find a solution.
c. The FLG asked about finding someone that is interested in and has a boat to act as the Harbormaster for Lake Garfield.
d. FLG will be roping off the areas where milfoil is to prevent boats from spreading it further in the lake – according to the FLG approval from DCR has been received.
13. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. Letter of interest from Alice Berke to be on the Lake Garfield panel committee.
b. Letter of interest from Roy Carwile to be on the Town Administrator resume review committee.
c. 2 additional letters of support for the Building Commissioner.
14. Kelly Tryon, Chair of the Parks Commission came in to have the Board sign the contract for FY17 with Berkshire South Regional Community Center. Movie night will be Saturday, August 6th and the movie will be Madagascar. 2 kayak racks with space for 12 kayaks will be purchased July 1st and will be available on a first come first serve basis and those using it will need to provide their own locks; the Parks Department will not be responsible for any lost or damaged property. Swim lessons will be held the first week of August. The Parks Commission will be looking into replacing the playground equipment next year.
15. Police Chief’s weekly report was reviewed.
16. The Administrative Assistant’s weekly report was reviewed.
17. As July 4th is a holiday the Board agreed to hold a working meeting on Tuesday the 5th at 3pm to work solely on the Town Administrator job description and reappointments. Carol felt that she was not qualified yet to know what a Town Administrator should do and suggested that Kenn and Steve should take the lead on this.
18. Kenn will be meeting with the Accountant tonight and the Treasurer tomorrow and hopes that a way to move forward can be solidified. Steve requested that during the meeting with Jen if a request can also be made of her in her capacity as Town Clerk to make sure that all elected and appointed officials have been sworn in.
19. Steve requested permission to consult with Town Counsel regarding the NOI filed by the Friends of Lake Garfield and their intention to move forward with the use of herbicides, under the Order of Conditions that the herbicides cannot be used during the town ban. The Board granted him that permission.
20. Carol inquired about the process of the school meetings and such. It is assumed that our School Committee rep attends all the meetings held. The formula for calculating district numbers was discussed.
The Board met with Director of Operations/Fire Chief, Shawn Tryon to discuss the following:
1. Fire truck equipment to be purchased: tack hose, suction hose, fittings to be replaced and added to, stokes basket, truck radio, portable radio, vet fan, vent saw and SCVA bottles totaling $40,000. The truck is moving along nicely and should be delivered mid to end of July. Total cost of the truck with equipment after trading in the old truck will be $637,000 ($650,000 was approved at town meeting).
2. The Board requested a list from Shawn for upcoming needs for the fire and highway departments to be forwarded to the grant writer to see if there are any available funds. Shawn said it would be easier to know what grants are available for what types of things to determine if those are things that Monterey needs.
3. The fire department received a $2,000 matching grant a few months ago; they will be reapplying for this again.
4. The concrete has been pored at the new transfer station; backfill still needs to be completed which will most likely be sometime in the beginning of July. Then MD Amstead will build the building and then we’ll need an electrician to hook up the power.
5. Pricing out a contractor for the new transfer station – Shawn would like to start this process as soon as possible and suggests that we solicit quotes but not put this out to bid as is allowed under the procurement laws – the Board concurred.
6. RT 23 – there was an issue with the contract specs for the road, the state requires a minimum for the depths of the blacktop and Foresight Engineer that drew the plans miscalculated for a total potential overrun of $179,500, there may be a surplus of materials that could lower this but we won’t know until the end of the project. The Board feels that the engineer should be responsible for this and will consult with Counsel on the matter.
7. Machinery and gravel contracts – we can renew for one more year with the current bid holders before we need to put it back out to bid. The Board will review the current contracts and make a decision on this next Monday.
8. Shawn inquired about the rumor heard that the Finance Committee is going to start requiring purchase orders. Shawn noted that this will prove to be extremely difficult and prohibitive for the highway department. The Board was unaware of this.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:45am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Administrative Assistant
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
Town Clerk
Documents reviewed at the meeting which is available at town hall attached to the minutes:
- Torricosupportltrs
- LtrinterestLGcomm
- LtrinterestTAresrevcomm
| 
