Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 7/25/16
Meeting Opened at: 3:58pm
Select Board Members Present: Kenn Basler, Chairperson, Steve Weisz and Carol Edelman
Also in attendance: Shawn Tryon, Emily Johnson, Terry Walker, Eugene Bounous, Adam Chait
The Board met with Director of Operations, Shawn Tryon with regards to the following:
1. Terry Walker, recently hired grant writer came in to meet and discuss grant opportunities for the highway and fire departments with the Board and Shawn. Shawn and Terry will exchange contact info and begin seeking opportunities based on the department’s needs.
2. Gazebo on fire company property – Shawn states that this was purchased by the town several years ago and ended up on the fire company property. The gazebo needs a new roof and Shawn would like to know if the town is going to pay for it. As an alternative, he suggested that the town dispose of the gazebo or donate the gazebo to the fire company. He stated that this will also need to be relocated at some point. Steve suggested it be given to the fire company. Kenn would like to find out who purchased it, what group was involved and consult with them on the options and issues; M. Noe was asked to see what she could find out.
3. New transfer station is 90% backfilled; M. D. Amstead is on notice to be ready to start construction.
4. The Board has concerns about traffic and parking during the repaving of the town center. They would like to be informed in advance, so that all property owners & businesses (the General Store) can be prepared..
5. At the Boards request, the Fire Chief and the Police Chief will be making a site visit to 126 Tyringham Rd (the property that will be holding a public event on Saturday, July 30th). Steve noted that he did speak with one of the organizers and asked that they notify all the immediate abutters with the event details and contact information. He noted that the organizer understood the reasons, and was happy to comply with the request. It was suggested that this be added as a condition to any event permit request that reaches a certain attendance threshold. It was also noted that if additional officers are needed, the applicant should be responsible for the detail rate.
6. The new fire truck should be delivered this Friday or early next week.
Miscellaneous Items Reviewed:
1. Mail was reviewed which included:
a. Open Meeting Law violation filed by Rudy Gero against the Board.
b. Letter from the SBRSD with regards to the money allocated to repair the Monterey School and an upcoming BG&T meeting to discuss the money.
2. Payroll and vendor warrants were signed.
3. Eugene Bounous came in with regards to his concerns about the cell tower road maintenance. Eugene stated that the tower company will be sending out a crew this week. Kenn did let Eugene know that the ongoing maintenance doesn’t fall under the purview of the town and that any future concerns would need to be handled between Eugene and the tower company.
4. Eugene also noted that National Grid came and cleaned up the mess however they did not chop up the wood left near his house and also did not remove the debris from his neighbors house.
5. Kenn stated that the Board all received an email from Jen Brown that she will be resigning as Treasurer and Town Clerk effective August 11, 2016. Kenn did speak to town counsel regarding the matter; since both these positions are elected, the Select Board has the ability and the right to appoint persons to fill these positions until the town election in May. Steve has spoken with Nadine Hawver (previous Assistant Town Clerk) and she is willing to come back. Kenn has had preliminary conversations with Sue Funk (previous Town Treasurer) about returning, as well. Kenn will also be meeting with Jen tomorrow to set up a transition for an overlap, if Sue and Nadine are interested. The Board is also going to begin educating the public and doing their research to try and change the Treasurer position to
appointed. Everyone was in agreement with bringing back Nadine and Sue. The resignation will need to be filed and accepted with the Town Clerk.
6. The Board approved the cost of the help wanted ad for the Town Administrator for the Berkshire Eagle.
7. The Board unanimously approved the theatrical event permit request for Boxxa’s Berkshire Bash on August 13th from 7 – 10:30pm at the firehouse.
8. With regards to the theatrical event permit request for 126 Tyringham Rd on July 30th from 12 – 10pm, Steve has concerns that the son of the property owner is applying for the permit rather than the property owner. This permit was also unanimously approved and it was suggested that a copy of the social host laws be provided with the permit.
9. Kenn reported that the representative from the DOR will be coming in to perform their audit on August 2nd and Kenn will be arranging the interviews with various departments.
10. The Board discussed the scope of services received with regards to the grant received for Lake Garfield. Steve had a concern about the matching funds and where the $6,725 is coming from; the Town or FLG. Kenn’s understanding is that we went forward in submitting the grant in good faith and now the money would need to be requested from the voters.
11. With regards to the tax district act sent to the legislature it was suggested that the Board write out their specific concerns with the act and something will be compiled and sent to the legislature outlining the concerns.
12. Kenn will be the alternate to the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission for FY17.
13. The Police Chief’s weekly report was reviewed. Kenn is going to request that dates and times be added to the report. The Board is also going to inquire about the missing event that happened in town on his report.
14. Kenn noted that he has residents voice their concerns about Officer Fredsall being over zealous with the issuing of tickets. The Board is very pleased with the work of Officer Fredsall.
15. Discussion ensued about time-off requests for Fridays during the months of June and July, as these requests often leave Town Hall unstaffed on Fridays. Steve suggested that to solve this, the Select Board meetings be moved from Mondays to Wednesdays. This would allow for Town Hall to be regularly staffed on Fridays, because employees could use their time-off days on Mondays (instead of Fridays). He stated that a Friday staffed Town Hall would work better for servicing townspeople and second homeowners. It was also suggested that Fridays be a part of the Town Administrator’s schedule when hired. Everyone was in agreement with changing the meetings to Wednesdays beginning Sept 7th. It was noted that the Council on Aging will need to be consulted with about the possibility of changing
their meeting times, as it would be a conflict for use of the room. Carol suggested that it also makes more sense to keep them at 9am as there doesn’t seem to be anyone showing up at the 4pm meetings.
16. The Board reviewed and discussed the persons that have shown interest in serving on the Town Administrator Resume Review Committee. The Board unanimously appointed the following people Jon Sylbert, Don Clawson, Stan Ross, Chris Blair, Roy Carwile, Melissa Noe and Ray Tryon. A letter will be sent to all the committee members.
17. The special town meeting was set for September 29th; M. Noe will check the availability of the moderator and the Clerk.
18. It was suggested that the Broadband Committee should start submitting weekly updates to be sent out through our email update program.
19. Carol reported that she has been researching lake scientists in our area.
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
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