Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 8/29/16
Meeting Opened at: 4pm
Select Board Members Present: Kenn Basler, Chairperson, Steve Weisz and Carol Edelman
Also in attendance: Ray Tryon, Shawn Tryon, Representatives from the companies submitting bids, Glenn Heller, Richard Jaffe, Stanley Ross, Kay Purcell, Rudy Gero and his attorney, Pat Salomon
At 4pm the Board held a bid opening for the Multi-Road Resurfacing Project. The following bids were received:
- LB Corporation (did not submit the correct amended application): $635,558.00
- Palmer Paving: $628,362.70
- Lane Construction: $589,886.75
- HMA Contracting Corp: $630,334.71
- DelSignore: $567,990.93
The Director of Operations will review the bids submitted and report back next week.
Miscellaneous Items Reviewed:
1. The Board met with the Director of Operations and Fire Chief with regards to the following:
a. Drainage work has begun at Tyringham and Hupi Rds. and should last approximately 7 days.
b. Prepping for blacktop work has also begun.
c. Transfer station floor has been poured and will need to cure for at least one week and then MD Amstead will start on the building construction.
d. RT23: The contractor is dragging their feet – Shawn and MASSDot are pushing to get them here asap to finish the driveway aprons, especially at the town hall.
e. Roadside mowing is taking place for the fall.
f. Fire department has given permission for fireworks on Lake Buel over Labor Day weekend.
g. Ray inquired as to what will happen with the swap shack at the new transfer station. The Board is looking at all the options.
h. The fire truck is here, Shawn is waiting on the certificate of origin to register it. It has been completely outfitted. 2 training sessions have been scheduled for this week for the firemen with more to follow.
i. The fire department had a rescue call for a hiker on the Appalachian Trail.
2. The Board signed the response to Rudy Gero’s open meeting law complaint which will be sent to the Attorney General’s office tomorrow. A copy was provided to R. Gero.
3. R. Gero submitted a response to the complaint filed by L. Thorpe dated June 27, 2016.
4. The Board discussed the question raised by Emily Johnson as to whether or not they would/could fine parties that did not get a permit for a special event. The Board is going to review the whole process at a later date. It was noted that the Board of Health and Select Board has the authority to fine but there isn’t anything in writing with a fee schedule.
5. The Board discussed the postponement of appointing the members to the Lake Garfield Working Group. It was noted that no one from the Parks, Con Comm or Board of Health have submitted any interested parties. The FLG asked that 2 alternates be appointed and the Board felt that those appointed should be committed to attending every meeting and this should be a discussion for the committee. The first meeting has been set for Monday, September 12th with an alternate date of the 26th at 7pm. A motion was made to appoint Ed Mandelbaum and Greg Carnese as the 2 Friends of Lake Garfield members and Eric Danforth, Alice Berke, Christine Goldfinger and Steve Snyder as the 4 community members. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously. Steve Weisz was already
appointed on June 6, 2016.
6. Update on the Clerk’s office: Terry Walker started work this weekend. Nadine Hawver helped out on Saturday and will be available by phone going forward. The Clerk in New Marlborough has offered assistance 5 hours a week through the November elections. Terry is still working on what her regular schedule will be but it will include Tuesday from 4 – 7 and Saturday 10 – 2 and one weekday. Steve asked that a final schedule be determined a.s.a.p. as the town hall is receiving a lot of inquiries.
7. Carol updated the Board on the school situation: Carol will be attending the meeting scheduled for tomorrow night. The Board signed the letter that will be brought to the meeting and mailed to the school committee with regards to the $10,000. Steve reported that he and the Building Commissioner will be doing a walk thru of the Monterey School on Friday at 10:30; all Board members are welcome to attend and Scott Jenssen, former selectman and contractor will also be asked to attend. The Board discussed another assessment error due to new minimum contribution numbers set by the state that will need to be dealt with by either budget cuts by the school or 3 towns asking for more money at a special town meeting.
8. The municipal energy seminar in September conflicts with the new Select Board meeting time, that particular meeting will either be moved to 10:30am or cancelled as Steve will be out of town.
9. The Board signed a letter to Smitty Pignatelli informing him of the need to have another vote on the tax district proposed for Lake Garfield.
10. The Board discussed the request made by the Town Administrator Resume Review Committee for a Word version of the Town Administrator job description. The Board agreed but noted that there shouldn’t be any changes made without meeting with the Select Board as a whole.
11. The Board discussed the email received from Jon Sylbert of the Finance Committee requesting that the Board delay the special town meeting 2 weeks (October 6th) as they have not been included in the process. Jon presented a section from the Finance Committee Handbook that contradicts what is in the Selectman’s Handbook regarding who is ultimately in charge of presenting and preparing the budget. The DOR was consulted and stated that the most effective way is for the Select Board to prepare the budget and work with the Finance Committee. The Board understands that if they go ahead with the meeting on the 22nd the Finance Committee will recommend not approving any of the items. It was mentioned that if the Finance Committee really wants to make an issue of
inclusion then they should be prepared to hold an informational meeting with regards to financial items prior to any town meeting not just the annual one. The Board was also surprised by this request as 2 members of the Finance Committee were present at a Select Board meeting when the money items were being discussed and the other items have been in the minutes for the last few months. The Board will reach out again for a joint meeting since the Finance Committee did not show up tonight. It should also be noted that the meeting was originally scheduled for Sept 29th and the Assessors requested that it be moved earlier to Sept 22nd. It was agreed to postpone the special to a tentative date of 10/6 and the Fin Comm and Select Board will have a joint meeting at 5pm on 9/6.
12. Warrants were signed.
13. Minutes from 8/20 and 8/22/16 were approved.
14. Administrative Assistant’s weekly report was reviewed.
15. Police Chief’s weekly report was reviewed. It was noted that times and dates of sensitive nature calls will not be noted on his reports for privacy issues.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 5:50pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Administrative Assistant
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
Town Clerk
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