Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 7/5/17
Meeting Opened at: 9:03am
Select Board Members Present: Steve Weisz, Chairperson, Carol Edelman and Kenneth Basler
Also in attendance: Maryellen Brown, Tom Roy, Dennis Lynch, Ray Tryon
Miscellaneous Items Reviewed:
- Friday’s Special Town Meeting was recapped. All articles passed by a comfortable margin.
- The Board discussed one member of the Finance Committee’s requests to hold meetings in the evening. The Board feels that financial items to be discussed usually need to happen during business hours (when the Accountant and Treasurer are available) and as long as 2 members of the 3 can attend that is satisfactory. The last Wednesday of each month will be a joint meeting with Finance, Select Board and Financial team at 4pm.
- Maryellen Brown came in to discuss the future of the Monterey School and requested that the Board nudge the school committee with regards to its future. A letter is being drafted and will be sent for an informal meeting with parents of school age children and educational opportunities in Monterey. Necessary repairs to be made: discussion ensued. A letter will be sent to the school committee requesting that either preparations for a program for the 2018-19 school year start or to begin the official process for requesting closure.
- The Board held their weekly conference call with Baystate Municipal Accounting (BMA) Group and the following was discussed:
a. Update on status of FY17 books/warrants.
b. Punch list of items to be sent to individual departments (copying the Board) throughout the rest of this week to confirm inconsistencies found.
c. Memos are going to be sent to all departments regarding the new procedures for vendor and payroll warrants. Confirmations will be sent to all departments weekly for bills submitted and paid (recap). Warrants will be done on Fridays and sent to the Board to sign at their Wednesday meetings.
d. Deposits: triplicate turnover forms will be provided which will be put into a tamper proof bank bag for BMA to process. Funds received by any departments should not be held onto for more than 1 week by any department. Deposit confirmations will be sent to all departments.
e. Chart of Accounts has been updated and all departments will be sent the new VADAR account numbers this week for all FY18.
f. Payroll: They will need support from the Board to make sure the process runs correctly and in a timely fashion. There seems to be paperwork missing with regards to some employees and a documented rate and average hours, salary, etc. BMA will begin working with us to create this documentation and update the payroll system. Harper’s is also being set up to upload directly into VADAR (which was not happening with Softright). A standard payroll timesheet will also be given to everyone to use going forward.
g. Bank account maintenance – all accounts (with the exception of one) have been updated to reflect Stephenie Gosselin as the new Treasurer. A depository account will be opened in Maynard.
h. BMA will be onsite on the 12th.
i. BMA will also be working with the Board on employee accruals of benefits to accurately reflect employee’s balances.
j. Audit: BMA is working with Scanlon and Associates to incorporate changes based on the audit management letter. The $38k discrepancy noted is due to the Accountant and Treasurer’s records from FY16 not tying together; this is the most concerning item for BMA.
- The Board met with Dennis Lynch, Grant Writer to discuss the FY18 dam, levee and seawall repair and removal grant. A motion was made to move forward with the grant which was seconded and unanimously approved. If the grant is awarded to Monterey it requires a minimum financial match of 25% or approximately $8-10k.
- The Board met with our IT person, Tom Roy to discuss the IT recommendations and assessment performed by Paragus. The report is mostly accurate; the recommendations regarding the server aren’t totally correct which Tom elaborated on. Tom recommends moving toward being cloud based rather than tied to a physical box. The Board is going to speak with the Chief to have Tom review police department computer equipment and make any recommendations/upgrades that should be made. Tom will work on creating a detailed equipment inventory with a 3-4 year suggested replacement schedule. The Board asked for an analysis of the current situation, recommendations for equipment updates and future needs.
- The Board met with Chief Backhaus to discuss the following:
a. Having the town’s IT person come in to make an assessment of the police department’s equipment, etc.
b. Placing a speed trailer near the beach.
c. The Chief updated the Board on the sedan cruiser. He is holding off on doing any bodywork in order to meet the timeframe to have it set up as a speed deterrent for the summer.
d. Police Chief’s weekly report was reviewed.
e. The Board commended the Chief and department on a job well done over the 4th holiday weekend.
- Steve reported on a conversation with Hume. They would like to become more involved in the community. The Board of Directors of Hume (from CA) will be in town this week and will be hosting a lunch at the community center this Friday.
- The Board signed the updated lease between the town and the Friends of Wilson McLaughlin House for the community center.
- Mail was reviewed which included:
a. A request for a meeting to discuss matters regarding the recent reappointments was received from Stephanie Fredsall. The Board agreed to meet with Stephanie next Wed.
b. A letter from Mari Enoch informing the Board that she will not be accepting the reappointments as an Alternate ZBA member and Board of Registrar.
c. Response from Peter Fohlin regarding a meeting to discuss hiring him to examine our current town operations and assist the Board in determining how a Town Administrator will best function. M. Noe will respond to Peter’s questions and schedule a visit for next Wed.
- Minutes from 6/28/17 were approved.
- The Board approved a one day beer only permit for Township #1 day at the Bidwell house.
- The Board discussed the final check cut for Michael Johnson which he did not accept. Mr. Johnson feels that he is due health insurance through the end of July. The final check reflects a credit for monies paid for July's health insurance contribution of 10%. As Mr. Johnson’s effective employment terminated on June 30, 2017 (due to non-reappointment), his medical coverage and the town's obligation to pay 90% of the premium, ceases. Mr. Johnson will be sent a certified letter to this effect along with his final check. COBRA information was sent separately.
- The Board approved the following internal end of year transfers:
a. $221.42 from 015423.701 to 015424.700
b. $3675 from 015122.701 to 015220.100
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 12:30pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Administrative Assistant
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
Town Clerk
| 
