Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 5/31/17
Meeting Opened at: 3pm
Select Board Members Present: Steve Weisz, Chairperson, Carol Edelman and Kenneth Basler
Also in attendance: Maryellen Brown, Shawn Tryon, Kevin Fitzpatrick, BJ Johnson, George Cain, Jon Sylbert, Julio Rodriguez, Gareth Backhaus, Ray Tryon, Chris Tryon, Susan Cooper, Rob Hoogs, Chris Blair, Diana Piepho
Miscellaneous Items Reviewed:
- Maryellen Brown came in for a summary of yesterday’s meeting regarding the school. Due to an ongoing negotiation Kenn was unable to give specifics but said that the meeting was very positive.
- Steve reported that he spoke with Baystate and updated them on the process in determining the best solution for filling the Treasurer position. M. Noe was directed to schedule the one applicant that has applied for an interview next Wed.
- Steve reported that he spoke with the Town Clerk regarding the decisions made last week in response to her requests.
- Steve and counsel worked on a revised lease for the Community Center which has been reviewed by the Director of Operations and will be sent to the Friends of Wilson McLaughlin House for review. There were questions about who would handle the rubbish removal; it was suggested that the lessee will be responsible for it while we monitor how much trash is generated. Once the change is made it will be ready to sign.
- Lake Garfield Working Group: A very substantive meeting was held last night. They are working on strategies for the suction harvesting. They plan to enlist the help of a lake scientist to map out the areas and to specify the areas to be targeted for the invitation to bid to be released.
- Steve has reached out to Shawn Tryon regarding the transfer station attendant’s request for a backup person should they need time off. Carol was under the impression that a highway member would be used in this manner but didn’t have any objections to using others if needed.
- The Board discussed the prices received for a handwash station and porta potty for the transfer station. The Board advised that the low bid should be chosen.
- Financial monthly reports – The Board would like Baystate Municipal Accounting to send them out within the first 7 days of the month.
- The Board discussed the letter from the SBRSD Business Administrator advising us that the school committee has adopted and resubmitted the same budget presented at the annual town meeting. We have until July 9 to hold a special town meeting to have the town vote again.
- Curtis Rd bridge: The current estimate is around $350k if we act as the general contractor. Kenn proposed a few ideas of how to pay for this and move forward. We won’t have any state/grant funds available to us for 3 – 5 years and this situation needs to be addressed sooner. There will be a meeting with Joe Gill next week.
- Town report – Carol received a request that the report should be reprinted rather than the solution suggested last week, and include copies of the reports that were not submitted. The cost to reprint them would be around $1,000. The Board discussed this and agreed to hunt down the missing reports, fix the errors found and reprint them using funds from the Select Board expenses.
- The Board signed the letter requested by the Director of Operations for the purchase of the 1 ton truck approved at the annual town meeting.
- The Board signed the letter mutual aid agreement requested by the Fire Chief.
- The Board met with the Finance Committee to discuss the following:
a. Jon mentioned that the Finance Committee is unable to deliberate today as they did not post a meeting for the Finance Committee.
b. How to handle the $60,150 needed for the transfer station payment that was not on the FY17 annual town meeting warrant and the additional $15,548 needed for the FY18 fire truck payment. The Board is recommending transferring surplus monies to cover the $60,152. After discussion it was decided that for transparency it may be best to have a special town meeting prior to June 30th and use free cash.
c. The Finance Committee requested an update on the status of the Accountant and Treasurer offices.
d. Curtis Rd Bridge – due to the lower rating by the State the bridge can no longer handle many of the trucks that need to use that road (including fire trucks). There have been talks about widening Lover’s Lane which would be approximately $200-250k (using Chapter 90 funds). The Board would like the Finance Committee’s opinion on using stabilization monies in addition to Chapter 90 funds in the amount of $350k to repair the bridge.
- Kenn reported that the Wilson McLaughlin House Scholarship fund met last week and granted over $70k in scholarships.
- Shawn Tryon and the Board discussed the previous decision made by the Board to move the old attendant’s shack to the new transfer station. Shawn was not present when this decision was originally made and does not agree with doing so for many reasons (main one being additional costs). He suggested alternative ways to address the concerns the attendants have. After discussion the Board agreed to follow Shawn’s advice.
- Monterey School Action Plan – Carol has proposed a tentative schedule/plan for making repairs and cleaning out the items left in the building. It was suggested to send a letter to the district asking them to remove their materials by a pre-determined date otherwise it will be donated or thrown away.
- The Board met with members of the Town Administrator Resume Review Committee to discuss the candidates interviewed as well as references. The Resume Review Committee is recommending hiring Tony Blair. It was agreed to have individual interviews with Tony with each Select Board member, Police Chief, Director of Operations and Administrative Assistant.
- Warrants were signed.
- Minutes from 5/24/17 were approved.
- Administrative Assistant’s weekly report was reviewed.
- Police Chief’s weekly report was reviewed.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 6:10m
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Administrative Assistant
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
Town Clerk
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