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Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 12/6/17
Meeting Opened at: 9am
Select Board Members Present: Steve Weisz, Chairperson, Carol Edelman and Kenneth Basler
Also in attendance: Stan Ross
Miscellaneous Items Reviewed:
- The Board congratulated M. Noe on her certificate of achievement/completion of the Supervisory Leadership Development Program through the Massachusetts Municipal Personnel Association.
- Steve provided an update from Bailey Boyd and Associates on the progress of the Community Development Block Grant.
- The Board approved the evaluation form M. Noe prepared with minor adjustments and agreed that all departments should start using them as soon as possible. The Police Department already use one that is specific to officers. A 3 month evaluation will be given in March followed by an annual review each March.
- Stan Ross came on behalf of the Board of Assessors to request that the Select Board appoint Don Clawson to fill the vacancy on the Board of Assessors until the next election due to Robert Lazzarini’s resignation. The Board discussed this recommendation with Stan. A proposal was made that if Don is interested in being on the Board, he transition to that and the town may, in the future, hire a company to perform the Principal Assessors role as has been recommended by the Finance Committee. Stan said that this would not be the year to do that due to the reevaluation. According to Stan, Don’s plans are to retire in 5 years and the Assessors do not feel a new line item to train a replacement is necessary for FY19 as was suggested by the Finance Committee. Future plans for when Don retires were discussed which
included possibly hiring an outside firm to perform the principal assessor duties, as suggested by the state DLS, and a clerk to be in the office for resident requests and administrative tasks. The Board will request official confirmation from the State to be sure that appointing Don would not be a conflict. They also suggested that an ad be placed in the paper to see if anyone is interested in becoming an Assessor; all agreed.
- The Board discussed the email received from the Finance Committee with their recommendations for changes to the Assessors budgets. At the next meeting with the Finance Committee they will address the Finance Committee’s role, to make recommendations to the Select Board who will then research them further and institute them if they deem it appropriate and in the best interest of the town.
- The Board discussed the difficulties in finding interested, qualified parties to fill positions on our boards and committees. It was suggested to put an article in the next Monterey News explaining the importance of these volunteers.
- In reviewing last week’s minutes/meeting the Board reopened the discussion on reducing the grant writer budget. An email will be sent to Dennis Lynch clarifying that they would like him to focus only on grants related to his projects already in progress for up to a maximum of $3,000 for FY19 Terry Walker will continue follow through on other substantial grants, up to a maximum of $7,000 salary for FY ’19.
- The Board renewed their consulting contract with Colonial Power for electrical aggregation.
- The Board signed the renewal proposal from MIIA for our property, liability and worker’s compensation policies for 0% for FY19 and an increase of no more than 2.5% for FY20.
- The Board discussed their meeting schedule for December: they will not meet next Wednesday, will hold a meeting on the 20th, and their regular evening meeting on the 27th. They also agreed to a 9am meeting on Friday, January 19th with Lisa Smyle and Mary Makuc to discuss their proposal for town meeting accessibility for the hearing impaired.
- The Board approved the Town Clerk’s time off request.
- FY17 town reports – The Board has reviewed the drafts received and have given the changes to be made to M. Noe.
- Carol and Kenn provided a summary of the roundtable meeting last Thursday at the Southern Berkshire Regional School District. One item discussed was that the school committee has put together a sub-committee to develop a new 5 town agreement. They also dispelled a rumor that the Monterey School building was condemned; this is not true, our insurance would not cover the building because it is vacant, but we have purchased a policy through another carrier.
- Warrants were signed.
- Minutes from 11/1 & 11/29/17 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: 10:45am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Administrative Assistant
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
Town Clerk
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