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Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 6/20/18
Meeting Opened at: 4pm
Select Board Members Present: Carol Edelman, Chairperson, Kenneth Basler and Donald Coburn (arrived at 4:20pm and left at 6:10pm)
Also in attendance: Shawn Tryon, Peter Chait, Adam Chait, Rebecca Wolin, George Cain, Jon Sylbert, Don Torrico,
Miscellaneous Items Reviewed:
- The Board discussed the retirement notice received from Lyman Thomson. Lyman’s letter incorrectly interprets the handbook with relation to retiree benefits, a meeting has been scheduled with Lyman for next Wed and a letter will also be sent.
- The Board discussed the July 4th holiday and how that affects the transfer station. The transfer station will be closed for the Wednesday holiday but will be open from 10 – 1 on Thursday, July 5th.
- Carol noted that she has received some “blowback” on the recent change made to the collection of bottles and cans by the attendants. It was reiterated that this is not a Select Board decision, this is a decision based on the advice of town counsel per the Massachusetts Conflict of Interest/Ethics laws.
- Com Comm agent – The Board reviewed the IRS materials provided by Baystate Municipal Accountant to help determine whether the new agent should be paid as a contractor or employee. Rebecca Wolin argued that this position should only be a temporary position based on her time as a Conservation Commissioner. The Board disagreed and stated that the Agent was hired to help the Conservation Commission perform their duties, probably on a long term basis. A motion was made to change the Con Comm Agent position to a part time non-benefited employee, rather than a contractor. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
- Respective roles of Finance Committee and Select Board: Don proposed a memo to be given to the Finance Committee. Carol was inclined to not spend any time on this conversation as the process we followed last year worked very well and she recommends following the same procedure.
- Discussion ensued about the chain of emails between a member of the Select Board and a member of the Finance Committee which were copied to the other board and committee members. Copies of the Open Meeting Law will be distributed to all committee and board members at today’s meeting to remind everyone what communications are acceptable.
- The Monterey Cultural Council requested that Wendy Germain be appointed. A motion was made to appoint Wendy Germain for a 3 year term to the Monterey Cultural Council. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
- Select Board & Admin Asst roles/function: The Board reviewed the job description proposed by Don. Don feels that the Board needs to define the Administrative Assistant’s role with regard to other departments and employees. Carol feels that the current situation is working. Kenn would like to table this so he can put together his thoughts. The Board will continue the conversation next week.
- Broadband update: Carol recused herself from this conversation. Kenn reported that the financial review has begun with Baystate Municipal Accounting and Fiber Connect. The next meeting will be on June 25th.
- School update: George and Carol did not have anything new to report, the next meeting will be on the 26th. Kenn felt that these meetings should not continue if all towns are not present at the meetings as has been happening.
- Long range planning: M. Noe advised the Board that she and the department heads feel it is important to begin conversations and planning for the future of Monterey including but not limited to staffing, building needs, etc. Don proposed that M. Noe and the other department heads come up with a punch list to present to the Board; discussion will take place at the next monthly department meeting.
- Carol had a meeting with the Executive Director of Gould Farm, as suggested by Don, to request that they consider increasing hours at the Roadside Store to fill the gap with the general store being closed, Gould Farm was enthusiastic about this and is working on options. Carol wrote an article about this for the July Select Board Corner. Everyone approved the blurb provided Gould Farm signs off on it.
- The Board reviewed the opinion received from Counsel on a matter that was raised last week about a property that was taken. The former owner is interested in purchasing the property back. Counsel has advised that the former owner can bid on it when it goes to auction; Section 16 of MGL Chapter 30b is complicated, requires a town meeting vote and individual appraisals to sell it back to the former owner without an auction. Kenn made a motion to move ahead with an auction for all 5 properties that the town has taken and any interested parties may make a bid. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved. M. Noe will notify the interested party of this decision and that the meeting scheduled for next week is no longer necessary.
- Warrants were signed.
- Minutes from 6/13/18 were approved.
- The Board met with Building Inspector, Don Torrico to discuss the following:
a. Information they are looking for with regard to Monterey becoming a Green Community. Today’s meeting to discuss this will be rescheduled to a later date.
b. Airbnb’s – Don reported that the state is still looking at the laws and regulations, so it would be premature for Monterey to begin discussions on zoning bylaws to address this.
The Board met with members of the Finance Committee to discuss the following:
- Carol provided copies of pertinent sections of the Open Meeting Law due to some recent communications that went around via email to remind everyone what is permitted. She noted that no further discussion was necessary as everyone has this information and has attended necessary trainings.
- Internal transfers that need to be made as provided by Baystate Municipal Accounting were reviewed and approved: $4.00 to cover the difference between the budget and lease for fire station, $180.00 to cover an alternate inspector for the Building Department, $1,013.60 to cover emergency tree work by the Tree Warden, $650 for the May and June street lighting, $2653.18 for winter fuel, $5,916.96 for snow & ice overtime wages, $250 for the remaining unemployment premiums to the Commonwealth of MA and $55 for remaining employer share of Medicare payroll contributions. The Finance Committee made a motion to approve the transfers as presented by Baystate. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously. The Select Board also made a motion to approve the transfers as presented by Baystate. The motion was seconded
and approved unanimously.
- Discussion ensued about the remaining balance of the 2018 special article for milfoil removal.
- The Board and Finance Committee have set a tentative meeting date for 7pm on July 10th to deal with the remaining end of year transfers.
- Counsel was consulted on the request from Baystate for additional funds to cover work done beyond the scope of what was agreed upon. Counsel advised that there is no need for a town meeting vote, that the funds could be transferred internally either from other accounts that did not spend their total budgets or from the reserve fund. Discussion ensued. Don expressed his view that the attorney's opinion read properly and in context did not justify any further such payment to the accountant, particularly since the accountant specifically said he was not billing for the money.~ The accountant also agreed to strike the 18% interest clause in the contract and agreed to provide the basic services at the same rate as last year; namely, $30,000 for the year. The general consensus was that the Board was not notified in a
timely manner about this overrun and request to pay for some of the overrun. It was noted by George and Carol that the situation was certainly more serious than originally thought, however Baystate should’ve notified everyone months prior to now. A motion was made to deny the request. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
- Jon asked how an article for a Community Center employee was added after annual town meeting, and how the Board put this on the upcoming special town meeting warrant without Finance Committee’s approval. Jon does not personally support this article and would not have approved it. George also had issues with placing a $4,000 employee in a building that will only bring in $1,000. Most present had concerns with the original budget estimate of $6-8k increasing to over $15k.
- George had concerns about the article for an assistant in the Assessor’s office when the Assessor’s office has stated that their current Principal Assessor will not be retiring for another 5 years, and beginning training now was too soon.
- Jon stated that the Amidon property near the beach that is for sale would be an ideal property for the town to own for many reasons. It is on the market for $465,000. Jon felt it would be worth the effort to approach the owners to see if they would sell it to the town for a reduced rate. A motion was made to consider this during an executive session at the Board’s next meeting. Discussion ensued.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 6:15pm
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Administrative Assistant
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
Town Clerk
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