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Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 12/5/18
Meeting Opened at: 4pm
Select Board Members Present: Carol Edelman, Chairperson, Kenneth Basler and Donald Coburn
Also in attendance: Steve Moore, Maryellen Brown, Gareth Backhaus, Jeffrey Spratt
Miscellaneous Items Reviewed:
- A moment of silence was taken to remember President Bush.
- A motion was made to reappoint Norma Champigny to the Council on Aging for a 3 year term. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
- Lake Garfield milfoil remediation contract: an invoice was received for services performed; however in reviewing the files a contract was never received to sign for the services. The invoice received is for a larger amount than we have appropriated. This will be tabled until the next meeting when copies of the bid can be reviewed. A motion was made that members of the Lake Garfield Working Group and the contractor that performed the remediation should be present at this meeting. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
- Surplus properties: Kenn worked with the Assessor and the Tax Collector to determine which properties should be put out to auction. From the large list provided by the Treasurer it was suggested to put 4 properties out to auction; 10 Lake Ave, Main Rd Map 228 Lot 51 (intersection of RT23 and 57), Lakeview Ave Map 234 Lot 22 (intersection of Lakeview and Chestnut Hill) and Eaton Rd Map 107 Lot 32. A motion was made to proceed with auctioning off the above-mentioned 4 properties. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
- Maryellen Brown came in to request to be paid her full stipend for her position as the school committee representative. Counsel has advised that we can only pay for time earned (July – Dec) and for duties that have been performed. Kenn made a motion to make an exception in this case and pay Maryellen for the full year. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously. It was agreed that this would not be a regular occurrence and if this arose again it would be dealt with on a case by case basis. Maryellen was made aware that the Accountant will also have to approve this but they don’t anticipate any issues seeing as the Board has voted in the affirmative.
- Chief Backhaus presented Jeffrey Spratt, a current Monterey firefighter and Sheffield officer to interview as a part time officer. A motion was made to appoint Jeffrey Spratt as a part-time officer. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
- The Board discussed with the Chief having officers at all elections. The Chief will make sure that elections are covered and that it is paid at the normal officer hourly rate rather than a detail rate as was done in the past. The Chief was asked his opinion on holding the elections in town hall; he stated he was in favor of keeping the elections here at town hall.
- The Board reviewed the general government FY20 proposed budget line items. There was discussion on several items which will require more information. It was agreed that Kenn and a Finance Committee member will have an additional pre-budget meeting with our grant writer to discuss her request prior to meeting as a whole Board with the Finance Committee.
- Don had questions on the additional document to be signed for the state financial services contract. He added that he would like to be sure that the Board remains vigilant about monitoring the services we are getting and to not be close minded to looking at other companies for comparison when our contract expires.
- Kenn suggested that the Board evaluate the total cost all departments are paying for various software systems we use and if there are less expensive alternatives; this will be discussed with Finance Committee at the next joint meeting.
- Kenn reported that he met with the Library Trustees and Library Director regarding the total loan package for $1.9million. The bank is working on options for different loans. The plan is to have all parties involved attend the Dec 19th meeting with the Board and Finance Committee to discuss this further. Kenn also confirmed that the project manager will be submitting a monthly progress report which will include any potential overruns or issues that may require additional monies and approvals.
- Don inquired about recording of meetings; what device they are being recorded on [digital audio recorder], who owns it [the town] and where the digital files are stored [Administrative Assistant’s computer backed up to the server].
- Don stated that in his opinion during his time on the Board that there have been issues with minute taking at Select Board accusing the minute taker of omitting material and modifying material that creates inconsistent narratives of what was actually said. Kenn argued that this was not the case and that the minutes have been accurate. Carol corrected Don and stated that examples he provided of times when things were edited they were edits made by Board members and not the Administrative Assistant, and that edits were made to take emotions out of the originally drafted version. Kenn also commented that it has been the Board’s practice to not make the minutes a story but rather state a summary of what transpired and any votes taken without using a lot of adjectives or commentary. Don disagreed and thinks that the
minutes should reflect what happened and that there isn’t anything wrong with using adjectives and going into more detail. It was agreed that once a draft is written it is sent to all members and all members have the right to make suggested edits for approval.
- Don asked the Board to reconsider the decision made a few weeks ago to not proceed with the study of town government. Don is concerned that if current Board members do not seek reelection he will be faced with 2 new members that will lack experience, knowledge and connections to effectively operate and that there will be an absence of supervision with management positions, especially without a Town Administrator. Kenn stated that we have a bargain with the value that M. Noe brings to the town and he doesn’t see the same issues that Don has with the Administrative Assistant. Another concern with proceeding with the study is that the monies ($6k) were not appropriated for this year and it should be presented to town meeting for approval. It was unanimously decided to consider presenting the necessary budget
item to Town Meeting for next year. Don made a motion to send the UMASS Collins Center proposal with FC, discuss briefly at 12/19 and meet jointly in Jan or Feb to further consider this for the FY20 budget. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
- Don asked to discuss enforcing the Select Board’s prior decision to not require seconds to motions. Kenn and Carol both made arguments of why seconds should be used. Kenn made a motion to rescind the original decision to eliminate seconds of motions, to make things clearer when voting. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
- Clerk’s office door – M. Noe researched this and found that we have to use fire rated doors and a dutch style door is not available in that material. There may be an option to cut in a small service window. Discussion ensued about the necessity and in the end it was agreed to have the DPW research the cost and feasibility (building code) of the alternative. M. Noe will update the Town Clerk on the status of this.
- Changing unemployment insurance to self-funding from a payroll tax: M. Noe provided the Board with additional information they had requested at the previous meeting, discussion ensued and M. Noe was asked to gather more information on the matter, including specifically how much similar sized towns were setting aside for town payment, as well as forward everything to the Finance Committee. The Board will resume conversations on this matter after the new year.
- Kenn reported that he met with the SBRSD Superintendent about the Monterey School deed which will be on the Jan meeting agenda. She doesn’t anticipate any issues with the committee signing the deed.
- Mail was reviewed.
- The December meeting schedule was reviewed.
A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:30am
Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Administrative Assistant
Full audio recording available at town hall
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
Town Clerk
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