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Select Board Meeting Minutes 6/27/18
Select Board
Minutes of the meeting of 6/27/18

Meeting Opened at: 9am
Select Board Members Present: Carol Edelman, Chairperson, Kenneth Basler and Donald Coburn

Also in attendance: Peter Chait, Lyman Thomson

Miscellaneous Items Reviewed:
  • Don advised based on his interpretation of MGL that it is not necessary to make a 2nd on motions.  Discussion ensued and everyone agreed to no longer request a 2nd on motions
  • The Board discussed the Town Clerk’s request to receive the full $19,360 that was approved at town meeting.  Discussion ensued that what was approved by the Select Board, Finance Committee and voters was that the Clerk would be receiving $18,360 (a 2% increase from last year) and the additional $1,000 once she gets her clerk certification.  A motion was made to pay the Clerk the originally agreed upon amount of $18,360/yr with the additional $1,000 to be paid when she receives her certification.  The Board will request more information on when she will receive the certification, at which time the Board can reevaluate the situation.  The motion unanimously passed.
  • The Board approved Tryon Construction’s annual request for an earth removal permit.
  • The Board approved Bidwell House’s 2 special event permit requests for a Country Fair on July 7 and an Open Mike Music Festival on July 8.
  • The Board approved the FY18 vacation time carry over requests of Chief Backhaus, Shawn Tryon, Brian Fahey and Melissa Noe.
  • Broadband update: Kenn reported that a productive meeting was held the other day.  The committee has been divided into 2 subcommittees, one will be responsible to write a final report for MBI working with Dennis Lynch and the others will be working on the financials. Carol recused herself from broadband discussion.
  • School update: Last night there was a subcommittee meeting on the assessment agreement.  There weren’t any members from Sheffield present so the meeting adjourned prior to discussions taking place. The Board agreed that if all 5 towns were not going to participate that Monterey should pull out of any future meetings.  M. Noe reported that the highway department will be working with the school to remove the district’s contents from the Monterey Kindergarten building.
  • The Community Center has requested to host a blood drive with the Red Cross.  Everyone agreed it is important to host a blood drive and M. Noe will get in contact with Mary Makuc to figure out how to make it happen.
  • The Board met with Lyman Thomson to discuss his request to have the town pay 90% of his insurance in his retirement which will be effective July 6th.  He presented his argument of his interpretation of the employee handbook that he should receive a 90/10 split on his health insurance contribution until he becomes of age to go on Medicare/Medex.  He believes that law (what was approved at town meeting) determines a minimum (50/50) and that a town policy can go above and beyond the minimum.  He also argued that the handbook is a contract between the town and employee; the Board pointed out that the handbook clearly states, “These policies are to be considered as guidelines and do not constitute an agreement or contract...” Counsel has advised that any change to the town/employee contribution/split would have to be made at a town meeting as MGL Chapter 32B, Section 9A accepted at the May 6, 2006 town meeting specifically approved a 50/50 split.  Lyman did confirm that he is still retiring no matter the final decision made by the Board.  A motion was made to table the request to reconsider their previous decision for one week which was approved.  Then it was brought to the attention of the Board that next week is a holiday, there won’t be a meeting for 2 weeks, and for HR purposes the decision should be made this week.  A motion was made to rescind the vote to table the discussion which was approved.  A 2nd motion was made to deny Lyman’s request based on opinion from counsel, town meeting vote and the Board’s interpretation of the handbook.  The motion was unanimously approved.
  • Cell tower: M. Noe reviewed with the Board the timeline for a hearing once the applicant submits their special permit application.  The applicant has informed M. Noe that they are hoping to get something in the week of July 9th; if all goes well the soonest a building permit could be issued would be mid-fall.
  • CDBG update: There are still open spots for residents who qualify for housing repair/upgrade funding.  Bailey Boyd is looking for assistance in getting the word out.  Kenn is going to reach out to Bailey Boyd to assist in any way he can.
  • The Board discussed the question from Baystate Municipal Accounting regarding the request from the library to consolidate the account statements structure back to a single line item.  The current breakdowns allow for transparency in the permanent accounting record as to where public funds are being spent, for better insight during the budget process.  The Board agreed that it was important to keep the reporting as is for a consistent application among all the departments.
  • Baystate contract renewal and request for additional funds: The contract received for FY19 has been reviewed and suggested revisions will be made to BMA (Don is going to schedule a call with Justin).  The Board reopened the discussion re: BMA’s request for additional funds to cover the additional time they spent working on FY18 and previous years, at Carol’s request.  Carol said she been rethinking the decision not to compensate BMA for the additional work done; she does have issues with the fact that this request was not made before town meeting, but acknowledges the fact that more work was done than was originally contracted for.  Carol asked the Board to reconsider the decision not to compensate for the additional work.  Kenn and Don agreed to reconsider.  Don made a motion to reaffirm their vote of last week, to deny the request for additional funds.  A motion was made to exercise the option to renew the current contract of FY18 with Baystate Municipal Accounting.  It was unanimously approved.
  • Preparation for Friday’s special town meeting:
a.  Concerns have been raised about the decision to hold the meeting at town hall (Monterey Grange) instead of the firehouse.  The maximum capacity of town hall is 45.  The firehouse is currently unavailable as an alternate location due to construction.  The Board will ask the highway crew to help setup the meeting room.
b.  The Board reviewed all the articles for the special.
  • Kenn provided the 1st 2 pages of his thoughts on the roles of the Select Board and Administrative Assistant to be reviewed by the Board at a future meeting.
  • Warrants were signed.
  • Minutes from 6/20/18 were approved.
  • Administrative Assistant’s weekly report was reviewed.
  • Police Chief’s weekly report was reviewed.
  • Town Clerk’s time off request to attend 2 meetings was approved.  There will be coverage in the office on Saturday by the Assistant Town Clerk.
  • The following FY19 appointments/reappointments were made:
1 year terms

ADA Co-ordinator
1 year
Mary
Makuc
Broadband Committee
1 year
Cliff
Weiss
Broadband Committee
1 year
BJ
Johnson
Broadband Committee
1 year
Kenneth
Basler
Broadband Committee
1 year
Larry
Klein
Fire Inspector
1 year
Shawn
Tryon
Hearings Officer
1 year
Robert
Burnick
Lake Garfield Working Group
1 year
Steve
Weisz
Lake Garfield Working Group
1 year
Greg
Carnese
Lake Garfield Working Group
1 year
Steve
Snyder
Lake Garfield Working Group
1 year
Alice
Berke
Lake Garfield Working Group
1 year
Michael
Germain
Municipal Lighting Plant (MLP)
1 year
Kenneth
Basler
Municipal Lighting Plant (MLP)
1 year
Steven
Weisz
Municipal Lighting Plant (MLP)
1 year
Cliff
Weiss
Municipal Lighting Plant (MLP)
1 year
Bill
Johnson
Police Department, Police Chief
1 year
Gareth
Backhaus
Records Liason Officer for Select Board
1 year
Melissa
Noe
Telecommunications Department Delegate
1 year
Larry
Klein
Town Accountant  
1 year
Marybeth Erickson,
Baystate Municipal Accounting Group
Town Clerk
1 year
Terry
Walker
Town Counsel
1 year
Jeramia
Pollard, Esq
Treasurer
1 year
Stephenie Gosselin
Baystate Municipal Accounting Group
Veteran Service Officer
1 year
Julio
Rodriguez
Veteran's Agent
1 year
Laurie
Hils
Wilson McLaughlin House Committee
1 year
Joe
Baker  
Wilson McLaughlin House Committee
1 year
Cara
Carroll
Wilson McLaughlin House Committee
1 year
Christine
Goldfinger
Wilson McLaughlin House Committee
1 year
Elizabeth
Maschmeyer
Wilson McLaughlin House Committee
1 year
Laurie
Shaw
Wilson McLaughlin House Committee
1 year
Evelyn
Vallianos
Wilson McLaughlin House Committee
1 year
Mary
Makuc
Wilson McLaughlin House Committee
1 year
Cynthia
Weber
Police Department, Police Chief
1 year
Gareth
Backhaus
Lake Garfield Working Group
1 year
Carol
Edelman
Police Department
1 Year
Shaun
Courtney
Police Department
1 Year
Matthew
Bodnar
Police Department
1 Year
Keith
Avalle
Police Department
1 Year
Ian
Mangosan
Registrar
1 year
Meagan
Duffy –R
Registrar
1 year
Rebecca
Wolin –D
Registrar
1 year
Michal
Strawbridge – R
Registrar
1 year
Maureen
Banner – D
Election Workers
1 Year
Ray
Tryon
Election Workers
1 Year
Norma
Champigny
Election Workers
1 Year
Ruth
Champigny
Election Workers
1 Year
Melissa
Noe
Election Workers
1 Year
Meagan
Duffy
Election Workers
1 Year
Michal
Strawbridge
Election Workers
1 Year
Rebecca
Wolin
Election Workers
1 Year
Gary
Shaw
Election Workers
1 Year
Maryellen
Brown
Election Workers
1 Year
Steve
Pullen
Election Workers
1 Year
Deborah
Mielke
Election Workers
1 Year
Rick
Mielke
Election Workers
1 Year
Steve
Weisz

2 years

Alternate Inspector of Bldgs/Alternate Bldg Commissioner
2 years
Don
Fitzgerald

3 year terms

Care of Soldiers' Graves
3 years
Arnold
Hayes
Council on Aging
3 years
Ruth
Champigny
Council on Aging
3 years
Kathleen
Purcell
Council on Aging
3 Years
Linda
Hebert
Emergency Management Director
3 years
Gareth
Backhaus
Harbormaster, Lake Garfield & Lake Buel
3 years
Gareth
Backhaus
Local Cultural Council
3 Years
Harryet
Candee

5 years

Board of Appeals, Alternates (2 members)
5 years
Ian
Jenkins

Appointments with no end term

Fire Department
No expiration date
Sam
Hungate
Fire Department
No expiration date
Kevin
Fitzpatrick
Fire Department
No expiration date
Kyle
Hutson
Fire Department
No expiration date
Jake
Martin


A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:30am

Submitted by:
Melissa Noe, Administrative Assistant
Approved by:
Monterey Select Board

cc: Website (www.montereyma.gov)
Select Board Members
Minutes Book
Town Clerk