Select Board Meeting Minutes 10/27/21

Minutes of the meeting of 10/27/21

Meeting Opened at: 6pm

Select Board Members Present: Steve Weisz, Chair, Justin Makuc

Select Board Members absent: John Weingold

Also present: Doug McTavish, Bruce Wilkins, Dennis Lynch, Peter Murkett, Mickey Jervas, Chris Blair, Karen Shreefter, Barbara Dahlman, Hillel Maximon, Shawn Tryon, Jim Hunt, Debbie Slater, Terry Walker

Also present remotely: Tom Sawyer, Susan Cooper, Karin Jackson, Paula Hartstein, James Scales, Ellen Coburn, Herman Rosen, Steve Moore, Nancy Tomasovich, Pam Johnson, Don Coburn, Janet Jensen, Kevin West, Matt Vella, James Franklin, Peter Grealish, Erica Stern, Shawn Tryon, Cara Hunt, Carey Vella, Carole Clarin and 21 others

Items discussed:

1. Steve thanked Justin Makuc and Mark Makuc for pitching in at the transfer station after a medical emergency caused it to be short staffed on Sunday.
2. Access to counsel: A letter was received from counsel essentially stating that the current policy (or lack of a clear policy) allowing anyone to contact counsel has to cease or KP Law will be unable to continue as counsel for the town.  Steve noted that he received a call from Attorney Goldberg in addition to this letter stating that if a board has a question it should be discussed in an open meeting first and then one member or the Town Administrator should contact counsel if agreed upon.  A copy of the 2017 policy which was similar to what’s being requested was provided to the Board to review and amend as appropriate.  This will be tabled to next week’s meeting to allow everyone to review and provide comments.
3. Town Administrator
   1. Review and discuss draft policies provided on 9/1; professionalism, non-discrimination and harassment: Justin thinks these are good in general and should be adopted but suggests holding off on approving until we hire the shared HR director to get their guidance, and because the policies may change substantially in terms of the process of reporting and dealing with an HR issue once we have an HR director.  Steve agreed.  A motion was made to table this item.  The motion was seconded and approved 2 – 0.
   2. Corrections to false statements made at the 9/8 meeting: Rather than reading this into the minutes and dredging up this topic again it was agreed to attach the corrections to the minutes.
   3. A motion was made to approve the Treasurer’s draft investment policy which will be added to our other approved financial policies.  The motion was seconded and approved 2 – 0.
   4. Discuss public records policy (from annual town meeting): Melissa will draft up a suggested policy or idea of what could reasonably be added and the time involved from staff.
4. Continue review of Select Board Roles, Polices & Procedures draft: Justin knows it has been reviewed multiple times.  The most recent version will be resent out to all to work on again.  Hillel asked if the elected official could be compelled to follow these rules; Steve explained that unfortunately once an official is elected and sworn in they cannot fulfill any of their duties and at the moment nothing can be done about it.  The Board noted that it is more of a guideline and an idea of what you should be doing.
5. Town Administrator
   1. MIIA Wellness Grant: Melissa reported that she was successful in obtaining another $5k this year to promote healthy living amongst the employees.
   2. A motion was made to approve the amended low income subsidy document.  The motion was seconded and approved 2 – 0.

6:30pm: Jim Hunt, interview for Director of Operations

The current Director of Operations has recommended promoting Jim to the position.  Jim provided a summary of his experience in management (including experience with budgeting, training, creating training programs), fire and highway services.  Shawn Tryon stated that he has 100% faith in Jim and feels that the biggest hurdle Jim will face is the 3 selectmen.  Shawn suggests offering Jim the job and supporting him 100%.  Debbie Slater thanked Shawn for the wonderful work he’s done and wished him well.  Steve commented that supporting this recommendation will allow for a smooth transition.  A motion was made to offer the position to James Hunt.  Justin thanked him for coming in and concurred that his resume fits our needs and was impressed by all his experience.  Justin suggested amending the motion to appoint Jim as Interim Director of Operations with a 6 month probationary period.  Steve agreed to a 6 month probationary period with an evaluation at the end of that time frame.  The amendment to the motion was approved 2 – 0.  The motion was approved 2 – 0. Jim was offered to start at $74,500/year for 6 months full rate at end. Jim asked for 24 hours to consider the offer.   

1. Removal of Dennis Lynch as grant writer: Steve noted that this item was added to the agenda by John Weingold who chose not to attend tonight without notice to anyone as to why this was added or why he was not going to attend.  The Board congratulated Dennis on successfully obtaining a $139k grant for Monterey just yesterday through the 319 program.  Steve noted that Dennis has been writing grants for the town since 2017 earning approximately $14k and has successfully obtained over $200k in funding for the town.  Steve noted that no one should question his approach to the job, he has been very committed and professional.  Discussion veered a bit off track and residents present requested that initials be added back to the agenda items so the public can be aware of which Board member is adding what.  Steve supported this sentiment.  Karen Shreefter added that she personally wants to know who is adding the items as a citizen so she knows how to vote when the time comes especially when the items being added are negative for the town.  The public found it offensive that John doesn’t show up and demanded the charade stop as these shenanigans are shameless.  Justin explained why he was not in favor of the initials on the agenda. When the conversation steered toward possible reasons John may have added this particular item a Don Coburn suggested it was because Dennis signed the citizen petition, others agreed. Steve noted that this could be a possibility and stated he would like clarity from John as signing a petition in a democratic society should not have any ramifications on someone’s job.  A motion was made to table this item and for this to only be allowed back on with an approval from the majority of the board.  Justin amended the motion to also include tabling agenda items 5-12 understanding that some of them maybe important to discuss in executive session and not to routinely carry them over.  The amendment was approved 2 – 0.  The motion was also approved 2 – 0.
2. Town Administrator items:
   1. A motion was made to add another plan choice for our retirees, a Medicare Advantage Plan.  The motion was seconded and approved 2 – 0.  This plan’s premium is $16.04 less a year per employee.
   2. The Board agreed 2 – 0 to put out a help wanted ad immediately to cover the vacancy created when a staff member was injured.
   3. A motion was made to return to the format of adding the initials of the board member that added an agenda item.  For transparency sake Justin agrees, but initially disagreed because the reason to remove them is that they had been applied inconsistently and would like to think this over more and readdress next week.
   4. The executive session to discuss the scope of services for the investigation was tentatively set for Tuesday at 6pm.
3. The Clerk provided the original citizen petition to the Board for their files.  It was noted that 83 signatures were certified and only 73 were needed to meet the 10% requirement.
4. OML complaint(s): Steve asked they be resent as he couldn’t open the attachments in the original email and has since deleted it; John Weingold has not responded to the request.
5. Comments & questions from the public
   1. Steve Moore thinks the Board should’ve dealt with the agenda item about Dennis Lynch more expeditiously, it should’ve been passed over very quickly.  Dennis expressed concern with having something like this hanging over his head.  Instead it gives it an air of legitimacy having it loom.  Dennis is exemplary and this kind of treatment is not worth it as we need to value the employees and this activity can be corrosive to the body politic.
   2. Public records:

7:30pm: The Board and Town Clerk signed the BAN renewal for library for the amount of $1,000,000 at an interest rate of 0.420%.

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 8:36pm

Submitted by:

Melissa Noe, Town Administrator

Approved by:

Monterey Select Board

cc: Website (www.montereyma.gov)

Select Board Members

Minutes Book

Town Clerk

Any documents used in the meeting are listed below and are available by request at town hall.

1. Letter from KP Law
2. BAN
3. 2017 contacting town counsel policy
4. Corrections to false statements made at the 9/8 meeting