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Select Board Meeting Minutes 10/7/2020

Meeting date: 
Wednesday, October 7, 2020

Minutes of the meeting of 10/7/20

Meeting Opened at: 4pm

Select Board Members Present: Donald Coburn, Chair, Steven Weisz

Select Board Members Present Remotely: John Weingold

Also present remotely: John Higgins, Mark Makuc, Mickey Jervas, Dennis Lynch, Barbara Swann, Stephen Moore, Peter Chait, Jon Sylbert, Dan Moriarity

Items discussed:

  1. Roll call was taken.  John present remotely. Steve present. Don present.
  2. The public was informed that if they intend to record the meeting they must let the chair know.
  3. Everyone was reminded that the Open Meeting Law does not require that public bodies allow public comment or public participation during meetings without permission of the chair. The public was asked to mute themselves and if they wish to speak raise their hand if using the video or say “recognition please” if on the phone.  If the public is unable to do this in a professional manner all participants will then be muted.
  4. Bulky rigid contract: The Board was provided with a draft renewal contract for disposing bulky rigid plastics at the MRF, approved by counsel. A motion was made to approve the contract.  This passed unanimously.
  5. Cell phone policy: The Board was provided with an amended cell phone policy to address the recent purchase of town phones for key positions.  Steve asked that the sentence “and remain the property of the Town of Monterey” be added.  A motion was made to approve the policy as amended.  The motion passed unanimously.
  6. A motion was made at the request of the Town Clerk to appoint the following as Board of Registrars for a 3 year term; Evelyn Vallianos, Gary Shaw, Laurie Shaw and Mari Enoch.  The motion was seconded. John argued that the law only allows 4 registrars and there are already 9 appointed.  The motion was amended to appoint the four provided counsel says that these 4 may be appointed in addition to the 9 existing already appointed.  The motion passed unanimously.
  7. Library railing settlement: Mark Makuc provided a verbal summary of the issue.  The project has been completed and there is $23,188.97 left of the insurance settlement.  The accountant has advised that MGL Chapter 44 Section 53 states that the Chief Executive Officer (the Select Board) may authorize using these funds for specific purposes.  A motion was made to approve the use of the leftover monies provided it is restricted to library projects.  The motion passed unanimously.
  8. Paid time off for employees that work less than 35 hours:  John Higgins, Library Trustee Chair argued that it has nothing to do with part time employees that work less than 35 hours it has to do with offering paid time off to the Library Director.  John Higgins argued that the Library Director should be separate from town employees as this position reports to the library trustees and not the select board.  John argued that a library employee would not fall under the employee manual.  The board was asked to withdraw their objection to allowing the 23 hour per week library director paid time off and to acknowledge that the library trustees may make decisions on paid time off separate from the other departments and employee handbook.  Don stated that he was unprepared to make a decision on any of the proposals presented tonight.  Steve suggested that this needs to be part of the budget discussion for FY22.  A motion was made to table the discussion, research further and discuss with counsel and the Select Board Administrator.  John, no. Steve, yes. Don, yes.
  9. Lake Garfield Tax District: A letter from Steve Snyder on behalf of the Lake Garfield Working Group (LGWG) was reviewed.  They are asking that the Board provide them with a sense of whether they support this action.  Don explained that moving this forward does not require a Select Board vote, it requires a town meeting vote.  The Board has expressed in the past their conceptual support of the Friends of Lake Garfield moving forward with this.  Steve cautioned the LGWG in getting involved in this as it is outside their charter.  Don is supportive of it being presented to the town at the annual town meeting.  Steve is neutral on a creation of any tax districts during a pandemic.  John is in favor of it.
  10. Future of Select Board Corner: Don suggested that the task of writing this section of the news fall to the chair and that it be a summary of the minutes.  John suggested that the task be rotated.  Steve commented that the original intent of the article was to focus on one item/topic and does not support a regurgitation of the minutes.  Stephen Moore added that the In My View feature was an opportunity for an individual select board member to express an opinion on an item going on, the Select Board corner is supposed to be the board speaking as a whole.  Don offered to write something for the November issue to be approved by the Board in time to make the deadline.
  11. Steve thanked our Police and Fire Departments for the great job they did at the recent incident in Monterey involving explosives, they were praised for a job well done and keeping everyone safe.   
  12. Finance Committee Discussion of the financing of the two highway department trucks to be purchased subject to special town meeting approval. On October 24th.: John W. stated that this was not the right time to put this to a vote and didn’t think we should deplete the stabilization fund.  Jon S stated he was in favor of borrowing all of the funds since the interest rates are so low however, reiterated that he still is not in favor of asking the voters to vote on this now and feels it should wait until May.  It was noted that delaying the purchase would increase the purchase costs substantially and that if ordered now the delivery would not take place for over a year.  A motion was made to borrow ½ and take the other ½ from stabilization of the $460,000.  Michele agreed with this approach.  The motion was seconded. Steve, yes. John, no. Don, yes.  Michele made a motion to second the select board vote on this matter.  Jon did not second the motion so it failed.  Rebecca was not present.
  13. A motion was made to approve the amended minutes of 9/11 (error, should’ve been 9/12 there wasn’t a meeting on 9/11), 9/16 and 10/1/20.  John stated that he cannot approve them as he has not been sent them.  M. Noe said that they have been sent to all select board members in the same email and if John thinks he is having issues with his email then he needs to come into town hall to resolve the issue.  The motion was seconded. Steve, yes. John, no. Don, yes.
  14. Public comments:
    1. Dennis Lynch informed the Board about a new idea that came forth from the Community Center Committee revolving around the center of town to do a goodbye to 2020 holiday, an upbeat attempt to light Monterey leading the way and be a beacon of brightness.  Michele noted that light pollution is a real thing and this should be considered before contributing anymore to it even though this is a well meaning idea.  Dennis invited Michele to join in the planning.
  15. A motion was made to accept the $60 donation the Police Department received as instructed by the Town Accountant.  The motion passed unanimously.
  16. The special town meeting warrant was approved and signed.  John noted that he won’t be signing the warrant as he does not support it and thinks that the recall bylaw is a personal vendetta against him, which was argued is not the case.

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 5:37pm

 

Submitted by:

Melissa Noe, Administrative Assistant

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. Bulky rigid contract
  2. Cell phone policy
  3. Letter from the library trustees on railing settlement
  4. Letter from the Lake Garfield Working Group