Select Board Meeting Minutes 11/14/23
Minutes of the Select Board meeting 11/14/23
Meeting Date: Tuesday November 14, 2023
Meeting Opened at 6:00 pm
Select Board members present: Justin Makuc, chair; Susan Cooper, Frank Abbott
Also Present: Melissa Noe, Ilene Marcus, Roger McDonald, Mickey Jervas, Scott Steibel, Gary Shaw
Call to Order 6:00pm
1. Joint meeting with Finance Committee
a. Board of Assessors software upgrade
Scott said that they want to upgrade the software and reported that this would be a big jump. He reported that the new program was easy to learn and set up. The software costs approximately $7,000. Scott said that part of the cost includes training on the new programming. Scott said that included in the package is the fact that the information will now be stored on the cloud. AWS will maintain the service, which Frank clarified is maintained through the contract. Ilene inquired about set up fees. Scott said that it will be $11,800 per year, which includes conversion of data, and setting up five computers. Ilene inquired about the length of the contract, and it was reported that it was for one year. Ilene said that she wanted to ensure that the passwords remained secure and that they were getting what they paid for. Frank inquired about costs for future years. Scott reported that it was $11,880 the first year, next year it will increase by 5 percent or the CPI, whichever is greater. Ilene discussed the 30-day contingency period and suggested that the equipment be tested to ensure that the bugs were worked out prior to the end of the 30-day period. Scott reported that the current software will run out in approximately two years. Scott said that the process would start in the spring. Ilene suggested that they have a plan and a timeline to test out the software. Frank confirmed that they would not be billed until July 1st, and Scott confirmed this. Melissa said that they would either have to have a Special Town Meeting to do the conversion or wait until July 1st, as state law requires that services be paid for in the same fiscal year they are performed
Roger asked if the data was being synched locally. Scott clarified that the application is local, but the data is accessed through AWS. Justin said that they will come back to this and will ensure that the fiscal year they are installing the software for they will have the funds available.
b. Draft Financial Reserve Policies and Procedures
Roger clarified that the Free Cash target figure of 5-7% was based on the entire annual budget, currently approximately five million dollars. He raised the concern that this suggests everyone should overbudget. A brief discussion about recent historical free cash issues ensued.Justin said that they cannot attribute everything to overbudgeting and asked Roger if he would like to set a different target. Roger discussed the benefits of having the stabilization fund. Justin offered the idea of having a maximum in the free cash category, and reported that they could also have the stabilization for when those funds are needed for something that may come up. Justin discussed how they raised more tax money, which also went into the free cash.
Ilene presented the question if revenue increased would they consider placing a percentage of those funds in a particular account. Justin said that if there were new buildings or growth, then there may be some additional funds for a tax break. Justin said that they were able to put more money towards item this year due to having paid off the ladder truck and transfer station. Justin said that his only edit was to clarify to have free cash up to seven percent. The Finance Committee will review this draft policy and send it to the Select Board when they have approved it. A discussion ensued about how to use the stabilization funds in the future, and balancing debt load with use of stabilization funds for large capital purchases.
c. Review of FY25 budget process
Ilene said that the Finance Committee worked on a schedule for FY 25 budget preparation and Melissa made a few changes. She reported that they will send it to the Select Board. Ilene said that Melissa will offer one-to-one training where needed, and the Finance Committee will work with individuals pertaining to training regarding zero-based budgeting. The Finance Committee discussed adding the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) into the budget information. Justin clarified that when individuals prepare their budget proposals it is difficult to do so if they do not have the COLA figures to work from. Justin discussed how the Town has done salary adjustments in the past to make the compensation comparable to other towns. Susan suggested that now that we have an annual performance review process in place, we can base salary rate increases on COLA, performance and competitiveness to keep our salaries in line with other towns. The Finance Committee will review this and make a recommendation to the Select Board. The Boards discussed using the current Social Security COLA adjustment of 3.2%, which is also in line with the Consumer Price Index increases. Ilene noted that we can also include a regional wage factor to maintain competitiveness.
2. Appoint Chris Andrews as a registrar of voters
Justin moved to appoint Chris Andrews as a registrar of voters and this appointment will last for the duration, he is the Town Clerk. Susan seconded. Call a vote: Susan-yes, Frank-yes, Justin-yes.
3. Appoint Rob Hoogs to the Open Space & Recreation Committee
Susan reported that the Open Space & Recreation Committee would like to appoint Rob Hoogs. Justin seconded. Call a vote: Susan-yes, Frank-yes, Justin-yes.
Susan said that there may be another individual from Monterey interested in serving on the Open Space & Recreation Committee.
4. Human Resources Director: Hire the Collins Center
Justin reported that Town Counsel did recommend having a consultant agreement with the Collins Center. Justin said that he was informed by Town Counsel to accept a proposal since the Collins Center was a quasi-governmental organization. Melissa said that she reached out to Mary regarding the contract and reported that Mary would include the scope of services in the contract. Susan inquired about the start date. Justin said that once the proposal is accepted then they can start working for them. Justin said that he would like to accept the proposal.
Justin moved that the town accept the proposal from the Collins Center for HR consulting and designate the Collins Center, specifically Mary Flynn Aicardi as the Human Resources Director for the Town. Susan seconded. Call a vote: Susan-yes, Frank-yes, Justin-yes.
5. Human Resources Director scope of services
Justin said that they could send the contract to her for review and the Select Board could review the contract as well. Justin asked Melissa to inform Mary that they would like to hire her and negotiate a contract.
6. Update on the Tax Collector software
Melissa reported that the Tax Collector received an updated quote. Frank reported that he and Melissa met with Mari last week and there had been some discrepancies between the quotes, which Mari was going to figure out. Melissa reported that the individual dropped the price for the fiscal year 2025. Melissa reported that she had the contract to sign tonight, and Mari had found one error that she would correct to reflect the correct state.
Justin moved to accept the contract for the Tax Collector software conditional upon the governing law, section 7b under this law the state of Massachusetts or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts rather than the state of Connecticut. Susan seconded. Call a vote: Susan-yes, Frank-yes, Justin-yes.
7. Select Board secretary / office assistant positions
Justin reported that they ultimately combined the position. Justin proposed that they advertise Select Board Secretary and say that it can be combined with Office Assistant and vice versa. Justin said that they would base this on the current job descriptions. Susan inquired about advertising for both positions in the same ad and see if applicants may be interested in either one or both positions. Melissa reported that the office assistant position was budgeted for up to nine hours a week and the Select Board Secretary position was budgeted for 4.6 hours a week. It was agreed to keep the positions separate, but offer combining the positions if an applicant was interested in taking on both roles.
8. Town organizational chart
Justin said that he added this agenda item but was not prepared with proposed changes. He will bring it back to the Board next week.
9. Letter regarding pond names
The Select Board reviewed the letter, and Susan and Justin identified a few minor changes to the letter. Justin reported that there was a police call for a loose alligator at Steadman Pond last August. As dispatch did not clarify, the police responded, but responders mistakenly went to Stedman Pond at Hume Camp. It was determined later that the alligator was apparently seen at Steadman pond off of Tyringham Rd. The Select Board is requesting that BNRC or Camp Hume change the name of their pond to prevent a future emergency services problem. There is a formal process to go through in order to change the name of either pond. The Select Board agreed with the content of the letter.
10. Town Administrator Items
There are no Town Administrator Items today.
11. Unanticipated business
Justin provided an update on the dark skies bylaw. He discussed other towns that were considering a bylaw, including Sandisfield and New Marlborough. Susan reached out to Janet Jensen to learn more about the bylaw and what a good quality bylaw would look like. Justin recommended that Susan look into what New Marlboro and Sandisfield did, and Susan will look into this.
Justin reviewed challenges that arose with the noise bylaw that was proposed last year. He suggested identifying or speaking with individuals who were opposed to the noise bylaw and see what they may be able to do to be able to receive additional support for these bylaws. Susan said that the Open Space committee was following up regarding the dark sky bylaw since it received so much support in the Master Plan.
Frank reported that he received an email from Shawn who is going to put a committee together to consider the Fire Company lease with the town. Frank reported that Shawn seemed frustrated with the process. Melissa suggested that the Fire Company Committee meet with the Finance Committee and the Select Board.
Justin reported that they received an email regarding the Cronk Rd. hearing from the ConCom, and asked if that would be the only agenda item for the meeting. This meeting will be held on November 27th, 2023. Justin said that he did not believe that this was something the Select Board should be involved in. Frank confirmed that the Select Board was invited to the meeting.
12. Comments & questions from the public
There were no comments or questions from the public.
13. Approve minutes of 10/24/23, 10/31/23. and 11/7/23
The Select Board reviewed the minutes from 10/24/23. Susan made a motion to approve the minutes as amended. Justin seconded. Call a vote: Susan-yes, Frank-yes, Justin-yes.
The Select Board reviewed the minutes from 10/31/23. Susan made a motion to approve the minutes as amended. Justin seconded. Call a vote: Susan-yes, Frank-yes, Justin-yes.
The minutes from 11/7/23 will be tabled until a future meeting.
Melissa inquired about the evaluation process. Justin reported that each Select Board member would provide an evaluation and the Town Administrator will conduct a self-evaluation. Justin reported that they could meet next week to discuss the evaluations as a Board or exchange them at one meeting and then discuss them at the next meeting, or they could have the Collins Center prepare a composite evaluation to be discussed by the Board. Susan said that she believed they need to have an executive session whether they are keeping the Town Administrator, and to discuss how each Board member reviewed the Town Administrator. Susan offered the options of either reading through the documents in the meeting or to share the documents in advance and then discuss it during the meeting to ensure we all fully understand each other’s position, but noted that this would make all the documents fully public. Justin presented the options of speaking with Town Counsel or with the new HR Director so they can discuss a composite evaluation, rather than three individual evaluations, during an open meeting. Justin said that they could utilize an executive session to strategize contract negotiations, but he did not believe an executive session was appropriate for an employee review. Susan and Frank said that they were in favor of consulting with the Collins Center regarding the Town Administrator evaluation. Justin will reach out to Town Counsel and the Collins Center to clarify the options that the Select Board has moving forward.
Melissa asked if the Select Board intended to advertise the position or renegotiate the contract. Susan said that presently she would be in favor of renegotiation of the contract. Frank said that as of now he had not made a decision and discussed how he has less experience working with her but does have some experience when he was serving on the Finance Committee. Frank said that they will have to talk on Thursday during their meeting. To discuss the individual evaluations, Susan will meet with Melissa on Wednesday, and Justin and Frank will each meet individually with Melissa on Thursday.
Frank made a motion to adjourn the Select Board meeting. Justin seconded. Call a vote: Susan-yes, Frank-yes, Justin-yes. The meeting adjourned at 8:29pm.
Documents used at the meeting
- Signed letter regarding pond names
- Board of Assessors software upgrade proposed contract
- Draft Financial Reserve Policies and Procedures
- Draft Human Resources Director scope of services
- Signed Tax Collector software contract