Print
Share page with AddThis

Select Board Meeting Minutes 11/23/2020

Meeting date: 
Monday, November 23, 2020

Minutes of the meeting of 11/23/20

Meeting Opened at: 9am

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

Select Board Members present remotely: John Weingold

Also present: Dennis Lynch, Mary Makuc, Peter Chait, Janet Jensen, Stephen Cohen,

Housekeeping items addressed:  The public was informed that if they intend to record the meeting they must let the chair know.

Items discussed:

  1. Mary Makuc and Dennis Lynch of the Monterey Community Center came in to invite the Board to the Monterey lights the holiday’s event on Saturday, November 28th, at 7:00pm. Masks and social distancing will be required.
  2. Mary Makuc reported that the privately run food bank would like to know if it would be appropriate to have a box for canned donations at the transfer station.  Don had no issues as long as Shawn Tryon and the transfer station attendants had no objections.  A motion was made to approve subject to Shawn Tryon’s approval.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
  3. The Board continued their review of Mark Webbers final observations, findings and professional opinion on the current state of town operations and how best to proceed: This was briefly discussed at the last meeting that John was unable to attend due to technical difficulties.  Steve stated that he found it useful having a viewpoint that came from someone with an extensive amount of experience with small towns, specifically in Berkshire County versus a report that was written by folks coming from Boston with little or no small town experience (Collins Center and DLS).  John felt that Mark’s observations was180 degrees different than DLS and completely different from the Collins Center and the Citizen committee.  He felt that the Board paid to get the decision they wanted [M. Webber declined any payment]. Don replied that that 3 local, experienced Town Administrators are of the same opinion that M. Noe is the qualified candidate already doing the job.  John implied that there are emails he hasn’t seen between Mark Webber, Peter Fohlin and Mark Pruhenski as well as the Board members.  John was assured that there is no great conspiracy and that he has received all of the information available. Steve suggested revisiting this conversation after the 1st of the year. It was unanimously agreed to table the discussion until after the 1st of the year.
  4. Fiber Connect town agreement:  The Board reviewed the draft copy of a proposed agreement between the Town and Fiber Connect.  John stated he couldn’t open it but admitted he did not reach out to request a copy of a version he could open until just before the meeting.  Discussion ensued about the addendums.  Steve wants the Board to keep in mind that while Fiber Connect is a private company they are providing a utility service that people will be dependent on going forward that is also a relative monopoly and there should be some sort of mechanism for consistent pricing to protect the residents of Monterey.  If it protects the town and if Fiber Connect and MBI agree to it, John felt that we should not delay this any further.  No one had any issues with the security portion of the agreement.  Don will work in the edits to the draft made at today’s meeting and will write to Adam to set up a date for a meeting to discuss the draft together.
  5. The Council on Aging has requested that Lin Saberski be appointed.  A motion was made to appoint Lin Saberski for a 3 year term to the Council on Aging.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
  6. Historic District Study Committee recommended appointments from MA Association of Realtors; Tim Lovett & Maureen MacFarland. The letter was past the 30 days to respond. The Board unanimously recommended that the letter be brought to the attention of the committee for their input.
  7. Administrative Assistant items
    1. Floating holiday: In years past the Board has given the day after Thanksgiving as a floating holiday to all eligible employees in lieu of the turkey gift cards that used to be dispersed.  A motion was made to offer the full time, eligible employees the day after Thanksgiving as a floating holiday.  The motion was seconded.  Discussion ensued.  John stated that a day off cost a lot more than a $50 gift card.  Mary Makuc stated that a lot of employees are doing the “Berkshire Shuffle” wearing multiple hats and something like this would increase morale.  The motion passed unanimously.
    2. Fiber Connect/Bally Gally agreement additional questions: The tenants of Bally Gally requested clarification on the new agreement with Fiber Connect and if the town were to terminate their lease who would be responsible for the continuation of services.  A motion was made to add the following to the lease, “Regarding the tenants' termination penalty with Fiber Connect for early ending of broad band service, the town shall take on its payment or payment of the regular monthly charge if the town refuses to renew the tenants' lease, unless said refusal is based on the tenants' violation of the lease agreement.  Also, If the town increases the annual rent by an amount not accepted by the tenants, the town will become responsible for the above mentioned termination penalty or the monthly payments.  Fiber Connect is not an intended beneficiary of this lease amendment."  It was seconded and unanimously approved.
  8. Select Board mediation scheduling update from John Weingold: John has contacted the mediator twice but has not firmed up a schedule.  He expressed concerns about the Open Meeting Law and stated he has not asked for an answer from the Attorney General’s Office yet. 
  9. A motion was made to approve the minutes of 11/12 with edits.  Steve did not have a chance to review them yet and John was not present at the meeting, this will tabled to the next meeting.
  10. Comments & questions from the public: None
  11. Steve reported that he received an email from Verizon with an update on the construction of the antennae on the Main Rd tower.  All the electronics are in place and the antennas should go up in January with full service in late winter/early spring.
  12. John inquired about the telecom hut/fiber shelter that Fiber Connect was requesting and when this would be addressed again.  Don did send a memo earlier about this stating that Gould Farm is in discussions with Fiber Connect to get fiber extended throughout their property and part of their agreement is to put the hut on their property.  John said he received an email from Adam asking for the status just 9 days ago.

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 10:37am

 

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. Fiber Connect draft town agreements
  2. Massachusetts Association of Realtors letter of recommendation for candidates to the Local Historic District Study Committee
  3. Mark Webber’s final observations, findings and professional opinion on the current state of town operations and how best to proceed