Select Board Meeting Minutes 11/3/21

Minutes of the meeting of 11/3/21

Meeting Opened at: 6pm

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

Select Board Members present remotely: John Weingold

Also present: Jim Hunt, Mickey Jervas, Dennis Lynch, Hillel Maximon, Jerry Clarin, Shawn Tryon,

Also present remotely: Don Coburn, Paula Hartstein, Barbara Dahlman, Janet Jensen, Chris Tryon, Michele Miller, Frank Upton, Peter Murkett, Frank Kern, Susan Cooper, Mary Makuc, Steve Moore, Kevin West, Hy Rosen, Deborah Slater, Jon Levin, Janet Maximon, Nancy Tomasovich,

Items discussed:

6pm: Finalize offer with Jim Hunt:

Jim requested that the word “Interim” be stricken because by definition it means temporary and he is uncomfortable leaving permanent employment for temporary.  A motion was made to hire Jim Hunt as the Director of Operations at the full $77,259/yr with a 4 month probationary period and a term of 8 months to 6/30, to align the appointment schedule to the fiscal year like many employees.  The motion was seconded.  Shawn Tryon commented that he supported the offer.  Hillel Maximon commented that he appreciated Justin’s willingness to amend the original offer.  The motion passed 2 – 0, John abstained because he wasn’t at the meeting last week for the initial negotiations.  Jim thanked Steve and Justin.  Jim notified the Board that he has contacted the ethics commission and presented a Disclosure of Appearance of Conflict of Interest form notifying the appointing authority that Tyler Collins is his nephew (hired by Shawn).  His official start date would be the 13^th.

Jim and Shawn reported that a candidate was interviewed today for the foreman position that looks promising.  The highway 2 position will be posted tomorrow.

Old Business

1. Town Administrator
   1. The edited minutes of 10/20 were reviewed and discussed. A motion was made to approve the minutes of 10/20/21 as edited.  The motion was seconded. The motion passed 2 – 0 as John was not present after abruptly leaving that meeting.
   2. The Board reviewed Melissa’s research on adding public records to the website which did not include the impact on boards and committees, only the main departments in town hall.  Melissa was asked to reach out to the boards and committees to determine the feasibility of Boards and committees posting documents they use during their meeting online.  A motion was made to have the Select Board post any documents referenced during a meeting to the approved minutes.  The motion was seconded.  Shawn Tryon commented that this will always be a week behind. Posting the documents with the agenda was considered, but ultimately the Board agreed that posting the documents with the minutes was more reasonable. The motion passed unanimously.
2. John requested to make a point of order to always require a second before discussing any topic.  No further discussion or votes were taken.
3. Continue review of Select Board Roles, Polices & Procedures draft: This was tabled until the next meeting.
4. Open Meeting Law (OML) Complaints filed by John Weingold (2).  Each complaint was read into record as were the draft responses.  The complaints consisted of accusing Steve of multiple offenses.  Susan Cooper asked that it be noted in the record that once this item came up for discussion Mr. Weingold left the view of his camera.  Justin did not agree to sign the response to the 1^st OML complaint as he pointed out the Open Meeting Law guide which states, “Although a public body may consider a topic that was not listed in the meeting if it was not anticipated, the Attorney General strongly encourages public bodies to postpone discussion and action on topics that are controversial or may be of particular interest to the public if the topic was not listed in the meeting notice.”  Ellen Coburn emphasized the number of people that were upset (calling it a crisis) by the decision made that prompted the large presence at the meeting that John is disputing was legal.  Ellen also reminded the Board that Counsel advised the Board that night that it was their meeting and they could allow it if they wanted.  Hillel Maximon noted that Justin did finally vote to reverse the decision that night and added that “strongly suggests” does not mean it’s the law; there was an urgency that night and if it had been postponed for trivial reasons the town would’ve come to a halt and that is more than a crisis.  Steve Moore asked to clarify his statement made at the 10/6 meeting since it was referenced multiple times tonight; he was suggesting that rescheduling the topic on the 6^th to the following week may not have only caused a slight inconvenience as the Town Administrator was scheduled for 2 days’ vacation time and there was also a holiday.  Susan Cooper noted that if we had the largest attendance at a meeting when an item wasn’t posted (meaning they obviously were notified somehow), postponing likely would’ve resulted in less participation.  Steve noted that part of the complaint is accusing him of soliciting folks on the google group to stack the meeting which is a lie.  A motion was made to forward the response to the attorney general.  No second.  As one of the members is the complainant and one will not sign, Steve will be the only one signing and sending it in.  A motion was made to forward the response to the Attorney General for the 2^nd complaint filed.  The motion was seconded and approved 2-0 with Steve and Justin voting yes.
5. Access to counsel draft policy:  The edited policy from 2017 was reviewed.  A motion was made to send the draft edited version to current counsel as well as the other departments to see if there would be any impacts not anticipated in the memo as written to any department heads.  The motion was seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.
6. Clarity of agendas draft policy:  The Board reviewed the draft created by Melissa and the edits suggested by Justin. It was agreed to change the 72 hour deadline to Monday by 9am (Friday if Monday is a holiday) and to add that if a board member adds an item(s) and doesn’t show up to the meeting, the item(s) will not be discussed and the item(s) will not be automatically added to the next agenda.  A motion was made to approve the policy with the edits.  The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
7. Town Charter Committee:  A motion was made to appoint Mickey Jervas, Jon Sylbert, Catherine Hurst and Ronald Winters for 1 year term with the following charge; to investigate and advise the Board of Selectmen to see if a proposed Town Charter is appropriate for Monterey.  The motion was seconded and approved unanimously. 

New Business

1. Town Administrator: Due to the late hour Melissa requested to table her new business to next week.  The Board agreed.
2. Highway Planning Commission: Justin acknowledge Melissa’s research of the 1979 town meeting minutes from June 30^, 2021.  She sent her research to previous counsel who confirmed that this is not actually a bylaw.  Justin suggested that even though it is not actually a bylaw the Board could still appoint a commission if they wanted. Justin suggested this committee’s charge could be to work collaboratively with the Director of Operations, Town Administrator, and Select Board, advising and assisting on matters relating to the road-related infrastructure of the Town. This work would involve planning the maintenance and reconstruction of bridges, culverts, and roads, identifying the medium to long-term needs of the Town’s bridges, culverts, and roads, advocating for local, State, and Federal funding for the Town’s bridges, culverts, and roads, developing and maintaining a multi-year road plan in collaboration with the Director of Operations, Town Administrator, and Select Board for budget and warrant discussion and preparation.  John was not satisfied with prior counsel’s opinion and the matter and stated he would be asking current counsel for their opinion on whether it was an actual bylaw or not.  A motion was made to provide the description to the Town Administrator, current Director of Operations and future Director to seek input.  The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. 
3. Timeline of investigation: Table
4. Review mail and any correspondence to be sent/signed
   1. Review of any correspondence was tabled.
5. Comments & questions from the public
   1. Ellen Coburn heard her name mentioned and wanted to know if there was anything she needed to answer; she did not.

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

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. Disclosure of Appearance of Conflict of Interest form
2. Public records research
3. Draft policy for contacting town counsel
4. Open Meeting Law complaints filed by John Weingold (2)
5. Agenda setting policy for the Select Board
6. Highway Planning Commission document