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Select Board Meeting Minutes 12/12/23

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Meeting date: 
Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Minutes of the meeting of 12/12/23

Meeting Opened at: 6pm

Select Board Members Present: Justin Makuc, Chair, Susan Cooper and Frank Abbott

Also present: Mickey Jervas

Also present remotely: Don Coburn, Lin Saberski, Mary Aicardi (Collins Center HR Consultant), Ellen Coburn

Items discussed:

  1. Call to order 6:00pm
  2. Human Resources consultant scope of services: The Collins Center sent a revised agreement which included changes sent today by Town Counsel. Justin proposed approving the contract contingent upon changes being agreed upon between counsel and the Collins Center.  A motion was made to accept the professional service agreement between the Town and the Collins Center pending final negotiations and edits between Town Counsel and the Collins Center. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
  3. Town Administrator (TA) position:

Justin read the following statement:

“Two weeks ago, the Board unanimously voted to ‘post the Town Administrator job and open up the position for applications.’ Since then, the Board has received significant public and employee feedback with a variety of input all across the spectrum. After serious consideration of all of the feedback, and a thorough review of the options available to the Town, I still agree with continuing the course of the Board’s November 28th vote. If any Board member wishes to make a motion to reconsider that vote to ‘post the Town Administrator job and open up the position for applications,’ please do so now. Otherwise, we have Mary Aicardi here from the Collins Center to answer technical questions about the recruitment and posting. If the Board continues on the course that it voted on at the November 28th meeting, I hope that we can make headway on the posting and recruitment process at this meeting tonight. We should be able to narrow down the timeline of posting and the salary range at this meeting.

Mary was asked to provide guidance on the posting and recruitment for the TA position. Susan provided a preliminary list of items (which can be found as a document used at the meeting) the Board should be addressing expeditiously if they wish to proceed.  Susan objected strongly to using a reserve fund, transfer to allow the Board to offer a higher TA salary and believes a clear mandate from town meeting is the appropriate course for the Board to take. Justin would feel comfortable asking for a transfer of up to $5,000. Justin said that it is an unforeseen expense, which was not anticipated during the budget process last year. Justin also noted that Great Barrington’s Finance Committee recently approved a $25,000 reserve fund transfer request to fund the HR Director becoming full time. Mary Aicardi was asked to speak to salary, timeline for posting and what might make sense for moving forward. Mary suggested that the Board could advertise now but conventional wisdom says to wait until after the holiday (January 2nd) and to have it advertised for 3 – 4 weeks. She suggested getting everything finalized and advertise January 2nd through the MMA (Massachusetts Municipal Association). She said she did not have the market data for salaries in our area, she noted that many municipalities are adding in flexibility such as working from home to make it more attractive to candidates. Mary was asked what the likely tenure is for this high level of management and what would we have to pay to not have it be a resume building position. Mary suggested it would be wise to check with their data person to see where the market is now and acknowledged that the role of TA in our area differs dramatically and Monterey needs to make sure their expectations are clear. Justin asked if the Board wanted him to attend tomorrow’s Finance Committee meeting to see if they would be open to entertaining a reserve fund transfer. Susan asked if there should be a selection committee and, if so, who should serve on that committee. Justin thinks the Select Board is best suited for selection and is ultimately responsible at the end of the day for the appointment and management of the Town Administrator. Frank spoke in favor of a selection committee. Susan asked if the interviews would be open to the public and Justin suggested that to keep the process transparent the interviews might be in open session. Mary advised that the Collins Center does not recommend having a selection committee. She did say that if the Board does the whole process, then all resumes received would be public and that may deter some candidates from applying that may not want their name in the public unless they were a finalist. The Collins Center can screen the applicants if the Board would like. Prior to next week’s Board meeting, Mary from the Collins Center will send the Board data on Town Administrator salaries and a summary of options for screening and interviewing candidates.

  1. Payroll policy: This item will be tabled until next week so that Justin can incorporate the clarifications received from Berkshire County Retirement.
  2. Dissolve Shared Human Resource Inter-Municipal Agreement: A motion was made to dissolve the Shared Human Resource Inter-Municipal Agreement. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
  3. Assessor’s software contract: Justin stated that he was under the impression that the Board would be signing the contract but noted that it was signed by the Board of Assessor Chair with the edits requested by the Board. No action was necessary tonight.
  4. Amend Manual for all Elected and Appointed Multi-Member Bodies: Justin realized after consulting MGL Chapter 41 Section 11 that the approved Handbook was not entirely accurate as to the legal requirement for appointing members to vacant elected positions. The law is clear: “The person so appointed or elected shall be a registered voter of the town.” The Board had previously “preferred” to appoint registered voters of the Town to vacant elected positions, but that is actually a legal requirement. A motion was made to amend the Boards and Committees manual with the proposed amendment.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
  5. Town Administrator Items:
    1. Chapter 90 reimbursement request and final report for Fox Hill Rd: The Board signed the necessary paperwork.
    2. Special Municipal Employee designations: The Board reviewed the Special Municipal Employee suggested designations. This list will supersede any previous designations. A motion was made to accept the list as proposed.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
    3. Accept $200 police donation: A motion was made to accept the donation.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
  6. Unanticipated business:
    1. Dennis Lynch wanted to confirm that the Board understood that up to $35,000 of ARPA funds might be used as a match for the Cultural Counsel feasibility study grant application. The Board agreed to this use of the money.
    2. Dennis Lynch also wanted to be sure that the Board was aware that he has resigned from the Monterey Community Center Committee. The Board acknowledged that the resignation was forwarded to the Clerk as required.
    3. Justin provided the Board with the updated organizational chart. The Board requested, if possible, that Melissa try and fit it over two pages so that the font would be larger.
    4. The Board has been notified that the church building is going up for sale.
    5. Beginning in January, the Board will go to all Tuesday 6pm meetings.
    6. Melissa told the Board about an amazing presentation she took place in by Jon Wortmann and suggested that it would be worth it to have him do a training here.
    7. Office Assistant: Susan noted that one of the things that Blandford mentioned is that they have a half time Administrative Assistant to help the TA and that if a new TA is hired here the Board should consider making a second “secretarial” position, both to allow the re-envisioned TA time to focus on the managerial aspects of the job, and to provide a second level of institutional knowledge in the event of job turnover. Melissa noted that she had three interviews scheduled for the Office Assistant position, two were no shows and one cancelled. Melissa inquired that if the Board is to proceed with a new TA and then an AA or assistant TA she is hesitant to continue with interviewing as it changes the scope.
    8. Susan asked when the last time executive session minutes were reviewed and suggested the Board may want to consider releasing the ones with the former Town Clerk as they may be helpful with the current lawsuit. Justin will consult Town Counsel.
    9. Susan suggested that the Board should be drafting a contingency plan for all the offices/departments in case an emergency were to occur and a staff member was unable to perform their job for an extended period of time. Susan offered to start the list with the TA’s office but admitted that she did not have a comprehensive view of all the things the TA does and will make arrangements to meet with her.
  7. Comments & questions from the public: Mickey Jervas complimented the three Board members and the TA in their handling of the TA position recruitment.
  8. Approval of any minutes was tabled to next week.
  9. Adjournment

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 7:38pm

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. List provided by Susan Cooper to address in moving forward in a TA search
  2. Draft UMass Human Resource professional services agreement
  3. Multi-member board and committees manual amendment
  4. Chapter 90 reports
  5. Special municipal employee designations
  6. Updated organizational chart
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