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Select Board Meeting Minutes 12/2/2020

Meeting date: 
Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Minutes of the meeting of 12/2/20

Meeting Opened at: 6pm

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

Select Board Members present remotely: John Weingold

Also present remotely: Dennis Lynch, Peter Chait, John Szablowski, Rebecca Wolin

Roll call was taken.  Don present. Steve present. John present remotely

Items discussed:

  1. Grant proposal from Dennis Lynch:  Dennis is proposing to write a grant through the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center for an energy resiliency and needs analysis and system design to adapt to climate change impacts.  They are asking communities to consider renewable power to supplement existing needs.  Dennis is proposing solar power at either the 6 acre parcel at the old landfill or the 11 acre parcel behind the pavilion to provide power to the primary command center for the fire station and town hall as the secondary command center.  The grant provides up to $75k for a consultant to come in and determine the technical analysis.  Only 3 municipalities will be awarded the grant.  Don explained that we learned from Shawn that in order to use the old landfill it would have to be capped and that is a very expensive process.  Don also learned that several groups have been interested in using the parcel behind the firehouse so he is uncertain about going forward as fast as this grant requires.  The proposal would use about 50% of the parcels proposed (3-6 acres).  The landfill would need to be declared as part of the overlay district.  Steve also noted that the parcel behind the firehouse would require clearcutting.  Don noted that a generator would be a much less expensive alternative.  John noted that we do not currently have a solar power proposal in existence.  The board was concerned about the short time frame before the grant is due to adequately research this proposal (it’s due on December 16th).  Steve wanted Gould Farm to be a part of the proposal.  Dennis noted that Gould Farm would need to have had a recent energy audit to include them.  A motion was made to not move forward with the proposal at this time.  The motion was unanimously approved.
  2. Mediation and Open Meeting Law Determination: A determination from the Open Meeting Law (OML) division stated that any meeting of the board as a whole to participate in mediation would fall under the OML guidelines and would be a public meeting.  John stated he has contacted the mediator to perform individual interviews.  Don felt we needed a further opinion as the OML does not allow an opinion to be expressed independently then conveyed to the others through a 3rd party.  John agreed to contact the AG, and Don requested that the AG opinion be provided in writing to the Board.
  3. Seasonal/temporary employee appointment; A motion was made to appoint Cody Funk as a seasonal/temporary employee through April 30, 2021.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
  4. Monterey Town Report Committee Bylaw Art. II, sec. 9, discussion & reappointment: Melissa was asked to respond to this. She read the minutes of 7/12/17 which said that the Board appointed themselves to sit as the Town Report Committee until and unless other parties show interest in sitting on it.  John said that we need to yearly ask if anyone is interested through an article in the Monterey News.  Steve noted that there isn’t any room for public input of these reports as they are drafted and submitted by each department and Steve questioned this bylaw was unnecessary as there is nothing for the public to do other than choose the color of the report and this is a good example of a bylaw that exists that no longer has a purpose.  John made a motion to contact the Monterey News to see if there was any interest in joining.  John yes.  Steve no.  Don no.   The motion failed.
  5. Monterey Salary Commission, Bylaw Art. II, sec. 15 discussion & reappointment:  John noted that this is another committee that is not in existence and should be.  Don noted that it was another bylaw that was unnecessary.  Steve noted that over the years there has been an employee compensation committee and the only purpose of the committee was to set the salaries but those are set by the Finance Committee and Select Board during the budget process so this is another example of a committee that was a good idea when it was created in 1979 but is no longer.   John made a motion to contact the Monterey news to see if there was interest in repopulating.  Don no, John yes, Steve, no.  The motion failed.
  6. Monterey Highway Planning Commission, Bylaw Art. II, sec. 16 discussion & reappointment: Same arguments as the other two.  Don asked what the purpose was as it isn’t stated in the bylaw.  John said it would be to plan highway projects and argued that if there was a bylaw there should be a committee and it should be followed through.  John made a motion to contact the Monterey news to see if there was interest in repopulating.  Don no, John yes, Steve, no.  The motion failed.
  7. Sign Resolution adopting the Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaption Plan: A motion was made to adopt the resolution of the Monterey Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan.  Don, yes, Steve, yes, John yes.  The motion passed unanimously.
  8. Administrative Assistant items
    1. Inclusive community sign:  The Board approved it subject to the Planning Board’s sign approval.
    2. Grants received:
      1. Community Compact IT Grant for $82k to have weather cameras installed in 2 permanent locations in town and 4 remote cameras to be mounted on the plow trucks,
      2. MIIA Risk Management grant for $4,084 for various safety equipment for the highway and police departments and
      3. MIIA Wellness grant for $5k to encourage our employees to get healthy and be well and look at other healthier food options.
    3. Green Communities energy audit update. M. Noe reported that the required energy audit of town buildings was completed on Tuesday and we should have our report/recommendations before the end of the month.  John asked that Rebecca Wolin be mentioned and thanked for inquiring about this.
  9. A motion was made to approve the minutes of 11/12/20. John was not present at this meeting.  Don yes, Steve, yes.  The minutes were approved.  A motion was made to approve the minutes of 11/23/20.  Steve proposed a change.  John questioned the change and said he wanted to listen to the tape to check the proposed amendment.  John admitted that he has not reviewed any of the minutes so he will be abstaining.  The Board agreed to table the approval of the 11/23 minutes to the next meeting to allow John time to review the tape, read and comment on them.
  10. Review mail and correspondence to be sent/signed: none
  11. Comments & questions from the public: none
  12. Steve asked the board’s permission to reach out to Gould Farm to have a preliminary discussions about a joint solar solar project.  A motion was made to allow Steve to represent the board on a possible joint solar panel project.  John asked how you could use taxpayer dollars for private properties like Gould Farm and the Fire Company. Steve explained that the town can enter into public-private partnerships and this would just be a preliminary meeting. The motion was unanimously approved.
  13. Don asked whether discussion should be reopened to discuss all the possibilities for the parcel of land behind the firehouse.  Steve agreed and stated that this needs to be part of the long range master planning discussions.  Don noted that master planning falls under the Planning Board’s purview.

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 6:56pm

 

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. Grant proposal from Dennis Lynch
  2. Open Meeting Law Guidance sent to Don Coburn on mediation
  3. Select Board minutes of 7/12/17
  4. Draft resolution of adopting the Monterey Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan