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Select Board Meeting Minutes 12/29/21

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Meeting date: 
Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Minutes of the meeting of 12/29/21

Meeting Opened at: 6pm

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

Select Board Members Present Remotely: John Weingold

Also present: Mickey Jervas, Chris Andrews, Dave Gilmore, Joe Lyman, Marcello Peppi

Also present remotely: Tom Sawyer, Don Coburn, Mike Parsons, Gerry Clarin, Susan Smith, Scott Margol, Steve Moore, Janet Jensen, Hillel Maximon, Mary Makuc, Karin Jackson, Stuart Litwin, Susan Cooper

6pm: Old Business

  1. Posting YouTube videos prior to September 22; review & sign agreement: Steve suggested tabling this as he has still not received the agreement. Steve said the representative from SAG has suggested waiting until the agreement has been entered into so Steve does not risk his union status.  Justin stated that the Board never changed the policy so, at the least, recordings of the meetings should continue to be posted to YouTube.  Justin made a motion to reaffirm the policy of posting the recordings of Select Board meetings to YouTube, and additionally post back to June when the Board first voted to put recordings of the meetings online.  John seconded the motion.  Steve asked it be noted in the minutes that he did not call the vote and voted no.  Justin and John voted yes and it passed 2 -1.

New Business

  1. Conservation Commission:
    1. Chris Andrews, resident on Beartown Mtn Rd came to discuss the difficulty he has encountered with the Conservation Commission. Chris explained he has difficulties getting any information or response from the Conservation Commission since mid-October and he just learned they will not be scheduling and meetings for January or February. When Chris received a response from the Commission last week after repeated emails, the Commission’s Chair referred any communications to the Select Board.  Justin noted that a help wanted ad was just posted today for a new agent. It was suggested that Chris reach out to Michael Zisser, a member on the Conservation Commission, as he seems willing to help.  Chris noted he has also contacted the state and was advised to try and work it out with the Con Comm members.  Steve apologized for the challenges Chris is encountering and noted that the Board has limited authority in directing the Conservation Commission and doesn’t understand why they would direct Chris to this board.  John Weingold didn’t think that the Conservation Commission Project Review form should be on the website and suggested it was illegal.  Melissa explained that the form has been in existence for 16 years and was created jointly by the Building Inspector and Commission to assist residents with a smoother application process.
    2. Don Coburn’s email on same was read into record.  Justin noted that Don was mistaken in asserting no meetings were held in December, as there were two meetings scheduled and held in December.  Justin also believes that the Conservation Commission has asked for a joint meeting with the Select Board which the Select Board has yet to respond to.  Steve noted that the Board also received an email from the Conservation Commission stating they have no faith in the Select Board and do not want to work with the Board so Steve doesn’t know which request the Board should follow.  Steve commented that the only path forward is to get the Conservation Commission to perform their responsibilities and in order to get on this path they need to get an agent.  Steve recommended that the Board wait and see if they are able to find an agent.  Steve requested the request for a joint meeting between the Conservation Commission and Select Board be sent in an email. Justin believed that the Conservation Commission had already requested a joint meeting with the Select Board, but could not recall the specific email. Steve did reach out to counsel with some questions on the topic as he felt it was a time sensitive issue, and they have not responded back yet. 
  2. Steve reported that he reached out to counsel to get an update on the status of the investigation but has had no response.
  3. Town Administrator Items:
    1. Opioid Settlement: KP Law has confirmed that it will not cost Monterey any money to participate. A motion was made to enter Monterey in the settlement.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
    2. HR Director update: Melissa reported that one offer was made and turned down and another offer has been made to another candidate and we are waiting on her response.
  4. Director of Open Government’s verbal communication to Monterey about number of open meeting law complaints: According to Melissa and Steve, Assistant Attorney General initiated outreach as it has not escaped their knowledge as there have been a significant number of open meeting law complaints filed by two particular individuals from Monterey (John Weingold and Jon Sylbert).  She offered the town and finance committee a personalized training open only to the Select Board and Finance Committee. She made particular note that some of these complaints seem to be retaliatory.  The Board agreed to schedule this training and thought it was a good idea.  A motion was made to reach out and let them know we are amenable to this training and to have the Finance Committee put it on their agenda as well.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
  5. Open Meeting Law complaint filed by Jon Sylbert: The complaint filed against Justin and Steve was read into record.  A draft response was reviewed.  A motion was made to approved and sign the draft letter.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
  6. Open Meeting Law complaint filed by John Weingold: The complaint filed against Justin and Steve was read into record.  A draft response was reviewed.  Steve explained that the process for filing complaints are not a “you hit me with a bat and I hit you back”.  Boards and committees should be trying to work out these items first prior to filing complaints.  John was asked to withdraw his complaint since another complaint had already been filed and the minutes would be amended next week.  John wasn’t sure he could comment on this as he was the one filing the complaint and it is “kind of like a conflict”.  Justin did not sign the response letter.
  7. Police Dept part time officer appointment.  The Chief and the Sergeant are recommending a 12 month probationary appointment of Lauren Nelson.  John felt that the posting was illegal and improper because the name of the appointee was not listed in the posted agenda Melissa noted that she did not have the name until just yesterday.  A motion was made to appoint Lauren Nelson as a part time police officer. The motion was seconded. John abstained.  Steve and Justin, yes. 
  8. Stephanie Sloane Cultural Council appointment: A motion was made to appoint Stephanie Sloane at the recommendation of the cultural council for a three year term.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
  9. Part time employee holiday pay policy: Justin noted that it came to his attention that regularly scheduled part time employees are not compensated for holidays.  Justin suggests that part time employees should be compensated for hours that they are regularly scheduled to work each week, but do not because the hours fall on a day that the state has designated a holiday.  Justin understand that each department has different complexities and it might not be the same for all.  He proposes that this policy should take effect beginning in FY23.  Steve felt that for a town this size it would be important to first figure out what kind of impact this would have on the budget and to find out what other towns do as we do with any other such proposal.  Justin isn’t concerned as he feels it is the right thing to do.  Justin also made the disclaimer that both his parents are part time employees however he does not think they would be affected by this policy as his mother does not have a regular schedule and his father has discretionary hours.  Steve said that Justin and Melissa should work together so that she can do the research and then the finance committee should also be consulted.  John said we have $800k in free cash and this is negligible.  John wanted to pay them now but it was noted that there is a current policy that states that only full time employees are paid for holidays.
  10. Review Counsel Contact policy (JM): Justin was under the understanding that if the Chair needed to bring a question to counsel they would bring it to the board for permission if it is not time sensitive or confidential, as per the recently adopted Counsel Contact policy.  Justin would like to talk about the possibility of amending the current policy to add the following to clarify where he feels like there has been some misunderstanding: “All members of the Select Board shall consult the Select Board at a meeting of the Select Board to authorize contact with Counsel the same as any member of any other multi-member board, unless the reason for contacting counsel is of a time sensitive nature.”  Steve apologized and Justin accepted it.  John asked Justin how long is he going to keep allowing Steve to violate policies. 
  11. A motion was made to approve the minutes of 12/15/21 as amended.  The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
  12. Amend 10/6 minutes (JM): Unanimously agreed to table to Jan 5th.
  13. Review mail and any correspondence to be sent/signed:
    1. Counsel response to Jon Sylbert and Rebecca Wolin complaint and letter from KP Law to Chief Tryon: Both were read into record.
    2. Smitty and Hinds response re: Home Rule Petition: The response to reverse their decision and move forward with submitting the recall legislation in the General Court.
    3. Jon Sylbert email about boycotting Finance Committee meetings: Jon’s email to the Board Chair, Adam Hinds, Smitty Pignatelli, the Attorney General, Town Counsel and the Monterey News stating he will no longer be attending any future finance committee meetings was read into record.  Justin then read into record the email from Don Coburn mentioned in Jon’s email to the representatives.  Steve noted that it was an interesting type of politics to send a “hurt feelings” email to your state representatives.
    4. Letter from the State regarding noncompliance with prevailing wage law on Library project and counsel comment: The letter was read into record citing a contractor involved in the library project not paying prevailing wages.
    5. 12/14 Email from Jon Sylbert re: electronic voting: Jon Sylbert sent an email reminding the Board that he suggested electronic voting two years ago and never received a response.
    6. Public Records Appeal filed by Jon Sylbert, determination by state
  14. Steve reported that the new COVID numbers for MA are rising rapidly and he has asked the Town Administrator to keep in touch with the health department and to be prepared that there may be a need to go to remote only meetings.  In addition, just prior to the meeting DLS did state that towns may use ARPA funds to purchase tests and he would like to test employees on a daily basis.  Mickey Jervas noted that as long as the Board is comfortable and cautious it is easier to continue to hold in person meetings and it’s no different than going to the grocery store, plus it’s a personal choice on whether someone should attend or not.
  15. To touch back on an earlier agenda item, Justin noted that Jeremy Rawitz did send an email to the Conservation Commission and Select Board on December 9th. The email communicated to the Select Board a December 8th vote of the Conservation Commission requesting a joint meeting between the Conservation Commission and Select Board in executive session, and counsel opinion on a disciplinary letter for a former employee.  Steve will check with counsel first to assure the meeting should take place in executive session.
  16. Comments & questions from the public:
    1. Don Coburn thought it would be appropriate to read the responses that he and Michele Miller made to Jon Sylbert’s email to the representatives. Don is concerned that you have a member of the Board stating he is going to boycott a board that is just entering into budget season and the finance committee deserves to have a full board to act on items.  Steve is hopeful that Jon will decide to return to the meetings.  Michele Miller’s and Don’s responses were then read into the record.

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 8:11pm

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. Don Coburn email re: Con Comm
  2. Summary from the state of Open Meeting Law violations filed in Monterey for 2021
  3. Open Meeting Law Complaints filed by John Sylbert & John Weingold
  4. Counsel response to Jon Sylbert and Rebecca Wolin complaint letter from KP Law to Chief Tryon
  5. Smitty and Hinds response re: Home Rule Petition
  6. Jon Sylbert email about boycotting Finance Committee meetings
  7. Letter from the State regarding noncompliance with prevailing wage law on Library project and counsel comment
  8. 12/14 Email from Jon Sylbert re: electronic voting
  9. Public Records Appeal filed by Jon Sylbert, determination by state
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