Select Board Meeting Minutes 1/6/21

Minutes of the meeting of 1/6/21

Meeting Opened at: 6pm

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

Select Board Members present remotely: John Weingold

Also present remotely: Kim Wetherall, David Silberman, Mary McGurn, Peter Chait, Mike Johnson, Dennis Lynch, Nancy Tomasovich, Jonathan and Chris Loy, Richard Skolnik, Rebecca Wolin, Jon Sylbert, Michele Miller

Roll call was taken.  Don Coburn present, Steve Weisz present, John Weingold present remotely (left meeting at 7pm).

Joint meeting with the Finance Committee to discuss the following:

1. Joint meeting schedule and participants.  It was agreed to immediately schedule public joint meetings with the following departments; Police, Highway, Fire, Select Board, Community Center, Library, Clerk, Building Commissioner, Parks Commission, Financial Services, Counsel and Transfer Station.  All agreed that at this point joint meetings with the Board of Health, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, Community Center, Tax Collector, School Committee, Tree Warden, and COA should not be necessary.
2. 5pm on Wednesdays was suggested and agreed to as the regular joint budget meeting schedule beginning next week to be held on once a week until a better handle is had on the budget and where adjustments may need to be made.  M. Noe will work on the scheduling of department heads and committees.
3. Jon S reported that he did a rough estimate of the increases to the individual departments and it varies from 1% - 16 ½%.  He suggested that an actual figure for determining the proposed budget increase as of today is 4.3% increase to operating costs with the debt service numbers removed.
4. John Weingold inquired if the Finance Committee has ever requested a decrease in budgets.  John W said that we are in a pandemic and should be cutting.  Steve reported that he spoke with the tax collector and she has confirmed that there has not been any decrease in collections. Michele added that it is important to remember that no one is throwing money around and everything is open for discussion and no one’s motives should be impugned.

Items discussed:

1. A motion was made to appoint Michael Zisser to the Conservation Commission for a 3 year term.  The motion was unanimously approved.
2. A motion was made to appoint Tracey Brennan to the Parks Commission until the next election.  The motion was unanimously approved.
3. A motion was made to appoint Nate Miravec as a Probationary Firefighter.  John wanted to know what town Nate lived in before he would vote.  The motion was temporarily tabled while M. Noe retrieved that information.  John didn’t feel that the taxpayers of Monterey should pay someone who lives in another town which and who is 30 minutes away.  Steve explained that it is not easy to get volunteers and Don added that we have other firefighters that live outside of Monterey.  The motion passed 2-1 with John voting no.
4. Fiber Connect Pole Hearing for Beartown Mtn Rd and Royal Hemlock.  The proposal was read into the record.  As there are no definite pole locations at the moment and it is a blanket easement request the Board made a motion to approve the pole hearing request with the condition that pole placements are subject to final approval by the Director of Operations.  The motion passed unanimously.
5. A motion was made to appoint Maureen McFarland and Tim Lovett to the Historic District Study Committee for one year. The motion passed unanimously.
6. The Historic District Study Committee is requesting that the committee be increased to 7 members vs 5 and to appoint Rob Nelson and Robert Rausch for one year.  A motion was made to change the membership to 7 and appoint Rob Nelson and Robert Rausch for one year.  The motion passed unanimously.
7. Posting Fiber contract on website: Discussion ensued.  It was noted that historically contracts are not posted on the website but if the Board wants it posted M. Noe just requested direction from the Board.  It was agreed to post the contract on the website once it has been fully executed. 
8. Dennis Lynch requested to attend an upcoming grant research meeting for the Municipal Vulnerability Program (MVP) at a cost of $50 ($25/hr for 2 hours).  The Board unanimously approved the request.  John also suggested that Dennis be paid 2 hours a week to do research on grants for Fiber.  As this was not on the agenda the topic was not discussed or voted on.
9. New Marlborough has asked Monterey to review their draft Hazard Mitigation Plan and to reply if there are any comments which is a requirement of the grant process.  The Board did not have any comments and will ask Shawn Tryon to review and advise if he thinks comments need to be made.  The motion passed unanimously
10. Status of Conservation Commission Agent and Chair of the Conservation Commission: It has been brought to the Chair’s attention that there may be a problem between the Conservation Commission Agent who is appointed by the Selectboard and the Chair of the Commission however no complaints have been brought to the Board’s attention as the appointing authority.  Our DEP rep and the Chair of the Becket Conservation Commission have informed our Agent that the Chair is seeking to replace her and is looking for references.  It was pointed out that the Commission and its agent are appointed by the Board.  A few solutions were offered: designate one SB member to speak with chair to determine if there is an issue and what it might take to determine the best course of action forward or request that the Chair resign if he cannot follow the policies adopted by the town for dealing with potential situations.  Discussion ensued over whether our Agent was an employee or a consultant. M. Noe confirmed that she is an employee.  John was not satisfied with that response and made a motion to get a written legal opinion from counsel to determine if the Agent is a consultant or an employee and if the Select Board has jurisdiction in weighing in on any issues of this kind concerning the ConCom. Don opposed  the motion on the ground that it is perfectly clear that she is an employee and is appointed by the Board, and the Select Board has a right to be involved in seeing the problem resolved. Steve agrees with Don and also stated it is a waste of counsel’s time however he will agree to have counsel verify the information and assist with a path toward reconciliation.  The motion passed 2-1 with Don voting no.
11. Administrative Assistant items
    1. Request to attend Annual MMA meeting (online this year): A motion was made to allow M. Noe to attend this conference remotely.  John stated that he thought this was only for Town Administrators to which he was corrected and informed that all municipal employees may attend and that Steve has even attended in the past.  The motion passed 2-1 with John voting no.  John then inquired if he could attend and be reimbursed the $85 fee, to which Don replied that he would not support spending town money on John until John started fulfilling the full duties of his Select Board position that he has been neglecting, such as failing to review and approve budget warrants and failing to review and vote on meeting minutes..
12. A motion was made to approve the edited minutes of 12/16. John did not respond then signed off the meeting at 7pm. The motion passed 2- 0.  A motion was made to approve the edited minutes of 12/23. The motion passed 2-0.
13. Town Administrator job description and advertisement: The Board discussed the help wanted advertisement.  A motion was made to approve the ad with one typographical error being corrected and to publish it in all the usual places.  The motion passed 2-0.
14. Review mail and correspondence to be sent/signed: None
15. Comments & questions from the public: Nancy Tomasovich inquired about the Conservation Commission agenda item and asked how the Board knew of any conversations requesting information on replacements.  She also inquired about when the agenda was amended and this item added.  Don responded briefly.

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 7:07pm

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. Pole hearing documents
2. FY22 draft budget
3. Draft Town Administrator help wanted ad