Select Board Meeting Minutes 2/21/23
Joint meeting of the Select Board and Finance Committee
Minutes of the meeting 2/21/23
Meeting Date: Tuesday February 21, 2023
Meeting Opened at 4:00pm
Select Board members present: Justin Makuc, Susan Cooper
Select Board members absent: Scott Jenssen
Finance Committee members present: Michele Miller, Frank Abbott, Ilene Marcus,
Other individuals present: Melissa Noe, Laurie McArthur (SB secretary), Mickey Jervas
Individuals present remotely: Don Coburn, Kenn Basler
Meeting opened at 4:00pm
AGENDA:
CONTINUE FINALIZING BUDGET
The Select Board and the Finance Committee created a list of items in the budget that required additional conversation. From here a discussion ensued pertaining to each of the identified items in the list. Justin said that he will work on the numbers for the Select Board secretary position. The Select Board and the Finance Committee discussed the position of the Planning Board Clerk and the hours required for the position. Melissa will investigate this and will provide the Select Board with a list of the broken-down hours for the office assistant and the SB secretary.
The Select Board and The Finance Committee discussed the grant writing wages and agreed to lower the amount to $5,000.
Ilene reported that they spent $21,200 of the Town reserve fund thus far. Melissa showed the boards where to find the historical expenditures information, and Ilene read off the historical amounts spent. Susan said that given our attention to the budget and historical patterns $30,000 seemed reasonable for the FY24 budget. The Select Board and Finance Committee agreed to put the Reserve fund at $30,000. Melissa discussed additional repairs that had been completed in the past years which tapped into the reserve fund. Susan and Michele both agreed that if it was a large expense they should approach it at the Town Meeting.
Melissa reported that this year the Assessor’s Office will be completing the mandated 5-year re-evaluation of all properties in Monterey. The Assessors have been using the same consulting company, Mayflower, for years and received estimate quotes from both Mayflower and another assessment consultant for re-evaluation assistance: $15,000.
The Finance Committee and Select Board agreed to highlight the Town Clerk wages for now and the numbers may be changed when a Town Clerk is hired depending on the pay rate of the Clerk.
Ilene said that the Finance Committee was unable to meet with anyone regarding the town offices. Ilene said that she would like to look into this budget a little more. It was reported that this budget was down $1,000. Ilene and Frank will look into this item.
Melissa provided an update for vehicle maintenance for the Police cruiser. The Finance Committee discussed concerns with purchasing a new cruiser now vs waiting a year. This item will be discussed later in the meeting.
CONTINUE FINALIZING CAPITAL PLAN
This item will be discussed further at the next meeting.
RECORDS STORAGE AND TOWN HALL PLANNING COMMITTEE
Michele discussed the need to do something with the records and how some records will need to be shredded, others will need to be digitized, and storage will need to be determined for some additional records. Some research will need to be conducted in order to be able to determine how certain records should be maintained.
OTHER BUSINESS AS REQUIRED
The Finance Committee and the Select Board discussed each of the special articles individually. The Finance Committee and the Select Board discussed the playground and the practicality of certain items being requested for a playground and the finances. Susan discussed the possibility of requesting that they scale down the size of the playground.
Justin recommended getting rid of the $50,000 towards stabilization, and instead not spend money out of stabilization. Ilene clarified that stabilization is a reserve account for future capital purchases that required Town Meeting approval. The Finance Committee discussed concerns with the Fire Company capital improvement budget, what needs to be replaced with the Fire Department, and how the Fire Company Capital Improvement monies are being used. Melissa said that these funds are part of the lease signed by the Select Board. The Finance Committee will come back to this.
The Finance Committee and Select Board agreed to use Chapter 90 funds to pay for the tractor for the DPW. Susan discussed her argument for replacing the police cruiser due to the mileage on the vehicle. The Select Board and Finance Committee discussed options for using two Police cruisers vs three, and options for purchasing a third cruiser. Michele made a motion to refrain from approving the new cruiser at this time. Michele withdrew her motion. Melissa contacted Brian who provided her with the miles on each of the cruisers. It was reported that there was approximately 65,000 miles on the 2 older vehicles, and approximately 10,000 miles on the new cruiser. They average approximately 15,000 miles per year. Michele, Frank, Justin, and Susan were not in favor of replacing the older vehicle 1270. Susan reframed it to say they will defer the replacement of the vehicle. The two portable radios will remain on the budget, but the car radio will be removed.
The Select Board and Finance Committee discussed lowering the tax rate. Justin said they have $416,817.03 in free cash that they are working with while developing the budget. Justin said that they need to see how the current decisions impact the budget in order to determine how it will affect the tax rate. This item is on hold until additional information can be gathered.
Susan will attend a meeting tonight with Southern Berkshire Ambulance and will report back to the Select Board and Finance Committee.
Frank suggested delaying the one-ton truck. Justin reported back on his conversation with Jim and the Select Board and Finance Committee agreed that this item will be deferred and removed for now.
Med 9 vehicle- Frank provided a summary from the meeting last week with the fire chief and discussed how the fire chief was requesting a new SUV to help with getting to fire scenes that are difficult to access. Justin said that the current request of $365,000 is for a vehicle that could respond to both medical calls and brush fires. However, there is a request to purchase two vehicles: one to respond to brush fires and one to respond to medical calls, which may be more feasible. Frank discussed repairs that the Fire Chief has completed on the current response vehicle. Michele asked whether it was necessary to purchase two vehicles at this time. Justin said that this era of diesel trucks are problematic and have required multiple repairs. Susan inquired about replacing the diesel truck and not the medical vehicle. Michele said they are awaiting more information from the Fire Chief prior to making this decision.
Tree warden expenses- Melissa reported that the previous tree warden had a plan to increase the tree warden budget by $3,000 for 5 years. Justin said that the Board level-funded this last year because of the change in Tree Warden, so it might make sense to go up $6,000 this year to $49,000 since there was no increase the previous year. The Select Board and The Finance Committee agreed on this increase.
The Select Board said that they would need additional information prior to discussing the Feasibility Study.
Ilene inquired about removing some of the hours for the beach monitors. Melissa said that she met with the Parks and they were not in favor of decreasing the hours or days of the beach monitors. Susan said that the proposal is for two life guards, and inquired if they actually needed two life guards. Ilene said that two lifeguards are necessary in order to obtain the contract.
Justin and Melissa suggested meeting with the Parks Commission to discuss the increase in their budget.
Susan said that she supports part-time sick leave for employees. Susan and Sophia Bletsos, HR Director, researched this information are recommending utilizing the state guidelines for PT employee sick leave, even though the Town is exempt from that requirement. Susan said that since in most instances the sick employee’s hours would not be covered by someone else, the cost to the Town should not be great and should largely be covered by the existing salary line, with some exceptions. The sick pay will be discussed and voted on at the Select Board meeting. Michele inquired about the salary for the library director, which the Select Board reported was already resolved.
The Select Board adjourned at 5:32pm due to a lack of quorum.
Documents used at the meeting
- Draft FY24 budget – 2/17/23 version