Select Board Meeting Minutes 2/24/2020

Minutes of the meeting of 2/24/20

Meeting Opened at: 9:01am

Select Board Members Present: Kenneth Basler, Chair, Donald Coburn, Steven Weisz

Also in attendance: Dennis Lynch, Shawn Tryon, Caroline Massa, Peter Chait, Michele Miller, Beth Regulbuto, Chris Tryon, Jane Burke, Hillel Maximon

The following items were discussed:

1. The Board met with Caroline Massa of Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) and Dennis Lynch, grant writer to discuss BRPC’s proposal to administer the public outreach requirements, materials preparation as well as mandatory reporting for the grant we just received for the culvert on RT 23.  The proposal will be paid through the grant ($15,000 which is the town’s match).  A motion was made to approved and sign the contract.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.  The Board also requested an update on the Hazard Mitigation Grant that BRPC is also administering; it is currently in draft form, once released the town will be seeking input from the community.
2. Kenn reported that he followed up with Jeff Martin at the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) with regard to the tree cutting they are seeking approval from the Select Board on (some of the trees are in the town right of way).  Jeff did confirm that abutters were notified.  DCR has not currently receive any bids and may be modifying the request for proposals without the town trees.  The Board approved the proposal as originally submitted, including the trees in the right of way.
3. The Board asked Shawn Tryon to take a look at Beartown Mountain Road as there is a section that is quite muddy and causing cars to get stuck; Shawn will take a look.
4. The Board accepted Stan Ross’ resignation from the Board of Assessors.  A motion was made to accept the Principal Assessor’s recommendation to appoint Scott Steibel to fill the vacancy until the May election.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
5. The Board met with Shawn Tryon, Fire Chief and Chris Tryon, Asst. Fire Chief to review the answers to the follow up questions asked after the original FY21 budget meeting in January.  It was noted that in comparing surrounding towns, Monterey far exceeds the surrounding town on-call departments in compensation and equipment.  The fire company explained that this proposal addresses staffing issues, training requirements and sharing responsibilities.  The fire company also feels that this will help attract new members.  The Select Board stressed that it has a fiscal responsibility to the town as well as a responsibility to the fire company and they were not given much time to consider this option and would like to explore all workable alternatives.  The Board did not see the urgency to rushing into one plan and requested that alternatives be brought to the Board, one member going so far as to say that this is not something that should be considered until Monterey hires a Town Administrator to thoroughly research the proposal to determine if it is the only way to move forward.  No one disputed that fact that our fire company is phenomenal but that is separate from this proposal.  Shawn suggested cutting the proposal in half for FY21 and putting the full amount in for FY22; Chris will redo the proposal and distribute new documents by week’s end.
6. The Board met with Beth Regulbuto, Superintendent and Jane Burke, Chair of the School Committee for the Southern Berkshire Regional School District (SBRSD) to discuss the proposed FY21 budget.  Currently the proposed budget is a 3.13% increase overall but is still a work in progress and expected to go down further. 
7. Open meeting law complaint filed by Jon Sylbert against Don Coburn:  The Board reviewed the complaint.  Don explained that he has already responded to Jon directly that technically his complaint is correct as he did express an opinion regarding a request from the Finance Committee to add an item to their agenda. Don explained that the request went beyond asking that an item be listed for discussion; that it asked for Kenn to invite a company in to make a presentation.  Don felt the invitation was premature, asked Kenn not to make it, and explained why there should be discussion by the Select Board before the invitation went out, if making was decided upon.  Don noted that his alternative was to call an emergency select board meeting, which seemed silly.  Nonetheless, Don acknowledged that since he had expressed an opinion, there was a technical error. The Chair inquired if Don had read the open meeting law when first elected which Don acknowledged he did.  Kenn as chair of the Board accepted Don’s response and requested that Don reread the opening meeting law.  Don agreed.
8. The Board met with Shawn Tryon, Director of Operations to discuss his capital purchase request for FY21.  Shawn is requesting to purchase (2) Freightliner M2’s to replace the Osh Kosh which isn’t the most efficient truck for Monterey’s highway operations.  Ultimately the town will need a 10 wheel, tandem axle truck with or without a plow setup (he would probably recommend without) to replace the Kenworth in the coming years.  Shawn explained that the M2 is a heavier duty, single axle truck.  The estimate is $420,000 for the (2) M2’s and we are anticipating approximately $20-50k in trade for the Osh Kosh.  Steve asked Shawn if it would be better to buy 1 truck one year and 1 truck the next year.  Shawn explained that having 2 trucks of the same manufacturer year would allow interchangeable parts and thus save money.  The Board supports Shawn’s vision of maintaining the roads and understands he is currently working with vehicles he inherited from a previous director.  Kenn made a motion to accept the highway department’s proposal to replace the Osh Kosh with 2 Freightliner M2’s.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
9. Fire Department air pack grant: Shawn reported that Chris Tryon has decided not to continue to voluntarily help at write the grant for air packs so a proposal was submitted asking permission for Terry Walker to be paid to write the grant.  The Board approved up to 25 hours.
10. Highway vacancy: The recently vacant highway foreman position will be posted online and in the paper for 2 weeks, resumes will be accepted until the position is filled.
11. Town Clerk’s resignation as the Records Access Officer (RAO):  The Board reviewed Terry Walker’s email resigning as the RAO.  It was decided that Kenn will speak to Terry this week about her decision and that this is a responsibility of being the Town Clerk, she may also be asked to come to a future Select Board meeting.

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 12:41pm

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 referred to in the minutes are available by request at town hall