Select Board Meeting Minutes 3/10/2020

Minutes of the meeting of 3/10/20

Meeting Opened at: 9:03am

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

Also in attendance: Don Clawson

The following items were discussed:

1. The Board met with Don Clawson to discuss 3ABC forms filed by 501c3’s.  Don assured the Board that all entities that are required to file this form have.
2. The FY21 budget requests were reviewed line by line.
   1. The Board discussed the Building Inspector’s request for $5 more an hour for the inspector and the alternate as well as the request for an additional 2 hours for each.  The Board agreed to the additional 2 hours for each position but did not approve the extra $5/hour.
   2. Steve asked the Board to reconsider adding the request from the Lake Garfield Working Group for $30k from a special article to a regular budget item as it has appeared on the warrant for several years.  A motion was made to add it to the budget instead of as a special article.  The motion was seconded and approved 2 – 1, with Kenn voting no.  Kenn argued that by doing this we are opening it up to Lake Buel requesting a similar recurring line item.  After more discussion a 2^nd motion was made to leave it as a special article rather than as part of the regular budget.  The motion was seconded.  The motion passed 2 – 1 with Steve voting no.
   3. Old Stone Dam will be put on hold until next year in hopes that we can get a grant to pay for the engineering.
   4. Don made a motion to give a 3.5% increase (2% COLA and 1.5% raise) to all paid individuals of the town.  The motion was seconded.  Discussion ensued.  The motion passed unanimously.
3. Town Administrator: The Board discussed the recommendation from the Collins Center report to hire a part time town administrator.  Kenn made a motion to begin the process to hire a part time town administrator.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
4. Town Administrator job description:  The Board will begin reviewing job descriptions of other towns in Massachusetts similar in size and create a job description for Monterey to be approved at a future meeting.
5. Town Administrator hiring process:  The Board discussed whether the position should be temporary until a permanent administrator can be found or find a permanent interested party first.  They also discussed who the committee should be comprised of that would review the resumes.  It was suggested that the committee should have at least one town employee who understands the mechanics of town government (Mark Makuc was suggested), a functioning Town Administrator from another town that brings the experience of the job (the Gt. Barrington Town Administrator has agreed to help us), George Cain and a former Selectperson (Scott Jenssen was suggested).  Michele Miller, Chris Blair, Mike Banner, Joe Baker, Steve Moore and Jon Levin were all other suggestions made.  It was agreed that the committee should consist of 5 – 7 people.  Kenn will reach out to those suggested to gauge their interest.
6. The Board discussed joining with Egremont, Sheffield and New Marlborough to share a Human Resources/Personnel Director.  Everyone thinks this is worth considering if a Town Administrator cannot be found with strong human resource experience.
7. The Board voted 2 -1 (with Don voting no) to approve Jon Sylbert’s request to be reimbursed mileage for the 8 town school committee.  The Board asked M. Noe to send Jon the reimbursement policy which requires pre-approval.
8. The minutes from 1/15, 22/19 & 2/24/20 were approved.
9. Warrants were signed.
10. Administrative Assistant Items:
11. Mail was reviewed

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 12:13pm

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