Select Board Meeting Minutes 3/24/21

Minutes of the meeting of 3/24/21

Meeting Opened at: 9am

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

Absent: John Weingold

Also present remotely: Susan Cooper, Denise Allard, Mark Cappadonna, Dennis Lynch, Rocky Greenberg, Hillel & Janet Maximon, Michele Miller

Roll call was taken.  Steve Weisz and Don Coburn present at town hall.  John Weingold absent.

9am: Berkshire Low-Income Community Solar for Municipal Aggregation Presentation:  Mark Cappadonna and Denise Allard of Colonial Power were present to review this available program.  Mark provided a quick summary on our current electrical aggregation program through Colonial.  This would be an addition to an already positive program called SMART.  It would allow the town to become the facilitator for low income discounts (anyone currently getting an R2 rate on their electric bill).  The customer will not need to do anything to receive this additional discount.  The town will need to sign a contract to facilitate this discount for the next 20 years.  Colonial will take care of identifying and delivering the discounts.  The Board had concerns about the 20 year contract and would like time to review before making any decisions.

9:30am: The Board met with David Eisenthal of Unibank to review the library loan options/impacts as well as truck loan options.  David first clarified his role as a consultant to the town and his fiduciary obligations.

1. David explained that the 3.5% interest rate estimated on a possible loan for the truck reflects a permanent state house note.  From a legal point of view you can only borrow for the useful life of the equipment which would be decided by the Board.  David recommends not going beyond 6 years as marketability becomes questionable.
2. David was asked to compare the advantages to borrowing through a bond or state house notes.  With large enough financing you have lower effective rates depending on cost of issuance and $1million is the lowest amount that works. A bond can go out for a longer term than the 10 years we are limited to with a permanent state house note.  A bond requires the town to provide additional filings which have a $500 fee associated with them.
3. David was asked to run multiple scenarios for the Board to consider for next year.

Other items discussed:

1. A motion was made to approve the minutes as edited for March 17 and March 18.  The motion was approved unanimously by those Selectmen present.
2. Review mail and correspondence to be sent/signed: none
3. Request from Dennis Lynch to attend two grant trainings at a cost of $125.  A motion was made to approve the $125 request.  The motion was approved unanimously by those Selectmen present.
4. Town meeting: Discussion ensued about the extra time that may be required due to the large number of citizen petitions gathered by John Weingold.  It was discussed whether the meeting may need to be held over 2 days.  M. Noe has been instructed to contact counsel and the moderator for their input on how best to make citizens aware.  Counsel will be asked by TA if the second possible date has to be in the warrant or can be decided on the first date.  Susan Cooper asked if the author of the petitions could be contacted to consider removing some portion of the petitions submitted due to the amount of time and burden it will put on the voters.  Don stated that since 13 others signed the petitions the author could no longer remove them.  Steve noted that this was brought up at the last meeting and John Weingold alluded that the petitions submitted were some sort of retaliatory action at the fact that they were not accepted during regular select board meetings.
5. Clarification on policy governing Shawn's handling of contacts from Sylbert and Wolin to him in his public capacities: The Board has nothing to say with regards to Shawn’s responsibilities as the president of the fire company.  The motion that was made last week refers only to his responsibilities as the fire chief of the fire department and as the Director of Operations of the Highway Department.  The motion which was requested by Shawn relieves him of having to respond to any communications from the Finance Committee in his role as Director of Operations and Fire Chief of the Fire Department without first going through the Town Administrator and Select Board.
6. Town Administrator items
   1. A motion was made to adopt the written approved minutes policy requiring that committees, boards, and commissions file their minutes with both the clerk and the TA.  The motion was approved unanimously by those Selectmen present.
7. Final review of operating budget and special articles
   1. Ambulance meeting attended by Don and Melissa; each town served was in attendance.  Some towns have committed to an amount lower than requested and others are still seeking more information.  Gt. Barrington has been actively pursuing financial information from SBVAS.  Don noted that until the Gt. Barrington Select Board decides what they are going to do it is pointless for the smaller towns to appropriate anything.  A motion was made to remove the monies allocated until all matters/questions can be resolved.  Steve noted that ambulance service will still be provided no matter what.  Discussion ensued.  The Board emphasized that they support the service but wants to make sure that the amount requested is realistic and is appropriately distributed among the towns in the fairest way possible. The motion was approved unanimously by those Selectmen present. 
   2. The Board decided to hold off on discussing any other articles until a copy of the Finance Committee’s recommendations have been received.  A notice will go out to the Finance Committee that the Board is requesting their final recommendations on Tuesday morning and that the Board will be closing the warrant on Wednesday the 31^st.  A meeting will be scheduled for 4:30pm which the Finance Committee is welcome to attend.
8. Review/discussion of proposed bylaw amendment made at last week’s meeting regarding the Finance Committee.  Don stated that the amendment suggested last week does not add anything to the article and the reason is because their responsibilities do go beyond what was suggested and the language is unneeded.  The only clarification that needs to be made is that the select board is responsible for the preparation and submission of the budget in the warrant to town meeting but of course will continue to work cooperatively with the Finance Committee to create an agreed upon budget.  Steve agreed and withdrew his amendment.  All agreed that the Finance Committee is essential and provide a check and balance but ultimately the select board signs the warrant.  It was agreed to add the revision request to the warrant for town meeting.
9. Comments & questions from the public: Mickey noted that today’s meeting was very pleasant.  The Board agreed and stated this is how adults should conduct themselves.

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 10:52am

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. Minutes policy