Select Board Meeting Minutes 3/9/22 - 6pm

Minutes of the meeting of 3/9/22

Meeting Opened at: 6:03pm

Select Board Members Present: Steve Weisz, Chair, Justin Makuc

Select Board Members present remotely: John Weingold (left the meeting at 7:32pm)

Also present: Janet Jensen, Libby Wolf, Don Coburn  

Also present remotely: Susan Cooper, Nadia Makuc, Hillel Maximon, Don Coburn, Kim Wetherell

New Business

1. Town Administrator Items:
   1. SPR22/0363 public records determination for appeal filed by Jon Sylbert: The Supervisor of Records has determined that no violation of MGL c. 66 §10 occurred.
   2. SPR21/3294 public records determination for 2^nd appeal filed by Jon Sylbert: The Supervisor of Records considers this matter closed as it is their understanding that no recording was created on December 14^th.
   3. SPR2/0449 public records determination for appeal filed by Jon Sylbert: The Supervisor of Records has determined this matter to be closed as the authority falls under the authority of the Attorney General’s Office.
   4. Melissa requested permission to contact counsel to seek further education/training and counsel due to the large number of public record requests and appeals being filed by mostly one individual. Steve asked how many. Melissa stated that she had 20+ pending. Melissa expressed concern that the requests seem to be of a nature to catch mistakes rather than for transparency. She is also seeking advice on how to handle situations where a public official/employee ignores requests to produce public records. John doesn’t think counsel is equipped to give advice when this falls under the state’s jurisdiction. Melissa reported that she did reach out to Jon Levin on the matter as well as he had been appointed as an additional RAO however he stated that his term was only for the several contentious requests that had been filed in the fall.  Jon stated that the Board can ask him to remain on but he would have to take that under consideration as the task is very time consuming.  A motion was made to ask Mr. Levin to come back at least through May 10^th. The motion was not seconded or voted on. Justin stated that since the State Supervisor of Records is the ultimate authority on these questions, he thought that Melissa should seek advice from the State Supervisor of Records. Justin argued that Town Counsel could give advice and interpret the law, but that it would make more sense to go straight to the authority of the State, as is already done in every appeals process. Melissa agreed to get an opinion from the State public records division on who should be training her and giving her advice and depending on how they respond, her request can be readdressed next week.
2. Janet Jensen and Libby Wolf of the Monterey Native Plants working group came in to discuss a non-binding article they are planning to place on the annual town meeting warrant through a citizen petition.  The Conservation Commission and Parks Commission both support the proposal and Libby will be meeting with the Director of Operations for his comments.
3. Budget review:
   1. The Board discussed the response from the Lake Garfield Working Group with regard to the $20k increase, for a total request of $50k for milfoil mitigation efforts in Lake Garfield.  Steve tends to lean toward the original request of $30k, as he thinks the war on Milfoil is not going to be won by increasing the funds since it will always be a series of small battles. Justin thinks it is important to remember that the town has historically resisted the most cost and general effective way to manage the milfoil (herbicides).  The report states what we have been doing has not been cost effective, so Justin feels that giving the $30k might be a waste if it prevents new treatment methods like mechanical harvesting and benthic barriers. John stated that the Finance Committee already voted 3 – 0 to not include any amount.  Steve noted that the Select Board still needs to vote on whether they support this or not. The discussion will be continued to next week.
4. At the recommendation of the Director of Operations and Town Administrator, a motion was made to appoint Kyle Pettibone to the Highway 2 position at $24.20/hour and 1 week of vacation after a successful 3 month evaluation. The motion was seconded and approved 2 – 1 with John voting no.
5. A motion was made to approve the edited minutes of 3/1/22.  The motion was seconded and approved 2 – 0 (John did not respond to requests for a vote). A motion was made to approve the edited minutes of 3/2/22.  The motion was seconded and approved 2 – 0 (John did not respond to requests for a vote).
6. The Board discussed an Open Meeting Law Complaint filed by John Weingold dated 3/4/22. Justin felt this complaint was similar to earlier ones filed, in the sense that it claimed the minutes were too vague. He thought it was worth reconsidering the minutes and adding detail. Steve thought it sounded to him like Mr. Weingold decided not to attend the executive session meeting in question but is now complaining that the minutes are not adequate enough for him to understand what transpired even though as a selectperson he should’ve been present, so since he skipped the meeting he now files a complaint against the board which includes himself.  Steve feels the response to the OML division should reflect that a selectperson is making complaints about meetings he should be attending and would’ve been privy to and compared it to being “pretzel logic”.  Don Coburn stated that the more concerning issue is that Mr. Weingold was able to listen to an executive session recording that is not public and include it as an attachment to a public record.  Steve offered to draft a response which he would like to run by counsel.  Steve will confirm with counsel that meeting was posted properly, what remedial action the board can take if found to be in violation and if Don’s concerns are valid.
7. Review mail & correspondence to be sent:
   1. Open Meeting Law 2022-40 determination was reviewed.  The division has found that that Board did not violate the Open Meeting Law.
   2. Gary Shaw’s 3/4/22 email: Justin thinks that as long meetings are recorded and posted, the YouTube videos serve as a method of transparency and therefore not every comment makes it into the written minutes but they are still on the record.  Mr. Weisz publically apologized if he inadvertently cut anyone off as was complained about in this communication.  Justin offered to go back and listen to the tape to see if anything should be edited and added into the 2/23/22 minutes.
   3. Statement from Jon Levin dated 3/7/22. Mr. Weisz publically apologized if he inadvertently cut anyone off as was complained about in this communication.
8. Justin asked the Board to consider appointing a Salary Commission in order to review compensation and make recommendations that work for both the Town and its employees. Justin thought that it was good that Jim Hunt has recently done this for the Highway Department, but noted that this process should be replicated for all departments. Steve believes that the future Human Resource Manager will be able to address these future issues.  Steve is not in favor of the committee and offered an example that occurred this past week where 2 very well-meaning people started to have a dialogue about the wages for the transfer station attendants on the Community Board. Steve also said a commission would be working against the HR Director whose job would include merit raises for employees.  As Steve asked if any towns surrounding us have a salary commission and if he could find that out before this conversation is moved forward.  John told Justin (twice) to just make a motion and not let Steve change his mind. Justin replied that if John wants to make a motion, John should do it. Justin also said that this is not an urgent matter, given that it would take months to advertise and appoint a committee, and to receive a report from them, it is not relevant to this year’s budget process. Steve suggested waiting for the new board to decide on whether a committee should be formed.  Justin will do more research and revisit the discussion at a future meeting.  John Weingold abruptly left the meeting at 7:32pm.  Susan Cooper said that the transfer station committee’s recommendation was to assess the complete value of the package an employee in any position is being offered with similar jobs and that this should be monitored periodically.
9. A motion was made to appoint a Swap Shop Committee consisting of 5 people with the following mission; “The Swap Shop Committee’s mission is to ensure smooth and efficient operations of the Swap Shop in all aspects, with a primary focus on designating staffing for the program at all hours when the Transfer Station is open. The Swap Shop Committee will work under the purview of the Director of Operations, Select Board, and Town Administrator; and in coordination with the Transfer Station Staff.” The motion was seconded and approved 2 – 0.  Applications are due by April 18, 2022.
10. A motion was made to remove all but 2 of the agenda items that were added by John Weingold since he chose to leave the meeting.  The motion was seconded and approved 2 – 0.
11. Preliminary Discussion on Annual Warrant Articles that the Select board wants to be added to warrant: Justin did not actually have any in mind but wanted to know if Steve had any.  Steve had none. Melissa said she is working on a draft warrant as we speak.
12. Discuss cease and desist letter to citizens contacting the town’s investigators, what impact these contacts have had on investigation, & request a status and request a date on investigator’s report (item added by John W).  Steve was not clear on what the 1^st 2 sentences of the item added by John meant but he is interested in requesting a status and date of the investigator’s report and he asked for permission to contact Attorney Greene in writing to request an estimated date of completion for the final report.  Approval was granted and the email was drafted and sent during the meeting carbon copying all board members.
13. Comments & questions from the public: none
14. Justin asked for an update on the master plan RFP.  Melissa reported that we received 0 responses and the Planning Board will be discussing this at their meeting on Thursday.
15. The discussion to enter executive session to continue review and consider approval of the following sets of Executive Session minutes: 10/4, 3/2 will be placed first on next week’s agenda.

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 8:02pm

Submitted by:

Melissa Noe, Town Administrator

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. SPR22/0363 public records determination
2. SPR21/3294 public records determination
3. SPR2/0449 public records determination
4. Open Meeting Law Complaint filed by John Weingold dated 3/4/22
5. Open Meeting Law 2022-40 determination
6. Gary Shaw’s 3/4/22 email
7. Statement from Jon Levin dated 3/7/22
8. 3/9/22 Email from the Select Board to Corinne Hood Greene