Select Board Meeting Minutes 5/20/20

Minutes of the meeting of 5/20/20

Meeting Opened at: 9am

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

Also in attendance: Roy Carwile, Peter Chait, Adam Chait, Rebecca Wolin, George Cain, Dennis Lynch, John Sylbert, Michele Miller

The following items were discussed:

1. COVID-19 updates:
   1. Beach: Don proposed that the beach closed sign be removed as of the 25^th when beaches are allowed to reopen and mark off the area near the Amidon house to limit parking to only the spots in front of the beach.  Don asked that the sign near the boat ramp be removed that says that an officer must be present to put your boat in; this is in effect when the beach is open and lifeguards are present.  The Parks Commission will be asked to revise this sign to be clearer as to when the police presence is required.  The lifeguard contract with Berkshire South begins June 1^st.  Don proposed concerns about the tables and the fact that we do not have anyone to properly sanitize the tables after each use.  Discussion ensued on whether they should be removed, Roy Carwile, member of the Board of Health supported removing the tables as providing cleaning materials is more difficult to provide at the moment.  The Board agreed to have the tables either removed or stacked and roped off until further notice.
   2. New guidelines and advisories are continually being released and reviewed.
   3. Community Garden: Mary Makuc inquired about the town supplying masks, gloves and sanitizer.  The Board agreed to install an outdoor sanitizing station but gloves and masks are the responsibility of the public.
   4. Memorial Day parade:  A motion was made to cancel the parade after discussing this with the Memorial Day parade committee.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
2. Continuation of Fiber Connect’s request to install a shelter on town land behind the pavilion.
   1. Counsel was consulted and confirmed that we can enter into a 3 year lease with payment of some sort to the town for use of the land.
   2. There are still concerns about the proposed location and that it could impede on any future use of that property.  The Board unanimously agreed that the proposed location was not appropriate and felt that the highway department property was a more suitable location.  Adam did not have any objections to the new location.
   3. The Board discussed some form of in kind services offered (in lieu of compensation) to the town for internet at the town hall and highway garage in exchange for allowing the shelter on town land.  Adam noted that he currently provides free services to the fire company, hotpots, library and community center and would need to think about whether he would be agreement with further in kind services and a 3 year contract (he would prefer something longer).
   4. A site visit will be scheduled for later this week or early next week and the hearing will be continued to next week.
   5. Dennis Lynch, abutter to where the shelter is currently stored asked when it would be removed from its current location on Heron Pond Park.  Adam is renting the old John’s Garage property and will be moving it there within the next week or two.
3. At the Fire Chief’s recommendation Scott Sheridan was appointed as a firefighter.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
4. A recommendation was made to extend the contracts with Tryon Construction for gravel and equipment.  A motion was made to extend the contracts with Tryon Construction for gravel and equipment for one year.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
5. MBI agreement: The town is awaiting a draft contract to review and amend.
6. Steve reported that he witnessed a town resident berating one of the transfer station employees and he’s recommending that we remind folks that all our town employees should be treated with respect and if they ask a resident to comply with something their request should be treated with respect.  It was suggested that a letter be sent to the offender and that if the behavior continues they permit to use the transfer station may be revoked.
7. FY21 budget/warrant:
   1. Kenn and Melissa have attended numerous webinars over the last 2 weeks.
   2. Kenn and Melissa had a phone conference with the Accountant yesterday and the following was recommended:
      1. Proceed with a town meeting prior to June 27^th, scaled back with no controversial articles.  Have a special in the fall to address the special articles that might be debatable.
      2. Prepare and submit early to mid-June to DOR a 3 month long 1/12 budget for approval in case we are unable to have a town meeting before June 30^th.
8. The Board met with the Finance Committee to discuss the following:
   1. Submitting a 3 month 1/12 budget for approval to DOR in case we are unable to have a town meeting on June 27^th.
   2. Having a town meeting on June 27^th with the budget as proposed excluding the purchase of trucks for the highway department, revisiting them at a later date.
   3. Having a town meeting on June 27^th with a significantly reduced budget proposal.
   4. Everyone agreed that the proposal to purchase the highway trucks should be put on hold until the fall when we can have a special town meeting and hopefully a better understanding of where Monterey is economically.
   5. Discussion ensued on whether or not the proposed raises should be included in any proposed budget submitted.  The overall consensus was that they should be included as we will be asking the employees to do more with less.  Kenn did not support keeping the raises in as other towns that surround us are cutting back and laying off their employees, he did not dispute that the raises were deserved.  Don noted that Monterey will not be affected as surrounding towns will be with incoming revenue as we do not have the hospitality and restaurant income that other towns depend on.
   6. Fire Department duty shift plan: Rebecca’s expressed concerns about the COVID precautions being taken and whether this program should be put on hold.  Kenn feels secure that we will be able to submit a proposal through the CARES act and FEMA to be reimbursed for these funds.  Kenn reported that Shawn would like to see this remain in the budget but would be happy if we are able to be reimbursed from grant funds.  A motion was made to table this discussion until next week.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
   7. Removing the $14,280 the Parks Commission is requesting for now as the recreational items they were intending to purchase will not be purchased at this point. A motion was made to level fund the parks expenses line item by $14k.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
   8. Level funding the highway capital line item: It was agreed to level fund this and revisit the requested increase at the special town meeting to be held in the fall.  The argument was that most of these monies are spent in the spring summer.  A motion was made to level fund the highway capital line item ($115k).  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
   9. Level funding the fuel line item: A motion was made to level fund the fuel line item ($20k).  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
   10. Don Coburn made a motion to approve and keep articles 1-8 on the annual town meeting warrant.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
   11. A motion was made to remove article 9 from the draft town meeting warrant.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
   12. Don made a motion to include article 10 in the annual town meeting warrant. The motion was seconded and passed 2 – 1 with Kenn voting no.
   13. A motion was made to delete article 11 in the annual town meeting warrant.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
   14. A motion was made to delete article 12 in the annual town meeting warrant.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
   15. A motion was made to reduce article 13 to $5,000 in the annual town meeting warrant.  The motion was seconded.  Discussion ensued and members of the finance committee argues that this is an essential service that should be funded; it was argued back that they may be available for grant monies and we were not lowering the services.  The motion passed 2 – 1 with Kenn voting no.
   16. Keep article 14-15
   17. Article 16 will be redrafted and voted on next time to reflect the new amount to use from free cash to reduce the tax levy.
   18. Article 19 will be included.
   19. Article 20 - 24 will all be included.
   20. The finance committee proposes using all but $25k of free cash on special articles and to lower the tax rate.  Kenn argued that we should not deplete free cash by that much as we may need some between town meeting and setting the tax rate when FY21’s free cash has been approved.  Due to the COVID emergency town are going to be allowed to carry FY20’s free cash beyond June 30^th and we may need it for unforeseen expenditures.  Don made a motion to leave $25k in free cash.  The motion was not seconded.  A motion was made by Steve to leave $70k in free cash.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
9. Don made a motion to include the article to amend the current finance committee bylaw on the June 27^th warrant.  The motion was not seconded and therefore failed.

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 11:30am

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.