Select Board Meeting Minutes 5/23/23
Minutes of the Select Board meeting 5/23/23
Meeting Date: Tuesday May 23, 2023
Meeting Opened at 6:01 pm
Select Board members present: Justin Makuc, Susan Cooper, Frank Abbott
Also Present: Laurie McArthur (Select Board secretary), Melissa Noe, Lin Saberski, Mickey Jervas, Bob Cutick
Call to Order 6:01pm
- Meet with Council on Aging Chair, Lin Saberski – volunteer transportation and grant
Lin presented the COA plan for a grant to investigate using a volunteer corp for elder transportation instead of the current bus system, primarily as a cost saving measure. Lin discussed the last two years that they paid Gt. Barrington for, which was an accessible van. Lin reported that there is no requirement to provide rides to individuals with disabilities, but most towns with a Council on Aging do so as a courtesy. She reported that this van service costs $5,500 annually, and broke it down between medical and shopping trips. Justin inquired if this was paid for by a grant. Lin reported that the $5,500 is paid for by a state funded grant. She said that if they did not need the money for a van, then the money could be used for programming. Lin discussed all of the requirements should the Town decide to switch to a volunteer driver program. The Town would have to look into insurance, ensure that the volunteer driver has their own insurance, have the driver sign a waiver saying that they would not sue in the event of an incident, they would have to determine eligibility and destinations, they would have to recruit drivers, conduct background checks, conduct a training to ensure that the driver is not going out of their way to help the passenger move around, and create a system for arranging rides.
All of the volunteer driver programs arrange for reimbursement for mileage for the driver. She discussed alternatives for individuals with a handicap. Lin reported that the grant was issued on May 19th, and was looking for someone willing to accept an hourly wage to help research costs. Justin asked what the role of the COA outreach worker was to set this up. Lin said that the worker would need additional hours to research this topic and a few additional hours would need to be worked into the schedule. Lin said that the van has been beneficial; however, it is expensive. Melissa expressed concerns about using volunteers and the reliability. Susan discussed concerns with the level of mobility of the individual requiring transport. Lin presented the possibility of looking into a taxi service for riders who had difficulty getting into and out of the van. Lin reported that the grant was due June 23, 2023. Justin asked how the COA felt about the volunteer driver program vs the current van program, and Lin reported that they do not have any particular thoughts about it. Lin said that if the volunteer driver project were approved, then they could get it up and running by February then they would have some time to test it out. Melissa reported that if Lin was willing to write the grant then there were funds available to compensate her for her time. The Select Board approved the grant request form for a maximum of 10 hours.
- Discuss mid and long range goals and priorities
The Select Board discussed various agenda items they would like to accomplish this year, including: maintenance and repairs on the Town Buildings, the bylaw renumbering bylaw, regular second annual Town Meetings in November, and revisiting electronic voting.Susan said that in her conversation with Marie they discussed the idea of providing education on electronic voting.Susan expressed concerns for finding volunteers to help count the votes during election time.Justin reported that Donna sent him some information regarding changing the bylaw numbering order and he will pass this along to the Select Board.He said that the clerk could renumber the bylaws but would not be allowed to change the bylaw.Susan also discussed the need to help foster additional housing opportunities for working class individuals.Justin presented the idea of continuing to discuss the ambulance.He said he was in favor of sticking to using Southern Berkshire Ambulance, but if the assessment is too high then they could reassess the situation.Frank discussed the Firehouse contract.Melissa requested adding on the Town Hall, storage, office space, and staffing.Justin said he would like to keep an eye on these items and attempt to work on them during the year.Susan recommended trying to educate individuals on minimizing the amount of trash they are discarding.Justin will add these items to the list.
- Review rules of order
Justin said that he and Susan approved the rules of order last year, and after review and approval he found a few items that required modification. He said that according to a ruling from the Massachusetts Supreme Court, it is illegal to prohibit rude speech at a public meeting. Justin made a motion to approve the revised rules of order. Susan seconded. Call a vote: Frank-yes, Justin-yes, Susan-yes.
- Town Administrator items:
- Internal transfers
Justin confirmed that Internal Transfers would be to cover legal fees, and Melissa agreed. Justin will confirm with Donna. Melissa said that she was unsure if they could transfer the remaining funds from the Hume litigation account, to cover additional legal fees. Justin moved to approve the internal transfer of $877 from the grant writing account to pay for Town Counsel services. Susan seconded. Call a vote: Frank-yes, Justin-yes, Susan-yes.
- Tree bid – Recommendation to accept John Field
Justin reported that there were two tree bids.Melissa said that John Field’s Tree Service increased across the board since the prevailing wage rates increased.Susan asked about the desirability of the second and third year optional contract as opposed to just accepting an entire three year contract.Susan made a motion to accept the John Field tree contract. Justin seconded. Call a vote. Frank-yes, Justin-yes, Susan-yes.Melissa confirmed that this was for a three year contract.
- Sign META grant documents
Melissa reported that the Town did receive the META grant. Melissa reported that Peter will send in a summary to amend the monies he will be using the ARPA funds for. Justin explained that Peter planned to apply for the META grant and intended to use the ARPA funds to start the project. Frank asked if there were available ARPA funds since the playground came in at $8000 lower than anticipated. Justin said that it does not necessarily free up those funds because there were not enough ARPA funds to fund both the playground and pavilion projects to begin with so about $10000 was to be determined at a later date. Frank provided an update about the Community Center’s progress with attempting to obtain a variance. Frank suggested that the Community Center have a three-to five year plan. Justin explained that depending on how the Community Center pavilion projects goes, there may be some available ARPA funds. Justin confirmed that the META grant will pay for the Beacon consultant, but Melissa reported that the plan was actually to have the ARPA pay for the consultant. Melissa said that Peter will amend the grant to reflect the current project and plan. Justin moved to accept the META grant. Susan seconded. Call a vote: Susan-yes, Justin-yes, Frank-yes.
- Finance Committee resignation: Frank Abbott, publicize applications for replacement
Frank reported that he submitted his resignation with the Finance Committee and Steve Moore will put a write up in the paper. Frank’s resignation is effective June 26, 2023. Justin asked how long they should accept applications for, and recommended running it in the Monterey News into next month. Justin recommended having everyone in either the week of the 6th or 13th of June. Susan suggested that the Finance Committee could review the applications and make a recommendation, and then the Select Board could make an appointment. Susan suggested closing it on the 16th of June and then discuss it at the meeting on June 20th. Melissa will advertise the opening for Finance Committee. Applications should be submitted via the form on the Town website or the paper version in Town Hall, and will be due no later than June 16th. At that point, the Finance Committee and Select Board will both review the applicants and the Select Board will make an appointment.
- Tree Warden resignation: Myles Pierce, publicize applications for replacement
Justin said that he wanted to advertise the tree warden position in the same way that the Finance Committee seat is being handled.He suggested advertising the position until Friday June 2nd.Melissa said that the Select Board could temporarily appoint the highway department until someone is appointed.Susan said that she would like to see if there are any applicants or qualified individuals to fill the position.Melissa will advertise the opening for Tree Warden. Applications should be submitted via the form on the Town website or the paper version in Town Hall, and will be due no later than June 2nd.
- Unanticipated business
Susan inquired about Justin discussing the ongoing litigation process with Attorney Lawless. Justin said that they should not discuss this in an open meeting, but said they were moving forward.
Frank said that the Community Center met with the Building Commissioner and the Board of Health and agreed that they will move forward to apply for the variance. Susan inquired about whether or not someone from the Community Center could be deputized to make the decisions. Justin said that the Select Board is able to make decisions on that property. Susan said that she is open to delegating a Community Center member to make decisions regarding the variance. Justin said that he would like to see some information prior to making a decision. The Select Board will continue with this discussion during the next meeting.
- Comments & questions from the public
There were no comments or questions from the public.
- Approve minutes of 5/17/23
The Select Board reviewed the minutes from 5/17/23. Justin made a motion to accept the minutes from 5/17/23 as amended. Seconded. Susan-yes, Justin-yes, Frank-yes.
Justin asked if Susan would be open to delegating for Justin to finalize the executive session minutes of 5/17/23. Susan and Frank agreed to delegate the authority to Justin. The Executive session minutes are not for public release.
Frank reported that he discussed with Ilene about having a short joint Finance Committee and Select Board meeting to discuss the zero based budgeting and capital policy to give the Finance Committee some guidance. Justin said that he would be open to meeting with Ilene to ensure an open lane of communication between the Select Board and Finance Committee. Susan said her priority would be to see what zero based budgeting would look like, training, who would provide this, and how it would be done in order to clarify what this would look like. Justin recommended a joint meeting to start brainstorming. Melissa suggested that they talk with the Departments regarding expectations and what is reasonable.
Justin made a motion to adjourn the Select Board meeting at 7:24pm.
Susan seconded.Call a vote:Susan-yes, Justin-yes, Frank-yes.
Documents used at the meeting
- Volunteer driver grant form
- Mid and long range goals and priorities list
- Internal Transfer Request
- Rules of Order
- Tree bids from John Field and Northern Tree
- Meta Grant documents