Select Board Meeting Minutes 5/26/21

Minutes of the meeting of 5/26/21

Meeting Opened at: 6pm

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

Select Board Members present remotely: John Weingold

Also present remotely: Emily Johnson, Susan Cooper, Steve Moore, Ruth Green, Michael Zisser, Richard Pargament, Michael Johnson

Items discussed:

1. Steve began the meeting by noting that the last one was spirited and while that is great for involvement if it drags the meeting out too long we lose people. He asked people to keep their comments brief and to the point.  Steve also reminded everyone to use the golden rule.
2. Point of Order: John thought we should jump into the old business first that was tabled at the last meeting rather than jumping into new business.  Steve explained that in order to make sure that the administrative items that need to be completed get done, they have been moved to the beginning of the agendas going forward.
3. Town Administrator items
   1. Chapter 90 final reimbursement and report for Sandisfield Rd project.  A motion was made to approve the final reimbursement and report to be submitted.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
   2. A motion was made to approve the MassWorks letter of support. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
   3. Internal transfer requests: $1,185.75 from snow & ice to fuel and $500 from election worker wages to clerk assistant.  The Board unanimously approved both transfer requests which will now be sent to the Finance Committee for their approval.
4. A motion was made to approve the minutes of 5/5/21 with amendments made by Justin.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
5. 5/19/21 minutes. Justin would like to listen to the tape of the meeting to listen to the section on the transfer station stickers and make any additional edits as necessary.  The approval of these minutes will be tabled to the following meeting. John stated he called gotomeeting and there is a transcript option that could be produced that everyone could look at and amend.  Justin stated that the auto transcripts do not produced a finished product and often contain mistakes in his experience.
6. Review mail and correspondence to be sent/signed: none
7. State mosquito opt out (JM):  Justin added this to the agenda after a few folks reached out after learning that the state can wide area spray if we do not opt out.  Our Health Agent has advised that the opt out program is a long and rigorous process and this is only something you would do if you are an area that typically gets sprayed due to large cases of EEE.  No action was taken.
8. Continue review of reopening plan: The Board reviewed the edits made by Justin and all agreed it is a conservative reopening plan.  A motion was made to approve the plan as edited.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved
9. Continue review of Select Board Roles, Polices & Procedures draft: Justin has further edits he would like to make to this document.  A motion was made to table this to the next meeting.  The motion was seconded and passed 2 – 1 with John voting no.
10. Draft shared Human Resource Director job description: It was noted that while Justin and Steve provided edits in the actual document, John rewrote the document from scratch.  Steve explained to John that it is not up to us to completely rewrite the description when this is a collaboration of 5 towns, which the Commonwealth is pushing for amongst small towns.  Justin asked John what were his overwhelming, philosophical issues with the document written: he did not reply.  John then asked if we even approved sharing an HR Director to which Steve said yes and it was even discussed at the May town meeting.  Michael Zisser recommended adding to the description that the Director have access to counsel and they are also allowed direct access when appropriate (not as a routine occurrence).  Susan felt that it is really important to have an HR Director and agreed that they need to have access to counsel, make sure they are given the conduits necessary.  A motion was made for Melissa to ask the other 4 towns how they would feel about adding this to the job description at the next meeting between the towns regarding the HR position.  Justin seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously.
11. Conservation Commission disciplinary letter submitted and complaint received; review counsel opinion.  A motion was made to go into executive session at 6:46pm.  The motion was seconded and passed 2 – 1 with John voting no.  Roll call was taken: Steve, present, Justin, present, John, present and Melissa Noe, present.  The Board returned to open meeting at 6:57pm
12. Discussion of Bylaws & Review of June 12^th bylaws listed below (JW): Justin is not sure if it is appropriate for the Select Board to speak to them as citizen petitions are usually a vehicle for citizens to get something on the warrant the Board did not support putting on and this was not the case here.  Steve is not in favor of discussing them beforehand as they are not special articles where the town is looking for Select Board guidance; it is not appropriate in his opinion.  Discussion ensued about town charters. Steve commented that there are two reasons to have a charter: memorialize how currently working or to reorganize.  John said it is like the town’s constitution and it was a recommendation of the Collins Center.  Steve asked if John is in favor of adopting everything recommended by the Collins Center to which he replied “yes”.  Steve added that Monterey has had about 7 reports done on this town that he has read and they always contain a lot of recommendations; some are great and some are absolutely not appropriate for Monterey, just because it comes in the form of a report doesn’t make it adoptable.  John feels that Government is supposed to be held accountable to laws, not men.  Steve replied that Monterey was built by men, not rules and that was how we were founded.  Steve added that it is a slippery slope when you add rule upon rule and he believes most people will do the right thing when given the opportunity and to have to write 10k rules seems ridiculous.  Susan Cooper asked that John actually show up to town meeting since his name is on all 18 articles she would like to hear him speak to them if he thinks they are so important to be voted on. John wanted to know if anyone wanted to talk about the bylaws we do have that aren’t being enforced.  Steve reminded everyone that he did write an article with permission from the board last year to form a committee to review the current bylaws as some are completely antiquated and the only person that responded was John Weingold.  Steve went on to explain that there is no need for us to have a Highway Commission bylaw as Monterey contains no highways and we aren’t building roads.  John doesn’t think the board has the power to ignore certain bylaws and enforce others.  Based on this discussion, Justin thinks we should focus on organizing and considering forming a review committee.  Steve mentioned that Monterey has gone through so many positive changes since his time on the Board (new transfer station, complete cell service which took 11 years, brand new $3million library, a hand built community center), all without a dramatic real estate tax increase.  We now audit every year vs every 3 years and these were all accomplished without being codified in a bylaw and 99% of the time it was done almost perfectly (admitting that everyone makes mistakes).  Justin suggested moving along. 
13. Conflict of interest (JW):  John added this to the agenda as he is worried about that Justin may need to recuse himself at times due to his direct family members being employed in Town government in various capacities. Justin said that he will always follow the Conflict of Interest Law, consulting the State Ethics Commission as necessary. When he receives a written letter from the State Ethics Commission laying out some broad guidelines, he will share that with the Board. But he will also call the ethics hotline as he feels necessary.
14. Goals & Strategic Planning (JW): John said this is what the Board is supposed to be doing and he wanted to know what the others personal goals are.  Steve believes the town should make strides to create a master plan.  John inquired about the status of the financial policies: M. Noe stated that there are about 5 chapter left.
15. Comments & questions from the public: none

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 7:43pm

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. Select Board Roles, Polices & Procedures draft
2. Reopening plan draft
3. Shared HR Director draft job description