Select Board Meeting Minutes 7/1/2020

Minutes of the meeting of 7/1/20

Meeting Opened at: 10:10am

Select Board Members Present: Donald Coburn, Chair, Steven Weisz and John Weingold (remotely, arrived late)

Also in attendance: John Higgins, Mickey Jervas, Shawn Tryon, Kevin Fitzpatrick,

Also in attendance remotely: Rebecca Wolin, Samuel Reggio, Thomas Scheffey, Adam Chait, Dennis Lynch, Colta Ives, Mary Makuc, Roy Carwile, Stephen Moore, Michele Miller, Ryan Kress, Hillel Maximon

The following items were discussed:

1. As it was unclear whether the new member John Weingold was logged in remotely, Don and Steve agreed to continue without electing a chair out of courtesy.
2. Don reminded everyone online that if anyone attending wishes to record the meeting the Chair must be notified prior under the open meeting law. 
3. COVID-19 updates/items – M. Noe reported that she is working on the items that remain to be able to reopen town hall.
4. Additional Yearly Reappointments:  A motion was made to appoint Gareth Backhaus as Chief of Police for 1 year and Brian Fahey as Sergeant for 3 years.  The motion was seconded and passed by Steve and Don, John was still not present.  The yearly contract for the Police Chief received today was distributed to all members and will be taken up at the next meeting.
5. Pioneer Valley Planning Commission Accounting Contract:  The Board approved and signed the FY21 contract for accounting services, which had been approved by counsel.
6. Baystate Elevator Contract: The Board approved and signed the FY21 contract for the elevator service contract, as approved by counsel.
7. Select Board budget procedure for FY21:  Don suggested sending the draft to the Finance Committee to comment on prior to adoption.  All agreed.
8. Transfer station no trespass order – H. Candee:  Ms. Candee has been repeatedly harassing (verbally assaulting) the employees at the transfer station even after having been spoken to by the police.  Town counsel has advised that the Chief of Police can issue a no trespass order.  John did not agree with counsel’s advice.  The Board discussed sending her a letter that her behavior is unacceptable and we will be seeking more detailed and legally supported advice from counsel on barring her from the transfer station.  The letter would also offer her an opportunity to come before the Select Board at our next meeting to contest the Select Board’s proposed action. John argued that the statute MGL 266 section 120 clearly states someone can only be barred from private property and the transfer station is not private.  A motion was made to send the letter described above.  The motion was seconded and passed 2 -1 with John voting no.  Town counsel will be asked for a more detailed opinion on this.
9. Open Meeting Law complaints:
   1. Ms Wolin’s unsigned and undated complaint about an ad hoc broadband committee was discussed.  Her complaint asserted that the committee was given improper approval by the Board to meet privately and otherwise non conform to the Open Meeting Law.  Don read into record a proposed response to be sent to the complainant, which, among other things, noted the group was exercising its constitutional rights to assemble and petition the government and that since it was not created by the Board it was not subject to the law.  Don made a motion to send the letter as written.  Steve made a motion to amend the letter removing the first sentence in the last paragraph.  Discussion ensued.  The amended motion was seconded and passed 2 – 1 with John voting no.
   2. John Weingold’s complaint:  Don asked John Weingold if he would like to withdraw the complaint, John declined.  This item was tabled to later in the meeting.  Later in the meeting the draft response written by Don was read into record and approved to be sent by Steve and Don (John did not partake in this discussion as he was the complainant).
10. Meeting with the Library Trustees regarding their decision to offer 2 weeks paid vacation to the Library Director, which contradicts what the town employee handbook states (which is that only full time employees (35 hours per week) are entitled to such benefits.  Town Counsel has provided an opinion that the trustees have the ability to create a contract with the director, including any paid vacation agreement.  However, as the town has a personnel policy that doesn’t allow vacation for a part-time employee, the town not pay said sums, it should come from funds raised by the library (not town funds).  Otherwise, the town could be subject to claims by other part-time employees that they are also entitled to paid benefits.  Mickey read into record her response to the matter and noted that the Finance Committee signed off on offering this benefit.  Don noted that something of this nature should’ve been discussed with the Select Board prior to making and offering the benefit especially if the trustees were intending to use town funds.  Mickey stated that this year the library will pay for the benefit through privately raised funds. Steve asked Mickey if the Library Director was ever given paid vacation from the town.  Mickey confirmed that in the history of the library, the Director never received paid vacation time from the town. It was suggested and agreed upon to address and update the bylaw to allow for paid time off to part time employees.  All agreed that the relationship between the library and Board is complex and that this is also a complex issue which will be tabled for now, but will be addressed later in the year.
11. Steve made a motion to elect Don Coburn as the chair of the Select Board for the year.  Without discussion, the motion passed 2 – 1 with John voting no.
12. New Marlboro Rd/National Grid Tree Cutting: Don provided a little background on how this topic came about (on a community email listserv).  Don also provided a summary on the law and how decisions are made with regard to tree cutting; immediate threats fall to the highway department to address immediately, the tree warden may decide to perform work to protect the roads and so on and how the entire process is governed with respect to utilities.  The proper process was followed in this instance.  The proper plans were all filed and approved by the elected Tree Warden (documents all available through him or town hall).  National Grid in this instance took an additional step not required by law (DPU regulations) and contacted the Board; National Grid agreed to items (such as notifying abutters directly affected) of the work at least 2 weeks prior which is not a requirement.  Several residents asked to comment.  Ryan Kress, Arborist for National Grid chimed in that this is being done under state regulations (not normal maintenance) due to the large number of power outages Monterey has had in those areas.  Don noted that several letters on the subject were received and noted the names that were legible.  Don, having made the public aware that the Select Board was not required to be involved in this matter and has no legal role ended the discussion after about an hour.
13. We are still waiting on guidance from counsel for the Fiber Connect shelter request, this has been tabled to a future meeting.
14. Work on Town administrator job description, review of Collins Center report recommendations and process for moving forward in recruitment: Don suggested tabling this and suggested that the Board decide at what point this year they want to address this issue specifically in light of the COVID precautions.  John stated that he contacted the Collins Center last week and wanted to know if the Board had contacted them for any type of the free assistance they had offered. John also asked if the Board was aware that there was Community Compact Grants to help pay for efforts to hire a Town Administrator. Steve explained that we did not apply for any funds to assist with doing something that the Board already knows needs to be done.  Will be taken up at the next meeting.
15. Administrative Assistant items
    1. Direct deposit policy – still waiting on opinion from the Treasurer.
16. Public questions and comments:
    1. John Weingold raised the following prior to being elected and asked to speak on the following questions:
       1. Live streaming & video recording of SB meetings; at the moment the meetings are not being recorded.  John wanted to know why we weren’t being more transparent.  Don argued that as long as we continue to hold remote meetings we are being as transparent as possible since anyone can listen and watch by phone or computer.
       2. MBI & Fiber Connect proposed Contract; John requested that copies be sent to him so that he is in the loop.  Don noted that it was not a contract yet, just a list of terms acceptable in general to Fiber Connect and MBI, but that John would be sent them by Ms. Noe.
       3. Annual Town Report accessibility: John asked why this wasn’t available on the town website.  The Board thought this was a great suggestion.  Steve took this opportunity to encourage John to bring ideas to the Board in a positive manner rather than in an accusatory manner.  It was agreed to look into posting all future town reports online.
17. Don explained that he will be following the Open Meeting Law regulations and folks wishing to speak will only be allowed to do so if recognized by the chair.  Don hopes to continue the original meeting schedule and meet twice a month as was agreed upon (1^st Wed of the month at 4pm and 3^rd Wednesday at 9am).
18. Approval of the minutes from 6/24/20 were tabled until the next meeting.

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 12:15pm

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. Response from library trustees to paid time off.
2. Response to R. Wolin Open Meeting Law Complaint
3. Response to J. Weingold Open Meeting Law Complaint
4. Form letters from residents regarding the New Marlboro Rd tree cutting