Select Board Meeting Minutes 7/21/21

Minutes of the meeting of 7/21/21

Meeting Opened at: 6pm

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

Select Board Members present remotely: John Weingold

Also present: Shawn Tryon, Jeremia Pollard, Gary Shaw, Terry Walker

Also present remotely: Mike Johnson, Don Coburn, Emily Johnson, Susan Cooper

Steve Weisz made a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss litigation strategy and attorney client privilege.  Don Coburn inquired if the session was going to include the complaint filed by Mr. Weingold; it was confirmed it would include all litigation active or otherwise.  Don asked if he could attend with regard to the suit filed by John Weingold as he is a named defendant; the Board and counsel confirmed he could for that part of the session.  The motion was seconded and approved 2-1 with John voting no.  The Board confirmed it will return to open session once finished.  Roll Call: Steve, present, Justin, present, John, present.  The Board entered executive session at 6:03pm.

The Board returned to open session at 6:43pm

Items discussed:

1. Director of Operations:
   1. Fire Company special event permit: A motion was made to approve the one day beer and wine permit.  The motion was seconded.  Justin recused himself as he is on the fire company.  Emily Johnson asked that the fire company make sure that Fox Hill Rd not be blocked as they have had issues leaving their driveway in years past.  Chief Tryon noted that the fire company has always been given permission to use both sides of the road on Fox Hill for parking by Mr. Amstead.  The motion was approved 2-0.
   2. Highway 4 appointment.  A motion was made to appoint Tyler Collins as highway member 4.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
   3. Curtis Road Bridge: Shawn reported that the state will be funding a 100% replacement of the bridge.  They are requesting to detour traffic down Gould Rd (Lover’s Lane) to expedite the project from 2-3 years to one season starting approximately March 15, 2022.  Steve was concerned about the width of Gould Rd (1 ½ lanes) and using that for traffic.  Shawn explained that if the Board chooses to not grant permission for the detour the bridge would then be one lane and the project would take 1-2 years longer.  Some improvements would need to be made to Gould Rd to accommodate the detour.  John thought Gould Farm should have input since they would be impacted the most but agreed the quicker the project could be completed the better.  In general Justin thought the detour option was the best.  The Board agreed that the Commonwealth should foot the bill for any electronic traffic control on Gould Rd and possibly any temporary drainage control that may be required due to the increase in traffic the detour will create.
   4. Shawn reported that Monterey fared well during the recent storms.  We saw approximately $20k of work; minor washouts along the edges and only one road closure for 24-36 hours (Chestnut Hill) – he credits this small amount of damage to the diligent work of his crew clearing culverts regularly.
   5. It was requested that Shawn provide an overview of the fire department shift program to date.  Shawn reported that each night the crew on duty performs truck & equipment checks, documents and fixes any issues, followed by training which can run 30min – 3 hours, then it’s time for chores.  After that they are free to have dinner and do as they please.  They also respond to calls from 5:30pm – 5:30am.  The fire department is always actively recruiting, current membership is 18-20.
2. A motion was made to appoint Mary Stucklen to a one year term as the permanent Conservation Commission agent at the request of the Conservation Commission.  The motion was seconded.  Discussion ensued about whether the vote was taken by the Commission at a posted meeting; no one knew so it was agreed to table it until confirmation is received that the recommendation was voted on at a public meeting. 
3. A motion was made to appoint Laura Mensi as the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission Alternate Representative for a one year term.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
4. Town Administrator items
   1. A motion was made to approve the amended handbook to include Juneteenth as an official holiday.  The motion was seconded.  The Board noted that this has now been recognized as a federal holiday.  The motion was approved unanimously.
   2.  A motion was made to accept the high rebid for the 2000 Ford 550.  The motion was seconded.  M. Noe explained that the first bid approved a few weeks ago the winning bidder was unresponsive and this had to be relisted.  The motion was approved unanimously.
   3. Draft assistant town clerk job description and help wanted ad; Steve explained that the impetus for this search is to make sure the office is covered when the Clerk is out of the office as well as to train a replacement for when Terry retires in 3 years and has nothing to do with job performance as the office is working well.  This was prompted by a recent citizen complaint that they were unable to obtain a death certificate as Terry was on vacation and no other town hall staff has access to this office, computers, etc.  Terry Walker stated that after giving it some thought she now does not feel there is a rush to hire an assistant and that she is happy with the 2 current staff performing small administrative tasks that do not include any death, birth or marriage certificates.  Discussion ensued about if other departments would also be getting help for when their offices are closed.  Justin doesn’t think the Select Board should meddle with an office if it is running well, Steve agreed.  John stated that if and when we hire for the position if we have a candidate currently working in town hall that can do the job it would not be necessary to advertise the position and the Board could hire from within, Steve agreed.  It was agreed that no decisions will be made now as there is still further research and discussion to be had.
   4. Terry reported that she is planning to move the records currently temporarily stored in the basement to the records room but would like to purchase plastic storage totes for this.  Terry was asked to get a quote for how much it would cost for the total number of totes needed.
   5. M. Noe informed the Board that the state has let her know that they cannot accommodate requests for individual town training of the open meeting law as we were planning for the next all boards meeting.  However, there are several online videos available.  The Board asked M. Noe to send the link out to all town officials strongly recommending it be viewed.  The Board will give some thought to an alternate topic for the meeting to be scheduled.
5. Town beach porta potty: Steve reported that the Board was alerted to the fact that the porta potty at the beach was only being cleaned once a week and was becoming unsanitary.  The Parks Commission acted quickly and increased the cleanings to 2 time a week for the summer.  Just like the transfer station the beach is seeing double the usage and it reflects in the facilities offered and costs incurred to the town, future budgets may need to take this into consideration.
6. A motion was made to approve the amended minutes of 6/30/21.  The motion was seconded and approved 2-1 with John voting no.
7. A motion was made to approve the amended minutes of 7/7/21.  The motion was seconded and approved 2-0 (John was not present for this meeting).
8. A motion was made to approve the minutes of 7/13/21 (Justin did not attend due to a conflict of interest).  John requested to table this to the next meeting as he did not look at them yet.  The request was approved.
9. Review mail and any correspondence to be sent/signed
   1. Justin noted that Jon Sylbert has filed an OML complaint against him for calling the 6/1/21 emergency meeting.
   2. Steve read an email from Jon Sylbert sent to the Board on 7/14 regarding the Finance Committee, specifically Katrina Fitzpatrick.  Steve noted that the Finance Committee is an elected board and the select board has no ability to make someone do their work or not.  Steve inquired as to what everyone thought the purpose of the email was and took an issue with Jon stating he would not fulfill his duties if another member was not present at a meeting.
10. Continue review of Select Board Roles, Polices & Procedures draft. Motion to table.  Seconded and unanimously approved.
11. Comments & questions from the public
    1. Don Coburn stated that just because a piece of mail or email was received does not mean is has to be read into record.
    2. Don Coburn asked John Weingold if he is going to dismiss the suit he filed against the town and other named defendants and when.  John stated he had no comment.  He then asked if John was going to continue to maintain that action.  John replied, “no comment”.  Don then asked, “Don't you think the people who are entitled to know whether you're going to continue to sue the town you're supposedly serving?” John replied, “I don’t have any comment on pending litigation.”
    3. John requested to have a meeting next week to address his items that didn’t get added to today’s agenda.  Steve stated he cannot do next week and since none of the items were of an emergent nature they can wait until August 4^th.  John also wants to have a joint meeting with the Finance Committee, M. Noe will follow up with the Chair with regard to their interest.

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 8:23pm

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. Fire Company special event application
2. Tyler Collins resume
3. 200 Ford 550 winning bid report
4. Draft assistant town clerk advertisement and job description