Select Board Meeting Minutes 7/7/21

Minutes of the meeting of 7/7/21

Meeting Opened at: 6pm

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

Absent: John Weingold

Also present remotely: Tom Sawyer, Emily Johnson, Don Coburn, Susan Cooper, Nancy Tomasovich

Items discussed:

1. Justin Makuc’s ethics determination and possible exemptions: This item had to be tabled as John Weingold did not attend the meeting tonight.
2. Town Administrator items
   1. Internal transfer requests:  A motion was made to approve the transfer of $856.35 from snow & ice to fuel and $1,621.35 from select board expenses to legal expenses.  The motion was seconded and approved 2 – 0.  Steve noted that John Weingold has still failed to come in to sign the 2 library transfers approved at the previous meeting.
   2. It was agreed to schedule the annual 2^nd homeowner’s meeting for 10am on August 14^th.
3. Clerk office coverage: M. Noe reported that she and Terry met and have come up with a temporary solution for an emergency until a permanent assistant/staff is hired.  Terry and Melissa are currently working on a job description for an assistant as well as a help wanted ad.
4. FY22 appointments/reappointments: The board discussed the remaining reappointment to be made: town counsel.  Justin made a motion to have the Town Administrator solicit quotes from no less than 3 attorney’s/firms with proposals for a retainer option and an hourly option.  Proposals should be sought from at least 3 attorneys/firms, including KP Law and current counsel Jeremia Pollard, with the current description listed in the Memorandum of Understanding with Jeremia Pollard as the scope of services.  The motion was seconded and discussion ensued.  Tom Sawyer, Chair of the Planning Board asked for assurance that the pending cases would not be left high and dry; the board assured him all active and any pending suits would have representation.  Steve noted that there is a strong possibility of future legal actions and suggested reappointing current counsel through the end of the year while the proposals are reviewed to begin next year.  Steve also expressed concerns he has about our legal fees doubling or tripling if we move to a large firm especially considering what may be coming on the horizon. The motion to solicit at least 3 proposals for Town Counsel was seconded and approved 2-0.
5. A motion was made to approve the edited minutes of 6/16/21. The motion was seconded and approved 2 – 0.
6. Continue review of Select Board Roles, Polices & Procedures draft: Justin would like one more week to review and consider any final edits.  This item will be tabled to the next meeting.
7. Grant Writer job descriptions and Town Administrator grant role (John Weingold): Steve noted that job descriptions already exist and we have a successful program. It was explained that it is now the Town Administrator’s responsibility to be the lead grant writer in addition to leading the team of grant writers.  Justin suggested (and offered to draft) an update of the current policy and procedures for grant writing similar to the agenda posting so everyone is on the same page. 
8. Internal transfers to overtime (John Weingold): No one was sure what exactly this was about but M. Noe provided a summary of what was asked about this at the Finance Committee meeting last night.  M. Noe explained that in her current role as Town Administrator she is salary and does not receive overtime, the internal transfer request still waiting on finance committee approval is for overtime worked as the administrative assistant (hourly position) prior to being promoted to Town Administrator.
9. Human Resources and Town Administrator job description (John Weingold): No one was sure what this was about but Steve summarized the ongoing 5 town venture to hire a shared Human Resource Director and reminded all that the job description for this position was approved at the last meeting.
10. Annual appointment expirations (John Weingold): Justin thinks that John’s concerns were about particular appointments having no expiration date such as the firemen.  M. Noe explained that several years ago counsel advised that yearly reappointments did not need to be made unless required under MGL (positions such as accountant, clerk, etc).  Steve inquired how an annual expiration date would add any benefit if the law doesn’t require it.  Justin concurred and stated that it wasn’t readily understandable to him why positions with no expiration dates would be problematic.
11. Contacting counsel policy (John Weingold): The Board noted that the town has an existing policy.
12. Access to town website (John Weingold): Steve explained that the Town Administrator has been given the role of monitoring website access.
13. Comments & questions from the public:
    1. Don Coburn inquired as to why John Weingold was not present at tonight’s meeting.  No one knew.
    2. Emily Johnson asked when the links to the meetings would be put on the website.  M. Noe explained that our web platform will not accept the current format and an alternative needs to be looked into.
    3. Emily Johnson inquired why the minutes of the Lake Garfield Working Group meetings are not on the website going back to 2019.  Steve stated he doesn’t think it is due to anything nefarious and we will follow up with the chair of that committee.

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 6:35pm

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. Justin Makuc exemptions
2. Internal transfers