Select Board Meeting Minutes 9/11/23

Minutes of the meeting of 9/11/23

Meeting Opened at: 4:03pm

Select Board Members Present: Justin Makuc, Chair, Susan Cooper and Frank Abbott

Also present remotely: Don Coburn, Ellen Coburn

Items discussed:

1. Call to order 4:03pm
2. Justin started with a moment of silence in remembrance of the victims of the attacks of 9/11/2001.
3. Town Administrator job description: Justin explained his take away from his individual meeting with the Town Administrator and Human Resource Director (HR) that the HR Director would like to work on a proposed draft job description.  HR recommends dividing the functions into primary functions and all board members were on board with this. The Board will wait for a draft from HR.
4. ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) coordinator appointment: Robert Carlson: A motion was made to appoint Robert Carlson until June 30, 2024.  The motion was seconded. Susan thanked Justin for finding someone and to Robert for volunteering.  The motion passed unanimously.
5. Treasurer contract and Accountant contract renewals: Justin suggested having our town counsel review the contracts once the drafts are received.
6. Discuss possible short term rental bylaw: A resident reached out to the Board about creating a short term rental bylaw. Justin noted that his initial understanding was that any further movement beyond what the tax approved at the May town meeting would require a Zoning Bylaw from the Planning Board, but that Great Barrington’s Select Board had proposed (and Town Meeting passed) a General Bylaw that regulates short term rentals. Justin would like more public opinion on whether this is something that should proceed as there are drawbacks to creating this type of regulation. Justin asked Melissa to check with other townships in south county if they have STR by laws; are they general by laws or zoning bylaws, process for passing the law, what are our revenues for short rental fees, what does Barrington pay for their software, do other towns have software to track, Justin commented on gauging the opinions of the residents and he wants to be careful on spending time on a STR bylaw if there was not interest. Frank inquired how many short term rentals have turned into long term and Susan responded that this is not data we would be able to quantify. Frank asked if Melissa could gather information on what surrounding towns have for bylaws. Melissa will report back to the Board with additional information about short term rental bylaws.
7. Town Administrator Items:
   1. Payroll software next steps: Melissa informed the Board that the setup and implementation of the next two modules would be starting soon.  One is an employee self-service which will allow employees to directly make changes to things such as their W4, direct deposit, etc. and to view their paycheck stubs, W2’s at their convenience.  The other module will be an onboarding tool that will allow for all new employees to fill out their new hire paperwork online, making the process more streamlined and efficient. The Board was pleased to hear about these changes.
   2. Community Compact Efficiency & Regionalization Grant: The Fire Chief has asked to work with the TA on a proposal for a shared emergency service personnel. Frank wanted a more detailed list of what duties and the job role would be, where would they work from (here or there), how does it work to have only one person responding to a call, proposed salary before they are willing to sign off on the details. How much administrative work will there be and what qualifications does this person need to have? Melissa will report back with more information from Shawn.
8. Community Center Director job description revisions: The Board was provided with edits to the existing job description made by HR, the Town Administrator and the Chair of the Community Center Committee.  A motion was made to approve the revised job description.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved. Susan informed the Board of her conversation with HR and HR’s recommendation to change the title from Community Center Director back to Coordinator as Director implies a full time, higher paying position and we do not seem to be attracting many candidates.  The Board decided to hold off on any title changes for the moment.
9. Unanticipated business:
   1. Frank inquired if the Board should recognize Mary Makuc and her time at the Community Center as she has been in the position since the beginning; Justin corrected Frank and said that Joe Baker was the original Community Center Director. The Board asked when this last happened and Melissa responded the last two employees she could recall were Chief Backhaus and former Town Accountant, Barbara Gauthier.
   2. Peter Murkett emailed the Board in favor of the Renewable Energy Working Group proposed article for Town Meeting, to allow the capped landfill to be leased to a 3^rd party solar company. Once we get the school’s official request for a special town meeting the Board will take into consideration all of the items that deserve discussion at a special town meeting and whether it will be too much for one meeting and should be split into two separate special town meetings.
   3. Proposed school merger: Steve Moore has suggested that the Board each write something for the News prior to the special town meeting to help the residents see other perspectives. The Board discussed some questions they would like to have answered tomorrow.
   4. Frank noted an email received from Sophia which responds to his inquiries on if she needs a separate office. All members acknowledged that there are issues with the building physically that prevent individuals from having their own spaces and that shared arrangements are the most likely solution. This item will be placed on next meeting’s agenda.
   5. Susan noted that she has received multiple positive comments about the painting work done at the Community Center.
10. Comments & questions from the public:
    1. Don Coburn expressed his opinion that since the Board are leaders and their voices are important there should be more deference in their opinions if they are not going to take the time to read all of the reports created by the Regional School District Planning Board. Susan did not agree with the assessment that someone would inherently agree with their proposal if they read all the materials. Don clarified that this was not what he said or meant.
11. Approve minutes of 8/21/23, 9/5/23: Melissa will reach out to the Open Meeting Law division about what kind of minutes are necessary for a meeting of another body when there was hardly any participation by the Board, is it acceptable to have just a summary of their participation or is a summary of the other party’s discussions required.  A motion was made to approve the amended minutes of 9/5/23.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
12. Adjournment

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 5:23pm

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. Community Center Director revised job description