Select Board Meeting Minutes 9/12/23
Minutes of the Select Board meeting 9/12/23
Meeting Date: Tuesday September 12, 2023
Meeting Opened at 6:02 pm
Select Board members present: Justin Makuc, chair; Susan Cooper, Frank Abbott
Also Present: Mickey Jervas, Ilene Marcus, Dennis Lynch, Lucy Prashker, Jake Eberwein, Matt Abrahams, Roger McDonald, Jon Sylbert, Kim Alcantara
Also present remotely: Melissa Noe
Call to Order 6:02 pm
- Unanticipated business
Justin asked Melissa about the accessibility grant, the ADA coordinator and the number of Monterey employees as they apply to grant rules and state requirements. Melissa said that BRPC needs to know if the Town has less than 50 employees (and would therefore qualify), if we have an ADA coordinator and if the Board would like to have BRPC apply for the grant. Susan inquired about the employee count. Melissa said that there are less than 50 full time employees, but more than 50 if they count the fire department. Melissa said that she is waiting to hear back about what constitutes an employee for the purposes of the grant. Melissa described the grant, reporting that it was a planning grant for updating and creating an evaluation and/or transition plan under the ADA Title 2. Justin said that he would be in favor of applying for the grant. Susan and Frank also agreed that they were in favor of applying for the grant. Melissa said she will check with Seth Jenkins from BRPC tomorrow.
- 6:30pm: 8 Town Regional School District Planning Board, presentation and question & answer session
Susan introduced Lucy and Jake and said they would be conducting the presentation for the 8 Town Regional School District Planning Board (RSDPB). Lucy reported that the RSDPB took a vote in July to recommend a merger based on the proposed regional plan that was still subject to review. They have completed the review and have another meeting coming up. They will vote on the final agreement, which will then be forwarded to the Select Boards. The Select Boards will then put the results to vote within 30 days of the decision.
Jake said that the core question was “can the districts do better?” Jake said that the resolution was to merge the districts into a single pre-k through 12 district, but to build a new merged 9-12 high school building on the Gt. Barrington campus. Jake discussed the financial models, along with the fiscal benefits of the merger, which theoretically will generate an estimate of upwards of $1.8 million in savings on operating costs per year for the eight towns combined. He discussed the importance of efficiencies through class size balancing. Jake reported that the finances were broken down into Operating and Capital expenses. He focused on the Operating expenses and reported that they assumed the first year of a merged district would be 2026. Jake discussed how the operating budget would be allocated among the towns, highlighting state based requirements and apportionment of the additional costs. Because the transition would result in a significant increase in assessment for the initial year of the merger, the RSDPB has proposed a safety valve so that no town would have an annual increase more than 2% above the percentage of annual increase for the entire district. Under the model, he reported that the gross operating budget for FY 2026 was $55,713,943, the revenues and savings totaled $11,201,740, which would leave the net assessments to towns as $44,512,203. Jake presented the numbers and expenses broken down for each town (see the slide show posted at https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60ae8cae6eb37435913becba/t/6501bf44132da20d62b8e464/1694613319734/Monterey+Presentation_Sept122023_Shared.pdf ). Lucy explained the safety valve increment increase along with potential increases over the previous year. Lucy explained how there would be a significant shift without the cap when considering the budget; therefore, the cap was developed so the towns would not have such a significant increase in the operating budget for each town. Jake discussed the merger vs no merger scenario and reported that Monterey would wind up saving money by moving forward with the merger. There was discussion on how there may wind up being additional savings in the future if other students decide to take advantage of the vocational tech path due to the high cost of the tuition for the vocational technical program. Jake presented costs associated with the capital costs for new high school for the town of Monterey. He said that the average increase in property taxes to each home would be $48 dollars annually towards the new high school.
Lucy said that the average home would be assessed $48 in additional taxes if the merger occurs, whereas if they do not combine and there are three children in the town that would like to go to the vocational school, then the cost for the homeowner would be $90. Lucy talked about the sale of the old elementary school buildings in the event the merger occurs, and the new school is built. She said that if the district is allowed to sell the property then the proceeds would be returned pro rata to the Member Towns who contributed to the cost of improvements; however, if the building was owned by a Town, then that Town would be free to sell the building and keep the proceeds. Lucy said that the cost of the new high school would not be known until 2024; therefore, there would not be a vote to approve the debt until 2024. Lucy said that if the vote on the cost of the debt fails then the new district would dissolve and the existing district would continue as the debt approval contingency. However, if the new school is approved, then the operation would likely be July 1, 2026. The new laws do not allow a two-year transition period, but they are going to present special legislation to extend the transition period.
Jake discussed the trend of enrollment in Berkshire Hills vs students who attend other districts. Lucy said that there were two ways to get debt approved, the first being a town-by-town vote, and the second by obtaining a majority vote of the combined residents from all of the towns. She said that there would need a majority in each of all of the eight towns in order to move forward with the merger. Lucy said that at Town Meeting there will need to be a written ballot to vote per the statute. Lucy said that there was a question whether the clicker vote would work, and Justin reported that in conversation with Town Counsel, it was reported that a paper ballot would be required for the voting process. Justin asked if they were using the majority of all of the voters or the majority in each town for the debt approval. Lucy said that the default was the majority of everyone in the district, but the school committee can decide to utilize the other methodology if there is a vote by two thirds of the members of the school committee.
Lucy said that there is discussion as to whether the current structure will be renovated or if a completely new school will be built. If there is a vote to create the new district, then there is going to be a vote whether to approve the debt for the construction of an eight town high school and a vote on whether to approve the construction of a three town high school in the event the vote for the eight town high school fails.
Ilene requested to hold an informational meeting for budgeting prior to the Town meeting. Dennis inquired about reusing equipment such as tables and chairs from the previous school if the new school is built, and whether energy efficient electric vehicles would be considered. Jake said that the study did not consider green technology at this time, particularly since the buses would be contracted through the same company. It was reported that the MSVA does look at the condition of old equipment to see if it can continue to be utilized in order to help save on funds. Jake shared that the Berkshire Eagle was hosting a forum on October 4th at the Mahaiwe, for which individuals must register, and on October 11th and 18th they are going to have events at Southern Berkshire and Berkshire Hills. He encouraged individuals to attend the events if they would like additional information and that they could find additional information at 8towns.org. People can also send an email with any questions.
Susan made a motion to adjourn the Select Board meeting.Justin seconded.Call a vote: Susan-yes, Frank-yes, Justin-yes.Meeting adjourned at 8:25pm.
Documents used at the meeting:
1. Informational packet provided by RSDPB leadership