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Select Board Meeting Minutes 9/22/21

Meeting date: 
Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Minutes of the meeting of 9/22/21

Meeting Opened at: 6pm

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

Also present: Steve from National Grid, Joanne DeRose of National Grid, Gary Shaw, Jon Sylbert, Terry Walker

Also present remotely: Jeremia Pollard, Don Coburn, Tom Sawyer, Susan Cooper, Martin Mraz, Jenna Johnson, Eric Kinsherf, Courtney Morehouse of Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC), Rebecca Wolin, Karin Jackson, Mickey Jervas, Frank Upton, Michael Watts, Bob Cutick, Michael Zisser

6pm: Jeremia Pollard

The Board requested a meeting with former counsel to discuss the 2 active cases and determine if former or new counsel should provide representation.  Hume is waiting on a decision from the judge and the ZBA appeal on Elephant Rock Rd will go to trial November 16th.  Jeremia said he is happy to continue on them as he has been working on them for years and it would be a lot of catch up for new counsel.  His hourly rate would be $180.  John asked for a cost estimate to complete the November trial; approximately 7 days at 6-7 hours per day, if the case has to go to Boston this estimate will increase.  The chance of an appeal in the Hume case is likely.  John wants both attorney’s to discuss the cases and see if new counsel might have a different approach; Steve agreed.

Tom Sawyer, Chair of the Planning Board requested that he also be included in any discussions between former and current counsel involving the Hume decision.  Tom would prefer we continue with Attorney Pollard for any appeals made on the Hume case and will confirm that the rest of his board agrees.

The Board will contact current counsel for their recommendations.  Melissa noted that Brian had stated he would be attending tonight.

Don Coburn asked who Jeremia represents in the Steinberg case (ZBA) and shouldn’t it be them that decides or at least is consulted?  Susan Cooper, acting chair of the ZBA said that we are well into round 1 and would want to speak with the rest of the Board before formulating an opinion.  Personally she would be concerned about switching attorneys with such a small amount of lead time.

Steve gets the sense that all want to prevail and the best possible outcome for that would be to have former counsel continue who is already prepared.

John made a motion for Justin to contact new counsel to get a written opinion on what they would like to do with the new cases and report back to the Board.  Justin added that it was good to hear from Jeremia, Susan and Tom.  Justin would also like to hear the opinions of the full boards (planning and ZBA) on the matter.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.

6:15pm: Joint Pole Hearing continued from 9/15: Chestnut Hill

National Grid and Verizon have submitted an application to install 4 joint owned poles on Chestnut Hill Rd.  Steve from National Grid provided a graphic and summary of the proposed project.  A motion was made to approve the project as submitted.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.

National Grid also requested to speak informally about a possible future proposal that was previously not approved due to reluctance by the Board due to abutter objections by Karen Allen who did not want poles in front of her house (even though it would be in the town right of way). John asked why they couldn’t go underground; National Grid said the cost would be triple.

Steve offered to have an informal discussion with Ms. Allen if the Board agreed.  A motion was made to allow Steve to reach out to the abutter.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.

6:45pm: BRPC: Lake Garfield 604b project presentation/closeout

Courtney Moorehouse of Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) was present remotely to provide an update on the Lake Garfield 604b project presentation/closeout.  A linear vegetative bioswale will be implemented as well as deep sump catch basins along Hupi Rd. which will then lead to a proprietary hydro dynamic separator.

7pm: Town Accountant

  1. Tax recap and free cash issue from last year:  Eric confirmed that $341,470 was mistakenly listed as both a revenue source and an appropriation.  When a Town votes free cash to reduce the tax rate, it should not be listed as an appropriation (page 4 completed by the Town Clerk), but a revenue only to support the budget (page 2 completed by the Accountant). Eric admitted that he should’ve caught the error made by the Clerk but didn’t as most towns usually tax up to the levy limit and Monterey doesn’t so the error wasn’t glaring and was close to the previous years amounts.  Since the appropriation was there and not spent, there will be an increase in free cash when it is certified this year.  Going forward projected revenues should also be provided (the Accountant will help with this) in addition to the projected expenditures.  Eric confirmed the Assessors have the primary responsibility for filling out these forms and then the Clerk and Accountant also have some sections.  Better lines of communication will be put in place to prevent this from happening again.  Jon Sylbert then reviewed the entire data entry process with Eric. 
  2. Contract:  Jon and John both inquired why the contract was for 2 years; Eric is open to 1 year if that is what the board wants.  A motion was made to accept the contract.  The motion was seconded.  John then motioned to amend the motion to make the contract 1 year.  John’s motion failed.  A motion was made to modify the contract end date to September 30, 2023.   The modified motion was seconded and unanimously approved.  Rebecca Wolin asked for a commitment that the mistake be turned back to the taxpayer’s and not purchase any trucks with it; the Board could not commit to anything but certainly will do their best if they can.
  3. Jon Sylbert, Finance Committee member is requesting access to the town accountant directly (Steve noted that a communication was received from the Finance Committee Chair stating that this was not a request from the whole Finance Committee and is on their next agenda to discuss): Eric’s issue is that speaking to individual members is not efficient.  He would be open to a standing meeting to address all the issues with the Board as a whole and emphasized that a single point of contact is the most efficient way to operate and communicate.  Eric suggested that on a case by case basis an issue should be filtered through the Town Administrator.  A motion was made to allow individual members of the Finance Committee to contact the Accountant individually for purposes of learning about town finances to be able to better serve the taxpayers.  The motion was seconded.  Susan Cooper suggested that Eric should keep a record of repeated questions and time spent should there be a problem in the future; Eric agreed.  The motion was approved unanimously. John then made a motion that each individual selectman be allowed to individually contact the accountant.  The motion was not seconded and failed.

7:15pm: Administrative

  1. Town Administrator Items:
    1. Accept police donation: A motion was made to accept the $100 donation received.  The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
    2. Special town meeting date: Melissa informed the Board that of the time span given to the Moderator and Town Clerk the Clerk stated she was only available on November 16 which is a Tuesday night.  It was brought to Melissa’s attention that the outdoor lighting does not work at the pavilion and was not going to be fixed anytime soon so if we could find a Saturday that would be better.  Terry then agreed to the 6th at 1pm, Melissa will check in with the Moderator tomorrow. Jon asked if the Finance Committee has been notified; Melissa confirmed that she has been in regular contact with the Chair. 
    3. Review FC Low Income Discount Program Draft: A motion was made to approve the Fiber Connect Low-Income Subsidy Program for Monterey and Egremont.  The motion was seconded. The Board confirmed that the town is not supplementing any part of this and it will be administered solely by Fiber Connect.  The motion passed unanimously.
    4. Request to change office hours: Justin motioned to table the request until the Board can review executive session matters at an executive session meeting.  Steve stated that the 2 issues were unrelated and noted that the Board made scheduling accommodations for the Clerk twice in the last two months and the same accommodations should be made for the Town Administrator.  The motion was seconded.  Steve argued that all employees should be treated the same. The motion failed 0-2 with Justin and Steve voting no.  Steve motioned to accept the proposed new schedule.  The motion was not seconded and failed.
    5. A motion was made to table the remaining Town Administrator items with the exception of signing the letter of support.  The motion was seconded and passed 2 – 1 with Steve voting no.
    6. REDO grant letter of support:  A motion was made to sign the letter of support requested.  The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
  2. School Committee vacancy:  A motion was made to appoint Laura Rodriguez to fulfill the vacant elected school committee seat.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
  3. A motion was made to accept the terms and conditions for a town youtube account, to allow all Select Board meetings to be posted to YouTube.  The motion was seconded.  Steve said that things that are done on social media will follow us for the rest of our lives and it is his understanding that if someone should be seeking employment they potential employer can look at web history in perpetuity.  Steve has been approached over the years about people feeling uncomfortable in the past coming to discuss matters if the meetings were recorded.  Steve, no. John, yes because it provides complete transparency.  Justin, yes.
  4. The Board reviewed the draft holiday guidance policy.  The Board agrees it needs to be respectful for all faiths and accommodating.  The following holidays were added; Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, first 2 nights of Passover, Good Friday and the first night of Hanukkah.  A motion was made to accept the policy as written.  The motion was seconded, and passed unanimously.
  5. A motion was made to approve the minutes of 8/19 with the edits provided by Justin.  The motion was seconded and passed 2-1 with John voting no.  A motion was made to approve the minutes of 9/1 with the edits provided by Justin.  The motion was seconded and passed 2-1 with John voting no. A motion was made to approve the minutes of 9/8 with the edits provided by Justin.  The motion was seconded and passed 2-1 with John voting no.  A motion was made to approve the minutes of 9/15 as submitted.  The motion was seconded and passed 2-0, as John was not in attendance.
  6. A motion was made to advertise for interest in being a part of a committee to investigate what a charter could do for Monterey: The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.  The Board will review interested candidates in one month.
  7. Job Performance review of TA; John wants to schedule this to be done in a public meeting in a few months and noted that he already has his written.  Melissa inquired about what the timeline/policy would be for all employees and inquired as to why she was being singled out.  Jon said that Melissa is doing the evaluations for other departments to which she replied she is not because the Board has not been consistent on who she actually supervises and is allowing some such as the Clerk who she is supposed to immediately supervise circumvent the chain.
  8. TA job description review & revise if necessary (JW): Steve explained that this has already been addressed over the last two years and was finalized earlier in the year.
  9. TA's allegations against Finance committee member Jon Slybert.re Tax Recap issue. (JW):  Steve strongly suggested that this should be handled in executive session when counsel is here on the 4th.  It was agreed to send the full complaint to counsel to determine how to properly proceed.
  10. Police Investigation Policies & Procedures (JW): A motion was made to continue this to next the next public agenda.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
  11. Bullying and intimidation of a Town Employee & Code of Conduct/Ethics discussion (JW): This will be addressed in the upcoming executive session.
  12. Discussion of disclosure of a private town employee's criminal/HR complaint to 2-3 citizens (JW): John wanted to know who shared a copy of the HR complaint an employee filed.  No one knew what he was referring to.  Melissa Noe and Terry disagreed on the representation of the facts.  Melissa stated she was just providing an example that was reported to her.  The crowd then all became unruly, speaking and yelling at the same time and they were informed that they are not allowed to speak unless acknowledged by the Board.
  13. The Board made a motion to adopt and sign the 1 precinct for voting as recommended by the Town Clerk.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
  14. A motion was made to put all the items not addressed today at the top of the agenda for the next meeting.  The motion was seconded.  Steve noted that town’s business needs to be handled 1st or it may never get done when we are bogged down with the large amount of items that John adds weekly.  The motion passed 2 – 1 with Steve voting no.
  15. A motion was made to adjourn.  The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.

A motion was made and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at: 9:10pm

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. Fiber Connect Low Income Discount Program Draft
  2. Draft holiday guidance policy
  3. REDO grant letter of support
  4. Draft minutes
  5. Email from Michele Miller subject “letters” 9/22/21
  6. Accounting contract
  7. Pole hearing documents
  8. National Grid letter
  9. 1 precinct form
Video / Audio