Town of Otis
Select Board Meeting Minutes
May 25, 2016
Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm in the Town Hall conference room.
Present: Roberta Sarnacki, Don Hawley, Bill Hiller, Chris Morris, Terry Gould, Michael Ernst, Jim Wilusz, Roland “Joe” Dupuis, Chris Tryon, Kathy Carroll, Russ Loring, Jim Crandall, Matt Puntin from SK Design, Dave Roberts, Walter Engels, Dan Zenkel, Barry Searle, couple from 28 Ridge Ave.
Welcome New Select Board member and Nominate Chair: The meeting was called to order and Don was welcomed back. Roberta Sarnacki agreed to remain chairperson for one more year to get everyone back in sync with the outgoing selectperson being board chair.
Approval of Minutes: The May 10, 2016 Select Board meeting minutes were approved as written by Roberta and Don with Bill abstaining. The April 25, 2016 School Stabilization meeting minutes and the April 25, 2016 All Boards meeting minutes were approved by Bill and Don with Roberta abstaining.
Board of Health: Berkshire Soccer Academy: They want to put up a temporary structure with restroom facilities to handle the extra people for dropoffs and pickups. They are looking for approval of a tight tank. Eventually, they want to have expansion of dorms and use a more permanent solution. In light of this the Select Board recommended they perc test for final building design because their selected location for the temporary structure may not be in a good place. The tight tank will only be temporary and must be converted over to a permanent system in two years. The Board of Health also recommended they put in a 2000 gallon two compartment concrete tank that can then be used later with the expansion. Dan Zenkel said percs were done right after the initial purchase of the property and they already have an area designated for the future leach field and the new shed will only be open for use two days a week when the kids switch. The Select Board approved the design with the BoH recommended restrictions.
42 South Gate Island: Chris Tryon from Berkshire Geo-Technologies represented the owners. Something about a pre-treat jet bat to perc right. The new owners want to put on an addition. They will need a variance to the neighbors well, a variance for the jet bat to the property line and building, a variance for the SAS to the property line, and a variance for the pump chamber to the building and to the property line. It is a very tight lot and Jim feels this is the best fit. All abutters have been notified. Variances for the wells have already been approved. Jim Wilusz recommends well testing before installation, and for two years after, and a maintenance contract will be required. The Select Board unanimously approved the design with the BoH recommendations.
87 North Street: Barry Searle represented the owners. This lot is six tenths of an acre. This is an Avantek pre-treat system with a two compartment 1500 gallon tank and a pressure distributed system. The owner’s well is the only one within the 100 foot radius (it is located at 68 feet) so a variance is required only for the owner’s well and would need to meet the standard conditions for well variances. Again, Jim feels this design is the best fit for the lot. The Select Board unanimously approved the design with the BoH recommendations.
28 Ridge Avenue: The approval granted in November was rescinded due to not all abutters being notified in a timely manner. Four wells are within the 100 foot radius, so the owner’s well and three abutters’ wells will need variances. The plan still needs to be revised to show two new abutters’ well locations. One abutter has a shallow well and that is the one we need to be most concerned with. All abutters have been notified. They are planning a bottomless sand filter pre-treat system. Roland Dupuis still needs to redraw the plan but wanted to give the Select Board an update on the concerns that were raised by the abutter in November. Don insisted all wells will need to be pretested before any work begins to ensure the wells aren’t bad (especially the shallow wells) initially.
RRG Contract: There is a qualified individual with experience who may want the position. Chris provided them with expense budgets and is waiting to hear back as to how the approved numbers will work. Once we have this, we will then have two proposals to compare in order to decide what the best solution is for the town. Russ is very happy with the current service and is worried the other solution will not have enough time to come up to speed.
Transfer Station Rules: Jim wants clarification on contractors and commercial permits. One resident is looking to purchase a commercial permit to dump lights, but most extra disposals listed specify “No Contractors”. It was noted the town is losing money with these extra disposals now and fluorescent bulbs are recycled with the televisions. Bill suggested we give that person information on who we use for light disposal and that individual can handle the light disposal with the vendor. Chris thought Commercial permits were designed for establishments that generate more than household trash. Don suggested we do our research and determine exactly what “Commercial” means both with the state and with the town. When we have these two pieces of information, we can make a decision.
Other:
Rec. Center and Weight Room Use: A meeting was held with the Town Administrator, the Rec. Center Commission, and Chris Vreeland, the engineer the town consults with. They did a walk-through of the entire building and Chris V. will refine his solutions and get back to everyone so we can get some figures as to how much repairs will cost to strengthen the floors. Ratings for gym activity is the primary concern with the age of the building. A decision will be made based upon whether the town can afford the repair or not. It is not the town’s intention to make the building structurally unsound. However, the lack of size in the crawl space underneath the building makes it prohibitive to bring reinforcement beams under the building.
Contents of East Otis Meeting House/Church: We need a list of what is inside the building so we can determine what is surplus inventory. We also need to determine how we will remove the inventory from the building. There has been interest expressed in the chandelier, the pews, and the bell.
Budget Minutes: It was discovered that two of the budget meeting minutes for March 22, 2016 and March 28, 2016 had never been approved. Copies of both minutes were distributed to both the Select Board and the Finance Board. Finance recommended the minutes be approved and the Select Board unanimously approved both as written.
Sign the CET Agreement: The contract for CET for FY2017 arrived in the mail. The town had previously signed the Letter of Intent to Participate so the board unanimously approved the signing of the contract, which was signed and dated by Roberta.
Sale of Otis Lake Partners parcel: The multi-acre parcel for condominiums known as Otis Lake Partners (the former J&D Marina) is going up for auction in June. Walter asked if the town had any legal rights to put restrictions on the sale of the property. The current owner is still required to demolish the building with asbestos. We need to look up their file and see what is in it to determine if we can put a lien on the property.
Social Media Policy: Dave Roberts, who supports our Police Department, asked if the Police Chief had violated the policy when she sent the email and four page letter. Chris Morris, Bill Hiller, and Don Hawley all stated they would run it past Town Counsel and get a legal opinion on that question.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa D’Orazio
Selectmen’s Secretary
Town of Otis
List of Documents
A copy of the email requesting the CET contract signature will be filed with these meeting minutes.
A copy of the signed CET Contract will be filed with these meeting minutes.
A copy of all of the budget minutes discussing FY2017 budgets and their attachments will be filed with these meeting minutes.