Town of Otis
All Boards Meeting Minutes
February 27, 2017
The meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm in the Town Hall conference room. It was announced the meeting was being recorded.
Present: Selectman Don Hawley, Selectman Bill Hiller, Walter Engels, Tom Nadolny, Michael Ernst, Jeanne Randorf, Sandy Pinkham, and Keith O’Neil
Cultural Council: The council has scheduled three events so far. The annual Otis Tag Sale will be Saturday May 27th , which is the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and at Otis Ridge; Sup ‘N Swing is Saturday, June 17th at the Izaak Walton field and Tom Garvey’s band will be playing; and the Otis Arts Festival is scheduled for the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, Sept. 2nd, at the Farmington River School.
Energy: Everything is being shipped, except the materials in Canada. Heavy equipment cannot travel in Quebec when the roads are closed due to weather. The base preparation will begin this month. One single company was awarded the bids for the civil, electrical, and mechanical bids. The low bidder is currently working on eleven other projects with Vensys and that is why they were able to bid so much lower than everyone else. And Energy is moving forward with the land for the new safety complex.
Finance Board: Michael and Walter went to the school budget meeting. The school is still looking to set up a stabilization fund. Town budget meetings will begin soon in March. Ideas about how to use the School Bond account in the future were discussed.
Fire Dept.: Fire calls have been quiet in town. One person went through the ice on the reservoir, but he was able to self-extricate. There was a mutual aid call in Becket for a basement fire. Burning season is still on. The new cleaning equipment for fire gear is working great.
Highway: The new truck should be arriving soon. They went over on salt due to the amount of ice this year.
Library: They are doing fine and are working on their official five year plan. People are using the library services a lot and the art exhibits are working out well.
Maintenance: Bill let everyone know that we have two new hires to fill the positions that were and are about to be vacated. Patty is retiring to care for her mom and Dave moved out of state.
Planning Board: Hal is planning to talk about the marijuana issue.
School: 22News was up at the school today to get information on Fist Bump Fridays. This is initiated to build rapport between the kids and police and there should be something on TV tonight. The school budget has completed its initial pass. They still need to finalize the teachers’ contract.
Technology: Progress with broadband is moving along. MBI may release design funds to Otis as well. We are still awaiting confirmation on this. We will definitely be receiving construction funds from the MBI grant. The RFP for construction and fiber purchase is ready to move. The wiring project is 90% complete in Town Hall and wireless is complete.
Waste Water: Everything is running good, it has been a quiet winter. There have only been two grinder pump changes since the fall. Keith put in for the five year permit renewal and is waiting to hear back from DEP. The engineering survey that was done for the permit renewal cost about $3000 with SK Design and the survey was accepted by DEP. The underground tanks and sewer lines are all structurally sound and there were no red or yellow flags. The DEP was impressed with inventory kept on hand and with our PM program. The security fund is a little short per their calculations. Keith noted the maintenance trailer was purchased last fiscal year.
Zoning Board of Appeals: They have a meeting on March 6th regarding South Bay Road.
The Annual Town Meeting will be held May 16th at 7:00 pm.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:12 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa D’Orazio
Selectmen’s Secretary
Town of Otis
List of Documents
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