Town of Otis
Select Board Meeting Minutes
April 12, 2016
Meeting called to order at 6:00 pm in the Town Hall conference room.
Present: Select Board Chair Roberta Sarnacki, Selectman Don Hawley, Selectman Bill Hiller, Chris Morris, Terry Gould, Michael Ernst, Kathy Carroll, Russ Loring, Marion Middleton, Russ Kitson, Tom Soules, Gary Thomas, Frank Tolopko, Dave Conklin, Kathleen Conklin, Walter Engels, Vicki Ernst, and man with hat
The meeting was called to order by Roberta Sarnacki who announced the meeting was being recorded.
Approval of Minutes: The March 22, 2016 Select Board meeting minutes and the March 28, 2016 All Boards meeting minutes were unanimously approved as written.
Bottle Recycling Container: It was reported that the proposed 1 cent bottle deposit bill does not appear to be likely to pass. AmVets presented a list of where the donation money goes. The new container will cost about $3500 and AmVets will contribute about $1000 to the cost. Jim Crandall is on board with this. The Select Board approved the request for the new container.
School Stabilization Fund: Chris researched the statute and the fund would need to be approved by the townspeople at a town meeting and once the account was established the school committee would have full discretion as to how to use that money with a 2/3 school committee vote. The same statute would also have to be approved by Sandisfield as well. Chris also proposed an alternative that Bill had asked about. The town itself can set up a stabilization fund within the town’s accounting system, and when the school needs something major fixed they bring the request to the Select Board. Again, Sandisfield would also need to approve this alternative method in order to enact this. Both Don, Bill, and Roberta agreed they needed additional information from the school’s business office. A meeting for that was tentatively scheduled for 6:00 pm on April 25, 2016 just before the regularly scheduled All Boards meeting that night.
Other:
Technology Committee Appointment: An applicant has submitted their Appointment application and there is an opening on the committee. Technology has not vetted this application yet so the appointment was tabled until the Tech Committee could do so.
Social Media Policy: Town Counsel drafted a policy for the Select Board to review. After the policy was read and discussed, the Select Board unanimously voted to adopt the draft as the formal policy and include it as part of the Personnel Policy Manual. The Board requested immediate distribution so the policy can become effective as soon as possible.
Otis Library Fair: The Select Board was formally asked if the Town Hall grounds could be reserved for the Annual Otis Library Fair on July 9, 2016 from 10:00 am until about 3:30 pm. The Select Board unanimously approved this request for this year.
The Select Board asked that something be sent for Lawrence Snow. Lisa will take care of that tomorrow.
At 6:25 pm both Select Board meeting was unanimously adjourned.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa D’Orazio
Selectmen’s Secretary
Town of Otis
List of Documents
A copy of the email chain of information regarding the School Stabilization Fund will be filed with these meeting minutes.
A copy of the appointment application for the Technology Committee will be filed with these meeting minutes.
A copy of the email with Recreation’s Programs breakdown for FY2017 will be filed with these meeting minutes.
A copy of the draft Social Media Policy will be filed with these meeting minutes. This draft was formally adopted at tonight’s meeting with no changes.
A copy of the proposed Capital Expenses for this year’s Annual Town Meeting will be filed with these meeting minutes.