Otis Technology Committee
Minutes for Meeting of
August 11, 2016
Otis Town Hall
Meeting called to order at 6:00 pm and is being recorded and a quorum is present.
Present: Larry Gould, Bill Hiller, George Mabee, Lisa D’Orazio, Frank Tolopko, and Laurie Flower
Others Present: Bob Rosen, Dave Rice, Steve Grossman
Approval of Meeting Minutes: The July 11, 2016 Technology meeting minutes were unanimously approved as written.
Review ReWire Project Grant Expenditures: Bill has all of the Purchase orders and data sheets in a file. The first hardware group has already been ordered and is due in next week. The backup and associated equipment will be the second order. We will be using the Conference Room for workspace. Any expensive equipment will be kept locked in the Selectmen’s office until installed in the cabinet. Sonic points will be rack-mounted along with other hardware. The server will be located elsewhere.
Website Rules to add Business Listings: The Technology Committee members reviewed the proposed Rules as documented by Lyn Minery, Town Clerk. The first item noted was that 501c3 businesses should also be included on the website along with town-owned businesses. Non-profits should also meet the proposed rules. On the letter to current listed businesses, it was suggested a time limit and result be specified if no response is received. Initially, the committee voted to accept the Rules as written, but after additional discussion, proposed a new rule be added or an existing rule be reworded to protect the town against inappropriate content and suggested the wording for this should be generated and vetted by both Chris Morris, Town Administrator and Jeremia Pollard, Town Counsel. After more website discussion, the committee also decided that the “Comments” section of the website should be removed in order to close potential “back door” hacking opportunities. Somewhere we would like a statement similar to “If you have comments, please email the appropriate department.”
Broadband Updates: Westfield Gas & Electric began the Town of Otis Pole Survey yesterday. This will actually be conducted by their broadband division, Whip City Fiber. The town-wide survey should be complete by mid-September with the number of poles and their make-ready status level listed on the report. From that report, Otis can extrapolate the potential “make ready” costs. If these costs are within our anticipated cost range, we can begin looking at pole license upgrade applications.