Town of Otis
Select Board Meeting Minutes
June 27, 2017
Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm in the Town Hall conference room, is being recorded, and we have a quorum.
Present: Selectman Don Hawley, Selectman Bill Hiller, Chris Morris, Bill Huss, John and Deborah Kane, Annemarie and Dennis Stempel, Chris Tryon, Terry Gould, Paul Davis, Roberta Sarnacki, Sonia Morrison Kobrin
Approval of Minutes: The June 13, 2017 Select Board meeting minutes were approved as written by Don and Bill.
Verizon Pole Hearing: Petition #1A2FN4M on Gibbs Road were approved as presented and signed by both Select Board members.
Conservation Restriction for 51 Latimer Hill Road: Mr. Huss is looking for Select Board to agree to Conservation’s approval of his requested land trust. Both Select Board members signed the document on page 15.
Board of Health: The variance request for 47 North Lake Avenue. Chris Tryon was here representing the owner for an existing failed system. He is proposing a mounted jet bat pretreatment system with a standard setup and are asking for a variance to both the owner’s and abutters wells. The abutters requested to look at the plans but have not seen them as yet. They were invited up to review the plan. Jim and Pete are asking Chris if he can tweak the design per their recommendations for maximum feasible compliance, but Chris was concerned about the alternative perc requirement if he changes the design for a 50% reduction. Testing for the first year will be required quarterly and then annually for the life of the system. The abutters would like the leach field located as far from their well head as possible. Decision tabled until the next Select Board meeting.
Eversource Shared Tractor/Mower Program: Chris is waiting for a revised copy to come in. The original figures were based upon purchasing it outright instead of over five years. Chris should have the revised numbers for the next meeting.
Other:
St. Paul’s Church: Jeremia is ready to have the town move forward with the additional engineering of the church before we take possession of the building. This will not contain costs to repair, it will only identity what repairs need to be made and what the structural issues are. Town Counsel wants to be certain the property has marketable and insurable title before we determine if this is a viable project. Decision was tabled until Gary came back from vacation.
Tree Report: Jeremia has sent a letter to the individual responsible for the tree removals on town property. He has not yet heard anything back.
Shutesbury Document: The town of Shutesbury found a legal utility charter document from 1927 stating that the towns should not be getting charged for some of the upgrades to the poles. The town of Otis has asked Jeremia to do a title search and see if Otis has a similar utility agreement. Finding this document for Otis may save the town some significant charges for make ready work for Broadband.
Algerie Road Property Purchase: Sonia was asking about the cost of the land purchase for the turbine. Larry, the Board, and Chris all pointed out this included the land cost and the cost of the upgrades Ed did on the site. Those upgrades included site work, land clearing, and road work with drainage, grading, and building the pad. They also pointed out that this agreement was significantly lower in cost than it would have cost the town to do this ourselves.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:43 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa D’Orazio
Selectmen’s Secretary
Town of Otis
List of Documents
- A copy of the Verizon Pole Hearing paperwork for petition #1A2FN4M will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of the Conservation Commission Municipal Certification and map of 51 Lattimer Hill Road will be filed with these meeting minutes.