July 22, 2019

The meeting was called to order by Gary Thomas at 6:31 pm in the Town Hall conference room.

Present: Select Board Chair Gary Thomas, Selectman Bill Hiller and Larry Southard, Becky Stone, Jim Crandall, Keith O’Neil, Nancy Crandall.

Maintenance: Jim gave a detailed report from the maintenance department. The transfer station has been very busy this summer, especially around July 4^th, with 2 people on staff every day between July 1^st and 21^st. Bill commended Jim on a very good job on keeping up with the excessive amount of garbage. Jim credited the tank hauler with working with the town on the holiday weekend. He gave a status update on maintenance and repairs being done on both trash compactors. Chipped the brush at the transfer station. Trimmed the interiors and exteriors of all the heat pumps town hall and center fire house. Finished the final heat pump in the gym at the town hall. Installed 2 foundations at the center cemetery. Installed rules and regulations signs at each of the 5 cemeteries as requested by the cemetery commission. Mowing continues, but the schedule has been reduced to every other week. He has received and investigated complaints about bees at the beach, though they don’t appear to actually be bees. He added that he won’t be spraying pesticides in the sand where children will be playing. Bill asked for the status of spreading new sand at the town beach. Jim gave an update on the material delivery and scheduling. He will be discussing details of the work to be done with Conservation Commission in order to be in compliance. There was an incident with the dock at the beach to which it required 3 men for an hour and a half to get it untangled from the buoy area to return it to where it belonged. He wrapped up his report with an update on staff vacation time and who will be on duty.

Municipal Lighting Plant: They ran their first reports at the end of last week and will present them to the Board soon. They are doing installs in Phase 4. They are running strand and fiber at 7,8 & 9. The hut in the center has been turned on and is fully functional and has fiber from Phase 6. Will be getting an update on the remaining phases, but the plan is that it will be done by the end of the year. He asked Jim about the temperature at the hut and if the air conditioning was keeping up. Jim told him that it is 70 to 75 degrees in there on average.

Technology: Bill has some questions for Vadar. After he gets some answers to his questions, he

will be able to release sheets to everybody.

Waste Water Treatment Plant: Keith reported that things have been running fairly smooth. Jim and Matt have successfully coordinated and covered for Keith during his vacation time. He is still waiting on a permit from DEP, however the town is allowed to work under the old permit, because DEP is short-staffed and underfunded. Drinking water is testing nice and clean with no issues at all. Quarterly testing is being done with reports being filed on a timely basis. He asked for an update on budgeting with regards to the new software system. He inquired when he can expect his list of account numbers from the accountant for his department. Bill explained he will be getting new account numbers soon, but that his budget numbers will remain the same as the old software program and that he will get new voucher forms soon, as well.

Safety: Keith reported that he continues to do a slow and gradual implementation of safety procedures through all the departments, most recently with the highway, wastewater, and maintenance departments. He continues to attend and receive MIAA and Department of Labor standards training. Becky added that the town has received $7,700 in credits on their insurance from the safety training and implementation by the Safety Officer.

Highway: Becky reported that the Tyringham Road job has been approved by DOT. She is getting that bid packet ready this week with Derek.

Accountant: Becky reported that she will meet with the accountant to go over some invoices that came in late for FY19. She explained which invoices were late. Keith gave an explanation on why the June WWTP monitor testing invoice came in late this month. He added that he has 2 invoices that remain unpaid from FY19 that were not submitted late, but remain unpaid, which Bill and Becky will look into.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:48 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Nancy Crandall

Selectmen’s Secretary, Town of Otis