Town of Otis
Select Board Meeting Minutes
August 27, 2019
Call to Order: Meeting was called to order at 7:02 pm in the Town Hall conference room. A quorum was present and the meeting was recorded.
Present: Select Board Chairman Gary Thomas, Selectman Bill Hiller, Selectman Larry Southard, Town Administrator Becky Stone, Larry Gould, Jim Crandall, Russell Loring, Karen Fink, Chris Cortigiano, Tina Durand, and Nancy Crandall were present.
Review Meeting Minutes: The August 13, 2019 Select Board meeting minutes were unanimously approved.
Board of Health:
220 Pine Road: Chris Cortigiano attended the meeting to confirm that he submitted well water test results for filing for compliance with the conditions of his variance.
Tyringham Road Project – Bid Opening:
The following bids were submitted:
HMA Paving & Contracting, Mechanicville, NY – $ 287,783.00
Northeast Paving, Westfield, MA – $304,275.45
Palmer Paving Corp., Palmer, MA – $343,678.00
Warner Bros., Sunderland, MA – $355,707.50
The apparent low bidder was HMA Paving & Contracting. The Highway Superintendent will review the bid packet for completeness. If the packet does not meet the bid requirements, the award will be given to the next lowest bidder with a complete packet.
There was discussion about this Chapter 90 project. Derek’s main concern was that this project be done this year. The Board unanimously agreed that HMA Paving could proceed after Becky and Derek checked that bid requirements are met.
Waste Water Treatment Plant Paving Project – Bid Opening:
The town did receive bids, but Becky explained that there was an issue. The Central Register bid deadline issue came out with the wrong date. Because there was an error and the bid opening date was advertised incorrectly in the CR with a date of August 28th instead of August 27th, Becky will issue an addendum to the invitation to bid extending the bid deadline to August 28th at 2 pm and alert prospective bidders that she and Derek are aware of. Because of this, the award will be held up, but the Board agreed to allow Becky as the Procurement Officer to open the bids with Derek, as long as she would provide them with a list after the bid openings are done.
Appointment – Tax title custodian: Karen Fink requested appointment as the tax title custodian at the suggestion of the town’s tax title legal counsel for any upcoming land auctions per M.G.L. Part I, Title IX, Chapter 60, Sections 77B and 80. This is a position generally held by the Town Treasurer.
Historical Commission: There was discussion regarding a request by the Historical Commission for storage space at Harmony Hall. Gary read the written request (via email) from Sonia Morrison. Rather than give a blanket approval, the Board would like to know and approve what will be stored there. They would like an inventory list of the items to be stored. They decided unanimously to table this until the next meeting and request that a Historical Commission member attend so they can learn more about what the Commission needs. The Board’s understanding is that the original intention was to temporarily store items, whereas now the Historical Commission is discussing the expectation of donations.
Surplus Lawn Mower – Maintenance Dept.: Jim explained to the Board that after careful consideration he would like to advertise the 2008 Scag B Pro lawn mower as surplus equipment instead of the Scag Tiger Cub lawn mower as originally planned.
Transfer station: There was discussion regarding several recent transfer station sticker violations. Jim explained past protocol for this offense. The Board agreed that the town should follow this protocol. The residents will be notified that they are banned from using the transfer station.
Juvenile Diversion Program: Nancy shared information regarding the Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office Juvenile Diversion Program. She also shared their agreement with suggested language that the town can use to facilitate the program. There was discussion about the positive attributes of such a program and to what extent the town would be responsible for any potential juveniles. The Board unanimously agreed to join the program.
Adjournment: At 7:49 pm the Select Board unanimously adjourned the Select Board meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Crandall
Selectmen’s Secretary, Town of Otis
List of Documents
- Tyringham Road project bid packets from: HMA Paving & Contracting, Northeast Paving, Palmer Paving, and Warner Bros.
- Email from Sonia Morrison, co-chair of Historical Commission, sent to the Town Administrator, dated August 19, 2019.
- Past Transfer Station letter sent regarding sticker offense for reference, dated July, 2017.
- Memorandum of Understanding from the Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office Juvenile Diversion Program.