Town of Otis
Select Board Meeting Minutes
October 21, 2019
Call to Order: Meeting was called to order at 6:01 pm in the Town Hall conference room. A quorum was present and the meeting was recorded.
Present: Select Board members Gary Thomas, Bill Hiller, Larry Southard, Town Administrator Becky Stone, Heather Gray, Lisa D’Orazio, Frank Tolopko, Patricia Strauch, Patricia Richard, and Nancy Crandall were present.
Gary made a motion to accept Becky’s letter of resignation effective October 31st. It was agreed upon unanimously by the Board.
The Board decided to discuss and accept comments regarding direction on how the Town Administrator position should be filled. Becky recommended that the Board reassess the Administrative assistant’s position and consider making her the Town Administrator assistant. In addition, she suggested that the Selectmen’s Secretary position have shortened hours and that the Board source the annual town report as a project. She noted that some towns don’t even have Town Administrators. She suggested that the Selectmen’ Secretary duties could be parceled out. She also suggested that Larry Gould be considered to fill in as an interim Town Administrator. She doesn’t believe that the Selectmen’s Secretary is necessary to do minutes at meetings. She added that the pay rates for some should be raised, as well.
Larry doesn’t want to see all the eggs put in one basket. He doesn’t want to see the town rely on only one person to control the majority of the tasks in the Selectmen’s office and doesn’t want to see fewer people in the office. He would prefer to see positions that overlap.
Bill added that he spoke to Jane Gleason and she could potentially be an interim Town Administrator. She has a lot of experience, though it was in school administration. He also offered to check Town Administrator emails.
Gary added that during budget meeting season, the Finance and Select Board agreed that they would like the Selectmen’s office to be open 4 days a week.
Gary and Larry would like to see a new Town Administrator to fill the spot that Becky is vacating. Gary suggested contacting another candidate interviewed during the search committee process and see if she is still interested in the position. Gary and Bill would like to contact the second choice from the last search and have her meet the current Board for the position.
Heather expressed interest in being considered the Town Administrator. She explained that she believes she should be an assistant to the new Town Administrator when they hire one and be the interim Town Administrator in the meantime. Lisa D’Orazio endorsed her. Heather added that the Selectmen’s Secretary position should be eliminated. Gary inquired if Heather would be able to work 35-37 hours a week as an interim Town Administrator. Heather said that if she needs help that she could get assistance from Larry Gould and she has no problem coming in on the weekends when anyone needs assistance.
There was continued discussion about how best to cover the office in the meantime and that there would need to be further discussion. Bill recused himself and left the room.
Adjournment: At 6:53 pm the Select Board unanimously adjourned the Select Board meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Crandall
Selectmen’s Secretary, Town of Otis
List of Documents
1. Letter of resignation from Becky Stone.