Town of Otis
Planning Board Meeting Minutes Draft
April 13, 2020
7:00 p.m.
Online using the Zoom link provided bellow.
*This meeting is being conducted remotely through Zoom. You must check back within 24 hours of the start time for a link to join.
Pursuant to the Governor’s March 12, 2020 order suspending certain provisions of the Open Meeting Law, G.L. c. 30A, Sec 18, this meeting is being held via remote participation to the greatest extent possible. Every effort is being made to ensure that any member of the public may access the meeting in real time, via technological means. Agendas will be amended to show the link and participation code to access the meeting no sooner than 48 hours before. Recordings and/or draft proceedings of the meeting will be available on our website as soon as possible.
- Meeting was called to order at 7:01 pm. Roll Call: Hal Kobrin, Rona Knight, Jim Kauffman, Jen Daily Present
Public Present: Stacey Schultze, Heather Morgan
- Approval of Minutes. Approval of February 10, 2020 Hal accepts, Jen seconds, all in favor. Approval of March 9, 2020 Planning Board meeting minutes, Hal accepts, Rona seconds, all in favor.
- Discuss current planning projects, write and review a quick synopsis per Selectmen’s request. Jen related that she handed an outline of the different, yet coordinating planning projects with a quick explanation to the Select Board. She believed this was sufficient. Rona requested a copy but none was available because it was sketched quickly on location and left with the selectmen. Hal noted that a new approved budget is needed for Master Plan where the town pays up front and then is reimbursed. This is crucial to line up the Master Plan with the other planning grants. Jim asked when the deadline is for apply for the grant for the Master Plan. Hal was going to look into it. Jen asked for clarification about if the Master Plan would be updated in its entirety or portions of it were to be updated. Hal explained that the typical cycle is conducted every 5 years, looking back 5 years at progress and looking ahead 5 years. Although Master Plans do not have to be updated every 5 years, (they must be updated every 10 years) grant funding follows the 5 year cycle and requires specific wording to be included in the Master Plan that is not in our current version. Hal suggests that the planning board continue planning toward the goal of finishing MVP and Complete Streets by January 2021.
- Solar Farm Bylaw: The consensus was that the planning board would address this issue as time allows given the current circumstances. It was suggested that a dropbox or google drive be made available to the board members with the information Hal had provided in hard copy. It is also noted that Blandford is currently creating their own solar bylaw at this time and an attempt to obtain a copy of their progress would be made. Theft and protective fencing were noted as items to include in the bylaw.
- MVP Grant Application update: Board is waiting for the next round of applications to be opened.
- Any Other Business, Old or New: Ziter Saloomey contacted the Planning Board to get a Form A application started. He was interested in how the board will handle the logistics of signing the hard copies. Rona suggested that DocuSign might be an option, but to consult the governor’s office about the legality of this process.
- Meeting was ended by Jen at 7:37 pm. Rona second.
The Public is invited to attend using the following Zoom link.
Topic: Planning Board Meeting 4/13/2020
Time: Apr 13, 2020 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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