Selectboard Meeting Minutes joint with
Municipal Light Plant Board
Otis Town Hall
Conference Room
Tuesday, January 09, 2024, at 6:30 PM
This meeting will be held in person at the location provided on this notice. Members of the public are welcome to attend. A remote option is offered via zoom with the link provided below.
Please note that while an option for remote participation is being provided as a courtesy, the meeting will not be suspended or terminated if technological problems interrupt the virtual broadcast, unless otherwise required by law. Anyone with interest in any specific item should plan in person attendance.
Topic: Select Board, MLP Board
Time: Jan 9, 2024 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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Attendance: Larry Southard- Chair, Gary Thomas, Terry Gould, Brandi Page, Jill Moretz, Don Moretz, Larry Gould, Mary Kay Pinkham, Sandy Pinkham, Donnie Chaffee, Sue Ebitz, Diane Provenz, & Miguel Santana. On ZOOM: Arlene Tolopko, Frank Tolopko, Jim Crandall, Chase Chapdelaine, Carol Lombardo, Diane Saunders and Gail Gelburd.
Call to Order: 6:30 PM
Approval of Minutes: The minutes from August 15th and December 12th were approved as amended and the minutes from December 27th were approved as written.
98 Kibbe Road: The Board reviewed the legal opinion and recent case law regarding the Town’s responsibility with tree removal. Information provided to date states the oak trees are healthy and therefore the Town does not have any responsibility to remove the trees. The Scapin’s had let Larry Southard know they would not be in attendance tonight. The Board unanimously decided that at this time, with the information in hand, they were not going ahead with removal of the trees. If the Scapin’s feel strongly that they want the trees down they can go ahead and have them taken down at their own expense. If any new information becomes available we can reopen the topic at a later date for discussion.
East Otis Schoolhouse Work: Phase II has gone out for sealed proposals and we received one submission from Larochelle Construction Inc. for $106,000. Brandi confirmed we have enough money for the project and can award the work. Steve McAlister, the architect on the project, had submitted his recommendation to award the work to Larochelle. The Board unanimously voted to award the project to Larochelle as recommended.
Timber Harvest Extension: Due to the heavy rains this summer and the lack of frozen ground the forester has asked for a two year extension in removing all of the timber from the 100 acre park. Diane Provenz asked if we shouldn’t hold off on harvesting the timber until we have a plan with the 100 acre park. It was clarified the timber is already cut and sold. The only part left is removal which has been hampered by the weather. The Board voted unanimously to approve the extension.
Updated CPA Guidelines: Diane presented information in support of the Town again considering adopting the CPA (Community Preservation Act) so that we may benefit from the state match funds. Projects that can benefit from this money are historic projects, open space and affordable housing. Diane requested that the Selectboard endorse the initiative. Terry felt that the voters had been clear when it was voted down twice already and was not in support of bringing it a third time. Larry agreed and said it’s hard to support something that increases people’s tax bills. Gary felt it should be up to the voters should a petition place it on the annual town meeting warrant.
Otis MLP Quarterly Update: Larry Gould submitted a written update that he then reviewed with the Board (see attached). The audit is nearing completion and Goulet has been verifying balances with the Treasurer. He expects the final report in the next few weeks. He is working on his budget draft and will present that when it is completed. He asked to wait on the manager compensation until the audit confirms the MLP’s standing. Our next quarterly meeting will be in April.
Recent and Upcoming Events: Brandi had one item. The Liquor license for the Knox will need approval of a change of DBA. The DBA was omitted from the original application so adding it prompts a “change”. Heather expects that the change will be in our hands in the next day or two. The Board approved the change and will sign off once the form is available.
Review & Approval of Warrants: Payroll and vendor warrants are on the table for signature.
Not Anticipated by the Board: None
Adjournment: 7:52 PM
OTIS MLP REVIEW of FOURTH QUARTER of 2023.
January, 8, 2024
Items for review
- RRR completion ( Sept. 9, 2023) of redundancy project, implementation of new circuits reduced cost per month to $1700.00 from $3150.00. Our Southern cluster is a four town agreement, Washington, Becket, Blandford and Otis, serviced by Whip City, that creates milliseconds switchover to keep the four towns internet service operational.
- As of the end of October, Otisfiber had 1316 connected customers. We have the largest number of customers from the Hilltown group. There is still potential for an additional three to four hundred customers as we move ahead. Monthly trouble tickets, or calls to support, average 53 or about 4% of subscribers. These can be calls with questions or calls for repair or service. I expect the number to increase over the winter months as weather related incidents are more likely.
- Lifeline and ACP. We have 2 customers using the Lifeline program and 27 customers who are utilizing the ACP program for cost subsidies. I will be expanding the outreach for both of these programs to make sure anyone who can qualify is taking advantage of either Lifeline or ACP. Lifeline is the permanent FCC program for subsidy and ACP is a recently granted temporary, 10 year, program that we are a part of.
- Temporary service connection waiver. I recently signed an agreement to allow for temporary service connections for customers. Otisfiber will pay the $200.00 installation fee for these installs. They are necessary for customers that have additional work that is necessary to make a permanent install which can’t be completed due to weather considerations. Underground conduit installation is the primary reason for the temp install but each case will be heard as needed. This waiver agreement is to protect both Whip City and Otisfiber for any liability due to this type of install. Otisfiber generates more revenue from the connected customer in the long term and offsets any expense created in the short term.
- Discussion of amendment to IGA ( InterGovernmental Agreement) for services for Otis Fiber network, ISP, Service and maintenance. Adding powerline service agreement for turbine access road powerlines. Amendment recognizes that there are transformers, switchgear, etc, but excludes these without prior purchase of these items.
- CAF 2 Federal broadband grant disbursement will begin with the first amount to Otis MLP of $209,118.57 for three years as of December 2022. We will be receiving 7 more years of this grant with an annual amount of $69,571.37. These funds are for broadband support for programs.
- Highway Sand Shed PV Solar complete, SMART program SMAES_52247, initiated and submitted for claim processing. We will receive a credit based on SMART program rates for system generation.
- Agreement between Otis MLP and Becket MLP to connect the fiber network cabling between Becket and Otis on Algerie RD. Costs will be shared for the construction and Otis will provide the support strand cable from its inventory. This will create a second diverse path between Otis and Becket for our fiber networks. This agreement supports the four-town southern cluster group with additional path security. The physical connections and design were a part of the upgrades that were completed for the RRR program so that when this is complete no upgrades or changes will be required.
- We are in the audit process now. The auditors from Goulet Savidio and Associates were onsite at the town hall on October 24, 2023. Jill Moretz, myself, Town Administrator, Brandi Page and Treasurer, Jessica Horan have provided documents and time towards this process. HR staff and Chris Tougas from the business team at Whip city are also providing documents for their use. This week confirmation letters have gone out from myself to Unibank and the town treasurer to confirm balances on accounts and borrowing. Unibank and the town treasurer will report these findings directly back to the Auditors. This is one of the final steps in the process. The Auditors will be completing a report and will be addressing the status and health of the MLP.
- Writing off accounts policy. As a part of the audit process we have looked at accounts in arrears. I am working with Chris Tougas, Business Office Manager at Whip City to develop a process for the “writing off of accounts”. This is the process that will be written as policy for the Commission to accept that will describe the steps necessary for cancelling an account to balance the accounting ledger. This does not cancel out the individuals’ debt or amount owed. It creates an accounting mechanism to balance our books. The policy is necessary to maintain our ability to contact the customer regarding the account and to closeout service if deemed necessary. It gives the customer due process as is also necessary for both the customer and Otisfiber.
- Scheduled service outages for Eversource on 19J6 circuit for Algerie RD. Eversource scheduled two outages for working hours in the fourth quarter. Power remains on and switch gear and monitoring function during these outages but no power generation is allowed. The turbine is manually switched to service during these outages. Eversource also had a technical failure of components in the 19J6-63R recloser which shut down power to our site for two days.
- Technical estimates and invoices for service from Whip City are being processed as an enhanced part of their services. I receive the technical statements of service with descriptions of the work being done and sign off prior to invoices being sent to Finance Officer Jill Moretz. She is processing warrants for services for the Commissioners to sign and move to payment.
- Finance Officer, Jill Moretz, is working with Treasurer, Jessica Horan, to establish the system and process for payroll. With our new fiscal year having begun we will be meeting to finalize her payroll for the previous year and set the timeline for 2024.