February 26, 2018

The meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm in the Town Hall conference room. It was announced the meeting was being recorded.

Present: Select Board Chair Bill Hiller, Selectman Don Hawley, Selectman Gary Thomas, Town Administrator Becky Stone, Jim Crandall, Michael Ernst, Jim Ebitz, Tom Nadolny, Rich Phair, Celeste Watman, Derek Poirier, Terry Gould, Eve Kummel

Energy: Eversource should be signing off on the wind turbine on March 8, 2018.

Finance Board: Town Hall budget meetings begin on March 6^th.

Fire Dept.: The former police vehicle is up to Vinnie’s for repair. Rick is waiting for the Rescue Truck to be removed and Chris Bouchard is waiting on the replacement specifications for reordering a new Rescue Truck. A heat gun should take off the police decals. They only need to replace bulbs on the light bar.

Highway Dept.: They have been busy with snow, ice, rain, and mud. They would like to move forward with discontinuing road maintenance and schedule the second hearing so notices can be sent. The Select Board members threw out a couple dates and will decide at tomorrow night’s Select Board meeting.

Library: Floors in one room will be sanded and the collections are going to be rearranged. Maintenance did a great job helping them with painting and setting up the new room over the winter. Celeste was introduced as our new trustee. She was Library Director for many years when she lived on Long Island.

Maintenance: They’ve finished building the East Otis fiber hut and the new generator has been set up there. They painted the back room at the Library and fixed a well leak there. They assisted with seven events at Town Hall for setup and breakdown. They worked on grinder pumps and removal of snow and ice. Roberta inquired about using the gym for basketball and Jim said the new floor will not support it – the joints will break apart with that type of use. Tom said the school gym could be used for basketball.

MLP: Bill has a consultant coming in tomorrow to set up the Quick Books accounting functions.

Planning: They just approved splitting the lot from the school property to give to the town at their last meeting. They also combined the two separate Highway lots into a single lot at the same meeting. We are waiting for Monday’s School Committee meeting vote.

Police Dept.: Bill read the email Roberta sent as she was unable to attend. School is partnering with Police Dept. to have a school resource officer on site at the school for certain days due to recent events. Sgt. Dan Hamill, Chip Whiting and Miguel Santana have volunteered to participate in this. Kops ‘N Kids camp is scheduled for the week off from school in April and registration for the activities is open. The theme this year is Pirates. Vacation and wellness check programs are continuing. The old cruiser has been turned over to the Fire Dept.

School: Tom reported that Jane Gleason has now officially retired and Eric Jessner is now the full-time Business Manager for the school. Budgets are in progress. The amount for insurance may come in under what they budgeted for. Two teachers will retire at year’s end. The Stabilization vote that Otis passed will need to be revoted in Sandisfield due to a wording issue. Tom thanked Derek and his highway crew for their work this winter – the Otis roads were phenomenal. The School Committee will have the official vote next Monday night on the school lot split and land transfer. Due to recent events in the news the school is beginning to discuss active shooter situations in town.

Rescue Squad: The ambulance was out of service for a week due to a fuel leak. Berkshire GMC really saved them. The $3500 repair bill included the fuel pump, fuel sending unit, and fuel lines. They are starting to shop for a new rig. They are also looking for an undercarriage washer. They have two new EMTs, one who has previous experience but needs to learn our roads, and one who has licenses will need a few hours of training.

Technology: High speed broadband is now running to the East Otis hut and we should begin lighting up Pine Road in March. Westfield will be handling the billing. Otis Woodlands will be the last phase of construction so we can see what Sandisfield is planning for connections there.

Zoning Board: Sign changeovers (four businesses, five signs) are the only thing they’ve heard recently, otherwise it has been quiet.

Other:

Town Admin.: Becky reported that some town buildings are not insured and she is also reviewing the vehicles because our fleet schedule needs to be updated as well.

Shared Mower: Derek tracked it down and it should be here for next month.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:15 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Lisa D’Orazio

Selectmen’s Secretary

Town of Otis

List of Documents

A copy of the email from Roberta Sarnacki, Otis Police Chief, will be filed with these meeting minutes.

A copy of Roberta’s email asking about the basketball hoops will be filed with these meeting minutes.