Town of Otis
All Boards Meeting Minutes
October 22, 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: Don Hawley, Gary Thomas, Becky Stone, Terry Gould, Tom Nadolny, Michael Ernst, Jim Crandall, Dan Hamill, Walter Engels, Lisa D’Orazio
Energy: The turbine was down for a few days due to an Eversource problem. The reclosers are protecting us from serious damage as they are supposed to be doing, but the filters needed to be modified to prevent them from being too sensitive. We have noticed that when Blandford turns on their pump for their water supply, the turbine turns off and doesn’t come back on. We are in the peak season for the turbine. Tonlino is finishing up with the stone work for the road and are installing a swing gate at the site.
Finance Board: They are good. Getting ready for budget season.
Library: They are now on winter hours. Things are quieting down. They have installed a new system for displaying pictures, paintings, and photos and it seems to be working well so far. Computer classes and workshops continue.
Historical Commission: They are talking about a lift or something like that which should only cost around $25,000.
Maintenance: They have closed the beach for the year, removed the sani-cans, and the buoys are put away. They replaced the rusted out waste water line at the Library. They have been painting around the Town Hall, changed the air exchange filters, did early maintenance on Town Hall roof, removed two dead trees from the transfer station, changed Fire House furnace filters, flushed heaters, did maintenance on the lawn mowers, and did mowing and fall cleanup as necessary. Fire alarms have been inspected at Town Hall and the main Fire House and all fire extinguishers were inspected and all passed. The high water table is causing water to leak into the basement of the Erbe building which has had to be pumped out and they have dug the hole for the foundation for the hut for the main Fire House. Sent freon out and removed refrigerators at the transfer station. DEP inspected the transfer station. The Fire Dept. has been notified their picnic tables are in the way for snow removal this winter. There is a location at the transfer station that can be used for storing the tables if the Select Baord says its okay. Also, the mobile links for the generators at the two Fire Houses are coming up for renewal.
Jim submitted ideas for additional storage at the Maintenance building. This is being reviewed for budget planning for next fiscal year. Don did not like the idea of using tarps and would like to see a steel building. So then the discussion went to where to locate the new storage and whether it would need electricity, plus footings or a slab. This is still under discussion.
Planning Board: They had a meeting and Michael couldn’t attend.
Police Dept.: All officers qualified with their Glocks, their patrol rifles and shotguns, and other equipment per academy requirements. The Academy is now requiring qualifying at least twice a year. They have been monitoring speeds at West Center Road, Algerie Road, Great Woods Road, Becket Road, as well as other locations. Dan applied for a permit through MaDOT to locate the speed trailer along Route 8 and got the permit. This has helped to slow down a lot of the truck traffic in the center of town. Batteries for the solar panel on the trailer seem to be wearing out so Dan will have to look into that. They are gearing up for the Kops ‘N Kids Halloween party this Friday, with setup scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
Recreation: Don read the email provided by the Rec. Dept. The Gingerbread House Event is scheduled for December 8th with setup on December 7th. They mentioned the defibrillator again, movie nights need to be moved to a new location, and they will be handing out flashlights and candy for the Halloween event.
School: Tom noted that the new van was finally delivered today. The preschool van is falling apart. Eric has researched and is starting a new lighting system upgrade for the school. This will provide LED lighting inside and out and will not need new fixtures. The cost of the project is $97,679 for materials and labor, Eversource will fund $53,237 leaving approximately $44,442 to be covered. Eversource can supply the school with a 24 month loan for the balance amount at 0% interest. They anticipate a payback of 2.3 years. The Eversource loan will cost them $584.00 per month to cover the loan, but they are expecting a savings of $1267.00 per month for a potential annual savings of $15,210 for electricity charges. There will also be annual savings for maintenance. The project will be serviced by Horizon Solutions out of Holyoke, who are sponsored by Eversource. Work is planned for non-school hours. They are going to incrementally pilot new lesson programs so they can upgrade their curriculum and books at fraction of what it would cost out of pocket. We still have an Otis vacancy on the School Committee.
Zoning Board: They have a meeting on November 5th and they have an applicant for Alternate for approval tomorrow night.
Becky had a few notes to mention. An email from a new cannabis company named CannaSure is on the Select Board table. Senator Hinds’ office will be having public meeting hours here at Town Hall on October 24th from 11 am to 1 pm. There will be another safety meeting next week and the new Eversource representative will meet with the Safety Committee for the November Safety meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:13 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa D’Orazio
Selectmen’s Secretary
Town of Otis
List of Documents
- A copy of the Rec. Center email attachment will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of the Police Dept. report will be filed with these meeting minutes.