Town of Otis
Select Board Meeting Minutes
October 25, 2016
Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm in the Town Hall conference room.
Present: Chair Roberta Sarnacki, Selectman Don Hawley, Selectman Bill Hiller, Russ Loring, Mary Adams, Kathy Carroll, Roland Dupuis, Jim Wilusz, Peter Kolodziej, Chris Morris, Jack Conboy, Bud Bushey, Jim Falcha
Approval of Minutes: The October 11, 2016 Select Board meeting minutes were unanimously approved as written.
Board of Health: 207 Brookman Drive: Roland presented a new plan for an upgrade in front of the Board. The original design had been rejected by the Board. The existing tank and pump chamber are currently under the deck. The deck will be removed and the tank and pump chamber will be pumped and crushed, then the deck will be replaced. A new tank and pump chamber will be installed elsewhere on the property. The leaching field will have a breakout barrier that will go two feet into the ground. Well setbacks for the property owner and all abutters are good. The one abutter gave a verbal approval to the proposed plan, but the Select Board requested that a written approval from the abutter should be signed and kept on file. The new plan for 207 Brookman Drive was approved with the condition of the abutter’s approval letter kept on file as well.
Bond Sale: Clark Rowell had prepared the documents needing signature for the Broadband project and for the next installment of the Highway truck payment. Karen provided a cover letter listing all the documents that needed to be signed by the Select Board, the Town Clerk, and additional documents that needed to be included with the packet. The Town Clerk has already provided the documents and signed her name, and the Select Board members all signed the paperwork at the meeting.
Appointment to COA: Carol Blakeslee was unanimously appointed to replace Pat Ryan.
Knox Trail Sno-Riders Lease: This is not applicable as we are beginning the third year of a five year lease agreement.
Erbe Building Lease: Only the dates have changed from the previous year’s lease agreement and all the terms are the same. The current lease runs from November 15, 2016 to November 15, 2017. They are doing very well catching up with past fuel payments. The lease agreement was signed by all Select Board members.
Final Computer Policy: Chris presented a final version that will be incorporated into the Personnel Policy Manual. Chris rewrote what was passed at a previous Select Board meeting and put it into proper formatting for the manual. It was noted that there still may need to be an addendum for the network administrator to access the Police Dept. information. Otherwise, the final version of the new Computer Policy was approved as presented.
Other:
Police Staffing Survey: In response to the Select Board’s previous inquiry, Roberta presented them with a spreadsheet that compared the staffing levels of area part-time departments. Other information contained on the table were populations of those towns, and the salaries of the officers. She also presented a copy of the November schedule so that the board could see how our officers are currently scheduled. The board would like some time to look over this information.
Road Problems: Bud Bushey and Jim Falcha noted their road was very narrow in a certain section that has blind corners and a steep incline. Many times people have almost hit another vehicle due to lack of visibility. It is also treacherous for walking. Don has driven this section of road and will meet with both individuals tomorrow night at 4:00 pm.
Board of Health Policy Changes: Jim Wilusz documented what he perceived as the current policies for Title 5 Inspections, Disposal Works Construction Permits, and Well Permits. These were reviewed earlier today and Jim, Peter, and Jack were pretty much in agreement with these policies. Don noted discussion came up in the Title 5 Inspection policies. Don clarified that item #1 means that Title 5 Inspectors will be registered with the town in order to sign off on the permits. Approved Title 5 inspectors will be listed on the town website. Don also clarified that item #7 will have “registered” in bold type and item #9 will have “registration” in bold type. Jack also noted that for item #3 in the Disposal Works Construction Permits, there should be Title 5 inspectors witnessing emergency repairs. Duties for Sanitation requirements are currently being addressed. The Select Board will take these policies under advisement, but noted that it will be good to have formal written policies on file to avoid confusion.
Route 23 Road Work: Mary Adams noted that not all the finish work had been completed on Route 23 so she contacted MassDOT and they assured her that the work would be completed soon. Roberta noted that there were details assigned for that project later this week.
Recreation Center Building Security: Kathy Carroll noted there was a recent incident where people were in the building after hours when the cleaning person came in. No one called the police and Roberta suggested they do so the next time this happens. Roberta also suggested researching a loss prevention grant from MIIA. This should be pretty straight forward. Kathy will meet with Chris on Thursday.
Rec. Center Fundraising: Kathy is also looking for some guidance on how to setup fundraising. Chris said to check with Cultural Council, Library, and the Fire Dept. because there was no need to reinvent what others have been successful with. Chris also noted that they may need to set up a 501(c)3 “Friends of…” nonprofit organization as well.
Signage for West Center Road: Russ is concerned with the fast speeds people are travelling now that the road has been repaved. Don said he thought we may need to go through MassDOT.
West Center Road Guardrails: Don needs to discuss this with the Highway Dept. Apparently, the previous ones were wooden posts positioned along the streams.
Holiday Party: We should look into Greenock, Tekoa, and Cork and Hearth and try for a Friday or Saturday. December 9th would conflict with the Gingerbread House event.
Hallowe’en Party: The Kops ‘N Kids ‘N Kostumes Hallowe’en Party is this coming Friday night with Trick or Treating in town before the party.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa D’Orazio
Selectmen’s Secretary
Town of Otis
List of Documents
A copy of Karen’s document and signature list that was submitted with the bond paperwork will be filed with these meeting minutes.
A copy of the letter requesting Carol’s appointment to the COA board will be filed with these meeting minutes.
A copy of the two resignations we recently received will be filed with these meeting minutes.
A copy of the revised Computer Policy set up for the Personnel Policy Manual will be filed with these meeting minutes.
A copy of the Police Staffing survey of surrounding towns will be filed with these meeting minutes.
A copy of the proposed Policies and Procedures for the Board of Health will be filed with these meeting minutes.