Planning Board Meeting Minutes 02/10/2020

By Otis Town ClerkPlanning Board Minutes
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Town of Otis

Planning Board Meeting Minutes

February 10, 2020

7:00 p.m.

Town Hall Planning Room

 

  1. Roll Call and Call to order 7:02

Present: Chair Hal Kobrin, Jen Daily, Jim Kauffman, Rona Knight

Public: Stacey Schultze (Clerk), Chris Tryon

 

  1. Approval of Minutes. Approval of January 13, 2020 Planning Board meeting minutes.  Jen makes motion to approve, Jim seconds, all in favor.

 

  1. FY 2021-2025 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Hal mentioned that the selectmen need to be involved in order for things to be approved and move forward. Public transportation bus service opportunity was missed simply because a selectperson was not present.  Municipal planning complete streets, hazard, etc. are intertwined and need to be planned together.  BRTA runs the route, Becket and a few other towns are taking advantage of it and more frequency and expanding route is much easier.  Quality of life is the key for these grant opportunities.
    1. Need to identify items in Master Plan then get approval, but with out these things listed in the Master Plan then the issue cannot be addressed.
    2. State will cover bike lanes on town roads and other funds can be allocated to cover state roads.
    3. The possibilities for funding will grow exponentially based on the 4 forms that need to be submitted.
    4. No obligation to complete the proposed projects for complete streets.
    5. Proposal for all planning board members to attend the Feb 25 Select Board meeting.
    6. Ideally, one committee will run the separate grants being discussed instead of arranging separate committees for each grant processes.
    7. Talked of public vs private roads and maintenance. Hal will email doc of list of roads in Otis.

 

  1. Chris Tryon requesting Form A approval: Representing both Brookman A association and Brenda & Peter Allen. Hal makes motion to accept, Jim and Jen second, all in favor.  Given 3 copies for files.

 

  1. Any Other Business, Old or New.
    1. Jen suggests to submit an educational piece about what the planning board does to the two local papers to inform what is on the horizon.

 

  1. Town council (lawyer) should be directly accessible to the planning board bc the board is an elected body.

 

  1. Rona is contacting Bob to see how he is feeling.

 

  1. A narrative for why each item in our budget is being increased was requested by the Select Board.

 

  1. Cycle for new Master Plan (second half of this calendar year, FY2020) so there is a lot more time for the clerk and advertising and legal notice is doubled due to this.
  2. Salaries: The increase from $3000 to $5000 is due to increase in wages and an anticipated increase in the number of hours the clerk will work due to the upcoming Master Plan and training of new staff.  Note the Planning Board is one of only a few town bodies that does not receive a stipend and is not requesting compensation at this time.
  • Expenses:
    1. Advertising/ Legal Notices: Master planning requires legal notices and advertising over and above the average year expenses.
    2. Professional Development: The previous allotment only allowed one member of the Planning Board to attend pertinent seminars.  The increase would allow all members of the board to attend such seminars as the BRPC meetings and regional conferences where crucial information about current planning practices is disseminated.
    3. Postage and Mailing: This increase is in anticipation of Master Plan state requirements.
    4. Admin and office supplies: No increase requested at this time.
    5. Prof Development: Increased because all members would like to attend the meetings instead of only one person.  Such as BRPC meetings and seminars to be better planners.

 

    1. Questions and notes: Does the planning board have a budget of what was actually spent last year? Answer: no.
  1. 1st of each month going forward, the planning board will receive copy of our budget with copy of what has been spent and what is left.

 

Motion to adjure at 8:25 by Jen, Rona seconds and all in favor.

 

 

The Public is invited to attend