Town of Otis
Planning Board Meeting Minutes
May 11, 2020
7:00 p.m.
Online using the Zoom link provided bellow.
*This meeting is being conducted remotely through Zoom. You must check back within 24 hours of the start time for a link to join.
Pursuant to the Governor’s March 12, 2020 order suspending certain provisions of the Open Meeting Law, G.L. c. 30A, Sec 18, this meeting is being held via remote participation to the greatest extent possible. Every effort is being made to ensure that any member of the public may access the meeting in real time, via technological means. Agendas will be amended to show the link and participation code to access the meeting no sooner than 48 hours before. Recordings and/or draft proceedings of the meeting will be available on our website as soon as possible.
- Call to Order 7:03
Roll Call: Hal Kobrin, Jim Kauffman, Rona Knight
Public: Stacey Schultze, Ziter Saloomey, Lynda Saloomey, Heather Morgan, and a participant identified as Joe
- Approval of Minutes. Approval of April 13, 2020 Planning Board meeting minutes. Jim made motion to approve, Rona seconds, all in favor.
- Form A application: Ziter Saloomey presented to the board 10 parcels to divided. Hal noted that the lots in question are noted as non-buildable which would be the concern of the Planning Board. Hal makes a motion to accept, Jim seconds, all in favor. Ziter will deliver mylars, copies, and fee to Jim and Hal at their residences on Friday for signatures. Hal will meet Rona on Monday for her signature and return the mylars to Ziter. This arrangement was made to comply with social distancing guidelines and the lack of public accessibility to the Town Hall building.
- Solar Farm Bylaw: Rona researched many town and state bylaw examples. She noted that they all have similar basic requirements although they are worded differently. She suggested making one unified document of all the examples she researched so that the similarities and differences could be seen side by side. Rona will compile the document and distribute to planning board members.
- Hazard Mitigation Plan & MVP Grant Application update: Hal noted that it is unclear who is overseeing the HMP & MVP planning process, the Selectmen or the Planning Board. Typically it would be the Planning Board who oversees a sub-committee comprised of a group individuals who serve in a variety of capacities to include but is not limited to: a selectperson, a representative from con com, maintenance, etc. The next plausible action to take is to organize this sub-committee that can identify items to be address in HMP & MVP planning. This sub-committee will work with BRPC who has been hired by the town. Complete Streets grant and Master Planning were also addressed as money that has already been allocated and may not be available in the future due to the pandemic. Building re-use could also be addressed. It is also more efficient to form one sub-committee to address all the grants simultaneously. The Planning Board hopes for more communication and coordination with the Selectmen and Town Administrator. Rona plans to attend the next Select board meeting to advocate applying for Complete Streets. Jim would like clarification from the Selectmen as to if they think they are organizing the sub-committee(s) for these planning grants or if they are expecting the Planning Board to lead.
- Tolland Road: The town has proposed to discontinue servicing a portion of Tolland Road beyond all developed lots which is located in the State Forest. The selectmen asked for the Planning Board’s opinion on this. Hal noted that the selectmen from Tolland must also approve of this discontinuation because it is a through street to their town. This process is already underway. Hal did not see any issue with it, Jim seconds, and Rona agrees. Stacey will notify the Town Administrator and Selectmen of the Planning Board’s opinion on the matter.
- Any Other Business, Old or New. Stacey suggested that the Planning Board consider investigating a town-wide composting system. Rona and Hal suggested this be added to the next agenda.
Jim moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:45, Rona seconds, all in favor.
The Public is invited to attend using the following Zoom link.
Topic: May Planning Board Meeting
Time: May 11, 2020 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89148371247
Meeting ID: 891 4837 1247
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,89148371247# US (Germantown)
+13126266799,,89148371247# US (Chicago)
Dial by your location
+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
Meeting ID: 891 4837 1247