Town of Otis
Planning Board Meeting Minutes September 11, 2023
Call to order 7:00 PM
1. Roll Call:
Mark Anthony – Chair
Barb Gallagher
Hal Kobrin
2. Approval of August 14, 2023 minutes
Comment from Hal to add note that it fundamentally changes the plan for D&J.
Mark motion to accept, Hal second, all in favor.
3. Short Term Rental Bylaw Update:
Selectboard has been discussing, not yet ready to send a draft back to planning board
Last discussion with selectboard was approving the cost of dump sticker.
Comment from Annette Lilly, has been attending selectboard meetings, there was push back on sticker price.
Comment from Mark, we would like to hear the selectboards feedback, feel like we are just waiting for them to get back to us. Barb will follow up with the selectboard on STR bylaws.
4. Master Plan Discussion:
Master plan had previously been brought up at a town meeting.
Comment from Diane Provenz, co-chair of historical commission, they have been working on the church and schoolhouse. There was a discussion at town meeting that $30,000 is not enough to hire a professional to evaluate town properties and buildings, nothing is being followed, things being done in pieces, should have the towns resources evaluated for their best use. All departments of the town should come together to decide on what the best use is with town resources.
Got center of town on historical register, renovating cultural center, need to look at best and highest use. Police department looking to build on Erbe property, looking to build a holding cell. Is it beneficial to the town to build this building for the police dept? Diane is here tonight because the planning board should have a say in the plans behind these actions, Erbe build was taken down without any notice to the town, we need to decide where it fits in and what the best use is for the town before we jump ahead and do something with the property.
Comment from Hal, we had inquired with BRPC on cost to update master plan, their estimate was approximately $35,000. There are community grants that we can apply for and we would need to speak with the selectboard about this.
Comments from Robert Rich, what are the planning boards responsibilities and what is their role in the things going on right now, library, police dept, groundwater issues, exc?
How many of the recommendations in the last master plan get done/accomplished and who is responsible in getting these things done.
Hal, building use and property is a hot topic, as we move forward with the master plan we are building upon our current plan, not starting from scratch, but much work has been done that needs to be added upon. Complete streets address all forms of transportation, things like that are major components to the master plan.
How do we feel about what came out of that? The community brings concerns to table, have to have a lot of public meetings. The public leads the planning board to what they want or what they envision for the town, things have defiantly changed since the last plan and things have evolved.
Action plan is part of master plan, and we have to work with other departments, but plan is just goals and objectives, the town is not required to follow it just meant to lead the town in right direction.
Diane, these things are discussed at town meetings and the meetings went nowhere, so the question is how do we actually make decisions and actions to come out of these discussions and meetings? No one is evaluating the total picture and get actions made by the town to match the plan/ big picture.
Hal, planning board is responsible for, building use, land use, bylaws, long term planning. Selectboard is administrative, works on a shorter-term year to year basis,
Planning and selectboard should be working together to get the job done. The issue is that the selectboard is not coming to the planning board with the issues they should be.
Robert Rich, how do we want to express ourselves as a community? We should not be battling on if we get library or police, should be looking to see how we can get both and how they fit in together and how does this service the town as a whole.
Hal, that’s what the master plan is intended for, selectboard is moving forward with these decisions without discussing with the public, we should focus on these issues in our master plan, current issues, building use and reuse, and more. The planning board is responsible for long term planning, selectboard wants to move forward without consideration for the long-term plan. If you support a project then don’t get the funding, that doesn’t mean you give up as you will likely get the funding in the next round,
Diane, what is the planning board going to do tomorrow at the selectboard meeting? these decisions on the Erbe site and other issues should be coming through the planning board and get a say from the public, the selectboard should not be moving forward with this without comment from the public.
Hal, does the town want to spend the money to build this building, just because they spend the money to get a design/plan doesn’t mean they will ever build it, reality is the public may not support that.
Selectboard and planning board should be working together, can always have different views but they should be using boards/working together to get these things done and use the planning board to get these tasks done for the selectboard. The planning board can have public hearings and such, in the end things are taken to town meeting and the planning board and selectboard are not the ones making the final decision, only presenting decisions to be made by the public.
Planning board should make a statement on the planning for these things on town usage, while the selectboard should know this, the public may not and would be good to make that statement at the meeting in front of the public so that they are aware.
Stakeholders can/should share with us, the planning board, what they need, what does the library need, what does the police and fire departments need?
Diane, someone from the planning board should speak at the selectboard meeting tomorrow. How to we come together and move forward in a more productive way?
Public already has consensus that that property would be used for the library.
Selectboard should be more open and transparent to the public.
Interest in a committee designed to bring economic development to the center of town,
5. Any other business old or new.
6. Mark motion to adjourn 8:32 PM. Hal Second. All in favor.