Town of Otis
Planning Board Meeting Minutes
July 11, 2016
Town Hall Inspectors’ Office
Meeting called to order at 7:01 pm in the Otis Town Hall Inspectors’ Room. The meeting is recorded and a quorum is present.
Present: Hal Kobrin, Michael Ernst, Jim Carlin, Terry Cook
Others Present: Bill Hiller
Approval of Minutes: The June 13, 2016 minutes were unanimously approved as written. Michael made the motion to accept and Terry seconded.
MCFF Grant Opportunity: All Planning Board members had the email forwarded to them prior to tonight’s meeting. Michael proposed that the East Otis School House should be considered for this grant opportunity for next year. It was also noted that the Episcopal Diocese wants to gift St. Paul’s to the town due to its historical deed. Michael proposed this as a next project since the town does not currently own it. In order for St. Paul’s to become town property, the current Episcopal Bishop needs to waiver ownership from the diocese to the town, and the group who formed protesting the sale of the church also needs to waiver any claim to ownership. This will enable things to move forward to accept the property as a gift to the town. The Otis Cultural Council is excited by this prospect so the grounds can be used for future use. Michael noted that once the church becomes a town building, the town will need to maintain it and keep it in shape. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is the sister church of Boston’s Old North Church.
BRPC Delegate: Both Michael and Terry have previously served as delegates and cannot continue to do so. Hal volunteered to be the delegate for the town this year. Michael stated he could serve as Alternate this year and will ask the Select Board to appoint him tomorrow night. Everyone was in favor of Hal being the Delegate.
Open Space and Recreation Plan: Everyone got a copy of the email from Eammon Coughlin stating our Open Space and Recreation Plan had been accepted by the state Division of Conservation Services with no changes. Usually, that department recommends some changes be made before the document is accepted. There was some confusion until everyone realized only the Master Plan had been completely vetted and this was still pending. As soon as we receive the hard copies and electronic version, these will be filed at Town Hall.
Training Class for New Members: The class will be held July 21, 2016 and everyone present has already attended. No one was interested in attending again.
Complete Streets Update: Michael began the discussion by stating that based upon correspondence from Chris Morris, Town Administrator, there is no interest from the Selectmen and the Complete Streets program does not apply to Otis. There is only one road maintained by the town that may benefit from the program and the policy restrictions are too binding on the town. The Select Board does not support the program and Michael recommends putting the topic to bed. Hal stated there were other benefits we could get from the program. After a lot of continued discussion, Terry Cook suggested we table the topic and discontinue any discussion on it because it was not supported by the Select Board and the Planning Board was simply spinning its wheels. Everyone agreed Hal’s position should be taken up as private conversation with the Town Administrator.
Other:
PB Records: Hal once again said no one has any idea where documents are located. Lisa stated she has never received a document list of what documents Hal is looking for. Hal will forward a document list to Lisa.
Wind Turbine: Hal wanted to know what is going on with this project. Michael, who is also on the Energy Committee, stated that the turbine is expected to be delivered the end of October and should be up and running by the end of November. Hal also stated he couldn’t find any documents on the town website under the Energy Committee. Lisa navigated the website and told Hal how to locate the wind documents under Town News Archived Documents.
Michael moved the meeting be adjourned, Terry Cook seconded, and the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 7:30 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa D’Orazio
Planning Board Clerk
Town of Otis
List of Documents
A copy of the email regarding the MCFF Grant will be filed with these meeting minutes.
A copy of the email from Eammon Coughlin regard the OSRP approval along with the letter from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs0 will be filed with these meeting minutes.