Town of Otis
Select Board Meeting Minutes
April 30, 2019
Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 6:00 pm in the Town Hall conference room. A quorum is present and the meeting is being recorded.
Present: Select Board Chair Don Hawley, Selectman Gary Thomas, Selectman Bill Hiller, Town Administrator Becky Stone, Terry Gould, Michael Ernst, Patricia Richard, Frank Tolopko, Michele Pettibone, Ken Pettibone, Michael Whalen, Harald Bardsley, Linda Bardsley, Jen Daily, Hal Kobrin, Stephanie McNair, Lisa D’Orazio
Approval of Minutes: The April 9, 2019 Select Board meeting minutes were unanimously approved as written. Minutes were tabled from the April 23, 2019 meeting and have been revised. MLP Budget hearing minutes from April 30, 2019 were approved as written by Don and Gary with Bill abstaining.
MLP Budget: At the Select Board meeting, Don Hawley and Gary Thomas both accepted and approved the MLP Budget presented to them by Bill Hiller.
Set Select Board Meeting date to Finalize and Sign the Annual Town Meeting Warrant: Members of the Planning Board were present to request the Select Board put the final draft of the Marijuana Bylaw on the Annual Town Meeting Warrant. Michael thanked Becky for the robocall out to the townspeople. The Board agreed to add this to the Town Warrant. Jeremia has the draft warrant so far, including the wording for the draft of the marijuana bylaw and a Police Detail Revolving Account. Ken mentioned he does the police detail billing for the Town of Hinsdale and he does not think we should have problems getting paid from the entities requesting the police details. The Select Board unanimously approved the additional articles and scheduled a final review of the Annual Town Warrant for Wednesday, May 8, 2019 at 6:00 pm, at which time they will sign the warrant.
Selectmen’s Secretary Position: Everyone on the Board stressed this was a very difficult decision as both candidates were well qualified for the position and they both know the town. They decided that the position would start at $20.00 per hour. Michele got one vote and Nancy received two votes, so the position will be offered to Nancy.
Other:
Becky’s Contract: Bill presented Becky with a revised contract stating her salary at $70,000 and working 35 hours per week before compensation time begins. Becky pointed out that was reducing her salary by $.60 per hour and countered that she get the COLA of 2.8% over her current salary and leave her hours at 32 hours before compensation time begins. The Select Board then countered back with a 4% increase over her current salary and 32 hours before compensation time begins. Everyone verbally agreed to this. Bill will edit the contract with the new terms and send it to Town Counsel for vetting.
Highway’s Surplus Inventory: The Highway Department now has the 2002 International as extra equipment and would like to declare this as surplus. The Select Board unanimously approved the 2002 International as surplus equipment and Derek can put it out for bid.
Town Report: Don questioned what happened with the picture on the Annual Town Report. Lisa stated she had a problem with the printer and had a 24 hour turnaround time to fix the problem with the front cover. Don was appalled at the way the front cover was cropped. He stated the person cut out of the picture did 90% of the work for the fiber. Lisa stated her point was to showcase the fact the Lieutenant Governor was here to launch our broadband. It was not a matter of slighting anyone and Select Board members are not always available. The omitted person is still in the picture on the back cover. A member of the public suggested we use the Town Logo for the front cover and everyone agreed that could be done. Becky also noted that no one on the board got back to her with changes for the Selectmen’s Report. Bill stated repeatedly that he was not upset he wasn’t in the picture, he was just upset that he wasn’t notified that the picture had to be altered. Michael noted that he didn’t even notice the picture had been cropped until it was brought up at tonight’s meeting.
Gary noted he will not be here for the May 14, 2019 Select Board meeting. The May 27, 2019 All Boards meeting scheduled on Memorial Day will be cancelled for this year.
Adjournment: At 6:50 pm the Select Board unanimously adjourned the Select Board meeting.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa D’Orazio
Selectmen’s Secretary, Town of Otis
List of Documents
- A copy of the email from the Otis Highway Department will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of the MLP Budget that was officially approved will be filed with these meeting minutes.