Town of Otis
Select Board Meeting Minutes
September 11, 2018
Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm in the Town Hall conference room. It’s being recorded and a quorum is present.
Present: Select Board Chairman Don Hawley, Selectman Bill Hiller, Selectman Gary Thomas, Town Administrator Becky Stone, Larry Gould, Michael Ernst, Dan Hamill, Kathy Carroll, Patricia Richard, Mary Adams, Marion Middleton, Liga Gutmanis, Maija Surmanis, Lisa D’Orazio
Approval of Minutes: The August 27, 2018 Select Board meeting minutes were approved as written by Bill, as neither Don nor Gary were at that meeting. The August 28, 2018 Select Board meeting minutes were unanimously approved as written.
Recreation Center Memo: Don suggested this discussion happen in closed session. The Rec Center asked why certain positions only received COLAs. The Select Board listed several issues that were discussed this past year and stated if there were any other questions, they would be happy to discuss in Executive Session. Swim lessons were also discussed. The Select Board was disappointed that we did not have swim lessons this year and noted that the Select Board would prefer for this to happen next year. The selectmen also agreed that any complaints pertaining to Recreation would go to Becky who would then forward them on to the Rec. Commission chair. Rec. also asked about remediating the beach. Don noted Rec needs to do their due diligence, get the requirements and permits needed from Conservation Commission, determine how much is needed, and budget for it for FY2020. This includes the mulch request for around the Pirate ship. Big Pond is a state body of water so DEP will need to be involved.
Rec. Center Essential Oils Instructor: We missed Karen tonight, and she is the only one who can determine if the paperwork is worth someone doing one or two workshops. Bill wants to have an answer from Karen before the end of the week.
ZBA Resignation: Ed Partyka, a long-standing ZBA board member, turned in his resignation letter due to a promotion that prohibits his participation. His resignation was accepted by the Select Board. At this point, ZBA is asking to hold off on advertising.
Other:
Harmony Hall Meeting: Planning Board is having its Public Information Hearing on what the residents would like to see done with Harmony Hall this coming Monday. This discussion will hopefully give the Town some idea of what needs to be remediated in the near future.
Police Department Update: Dan was unable to attend the last All Boards meeting so he asked if he could give his report tonight. Everything is going well and the monthly schedule is giving the department high visibility with a lot of positive feedback. Dan has had a lot of support learning the various chief responsibilities. Laptops have been installed in both cruisers and are connected into the IMC records management system. This has given the officers a lot of good information before they approach a vehicle. The new vests purchased with grant money should arrive in the next few weeks. Dan has been working with Bruce Augusti and MEMA to update their various Emergency and hazard mitigation plans. They had 223 calls for service in the last 2 plus months, 42 motor vehicle stops this month, and Dan is catching up with gun permits. Calls include trespassing, larcenies, motor vehicle accidents, alarms, burglaries, etc.
Vadar Accounting Contract: Bill had the Vadar software contract with him and made certain he signed it in front of the Select Board. The Board had approved us going forward with this at a Select Board meeting earlier in the year.
Downstairs Storage: Jim Crandall noted that we are running out of storage space downstairs. In October, the Select Board wants to go ahead and inventory what we’d like to remove then check with Lyn to see if it can be requested and approved for destruction.
Audit: The report from our auditing firm was presented to the Select Board. They reviewed it, made certain the issues listed will be addressed, and Don signed the management letter.
BlackBoard Connect: Becky has added five or six people as new users and has drafted a Guidelines for Use document for them to follow.
Website Privacy Notice: Town Counsel has drafted the privacy notice for the town website that was inadvertently dropped when we went to the new format. This will be reinstated in the very near future. The security (https) for the website has also been completed.
Moratoriums: Don noted that neither the Planning Board nor the Select Board had the authority to declare a moratorium on anything. Any moratoriums must be voted upon by the townspeople before they can be established. Don got this information from Town Counsel.
By Roll Call vote, the Select Board decided to go into Executive Session at 7:42 pm to discuss a Personnel issue. Bill Hiller – yea, Gary Thomas – yea, Don Hawley – yea.
By Roll Call vote, the Select Board unanimously went out of Executive Session and immediately adjourned the Open Session at 8:20 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa D’Orazio
Selectmen’s Secretary
Town of Otis
List of Documents
- A copy of the Recreation Commission memo from August 3, 2018 will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of the resignation letter from Ed Partyka will be filed with these meeting minutes.
- A copy of the Police Department letter to the Select Board will be filed with these meeting minutes.