Select Board Meeting Minutes 09/26/2017

By Otis Town ClerkBoard of Selectmen Minutes

Town of Otis

Select Board Meeting Minutes

September 26, 2017

 

Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm in the Town Hall conference room, is being recorded, and we have a quorum.

 

Present:           Select Board Chairman Bill Hiller, Selectman Don Hawley, Selectman Gary Thomas, Terry Gould, Michael Ernst, Russ Loring, Sonia Morrison, Bruce Wall, Diane Provenz

 

 

Approval of Minutes:  The August 22, 2017 Select Board meeting minutes and the August 28, 2017 All Boards meeting minutes were unanimously approved as written.

 

Board of Health:  Nothing to Report.

 

Class II Auto License:  Bruce explained that he wanted to sell a few cars and he does not want to have the place look like a dump.  He also has the facilities to do repairs on the vehicles before they are sold.  He does not plan to open as a repair shop or as a junk yard.  The Select Board unanimously approved the granting of this license limiting it to a maximum of three vehicles for sale at a time.  It was unclear if the selectmen could also impose no visible outside trash and cars kept inside if not being sold.  Bruce also inquired if boats could be sold under this license as well.  The selectmen will need to get back to him on these last two points.

 

RFP for St. Paul’s:  The RFP has been issued with an inspection date of October 11th and a bid opening date of October 18, 2017 at 3:00 pm.  The Historical Commission is gathering information to form a 501(c).3 so they can apply for grants and do some fundraising.  Diane asked if there was any way the town could assist with costs of turning over the church to the town for the other private party.  The Select Board said this may be a legal matter and would refer to Town Counsel for advice.

 

Appointment to Historical Commission:  Lauretta Harris was unanimously appointed as a full member, not as an Alternate, to replace Hank’s position that he just resigned from.  They also wanted to recognize Hank’s contributions to the town and the selectmen thought that was a nice gesture.

 

Rec. Center Movie License:  Bill’s emails with Recreation were presented to the Board and they unanimously approved Recreation can purchase a movie license through MPLC with a 10% discount.  What Bill hoped to do with the Library’s license will not work.

 

Berkshire County Selectmen’s Association Fall Dinner:  Bill and Don will not be attending, but Gary may still go.  Lisa asked Gary to let her know soon so she had time to submit payment.

Other:

Community Block Development Grants:  Diane would like the town to apply for a grant for capital improvements for seniors and low income residents.  Bill asked Diane to give Chris the information.

 

Bid Approval for Broadband Construction:  Bill finalized the last of the performance specifications for construction of broadband to-the-home and asked the Select Board to sign the document naming the bid award company.  Sertex is the awarded company and the bid is awarded for $1.6 million.  All three selectmen signed the document.

 

Wind Turbine:  All parts have been delivered to the site and the turbine will be 100% installed by tomorrow, but it will not be running.  First, the turbine needs to be tested with the generator and then Eversource has to complete its connections and tests before declaring the turbine ready to operate.

 

East Otis Fire House Paving Bid:  This bid has already been awarded to Palmer Paving but the bid opening results were presented at this meeting.

 

 

The meeting was adjourned at 7:35 pm.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Lisa D’Orazio

Selectmen’s Secretary

Town of Otis

 

 

List of Documents

 

  1. A copy of St. Paul’s RFP will be filed with these meeting minutes.

 

  1. A copy of Lauretta’s appointment application and emails regarding Hank’s resignation will be filed with these meeting minutes.

 

  1. A copy of the email correspondence between Bill and Recreation will be filed with these meeting minutes.

 

  1. A copy of the Library’s opposition to sharing their movie licensing will be filed with these meeting minutes.

 

  1. A copy of the Berkshire County Selectmen’s Association Fall Dinner will be filed with these meeting minutes.

 

  1. A copy of the East Otis Fire House Paving Bid opening results will be filed with these meeting minutes.