Town of Otis
Select Board Meeting Minutes
October 24, 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, Chris Morris, Terry Gould, Michael Ernst, Sonia Morrison, Karen Fink, Roberta Sarnacki
Approval of Minutes: The October 10, 2017 Select Board meeting minutes and the October 10, 2017 Executive Session meeting minutes were unanimously approved as written.
Board of Health: Nothing to Report.
Otis Dog Kennels: Both our Animal Control Officer and one of our Select Board members have checked over the dog kennels in Becket and both are impressed with their facilities. Otis’ ACO would like to use Becket’s facility if we are so permitted. The Becket Town Administrator has agreed to us using the facility for the remaining fiscal year if we pay Becket 10% of the fees we collect from kenneled dogs and we provide the food for the dogs we put in their facility. For fiscal year 2019, we can negotiate with Becket before budgets are set. The Select Board members unanimously agreed to use Becket’s facilities for the rest of FY 2018.
Approval of Note Sale and Execution of Documents: Karen presented to the Board members a worded draft of the language needed to vote upon. The purpose of this vote is to roll over the $2.5 Million (of the $4 Million authorized) borrowed last November for the Otis Broadband installation into another short term Bond Anticipation Note (BAN). Bill read the language aloud and by roll call vote all three Select Board members voted unanimously to roll over the full amount into a second BAN. All associated paperwork was signed by all three Select Board members.
Other:
St. Paul’s RFP: Three applications came in for the St. Paul’s RFP and all three were under the $10,000 threshold. Chris and Larry reviewed the RFPs before turning them over to the Historical Commission. Historical invited Bob McMahon, a retired Architect who lives in town, to help them vet the proposals. The three applications were all under $10,000 and were from Harry Pisilla, an architect, Jeffrey Collinswood, an engineer, and Clark & Greene, an architectural firm that works closely with Constructural Engineers. Everyone involved is comfortable with Historical Commission’s recommendation of using Clark & Greene. They had a better and more complete presentation and their depth of knowledge and breadth of experience will serve the town well. The Select Board members reviewed all three RFPs and unanimously approved Clark & Greene for the RFP survey award. Clark & Greene also suggested we get the church registered with historical places, but this will not landmark the building. Getting the church registered will make it eligible for grant money.
St. Paul’s Title: There is no further information from Town Counsel on the title, but we need to have the survey work awarded above completed for this as well.
Police Dept.: Roberta reported that the new cruiser will be coming to Town Hall this evening and as soon as it arrives the old cruiser is available for use as a town vehicle if the Board chooses to do so. The Selectmen decided to take a look at the vehicle before deciding what to do with it.
Town Administrator Position: Gary would like to establish a search committee for the new Town Administrator. Both Don and Bill agreed that would be a good idea and Gary suggested there be a member from Finance, the Select Board, Planning, and whoever else they thought would be appropriate. The Select Board unanimously agreed to form the committee and after discussion decided seven members would be a good number of members. Representatives from Finance, Terry Gould, and Planning, Michael Ernst, were both at the meeting and volunteered to be on the committee, along with Chris Morris, Gary Thomas, Larry Gould, and Roberta Sarnacki. All agreed the seventh member should be a town resident who does not serve the town on any boards, commissions, or committees for their input as well. This will be known as the At Large position. The first meeting for this committee will be November 14, 2017 for 8:00 pm after the At Large person has been appointed. Lisa will post this meeting notice and will look for the guidelines that were used when Chris was hired.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:34 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa D’Orazio
Selectmen’s Secretary
Town of Otis
List of Documents
- A copy of Bond Authorization Vote of the Board of Selectmen provided by Karen will be filed with these meeting minutes.