Town of Otis
Select Board Meeting Minutes
October 10, 2017
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 Chair Bill Hiller, Selectman Don Hawley, Selectman Gary Thomas, Terry Gould, Rich Phair, Michael Ernst, Mary Adams, Chris Morris, Walter Engels, Margaret McClellan, Karen Fink
Approval of Minutes: Approval of the September 25, 2017 All Boards meeting minutes were approved as written by Don and Gary with Bill abstaining, the September 26, 2017 Select Board meeting minutes were unanimously approved as written, and the September 12, 2017 Select Board special meeting held at 6:00 pm, which was declined as an Executive Session, was approved as written by Don and Gary with Bill abstaining.
Other:
Rec Center Gingerbread House Event: The Rec Center commissioners were once again asking how they could get their expense money to pay for the supplies for this event. Due to Dept. of Revenue restrictions, which the town is required to follow, they were asked to have someone use a personal credit card for the purchases and then get reimbursed by the town. Our accountant Margaret also suggested they do multiple small purchases to get everything so they won’t have such a large balance and can get reimbursed over time. During discussion, one person volunteered to handle the credit card purchase for them this year as long as they gave that person a list of what to get, but the Rec Commission was asked to decide who would handle this in the future as they have already been asked several times by the selectmen to settle this within the commission.
2020 Census: A town resident was approached by a person claiming they were with the census and had a computer to enter data. The person had no record of the resident’s name, address, or any other pertinent info and had an out of state license plate on their vehicle. At this point in time, the town has no one representing us for the 2020 Census or any other census and recommended this be reported to the Police Dept.
Town Administrator Availability: One Rec. Center commissioners noted she has been in several times to contact Chris and he was not available. Chris noted he was always available by email, but this commissioner does not have handy email access.
Fire Dept. Pancake Breakfast: The Fire Chief reported they had about 130 people attend at the Pancake Breakfast. Everyone wished Rich a happy birthday.
Wind Turbine Site: Walter presented a cartoon from the Berkshire Eagle saying Berkshire would now be giving turbine tours instead of leaf tours. Walter also suggested the turbine site should be posted for No Hunting as a lot of equipment could get hurt without the posting
Rich Phair requested the meeting go into Executive Session to discuss a personnel matter with the Fire Dept. The Select Board agreed by unanimous roll call vote and the meeting went into Executive Session at 7:28 pm.
By unanimous roll call vote the Executive Session was terminated at 7:36 pm and the select board meeting was reopened.
Chris Morris then notified the Selectmen that he was tendering his resignation with a two and one half month notice so that they would have time to advertise and hopefully to transition the new person.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa D’Orazio
Selectmen’s Secretary
Town of Otis
List of Documents
None