Selectboard Meeting Minutes
Otis Town Hall
Conference Room
Tuesday, July 25, 2023, at 6:30 PM
This meeting will be held in person at the location provided on this notice. Members of the public are welcome to attend. A remote option is offered via zoom with the link provided below.
Please note that while an option for remote participation is being provided as a courtesy, the meeting will not be suspended or terminated if technological problems interrupt the virtual broadcast, unless otherwise required by law. Anyone with interest in any specific item should plan in person attendance.
Topic: Select Board
Time: Jul 25, 2023 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85901684258?pwd=dXR1VzZkajNkNW9XUDZRUEpHWUdxdz09
Attendance: Larry Southard- Chair, Terry Gould, Brandi Page, Larry Gould, Frank Tolopko, Kathy Couch, Chris Bouchard & Rick Phair. On Zoom- Gary Thomas & Phil Magovern.
Call to Order: 6:30 PM
Approval of Minutes: Minutes from July 11th were approved as amended.
Permitting/ Inspection Fees: Larry Gould presented a plan for fee changes for specialty permits. This would increase the amount inspectors get to $50 per inspection. Larry Southard felt like it streamlined things a bit. Gary asked when we would implement this. Larry Gould said it could be now as soon as fees are updated on the website. Larry Southard made a motion to approve. Motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
MLP Stipends: Larry Gould, as MLP Manager, had presented job descriptions for MLP Manger and Finance Officer, which would replace the accountant. Brandi drafted a job description for Treasurer. Larry clarified that he is looking to have the compensation for these positions be handled like a salary vs a stipend as was done previously. This means proper payroll with deductions being taken out. Gary asked if these positions had been advertised. The answer was no. The MLP manager position has always been done during annual appointments. The first MLP Manager was Bob Rocke 10 years ago. When the yearly appointments are posted that is the official notice for the position. It was agreed at the June 27th meeting that once appointed the MLP Manager then had the authority to appoint the MLP Finance Officer. The Treasurer role is the Town Treasurer by default. Larry Southard clarified that they had already appointed Larry Gould at their last meeting on July 11th. He was unclear why we would want to advertise. Gary agreed yes that they had appointed Larry but he felt he didn’t have all the information at that time and didn’t like the way it was handled. He wanted that statement on record. Larry Gould spoke on his decision not to advertise the Finance Officer position and Jill’s qualifications in being the best choice. Gary was not feeling well and needed to sign off from zoom at this point. Any votes would need to be tabled until the next meeting. Brandi asked Larry Gould if in response to Gary’s concerns he could at least build expected qualifications into the Finance Officer position that any applicant would be expected to meet. That was agreed to. Larry Southard asked what compensation Larry was requesting for the positions. Brandi explained the Board was at a disadvantage because this hadn’t been presented yet for them to have time to review. When the initial MLP budget was presented Larry Gould had wanted to leave out salary discussions to a later date. Larry Gould stated that for the Treasurer we still needed to have a discussion with Jessica and see what she felt was fair. For the Finance Officer position Larry was requesting $9,000.00 a year. For MLP Manager Larry Gould suggested dropping 10,000 from the Small Projects Coordinator position so as to leave that money with the Town and moving it into the number paid by the MLP. Brandi was not in favor of defunding the Small Projects salary as that is a person she rely’ s heavily on. If that is someone else in a few years she wasn’t in favor of that salary being altered. In response to that Larry Gould then felt the amount for MLP Manager should be $38,000. Larry Southard asked what 38,000 is based on so we can have some context as to the amount. Larry Gould felt the original 5,000 was an unrealistic number. It was just enough to provide some compensation but not large enough to raise any objection. The reality is some MLP Mangers make 80-100k and the cost to the Town to replace the work Larry does would easily cost the MLP that much. Smaller MLP’s are volunteer and the roles are quite different. Brandi said in peeking at other MLP’s across the State they vary in size and scope so that it’s complicated to do comparisons. Some are true utility companies that provide electric service to their communities and have full billing and customer departments. Larry Southard stated that we needed to continue the discussion of all three stipends until the next meeting when Gary would be present.
Appointments: The Conservation Commission recommended Candy Chaffee to be appointed as their new Clerk. Terry made a motion to appoint Candy and Larry seconded it. Motion passed. Brandi wanted to say that she is going to miss working with Kristen Brown, the former clerk, and that she was very nice to work with.
Highway Opening: The Highway Department has two openings and the ad has already gone out.
Rural Schools Bill: Phil Magovern explained the rural schools bill and why it would be important for the Board to send a letter in support. The bill, if passed, would increase funding for rural schools and special needs transportation. Sandisfield Select Board has already supported the bill. Larry made a motion to sign a letter of support. Terry seconded and the motion passed.
Feasibility Report for Shared Ambulance Service: Brandi and Kathe Warden from Becket had met with Jeff Blanchard from JB Consulting and received a presentation on how he could provide a coverage map and data to look at several aspects of a shared service and determine if we could successfully respond the emergencies in the way we would want. It was decided to hold off 4-6 weeks to see if any grants were announced that we could use to fund the report. Brandi will follow up with Jeff and Kathe. Rick Phair updated the Board on operations at the Rescue Squad in the last few weeks. He, along with Chris Bouchard presented 3 scenarios for a full time staffing model. Terry asked about some of the figures. Brandi restated some of the original expectations of the ORS. One being them completing an audit so that the Town has a clear financial picture. Discussion to continue as we move forward.
Recent & Upcoming Events: The Library Fair and Smile Like Jack Run were successful events and well attended. The Rec Commission is having their Obstacle Challenge on August 5th. They are also thinking of having trunk or treat on Saturday Oct 28th. They are wondering when the Town is having Trick or Treat. Short discussion. Item tabled until Gary is present.
Review & Approval of Warrants: Payroll and vendor warrants are on the table for signature.
Not Anticipated: Frank Tolopko asked about the status of the RAAC Committee. There have been no meetings yet. Brandi will put out some inquiries. Kathy Couch was following up on her complaints about Reservoir and Algerie Road. Brandi didn’t realize the issue was still unresolved. She asked Kathy to request being on the agenda in the future.
Adjournment: 8:10 PM