Otis Technology Committee
Meeting Minutes
April 24, 2019
Town Hall Conference Room
6:00 pm
Meeting called to order at 6:00 pm in the Otis Town Hall Inspectors’ Room. The meeting is recorded and a quorum is present.
Present: Frank Tolopko, Bill Hiller, Lisa D’Orazio, Larry Gould
Others: Bob Rosen, Diane Saunders
Approval of Minutes: The March 18, 2019 minutes were unanimously approved as written. Bill made the motion to accept the minutes and Larry seconded.
Broadband Updates: The first three phases are complete and we have paid the retainer fee and paid for all work. Phase 4 is delayed due to problems with muddy roads that couldn’t be navigated with the heavy trucks. Splicing and testing still needs to be completed, but installations down Route 23 can begin. Phase 5 is close to being complete for installations. Phases 6, 7, and 8 are currently having strand installed with equipment for the last two phases just having been delivered. The goal is to have the whole town connected by the end of this year. Bill is hoping Peter Larkin and Bill Enlen will be available to have a conference call with us and representatives from Otis Woodlands. He is planning for May 3rd, but this is not yet confirmed. We need a state plan in order to move forward with any local resolution to the problems with connecting the Woodlands. So far we have 964 residents overall signed up with Otis Fiber and 295 activated. The first delivery of ladder rack for the Main Firehouse fiber hut will be delivered soon. We will be using PURMA insurance for both the turbine and for broadband. Bill needs to address this ASAP as the turbine insurance is up for renewal soon.
End of Year Accounting Recap: Lisa gave everyone a Condition of Accounts for the Technology Committee and noted that with deducting the projected expenses for April, May, and June that weren’t already posted we only had about $700.00 left in our current fiscal year budget. Everyone decided we were probably good for this year and we shouldn’t plan for any other expenditures for this fiscal year.
Other:
Library Computers and Technology: Bill, Larry, and John Shannon went to the Library Trustees meeting last week. The Technology Committee budget will take care of the costs for their equipment and other hardware issues. The Library Technology line item pay for the educational IT classes at the Library.
Moving Town-3 onto the Shared Drive: Lisa was asking about an ETA for connecting the Shared drive to the Town-3 computer in the Inspectors’ Office. Both Planning Board and Technology need access to the Shared drive and Planning has other local file folders that need to be brought over to the Shared drive. Larry said he hoped this could be completed by the end of May.
The meeting was unanimously adjourned at 6:44 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa D’Orazio
Technology Committee
Town of Otis