Town of Otis Technology Committee
Meeting Minutes
April 21, 2009
Present: Mary Anne Cicchillo, Bob Rocke, Lisa D’Orazio, Howard Levin, Larry Gould
· Meeting called to order at 6:45 pm
· The minutes from the March 16, 2009 meeting were unanimously approved
· Bob Rocke updated the group on the Southern Berkshire Technology Initiative – it will be reorganized into a non-profit 501.(c).(4) and will be renamed the Southern Berkshire Technology Collaborative (SBTC). The purpose for the reorganization is to allow the eleven member communities, of which Otis is one, to be eligible to apply for and receive any federal and state grant monies. This is especially important now as the $40 Million the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has designated for technology upgrades is now being held in Boston until until President Obama releases the $6 Billion he has earmarked for this. Grant licensing for the federal funds
should begin sometime in August of this year, so it is important for the SBTC to have an individual in place to handle the grant applications. In order to fund the efforts of that person, each town has been asked to commit the amount of $1500.00 after July 2009 to finance this person’s efforts. Tony Blair, a Great Barrington attorney, has been volunteering his time to SBTC up until now, but applying for grants will require quite a bit more additional time. It is hoped some of the committed town dollars will be recouped under the grants, but SBTC does not currently know if that is a possibility. Mr. Blair will alsobe setting up Articles of Incorporation and bylaws for the SBTC, and the eleven towns will
serve on the board of directors.
· All members present determined having an emergency contact list would be beneficial. That list will be enclosed with these minutes.
· Questions arose as to what the status was for the Town of Otis Employee Handbook. At the April All Boards meeting it was determined that the Handbook was still in draft mode and only a few sections had been approved. The Tech Committee would like to review the current Computer Usage section of the handbook and revise it as necessary, based upon the boiler plate examples we have already reviewed.
· Meeting was adjourned at 7:30pm
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