Holland Select Board orders non-resident official to step down, settles heating dispute

HOLLAND -- November 20, 2018, Holland Select Board votes to oust non-resident official and settles seven-month heating dispute at 50 cents on the dollar. At the November 20 meeting, the board voted to send a formal letter requiring an unnamed elected official who had moved out of town and registered to vote elsewhere to step down, with one member saying "I just don't see a mechanism that allows them to continue to serve." The board also authorized settlement of a disputed invoice from heating contractor Darcy at 50 percent after the contractor left the Holland Community Center's heating unit unrepaired for months. In a written statement read into the record, Tree Warden Brian Johnson reported more than 500 hazardous trees on major town roads, including North Wales Road and Mashapaug Road, with the highway department having already spent more than $34,000 from its own budget despite no dedicated funding in the fiscal year 2019 budget. An unnamed veterans agent representative urged the board to establish a formal, stipend-based Emergency Management Director post, estimated at roughly $1,000 per year, to meet tightening state CPOD compliance requirements tied to federal grant eligibility.