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.