Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Why I signed the L+W Citizen Petition


By Julie Farrell

 

I believe the time has come to address the harm that the enactment of Chapter 93 Acts of 2000 has caused the Town of Templeton. I signed this citizen petition for a number of reasons.

Citizen Petition Light and Water 

 

To see if the town will vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen to seek Special Legislation as set forth below: provided, however, that the General Court may make clerical or editorial changes of form only to the bill, unless the Board of Selectmen approves amendments to the bill before enactment by the General Court, and that the Board of Selectmen is hereby authorized to approve amendments which shall be within the scope of the general public objectives of the petition, or take any other action thereon or in relation to.


 

   An Act Authorizing the Board of Selectmen in the Town of Templeton to Act as Light and Water Commissioners

 

Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 21 of chapter 41 and section 56A of chapter 164 of the general laws, or of any general or special law to the contrary, the board of selectmen of the town of Templeton shall be authorized to act as light and water commissioners and shall exercise all of the powers and duties of a light and water commission as set forth in the general laws. 

 

Section 2. Upon effective date of this act, the terms of the incumbent members of the light and water commission of the town of Templeton shall be terminated and the elected light and water commission abolished.

 

Section 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. 

 

The ramifications of the enactment of Chapter 93 Acts of 2000, still affect the Town of Templeton. Please review the Timeline for Chapter 93 Acts of 2000. There is reasonable doubt that process used to combine the Light and Water department was not done properly. The November STM Article 8, asks for an investigation into Chapter 93 Acts of 2000. It is important that the town is aware of the correct process for combining two departments.

 

 

Communication-

If this citizen petition is successful, communication between the water department and every other town department would be greatly enhanced. Issues of replacing water mains under newly paved roads could be discussed and planned for in a manner that would benefit the town and by extension the taxpayer/ratepayers. Situations like the paving of the roads in East Templeton or the Baldwinville road reconstruction/ water main dilemma could be avoided.

 

Interdepartmental cooperation would be improved avoiding situations like the “soil testing” expense for the Senior Center.

 

Requests for an explanation and report of multiple water main breaks, like those experienced on July 14, 2012 should not take over six months and incredible delays.

 

The audit of the wind turbine should not take over 2 ½ years to complete. The audit is a necessary tool to calculate depreciation and the “pay back “ period. The audit would be a helpful tool in calculating a maintenance cost for the turbine, since it is not insured and is out of warranty.

 

Legal Issues –

The following invoices were obtained by public record request.

 


 


 


 


 

The July invoice from Doucette & LaRose is itemized for a total of $2,430. The September and October invoices from Doucette & LaRose are not itemized. The September bill from Ferriter & Scobbo is still itemized for a total of $1,306.50 for legal opinions regarding the water budget.

 

A good question to ask the Light and Water commissioners: “Why did you sign off on an invoice that provides no detail?” The claim can be made that the invoices from Doucette& LaRose were for legal opinions to pursue litigation against a selectman, possibly the same selectman mentioned in the July invoice.

 

Finally -

It is my hope that the successful passage of this citizen petition will lead to greater accountability from the Light and Water department management. If the BOS act as Light and Water commissioners, the meetings would abide by the open meeting law and should be televised.

 

Discussion and action could take place to combine the water and sewer departments so that one bill for both water and sewer charges would be issued….as has happened in the past. Combining the billing for water and sewer would reduce costs for both departments. Discussion and answers might be forthcoming regarding the $4.00/ month service fee for the light department and the $28/quarter service fee for the water department. In the Light commissioner minutes of August 3,1999 indicate the intent was to keep the combined billing for water and sewer. The November 7, 2000 and December 5, 2000 Light Commission minutes indicate cooperation and a willingness to work with the sewer commission.(See Timeline for Chapter 93 Acts of 2000.)

 

Meaningful discussion and action could take place to formalize the PILOT payment from the Light department, as is recommended by the DOR Report. At this point in time I don’t believe the Light department should be “sold off”. A discussion/hearing to debate the merits of retaining the municipal light department will never happen unless there is a change the governing body.

 

I believe it is time to put MUNICIPAL back into the Templeton Municipal Light and Water.

 

My opinions…supported by FACTS ! ! !

 

Julie Farrell

27 comments:

  1. I support this petition and if able I would sign it. I believe there have been far too many issues with light & water, especially of late. The wind turbine is just one. Rather than a science & technology subject, I think the entire wind turbine could be subject of business education. Accounting, management and business law for the students. I wonder if there are any students at narragansett who would like to intern at the office of board of selectmen. I get sidetracked, but a thought for later. It would be great volunteerism to put on college application perhaps? Right now I believe the light commissioners have forgotten who they work for and who they answer to, the people who elect them. I believe selectmen as light commissioners is a temporary fix why we undo some of the web that has been weaved over there. Bring some transparency to it. Get water & sewer working together and then sewer would have clear leverage in collections. A PILOT document could be laid out with a very open simple formula so everyone would know how much each year and that would help with the budget, through the use of projections of cost and benefit. I believe the time has arrived where people will show up for candidates night and listen and ask questions and to also hold people accountable for what they say when they seek election. The solutions are ther and they will not be easy but with them will come a new look from outside of the community. The sucess or failure of this petition depends, in my opinion, of whether the taxpayers feel Templeton is now going down a better path than in the past. I know from experience what it is like to be elected to a position and then due to circumstances, be kept out of the loop so to speak. When a light commissioner could not get information from the entitiy they represent and then ratepayers cannot get or have to wait months and months for simple information and when the manager states he does not work for Templeton, he works for the light department, I think he needs to look at the letterhead of his own staionary: Templeton Municiple Light & Water. it says Templeton, hello, is anyone home? so if you like the progress so far and you want information available to you, I would ask you to please support the petition concerning Light & Water. Of course, be aware that if you support this petition, you risk being called "one of Julies people" You might be accused of wanting open fair honest government. Happy New Year from Afghanistan

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    1. I don't understand how transferring control from one group of elected representatives to another solves any problem.

      The problem is, TML is not run for the benefit of the owners. The best way to solve that is to sell it, if a buyer can be found.

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  2. it is aimed at getting water separated from light, put it over with sewer and set a correct formula for PILOT. In the end, hopefully better management will result in benefit to the "owners"

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  3. Jeff - I agree with getting W back with S. My point is simple - we had a Light Commissioner who worked for the "owners". But the voters chose to remove her from office. I am not confident that the current BOS would do any better. Looks like 2 good, 2 bad and one guy who doesn't want to hurt any feelings.

    If most voters agree with signing this petition, one would think they would also agree with changing the light commission.

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  4. Julie & Pauly- I see that you both signed the citizen's petition to make the Water dept with the Light Dept. Can you tell me why you supported it back then?

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    1. I'll write a blog about it when I get home

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    2. Thank you Julie.
      Jeff, FYI I did NOT sign the recall, even when pressured by LC to do so. In attempts to understand and decide on why I should go along with the new citizens petition, I would like to know why two people, very vocal about the misdeeds caused by the Acts of 2000, once voted for it. No bad guy here, just trying to understand what happened before, as to not fall into the same hole.

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  5. question for anonymous 8:23 am, did you sign the recall petition which resulted in one of the biggest screw ups in Templeton? if yes is the answer, why do u blog with anonymous? My first thought Mark is ratepayers would no longer have to pay any salaries and I believe they would have better acess to them. plus it remove one more layer of "stuff" to go thru to get answers. and just maybe it would cut down on division there now seems to be. Maybe not but I would like to try. and Mark, you can always run for selectman. this may be another item we agree to disagree on Mark, I just don't want to keep doing the same thing with no expectation of change. If it does not work, you can always call me and tell me you told me so and u can vote me out in 2014. Atleast you pay attention and put thought into your points Mark, I for one appreciate it and will be glad to see you upon my return. take care of your self and enjoy the snow

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    1. Jeff - good point about the salary savings.

      The only problem I see with this citizen petition is that we have recourse at the ballot box. Were I a state rep, I would ask that question.

      I am afraid this will be painted by the people who think L&W are doing great as exactly what it isn't - just the latest ambush in Templeton's own Hatfield-McCoy feud. Please don't anyone accuse me of painting it that way. I am not. I am saying that it may seem that way to people who have a shallow understanding of events.

      One attraction of selling TML is Templeton could shed all those employees and the huge pension liability that they represent. I am concerned about $1,000,000 pension liabilities, and the impact that will have on town finances. To those who work in private industry, if you are lucky enough to even have a 401k, you can understand how much you would need to put aside to end up with $1 million. From what I read, the pensions for public-sector workers are way underfunded. In my opinion, this was because overly generous pension plans were granted by elected officials who then kicked the can down the road as far as funding. Private business will never miss an opportunity to cut costs, while government never takes an opportunity. So maybe we can buck the trend, make our problem National Grid's problem, and get some much needed cash to pay down some debt.

      We can agree to disagree. I have no problem with people having different views than my own as long as they are not liars or flim-flam artists. You're no liar, nor is Julie.

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    2. The service you will receive from National Grid will be terrible, just ask some of the other communities that are complaining every time there is a storm or any other type of emergency. Sometimes you get what you pay for. Does Mr. Driscoll have a contract? Maybe that could not be renewed leading to better management? Just an idea.

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    3. If what you say were true, Templeton would have sky-high property values. Everyone would flock to live in this paradise of electrical wonderment.

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    4. Why not try to change what we have instead of giving up on it completely. Being a bedroom community hasn't worked well so far.

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  6. I think the idea of making the BOS the commissioners is not a final solution. It is only a stop gap measure that can be done (relatively) quickly. Then, exploring whether to sell or to form a DPW can happen. Lord knows I don't want someone like Scrappy or VW or BC overseeing these departments. I would support this act if it is clear it is not permanent. Seeing that the current commissioners and L&W manager are not forthcoming with needed info or explanations, there really isn't any other option. Re-evaluating Driscoll's contract (if there is one) is also not going to make the difference we need ASAP. While I like the idea of selling to a private corp like NStar or Natl Grid in order to put some money in our bank and solve some financial issues, I do not think our quality of service will be acceptable. And it is next to impossible to go back to a municipal dept if we weren't happy with an outside company. The best option is to sign the petition and get it on the warrant in order to hear discussion on town meeting floor. For something like this, a good debate is needed. Signing the petition certainly doesn't mean you are for the question passing. It simply will put it up for discussion. Then, after hearing each side, vote the way you feel is best.

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  7. Well said a620, Couldn't have said it better. When I took out the papers for this petition I was on a path to get people to see the light.No pun intended! As i sat at meeting after meeting there I wondered what the hell is going on here. When you ask questions and get stupid looks,negative responses you start to think we need to stop this. After checking and researching many topics dealing with our light and water depts facts came to show many things being done incorrectly,misshandled and misscharged.
    To get the facts one must just follow the paper trails and there are many to follow!
    Our Templeton is being put in a position to get in way over our head and i for one think thats wrong. The investments that light dept have made are at best a poor gamble! After a meeting at princeton light and hearing about the turbine failure cost and them wanting to sell theirs,told me we are not in good hands,bad gets worse to find that we are part owner of 11 more turines at another wind farm on brody mtn.
    1 gearbox failure is 1/2 million to fix!
    flicker and noise complaints are yet to be resolved and will be a topic of the next meeting.To sum it up.We Templeton Shareholders don't have any choice but to change and get to the whole truth as to what we are responsible for at the light department,Now we can't tell. Until we can peal back the layers and get to the core,we'll have no idea. The petition is the only way to get the transparency needed to act on changes needed. I don't see where we have a better way at this time. This may be the only way to start, as jeff puts it unweave!If we let things stay the way they are and don't change we are sticking our heads in the sand! Don't just comment, join me at the next meeting at the light department and see for yourself what the table is up to,or what their not up to! change is long overdue.
    I hope Mr. driscoll enjoyed the reading material i dropped off today !
    Shareholder
    Dave Smart

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    1. Dave if you dont mind , will you ask the three at the table . If you care so much about your town than why do you still get payed for a elected position where every other board has gone without to help the town . and when your done there will you go ask the sewer board the same question . Thanks for all that you do

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  8. Julie-this timeline is so helpful in understanding what happened years ago. I wasn't here then and am trying to catch up on how and why we got into this mess. I don't see how any investigator could turn a blind eye to all the inconsistencies in town finance. Lets hope that the state will step up and investigate and help us out and buck its reputation as being high on the corruption list. I'm sick of watching people get away with screwing innocent people without any repercussions. Plus, all the money wasted on nonsense legal fees is shameful. One question, how come L&W gets to use their own attorney and doesn't have to go through the town's counsel?

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    1. Under Chapter 164, the Light department manager has a lot of power. Light and water can use their own legal counsel. Usually, the hire attorneys who specialize in this field; like Ferriter and Scobbo; Doucette & LaRose. Just as the town hires law firms that specialize in municipal law; like K&P, and Deutsch Williams and BBM.

      L&W is not required to go through the town counsel process as every other department is required to do.

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    2. Would that change if Ch. 93 Acts of 2000 was rescinded? I know that the sewer dept had trouble seeking legal counsel in the past when they had to go through a BOS filled with Skeltons/O'Briens/Columbuses. I'm trying to understand what situation would be the best solution for all the depts and the most financially responsible.

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    3. I think if Chapter 93 acts of 2000 were rescinded( which is a different topic than this citizen petition) then I think the water department would revert back to the the BOS . The light department would remain as it always has. If that is the case then I don't see much progress being made to formalize the PILOT payment from the Light department to the town.

      If Light were under BOS then hopefully tighter control over legal expenditures could occur.

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  9. A628 That is due to the lack of control over the general mgr. and is the big problem at light and water as he has a free hand to spend and spend at our expense.
    Thats just the tip of the iceberg were about to hit!
    Help the effort and sign the petition,show support!
    Shareholder
    Dave Smart

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  10. Well I was under the impression the only one getting paid were the light /water commissioners, We will see after the post if any commisioners are willing to comment on that and if so, will they donate the money to the town for use in the budget shortfall soon to come?
    I will ask the question and I can predict the answer easy enough! As a former light commissioner put it, the job or role of light and water commissioner is not at all clear!
    I will ask them what the role of it is at the next meeting.
    I will start with the chairman and work my way down!
    Does anyone know the pay they recieve at light and water?
    Does anyone know the pay they recieve at sewer?
    I know about the rest of the boards, zero!
    All elected should get zero?
    We need to demand it and change is how to get it done!
    Sign the petition show support for Templeton's future change.
    "Answers" are welcome!
    Shareholder
    Dave Smart

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    1. I think the stipend for L&W is $1,200.

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  11. While were asking the question about money lets tap the subject of union negotiations. The town has no money to offer any raises. Will the light department get the same as the other union people in town? Will they forgo their raises too? One would have to ask themself why not everybody is in this together right?
    Or are we? The word control comes out again doesn't it?

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  12. Light department union is IBEW. Different union from water department which is the same union as highway/sewer. Very different contracts for highway/sewer vs. water department.

    Highway/ sewer is negotiated by BOS. Water union is negotiated by L&W. Very.... different.... contracts.

    Signed contracts are public records...I was able to obtain Jeff Ritter's settlement agreement and Mullins separation agreement by making a public records request.
    SEE:
    http://citizens4templeton.com/Important_Documents.html
    Under:
    Town Coordinator Contract, settlement agreement, Mullins' separation agreement

    Make that public record request today!

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    1. Another question: if the depts were combined into a Public Works Dept, would the unions be combined or would they stay the same?

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  13. Not quite sure how this would be handled. In past dealings with unions, something like this would probably be subject to impact bargaining. But that is assuming the citizen petition is successful.

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  14. anon 714 January 3rd question was. What the sewer commissioners get for a pay? The answer they gave me when i asked them was $6000.00 is in an account for the three of them 2000.00 @ per year. As i sat through the meeting today it was like a different planet earth compaired to the L+W meetings! WOW and i don't mean wipem out wednesday!
    You can tell kent is a professional and only acts that way!
    JD could learn alot from this man. The commision is also very reseptive of question and listen to what your saying!
    All board members were there and active as should be! All very happy to help wil spring with his requests and didn't have to call counsel to see if they had to!
    No 1000. bill to get that knowlege, He already knew it!
    Public Records. We are in good hands at the sewer dept!
    Light and water "not" so much!
    The next meeting at light and water will probably be delayed till they get the dust to settle and that won't be soon! Selectmen wilder was at the meeting also and was confused as to what i am doing with the petition and was not thinking she could do the role as l+w oversite!
    I assured her the role is not a big deal as it isn't clear what the true role is!
    Quoted from a previous commissioner, That we will find out from all three when the dust settles, next meeting will tell the story and will be a wake up call for Templeton as to what to do with them + The Departments of light and water! I will get the signatures needed and in time for stm.
    It's up to you Templeton Shareholders to go ask questions and demand non obtuse answers from them all.
    It does no good to ignore the obvious when it can be changed by the voters/shareholders!
    Time has come to have the Selectmen board control the Town of Templeton and have driscoll answer to them like all others do! If he won't then show him the door and I'll hopefully be there to hold it open for him when his turn is up! Any other Question anyone needs asked?
    I'd do my best to get them answered "asap"
    Join me in the abolishment of the "Light + Water commission"
    Shareholder
    Dave Smart

    did you mean "jut" spineless dana [jut?]
    look it up in the dictionary hee hee

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