Another tax for Templeton??
Reading selectmen Brooks' facebook page, I noticed a picture of a red fire hydrant with the caption pay it forward, help the fire fighters by cleaning the hydrants near you of snow. I could be wrong but I think the residents of Templeton (taxpayers) already pay taxes for town services. These include a highway department, and since this department just bought a new loader which equates to three loaders being parked at the highway barn these days. It is my opinion that there is enough time for the highway department, cemetery & parks or the water department to do this job. Taxpayers pay taxes for services and I believe if selectmen Brooks took the time to look, she would find who has the responsibility to do this job. My opinion is people should not be asked to do a job they already pay to have done through their taxes! This pay it forward picture may make for a warm fuzzy feeling and a good rah rah cheerleading scenario, it is in the end, asking people to pay twice for a service and it is simply wrong! I think it more appropriate for selectmen Brooks to bring this subject to the attention of the select board and figure out who is responsible for the cleaning of the hydrants and instruct them to do their job rather than play on taxpayers emotions. If any resident wants to clear out a hydrant on their own, fine, that is cool, but since multiple departments already have backhoes and loaders, they should be used to do the job that taxpayers pay them to do.
Jeff Bennett
Jeff it's been the duty of the enterprise of the famed water department to do hydrant cleaning. Like the highway it gets done during normal hours and not on overtime. Gardner clears the sidewalks in the middle of the night when needed. Yes on overtime. I think that would be a good thing for Templeton to be doing. Lets add to the budget and get the walks clear in time for school time. I could use some extra money to make up for my 7 week lay off! But the snowblower/trackless is now 15 years old and has it's limitations like the other old equipment.It's nice to have a reliable loader to load the sanders with so we can keep the roads sanded in a timely manner. With old loaders the gamble is not worth a crash.
ReplyDeleteI sure would not want some of our elderly digging out fire hydrants, seeing they pay their fare share toward the wages of the Water Department. I am sure the Water Department must have the equipment to do the job. I would not want Bud to use his budget to pay for something another department is responsible for, and the Highway Dept is short a man as it is. Bev.
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