Not Playing Around

Not Playing Around
Playground grant axed in Gov. Baker's 9C cuts
Eryn Dion
News Staff Writer

TEMPLETON  The spending cut package signed by Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday may have unofficially put to rest the issue of the state’s $768 million budget gap.

However, some local officials say that Baker’s 9C (or executive authority) cuts have left many towns holding the bag.

Templeton interim Town Administrator Bob Markel told selectmen this week that the $85,000 previously secured to fund construction of the Gladys I. Salame Memorial Playground has become one of the many casualties of the state’s budget crisis.

 

News Staff photo by ERYN DION
The Gladys I. Salame Memorial Playground has lost state grant funding.

“This was money that Sen. (Stephen) Brewer got,” Mr. Markel said.

“It was supposed to be guaranteed to us.”

Mr. Markel said he is already receiving emails from vendors looking for payment.

But considering the circumstances and the town’s financial situation, they have been flexible and offered lease-style payments to ease the burden to the town.

“That’s a major hit,” he said.

“We’re going to have to find that money sooner than later.”

The administrator said he’s still waiting for confirmation from state Sen. Anne Gobi’s office on the status of the funding.

However, chairman Kenn Robinson said that he has already been told by Tyler Wolanin, Gobi’s district director, that the account had in fact been zeroed out.

“He informed me also that was the senator’s understanding and that they would work with us to try and find alternative funding sources, if possible,” Mr. Robinson said.

The playground, located next to Templeton Center Elementary School, was built during a three-day community event last September and would have originally been paid for through a reimbursement grant offered by the Executive Office of Administration and Finance.

While the playground grant may have received the ax, the $300,000 in state funds provided to finish the town’s senior center project last December still appear to be intact, as no mention was made of that money being cut.