Templeton Prepares For School Votes
New grade school needs town meeting and ballot box OK
Rebecca Leonard
TEMPLETON The town’s new elementary school project will be heading to a ballot vote before being approved by the Massachusetts School Building Authority or facing a town meeting.
The ballot vote is planned for November, though an exact date has not been set.
“January and February are in the dead of winter. March is a good spring month but now four or five months has transpired,” said project manager Jonathan Winikur Monday night.
According to Mr. Winikur, the typical process is approaching the MSBA to receive its approval with written contracts that say what the project will cost and a complete plan of the building’s schematics. After approval, the committee would then hold a town meeting and then a ballot vote.
For the school project the committee has unanimously agreed to hold a ballot vote first, with the town meeting in December.
“At this point, we know that the board will approve the project,” said Mr. Winikur.
Interim Superintendent Dr. Stephen Hemman, who began working on this project when he was the superintendent before years ago, agreed that he would like to see the vote take place in November instead of March and have a town meeting in December.
The feeling was expressed that townspeople might be more engaged in what’s going on in the schools earlier in the school year.
Mr. Hemman went on to explain that the hardest people to convince will be the townspeople that don’t have children in the school system.
“It’s important for their future, if they want to sell their house, people are going look at the school systems and the buildings.”
The committee will now be pushing harder to configure further plans for the building, including a meeting on Aug. 11 to refine the site and floor plans.
According to Philip Poinelli of Symmes Maini & McKee Associates, the height of the three-story building plan breaks current zoning laws and will need to be discussed at a future meeting.
Another meeting on Sept. 8 will be held to discuss the materials used on the exterior and interior of the building.
Before the vote in November, models of the schematics for the building will be available to the public either on the town’s website.
TOWN VOTE IS LIKE HOLDING A GUN TO ANY LAND OWNER A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE WHO ATTEND MEETING VOTE AND THE MARJORY DO NOT SHOW , we NEED A AND I FEEL WE HAVE A PARLIAMENTARY RULE TO QUORUM OF THE TOWN LAST VOTING NUMBER , OTHER WISE .. NO VOTE , YOU LOST 2 .1/2 AND NOW SKY IS NOT LIMITED UNFAIR TACTICS WILL RULE ,
ReplyDeleteMASSVOCALS
Perhaps it would make sense to fix what we have thus teach our children the value of taking care of what they already own.
ReplyDeleteThis project bears watching. The financial cost of this project will impact the town and its residents for a very long time.
ReplyDeleteDr. Hemman stated : “It’s important for their future, if they want to sell their house, people are going look at the school systems and the buildings.”
It's also important for people to be able to afford their taxes so that they can remain in their homes and not lose their homes to foreclosure.
Ashburnham voted to build a brand new beautiful elementary school. Ashburnham now has one of the highest tax rates for a community its size :
"Carmine Antidormi, 64, says he doesn't have enough time to serve on the select or advisory board, despite requests he run following Tuesday's Town Meeting, where he criticized the town's rising property-tax rate, which just went from $19.83 for each $1,000 of property value to $22.35, a 12.7 percent increase." Fitchburg Sentinel May 1, 2014
Has Templeton had its bond rating restored? How does a town borrow 50 million for a project if it doesn't have a bond rating? What financial institution will lend to a town without a bond rating?...and at what rate?
Let's hope the financial facts are presented before the ballot vote!