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Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Police Station Update: An Historical Perspective

Police Station Update

Project on HOLD ! 

Looks like combining the police station project with the elementary school project was a bad idea. In my opinion, tying these two projects together increased the costs for the Police Station...because the elementary school project wanted to divert the costs for drainage issues for both projects onto the Police Station project...as well as increased bid prices.[Julie Farrell]

Historical Perspective:
August 31, 2016
Historical Look Of Templeton Center
What is the criteria for determining "the historical character" of Templeton Center?
In a Gardner News article (8/30/16) regarding the construction of the police station in Templeton Center, Chief Bennett stated:
"Bennett said the exterior design will closely resemble an Old New England church or school building. He said he chose this design intentionally so it would fit within the historical look of other nearby buildings situated around Templeton common"





 
 The design of the New Police Station does seem to fit the historical nature of Templeton Center. It does not overwhelm the properties next to it...unlike the elementary school project.
What is the future of the historical character of Templeton Center?
Reactions: 
 



 From Friday December 30, 2016:

Bait and Switch

Very Special Legislation-
for the Police Station 
So it looks like bond counsel won't approve borrowing for the Police Station until the vote at town meeting is "fixed". One way to do that is to hold another special town meeting, the other way is to draft Special Legislation:
  Apparently, the police station project was not part of the Capital Improvement Plan which was required by By Law XLII - Capital Planning By Law:
 This is not what was presented at the Special town meeting on November 9, 2015 nor on the ballot.
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Bait and Switch Part 2 
 January 2, 2017

Bait and Switch Part 2


So who is in charge?
In the first posting of Bait and Switch 
Many of the comments on this post raised some interesting points:

 One comment:

Town counsel reviewed the article for the Police station.

Town counsel is NOT bond counsel. Bond counsel is only consulted when the town needs to borrow money. Bond Counsel does NOT usually review warrant articles.

The Capital Planning Bylaw procedure was not followed for the Police Station Project. It is difficult to enforce this bylaw when the Capital Planning Committee can not reach a quorum due to lack of attendance by certain members. The Capital Planning Committee can not function as the Capital By Law intends.

The wording of the Capital Planning By law speaks to intent - "Should " vs "Shall"

Without a bond rating for the Town of Templeton, bond counsel "is not willing to certify to a potential lender that the vote was taken in compliance with the bylaw."

Town counsel reviewed the warrant article for its legality. Bond counsel looks at things differently.

So does the same issue apply to the elementary school building project? 

Yes, yes it does.

Is incorrect in that Bond Counsel reviewed the warrant article for the Police station and the elementary school NOT town counsel:

this is how it has worked since 2014:


Paul DeRensis


To
jpb01468@comcast.net






I haven't seen any of this

Sent from my iPhone


On Mar 17, 2016, at 6:02 AM, jpb01468@comcast.net wrote:


Paul, I am wondering if these articles have been forwarded to you? Hope to see you at the special Town Meeting. Jeff Bennett From: "Robert Markel" To: "Mark Barrieau" , "Bev Bartolomeo" , "Katharine Fulton"


pderensis@aol.com



To
jpb01468@comcast.net



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Jeff:



I asked the town administrator about the special town meeting warrant, and he advises that Bond Counsel assisted with the borrowing articles, that he is trying to save money so he felt it unnecessary to have two counsel review the same issues, that there is a procedure in place in the town such that requests for counsel are to be presented to the Town Administrator for approval before any work i undertaken, etc. etc.. However, he did invite me to attend the special town meeting on Monday night.



Hope all is well with you



Best regards,



Paul




In a message dated 3/17/2016 8:09:49 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, jpb01468@comcast.net writes:

I am concerned about the legalities of the first article giving a department authority to borrow on behalf of Town. Regards; Jeff Sent from my iPhone On Mar 17, 2016, at 8:04 AM, Paul DeRensis wrote: I haven't seen any of this Sent from my iPhone On Mar 17, 2016, at 6:02 AM,…
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Things we know:
The selectmen vote the articles for the town meeting and special town meeting warrants and post the warrants.
The Capital Planning/improvement committee has meetings, but hasn't had a quorum for a number of years. The capital planning committee presents a report once a year to the selectmen, but can't make recommendations due to lack of quorum.
The Police station renovation project, the elementary school project, the water tank, and sewer pump station are all capital projects that are not and have not been part of the Capital Plan.
The selectmen hire town counsel and bond counsel. Town counsel and bond counsel do the bidding of the selectmen, NOT the townspeople.
Questions?
Bond counsel approved the wording of the warrant article and the ballot questions for both the Police Station and  the elementary school. Why is bond counsel now, at this point in time, " ...not willing to certify to a potential lender that the vote was taken in compliance with the bylaw." 

Why did bond counsel not raise objections for the water tank borrowing and the sewer pump station?
 Who is accountable?

Should the police renovation project be put before the town again? 
The funding for this project has changed significantly. According to the Gardner News article (12/30/2016) "Another setback for police station":
"Another recent delay came when officials decided it would be necessary to seek a longer-term debt on the police station project, after finding that the original two-year time frame to pay back the costs of the project would cause a large spike in the tax rate in 2018 and 2019. ..."

The promotion of the Police Station upgrade was for a 2 year borrowing NOT long-term borrowing from the USDA. 
So who is on first? Who is responsible for this boondoggle?
Shouldn't the voters/townspeople have a say in this change in the Police station proposal?


 

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