Musings from Jeff Bennett

Since my return from my annual military training I have learned of some of the things that happened in Templeton. One was the surprise return of Jeff Ritter. Another item was a couple of meetings concerning the proposed elementary school, which may or may not have gone well. One thing that seems to have gone badly was how Bob Whalen found about the proposed taking of his home. When one considers the changes at the school building committee and the BOS office, those things may be understandable. I did stop and speak with Bob

and after all was said and done, he stated he appreciated that someone stopped and talked with him about it as I also took the time to apologize for how it went. I felt as a selectmen, I owed him that much. Another interesting item was the legal bill for May 2012. Total of bill is $7,986.67 and since there is only $2,923.01 left in the legal budget, well, Houston we have a problem, at least Len Kopelman has one. I have a copy of an e-mail ole Len sent to former chairman of the select board that he would work within whatever legal budget Templeton has. Since Len decided it was a good move to come back in the middle of a month, let alone in the middle of a budget period, I guess he and columbus, wilder and mullins should have done some math work. There are charges for 5/15/12 for 9 hours to prepare & attend the annual and special town meetings for $1,485.00. Another charge on 5/16/12 to attend & prepare for 2nd night of town meeting at $1,237.50. a 3rd night at $1,320.00 and a 4th night at $1,072.50 for a total of $5,115.00 for town meeting. A total of general legal services at $6,006.00. If columbus, wilder and mullins had waited until June to change town council, the general legal bill for May would have been $5,000.00. There was $1,468.50 spent on labor services, $33.00 on lawsuit stuff (sewer dept.) and $132.00 on open meeting complaints. This involves the Columbus complaint against me for the executive session I asked about at my first BOS meeting. It involves someone apparently asking K&P to look into the fact that I answered questions and made a written statement to he Attorney Generals office once and I have since refused to speak with them again. K&P contacted me about having a telephone conference call about that issue and I refused. I called the Ag office and told them I had already spoke on this issue and I was not doing so again, if they did not understand my first explanation, they should have said so at the time. They already have a legal opinion from Lisa Mead, which the taxpayers already paid for. My question is who asked K&P to pursue this matter again? Was this a move bycolumbus after he brought back K&P to Templeton? Who has asked K&P to speak with the AG office concerning my refusal to speak as part of their investigation, I do not recall any discussion or vote on the part of the select board to do this. I always thought that since K&P works for the town, the town would be the one to request this, not the other way around. Now there was an occasion that an attorney spoke about having been put in touch with the chairman of the select board 3 weeks prior by Len Kopelman ( chairman columbus) So apparently Len Kopelmanwas talking with columbus and vice-versa outside of the office on how to get K&P back in Templeton and how to get rid of Jeff Ritter. When you read the executive session minutes of March, you the taxpayer will see how this all played out, don't miss it. I understand these minutes were accepted but for some reason they have not been released yet, which if not done soon, I will be contacting the AG office and a private attorney. On June 6, 2012, there is/was a balance of $18,433.32 left in the encumbered legal fund which is money put aside to pay for estimated legal bills of the previous year. My understanding is that any money not spent after June 30 goes to the general fund, I am checking on this to be sure.

   On the elementary school issue, I think if people take the time to look into the facts, they will find it was the makeup of the committee that allowed for the land issues. The previous superintendent seemed to be dead set on a huge school on a very large site. Being from Newton and considering right now there is a very expensive school being built in Newton, I hope people try to understand that and also be open to the fact that we are trying to be more realistic in our approach. There are other sites besides Templeton Center but the town does not control them. There is 4 acres very close to NRHS that is for sale for about $75,000.00. Also keep in mind, the building project cost will keep increasing the longer it is put off. Ask questions, do your homework and please be open to things being done. Hopefully we will not spend or waste another year trying to "send a message" to the people (as in columbus) and we will not spend more months in trying to get rid of Jeff Ritter again. The budget, a capital spending plan, a plan, direction and marching orders for the highway department. A new loader has to be properly maintained and worn out equipment needs to be parked it is unsafe to be on the road, safe for the operator and the public. No more baling wire projects, if there are no trucks to plow snow this winter, we either deal with it or buy new equipment/good used equipment. A weekly warrant was just signed for over a million dollars in expenses, (little over 400 thousand was for long term debt) go to the selectman's office and request a copythru public records. Another thing people should know is soon there will be reduced office hours and one day a week with no town business due to town meeting and budget shortfalls. People should take time to attend light & water meetings and ask questions, rattle some feathers until you get answers. Oh, the foundation for the senior center is complete and you can go look at it, the buildings may be on the foundation by July 9, 2012, a town project getting closer and closer to completion. we can do this with patience, ideas and input from residents so keep coming to meetings and ask questions and get answers, even if you have to get them on your own outside of the meetings.  Jeff Bennett