I sat at the last Selectman's meeting and tried to put myself in their shoes. I have come to the conclusion that, some times they can not win. I sat behind the two women that have bought houses on Michael's Lane. They are not happy with the work that has been done to improve Gilman Waite. A lot of work has been done to make the fields up there better, a place that the town can be proud of. A good place for all of the kids to play, walking trails for the adults. Ok, now what? I think they are so desperate that they are looking for a loop hole, saying the deed says "for the children of Templeton", meaning that teams from other towns should not be there!! They had some complaints that can be addressed, parking on the roads,
people throwing things on the ground. In reality, there is only so much that anyone can do. How do you tell these people that the field is there, and it is going to be used. It is kind of like, a farmer with cows, when a city person moves across the street, then complains that the cows smell!! Oh yes, we have a right to farm by- law. What do we do , have a right to play law? No, of course not!! But it is really the same kind of thing. The field was there, even though it was not developed for a long time. There is no answer that will make these people happy, so they walk out the door, feeling like no one listened to them, and feeling frustrated and angry. Then we go on to the Planning Board Meeting the other night. I could not make it, as I went to the Light and Water meeting. As usual with these kinds of meetings the neighbors are up in arms..The same kind of a thing is going on here. The only difference is Ms. Wilder's daughter lives around the corner. The truth is what these people do not want to see. The program is for people with addiction problems. The cost of going to this program is around $30,000.00. Not chicken feed. I know a person that worked for one of these programs., and these people will not wander around town. They will not drive to Templeton, they will have a limo or a shuttle bus bring them. The reality is, that you will probably not even know they are there.. At the selectman's meeting I heard Senator Brewers name come up. I hope Ms. Wilder does not give him the impression that every one in town, is against this program coming into town! I do not feel she should use her position as a selectman unless it is voted to do so by the whole board. In reality, there is nothing that can be done to stop these people from opening a program here, as long as they meet all the specs., from all of the boards and the fire dept. Other wise that can be called discrimination. So when you think it is easy to be a selectman, I say think again. Bev.
Bev, you're right; it can be a thankless job. You're also right about Virginia. She should not be going rogue on this issue. If the BOS wants to present a united front, then so be it, but it's not the Board of Virginia, thank God...
ReplyDeleteas with the deal of Virginia going to K&P to cut a deal for less money, this is not the first time Virginia has gone rogue. Time to reel her in. No one selectmen has any power as an individual, the power is as a board. Has she gone to Brewer to try to stop the investigation?
ReplyDeleteI think the c4t group should send a letter to Senator Brewer to have him let us know if there is any interference or other contacts about article 8! Urge him to let the caller know that he would be informing the blog of the interference brought forward!
ReplyDeleteAs it would not be part of the investigations it should ok.
Regarding the old Hearthside property-
ReplyDeleteI believe Virginia would like the BOS to ask Senator Brewer to intervene on this issue. .. The conversion of Hearthside to a treatment facility for substance abuse. I don't believe Sen. Brewer can overturn the Dover amendment for the Town of Templeton.
The issue is with Planning Board. the hearing has been continued until December 4th. This issue is not within the BOS jurisdiction. The Planning Board can ask for conditions like parking and fencing. If this issue effects you as an abutter, you can voice your concerns at the hearing. I believe our legal counsel was in attendance and tried to explain the impact of the Dover amendment.
If enough residents are upset about this issue, they can submit a citizen petition to request the town to expend limited legal resources to fight for the town on their behalf....if the BOS declines to discuss or vote on this topic. I believe it is a losing cause; by that I mean the town will be unsuccessful if we try to block or fight this project.
Just my thoughts on the topic. ...not those of the BOS.
While I understand the nature of the treatment facility, and I understand abutters' concerns, I for one am pleased to see a vacant property see some maintainance again, and some tax revenue. I suspect that time will show that this will not be a disruptive addition to our community. With that said, I think if the Board wants to flex its muscle, that's fine, but Virginia should stick to her "expertise" in PCBs if she wants to fight.
DeleteI watched the BOS meeting again last night and the thing that bothers me with the Michaels Lane people is not them or their complaints. Its how the BOS handles these types of issues. I felt Mr. Stewart was a bit rude and did not take their complaints seriously. Calling them "nit-picky" is not the proper way to deal with someone with a complaint. I felt he let his affection for the rec dept cloud his actions and he was biased in protecting them vs. listening to the residents and offering a solution to them. They left shaking their heads and (I'm sure) feeling as if they didn't get any help in resolving the issue. Its actions like this by the BOS that turn people off from paying attention to town politics. When their issues are trivialized and they are not treated with respect, they don't bother to vote or pay attention to anything else because they see it as pointless.
ReplyDeleteI saw this happen with the people who complained about the music coming from the Candlelite. I saw this with Mr. Perkins trying to get a resolution with the water runoff in his yard. How many meetings did he go to and ask for help in a resolution only to be ignored, given the run around or treated like a crazy old man?
I'm not sure who is "right" on these issues. None have affected my life in order for me to take an opinion one way or another on them. But when something affects your daily life, no matter how small it is, it is important to you and should never be treated with disrespect when you go through the proper motions to seek help from the BOS and seek a resolution.
The BOS needs to be much better at putting their personal opinions aside and remember that they represent the WHOLE town of Templeton, not just one group, or relatives, or one dept, or dear friend. If these people truly ran for selectman to make a difference in their community--maybe be remembered for doing something respectable--then they should try their best to do their job according to the law and as ethically and objectively as they can.
I don't think the BOS can make the people on Michaels Lane happy. I think to make them happy, would mean stopping the kids from having week end tournaments, or any thing that draws a large crowd. If they don't want people parking on the road, then some one needs to be sure there is enough parking, away from the houses. It is worth the effort to not let these games, interfear with the people who live near by. They have rights too. Chris is Chris, he does not like confrontations. He does not always come across as being real sensative. I agree that when people get the courage to go to a selectmans meeting, they should be treated with respect. Some times when people walk in the door, they already have a mind set, that you can't change. It ends up being a loosing arguement on both sides. I think you should treat people the way you would want your mother or father to be treated. If you think about dealing with the public that way, how can you go wrong? If the people on Michaels Way feel no one listens to them, things will go from bad to worse, real quick. It is worth it to really try to work with them, not just give them lip service. They also have to realize that games will be played, kids will run around and that is the reason the town has put alot of effort into doing the work they have up there. I hope both parties can reach a understanding, so every one can get along. If not it will be a long long summer. Bev.
DeleteAnonymous 9:36 A.M. Please do not take this wrong but perhaps you should run for selectmen if you truly feel that way. Things will not change by standing on the outside and simply pointing out what you feel is wrong, it will not chage, I know, I tried so I ran for some of the reasons you just wrote about. Please also know that it is not the responsibilty of the selectmen, that isthe Templeton taxpayers to fix every problem that people have in and around their home. Sometimes people have to take responsibilty for themselves. If someone buys a home where their driveway goes down hill toward their home so in the springtime, water from the road runs downhill and say into their garage, should taxpayers be responsible for paying for work to try and ensure water does not run downhill or should the new home owner have put a little more thought into the purchase of that property. Should it be the responsibilty of the homeowner to say put a drain in or other device to take the water away or divert it to a different path? Directly, if one wishes the "town" to fix everything and everyones problem then the "town" is going to need more of your money to pay for these things. Having services are great and makes life easier but they have to be paid for one way or another. As for Michaels Lane, I would ask if those people benefit from having those facilities near their property? I think as part of being a citizen of Templeton is you sometime have to give a little to benefit the entire community. We don't want kids skateboarding in the street or hanging out in front of business so there has to be some other place for them to be and someone has to pay for that in some way. There is a tape of a Board of Selectmen meeting where an attorney for a motorcyle race park off of route 202 was before the selectmen looking for a license renewal and citizens were present and asking questions and stating complaints of noise and the attorney made a statement that since this was a request for a license renewal, he did not think it appropriate for the board to listen to complaints, the attorney thought we shouls schedule a hearing for another time. I informed the attorney that a selectmen meeting was the peples meeting, selectmen meeting is the one place where people believe they can come and haveinput on business in their town and I was not going to tell them they could not have input. I was acting chairman at the time. I may not have voted in the way that some people wanted, but I did listen to them and I did give them consideration, but I thought the benefits to the town outwiegh the negatives and not everyone left the meeting happy but that is part of the job of being a selectmen, in my opinion. We must remember that in a democracy, not everyone gets their way, only a majority do as there will always be some who are not happy about things and that is why we have elections, so people can change who represents them if they are unhappy with the vote. People are free to run for selectmen and give it a try, I enjoy it, I really really like it, all aspects of it and I put alot of time into it because I want to. However, after a few meetings the view from the table becomes very different and you would soon see that no matter what, someone is not going to be happy with your decisions. I respect the views of the people of Michaels Lane, I just do not see things the same as they do.
ReplyDeleteI think the point anonymous 9:36 was making is that as a selectmen one should always treat the peole that come before them with respect and listen to them. They (the taxpayer/resident) has a right to speak. of the five selectmen Julie and Jeff always treat the taxpayer with respect no matter what. Our Chairman Mr Stewart has a way of mocking people that he does not agree with as does VW and scrappy well he just sits there. Mr Stewart has been rude to Charlie Perkins, Pete Kasper, Mr Sparks (who complained about the candlelite) remenmber Chris S said it was there when you bought the house.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, we needn't be surprised at the disrespectful behavior exhibited by the aforementioned CS & VW. Saddened yes, but not surprised!! Just look at who they hang around with & report to. That old regime, who held power for way too long, didn't let anyone speak when it was on a subject that they didn't like or want to hear. And if someone did get a word in that they didn't want aired publicly, their henchmen were let loose on those who "dared" say anything to the contrary of the political views of the "hill gang". Believe me, I Know!! So again, I thank all the brave ones, near & far for taking a strong stand against them. We are almost bankrupt because of GS & the political crony machine he was able to build, that it will be a wonder when we see the light (pun intended). Bev & Julie have been very effective at meetings & I can't thank them enough for speaking out on a wide range of issues that effect us all. Pauly, you are the major catalyst, as the present day town crier for helping to get people to finally look at what was going on for so many years that has lead to near insolvency. I hope this investigation gets going & many heads start to roll. Ultimately, there should be jail time for some. However, if that doesn't happen at least a lot of "dirty deeds" will be exposed. I am amazed at how long these few people were allowed to rake us over the coals. I think we will also be startled at learning who some of the people are who sold us out. I hope they are shuddering in their shoes right now because it is payback time. I think GS & Company should be sued to help literally pay us back what they stole when they spent all of our hard earned tax dollars on frivolous things such as the 252 bldg., over priced desks, raiding peter to pay paul for CS salary, The ridiculous lawsuits filed for their personal agendas, the wasted money on K&P, the loss of revenue in the WWTP debacle, the landfill nightmare, shutting off our streetlights (affecting the safety of this town) when they had OUR money to pay for building a light dept. "taj majal", buying all brand new vehicles to drive home on OUR dime, the wasted money on bogus recalls, the cost of possible voter fraud, suspected rate payer manipulation, a useless expensive wind turbine & so much more. That's just a few reasons we Need this investigation to get going full swing. Once the layers start to be peeled away, it will be quite shocking to some, I am sure. Whenever I get discouraged that something is taking too long to be remedied I remember a saying a friend of mine had. Think of Love Canal!! It took that woman 13 years of almost constant rallying before anyone even listened to her, let alone actually do something about it. We can hang in there, too!! Justice will be served. Or as Bev says, "it will all come out in the wash" Thanks for taking a hard stand on this, Bev. All the negative slams haven't stopped you, Pauly, Julie, Sue or Jeff, to name a few. You are more appreciated than you know!! This blog is my opinion from what I have observed. The alleged wrongdoings listed are well known now. I am not personally accusing anyone of anything. However, I am reiterating the "laundry list" of suspected fraud, possible criminal behavior, irresponsible decisions made in the past & alleged misconduct of those in positions of trust, as well as, downright major abuses of power. Anyway, thanks for reading my blog. Have a good weekend, everyone & stay safe out there in the desert, Jeff. Continue to get well, Pauly. Am praying for you both. We need the two of you & your spunk back in "local service". Big thank you for the military service, as well. Take care of yourselves.
ReplyDeleteNone of us can be successful with out the backing of all of you. I was afraid THURSDAY NIGHT, at the special town meeting. I did not want to walk out of that room a looser. Julie and I have something in common. Both of us hate to loose. I brought a rug to the meeting along with a pillow for all of the things we needed to look at as a part of the investigation. Well Dave would not let me do the show and tell, but I tried.{It was a representation of the dirt under the rug}. Thank goodness, you all showed up! With out the help of all of you, we would be stuck in the past, with no way to get things resolved. Julie and I are determined to keep this investigation as clean as we can make it. We have gone way too far, to have things go wrong now. Mr. De Rensis will keep an eye on things for us. We can not ask for more than that. All of the things that will be looked at, will go through the washer, one at a time, let the chips land where they lay. Bev.
DeleteI personally think that the Micheals Lane residents have more to complain about than Molly Paine and the Baldwinville Road residents. Come on Baldwinville Road take a look around if your are judging people. Check out the people that are walking the streets. I see some pretty shady looking characters! Be careful, you may have a loved one need a house such as that to help them through a "sickness" some day. Hopefully not. Its not like anyone is trying to put an abortion clinic or a meth clinic next door it is support, one of the last steps to returning to a drug free life. It is also tax revenue for a town in financial distress. No one put up a stink about adding a new liquor license to the town and we know what kind of problems alcohol cause! Revenue for the rescue squad.
ReplyDeleteI agree. People just don't seem to get that the town is BROKE!! Unfortunately, we are not in a position to pick and choose which businesses come to town. And honestly, we should be so grateful to ANY business that is willing to come to this dysfunctional, mismanaged town. McLean's is a very reputable business that runs a tight ship. Its a great company to come here. People have to be a little more realistic about the economy in town. And, ANON 8:47--your other good point about accepting yet another liquor license in town vs. accepting a treatment facility in town is very eye opening. We were all asked to support that warrant in order to support a local business that wants to expand yet we turn our backs on the exact opposite type of business that helps people with alcohol addiction?? There are only a certain number of liquor licenses allowed based on town population. And when another one is wanted over the allowed limit, you have to seek special legislation in order to obtain it. So, if you think about it, allowing a treatment facility is a very responsible move. Maybe we all need to dry out, stop drinking so much so we can think clearly and work on this financial emergency that the majority of residents seem to keep ignoring.
DeleteVirginia had no problem supporting more access to alcohol in town. But she'll fight to keep alcohol rehab facilities out of town. Ya, that makes sense...not! Next time you see a selectmen, ask them what they personally have done to promote more business in town in order to generate more tax income. I can guarantee you at least 3 have done NOTHING!!! They're too busy pushing though their own agendas and not looking out for the whole town.