Thank
you Chris for your service
The
BOS meeting last night went well. There was discussion about addressing Charlie
Perkins property, the ATM warrant, a pole hearing, the petition for a pubic
safety meeting and action on a class II license.
Perkins property – there was discussion and
a vote by the BOS to address the on-going drainage issues on Hubbardston Rd. by
Charlie Perkins property. The BOS voted to use Chapter 90 money to address the
crown of the road, which is in failure and impacts the Perkins property.
There
was also discussion regarding the engineering plans for the Mr. Dembek’s
property. It appears these engineered plans have not been located at this time.
ATM
Warrant DRAFT articles – Discussion on the warrant
articles began with the recommendations from the Capital planning Committee. The
Capital Planning articles were discussed and voted as recommended with the
exception of the request for an ambulance. Staffing of the EMS/Fire was deemed
the more important budgetary item. The total amount of ambulance receipts fund
will be used to funded EMS services.
After
the discussion about capital planning articles, most of the discussion
concerned the order or placement of the articles on the warrant. For the most
part, town charges will be in the front of the warrant, citizen petitions will
be at the end of the warrant, bylaws changes or additions in the middle of the
warrant.
Discussion
on the budget sheets (green sheets) was held until after the pole hearing.
The
BOS approved a Class II license for Lang’s Old Car Parts, which will open soon
at the old “Brickyard” property. Old car Parts = Model T specialty automotive
parts.
John
Brooks was appointed to the Templeton Common Improvement committee.
The
pole hearing was held at 7:15 p.m. regarding the placement of a pole at
Templeton furniture to remove the guy wire from a tree.
Town Charges- At the request of Selectman
Wilder, the town coordinator presented a level funded budget that is in balance
to the selectmen. There was discussion about the interpretation of the Advisory
Board Bylaw – Article IV section 4:
It shall be the
duty of the Advisory Committee annually to consider the expenditures in
previous years and the estimated requirements for the ensuing year of the
several boards, officers and committees of the town, as prepared by them in such
form and detail as may be prescribed by said committee. The said committee
shall add to such statement of expenditures and estimates another column,
giving the amounts which in its opinion should be appropriated for the ensuing
year, and shall further add thereto such explanations and suggestions relating
to the proposed appropriations as it may deem expedient, and report thereon as
provided in section five of Article II.
The
discussion concerned who had the duty to present the budget Advisory or BOS. I
disagreed with the vote, but was reminded that the BOS did direct the town
coordinator to formulate a budget with a 2% reduction back in September of
2012. The budget proposal presented is level-funded.
Anyway
you look at it; this is a vast improvement- to have two budget proposals this
year- versus the bungled budget proposal from last year.
Budget
was not finalized pending the figures for debt. Articles for STM w/in the ATM
are due by Wednesday April 24th.
Public safety hearing – It was decided to wait until
the final decision by the Planning board was rendered before a public safety hearing
would be held by the BOS. The intent of this proposal is to meet with the
representatives from McLean’s hospital, the BOS and residents to discuss public
safety issues of the proposed facility. The BOS cannot compel McLean’s hospital
to attend any meeting.
Other items discussed – There was a vote at the
last BOS meeting to reduce the size of the Conservation Commission from 7
members to 5 members pending legal review. It will take a vote of town meeting
to reduce the size of the conservation commission.
There
was discussion on how to deal with the issue of employee withholdings,
specifically 457(b0 withholdings. It was decided to place the withholdings on
the payroll warrant vs. the vendor warrant to ensure timely payments. Payroll
is has been outsourced to Harper’s and will continue to be refined as time
passes.
It
is with regret that the BOS was notified of our webmaster’s resignation
effective July1, 2013. Kathy Mattson was thanked for years of service to the
town.
Discussion
about the town counsel bill and charges incurred by Vice-Chairman Jeff Bennett
regarding the municipal light and water department and citizens petition.
Selectman Wilder stated she would not sign the invoice. There was discussion
about how the bill was itemized. Consensus was reached to direct town counsel
to provide advice ONLY to those who fill out the appropriate forms. Hopefully,
the BOS will make those forms available electronically so that BOS members who
are deployed and serving their country can follow the proper procedures in
seeking legal counsel.
A
motion was made to send a letter requesting a copy of the memorandum on town
Governance paid for by the TMLWP Commissioners. Again the motion was not
seconded.
Dave
Smart asked if the BOS were aware that the sign-offs for following the OML were
not on file with the town clerk. Discussion about the necessity to have these
records and those of the Ethics test kept on file and up-to-date.
Meetings
and events:
Tuesday
4/23/13 Advisory Board
Blood drive at Kamaloht
Wednesday
4/24/13 Candidate Night at Kamaloht
Thursday
4/24/13 Templeton Common Improvement
Templeton
Elementary School Building
Committee
Julie
Farrell
Since Ms. Wilder made a point in a prior email to the coordinator about "when are we going to hire a secretary?" I have to ask if there was any discussion on that subject at the selectmen meeting last evening? Since Ms. Wilder states she will not do her required duties, hopefully the other three selectmen will do theirs. I think that statement by Ms. Wilder brings back that subject of good governance again. Disagreement is fine, discussion is good, agree to a solution is better, stubbornly refusing to do ones duty, not so much. I believe Ms Wilder was on the governemnt study committee, any ideas been brought forward by that committee lately?
ReplyDeleteOn Chris Stewart, I hope as many people as possible show up for Mr. Stewarts last meeting as a member of the Board of Selectmen. Agree or disagree, like or dislike Chris, he did step up to volunteer to try and help the people of Templeton. He has always been working for the benefit of the facilities at Gilman Wait. He deserves a respectful Thank You for three years service on the Board of Selectmen. So thank you very much Chris for your time and service, I realize I may not be on your Christmas list but I do wish you well.
ReplyDeleteIt good to see that young Charles Perkins has perservered through the years and finally got some satisfaction on his drainage issue, it has been and will continue to be an epic adventure. I have avoided posting on the blog due to the rudeness of some of the commentators and agree with Pauly that signing a name with the comments will make for a more civil discussion.
ReplyDeleteMs Wilder was at her best last night. Very indignant about Jeff's use of town council. Virginia had Bubba in the audience for support. It is amazing how righteous these two can be. It must be that short term memory loss, as these two forget fast, how last year they spent $5000. in one week on legal, and allowed CS to take home the warrant for town meeting, to make changes after it was voted on at a pre town meeting. Those are just the skim off the top of things they did to cost us a lot of money. It looks like they are setting things up to get K&P back, if they get enough support. Don't underestimate how important this election is. I for one do not want us to go backwards, and I don't think you do either. I am glad Charlie has had his say. I remember how upset my dad would get, over things like this. Charlie's yard looks like one out of Homes and Garden Magazine. The water problems were created by the town, and they should fix it. Oh boy, like Pauly says, Virginia trying to take the responsibility of the budget away from Will!! Good luck with that!! He has worked many, many hours to get the budget right the first time. He knows the laws, and he will not let go of that budget until it is on town meeting floor. We do not need a repeat of last year. Thanks Julie for trying to get the report from the Light and Water Dept. Why won't the rest of them second the motion?? We paid for that report, we should have the right to read it, it cost enough. Anyway, just another instance of your selectmen not working for you. {think about that for a minute!!} My opinion, Bev
ReplyDeleteThe advisory board is independent of the elected side of the house and has the responsibility of looking at all things financial. It has MGL behind them to look at any financial records of any entity of the town. Ms Wilder should remember this from her time on that board when she served with Mr. Dan Keeney. As previously stated on this blog by me, Mr. Keeney was a hard ass when it came to town departments and their budgets and as I stated and told Dan, that was and is a compliment! He wanted departments to sho why they needed this money and to show justification for the spending of taxpayer money. I thought that was one of the arguments made back at the STM with the idea of the BOS running L&W, I remember Mr. Gerald Skelton writting a letter in the Gardner News about the condition of the water department and how alot of people blamed the selectmen for the financial woes of said dept. So the question is, what is best for Templeton and its taxpayers? Has the advisory Board done the job of being responsible with the taxpayers money? What problem does Virginia Wilder have with the budget and the process? Is there someone behind Ms. Wilder? This sounds like someone more concerned with power than with results. The board of selectmen ultimately vote to move the budget forward or not. Seems like the advisory board is doing their job, unlike Ms, Wilder who will not vote to request information paid for with public money and who stated at the selectmen meeting she will not do her job and sign off on a town bill that will have to be paid.
ReplyDeleteI am willing to bet the budget process has never been worked over like it has been this year. Not a dime will roll away with Will Spring holding the budget. Think anyone will spend money at the end of the year, instead of giving it back to the town. Oh no you don't! Those were the "good old days". That does not work any more. Will Spring has done a super job, and Virginia has no place to go trying to bully Will. None of us will stand for it, so stop before you start. My opinion, Bev.
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