March 10, 2014 BOS Meeting and… The movie

March 10, 2014 BOS Meeting and…

The movie

Part 1 of the March 10, 2014 BOS Meeting

Part 2 of the March 10, 2014 BOS Meeting

Part 3 of the March 10, 2014 BOS Meeting

Part 4 of the March 10, 2014 BOS Meeting

The Board opened the meeting with the pledge and approved the minutes.  One resident spoke at length about the budget recap sheet during public comments.

The agenda item to discuss the Capital Plan & project recommendations was postponed. There was a brief discussion about trust funds and the process of contacting the Attorney General’s office for a change in use of a trust fund once its purpose is outlived.

The superintendent of schools discussed four items at length the warrant articles for the STM; the contract for the designer for the elementary school; the amount of money remaining for the feasibility study; and the biomass boiler.

After discussion, the contract for the designer was approved. There was discussion about the amount of money remaining form the original $550,000 for feasibility and schematic design for the Templeton Elementary School. The superintendent produced a document from the OPM, which indicated the amount left at $313,000. Other estimates were $220,000, but unconfirmed by the town.

The OPM for the boiler appeared before the selectmen to discuss the biomass boiler project for high school/ middle school. Questions asked:

Where will you get the wood chips?... Landscapers in the area. Info from chairman – MWCC pays $58/ton for wood chips. Athol pays $68/ton. The ash is used as fertilizer in some places. The monitoring wells in back of the middle school should not be impacted by the new construction.

The biomass information distributed at a prior BOS meeting was inaccurate. The biomass project in not a $2.3 million dollar project, but a $3.5 million dollar. Where will the school dept. obtain propane for

$1.4 /gallon?

What happens if the cost assumptions for this project do not work out as planned? Who pays the debt for this project? Response – Do you think the price of heating oil will drop?

There is an informational meeting tonight in the KIVA regarding the biomass project.

STM Warrant Articles and Meeting –

The articles for the STM warrant were discussed. New information from the DOR regarding a vote at the ATM necessitated the opening of the warrant so that an article to correct a vote could be added. There should be 9 articles on the warrant. There will be an emergency meeting tonight (3/12) to vote and sign the warrant. The STM warrant will then be posted.

The order of the warrant articles was discussed at length.  The BOS voted to keep the order of the articles, with the town financial articles first.

DOR update –

After the meeting with Deb Wagner from the DOR some new information is available. Adjustments to the $505,000 shortfall can be made in the town’s favor - $127,000. FY 13 is still not closed out. The March 14^th deadline for submitting Schedule A is not looking good. Templeton’s part-time accountant has submitted his resignation as of March 28^th.

Holly Young has been appointed Tax Title Custodian to pursue processing the 5 foreclosed properties in Templeton – not to include 252 Baldwinville Rd.

During discussion of the merits of contacting the Inspector General’s office regarding the borrowing and financing of the wind turbine, the former general manager, Sean Hamilton made an impassioned plea regarding the sanctity of C. 164.  The taxpayers of Templeton can rest assured that there is no liability on the town. Any liability rests on the ratepayers. In other good news, current general manager John Driscoll stated the Light department had an abysmal year. Therefore the town should not expect much in the way of a PILOT payment.

Town Hall Meetings were discussed. The NRSD will host three meetings. One on the TESB project was held on 3/1/14. There will be an informational meeting regarding the biomass project on 3/12/14. The BOS will host an informational meeting on March 20^th. There will be an additional meeting on March 22^nd.

The Personnel Policy discussion was postponed.

While discussion at this meeting was a bit contentious at times, it was certainly not as bad as some prior BOS meetings.

September 26, 2011

February 16, 2012 BOS Meeting

April 12, 2012  BOS Meeting

My opinions…supported by FACTS ! ! !

Julie Farrell