2015 Fiscal money transfers???
Templeton special Town meeting on July 14, 2015 will involve some more money transfers to balance the 2015 budget, we hope.
Some interesting facts about these transfers and the ones completed back in May at the annual Town meeting. The total of all of these transfers is $435,984.55. If you are keeping track, that is $302,726.71 back in May and $133,157.84 for July 14. Please check the math. Money from playground account gets two hits in July, 01-491-5400-5421, #30,478.63 and the other may be a typo or a comma mistake because the warrant reads $5,2435.36, guess we have to check that at the meeting. And here I thought we were short $85,000.00 for a playground? The next is Town diesel account; in July, $8,572.85 will be taken and in May, $23,500.00 was taken, which means from the original $59,000.00 appropriated at Town meeting back in May 2014, only $26,927.15 was used for the entire year by all Town vehicles that use diesel and get fuel from the Town highway barn. That seems like a small amount for the Town fleet? Apparently someone thinks so as well because as best as I can tell from the Town meeting vote in May, 2015, there is $100,000.00 appropriated for Town vehicles. There are no appropriations listed as Town fuel or Town gasoline or Town diesel.
There is also a taking from library expense of $11,041.14 to go towards group insurance and here I thought the library was funded pretty tight? Now, someone told me of a plot of land in Town that was left to the Library in some kind of trust and there has been some logging and / or firewood cutting on that property and I have to wonder if it was done to keep the library expense funded at the needed level with the taking of 11 thousand, perhaps without consultation of the Library personnel? That is just a thought based on a conversation with someone. The 411,041.14 transfer is however on the warrant. As I have a letter, on Town of Templeton letter head, signed by a senior legal assistant, perhaps I can check with the Templeton legal department on that one? Now where would that job description be?
Jeff Bennett
The Library Lot is in Templeton, on South Road. It is down the road from my house, and I am probably the only one left on this road that knows that it exists. I heard the sawing of trees in the spring of 2014, and I went to investigate. It looked like a major logging operation was going to take place. My friend is a logger, so I asked him if it went out to bid. He said no. I gave Mike Morgan a call, as he is a library trustee, and after listening to him tell me the Library did not own land on South Road for twenty minutes, he finally went to the Assessors to find out I am right. Now I got story #1. A logger was going to cut a road through the Library Lot, to get to the land on Farnsworth Road they wanted to log. So they were going to cut a road across 25 acres, to get to the land that they wanted to cut on Farnsworth Road. The story was that the woman who bought the house on Farnsworth Road, would not let the Loggers in to cut from there. I said fine, but don't you think the Town should get paid for the logs they do cut ?? Story # 2 was that yes they were going to cut the lot off, the woman at the library had hired this man, and George Pushee had said it was ok. Now the way I saw it was, if I did not know the land belonged to the Town, no one would ever know, and the money could be lost in the process. The biggest problem I had was with the logger working within 3 ft. of the brook with no silt fence, and no hay bales. It does seem that loggers do not have to answer to Local Conservation Agents. George Andrews helped me out a lot, to get these guys to protect the brook and the native trout that are in it. What the whole thing boils down to is, not only did the logger haul out logs all summer, there was a logger from Barre who went by my house every day, or sometimes every other day with a truck of cord wool that held over two cords of wood. All of that wood was first quality, so who got paid for that ?? I did bring my consern up with Mr. Markel, and even took him to see the operation. I know no money went through the treasurer to the Library account. It is not my job to see that Departments do things right, so I did my best to see the brook is protected. It was disappointing to see the Library Report in the Town Report because it tells the residents next to nothing. Salaries paid out of Appropriated Funds ?? Expenses paid out of Appropriated Funds ? Where did the money come from, and what is the balance?? Dammed if I can tell !! Bev.
ReplyDeleteBev i think you are thinking of French road?
ReplyDeleteWith all the money from the logging we should be able to get a pilot payment or all extra from it should go to the general fund.
This could support the library in the future. Who was the money paid to for the logs? Where does it show up on the town books? Is Templeton in violation of laws again for not keeping track of money,the way it should?
Who is liable if a injury occurs? Who is the owner of the land on South rd. the road is being cut through?
Is there any damage to the brook and how much will the cost th town to restore it?