They did it again, so I think it requires a move to get their attention:

The Board of Selectmen used the rule of necessity so they can have a meeting with only two members present, clearly they have not read the rule or they do not understand it.

Advisory 05-05: The Rule of Necessity

If an elected member of a town or city board has a conflict of interest with respect to a matter before the board that involves his own financial interest or that of a partner, an immediate family member, a business organization with which the board member has certain affiliations, or a person or organization with whom the board member is negotiating or has any arrangement concerning future employment, that member will be disqualified from participating as a board member in that matter.1/ In some cases, especially when more than one member is disqualified, a board cannot act because it does not have a quorum or some other number of members required to take a valid affirmative vote.  (If the number for a quorum is not set by law, a quorum is generally a majority of the board members.)  In these circumstances, the board may be able to use the rule of necessity to permit the participation of the disqualified member(s) in order to allow the board to act.  Individual elected officials, such as the mayor of a municipality or a constitutional officer, also may be able to use the rule of necessity in order to carry out legally-required actions that would otherwise be barred by the conflict of interest law.

The rule of necessity is not a law written and passed by the Legislature.  Rather, the rule of necessity was developed by judges who applied it in their court decisions.  The rule of necessity may only be used as a last resort.  The rule should be used only upon prior written advice from town or city counsel because improper use of the rule could result in a violation of the conflict of interest law.

The rule of necessity works as follows:

1. When used by an elected board member, the rule of necessity may be used only when an elected board is legally required to act on a matter and it lacks enough members to take valid official action solely due to board members being disqualified by conflicts of interest from participating in the matter.

Example:  A five-member elected board has a meeting and all members are present.  Three of the five members have conflicts in a matter before the board in which the board is legally required to act.  Three members are the quorum necessary for a decision.  The two members without conflicts do not constitute a quorum.  The board cannot act.  The rule of necessity will permit all members to participate in that matter

Jeff Bennett.

Tax - A - Templeton is similar to Tax - A -'Chusetts.

Watching a recent editorial comment on TV channel 5, I decided to look at the fees for Templeton. Fees are a tax with another name.

First, there are the charges for public records. These are things that are suppose to be public. The last time I asked for copies of record of spending of public funds for a study, I was told it would cost me over $600.00 to obtain them. Think about that for a moment, taxpayers pay for the building that houses the employees that create and maintain those records, taxpayers pay the people in that building, they pay for all costs including the paper, ink, copier/printer, the light bill, everything and yet when you ask for copies, you are charged a fee, which is a tax by another name.

Now if you want to be sure that your smoke detector is up to date and or is working properly, is placed at the best location, be prepared to pay a fee. On the Templeton website, under the fire department, it has listed a fee of $25.00 for a smoke detector only inspection. A smoke and carbon monoxide detector inspection for a single family home is $50.00, $100.00 for a two family home, $150.00 for a building or structure with six or fewer residential units and $500.00 for more than six residential units. You already pay for the fire department in salary and expense by way of your property taxes and yet when it comes to your safety, there is another tax to pay. seems like it would be in everyone's best interest if these services were covered by your one payment in property taxes. I am betting that if you ask what do you pay property taxes for, you will be told it is for town services.

On the 2017 budget document for Templeton, there is a line that has inspection services salaries - $25.00 per inspection and there is $6,750.00 budgeted from your taxes to pay for this, yet if you check, there is a re-inspection fee of $40.00 under the tab on the Templeton website for electrical inspection. If you check further, you will find that the electrical inspector for Templeton also does this work for other towns.
Down near the bottom of the electrical inspection/permit fee schedule, you will find this: *permit fee will provide one rough and one finish inspection. All other inspections will be $40.00 per inspection. Not meeting code, $50.00 re-inspection fee. The permit cost for a new house is at $180.00.

Now since the electrical and plumbing inspectors are not employees of the Town in a true sense of the word, there has to be some mechanism in place to pay these individuals but taxpayers should not be fleeced by way of fees to do so and the Town should not be charging two, three or more times for this basic service.

One would think it would be to the benefit for everyone if smoke detectors / monoxide detectors were checked free of charge, especially when you already pay for these services through your taxes for, in part, the salaries of the very people who do this work. Imagine paying a fee just so you could pay your property taxes. Wait, you do not really have to imagine that, just pay your light bill and you will also pay a fee just for being a customer.

Jeff Bennett