Templeton Fire Chief contract not to be renewed, which means that at least three selectmen have agreed to not do that. Considering what has been done that last few years, there has to be a pretty interesting reason not to do it. It could always be "the good ole boys" system raising it's head, which means a local people is gonna get the job, just because they local, that happens alot in small towns and not always in the benefit of the residents. Or the Town Administrator could have fired him and the selectmen backed him up on it, either way, it seems the fire chiefs days in Templeton are numbered.

At some point in time, the current Templeton fire chief will no longer work for Templeton and since there are usually several sides to a story, perhaps I can get the chief to tell me his side, as in the why, the who and the when. Because I believe there is a story there, how or why did a fire chief who apparently did what the Town and the selectmen wanted, ALS ambulance service in Templeton, the selectmen put the light on the fire department when Templeton was presented as a Heart safe community. It made the pictures when a new/used fire truck came to Templeton without taxpayer money. So I think there is a question there, why not renew his contract?

posted by Jeff Bennett

Budget process by way of the Selectmen Handbook:
Legal Requirements:

 To meet the minimum legal requirements for approving a budget, town meeting must vote appropriations for salaries and wages and for expenses of each town department. In addition, town meeting must vote each year to approve the salaries for elected officials. In some instances, town bylaws may prescribe specific aggregations of line items for appropriation purposes. More typically, there is no such stipulation, and a town may adopt any degree of itemization within its budget to achieve expenditure control and management flexibility. Regardless of the details of each appropriation, town meeting must approve any transfers of funds between separate appropriations [G.L. c. 44, §33B] for all departments, except the town’s school appropriation. If town meeting appropriates a sum for a reserve fund, then the finance committee may transfer funds from this reserve to specific departments within statutory limitations.


posted by Jeff bennett

So, on Monday, at the selectmen meeting, there was almost a big boo boo, the board began a public hearing without the required motion, second and roll call vote, fortunately, the board was reminded of this requirement just as an individual was about to speak on the hearing subject. Also, it seems the current selectmen failed to post the March 21, 2016 special town meeting for the required 14 days, so now there has to be special legislation for the Templeton light & water dept. to be able to do the project they requested.

Also on Monday night, a selectmen stated how he would like to see a more standardized budget process with a universal form for department heads to use to submit their annual budget requests. Also stated was a thought on a clearer and a sooner rather than later budget process. All of those things have been brought forward, have been presented with examples to use to include time frames. These and other financial tools and procedures have all been presented and suggested by the Advisory Committee. The trick is not to just get the board to vote and accept them, but to follow them.

posted by Jeff Bennett