Massachusetts General Law chapter 44:

Snow & Ice removal; emergency expenditures; reporting requirements.

Section 31D. Any city or town may incur liability and make expenditures in any fiscal year in excess of available appropriations for snow and ice removal, provided that such expenditures are approved by the town manager and the finance or advisory committee in a town having a town manager, by the selectmen and the finance or advisory committee in any other town, by the city manager and the city council in a city having a city manager or by the mayor and city council in any other city; provided, however, that the appropriation for such purposes in said fiscal year equaled or exceeded the appropriation for said purposes in the prior fiscal year. Expenditures made under authority of this section shall be certified to the board of assessors and included in the next annual tax rate.

Every city or town shall annually, not later than September fifteenth, report to the division of local services of the department of revenue the total amounts appropriated and expended, including any funding or reimbursements received from the commonwealth, for snow and ice removal in the fiscal year ending on the preceding June thirtieth.

posted by Jeff Bennett

 Templeton Board of Selectmen

 Town Hall, 160 Patriots Road, East Templeton

 Monday, June 6, 2016, 6:30 p.m.

 Amended Agenda

 6:30 P.M. Call to Order

 Pledge

  Discuss possible Special Town Meeting & Warrant Article for Utilization of Stabilization Fund

   for Police & Fire Departments

  Action on All-Committee Meeting

  Action on Joint Board of Selectmen & Advisory Committee Meeting 

  Animal Control Office Update 

  Police Chief Updates 

  Fire Chief Updates 

  Highway Department Updates 

   Action on Town Administrator Search 

  Scout Hall Update 

  New Business 

  Selectmen’s Comments 

 Adjourn 

The listing of Agenda items is those reasonably anticipated by the Chair which may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent it is permitted by law.  THIS AGENDA IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

posted by Jeff Bennett

In support of The Healthy Transportation Policy and in response to the establishment of Massachusetts General Law (MGL) Chapter 90I, through Chapter 79 of the Acts of 2014 (Transportation Bond Bill), MassDOT has established a funding program to encourage municipalities to regularly and routinely include Complete Streets design elements and infrastructure on locally-funded roads. MassDOT has allocated $12.5 million for the first two years of the program, and plans to accept its first applications for funding early-2016. Funding source and amount beyond FY17 will be determined based on the success of the program. For application guidance, documents and access to the program portal, please visit:

• Complete Streets Funding Program Guidance [PDF - 1MB]
  • Complete Streets Funding Program Guidance Appendices [PDF - 3.4MB]
• Complete Streets Funding Program Application Portal
• Complete Streets Funding Program Due Dates [PDF - 345KB]
• Frequently Asked Questions [PDF - 299KB]

A topic that has come up a few times recently at selectmen meetings is this program. As you can see, there was not much money put aside for this item. The links provide information so citizens can have an idea of what this program is about, if by chance you choose to attend a meeting, you can have material and possibly come up with questions to ask.

posted by Jeff Bennett

An update on what is being done to try to get funding in some way from the Town of Phillipston in support of the Templeton Senior Center. Speaking with the director, the subject was not part of the Town's annual town meeting but is suppose to be on an anticipated special town meeting. Templeton voters and taxpayers can only hope this happens. Templeton residents should not be expected to continue to subsidize Phillipston without fair, equal financial contribution. I plan to keep in touch with the director and not let this slip under the radar as Templeton residents deserve better.

posted by Jeff Bennett

Jeff Bennett has started this blog because I feel not all things are being done correctly in Templeton, MA. This will be an editorial type blog and will include information on the goings on in Templeton Government.

Ultimatums, demands and blackmail

I do not go to the corner nor do I go to time out, I have other options and I will use them. I think I will borrow a phrase from a good friend, "I am speaking"

Above are a couple of the first things I posted on this blog. So this is my sand box and I play the way I wish to.

 I have not really kept track as to what I have put on here with regards to what is straight fact or what is my opinion, as in how I see things. We all have em and we all see things differently, in some way or fashion. One thing you can be sure of here is this, what is posted is posted by me and only me. It is not all original content because a good bit is Massachusetts General Law, already written policies, information from places such as Massachusetts Municipal Association. The material is not posted by "Templeton Watch", it is posted by a real living person. Kind of hard for Paul H. Cosentino sr. to post anything since the man has been dead for a while. Someone has to be posting things on Pauly's Templeton watch blog, so why dosen't anyone wish to take credit for all the material put on that blog. Maybe it is run under the premise of citizens united ruling where super pacs can take in large sums of money and yet there are no names attached to them. Seems to me there is a lack of conviction there, they demand to know who comments on that blog but know one seems to take credit for the original posts, how nice. Kind of reminds me of a Massachusetts state representative who sponsored a bill to increase tax on liquor then got caught in New Hampshire with a trunk full of liquor. Demand that you pay the tax but he goes to a tax free place. Same thing, in my opinion, we have to know who you are but we don't have to fess up who we are.

posted by Jeff Bennett

May 27, 2016

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation in April released a draft capital investment plan for 2017 through 2021, which would allocate $14.3 billion to improve the reliability of transportation infrastructure, modernize assets and expand capacity.
 
About 60 percent of the funds in the draft plan would be spent to improve system reliability. The plan has a focus on capital maintenance, asset preservation, and the “state of good repair” standard.
 
According to Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack, the plan used a formal evaluation and scoring process to select and prioritize projects. The administration solicited input on the plan through its “capital conversations” public workshop series.
 
The draft plan would provide cities and towns with $200 million per year for the Chapter 90 local road and bridge program. The MMA submitted comments strongly urging the administration to increase funding for Chapter 90 to $300 million per year in the five-year capital plan.
 
The MMA also stressed the importance of MassDOT’s approach of focusing on reliability, adding that maintaining local roads falls under that principle. Prioritizing reliability and maintenance will save taxpayers money in the long-term, because every dollar invested to keep a road properly maintained saves $6 to $10 in avoided repair costs that become necessary to rebuild a road when it fails due to a lack of maintenance.
 
Funding the Chapter 90 program at $300 million per year, with an inflation-based adjustment, would close a portion of the funding gap that municipalities currently face due to inadequate resources, the MMA stated.
 
At a May 10 meeting of the Local Government Advisory Commission, Mount Washington Selectman Jim Lovejoy, chair of the MMA’s Policy Committee on Public Works, Transportation and Public Utilities, stressed the importance of funding Chapter 90 at $300 million annually in order to help cities and towns face the challenge of keeping roads in a state of good repair.
 
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito responded that the administration understands the importance of Chapter 90 and demonstrated its commitment to local roads with the release of $300 million in Chapter 90 funds for last year’s construction season.
 
The MassDOT capital plan would fund the “complete streets” program at $50 million over five years. At the May LGAC meeting, Lexington Selectman Michelle Ciccolo thanked the administration for including the initiative in the capital investment plan.
 
The complete streets program encourages cities and towns to redesign and modernize streets to accommodate all types of users: pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. So far, more than 200 communities have participated in complete streets training to learn more about the initiative.
 
The plan highlights the Commonwealth’s investment in bridges, including the new municipal small bridge program. Gov. Charlie Baker included a $50 million bond authorization for the program in the transportation bond bill that he filed in January.
 
The small bridge program would provide much-needed funding for the design, construction, preservation, reconstruction and repair of non-federally aided bridges span lengths between 10 and 20 feet. Cities and towns are responsible for maintaining and replacing roughly 1,300 small bridges across the state.
 
For more information about the Capital Investment Plan, visit www.massdot.state.ma.us/informationcenter/capitalinvestmentplan.aspx.

posted by Jeff Bennett

Okay, this post is about one thing, a new loader for Templeton Highway dept. Since I do not believe anyone can say what the voters were thinking and since they were not asked to the best of my knowledge, I believe it is safe to say they said no. No where in this is there any mention of other votes or other subjects.


Annual Town Meeting, May 23, 2012:


Article 50.
To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate, transfer from available funds or otherwise provide the sum of Thirty Thousand Dollars ($30,000.00) for the first year of a multiple year lease/purchase for a new front-end loader for the Highway Department, provided, however, that the appropriation hereunder shall be expressly contingent upon the approval by the voters of a Proposition 2 ½ , so called, Capital Expenditure Exclusion ballot question, pursuant to the provisions of G.L. c. 59 §21c(i1/2), or to take any other action relative thereto. Submitted by the Highway Superintendent and the Capital Planning Committee On a motion duly made and seconded the town voted to raise and appropriate the sum of Thirty Thousand Dollars ($30,000.00) for the first year of a multiple year lease/purchase for a new front-end loader for the Highway Department, provided, however, that the appropriation hereunder shall be expressly contingent upon the approval by the voters of a Proposition 2 ½ so called, Capital Expenditure Exclusion ballot question, pursuant to the provisions of G.L. c.59 §21c(i1/2).
 Passed/May 23rd @ 7:42

TOWN OF TEMPLETON 

WARRANT FOR SPECIAL TOWN ELECTION

 JUNE 28, 2012

 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS  

  3. Shall the Town of Templeton be allowed to assess an additional $30,000.00 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding the first year payment of a multiple year lease/purchase of a new front-end loader for the Highway Department for the fiscal year beginning July first, two thousand and twelve? 

                                                  YES__________ NO____________

Precinct                            A                         B                 C                      Total 

YES                               120                      152                93                       365 

NO                                 232                      186              172                       590 

BLANKS                           1                          3                  2                           6 

TOTALS                        353                      341              267                        961