There is now an 8 1/2 x 11 posting on town bulletin board at town hall stating how to find information on meetings on town website. Now if the links on the town web site can be fixed so residents can find information, that would be great.
T/A weekly report (first one since Dec. 17, 2020 is out; Assessor, accountant, town clerk, police and fire/EMS nothing reported.
Templeton meals tax to date:
1st quarter = $13,317.00
2nd quarter = $16,339.00
That is FY21 thru December 31, 2020.
Treasurer / Collector for Templeton employment agreement expired June 30, 2020 and is finally scheduled to be in front of the board of selectmen. Now about that animal control inter-municipal agreement that expired June 30, 2020?
At some point in time, perhaps membership on advisory committee should be looked at and the number of members reduced to 5, that would need to go before town meeting as a by-law change.
Hopefully, an article asking what budget format town meeting would like to see for the next fiscal year budget, FY23, per MA department of revenue opinion.
Since the premise for making assistant town accountant full time was due to inter-municipal agreement with Hubbardston and that is no longer the case, BOS should consider making that position part time again.
Fleecing of town residents - dog license fees raised to $20.00 and FY2020 3rd quarter revenue shows revenue from dog license sales at over $15,000.00. FY2021 shows expense $$$ needed to purchase dog license at $400.00 and $370.00 needed for delinquent dog postcards and postage; so, say $1,000.00 needed to offer this service to residents with dogs. Seems this dog license fee could/should be reduced to around $5.00 and still cover the expense of town dog license service.
The loose ends need to be tied up. Hopefully this will be accomplished under Adam, our new Town Administrator. There is no excuse for anyone employed by the Town to go without a contract. Information should be correctly transferred from the old website to the new one. This is now history. Once it is gone, it is gone forever. That is not acceptable. please watch last week's meeting of the Board of Selectmen. Ask yourself why Jeff is the only person that does any homework ? Being a Selectman is a job. It is a important job. Any and every decision a Selectman makes has repercussions that go on for years. As important as what the Selectmen do, it is just as important that the people of this town pay attention to what the Board of Selectmen are doing. If you have invested in a home in this community, it behooves you to pay attention to local government and volunteer if you have qualifications that will add to any committee that needs help. The future of this community is not on stable ground. Financial difficulties and poor project planning has cost the taxpayers dearly. It is more important as ever that the Town maintain it's Stabelization and Bond Rating while we face some financially difficult times in the next few years. Please stay informed.
ReplyDeleteExcellent Comment Bev!
DeleteMr. Bennett puts the other Selectman far in his rear view mirror when He starts talking about Town issues. I dont know how, other than osmosis, that the Selectman think you know this stuff without reading.
Why were the other Board members in apparent shock when listening to Mr. Bennett? Maybe they are having the same issues as Advisory. Everyone speaking, but few have any true knowledge of what they are talking, just vague ideas about it.
Maybe if someone rums for Elected Office they should understand that its more than just a meeting every 2 weeks and signing warrants, especially when you come from a place that is not municipal government.
We shouldn't elect unqualified people to be selectman and expect anything more than what we have, chaos!
Great job Jeff. I personally respect your effort, time and dedication to Templeton town governance. Keep up the great work. Hopefully your example puts others on notice!