email today concerning City of Gardner, MA sewer sludge project.

Paula referred you question to me to assist you.  The City of Gardner has submitted a WP33 permit application to MassDEP proposing to to expand the sludge landfill.  All of the information on the permit application may be found on line at this link:  Search EEA Projects (state.ma.us).  Type in “Gardner Sludge Landfill” into the Site Name/Location Name to locate the record.  There is a document in the record (Appendix G of the Engineering Report) that identifies the location of any wells.

 

The project is subject to Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) and the City of Gardner needs to submit an Environmental Notification Form (ENF) and obtain a final MEPA Certificate from the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs before MassDEP can issue any permits for the work.  The public will have the opportunity to provide comments during the MEPA review and also during the permit review.  We are uncertain when the City will file the ENF.  MassDEP’s technical review of the permit is on hold pending the completion of the MEPA process. 

 

A Notice of Intent has been filed with the Gardner Conservation Commission for the work and was issued MassDEP File Number 160-0654.  The Gardner Conservation Commission has not completed their review, so we have not received an Order of Conditions from them yet.  The Order of Conditions may be appealed by eligible parties within 10 business days of issuance for issues related to compliance with the Wetlands Protection Act and regulations.

 

Boston staff and Solid Waste Program staff are assisting CERO with the review of this project.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions and will try to assist you in answering your questions.  Also please let me know if you have any difficulty accessing the on line file.

 

Thank you.

 

Marielle Stone

Deputy Regional Director

Bureau of Water Resources

MassDEP - Central Regional Office

8 New Bond Street

Worcester, MA 01606

Cell:  508 713 3528

 

While you are thinking on how to pay for Christmas, Templeton had a potential to collect $11,405,047.00 in real estate taxes. (budget book fy23 page 23) FY23 school district expense for the town of Templeton shown as $7,322,433.00 (fy23 budget book page 278)

Town employee health insurance and retirement costs equal about 2.5 million dollars. So there is quick and dirty math on where your real estate taxes go.

FY23 budget book, page 137 (revised) shows Templeton snow & ice budget is funded on average 100 thousand dollars less than what it should be. The next town meeting, May 2023, meeting members should insist on a snow & Ice budget of at least 250 thousand dollars. When a town deficit spends snow & Ice, think charge it and eventually town has to find the money to cover the bills. Not smart.

Same thing with leasing for things, it just creates future debt obligation and takes away tax dollars that could be used for roads, drains, sidewalks, etc. Why is there no capital requests for roads, drains, sidewalks, etc.? 

 from DOR/DLS.

DOR = Department of Revenue.

DLS = Division of Local Services.

Lastly, amendments in 2003 to Ch. 40, Sec 5b allow a municipality to establish special purpose stabilization funds and to build balances in them through a type of override,

which also has characteristics of a debt exclusion. Through initial approval, by two thirds vote, of town meeting (and the selectmen), a city council or a town council, a referendum can be placed before the voters asking whether to raise tax revenue, by

majority vote, above Proposition 2½ limits for the purpose of the stabilization fund. In succeeding years, solely through an annual vote of the selectmen, city council or town

council, the override can be continued, lowered or deferred entirely and resumed, or not, in a later year. Like an override, the additional tax can continue year-after-year without town-wide or city-wide referendum votes beyond the year of inception and, each

year, the amount available to be raised increases by 2½ percent. However, like an exclusion under Proposition 2½, the levy limit increase need not be permanent. It can be discontinued in any year.

MA general law chapter 40, section 5b: Section 5B. Cities, towns and districts may create 1 or more stabilization funds and appropriate any amount into the funds. Any interest shall be added to and become part of the fund.

At the time of creating any stabilization fund the city, town or district shall specify, and at any later time may alter, the purpose of the fund, which may be for any lawful purpose, including without limitation, an approved school project pursuant to chapter 70B or any other purpose for which the city, town or district may lawfully borrow money. The specification and any alteration of purpose, and any appropriation of funds from any such fund, shall be approved by a two-thirds vote, except as provided in paragraph (g) of section 21C of chapter 59 for a majority referendum vote. Subject to said section 21C of said chapter 59, any such vote shall be of the legislative body of the city, town or district, subject to charter.

(Templeton does not have a charter)

If a question as aforesaid shall provide for assessing taxes for the purpose of funding a stabilization fund established pursuant to section 5B of chapter 40, the assessors shall in each successive fiscal year assess property taxes for the same purpose in an amount equal to 102.5 per cent of the amount assessed in the next preceding year in which additional taxes were assessed for such purpose, but only if the local appropriating authority votes by a 2/3 vote to appropriate such increased amount in such year for such purpose. The voters of the city or town, by majority vote at a referendum, may alter the purpose of a stabilization fund or authorize the assessment of such additional property taxes for another purpose. In any year in which the local appropriating authority does not vote to appropriate such amount as aforesaid, the total property tax levy for such year shall be reduced by the amount that could otherwise have been assessed, so that such additional taxes may not be assessed for any other purpose. The maximum levy limit under paragraph (f) shall not be affected by any such reduction in the levy for such year.

 The average salary for a Templeton highway employee (laborer/operator) is around $45,500.00 plus on average 27 - 30 thousand dollars per employee for benefits.

Also, funds in budget for each employee:

$300.00 for boots, $200.0 for glasses, $125.00 for jacket, $100.00 for DOT physicals, $75.00 drug testing, Tee shirts (5 each @ $12.50 per shirt).

Town of Templeton pays 75% of the costs for health insurance for each covered employee.

All of this information is listed in a budget book and is part of the cost of maintaining roads, parks, etc. All of this is paid before any money is allotted to repair roads. Roads are public safety number 1 because everyone drives on the roads, residents, police, fire, ambulance and if the roads are unsafe, that affects everyone, if the roads are not plowed, no ambulance is getting thru.

Hopefully this year, each town employees pay will be included in the annual town report, as it should be.

 Unfinished, not started Templeton projects,

from October 2022 expenditure report from the accountant.

2019 - recreation - Gilman Waite / $10,000.00.

2019 - building/grounds - senior center / $19,581.00.

2020 - building/grounds - town hall cameras / $3,000.00

2020 - DPW - Main Street bridge / $148,700.00

2021 - DPW - Royalston Road title work / $15,448.00

2021 - select board - NRSD regional agreement / $9,395.00.

2023 -DPW - Improve GW building / $15,000.00.

2023 - DPW - street signs / $7,500.00.

December 31, 2022 will be end of 2nd quarter, so department quarterly reports should happen at a selectmen meeting in January, these and other things demand explanation and estimation of completion, if project is actually planned to be completed. 2019, 2020, 2021 monies will probably not do what was presented at the time due to increase in costs and a dollar buying less today than it would have back in 2019. (thanks joe biden)

 Hard to have good roads, sidewalks, drainage without the highway dept. getting a proper budget, Roads are driven on by everybody; residents, police, fire, ambulance service, so real public safety begins with the highway department! If there are no sidewalks, people walk in the road, potholes and bad roads, people drive a bit erratic to avoid hitting them. Bad roads also cost everyone a bit extra in repairs and maintenance of vehicles.

 Thought that is how it goes. Town Meeting Times, Templeton official guide for town meeting. Page 93 - "A motion to amend requires only a majority vote, even though the motion to be amended may require a two-thirds vote or more. It must be remembered that the main motion must always be acted upon after action on a motion to amend. Page 96, "the moderator must maintain a careful record of the motions that are pending and put them toa vote in the proper order. Action must be taken on every motion. A common fault is the failure to put a main motion to a vote after action on a hotly debated motion to amend when it is clear that the only real question is whether the meeting desires the original or the amended form. The main motion, however, must be put to a vote whether or not amended.' My opinion, town meeting got bad legal advice again! Regarding article 9, I suppose all is well that ends well, but, I happen to think details matter and the fucking lawyer should know them better than all the rest of us!

 Note: There is a record that can be found on Templeton Town website concerning a certain parcel of land off / on Crotty Avenue, which is off Route 68 (perhaps state road) that is owned by the inhabitants of Town of Templeton, sold to the town on July 31, 1997 for a dollar. The deed states it was sold to the town from the Otter River Recreation Association for one dollar. It has a conservation restriction in perpetuity and is supposed to be overseen by the Templeton Conservation Committee. One can also find this item on / in town meeting records on Town website or by visiting the town clerk. Deed states no commercial use of land, maintain as a swimming and picnicking facility. Any concerns on this propert, one should probably begin with attending a conservation committee meeting and ask about it.

 So, does anyone think it might be time to require licensing of cats, if for no other reason than to aid animal control officers, so called animal shelters and just reglar people who may find a stray cat. I personally once had a dog in my yard, very friendly who met me when I came home one night, I thought he was just passing through, but when he was still here the next morning, curled up by the front door, I gave him some water and food and checked his collar for a license, called the number on the rabies tag, found who owner was and brought the dog home to them. They were thankful for that. I could not have done that without license information. Since records show that as of June 30, 2022, Templeton raised over 37 thousand dollars from just dog license fees, while there was a budget request of less than $800.00 to purchase said licenses along with postage and cards, I believe the fee for a dog or cat license could be reduced, by way of town meeting vote, to lower cost to no more than 5 bucks. We just pick a dollar figure and that would be that. One can expect push back from many municipal figureheads on this citing loss of revenue, ah, those fees help pay for animal control officer (which would be pure poppycock) The animal control officer costs are covered within police department budget. To show both sides, money to cover town operating expenses, including the schools, come from 3 basic places, real estate taxes (taxes) state aid and local receipts, which dog licenses are part of. The catch is, fees, are supposed to be set to cover the cost of a service only provided to those who use it. Not everyone owns a dog, but everyone can call animal control, so why penalize or make dog owners pay for animal control? After all, the meals tax was sold to residents and business alike as going to pay for capital, when was the last time you saw an article at town meeting for capital paid for by meals tax revenue, which according to records, was 67 thousand dollars for fiscal year 22, which goes from July 1, 2021 until June 30, 2022. (you can see this information for yourself by going to town website, click on find it fast, click on R, then reports and presentations, then reports and scroll down until you see quarterly finance and look at fourth quarter fy2022, open that and scroll down to page 23 and look for meals tax) When we go to vote at town meeting, we need to understand what is being asked of us and when we are told money is not part of taxes or this program will be for this, we need to know the real deal; CPC money is tax dollars, just not raised by way of the tax rate, it is a steady 3% surcharge (fee or tax, however you wish to label it) and it is shown on your real estate tax bill.

 FYI - Templeton recreation has 10 thousand dollars available to them, by way of town meeting vote, to improve Gilman Waite field. Just in case they were interested in improving say the tennis court (s).

Deed to said field states donated to town and Templeton no longer has a high school, as the town belongs to a regional school district, which is a legally separate entity from the town.

There is also 15 thousand dollars available, by way of town meeting vote to improve building at Gilman Waite field. The town is appropriating money, by way of town meeting vote, to take care of a town owned recreation / sports complex, so it follows, recreation events sponsored or put on by the Town of Templeton recreation committee have priority over other sport events held or planned by say, NRSD. Just as the Town has to ask the school district if the auditorium is available for a town meeting, the school district must ask the town if the fields at GW are open for any event, they wish to use GW for. That is a policy document adopted by the Templeton board of selectmen (select board). This would be called coordination, planning, FOLLOWING POLICY!

 One can find a property card on the Town of Templeton website, under the page of the Board of Assessors, that reads parcel M_154986_927889, Vision ID 259, owner - inhabitants of Town of Templeton, assessed value of $52,100.00.

Just so some things are clear, the swimming/picnic area over on Crotty Avenue, was left to the Inhabitants of Templeton and is valued or assessed by the Town (remember them board of assessors) at $52,100.00. That is a recreation park area for the inhabitants of town of Templeton. Also, I find more trash on the side of the road I live on in a quarter of a mile than I do on Crotty Avenue. Since it was left to the town, we have a responsibility to upkeep it and that means picking up trash, providing tables for picnicking and trash receptacles. Can you say Park Commissioners?

 In case you missed it, upcoming special town meeting set for November 2,2022, article 5, rooster bylaw, states in part: contains between 2 and five acres where the sale of products produced from the agricultural use generates at least $1,000.00 per acre annually.

Whereas MA general law, chapter 61A, section 3, states: Section 3. Land not less than five acres in area shall be deemed to be actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural uses when the gross sales of agricultural, horticultural or agricultural and horticultural products resulting from such uses together with the amount, if any, payable under a soil conservation or pollution abatement program of the federal government or the commonwealth total not less than five hundred dollars per year or when the use of such land is clearly proven to be for the purpose of achieving an annual total of not less than five hundred dollars from such gross sales and program payments within the normal product development period as determined by the farmland valuation advisory commission established pursuant to section eleven of this chapter. In cases where the land is more than five acres in area, the gross sales and program payment standard above set forth shall be increased at the rate of five dollars per acre except in the case of woodland or wetland for which such increase shall be at the rate of fifty cents per acre. No reason to reinvent the wheel or the law, unless you are an attorney looking to increase revenue to your wallet.

 A strange coincidence? MA general law chapter 40A, section 3 states in part: No zoning ordinance or by-law shall regulate or restrict the use of materials, or methods of construction of structures regulated by the state building code, nor shall any such ordinance or by-law prohibit, unreasonably regulate, or require a special permit for the use of land for the primary purpose of commercial agriculture, aquaculture, silviculture, horticulture, floriculture or viticulture, nor prohibit, unreasonably regulate or require a special permit for the use, expansion, reconstruction or construction of structures thereon for the primary purpose of commercial agriculture, aquaculture, silviculture, horticulture, floriculture or viticulture, including those facilities for the sale of produce, wine and dairy products, provided that either during the months of June, July, August and September of each year or during the harvest season of the primary crop raised on land of the owner or lessee, 25 per cent of such products for sale, based on either gross sales dollars or volume, have been produced by the owner or lessee of the land on which the facility is located.

Article 5, rooster bylaw states in part; This subsection shall not apply to property that is used for the primary purpose of commercial agriculture and contains five or more acres or contains two and five acres where the sale of products . . . This article sure sounds like a zoning ordinance, and zoning is not under the duty of the board of health or agricultural commission or the board of selectmen, MGL chapter 40A, section 5, states: No zoning ordinance or by-law or amendment thereto shall be adopted until after the planning board in a city or town, and the city council or a committee designated or appointed for the purpose by said council has each held a public hearing thereon, together or separately, at which interested persons shall be given an opportunity to be heard. Said public hearing shall be held within sixty-five days after the proposed zoning ordinance or by-law is submitted to the planning board by the city council or selectmen or if there is none, within sixty-five days after the proposed zoning ordinance or by-law is submitted to the city council or selectmen. Notice of the time and place of such public hearing.

If anyone checks Templeton zoning bylaws, there are sections of town where you need one acre to build and other areas you need 2 acres to build a home. Setting minimum acreage to have roosters is in my opinion, a zoning attempt and since procedure was not followed, vote no.

 Telling me I cannot put an advertising sign on public property is one thing, telling me I cannot have a rooster on my own land is fucking bullshit, what is next, not enough land to have a dog or chickens? You got a problem with your neighbor and noise, take him to court on your dime. Vote NO on article 5.

 2022, Templeton has received $1,168,088.00 in so called free cash (technically undesignated funds) that come from a variety of sources, Town financial management policy states so much of that money is to go into several funds and that request is on warrant for November 2,2022. There is 700 hundred thousand left over, with 100 thousand being asked for to create and pay for a grant writer and some more money for tax title,, leaving approximately 600 thousand dollars available and all that is being asked for is 2500 bucks for demolition fund? Are you kidding me, what building can be demoed for 2500 bucks/ Think 10 Pleasant Street is coming down for that amount? Think it is coming down for 50 grand? The demo fund needs money to take care of any town owned buildings that need to come down or any damaged building that is an immediate hazard. Surely 100 grand from the available 600 thousand can be put into a fund to benefit residents. How much of that 600 thousand do you think will go to rebuilding roads in town? Since 2017, the town has had around 7 million dollars in free cash, averaging one million plus each of those years, the money has gone to town savings, raises for town employees, covering operating budgets, positions, toys for town employees, but how much has gone to rebuild roads? There is approximately 600 thousand dollars sitting on the books (one can see this information under the agenda for the next select board meeting on Wednesday, October 26, 2022 under finance report.) There is money that has been sitting there since 2019 that was appropriated for such things as security cameras for town hall. Certainly, it would be a benefit to residents to put enough money into demolition fund so something could actually be done to benefit those residents, especially in the area of 10Pleasant Street. Let us amend this article and properly fund it! It is actually quite simple to amend the article, so let's do it.

 A new report identifies a $1.26 billion shortfall between state appropriations and actual municipal spending on existing programs that are mandated by the state.

Auditor Suzanne Bump’s report flags gaps in state aid for school transportation, education, veterans’ benefits, and other services within cities and towns. The school transportation gap was estimated at $448 million in the report, which pegged the education aid gap at $711 million and attributed $401 million of that gap to insufficient special education assistance.

In a statement, Bump said the new report provides legislators “with the information they need to address the burden of unfunded mandates.”

“The solution to the problem of unfunded mandates is to prioritize funding of them. It is a simple solution, but it may require some hard choices,” said Bump.

State legislators are great at saying they help us and they are our partners, so why not fund their mandates on us?

 If you receive one of those things in the mail from the Templeton firefighter's association asking for money to obtain training and to purchase equipment for which tax dollars are not available, think about this before sending or giving any more of your dollars.

I am not sure of what equipment or training is not available to Templeton town fire department or ambulance service, but there is/was plenty of money to do what is described in pamphlet. Fire department end of year financial, which you can read on town website shows a total of $108,400.00 left over from fire dept. budget. Breakdown is Personnel - $77,859.00, supplies- $4,000.00, other - $10,000.00, employee support - $12,365.00. Ambulance receipts shows ending balance of $682,619.00. Also, new ambulance computers show $10,000.00 appropriated with $8,500.00 spent. Also, fire dept. face book page shows new utility truck in a parade in Keene, New Hampshire which was bought from a $75,000.00grant from state. I do not see how the fire dept. is lacking in funding for training or other equipment. Residents have already provided enough money. Enough with using town, taxpayer funded buildings, equipment and town employees being paid to do a job collecting for a private charity.

 Why is it so hard to follow a simple policy?

Policy states take 15% of free cash, take 10% of free cash, take 5% of free cash and place those dollars into various reserve funds of the town of Templeton.

Templeton Financial Management policy, page 8.

According to MA division of local service, Templeton free cash available for FY23, which is funds from FY22 is $1,168,088.

My percentage calculator (you can find one online easy enough) shows the following:

OPEX 15% of $1,168,088.00 = $175,213.20

CAPEX 10% of $1,168,088.00 = $116,808.80

INFRASTRUCTURE 10% of $1,168,088.00 = $116,808.80

OPEB 5% of $1,168,088.00=    $ 58,404.40

So, where do the dollar figures on the proposed special town meeting warrant come from?

OPEX at $87,500.00

CAPEX at $57,500.00

Infrastructure at $57,500.00

OPEB at $28,750.00.

It simply does not add up, except for not following policy, which ifone is not going to follow, shred it.

 I thought I heard this state and Templeton is/are a green community, organic is better, knowing where your food comes from, shop local and on and on. How does this proposed by-law benefit the regular people who have a few chickens and some whom have a rooster to replenish their flock and have a protector of sorts for their chickens. This proposed by-law is bullshit and an example of the agricultural commission failing to do their job. Vote no on this anti rooster bylaw proposal.

 It is official, a rooster by-law will be a warrant article (assuming selectmen approve warrant) for the special town meeting on November 2, 2022. Wednesday at 6:00 P.M. in NRSD middle school.

Town meeting warrant article # 5.

The warrant states this article is submitted by the select board for the board of health.

Templeton right to farm by-law states: Dispute resolution will be the responsibility of the Select Board (Board), or its designee(s), until such time as an Agricultural Commission is formed by the Town and empowered to resolve disputes arising from this bylaw. State law shows farming or agriculture as

Section 1A. “Farming” or “agriculture” shall include farming in all of its branches and the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing and harvesting of any agricultural, aquacultural, floricultural or horticultural commodities, the growing and harvesting of forest products upon forest land, the raising of livestock including horses, the keeping of horses as a commercial enterprise, the keeping and raising of poultry, swine, cattle and other domesticated animals used for food purposes, bees, fur-bearing animals, and any forestry or lumbering operations, performed by a farmer, who is hereby defined as one engaged in agriculture or farming as herein defined, or on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with such farming operations, including preparations for market, delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation to market.

So, seems clear the Templeton agricultural commission was/is only interested in having some signs and that the town, as in residents, provide them free advertising space. I hope town meeting votes this down and tells the ag comm. to do their job! I hope residents realize that when you choose to live in a right to farm community, you understand there might be things going on protected by rules and rights under town by-laws.

 Why should Templeton Capital improvement committee meetings not be shown by TCTV, as in live stream on Facebook live or any other format? As many meetings as possible should be on tctv.

I pose this question as I watched the last capital improvement committee discuss tctv role and then voted to not have their meetings recorded because the committee did not think the "workshop" type meetings needed to be recorded and if people were interested, they could attend in person.

With busy lives, it is not always possible to attend meetings, no matter how early or late they are, but if they are recorded, we the people, can then watch at our convenience.

After a post on facebook, tctv responded:

FYI: TCTV streams Capital Improvement Committee meetings and last year created a Playlist of all of them for public reference, on both Channel 8 and YouTube.com/TCTVweb. TCTV deems Capital Improvements as of significant public interest to warrant recording and live-streaming. Members of the Capital Improvements Committee should not be speaking on behalf of TCTV and our policies. Here is yesterday's FY23 kickoff meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lvAAcFl4yQ.

 Dear Selectman,

 

Starting on November 1st, cities and towns will be required to recycle rather than dispose of mattresses through landfills, among other regulatory changes. The MMA will be hosting a webinar for local officials, public works directors, and sustainability directors to help municipalities prepare for these new solid waste bans.

 Holman Street property (old Temple Stuart factory) sold on August 26, 2022. As of now, none of the back taxes have been paid. I have heard of an attempt to do a TIF agreement, and some kind of a payment plan. This would be a bad and dumb move on the part of Templeton, there is about a half million dollars owed to Templeton on this property. I am pretty confident board of assessors do not favor any kind of agreement on letting tax dollars go. Best of my knowledge there is nothing set as of now, but ya'll best let selectmen know, who could let the TA know, NO DEALS, collect all money owed town on this property. This is why we have a collector and tax title is where this belongs if all of the taxes are not paid forthwith to the town.

 Templeton dog owners contribute $34,807.50 to town budget via dog license fees for fiscal year 2022. (from July 1, 2021, thru June 30, 2022)

Town fiscal year town clerk budget request for dog licenses and delinquent dog license postcards and postage shows total of $770.00. If a fee is supposed to cover cost of service, dog owners are being fleeced. This is in part due to the town meeting vote to increase cost of dog license to 20 bucks, which is way more than needed to cover cost of dog licenses. Time for a question to town meeting to change the cost of dog license, as these taxes are getting out of hand.

from current town bylaws:

The Town Clerk shall, pursuant to MGL c. 40, § 22F, from time to time fix reasonable annual fees to be charged for the issuance of licenses for dogs. At the adoption of these bylaws, the annual licensing fee shall be fixed at $15 for a spayed/neutered dog and $20 for an intact dog. These fees shall not be increased without a majority vote of the voters present at a Town Meeting.

MGL chapter 40, Section 22F. Any municipal board or officer empowered to issue a license, permit, certificate, or to render a service or perform work for a person or class of persons, may, from time to time, fix reasonable fees for all such licenses, permits, or certificates issued pursuant to statutes or regulations wherein the entire proceeds of the fee remain with such issuing city or town, and may fix reasonable charges to be paid for any services rendered or work performed by the city or town or any department thereof, for any person or class of persons; provided, however, that in the case of a board or officer appointed by an elected board, the fixing of such fee shall be subject to the review and approval of such elected board.

A fee or charge imposed pursuant to this section shall supersede fees or charges already in effect, or any limitations on amounts placed thereon for the same service, work, license, permit or certificate; provided, however, that this section shall not supersede the provisions of sections 31 to 77, inclusive, of chapter 6A, chapter 80, chapter 83, chapter 138, sections 121 to 131N, inclusive, of chapter 140 or section 10A of chapter 148. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any certificate, service or work required by chapters fifty to fifty-six, inclusive, or by chapter sixty-six. The fee or charge being collected immediately prior to acceptance of this section for any license, permit, certificate service or work will be utilized until a new fee or charge is fixed under this section.

The provisions of this section may be accepted in a city by a vote of the city council, with the approval of the mayor if so required by law, and in a town by vote of the town meeting, or by vote of the town council in towns with no town meeting.

 from the most recent Templeton Town Administrator report:

Agricultural Commission: Members met on 8/29/22, meetings will be scheduled for the first Monday of every other month beginning on October 3, 2022. The draft chicken/rooster bylaw will

be moved forward to Fall town meeting; Tim Rotti and Matt LeClerc have been recommended to the Select Board for appointment to the open seats on the commission.

So much for Templeton being a right to farm community.

I have 484 reasons to not appoint M. LeClerc to ag comm.

What does Templeton Town by-laws state?

This general bylaw encourages the pursuit of agriculture, promotes agriculture-based economic opportunities, and protects farmlands within the Town of Templeton by allowing agricultural uses and related activities to function with minimum conflict with abutters and Town agencies. This bylaw shall apply to all jurisdictional areas within the Town of Templeton.

The words "farming" or "agriculture" or their derivatives shall include, but not be limited to, the following: farming in all its branches and the cultivation and tillage of the soil; dairying; production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any agricultural, mycological, aquacultural, floricultural, viticultural, or horticultural commodities; growing and harvesting of forest products upon forest land, and any other forestry or lumbering operations; raising of livestock, including horses; keeping of horses as a commercial enterprise; and keeping and raising of poultry, swine, cattle, ratites (such as emus, ostriches, and rheas) and camelids (such as llamas and camels), and other domesticated animals for food and other agricultural purposes, including bees and fur-bearing animals.

Dispute resolution will be the responsibility of the Select Board (Board), or its designee(s), until such time as an Agricultural Commission is formed by the Town and empowered to resolve disputes arising from this bylaw.

Within Templeton bylaws, under boards, committees, commissions, agricultural commission is not listed or shown.

Annual Town Meeting - May 2006:

Article 47. To see if the Town will vote to establish an Agricultural Commission to represent the farming community of Templeton. Said Commission shall serve as facilitators for encouraging the pursuit of agriculture in the Town of Templeton and to oversee the Town’s established “Right-to-Farm” bylaw. The commission shall also promote agricultural-based economic opportunity in the Town. The Commission shall consist of three (3) members from the resident farming community of Templeton and members shall be appointed by the Board of Selectmen as follows: One (1) member for three (3) years; One member for two (2) years; One member for one (1) year; and thereafter, appointments shall be for three (3) years unless a vacancy occurs whereby said vacant position shall be appointed by the Board of Selectmen for the unexpired term of the vacancy, or to take any other action relative thereto.

So, why would the commission put forth or endorse a bylaw to ban roosters, when they are charged with promoting agriculture which includes the raising of poultry?

 Rubin, Rayna (DCP) <rayna.rubin@state.ma.us>

To:

• Adam D. Lamontagne

Cc:

• Tsaparlis, Nicholas (DCP) <nicholas.tsaparlis@state.ma.us>;
• Bennett, Jeff;
• Griffis, Terry

Wed 8/31/2022 2:42 PM

Adam and Laurie,

Thank for talking with me yesterday about the TDC conveyance status and issues.  Since there are so many vacations this time of year, we may not be able to get everyone together until mid-late Sept.  In the meantime, I appreciate the guidance and info. 

Below is a brief sum of what we went over. 

1. Zoning, ANR and driveway permit info. as we are currently surveying the property to identify conveyance parcels, this will help assure we create legal and usable lots.
2. Transfer of the roads to the Town – The state (OFMM) will go over requirements and process with Bob Szroc.
3. Bob Szroc is the person we will go to with any design and compliance driveway/ access questions serving the conveyance parcels.  
4. I will coord. With Adam and the SelectBoard regarding Town meeting approval required for the road transfer.
5. I will coord. With Adam on RFP process, timing etc.
6. The state (OFMM and DDS) will be meeting with the Fire Chief to go over/inspect DDS buildings closed or planned for closing.
7. OFMM will be meeting with the Water and Electric authority to plan the details of cost and timing to transfer water service to private entities on the TDC.

 

Let me know if you have any questions or added comments.

Rayna

RAYNA Z. RUBIN

Project Manager