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.
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?
