The calculator works and it shows the actions of the Templeton highway department, backed by votes of the Templeton board of selectmen add to the debt of the Town and at least two items may be questionable.
Buying a truck out of snow and ice simply because you can deficit spend is in my opinion, irresponsible. A truck is not exclusive to plowing and sanding the roads. Again, using the snow and ice deficit spending allowance to repair a screening plant in the middle of the winter is in my opinion, irresponsible. The screen is used for other purposes. This deficit spending is the same as using ones credit cards to get everything you want now, without the funds to pay for it. That bill will come due and those funds will have to come from somewhere, which again, takes funds away from other items.
Fifth grade math, well, just look at the fiscal 2017 spending plan and it is apparent that someone needs to stay for extra help!. Does the potential $1750.00 equal $2500.00? No, but add up ALL of the extra freebies in the highway contract and as I pointed out prior, one must look at ALL contracts involving labor to realize the effect these have on the added debt or future financial obligations of the town. It is really a simple thing to see.
If anyone looks to see, the last fiscal year, Advisory Committee recommended the amount of $8500.00 for inspection services to try and avoid these needed transfers. Because the same amount used in fiscal 2016 was used in fiscal 2017 and since 2016 was short, it stands to reason of this citizen and member of the Advisory Committee that you will probable be short again!
Lastly, I guess it is okay for Davey to pick on the Templeton light and water department, but if someone points out anything about the highway department, little Davey gets bent out of shape.
Sorry about that but one must look at the total and whole town and consider those things that have effect on other parts and like it or not, labor contracts have an effect and they are public records and they involve the spending of public monies. So perhaps Davey should brush up on his fifth grade math, because when you spend, you better have money to pay for it because you have to pay for it eventually, unless of course, you are spending other people's money.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Fix and done deal.
The counsel needed but 30 seconds to respond to the Select boards request at the meeting to tell the voters no discussion would happen to #8 as it was an illegal article. He's a "Super" lawyerBut clearly had done some home work " for pay i'll add" and was to QUICK to tell us about the law.
The issue was about the counsel doing any work on a citizens petition.
We are tight on money and to spend it this way shows the how the members and TA will go around and do what they want to suit the needs of their wants.
The counsel needed but 30 seconds to respond to the Select boards request at the meeting to tell the voters no discussion would happen to #8 as it was an illegal article. He's a "Super" lawyerBut clearly had done some home work " for pay i'll add" and was to QUICK to tell us about the law.
The issue was about the counsel doing any work on a citizens petition.
We are tight on money and to spend it this way shows the how the members and TA will go around and do what they want to suit the needs of their wants.
Secondly, legal bills are NOT personnel files. Secondly, school employees are covered under a completely separate legal entity and have completely separate labor contracts. Light & Water have separate labor contracts.
Last i knew the town eats from the same plate.
1-We pay for school costs.
2-we pay for light expenses
3- We pay for water expenses
Secondly?
I sometimes wonder how Jeff thinks,or over thinks issues he writes about.
The uniforms are so the workers all look professional.
Unlike the fleet we use day in and day or night out.
The paid boots are so when we ruin them in the salt/muck,we don't have to purchase again and again
Last i knew the town eats from the same plate.
1-We pay for school costs.
2-we pay for light expenses
3- We pay for water expenses
Secondly?
I sometimes wonder how Jeff thinks,or over thinks issues he writes about.
The uniforms are so the workers all look professional.
Unlike the fleet we use day in and day or night out.
The paid boots are so when we ruin them in the salt/muck,we don't have to purchase again and again
"The paid boots are so when we ruin them in the salt/muck, we don't have to purchase them again and again." Who is the we Davey? You, as an employee? The taxpayer? Who is the "we"?
Jeffy if you can't figure the we out that points out the reason this town is in the shape we are. Ask a simple one Jeffy if we are the ones that ruin them getting into the salty/muck i guess the we would be us workers not needing to pay for them.DUR!
I believe the above shows what part of the problem is, it is still about me rather than the whole. What can I get? No one can blame anyone for trying to get all they can but when you work for a corporation, where everyone is a shareholder, should that dictate tate that everyone should give a little so the WHOLE town (corporation) stays afloat? One acknowledges that the corporation is tight on money but still want everything "because we work for the town." I do not want to pay for my boots, I want someone else to pay for them. That seems to me to be that old "not in my back yard" thing that often comes up when the subject of bringing in business to town. Do it, just do not put anything near my home. Free boots may not seem like much, but consider the cost times the number of employees and what the total cost is or can be. Then consider that another department, inspection services, is asking for a transfer of between $2500.00 and $7500.00 dollars (depending on which document you look at) and consider if it was not for the contractual obligation that Mr. Smart asked for, was not on the table, would there be a need for this transfer? When you are tight on money, the extras put a burden on everyone! So, one gets some extras while another suffers. So much for looking out for the whole town. Maybe it is the fault of the Templeton municipal light & water department?
Templeton needs to stop looking for handouts from every direction, because this dependence has shown that when the "fix" is removed, someone is left holding the bag.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Where the money comes from.
There are 224 exempt properties in Templeton that pay no property taxes. They belong to another city, the town or the state, etc. The total worth is $69,518,650.00. Templeton collects no property tax for these and will not because of the rules/law etc.
According to the Board of Assessors, $1.00 per thousand now raises $597,739.00. If you double that, as in $2.00 per thousand, you will find it raises a little less than 1.2 million dollars, so can anyone tell me how $1.74 was/is going to raise 1.4 million dollars to make a loan payment for a new school - 24 million for 28 years at 3.5% = a 1.4 million per year loan payment. How would that work when $2.00 per thousand does not even do it? But you were told that a $1.74 would do it. Were you told the truth? Were you duped? Contact selectmen Brooks and ask her!
posted by Jeff Bennett
There are 224 exempt properties in Templeton that pay no property taxes. They belong to another city, the town or the state, etc. The total worth is $69,518,650.00. Templeton collects no property tax for these and will not because of the rules/law etc.
According to the Board of Assessors, $1.00 per thousand now raises $597,739.00. If you double that, as in $2.00 per thousand, you will find it raises a little less than 1.2 million dollars, so can anyone tell me how $1.74 was/is going to raise 1.4 million dollars to make a loan payment for a new school - 24 million for 28 years at 3.5% = a 1.4 million per year loan payment. How would that work when $2.00 per thousand does not even do it? But you were told that a $1.74 would do it. Were you told the truth? Were you duped? Contact selectmen Brooks and ask her!
posted by Jeff Bennett
Templeton selectmen decide to not ask again for a state guaranteed loan for a school, will go to plan B, whatever that is. Templeton does not have a new town administrator as the selectmen and candidate were unable to come to terms with a contract. This is the second time, first being a fire chief. What is the problem? are the selectmen intentionally doing this or does no one wish to come to Templeton? If they do not wish to come, why do they apply and interview and be chosen? Something looks funny here, in my opinion.
posted by Jeff Bennett
posted by Jeff Bennett
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Wonderful system that could use attention and a change.
FYI , Gardner received 12 bills ($0 due) from the town of Templeton. So glad Templeton has money to waste. This is not new but is something that should be looked at to see if a change could save a few bucks. Kind of silly to send out paper bills that tell you, well, you owe us nothing and we have money to burn so we spent it on paper and postage.
posted by Jeff Bennett
FYI , Gardner received 12 bills ($0 due) from the town of Templeton. So glad Templeton has money to waste. This is not new but is something that should be looked at to see if a change could save a few bucks. Kind of silly to send out paper bills that tell you, well, you owe us nothing and we have money to burn so we spent it on paper and postage.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Saturday, February 25, 2017
How it could be done.
Posted: Tuesday, November 15, 2016 12:00 pm
The room was small, windowless, cluttered. For 13 years, two dispatchers sat inside, handling and diverting 911 police calls around Cheshire County.
It was cramped and not well ventilated. The heat from the equipment sometimes made it stifling.
But this fall, all that changed as dispatchers moved into a $650,000 newly furnished space in the old Cheshire County Courthouse, complete with windows, wide monitors and spacious desks. The center, which serves the Cheshire County Sheriff’s Department, as well as police departments around the region, opened Sept. 20.
The project was a three-year endeavor that brought in extensive funding from federal and state agencies. At the helm was Sheriff Eliezer “Eli” Rivera, who first was elected to the position in 2013 and has made the renovation a focus of his time since.
Rivera, a Democrat who was re-elected to his position Nov. 8 after beating Republican Earl D. Nelson, said he knew as soon as he came on board that the facility should be moved.
For one, it was removed from the rest of the office, which had been moved upstairs after the county courthouse relocated to a new facility next door. Separated from their colleagues, the dispatchers felt left out, Rivera said.
It was also very small.
“From day one, when I got here, I realized that they were in a pretty tight room for what they did,” he said.
The space has long served a vital service. In 2003, the Cheshire County Sheriff’s Office took over handling police dispatching services from Southwestern N.H. Fire Mutual Aid, according to Arlene W. Crowell, director of communications at the sheriff’s office. Since then, she said, the office handles more than 53,000 phone calls and 1 million radio transfers a year.
All 911 calls in New Hampshire go directly to a dispatch center in Concord, where they are then sorted by type of emergency, Rivera said. Police-related calls from Cheshire County towns outside of Keene are transferred to the sheriff’s office, where dispatchers relay them to the local police departments throughout the county. All Keene-related calls go through the Keene Police Department on Marlboro Street.
At least two dispatchers are in the office at every hour of the day, though more staff is added to handle weekend calls, Rivera said.
In 2014, with a goal to expand, Rivera lobbied for a new space for the dispatch center in the former grand jury room, a floor above. The project was estimated to cost $650,000, and Rivera and Cheshire County Administrator Christopher Coates worked to apply for funding grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other agencies. Homeland Security kicked in $306,000 for purchasing new communications equipment, while $100,000 from New Hampshire’s Department of Emergency Management went toward furniture, moving equipment and computers, according to Rivera. New tax revenues brought in $75,000, with the rest of the money sourced from leftover funds in previous capital projects, Crowell said.
The results have been transformative. Once situated in a dark cubby, the new dispatch center has a modern flair. Sunlight pours over the monitor banks as dispatchers sit before broad, curved desks with ample leg room. Television screens showing everything from security footage to “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” hang on the wall above.
Steve Buckley, who started with the sheriff’s office in 2000 and has worked full time as a police communications specialist since 2007, said the new setup was more comfortable and more efficient.
“It’s better organized, and there’s more information available,” he said, gesturing to the six-screen monitor system in front of each technician. The office has four.
Rivera said the enthusiasm for the new facilities was mirrored across the board.
“It’s like night and day for them,” he said, referring to change for the dispatchers.
Rivera added the new facilities were full of hidden benefits.
“The best part is the windows: Now we can look outside when people call to ask if it’s raining,” he joked.
Ethan DeWitt can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1439, or edewitt@keenesentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EDeWittKS
posted by Jeff Bennett
Jeff, at which meeting did I stop the debate? I don't recall that. I will go through all of them that their was a school article. If there was an opinion I will send it and post it. I believe dispatch belongs here and I am not alone in that. I believe that we should not merge and have I public safety director nor do I believe we should contract out ambulance as that is not what our community wants based on how the receipt reserve was set up. Public safety is priortybine. I did not fight to keep any records a secret, unless it was stated we couldn't release them; they are public records as. Some iformation needs to be redacted but people should have what they ask for they should get unless legally it's not allowed. I have asked at meeting for us to see any potential denials of those requests ahead of time. Do you recall some of the board members said no? Oneill continue to support our elementary school and I haven't backed down from that for 8 years. We were told we would have 750,000 in free cash and of course I asked more questions about that and was told the same thing. The books were not all finished and they will be soon. How long did the argument about how the deficit of 505,000 came to be go on and finally uiubsaid you would take responsibility? Who else should have stood up? Never did. The numbers that came out of the finance dept was the issue and the Assessors office? Perhaps, but not from what I was shown after I was elected. I will get you any opinion I can. I didn't know there was one out there. I will see.
Personally, I think the Advisory Committee should have stood up and that would have given them credit and respect and perhaps people would have listened to that committee last year. The meeting I refer to is the special town meeting where you made a motion to take no action. It would have been a better move democratically is selectmen would have asked town counsel for wording to allow debate to happen rather than to close it down. If public safety is number one, then you really cannot touch much, you cannot pay for public safety if no one is there to collect the funds, record and approve then pay the bills such as salary. You have to have public health, building inspections, which are consumer protection, ensuring housing is safe. I can go on and on but I think the picture is clear.
Question; Town accountant received increases in hours and pay a while back with the reasons being there much work to do with regards to town records and getting them ready for audits. Now that the work is completed, or almost completed, as we were told recently, will the accountant's salary be scaled back? Wait, there was mention of an accountant assistant being created so I guess not. I cannot think of nor can i find any law that states any material in a public record that has to be redacted or blacked out or removed. Legal bills are not personnel files. You as a selectmen did not provide the legal bills in a timely manner so take responsibility for that. The board of selectmen is responsible for the actions of the town administrator so yes you did block the release of legal bills. No one asked for the name and address of a police officer or any town employee, although if they are a Templeton resident, that information is on the town website, you know that right? There was a request for a record of the spending of public money and that is that. The records did exist and therefor they should have been provided upon request but that is not what you selectmen did.
There is no spin on this one, it is on paper and you stated at the most recent workshop for selectmen that you go over the warrant very thoroughly and you ask questions on things, so I believe you saw the legal bill and you saw it showed that you selectmen looked at ways to prevent the article 8 from being discussed and then you asked for ways to keep the record of that from being public, it is right there in black n white.
posted by Jeff Bennett
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)