Section 16: Appropriation, advisory or finance committees; appointment; tenure; powers and duties

Section 16. Every town whose valuation for the purpose of apportioning the state tax exceeds one million dollars shall, and any other town may, by by-law provide for the election or the appointment and duties of appropriation, advisory or finance committees, who shall consider any or all municipal questions for the purpose of making reports or recommendations to the town; and such by-laws may provide that committees so appointed or elected may continue in office for terms not exceeding three years from the date of appointment or election.

In every town having a committee appointed under authority of this section, such committee, or the selectmen if authorized by a by-law of the town, and, in any town not having such a committee, the selectmen, shall submit a budget at the annual town meeting.

Town meeting, May 12, 1992 - article 17 "On a motion duly made and seconded, the town voted to fix the compensation for all elected and appointed officers of the town. . ."

Chairman Advisory Committee                        $169.00

Templeton General by-laws Article IV Advisory Committee

Section 6: It shall be the duty of the Advisory Committee to make an annual report of its doings, with recommendations relative to financial matters and the conduct of town business, to be contained in the annual town report.

Sections 1-4, 5, 6 passed 3-5-51. So, the Advisory Committee has been so named since 1951 in the records of the Town's annual town meeting and since by-laws are approved by the attorney general of the commonwealth, it seems that if in the annual town reports, it has Advisory Board, the annual town reports appear to be incorrect.  Is that an insignificant item? Does it matter if the committee is referenced incorrectly in the annual reports and correctly in the official record of the town's legislative body? (town meeting)  What does it say if said committee refers to itself in the wrong name while trying to advise town meeting on financial matters and giving them a report that the committee says is accurate and reflects factual information if they cannot even get their name correct, that seems to be the Advisory Committee within state law and the town's own by-laws dating back to 1951.

I wonder what the secretary of state and the attorney general's office would think or say if the board of selectmen began (or continued) to call themselves the superior board and put that in the town annual report.  "this by-law change submitted by the superior board and it was sent off to the attorney general for approval. Would that term fly? Would people let that term fly/ So why is it different for the Advisory Committee. Perhaps a letter to the attorney general's office and the secretary of state with that question; Does it matter what the advisory committee is called? Advisory Board or Advisory Committee.

Personally, I think it goes to credibility, but I could be wrong.

posted by Jeff Bennett

Templeton highway department looks for $83,500.00 for three pieces of equipment.

Dump body for 1984 truck                   - $27,500.00
Dump body w/sander for 1994 truck    - $41,000.00
Dump body for 1975 catch basin truck - $15,000.00

Those items are to go to capital planning committee.

Three highway employees cost taxpayers $1,226.00 for boots, jackets and shirts. One employee cost taxpayers $730.00 for a cell phone.

So, the small items can quickly add up to thousands of dollars and should be discussed and available for all to see where their money goes.





posted by Jeff Bennett

By Craig S. Semon
Telegram & Gazette Staff 

BROOKFIELD - A town employee known for criticizing town officials on a large sign on Route 9 has been reprimanded for "inappropriate behavior."

Advisory Committee Chairman John David Holdcraft waived his right Tuesday night to an executive session, to discuss discipline or dismissal and allowed the session to be open to the public.

"With one condition," Mr. Holdcraft said, "that the truth gets told by the one who's bringing this to the board. That would be you, (Selectman) Clarence (R. Snyder III) ... Let the town people see the nonsense and where our money's being wasted."

The so called town employee is a member of the Advisory Committee and in Brookfield, according to their town website, members of the Advisory Committee are appointed by the Board of selectmen. So, in my opinion, the selectmen in Brookfield are the same as the selectmen in Templeton. They do not like, do not want and will not stand for any appointees speaking badly of or criticizing the selectmen. In Templeton, there is at least one selectmen, and probably three who wish to punish one Templeton resident and town employee who told the Templeton selectmen "you suck." That employee may face being told to present a public apology, no more speaking at selectmen meetings and may even be terminated in one way or another. One such way would be by a budget cut. Of course, all of these selectmen must be aware of measures this employee could take, such as legal action, filing a complaint with the very liberal and anti Town state entity called MCAD - Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. All of these current selectmen attended a training session presented by people from MCAD and I know this because I also attended that training session.

Unlike Brookfield, members of the Templeton Advisory Committee are appointed initially by the Town Meeting Moderator. These current group of selectmen also ignore the Templeton Town by-laws that state the Advisory Committee shall have access to all records and books concerning finance and there are emails that prove this and yes, I have them. In fact, there is at least one selectmen in Templeton who would like to change or add a by-law in Templeton that woulld allow selectmen to "punish" any member of the Advisory Committee who "acts badly" as the conversation went, "if I act or do something badly, I can get fired' I pointed out that with regards to any elected person, you could be recalled but that procedure does not guarantee you would be removed or the recall would actually take place. My theory is there are some current members of the board of selectmen who do not want anyone to question them, criticize them or write any opinions about them. It is also my opinion that I am probably on the top of that list of people whom the selectmen would like to quiet or at least take out of the information loop. 

Recent information put forth by this current group of selectmen concerning the new elementary school funding, the fiscal 2017 town budget and even simple appointments show that the selectmen not only need questioning, they need to answer those questions.That is the very basis for a real democracy and a democratic form of good, open and transparent government.

posted by Jeff Bennett 

The following information was taken from the website of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).

Why is this information under Narragansett Regional School District if this is a Town of Templeton project? Is this why information is hard to come by from the Templeton Town website and Town offices?

posted by Jeff Bennett

Notice on MSBA Project Information

The MSBA updates the project information on the MSBA website on a regular basis; however, due to timing issues or other circumstances, there may be instances where the most up-to-date information does not yet appear. If you have questions or concerns about any of the project information, please contact the MSBA.
The Estimated MSBA Payment Amount Remaining is the maximum amount of funding that the District may still receive from the MSBA for the Project. The actual amount paid by the MSBA may equal an amount less than this estimated amount, as determined by an audit conducted by the MSBA.

List of Projects for the District are as follows:

School name	MSBAID	Project Type	Project Phase	Total Project Budget	Reimbursement Rate	Estimated Building Completion Date	MSBA Amt Paid(to Date)	Estimated MSBA Payment Amt Remaining	Anticipated MSBA Investment Amt
Narragansett Middle	201107200305G	Green Repair	Final Audit Approved	$1,144,511	59.84 %		$663,544		$663,544
Phillipston Memorial	201107200003G	Green Repair	Final Audit Approved	$161,232	59.84 %		$78,095		$81,401
Templeton Center School	200807200020	Core Program	Design Development	$47,563,184	63.11 %		$1,824,491	$21,104,406	$28,419,565

The amended Town by-law now states:

AR

Article 20 Change to the Town budget process

To see if the Town will vote to change Article IV “Advisory Committee,” Section 4 of the Town By-Laws to read: 

“It shall be duty of the Town Administrator in conjunction with the BOS to consider expenditures and develop a budget for the ensuing fiscal year of the several boards, officers and committees of the town, as prepared by them in such form and detail as prescribed by the Town Administrator.”; or take any other action relative thereto. 
Submitted by the Board of Selectmen

On a substitute motion duly made and seconded the Town voted that Article III “Town Officers“ of the Town By-laws be herby amended:

4. “It shall be duty of the Town Administrator in conjunction with the BOS to consider expenditures and develop a budget for the ensuing fiscal year of the several boards, officers and committees of the town, as prepared by them in such form and detail as prescribed by the Town Administrator.”

Passed Unanimously/May 19^th @ 8:38pm

So, article III of the town bylaws, section 4 had said the town created a town administrator, then the following year, that seems to have been amended, so the question is, did the selectmen by way of town meeting choose to repeal that part of the by-laws or did they mean to create a section 4a. That question was posed to town legal counsel and the opinion was, before going to town meeting, perhaps the selectmen and Advisory committee should have a meeting and try to come to an agreement on how the process should go. To date, that meeting has not taken place.

posted by Jeff Bennett

May 14, 2013, Annual Town Meeting - Article presented by the Board of Selectmen.



Article 46 To see if the Town will vote to amend Article III of the Revised General By-laws by adding the following new section 4 or to take any other action related thereto: Section 4: Town AdministratorThe Selectmen are authorized and empowered to appoint an executive secretary or town administrator who may be appointed by them for a term of one or three years and to remove him at their discretion. An executive secretary or town administrator appointed under the provisions of this section shall be sworn to the faithful performance of his duties. During the time that he holds office he shall hold no elective town office, but he may be appointed by the selectmen or, with their approval, by any other town officer, board, committee or commission, to any other town office or position consistent with his office. He shall receive such aggregate compensation, not exceeding the amount appropriated therefore, as the selectmen may determine. He shall act by and for the selectmen in any matter which they may assign to him relating to the administration of the affairs of the town or of any town office or department under their supervision and control, or, with the approval of the selectmen, may perform such other duties as may be requested of him by any other town officer, board, committee or commission.
Submitted by the Board of Selectmen 

On a motion duly made and seconded the town voted that Article III of the Revised General By-laws be amended, by adding the following new section 4, as follows: Section 4: Town Administrator- “The Board of Selectmen is authorized and empowered to appoint a town administrator who may be appointed for a term of one or three years, and to remove the town administrator at their discretion. The town administrator appointed under the provisions of this section shall be sworn to the faithful performance of the duties of the office. During the time that the town administrator holds office the town administrator shall hold no elective town office, but may be appointed by the Board of Selectmen or, with their approval, by any other town officer, board, committee or commission, to any other town office or position consistent with the town administrator’s office. The Town Administrator shall receive such aggregate compensation, not exceeding the amount appropriated therefore, as the Board of Selectmen may determine. The Town Administrator shall act by and for the Board of Selectmen in any matter which the Board may assign to the town administrator relating to the administration of the affairs of the town or of any town office or department under their supervision and control, or, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, may perform such other duties as may be requested by any other town officer, board, committee or commission.” And, further, to reflect the above-mentioned amendment to Article III of the Templeton Revised General By-Laws, the following Templeton Revised General ByLaw sections will also be amended by replacing the title of “Town Coordinator” with the title of “Town Administrator” in Article XLII-Capital Planning By-Law- Section 1: And in: Article XLVII-Personnel By-Law –Section 3(b) and Section 3 (c) Passed/May 16th @ 8:37

This was the by-law in 2013 and going into the annual town meeting of 2014.

Jeff Bennett was a member of the Board of Selectmen at the time this was passed, in an attempt to bring professional help to the town, which was/is desperately needed.

posted by Jeff Bennett

At the risk of being accused of sounding like a broken record, I am posting this to inform residents of action taken by selectmen that would seem to go against Templeton Town by-laws.

Article XLII - Capital Planning by-law

Section 1. Capital Improvement Committee:

The Board of selectmen is hereby authorized to establish and appoint a Capital Improvements Committee, to be composed of five members, for a term of one year.

The following boards and committees shall nominate one of their members to serve annually:

The Advisory Committee
The Board of Selectmen
The School Committee
The Planning Board
A member from the community (preferable with some relevant experience in purchasing or general business practices)
The town administrator or town accountant as exofficio member.

The committee shall chose it's own officers.

Section 2: Committee duties;

To facilitate the reasonable acquisition and replacement of capital items (defined as assets and projects with a useful life of five or more years, and a cost of more than $10,000.00)

So the question could be; Did the selectmen knowingly go against the Town by-law with regards to capital purchase of a truck with a cost of more than $10,000.00? Said truck was purchased by way of using deficit spending (as in spending money you have not appropriated nor perhaps do not have). This now adds to the total of money spent that must now be made available to pay, from where and at what cost to other things? Will something else have to suffer to pay for these items?

Another part of this by-law is:
It is the intent of this by-law that all capital improvements requested by a town department or board be considered in the committee's report before presentation to the town for appropriation. I suppose one more way to get around town meeting is to purchase said truck by way of the old charge account, snow & ice deficit spending.

posted by Jeff Bennett