By Kim King
Telegram and Gazette

UXBRIDGE - Voters will go to the polls Tuesday for a special election to fill the Board of Selectmen seat vacated in May when Lance Anderson resigned

The unexpired term runs until the next town election in the spring.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at McCloskey Middle School, 62 Capron St.

Three names appear on the ballot, but one of the candidates, Kristen LeBlanc of 242 North Main St., announced last week that she is no longer running because of personal reasons. Ms. LeBlanc urged her supporters to vote for Justin Piccirillo of 47 North Main St.

Mr. Piccirillo, an engineer and alternate member of the Planning Board, faces Gary Lavallee of 118 Hartford Avenue East, a construction manager and U.S. Navy veteran who serves on the Pout Pond Recreation Committee and volunteers with the Italian-American Club and other organizations.

Two controversial soil importation projects, bringing in fill from construction projects largely in the Boston area, which have low levels of contaminants, have dominated the special election campaign as well as many other areas of town government.

Mr. Piccirillo is active in the grass-roots Uxbridge Citizens for Clean Water and said at a candidates forum held at the Senior Center Nov. 17 that if he could change one thing in town, "I'd take that dirty dirt and I'd stick it back in Boston."

He said he was running for the selectman's seat because he believed town government was getting bigger and inefficient, and he took issue with the board's handling of projects such as the reclamation soil importation at 175 South St. and 775 Millville Road.

Mr. Piccirillo said the board "either ignored our bylaws or misled the public or both on our laws around soil importation." He pointed to the table of use in the zoning bylaws, which does not list soil importation as an allowable use in any district. "I don't think you can grandfather an activity that was never permitted," he said.

He also advocated for more long-range planning and favored reducing the authority of the town manager, perhaps handing line-item budget veto authority to the Finance Committee.

posted by Jeff Bennett

by Kim King
Telegram and Gazette

In the first discussion about planning for the fiscal 2018 budget, selectmen were asked for their ideas about what budgetary priorities they'd like to set.

"It's just part of the budget process," Town Administrator Adam Gaudette said, adding that it's quite early to be working on specifics and that no numbers on which to base next year's budget are available.

Still, selectmen want to hear about capital purchases department heads feel they need to make and they want the School Department to weigh in on anticipated expenses too.

And like a Christmas list, selectmen will mull over their wants.

For Selectman Ralph E. Hicks, the list is easy.

He'd like to see the Town Hall open four days a week and he'd like some evening hours to accommodate those who work

In the first discussion about planning for the fiscal 2018 budget, selectmen were asked for their ideas about what budgetary priorities they'd like to set.

"It's just part of the budget process," Town Administrator Adam Gaudette said, adding that it's quite early to be working on specifics and that no numbers on which to base next year's budget are available.

Still, selectmen want to hear about capital purchases department heads feel they need to make and they want the School Department to weigh in on anticipated expenses too.

And like a Christmas list, selectmen will mull over their wants.

For Selectman Ralph E. Hicks, the list is easy.

He'd like to see the Town Hall open four days a week and he'd like some evening hours to accommodate those who work.

I think it's appalling that a community with 11(thousand) or 12,000 people doesn't have a Town Hall that's open one night a week," he said.

He'd also like to reopen Luther Hill Park and provide a summer recreation program and swimming lessons. He has some concerns about the library, too.

Many of the items were cut when the state Department of Education began overseeing the Spencer-East Brookfield School District and set a larger budget figure than the town had approved. Other cuts came after two failed overrides of Proposition 2½ in 2014, Mr. Gaudette said.

Mr. Hicks admitted that Proposition 2½, which limits taxes, makes it difficult to increase budgets for the wish list to be fulfilled.

"Proposition 2½ is a well-intentioned law," he said. "But it limits what we can do."

Mr. Gaudette said he simply wants to set some budget goals and then work with the numbers to see what's possible.

"You start off optimistic," he said. "And then you either maintain your optimism, or you lose it.

posted by Jeff Bennett

Time to send all the goofed up information of Templeton and actions and screw ups involving the selectmen and Bob Markel to certain entities; the Boston Globe, town of Stoneham, channels 4, 5, 7 and Fox news. Time to write letters to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, this mess has gone long enough and with trying to shut out the seniors during the winter months is just too much. How is any business going to want to move in to this town with all this going on?


posted by Jeff Bennett

What is possible in Templeton for Fiscal Year 2018, a $projected $400,000.00 shortfall or structural deficit. This scorch and burn is a result of john columbus and others to get a new school at all costs. He was the chairman of the board of selectmen when all of this went down. He said "we are solving issues" He now says he needs more proof and discussion to see the problem and the solution. Hopefully john, there is a surprise coming for you and the others. That is my opinion as I look at multiple things that have happened and others that seem to be in the planing stage. In my opinion, there was a deliberate effort to paint a very good picture of Templeton finance just to get a new school. Nice job johnny, in my opinion of course.

posted by Jeff Bennett