TO: Board of Selectmen
FROM: Carter Terenzini, Town Administrator
RE: Administrator’s Weekly Report
DATE: January 25, 2018
CC: All Departments



Public Works Highway Department:

The director attended the Templeton Center Elementary school meeting on Tuesday Evening and the Scout Hall meeting on Thursday. A crew was dispatched to Cottage Lane to fill a location where a resident had cut into the road. Flowing water was undermining the road surface there. The trackless snowplow was out clearing sidewalks after the last snow storm. Cold patching of potholes was done on Barre Rd. Henshaw and Stonebridge, as well as Central and Bridge Streets. Two stop signs were replaced. Due to the pounding rain and freezing temperatures sand and salting was a constant battle to keep the roads safe. A process change was made to the way that Barre and Dudley Roads are sanded. We now are sanding the lanes, not in the center of the road as was done in the past. Repairs to sanders and plows were maintained and cleaned.

Perhaps all roads should be sanded in lanes rather than down the middle?

On the addendum to this report:

MMMA association meeting: Item of note is challenge of board of selectmen doing evaluations now that it has been determined the individual input sheets - if used at a public meeting - are a public record and not part of a personnel file.

from the current Massachusetts Open Meeting Law:

The ten purposes for which a public body may vote to hold an executive session are:
1. To discuss the reputation, character, physical condition or mental health, rather than professional competence, of an individual, or to discuss the discipline or dismissal of, or complaints or charges brought against, a public officer, employee, staff member or individual. The individual to be discussed in such executive session shall be notified in writing by the public body at least 48 hours prior to the proposed executive session; provided, however, that notification may be waived upon written agreement of the parties.

another item from the addendum report;

Taming the OPEB (other post employment benefits) beast:
     Prime point was to establish a funding approach, no matter how small and to stick to it annually, looking for long term solutions to this long term problem. In conversation afterward, presenter thought our approach of a modest free cash contribution annually and pushing enterprise funds to get fully funded at a faster pace was reasonable for now.

My problem with this approach is the same for the stabilization funds, without a budget line item, there is no consistency with the amount, it is only a percentage of any free cash. Why not budget a dollar figure each year as a part of operating costs to put money aside for these items? 
Of course, putting down a hard dollar figure item with in a budget is problematic with prop 2 1/2 limitations and the ever expanding government approach, as in the now started full time fire department, which adds more costs to OPEB. Perhaps it is time to outsource things that can be done in that way and cut the number of town employees, as it is not the taxpayers responsibility to provide jobs for people just so they can have one. These are serious problems and require hard decisions. My opinion is that anyone who is running for elective office and posts a sign saying "save dispatch" is just looking for votes and not really thinking of the bigger picture nor the stability of the Town.

Remember that last year, there were education costs of

Narragansett Regional school district of $6,006,424.00

Monty Tech -                                            $   638,131.00

Debt for High school                                 $  436,384.00


Total Town budget presented to Town Meeting by the selectmen was approximately 15.5 million dollars.

Templeton Town financial policy voted on by the selectmen states one time funds will not be used to fund the operating budget, but here we have a statement by the Town Administrator on how free cash or one time funds will be used to cover yearly costs to fund OPEB. Either we have a policy with no real plan or we do not collect enough in taxes to cover all of the planned expenses. With the push for new taxes - meals tax, me thinks it is the latter. I also do not think this problem is going to be solved or dealt with by way of an absent board of selectmen. Show or go!