Why does Templeton keep missing the boat?

Updated Jul 25, 2018 at 10:30 PM

 

HUBBARDSTON — Town officials have ap­­proved the Rutland Reg­ional Emergency Com­munication Center’s plan to add the town of Warren to the center, which will save Hubbard­ston thousands of dollars.

Currently, the Com­munication Center serves Barre, Oakham, Rutland and Hubbardston.

However, it will expand to include Warren starting in January, which will save Hubbardston roughly $18,000 a year. Currently, the town spends $134,241 on dispatch, but after the savings begin the town will spend $116,502.

“There are no known drawbacks to adding Warren,” Director of Communications Michael Moriarty said. “There won’t be any change in service to any of the towns, and Hubbardston will have the same service.”

In order to address the additional calls, the Communication Center is hiring additional dispatchers in order to assure no change in service with the addition of Warren.

“We are happy to be realizing long-term savings due to the addition of Warren into RECC,” Board of Selectmen Chairman Dan Galante said. “We feel as though we vetted it thoroughly and asked all of the necessary questions to make sure the citizens of Hubbardston are unaffected by this merger.”

Hubbardston was the last town to approve Warren into the center.

With Warren added, the current capacity of the facility will be maxed out, but the center is still looking at options to allow future expansions that could save the towns even more money.

“We are looking at new locations to continue to grow,” Moriarty said. “The building next door to us actually, if we move into that we will be able to hold even more towns.”

With each town that is added to the center, there will be more overall savings for the towns already participating.

The Communications Center has also found additional savings in switching to Swift 911, swapping out Code Red, for recorded mass emergency calls. Swift 911 offers the same townwide calling services that CodeRed does, for about $7,000 less to the cost of each town using the center.

With Swift 911, the town is able to make wide-ranging calls for a number of scenarios, notably emergencies like floods or serious crime, but Swift 911 will also allow people to sign up for specific call lists, so they can be notified about non-emergencies like town meetings as well.

from the Templeton Town website - Selectmen operating procedures policy:

h, Accept the office of selectmen as a means of unselfish service, not benefit personally or politically from the office or outside activities.

So, by being elected to the board of selectmen, and then ask for pay, is that benefiting from being a selectmen? Seems like if you are a selectmen and are asking for pay, you are trying to benefit from the office and thus going against the policy you voted for? Very interesting.

As a candidate for Templeton Board of Selectmen; 
NO stipends / pay for selectmen

This year, there are multiple openings on the Templeton Advisory Committee;

Please consider volunteering for this most important committee.

It can be interesting and educational as well.

You may email Holly Young in the Board of Selectmen's office at hyoung@Templetonma.gov

You may visit the selectmen's office in Town Hall and ask for a committee interest form.

You can find the interest form online at Templetonma.gov

You may contact the Moderator Derek Hall via email at dhall@templetonma.gov

The committee presently meets on Thursday evenings beginning at 6:30 P.M. at Town Hall.

There can be a few more meetings beginning in January.

This is an opportunity to be part of the process and the committee needs new people with open and varied view points.

Please consider volunteering for this important and interesting committee.

Lucas McDiarmid, the District Director for Senator Anne M. Gobi is holding monthly office hours at the Town Hall to meet with area residents.  He will be in Room 1 at Town Hall.  His next office hours will be held on:

Wednesday, May 22, 2019, from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. at Templeton Town Hall, 160 Patriots Road, East Templeton, MA 

Lucas is available to meet with constituents who cannot make office hours, by scheduling separate appointments. Please contact him by phone at 413-324-3082, or via email Lucas.McDiarmid@MAsenate.gov

TOWN COUNSEL REQUEST FOR WRITTEN ARGUMENTS

 IN FAVOR OF AND IN OPPOSITION TO 

PROPOSITION 2 ½ OVERRIDE FOR FISCAL YEAR 2020 OPERATING BUDGET 

On March 29, 2019 the Board of Selectmen voted to accept Section 18B of Chapter 53 of the Massachusetts General Laws, which authorizes the Board of Selectmen to print information relating to local ballot questions (the “Printed information”). On April 10, 2019, the Board of Selectmen voted to include the following question on the ballot for the May 20, 2019 Annual Town Election:

 “Shall the Town of Templeton be allowed to assess an additional $988,336 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of opening and operating the new Templeton Center Elementary School and paying for additional operating costs of the Narragansett Regional School District, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2019? 

Yes____ No____” 

In addition to the full text wording of the question, Section 18B provides that the Printed Information must include: 1) a fair and concise summary of the question, which shall be prepared by the Town Counsel, including a one sentence statement describing the effect of a yes or no vote; and 2) arguments, of not more than 150 words, both for and against the question.

Town Counsel is required to “seek written arguments from the principal proponents and opponents of the question” and to “contact each ballot question committee, if any.” Town Counsel is authorized to determine, based on the arguments received, the person or group best able to present arguments for and against the question. If no argument is submitted for a particular position, Town Counsel is required by law to prepare the argument.

Therefore, this request is being issued by Town Counsel, Miyares and Harrington LLP, through the office of the Town Clerk, for written arguments “for” and “against” the Proposition 2 ½ override question. Arguments must be submitted to the Town Clerk for delivery to the Town Counsel, no later than April 25, 2019. The arguments determined to appear on the ballot will be included in the Printed Information that will be mailed to each voter household at least seven days before the Annual Town Election. All arguments filed or prepared will also be available in the office of the Town Clerk and at the polling places on the day of the election.

If you are interested in participating in this process, please contact the Town Clerk’s Office at 978- 894-2758 (phone), 978-894-2790 (fax), or by email to charris@templetonma.gov.

House to Start FY20 State Budget Debate Today

Representatives to Decide on All Municipal and School Amendments

Please Call Your Representatives TODAY, and Ask them to Support Higher Chapter 70 Minimum Aid, Charter School Reimbursements, School Transportation Reimbursements, PILOT Funding, and Other Key Priorities

State Senator Anne Gobbi - 617-722-1540

Anne Gobbi: Templeton Town Hall on April 24, 2019 at 11:00 A.M. - 12:00 noon.

State Representative Susannah Whipps - 617-722-2090

School Aid

Ask Your Representatives to Support the Following Amendments:

• Chapter 70 Minimum Aid at $50 per Student (#992), instead of the $30 in H. 3800

• Full Funding of Charter School Impact Payments (#615)

• Retaining a 6-Year Charter School Reimbursement Schedule (#340)

• Full Funding for Regional School Transportation Reimbursements (#44)

• Full Funding for McKinney-Vento Student Transportation Reimbursements (#244)

• Funding for Out-of-District Vocational Student Transportation (#480 and #482)

• Funding for Summer Jobs for At-Risk Youth (#1285 and #1011)

Ask Your Representatives to Oppose the following Harmful Amendments:

• Increasing the Charter School Facilities Formula Component, which would Reduce Funds that could be Used to Offset Losses to Charter Schools (#615 and #1340)

Municipal Aid

Ask Your Representatives to Support the Following Amendments:

• Increased Funding for PILOT – the Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes Program (#878)

• Increased Funding for Shannon Anti-Gang Grants (#127)

• Increased Funding for Local Planning Grants (#836, #233, and #391)

• Increased Funding for Public Libraries (#337, #863, and #339)

• Increased Funding for the Housing Choice Initiative Program (#1215)

• Increased Funding for Labor Relations Staffing (#864, #77, and #798)

• Increased Funding for Complete Count Census Grants (#1354)

General Budget Amendments

Ask Your Representatives to Support the Following Amendments:

• Fixing Problems in the Tax Title Law (#100)

• Updating the Outdated Statute Governing Solar Property Tax Exemptions (#803)

• Creating an Extractor Bulk Purchasing Trust Fund (#286)

From Massachusetts Division of Local Services:


May Municipal Calendar

1	Taxpayer	Deadline to Pay 2nd half and 4th Quarter Tax Bill without Interest This is the deadline to pay the 2nd half tax bill in semiannual communities and the 4th quarter  tax in quarterly communities.
1	Accountant or  Treasurer	Notification of Amount of Debt Due in Next Fiscal Year As required by M.G.L. c. 44, § 16, the Accountant or Treasurer must notify the Assessors  of all debt due in the next fiscal year. The community is required to pay its debts,  appropriated or not. Any debt service not covered by appropriations is added to the  “Other Local Expenditures" category found on page 2 of the recap. It is important  the Assessors have this information to avoid setting a tax rate that will raise insufficient  revenue to cover the community’s expenditures.

Would it be simpler and better to simply try to follow Town By-laws, which were voted on by Town Meeting? Town Meeting should have the Town Meeting warrant in hand!
So says Town Meeting Times.

---

From: Terenzini, Carter <cterenzini@TempletonMA.gov>
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2019 10:46 AM
To: AdvisoryCommittee Templeton; 185wilberdr@gmail.com; quiltingamy36@gmail.com; debra_wilder@comcast.net; tdejoy@comcast.net; glee70@yahoo.com; j_bennett506@hotmail.com; michael.currie71@gmail.com; Hall, Derek
Cc: Tom Harrington
Subject: RE: Voters Guide for ATM

 

Subject to direction by others to the contrary; it would be my intent to be guided by what Town Counsel advises; It may be as simple as labeling the cover Warrant Articles and Voter’s Guide;

Many Thanks

Carter

1.978.894.2755 (o)

1.603.498.0958 (m)

Please note our new email of; and redirect your contacts to - cterenzini@templetonma.gov

From: AdvisoryCommittee Templeton 
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2019 10:42 AM
To: Terenzini, Carter <cterenzini@TempletonMA.gov>; 185wilberdr@gmail.com; quiltingamy36@gmail.com; debra_wilder@comcast.net; tdejoy@comcast.net; glee70@yahoo.com; j_bennett506@hotmail.com; michael.currie71@gmail.com; Hall, Derek <dhall@TempletonMA.gov>
Subject: Re: Voters Guide for ATM

Just a note; in Town Meeting times, which according to Templeton by-laws, is the guide for our town meeting. Page 54 of Town Meeting times, section 19 "if the reading of articles is to be omitted, the warrant should be printed and in the hands of, or available to, every voter." No where does it refer to a voters guide, so I hope the Town Selectmen will follow our own by-laws and follow Town Meeting times; have the warrant at Town Meeting rather than a voters guide, which in my opinion, appears to be another distraction to the voters. Selectmen vote on the warrant, it is the warrant that gets posted in designated places according to state law and it should be the warrant in front of the voters.

respectfully;

Jeffrey Bennett

Chairman, Templeton Advisory Committee

---

From: Terenzini, Carter
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2019 7:40:53 AM
To: Hall, Derek
Cc: AdvisoryCommittee Templeton; Caplis, John; Richard, Julie; Morrison, Doug; Diane Haleybrooks; Harris, Carol; Adam D. Lamontagne; Harris, Carol
Subject: RE: Voters Guide for ATM

Good Day Derek:

I know there is a question as to whether or not we must also provide a copy of the entirety of the warrant to people if the reading of a warrant article is to be waived  (I’ll be discussing this with the BoS on 05/01 but at this time do anticipate a move to waive the reading on at least four (4) articles). Given the Voter’s guide actually does include the entirety of each and every warrant article as the “anticipated motion” (albeit with some wording added (bold italics) or deleted (with strikethroughs) I would posit we do actually do that.  I have referred this question to Town Counsel previously and would expect him to turn his attention to it as we get closer to Town Meeting (concentrating for now on the 18B Voter’s Guide and some other higher priority matters).

I expect him to be able to address it when he comes out for the public presentation on  04/30 or 05/07/07.  Once he provides guidance on this I’ll Draft some advice for the Moderator’s Rules for you to review and sign off on. suggest that

Many Thanks

Carter

FY2020 GENERAL FUND BUDGET TO BE

SUBMITTED AT ANNUAL TOWN MEETING

Department code	Name	FY2020 Budget
120	Selectmen (1)	$ 358,250.00
130	Advisory Committee (2)	$   49,395.00
135	Town Accountant	$  193,470.00
141	Assessor	$    92,000.00
147	Treasurer/Collector	$  133,750.00
155	IT & Communication	$  100,000.00
161	Town Clerk	$   107,250.00
200	Police & Dispatch	$1,340,500.00
220	Fire & EMS	$    732,750.00
230	Emergency Management	$        1,750.00
250	Development Services	$    162,000.00
400	Highway	$    605,001.00
410	Building & Grounds	$    305,000.00
420	Snow & Ice	$    147,500.00
500	Veterans Service	$    104,122.00
600	Senior Services	$    152,999.00
610	Library	$      79,640.00
620	Recreation & Culture	$        9,750.00
700	Debt Service	$ 2,590,147.00
900	Insurance & Benefits	$ 2,425,000.00
Total		$9,690,274.00

(1) Contains reserve transferable by select board for CBAs and merit & equity raises for non-union personnel

(2) Contains reserve fund transferable by Advisory Committee [MGL chapter 40, section 6] for emergency and unforeseen expenditures.

Above is a document sent out via email from the board of selectmen office.

The date it was emailed out was April 11, 2019. Templeton general Town By-Laws state this information is to be in the hands of the advisory Committee by April 10. Another by-law over looked / ignored by the selectmen. Their own beginning of the year schedule showed "a drop dead date to submit budget and Town meeting warrant as April 8. 

Perhaps it is time to revisit the ambulance receipts reserved for appropriation Town Meeting vote and actually get the intent into the language so that fund will actually be used as it was presented; to pay for capital expenses involving ambulance service. Another move would be to create an enterprise fund where all ambulance receipts would go and the actual revenue and expenses of the ambulance service would be accounted for separate from the general fund. This would be a very visible and verifiable way to ensure residents of Templeton see the true cost of their town operating an ambulance service. Templeton simply has to look at conducting business in a different way. Making another deal that does not benefit Templeton is not the way to go, in my opinion. Depending on the movement of the next board of selectmen, it might require a citizens petition to make that happen. Probably the simplest move is to have another town meeting vote on ambulance receipts and have the motion worded so there can be manipulation by administration.

On Wednesday, April 10, 2019, board of selectmen approved the warrant for the upcoming Annual Town Meeting; they did not read each article, the town administrator skimmed through it, but the warrant nor the budget that will be presented to Town Meeting was not gone over. Perhaps the selectmen did not wish to high-lite the fact that they are asking voters for a $500.00 per selectmen stipend, per year. I would think that a board that has over the last several years pointed out that they are the leaders of the Town, that they would enthusiastically point out the product of the work they intend to present to Town Meeting.

To me, this is another example of a board looking to complete a meeting sooner rather than later, in my opinion. So, perhaps a question should be, why did none of the sitting selectmen as for a clear presentation of the warrant; the article number and subject of it. It would have been very clear that evening that the Town by-law concerning the Templeton Advisory Committee, submitted by that committee, was absent from the warrant in a separate article, which would have been in line with other by-law change articles contained in the warrant. It seems apparent that the selectmen did not wish to put that out at that meeting, they planned on it coming to light after the fact, after they signed it. My conclusion is any change to the Town by-law concerning Advisory Committee is now buried in the codification draft that has many changes as well as classification or organization of the Town's by-laws. In my opinion, this should bring pause and concern to all Town residents, as the Advisory Committee is a committee that represents town meeting when there is no town meeting in session. Advisory is a committee that Town Meeting can direct to investigate town governance with further direction to report back to the body at the next Annual Town Meeting. Again, it is my opinion that this action is a result of the current chairman of the board of selectmen and the town administrator to manage the Advisory Committee, thus taking from Town Meeting, the ability to have an independent watch over town affairs for them, Town Meeting, otherwise known as the legislative body of the town; a check on the selectmen and town administrator as well as town counsel.

This is another subject that will have my attention if elected to the board of selectmen in the upcoming election. Town Meeting has to be respected, Advisory Committee has to be respected and the board of selectmen and town administrator need to be reminded of their duties and obligations to residents! True discussion at open meetings such as a selectmen's meeting. There is no good reason that a selectmen meeting cannot be both orderly and productive, yet very open and transparent.

In case the town administrator tries to spin this; the draft town meeting warrant provided to the advisory committee is different than what was voted on by selectmen; in true open governance and a true working together attitude, it would have been a joint meeting of selectmen and advisory to go over the warrant, the election ballot and the town budget, as it will be presented to Town Meeting. This did not happen, if elected to the board of selectmen, this will be one of my personal goals to work towards, as I feel it would be a benefit to residents, as well as selectmen and Advisory Committee. After all, this effort would only require some time and if one runs for elective office or seeks appointive office, you should be willing and able to give up some of that commodity. I am both willing and able to do just that and I volunteer to do so without pay; none is desired nor expected.

Recently, a town resident, Kevin Bird, asked a question on face book, a very simple and direct question; what would I do about a partially burned out building on a road that is an entrance to the back bay area of Templeton? I responded that a single selectmen cannot really do much, however, a single selectmen can communicate these situations and suggest options, such as using the existing town by-laws to try and solve those issues.

I would like to speak to what a single selectmen can do; that is when a motion is made during a public meeting of the board of selectmen, it is not made in generic fashion, such as I make a motion to appoint members to various committees as presented. A single selectmen sitting at a meeting such as that can bring discussion that would make it clear who is being appointed to what, for how long and also bring forward things such as are there still openings on the entities before the board at that time, how long have any of the appointees already served, etc. In short, a sitting single selectmen can bring things like this forward to ensure more transparency to selectmen meetings. I believe that the purpose of having open public meetings are not to see how fast one can get through a meeting, rather that all things are discussed thoroughly and that everyone in attendance gets a chance to speak if they wish; in essence, participate in the process. I would also, if elected, correct some erroneous recent statements, such as "all towns that border Templeton have a $20.00 per thousand tax rate" which was not true then and is not true now.

The above is just one of the things a single sitting selectmen can do and that is one thing I will do if elected to the position of Templeton selectmen.

from the Town Administrator.
Weekly Report We got some good news from Monty Tech in that they certified their FY ’19 budget at a new figure below the appropriation by roughly $8k. We have received the grant from the state for $30k to purchase the software for Hubbardston accounting and are beginning the negotiation of the 3 year IMA for shared accounting services. 

The Fire/EMS RFP is in final draft and should be on track to be issued on 04/18.

 We finalized the budget and warrant and are setting up a hearing with Town Counsel present to discuss the many by-law proposals and 34 warrant articles.

Templeton Selectmen get grant to pay for accounting software for another town! While you were out, selectmen created another benefits covered employee in the Templeton Town Accountant office; so now the Templeton Town Accountant can go to Hubbardston and do their books too!

The assistant pay went from $18,903.00 (19.5 hrs.) to $49,780.00 (38 hrs.) plus benefits. Town accountant now gets a $7,500.00 increase listed as 2nd town & equity. The pay for assistant does not include health insurance costs and retirement. Retirement cost increase for the next 15 years will be high due to the actuarial requirement for Worcester regional Retirement system to be fully funded in 15 years . Town Administrator stated this is an expense neutral move  through an inter-municipal agreement, Hubbardston will pay Templeton an amount to cover the salary of the assistant. So, do you see this as a good move for Templeton? Your full time Town Accountant will now be available less because she will be busy with other Towns. Now, hand over some more money to pay for increased schools and your roads are still crap. This works well for Hubbardston but not Templeton, again. Thank You selectmen Brooks, selectmen Richards, selectmen Caplis and selectmen Morrison! Good job???

HOUSE W&M COMMITTEE OFFERS $42.7B FY 2020 BUDGET WITH KEY INVESTMENTS IN MUNICIPAL & SCHOOL AID

• INCLUDES THE FULL $29.7M INCREASE IN UNRESTRICTED MUNICIPAL AID (UGGA)

• INCREASES CHAPTER 70 BY $218M TO FUND MINIMUM AID AT $30 PER STUDENT

• INCREASES CHARTER SCHOOL REIMBURSEMENTS BY $23M

• ADDS $16.5M RESERVE FOR LOW-INCOME STUDENTS

• ADDS $5M TO THE SPECIAL EDUCATION CIRCUIT BREAKER

• ADDS $5M MORE FOR REGIONAL SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION

• ADDS $1M TO McKINNEY-VENTO REIMBURSEMENTS

• LEVEL-FUNDS MOST OTHER MUNICIPAL AND SCHOOL ACCOUNTS

HOUSE W&M COMMITTEE OFFERS $42.7B FY 2020 BUDGET WITH KEY INVESTMENTS IN MUNICIPAL & SCHOOL AID • INCLUDES THE FULL $29.7M INCREASE IN UNRESTRICTED MUNICIPAL AID (UGGA) • INCREASES CHAPTER 70 BY $218M TO FUND MINIMUM AID AT $30 PER STUDENT • INCREASES CHARTER SCHOOL REIMBURSEMENTS BY $23M • ADDS $16.5M RESERVE FOR LOW-INCOME STUDENTS • ADDS $5M TO THE SPECIAL EDUCATION CIRCUIT BREAKER • ADDS $5M MORE FOR REGIONAL SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION • ADDS $1M TO McKINNEY-VENTO REIMBURSEMENTS • LEVEL-FUNDS MOST OTHER MUNICIPAL AND SCHOOL ACCOUNTS   April 10, 2019 Dear Jeffrey Bennett, Earlier today, the House Ways & Means Committee reported out a $42.7 billion fiscal 2020 state budget plan to increase overall state expenditures by 3 percent. The House Ways & Means budget’s bottom line closely matches the budget filed by the Governor in January, yet allocates significantly more for school aid programs. The Chapter 70 aid increase is $17.7 million higher than the amount recommended by the Governor, by increasing minimum aid from $20 per student to $30 per student, and adopting a slightly different method of implementing the recommendations of the Foundation Budget Review Commission. The full House will debate the fiscal 2020 state budget during the week of April 22. House members must file all budget amendments by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 12. (Usually, the House considers over 1000 amendments during budget debate week.) H. 3800, the House Ways & Means budget, provides progress on many important local aid priorities, including the full $29.7 million increase in Unrestricted General Government Aid that the Governor proposed and communities are counting on. The House W&M Committee would increase funding for other major aid programs, by adding $5 million to the Special Education Circuit Breaker, adding $5 million to Regional School Transportation, $1 million to McKinney-Vento reimbursements, and increasing Chapter 70 aid by $218 million more than fiscal 2019 levels.