Plan the dive, dive the plan.
Planning, not one of Templeton's strong points. That said, back in 2018 at Town annual town meeting, May 19, 2018, there was aa plan presented to town meeting, article 29, authorize lease of capital item - fire.
article 29 - On a motion duly made and seconded the Town voted to (a) raise and appropriate the sum of Ninety Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars and No Cents ($92,500.00) to pay for the first year of a six year lease for a fully equipped fire engine apparatus with said lease not to exceed Five Hundred Fifty Five Thousand Dollars and No Cents ($555,000.00) in total, and have a so called escape clause for lack of appropriation in addition to provisions for an early pay-off, without penalty, and a One Dollar ($1.00) buy-out upon the conclusion of all regularly schedule lease payments and (b) appropriate the sum of Twenty Five Thousand Dollars and No Cents ($25,000.00) to write down the purchase price of said item such that it may be leased within the foregoing limits set in this article and to meet said appropriation of by a transfer of said sum from certified free cash.
Passed by a 2/3 Vote/May 19th @ 1:18 pm
So, why some may be yelling about school budget and some town officials calling out the school number as well, perhaps they should look within. Do not rely on assumptions that school budget will only increase by 2 1/2% each year, remember, the state can and do increase town required spending based off in part of a formula. Town officials should remember their own financial plan, as in pay off one lease for a fire equipment before taking on a second one, as is proposed in the upcoming town meeting in May, at least that is what has so far proposed in town meeting warrant. When one is talking about equipment that is 1/4 to 1/2 million dollars in cost, you need to plan and follow the plan. Remember the infield groomer, the dump body and the meals tax, town meeting was told one thing and admin did something else, there is a big trust situation in this town and just when it seemed it was getting there, BAM, out goes the rug and no amount of spin at a BOS meeting can correct this. When you hear "team" at a Templeton meeting, some should remember that residents/voters are the most important part of the "team". Do not forget that.
ReplyDeleteI was present ffor at least one meeting when the $92,500 which I think was money for funding Baldwinville rd or something that was converted for use as a funding source for large capital items in Fire/Ambulance. The idea, was when the funding for this engine was complete the $92,500, rather than just being freed up to be spent anywhere would be directed towards funding another replacement vehicle in Fire/Ambulance.
ReplyDeleteRemember this if nothing else. They only show you what benefits them for you to see.
In 2014 we bought a new ambulance and in 2020 we bought another ambulance. We were all schooled about the useful life, etc being 10 yrs on an ALS ambulance. It's FY 2024 and I see no Ambulance on the Capital plan! I see 300 more call per year that was estimated when we updated. I still see payments for the 2020 ambulance being made which I believe were approved at $56,000 per yr.
Now I say this mainly because people need to know what they are paying for the service they receive.
Fire Budget- ----------------$822,000
Ambulance----------------- $534,500
Amb/Fire Leases --------$246,000 = ( $92,500 eng, $97,500 tanker, $56,000 Ambulance)
_____________
Total Fire/Ambulance $1,602,500 for fy24
What do we get for that money? Is it what we were promised?
more coming...............
Kinda depends where you live. If you live in Baldwinville you're in luck. Chief Dickie, as is pointed out in the package put together regarding regionalising fire/ambulance with phillipston places the "on duty" staff at 2 School St to be closer to 45% of the population in an effort to keep response times down. The result is awesome for Baldwinville residents who get responses within a few minutes, but for all those living South of Patriots Rd, well, you're looking at 8 minutes plus before you can think of receiving services from a Paramedic.
ReplyDeleteA recent response to Shady Lane was 12 minutes by the Ambulance. Does that fall under the recommendation. (2)Police Officers on scene in under 6 minutes.
I'm not taking anything away from the Response from the Police Department, but they are not Paramedics in and Ambulance. If you live South of Patriots Road be prepared to have Police, not Ambulance be the ones who are first to assist your loved ones.
This Chiefs inappropriate (my opinion) management is out of step and becoming dangerous for Templeton residents. Look at the reports. Fire is a small portion of the demand. 80% is ambulance yet this Chief has us spending $1 on Fire for every 60 cents on Ambulance. Let me explain.
Looking at the budget Fireman Dickie ( not accreditied) presented shows he allocate 37.5% of his budget towards Ambulance even though they are 80% of his calls. Thats means that Dickie budgets 62.5% of his budget towards Fire Department which amounts to under 10%.
Does that seem appropriate to anyone whose ever budgeted?
Ask Dickie about his FLEET of vehicles, his 60 sets of bunker gear, his 50 helmets, his 50 pairs of boots, his half mile of pipe and then we can talk about his payroll being half on and half off the GF ( good luck accounting)
Look at the cost increase to Fire and Ambulance over the past couple years. It's Doubled in a few years with NO appreciable benefit to taxpayers.
At a minimum I hope people require the Administration to wait until the $92,500 is fully paid off, then look for another asset to use the same funding source...............
ReplyDeleteSimilar to what I would hope they do with the Ambulance when it is paid, replace the older one and discharge the surplus.
Thats the problem in Town. Even at the Police Department they have a 6 year replacement that the chief has been good at maintaining, but, that is now failed. The Chief forgot we are one town. The idea of the 6 year cycle was to keep maintaince low while keeping cars up and running. By passing on the last car to COA the Chief is not following the plan and is literally dumping a vehicle maintenance on the town violating the principle of the process as stated when started.
We do not have a money problem in Templeton! We have a management problem in Templeton!
Where is the inventory of vehicles and equipment the Town of Templeton owns ? I know the Advisory Committee asked for that information and never received it.
ReplyDelete