Message from Templeton Selectmen office:

Good Morning all:

Due to the evolving situation, Carter has conferred with the Chairman and a decision has been made to cancel tomorrow's budget session and take advantage of the scheduled snow date of Saturday, March 21. 

On Monday, we will send out information on conference call options for participation in next Saturday's meeting and other provisions to make sure that everyone is able to participate.

We encourage you and remind you to submit any questions you might have in writing so we can get answers out to all. 

Department Heads: please contact those under your supervision that would be attending to let them know. 

Steve: please let Shawn know that this will need to be taped next Saturday instead. 

Have a nice safe weekend.

Massachusetts Municipal Auditor Accountant Association

MMAAA canceling annual education program scheduled for March 16-18, 2020

Date: March 11, 2020

Given the evolving and intensifying developments and the Governor’s State of Emergency over the last 24 hours regarding the Corona virus the MMAAA Executive Board voted unanimously to cancel the MA Municipal Auditors and Accountants Education Training Program scheduled for March 16-18 at UMass in Amherst.

To all of our registered attendees and members, we want to thank you for your patience over the last week as we monitored the ever-evolving situation and tried to make the best decision in the interest of all of our members.  We also appreciate the patience and understanding of all of the speakers and teachers who are essential to making the conference a success.

Members will receive 100% of their registration fee refunded to them and do not need to call UMass to cancel.  However, all members who have reserved hotel rooms including the Campus Center must call and cancel.

The exam will be postponed to a future date.  Members registered for the exam will be notified when a new date is determined.  Exam takers with partial credit will be granted an additional year to pass both sections of the exam.

Also, any members attending this year to maintain their certification will be granted an additional year to do so.

Thank you all for your understanding given this highly unusual situation.

MMAAA Executive Board

from the Town Administrator weekly report, March 12, 2020:

Administration & Finance Town Accountant: My first week back after medical leave has been very busy. Nichole did payroll and the warrants, she also continued to work on the ethics compliance for the town. I completed the February Monthly reconciliation. Nichole, Cheryl and I interviewed for the assistant town accountant position and chose a candidate. Carter met with our choice and offered him the job and he accepted. His projected start date will be April 1st, pending the pre employment screening. Attended the staff meeting on Thursday before heading to Hubbardston. I heard this week that our School for the MMAAA has been canceled due to the Corona Virus. The only time to take the Accountant Certification test was at this School, so I will have to wait one more year to test, wanted to make this clear for the citizens that are interested and concerned about this.

§ 22-19Town website.

[Added 5-12-2004]

The Board shall designate an official Town website, for the posting of Town business, and provide for its maintenance, security, and improvement through a specific budget line item in the fiscal year following passage of this article.

Fiscal Year 2021 under IT: Town website annual fee = $2,500.00 + domain name at $450.00

Information on Town website should be correct and up to date (see Town By-law)

Templeton has no charter nor do we have a Town Manager

The Inter-Municipal Agreement with Winchendon, on animal control, shows it is signed by Carter Terenzini, with a printed name and title: Carter Terenzini, Town Manager???

Top of document clearly states Town of Winchendon & Town of Templeton

“. . .acting through its Town Manager & Town Administrator. . . “

Clearly, Towns people should expect and get better than this.

Town Personnel policy, on page 29, posted on Town Web site, lists full time employees as those who work at least 40 hours per week.

Town hall employees listed at 38 hours per week (fiscal year 2021 budget book, posted on town website)

Clearly, the select board and especially the paid professional staff do not keep up with policy changes and do not follow up on things when they recommend or bring change proposals to the board and the board does not seem to keep up either.

IMA with Hubbardston states town accountant will be in Hubbardston an average of 10 hours per week, yet Templeton taxpayers are paying for 38 hours of work and accountant was even given an extra $7,500.00 increase yet, per IMA, she works fewer hours for Templeton.

Templeton taxpayers were even asked to pay an assistant more; assistant accountant hours increased from 19.5 to 38, equaling double pay increase plus benefit costs. One reason given for this was so work in accounting office could continue while accountant was/is in Hubbardston. Yet for about 6 months, financial reports, such as monthly expenditure reports, failed to be produced in a timely manner, namely the past agreed upon time frame of the 10th of the following month. 

Advisory Committee, acting as a standing committee representing Town Meeting when Town Meeting is not in session, referenced as the Town’s official fiscal watchdog, (from selectmen handbook page 88) discussed and voted at a recent meeting, to ask the select board to look at the IMA with Hubbardston regarding accounting services, and if it is not for the benefit of Templeton, dissolve it. I have yet to see this on the agenda of the select board. Appears that item is to join the scout hall project, Ambulance receipts, special road stabilization fund creation, complete streets and the pavement study, to be put aside in another pile of things to either be forgotten or to continue to just "kick the can down the road"

By SARAH ROBERTSON

Staff Writer

Published: 2/1/2019 10:01:16 PM

ATHOL — The ongoing development of the North Quabbin Commons is one part of a strategic commercial investment plan, years in the making, that includes hefty infrastructure upgrades, a “job creation corridor” in South Athol and expanding the town’s corporate tax base.

Town Manager Shaun Suhoski estimates that Athol has seen more than $1 billion in public and private investments since 2014, with more on the horizon.

Staging for the North Quabbin Commons began about eight years ago, Suhoski said, with the help of James Meehan, chairman of the Economic Development Industrial Corporation (EDIC). He sought a deal with Market Basket owner Artie Demoulas to begin development of the specially zoned Business Improvement District off Templeton Road. The special designation allows “prompt and efficient” permitting through local boards and commissions.

“To attract this type of investment in such a short window and in a small community is not easy,” Suhoski said. “The work of many individuals dating back over a decade to put together land and attract the attention of Artie Demoulas cannot be understated.”

Two different developers have partnered with the EDIC to build out the over 350,000 square foot North Quabbin Commons: Market Basket and Athol Development LLC. Market Basket’s real estate developer, Retail Management & Development (RMD), oversees the western side of the Commons where Maurice’s, Starbucks, Athol Cinemas 8, the 110 Grill, the new Pet Supplies Plus and Hobby Lobby await new neighbors.

In the coming years, taxes collected from the Market Basket building, about $138,000 per year, will pay off $2.8 million the town borrowed to built water and sewer infrastructure in the North Quabbin Commons, Suhoski said. In all, the RMD side of the North Quabbin Commons development will generate $440,951 in property taxes annually.

A North Carolina company, Athol Development LLC owned by Stephen Goodman and partners, covers the western side of the Commons and is home to a Wendy’s, a soon-to-be Taco Bell and 26,000 square foot building under construction that will house Dollar Tree, AT&T and Tea House Restaurant, a Chinese restaurant with another location in Orange.

Kayrouz Realty expressed interest in opening a liquor store in the Dollar Tree building, but to accommodate it the town may have to seek special legislation to eliminate or increase the liquor license quota in Athol. 

“That involves Town Meeting vote,” said Athol’s director of Planning Eric Smith. “There’s a process that has to happen and there’s no guarantee that can move forward at this point.” 

Eventually, Suhoski said the town wants to extend water infrastructure behind the upcoming Dollar Tree to accommodate a hotel, and facilitate future building towards Garfield Street and up to Route 32.

“Probably more important than tax dollars is the provision of quality retail and service options for residents in Athol and the region,” Suhoski said. “These businesses help keep local dollars in the community as well as bringing in revenue from folks outside the region.”

The commercial real estate firm Sullivan Hayes calls the vicinity of the North Quabbin Commons an “underserved trade area” with high visibility, little competition and great potential for growth. Hayes advertises a population of 7,964 people within a three-mile radius of the Commons with an average household income of $56,411.

Meanwhile, Kayrouz Realty is building a new gas station and Dunkin Donuts just up the road from the North Quabbin Commons, right next to Exit 18. After the site was cleared, construction halted for the season pending the proper permits to connect the site to the water and sewer systems from the North Quabbin Commons.

Like other geographically isolated former mill towns, Athol experienced an economic decline in recent decades as factories closed and recessions hit. However, the unemployment rate in Athol has been steadily falling for years, with a 9.1 percent unemployment in 2013, 6.5 percent in 2015 and 4.9 percent in 2017, according to figures from the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission.

The creation of a “job creation corridor” along South Athol Road is another project being considered for the distant future. A new highway interchange connecting South Athol Road to Route 2 would facilitate the business and industrial development of the road, including the 100-acre former Bidwell Farm property purchased by the town in 2009.

“We need to provide access for future growth,” Suhoski said.

In the town manager’s 2016 report, “Five Point Plan for Sustained Success”, a new Route 2 ramp would, “serve existing industries on South Athol Road and promote productive use of 100-acre Bidwell Property and others.”

While the North Quabbin Commons continues to grow uptown, town officials are also working to revamp downtown. The recent expansion and renovation of the Athol Library and construction of the new elementary school are signs of the town’s forward-thinking investment strategy, Suhoski said. The large-scale marijuana cultivator MassGrow LLC has also begun renovations to the former Union Twist Drill building, an investment the town manager estimates is between $20 million and $40 million dollars.

“Investment breeds investment and the greater North Quabbin region is reaping the rewards,” Suhoski said.

With the help of federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the town this year will begin an approximate $3 million revitalization of Marble Street with new pavement, sidewalks, sewer and drainage, Suhoski said. The Exchange Street bridge will also see $800,000 worth of repairs. A new brewery, Atlantic Brewers and Distillers owned by Joseph Gochinski is currently under construction along Marble Street, and the Blind Pig is set to re-open sometime in February under new managers.

“Downtown is just so beautiful and historic, but it’s struggling,” Suhoski said. “It used to be a business hub with it’s own thriving economy. If we can create the right environment that can and will happen again.”

Behind the scenes, Smith has been working with Suhoski and others to develop a new Master Plan that shapes the town’s future growth strategies. They’re gathering feedback from town officials, holding public forums and forming a committee to address abandoned and vacant buildings throughout town.

Sarah Robertson can be reached at srobertson@atholdailynews.com.

from The Gardner News:

By Ken Cleveland / Correspondent

Posted at 6:00 AM

 

TEMPLETON — A year ago, local officials were preparing to sell the old Baldwinville Elementary School, starting the process of seeking proposals for the building.

With the new Templeton Center Elementary School opening last fall, the echoes in the once vibrant school faded as the students moved on and teachers packed up their old classrooms.

Located in the Village district, numerous uses could be considered. Although a possible buyer interested in marijuana cultivation emerged at the location, the building remained vacant at the end of the year as selectmen sought to restart a search for a buyer.

It may again attract a marijuana cultivation business to the site where generations of town residents attended school. But the town will have to review proposals it receives, with a March 18 deadline for possible buyers to submit plans.

“We believe it will be successful,” Assistant Town Administrator Adam Lamontagne told selectmen recently. “We have received interest via phone calls.”

Selectmen moved to ensure a right-of-way to land as the board prepared the 16 School St. location for sale and included more land in the 1.47-acre site. The building has 23,527 square feet of space on three floors.

Town Administrator Carter Terenzini said the town would look at a number of factors, including job creation, when a five-member committee reviews proposals.

In the request for proposals, a formal search for buyers and possible uses, the Baldwinville Elementary School site is described as commercial property owned and operated by the town.

“The original building was destroyed in a fire Dec. 18, 1921. The building that now stands was built in 1923 at a cost of $97,000 and opened on Nov. 24, 1923, and has operated as a school ever since,” the town document said.

The town plans to work with any developer to preserve the architectural details of the building.

By GREG VINE

For Athol Daily News

Published: 2/28/2020 9:36:35 PM

PHILLIPSTON – Parents and other residents attending Wednesday’s Selectboard meeting were given a handout detailing the fiscal 2021 budget proposal by the Narragansett Regional School Committee. A narrative accompanying the numbers claimed both communities — Phillipston and Templeton — had expressed opposition to significant increases in the district budget, but those in attendance were having none of it.

They were upset the spending plan calls for the closure of Phillipston Memorial Elementary School, which serves students in grades kindergarten through four.

Parent Jim Buzzell, who has a child at Phillipston Memorial Elementary School, acted as spokesman for the group.

“The first sentence that ‘the towns have spoken, and both agree they will not support increases to the school budget’ is patently false,” he said. “We know that. Phillipston has voted on all overrides to increase the budget, without fail. It’s not true that both agree.

“Then it goes to say ‘this would benefit us and allow for the much-needed addition of key social/emotional staff.’ So, we’re going to hire more staff while we fire teachers.”

Buzzell disputed the School Committee’s contention that the proposed moves would “foster a positive classroom environment.”

“Thirty students per classroom is fostering a positive classroom environment?” he asked rhetorically. “Students in Phillipston right now are in classrooms of between, I believe, 17 and 21. Twenty-two might be the highest number; and they’re going to go up to 30 kids in a classroom. That is not a positive classroom environment change for our students in this town.”

He also took issue with plans to reassign fifth-grade students to Narragansett Regional Middle School. Buzzell said the young students were moved into the middle school last year, then transferred again this year to the new Templeton Elementary School.

“It doesn’t seem like the School Committee and the superintendent really have a plan,” said Buzzell. “They’re just jumping from solution to solution — that aren’t really solutions.”

Buzzell went on to state that the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) is threatening to withhold a $1.6 million payment toward the construction of the new elementary school because the district, in order secure state funding for the $47 million facility, had assured the state that Phillipston Memorial Elementary School would remain open.

“The MSBA has now said that them now trying to move the students all around again and reconfiguring the district is, quote, ‘problematic to grant funding,’” said Buzzell. “If they withhold the funding, who is that bill going to go to? Us? Because our kids are going to be in that school now?”

In an initial response to the parents’ concerns, the Selectboard voted to send a letter to the regional school committee asking how much it would cost for the town to operate Phillipston Memorial Elementary School on its own.

In addition to finding funds to operate the school, both towns — Phillipston and Templeton — would have to agree to re-open the district agreement, and both would have to consent to Phillipston operating the school independently. The town would continue, if the plan comes to fruition, to pay for Phillipston students in grades five through 12 to attend the regional middle and high schools.

The town of Petersham has a similar arrangement with the Mahar Regional School District.

FY2021 School Funding using Town, State & School Numbers:

Doing some old fashioned math:

FY2020 school budget total $19,500,000.00.

Templeton Total - $6,682,836.00

Phillipston Total - $1,601,834,00

Templeton $6,682,836.00 + 21/2%/ $167,070.00

Phillipston $1,601,834,00 + 21/2%/ $40,045.85

Total 21/2% increase for FY2021 + $207,116.75

FY2020 total $19,500,000.00 + $207,116.75 =

FY2021 Total $19,707,116.75 and that is figured off dollars when Phillipston school was open, what happens when school is closed, what expenses drop?

So, did school district use common core math to arrive at their already stated number of $19,997,728.00?

FY2021 Templeton - $6,849,906.00

FY2021 Phillipston - $1,641,879.75

FY2021 NRSD NET

state aid from DESE: $11,067,748.00

NRSD E&D funds $ 500,000.00

NRSD Medicaid $ 200,000.00

Total NRSD $11,767,748.00

Towns Total $ 8,491,785.75

Total ALL $20,259,533.75

To me, that is a realistic budget based on 2 1/2 % increase on towns, using state (DESE) numbers, NRSD numbers and Town Numbers, please check my math and numbers.

Right now, I see the school district using town numbers, state numbers and their numbers, E&D + medicaid, showing a total of $19,997,728.00. Trust who you wish, use numbers you want, but that is my view from my seat, so since I think and I believe if you check records of school committee meeting (s) via youtube, $19,500,000.00 was a bit more than required, I believe you can conclude that $19,707,116.75 is fair, equitable and will again show the state it is time to stop giving us BS and show us the money, cause 19.7 is where I stand. Non negotiable.