MA to spend around 100 million for school meals. This is so there will be no direct costs to the student for food while at school. There has been full price lunch, 1/2 price lunch and no cost lunch depending on student status. As I understand it, that has been the process for a long time. Under new provisions by the state, the cost of the meals will come from state budget (our tax dollars) and as i see it, it is a good thing.

So, is this socialism? Consider every city and town in the commonwealth of Ma receives state aid in the form of unrestricted general governmental aid (ugga) and then there is chapter 70 funding which is tax dollars distributed to school districts (fair or unfairly) then there is gas tax and chapter 90 funding, which is really just more debt for the state (us) because chapter 90 (road money) is a yearly bonding bill (can you say borrow money) so I view this meals program as just another return of some of our tax dollars that we sent to the statehouse each year. FY24 ugga to Templeton, around 1.9 million dollars, so if Templeton residents are opposed to socialism, then I suppose we could have a town meeting vote to not accept ugga funds, or chapter 90 funds.

 How it is done or in Templeton's case, it could be done.

Ashburnham, MA 2013 annual town meeting;

ARTICLE 2: To see if the Town will vote to authorize a PILOT payment based on the annual kilowatt sales of the Light Department multiplied by a per kilowatt value. from the Municipal Light Plant Funds, to the town treasury, as authorized by its Light Board in accordance with Chapter 164 of the General Laws of the Commonwealth, or act in relation thereto. 

(Requested by the Municipal Light Department) 

SELECTMEN RECOMMEND: YES 

CAPITAL PLAN. COMM. RECOMMEND: N/A 

ADVISORY BD. RECOMMEND: YES 

TAX RATE IMPACT: N/A 

Brief Explanation: The PILOT agreement is tied to the Pilot payment in the annual kilowatt sales of the light department multiplied by a per kilowatt value. This was put in place for FY13 to ease the calculation and establish a standard process for future years. In FY13 it is estimated we will receive $66,345.

from 2022 Ashburnham annual town meeting;

PILOT estimate at $65,000.00

from 2023 Ashburnham annual town meeting;

PILOT estimate at $65,000.00.

Templeton light commission does not seem to work for the town in this instance (PILOT).

 Ashburnham Ma (they have municipal light dept.) annual town meeting of May 2023, article 2 -"to see if the Town will vote to authorize a PILOT payment based on the annual kilowatt sales of the Light dept. multiplied by a per kilowatt value from the municipal light plan funds, to the town treasury, as authorized by its light board in accordance with chapter 164 of the general laws of the commonwealth, or act in relation thereto. (requested by light dept.) Brief explanation, The PILOT agreement is tied to the pilot payment in the annual kilowatt sales of the light dept. multiplied by a per kilowatt value. This was put in place for FY13 to ease the calculation and establish a standard process for future years. In FY24, it is estimated we will receive $65,000.00. So, in Ashburnham for example, the light commissioners work for the benefit of the town, rather than going around and claiming they are all independent from the town. Templeton light commissioners spent money on legal fees to look at structure of town government, but they refused to share it with residents. Big difference in other town/municipal light commissioners and the ones in Templeton.

 from Ahisma face book  page.

Ahimsa Haven has some really amazing news, news that has been 24 years in the making. We have finally purchased our own shelter- no more renting! It is thanks to all of our current and former volunteers and outpouring of community support that we were able to accomplish this. Together, we have adopted out and helped thousands of animals, thru fostering, donations,fundraising, trapping and caring for the cats of Ahimsa. Teamwork really does make the dream work! We are blessed to have such a dedicated, caring, and hard-working Ahimsa family. And a community that believes in us and supports our mission. We couldn't have done it without you. Thank you!

Anyone who has been around Winchendon for that long may had read the many newspaper articles about how we always wanted a place of our own. There were even some pretty ambitious plans in the works about 9 years ago to construct a building in Winchendon. As luck would have it, the CAC building at 273 Central Street in Winchendon came onto the market at the perfect time and this time we were ready to swoop in to claim it.

We cannot wait to share our beautiful new shelter with you!! Stay tuned for our grand opening announcement!

We appreciate each and every one of you!It is all of our stepping stones and opportunities along the way that helped us grow and be where we are today.

Saving lives is what we do, and we have one of the best communities to do it in.

We cannot thank you enough!

Yesterday we moved everyone out of Templeton and into the new space. The move was smooth, the cats adjusted extremely well. Thank you to everyone that helped make the move.

 Looking over financial report on town website under selectmen meeting coming up on Wednesday, August 9, 2023, shows real estate penalties and interest collected at $29,727.54 and excise tax penalties + interest @ $25,642.05. Ya'll gave town extra 55 + thousand dollars.

The vaunted Templeton light and water dept. looking for some arpa money for water main replacement because all of a sudden, a project that has been on books for over 10 years is suddenly an emergency and they have no money set aside for capital projects. Seems like a good time to talk about that PILOT with light dept. per DOR recommendations from town financial review of 2009 and 2021. Also begs the question why the Templeton water enterprise fund budget does not go to town meeting.

Financial report shows MART reimbursement of $47,052.22, which should really go into a revolving fund for senior center. Amount of town money is really not the problem; it is management of those funds where problem lies.

 Templeton collected $77,346.00 from meals tax, so where is the new police cruiser that this tax is supposed to fund? Where is the new highway one ton that this tax is supposed to fund? It was stated to town meeting when asked to accept this tax, that those are items it would pay for. So where are those vehicles, since we paid the tax, why have we not seen the results? Another lie right up there with accountant talking about snow ice funding.

 Templeton has a town bylaw on unregistered vehicles. Templeton, specifically Templeton fire department has a junk/salvage yard at Baldwinville fire station, how about they begin there. It is right down the road from the proposed apartments at old school where it is talked about in plans for a greenway space to the river. How nice it will be when one walks down that space and sees all the junk parked. It is across the road from Rivers Edge Park. Are those vehicles part of fire dept. expense? Any of them leaking any fluids? They were brought up at one selectmen meeting so I am waiting on follow up, as was stated back in May by the new chair of the board.