Town of Templeton General by-laws

Article VI - Contracts by Town officers

section 1.   Unless otherwise provided by the general laws or a vote of town meeting, the board of selectmen is authorized to enter into any contract for the exercise of the Town's corporate powers on such terms and conditions as are deemed appropriate. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no board, committee, commission or town officer shall contract for any purpose, on any terms or under any conditions inconsistent with any applicable provision of any general law or special law. (G.L. c. 40, section 4, Town meeting designation of contracting authority).

Town Meeting vote in 2013 ATM:

On a motion duly made and seconded the town voted that Article III of the Revised General By-laws be amended, by adding the following new section 4, as follows: Section 4: Town Administrator- “The Board of Selectmen is authorized and empowered to appoint a town administrator who may be appointed for a term of one or three years, and to remove the town administrator at their discretion. The town administrator appointed under the provisions of this section shall be sworn to the faithful performance of the duties of the office. During the time that the town administrator holds office the town administrator shall hold no elective town office, but may be appointed by the Board of Selectmen or, with their approval, by any other town officer, board, committee or commission, to any other town office or position consistent with the town administrator’s office. The Town Administrator shall receive such aggregate compensation, not exceeding the amount appropriated therefore, as the Board of Selectmen may determine. The Town Administrator shall act by and for the Board of Selectmen in any matter which the Board may assign to the town administrator relating to the administration of the affairs of the town or of any town office or department under their supervision and control, or, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, may perform such other duties as may be requested by any other town officer, board, committee or commission.” And, further, to reflect the above-mentioned amendment to Article III of the Templeton Revised General By-Laws, the following Templeton Revised General ByLaw sections will also be amended by replacing the title of “Town Coordinator” with the title of “Town Administrator” in Article XLII-Capital Planning By-Law- Section 1: And in: Article XLVII-Personnel By-Law –Section 3(b) and Section 3 (c) Passed/May 16th @ 8:37

Town Meeting vote in 2014 ATM:

On a substitute motion duly made and seconded the Town voted that Article III “Town Officers“ of the Town By-laws be herby amended:

4. “It shall be duty of the Town Administrator in conjunction with the BOS to consider expenditures and develop a budget for the ensuing fiscal year of the several boards, officers and committees of the town, as prepared by them in such form and detail as prescribed by the Town Administrator.”

Passed Unanimously/May 19^th @ 8:38pm

Seems like one year, town meeting gave authority to selectmen to have someone else authority for contracts then changed that in 2014, interesting situation. Check the existing Templeton General by-laws not online and then contact the Town clerk.

Seems like there were a few executive session meetings around the time the contract between the Town of Templeton and Local 39, so unless the selectmen held some bogus meetings, it would seem they, the selectmen met to discuss and vote to accept said contract. The selectmen may have instructed the town administrator, Robert Markel to sign on their behalf, or more correctly, on the Town's behalf, the selectmen are ultimately responsible for the contract and approving the budget or spending plan that has to fund it, such as freebies for little davey.

Article VII - Legal affairs

section 1. The selectmen shall be agents of the town to institute, prosecute and defend any and all claims, actions and proceedings to which the town is a party or in which the interests of the town are or may be involved.

If anyone takes the time to check, you will find first, that it is not debt of the Templeton municipal light & water department, it is debt of the Town of Templeton. The votes are in the reports of Town meeting. There is also a letter from the DOR to the light & Water commissioners and selectmen, dated January 9, 2014 that said among other things, with regards to borrowing, Templeton light is NOT a legal separate entity and with regards to borrowing, must go before the legislative body. That is why the people had to vote on the borrowing for a new water tank, so when anyone voted to borrow for a new water tank, they essentially voted to add more debt to the town. If anyone wishes to place blame on the light & water department for increased debt, they would be wrong, it was town meeting, the same way the 47 million dollar appropriation for a new school was voted on. Again it was the selectmen who placed that question before town meeting, so it would have been the selectmen's responsibility to explain both to town meeting, in an honest way, and what might be the consequences of each vote. I think the selectmen failed, especially Johnny Columbus.

So stop blaming the light commissioners for the added debt, they just asked for it, town meeting said do it and the selectmen supported it!


posted by Jeff Bennett

Never said it is against the law to use chapter 90 grant funds to buy equipment. I said the money should be used by the town to repair it's roads, as in Templeton town infrastructure, as in Town assets.

I said that chapter 90 money was used to buy an excavator that was and is not needed. I do not know how towns such as Ashburnham, Winchendon, Athol, Westminster and on and on, get their roads repaired and repaved without an excavator.

No tax override until Templeton's finances are in order for three years in a row and that includes no 30 plus financial transfers to "fix" stuff, because if you have to move money around to cover other so called budget items, then the original plan is bad to begin with, as Templeton has recently seen with regards to the fiscal year 2018 spending plan.

The Chapter 90 Program was enacted on March 23, 1973, by vote of the Public Works Commission to entitle Municipalities to reimbursement of documented expenditures under the provisions of General Laws, Chapter 90, Section 34, Clause 2(a) on approved Projects. The Funds provided from Transportation Bond Issues authorizes such Capital Improvement Projects for Highway Construction, Preservation and Improvement Projects that create or extend the life of Capital Facilities as follows:

Chapter 90 is a 100% Reimbursable Program

Grants are made in accordance with Section 34 Chapter 90 MGL. These funds shall be used in compliance with all applicable statutes and regulations, including but not limited to, Chapter 30, Section 39M; Chapter 149, Section 44J; Chapter 149, Section 26-27F; as applicable for maintaining, repairing, improving and constructing town and county ways and bridges which qualify under the State Aid Highway Guidelines adopted by the Public Works Commission.

Project Guidelines Included in the Chapter 90 Law

Funds must be allocated to roadway projects, such as resurfacing and related work (the minimum for resurfacing shall be 3/4" course with a continuous length of 500') and other work incidental to the above such as preliminary engineering including State Aid/Consultant Design Agreements, right-of-way acquisition, shoulders, side road approaches, landscaping and tree planting, roadside drainage, structures (including bridges), sidewalks, traffic control and service facilities, street lighting (excluding operating costs), and for such other purposes as the Department may specifically authorize. The municipality shall provide documentation of compliance with Chapter 149, Sections 44J and 26-27F; as applicable.

Additional Project Guidelines for Chapter 90 Work Voted and Approved by the Board of Commissioners on September 28, 1994

Highway Construction, Preservation and Improvement Projects that Create or Extend the Life of Capital Facilities

Resurfacing, Graveling, Microsurfacing, Pug Mill Mix (cold mix), Chip Stone Seal, Oil and Stone, Infrared Repairs (in connection with surface treatments), Recycled Aggregate Pavement, Rip Rap, Fabric, Crack Sealing, Drainage, Intersections, Shoulders, Guardrails, Sidewalks, Footbridges, Berms and Curbs, Traffic Controls and Related Facilities, Right of Way Acquisition, Street Lighting (excluding operating costs and decorative enhancements), Construction, Direction and Warning Signs (must comply with MUTCD), Bridges, and Tree Planting/Landscaping in association with a project.

Projects and Uses

Bikeways, Salt Sheds, Garages (construction and additions) for storage of road building equipment. Bikeways and Public use of off-street parking facilities related to mass transportation, a facility with bus or rail services. Engineering services and expenses related to highway and mass transportation purposes. Pavement management systems, development and maintenance.

Road Building Machinery, Equipment and Tools

Care, repair and storage must be project related and submitted on the same project request form. Purchase, replacement and long-term lease of road building machinery, equipment and tools that must remain the property of the municipality. Long-term lease will be reimbursed once annually for the construction season.

Road Building Equipment

Air Compressor, Asphalt Hot Box, Back Hoe, Berm Machine, Catch Basin Cleaner, Chipper, Wood & Brush, Chain Saw, Clam or Dragline, Compactor, Concrete, Floor Trowel, Concrete Mixer, Crack Sealer, Crane, Excavator, Generator, Grader, Gradall, Infrared Machine, Jackhammer, Lab Testing Equipment, Loader, Pavement Breaker, Paver, Pump, Roller, Spreader for Chip Seal Project, Striper, Survey Equipment, Sweeper, Tools, Tractor, Trailer, Trencher, Truck, Minimum 27,000 Pounds, Welder

So, again, if there is or was a problem with salt storage, stop buying un-needed equipment such as excavators, which sit a good portion of the year and build a proper salt storage facility and preserve an expensive item, road salt.

posted by Jeff Bennett

Little Davey is wrong - again!

david smart6:50 AM

So we save with lower costs for the labor force year after year.
We have a excellent team in place now and things are looking better for the future of Templeton. With people like Jeffy pointing out the great strides the team has made since he dropped out it warms ones heart that he did.
Thank you Julie Farrell for your work on the AC research on the effort level and hope to see the results you get on the Blogs for Templeton.
That is the reality of the problem Templeton faces and should be the focus of the need for the massive over ride needed.
Soon the AC should have that number and tell the people the needs.
Just a clue it should be at least 1 million and will only begin to fix the issue of to low of a tax rate in Templeton for to long.
And with that i give you Jeffy for comments.

david smart5:40 PM

The roads don't get repaired, Chapter 90 money is instead used to buy equipment.
Mark you seem to be miss informed like Jeffy about town issues.
The fact is there is a long list of roads we have done over the alst 6 years.
The fact is we have spent a pile of chapter 90 money on your road royalston rd.
Just the engineering cost will total 400k + is almost 1/2 done,soon to be in submit table

david smart8:49 PM

Won't cost the town this will be a T.I.P. Mass project the way they want it to be done.
As it use to be a county road before the state dumped it on us we would just like the Barre road needs never have the funds we need for it to be rebuilt.
As with the Baldwinvlle rd. project we spent 300k + to engineer and we only allowed to have it ground and resurfaced. Some drainage and sidewalks.
No water lines and no other underground issues taken care of.
As far as the money for equipment we asked for it at town meeting and the funds were not provided that way. The decision needed to be made and it was by the elected ones.
Don't like the decision they made is your opinion and not shared by all.
The equipment is, believe it or not needed and used to make it possible to keep our town safe and manageable if emergencies strike.
It's like the chunks unless you work at the facilities it's not easy to understand.
What gets me is why so many buss's go by with no or few kids on them.
Even more is how many cars go by with the kids being dropped off.
Busing is largest increase in the school budget and only one contract bid was submitted.
Lets try UBER and save a Million +

 So, lets see, in reverse order, work on on the Royalston Road will not cost the Town anything. Where is the money coming from for the engineering costs of this project? Where does the state get the money it spends? FROM THE TAXPAYERS, from STATE SALES TAX! and last I checked,most people pay state taxes and or fees in some way, even the people in Templeton, so it does cost the town Davey!

I seem to know the chapter 90 money little davey speaks of is money intended for road repair and now that money is being spent on plans rather than material to improve Road travel and when the roads are in terrible condition, it costs taxpayers and anyone with a car in addiitonal repairs brought on by poor road conditions. I know little davey thinks there should be a big override so he can get a raise and so someone else can pay more of his health insurance. I know all department heads seem to be told to attend training and meetings with the exception of the treasurer / collector.

I know what the "excellent team" managed to do, again, is mess up the budget or more correctly spending plan with bad numbers while continuing to claim they have a good team in place. I know three members of the Advisory Committee paid their own way to a conference of finance committees last year (Jeff Bennett, Wil Spring and Julie Farrell) (Julie Farrell and Jeff Bennett also paid their own way to the MMA meeting in 2014) I know this so calledd excellent team has messed up the numbers again, while having a deputy assessor, treasurer, collector , town accountant and experienced town administrator and still, the same old mistakes, errors and goof ups and false claims and little davey singing their praise. I guess he has to do that after they signed a contract giving him all the freebies. 

Now, little davey will no longer be driving the conversations here and the posting of Templeton financial information will continue, beginning with the two proposed fulltime fire fighters/EMS personnel for Templeton, that is correct, full time with benefits and that is Templeton town government growing and costing taxpayers more and more.

posted by Jeff Bennett

 Snow & Ice account History - as presented in the FY2018 Book

Actual FY's ($15,762.00) 3 yr average over/under without hi/lo **
Actual FY's ($19,614.00) 5 yr average over/under

* Yield to date
** add to prior year fiscal budget to achieve full funding over time.

	FY 2012	FY 2013	FY 2014	FY 2015	FY 2016	FY 2017*
Labor	$  29,463.00	$  67,841.00	$ 54,660.00	$ 48,206.00	$  26,710.00	$52,297.00
Supplies & Other	$  90,598.00	$103,147.00	$123,384.00	$123,033.00	$  96,030.00	$159,708.00
Expended	$120,060.00	$170,987.00	$178,043.00	$171,239.00	$122,740.00	$212,006.00
Budget	$165,000.00	$125,000.00	$125,000.00	$125,000.00	$125,000.00	$125,000.00
Over/Under	$  44,940.00	$(45,987.00)	$(53,043.00)	$(46,239.00)	$    2,260.00	$(87,006.00)

posted by Jeff Bennett

Templeton Board of Selectmen
Town Hall, 160 Patriots Road, East Templeton
Monday, April 10, 2017, 6:30 p.m.

Agenda
1. Call the Meeting to Order

2. Pledge of Allegiance

3. Minutes~ 3.27.17

4. New Business: 
a. Action RE: Appointments
b. Action RE: Chief Bennett, Opioid Discussion
c. Action RE: Contract for CBS/Xerox
d. Action RE: FY’18 Insurance Option
e. Veterans Back Brief

5. Old Business:

a. Action RE:


6. Board & Staff Member Comments & Reports

7. Potential Request for Executive Session 

8. Adjournment

The listing of Agenda items is those reasonably anticipated by the Chair which may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent it is permitted by law.

THIS AGENDA IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

mmm, no more agenda item for "Public Comments" 

from Selectmen policies and procedures on the Templeton Town website: 

Agenda items normally include:
1. Reading of the Agenda
2. Public Comment
3. Town Administrator Report
4. Scheduled Business
5. Topics not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chairman 48 Hours in Advance
6. Selectman Reports/Future Agenda Items
7. Adjournment 

posted by Jeff Bennett

and yes, I copied and pasted the above information!

From: jpb01468@comcast.net]
Sent: Friday, April 07, 2017 10:00 AM
To: DOR DLS Law
Subject: tax levy

Attention Kathleen Colleary;

I am Jeff Bennett from Templeton, MA (yes, that Templeton) and I have a question as a member of the Templeton Advisory Committee and a resident; while I know it is legal to use the allowable tax levy with regards to the revenue section of a town budget presentation, is it improper or wrong to use or suggest that a better or more correct way to represent town revenue, is to use the actual collection rate versus what a town is actually allowed to collect. In a perfect world, any town would collect 100% of allowed property tax, but since we do not live in a perfect world, it is the opinion of the Templeton Advisory Committee that a more conservative approach is warranted and thus we suggest using the actual collected amount rather than what is simply allowed by law. I understand that sometimes a written opinion may be hard to come by, my phone # is 978-360-4634, that is my cell and usually with me 24/7. I appreciate any help given, and thank you in advance.

respectfully Jeff Bennett

and the answer is:

This is not a municipal finance law issue and therefore, the legal staff cannot provide any guidance.  It is more in the nature of a local policy or best practice for local officials to determine. You may wish to visit the Best Practices provided on our Technical Assistance Bureau’s webpage to see if there on budgeting that may be of assistance.   http://www.mass.gov/dor/local-officials/technical-assistance-bureau/best-practices-and-guidance.html

Bureau of Municipal Finance Law

Division of Local Services

Department of Revenue

617-626-2400

DLSLAW@dor.state.ma.us 

PO Box 9569

Boston, MA 02114-9569

www.mass.gov/dls

This e-mail response is intended to provide general information about the application of municipal tax and finance laws and Department of Revenue policies and procedures.  It is not a public written statement, as defined in 830 CMR 62C.3.1, and does not state the official position of the Department on the interpretation of the laws pertaining to local taxes and finance.  It should be considered informational only.

posted by Jeff Bennett

At tonight's Advisory Committee meeting, Dave Smart stated the town's screening plant was repaired in the middle of the winter because it is used to screen the frozen crust from the sand pile, so it can go into the sanders because most of the sanders do not have screens on them.
I know of no other town that does that and the idea sounds bizarre. Peel off the crust and set it aside, when the weather warms, the sand will crumble and be, well sand again. It seems it is to easy to just "charge it" and use the snow & ice deficit to pay for it. Sometime ago, I commented on this subject and Dave came back with a comment about how he was looking forward to my idea or reason for the screen plant being repaired out of snow & Ice. Well, turns out Dave gave the reason himself. So there you have an example of mismanagement of the snow & Ice deficit spending mechanism.

posted by Jeff Bennett