Tuesday, March 20
Selectmen want a consultant for the library? for what?
Would someone please explain to Chairman Sapia that as a selectman he has no control over who is hired for the library building project, and to "recommend" as he did last night, is just that, and carries no weight unless the trustees wish it to. It is the Library Trustees that are responsible for overseeing the project. Once again, the voters told the selectmen to go out and negotiate and get the bonds necessary to build the library, up to the amount specified. They must now go and do it. They do not get to pick a consultant for a project. And why does this project need a consultant. They have a competent Architect, they will hire a competent builder. It is not a particularly large project, as buildings go. Why would this consultant be needed, and from where would he be paid? Just what line item(read spending purpose) in the budget allows the selectmen to hire a consultant? Why wasn't this put into a warrant article for the voters, since this expenditure must be more than $5,000. Jack you are starting off your chairmanship as you have led(if that isn't too comical a term) for your last two years.
for the selectmen's education, there are four entities in town that use taxpayer monies over which the selectmen have NO authority! 1.) School Board 2.) Conflict of Interest committee 3.) Budget Committee 4.) the Library.
ReplyDeleteThese entities have budgets that the taxpayers raise and appropriate money for, and the selectmen have no authority by law over how this money is spent. They simply write the checks.
They don't have the authority to tell the school board "we only want to pay you $800,000 this month." just as they can not do that to the library.
Hey Jack, where is the consultants line in the budget?
ReplyDeleteWhy do we need a consultant? We have homes in tis town that are more complicated than this building. The country club is much larger and more complicated, and no consultant was needed.
ReplyDeleteCould this be a ploy to allow the selectmen some measure of control over the project?
Anon 3:24 -
ReplyDeleteYou have hit the proverbial nail smack dab on the head! To put it kindly, Chairman Sapia does seem to have "control issues". He needs to take a step back, close his mouth and listen to we common folk!
Lots of money at stake here. Lots of political favors can be gained. I would not be surprised to see a huge battle ensue between the Library and the Selectman over control of the project. When $2.7 Million is being spent, there is a lot of room for abuse.
ReplyDeleteGet ready for a big fight. Sapia and Childs are ready to take control of the Library's money! They have lots of "qualified" buddies that could use the "work".
In the interest of life safety, of course.
We need an $800,000 Library cell tower in case someone tries to steal a book from the library.