The Town of Templeton has never had a formal Town Hall in its history. Currently, the government of Templeton is spread out over many buildings throughout the town. A single building would streamline the way Templeton conducts town business. It is quite difficult to manage day to day operations with town departments being separated. In addition, the frustrations experienced by many people visiting the wrong office in which they want to conduct business would be eliminated. Savings realized from vacating and selling current town offices as well as the elimination of paying rent at 690 Patriots Rd will beneift the town long term.

Locating the offices of the Town of Templeton in a new building would benefit all its citizens by providing a convenient, central, and easily accessible building in which to conduct business. A signature type of building would be a source of community pride.

The United States Department of Agriculture offers 40 year loans for structures such as the town hall. Essentially, the USDA would hold the mortgage on the building.
The benefit of securing a loan from the USDA over a bank is that the USDA assigns a person to work with the town and is an expert in projects of these types. In fact, Templeton Light & Water funded various water projects via a USDA loan. In addition the USDA would reimburse the town for expenses incurred in drawing up the preliminary plans for the town hall.

The current estimate for the site preparation and construction is approximately $2.6 million. Based on a loan from the USDA at 4.6% and a fixed payment $133,822/year, this would increase the tax rate by $0.18. As an example, a $300,000 home would expect to pay an additional $54.00 a year toward the new town hall. This amount does not take into account the savings realized by vacating all the current town properties as well as the sale of those properties.

The town hall would be located behind the highway barn on Balwinville Rd. Click here for a map.
This is an excellent location because the site is already owned by the town and happens to be the geographical center of Templeton.

The recommendation would be that the vacated town offices be sold.

An additional benefit related to the project would be a redesign of the Highway Department's traffic flow. In order to build an access road to the town hall, the gas pumps located at the front of the highway barn would need to be moved. This would create an opportunity to relocate the pumps to the back of the barn providing easier and safer access. Trucks would enter to the south of the barn, fuel up at the back and then exit via the current road used for the new animal shelter.