Templeton Select Board Unanimously Hires New Public Services Director

TEMPLETON -- June 15, 2026, Templeton Select Board hires public services director and warns of a potential $2 million budget gap. The board voted unanimously June 15 to appoint Chris DeMonranville, a civil engineer and current Holden DPW employee, as the town's new public services director, authorizing Town Administrator James to negotiate an employment contract for the board's final approval. The hire came after a staff interview committee that included Police Chief Bennett and Winchenden DPW Director Patrick Wood, with the candidate surfaced through a connection made at the Massachusetts Municipal Human Resources Association conference. In a lengthy budget discussion, the administrator warned that if Phillipston voters approve a June 30 override to fund the Narragansett Regional School District's recertified budget, Templeton would face an additional $1.119 million in cuts on top of roughly $894,000 already made, a combined reduction that could eliminate "roughly one in five people" across police, fire, DPW, and municipal offices. The board also made more than a dozen annual appointments to town boards and commissions, sold four foreclosed parcels, and approved a conservation restriction covering 44 acres of a dog training facility at Swift River Retrievers, before entering executive session on litigation strategy related to the Narragansett Regional School District agreement.