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.