FM #88 - Week ending 3/6/11

Lets take less than ten minutes to review what matters in Franklin, MA as the week ends March 6, 2011.

Time: 6 minutes, 20 seconds




MP3 File

Show Notes

This internet radio show or podcast is number 88 in the series for Franklin Matters.

We'll look back at the week that was as it comes to a close Sunday March 6. Then we will look at what is scheduled for the week ahead.

The Community Gardens group meet on Monday night in the Community Room of Stop & Shop. It is good to see such a group beginning this endeavor.

My notes from the meeting are here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/live-reporting-community-garden.html

The FinCom meeting on Tuesday was canceled as expected. The State numbers are too preliminary to begin to work with at this time. The current expectation is that by mid-month there should be some indication as to the range of numbers available from the State to begin planning.

The Town Council held a very brief meeting on Wednesday. I caught the replay via the video on demand in order to participate in the Friends of the Library meeting. It was a very good choice to make. My report is available here.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/03/library-and-friends-clear-air.html

Be sure to review the update on the tax donation status of gifts to the Library. With the standard disclaimer that I am not providing tax advice just information, check with your tax preparer how to handle this with your particular situation.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/03/re-franklin-library-blog-posting.html

The Community Health Council met on Thursday evening featuring an update from Peter Light on the health related activities at the high school. More information on the calendar of events coordinated by the Council can be found here http://www.franklin.ma.us/auto/schools/FPS/CHC/default.htm

Looking ahead:

The Long Range Financial Planning committee meets on Wednesday. The group will likely be continuing to develop its understanding of the financial issues around the Franklin budget.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project released a report that showed:

"... government transparency is associated with residents’ feelings of efficacy and empowerment: Those who think their government shares information well are more likely to say that people like them can have an impact on government. It might be the case that signals from government that “we want to be open about what we do” make people think they can take advantage of that openness and influence the way the government operates."

This report helps foster the activities that you and I have been taking here. Our engagement on the website, through the weekly and daily newsletters, and on Facebook are helping to encourage Franklin to do more in these areas. Franklin regularly wins an award for for government information sharing but it can still do better. One of the major issues with the budget crisis we face is the lack of trust in the information provided. Increasing the transparency will foster trust.

The full report can be found here:
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/08-Community-Information-Systems.aspx

---- ---- ----

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin. I can use your help.

How can you help, you ask?

If you have an interest in covering the Planning Board, Conservation Commission and or the Zoning Board of Appeals meetings in Franklin, please let me know.

And as always

• If you like this, please tell your friends and neighbors
• If you don't like this, please tell me

Through this feedback loop we can continue to improve.

Thank you for listening.


For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark and Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!


Franklin, MA

FM #87 - Week ending 2/27/11

Let's take about 10 minutes to get up to speed on what matters in Franklin, MA as the week comes to a close Sunday, Feb 27, 2011

Time: 10 minutes, 1 second



MP3 File

Show Notes:

This internet radio show or podcast is number 87 in the series for Franklin Matters.

We'll look back at the past two weeks as school vacation comes to a close Sunday Feb 27. Then we will look at what is scheduled for the week ahead.

The School Committee meeting on the 15th before school vacation was a full meeting.
Rep Vallee and Sen Spilka attended to provide an update on the overall budget outlook.
They did arrive in time to see the Franklin Arts Academy presentation which was quite impressive.
The school budget was reviewed and with minor discussion, approved.

While I can understand from the SchCom point of view that they have almost lived with the budget, some on the budget subcommittee more so than the others, and they had spent most of Saturday morning Jan 29th in the budget workshop. But as on that Saturday, the reporter from the MDN and I were the only members of the public, you would think that they would take some time to showcase the budget in this real public forum complete with live video which would be available later in the video on demand archive. But no, they went through it summarily and that is that. Shame on those in Franklin who did not come out to the meeting in person, that was your chance to step up and say something.

I do have links to the budget presentation and to the entire budget book available in the show notes
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/franklin-public-schools-budget-book-fy.html

Kudos to Jim Roche, Finance Committee chair, who did participate in the meeting for the budget discussion.

The notes from the full meeting can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/school-committee-021511.html


The Town Council had a short and relatively uneventful meeting. The meeting notes can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/town-council-021611.html

The only meeting of significance during the school break was the Long Range Financial Planning Committee which did meet on Wednesday, Feb 23. It was a smaller group than normal but they met the quorum requirements (4 of 7). The lower attendance was likely due to the school vacation. There was a special guest, Town councilor Steve Whalen. Steve reviewed his worksheets which had just been updated with Census Data for 2010. The updated data did not change the overall results, Franklin by all measures does get a great deal of quality services for what little it puts out of its own pocket.

Side note – as the documents Steve shared were legal size, I do not have the ready capability to copy them and share them.

My notes from the meeting including highlights from the Whalen updates can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/live-reporting-long-range-financial_23.html

The other significant item that came from the meeting was the revelation that both Whalen and Zollo will not be running for re-election. I have heard this before but there was still plenty of time for them to change their minds. I guess that is not about to happen. So there will be opportunity for folks to run for the Council. It would be good to see some real competition.

And while we are at it, I have no intentions of running. My approach to this situation has not changed, nor is likely to, so you won't have to worry about it. I'll continue reporting on what matters in Franklin. You can review my disclosure statement for the additional details.

Looking ahead:

The Community Garden Committee meets Monday evening at Stop and Shop. 7:00 7:30 PM in the community room.

The Finance Committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday. February's meeting you may recall was canceled. The Franklin website does not have an agenda posted but it may be on the Municipal Bldg window and I did not have time to go by and check. The Town Council meeting does not have any financial action items which FinCom would have approved first so not sure what's up. We'll find out Tuesday and not be too surprised if the meeting does get canceled.

The Town Council is scheduled to meet Wed March 2. A new liquor license for a Japanese-themed restaurant opening in the former Piccadilly Pub location is on the agenda for approval.

The Town Council agenda is posted here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/franklin-ma-town-council-agenda-mar-2.html

The Franklin Cafe & Grill scheduled to open soon in the former KFC building on 140 has generated some conversation on the Facebook page. In particular about the sign requirements.

March 2 is also significant for two birthdays – Franklin's own birthday and that of Dr Seuss!
Franklin will hold a party on Sunday March 20th at the Museum to celebrate Mar 2 also with some of the 76 Franklin residents who share the March 2 birthday!

The Commonwealth released data by community for 2001 through 2009 on the senior circuit breaker tax advantages available to them. Franklin does quite well in that there has been an increase each year in the number of filers and in the average credit received. To paint a complete picture, I'd like to know how many are eligible and don't apply?
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/franklin-residents-gain-with-senior.html

The Franklin chapter of the Teenangels were in the news
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/teenangels.html

So as we close this week, welcome back. The snow hasn't gone yet. The budget cycle is getting into high gear in March. The time to be involved is now.


---- ---- ----

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin. I can use your help.

How can you help, you ask?

If you have an interest in covering the Planning Board, Conservation Commission and or the Zoning Board of Appeals meetings in Franklin, please let me know.

And as always -
If you like this, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like this, please tell me.

Thank you for listening.


For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com


The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark and Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

FM #86 - Week Ending Feb 13, 2011

Let's take less than 10 minutes to review what matters in Franklin, MA as the week comes to a close on Sunday Feb 13, 2011.

Time: 7 minutes, 44 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes

This internet radio show or podcast is number 86 in the series for Franklin Matters.

We'll look back at the week that was as it ends Sunday Feb 13th before looking ahead to the School Committee and Town Council meetings scheduled.

The Finance Committee meeting was canceled on Tuesday, Feb 8th.

The Long Range Financial Planning Committee did meet on Wednesday, Feb 9th.

The Committee added Sue Rohrbach to serve as a liaison to the School Committee and school budget. Sue joins Tina Powderly representing the Town Council and Jeff Nutting representing the Administration.

The committee settled on their individual assignments which were intended to reflect their individual interests and specialties. The assignments are as follows:

1 - Capital expenditures and debt service - John Hogan
2 - Benchmarking and pensions - Graydon Smith
3 - Salary and benefits (excluding pensions) - Orrin Bean
4 - National trends in municipal finance (includes regionalization) - Craig DiMarzio
5 - Schools - Deb Bartlett
6 - Town revenue, public safety, and other - Ken Harvey
7 - Committee communications and deliverables - Doug Hardesty

The bulk of the meeting was spent continuing to review the prior committee's report and much of the discussion involved clarification or background on the numbers or issues reflected in the report. The meeting ended before the committee had finished reviewing the report so some of the time at the next session will continue this effort.

The full set of my notes from the meeting can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/live-reporting-long-range-financial.html/

The budget workshop held one year ago is still a great source of detailed information directly from Jeff Nutting, Susan Gagner and Jim Dacey on the Town side of the budget and Maureen Sabilonski, Miriam Goodman on the School side of the budget. The full workshop was recorded, the audio and worksheets to accompany the recording are all available online here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/budget-workshop-collection-12510.html/

Yes, this was a year ago. The numbers may have changed a little but the overall issues for the Town have not and hence this still has great relevance for today.

The other non-meeting major item in the news was the report theft of the historic bell from the Museum. Apparently someone has made off with it, likely to melt it down for the valuable metal.

I don't spend much time doing analysis on the traffic volume for what I publish here. I did want to bring to your attention some of the numbers now that three full years have passed and four January's have been completed. I will continue to focus on bringing as much good content on what matters with the Franklin budget as possible.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/you-find-good-content-here.html

Looking to the week ahead:

School Committee is scheduled to meet Tues Feb 15. As their meeting on the 1st was canceled, I am assuming their budget discussion will be the focus for this meeting. I have included the budget links I previously posted to make it easier to find them.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/franklin-ma-school-committee-agenda_13.html/

The Town Council is scheduled to meet Wed Feb 16. Their agenda is posted here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/franklin-ma-town-council-agenda-feb-16.html/

The budget info for Fiscal Year 2012 can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/01/fiscal-year-2012-budget-information.html

---- ---- ----

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin. I can use your help.

How can you help, you ask?

If you have an interest in covering the Planning Board, Conservation Commission and or the Zoning Board of Appeals meetings in Franklin, please let me know.

And as always -

• If you like this, please tell your friends and neighbors
• If you don't like this, please tell me.

Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

FM #85 - Week ending Feb 6, 2011

Let's spend less than 10 minutes and get caught up on what matters in Franklin, MA as the week ends Feb 6, 2011.


Time: 5 minutes, 56 seconds




MP3 File


Session Notes:


This internet radio show or podcast is number 85 in the series for Franklin Matters.


We'll start by looking back at the snowy week that was as it comes to a close on Sunday Feb 6th. School got out early Tues, was canceled Wed, and started late on Thu. All due to the weather.


School Committee canceled, so the budget hearing was postponed to their next meeting Feb 15th


Town Council managed a quorum to hold a short meeting on Weds; a couple of appointments were approved, the liquor license manager change for Maguro House was approved, and authorization to spend more than the budget for snow/ice was approved.


At the Council meeting Jeff Nutting provided several updates including a summary of the budget development status. As the entire meeting took only 17 minutes, I have included the link so you can catch the on demand video and view it directly


http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=EehmtDrfKKNgo8xk8AQHNg%3d%3d


Library will hold a book sale, apparently the Friends and the Board of Directors are working out the issues that cropped up.


Recreation fee investigation postponed due to health issues with a key person
wasn't going to happen right away anyway, just wanted to get the research underway


Also on the library front, word out of Medway is that they are terminating the sharing agreement for the Library director with Franklin. This is going the wrong way on the regionalization front. This I think is a good case in point as to how hard regionalization is. It is not a silver bullet, it takes hard work to make it work. It does take two to tango. Medway apparently wants their own tune.


Looking to the week ahead:


Finance Committee scheduled to meet Tues Feb 8th
Long Range Financial Planning Committee scheduled to meet Wed Feb 9th


So we have had some snow melt in the last day or so, but we are still covered with plenty and there is more on the way. Be safe, be careful, shovel the fire hydrants in your neighborhood.


----

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin. I can use your help. 

How can you help, you ask? 

If you have an interest in covering the Planning Board, Conservation Commission and or the Zoning Board of Appeals meetings in Franklin, please let me know.

And as always - 

• If you like this, please tell your friends and neighbors
• If you don't like this, please tell me

Without this feedback loop, I can not improve this service.

Thank you for listening.


-----

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com


The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

Franklin, MA

FM #84 - Week Ending Jan 30, 2011

Let's spend a few minutes to catch up on what matters in Franklin, MA as this week ends Jan 30, 2011. We'll look at the Town Council goal setting session, the School Committee budget workshop and close with some of the music and conversation from Ben Franklin's birthday party at the Historical Museum on Jan 23

Time: 21 minutes, 20 seconds




MP3 File

Session Notes:

This internet radio show or podcast is number 84 in the series for Franklin Matters.

I missed last week's show due to technical issues with my laptop. Those issues have been resolved and I am up to speed writing and reporting again but still trying to catch up on some things. As the week ends this Sunday, Jan 30th, the snow is piled up higher than my mailbox and winter is still upon us.

In this session we'll spend sometime with the Town Council who held their goal setting session on Weds Jan 19. From that session we'll look into the possible field use fee, and the future of the old museum. The School Budget workshop was held on Saturday providing a preview of the budget to be unveiled on Tuesday, Feb 1. It is not going to be pretty.

On a more positive note, we'll close with a sample or two from Ben Franklin's birthday party held at the Historical Museum on Sunday Jan 23rd. There were many folks came in throughout the afternoon. I know I had a great time talking with several. Those who came by were able to learn from Vera Meyer about the glass harmonica that Ben invented while listening to her play.

1 -

The Council goal setting session was a more informal meeting than most. Five councilors participated along with Jeff Nutting and Maxine Kinhart. Brian Benson and I were the only others in attendance. Jeff provided his update on the overall FY 2012 budget, it will be a very tough budget year with a deficit of about 4-5M dollars expected. How to address the systemic expense side of the budget is where much of the discussion took place. The group will hold a working session with the School Committee to get into more detail on health benefits and what options there are to control them. They would like to look at how to get the retirees to share more of the cost. The employees currently contribute 32% of the cost with the Town picking up 68%. Moving to a 50/50 split would take $10 M out of the budget. Doing this is also subject to collective bargaining with the Towns unions. The working session would bring in a health care specialist and be held in 'executive session' due to the collective bargaining nature of some of the discussion.

While the overall Town revenue is ultimately in the voters hands (by their determination of any override or debt exclusion), there are some smaller items that can be used to help prepare to cover for eventual costs. For example, the artificial turf fields will need to replaced sometime down the road. By adding a user fee now, a small fee can accumulate over the years of use by the various sports teams and when the fields do need to be replaced, the funds should be available. Pay a little now or pay a whole lot later. The fields were purchased and installed with a grant of what something in the neighborhood of 4-6M. Adding a small fee to each participant in a sport for each season will set up a fund to be able to pay for the replacement.

Somehow this has become quite a lightning rod. It is not meant to cover maintenance of the fields, those are covered in the regular operational budget. It is meant to cover the replacement of the artificial turfs. The simplest and fairest way to implement the fee is for all to share. If you tried to do t just with those sports using those fields, that would get real complicated and ultimately be unfair. This is only a proposal. It has not been determined when it will appear on a Council agenda for further discussion.

2 - 

The old museum came up in discussion but rightfully belongs with the Historical Commission to make a decision or propose some options for the Council to weigh in on. To do otherwise would not be appropriate. The Historical Commission is the group of record responsible for managing the property. The Council ultimately can have its say but HC needs to take the lead. It is not an simple matter. There is a pumping station on the property but it should not hinder usage. The lot is zoned residential but you could not put in a residential building without a ZBA variance. The lot is currently too small for a residence. If it were used for something other than a residence, the neighbors would have their say. The property has been quiet for quite some time. The church that had turned over the property to the town still has first right to it should we not want it. The church merged in with what is the Franklin Federated and doesn't really exist as a separate church today.

To re-use the building itself would require extensive renovations. Before even going down that path, you need to determine a use for the property. Once the use is determined, then the proper planning can be done to see what it would take to bring it up to current zoning and building code requirements to meet the need. Then you could begin to look at alternative ways of funding the renovations. So let's not get wrapped around the axle of a cart that may not even need to move.

3 - 

The School Committee, Central Office and all the principals meet for their budget workshop on Sat Jan 29th. Councilors Tina Powderly and Glenn Jones also participated. Julie Balise from the Milford Daily News and I were the only non-school, public representatives. Disappointing but that is what it is.

The preview of the budget shows an ugly picture. Even with an almost level service proposal, there are 14 plus positions being lost which will result in further increases to class size. I was not provided a copy of the document but didn't press the issue as the full budget package is coming out Tuesday night anyway.

Why 'almost level service'? This is due to the stimulus funds provided the last couple of years. The funds were required to be applied to keep some existing positions and to fund some positions that would otherwise be cut. With the stimulus funding gone this year, those positions come back on the budget to the tune of about 1.1 M. This accounts for the bulk of the personnel increase of 1.7M with the balance mostly in contractual commitments.

A nice what-if scenario was explored. With Franklin at 10,010 per pupil expenditures, and the State average at 13,006 – what would the State average look like for the Franklin budget? Try 78M, yes much more than the 52 million proposed. It would provide the budget that just about should be if the prior year cuts were not implemented. Another way to look at it, if the failed override for schools had passed since 2002, this is closer to what the school budget would be today. Very pie in the sky and unrealistic but certainly an insightful perspective.

4 - 

So instead of closing on this depressing note, let's shift to include some segments of the party held at the Historical Museum on Sunday Jan 23. As I mentioned in the opening, there was good attendance, Many folks came in throughout the afternoon. I know I had a great time talking with several. Those who came by were able to learn from Vera Meyer about the glass harmonica that Ben invented while listening to her play. I hope she is able to come back to the museum in the future. The instrument is special and her presentation of it is engaging.

I hope you enjoy these few minutes from what was a really pleasant afternoon.

Photos from the afternoon at the Museum can be found here

----

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin. I can use your help.

How can you help, you ask?

If you have an interest in covering the Planning Board, Conservation Commission and or the Zoning Board of Appeals meetings in Franklin, please let me know.

And as always -

• If you like this, please tell your friends and neighbors
• If you don't like this, please tell me

Without this feedback loop, I can not improve this service.

Thank you for listening.


-----

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com


The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

Franklin, MA: Financial Impact Full-Day vs Tuition-based Kindergarten

This internet radio show or podcast is number 83 in the series for Franklin Matters.

This is a special session. The audio has been synchronized with the presentation to create a complete package. The package will provide the update by Miriam Goodman, Franklin School Business Administrator, on full day vs. half-day kindergarten. The presentation and discussion occurred at the School Committee meeting on Jan 11, 2011.

You can also review the meeting video on the Franklin website.

The link to the Kindergarten presentation is here:

http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=suY%2bgbIOkRUfeduJ9u%2f2aw%3d%3d/

The full meeting can be viewed here:

http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?ecm=634307043717953928&indexSessionSKU=bV0o80oxKwE2UUa+RXKE4A%3D%3D&siteSKU=L7qhQ46xin/r3Z0jcDVCNw%3D%3D/



During the presentation you will hear the voices of Miriam Goodman and Maureen Sabolinski, Superintendent. In the question and answer period, questions and comments will be asked by School Committee members – Ed Cafasso, Sue Rohrbach, Chairperson Jeff Roy, and Bill Glynn in order of their voices.

My keyboard and that of Brian Benson, the Milford Daily News reporter, is heard in the background as we type away reporting on the meeting. Hopefully, you won't find it too intrusive.

Without further ado, here is the presentation:

Franklin MA - Financial Impact Full-day vs Tuition-based Kindergarten

View more webinars from Franklin Matters.

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin. I can use your help.

How can you help, you ask?

If you have an interest in covering the Planning Board, Conservation Commission, and or the Zoning Board of Appeals meetings in Franklin, please let me know.

And as always -

• If you like this, please tell your friends and neighbors
• If you don't like this, please tell me.

It will be via your feedback that I can improve this for you.

Thank you for listening.

-----

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com


The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

FM #82 - Week Ending 1/8/11

Let's take about ten minutes to find out what matters in Franklin, MA as this week comes to a close. There are three important meetings in the coming week. We go over the highlights for each of them.

Time: 10 minutes, 0 seconds



MP3 File

Show Notes:

This internet radio show or podcast is number 82 in the series for Franklin Matters.

In this session, let's take about ten minutes and I'll fill you in on what matters in Franklin as 2011 opens and the Fiscal Year 2012 budget season begins in earnest.


The Finance Committee was canceled this week. The first meeting they have for 2011 will be Feb 8th.

The Long Range Financial Planning Committee did meet on Wednesday for the first time since August 8, 2010. One of the citizen members (Morrison) was stepping back and a request went out for a replacement. The response was overwhelming in quantity and quality. So much so, that the group was reconstituted and resumed this week as a committee comprised of all citizens. The surprise, if any, was that there was an ex-officio Town Counselor present but no one from the Schools. Should there be? I think yes, and there is one single reason, a big one. With all due respect to the Town side of the budget, the schools account of half of the total budget. You can not leave out any insights into half the budget of any type of serious discussions. This is only the first meeting, they are still organizing, there was talk of having schools represented in some form for future meetings. We'll see what happens.

I was thoroughly impressed with the credentials of the new committee. These will be very good representatives for the citizen or outside view.

My meeting notes can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/01/live-reporting-long-range-financial.html/

The week ahead has three important meetings.

Monday – the public has an opportunity for input to the smaller of the two downtown projects. Yes, there are two. The Federal grant is $5 million and covers E Central, Main St through to the Old Brick School. The second grant, Public Works Economic Development (PWED) from the state is worth $1 million and covers Emmons Street between Main Street and Hillside Road, Dean Avenue between Main and Ray Streets, Ray Street and Depot Street.

The two projects have separate budgets and separate plans but it does make sense to coordinate the planning and eventual construction work between the two.

Details on the location and time for this meeting are contained in the link attached.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/12/public-meeting-regarding-pwed-project_30.html/

Tuesday – the School Committee meets for the first time in 2011.

The guest and presentation section has the following items:

• FHS Girls Soccer Team
• Harry Potter Re-write – Davis Thayer - Debbie Taylor (Teacher) and students Katie Sumner and Reilly Deforge
• K-5 Health Program – Kristen Cerce, Michele Kingsland Smith
• Budget Update - Kindergarten

As I recall, there were two items previously scheduled for the January 25th meeting; kindergarten and the space needs report. Given the kindergarten update has been moved here, I can speculate (which is always dangerous) that kindergarten is no longer 'on the table' from a budget perspective. If you recall the analysis I did with the School Administration last year, moving from full to half day was NOT a cost savings. The Budget Subcommittee would likely have come to that conclusion in their recent meetings as well if that is the case. Again, this is reading between the lines on my part, I could be wrong. We'll find out Tuesday.

The school enrollment projections reinforce my expectation that with the shifts in population within Franklin and the overall decline in student population, we will see a re-districting proposal. Some of the schools are over capacity, others are under. It makes sense to shift the school boundaries to equalize the populations. This should be a collaborative process and not something done 'overnight'. The modular buildings over time can also be de-commissioned rather than replaced. This is also somewhat speculative on my part but I feel comfortable with that direction based upon what the numbers are showing. The details on this we should find out at the School Committee meeting on the 25th.

Either way, both of these items and their budget impact (if any) should be covered during the budget workshop on Saturday the 29th. If you don't have that on your calendar, I would encourage you to make the time for it.

Back to the meeting on the 11th, the School Committee also has a 'community engagement' item in the 'Discussion Only' section. As the parent communication survey was last done in 2005, it appears that the committee will be looking for an update.

School Committee agenda
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/01/franklin-ma-school-committee-agenda.html/

Enrollment projections
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/01/school-enrollment-projections.html/

2005 Parent Communication survey results
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/01/2005-parent-communications-survey.html/


Wednesday – The Town Council meets for the first time this year. Amongst the items on the agenda, two caught my eye. One, Franklin Cafe and Grill is looking for a liquor license for their new operation to open in what was the KFC building at 418 W Central St. Two, there is a joint easement agreement proposed between the Town and the Franklin Center Commons

The Town Council agenda can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/01/franklin-ma-town-council-agenda-11211.html/

These three meetings get us quickly into 2011, the budget season and important decisions about how this town will look and operate. Please stay informed, please participate, this will be a busy and important year.

In case you missed the end of year 2010 or mid-year (Jan to Jun) review, you can find them here
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/12/fm-81-second-half-2010-summary.html/

http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/07/franklin-ma-2010-midyear-review.html/


---- ---- ----

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but I can't do it alone. I can use your help.

How can you help?

If you have an interest in covering the Planning Board and or the Zoning Board of Appeals meetings, please let me know.

As always - If you like this, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like this, please tell me.

Thank you for listening.


For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com


The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

FM #81 - Second Half 2010 Summary

This internet radio show or podcast is number 81 in the series for Franklin Matters.



MP3 File


In this session, you give me about ten minutes and I'll fill you in on what matters in Franklin as the 2010 calendar year draws to a close. This segment will review the major events that occurred each month from July through December. The notes that go along with this segment will contain links rich with the details.

July

The introduction of the new trash/recycling process
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/03/franklin-ma-trash-collection.html/

Third Thursday occurred on July 15th
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/07/third-thursday-july-15th_16.html/

The Affordable Housing Strategy and Plan was out for review
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/07/affordable-housing-strategy-and_28.html/

The Native Plants of Franklin series by Michelle Clay was introduced
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/07/whats-your-name-summary.html/


August

opened with Bill Glynn of the School Committee holding a “Sit and Chat” on the Town Common
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/bill-glynn-sit-and-chat-summary.html/

Town Council meeting on the 4th
Affordable Housing Strategy approved
Economic Development Areas established along Grove St
DelCarte house purchased on Prospect St
The Spanish War Memorial gun was removed
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/town-council-080410-notes-from-meeting.html/

School Committee meeting of the 10th covered the District Improvement Plan amongst other items
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/school-committee-081010.html/

The Franklin Matters survey on the trash/recycle process results were published
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-trashrecycle-status-survey.html/

Town Council meeting on the 18th
Underground utilities for downtown were discussed
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/town-council-081810.html/

Third Thursday occurred Aug 19th
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/third-thursday-august-19th.html/

School Committee meeting on the 24th
Middle School Improvement Plan was reviewed amongst other items
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/school-committee-082410.html/

The survey results to pay for the underground utilities were published
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/franklin-ma-underground-utilities.html/

The School Committee added a meeting on Aug 31 due to late word on the receipt of additional stimulus funding which they chose to spend part of reserving part for next years budget cycle..


September

Finance Committee and Town Council initially looked at a proposal for funding the design and permitting for repairs of the dams on the DelCarte property
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/09/fm-72-week-ending-91210.html/

School Committee on Sep 14th
Elementary school Improvement Plans amongst other items
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/09/school-committee-091410.html/

Town Council meeting of Sep 29, 2010
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/09/town-council-092910.html/

Executive summary for the Traffic Changes
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/09/improvement-project-traffic-changes.html/

Project presentation from May 2010
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/downtown-improvement-project-live.html/

Downtown Partnership letter in underground utilities
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/09/franklin-downtown-partnerships-letter.html/



October

Town Council meeting of 10/6/10
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/10/town-council-100610.html/

DelCarte - Town Council discussion
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/10/live-reporting-delcarte-proposal.html/

Where is the DelCarte property?
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/10/where-is-delcarte-property.html/

Photo tour of the DelCarte property in May 2010
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/10/franklin-ma-delcarte-tour.html/

Economic Development Summit fostered by Councilors Jones and Powderly along with the Dept. of Planning and Community Development
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/10/franklin-economic-development-summit.html/


The School Committee met on Tuesday 10/12

Most of the night was spent on the high school reviewing
The school improvement plan
The senior project
The school discipline process and statistics showing the improvements

Copies of the presentations are posted to Franklin Matters.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/10/school-committee-101210.html/

Town Council meeting 10/20
a bunch of presentations from the DPW on their operations (water, sewer, and snow/ice storm preparations.)
The Council also completed the public hearing on the underground utilities, determining not to pursue putting them underground due to the expense
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/10/town-council-102010.html/

On the weekend prior to Election Day, November 2 I spent time on the weekly podcast providing information on the ballot questions, in particular the two charter questions
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/10/fm-75-charter-changes-vote-nov-2.html/


November

The election of Nov 2 resulted in one of the two charter changes passing. The technical changes passed, the proposal to move the Treasurer/Collector to an appointed position failed.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/11/charter-question-4-yes-question-5-no.html/

Town Council Nov 3, Senator Richard Ross came to visit and speak with the Council, Jeff Nutting spoke to provide an extensive outlook on the FY 2012 budget
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/11/fm-76-fy-2012-budget-outlook.html/

School Committee meeting on Nov 9th
heard the capital budget as well as the DPW presentation on snow storms
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/11/school-committee-110910.html/

School Committee meeting on 11/16 - Mostly about MCAS
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/11/school-committee-111610.html/

Town Council 11/17 - heard about the proposal to form a cable access non-profit to run the cable TV operations on behalf of the Town. The second major item on the agenda was the initial presentation on the proposal for a new zoning district downtown along with a host of changes to bylaws and signs, etc.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/11/town-council-111710.html/

I took the opportunity to provide feedback to both the SchCom and TC on back-to-back nights encouraging their outreach efforts and also reviewing their attendance records which I have been updating and publishing with each meeting.
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/11/fm-77-franklin-ma-mid-term-review.html/

December

Town Council met three times this month
on the 1st to approve funding to continue the water and sewer repairs
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/12/town-council-120110.html/

On the 8th, the tax rate hearing was formally held to set the tax rate for 2011 at $12.95/thousand and keep a single rate
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/12/town-council-120810.html/

I had updated my numbers and analysis on the tax information prior to the hearing
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/12/fm-79-slidecast-tax-hearing-info-for-fy.html/

and on the 15th the third and final meeting to renew the liquor licenses for 2011
and hear a revision of the downtown zoning proposal
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/12/town-council-120810.html/

The School Committee met only once, on the 14th
The anti-bullying plan was reviewed and approved
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/12/school-committee-121410.html/

So we bring a close to 2010, this will be the last of the weekly summaries this year. There will be more in 2011.

The year ahead looks to be a challenging one. The budget situation will likely result in an override vote sometime in May or June. The high school renovation project is also on schedule to come before the voters late next year. The Town Council, School Committee and other Franklin elected positions will be up for vote in November. Whether the high school project will make it to the same ballot remains to be seen.

So fasten your seat belt, the information train here at Franklin Matters and Franklin Matters Weekly will continue.

In case you missed the mid-year (Jan to Jun) review, you can find that here
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/07/franklin-ma-2010-midyear-review.html/


---- ---- ----

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but I can't do it alone. I can use your help.

How can you help?

If you have an interest in covering the Planning Board and or the Zoning Board of Appeals meetings, please let me know.

As always - If you like this, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like this, please tell me.

Thank you for listening.


For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com


The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

FM #80 - Week Ending 12/12/10

Let's take about 10 minutes to review what matters here in Franklin, MA as the week comes to a close Sunday Dec 12, 2010.

Time : 8 minutes, 43 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes

This internet radio show or podcast is number 80 in the series for Franklin Matters.

In this session, you give me about ten minutes and I'll fill you in on what matters in Franklin as this week comes to a close on Sunday Dec 12th.

This past week, the Town Council approved the smallest capital budget in recent years. While we have 2.1 M in 'free cash' the joint decision (administration and Town Council) was to keep $500,000 for snow/ice and $800,000 for unemployment insurance expense. The snow and ice budget has been growing closer to a realistic number over the years but given the variability in NE weather, and the tightness of the budget recent years, it is better to under forecast it and cover with free cash than to over forecast it. The unemployment insurance pool is being created in case an override fails come May/Jun 2011 and there are a large number of Town and School employees laid off.

The segment of the Town Council meeting covering this capital budget:
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=5qFm%2baJMGjV57Fyb%2f6R%2fsg%3d%3d

As much as some folks still think that the Administration is incompetent, the actions and their results have some quite the opposite. Their performance has shown a high level of stability in the overall budget with lots of alternative planning.

Just flash back to the chart in the appendix for last week's slide cast, the one slide I think makes this point. Look at the variation in free cash over the years. The variability has narrowed in the last several years. The revenue forecasts have been closer to reality, the budget expenses have been managed very closely. Both of these combine to result in 'free cash', which is not 'free' nor really cash. Free cash should be created each year, in a tight and acceptable range, especially given the size of the operation Franklin is running.

Back to the Council meeting, the tax rate was set at 12.95 as calculated and expected. It also continued the single tax rate that I believe rightly should be used here in Franklin. You can disagree if you choose, but the numbers speak for themselves.

The segment of the Town Council meeting covering the Tax Hearing:
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=3dwRSxWPYuVy9u0sTBN5kA%3d%3d


As another sign of good financial management, Franklin is going to fund some $2 M for school repairs with a bond issue. The bond issue will fit within the operating budget and not result in an override consideration. The Council has been operating with a policy of using up to 3.5% of the total operational budget for debt service and has been building some capacity in this area in the last year or so with more expect in the next year as debt retires. This is a good financial maneuver and you can hear more of the rational behind it during the Council discussion

The segment of the Town Council meeting covering the school bond issue:
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=RcYKs%2b0J6JuGZPLL%2fsGOyg%3d%3d


Looking ahead:
School Committee meeting on Tuesday and the next Town Council meeting Wednesday

School Committee agenda is published, the Town Council is not yet available.

School Committee has the anti-bullying plan is the major item on the agenda. The plan was released a couple of weeks ago for feedback and will be voted on during the meeting Tuesday.

While the TC agenda is not available, I did receive an advance copy of the revised approach to the downtown commercial zoning changes. If you were confused by the initial plan, you were not alone. The plan has now been split into three parts, the first part will be discussed Weds. The cover memo and supporting documents were published on Franklin Matters Sunday and the link is included here.

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/12/approach-revised-for-downtown.html

---- ---- ----

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but I can't do it alone. I can use your help.

How can you help?

If you have an interest in covering the Planning Board, Conservation Commission and or the Zoning Board of Appeals meetings, please let me know.

As always:

• If you like this, please tell your friends and neighbors
• If you don't like this, please tell me

Thank you for listening.

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters Weekly to listen to this podcast

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark and Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

FM #79 - Slidecast - Tax Hearing Info for FY 2011

This internet radio show or podcast is number 79 in the series for Franklin Matters.


In this session, you give me about ten minutes (actually 13 in this case) and I'll fill you in on what matters in Franklin.

Franklin, MA 2011 Tax Rate Information

View more webinars from Franklin Matters.

Show notes:


In particular, we'll prepare for the Town Council meeting Wednesday, Dec 8th, where the big item on the agenda will be the annual tax classification hearing beginning at 7:10 PM.


This is the time and place where the Town Council determines (1) to keep a single tax rate or decides to implement a split tax rate and (2) sets the actual rate.


I have reviewed the data provided by the Board of Assessors for this hearing. I have also spent some time on the Dept of Revenue website updating my files with historical data on Franklin's budget, tax rate, etc.


I have updates last year's slides to share information that I think will help us all understand the overall situation.


Page 2 shows how the tax rate is calculated. Starting with the levy limit from 2010, 2.5% is added. Based upon Prop 2.5%, up to this amount can be added without a special override election. The growth from last year is added. This provides a subtotal. Any prior debt exclusions are added and this provides the maximum levy limit. We can technically achieve this due to rounding factors on the rates. So we have what they call an “excess levy capacity” of $35, 647. This leaves us with the tax levy, the amount that Franklin is authorized to raise this year. The amount is divided by the total assessed values of all the residential, commercial, industrial and personal property.


The package has a number of pages devoted to the property analysis of the residential, CIP to get to this value. The major factor to remember is that due to the overall economic conditions, property values are declining. Divide any number by a declining number and the percent will increase.


Page 3 shows the tax rate as it has varied throughout the years from 1988 to 2011. I really shouldn't use a line to depict the point in time number for each year, but it is much easier to view the data this way. The tax rate high point was in 1997 when it was 14.21% and the low point (in the period shown) was 8.86% in 2007. I find it interesting that the tax rate dropped for ten years in a row (from its peak in 1997), has gone up for the past 4 years, and yet all you hear about is our tax problem?


There are many reasons for the increases shown. I don't have all the information to explain nor do I have the time this week to do so. What I can show on Page 4 is how the assessed value effects the tax rate. The reddish bars in this case depict the NET change in assessed total value of all the properties in Franklin. Since 2006 the commercial industrial assessed values have been in a decline. In 2006 and 2007, the new grown for CI covered the decline in valuation so there was a net grown for CI. But for 2008, 2009, 2010 and for FY 2011, the new growth has not been able to cover the decline in valuation. More importantly, on the residential side, the decline in valuation has far exceeded the new growth. Hence the overall decline in total assessed values has dropped from 4.9 billion in 2007 to 4.1 billion for FY 2011. With less of a tax base upon which to levy the same amount of tax revenue, guess what, the tax rate will increase. The decline in overall assessed values has driven the increase for 2008, 2009, 2010 and will do so again in 2011.


Well, Page 5 more clearly shows what our tax problem is. The numbers on this chart depict the average tax bill for the period 1988 through 2010. As you can see from the reddish bars, in no year did the average tax bill decrease. The tax rate line from Page 4 is also shown here. Clearly, the tax rate whether it goes up or down seems to have little effect on the tax bill. It is always going up.


Page 6 - shows a table showing the residential vs. commercial/industrial property mix since 1999. It has varied a little each year but generally around 80% residential and 20% commercial/industrial. The high point for residential was 82.12 in 1988 and the low point was 77.04 in 1993.


Page 7 shows the same numbers in a chart format. As there is so little variance, I think this more clearly depicts the small range that the commercial/industrial and residential split has had over the years.


Why did I spend time on the CI vs Residential split? I can hear some folks now saying “let's go with a split tax rate”. With kind of property mix we have, a split tax does not solve our problem. See, the split tax does not increase overall tax revenues, it only shifts the proportion of the pie that each party pays as shown on Page 8. For a single dollar decrease in residential property tax, the CI increase would need to be $4. We don't need to shift the tax burden from one to another. We need to grow the overall tax base. We need a bigger pie.


The best opportunities for grow come from the underutilized CI space we have. You should be aware of the efforts of Bryan Taberner and others in the Department of Planning and Community Development. The Economic Summit held at the former Putnam facility on Washington is a key example of this effort. They are busy working to market the attractiveness of Franklin for CI uses. This is where we need to develop. We don't need additional residential properties which would further burden the school system. In particular, the residential growth we have seen recently has been mostly in the rental unit arena and that is even worse for Franklin than a single family home. We need healthy growth in CI properties to provide tax revenues and provide some jobs for local residents.


Page 9 provides information on the sources of the data that I used to prepare this.
Page 10 provides my contact information if you have any questions or would like to review this further.


One page in the appendix that charts the “free cash” to “free cash as a percent of the overall Town budget. I think the current administration has done very well in reducing the fluctuations that can be seen over the years. The big spike in FY 2001 I believe is likely related to the settlement that the Town won. It ended up in “free cash” before the Town Council moved it to the Stabilization Fund.




For the week ahead:


Town Council meeting Wednesday


Cyberbullying event at Dean College on Thursday. Perry Aftab and the teenangels from the Franklin School District will be presenting an information for parents on bullying.


I would encourage you to participate in these events.


Thank you for listening!


The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark and Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view this slidecast.



Franklin, MA

FM #78 - MCAS 2010 - Franklin, MA

This is #78 in the series of internet radio shows or podcast for Franklin Matters.


This podcast is linked to the presentation made by the District Leadership Team at the Franklin, MA School Committee meeting on Tuesday, November 16, 2010 to create a slidecast.


The agenda item is introduced by School Committee Chair, Jeff Roy. The group presenting is introduced by Michelle Kingsland-Smith. Several members of the Leadership Team take part in the presentation and they announce themselves as they begin each section.


At the end of the presentation (about 50 mins), there is a Q&A section (approx 22 mins) with the School Committee. To help you listen and follow along, I have duplicated each slide that was the subject of the question as it was asked. Hence, the overall presentation document is longer than the original which can also be found online at the link included.

2010 MCAS - Franklin, MA

View more webinars from Franklin Matters.

I'll concur with the comments about the quality of the presentation, this is one of the better ones I have seen. The data is clear, well organized and while it does raise some questions (deliberately in some cases), answers to the questions were well prepared for.


As I close this session this week, let me remind you that

• If you like what I am doing here, please tell your friends and neighbors
• If you don’t like something, please tell me

Thank you for listening!


The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark and Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view this slidecast.


The presentation as reported on live during the meeting:

• Live reporting - MCAS - part 3 - Q&A
• Live reporting - MCAS - part 2
• Live reporting - MCAS - part 1

The original copy of the presentation:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/11/franklin-ma-mcas-2010-presentation.html


Franklin, MA