Franklin MAtters Weekly

Monday, May 10, 2010

FM #67 - Week Ending 5/9/10

Let's take about ten minutes to review what matters in Franklin, MA as the week ends May 9, 2010.

Time: 10 minutes, 30 seconds

MP3 File

Session Notes:

This internet radio show or podcast
Number 67 in the series for Franklin Matters.

Let's take about 10 minutes to review what matters in Franklin, MA as this week comes to a close on Sunday May 9th.

In this session I'll cover the Planning Board meeting on Monday and the Finance Committee meetings on Tuesday and Thursday as they conducted their budget hearings. I missed reporting live from the Town Council meeting on Wednesday. I did catch up to the meeting via the video on demand archive and will cover the highlights from that. To close, I'll do a brief outlook at the week ahead

The Planning Board continued the hearing on Van Roon Chiropratic. Citizens presented a petition with 175 signatures objecting to the special permit. If approved, the special permit would increase traffic at least by 64 trips to handle the patient in/outs to the office on a road too narrow for such volume and already under pressure from the existing traffic near intersection (RT 140).

They also continued the hearing on the Big Y although this seems closer to approval, the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting should be interesting.

The Crossways Church application for 282 Summer St was approved.

The posts with the details of the Planning Board meeting can be found here:

The Finance Committee held two budget hearings this week to get into the details of each departments requests.

The details for the Tuesday meeting can be found here

The details for the Thursday meeting can be found here:

I chimed in on the Milford Daily News website to provide details in answer to some commenters questions:

One said the Police department was overstaffed due to the presence of four officers on the i495/King St construction site. I responded:

The police working in the construction zone at the i495/King St intersection are working detail duty. They are off-police hours. They are paid by the contractor for their hours of duty. The money goes to the Town, the Town pays the police, and Franklin actually makes some money on the deal. About $16,000/per year as a net income from all the police detail per the discussion at the Finance Committee budget hearing on Thursday evening, May 6th.

Another asked about the time line for the override this year and the high school renovation project. I responded:

The override vote on June 8th will provide funds for the operating budget, the annual expenses of the daily operations for Franklin beginning July 1. The high school renovation project will generate a debt exclusion for a specific period. The dollar amount and the period remain to be determined by the State. According to Jeff Nutting's update at Town Council meeting on April 28th, the debt exclusion vote would come around Nov 2011. The construction could begin in 2013 and the actual increase in our taxes would not hit until 2015.

According to the Financial Planning Committee or long term planning report, Franklin faces a shortage of $3m for 2011 (hence the override) a shortage of $5.5 M for 2012, a shortage of 7.0 M for 2013, a shortage of 8.3 M for 2014. So even if this override passes, yes, there could very well be more overrides in our future.

We have spent too many years cutting. We need to increase revenues period. Some of that will be generated by the empty and underutilized industrial/commercial space. Some of that should come from the pockets of Franklin taxpayers.

As I did catch up to completely view the Town Council meeting from Weds 5/5, I was heartened to hear the last seven minutes, especially during the Council Comments.

Chair Scott Mason addressed Council McGann's (who was absent Wednesday's meeting) comment during the prior meeting (Apr 28th) that he (McGann) would bringing forth a presentation on Town waste. Scott requested Jeff Nutting to allocate time on the agenda to have this covered; “this presentation, if there is anything to it, needs to be addressed before the override.”

Councilor Vallee said "there is no waste in this town"

The meeting adjourned and as the meeting video ends Councilor Vallee is heard to say, "If they do find anything, they won't find much I'll tell you."

I suggest that you spend a few minutes to hear the last seven minutes of the Town Council meeting yourself. This should help to address some of the negative comments .

follow this link to the on demand video
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=xEUq0k5hUv%2bZhhtWPwnXlA%3d%3d

This week will be a busy one.

Momday, the Finance Committee closes their budget hearings
Tuesday, the School Committee meets

Wednesday, provides a real opportunity to make a choice with three events running at the same time.
In the Third Floor Training Room ~~Council Chambers~~, Downtown Revitalization Project
In Room 205 Financial Planning Committee
At Tri-County, EPA will hold a public hearing on storm water mitigation changes that could require the communities of Franklin, Bellingham and Milford to spend up to $70 million to reduce phosphorus in storm water before it reaches the Charles River.

I'll go with the EPA hearing at Tri-County. ~~The Downtown project should be on cable and I can catch the replay~~. The Financial Planning meeting will be 'lost' but such is life and tough choices. Updated 5/10/10 - 1:30PM - Even with the correction on the location and lack of broadcast for the Downtown Project, I'll still go with the EPA meeting. Bigger dollars are involved!

What will you do this week?

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!

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!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to listen to the audio recording

Monday, May 3, 2010

FM #66 - Week Ending 5/2/10

Let's take about 10 minutes to review what matters in Franklin, MA as the week ends May 2, 2010.

Time: 10:02

MP3 File

Session Notes:

This internet radio show or podcast
Number 66 in the series for Franklin Matters.

Let's take about 10 minutes to review what matters in Franklin, MA as this week comes to a close on Sunday May 2nd.

In this session I'll the School Committee meeting as they presented their budget Tuesday, and the Town Council meeting on Wednesday where they got an update on the overall budget and voted to put an override question to the voters on June 8th – and a brief outlook at the week ahead

First
The School Committee meeting discussed options on bringing the budget into balance with a number of measures:

cutting 7 elementary teachers
cutting 8 middle school
an increase athletic fees
doubling extra curricular activity fees
cutting 3 buses
an early release of elementary schools one day to reduce another 4 positions

The School Committee meeting can be viewed on the Franklin website here:
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?ecm=634084755480134220&indexSessionSKU=kWJQA+d4DkqLdYNtc39VcA%3D%3D&siteSKU=L7qhQ46xin/r3Z0jcDVCNw%3D%3D

The committee also spent time discussing full vs half day, free vs pay kindergarten
The arguments have already summarized in a post that I worked with Maureen Sabolinski, Karen Seyfried, and Miriam Goodman to prepare. You can find that report here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/04/full-day-kindergarten-free-or-tuition.html

Second
From the The Town council meeting on Wednesday:
Financial Planing Committee report, summary review of forecast and updates to the outlook
no questions from the Council

You can and should spent some time to review the meeting via the video on demand link on the Franklin website. You can go directly to the discussion here:
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=PZze5i0pKVPUM62zGqWI7A%3d%3d

Jeff Nutting provided the update on the overall budget, before he did so, we did get some good news on the High School Renovation project

50 percent reimbursement expected from the State
vote likely required in Nov 2011
construction to begin in 2013
which would put the main portion of the debt increase into the tax bills for FY 2015

Overall shortage 3M
1.1 M from Town side of budget
1.8 M from School side of budget

You can and should spent some time to review the meeting via the video on demand link on the Franklin website. You can go directly to the discussion here:
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=gUqYEwtCQQIavJRj7F%2bNeA%3d%3d

and to include the Finance Committee, Jim Roche took a couple of minutes to add their endorsement of the override
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=fOCjsPPvFGgyKenrDbrNMA%3d%3d

The Council voted unanimously to set the date for the override election to be held on June 8th
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=7mT4fjE8qx5emElxBOKa0Q%3d%3d

The Council then got into a lengthy discussion on the amount and ended up amending the original motion for 2.1 M to increase the amount to 3 M.
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=cqgfiEy%2fNL98slaVgWggDg%3d%3d

Closing out some old business from the last meeting, the sewer extension on Washington St that was controversial in the last meeting was resolved before coming to this meeting.
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=cL6b7iGtXlCAx98kfQInXQ%3d%3d

Opening some new business was a proposal for a modification to the bylaw on Junk, 2nd Hand and Antique dealers which came up for a first reading.
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=9HmNY7guZiQ%2fH4E63hmBMA%3d%3d

I'd normally send you to the Franklin website to view the link but for some reason the link is not available today. I have posted a copy of the Town Council agenda document to Drop.IO and you can view beginning on Pages 28-31 the bylaw itself. Exactly what it changed from is not shown in this document but if this reading is okay with your understanding, then it should be okay. If not, please reach out to Jeff Nutting, Maxine Kinheart and get your questions answered soon.

http://drop.io/FranklinMatters/asset/tc-20100428-agenda-pdf

Separate from the major discussion on override, the Conservation Commission heard the proposals for securing the dams on the DelCarte property along Pleasant St. I need to do more to understand the proposals and implications but be aware that something with dollars associated is being discussed. You can view the meeting and proposal options here
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=ei0gDcRTz2DPBC%2frEypYuQ%3d%3d

and here
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=mAIQuRUs434FliYRix1Hjg%3d%3d

To summarize:

The school and town budget problems will lead to an override vote on June 8th. There will be a town forum on May 24th and likely other opportunities for discussion on the numbers, pros/cons, etc.

The good news on the high school renovation is the state will reimburse 50%, a vote won't come until Nov 2011, construction won't begin until 2013 and the tax implications of these wouldn't hit out pockets until 2015

The DelCarte property dam remediation will become part of the active discussion.

The Big Y and Dr Van Roon proposals are both scheduled before the planning board on Monday, the 3rd
The Town Council meets again on weds the 5th,
There is another walk to school morning on Wednesday

So there is a whole lot happening in and around Franklin, let's keep a positive and respectful discussion going and we can all work our way through this.

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!

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!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to listen to the audio recording

Sunday, April 25, 2010

FM #65 Week Ending 4/25/10

Let's spend less than ten minutes to find out what matters in Franklin, MA as the week ends April 25, 2010.

Time: 6 minutes, 4 seconds

MP3 File

Session Notes:

This internet radio show or podcast is number 65 in the series for Franklin Matters.

Let's take about 10 minutes to review what matters in Franklin, MA as this week comes to a close on Sunday April 25th.

In this session I'll cover Earth Day activities on Saturday April 17th , Saturday April 24th and look ahead to both the School Committee meeting on April 27th and the Town Council meeting on April 28th

Earth Day on April 17th was not good weather and also the first day of some folks school vacation week so both those factors may have contributed to only about 100 or so folks helping clean up around Franklin. I also was out of town for a wedding on that weekend and unable to participate myself.

The raised garden beds were set up. I did manage to get pictures of those at the Senior Center, ECDC and Charter School on Monday. A link to that posting will be in the show notes.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/04/franklin-ma-raised-garden-beds-in.html

The Charles River Watershed Cleanup was held on Saturday the 24th. I stopped by Whole Foods Market in Bellingham to see how David Dobrzynski was doing as the local coordinator. He had over 300 folks scattered amongst his area and many good stories to tell. He suggested I head off to the VFW Post 3402 on Pond St where I could see the BSA Venture Crew 22 which had retrieved 125 tires from along Mine Brook.

The details and photos of their great work will be included in the show notes.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/04/there-be-tires.html

In preparation for the budget discussion at both the School Committee and Town Council meetings this week, I have a number of items to share:

You may recall that I recorded the budget workshop conducted back in January. The audio recordings and worksheets from each of the budget sections are available here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/budget-workshop-collection-12510.html

The Financial Planning Committee is updating the Long term or 5 Year Plan for presentation at the Council meeting on the 28th. You can review their prior plan here:
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_BComm/financial%20planning%20committee%20report/

I have worked with the Franklin Town Clerk, Debbie Pellegri, to compile a comprehensive listing of all the debt exclusion and operational override votes that Franklin has had the opportunity to vote on over the years. The listing is available for your review.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AkwjbnXDBhczdHp1bjBJSF9sOVY1ZXlERmFPNHkxZnc&hl=en

The School Committee agenda references a discussion on the budget but there are no documents to indicate what options to balance the budget are up for discussion. So if you recall from their meeting on the 13th that everything would be on the table, it still sounds like everything is on the table.

The Town Council agenda includes the update from the Financial Planning Committee and an action item for an override question. The amount itself is open and remains to be determined by the discussion.

These two meetings will be critical to understanding what choice we will have, if we are provided the choice to vote on an override. Word is already on the street that there may not be enough votes for that.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/04/franklin-ma-role-of-town-council.html

If you think you should have an opportunity to vote on an override, then I would suggest that you let the Town Council know or show up to the meeting in person on the 28th.

Whether you are in favor of an override passing or not, having the opportunity to vote on one I think is key!

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!

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!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to listen to the audio recording

Monday, April 12, 2010

FM #64 - Week ending 4/11/10

This is #64 in the series on what matters in Franklin, MA as the week ends April 11, 2010.

Time: 8 minutes, 11 seconds

MP3 File

Session Notes:

This internet radio show or podcast is number 64 in the series for Franklin Matters.

Let's take about 10 minutes to review what matters in Franklin, MA as the week ends Sunday April 11th.

In this session I'll cover the Town Council meeting on April 7th and look ahead to the School Committee meeting on April 13th.

The Town Council meeting on April 7th was interesting on a number of fronts.

1 – Before the Council got into the money items, the Community Health Council provided an update on the teenangels and other activities that the group has been working on since it was created in 2008.

Live reporting - Community Health Council

http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=3%2bGOvPeeUt7st8YYQ%2bAj7A%3d%3d

2 – Rep Vallee and Sen Spilka were scheduled to provide a legislative update on the Chapter 70 and other state aid coming to Franklin. Due to key work at the State House, they were unable to attend. Due to their schedules they may not be able to participate until some time in May.

Jeff Nutting did take the opportunity to provide an update on current Town Budget. Effectively, with $1.8 million expected as a revenue increase within the Prop 2 ½ limits, State Aid dropping about $1.2 million, the net available ($600,000) is just about wiped out by the increase in Franklin's portion of the Tri-Country Regional assessment ($550,000).

After some discussion, the override word was broached. It will be a topic for the April 28th meeting agenda.

Live reporting - budget update

http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=acp9hQto1Evo3UgpBvTlEA%3d%3d

Budget workshop
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/budget-workshop-collection-12510.html

Long term or 5 Year Plan
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_BComm/financial%20planning%20committee%20report/

3 – Several items on the Legislation for action created conversations. One item in particular had minimal discussion (had they already talked it out in the prior two meetings?) the Council voted 6-2 to approve the Charter Changes. Vallee was absent and Jones and Zollo voted no.

In the grand scheme of things, the real vote will come in November. Hopefully, the documentation that will be provided to the voters will be more detailed and clear about what the changes are and why the changes should be made so we can all make an informed vote.

http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=KNpCzsOI59gV07XYPOcaAg%3d%3d

$2 m from 'free cash” from FY 2009 was approved to spend on capital requirements. The Council also approved setting aside $100,000 to start a fund for a fire engine replacement. This is a small step towards a “real” capital budget.

http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=uka1H3JJJ8DSkcg1NVdVJQ%3d%3d

The Town share for the Parmenter Solar Project was approved. \
Two transactions to fund assistance for the Board of Assessors annual real estate property evaluation were approved.
The by-law amendment to simplify the process for wetlands approvals passed.

Then the sewer extension request for 148 Washington St got real interesting. In my reading of the prepared materials, the situation seemed simple enough. A property currently in tax/title hold would be purchased and then split into two single family residences. As the location is up on the high side just before i495, they were requesting to extend the sewer line 258' to provide service. Unfortunately the Town Engineer had not received some key information, this would be adding service at the wrong point in the sewer system and potentially cause a backup to the system for those residents down stream. The attorney accused the Council of extortion, then retracted the comment. The whole thing should really have been worked out better before hand. Hopefully they will have time to work out the details before it gets to the second reading on April 28th.

http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=S9FKcnM4ylrouWnQZmQqrg%3d%3d

Thanks to Ken Norman alerting me to a meeting on the raised garden beds being constructed around Franklin on Saturday the 17th. I was able to create the report that has been a big hit this past weekend. Thanks also to Lauren Marciszyn and Amy Cornwall for their contributions to the report.

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/04/franklin-raises-garden.html

There are quite a few healthy activities this week.
What's on your plate is shown Tuesday night.
The Rail Trail committee also meets Tuesday night.
So instead of the watching or attending School Committee meeting you now have some choices.

Walk to School on Weds, Earth Day on Saturday,

You can check the calendar on Franklin Matters for details on these meetings and events. For the full schedule of Franklin Meetings, check out the town website
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_MeetingsCal/?formid=158

On the food front, Gerry's Place at Tri-County is open to the public from 10:45 AM to 12:30 and offers discounts Tue-Fri through May 28th.

If you haven't stopped by Cafe Dolce yet, congratulate BJ, Dave, and the whole gang there. This week marks the one year anniversary of their grand opening! My how time flies!

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!

For additional information, please visitFranklinmatters.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!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to listen to the audio recording