Wednesday, February 11, 2015

"Towns will be lucky to see the assistance by the end of the fiscal year"

In the category of "nothing ventured, nothing gained" Franklin has joined other MA communities in filing for Federal assistance for dealing with the snow.

Cities and towns across the region are filing for federal assistance to help ease budgetary pains as a wave of consecutive snowstorms now stretches into its third week. 
“Every town in Worcester County and east is applying right now,” said Peter Judge, a Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency spokesperson. They're submitting for the initial storm costs, like plowing and extra police staff. Milford and Medway filed for roughly $160,000. Franklin filed for a little more than $350,000. 
The applications were due Tuesday. After MEMA receives a statewide total, they’ll appeal for federal assistance in the next several weeks, said Judge.

Continue reading the article here: http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150211/NEWS/150219440/1994/NEWS#sthash.c3goDUPG.dpuf

On the Town Council agenda scheduled for Wednesday, the one action item is to authorize expenses in excess of what is budgeted. This is a 'normal' action in years where there is a lot of snow. Without such an authorization, Franklin would be forced to stop plowing and salting (which is not really an option in the middle of winter). 

Franklin will end up balancing the snow and ice budget with funds from 'free cash' which means the captial requirements of the town's departments will take a hit. How much remains to be determined.

sunset through the trees over a pile of snow
sunset through the trees over a pile of snow

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