Q & A 6 - "emergency repair and replacement fund" Nutting, Doak, Zollo respond (audio)

From the Franklin Override Information Forum coordinated by the Joint Parent Communication Councils and held on Wednesday, 5/28/08.

Q - What about the "emergency repair and replacement fund"? Can we dip into that?
A - Nutting, there is a minimal cost to the interest. The overall factor is that 4M on an annual budget of 100M is not a lot of cushion. It is not a lot of money in a savings account for a good business. it is similar to our debt. Our debt is going down next year to less than 3%. we are looking to continually reinvest an appropriate amount over time.

A - Doak, over the years from the power plant settlement we have benefited that we did not need to use the money for which it had been set aside to mitigate the power plant.

A - Zollo, to address another myth, 4500-5000 per year in taxes, three children in school, the Zollos are receiving a subsidy for the school education. K-12, would amount to a 275,000 subsidy. You never pay the town back to pay for your children to go through the school system. The value that the average citizen receives is great.

Time: 6 minutes, 47 seconds



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Q & A 3 - Zollo adds his response, tackling 2 myths (audio)

From the Franklin Override Information Forum coordinated by the Joint Parent Communication Councils and held on Wednesday, 5/28/08.

A - Zollo, there are certain myths about town government. There is an unrealistic expectation that costs will not go up over time under normal circumstances. The town is the same situation as the schools. The Police, Fire and DPW are underfunded. We are getting a great deal. If we didn't build the Senior Center and the Fire Station we would not be in this situation. That is incorrect. Those are capital expenses and can't be used to cover the operational expenses. There are many myths that are getting perpetuated and we need to correct them.

Time: 4 minutes, 11 seconds



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Councilor Zollo (Audio)

Councilor comments at the end of the Franklin Town Council meeting 4/30/08

Time: 2 minutes, 33 seconds



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Councilor Comments: Shannon Zollo (audio)

From the Franklin Town Council meeting 4/16/08, Shannon Zollo lays out the argument for the override vote so the town can decide and recommends how each can prepare for the vote.

Time: 11 minutes, 42 seconds



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Editorial Comment: Remember this one, come back here to listen to this often. I have not heard as complete and compelling an argument put forth as convincingly as this was. Thank you Shannon!

Discussion on proposal for sign on the Town Common (audio)

Franklin Town Council discusses the proposal for a sign on the Town Comon. Proposal was eventually withdrawn before a vote was taken as there were objections from some of the Council.

Time: 10 minutes, 56 seconds



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Q&A Downtown Partnership

Tow Council meeting 2/13/08

Franklin Town Council in a Q&A session on the Downtown Partnership presentation

Councilors Zollo, Doak, Mason, and Vallee. Town Administrator Jeff Nutting also provides input.

Time: 12 minutes, 48 seconds



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Closing Comments (audio)

The Town Council makes the round for Councilors to make closing comments. Whalen, Vallee, Zollo, McGann, Doak, and Feeley speak.

Time: 4 minutes, 35 seconds



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Four Corners RFP Discussion (audio)

Jeff Nutting previews the proposed changes to the RFP for the Four Corners Building so that it will generate some offers. This item will be back on the agenda for the 1/23/08 meeting.

Time: 8 minutes, 39 seconds

Nutting, Pfeffer, McGann, Feeley, Doak, Bartlett, and Zollo speak



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Recommendations: Q&A 2 (audio)

Councilor Zollo asks a couple of questions.

Time: 4 minutes, 19 seconds



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Mr Sullivan - Part 6 (audio)

Mr Sullivan answers questions from Councilors Bartlett, Whalen, Zollo and School Committee member Ed Cafasso.

Time: 7 minutes, 58 seconds



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First Set of Questions (audio)

Mr Sullivan pauses to answer several questions from Councilors Doak, Bartlett, Zollo, Pfeffer, and Feeley.

Time: 8 minutes, 33 seconds



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Town Council Meeting 12/19/07 - Summary

The Town Council meeting of 12/19/07 was recorded and sections of the meeting are available as follows:

Announcement: Planning Board Positions (audio)

Proclamation: Carlo Geromini (audio)

Motion on License Renewals (audio)

Jeff Nutting on the Capital Requirements (audio)

Town Administrator's Report (audio)

Closing Comments


----------------------------
My notes taken during the meeting as it occurred:



Accepting applications for planning board up through Jan 9th, appointing Jan 29th to fulfill

Rep. Vallee – House Resolution in recognition of Carlo Geromini

Carlo’s comments, has been reading… currently in middle of Kerouac “On the Road”,

Discussion on Franklin Tavern, in bankruptcy, viewing with buyers, license up for renewal
Even with renewal the trustee can’t use the license until further proceeding are accomplished
Passed 7-0

Nutting – capital forecasts
Reference to gen fund debt worksheet “Franklin capital Plan, Dacey 11-29-07”

Bartlett, Q
1.4M debt currently in plan but not being used
Municipal parking used to leverage some grant application, several months application pending

Whalen Q
3.5 percent very conservative
As debt frees up, there will always be something else to spend it on, walk the balance
Policy and guideline, free to be changed

Doak Q
2010 or 2011 depending upon what you want to do
Council is authorizing projects
Staff or capital committee makes recommendation
Roads are not part of this capital planning
500-700,000 Chapter 90 money from state funds our road work
900,000 in 2001,900,000 in 2004 otherwise nothing from town funds, totally from the state
Pleasant St 9.5 million alone
One huge need unmet is roads, could suggest an override, cash or state


Capital requirements
Schools 3.5M for other non-HS repairs

Portables lifespan remaining 5,6,7 years; cost over 2M
Population continues to increase, they need the space

HS – renovate or replace, tens of millions, no specific game plan yet, not on state listing
No significant impact to tax bill

Library interior, next 3-5 years, outside priority

Need to cap landfill, trying to get a land swap to help the process

Underground utilities, should it be done at the same time? Open for discussion/decision

Recreation center (currently in Municipal building)

Open space – long term savings in this kind of purchase

Roads build up a fund year over year

Water – gone through the 15 m authorized years ago, still have miles of pipe to be replace, can pay as we go with cash

Sewer – unless Beaver St junction comes apart, can go with normal cash flow to cover

Delcarte property – unknown at this point

Whalen Q
DEP has been lenient on this issue thus far…
Expect best guess estimate in next couple of months
District Improvement Financing (DIF) – state process, up to 25% of the town
Economic development grants are possible, generally smaller amounts

We have done well with grants, some we are not eligible for due to the wealth of the community

Doak Q
Amounts in water/sewer for ongoing funds, what’s our capacity
Took money from water reserves, approx 2M in water account
Not making enough money on an annual basis thus far, so would need to use that to stabilize the rate before we raise it

Earliest would be for 09 or 2010 for additional water/sewer projects, probably next 60 days come forward with a plan

Bartlett Q
Policy versus advice, need some assistance from the appropriate parties

Zollo Q
Getting the other assets on the sale front is important, we will need to get that revenue sooner than later

Pfieffer Q
Library, should not be considered last on the listing

RFP received no bids
Should consider changes to go back out again

Nutting – Admin Report
Kudos to DPW, snow blowers travel slower, plows can go quicker but couldn’t handle the depth of the snow

Ryan Jette awarded Heights award
Nice award from an outside group

Holiday on Monday, Tuesday, Christmas, New Year day before as well

Councilor comments
Zollo, quality of rec program, convinced that we have one of the best programs
Creating an inflationary bid process by publishing estimates before hand

2 phase project
17 trades bid on amount of work for their potion, collated with those numbers, then general contractor takes that to include his portion to come back with the total

Various estimates will come in but bids will not come in with the inflation
Filed sub records are public record, according to specs
Seems counter intuitive, public bid law
Seems to be a recurring theme if we did not have to abide by the state laws

Historical Comm Q&A 9

Zollo

Time: 1 minute, 57 seconds



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Historical Comm Q&A 3

Doak, Zollo, Roche

Time: 5 minutes, 35 seconds



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Tax Hearing Citizens Comment 7

Dave Collier (?) comments. He his holding the microphone and not always talking into it so it makes this one hard to hear. J Nutting, S Zollo, S Whalen also speak during this time.

Time: 4 minutes, 4 seconds



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Tax Hearing Citizens Comment 3

Councilor Zollo makes his statement on assessment issue

Time: 1 minute, 31 seconds



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Tax Hearing Q&A - 5

Councilor Zollo starts getting to the real question, Kevin Doyle sorta answers it, Dibaggis chimes in

Time: 6 minutes, 14 seconds



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credibility of the town's government had once again taken a hit

From Michael Morton's article in the Milford Daily News:

Faced with a recently discovered $590,000 school funding gap, councilors voted last night to plug the hole with money from the town's savings account.

Although the Finance Committee recommended that the schools be held accountable by giving up $290,000 from their budget, and taking $300,000 from the fiscal stabilization fund, the council decided that it did not yet have enough information to assign responsibility.

Read the full article here recapping the Town Council meeting of 11/28/07.