Franklin Town Administrator Jeff Nutting was sworn in as the new president of the Massachusetts Municipal Association at yesterday's Local Government Advisory Council meeting, which featured grim conversations on the state's finances, the federal stimulus package and ways to help local governments.
Nutting said he and his colleagues were encouraged by the governor's legislation to help cities and towns cut health insurance and pension costs and giving them the option of charging a local tax on meals.
"I think on the budget issue, with the exception of health insurance, we really lined up with the governor," Nutting said in an interview.
Nutting said he would like to see towns and cities be given the same authority as the state to make changes in health insurance plans for municipal workers.
While some have continued to question Jeff Nutting's ability, his track record here has been good. His predictions of the budget cycle with potential shortfalls each year have been very accurate. Now that he has a greater platform to share his drive for more efficient local government, Franklin can only continue to fare better than the others. Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.
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After managing Ashton Kutcher's Geisha House in Hollywood - yes, the one featured on "The Hills" - and some of the hottest nightclubs and cafes in Los Angeles, Dave Purpura and Robert James "B.J." Carlucci are bringing Cafe Dolce to Franklin.
Purpura makes one promise: "There won't be anything like it in Franklin."
Inspiration to start an upscale coffeehouse in downtown Franklin hit Purpura and Carlucci, who are workout buddies, at the gym one night, Purpura said.
Lamenting that the daily grind of physical labor - they do masonry work for Carlucci's father, Nick - was taking a toll on them, making them feel like old men, the pair decided they wanted to start their own business, they said.
Hurrah! A coffee shop coming to downtown. That is progress. Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.
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Preparing for next year's looming budget shortfall, School Committee members last night began discussing how to approach making cuts, but did not reach a consensus.
They were all in agreement, however, that whatever choices they make will be painful.
"Anything we reduce this year, plan on it not coming back, maybe never," School Committee member Susan Rohrbach said, responding to committee member Ed Cafasso's call to taking a strategic approach to making cuts.
"That's one of my guiding principles: 'Can we do without this for a long time?"' she said.
Cafasso suggested the committee create a roadmap for deciding where to make reductions by first determining its priorities.
For example, the committee should consider Franklin High School has a projected enrollment increase this fall, whereas the middle and elementary schools are mostly expected to see enrollment decreases, he said.
Read the full article on how the School Committee will deal with the 2010 budget shortfall in the Milford Daily News here.
This was only one of several items on the agenda Tuesday night. For everything else that was covered, you can find out here.
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