Saturday, March 21, 2015

Property lines, permits, and erroneous enrollment numbers were key topics Wednesday

The quick summary of the Town Council meeting on Wednesday is as follows:

  1. The Council approved acceptance of several roads that have a a defined road plan and property lines. Some of the early developments had property lines where the ownership went to the middle of the road. In those cases, for the town to take responsibility for the road, it would need to reach agreement with all the home owners; which can be a tedious if not almost impossible task. There are several developments where these road plans are being worked and these tonight were the latest in the series where progress has reached a good point.
  2. Ownership and property lines also arose from a citizen comment. The resident had purchased a home 40+ years ago, had water problems reportedly from the street which the Town at the time corrected with a pump and drainage. Turns out the land never really should have been built upon, the town workers then should not have spent public money for a private benefit. The pump recently failed which the town did replace but also said that this was the last time they were doing anything about it, leaving the homeowner in a real quandary. Fortunately, all parties will work together to see if they can reach a satisfactory conclusion.
  3. Gus Brown, the Building Inspector, provided an overview on the work of his department. The presentation doc can be viewed below.
  4. The School Budget got some good news this week. What had been a $600K shortage due to the Charter School funding and reimbursement process turns out to not be the case as some erroneous enrollment numbers were used which caused the problem in the first place. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) will be reworking the numbers to use the proper set of enrollment and this situation should be resolved. 
  5. The Town is still awaiting the arbitrators decision on the fire fighter union. This decision would affect the budget as the union has not had a contract for 3 years. The decision has been planned for by putting away some funds to cover but how much will be covered will be dependent upon the decision and then whether the Town Council accepts the decision. Hence, the overall FY 16 budget process is starting real slow this year. One thing is sure, there will be a balanced budget before June 30, 2015. Stay tuned for further developments in this space.




Magnolia Heights, a 140 unit development at Chestnut Ridge, RT 140
Magnolia Heights, a 140 unit development at Chestnut Ridge, RT 140

For additional info on Magnolia Heights, one of the developments underway that the Building Inspector is visiting regularly, check their webpage
http://www.seniorlivinginstyle.com/p/independent_living/amenities_11072/franklin-ma-02038/magnolia-heights-gracious-retirement-living-11072



You can find all my notes reporting live during the meeting here:


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