Recap: Town Council - May 11, 2016

The recap of the Town Council meeting on Wednesday, May 11 can be found here.

• Franklin FISH

Barbara Steele presented on the Franklin FISH organization. It is an all volunteer non-profit organization that volunteers to drive folks to appointments. They have been providing this service for 43 years, number of rides has doubled over the past couple of years. Radius of about 20 miles but some do go to Boston, Providence etc. Call 508-528-2121 to volunteer.

• Council on Aging/Senior Center

Director Karen Alves provided several updates on program enhancements for the Senior Center. They are excited to be able to move upstairs to the new space in Sep/Oct timeframe. This will allow programing to be expanded. They will also conduct a survey this summer. 

Karen thanked the Town Council for their support. "We are the envy of all the Senior Centers in the area." The new space will include a conference room, a card room, the gift shop will be expanded downstairs. Upstairs there'll be a large multipurpose room. An elevator will provide access to the 2nd floor. There will also be a lending library in honor of Stella Jeon.

• Cottage Court

The issue here is that while the town has been providing some maintenance for the narrow roadway (it is still dirt/stone dust), there is no sewer service. The residences are all using septic systems. The water service is via a 'spaghetti pipe' that flows out from the center connection to each house. The residents have been paying taxes but getting services for a roadway that is private and legally the Town should not continue to do so. After discussion, the Council asked the Town Administrator to "look at our legal options."

• DPW water efficiency rebate to start June 1

The DPW will be offering rebates to residents to replace older toilets and clothes washing machine with more efficient (uses less water) models. It could be up to 200/rebate for the one clothes washer machine, or 2 toilets per household. Bring the purchase receipt to DPW to get the rebate. The program would start June 1. Links will be added to the DPW website to show what is eligible.


The published "Actions Taken" can be viewed here. The PDF contains active links to the documents for each blue link

• The Council approved funds for chip seal and crack seal work

http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Council/May%2011%202016/Resolution%2016-31.pdf

• For reference, the listing of roads planned for rework during 2016 can be found here

http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_PublicWorks/Construction_Projects/S01426F5B

repairs to the playground were completed last week, assuming inspection confirms
they are good, the playground should be able to open after May 16

My notes from the meeting recorded live can be found here

• Live reporting: Legislation through Closing
• Live reporting: Town Council - May 11, 2016
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