Franklin Matters: Fire Dept removed from Civil Service, OPEB funding reviewed, large solar installations to be denied

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Fire Dept removed from Civil Service, OPEB funding reviewed, large solar installations to be denied

The Town Council meeting on Wednesday, Jan 22, 2020 was significant in three major topic arenas.

One: the Fire Dept which historically (at least during my time reporting) has had trouble reaching a contract settlement with the Town has settled a three year contract (2019 to 2022) and agreed to be exempt from civil service. This should enable the Fire Dept and the Town to move forward to meet the challenges of rising call volume and appropriate staffing by removing some of the complications of civil service. The measure, though approved, does need State House legislation action to get a 'home rule' approved to make this effective.

Two: while the OPEB (Other Post Employment Benefits) account is still underfunded, the Town has taken measures to move to the 'top quartile' of its peers in funding percentage. The light can be seen at the end of the tunnel when in about 2030, the Pension funding dollars can be shifted to the OPEB account to help begin to make up the deficit towards fully funding the OPEB liability. So while OPEB is still underfunded, it is not the big heavy weight that is hanging over Franklin (1) as long as the Town continues to increase its funding (as it has) and (2) shifts the Pension money when it can (approx. 2030).

Three: two more of the zoning bylaw changes to clean up the plot lines were referred to the Planning Board. Separately, a change to the solar bylaw to remove the large commercial installations from the bylaw as permitted was also referred to the Planning Board. The Planning Board will hold public hearings on these measures, make any adjustments (if necessary) and then return them to the Town Council. The Council will also hold two public readings before voting on the 'final' language.

Additional details on these items can be found in my notes reported live during the meeting.

The Actions Taken document has not yet been published by the Town. A link to that will be added when it is.

The video will be available for replay by Franklin TV.