Showing posts with label 2016. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2016. Show all posts

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Annual Report 2016: Town Council


"The Town Council is the holder of all general, corporate, legislative, and appropriations powers of the Town of Franklin. In that capacity, I present a summary of our annual accomplishments.

Votes in FY 16 include:
• Approving the FY 16 Capital Plan. The Capital plan appropriated $1,938,607.09 to fund the Capital requests of the Departments of the Town. Requests included Fire Department equipment and a new ambulance, Police department requests for 4 cruisers and body armor. DPW requests including 4 vehicles totaling $272,000, Town and School facilities improvements totaling $240,000 for the schools and $423,000 for the Town, mainly Police Dept. improvements and a Fire Dept. roof upgrade.
• The Council voted to appropriate $1.8 million dollars for sidewalks on Pleasant and Chestnut Streets.
• Voted to rezone a portion of West Central Street from Residential 4 to Residential 5.
• Voted to accept a parcel of land off Prospect Street.
• Voted to turn over 17 acres of land to the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust for senior housing.
• Sold town-owned land on Pond Street near Rt. 495 for $1,560,000 for condos.
• Voted to increase the Senior Citizen Tax Work-off abatement Program from $750 to $1,000 and increased the per hour credit for the Senior Work-off Program from $9.00 to $10.00 per hour.
• Adopted a tax work off program for Veterans.
• Voted to refund old bonds, saving $730,000 based on information and guidance from Treasurer Collector, Jim Dacey.
• The Council created a bylaw to prohibit parking on public property during winter storms to help with snow plowing efforts.
• Created a bylaw to impose a $25.00 penalty, after a 21 day notice, to anyone who does not allow their old water meter to be replaced with a new and current model.
• Amended the current alcohol regulations to require all employees of an establishment serving alcohol to have “TIPS” certified training.

It is my pleasure to serve my fellow citizens and to submit this annual report on behalf of the Franklin Town Council for your review.

Respectfully submitted,

Matthew T. Kelly,
Chairman,
Franklin Town Council"


sidewalk under construction along Chestnut St
sidewalk under construction along Chestnut St



Download and read the full Annual Report for the Town of Franklin FY 2016
http://franklinma.gov/administrator/files/franklin-2016-town-report

Prior year annual reports can be found 
http://www.franklinma.gov/administrator/pages/annual-reports

Annual Report 2016: Town Administrator

The Town Administration works with the Town Council together to make improvements to the quality of life of our residents. While we are diligent in continuing to balance the budget and practice fiscal prudence, we also keep an eye on the Town’s future needs and maintaining its assets.

Accomplishments in FY 16 include:
• Requested the Town Council to transfer 17 acres of land behind the High School to the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust for the purpose of building new senior housing. The project will take approximately 5 years to complete.
• The Town began the legal process to bulk purchase electricity rates through a Municipal Electric Aggregation program, expected to be in place for winter 2016.
• Renovation and expansion projects for the Library and Senior Center were started and should be completed in 2017.
• The Library was temporarily moved to 25 Kenwood Circle during construction and is open regular hours. The Senior Center remains open during construction.
• The downtown revitalization project, after almost a decade, is complete. Two-way traffic is in effect in the downtown area on Emmons, Main and East Central Streets. The project has numerous public benefits including new sidewalks, new and better pedestrian friendly streets and many beautification elements. The parking meters have been removed to add free parking downtown. New parking regulations have also been established.
• We have also supported the creation of a downtown cultural district.
• Additional improvements were made to the DelCarte property by investing $100,000 to remove the invasive weeds from the pond, helping restore the ecosystem to its natural habitat.
• We added new holiday lights to the Town Common holiday display.

Personnel
Chief of Police, Stephan Semerjian, retired in June 2016 after 39 years of dedicated service to the Franklin Police Department. The Town hired a new Chief of Police, Thomas J. Lynch who took over July 1. New Deputy Police Chief James Mill was also appointed.

The Town Administrator’s office restored a Deputy Town Administrator position by hiring Jamie Hellen to help begin succession planning for the wave of retirees facing the town government. Among other things, Jamie has developed a citizen engagement program, utilizing new technology, including Twitter, Facebook and You Tube to enhance the flow of public information to the citizens.

The Town Administrator’s Office continues to be busy as the Passport Acceptance facility. You can apply for your passport here with an appointment on Monday, Wednesday or Friday.

We continually strive to provide high quality customer services at the lowest possible cost to the tax payer. With continued pressure on our budget, there will be challenges ahead. The strong leadership of the Town Council and the dedicated staff will respond to every challenge.

It is my pleasure to submit the annual report of the Town Administrator for your review, and please feel free to write, e-mail, or stop by with any questions, concerns, or comments.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeffrey Nutting,
Town Administrator

Town workers clearing brush along the connector between Chestnut and Pleasant Sts
Town workers clearing brush along the connector between Chestnut and Pleasant Sts


Download and read the full Annual Report for the Town of Franklin FY 2016

Prior year annual reports can be found
http://www.franklinma.gov/administrator/pages/annual-reports