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Showing posts with label annual report. Show all posts
Showing posts with label annual report. Show all posts
Sunday, March 26, 2023
Franklin Food Pantry: Donor Nibble - the March 2023 newsletter
Sunday, January 1, 2023
Chief Justice's Year-End Reports on the Federal Judiciary
"It was one of the most controversial terms in Supreme Court history, with the shocking leak of a draft opinion that eventually overturned a half century of abortion rights, public polls that showed record disapproval of the court’s work and biting dissension among the justices themselves about the court’s legitimacy.But Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. chose not to address those or any other controversies in his annual “Year-end Report on the Federal Judiciary,” issued Saturday. Instead, he focused on a high mark of the judiciary’s past — a federal district judge’s efforts to implement school desegregation at Little Rock’s Central High School after the Supreme Court’s landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education.“The law requires every judge to swear an oath to perform his or her work without fear or favor, but we must support judges by ensuring their safety,” Roberts wrote in his nine-page report. “A judicial system cannot and should not live in fear. The events of Little Rock teach about the importance of rule by law instead of by mob.”
Continue reading the article online at the Washington Post ->
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/31/supreme-court-roberts-leak-report/
The year end report for 2022 -> https://www.supremecourt.gov/publicinfo/year-end/2022year-endreport.pdf
Prior year end reports can be found online -> https://www.supremecourt.gov/publicinfo/year-end/year-endreports.aspx
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| https://www.supremecourt.gov/ |
Tuesday, November 8, 2022
Franklin Community Cable Access, Inc. dba Franklin●TV (www.franklin.tv) - Part 2 of 2
Franklin Matters – A Critical Collaboration
Some background is pertinent here. Well before the pandemic, a priority for Franklin was to improve the means of communications and information access. This initiative was spearheaded by Jamie Hellen and Council member Glenn Jones. We participated in that effort with Steve Sherlock and Franklin Matters.
Prior to the pandemic we were already working with Steve to expand our collaboration efforts – publishing timely information in easily accessible form wherever possible by all media means: Video, Audio and Text. As stated clearly in our Franklin●TV bylaws, we are charged with, “providing access to existing and future communications media, ... and for the innovative use of … other forms of communications media.”
This directive motivated the launch of our community radio station wfpr●fm, on 102.9. Our collaboration extended Franklin Matters to the airwaves, providing timely information about the pandemic and related matters through Steve’s weekly radio discussions with Franklin officials. Through his hundreds of radio hours, Steve kept information flowing throughout the many months of the pandemic.
As we move beyond the pandemic, we are looking forward to expanding our ongoing collaboration as part of our ‘new normal’ – to “Build Back Better”. Steve’s Franklin Matters, Franklin●TV and wfpr●fm will continue our shared efforts to bring information that citizens can readily Watch, Listen and Read.
A Broadcasting Opportunity, wfpr●fm
WFPR is the public broadcasting extension of F●TV’s media services to Franklin and surrounding towns. Franklin Public Radio went on the air at 10:29 AM on February 2nd 2017.
Like F●TV’s Community Bulletin Board, our wfpr●fm public service announcements inform our listeners about local civic groups and their upcoming events. We promote the good works of civic and pro bono groups. Our mission is to Amplify the Public Good. In 2019 wfpr●fm broadcast more than 30,000 free public service messages, each 20 to 30 seconds long. If your group wishes to expand its outreach on local community radio, call 508-528-9377 to learn more. There is no cost.
WFPR also provides opportunities for local citizens to have a voice by producing their own radio programs or participating as volunteers to make our radio station successful as a local community resource. Volunteers currently produce several regular weekly programs for broadcast over WFPR. These programs also can be heard online at wfpr●fm and as podcasts on their respective websites. In 2020 our volunteers produced over 400 original weekly radio programs.
Scholarships
As part of our continuing commitment to students at Franklin and Tri-County High Schools, Franklin●TV awarded two $1,500 scholarships to 2020 graduates Kathleen O’Neal and James Bullis. They are pursuing media and communications careers. Congratulations and best wishes go out to them as they begin their academic endeavors.
Comcast Negotiations
The 10-year contract between Franklin as the LFA (Local Franchise Authority) and Comcast as cable carrier concluded in December of 2019. A new 10- year contract was finalized in the fall of 2020. The agreement sets the local access fee paid by Comcast subscribers at 5%. It also changes Comcast’s capital expense contribution for equipment from a fixed fee at $30,000/year to an amount determined in part by subscriber revenues.
This change by Comcast addresses an anticipated loss of subscribers over their contract period as more residents engage in cord-cutting; replacing their cable services with Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and other internet sources as well as free over-the-air HDTV.
Comcast also agreed to provide Franklin with one HDTV channel where we initially requested three; one for each existing PEG channel. We currently produce all of our programs in high definition. The Comcast HDTV transmission equipment is not yet installed. Their planned installation date is end of 2022.
Our Charter Operations
We support requests from various town agencies and civic organizations for coverage of community events. We cover events that are cultural or institutional in nature and of general interest to the public.
Citizen Access
Residents who produce their own access programs are the owners of these programs. As such, these producers hold their own copyright and may copy and distribute these programs freely, provided that the programs are cablecast on the Franklin system. Per our Public Access charter, we do not provide free equipment for covering private or personal events or for purposes other than generating access programs to be shown over the Franklin cable system We are always interested in training volunteers who would like to learn the craft of video production. Trained volunteers and interns work alongside our roster of free-lance and staff professionals to shoot and edit the institutional programs that we cover.
While visiting our website, also read our informative
F.A.Q. on P/E/G TV studios, their operation, history and charter. We also recommend browsing our past newsletter archives to learn more about Franklin●TV, our growth and development, and the civic events that we cover throughout the year. You can also watch past programs via YouTube video on demand, at www.Franklin●TV, or listen to Franklin Public Radio on 102.9 FM. You can also listen live online or find podcasts of past programs at www.wfpr●fm.
Finally, in closing, “Thanks for watching!”
- and thanks for listening to wfpr●fm.
Respectfully submitted by F●TV’s Board of Directors: Ken Norman, Jay Horrigan, Wesley Rea, John Milot, Anne Bergen, Pandora Carlucci, Rose Turco, Jim Derick and Steve Sherlock
Peter Fasciano, Executive Director, Franklin●TV & wfpr●fm
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| The vision is one site to "Watch, Listen, Read" all that matters in Franklin, MA. |
Monday, November 7, 2022
Franklin Community Cable Access, Inc. dba Franklin●TV (www.franklin.tv) - Part 1 of 2
Franklin●TV is an IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. We operate the local access TV studios for Franklin. We produce local TV programs on three channels:
- Franklin All Access TV - Our Public Access Channel (Comcast 8, Verizon 26).
- Franklin Pride TV - Our Schools Channel (Comcast 96, Verizon 28).
- Franklin Town Hall TV - Our Government Channel (Comcast 11, Verizon 29).
We are Franklin’s local TV channels on Comcast and Verizon. We are not owned by Comcast or Verizon.
Background
The Town of Franklin is the Local Franchise Authority (LFA) that maintains agreements with Comcast and Verizon. Franklin●TV’s funding comes from a local access fee that cable subscribers pay per the LFA agreements. Thus, as an independent nonprofit group, F●TV is not funded by taxes. We operate at no cost to the town. We support both residents and the Town per our charter. F●TV also pays a PILOT fee (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) to the Town of Franklin by agreement. We are the first nonprofit group that contributes to town services. As an IRS 501(c)(3) charity we also may receive grants and donations from contributors.
Community Bulletin Board Service
In addition to programming, Franklin●TV offers free community announcements on our Bulletin Board for all three P/E/G channels. Nonprofit organizations who wish to promote their meetings, special events and activities are welcome to contact us.
Our Studios and Offices
We have five thousand square feet that houses two video studios (a large drive-in access studio and an interview studio), A live television control room, two audio recording and production rooms, six digital video editing/effects systems, and our multi-channel playback systems and offices.
We also have general purpose Community Meeting Space available – free to qualified nonprofit groups and service organizations for occasional meetings. Our facility accommodates up to 30 people.
Uniquely Trying Times for All
At the start of 2020 the world experienced the rapid rise of the drastically transformative COVID pandemic. Whether that transformation would prove disastrous or not in the long run was a matter of reassessing our present circumstances and longer-term future plans.
In the film Apollo 13. NASA's Mission Director Gene Kranz (Ed Harris) declares, "Failure is not an option", and he asks the pivotal question, "I know what's not working. Tell me what's working."
What was not working?
Out of an abundance of caution our studio was closed for the duration. This was true for all local community TV studios. We opted to avoid having people gather for interviews in our smaller studio. Having folks talking in close proximity for an hour or so posed far too much risk of infection.
So, what was working?
We moved quickly to add new technical capabilities across the facility. The entire operation is now controlled remotely. We edit our video programs remotely. We control our cable channels remotely. We manage wfpr.fm, our radio station remotely. We added online video services via YouTube as well.
Meanwhile, normal town business had to continue. Our coverage of open meetings required a substantial expansion of technical facilities, both in our main studio as well as in Franklin's Town Chambers. Zoom became the digital transport means for most of our live event programming. The result is that meetings are now more interactive, enabling town officials, committee members, experts, guest presenters and residents to communicate freely in real-time.
We also began covering Franklin high school's varsity sports as live events via Zoom. This became a major priority since parents could no longer attend events to watch their kids play. Our announcers also worked remotely from home, watching and commenting on the games via Zoom. To facilitate multi-camera sports coverage we designed and constructed three video 'flypacks' - basically a ready-to-air TV control room in a highly portable, fold-up, fifty-pound box. Unfold box. Connect cameras. Broadcast live.
We also worked to support other organizations – Senior Center, The Rec Dept., Black Box, the boy scouts and others to provide streaming coverage for key events where a live audience could not attend.
Finally, our radio station has actually expanded its local programming - effectively doubling since the pandemic began. We provided podcast microphone kits to our radio volunteers to connect them all together and to the radio station via Zoom. Steve Sherlock, Jim Derick, Frank Falvey, Jay Horrigan, Anne Bergen, Pandora Carlucci, Michael Walker-Jones, Jeff Roy, Mark Lenzi, Kim Simone, et al have all engaged in enhancing our community connectedness in a time of increased social isolation through their ongoing radio programs and audio podcasts.
Each challenge during this past year has been met with one philosophy. Whatever the solution – it's here to stay, so do it right. We are already the better for it, and the sweeping technical changes that we have made will be a permanent part of our newer, better normal. Failure was not an option.
This is part of the Franklin Annual Report which can be found online ->
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| The vision is one site to "Watch, Listen, Read" all that matters in Franklin, MA |
Tuesday, October 25, 2022
Franklin Residents: 2022 Town Annual Report
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| 2022 Town Annual Report |
The Town of Franklin has released the Annual Report for FY2022.
You may access it here: https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/2022_annual_report_0.pdf
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
Annual Report of the Franklin Historical Commission - FY 2021
Note: FY 2021 is last year (July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021). The report was prepared to cover the business for the FY 2021 period. This year’s report FY 2022 (July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022) is in preparation now and is normally available for distribution at the polls for the November election.
Current Members:
Mary Olsson – Chair
Phyllis Malcolm – Treasurer
Colette Ferguson, Paul Pisani, Richard Remillard, Brock Leindecker, Randy LaRosa
Associate members: Alan Earls, Kai Olsson
FHM Archivist – Rebecca Finnigan
Like everyone else, the Historic Commission and the Franklin Historical Museum weathered the storm known as COVID-19. After our March 2020 meeting we followed state and local health orders to temporarily close the museum and hold all of our meetings remotely. We opened the new year still having all of our meetings via Zoom, and continued with our limited operating hours of just once a week on Sunday afternoons. Our occupation numbers were limited and safety regulations including masks, temperature checks and social distancing were in place. The museum also had 3 air purifiers installed to assist in the effort to make the museum a safe place to visit in these trying times.
But the year was not a loss by any stretch. In January we saw the installation of The Clara J. Foss Johnston Memorial Federal Parlor, a donation of beautiful period furnishings from Jim Johnston in honor of his mother.
The room is a tasteful addition to the museum. With the installation of the Federal Parlor at the front of the museum, the FFHM relocated and updated their museum gift shop, and have added many new Franklin related items. The gift shop is worth a visit.
The townspeople had approved the Community Preservation Act (CPA) in the November election. In a special meeting, Phyllis Malcolm was nominated to represent the commission on the CPA committee.
A collection was taken up by commission members and a donation was made to the Franklin Food Pantry in memory of long time former Historical Commission member, Alice Vendetti, who had recently passed away. February saw a new exhibit open called Prominent Women in Franklin History. The display included short biographies of Lydia Ray Pierce, Annie Ray Thayer, Alice Wiggin, Palmer Johnson, Loraine Metcalf, Barbara Smith and Stella Kehayas Jeon, among others.
Demolition Delay - In January we had our only demolition request: Steven Narducci, 484 Union Street applied for a demolition permit. The commission saw no reason to delay the request.
The Commission arranged to have a historical marker installed at the former sight of the Thomson Press Building on Dean Avenue. The marker acknowledges the building’s historical influence in town from its original use as the Snow Basset Straw Mill to its final use as a printing and manufacturing business.
In June we were finally able to resume our in-person meetings and lift all covid restrictions for hosts and visitors alike. The first opportunity to host an event since March of 2020 occurred when Cultural District broke free of the COVID cloud and sponsored a summer kickoff event entitled ARTWALK. The museum participated by hosting 3 piano performances.
July saw the grand re-opening of the museum and a return to our normal operating hours. Invitations were sent and the public was invited to join the commission on the steps of the museum for a ceremonial ribbon cutting. Welcome speakers included State Representative Jeffrey Roy, Town Administrator Jamie Hellen, James Johnson, Debra Pellegri and music was provided by Jamie Barrett.
Everyone was invited in to enjoy refreshments and see the new exhibit, Davis Thayer, a Retrospective. An exhibit that looked back on the nearly 100-year history of the building which opened as Franklin High School in 1925 and sadly this year closed its doors after service as the Davis Thayer Elementary School for many years.
In August we were able to resume our popular Second Sunday Speaker Series. The first program focused on the home of Charles Whiting of the Whiting and Davis Company. Darrin Cutler, the current owner of Whiting and Davis also gave a history of the 145-year-old company.
Additional speakers in the coming months will include Retired NYPD Sargent and Franklin native Paul Faenza discussing his experience at Ground Zero during 9/11, in September; Author Steven Puleo, A Voyage of Mercy in October, sponsored by FFHM; Franklin Vintage Homes in November; Author and Franklin native Charles Harrington, A Contemplative Life in December; and Dennis Sardella presenting Byzantine and Russian Icons in January. The public is invited to attend these free and informative presentations on the Second Sunday of each month.
The museum is a town gem in the heart of downtown Franklin, open to the community and the public at large to experience and appreciate the history of our town. We hope you will visit soon.
The full Annual Report for 2021 can be found
The collection of Annual Reports can be found online
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| Annual Report Of The Town of Franklin - FY 2021 |
Annual Report of the Franklin Fire Department - FY 2021
Note: FY 2021 is last year (July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021). The report was prepared to cover the business for the FY 2021 period. This year’s report FY 2022 (July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022) is in preparation now and is normally available for distribution at the polls for the November election.
The Department
The Franklin Fire Department administration is led by a Fire Chief who is assisted by an Executive Assistant. The department is divided into two divisions, operations and administration, which are each under the direction of the two Deputy Chiefs. The operations division is responsible for dispatch, emergency medical services, fire suppression and hazardous materials response. The administration division is responsible for personnel, budget, training, code compliance and coordinating the Town’s emergency preparedness.
Our Mission
The Franklin Fire Department is committed to providing the highest level of public safety services for our community. We safely protect lives and property through fire suppression, training, emergency medical and transportation services, disaster and crisis management, fire prevention and public education.
Operational Objectives
▪ Initiating advanced life support to patients within 10 minutes of receiving the telephone call at our communications center.
▪ To access, extricate, treat and transport trauma patients to a level one trauma medical facility within one hour of the occurrence of the injury.
▪ Interrupt the progression of fires in structures within 10 minutes of open flame ignition.
▪ To ensure response readiness remains greater than 70%.
▪ Provide safety and survival skills for all school students in grade K through 5 consistent with the Student Awareness Fire Education (SAFE) initiative of the Commonwealth.
▪ Provide continued valuable services to the senior population with home safety inspections and smoke/carbon monoxide battery replacement.
▪ Develop a partnership with the Franklin Special Education Parents Advisory Council (SEPAC).
▪ Provide educational opportunities for department members to ensure optimal performance and safety.
▪ To develop and maintain “best practice” to insure personnel and citizen safety.
▪ Ensure fire safety through timely, consistent code compliance services to all external customers.
▪ Provide all department services in a manner that satisfies the needs of our customers.
Message from the Fire Chief
Fiscal Year 2021 was both an extremely challenging and productive year for the Franklin Fire Department. This year was highlighted with COVID response and vaccination clinics in the community, several high risk emergency incidents, grant procurement, delivery of new apparatus and the addition of four firefighters to the table of organization. There were 4723 calls for service in FY21 which is an increase of 257 calls from FY20. Some of the highlighted incidents included a large-scale apartment complex fire at Franklin Crossing Condominiums as well as a rescue of a resident of the Franklin Housing Authority at 45 Winter Street.
The Department assisted the Board of Health with hosting eight vaccination clinics in the Town which were located at Franklin High School, Franklin Senior Center and Franklin Housing Authority. A solid working relationship among the Fire Department, Department of Health, School Department, Facilities Department and Senior Center resulted in efficient clinics which was a good opportunity to improve our skills to increase our state of readiness in the future when needed. Lt. Laurie Kaye, the Department’s Infection Control Officer, was awarded the Director’s Award at the CMEMSC Annual Meeting on May 4, 2021. Lt. Kaye was recognized for being instrumental in timely education and setting up COVID protocols not only for the Franklin Fire Department but other communities in Region II. Her program became a basis of the Region II on-line program to educate many beyond Franklin.
As of July, 2021 the Department has received $310,062.96 since July 2019 in grants and generous donations.. The Department has a Grant Committee composed of department members who volunteer their time to pursue and apply for funding opportunities that can help offset department costs to the taxpayers. The Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) that was recently awarded allowed for every member to receive 16 hours of Rapid Intervention Training (RIT) as well as individual pump operator training. The Department continues to conduct live fire training twice a year in Milford at the Milford Fire Department burn building and all department personnel completed a Driver’s Safety course administered by the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association (MIIA) which assists the Town with reducing insurance costs. The average amount of training per member of the Franklin Fire Department was 77 hours in FY21.
The Department received delivery of two new 2021 pumpers in May 2021 followed by the delivery of a new ambulance in June 2021. All three of these vehicles were placed in service in July 2021. Our current Engine 1 will be repurposed as a Heavy Rescue unit at Station 2 which will be equipped with specialized equipment including extrication equipment, cribbing and rope. The manpower for this vehicle will be cross manned at Station 2 by the ambulance just as the Ladder Tower is cross manned by the ambulance crew at Station 1. The Department is especially appreciative of the Town Council for approving the purchase of these new vehicles which will eliminate the increasing maintenance cost of the older vehicles.
On March 22, 2021 the Department added four additional firefighters to the Department which brings our complement from 52 to 56 for the very first time. This additional manpower is critical to meet the rising demand of our services throughout town. The Department has implemented an annual policy to adjust our ambulance transport rate with Town Council approval to keep us consistent with the average of the other communities in the Commonwealth. This annual adjustment has allowed the town the opportunity to fund the extra personnel with limited financial impact to the Town. The seven Firefighter/Paramedics that were hired during FY21 are Joshua Impey, Joshua Sables, Kristopher Smith, Brian Armstrong, Jeffrey Ward, Kent Parsons and Benjamin Angelo. All seven of these new firefighters have been great additions to the Department and we wish them a healthy and productive career. We also want to wish the best to Firefighter Brian Hagan who retired after thirty-two years of distinguished service with the Fire Department.
In fiscal year 2021 the Department responded to 4723 incidents which is an increase of 257 calls from fiscal year 2020. Several significant fires that occurred include a general alarm fire at an apartment complex at 2 Franklin Crossing Road, the Franklin Housing Authority at 32 Central Park Terrace as well as 45 Winter Street, where a resident was rescued by both fire and police crews. Fortunately, there was no loss of life or serious injuries to any of the residents involved as well as firefighters.
With the pandemic the SAFE program had to suspend many of the activities that are normally run. Instead of going into the classrooms for the SAFE program it was limited to online Google classroom sessions where our members would either use the new digital Hazard House, or read books and talk about fire safety. Visits were still able to be done in the homes of seniors to help them with their smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. It was actually nicer for them because they actually had a reason to get up, move around and interact with someone while we were there. We were able to hold our annual St. Patrick’s Day luncheon in a drive thru fashion which served almost 400 corned beef dinners. Senior project went off without any glitches. We held everything remotely at the high school this year. The kids had minimal interaction at the firehouse to protect them. We had less field trips to take them on because of the pandemic, however they were able to do more on the trucks and all had a great time. One student is currently enrolled in a fire science program, one is going to school for criminal justice, and two are going into the military with hopes of becoming firefighters. I especially want to thank our SAFE Officer Doug Perro along with other members of the Department who did a great job with SAFE during an extraordinary year.
In our budget narrative we reference the three important components of an effective fire department which are well staffed, well trained and well equipped. This Department was able to make significant strides in all three categories due to the support of the Town Administrator and his staff, Town Council, Finance Committee, business community and most importantly the general public. On behalf of the members of the Franklin Fire Department I want to thank everyone for your support. It is an honor and privilege for us to serve this community.
Respectfully Submitted
James G. McLaughlin,
Fire Chief
There is more to the Fire Dept section of the Annual Report, please visit the full report and find the Fire Dept section on page 127
The full Annual Report for 2021 can be found
The collection of Annual Reports can be found online
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| Annual Report Of The Town of Franklin - FY 2021 |
Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Annual Report Of The Human Resources Department - FY 2021
Note: FY 2021 is last year (July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021). The report was prepared to cover the business for the FY 2021 period. This year’s report FY 2022 (July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022) is in preparation now and is normally available for distribution at the polls for the November election.
When last reporting in the 2020 Annual Report, the Town had just finished contract negotiations with our seven (7) different unions. We spent some time in FY21 reorganizing these contracts and making them easier to read. Human Resources and department heads worked closely with the Department of Public Works and the Fire Department to consolidate the old contracts with the new MOUs and clean up typos and irrelevant language. We now have fresh, clean copies for 4 of the 7 contracts and are just working to do some adjustments for the Facilities Maintenance union, Police Patrol and Police Sergeants. We hope to have these completed by the end of calendar year 2021. This will be done just in time to start preparing for the new contract negotiations, since our current contracts expire on June 30, 2022!
Fiscal Year 2021 was another busy year in terms of recruiting and hiring. Between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021 we hired 18 full-time employees and a number of part-time employees. New full-time employees included: Water/Sewer Superintendent Doug Martin, Assistant Town Engineer Brook Cotta, Heavy Motor Equipment Operators at the DPW (3), Water Pump Station Operator at the DPW (1), Assistant Treasurer Marina Malamud, Deputy Town Clerk Dyan Fitzgerald, 7 new Firefighters, and 3 new Police Patrol Officers.
The Town lost a lot of institutional knowledge with some high level retirements this year, but they provided a great opportunity for long term employees to step up into new roles! Karen Alves retired as the Senior Center Director at the end of August 2020 after 19 years of dedicated service.
Erin Rogers was promoted into this role and has kept the Senior Center running seamlessly. Deacon Perrotta retired from his role as Deputy Director of Operations for the DPW in September 2020 after 10 years of service to Franklin and a lifetime of public service in DPW and Water positions. We reviewed the staffing levels and funding and decided to split Deacon’s job into 2 new superintendent positions by promoting Tony Brunetta and Jake Standley. Long- term employee Megan Woodacre left her position as Deputy Director for the Recreation Department and we were able to convert some part-time positions into full-time positions to fully support Ryan Jette’s active Recreation Department.
We continue to deal with the rising cost of employee benefits, especially health insurance. The Town continues to offer three different health insurance plans and we are seeing more and more employees shift from the standard HMO plan to the High Deductible HMO plan. Over the course of the year, we continued to have virtual meetings with the Insurance Advisory Committee (IAC) to attempt to keep our insurance costs down. This past spring, Harvard Pilgrim came to us saying that we were about to face a 12% rate increase. We were able to work with our broker NFP and Harvard Pilgrim to get a final quote of 8.95%. We will continue to work with our IAC to try to keep costs down for future health care renewals.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen M. Bratt
Human Resources Director
The full Annual Report for 2021 can be found
The collection of Annual Reports can be found online
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| Annual Report Of The Town of Franklin - FY 2021 |
Monday, August 22, 2022
Annual Report Of The Recreation Department - FY 2021
Note: FY 2021 is last year (July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021). The report was prepared to cover the business for the FY 2021 period. This year’s report FY 2022 (July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022) is in preparation now and is normally available for distribution at the polls for the November election.
The Recreation Department is located at 275 Beaver Street, Franklin MA 02038. The Recreation Department offers Franklin residents a variety of programs and activities for youth and adults, as well as coordination of youth sports organizations field use. The department operates and schedules activities for Beaver Pond (beach and turf field), Fletcher Field, Dennis Pisani Softball Field, Henry “Ski” Faenza Tot Lot (Nason Street Tot Lot), King Street Memorial Field (including the pickleball and basketball courts), Dacey Community Field (including disk golf course), and the Meadowlark Lane fields. The department is also responsible for scheduling the use of all school athletic fields with coordination from the Franklin High School Athletics Department. Our department works closely with the various town youth sports organizations and Athletic Director, Tom Angelo and his assistant Susan Jacobson to schedule all youth sports activities around the high school team practices and games.
Chilson Beach
Chilson Beach was open from June 19-August 20, 2021 with a swim at your own risk policy. No lifeguards were on duty. However, we staffed the beach with gate guards to check for residency as the beach remains Franklin residents only. The pond was home to canoeing, kayaking, swimming, fishing, and hiking.
For information on Chilson Beach and our water testing results, please visit:
At the above website, residents can check the water quality and E-coli levels as we run a water quality check every week throughout the summer to make sure it is safe for swimming.
On the turf field at Beaver Pond, we continue to permit soccer, field hockey, flag football, and boy’s lacrosse. The turf field was used for the Franklin Recreation Department’s NFL Flag football program under the direction of Jack Geromini (program coordinator), Franklin Youth Soccer, and Franklin youth boys lacrosse, as well as yoga for senior citizens, tai chi, boot camp, and many other recreational activities. A portable recycled plastic walkway is on site for handicap accessibility to the water edge and playground area. The Franklin High School soccer, lacrosse and field hockey programs play all of their home games on the turf field as well. The turf field was recently resurfaced in 2017 and the field is cleaned, decompacted and tested for GMAX annually.
Recreation Programs Summer Camp
An eight week summer camp was held at King Street Memorial Field from June 29-August 22, 2020. The program hours were Monday-Friday from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm daily. Registration was limited to 50 campers due to COVID-19 restrictions. Activities included: organized games, arts and crafts, water activities, sports, and weekly field trips. The 8 weeks featured camp shirt tie dye on Tuesdays, field trips were canceled this summer, but we continued the fun having a giant slip and slide/water slide every Thursday, and Pizza day Fridays. The Franklin Summer Camp Directors this year were Jonathan Geromini and Tim Shannon. The Franklin Summer Camp staff included: Sasha Arias, Danny Angermeier, Alana Portesi, Danny Brecht, Jared Cain, Jason D’Valentine, Joe Clark, Julia DiGiacomo, Julia Hogan, Tony Calderone, Will Conley, Halle Atkinson and Kelsey MacCallum.
Pre-Season Flag Football Camp ran again under the supervision of Jack Geromini. Jack lea a 3 day camp from 9:00am-12:00 noon for all interested Flag Football Athletes to help them prepare, practice and get excited about the upcoming Fall Flag Football Season.
Youth Basketball Program
The Youth Basketball program was not able to run for the first time in over 30 years due to COVID-19. School gymnasiums were not available to the Rec. Department
Pee Wee Baseball
The Pee Wee Baseball program is an introductory baseball program for children ages 4-6 years old. It was created in 1999 by Director, Ryan Jette. The program was reduced to 150 kids in 2020 as a result of COVID-19.
Track and Field
The Recreation Department’s track and field program numbers have increased drastically. On top of offering our annual Winter Track and field program to over 75 athletes ranging from Kindergarten to Eight grade, we are now offering Spring, Summer and now Fall track programs. These running programs are coached by Stacey Federico and she also receives help from High School track athletes.
NFL Flag Football
The Recreation Department teamed up with the NFL to bring this non-contact flag football league to kids aged 6-14 years old. Program numbers saw a dip in 2020 down to 240 kids. The program was run each Tuesday & Thursday evening at the Beaver Pond Turf Field. Reversible NFL game jerseys, playbooks, belt/flag setup and access to the NFL Kids website gives kids the opportunity to follow their favorite player or team. Players learned the fundamentals of throwing, catching, running and teamwork. This program continues to be one of the best programs the Recreation Department runs and its because of our program coordinator, Jack Geromini who has been supervising this program for 19 years.
Girls Lacrosse
The girls lacrosse program has grown from 28 girls to over 150 girls. In 2020, our teams did not participate due to COVID-19. However, we typically participate in the Founders League. This league provided better competition for our growing players. There were 2 teams at the 1st-2nd grade division. There were 3 teams at the 3rd & 4th Grade division. There were 3 teams at the 5th & 6th Grade level. And there were 2 teams at the 7th & 8th Grade level. All levels play in 8 regular season games. Franklin Girls Lacrosse is one of the largest girls’ lacrosse programs in the area.
NHL Street Hockey
This summer, our street hockey program was very popular with over 110 kids and 8 NHL teams represented. We hold a skills clinic for the first four sessions to evaluate the player skills. Then, we break them up into equal teams so that games will be fair and fun for all. Teams play twice a week, Monday and Wednesday’s. Jack Geromini is the league coordinator with the help of FHS hockey team players. Our Street Hockey program participated at the new Fletcher Field rink.
Girls Field Hockey
Franklin Recreation offers girls youth field hockey in many formats throughout the year. The fall (August- October) are usually the months that the field hockey leagues We work closely with the FHS Assistant Coach, Kim Carney to coordinate clinics, field usage, games. The K-2 division, an in house program features practice sessions and some in house small sided games. The 3rd & 4th grade team will play some scrimmages/games against area teams (probably 4-6 games). The 5th & 6th and the 7th & 8th grade teams will play in the Commonwealth League with 8 games vs. surrounding towns. 100+ girls comprise eight teams for the fall Field Hockey League.
Golf Lessons
The Recreation Department expanded the golf lessons offered into the summer months, by offering a full or half day camp in the summer. The Recreation Department, in conjunction Maple Gate Country Club, offered Adult and Junior Golf instruction. The lessons covered all aspects of the game of golf (putting, chipping, bunkers, irons, and woods). Registrants met one day a week for 6 weeks to practice their skills. Lessons were offered during the summer and fall season for over 50 residents attending. Express 2 day lessons were offered over April Vacation. Participants enjoyed playing the course following the six-week lesson to see what they learned.
ArtVenture Afterschool Studios
Art instructor; Kerry LeBlanc has flourished our arts department. With over 100+ children ranging from Pre-k to Middle School have signed up to take one of the many diverse art programs. ArtVenture Afterschool Studio, Artventure Preschool Studios, Art Summer Camp. All art programs are held at the Recreation Department.
Preschool Programs
Our Preschool classes are held in the mornings from 9:00am to 11:30am. The Recreation Department has two certified preschool instructors on staff; Nicole Nesbit and Emily Dandurand. Nicole and Emily teach our First Friends programs; Exploration Station, First Friends, First Friends Lunch Bunch and More Fun with Friends. They hold class’s Monday through Thursday and yearly roughly 440 children sign up to take their programs.
Preschool Science Programs taught by Christina Tocci and Christina Burkeholder. These programs explore the environment in which we live in, the human body and much more.
Children’s Programs
Our children’s programs vary from Rocketry and Engineering classes to Girls on the Move, Home Alone Safety and Social Netiquette classes. We have a core niche of students who enjoy working with their hands during our Robotics, Robotics II, Robotic Arm and Rocketry programs. We also offer a female only running program where goal setting is the primary focus along with nutrition and running. Home alone safety and social netiquette classes teach children the ways to stay safe home alone and when they are using the internet.
Rec Gym Programs
With the addition of our new Recreation Gymnasium, we were able to implement an extremely popular sport, played by many around the United States; Pickleball. We offer this program three out of the four season inside at our new gymnasium where we have 2 full pickleball courts. During the summer months we offer pickleball outside our new courts at King Street Memorial Field. We also acquired 2 indoor batting cages for baseball training for youth baseball teams to utilize. Some other popular programs for middle school athletes that utilize the new gymnasium are volleyball, speed & strength, street hockey, tennis, indoor field hockey, to name a few.
Parks and Playgrounds
Other Recreation Department initiatives included the coordination of Eagle scout projects for trail maintenance and kiosk construction. The department coordinated the Community Gardens at King Street Park. Vendetti Motors donated a brand new playground at Beaver Pond in memory of Joe and Mary Vendetti.
King Street Memorial Park
We also worked on a capital project to renovate the King Street Memorial Park by building pickleball courts, basketball court, baseball field, scoreboard and batting cages, as well as install new components at the playground.
Disc Golf
Our Disc Golf course located at Dacey Field off of Lincoln street has become a popular destination for many out of town and even out of state players. In 2010, Director of Recreation, Ryan Jette and Assistant Town Engineer, Jay Mello were the energy behind the building and engineering of the Disc Golf Course. This 18 hole course is over 100 acres behind a multi-use town park. Many events take place at Dacey Field Disc Golf course to instruct and teach new players the popular growing sport.
For more information, visit:
The full Annual Report for 2021 can be found
The collection of Annual Reports can be found online
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| Annual Report Of The Town of Franklin - FY 2021 |
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