Gary Premo talks about the growth and expansion of the MECC (audio)

FM #1395 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1395 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares the audio recording of my conversation with Gary Premo, Executive Director of the Metacomet Emergency Communication Center (MECC). We had our conversation at the MECC on Wednesday, February 26, 2025.  

• Gary provides his background
• Operations at the MECC
• What to expect when you call 911
• Growth and possible expansion

The meeting runs about 20 minutes, so let’s listen to my conversation with Gary on emergency dispatch operations.

https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1395-metacometemergency-comms-center-02-26-25/

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Metacomet Emergency Communication Center home page 

https://www.meccdispatch.org/ 

Member communities -> https://www.meccdispatch.org/home/pages/visit-our-member-communities 

Facebook page -> https://www.facebook.com/meccdispatch 

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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.  

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

 

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

• If you don't like something here, please let me know

• And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach out. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

Gary Premo talks about the growth and expansion of the MECC (audio)

St Mary's restoration status update 1/10/25

Via St Mary's posting to Facebook:

St Mary's restoration status update 1/10/25

"Here’s a look at the restoration work of our primary worship space upstairs.

The damage caused by the smoke was extensive.

Here is a list of some of the work which has been accomplished:

The walls and ceiling have been cleaned.

The walls and ceiling have been sanitized.

The walls and ceiling have been painted.

Here are a few tasks which are being worked on:

New electrical wiring is being installed.

New sound equipment is being installed.

New floors will be installed soon.

It is taking time but soon (no date yet) we will celebrate Mass together in this beautiful space!"

Additional photos can be found with the posting -> 

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15vrnexPPK/

Boston25: "‘A difficult hurdle’: Parishioners gather at Franklin church while repairs continue"

"Together, on the Sunday before Christmas, parishioners at St. Mary’s Church in Franklin gather in the church basement for mass. Not their typical home of the stunning church upstairs, but it will be due for now. Back in October, the church was set on fire forcing them to have to make a temporary home here in the basement.

“There’re a lot of folks were confused and hurt and still a lot of pain from having their main church missing and it’s been a difficult hurdle,” said Father Bob Poitras.

Now the inside of this beautiful church looks like a construction zone almost unrecognizable after smoke and water damaged the inside. Investigators say the cause of the fire was arson. They are still trying to find out who did it. And why."

Watch the video segment -> https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/difficult-hurdle-parishioners-gather-franklin-church-while-repairs-continue/NZW3I3R4PNFBHK6AESOCYH5XWQ/

Boston25: "‘A difficult hurdle’: Parishioners gather at Franklin church while repairs continue"

Finance Committee reviews Public Safety and Public Works budgets (video)

The Finance Committee held their second of three budget hearings on Wednesday, May 8 in the Council Chambers. 

The 3rd and final budget hearing is scheduled for May 15 with the school budgets covered (Franklin Public Schools, Tri-County and Norfolk Aggie.)

The Franklin TV video is available for replay on YouTube ->  https://www.youtube.com/live/kRJStUo28Q8?si=YQQ8EPTnnAz3XMJe&t=61

The departmental budgets covered were:

• Public Safety:
• 210 Police Department
• 220 Fire Department
• 225 Regional Dispatch
• 240 Inspection Department
• 292 Animal Control
• b. Department of Public Works (DPW):
• Departments: 422 Public Works
• Enterprise Funds:
• 450 Water
• 440 Sewer
• 434 Solid Waste
• 460 Stormwater

Agenda doc contains links to the supporting documentation  ->    https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/agendas/_2024-05-08_finance_committee_agenda_.pdf

Finance Committee - Budget Hearing #2 of 3 - Public Safety & Public Works - May 8

Franklin Police & Fire Dept. conducted joint tactical training this week

Per the Franklin Police Dept Facebook posting: 

"Last week the Franklin Police Department completed joint tactics training with the Franklin Fire Department. Officers and Fire Fighters were trained in integrated rapid rescue and the formation of a rescue task force.  

A rescue task force is the main team made up of police and fire charged with treating the wounded on-site and getting them to a collection point for victims. They will arrive on the scene of a critical incident and immediately begin assessing the severity of injuries and performing life-saving interventions."

Shared from -> 

https://www.facebook.com/100064353536794/posts/pfbid0LmKd8AyAy2V6eLc8AEDabj9zRBfA4WiV7gZNuRWzDTU5fm72t6wHeFqPKE2EeKotl/   (follow the link to Facebook for additional photos)

Franklin Police & Fire Dept. conducted joint tactical training this week

Town of Franklin: Job Opportunities with Senior Center, DPW, Police, Facilities, & Fire - Apply now!

Job Opportunities

To apply for a vacant position, please submit a resume and cover letter to apply@franklinma.gov.  Please put the job title in the subject line of your email. 

Supportive Programming Assistant - Senior Center

Heavy Motor Equipment Operators - Department of Public Works

Part Time and Substitute Custodians - Facilities Department

Patrol Officer - Franklin Police Department

Summer Employment - Facilities Department 

Firefighter / Paramedic - Franklin Fire Department

Custodian - Facilities Department 

Updated 06/01/2023

If you do not have a resume, you may send a completed Application for Employment instead.

Town of Franklin: Job Opportunities with Senior Center, DPW, Police, Facilities, & Fire - Apply now!

Update on Y pool fire - not to open this year

Monday, May 22, 2023

Due to the extensive damages from Saturday’s fire and the information we’ve gathered in the last 48 hours regarding the reopening process, the timeline to complete the necessary repairs would make it impossible to open our Family Pool Club in time for the 2023 summer season. We are deeply saddened by this fire and its devastation.

We are committed to the Club’s rebuild and creating the best member experience possible, opening in June 2024.

Family Pool Club members will receive full refunds on all fees paid by May 26th.

Thank you for your confidence in our YMCA – even in the face of adversity – to continue to deliver our mission to be here for our neighbors, serve our communities, and come back even stronger from this unfortunate incident.

Sincerely,

Jim Downs

CEO, Hockomock Area YMCA

Pool Club questions are to be directed to poolclub@hockymca.org.

https://www.hockymca.org/fire-statement/

Prior statement -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/05/fire-at-ymcas-new-family-pool-club-at.html

Update on Y pool fire - not to open this year

FInCom closes out budget hearings, hears of plan to add $800K to school budget this summer (video)

The Finance Committee closed out their series of budget hearings on Thursday with insights from the public safety sector (police, fire, dispatch and inspections). Town Administrator Jamie Hellen closed the the session with an outline of how the Town can add to the School budget allocation approx. $800K to bring it to just above the average that the Town has provided, not counting all the other funds the School budget gets directly or indirectly.

He also provided the next steps for what the Town and School officials can do to address the systemic deficit that the school budget faces. Note the Town and School officials are the paid Town and School staff. The Town Council and School Committee members as non-paid volunteers are covered by the same restrictions in the event of an override vote that state law lays out for the paid employees.

The Finance Committee voted to approve the budget as proposed and discussed during the hearings. The Town Council will likely do the same at their May 24 & 25 hearings. During July/August, the additional funding can be added or shifted to the School budget to minimize the cuts the School District will need to make to bring their $3.3M request down to match the Town allocation of approx. $1.8M

Now while the attention may have been closing out on what to do with the school budget, the case for additional 4 police (first since increase in staff since 2000) was made in a compelling and convincing manner. 

Police schedule issue slides (presentation to be put on the Town page, in meantime, here are photo captures) ->   https://photos.app.goo.gl/aTNXkpBvjedWPKqU6

While this budget includes the additional 4 police officers, in the near future the case is already made for at least an additional 2, if not 4, to correct the scheduling impact.

On the Fire Dept side, they are adding an EMS captain and 1 fire fighter paramedic in a step toward adding a 3rd ambulance full time. This would allow for the 3rd ambulance to be staffed for the business hours five days a week. To fully staff the 3rd ambulance for all shifts would be an additional 8 (for a total of 10) which we currently can't afford. 

Why do we need the 3rd ambulance? The call volume has been growing for years and exceeded 5,000 calls for the first time in 2022. 44% of the calls are medical and result in an ambulance transport of the patient to a hospital. The frequency of getting 2 calls at the same time has been increasing, the frequency of getting a 3rd call at the same time has also increased. Not a new issue but the time has come to take steps to address.

Jamie's slides with the plan for "next steps" for the School budget (presentation to be put on the Town page, in meantime, here are photo captures) ->   https://photos.app.goo.gl/dMZ92X98eWdrABoS9

Franklin TV YouTube link -> https://www.youtube.com/live/cAvlHmmmccQ?feature=share

FY24 Town Administrator Budget Materials website  ->  https://www.franklinma.gov/town-budget/webforms/fy-24-budget-materials

My notes can be found in one PDF ->   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ByHzZZz4KS0i985Vf4ncWVnJE8d3j7iu/view?usp=share_link

Finance Committee - last of 3 budget hearings - May 11, 2023 at 7 PM

Finance Committee - last of 3 budget hearings - May 11, 2023 at 7 PM

Finance Committee Meeting 

Agenda & Meeting Packet 

Monday, May 11, 2023 = 7:00 PM

Meeting will be held at the Municipal Building 

2nd floor, Council Chambers

355 East Central Street

Agenda

1. Call to Order

2. Public Comments

3. FY24 Town Administrator Operating Budget Hearing continued...

FY24 Town Administrator Budget Materials website

a. Public Safety:

i. 210 Police Department

ii. 220 Fire Department

iii. 225 Regional Dispatch

iv. 240 Inspection Department

v. 292 Animal Control

4. FY24 Town Administrator Operating & Enterprise Budget Final Recommendation.

5. Future Agenda Items

6. Adjourn

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/may_11th_fin_com_agenda.pdf

Finance Committee - last of 3 budget hearings - May 11, 2023 at 7 PM

Capital Budget Subcommittee takes time reviewing details, ultimately approves what's requested (audio)

FM #933 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 933 in the series. 

This session of the radio show is the audio recording of the Franklin, MA Capital Budget Subcommittee meeting conducted on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.

Present:

All four members of the subcommittee were present: Chair Debbie Pellegri, Vice Chair Bob Dellorco, Ted Cormier-leger, Brian Chandler.  Town Administrator Jamie Hellen, Comptroller Chris Sandinni, Treasurer/Collector Kerri Bertone, and Finance Committee Chair George Conley were also present in the 3rd Floor Training Room.

Recap: 

This was the second meeting on the first round of capital budgeting. The first meeting was not recorded or reported on. This second meeting was well attended by members of the Fire Dept, Police Dept, and DPW whose budget items were up for discussion.

Beginning on Page 4, item #12, each line item in the meeting agenda was reviewed, some questions and discussions were more detailed and involved than others. After some clarifications on each item, they were each approved in turn by 4-0 voice votes to recommend to the Town Council. 

It was acknowledged at the beginning of the session that there was a philosophical question (raised last meeting) and continuing this meeting on some items currently on the “capital” budget that at least a couple of members of the subcommittee believe should be in the operational budget. Jamie indicated a couple of times during this session that for the regular budget discussions coming later this year, those items would be included in the operational budget to clearly show the impact.

The recording runs an hour and xx minutes, so let’s listen in. Audio file ->

https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-933-tof-capital-budget-subcmte-mtg-02-01-23

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Agenda document ->   

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/2023-02-01_capital_budget_subcommittee_agenda_1.pdf 

My notes via Twitter ->

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13O3jj_Kjqgus8lQnu3FUAHlQfRw_K2Wy/view?usp=share_link 

--------------

We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.  

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

• If you don't like something here, please let me know

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

Capital Budget Subcommittee takes time reviewing details, ultimately approves what's requested (audio)

You can help your neighbors and the Fire Dept by Adopting a hydrant!

With the Town's Adopt-A-Hydrant program, you can select a hydrant near you to clear following a snow storm! By adopting a hydrant you can...

◼️ Assist the Fire Department in the event of an emergency by alleviating time spent searching for a clearing hydrants buried in snow.

◼️ Support your neighbors by letting DPW know if a hydrant is located near a neighbor who is unable to clear a hydrant on their property and we will label them as "high priority" on our adopt a hydrant webpage.

◼️ Earn community service hours for your community service group or as an individual.

Check out this link to learn more about our Adopt-A-Hydrant program!  

https://www.franklinma.gov/water-sewer-division/pages/adopt-hydrant

Shared from Town of Franklin Instagram ->  https://www.instagram.com/p/CnC5a-Rsgy2/

You can help your neighbors and the Fire Dept by Adopting a hydrant! 

Faith & Blue: car seat installations - Oct 8, 10 AM to 1 PM

Franklin Police (@franklinpolice) tweeted on Fri, Oct 07, 2022:

"Our Community Service Unit will be at the Church of Latter Day Saints for car seat installations and a first responder touch a truck tomorrow morning. 

This event is free to all but organizers are asking for donations of diapers of all sizes   https://t.co/dX7PFSc4w9"

https://twitter.com/franklinpolice/status/1578364001439821825

Faith & Blue: car seat installations - Oct 8, 10 AM to 1 PM

Franklin Police & Fire team up to win @HerosCupHockey benefiting Random Smile!

"Members of the @franklinpolice  and @FranklinMAfire  teamed up to participate in the @HerosCupHockey  tournament this weekend. They won the championship which also includes a donation to the @RandomSmileProj"

Shared from Twitter-> https://twitter.com/FranklinMAfire/status/1536107508871331844 

Franklin Police & Fire team up to win @HerosCupHockey benefiting Random Smile!

Finance Committee - Budget Hearing #2 - Public Safety & Public Works (video)

The Finance Committee meeting was broadcast, live steamed, and available via either of the cable channels (Comcast & Verizon), as well as broadcast to YouTube. The YouTube recording is now available for replay.  

YouTube link -> https://youtu.be/zqiyIdFy8ik

My recap will be ready in a day or so. In the meantime, my Twitter notes can be found (in one PDF doc) ->    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SERBrhfi0U1eOLfFR6GWHkcl07UiazpH/view?usp=sharing

Finance Committee: Budget Hearing #2 - Public Safety & Public Works - May 11, 2022 - 6:30 PM

Finance Committee - Budget Hearing #2

May 11, 2022 - 6:30 PM 

Municipal Building – Council Chambers

 
Agenda
1. Call to Order

2. Public Comments

3. Approval of Minutes

4. FY23 Town Administrator Operating Budget Hearing Continued...
FY23 Town Administrator Budget Materials website

 https://www.franklinma.gov/town-budget/webforms/fy-23-budget-materials

a. Public Safety:

i. 210 Police Department

ii. 220 Fire Department

iii. 225 Regional Dispatch

iv. 240 Inspection Department

v. 292 Animal Control

b. Department of Public Works (DPW):

i. 422 Public Works

ii. 424 Street Lighting

iii. Enterprise Funds:

1. 450 Water

2. 440 Sewer

3. 434 Solid Waste

5. Future Agenda Items

6. Adjourn

Agenda doc with remote connection info ->

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/_2022-05-11_finance_committee_agenda_.pdf

FY23 Town Administrator Budget Materials website

Boston Globe: "Man charged with murdering ex-wife, setting her home on fire in Franklin"

Initial report:

"The Franklin Police Department, the State Police homicide detectives assigned to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office, and investigators from the Office of the State Fire Marshal are currently investigating the fire in Franklin this morning and the single fatality associated with the incident.

The matter is currently being investigated as a homicide. Substantial additional information is expected to be released later this morning. Continue to follow the department’s social media pages for additional updates. There is no threat to the public at this time.

Twitter: @franklinpolice"

Boston Globe summary article: 

"In a horrific case of domestic violence, a woman was allegedly murdered in her home Friday by her ex-husband, who then set fire to the house where the victim was living with her mother and the former couple’s two teenage children, according to authorities and court records.

Brendon J. Owen, 47, is charged with murdering Shirley Branco Owen, his wife of 11 years before she filed for divorce in 2014, citing years of verbal and physical abuse, police and prosecutors said.

He was ordered held without bail at his arraignment Friday afternoon in Wrentham District Court.

“The facts of this matter are incredibly egregious,” Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Anne Yas said during the brief hearing."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/12/17/metro/homicide-investigation-underway-home-franklin-where-large-fire-then-broke-out/

Shared from Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/162770995915/posts/10157969151385916/

District attorney press release after hearing at Wrentham District Court. https://www.facebook.com/162770995915/posts/10157969674855916/

Firefighters from several towns along with police and SWAT members converged at Grace Lane in Franklin Friday morning after a fire.MARK STOCKWELL FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE