Another in a series of podcasts on Franklin(MA) Matters, this one focusing on the DPW presentation on storm water and how they propose to handle it including a possible new fee. This presentation is from the July 23, 2008 Town Council meeting.
Time: 21 minutes, 53 seconds
MP3 File
Session Notes:
Music intro
My intro
I was on vacation last week and missed both the School Committee and Town Council meetings on August 5th and 6th.
I tried to obtain a DVD copy of the meetings from the Library and was surprised that they only have meetings from April on hand currently. Maybe you knew this already. It was the first time I tried to get this copy. Apparently, the cable company brings over 3 months of meetings at a time. So the next delivery would bring over May, June and July but the first week of August meetings would not be available until November.
Anyway, from the Town Council meeting on 7/23/08 there was the full DPW presentation on storm water handling that was too long to include in the last session.
This segment is about 18 minutes. It includes the full DPW resentation but not the Q&A with the councilors after the presentation.
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This podcast has been a public service provided to my fellow Franklin citizens and voters by Steve Sherlock
For additional textual information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The musical intro and closing is from the Podsafe Music Network
Jon Schmidt - Powerful Exhilarating Piano Music
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
In the News - more on cats, zoning issue, by-law emergency
GHS
FRANKLIN —
A feral cat colony living behind Highwood Condominiums is the pride and joy of elderly resident Dorothy "Dottie" Luff, but other residents living closest to the cats' feeding station say the felines are just a nuisance.
"No one wants to hurt the cat people or send (Dottie) into distress," resident Madelyn McAneny said yesterday. "But these cats are using my yard as their litter box."
A group of neighbors gathered yesterday to dispel public perceptions surrounding the controversy over these cats.
"It's not that we don't like animals," Highwood Road resident Ruth Bayer said. "We're just concerned with the health issues, the smell and our property values."
"This is not us against Dorothy," McAneny added.
Last month, Pioneer Property Management responded to heightened complaints and notified residents the cats would be trapped and removed from the site. But pleas from officials and caretakers, including Luff, have halted the trapping.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
GHS
FRANKLIN —
Planners recommended the town adopt a zoning change to allow a wider variety of development near the Knights of Columbus on Rte. 140.
The Planning Board last night voted in favor of recommending Town Council rezone a portion of West Central Street (Rte. 140) from Business/Single Family III to Commercial II.
Town Planner Beth Dahlstrom and Town Engineer William Yadisernia also supported the change.
"The Knights of Columbus is selling the property, and we want to increase the redevelopment potential of the lots in that area. The Knights of Columbus is in need of substantial redevelopment," Yadisernia said.
Neither he nor Dahlstrom knew the prospective buyer of the Knights' property, which they estimated to be between 7 and 10 acres.
The proposal involves seven adjacent parcels of land (on the zoning maps, parcels 270-024-000 through 270-030-000), including the Knights of Columbus property, a Dunkin' Donuts, a gas station, and single-family homes, Dahlstrom said.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
GHS
FRANKLIN —
Anticipating vast increases in the price of home heating oil this winter, Councilor Stephen Whalen is proposing the town suspend a prohibitive bylaw to enable more residents to convert from oil to natural gas.
"One of my fears is, a lot of people are going to be caught off-guard by the huge increase in heating oil," said Whalen, who is a senior financial analyst with Liberty Mutual Group.
He had just read a report projecting oil will cost homeowners 70 percent more than last year, and gas, 25 percent to 30 percent more, when he received an e-mail from Maple Street resident Joshua Phillips objecting to a bylaw that prevents him from tapping into natural gas, said Whalen.
"I'm not an expert, but there is a consensus in the financial community that oil will go up more than gas," said Whalen.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
Sunday, August 10, 2008
In the News - cookies, St Rocco's, vacant houses
The St Rocco's Festival cookie contest recap with winner Donna Copponi
Donna's winning recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies
Plenty of good food at St Rocco's
And on the vacant house front:
Donna's winning recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies
Plenty of good food at St Rocco's
And on the vacant house front:
Pellegri, who has been Franklin's town clerk for 24 years, said she finds the number of vacancies listed - 778 - alarming.
That figure is down slightly from April, when the listing was 805, she said, but in past years, it is typically in the high 400s or low 500s, Pellegri said.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Franklin changes
Go away for a few days and upon return to Franklin you can find some changes.
A new foundation is being put together for a house in an empty lot on King St:
Work on the columns at the old Town Hall, new museum resumes downtown:
And quite a stir is being raised over some feral cats. The article appeared yesterday in the Milford Daily News and got picked up by the Boston Globe today.
A new foundation is being put together for a house in an empty lot on King St:
Work on the columns at the old Town Hall, new museum resumes downtown:
And quite a stir is being raised over some feral cats. The article appeared yesterday in the Milford Daily News and got picked up by the Boston Globe today.
Friday, August 8, 2008
"most people just don't get it "
GHS
FRANKLIN —
The Financial Planning Committee last night outlined its mission, putting public education and communication in budgetary matters as top priorities, along with creating a three-year fiscal forecast.
The group was created by Town Council in response to citizens' calls for a long-term financial plan as frustration grew over repeated Proposition 2 1/2 tax override requests. The group was meant to serve as a proactive solution to the recurring fiscal deficits.
"I think education and communication are 95 percent of what our task is," said Councilor Stephen Whalen, a committee member.
"It's a reasonable goal to have a really strong educational component," Whalen said.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
Thursday, August 7, 2008
"they have all the school buses"
GHS
FRANKLIN —
They may be nearly impossible for law enforcement officials to prevent, but if anthrax attacks like those following the 9/11 terrorist attacks happened today, state and local officials say they could deal with the aftermath.
While every city and town in the state has an emergency plan which details information like shelter locations and evacuation routes, in the weeks following the mailing of anthrax to more than a half-dozen news agencies and members of Congress, there was a flurry of activity as plans were updated to include the possibility of a biological attack. At that time, millions of dollars in grants were handed out to improve detection of dangerous agents, including anthrax.
"The protocol we had pre-2001 - we thought this was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime event," said Martin Greene, deputy director of the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services' Hazardous Materials Response program.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
"It will be a great addition"
GHS
FRANKLIN —
Town Council last night unanimously endorsed the Franklin Veterans Iraq/Afghanistan Monument Committee's proposal to erect a memorial on the Town Common.
The endorsement is subject to the council's final approval of the monument layout, which Veterans Agent Robert Fahey said will not displace existing war monuments.
The names of Lance Cpl. Shayne Cabino, a Franklin youth killed in action Oct. 6, 2005, and Staff Sgt. Robert Pirelli, a Franklin resident killed in action Aug. 15, 2007, will be engraved on a bronze plaque with a statement honoring all those who have served in Iraq.
On the monument's rear face, another bronze plaque will honor those who served in Afghanistan. It would include names of anyone from Franklin killed in action there if that were to happen.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
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