Town Council - 3/18/09 - Agenda

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – 3/4/09 Regular and Executive Session

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS

E. APPOINTMENTS

F. HEARINGS

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS

• presentation of Audit – Melanson Heath & Co.

I. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION

1. Resolution 09-15: Acceptance of Deed of Parcel 29A, Palomino Drive
2. Resolution 09-16: Acceptance of Deed of Parcel 29 B, Paddock Lane
3. Resolution 09-17: Declaration of Town-Owned Land as Surplus and Available for Disposition
4. Resolution 09-18: Appropriation Town Common Band Stand
5. Bylaw Amendment 09-631: Chapter 82 Fees, Appendix A, List of Service Fee Rates - 1st Reading

K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

L. OLD BUSINESS

M. NEW BUSINESS

N. COUNCIL COMMENTS

O. EXECUTIVE SESSION – Negotiations, Litigation, Real Property, as May Be Required

P. ADJOURN

Cafe Dolce - updated

Updated: The grand opening was held on 4/13/09, you can view the slides here

Yea, a coffee shop is coming soon to downtown Franklin.

On the walk around town I did Friday afternoon, I stopped in to talk with BJ Carlucci. He is busy tending to a recently broken ankle as well as finishing off the ceiling and kitchen. He should be training the folks that he has already hired next week and be ready to open the first week of April.

I can't wait.

BJ and I should be getting together for another longer conversation later this week and I'll let you know more about this new business opening soon.

Updated 3/26/09 - BJ, Dave and I did talk today. The results of that discussion will be up soon. I did post a picture of their new sign here.

Mobile post sent by shersteve using Utterli. Replies.

Treesavers Book Outlet

In our continuing series on businesses located in Franklin, I decided to implement a modification to "Management by walking around" by changing it to "Blogging by walking around". Friday afternoon, I had some errands to do so I decided to do them all on foot and found myself at Treesavers Book Outlet.

Kerry DiGiandomenico has been operating Treesavers Book Outlet for 14 years. He took it over from the previous owner when they ran into difficulty with RT 140 under construction and traffic to the store cut sharply.

With the Honey Dew in front of the plaza also closed for renovations, traffic has dropped, so Kerry is looking for other ways to draw in used book buyers.





LeeRoy U Bailey, Jr will be at Treesavers on Saturday May 2, to sign his book; A Different Perspective on How to Reach Heaven: You Must Be Born Again.

LeeRoy will be on site at Treesavers from noon to 4:00 PM. For more information you can email LeeRoy at brnagain@gmail.com or visit his website here.

Treesavers is a good alternative to the big booksellers for anything popular. As the picture mosaic shows, there are plenty of books with many of the major categories (Ficton, Non-Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Romance, etc.) that you would find in other book stores.

Kerry also deals in collectables. There were stacks of KISS dolls and posters amongst the stacks of books.

Audio books (books on tape or CD) are also available.

Each section of the books is generally alphabetized by author last name to make finding the book easier. Kerry tells the story of one couple who would bring him a set of index cards with author and titles. This was the listing of books that they had already read. Kerry would then keep an eye out for books not on their list, put them aside and when there were a few call them. They would come in to buy that set of books and update the listing on the index cards. Alas, the couple have both passed away now but this is the kind of place and service that Treesavers provides.

With money tight, the urge to read still prevalent, consider the low cost option to buying used books. Visit Treesavers and help support a Franklin business.

Treesavers Book Outlet is located at 391 West Central, in the same plaza as Edwins, AutoZone and Honey Dew.

Jane's Frames - Inventory Sale

On Monday (3/16) and Tuesday (3/17), Jane's Frames will be conducting an Inventory Sale offering discounts of 50-80%.





The inventory needs to move to prepare for a juried art show to be held on Thursday (3/19/09)

Additional information on the juried show can be found here:

Slideshow: Government and its role in the economy

Pictures from the panel discussion on Government and its role in the economy are now available.




The audio recordings were posted previously here.

ENERGY BOARD VOTES TO APPROVE CAPE WIND ‘COMPOSITE CERTIFICATE’

On the renewable energy front, we find this press release:

MASSACHUSETTS ENERGY BOARD VOTES TO APPROVE CAPE WIND ‘COMPOSITE CERTIFICATE’
Friday, March 13, 2009

Cape Wind News Release

MASSACHUSETTS ENERGY BOARD VOTES TO APPROVE CAPE WIND ‘COMPOSITE CERTIFICATE’

MARCH 13, 2009, BOSTON, MA – In a unanimous vote, the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board (Siting Board), the agency created by the Legislature to ensure the siting of needed and least environmental impact energy facilities, voted yesterday to grant Cape Wind a Certificate of Environmental Impact and Public Interest (Certificate) that effectively rolls up all nine state and local permits related to the electric cables into one ‘composite certificate’.

Note: The official transcript of the Siting Board's Hearing yesterday is available for download at:
http://www.capewind.org/transcript.pdf

Cape Wind President Jim Gordon said, “This decision represents a major victory for the people of Massachusetts who are waiting for the clean energy jobs from Cape Wind which will help us become more energy independent and make Massachusetts a global leader in clean offshore wind energy production.” “I am grateful for the assistance that the attorneys representing Clean Power Now and the Conservation Law Foundation provided as participants in the Siting Board process”, Gordon continued.

The Siting Board instructed Cape Wind to work with the Towns of Yarmouth and Barnstable to reach an agreement on reasonable and customary conditions for town permits related to Cape Wind’s buried electric cables and to present this agreement to the Siting Board. In the event parties cannot agree on conditions, the Siting Board will decide on what conditions are reasonable to include. The Siting Board expects to complete this process and take its final vote within 60-days which will conclude Cape Wind’s permitting at the state and local level.

Cape Wind was compelled to file for this Certificate following a denial by the Cape Cod Commission in 2007. The Siting Board also has the statutory authority to grant a comprehensive approval to an energy facility it has previously approved, where that facility has been denied a permit by any other state or local agency in the Commonwealth.

In 2005, the Siting Board approved Cape Wind’s electrical interconnection at the conclusion of a 32-month review of unprecedented length that included 2,900 pages of transcripts, 923 exhibits and 50,000 pages of documentary evidence. The Siting Board found that Cape Wind would meet an identified need for electricity and would provide a reliable energy supply for Massachusetts, with a minimum impact on the environment. The Siting Board’s approval of Cape Wind’s electrical interconnection was upheld by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Cape Wind’s proposal to build America’s first offshore wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal would provide three-quarters of the electricity used on Cape Cod and the Islands from clean, renewable energy - reducing this region’s need to import oil, coal and gas. Cape Wind will create new jobs, stable electric costs, contribute to a healthier environment, increase energy independence and establish Massachusetts as a leader in offshore wind power. For more information visit www.capewind.org.

Slideshow: Harlem Wizards vs Sullivan Rockets

The Annie Sullivan PCC held a fund raiser at Tri-County on Friday night featuring their own Sullivan Rockets basketball team playing the Harlem Wizards.

It was quite a night of entertainment. The picture slide show should capture some of the fun.




Enjoy!

School Committee meeting - pictures added

Pictures have been added to the following live reporting posts from the School Committee meeting on 3/10/09.

• Live reporting - Horace Mann Enrichment Model
• Live reporting - Presentations

Parmenter School notice on half days this week

Parmenter School notice on half days this week reports cards come out Tuesday, originally uploaded by shersteve.

I believe report cards come out Tuesday.

The elementary schools will have half-days to provide time for parent conferences on the Thursday (3/19) and Friday (3/20).

Be resourceful, as you walk pick up recyclables along the way.

Be resourceful as you walk pick up recycleables along the way., originally uploaded by shersteve.

With spring coming up this week on the calendar, and hopefully in reality just as soon, there will be more time to get outside to walk and enjoy the fresh air.

Franklin will celebrate Earth Day on April 18th. You can help clean up Franklin without waiting for Earth Day.

When you go for a walk, take a plastic bag (or two) with you.

Walking is good exercise. Bending and stretching to pick up a bottle or aluminum can for the bag is even better. This is the one bag that I came back with from Saturday's walk. Sometimes I end up with two or three.

If all the walkers in Franklin added this to their walk, Franklin would be a cleaner place.

Tip - to the bend and stretch, add a stomp on the can to squish it and make it more compact for the bag. You'll be able to fit more that way.

Sell out for Harlem Wizards!

The Tri-County gym sold all its seats for the fund raiser for Annie Sullivan School on Friday night.

The Sullivan Rockets gave a valiant effort in holding the Harlem Wizards to under 100 points.

A basketball game? Not really from the purest sense but there was great family entertainment!

The Sullivan PCC must be pleased with the turnout.

I should have some pictures up to show some of the action later this weekend!

"chickens are going to come home to roost"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Mar 13, 2009 @ 11:14 PM

---

FRANKLIN —

After learning the town spends $2,700 less per pupil than the state average, Superintendent Wayne Ogden said he is growing increasingly worried Franklin will soon reach the state's minimum spending threshold.

The per-pupil statistics can be viewed as either "very positive or very depressing," depending on one's perspective, Ogden said.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Education Web site, Franklin spends $9,750 per pupil, and the state average is $12,497 per pupil.

Despite Franklin's comparatively low spending per pupil, the district performs at an above-average level in all categories, Ogden said.

"Your teachers and kids continue to do a great job with the resources available," he said.

Read the full story on the low cost per student and high performance in the Milford Daily News here

Andro's Pizza - worth stopping for

I stopped at Andro's Pizza for a late lunch Friday afternoon. Their small cheese calzone was decadently delicious. I'll need to stop back for their pizza sometime.



Have you tried Andro's yet?

Sap running on Town Common

Out for a walk on Friday, it was a good day for pictures.

Thank you!

thank you for taking the time to return my running wallet containing my ID and e, originally uploaded by shersteve.

To whomever picked this up downtown and took the time to return it to me. This is much appreciated.

I had dropped it when running last Thursday morning. I know I had it in my pocket at the corner of Summer and East Central. When I checked again on Wachusett it was gone. I completed my run, got into the car and retraced my route. As I went along Union, I was dismayed to find that the DPW crews were out street sweeping. Good for them and cleaning up the town but that also meant that if I had dropped it on Union, I had no chance of getting it back. It would have been gobbled up in the sweeper.

With it returned, it must have fallen out somewhere along East Central before I turned on Union.

Anyway, my thanks to the person who picked it up and was kind enough to return it. Franklin does have fine people living here. Don't let anyone say otherwise!