Partial Live Reporting at FINCOM

I didn't get to tune into the Finance Committee meeting Tuesday evening until it was an hour underway. I did catch part of Chief McCarraher's discussion on the needs of the Fire Dept, and then Robert (Brutus) Cantoreggi's discussion on the DPW's needs.

I will catch up to the full meeting when the video is available on demand and report on the capital outlook. The one good item from this is the attempt to start spending something on a regular basis to repair our roads. As you may be aware, there are approx 200 miles of roads, many of which were built in the last 30 years and with no budget for road repair we are asking for trouble.

Yes, some of our roads do get repaired as part of the water enterprise account when water mains need to be repaired and upgraded. Or when we get some Chapter 90 money from the state, approx 750,000 the past several years. The Town has been very thrifty on this front and will need to start spending something significant on a regular basis to begin to handle the demands.

The Finance Committee did not vote on any capital budget items this evening. Based upon what happened last year, Jeff Nutting will wait to see how the winter treats the snow/ice budget before committing to use some of the "free cash" for capital items.

The meeting can be viewed on the internet video archive for the Town here

Text translator for 'teen speak'

Texting is all the rage amongst teens.

Cyberbullying happens to be one theme amongst the many messages sent.


LG has a website to help translate the texting shortcuts used.

You can translate from the short cut to SMS text or from a regular English sentence translate to text.


Related links:

Teen Angels is a group of middle school students working to raise awareness amongst their peers on cyberbullying. The TeenAngels presented to the School Committee earlier this month. You can see what they did here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-teen-angels.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/teen-angels-pledge-text-think-send.html

Legislation is being discussed to address cyberbullying. I don't think legislation is the answer. Parents, teachers, and the teens themselves can do a better job of creating awareness and changing behaviors.

Green Reel - FLOW, Sunday, Feb 7 at 7:00 PM

A series of films on sustainable living called "The Green Reel" will be held Sunday evenings in North Attleboro. The films are presented free of charge. Some refreshments are available. Discussion about the film is encouraged.

"Flow" will be shown Feb 7th at 7:00 PM

Flow (For Love Of Water)

"An astonishingly wide-ranging film. An informed and heartfelt examination of the tug of war between public health and private interests." - New York Times

"Lively and engaging...Smartly Done" - Los Angeles Times

“The inconvenient truth at the center of Flow: For Love of Water is that while the oil crisis is intensely debated and documented, disasters involving an even more essential fluid go perilously unnoticed.” - Slant Magazine

“Focusing on pollution, human rights, politics, and corruption, filmmaker Salina constructs an exceptionally articulate profile of the precarious relationship uniting human beings and water. “ - Rotten Tomatoes
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Official Selection 2008 Sundance Film Festival

International Jury Prize 2008 Mumbai International Film Festival

Best Documentary 2008 Vail International Film Festival

Winner Best Documentary United Nations Association Film Festival

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Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis.

Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.

Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question "CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?"

Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround.

The flyer for the full series can be seen here:

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

In the News - regionalization, elderly growth

One of the avenues to explore to more effectively utilize the limited funding available and maintain services is regionalization. Franklin and Bellingham share animal services. Franklin and Medway share library and recreation services. Franklin and Medway share nursing services for seniors.

This article shows other communities are considering additional services for regionalization.

Medway mulls regionalizing nursing, dispatch

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Krista Perry/Daily News staff

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Presenting data already collected for the foundation, Boston University professor Lorenz Finison told the commission yesterday that the regional population of residents 75 or older in 2000 is projected to grow about 60 percent by 2030. The study area includes the foundation's coverage zone of 25 cities and towns, a swath that stretches from Needham to Westborough and from Hudson to Bellingham.

This data presents a real challenge to Franklin's future budget. Making the assumption that as the population grows older, the income associated with the aging population will level off, then the capacity for raising revenue will be reduced. 


Sounds like a problem without a solution? 


Or to take the more optimistic angle, sounds like a problem that many heads coming together to think creatively and collaboratively can solve.


Read the full article here:

Group discusses MetroWest's elderly population

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Michael Morton/Daily News staff

In the News - pension reform

Given the extended discussion during the Budget Workshop held a week ago, this editorial is timely:

Editorial: Next steps on pension reform

from Wicked Local Franklin News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc.

The letter that Governor Patrick sent to the Legislature along with the text of his proposed reforms can be found here.

FM Budget Workshop Part 3 - 1/25/10

Franklin held conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010. This is part three of the session recording. Susan Gagner, Town Comptroller, continues her presentation reviewing page 6, Fixed Costs. There is a whole lot of discussion around this page on pensions, health insurance, unemployment compensation.... All good questions, good answers from Susan and Jeff Nutting, Town Administrator.

Time: 32 minutes, 27 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes:


Susan Gagner - The Six Year Fixed Cost History

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Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit FranklinMAtters.blogspot.com/

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!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.

Live reporting from the workshop can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-special-meeting-budget.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-budget-workshop.html

Part 1 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html

Part 2 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-2-12510.html

FM Budget Workshop Part 2 - 1/25/10

Franklin held conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010. This is part two of the session recording. Susan Gagner, Town Comptroller, continues her presentation reviewing pages 3, 4 and 5.
Page 3 - The six year estimated receipts history; Page 4 - The six year State Assessment history; Page 5 - The Franklin Budget breakdown

Time: 14 minutes, 52 seconds




MP3 File

Session notes:

Susan Gagner - The six year estimated receipts history

Susan Gagner - The six year State Assessment history

Susan Gagner - The Franklin Budget breakdown

-----

Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit FranklinMAtters.blogspot.com/

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!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.

Live reporting from the workshop can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-special-meeting-budget.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-budget-workshop.html

Part 1 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html

FM #56 - Week ending 1/31/10

This is #56 in the series on what matters in Franklin, MA. This session covers the Busget Hearing and the School Committee meeting of the past week and looks ahead to the Finance Comm and Town Council meetings this week.


Time: 10 minutes, 14 seconds



MP3 File

Session notes:




This internet radio show or podcast is number 56 in the series for Franklin Matters.


Take about ten minutes to keep current with what matters in Franklin, MA as the week ends January 31, 2010


In this session I’ll cover the Budget Workshop on Monday, Jan 25 and the School Committee meeting on Tuesday January 26, 2010


I'll also review changes to the Facebook group for Franklin Matters and the introduction of Franklin Matters Weekly.


Monday night, the budget workshop was held at the municipal bldg. Jeff Nutting credited Maureen Sabolinski with the idea to get folks together to review the basics of the budget and the process rather than having to do it three times, once each for the Town Council, School committee and the Finance Committee.


A great idea. It was well attended. The new folks from the TC and SC were there, I think everyone from FINCOM was there. There were also a few other citizens; an FHS teacher, A DPW worker, and and “average joe” citizen.


The presentation started with Susan Gagner, Town Comptroller reviewing the details of the town incomes and expenses. Very well done. Jim Dacey, Treasurer/Collector reviewed debt and interest rate side of the Town business.


The group took a break for some refreshments and conversation. It seemed too short on conversation as we got called back together to review the School budget. Maureen Sabolinski and Miriam Goodman took the lead, then handed off to Sally Winslow and Beth Fitzmaurice to cover the Special Ed nuances.


After 3 hours of good info, solid Q&A, we broke for the evening. I did record the workshop and will be releasing sections of the meeting for others to listen in and learn what we all did.


Some of the documents have been posted to the website for viewing and printing should you want your own copy.


Watch FM for additional segments as they are released.


Two main takeways from the School Committee meeting Tuesday evening. One the budget history for the past several years was presented. This was effectively the same document reviewed during the budget workshop on Monday. This is not correct. Although I recorded it that way, the two presentations are indeed separate. The School Committee presentation is posted and does cover the historical aspects of the school budget. The presentation from the workshop is not yet posted but will be as I get to that section of the recording.


The School Committee also started a discussion on setting priorities or ground rules for considering what programs would be cut should it come to that to balance the budget. Sue Rohrbach did a good job starting the discussion and laying out some topic for consideration. She had not prioritized them, that would be a next step to do so. By the time the remaining members of the committee weighed in on items to add, it wasn't really a list that could be called a short one, it seemed to me like everything the schools did was now added to the list.


On the one hand, it shows how serious the budget situation is, there are no sacred cows. Everything is on the table.


On the other hand, with everything on the table, the SC does need to get to the next level of determining some criteria for prioritizing the cuts. I think what they have thus far is not better than what they had earlier.


A copy of the presentation is available on Franklin matters


As I have said here before, the next several months will be very interesting. Franklin citizens can provide and should their input to the charter (how we conduct our business), the downtown project (how we will get in and around downtown), and ultimately the Franklin budget (which will effect everyone because of the services that we all receive from it, altho admittedly, some receive more than others.). If you were waiting for a good time to get involved, the time is now.


In recognition that time your time is short, I have created a separate webpage to post the weekly review. For those who just want the facts, a la Sgt Joe Friday from Dragnet, you can subscribe to FM Weekly and all you will get will be the weekly summary once a week. It should clean up your email and help you stay current.


If you want all the details, stay here at FM and you'll continue to get all that I can learn and share about Franklin.


I still need to attend the meetings, take the notes, etc. in order to produce the weekly so there won;t be any change on the FM front. You'll still get everything without a change.


The addition is the FM weekly for you or one of your neighbors, who just wants the short skinny, they can get it.


On Facebook, there is a group for Franklin Matters. I have created a “fan page” for FM and will be posting new info there, eventually removing the group. What's the difference? The fan page is more like your Facebook profile page and easier to manage for me. No change in content just in the location where you can obtain it.


Looking ahead, there is a FINCOM meeting on Tuesday. They are scheduled to look at the capital budget and begin to make some decisions on what if anything we can do on the capital side.


The Town Council meets on Wednesday. Spruce Pond Creamery is up for a liquor license and then the Council has a couple of items of legislation to approve, one to fund the trash totters or new bins that we discussed last time;  two, to clean up some outstanding debt authorizations that we don't need at this time.


As I close this session this week, let me remind you that

• If you like what I am doing, please tell your neighbors
• If you don’t like something, please tell me

Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit FranklinMAtters.blogspot.com/

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!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.

Finance Committee - Agenda - 2/2/2010

Balances as of December 2009

Gen Stab 4,593,427
PW Stab 129,321
Debt Stab 378,688
Traffic Stab 21,327
Overlay Surplus - 0 -
Free Cash 2,173,842

Call to Order

Citizens Comments

Approval of Minutes

Discussion 
Capital Improvement Plan 2010

Technology – Town/School Tim Rapoza, Maureen Sabolinski
Facilities – Town/School Mike D’Angelo
School Vans – Mike D’Angelo
Police – Chief Williams
Fire – Chief McCarraher
DPW – Brutus Cantoreggi

Old Business

New Business

Adjournment

Town Council - Agenda - 2/3/2010

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – January 6, 2010

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS

E. APPOINTMENTS

F. HEARINGS

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS - Application for a New Wine & Malt License – Spruce Pond Creamery

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS

I. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
• Resolution 10-85: Authorization to Expend Funds in Excess of Available Appropriations
• Resolution 10-86: Authorization to Borrow for the Purchase of Trash Totters
• Resolution 10-87: Rescission of Authorization to Borrow – Municipal Off-Street Parking
• Resolution 10-88: Rescission of Authorization to Borrow – Purchase of Street Lights

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

Budget Workshop Collection - 1/25/10

Franklin held conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010.  This is the collection of live reporting and audio recordings from the workshop.


Live reporting from the workshop can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-special-meeting-budget.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-budget-workshop.html


Parts 1 through 4 cover the Town portion of the budget with Jeff Nutting, Susan Gagner and Jim Dacey leading the discussion.

Part 1 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html

Part 2 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-2-12510.html

Part 3 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-3-12510.html

Part 4 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-4-1252010.html


Parts 5 through 8 cover the Schools portion of the budget with Maureen Sabolinski, Miriam Goodman, Sally Winslow, and Beth Fitzmaurice leading the discussion.

Part 5 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-5-12510.html


Part 6 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-6-12510.html

Part 7 of the workshop recording can be found here

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-7-12510.html

Part 8 of the workshop recording can be found here

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-8-12510.html

In Part 9, Jeff Nutting provides some closing remarks and Bob Richer (citizen at large) provides some good feedback on the session.

The final segment, Part 9 of the workshop recording, can be found here

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-9-final-12510.html

In the News - Haiti, cyberbullying

Network needed for aid in Haiti

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Ashley Studley/Daily News staff

The New England Chapel is located in Franklin

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Cyberbullying too real for teens

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Abby Jordan/Daily News staff

Teen Angels is a group of middle school students working to raise awareness amongst their peers on cyberbullying. The TeenAngels presented to the School Committee earlier this month. You can see what they did here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-teen-angels.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/teen-angels-pledge-text-think-send.html

FM - Budget Workshop 1/25/10 - Part 1

Franklin held conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010. This is part one of the session. Susan Gagner, Town Comptroller, reviews the first pages of her presentation.

Time: 28 minutes, 30 seconds


MP3 File


The files discussed in this segment of the workshop can be found here

Susan Gagner - Overview Page 1

Susan Gagner - Overview Page 2

Susan Gagner - 6 Year Operating Revenue Summary

Susan Gagner - 6 Year State Aid History

Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit FranklinMAtters.blogspot.com/

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!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.

Budget workshop documents

The documents from the Budget Workshop held on Monday, Jan 25, 2010 can be found stored within a folder on Google Docs. You should be able to view the files and print each individual PDF on your printer should you want a copy for more detailed review.

The files can be found here

Susan Gagner - Overview Page 1

Susan Gagner - Overview Page 2


Susan Gagner - 6 Year Operating Revenue Summary

Susan Gagner - 6 Year State Aid History


Susan Gagner - 6 Year Estimated Local Receipts


Susan Gagner - 6 Year State Assessment History

Susan Gagner - 6 Year Budget Breakdown

Susan Gagner - 6 Year Fixed Cost History

Susan Gagner - School Budget Chapter 70 History

Susan Gagner - Net School Spending - Page 1

Susan Gagner - Net School Spending - Page 2

The files uploaded and available now are from the presentation by Susan Gagner, Franklin Town Comptroller. I will be adding the remaining files as time allows.

I want to share the recording of the presentation and discussion from this workshop and will be releasing sections of the workshop as time permits.

Note: as is was checking the files to ensure that you would be able to view them without a Google Account, I did see an error - "Sorry we are unable to retrieve the document for viewing. Please try again later." I was able to refresh and view the document on the second try.

Gov Patrick's budget for FY 2011

Gov Patrick released his budget on time. The budget home page can be found here:

The full process steps starting with the release of the Governor's budget can be found here

There is a budget guide to read about how to find out what you want to know. The guide can be found here

The home page for the FY 2011 budget can be found here

Respectfully, this is a whole lot of good information.

What does it mean for Franklin? 
The key dollars for the Franklin budget comes in the Local Aid section

The totals for FY 2011 proposed by Governor Patrick are:

Municipality	Chapter 70	Unrestricted General  Government Aid

FRANKLIN	$28,371,695	$2,177,055

This totals to $30,548, 750 which is $852,318 less than the $31,401,068 Franklin received for FY 2010.

What does this mean? Too earlier to tell. This is only the first step in the long State budget process. It is not good that we are starting with less than last year. I don't think it likely that either the House or Senate will increase what the Governor has already proposed, but that is my two cents.

What comes next?

• The House Ways and Means Committee reviews the Governor's budget and then develops its own recommendation.

• Individual representatives submit budget amendments which are then debated on the House floor.  Once debated, amended and voted on by the full House, it becomes the final House budget bill and moves to the Senate.

• The Senate Ways & Means Committee reviews both the Governor's and House budgets and develops its own recommendation.

• Individual representatives submit budget amendments which are then debated on the Senate floor.  Once debated, amended and voted on, it becomes the final Senate's budget bill.

• State Finance law requires the Governor to submit budget revisions to his proposed budget if revenue forecasts predict a shortfall after the original submission.

• House and Senate leadership assign members to a "conference committee" to negotiate the differences between the House and Senate bills. The conference committee report can only be approved or rejected - no additional amendments can be made.

• Once approved by both chambers of the Legislature, the Governor has ten days to review it. The Governor may approve or veto the entire budget, or may veto or reduce particular line items or sections, but may not add anything.

• The House and Senate may vote to override the Governor's vetoes. Overrides require a two-thirds roll-call vote in each chamber.

• The final budget is also known as the General Appropriations Act (GAA) or "Chapter xxx of the Acts of 2010."

All of this should happen by June 30th in order to start the fiscal year on July 1.


Stay tuned in to the budget discussions. 

Franklin has a similar process. Each department prepares their budget. It is reviewed by the Town Administrator and presented to the Finance Committee. The Finance Committee hold public hearings to review, adjust and recommend a budget to the Town Council. The Town Council holds budget hearing to solicit input from any interested Franklin residents before voting on a budget. Franklin also needs to pass a budget to begin operations on the new fiscal year July 1.