I met Steve Farber earlier this year and received an advance copy of this book. I don't have it anymore as it went to someone who really wanted to read it. Now with the official version available, I can get a new copy for myself. And help him with this new out reach effort!
"Do what you love in the service of people who love what you do" - Steve Farber
Thursday, December 1, 2011
3 more Franklin Area Blogs
Three more items from the Franklin Area Blogs to highlight today.
Realtor Kathy Stankard writes about the Downtown Partnership's Holiday Stroll taking place today:
Upcoming Franklin, MA Holiday Events Worth Checking Out
Holiday Stroll Map
Realtor Kathy Stankard writes about the Downtown Partnership's Holiday Stroll taking place today:
Upcoming Franklin, MA Holiday Events Worth Checking Out
Holiday Stroll Map
Breakfast with Santa - Franklin British Beer Company
What: Breakfast with Santa
Where: British Beer Company in Franklin
When: Saturday December 10th, 8:30am and 10am
Why: To benefit the Santa Foundation
Santa's coming to town! Gather up the kiddies and let 'em know they better be good, for goodness sake, 'cause Santa will be hosting breakfast at the British Beer Company in Franklin. Old Saint Nick will be flying in from the North Pole on December 10th for this special morning. There will be two seatings: 8:30am and 10am, tickets are only $10 and $5 for kids under 12. The breakfast, and a raffle, will be helping us to raise funds for the Santa Foundation, who provides gifts for families in need during Christmas. The foundation was able to help 700 families last Christmas…that's a lot of shiny happy local children! The BBC is inviting the whole Franklin community down for some eggs and pancakes…all for a good cause. Children should come with their Christmas wish list ready to go for good ole Chris Kringle.
British Beer Company
280 Franklin Village Drive - Franklin, MA
Town Council - 11/30/11
The collection of posts that were reported live during the Town Council meeting on Weds, Nov 30 can be found here
- Live reporting - closing
- Live reporting - legislation for action
- Live reporting - Tax hearing
- Live reporting - Citizens comments
- Live reporting - Town Council
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Live reporting - closing
K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
commenting on the citizens comments, it was not $350,000 spent, it was $100,000
it was not a court proceeding, it was an arbitration issue and not a public record
the legal bills are a public record and were part of the school committees warrant
L. OLD BUSINESS
none
M. NEW BUSINESS
none
N. COUNCIL COMMENTS
Powderly - Councilors breakfast at Senior Center
I am meeting with Karen tomorrow, we are trying to figure out the best use of that committee, once we resolved the tax abatements, we did not meet much. I appreciate your input, it hasn't been officially disbanded, it is looking for new direction
Pfeffer -
Kennedy School Playground committee most active I have seen, they are around
Can we get an updated listing of the councilors?
Nutting - it will be in the package for next meeting
Kelly -
thanks to the Concerts ont he Common and the DPW for the work on the holiday decorations
Santa came on Sunday and it was a good time
O. EXECUTIVE SESSION – Negotiations, Litigation, Real Property, as May Be Required
motion approved, via roll call 8-0
Live reporting - legislation for action
J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
1. Resolution 11-65:Classification Tax Allocation– Residential Factor
motion to approve - passed 8-0
2. Resolution 11-66:Classification Tax Allocation – Open Space Exemption
motion to approve - passed 8-0
3. Resolution 11-67:Classification Tax Allocation – Small Businesses Exemption
motion to approve - passed 8-0
4. Resolution 11-68: Classification Tax Allocation – Residential Property Exemption
motion to approve - passed 8-0
Live reporting - Tax hearing
E. APPOINTMENTS
G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS
2 minute break to get to 7:10 for the scheduled hearing start
F. HEARINGS - Annual Tax Classification Hearing – 7:10 PM
Ken Norman, Chair Board of Assessors
Kevin Doyle, Director of Assessors
Chris Feeley, Vincent DeBaggis - board members
Jeff Nutting, what you see tonight in 15 minutes is the result of over 2,000 hours of work
the State has already provided a preliminary assessment in approval of the process
Thanks for all the work done
Kevin Doyle -
providing an overview of the package
page 2 a summary of the status change in valuations
Pages 6 - 10 a listing of the commercial and industrial properties
page 11 - shows the calculation for the residential vs commercial industrial class
Page 12 - shows the calculation to get to the tax base valuation - new growth valuation
personal property - one time growth, not expected to repeat
a large account that was unanticipated
What is personal property?
personal property- business assets that are taxable locally (furnishings, computers, etc.)
Page 14 - calculates the levy limit
Page 21-22 what if scenarios? answers the questions on shifts if a split tax rate was chosen
Page 23 - from the DOR website
Page 24 - shows the tax rate against an "average" value
Page 25 - shows the tax rate against the "median" value
Page 26 - the levy as applied against the different classes and percent change from last year
page 27 - a summary page showing the major classes over the years, depicting changes year to year
Roy - question on Franklin Village getting a mortgage of $44M with an assessed value of $46M?
Doyle - the deed sometimes provides detail and the mortgage can sometimes provides more detail. This is some speculation. What we did do, we engaged a consultant to assist in the valuation, gathered income and expense information for review by us and by the DOR to confirm if we were using appropriate schedules
Norman - it is a national company and they could be doing something with the property and taxes that we don't know
Nutting - can you explain the data used?
Doyle - We are using last year's data as this year is not yet complete.
Jones -
Doyle - most property is owner occupied, communities that typically go with the residential exemption are larger cities or more seasonal resort type areas where the buildings are not generally owner occupied. What you have to understand, is that the residential exemption would be taken from the other residences. With a high level of owner occupied, a residential exemption would provide little offset practically
Norman - Your other question is basically with prop 2.5%
Doyle - the 2.5% is there pretty much automatically, my main goal day to day is to be fair and equitable. The adjustments need to be made in the same way.
Bissanti - congratulations on a good package, what do you see?
Doyle - We have looked ahead but those are part of the test group. The first six months of 2011 were similar to the market closing at the end of 2010. We don't predict future value
Feeley - our job is as historians, we are not here to predict the future
Powderly - we did not say what the new tax rate is yet, it would go from 12.79 to 13.73. Where do vacancies stand? mostly in the Commercial industrial piece
Doyle - we do have an allowance for vacancy and collection loss, historically if you look out over a 10 year period, some properties have never been vacant and others are frequently so.
Powderly - it is obviously a lag
Doyle - we receive information confidentially so we can't share some specifics with others
Jones - how do you compare Franklin to surrounding towns?
Doyle - probably want to turn to the realtors for that, DOR would have that.
Nutting - remind folks of the way the system works in the commonwealth, you need to compare the total year to total year, the first two bills are estimates
Powderly - with a single rate versus a split tax rate, if we were to go with a split rate, to take one dollar from the residents would raise the commercial rate by $4.
Hearing closed
G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS
2 minute break to get to 7:10 for the scheduled hearing start
F. HEARINGS - Annual Tax Classification Hearing – 7:10 PM
Ken Norman, Chair Board of Assessors
Kevin Doyle, Director of Assessors
Chris Feeley, Vincent DeBaggis - board members
Jeff Nutting, what you see tonight in 15 minutes is the result of over 2,000 hours of work
the State has already provided a preliminary assessment in approval of the process
Thanks for all the work done
Kevin Doyle -
providing an overview of the package
page 2 a summary of the status change in valuations
Pages 6 - 10 a listing of the commercial and industrial properties
page 11 - shows the calculation for the residential vs commercial industrial class
Page 12 - shows the calculation to get to the tax base valuation - new growth valuation
personal property - one time growth, not expected to repeat
a large account that was unanticipated
What is personal property?
personal property- business assets that are taxable locally (furnishings, computers, etc.)
Page 14 - calculates the levy limit
Page 21-22 what if scenarios? answers the questions on shifts if a split tax rate was chosen
Page 23 - from the DOR website
Page 24 - shows the tax rate against an "average" value
Page 25 - shows the tax rate against the "median" value
Page 26 - the levy as applied against the different classes and percent change from last year
page 27 - a summary page showing the major classes over the years, depicting changes year to year
Roy - question on Franklin Village getting a mortgage of $44M with an assessed value of $46M?
Doyle - the deed sometimes provides detail and the mortgage can sometimes provides more detail. This is some speculation. What we did do, we engaged a consultant to assist in the valuation, gathered income and expense information for review by us and by the DOR to confirm if we were using appropriate schedules
Norman - it is a national company and they could be doing something with the property and taxes that we don't know
Nutting - can you explain the data used?
Doyle - We are using last year's data as this year is not yet complete.
Jones -
Doyle - most property is owner occupied, communities that typically go with the residential exemption are larger cities or more seasonal resort type areas where the buildings are not generally owner occupied. What you have to understand, is that the residential exemption would be taken from the other residences. With a high level of owner occupied, a residential exemption would provide little offset practically
Norman - Your other question is basically with prop 2.5%
Doyle - the 2.5% is there pretty much automatically, my main goal day to day is to be fair and equitable. The adjustments need to be made in the same way.
Bissanti - congratulations on a good package, what do you see?
Doyle - We have looked ahead but those are part of the test group. The first six months of 2011 were similar to the market closing at the end of 2010. We don't predict future value
Feeley - our job is as historians, we are not here to predict the future
Powderly - we did not say what the new tax rate is yet, it would go from 12.79 to 13.73. Where do vacancies stand? mostly in the Commercial industrial piece
Doyle - we do have an allowance for vacancy and collection loss, historically if you look out over a 10 year period, some properties have never been vacant and others are frequently so.
Powderly - it is obviously a lag
Doyle - we receive information confidentially so we can't share some specifics with others
Jones - how do you compare Franklin to surrounding towns?
Doyle - probably want to turn to the realtors for that, DOR would have that.
Nutting - remind folks of the way the system works in the commonwealth, you need to compare the total year to total year, the first two bills are estimates
Powderly - with a single rate versus a split tax rate, if we were to go with a split rate, to take one dollar from the residents would raise the commercial rate by $4.
Hearing closed
Live reporting - Citizens comments
D. CITIZEN COMMENTS
Ken Norman
1 - recommending the continuation of a committee to help coordinate the efforts for the seniors
2 - recommendation on better visibility to law suits pending with the town particularly in getting exposure to the expense associated with such
Live reporting - Town Council
Present: Dellorco, Kelly, Powderly, Vallee, Pfeffer, Jones, Bisanti, Roy
Absent: Mercer
A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
B. ANNOUNCEMENTS
- This meeting is being recorded by Verizon, Comcast, and Franklin Matters.
C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS
Haley Goulet - for leading the dog park effort
Budget workshop - Jan 11
Workshop on Dec 14th for Town Council, public invited
Absent: Mercer
A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
B. ANNOUNCEMENTS
- This meeting is being recorded by Verizon, Comcast, and Franklin Matters.
C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS
Haley Goulet - for leading the dog park effort
Budget workshop - Jan 11
Workshop on Dec 14th for Town Council, public invited
Franklin Area Blogs
One of the features here at Franklin Matters is to provide links to other blogs in the Franklin area. The listing can be found in far right column. Scroll down below my Flickr photos of Franklin, the logos for the United Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Franklin Downtown Partnership to find the listing of Franklin Area Blogs.
The listing is updated every time each site posts on their site. In this way, you can always see the most current item they have shared. You can click through to read that item and then linger on their site to explore what else they have shared.
There are three updates to make you aware of today:
Two on the Holiday Stroll from 02038 and Berry Ins:
Holiday Stroll this Thursday in Franklin, MA
The listing is updated every time each site posts on their site. In this way, you can always see the most current item they have shared. You can click through to read that item and then linger on their site to explore what else they have shared.
There are three updates to make you aware of today:
Two on the Holiday Stroll from 02038 and Berry Ins:
Holiday Stroll this Thursday in Franklin, MA
"When the time comes, we'll be as generous as we can"
Both last night and next Tuesday's training are held in executive session, as the training process includes applying the negotiating style to real examples of issues within the community, Mullen said.
"We will be talking about actual Franklin situations, so we can really practice going through the motions," Mullen said.
Sabolinski added that, while decisions will not be made on contracts in the training, the topics the group will tackle in the upcoming project will be identified.
Union president Chandler Creedon said he worries that a new negotiating process could be worthless without support from Town Council.
"One of the things interest-based bargaining is based on is trust, and I'm not sure we have any trust in Franklin at this point because of what the Town Council did," Creedon said, referring to a late-October decision by the council to cut $350,000 from the School Department's budget.
Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/education/x2042556270/Franklin-school-officials-get-training-in-new-union-negotiations#ixzz1fBX5Sw81
Holiday News from Jane's Frames
| Having trouble viewing this email? Click here |
Jane's Frames | 11 East Central Street | Franklin | MA | 02038 |
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Food Elves and Partnership "12 Days of Donating"
Franklin Food Elves Launch '12 Days of Donating' Campaign
The Franklin Food Elves and the Downtown Partnership will launch the "12 Days of Donating" food drive to benefit the local food pantry at the third annual Holiday Stroll on Thursday, December 1, at the 4 p.m. tree-lighting ceremony.
The charitable community service group's goal is to collect 1,200 pounds of food and $1,200 in 12 days to benefit the Franklin Food Pantry. The campaign will run from December 1 through December 12. Along with a food bin set up at the tree ceremony on the Dean College campus, the Elves are placing bins at six downtown locations where people can drop off non-perishable food items.
According to the Franklin Food Pantry, more than 1,000 residents use its services. Recent Census data shows the need is greater; more than 3,000 Franklin residents, or 9% of the town's population, are struggling. That need increases in winter due to the cost of heat.
If the Food Elves reach their goal and collect 1,200 pounds of food, participating businesses pledge an additional $1,200 in matching funds. Franklin Food Elves co-founders Melissa and Cameron Piana and the FDP hope that the community will support the Food Pantry by helping them reach this goal. What will 1,200 pounds and $1,200 do for Franklin? 1,200 pounds of food can provide 923 meals to those in need. The $1,200 can provide an additional 6,000 meals.
Look for food donation bins at these locations:
• Franklin Downtown Partnership office, 9 East Central Street
• Jane's Frames, 11 East Central Street
• Printsmart Office Supplies, 20 East Central Street
• Berry Insurance, 9 Main Street
• Dean Bank, 21 Main Street
• Dean College, Campus Center
For more information about the Franklin Food Elves and the "12 Days of Donating" campaign, please contact the Franklin Downtown Partnership at downtown.Franklin@yahoo.com or at (774)571-3109. For more information about the Franklin Food Pantry and what items are needed, please go to their website, www.franklinfoodpantry.org/.
What is turquoise?
What to find out something? Google it.
It is fascinating when you stop and look back at how search has evolved.
Google search is enabled on this site to help you find things once you are here. More than half of you have arrived here via a search result!
Welcome. I hope what you find here is useful.
It is fascinating when you stop and look back at how search has evolved.
Google search is enabled on this site to help you find things once you are here. More than half of you have arrived here via a search result!
Welcome. I hope what you find here is useful.
Dean College: "Blinking"
The Dance program at Dean College will be putting on a show called "Blinking" Dec 10th.
Elizabeth Warren - House Party - Dec 3
Christine Manns is holding a house party for US Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren on Saturday, Dec 3 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. Seating is limited so please RSVP early. You can RSVP by calling Christine at 508-528-7905.
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