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Saturday, January 29, 2022
Franklin Downtown Partnership General Meeting - remote info for Feb 3 session
Franklin Public Schools: District Newsletter - January 2022
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When the snow buries hydrants, you can adopt one!
"Residents and civic groups (Scouts, local youth groups, Franklin High School teams, etc.) can "adopt" a hydrant or hydrants.
This is intended to be a commitment for the 2020/2021 snow season and can be applied towards student community service hours.
Visit our website https://www.franklinma.gov/water.../pages/adopt-hydrant to Adopt-A-Hydrant today!"
Shared from Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1551606135109407/permalink/3087635771506428/
Franklin DLI - January 2022 Newsletter available
Check out the Franklin Public Schools January DLI newsletter.
#FPSDigitalLearning @FranklinPSNews #franklin
https://t.co/oeqhG1NcuH
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| Franklin DLI - January 2022 Newsletter available |
Conned on social media? It’s not just you
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| If you see or experience scam on social media, report it to ReportFraud.ftc.gov |
Social Security’s Top 5 Data Privacy Resources
From the Social Security Administration:
"Are you looking for better ways to stay safe online? As you know, Security is in our name. We are committed to protecting your personal information and take this responsibility seriously. We keep this commitment in mind when we collect information from you to carry out our mission.
As we celebrate Data Privacy Week, we are sharing our top five privacy resources:"
Continue reading about the 5 resources
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| Social Security’s Top 5 Data Privacy Resources |
Town of Franklin: MBTA proposed fare changes for 2022
Since Franklin is an @MBTA community, we wanted to share some information regarding the MBTA's proposed fare changes for 2022.
For more information about the changes, and how you can provide feedback, please visit the MBTA website at https://t.co/156LcjvLL8 or -> https://www.mbta.com/fares/2022-proposed-fare-changes.
Shared from Twitter: https://t.co/C2fyp2mfkm
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| Town of Franklin: MBTA proposed fare changes for 2022 |
Friday, January 28, 2022
Update: parking ban for this weekend in advance of the forecasted blizzard
Parking Ban, 1AM Sat to 8AM Sun
- Schools,
- Library,
- Recycling
all closed Sat and Sun.
All recreation events cancelled also canceled this weekend
Shared from Town of Franklin page -> https://www.franklinma.gov/home/urgent-alerts/parking-ban-129-1am-130-8am
Be safe!
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| Will we see snow like we did in 2015? Stay tuned! |
Franklin's Event Outlook: Jan 28, 2022 to Feb 3, 2022
Between COVID-19 shutting the Historical Museum and LiveARTS, and the approaching snow storm rescheduling the remaining events, the calendar is quiet and clear.
- The Winter Farmers Market moved to Sunday.
- St Mary's canceled Saturday services.
- LiveARTS postponed their concert Sunday
We'll likely hear of additional changes as the storm impact gets more clear. Be safe.
Saturday, January 29
10:00am - CLOSED - Historical Museum
10:00am - CLOSED - Historical Museum
Sunday, January 30
10:00am - Changed-> Winter Farmers Market
1:00pm - CLOSED -> Historical Museum
3:00pm - Postponed -> LiveARTS String Quartet
Find the full calendar https://www.franklinmatters.org/p/blog-page.html
If you have an event to add to the calendar, you can use the form to submit it for publication: https://forms.gle/oPdi8X3ZbHHyrHzo6
The Town meeting calendar is found https://www.franklinma.gov/calendar
The School district calendar is found https://www.franklinps.net/calendar-by-event-type/26
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| Community Calendar |
Recap: Procedure review completed; Town Administrator review previewed
Quick Recap:
- In back to back meetings on Wednesday, two subcommittees of the Town Council completed discussion on their tasks
- First, the Procedural Review picked up from their Dec meeting to complete review of the current document and make mostly minor and/or technical revisions. One key component is to expand the remote participation up to "no more than 4". Pre-pandemic only one councilor was allowed to participate via phone remotely. Now, with Zoom in place, the limit can be raised to 4. Still need to maintain a physical quorum in the room
- This is also pending further review depending upon what the State House does with the Open Meeting Law requirements with the current pandemic exceptions expiring in April (or June?)
- The procedure doc changes as drafted by the subcommittee will be reviewed at a meeting Feb 2, before the full council session at 7, and scheduled for full discussion with the Council
- Second, the Ad Hoc Town Administrator Review subcommittee met to review the performance and accomplishments of Jamie Hellen
- Jamie insisted that his review is a reflection of the overall town personnel in providing service to the community. When pressed if he had any plans to leave, he said no. Paraphrasing - I don't take things for granted, it has been most rewarding here, we are rooted in MA, if I had my druthers, I'd stay here. I am still young. #tctar0126 I'd be more than honored to serve here at your discretion.
- The full review write up is currently planned to be brought to the Town Council for the Feb 16 meeting for their full discussion and approval
The combined Twitter thread for the two meetings is located here (below).
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MBd3ieaUnIBVv8rrJ9zV_Bo2e8FBhJK9/view?usp=sharing
The audio recording of the TA review meeting will be available in a couple of days.
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| Town Administrator Jamie Hellen updating the Council at a recent meeting |
St Mary's schedule change for this weekend/snowstorm
Due to the snow storm forecasted for this weekend, and also for public safety reasons, St. Mary Parish, Franklin, will be closed on Saturday, January 29, 2022.
There will be no Masses, confessions, or funerals on Saturday.
St. Mary's will reopen on Sunday, January 30 for the 7:30 AM Mass. There will also be a 10:30 AM and 12:00 PM Mass on Sunday.
Stay safe!
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| St Mary's schedule change for this weekend/snowstorm |
Panther News: Friday, January 28, 2022 (video)
Watch this week's episode of Panther News featuring insights on Haiti https://youtu.be/usewYfUKXnk
Franklin Line Double Track project update from MBTA, via State Representative Jeff Roy
Via State Representative Jeff Roy, sharing this response to our legislative delegation's query on the status of the Franklin Line double track. (BOLD and italics added by me for speed reading the key parts)
"Dear Honorable Members of the General Court,
Thank you for your attention regarding the Franklin Line Double Track project. We understand and recognize the importance of this initiative to you and your constituents. Please note that despite the reallocation of funding due to the pandemic, the MBTA remains steadfast in its commitment to completing this project. The Franklin Line had one of the highest ridership numbers on the Commuter Rail network prior to March 2020 and the aim of this project was to alleviate some of the capacity constraints that come with sharing the rail with freight trains. Improving service to make it more reliable is not just a stated goal of this project, but also a core focus for the MBTA throughout its network.
As a reminder, this work will create a continuous second track along nearly all of the Franklin Line—helping to keep Commuter Rail trains on schedule and supporting potential opportunities for increased service in the future. This is as much of a priority for the MBTA as it is for the delegation. However, during the onset of the pandemic difficult decisions had to be made by our team with regards to the Capital Budget. As stated to members of your team, there were several competing projects that required the same limited resources during that time namely around signal staff, materials, and necessary PTC design. The reallocation of these material resources and the funding are the primary factors for the delay in the project.
Please note that all major work on Phase 1 (Walpole to Norfolk) was completed in April 2020. The finished track serves as the foundation for phases 2 and 3 of the project. As you know in Phase 2 we’re adding 3.5 miles of track extending from Norfolk Station to near Franklin Station and then subsequently in Phase 3 we will extend the second track between Walpole and Norwood Central by 4 miles. This will connect to the existing double track that runs from Norwood Central to just south of Readville Station. Upon completion of Phase 3, the Franklin Line will have double track from slightly north of Franklin Station to the southern limits of the City of Boston.
The current cost to complete the project is approximately $23.3M which includes Keolis outlays, PTC/ATC expenses, and Amtrak dispatching expenditures. Our team will work to submit this funding for this project in the upcoming CIP process so that we can restart the necessary work to complete the work.
Thank you,
Steve PoftakGeneral Manager"
Letter from delegation to MBTA
Response PDF (shared here)
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| On a walk in DelCarte in May 2021, popped out of the woods to view the tracks heading to Franklin Station. This is the double set that doesn't go all the way into the Stations |
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