Sunday, Sep 20th - 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Harvest Festival today!
Come to downtown Franklin for the Harvest Festival, today
Sunday, Sep 20th - 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Sunday, Sep 20th - 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
In the News - youth mass, solar panels
Youth Mass at Franklin church fills the pews
Bellingham farm using solar panels to save on energy costs
Pictures of the Trolley Crossing Farm solar panels were posted to the Franklin Area Climate Team blog here
The digital natives are restless
Wesley Fryer, writing on his blog "Moving at the Speed of Creativity" has a wonderful post this week:
There are two videos worth viewing within the post. One I have shared here previously. One is new to me and I will share here:
Recall the discussion at a recent School Committee meeting about limiting the electronic interactions between teachers and students.
What would you do to foster appropriate digital behavior?
Note: email subscribers should click through to view the video on the website.
These are my notes from Robyn Treyvaud’s workshop, “The Natives are Getting Restless: Growing Up and Learning in a Web 2.0 World” at the 21st Century Learning @ Hong Kong Conference on 18 September 2009. MY COMMENTS ARE IN ALL CAPS. Robyn is the author and owner of www.cybersafeworld.com. Her wiki on digital citizenship (created with WetPaint) is http://digicitizen-wiki.com.You ca read the full post here.
There are two videos worth viewing within the post. One I have shared here previously. One is new to me and I will share here:
Recall the discussion at a recent School Committee meeting about limiting the electronic interactions between teachers and students.
What would you do to foster appropriate digital behavior?
Note: email subscribers should click through to view the video on the website.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Franklin's new "Express Line"
Subscribe to the Town News to receive an email update at least monthly.
This is what the first issue looks like:
You can subscribe to the Town's newsletter via this link
This is what the first issue looks like:
Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io
You can subscribe to the Town's newsletter via this link
Friday, September 18, 2009
Franklin: Farmers Market
The Farmers Market is open today. One of the regular local farms represented is Tangerini's from Millis.
Tangerini's offers fresh produce at the stand on the Town Common each Friday. It also offers shares in their CSA program.
Tangerini's offers fresh produce at the stand on the Town Common each Friday. It also offers shares in their CSA program.
Franklin: Anniversary Specials at Jane's Frames
Do you have some photos collecting dust that really should be displayed?
What about that award, why is it sitting in the drawer and not hanging on your wall?
Oh, you never got around to finding the proper frame for those items.
Now is the time to visit Jane's Frames. Celebrating its 15th year operating in Franklin, there are daily specials that may just help you find the right frame for that photo or award.
There is still time this month to visit and ask about the daily specials.
What about that award, why is it sitting in the drawer and not hanging on your wall?
Oh, you never got around to finding the proper frame for those items.
Now is the time to visit Jane's Frames. Celebrating its 15th year operating in Franklin, there are daily specials that may just help you find the right frame for that photo or award.
There is still time this month to visit and ask about the daily specials.
Franklin: Cheryl Vendetti Benefit
There will be a chicken BBQ dinner and silent auction at the Franklin Rod & Gun Club to benefit Cheryl Vendetti.
The event is scheduled for Saturday, Sep 20, from noon to 3:00 PM
Tickets are $20 and are available at
The event is scheduled for Saturday, Sep 20, from noon to 3:00 PM
Tickets are $20 and are available at
- Ferrara's Market
- Franklin Tire & Auto
- The Rome Restaurant
Harvest Festival
Come to downtown Franklin for the Harvest Festival, Sunday, Sep 20th!
Sunday, Sep 20th - 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Sunday, Sep 20th - 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Thursday, September 17, 2009
In the News - charter proposals
Should you care about the Town Charter?
Does the US Constitution matter to you? It should. It provides the guidelines within which our Federal government operates. The first ten amendments to the Constitution are generally referred to as the "Bill of Rights".
The Town Charter is the same document but focused on how our the local government will operate. The Preamble to the US Constitution reads:
The Milford Daily News covers the charter discussion from the Town Council meeting here:
Does the US Constitution matter to you? It should. It provides the guidelines within which our Federal government operates. The first ten amendments to the Constitution are generally referred to as the "Bill of Rights".
The Town Charter is the same document but focused on how our the local government will operate. The Preamble to the US Constitution reads:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.The Preamble to our town charter reads:
We, the people of the Town of Franklin, Massachusetts, in order to form a more perfect community, reaffirm the customary and traditional liberties of the people with respect to the conduct of our local government and take fullest advantage of the Home Rule Amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth, do ordain and adopt this Home Rule Charter for our Town.
The Milford Daily News covers the charter discussion from the Town Council meeting here:
Franklin may make some positions appointed
from The Milford Daily News News RSSTown Council Mtg Smry 09/16/09
The live reporting for the Town Council meeting on Wednesday Sep 16, 2009 are collected here:
- Live reporting - closing items
- Live reporting - Administrator's report
- Live reporting - legislation
- Live reporting - Charter changes
- Live reporting - Town Council - 9/16/09
Secretary of Elder Affairs - visits Senior Center Thursday, Sep 17
Meet the Newly Appointed
Secretary of Elder Affairs,
Ann Hartstein
Secretary of Elder Affairs,
Ann Hartstein
at
the Franklin Senior Center
On
Thursday, Sept. 17
At 12:30 p.m.
The public is welcome to attend to ask questions
and offer feedback
about elder issues!
the Franklin Senior Center
On
Thursday, Sept. 17
At 12:30 p.m.
The public is welcome to attend to ask questions
and offer feedback
about elder issues!
Originally posted on the Town website (doc)
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Live reporting - closing items
L. OLD BUSINESS - none
M. NEW BUSINESS - none
N. COUNCIL COMMENTS
McGann - went to an Eagle Scout ceremony for three scouts at the Elks
What is the duty.legal option for dealing with a coyote. He has a number of coyotes coming up to his door, he doesn't want to loose his golden retriever to a coyote.
Doak - omitted from earlier report on the Charter Commission, did not look at the people currently in the position
Pfeffer - New Secretary of Elder Affairs will be at the Senior Center Thursday.
motion to adjourn - passed 8-0
M. NEW BUSINESS - none
N. COUNCIL COMMENTS
McGann - went to an Eagle Scout ceremony for three scouts at the Elks
What is the duty.legal option for dealing with a coyote. He has a number of coyotes coming up to his door, he doesn't want to loose his golden retriever to a coyote.
Doak - omitted from earlier report on the Charter Commission, did not look at the people currently in the position
Pfeffer - New Secretary of Elder Affairs will be at the Senior Center Thursday.
motion to adjourn - passed 8-0
Live reporting - Administrator's report
K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
Thanks to everyone's patience, the roads that were to be paved, have now been, some stripping remains.
The first newsletter has been sent out via email. You can sign up at the Town Administrators web page.
Live cable show available for on-demand viewing on the H1N1 virus update.
Thanks to everyone's patience, the roads that were to be paved, have now been, some stripping remains.
The first newsletter has been sent out via email. You can sign up at the Town Administrators web page.
Live cable show available for on-demand viewing on the H1N1 virus update.
Live reporting - legislation
J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
1 - balancing the budget with some minor adjustments now that the State budget numbers settled. This is a known adjustment, expected since the original budget was passed in June. About 1.4 million dollars was saved with salary deferments and co-pay adjustments.
2 - resolution added related to dissolving the Housing Partnership, the town would use the money to buy some housing and mark them for affordable housing forever.Looking to obtain smaller homes with this approach.
3 - A problem with consistency between the state level requirement and the local bylaw. This will provide some extensions one year at a time to bring the two into alingment.
4 - goes hand in hand with #5, the existing bylaw for personnel would be removed and replaced by a new bylaw to cover Human Resource issues. The Town Council would still be involved for approval as requried for the check and balence but to streamline the process for approvals to changes.
The one significant change is in the time off policy where it would provide more flexibility to the employee to use time but more responsibility and accountability.
Very few municipal governments do this, so they tried to account for the long term employees and still make it workable for the new employees. It is competitive.
Questions to clarify how this would be used, some of the questions are more to the day-to-day management of the personnel rather than the overall procedures being proposed. There are transition coverage items to help the existing employees move from the old way to the new way.
Suggestion to correct the document for the next reading to reflect the proper wording around the 30 days as discussed earlier.
6 and 7 go hand in hand, these had come before the Town Council previously, have been revised and are now being looked for to go to the Planning Board for further hearings and approval before coming back to the Town Council for final approval.
Discussion on need for "fulltime" in the definition, Per M Cerel, the text needs to be as tight as possible to put the onus on the resident to make the proof rather than the town having the burden of proof.
The resolution that was added reads as follows:
- Resolution 09-59: Amendment of FY 2010 Budget motion to accept - passed 8-0
- Resolution 09-60 Endorsement of the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust motion to accept - passed 8-0
- Bylaw Amendment 09-634: Amendment to the Franklin Conservation Bylaw Chapter 181-8D: Term of Years- 1st Reading motion to accept - passed 8-0
- Bylaw Amendment 09-635: Amendment to the Code of the Town of Franklin, Chapter 25 – Personnel Regulations – 1st Reading motion to move to second reading - passed 8-0
- Bylaw Amendment 09-636: Amendment to the Code of the Town of Franklin, Chapter 25 – Human Resource Management – 1st Reading motion to move to second reading - passed 8-0
- Zoning Bylaw Amendment 09-637: Amendment to Chapter 185-3. Definitions – Referral to Planning Board motion to refer, passed 8-0
- Zoning Bylaw Amendment 09-638: Amendment to Chapter 185-39. Uses Accessory to Dwelling – Referral to Planning Board motion to refer, passed 8-0
1 - balancing the budget with some minor adjustments now that the State budget numbers settled. This is a known adjustment, expected since the original budget was passed in June. About 1.4 million dollars was saved with salary deferments and co-pay adjustments.
2 - resolution added related to dissolving the Housing Partnership, the town would use the money to buy some housing and mark them for affordable housing forever.Looking to obtain smaller homes with this approach.
3 - A problem with consistency between the state level requirement and the local bylaw. This will provide some extensions one year at a time to bring the two into alingment.
4 - goes hand in hand with #5, the existing bylaw for personnel would be removed and replaced by a new bylaw to cover Human Resource issues. The Town Council would still be involved for approval as requried for the check and balence but to streamline the process for approvals to changes.
The one significant change is in the time off policy where it would provide more flexibility to the employee to use time but more responsibility and accountability.
Very few municipal governments do this, so they tried to account for the long term employees and still make it workable for the new employees. It is competitive.
Questions to clarify how this would be used, some of the questions are more to the day-to-day management of the personnel rather than the overall procedures being proposed. There are transition coverage items to help the existing employees move from the old way to the new way.
Suggestion to correct the document for the next reading to reflect the proper wording around the 30 days as discussed earlier.
6 and 7 go hand in hand, these had come before the Town Council previously, have been revised and are now being looked for to go to the Planning Board for further hearings and approval before coming back to the Town Council for final approval.
Discussion on need for "fulltime" in the definition, Per M Cerel, the text needs to be as tight as possible to put the onus on the resident to make the proof rather than the town having the burden of proof.
The resolution that was added reads as follows:
Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io
Live reporting - Charter changes
Subcommittee - Doak, Whalen, Zollo
the page of changes to be added later, there are a number of minor changes to reflect better language
One change would remove from the Charter the requirement for the Town Council to meet twice a month and change it to meeting once a month. The Town Council should have the ability via other Town Council procedures to hold meetings.
cleaning up conflicts within the charter and to remove ambiguities
Change of the Finance Committee from 11 to 9, and change the term to 2 (from 1).
Section 7-7 - to be removed, these items should really be covered in a human resources section.
The three page handout from the subcommittee follows:
--- page 2 ---
--- page 3 ---
the page of changes to be added later, there are a number of minor changes to reflect better language
One change would remove from the Charter the requirement for the Town Council to meet twice a month and change it to meeting once a month. The Town Council should have the ability via other Town Council procedures to hold meetings.
cleaning up conflicts within the charter and to remove ambiguities
Change of the Finance Committee from 11 to 9, and change the term to 2 (from 1).
Section 7-7 - to be removed, these items should really be covered in a human resources section.
The three page handout from the subcommittee follows:
Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io
--- page 2 ---
Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io
--- page 3 ---
Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io
Live reporting - Town Council - 9/16/09
Attending: Whalen, Vallee, Bartlett, Feeley, Pfeffer, Doak, McGann, Zollo
Missing: Mason
A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – August 19, 2009, September 2, 2009
motion to approve - passed 8-0
B. ANNOUNCEMENTS
Harvest Festival this Sunday, 9/20/09 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS - none
D. CITIZEN COMMENTS - none
E. APPOINTMENTS - none
F. HEARINGS - none
G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS - none
H. DISCUSSIONS - none
Missing: Mason
A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – August 19, 2009, September 2, 2009
motion to approve - passed 8-0
B. ANNOUNCEMENTS
Harvest Festival this Sunday, 9/20/09 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS - none
D. CITIZEN COMMENTS - none
E. APPOINTMENTS - none
F. HEARINGS - none
G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS - none
H. DISCUSSIONS - none
Open offer to candidates for Franklin's Election - November 3rd
As there are several new candidates for election this November, let me re-post my offer.
The Milford Daily News covers the current candidate line up in their article today.
To the candidates for Franklin's election on November 3, 2009:
I extend an offer to conduct and post an interview with you here. The interview can be either text or audio.
You are running to conduct business on behalf of Franklin. Together, we can share your views, your objectives, and help to spread the word to create an informed voter.
Send me an email (shersteve at gmail dot com) and we can arrange a mutually convenient time.
Be aware that this is my public service effort conducted solely to create an informed electorate here in Franklin.
I do this for fun and education. If it stops being that way, I will stop. This is not an advertising site. This is an information sharing site.
My disclosure statement can be found here.
The Milford Daily News covers the current candidate line up in their article today.
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What is a CSA?
Community supported agriculture. You buy a share in advance and can receive produce from the farm regularly. More information on this program which helps to support the farm's operation can be found on the Tangerini's web site here