Habitat for Humanity presentation (audio)

The Franklin Town Council hears presentation from the Old Colony Habitat for Humanity which just expanded their scope to include Franklin and Bellingham.

Time: 25 minutes, 12 seconds



MP3 File

Tavern License Transfer Approved (audio)

Franklin Town Council approved unanimously the transfer of license for the former Franklin Tavern per bankruptcy court proceedings. ABC approval is still required.


Time: 2 minutes, 20 seconds



MP3 File

Note: When Chairperson Chris Feeley defers to Jeff Nutting, Jeff in turn passes to Maxine Kinhart, who passes to Attorney Mark Cerel. This transfer does not get picked by the recording.

New School Business Administrator chosen

The School Committee last night unanimously voted to hire town resident Miriam Goodman as the new school business administrator.

During a break at last night's special meeting, committee Chairman Jeffrey Roy called Goodman, offered the job and reported that she accepted.

Goodman is director of administration and finance for the Woonsocket, R.I., Education Department, a post she has held since 1999.

She was one of four finalists in the search for a new business administrator following the committee's ousting of Dolores McCoy last fall. McCoy was put on administrative leave when officials discovered she had made numerous accounting errors, including putting $590,000 in expenses from last year into this year's budget.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.

The interviews conducted by the School Committee can be found here.

Dark Tide - Book Review

I had published my short form book review of Dark Tide previously.

My long form of Dark Tide was published Tuesday as part of the month long Love Affair with Books on the Joyful Jubilant Learning blog.

You have my permission, indeed encouragement to click on over, read it and participate in the conversation.

Dark Tide is the focal point for On the Same Page at the Franklin Library this year.

Sunshine Week

While many public officials are hesitant to share information about what the government is doing, what many Americans don't realize is that the business of public officials is highly accessible, especially when it comes to how taxpayers' dollars are spent.

To raise such awareness, the Daily News is participating in Sunshine Week, an annual project aimed at creating awareness about freedom of information and government secrecy.

A Daily News reporter hand-delivered written public record requests to several Milford and MetroWest town officials last month, asking for each one's three most recent town-issued cell phone bills.

How did Franklin fare?

Franklin Police Chief Stephen Williams also refused to provide complete bills.

Franklin Town Attorney Mark Cerel wrote a letter on Williams' behalf, explaining he would provide general billings, but not an itemized record.

"Public safety and security and personal privacy interests preclude making any of the records available," wrote Cerel. "There is a significant risk that he would inadvertently disclose an exempt telephone number in reviewing a high volume of calls, thereby creating a public safety and/or security risk or a personal privacy violation."

The town later provided general billings of all townwide-issued cell phones, which includes Williams' phone, free of charge. Franklin pays about $3,000 each month for all town employees' cell phones.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.

This is a nice attempt to participate in "sunshine week". Rather than make an issue on the phone numbers themselves, I'd have preferred an analysis of the kinds of coverage the phones have.

Do they have basic phone service or a higher level of service?

Then you could have a discussion on what level of phone service is appropriate by department for a local community to provide.

Town Council Agenda - 3/19/08

The agenda for Wednesday's Town Council meeting can be found here (PDF).

The license transfer for what was operating as the Franklin Tavern (formerly GoodFella's) is on the agenda.

Egg Hunt Friday

EGG HUNT FRIDAY - An egg hunt for children 9 and under will take place Friday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Franklin High School field house. Peter Cottontail and his friends will entertain children with egg painting, face painting, and photographs. Children will be divided into age groups and should bring their own baskets. The fee to participate is $10.

For more information, contact the Recreation Department at 508-520-4909 or visit its page on the town's website, franklin.ma.us. - Rachel Lebeaux