Wednesday, February 4, 2009

new Real Estate blog

I am beginning to find new blogs on Franklin popping up. Kathy Stankard, a realtor and part of the ReMax network, has a new blog here.

In addition to providing information on the homes for sale, the blog provides insights on what is happening in the market. The two most recent posts are:

Why should I list now?
Okay, maybe the daffodils are not in bloom and there is another snowstorm in the forecast but a seller can truly capitalize on the buyers that have begun to get back out. There are six main advantages for a seller to list now (in the winter) instead of waiting until spring:
They're Baack!
Well, it seems as if many buyers just woke up from a long winter nap. Open houses lately bring in 6 or more people and the phone has been ringing--alot. This is great news since last year's real estate market was rather quiet overall. The low interest rates and low home prices seem to be prompting buyers to get out and purchase rather than the watch and wait approach of 2008.
I'll create a "Franklin blogs" section to pull together those I have already found and posted about earlier, I'll add the new ones that come along.

If you find a blog about Franklin that is not listed, please let me know. Bloggers love to get links!


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"It felt like you left the United States"

GHS
Posted Feb 04, 2009 @ 12:05 AM

FRANKLIN —

Amanda Cawley vividly remembers the first time she saw New Orleans in January 2007: The eeriness, the houses with giant "Xs" splashed across them, the boats in the middle the road.

"There were houses that slid off their foundation, but were still standing. We saw a lot of toys on the road, lots of piles of trash everywhere you could see. All the grass was dead. There weren't birds or anything like that around," recalled Cawley, a Wheelock College junior who recently returned from her fourth trip to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Before that initial trip, Cawley, and the small group of Wheelock students who accompanied her to rebuild homes with Habitat for Humanity, had the impression life had resumed with some semblance of normalcy, because the mass media wasn't covering the situation anymore, she said.

"One of the things we learned about New Orleans, the more you read about it and find out about it, it really surprised us how much still needed to be done. That really pulled us to go," Cawley said.

read the full article about the students efforts to rebuild New Orleans in the Milford Daily News here


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"How do we do it cheaper, better, quicker?"

GHS
Posted Feb 04, 2009 @ 12:03 AM

FRANKLIN —

Franklin is looking at a $5 to $5.2 million budget shortfall next fiscal year, right in line with the gap most Massachusetts communities will contend with, Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting told the Finance Committee last night.

Nutting is still waiting for a few numbers, on health insurance and the debt, to further pinpoint the shortfall, he said.

The town does have one glimmer of hope to offset the damage, Nutting noted: Gov. Deval Patrick's proposed hotel and meals tax proposal.

The hotel tax would net Franklin about $150,000, and meals tax, $850,000, Nutting said.

"It hasn't become law, but it would take a million-dollar bite out of the apple," Nutting said.

Read the full article on the FINCOM meeting from 2/3/09 in the Milford Daily News here


Franklin History


Did you know that there was a typewriter called "The Franklin"?

The Franklin is a downstroke-from-the-front machine with a curved keyboard. At least three British typewriters, the Salter, English and Imperial, have similar designs. This configuration offered visible writing (at least to a typist who craned her neck forward). Many nineteenth-century typewriter designers viewed the curved keyboard as ergonomically superior to the straight.
For more on "The Franklin", you have my permission to click on through to view the site with photos here.

Just don't forget to stop back here sometime for what matters in Franklin, MA! :-)

FACT: Green Fair 2/5/09

This Thursday come to a Green Fair to meet local green businesses and learn about how to fight global warming. We will have live music and interesting information.
Check out the details at our new website http://www.franklinareaclimateteam.blogspot.com/ , and follow the link to an article in the Milford Daily news.
Check www.fusf.org for directions.


Tuesday, February 3, 2009

FINCOM - quick notes from 2/3/09

The Finance Committee wrapped up the capital discussions this evening and voted 9-1 to approve the Administration recommendations on $1.3M for capital to come from "free cash".

Presentations this evening covered the
School Dept - replace two vans (hopefully starts a regular replace of the school vehicles)
School Dept - text books (replacement of US History text that are 10 years old was one example)
School Dept - technology (desktop/notebook system replacements - all slated for replacement are more than 6 years old)

Town - Facilities (replacement of gazebo roof)

Town Administrator Jeff Nutting also provided an update on the current reduction of $300,000 from this years (FY 2009) budget. He is having his department heads look into how they can absorb this amount. He is not overly concerned about this year. (I agree given we come up with about $1 million in "free cash", that is money in the budget that is not used each year, coming up with $300,000 should be "easy".)

Jeff provided an outlook into FY 2010 budget. Given the numbers prepared by the various town and school departments thus far, he is forecasting a shortfall of about $5.2 million. (Note: it was reported last week that this number would be in the $4.5 to 5.5 million range.)

Jeff is hopeful that the state legislature will take action to enable some local taxes (i.e. the meals tax could be kept in Franklin and is estimated at about $800,000). Taxing the phone companies would generate about $150,000. So while together this would be about $1 million, it would help but not be anything near a silver bullet.

Of more concern to Jeff is the fact that the Town is on the path of getting to the minimum level of funding for the schools. It could be that in 2011, the state minimum would kick in and the town would be forced to make further cuts on the municipal side (or pass another override) to make the ends meet.

With the budget season now beginning in earnest, I encourage you to tune into the meetings. Better yet, make the effort to get to the Council Chambers for the key FINCOM, School Committee and Town Council meetings.

With you participation, then at least you can be assured of a good discussion and decision. You will have done what you could.

If you sit back and let someone else take action, you may not like the results but you'll need to live with them.

After school activities canceled today

The automated phone call just arrived with Superintendent Wayne Ogden announcing that all after school activities will be canceled due to inclement weather.

All schools will dismiss on their normal schedule. No late bus runs will be made today.