Live reporting - Town Council 2/11/09

Attending: Whalen, Mason, Vallee, Bartlett, Feeley, Pfeffer, McGann, Zollo
Missing: Doak

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - January 7, 2009 approved 8-0

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS - none

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS - none

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS - none

E. APPOINTMENTS - none

F. HEARINGS - none

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS - none

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS

• Use of Town Property Bylaw

Discussion on intent and minor revisions, language can be cleaned up and improved.

• FY 2009 Capital Plan

The Capital sub-committee and Finance Committee have their recommendations.
Will bring this back in March for formal vote, only for discussion tonight.
Feeley requested to bring the ladder truck and the DPW lawn mower before the Council for a formal vote for next meeting rather than waiting.

"He slept with his eyes open"

“He would sleep with his eyes open while posing.” Victor Pisini said as he talked about Shaney Ward, the model for one of his paintings now on display at Gallery 218. “He was a tiny fireman. He would stand only about four foot five inches tall. It was good for us painting to have him sleep with his eyes open. I did that painting about 1957.”

Allison Sherlock explained that one of the two paintings she had in the show was from her “post-stick” period. Her Art teacher at Assumption referred to it that way for an exercise she had Allie do in class. She had Allie paint with her brush taped to the end of a four foot stick. You try doing that. It is not easy to manipulate the brush holding it from such a distance.



Victor complained that he used to be able to find subject matter to paint in the daily news paper. “You can't find that any more. The pictures are all about war, and accidents. I used to be able to find a woman working in a field, or a grandfather holding a child, or someone leading a horse. I could then go and paint from that picture.”

“Imagine that, a real discussion about art right here in Franklin,” remarked Rosanne Walsh as she caught part of the conversation between Allison and Victor. This conversation almost covered the extremes amongst the alumni represented. There are works from the Class of 2008 but Victor was from the Franklin Class of 1947 and Allison was from the Class of 2004.

There is quite a range in the type of work featured in this Alumni Show at Gallery 218. There are oil paintings, ceramics, photography, prints, mixed media and an animated video being shown on DVD. Something for everyone.

Refreshments were served in the cafeteria while Andrew Barry played some background music on his electric guitar. Andrew, a senior at Franklin High has already been accepted at Franklin Pierce College but is waiting to hear from Emerson and Berklee. He would like to pursue studying music and those are his #1 and #2 choices.



Victor's second painting is more recent. He completed a “Meditation” about a year ago. Mike Caple had stopped by the Pisini Shoe Store to pick up the two works for the show. Victor was grateful that he did. “We need more art here in Franklin. Whenever I traveled, I would find the art community. They were very nice people. They were always helpful.”

I think that given the expressive nature of art, given the creativity found in art, Franklin can use more art as we approach this budget season. Stop by Gallery 218 to view the Alumni show. It will be worth your time and may help Franklin's future.


A photo slideshow of Gallery 218 on opening night is available here

Pictures and Slides added

The picture of the panel presenting on the Literacy initiative was added to that posting here

The picture of Peter Light and John Koch was added to that posting here, along with the presentation slides that they used for Advanced Placement Access.

The slides that Peter Light used for the High School Improvement plan were added to that posting here.

Enjoy!

Gallery 218: Alumni Show

Gallery 218 located near the cafeteria at Franklin High School is now featuring the works of FHS Alumni. This slide show captures some of the activity at the opening on Tuesday evening.



Enjoy!

Updated 2/26/09 - The show will continue to feature Alumni art until Mid-April, 2009.

In the News - Nutting, Cafe Dolce, School Committee

By Stephanie Ganias/Daily News correspondent

GHS

Posted Feb 10, 2009 @ 10:49 PM

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BOSTON —

Franklin Town Administrator Jeff Nutting was sworn in as the new president of the Massachusetts Municipal Association at yesterday's Local Government Advisory Council meeting, which featured grim conversations on the state's finances, the federal stimulus package and ways to help local governments.

Nutting said he and his colleagues were encouraged by the governor's legislation to help cities and towns cut health insurance and pension costs and giving them the option of charging a local tax on meals.

"I think on the budget issue, with the exception of health insurance, we really lined up with the governor," Nutting said in an interview.

Nutting said he would like to see towns and cities be given the same authority as the state to make changes in health insurance plans for municipal workers.

While some have continued to question Jeff Nutting's ability, his track record here has been good. His predictions of the budget cycle with potential shortfalls each year have been very accurate. Now that he has a greater platform to share his drive for more efficient local government, Franklin can only continue to fare better than the others. Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.

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By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Feb 11, 2009 @ 12:04 AM

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FRANKLIN —

After managing Ashton Kutcher's Geisha House in Hollywood - yes, the one featured on "The Hills" - and some of the hottest nightclubs and cafes in Los Angeles, Dave Purpura and Robert James "B.J." Carlucci are bringing Cafe Dolce to Franklin.

Purpura makes one promise: "There won't be anything like it in Franklin."

Inspiration to start an upscale coffeehouse in downtown Franklin hit Purpura and Carlucci, who are workout buddies, at the gym one night, Purpura said.

Lamenting that the daily grind of physical labor - they do masonry work for Carlucci's father, Nick - was taking a toll on them, making them feel like old men, the pair decided they wanted to start their own business, they said.

Hurrah! A coffee shop coming to downtown. That is progress. Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.

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FRANKLIN —

Preparing for next year's looming budget shortfall, School Committee members last night began discussing how to approach making cuts, but did not reach a consensus.

They were all in agreement, however, that whatever choices they make will be painful.

"Anything we reduce this year, plan on it not coming back, maybe never," School Committee member Susan Rohrbach said, responding to committee member Ed Cafasso's call to taking a strategic approach to making cuts.

"That's one of my guiding principles: 'Can we do without this for a long time?"' she said.

Cafasso suggested the committee create a roadmap for deciding where to make reductions by first determining its priorities.

For example, the committee should consider Franklin High School has a projected enrollment increase this fall, whereas the middle and elementary schools are mostly expected to see enrollment decreases, he said.

Read the full article on how the School Committee will deal with the 2010 budget shortfall in the Milford Daily News here.

This was only one of several items on the agenda Tuesday night. For everything else that was covered, you can find out here.

How should MA be represented?

In a successor to the 50 States Quarters Program, the U.S. Mint, in a nationwide program, has asked Governor Patrick to select one preferred and three alternate Massachusetts national sites to be featured on the reverse of a quarter. Beginning in 2010, the Mint will release five new quarter designs annually based on the order in which the selected sites gained federal designation.

Governor Patrick is calling on the people of Massachusetts to help with this decision.

“Our Commonwealth has many great parks and historically significant sites,” said Governor Patrick. “It will be fun to let everybody help choose the one to submit.”

It will be fun to watch the various constituencies go for their cause.

How should MA be represented?

By a mark of the Revolution?

Those I think are fairly well plastered everywhere.

By a mark of the sailing industry?

I am leaning this way. Either Salem (for the clipper) or New Bedford (for the whaler) showed MA at the forefront of innovation in shipping and commerce. Such innovation is still required today.

What do you think? How will you vote?

The link to vote can be found here

Cheryl Wheeler - Circle of Friends Coffeehouse

You'll have to get your tickets early next time, the show this Saturday is already sold out.

If you haven't seen Cheryl before, here is a sample of what she does:



Enjoy!