Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Google has a powermeter?


How much does it cost to leave your TV on all day? What about turning your air conditioning 1 degree cooler? Which uses more power every month — your fridge or your dishwasher? Is your household more or less energy efficient than similar homes in your neighborhood?

Our lack of knowledge about our own energy usage is a huge problem, but also a huge opportunity for us all to save money and fight global warming by reducing our power usage. Studies show that access to your household's personal energy information is likely to save you between 5–15% on your monthly bill, and the potential impact of large numbers of people achieving similar efficiencies is even more exciting. For every six households that save 10% on electricity, for instance, we reduce carbon emissions as much as taking one conventional car off the road (see sources and calculation).

Read more on the Google Energy Information site here.


"You can see signs of progress"

Milford Daily News
Posted Apr 22, 2009 @ 12:03 AM

FRANKLIN —

It's been four years since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, but it is still near to the helpful hearts and minds of members of the Methodist churches in Franklin and Framingham.

On Sunday, church members reflected on their fifth trip to help rebuild homes in Pearlington, Miss. This time, 18 members, college-age through seniors, and three who now live in Rockville, Md., ventured south, and were happy to find progress is finally being made, said the Rev. Sandra Bonnette-Kim, pastor of the Framingham First United Methodist Church.

"It was both good and bad. It was nice to see some developments: Road constructions were being done and bridges were being fixed. The whole town was getting taken care of," she said.

Read the full article about the local assistance being provided to Katrina victims in Mississippi in the Milford Daily News here

"We're going to cross our fingers and hope this works"

Milford Daily News
Posted Apr 21, 2009 @ 11:54 PM

FRANKLIN —

A clerical worker in the assessing department and a building inspector will be laid off this year due to the budget crunch, Building Commissioner David Roche and Head Assessor Kevin Doyle reported while presenting their budgets to the Finance Committee last night.

Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting also told the Finance Committee next year's budget funds 10 fewer municipal positions than this year's budget. That does not include schools, and does not necessarily mean all 10 are layoffs, as some may be retirements that won't be filled.

"It's going to be a stretch, but they're going to do the best they can to do business as usual," said Nutting.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

Read all the live reporting posts from the same Finance Committee meeting here


Finance Committee 04/21/09

The live reporting summary of the budget hearing by the FINCOM can be found here

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Live reporting - final items

Sheet provided to Finance Committee to summarize the differences amongst the State level budgets. This is still very fluid.


Next two budget hearings

April 28th - Tuesday (Planning, Police, Recreation, Fire) (not on cable/web, in training room on 3rd floor)

April 29th - Wednesday (in Council chambers and broadcast via cable/web)

Live reporting - Controller, Legal

Controller
Financial services, fixed asset update is done with an outside consultant. It is an annual expense and done at the end of the year.

Legal
Up to 2002, the Town used outside council. When Jeff came in, he thought it would be better to have that service in house. Cost avoidance is done by awareness and on-going training. The bylaws and town regulations have been re-written over time to ensure the best legal position.

Mid-to-late 80's this budget line items was quarter million dollars. Effectively, the process of having our lawyer in-house saves us money.

Live reporting - Insurance, Town Council, Town Admin, Finance

Insurance claims
Folks should be aware of the MA General law in this area. If the Town has no prior knowledge of the pothole, the Town has no obligation to pay the claim against it. If they do know of it, and fail to fill it, they are liable for up to $5,000.

Insurance of $315,000 was approved.

Town Council
There is no budget line item for payroll as the Town Council is a total volunteer effort. Contrary to what some folks believe, they Town Council does not get paid for what they do.

Town Administrations
Budget cut on training and travel.

Some items shifted to other departments.

Finance Committee
The one annual training will be held at Tri-County in October. That will save some expenses this time.