Live reporting - Appointments

E. APPOINTMENTS 

• Election Workers 2009-2010  motion to approve, passed 6-0
  
• Finance Committee  (Linda Poole Huempfner)  motion to approve, passed 6-0

Live reporting - Town Council Mtg

Attending: Whalen, Mason, Vallee, Bartlett, Feeley, Pfeffer, Doak (Doak arrived just before executive session)

Missing: McGann, Zollo 

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - none

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS - none

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS - none

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS - none

Demographics help explain

There are a significant number of residents under 18 years old living in Franklin. Between 1990 and 2003, Franklin’s total population increased by 33.8%; during the same time, the number of residents under 18 increased by 58.3%9.

...

In 2007, nearly 970 students enrolled in the Franklin Public Schools had a disability, of which, nearly 7% had physical disabilities.11 Franklin recognized the need to provide accessible areas to individuals of all ability levels and over the past several years, has been successful in upgrading all the Public School playgrounds to meet ADA compliancy requirements.

...

Another population of interest in Franklin is its elderly residents. Census 2000 indicates 8.2% of Franklins 2000 population was age 65 years or older. As Franklin’s population ages, it is important for the Town to ensure the needs of priority populations are met. In 2008 the Town opened the newly constructed Senior Center. The Center provides Franklin’s seniors with a location to gather and programs geared towards this population’s recreation needs.

When one wonders why the School Budget has become such an item, the demographics of the Town can provide some insights. Read more in the Open Space and Recreation Plan on the Town web site here (PDF)

http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Planning/2008plan

Citizens Rail Trail presentation added to meeting notes

This was the presentation developed for and viewed at the Franklin Citizens Rail Trail Committee meeting on 8/19/09. The presentation was developed by Bill DiSantis.

Franklin Rail Trail

View more presentations from Steve Sherlock.

The presentation was added to the meeting notes of 8/19/09 and here to save clicking back into the August files.

Take a ride on the Franklin Area Bus

Did you know that you can have it stop for you along the route?

This September, why not take some time to ride the bus. For $1, it can be a real bargain.

One of the buses on the Franklin Area route has been wrapped to help advertise for Dean College. The bus (pictured below) was recently seen on its route along King St.




For more information (and schedule) on the Franklin Area Bus follow this link (PDF).

Live reporting - Public Land Use Committee

Attending: Liz Fester, Mark Anderson, Tim Twardowski

Missing: Jim Estabrook, Ray Willis

Beth Dahlstrom, Town Planner

Brian Taberner, Director, Planning and Community Development

Members of the Franklin Citizens Rail Trail Committee 
Dave Dennison, Allan Sawyer, David Labonte, Karl Svendsen

Ron Clough, DCR


Franklin Rail Trail - part of the Titanic Trail

This presentation was based upon the one prepared by Bill DiSantis and edited by Carl Svendsen for this meeting.

Franklin Rail Trail - Public Land Use Committee

View more presentations from Steve Sherlock.

Wadsworth Village, near Spring Street crossing, a historical site

How the trail would be finished off is somewhat dependent upon the requirements for the funding organization. Hard pack would be desirable.

Bellingham has a subcommittee to their Conservation Committee doing the same thing that the FCRTC is doing.

FCRTC is a grass roots organization coordinating with DCR.

Meeting with the Rotary Club to look for additional funding.

Dan O'Brian, a trail planner on the DCR staff

It is a feasible project. What you need is creation of a management plan. The plan would be two-fold, (1) development of the trail and (2) the on-going maintenance.

If you can avoid the MassHighway process which requires multiple dollars and multiple years. If you go with a fully engineered 12 foot way, that's one thing. If you are agreeable to go with the lesser option, then maybe the Town can provide some assistance.

The Town Planner and others within the Town can help the FCRT Committee

Ultimately looking at a 10 foot paved section with a yellow line down the middle and an adjacent 5 foot section hard pack for horse or jogger traffic.

Look into the ATT easement for an opportunity for sponsorship or opportunity for maintenance that could be leveraged.

Beth Dhalstrom and Dave Labonte to compare dates to find an acceptable meeting time in September to continue this discussion.

Election "Line up card"

Table below shows the positions available for election this November.  Check for the updated version here

The Candidates column initially showed just the incumbents.
Those who have confirmed taking out papers are marked with a * and bold.
New candidates have their name in bold with -new.
The existing position holders who have not yet taken out papers are listed for reference to keep track of the "line up card"

So what does this tell us?
We need more candidates! The only election competition is for the Board of Health position.

Name	# of Openings	Candidates	Term of Office
Board of Assessors	1 Position (For 4 years)	Robert Avakian*	2009 to 2013
Board of Health	1 Position (For 4 years)	Bruce Hunchard* Koren Kanadanian-new	2009 to 2013
Planning Board	2 Position (For 4 years)	Anthony Padula*	2009 to 2013
	* 1Vacant	Joseph Halligan-new	2009 to 2013
Planning Board (Associate)	* 1 vacant position (For 4 Years)		2009 to 2013
Town Council	9 Positions (For 2 Years)	Joseph McGann	2009 to 2011
		Deborah Bartlett
		R. Scott Mason*
		Christopher Feeley
		Judith Pond Pfeffer*
		Thomas Doak - not running again
		Shannon Zollo*
		Robert Vallee*
		Stephen Whalen
		Glenn Jones- new Daniel Ballinger-new
School Committee	7 Positions (For 2 Years)	Cora Armenio	2009 to 2011
		Susan Rohrbach*
		Paula Mullen*
		Edward Cafasso*
		Roberta Trahan
		Matthew Kelly
		Jeffrey Roy*