Wednesday, February 3, 2010
In the News - road repairs
Ashley Studley, Milford Daily News, filed her report from the Finance Committee meeting that took place last night.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Partial Live Reporting at FINCOM
I didn't get to tune into the Finance Committee meeting Tuesday evening until it was an hour underway. I did catch part of Chief McCarraher's discussion on the needs of the Fire Dept, and then Robert (Brutus) Cantoreggi's discussion on the DPW's needs.
I will catch up to the full meeting when the video is available on demand and report on the capital outlook. The one good item from this is the attempt to start spending something on a regular basis to repair our roads. As you may be aware, there are approx 200 miles of roads, many of which were built in the last 30 years and with no budget for road repair we are asking for trouble.
Yes, some of our roads do get repaired as part of the water enterprise account when water mains need to be repaired and upgraded. Or when we get some Chapter 90 money from the state, approx 750,000 the past several years. The Town has been very thrifty on this front and will need to start spending something significant on a regular basis to begin to handle the demands.
The Finance Committee did not vote on any capital budget items this evening. Based upon what happened last year, Jeff Nutting will wait to see how the winter treats the snow/ice budget before committing to use some of the "free cash" for capital items.
The meeting can be viewed on the internet video archive for the Town here
I will catch up to the full meeting when the video is available on demand and report on the capital outlook. The one good item from this is the attempt to start spending something on a regular basis to repair our roads. As you may be aware, there are approx 200 miles of roads, many of which were built in the last 30 years and with no budget for road repair we are asking for trouble.
Yes, some of our roads do get repaired as part of the water enterprise account when water mains need to be repaired and upgraded. Or when we get some Chapter 90 money from the state, approx 750,000 the past several years. The Town has been very thrifty on this front and will need to start spending something significant on a regular basis to begin to handle the demands.
The Finance Committee did not vote on any capital budget items this evening. Based upon what happened last year, Jeff Nutting will wait to see how the winter treats the snow/ice budget before committing to use some of the "free cash" for capital items.
The meeting can be viewed on the internet video archive for the Town here
Text translator for 'teen speak'
Texting is all the rage amongst teens.
Cyberbullying happens to be one theme amongst the many messages sent.
LG has a website to help translate the texting shortcuts used.
You can translate from the short cut to SMS text or from a regular English sentence translate to text.
Related links:
Teen Angels is a group of middle school students working to raise awareness amongst their peers on cyberbullying. The TeenAngels presented to the School Committee earlier this month. You can see what they did here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-teen-angels.html
and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/teen-angels-pledge-text-think-send.html
Legislation is being discussed to address cyberbullying. I don't think legislation is the answer. Parents, teachers, and the teens themselves can do a better job of creating awareness and changing behaviors.
Cyberbullying happens to be one theme amongst the many messages sent.
LG has a website to help translate the texting shortcuts used.
You can translate from the short cut to SMS text or from a regular English sentence translate to text.
Related links:
Teen Angels is a group of middle school students working to raise awareness amongst their peers on cyberbullying. The TeenAngels presented to the School Committee earlier this month. You can see what they did here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-teen-angels.html
and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/teen-angels-pledge-text-think-send.html
Legislation is being discussed to address cyberbullying. I don't think legislation is the answer. Parents, teachers, and the teens themselves can do a better job of creating awareness and changing behaviors.
Green Reel - FLOW, Sunday, Feb 7 at 7:00 PM
A series of films on sustainable living called "The Green Reel" will be held Sunday evenings in North Attleboro. The films are presented free of charge. Some refreshments are available. Discussion about the film is encouraged.
"Flow" will be shown Feb 7th at 7:00 PM
"An astonishingly wide-ranging film. An informed and heartfelt examination of the tug of war between public health and private interests." - New York Times
"Lively and engaging...Smartly Done" - Los Angeles Times
“The inconvenient truth at the center of Flow: For Love of Water is that while the oil crisis is intensely debated and documented, disasters involving an even more essential fluid go perilously unnoticed.” - Slant Magazine
“Focusing on pollution, human rights, politics, and corruption, filmmaker Salina constructs an exceptionally articulate profile of the precarious relationship uniting human beings and water. “ - Rotten Tomatoes
----
Official Selection 2008 Sundance Film Festival
International Jury Prize 2008 Mumbai International Film Festival
Best Documentary 2008 Vail International Film Festival
Winner Best Documentary United Nations Association Film Festival
----
Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis.
Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.
Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question "CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?"
Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround.
The flyer for the full series can be seen here:
"Flow" will be shown Feb 7th at 7:00 PM
Flow (For Love Of Water)
"An astonishingly wide-ranging film. An informed and heartfelt examination of the tug of war between public health and private interests." - New York Times
"Lively and engaging...Smartly Done" - Los Angeles Times
“The inconvenient truth at the center of Flow: For Love of Water is that while the oil crisis is intensely debated and documented, disasters involving an even more essential fluid go perilously unnoticed.” - Slant Magazine
“Focusing on pollution, human rights, politics, and corruption, filmmaker Salina constructs an exceptionally articulate profile of the precarious relationship uniting human beings and water. “ - Rotten Tomatoes
----
Official Selection 2008 Sundance Film Festival
International Jury Prize 2008 Mumbai International Film Festival
Best Documentary 2008 Vail International Film Festival
Winner Best Documentary United Nations Association Film Festival
----
Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis.
Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.
Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question "CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?"
Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround.
The flyer for the full series can be seen here:
Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io
In the News - regionalization, elderly growth
One of the avenues to explore to more effectively utilize the limited funding available and maintain services is regionalization. Franklin and Bellingham share animal services. Franklin and Medway share library and recreation services. Franklin and Medway share nursing services for seniors.
This article shows other communities are considering additional services for regionalization.
This article shows other communities are considering additional services for regionalization.
Medway mulls regionalizing nursing, dispatch
Presenting data already collected for the foundation, Boston University professor Lorenz Finison told the commission yesterday that the regional population of residents 75 or older in 2000 is projected to grow about 60 percent by 2030. The study area includes the foundation's coverage zone of 25 cities and towns, a swath that stretches from Needham to Westborough and from Hudson to Bellingham.
Group discusses MetroWest's elderly population
In the News - pension reform
Given the extended discussion during the Budget Workshop held a week ago, this editorial is timely:
Editorial: Next steps on pension reform
Monday, February 1, 2010
FM Budget Workshop Part 3 - 1/25/10
Franklin held conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010. This is part three of the session recording. Susan Gagner, Town Comptroller, continues her presentation reviewing page 6, Fixed Costs. There is a whole lot of discussion around this page on pensions, health insurance, unemployment compensation.... All good questions, good answers from Susan and Jeff Nutting, Town Administrator.
Time: 32 minutes, 27 seconds
MP3 File
Session Notes:
Susan Gagner - The Six Year Fixed Cost History
------\
Thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit FranklinMAtters.blogspot.com/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission
I hope you enjoy!
Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.
Live reporting from the workshop can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-special-meeting-budget.html
and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-budget-workshop.html
Part 1 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html
Part 2 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-2-12510.html
Time: 32 minutes, 27 seconds
MP3 File
Session Notes:
Susan Gagner - The Six Year Fixed Cost History
------\
Thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit FranklinMAtters.blogspot.com/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission
I hope you enjoy!
Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.
Live reporting from the workshop can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-special-meeting-budget.html
and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-budget-workshop.html
Part 1 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html
Part 2 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-2-12510.html
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