Businesses opening

1 - As pictured here earlier, Cafe Dolce is expanding to the former Choo Choo shop at the downtown Franklin/Dean College station. Conversation with BJ and his father reveals they are looking to open next week. The place has been freshly painted, tables and chairs cleaned and painted. Additional works and final permits are required but with a little luck they intend to open next week.

A better outside photo than the one in the early morning light on Thursday:

The coffee will be brewing soon:

2 - And Maguro House, a Japanese restaurant, will opening this month at the corner of the building opposite from Cafe Dolce.

Updated 2/25/10
The Grand Opening Party is scheduled for Sunday, February 28th from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

These are good signs for downtown!

In the News - lawsuit

Alleging they were victims of what their lawyer called an outrageous display of excessive force by a police officer, one current and three former students at Dean College have filed suit in federal court.

The four are seeking $1 million in damages, and have named two Franklin officers and the town as defendants.

The plaintiffs claim their constitutional rights were violated when Officer Douglas Nix drew his gun and aimed at them after pulling over their SUV on Feb. 28, 2009.

Read the remainder of the article here:

Lawsuit claims police brutality

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Danielle Ameden/Daily News staff

really going to change how the DCR does business

“The DCR forest vision draft, if ever adopted, would represent a major improvement in the state’s practices and policies for cutting on forest lands, because it would much more emphasize stewardship, habitat, recreation, and scenic values, with less emphasis on timber cutting,’’ said Gregor McGregor, a member of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions, which advises local boards in communities around the state.

The draft plan represents “a paradigm shift,’’ he said, in moving land use away from timbering and toward ecosystem values.

This caught my eye although the Franklin Forest is not specifically mentioned in the article. There is a wealth of additional reading available on the DCR website here:
http://www.mass.gov/dcr/news/publicmeetings/tsc_draft_recommendations.htm


Last night there was a forum in Westborough, the next closest forum will be on the 11th in Taunton:
http://www.mass.gov/dcr/news/publicmeetings/forestryfvpupcoming.htm


Feedback can be provided by attending one of the forums, via email or an online survey. Of course,  there is no restriction against providing feedback in all three methods.

You can read the full article in the Boston Globe West edition from Thursday
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2010/02/04/some_state_owned_parkland_being_reclassified_to_minimize_tree_cutting_other_damage/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Globe+West

Cafe Dolce expands to train station

I took the train into Boston on Thursday for a conference and was pleased to find this sign over the door at the former Choo-Choo shop.

Jane Curran had left me know they were going to expand. I haven't caught up with BJ or Dave yet but when I do, I'll provide additional info on when they open.

Hard to believe it is almost a year ago that they opened downtown (4/13/09)! You can view the photo slide show of the opening day here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2009/04/grand-opening-cafe-dolce.html

Franklin, MA: Citizens Rail Trail Committee - meeting 2/9/10

The next meeting of the FCRTC will be held at the Franklin YMCA, Forge Hill Rd. Franklin. The meeting on February 9^th will commence at 7:30 PM and conclude NLT 9:30 PM.

I. Call to Order / Introductions of New Attendees

A. Introduction of new attendees
B. Volunteer to write minutes of the meeting
C. Motion to accept previous meeting minutes


II. Report from our representative from DCR

A. Gates at Spring St
B. Leveling of the Trail
C. Walking Trails


III. Membership Committee Report (Denison, McKeown, Sawyer)
A. Committee to report on membership activity


IV. Report from Finance Committee (Rossetti)
A. Report from Treasurer


VII. Report of Fund Raising Committee (Sawyer)

A. Report on fund raising activities
a. Raffle Ticket Sales
b. Road Race Committee

VIII. Report on Meeting with Franklin PLUC 2/1/10 (Svendsen)

IX. Open Discussion on Restructuring FCRTC

X. Unfinished Business:
A. Questions from members / attendees

XI. New Business:
A.

XII. Set Date for Next Meeting and Adjourn



Additional information on the Citizens Rail Trail Committee can be found on their website
http://www.franklinrailtrail.org/

You can find prior posts on their activities by searching on Franklin Matters for "rail trail"

"build confidence in a high-pressure situation"

"It's a way to compete on a team for kids who may or may not be athletic," said Franklin mock trial team coach Mike Walsh.

Walsh, a social studies teacher at Franklin High School, said the school has recognized mock trial as a true team sport, going so far as awarding varsity letters to those who make the team.

Read the full article about mock trial teams here

Teens try their hand at the law

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Melanie Graham/Daily News staff

Waste Discussion Recap

For a short Town Council meeting, there was a bit of interesting discussion.

The discussion started right away with Citizen's Comments

Michael Galvin, Vice-President of American Waste Services, LLC (the current waste contractor and a bidder on the new contract), also a Franklin resident spoke.

He referenced an 11 page document that apparently the Town Council received (at least some of them) and tried to condense his remarks to keep within the guidelines for citizen's comments (5 minute limit)

He didn't make it; he got cut off at five, but then was allocated another five minutes from another resident.

This is what I walked away with:

 - The contract is still under negotiation, three bidders are involved, why is this discussion in public, shouldn't the other two have equal access?

 - There is some dispute about the numbers. If the current contractor has actual numbers, why wouldn't they be considered along with the research from other communities? Why weren't the actual numbers from Franklin's experience included earlier in the discussion. (If they were, it wasn't apparent from the discussion Weds.)

 - Mr Galvin's comment should have stood alone. However, when the second piece of legislation scheduled for the meeting agenda came up for discussion, the conversation deviated from the matter at hand to get into this.

 - The second piece of legislation was the authorization of the purchase of the totters/bins to implement the single stream contract. The totters would be used no matter which of the three bidders won.

The argument by Councilor Vallee that this is the wrong time to spend any money is interesting. This is actually the best time to buy the totters (assuming we go with this single stream process). 

• The interest rate (for financing the purchase) is as low as it can be
• The cost for the bins will be low
• The waste rate will actually be a cost savings for Franklin residents (from $244 to $220, a $24 savings)
• It will be a sort of 'stimulus purchase' for the vendor who actually sells us the bins/totters, hence a really good deal, especially at this time

Given that the waste fee second reading will come before the Council soon (likely next week), this discussion will possibly be continued and revisited with more time wasted (pun intended) by some folks trying to.micro-manage the situation.

Assuming the second reading does come forward, all it is supposed to do is set the rates for the Town to charge the residents. The contract will still be negotiated sometime before the current one expires on June 30th.

Stay tuned to see what happens next week!