Live reporting - Town Council - Apr 7, 2010

Present: Kelly, Jones, Whalen, Mason, Pfeffer, McGann, Zollo, Powderly
Absent: Vallee,

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – March 10, Special Meeting & March 17, 2010, Regular & Executive Session
With one modification on S Whalen as member of but not chair of subcommittee on Charter


B. ANNOUNCEMENTS

next Council breakfast at Senior Ctr - June 10

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS

E. APPOINTMENTS

Long Range Financial Planning Committee - Brendan Morrison  motion to approve, passed 8-0
Cultural Council - Helen Reebenacker  motion to approve, passed 8-0

Franklin, MA

HMEA Recycling Center - ribbon cutting

HMEA opened their Recycling Center in Plainville, MA today. The United Regional Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony to help celebrate the special event.



Enjoy!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view the video link

Franklin, MA

Curbside Pickup Demonstration Scheduled April 17 - 9:00 AM - Noon

A new Automated Waste Management truck will be on site and doing demonstrations at the Beaver St. Field for Earth Day, April 17th from 9-12.  DPW and Waste Management personnel can explain the program and show residents how to use the new carts.  See what others are talking about.

Please attend the event to learn about the program and get your questions answered.


You can subscribe to receive the "Recycle News" directly to your email
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/subscriber-news


Prior information on the new curbside pickup system beginning July 1:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/03/franklin-ma-trash-collection.html

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/03/trash-pickup-in-action.html (video)


Franklin, MA

In the News - Laura Dombroski, Big Y

Boston Marathon runner of the day: Laura Dombroski

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Krista Perry/Daily News staff

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Neighbors not happy as Big Y gets favorable recommendation

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Ashley Studley/Daily News staff

This is for a Big Y in Milford and Hopedale.

Franklin, MA

Hold the date for the Charles River Watershed Cleanup!

Are you looking to make a real difference in your community? If so, join a group or form your own to clean up trash throughout the Charles River Upper Watershed. You will be helping us improve the appearance and health of the waterways in our region.

If you live in the Upper Watershed please consider volunteering a few hours of your time to help us protect this unique and valuable natural resource. The large majority of our the cleanup sites are land-based, but we have a few on-water sites for experienced paddlers who can supply their own canoe or kayak. 

Did you know? The Charles River stretches for more than 80 miles from Hopkinton to Boston. It originates and flows for nearly 37 miles here in the Upper Watershed. In our region alone the Charles is fed by 45+ miles of waterways including seven major tributary rivers, brooks, and streams.

WHEN: Saturday, April 24, 2010
TIME:  9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon


WHERE: Charles River Upper Watershed - Ashland, Bellingham, Dover, Franklin, Holliston, Hopedale, Hopkinton, Medfield, Medway, Mendon, Milford, Millis, Norfolk, Sherborn, Wrentham.


The volunteer check-in site will be located in front of Whole Foods Market in Bellingham, MA. Stop by to get directions to your assigned site, collect your cleanup supplies and receive a free t-shirt. We encourage you to sign up in advance by using the contact information below.


CONTACT: David Dobrzynski
Upper Watershed Volunteer Coordinator


EMAIL: CRWAvolunteer@gmail.com

You can view the flyer for this event here:

School district regionalization - historical background

Unlike school districts in many other states, which are often separate government entities with independent taxing authority, school districts in Massachusetts are very much dependent on the cities and towns that they serve. In colonial times, districts were established by any group of families willing to support a school, and at one point there were 2,250 districts in the state. In 1882, the state passed a law that consolidated districts by giving authority only to municipalities to fund and manage school districts. With 351 towns and cities in the state, however, local control has meant that there remain a large number of districts relative to the state's student population, including many very small districts in relatively less populated areas.


Beginning with the post-war period, the 1949 Regional Schools Act authorized the regional district as an independent legal entity to encourage small towns to form consolidated school districts with a single school committee and specified rights and obligations for member towns. Though the state envisioned consolidation, the number of districts actually increased over the next 20 years, from 355 to over 390, as small towns preserved independent elementary districts while creating regional secondary schools. Special commission reports and Board of Education guidelines in the 1960’s promoted the formation of more K–12 districts on the grounds that they would improve educational programs and streamline governance, with little avail.


Real progress toward consolidation did not begin until Chapter 71, the state’s regional school law, was amended in 1974 to expand financial incentives for districts to regionalize. The aid formula was based on enrollment, which provided some incentive for districts to fully regionalize grades K–12. After these reforms the number of school districts declined to the current level of 329, not including charter schools. However, regional school aid was phased out in the early 1990s with the passage of the Massachusetts Education Reform Act, and the amount that existing districts had been receiving up that point was included in the district’s Chapter 70 aid. Since the 1990s only 13 new K–12 districts have been formed, mostly the result of consolidation of regional secondary districts and their members into one K–12 regional district.

from the Education Research Brief - School District Consolidation in Massachusetts: Opportunities and Obstacles


Franklin, MA

Phil's Phriends - 8th Annual Live Music Silent Auction - April 9th

Join us for our 8th Annual Live Music Silent Auction, April 9th, at Showcase Live at Patriot Place in Foxborough, featuring live music from THE Average White Band and Sugarfoot and the Brass Kicking Horns. Help Phil’s Phriends raise funds to fight cancer through the Pan Mass Challenge and the Jimmy Fund.

Tickets are only $25 per person and must be purchased in advance. Limited tickets are available, so please reserve your spot as soon as possible. To reserve tickets, click here.

We look forward to you joining us for a great event. The doors to Showcase Live will open at 6:00pm. At that time you will be able to order food and beverages, preview auction items and make initial bids. The Average White Band will take the stage at 8:00pm and play until 9:30pm. At that time, we will open the silent auction bidding for 1 hour. At 10:00pm Sugarfoot and the Brass Kicking Horns will take the stage and complete the evening.

All ticket sale proceeds bought from Phil’s Phriends will be donated to the PMC and Cancer Research. All tickets bought through the Showcase Live Box office will be for the Average White Band Show and will not be considered a donation. Auction item bidding will be open to the entire crowd at Show Case Live. Please help Phil’s Phriends support our young PMC pedal partner – Emily Taylor – by raising money for cancer research. We look forward to seeing you at the event and thank you for your support!

The Average White Band are widely regarded as one of the best soul and funk bands in the history of music. Though perhaps best known for their timeless instrumental mega-hit ‘Pick Up the Pieces’ the band’s strength actually lay in their consistently accomplished song-writing, stretching across several gold selling albums and multi-grammy nominations for the legendary Atlantic Records. Sugarfoot & The Brass Kickin’ Horns is a 7 piece band with male & female vocalists and one of the finest horns sections around. The band plays the absolute best funk and dance hits from all eras including Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi, Madonna, Journey and many more.

To get tickets, click here.

The Silent Auction brochure can be viewed here:

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

You can subscribe to the Phil's Phriends blog to get regular updates as they prepare for this year's Pan Mass Challenge  http://philsphriends.wordpress.com/


Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view the file.


Franklin, MA