Franklin Matters

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Franklin override - June 8th

There will be a special Town Election scheduled for June 8th to vote on an override in the amount of 3 Million dollars to fund operational budget for the schools, library, fire, police and DPW to avoid further cuts in service.

The Financial Planning Committee updated their long range outlook, you can view that report here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/04/franklin-ma-mid-year-financial-update.html

The Town budget can be viewed here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/04/fiscal-year-2011-budget-information.html

The School budget can be viewed here:
http://www.franklin.k12.ma.us/co/supt/budget/FY2011Budgetbook.pdf

The notes from the Town Council meeting on Apr 28th can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/04/town-council-042810.html

There will be additional meetings by the Finance Committee to review the Town and School budget in detail. These meetings will provide insight from the department heads into the details on each of their operations and the budget issues they face.

Franklin, MA

Town Council 04/28/10

The collected posts live reported from the Town Council meeting on Wednesday, April 28th, 2010:

Franklin, MA

In the News - accreditation, override

Franklin High to keep accreditation

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

Franklin officials seek $3 million override

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

For additional information on the Town Council meeting Apr 28, 2010
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/04/town-council-042810.html

Franklin, MA

Cost to businesses = "an estimated $71 million in Franklin"

The mandate, which has pinpointed Milford, Franklin and Bellingham, aims to clean up the Charles River, specifically the phosphorous found in the river from stormwater runoff.

"It's not that we don't view the public policy goal as worthy," Fernandes said. "What we don't think has been thought through is whether this is being implemented fairly."

The cost that comes along with the new mandate, an estimated $35 million to $60 million in Milford and an estimated $71 million in Franklin, is something that Fernandes said will hurt the towns.

With an additional cost to regulate stormwater, many businesses may choose to stay out of Milford, Franklin and Bellingham, creating unfair competition not only with bordering towns, but also towns in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

In addition, Fernandes said the towns' added cost in regulating the stormwater has the potential to place a tax burden on residents, creating even more of a disadvantage.

Federal help sought on rainwater mandate

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

For more information on the proposed mandate:

- EPA is issuing these draft rules for public review and comment. The proposed rules, and instruction how to comment, can be found on EPA's Charles River website. The official comment period will remain open until June 30, 2010, and EPA will accept written comments until that date.

- EPA will hold two public informational meetings. The first will be on May 12, 2010 between 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at the Tri-Country Regional Vocational Technical School at 147 Pond Street in Franklin. On June 22, 2010, EPA will hold another informational session at the same location from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Immediately following the information session, EPA will hold a formal public hearing at which it will receive oral and written comments for the official record.

- EPA’s Clean Charles River Website, including proposed final rules regarding stormwater pollution (epa.gov/region1/charles/index.html)

Franklin, MA

Horace Mann Middle School Plans Yard Sale

The Horace Mann Middle School in Franklin will hold its second annual yard sale on Saturday, May 8, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the school on Oak Street. Proceeds from the sale will help fund school programs such as field trips and guest speakers.

Among the great finds awaiting bargain hunters are sporting goods, toys, bikes, antiques, furniture, lamps and books. Shoppers can browse booths by local vendors for Mother’s Day gifts including theme gift baskets, jewelry, crafts and potted plants.

The PCC will provide donuts and coffee for sale for early shoppers, and will grill up hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch. They invite residents to spend the day!

In case of rain, the sale will be moved inside the school. The sale starts promptly at 9:00; please no early birds. Anyone interested in donating an item or participating as a crafter can contact the school at (508)-541-6230.

Franklin, MA

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Live reporting - Closing

Nutting -
thanks to all the volunteers for Earth Day
looks like the museum will open May 15th
we went to the market to borrow the money for the totters, .07% so paying about 7,000 for interest, less than in the budget
we have an opportunity to take down the old building on Grove

Thanks to Bryan Taberner for acquiring some interns

Old business
Vallee - street opening bylaw copy requested to review for possible amendments

New business - none

Councilor Comments

Zollo - I welcome the debate, we can agree to disagree
Pfeffer - belated happy birthday to Mr Vallee, his 90th
Jones - May 11th special election to fill Scott Brown's seat
Whalen - if this override is to succeed, and I hope it does, it will take a massive effort. Apart from hand delivery I am not sure what else we can do. If you care about services, try to get the word out as broadly as you can.
Mason - May 24th, public forum to discuss the override
I want to thank my fellow councilors tonight, I know we have divergent opinions, thank you for putting the question to the voters.

Motion to adjourn, passed 9-0

Franklin, MA