Third Thursday - August 19th

A diverse mix of art appreciation, networking and shopping rounds out the upcoming Franklin Downtown Partnership’s Third Thursday event on August 19 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Jane’s Frames, 11 East Central Street, is hosting an Artist Opening Reception, presenting Oils and Acrylics by Robin Wessman. Kia Olsson will perform live music and refreshments will be served.

Around town that evening several shops will offer specials:

• Downtown Consignment on Main Street shoppers can save 50 percent at the Summer Clearance Sale and enjoy refreshments
• A Cut Above Salon, 56 East Central Street, will offer free hair cuts with another service, as well as coupons and free hair products
• Sarapaan Beads & Jewelry, 21 East Central Street, will demonstrate bracelet making
• The Rome Restaurant, 4 East Central Street, will offer dinner for two for $20

As it is every Thursday, the Franklin Historical Museum on West Central Street will be open for tours from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Berry Insurance, 9 Main Street, will host the United Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals Organization, a group of people in their 20s and 30s who have an interest in networking, community involvement and professional development. All are welcome to attend the event and can purchase tickets for the First Annual Chowder and Chili Championship in September.

The Franklin Downtown Partnership is a group of community leaders, business owners and residents whose mission is the economic revival of Franklin’s downtown.

The Partnership’s next general meeting is Thursday, September 16, at 8:30 a.m., and its next scheduled event is the Harvest Festival on September 26. All interested vendors should contact Mary Graff at mgraff@berryinsurance.com.

For membership or sponsorship information please contact Executive Director Lisa Piana at (774)571-3109 or downtown.franklin@yahoo.com.



Updated 5/17/11 - sometime in the past couple of months, Downtown Consignment moved to an unknown location in Plainville. The Franklin Art Association now has a gallery in this location.




Franklin, MA

Franklin, MA: Town Council - Agenda - 8/18/10

The Town Council is scheduled to meet this evening at 7:00 PM.

The agenda is not yet available on the Franklin, MA website.

Under the new Open Meeting rules, it is likely posted on a window at the Municipal Bldg.

Updated: 8/18/10 the agenda was added to the website sometime today, hurrah!

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – July 21, 2010

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS -Meetings of the Town Council are Recorded

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS

E. APPOINTMENTS
Public Land Use Committee - Timothy O'Toole

F. HEARINGS

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS – Underground Utilities

I. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION –
1. Resolution 10-46: Appropriation – Repaving a Portion of Washington Street
2. Resolution 10-47: Appropriation – Spring Street Culvert

K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

L. OLD BUSINESS

M. NEW BUSINESS

N. COUNCIL COMMENTS

O. EXECUTIVE SESSION – Negotiations, Litigation, Real Property, as May Be Required

P. ADJOURN

Want to help with the Long Range Financial Planning?

The Long Range Financial Planning Committee is considering expansion of the Committee by two members. The Committee meets approximately 8-10 times per year and is tasked with looking at the 3-5 year financial picture of the Town. 


Anyone interested in being considered for the Committee may email a letter of interest to the Town Administrator at jnutting@franklin.ma.us or fax a copy to 508-520-4903. 


Letters of interest will be  accepted until August 30th. 

This was posted to the Franklin website here:
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_News/015DAF2B-000F8513




The committee is currently composed of three Town Council, and two each from the School Committee, Finance Committee and general public. By adding two more citizens, this should help broaden the representation for the citizens.


Current members


Town Council: Scott Mason, Shannon Zollo, Steve Whalen
School Committee: Susan Rohrbach, Roberta Trahan
Finance Committee: Jim Roche (Vice-Chair), Rebecca Cameron
Citizens: Doug Hardesty (Chair), Deb Bartlett


Franklin, MA

"a natural stormwater-filtration system"

He said the town is indirectly contributing $98,000 to the project - which comes from in-house labor from the engineering and highway departments.

He said town laborers can't devote all their time to the projects, so they'll take longer to complete.

"The whole idea of the grant was not to spend town money," he said. "That's the whole idea: to use as much in-house resources as possible."

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here:

Franklin adding to detention pond

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



Franklin, MA

Dean College: President's Cup Golf Tournament

The 14th annual Dean College President’s Cup Golf Tournament is scheduled for Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at the New England Country Club, Bellingham, MA.

Check-in, registration and breakfast begins at 8 a.m. The tournament begins with a shotgun start and scramble format at 9 a.m., and concludes with a luncheon and awards at 2 p.m.

For more information or to register, please contact the Dean College Office of alumni relations at 1-888-711-3326, or go online to https://www.dean.edu/forms/golfregistration.aspx


Franklin, MA

FYI - Boston Subway users

In order to collect data on the behavior of airborne contaminants, the study involves releasing non-toxic, inert, odorless gas and particle tracers into the subway system. Particle and gas concentrations will be sampled in more than 20 stations and in subway cars across the MBTA subway system.  The deliberate release of chemical or biological agents is of primary concern, but the study also helps researchers understand airflow for smoke or unintentional spills of chemicals or fuels.  This research can be used by the MBTA in developing evacuation, ventilation, and other incident response plans. 

Read more here
http://transportation.blog.state.ma.us/blog/2010/08/scientists-study-mbta-subway-airflow.html


Franklin, MA

Franklin, MA: Underground Utilities - survey

The facts:

1. The Downtown Revitalization Project is funded by state and federal grants. It is not funded by local taxpayer money.  The grant funds are restricted to use in the Downtown District.
2. Electric wiring near the bridge and that related to street lights along Main St will be going underground regardless as part of the streetscape work in the Downtown District.
3. The additional stretch of utility wiring that is being considered for putting the utility wires underground is outside the Downtown District according to the grant funding. This area is from the bridge along East Central to approximately Simons Furniture store. This stretch is proposed to be paid for by surcharge fees from the utility companies and paid by their customers (ultimately those of us in Franklin).
4. The ESTIMATED fees for the average residential customer would be a total surcharge of approximately $65-75. Because multiple companies are involved (electric, and two cable), the specific details on the timing of the surcharge remain to be worked out. The companies would spread the surcharge amount out over time to minimize the effect on an individual utility bill. We would see the minor increase in both the electric and cable bills. The surcharges are finite and will end after being paid in full.  
5. Putting the utilities underground now is drastically cheaper than normal due to the proposed road construction.  If the utilities aren’t put underground now, it likely will not be considered until the next major road repair of the area (ideally decades from now).

The area already covered by the grant money is shown on the map in the light green. The area in question is shown in pink.

Additional information on the project can be found here:
http://www.milforddailynews.com/topstories/x1452735553/Franklin-council-to-discuss-placing-utility-lines-underground

The Downtown Improvement Project review meeting held on May 12 was broadcast and recorded for review here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/downtown-improvement-project-live.html


The poll question can be found in the center column on the top of the Franklin Matters web page. The question asks "Would you pay approx. $70 to put the utilities underground?" and takes a Yes or No answer.

Feel free to leave a comment here or send me an email.  The Town Council email addresses can be found on the Franklin web page here:
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Council/index

My thanks to Tina Powderly for help in crafting this posting.


Updated 8/29/10
The survey results were Yes - 22, No - 44.