Providing accurate and timely information about what matters in Franklin, MA since 2007. * Working in collaboration with Franklin TV and Radio (wfpr.fm) since October 2019 *
We are all reading about cyberbullying in the news. Now Franklin’s own home-grown expert Teenangels and their founder, cybersafety expert and head of StopCyberbullying.org, will help the Franklin community understand how it works, how big a problem it is and what we can do about it. The Teenangels are teens who train under Dr. Aftab for 2 years to become cybersafety experts in their own right. They are sought after by the media, governmental agencies and Congress for what they know and their practical approach to addressing cyber-risks.
Parry Aftab is Executive Director of WiredSafety.org, the largest online safety and educational program and the cybersafety contributor to the Today Show, Good Morning America, Dr. Phil, CNN and MSNBC. She is best known for empowering families to use digital technologies more safely and responsibly. She is a member of Facebook’s five member international safety advisory board and MTV’s advisory board.
This event is sponsored by: Franklin WiredTeens Club, Franklin Community Health Council, and the Franklin Anti-Bullying Task Force.
N. COUNCIL COMMENTS
Pfeffer - congrats on Franklin Arts Show
Senior Center held the Veterans Day, well attended, thanks to the participants
The Council did have an open meeting at the coffee shop and the only attendees were the councilors
Dec 10th -
Holiday Stroll - Dec 2nd
Tree lighting - Nov 28th 4:00 PM
H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS
Cable- Creation of a Non-profit access Corporation
Proposed Changes to the Sign Bylaw, the Commercial 1 Zoning District, & Creation of a New Downtown Commercial Zoning District- Zoning Bylaw –
Bryan Taberner, Department of Planning & Community Dev.
Nick Alferi, Asst Planner
Existing sign bylaw does not meet the Town's needs
treat the downtown as a separate commercial zone
re-zone 74 parcels into the new Commercial I zone
all the changes are coming through together as they are all related to one another
Change the district, zoning map, use tables, change the parking requirements
Eliminates the special permit for height by reducing permit for 4th and 5th story buildings to be only 3 story buildings
Could still get 4th and 5th floor outside the downtown district via special permit
Changes mixes uses for downtown to allow retail on the first floor and residential above
Residential parking .75 for one bedroom, plus one space for every ten bedrooms
option to buy out and feed a parking fund
sign districts similar to design review guidelines
permitted and no-permitted signs
exempt, temporary and political sign
signs allowed by district - in table (part of packet)
establishing a procedure for timing of the temporary signs and the political signs
bylaw changes are not going to make all current signs illegal (if illegal today, still illegal)
does not disallow all temporary and political signs
listing of the multiple bylaws required to accomplish all the changes required
Pfeffer - I was at that meeting in Jan 2008, why did it take you so long to get here
Taberner - The sign bylaw took multiple revisions
Pfeffer - When Mariani came downtown, the bylaws were changed to allow his building coloring
Taberner - That was before my time, I understand what was done, we are making it easier now
Nutting - the bylaws were changed back in 2003, we have learned from what we did then to incorporate them now. These proposals have a building setback, they add downtown parking, they allow a 3 story by right as opposed to the special permit.
Pfeffer - I don't understand why we changed it then and are changing it now
Nutting - changing the density from 40 to 20 is much more practical
Vallee - I like the mixed use, but there are a number of things that I don't like. What model did you use to get this?
Taberner - this is developed specific to what we need to do here, learning from what others have done
Vallee - what do you have against the mixed use.
Taberner, right now, these are not allowed by right, that is what this is about. I understand what you are saying about the upper stories. To get a special permit, right now will take a long time and there is no guarantee of getting it. With the 3-story, it is an appropriate use for that space and should be available by right. Leaving the option for 4-5 in the outside the core is possible
Taberner - if you change the use, then these regulations would kick in, unless you change the use, these changes wouldn't kick in
Alteri - the parking requirements are based upon the square footage of the building
Nutting - that is a non-conforming pre-existing use, if they don't change the use, this would not have an effect
Powderly - What is the feedback from the Downtown Partnership
Taberner - I was there several months ago, I will be there tomorrow morning
I expect that there will be additional input from them based upon the current proposals
H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS
Cable- Creation of a Non-profit access Corporation
Jeff Nutting provided an overview, then Bob Dean, current committee chair went into the details
the committee would look at setting up a cable access corp, a non-profit to help separate the Town legally from some of the broadcast issues.
Continue to improve PEG (Public Education and Government) access for the citizens
Continue existing lease for now to go through the non-profit establishment/creation
Approx $1 million in fund currently
Possibility of putting the studio in as part of the high school renovation, that is possible
but not likely to happen within 3-5 years due to the construction timeline
Existing fees and capital grants have contributed to the current fund level
Jeff - Bob was a little shy in getting a studio set up
There are two options, we (the Town) keeps operating or we set up a non-profit to operate it
