Franklin Matters

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Sign the Food Revolution Petition

Jamie Oliver is working on his Food Revolution to change the way families eat and cook. He created a stir when he came to Huntington, WV last year and as I recall he is going to LA this year.

He has started a petition to take to the President to get the FDA to change the way they establish the requirements for school lunches.

You can find out more about Jamie's work on his website http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution

You can sign the petition here http://www.jamieoliver.com/jfr-beta/petition_beta.php#petForm

You can get recipes for school lunches here http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution/school-food

Franklin, MA

Friday, November 19, 2010

5th Annual Casino Night - tonight!

Today, the Franklin Education Foundation (FEF) will hold its 5th Annual Casino Night at the Franklin Elks from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. The event will feature Black Jack, Roulette and Money Wheel as well as raffles, a Silent Auction, cash bar and FREE hors d’oeuvres. The event is well known as a fun evening out with friends and neighbors, all while contributing to a worthwhile cause.

Admission is $25. To avoid waiting in line at the door, advance ticket purchase is recommended. For ticket purchase, auction donation or sponsorship information, please contact Peter Minor at (508) 541-6700 or peter@peterminor.com. Cash only accepted for chip purchase. Checks and Visa/MC accepted for Silent Auction items. For more information visit www.franklined.org.

Since 1997, The Franklin Education Foundation events have raised well over $190,000 which has been distributed to Franklin public schools in the form of special grants. All Franklin Public School staff members are eligible to submit creative, innovative ideas for programs or activities that would not traditionally be funded by tax dollars. To see a list of programs FEF have funded over the years, visit www.franklined.org.

Franklin, MA

Attention Franklin: Important Dates for your calendar

Dec 8, 2010 - a new meeting was added to the Town Council calendar. This is the annual exercise to set the tax rate. I hope to have the data in time to update the analysis that I did last year. I expect the tax rate to increase from the 12.03%. The question is will it go higher than the 14.21% rate that was set in 1997. The low rate for the record was in 2007 at 8.86$

You can find last year's analysis here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2009/11/fm-50-slidecast.html

Jan 25, 2011 - a presentation and discussion on the issue of full vs half day kindergarten. As has been said frequently by the School Committee, full day is on the table this year. It is likely to be included in the level service budget they initially come forward with. How much revenue the school budget can expect from the Town and state will determine how much of a gap there will be, and hence what options they'll need to consider to balance the budget.

Jan 29, 2011 - school budget workshop, this will be a good opportunity to get into the details and nuances of the budget, cost drivers, etc. The information in this session will set the stage for the school budget actions to come later.

Feb 1, 2011 - announced as the presentation of the school budget formal presentation at the regularly scheduled School Committee meeting.

If you heard the School Committee on Tuesday evening, you heard clearly that they are not interested in changing their ways of communication.

If you did not view the meeting, tune into this section here

Given the reluctance of the current School Committee to consider changing their ways, anyone with any interest in the schools needs to start taking an interest now.

Re-districting is another distinct possibility, they really should have done it earlier to avoid some of the imbalance in class sizes amongst the schools. They have chosen to move slowly. Why? Maybe they can answer. I won't speculate for them.

Both of these issues affect the entire school population. Never mind getting into a tough budget year next year AND the high school renovation pending some realistic dollar figure being attached to it after all kinds of speculation.

Given all this, one would expect a significant communication effort to come forward. As was made clear by their litany of ~~excuses~~ explanations during their meeting Tuesday, they are comfortable with their efforts and don't see the need to change.

You can ask them. You can get involved.

Franklin, MA

Franklin, MA: Police toy drive

The Franklin Police will be conducting their annual toy drive. Details in the flyer below

FranklinPolice_toydrive_2010

Franklin, MA

Sunday - Downtown Partnership Needs YOU!

Franklin Downtown Partnership Plans Holiday Decorations

The Franklin Downtown Partnership will once again team up with the Garden Club to decorate Franklin's downtown center with holiday greens, ribbons and wreaths on Sunday, November 21, at 9:00 a.m.

Residents are welcome to put on their garden gloves and join volunteers on the center island in front of the Rome Restaurant. Volunteers are also needed on Friday, November 19, at 10:00 a.m. to organize the greenery at Hillside Nursery.

"It's become our tradition to put up the decorations the Sunday before Thanksgiving to spruce up the downtown for the holidays," says Eileen Mason, Beautification Day chairperson. "Volunteers from the high school boys and girls hockey teams are very much appreciated every year for their spirit and enthusiasm in the decorating".

Each year local sponsors donate funds to pay for the holiday decorations and the spring flowers. "We are fortunate to have such generous businesses that enable us to continue our efforts each year," says Executive Director Lisa Piana. "We accomplish all of this through donations and tireless volunteer hours."

Anyone interested in volunteering or sponsoring this activity should contact Eileen Mason at emason11@verizon.net for more details. For more information please visit the Partnership's new website at franklindowntownpartnership.org or contact Lisa Piana at downtown.franklin@yahoo.com

"The whole project is done beautifully"

The project was permitted in 2004 as a senior housing development. Construction began one to two years later, but a weak real estate market and high unemployment made it difficult to sell units. In 2008, the Zoning Board granted a variance making two of the five buildings non-age restricted.

"It has been transformed ... into something that is unique," Gary Hogan, an attorney for the developer. "There is not another similar development in this town."

That variance coupled with a decrease in the selling price of units led to increased sales, Hogan said, adding that 25-30 percent of the units have been sold and 40 percent have been built.