Franklin Matters

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Franklin Recreation: Summer Camp registration

Franklin Recreation registration for Summer Camp has a coupon offer valid through Friday, Apr 27:

The Summer Camp brochure is here:

The registration special available through Apr 27:

You can also view the brochure on the Franklin website
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Recreation/2012%20camp%20brochure.pdf

and register on the Franklin website
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Recreation/online

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Growing in Franklin

The Community Garden is showing signs of growth already. While not all the beds are fully planted, some of the gardeners have taken the opportunity to put some peas in or layout their beds. A walk through the garden beds on Saturday gave me the opportunity to take some pictures of the progress.

More about the Community Gardens can be found on their website
http://www.franklincommunitygardens.org/

Sunrise Montessori School Spring Fair - May 5

Sunrise Montessori School Spring Fair

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Noon to 2PM

Rain or Shine

31 Hayward Street, Franklin

Please join us as we host our 5th Annual Spring Fair at Sunrise Montessori School, 31 Hawyard Street, Franklin. This event is open to the general public.

Kids of all ages enjoy riding in the train and jumping in the bounce house.How about getting your face painted or designing a bracelet? Plenty of fun, games and crafts for the kids. Adults will definitely
want to take a chance on our raffle baskets or perhaps, bid in our silent auction.

All proceeds to benefit the Sunrise Montessori School, Inc., a non-profit 501c3 organization, which offers preschool and kindergarten programs to children in Franklin and the surrounding communities.

Living with Alzheimers

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

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via Franklin Public Library by Franklin Public Library on 4/23/12

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Monday, April 23, 2012

The power of music

Spend a few minutes to see the power of music! (Video less than 7 minutes)

Actually the promo for a documentary film:

Music imprints itself on the brain deeper than any other human experience. It speaks to us in a different language and arouses every emotion. It connects us all, it is a force that ignites our souls.

Alive Inside is a documentary film that follows Dan Cohen’s Music & Memory project, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing personalized music into the lives of the elderly and infirm, thereby vastly improving their day-to-day existence.

FinCom: FY 2013 Budget hearings

The budget hearing for FY 2013 have mostly been held now. They were scheduled for four sessions as follows

Apr 3
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_FinanceAgendas/Agenda%202012-4-3.pdf

Budget Hearing
Veterans 543 E-19
Human Resources 152 A-26
Facilities 192 A-47
Library 610 F-1
Town Council 111 A-1
Town Administrator 121 A-2
Finance Committee 131 A-4
Comptroller 135 A-5
Treasurer/Collector 147 A-16
Legal 151 A-23
Central Services 196 A-53
Animal Control 292 B-53
Benefits 910 G-16
Liability Insurance 945 G-26

The video replay for this meeting is available on the Franklin website
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?ecm=634707088382946090&indexSessionSKU=OQs85NOhWcBJ13Ix9wlbOw%3D%3D&siteSKU=L7qhQ46xin/r3Z0jcDVCNw%3D%3D

Apr 10
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_FinanceAgendas/Agenda%202012-4-10.pdf

Budget Hearing
Council on Aging (COA) 541 E-9
Inspections 240 B-53
Appeals 176 A-42
Police 210 B-1
Recreation 630 F-10
Fire 220 B-12
Norfolk Aggie School 395 C-3

There is no video replay available as this session was held in the 3rd floor training room and not broadcast via local cable.

Apr 11
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_FinanceAgendas/Agenda%202012-4-11.pdf

Budget Hearing
Health 510 E-1
Assessors 141 A-11
Planning 177 A-43
Town Clerk 161 A-36
Elections 164 A-39
Information Systems 155 A-33
DPW 422 D-1
Enterprise H-1

The video from this meeting is available on the Franklin website
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?ecm=634707075522074166&indexSessionSKU=sKQphCKirlrcGpOc9OakkQ%3D%3D&siteSKU=L7qhQ46xin/r3Z0jcDVCNw%3D%3D

Apr 25
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_FinanceAgendas/Agenda%202012-4-25

Budget Hearing
Education – Franklin Public Schools C-1

"lower the amount of phosphorus discharged"

You may recall the EPA has proposed new standards for treating water before it gets into the Charles River. During 2011, there were public meetings and comment sections where local communities could provide input to the EPA. The new regulations were supposed to be issued during Q1 (which has come and gone) with no indication from the EPA on the new timeline.

The Milford Daily News checked on the impact of the regulations with other communities along the Charles River.

Some have taken a wait-and-see attitude, while others, such as Franklin, have been proactive by building rain gardens, reducing the size of streets and only having a sidewalk on one side of a road, she said. Improving existing infrastructure to meet the requirement is costly, and the challenge is to figure out how to do that affordably, Bowditch said.

“Public infrastructure was built back at a time when we didn’t think much of rainwater as a resource. We just thought of it as a nuisance,” she said. “We didn’t realize as a society how many problems we were creating just simply dumping everything in the river.”

Complying with both proposals could cost up to $111 million in Milford, $75 million in Franklin and $35 million in Bellingham, an EPA-funded study found.