DelCarte swans

The two swans that have made a home on the DelCarte property were visible when I stopped by Sunday morning on my run along Pleasant St.

Swans at the DelCarte Property, Franklin, MA

With the rain we have had recently, the water level may show some signs of rising.

Planning Board - 12/17/12

What happened at the Planning Board meeting on Monday?

• The proposal for the Stop & Shop gas station was continued to Jan 7, 2013 without discussion per request of the applicant.
• The proposal for the Uncas Ave Extension was continued to Dec 2013 per request of the applicant.
• The proposal for Franklin TV addressed some questions from the neighbors and the Board and will proceed with the next step in plan development to be reviewed at the Jan 7, 2013 meeting.
• The proposal for Hoffman Farms addressed some questions from the Board and will proceed with the next step in plan development to be reviewed at the Jan 7, 2013 meeting.
• The proposal for Robin's Nest is working through some communication issues, what is required of the applicant is apparently not fully understood and creating some problems with submission of the required forms and details.
• Inspections this week for the new Taco Bell and 14 Grove St (liquor store) work scheduled and assuming the inspections are successful, occupancy permits will be granted.

The collection of real time reporting for the Planning Board meeting on Monday, Dec 17, 2012 can be found here:

• Real time reporting: Planning Board to closing
• Real time reporting: Hoffman Farms
• Real time reporting: Franklin TV
• Real time reporting: Planning Board
• 
  
• Franklin, MA: Planning Board - Agenda - Dec 17, 20...

Note: Real time reporting are posts created while watching the meeting live via the cable or internet feed as opposed to Live reporting when I am in the room when the meeting is being conducted.

"I think it's a matter of staying alert"

In the round up of areas schools on the first day back after the Newtown, CT tragedy, the Milford Daily News writes in part:

Franklin Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski said district administrators worked through the weekend on safety procedures. 

"Our target was to return to business as usual," she said. "We did not have any memorials or school-wide announcements about it." 

The district, Sabolinski said, regularly re-evaluates safety. 

"We work very closely with the Police Department - we met just a month ago to review protocol and do lockdown drills," she said. 

Sabolinski said school doors are always locked, and the schools have cameras. 

"We did have an additional police presence," she said. "We have resource officers, and requested additional officers to reassure the parents."

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x1107423287/Schools-evaluate-safety-after-Connecticut-shooting#ixzz2FOnscwEu

MassDOT Goal: Triple Bicycling, Transit, Walking

I was curious to see what the percentages worked out to be as the numbers shown in the table below were quite large. The percents don't really change a great deal.

            Biking %      Transit %       Walking %
2010       7.2%           87.9%            4.9%
2020       7.3%           87.8%            4.9%
2030       7.6%           87.5%            4.9%

Granted that even a tiny percentage change requires a change in habit, I was surprised to see that the program would NOT increase the overall amount of walking being done.

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

MassDOT Goal: Triple Bicycling, Transit, Walking

via Commonwealth Conversations: Transportation by Klark Jessen on 12/17/12

Secretary and CEO Richard Davey in October announced MassDOTs mode shift goal to triple the distance traveled by our customers through bicycling, transit and walking.  That goal now joins other goals incorporated into MassDOTs GreenDOT Implementation Plan with tasks and indicators.   

MassDOT established the goal to build a more efficient transportation system where fewer of our customers depend on driving alone to get where they are going.  We want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation system and support better public health outcomes by working to give our customers more healthy travel options.

MassDOT will measure our progress on this ambitious mode shift goal using Personal Miles Traveled-distances traveled by all our customers for bicycling, driving, transit and walking in a one year period.  It also measures all the trips taken by our customers, not just work trips which are often the focus in transportation planning.  Measuring the distance traveled by each mode allows MassDOT to see strategic opportunities to improve the travel options for our customers, strengthen the relationship between land use and transportation planning, and draw a link to greenhouse gas emissions.  Goal numbers are listed below.

Year                    Bicycling PMT    Transit PMT    Walking PMT    Total
2010 (baseline)         150.4m                1.83b                101.1m            2.08b
2020 (benchmark)    330.0m                3.99b                223.9m            4.55b
2030 (goal year)        516.m                 5.93b                333.6m            6.78b

Personal Miles Traveled as the goal measurement is effective and maximizes resources available to MassDOT by using data that is already collected from the Federal Highway Administration's Highway Performance Management System, Federal Transit Administration's National Transit Database, and an estimation of bicycling and walking using data from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey. 
Check out MassDOT's GreenDOT web page for the Implementation Plan and more information.

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to Commonwealth Conversations: Transportation using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

Franklin lab chemist indicted

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Franklin lab chemist indicted

via The Milford Daily News News RSS by Mike Gleason/Daily News staff on 12/17/12

A Franklin woman accused of faking test results at the state police drug lab was indicted on 27 charges by a grand jury Monday, according to Attorney General Martha Coakley's office. Annie Dookhan, 35, a former chemist at the Hinton State Laboratory Institute, faces charges of perjury, falsely pretending to hold a degree from a college or university, 17 counts of obstruction of justice and eight counts of tampering with evidence. A spokesman with Coakley's office said the investigation is ongoing.

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to The Milford Daily News News RSS using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

Real time reporting: Planning Board to closing

Public hearing
Uncas Ave Extension
motion to continue until Dec 16, 2013, approved


Public hearing
650 Pleasant St - Robin's Nest Childcare

have a ZBA approval for the paving done currently
survey hired to confirm well positions vis a vis the neighbors
3 areas with dry wells, testing on two locations, engineer approved skipping the 3rd test given results of the first two, looking for confirmation of approval

difference of interpretation on Title 5 vs. local zoning

documents need to be provided a week before meeting so the documents can be reviewed in a timely manner and addressed before the meeting

question on landscaping, need a formal landscaping plan, not just a listing of two rows
need to define the plants with names and indicate location

need to apply for site plan review with the Design Review Committee

motion to continue to Jan 7th, 8:00 PM, approved

Public Hearing
Stop & Shop
continuation request to Jan 20, 8:00 PM, approved


5/21 meeting minutes, motion to approve, approved
6/11 meeting minutes, motion to approve, approved
6/25 meeting minutes, motion to approve, approved
7/09 meeting minutes, motion to approve, approved
10/15 meeting minutes, motion to approve, approved

motion to adjourn, approved

Real time reporting: Hoffman Farms

Public hearing
Hoffman Farms - Daniels St

proposing a gravel driveway in the sub-division
also a well would be place on the land to provide water for the farm cultivation

proposal to construct a house on Lot 1, and Lot 1 only
Lot 2, agricultural advantage for purchase and retaining the land as farm land, not to be developed in the future

Yadesermia
discussion on the use of the gravel road for a farm or farm house no issue, if it were to be developed later, the gravel road is an issue, it could be mitigated with a condition

concern about the law point containing the water so that it would not drain to the nearby property

Dahlstrom
the use of this land for agriculture is a win for Franklin
private road covenant required from Town Council

approved to go forward and come back with a more detailed plan on Jan 7th, 7:45 PM