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Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Franklin Library: Fun Club - Mardi Gras Party
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Live reporting - Finance Committee - 2/5/13
Present: Smith, Goldsmith, Dufur, Quinn, Roche, Dewsnap, Feldman, Aparo, Huempfner
Absent: none
Citizens Comments - none
Approval of minutes from Jan 8th, motion to approve, seconded, passed 9-0
Action item:
Town Clerk advertising $1,000
proposed to move from free cash
motion to approve from free cash, seconded, passed 9-0
DPW Road Capital Plan
Mike Maglio, Asst Town Engineer
roadway inventory conducted and road ratings created
update the database yearly
determines the capital plan based upon the ratings
206 total miles, approx. 30 miles are unaccepted roadways
approx 23 miles are private roads, with another 18 miles that are State roads
avg rating for roads is currently 76, would like to get up to about 80. That number tends to be a good one for communities of our size
if we attempted to upgrade all the roads at once, it would cost about $48M
$1.2 M per year would keep us just holding steady
$2.0 M would get us gradually to an 80 rating by 2022
The town is doing a lot of planning that folks don't always see
The Long Range Planning Committee reported that roads were one of the major issues to be addressed.
The DPW does work with the gas company to coordinate road work
There is a bylaw passed a few years ago that once a road was re-built, it is not to be touched (unless an emergency) for five years.
Trying to narrow the width of the roads to reduce the storm water handling
What has been the average road budget?
Not sure, let me check and get back to you. I have been here year and a half and just gettign into the budget business
Can you explain the accepted road process?
Has to do with the final as-built reports and acceptance by the Town Council
Working to get some of those identified and accepted into the process
We would be plowing and doing that kind of maintenance but not physical road repair work
Most of the paving is through contracts
we'll do some of the smaller tasks but the larger roads are better done by contractors
Q - how did the sidewalks account for so much/
A - can't repair them, mostly replace. Hadn't done this particular slide so not sure exactly what the calculation was
Tabling the OPEB valuation discussion (J Nutting not here)
Susan Gagner - not much to add just yet, the Governor's budget is out and we are scheduled for more local aid, if that holds it is very open to discussion
Intending to get budget at end of March
Per Jeff Roy, there will not be a local aid cut for this fiscal year.
Tri-County assessment is up, we have more kids enrolled there
Special election cost
There will be a primary and election, whether the state picks up the cost is open
Jim Dacey
we may come back to you for an increase in the processing of the parking tickets
have written only $20K of tickets, had budgeted only $3K for the processing
will be looking to see what it will be before year end and may come back in Apr/May with a number that should be good
Excise tax bills will be going out next Monday
Annual report will be reviewed at the Town Council meeting
Management letter to be addressed regarding action items
esp. a policy for fund balances
May be a requirement to put the unfunded pension liability on the balance sheet
The county has not presented that number to us
it will be interesting to see, all net assets will go down when it is added
Clarification on the asset versus liability and the balance sheet
we are funding the liability but not booking it (pension)
we are not funding the liability (OPEB) but booking
motion to adjourn
Absent: none
Citizens Comments - none
Approval of minutes from Jan 8th, motion to approve, seconded, passed 9-0
Action item:
Town Clerk advertising $1,000
proposed to move from free cash
motion to approve from free cash, seconded, passed 9-0
DPW Road Capital Plan
Mike Maglio, Asst Town Engineer
roadway inventory conducted and road ratings created
update the database yearly
determines the capital plan based upon the ratings
206 total miles, approx. 30 miles are unaccepted roadways
approx 23 miles are private roads, with another 18 miles that are State roads
avg rating for roads is currently 76, would like to get up to about 80. That number tends to be a good one for communities of our size
if we attempted to upgrade all the roads at once, it would cost about $48M
$1.2 M per year would keep us just holding steady
$2.0 M would get us gradually to an 80 rating by 2022
The town is doing a lot of planning that folks don't always see
The Long Range Planning Committee reported that roads were one of the major issues to be addressed.
The DPW does work with the gas company to coordinate road work
There is a bylaw passed a few years ago that once a road was re-built, it is not to be touched (unless an emergency) for five years.
Trying to narrow the width of the roads to reduce the storm water handling
What has been the average road budget?
Not sure, let me check and get back to you. I have been here year and a half and just gettign into the budget business
Can you explain the accepted road process?
Has to do with the final as-built reports and acceptance by the Town Council
Working to get some of those identified and accepted into the process
We would be plowing and doing that kind of maintenance but not physical road repair work
Most of the paving is through contracts
we'll do some of the smaller tasks but the larger roads are better done by contractors
Q - how did the sidewalks account for so much/
A - can't repair them, mostly replace. Hadn't done this particular slide so not sure exactly what the calculation was
Tabling the OPEB valuation discussion (J Nutting not here)
Susan Gagner - not much to add just yet, the Governor's budget is out and we are scheduled for more local aid, if that holds it is very open to discussion
Intending to get budget at end of March
Per Jeff Roy, there will not be a local aid cut for this fiscal year.
Tri-County assessment is up, we have more kids enrolled there
Special election cost
There will be a primary and election, whether the state picks up the cost is open
Jim Dacey
we may come back to you for an increase in the processing of the parking tickets
have written only $20K of tickets, had budgeted only $3K for the processing
will be looking to see what it will be before year end and may come back in Apr/May with a number that should be good
Excise tax bills will be going out next Monday
Annual report will be reviewed at the Town Council meeting
Management letter to be addressed regarding action items
esp. a policy for fund balances
May be a requirement to put the unfunded pension liability on the balance sheet
The county has not presented that number to us
it will be interesting to see, all net assets will go down when it is added
Clarification on the asset versus liability and the balance sheet
we are funding the liability but not booking it (pension)
we are not funding the liability (OPEB) but booking
motion to adjourn
Franklin Historical Museum: All Aboard!
ALL ABOARD!
The Franklin Historical Museum will host a talk on the history of the Southern New England Trunkline Trail, SNETT.
Guest Speaker Ron Clough of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation will give a presentation and discuss the history of SNETT which was designated as part of the National Recreation Trail in 1994.
Join us for an informative look at the Southern New England Railway and trains in Franklin’s history, and learn about the ‘Ghost Train’.
Sunday February 17 @ 1:00pm, 80 West Central Street, Franklin
The Franklin Historical Museum will host a talk on the history of the Southern New England Trunkline Trail, SNETT.
Guest Speaker Ron Clough of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation will give a presentation and discuss the history of SNETT which was designated as part of the National Recreation Trail in 1994.
 |
| Franklin Station |
Join us for an informative look at the Southern New England Railway and trains in Franklin’s history, and learn about the ‘Ghost Train’.
Sunday February 17 @ 1:00pm, 80 West Central Street, Franklin
The science of NFL Football
The Library at Dean College has started publishing a blog. Their most recent post shares a series of videos produced by NBC on the "Science of NFL Football". Just because the Super Bowl has officially ended the season doesn't mean there is no more football!
Queue the videos!
You can find the series of 10 short (about 3-4 minute) videos here:
http://www.nbclearn.com/nfl
They don't provide a way to embed the video so you will need to follow the link. For school teachers to leverage this for their classes, there is a way to login via Blackboard and download the videos for free.
Links:
The Dean College Library blog: http://deancultureconnect.wordpress.com/
The Dean College Library post on the football videos
http://deancultureconnect.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/the-science-of-nfl-football/
The Science of NFL Football series
http://www.nbclearn.com/nfl
These videos and more are also available at http://science360.gov/files/ (search for "football"). Note I did not have success in actually viewing the videos on this site. They seemed to take forever 'loading'.
Queue the videos!
You can find the series of 10 short (about 3-4 minute) videos here:
http://www.nbclearn.com/nfl
They don't provide a way to embed the video so you will need to follow the link. For school teachers to leverage this for their classes, there is a way to login via Blackboard and download the videos for free.
Links:
The Dean College Library blog: http://deancultureconnect.wordpress.com/
The Dean College Library post on the football videos
http://deancultureconnect.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/the-science-of-nfl-football/
The Science of NFL Football series
http://www.nbclearn.com/nfl
These videos and more are also available at http://science360.gov/files/ (search for "football"). Note I did not have success in actually viewing the videos on this site. They seemed to take forever 'loading'.
Rep Jeffrey Roy - Office Hours
State Representative Jeffrey Roy (D-Franklin) announced today that constituent office hours will be held as follows:
Medway – Tuesday Feb 5th = 8:00 AM at the Medway Municipal Building, 155 Village Street, Sanford Hall, 2nd floor, Medway, MA
Franklin – Saturday 16th = 9:00 AM at the Cake Bar, 17 East Central Street, Franklin, MA (Parking on street & in the rear)
Medway – Wednesday 27th = 6:00 PM at Starbucks, 67 Main Street, Medway, MA 02053
Christopher Yancich, his legislative aide, will be accompanying him.
Representative Roy stated that all office hours are open to any residents of Franklin and Medway who may have questions or concerns that they wish to bring to his attention. Walk-ins are welcome, no appointment necessary. He looks forward to hearing from you.
He also invites all constituents to call him at his State House office at (617) 722-2425, stop by Room 437 in the State House, or email him at Jeffrey.Roy@MAhouse.gov.
House rejects governor's call for local aid cut
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via Wicked Local Franklin News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc. on 2/4/13
The House today rejected Gov. Deval Patrick's request for the power to make a 1 percent local aid cut and advanced legislation aimed at snapping this year's budget back into balance.Things you can do from here:
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Registry of Motor Vehicles Unveils MassRMV.com
Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:
via Commonwealth Conversations: Transportation by Klark Jessen on 2/4/13
MassDOT Registry of Motor Vehicles Division has transitioned to a new website making it the first motor vehicle administration in the nation poised to accept advertising in order to generate new revenue.With more than 16 million website visits per year, the switch to www.massrmv.com offers limited advertising opportunities, and allows the RMV to develop clearer navigation to let customers perform their transactions with renewed confidence.
"This is a great example of MassDOT's continued emphasis on making our services more user-friendly," said MassDOT Secretary and CEO Richard A. Davey. "MassRMV.com makes online transactions simpler for the customer and gives us additional revenue opportunities."
During 2012, Registry customers performed more than 3.4 million transactions online, up from 2.9 million transactions in 2011, ranging from license and registration renewals to citation payments to signing up to become organ donors. Advertisements will be limited to select informational pages and are not on customer transaction pages.
"MassRMV.com is now the official website of the Registry of Motor Vehicles where customers may perform 35 different transactions safely and securely," said Registrar of Motor Vehicles Rachel Kaprielian. "We work hard to drive customer traffic to the web, so we recognize our obligation to make this mode of service delivery as convenient as possible."
In September, MassDOT conducted usability testing on the new website design with customers at its Chinatown Branch. Based on customer reviews, navigation bars were redesigned, terminology was changed and special alerts affecting branch operations have been pushed to the forefront at MassRMV.com.
MassRMV.com customers will initially see promotional ads for MassDOT and RMV services while a contract with the advertising vendor, Municipal Media Solutions is finalized. In its first year of operation, the advertisements are expected to generate about $65,000 in new revenue.
Online advertising supplements current advertising partnerships, including those used in RMV mailers to defray mailing and productions costs. A closed-circuit RMV TV network, MVN, targets ads to those likely to be conducting business in Registry Branches and offers PSA time for relevant RMV news and updates.
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