Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Live reporting - Town Council - May 15, 2014

Present: Mercer, Dellorco, Kelly, Powderly, Vallee, Pfeffer, Jones, Bissanti
Absent: Roy



A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
April 3, 2013

moved to approve minutes, 2nd, passed by 8-0

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS
This meeting is being recorded by Franklin TV and shown on Comcast channel 11 and Verizon channel 29. This meeting may be recorded by Franklin Matters.

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS

E. APPOINTMENTS

Budget:
13. FY 2014 Budget Hearing – 1st Reading

Town council meeting
Jeff Nutting presenting to Town Council

Jeff Nutting providing the overview on the FY 2014 Budget. The document used is in the agenda document previously released
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_CouncilAgendas/2013/051513.pdf

would need $3 million to fund the OPEB on an annual basis
Boston Globe listed area communities, Franklin was 8th of 49. Avg tax bill was 7,899, almost $3,000 more than Franklin average.

one of the challenges balancing the budget in future years, roads, OPEB, etc. nothing new

the forecast for 2015, 16, 17 and 18 show increasing deficit levels
and that doesn't include funding for roads, OPEB or storm water

Should consider a dedicated override to fund road repairs.


School budget overview
Paula Mullen, School Committee Chair
Maureen Sabolinski, Superintedent of Schools
Miriam Goodman, School Business Director

school budget presentation
School budget presentation

unfunded mandates a significant driver for the school costs other than the 'normal' salary and benefits for staff
$1.4M of federal funding could be affected by sequestration, exactly how much remains to be seen; could be about a 5% reduction

Under the State average on all 11 categories of per pupil spending, overall 19% below the state average

no questions from audience or councilors

Now reading the line items of the budget, as noted earlier, a item can be 'held' for further discussion
all items not held will be considered 'approved' and voted on once all the items (and potential adjustments) are totaled.

 held for Thursday night
Police
Fire
Schools - not held!
motion to approve budget as not held, 2nd, passed 8-0

- recess for a couple of minutes -




Lavenchy goes to the dogs?

Gene Levanchy of FOX25 meets with Clarity the Clown along with Doug MacPherson of HMEA to talk about the HMEA 12th Annual Independence Day Walk/Run/Stroll.

Boston News, Weather, Sports | FOX 25 | MyFoxBoston


For more information on this event Sunday, May 19th  http://hmea.org/events.html


FHS - Construction update and quality check wall


Between the showers on Saturday, I stopped for some photos at the new Franklin High School.
FHS_Construction1
cranes in position to work

The framing of the walls is just starting. According to Building Committee Chairman Tom Mercer, they are on schedule to have the exterior complete before the winter sets in. The building walls, windows, doors and roof will be complete and what will remain will be all the interior work.

FHS_Construction2
walls getting framed
When I was here Apr 24, the yellow wall sections were just getting into place.

FHS_Construction3
the front corner getting a roof
Roofing sections are now being placed as well.

FHS_Construction4
The back corner
I was curious to see the 'quality wall' that Tom Mercer mentioned during his update at a recent Town Council meeting. This is a good and recent innovation by the MSBA. Each of the subcontractors works to do their thing to put this 'quality wall' together. The architect can then observe the product in this test section before they work on the real building.


FHS_QualityCheck2
quality wall
This allows the architect to confirm that the materials and process are being used as specified and that the end result is what they were looking for.


FHS_QualityCheck1
quality wall - side view
This quality wall will be taken down but serves a good purpose with minimal expense and effort!

In the News: syringe holdup



A husband and wife accused of holding up several doughnut shops last year with a syringe pleaded guilty in Worcester Superior Court on Monday to armed robbery.



Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Franklin, MA: Town Council - Agenda - May 16 - budget hearing and vote


7:00 PM

A. ANNOUNCEMENTS – This meeting is being recorded by Franklin TV and shown on Comcast channel 11 and Verizon channel 29. This meeting may be recorded by Franklin Matters.

B. HEARING - FY 2014 Budget Hearing – 2nd Reading

C. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
1. Resolution 13-37: Adoption of FY 2014 Budget

D. ADJOURN


The FY 2014 budget with the line items by department that will be used as the voting document

Franklin Elks Care 5K - road race results

The Franklin Elks Care 5K road race attracted over 140 finishers on Saturday. The full listing of results can be found on Cool Running here.

Franklin Elks Lodge - Pond St
Franklin Elks Lodge - Pond St

As mentioned the race benefited the Franklin Food Pantry and the Wounded Warrior Project

The start of the race looked like this. A few cars go by on Pond St and then the start is announced.




At the finish line, this is a few minutes of the mid-pack finishers



Our thanks to the Franklin Elks for being part of this event!


This was originally posted on the Franklin Food Pantry webpage
Franklin Elks Care 5K - Results

Slalom driving course

The East and West Street neighborhood is providing a good test for drivers these days. The utility covers are now being raised in preparation for the final coat of asphalt.

West St - slalom course

The obstacles are creating a slalom course for drivers.


Behind the Fire Station on West St
Drive safely! The roads will be real nice when they are finished.