Franklin Schools: early dismissal Friday

From the sign at the Parmenter School

Parmenter sign

Representative Roy Announces February Office Hours

Boston, MA -- State Representative Jeffrey Roy (D-Franklin) announced today that constituent office hours will be held in Franklin for the Month of February on the following day: 

Franklin – Thursday, February 27th, 5:00-6:00 PM,

Franklin Municipal Building, Room 106 - 355 East Central Street Franklin, MA 

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) 722-2400, stop by Room 134 in the State House, or email him at Jeffrey.Roy@MAhouse.gov.

In the News: medical marijuana, Tri-County robots

Medical marijuana license hopefuls will hear today

Rina Cametti will be biting her nails today as she waits to learn if her new company will be one of the winners out of 180 other competitors vying for one of the state's new medical marijuana distribution licenses. 

"I'm anxious to see the final decision," said Cametti, who started Baystate Medical Enterprises in Franklin to take advantage of the new law allowing limited distribution of medical pot. "I'm trying to be positive, but there are a lot of great applicants."

Franklin: Tri-County robotics team wins grant

The robotics team at Tri-County Vocational Technical High School has received a needed injection of funds to help propel its work on a robot designed to throw and catch a ball. 

TE Connectivity, a Norwood manufacturer, has awarded Tri-County's team, founded in 2009, $13,750 through a corporate grant program. The company's manager of manufacturing, Bob Vozella, of Franklin, is a Tri-County graduate.

Franklin Children's School preschool registration

Franklin Children's School preschool registration   http://www.fcskids.com/

Franklin Children's School preschool registration

State Grants Benefit Water Conservation Projects in Ashland, Franklin, Medway

  

EEA announces state grants for water conservation projects in Ashland, Franklin and Medway

(BOSTON, January 29, 2014) – Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rick Sullivan this week announced more than $1.1 million in grants to communities across the Commonwealth for water conservation and management projects, including over $222,000 locally in Ashland, Franklin and Medway.

"Conserving natural resources and improving access to clean, safe and affordable drinking water are critical issues in these communities and across the state," Senator Karen Spilka (D-Ashland) said. "These grants will help towns boost their water conservation efforts to best protect natural resources, while ensuring a sustainable, high-quality water supply going forward."

The grants are part of the EEA's Sustainable Water Management Initiative (SWMI), which seeks to improve degraded water resources and maintain healthy aquatic ecosystems. SWMI grants support projects that will improve the handling of wastewater and stormwater, conserve natural resources and ecosystem habitats, manage demand for water in municipalities and improve the water supply.

"Water resources are of great concern to residents of Franklin and Medway, particularly given our proximity to the Charles River," said Representative Jeffrey Roy (D-Franklin). "These grants will go a long way to enhancing water management in our area and the preservation of our waterways."

"I am pleased to see Franklin awarded this important grant," said Senator Richard Ross (R-Wrentham). "It will go great lengths toward improving efficiency in water management in the community."

"Ensuring we have clean water is an essential function of government," said Representative Tom Sannicandro (D-Ashland). "These grants are investing in clean water now so we have what we need 10, 20, 30 years down the road."

"In addition to advancing state and local water conservation partnerships across the region, this grant provides Medway with the resources to evaluate the source of water loss occurring in the town water system," said Representative John Fernandes (D-Milford). "Identifying and correcting that problem makes more water available for new and expanded development, which creates more revenue for the town."

The following local communities were awarded grants:

·         Ashland: $67,455 for a wastewater analysis planning project to analyze the feasibility of constructing a wastewater treatment plant in Ashland.

·         Franklin: $119,460 for regional evaluation of water management alternatives to reduce streamflow impacts in the Upper Charles River Watershed.

·         Medway: $35,420 for a Demand Management Implementation Project that will conduct audits of both the Town's water system and the ten largest industrial, commercial and institutional water users served by the Town. 

For more details on the SWMI grant program: www.mass.gov/eea/swm

Live reporting - Zoning Workshop (part 2)

B. Areas for Discussion requested by Economic Development Committee

1. Increase areas for Multi-family Housing

why are discussing increasing areas for housing when we were discussing that this residential housing is costing us money

it is a difficult situation with the way the State is funding education. 

about 1200 apartments and condos in Franklin

we have to fix zone 6 first, it doesn't really fit on the map, no one has asked for it

zone 6 had been stopped before because it was helping to drive the school population

multifamily zone doesn't discriminate between rental or condo

2. Increase areas for Commercial/ Business Development

brings up the RT 140 discussion again
what is the right area to increase commercial within the town

in the current industrial area downtown Thompson building, but then it is next to the train station and it is not prime for residential

Bernon Family trust owns the land near the town line past Garelick Dairy

be aware of issues where zones come together, home owners are used to the buffer

only 2% of the land is zoned commercial, 18% is zoned industrial, and 80% is zoned residential

re-write neighbor and put that on the map would address the need

what is the benefit of more commercial space? does it put more money in our pocket?

we need commercial/industrial more than residential. A property owner pays about $5K and one kid in the schools cost $10K

the only way you control what goes on in your neighborhood is to own the land

consider getting Garelick to Maple St to re-zone as commercial


discussion on Washington St property with industrial switched to residential


2. Other Proposed Zoning Changes
Commercial I Zoning District

• Amend the dimensional requirements for Commercial I in the Town’s Zoning By-law’s Schedule of Lot, Area, Frontage, Yard and Height Requirements
• Amend the Town’s Zoning Bylaw to require sufficient parking in the Commercial I zoning district.

zoning comparisons are hard to make from community to community, each has been so customized for the local requirements

consensus to leave C1 alone


meeting closed

Live reporting - Zoning Workshop

Present: Taberner, Dahlstrom, Vallee, Nutting, Pfeffer, Kelly,Williams, Padula, Halligan, other members of the Planning Board; some members of the Downtown Partnership, including Dean College

1. Proposed Zoning Map Changes
Alpine Row

• Rezone properties along Alpine ROW currently zoned Commercial I to the Downtown Commercial Zoning District.
• Rezone properties currently zoned Commercial I along Alpine ROW to the General Residential V Zoning District

discussion around changing some of the downtown section currently C1 to the Downtown Commercial zone, discussion around the three residences along Alpine, keeping them as they are as C1 and move along with the others to the downtown commercial zone

Josephine Street

• Rezone properties along Josephine Street currently zoned Industrial to General Residential V.

discussion around some wet lands currently zoned industrial and suggestion to make it residential, shouldn't increase opportunity for residential due to the wet lands and lot size requirements. Two of the lots are already in the Town's hands as the owner didn't want to pay taxes on swamp

Cottage Street/Union Street Area

• Rezone properties along Cottage Street and Union Street currently zoned Industrial and Business to Commercial I and or Commercial II.

mostly clean up of lot lines and change of zoning to provide more flexibility and adjust the zoning to the actual lot lines

West Central Street, East of Beaver Street

• Rezone properties along the south side of West Central Street from Beaver Street east (approximately .15 miles) to General Residential V.

proposed clean up of property lines, some are lingering from prior years clean up efforts. The zoning should align with the property lines

the real question is should RT 140 be zoned commercial all the way... or do we keep the commercial where it is outside the direct downtown...

discussion on both sides for commercial and again for keeping it R4 (but cleaning up the lot lines)

if you re-zone it, it won't happen overnight.

if someone came in to buy the whole set, then they could come before the council to get a zoning change

Think of tomorrow, sometime that will be all commercial