Wednesday, March 5, 2014
live reporting - legislation
J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
2. Resolution 14-10:Confirmatory Order of Taking – Land off Cottontail Lane
motion to approve, seconded, passed 9-0
3. Resolution 14-11:Appropriation – Legal – Other Contractual Services
motion to approve, seconded, passed 9-0
a result of legal issues ongoing, we need some funds for legal expenses
4. Resolution 14-12:Appropriation – Human Resources – Medical Expenses
motion to approve, seconded, passed 9-0
budget over expended or will be by the hiring of the four firefighters via the grant
5. Resolution 14-13:Authorization to Expend Funds in Excess of Available Appropriations
motion to approve, seconded, passed 9-0
snow and ice removal, we have exceeded the budget, when we have a final number we will come back to move money from free cash
Live Reporting - Facilities
Michael D’Angelo, Director of Facilities
Richard Gaskin, Manager of public facilties
presentation copy hopefully to be added later
overview of the facilities covered
org chart included
hire students during the summer to supplement the help
will be requesting an additional custodian for the new high school
over 10,700 work orders for maintenance
interesting charts, the high school has been declining in work orders yet all the other schools have shown an increase in work orders
(staff more diligent in doing work with tickets and only with tickets)
preventive maintenance schedule, long list of items from roofs to floors, etc.
the solar farm will be providing 70% of the power required, not many can say that
replacing LED lights, did 3 school complex, have plans for remaining buildings to replace exterior lights with LEDs
capital repair projects of 8.6M over the last 12 years
in the middle of buying the fixtures, furniture and equipment for the new high school
Pfeffer - there are 22 buildings; how often are they toured?
D'Angelo - likely at least once a month, some buildings more than others, high school taking 15 hours or so now
I had provided the 5 year outlook with our capital
Pfeffer - I am fishing to see if any other building hasn't been maintained
D'Angelo - the old museum would need work not sure what you'll do with that
Pfeffer - how is the leaking roof problem?
D'Angelo - there are active leaks on the old high school due to the snow and ice build up, we haven't been able to get to
Pfeffer - we spend lots of money on HVAC, how come we don't have that inside?
D'Angelo - there are more advantages to having the outside contractors, they also serve as equipment reps
Kelly - prior to the School Building Committee turning over the high school, will you be providing us with a maintenance plan
D'Angelo - after the training, let us get into the building and see what is going on
Kelly - or are we going to see you coming with requests?
Mercer - why don't you share the schedule of what is being done with the summer schedule?
Kelly - so you'll bring us a schedule?
D'Angelo - yes
Kelly - why do you have so many work orders here? so this shouldn't concern me?
D'Angelo - no
Gaskin - a lot of this is very minor, should have the major work taken out so you can see a break down by category
Kelly - "school dude" - has the library issue been taken care of?
D'Angelo - it has not been yet, it is not work that we do
we want to see what the outcome of the whole thing
Kelly - isn't that our problem? that we are just waiting and seeing?
D'Angelo - we presented a very comprehensive plan to work on the library
Kelly - So you're not going to do anything until you get a decision?
D'Angelo - I am going to do the right thing
Kelly - so how does one get the summer position?
D'Angelo - this is a free ad, they should fill out an application with HR
Bissanti - have you thought of doing some hiring to compliment the HVAC?
D'Angelo - it is a weird specialty, a little bit of electrical, some plumbing, a good HVAC guys get good money, I tried to get someone from a company but they are so expensive
Jones - a lot of the HVAC is service contracts?
D'Angelo - yes, a lot of those things are specialties, these people have licenses and special insurance, they do it well to work for us or they don't work for us
Jones- we wouldn't want to have our folks work on these to put them out of warranty
D'Angelo - yes, you are absolutely correct
Jones - as part of the subcontractors, would it be wide to have some one come in to do an annual sweep?
D'Angelo - our current contract with the custodians requires them to do the work
Nutting - our custodians go above and beyond what they do to maintain what we have
Mercer - what yu staff is dealing with is over 1 million sq foot of space, they do a wonderful job
Live reporting - Sewer study appropriation
J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
1. Resolution 14-09:Appropriation - Sewer – East Central Street Pump Station Study
Cantoreggi asking for some funding to re-evaluate the sewer plan, the East Central pump station
doesn't have a whole lot of storage capacity
owners were going to build some wet wells.
with Cook's Farm coming online, and Franklin County Club looking to be part of the system
they will come for a permit, I want to provide the best answer
looking to do the analysis to see what is required, we have the overall capacity within the town, it is a matter of how to convey it to the pump station
clarifications on what the study will do
matter of upgrading the pumps themselves and not a new station
looking at the peak times
built large holding tanks, to hold and then flow in the off hours
If bigger pumps, does it mean bigger buildings?
Not really, we should be able to do it within what we have
the owner has been working with us, it is typical thing we can negotiate with them
Country club has a package treatment plant, it holds it breaks it down and then send it on
they are a maintenance issue, it is up to you to allow them to come on board
we'll have to figure out how to meter as they get water from Wrentham and we usually meter from the water use
Nutting - need the study to decide what is needed so we can move accordingly
The same company we have been working with, not something we can do in house
(read the motion after the vote was technically voted)
motion to approve, seconded, passed 9-0
The Finance Committee did not meet to vote on this
1. Resolution 14-09:Appropriation - Sewer – East Central Street Pump Station Study
Cantoreggi asking for some funding to re-evaluate the sewer plan, the East Central pump station
doesn't have a whole lot of storage capacity
owners were going to build some wet wells.
with Cook's Farm coming online, and Franklin County Club looking to be part of the system
they will come for a permit, I want to provide the best answer
looking to do the analysis to see what is required, we have the overall capacity within the town, it is a matter of how to convey it to the pump station
clarifications on what the study will do
matter of upgrading the pumps themselves and not a new station
looking at the peak times
built large holding tanks, to hold and then flow in the off hours
If bigger pumps, does it mean bigger buildings?
Not really, we should be able to do it within what we have
the owner has been working with us, it is typical thing we can negotiate with them
Country club has a package treatment plant, it holds it breaks it down and then send it on
they are a maintenance issue, it is up to you to allow them to come on board
we'll have to figure out how to meter as they get water from Wrentham and we usually meter from the water use
Nutting - need the study to decide what is needed so we can move accordingly
The same company we have been working with, not something we can do in house
(read the motion after the vote was technically voted)
motion to approve, seconded, passed 9-0
The Finance Committee did not meet to vote on this
Live reporting - Audit report
H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS
Jim Dacey, Susan Gagner
Jim Dacey, Susan Gagner
- Auditors
Frank Byron, Karen Snow - Melanson, Heath
management discussion an analysis
puts into words what the numbers say
various stabilization account history
skip this for now and go to the number pages, P14
the only place where capital assets appear
long term liabilities, OPEB = other post employment benefits, added per GASB standard changes
$89M = OPEB full liability
$31.8 M, this amount will increase each year when the town does not meet the actuarial funding requirements
GASB 68 - unfunded pension liabilities
required for reporting in 2015, all at once, not in an incremental fashion (like OPEB)
unassigned balances currently at 8% which is right in the range of 5-10 percent that the fund agencies look for
indicates a very strong financial position
page 20 budget vs actual
surplus of state and local revenues, town has been consistent with conservative revenue estimates
page 21 - balance sheet
includes the enterprise funds
strong cash balances in the enterprise accounts
page 25
Q - Padula - p14 clarification on the unfunded pension costs
A - pension vs the health insurance
the whole amount will appear at once, approx. $43M
Nutting - the difference is that the county has a funding schedule to catch up by 2031, after that there will be a lesser requirement. OPEB has no funding schedule currently. It will grow exponentially if we don't fund it.
Nutting we did put a little more since this Jun 30 2013 position. Every dollar into OPEB is not a dollar to be used for operations
Karen - on the management letter, not material deficiencies
4 this year, 5 last year
some are long term issues will take time to resolve (like the risk plan)
need to develop a formal risk plan with formal controls to mitigate the risk
fund balance policy, in process, provided some examples of other clients and how they have handled this; how to define which money to use when
current year recommendations issues 3 and 4
small debit balances, where did they come from, could be posting errors
looked at the library and departmental receipts
they don't have a real process to provide an audit trail for the receipts
look at ways to improve the reporting around the receipts
a frequent issue in municipalities
this is a good letter things are working well
Susan - did visit three departments to work on the risk assessments
have review the samples provided and have a draft to work with, should have one in place before the end of this fiscal year
will be visiting the library to ensure they have a better register process
Jones - each report has come back sparkling, the audits are great indications of good handling of our money
Karen - no adjustments, just some re-classifications, it is good to see that this is in good shape
Nutting - we always take the management letters seriously, every year the auditors come up with something to make us a stronger entity
Live reporting: Town Council - Mar 5, 2014
Present: Feldman, Padula, Mercer, Kelly, Vallee, Pfeffer, Jones, Bissanti, Williams
Absent: none
A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
January 15, 2014, January 22, 2014
motion to approve, seconded, passed 9-0
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
Hillside Nurseries - rescheduled to next meeting
D. CITIZEN COMMENTS
Rich Aucoin, Franklin resident
speaking in favor of the proper oath of office that the Town Council should have been sworn in with
(text to be added)
restoring constitutional governance to Franklin, MA
E. APPOINTMENTS
None
F. HEARINGS
none
G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS
- Application for a new Wine and Malt Package Store license by Jay Gayatri, Inc., dba Old Gold Convenience
Nutting - provided a map of the existing licenses for other package stores
Attorney representing the client
have been operating several years (since 2001), some renovations planned to accommodate the interior
training on the ABC rules and regulations has been conducted
would work with the local police to obtain training if not already in hand
no expansion of building, additional electrical and shelving to be added
is there a public need?
There is a full liquor store across the street, the clients are looking for beer and wine to compliment their existing business. It is not a competing business, this is a supplement to their existing business
Other services within the store, a convenience store, carry the convenience items
Question to Chief Semerjian, no objection to another license?
This is the last one available at this time (license allocation)
there is no cap on restaurants, there is a cap on the beer and license 6 each (based upon population)
Mark Mann - trustee for the liquor store across the street
invested money in the property, they work hard and smart to do the best for the town
they do quite a bit of business with beer and wine
fear on ability for them to pay their rent down the road due to over saturation
I urge you to deny the application
Cerel - the issue of competition is not of concern, the issue is public need, is there a need for the public at large.
Jack Fadel - 50% of our business is on beer and wine, would end up getting into crazy competition
Nutting - when we have had one left before, we have done an advertisement through a public process
Mercer - our practice has been to announce to the public?
Cerel - in those cases, it has been an all alcohol license, that is usually more desirable. This came from the Davita's receipt of the all alcohol license
Nutting - it is available based upon census results so every ten years, or can ask the Legislature for one
Bissanti - can the argument be made?
Cerel - it would be dependent upon the needs and the geography being served
Owner - had tried before but couldn't get it would like to get it to meet the needs of their clients
Lawyer - it has been sitting in town hall for some time, they filled the application since Nov, no one else has come forward. The convenience store owners all know what they are doing.
Padula - just because you can have competition, doesn't mean they should. They are not a stones throw away, they are right across the way
Lawyer - by statue there is a liceses available, we can argue about where, this council has previously granted licenses a stone throw away. The map shows other licenses making decisions to put them together.
Padula - help me understand what is the public need?
Lawyer - this would be an extremely valuable compliment to my clients service to their customers. They are two different establishments, one selling convenience items with a beer/wine and the other is a full liquor store which can sell the convenience items
Bissanti - I like the fact that this store is in the commercial district, the other possible locations are not in the commercial district zone
Feldman - when had they applied?
Owner -
Mercer, Jones, Pfeffer, Williams, Vallee - voted no
vote failed 5-4
motion for denial on basis for no public need on basis of over saturation in current area
Williams, Peffer, Jones, Vallee, Mercer - voted yes
same 5-4 vote
Absent: none
A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
January 15, 2014, January 22, 2014
motion to approve, seconded, passed 9-0
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
Hillside Nurseries - rescheduled to next meeting
D. CITIZEN COMMENTS
Rich Aucoin, Franklin resident
speaking in favor of the proper oath of office that the Town Council should have been sworn in with
(text to be added)
restoring constitutional governance to Franklin, MA
E. APPOINTMENTS
None
F. HEARINGS
none
G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS
- Application for a new Wine and Malt Package Store license by Jay Gayatri, Inc., dba Old Gold Convenience
Nutting - provided a map of the existing licenses for other package stores
Attorney representing the client
have been operating several years (since 2001), some renovations planned to accommodate the interior
training on the ABC rules and regulations has been conducted
would work with the local police to obtain training if not already in hand
no expansion of building, additional electrical and shelving to be added
is there a public need?
There is a full liquor store across the street, the clients are looking for beer and wine to compliment their existing business. It is not a competing business, this is a supplement to their existing business
Other services within the store, a convenience store, carry the convenience items
Question to Chief Semerjian, no objection to another license?
This is the last one available at this time (license allocation)
there is no cap on restaurants, there is a cap on the beer and license 6 each (based upon population)
Mark Mann - trustee for the liquor store across the street
invested money in the property, they work hard and smart to do the best for the town
they do quite a bit of business with beer and wine
fear on ability for them to pay their rent down the road due to over saturation
I urge you to deny the application
Cerel - the issue of competition is not of concern, the issue is public need, is there a need for the public at large.
Jack Fadel - 50% of our business is on beer and wine, would end up getting into crazy competition
Nutting - when we have had one left before, we have done an advertisement through a public process
Mercer - our practice has been to announce to the public?
Cerel - in those cases, it has been an all alcohol license, that is usually more desirable. This came from the Davita's receipt of the all alcohol license
Nutting - it is available based upon census results so every ten years, or can ask the Legislature for one
Bissanti - can the argument be made?
Cerel - it would be dependent upon the needs and the geography being served
Owner - had tried before but couldn't get it would like to get it to meet the needs of their clients
Lawyer - it has been sitting in town hall for some time, they filled the application since Nov, no one else has come forward. The convenience store owners all know what they are doing.
Padula - just because you can have competition, doesn't mean they should. They are not a stones throw away, they are right across the way
Lawyer - by statue there is a liceses available, we can argue about where, this council has previously granted licenses a stone throw away. The map shows other licenses making decisions to put them together.
Padula - help me understand what is the public need?
Lawyer - this would be an extremely valuable compliment to my clients service to their customers. They are two different establishments, one selling convenience items with a beer/wine and the other is a full liquor store which can sell the convenience items
Bissanti - I like the fact that this store is in the commercial district, the other possible locations are not in the commercial district zone
Feldman - when had they applied?
Owner -
Mercer, Jones, Pfeffer, Williams, Vallee - voted no
vote failed 5-4
motion for denial on basis for no public need on basis of over saturation in current area
Williams, Peffer, Jones, Vallee, Mercer - voted yes
same 5-4 vote
Walk for Hunger - Sunday, May 4
Project Bread will hold its 46th Walk for Hunger on Sunday, May 4.
More than 40,000 people are expected for the 20-mile walk, which raises more than $3.5 million to fight hunger in Massachusetts.
The route weaves through Boston, Brookline, Newton, Watertow, and Cambridge, and includes entertainment and free snacks.
Registration is now open at www.projectbread.org/walk, or call 617-723-5000 for more information.
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| project bread's Walk for Hunger |
Ladies Night Out - Thursday, March 6
LNO* at Pour Richard's Wine and Spirits!
Thursday, March 6 6:30-8:30 PM
Introducing the cuisine of Twelve Fine Food and Spirits, opening soon just over the Bellingham line!
Featuring the cocktail creations of Fair Spirits: gluten-free, quinoa-based, organic Fair-Trade certified vodka and liqueurs.
Also Featuring Painted Lady Flower Farm, an organic flower farm located right here in Franklin. They will be selling CSA-style flower shares.
As always, Pour Richard's will be pouring samples of delicious wine.C'mon, what were you going to do Thursday night? (And doesn't this sound like more fun?)
14 Grove Street in Franklin-see you there!
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