Town Council votes for $110 million operating budget

After the second budget hearing on Thursday, the Town Council voted unanimously for the $110,275,241. The vote was via roll call as Councilor Tom Mercer was participating via telephone conference call.

Unlike most recent years where the budget had little real increases in hours or services, this time around there are a few.

• Increase TA staff hours for passports and purchasing
• One custodian for new HS
• One patrol officer/one dispatcher
• Added PT clerical hours at Fire Dept.
• Added staff hours at Senior Center
• Added Sunday hours at Library

The TA (Town Administrator) increase in staff is really a shift of hours from the Town Clerk. Apparently, the Town Clerk can no longer legally process the passports. The Town will continue to provide this service but via the Town Administrators office (not the Town Clerk's office).

The first two pages of the Budget Summary presentation from Wednesday's budget hearing are shown here



(the remaining pages will be posted this weekend as I convert the hard copy to PDF format to share here)

Franklin Municipal Building - the setting for the Town Council meetings

Additional details on the budget can be found on the following links:

Town Administrator's FY 2015 budget file
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Admin/FY%2015%20Budget%20File.pdf

Town Administrator's budget letter (details on the changes to the budget)
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Admin/BudgetLetter.pdf

Copies of this year and prior year budget documents can be found here
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Admin/budgets/

Franklin Matters reporting on the Finance Committee's detail review of the budget during their set of budget hearings

Budget hearing #4
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/03/live-reporting-finance-committee-budget_26.html

Budget hearing #3
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/03/live-reporting-finance-committee-budget_20.html

Budget hearing #2
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/03/live-reporting-finance-committee-budget_13.html

Budget hearing #1
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/03/live-reporting-finance-committee-budget.html

audio version (the meeting was not recorded by Franklin TV)
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/03/fincom-budget-hearing-mar-11-audio.html
Finance Committee - 04/01/14 (Capital budget review, final vote on FY 2015)

Franklin Educators Get Ready To ‘Mob’

The Franklin Education Association has scheduled a “cash mob” for Tuesday, May 6, at Edwins, 341 West Central St., Franklin.

Edwins Gifts

The educators chose Teacher Appreciation Day to stage their own bit of local economic stimulus. 

“We get a lot of support from parents, students and others in the community. We appreciate knowing that our work is valued, and we think a cash mob is one way of saying ‘thank you’ and giving back to the town,” said FEA President Chandler Creedon. 

Cash mobs have become popular vehicles for publicly supporting locally owned businesses. The “mob” selects a shop or business and then arrives en masse, with each member committed to spending at least a certain amount of money agreed upon by the group. 

FEA members plan to spend at least $20 each during their visit to Edwins, which is locally owned and specializes in gifts, jewelry and home décor.

DETAILS FOR THE CASH MOB
3:30 to 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 6
Edwins, 341 West Central St., Franklin

National Teacher Day - May 6

For more about National Teacher Day, you can visit the National Education Association page
http://www.nea.org/grants/teacherday.html

YPO Offers Law Workshop

The United Regional YPO is hosting a Law Workshop on Wed., May 7 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Forming Your Business Entity And Protecting Its Intellectual Property will be held a Fisher College, 451 Elm Street, Room 5, North Attleborough. Attorneys from Pierce Atwood LLP will be presenting the workshop. The cost is $5 for preregistration and $10 at the door. See the event flyer here and register here.

Forward email  Privacy Policy. The United Regional Chamber of Commerce | 42 Union Street | Attleboro | MA | 02703

Net neutrality emergency

Hey, 

Evan here from Fight for the Future. We've got another web emergency on our hands. 

Corporate monopolies are trying to break the Internet. Will you stand up for net neutrality? 

Last Wednesday, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler announced a proposal for new rules that would allow for a " fast lane" of Internet traffic for content providers who are willing (and able) to pay a fee. [1] The proposal reverses the FCC's previous commitment to net neutrality and open internet and allows ISP's like Comcast or Verizon to slow down and censor services that don't pay the toll. 

We have to be totally honest, this situation is seriously grim. But there is still hope. The FCC already knows that the Internet community wants net neutrality, but they think they can put their spin on these new rules and sneak them through. If we can prove them wrong right now with a massive public outcry, we can literally save the Internet once again. 

We need you on this one. Click here to demand net neutrality! 

We need to stop the FCC now. Big business groups are already ramping up lobbying efforts with the FCC in swarms since Wednesday's announcement in support of censoring the open Internet and to ensure this dangerous proposal moves forward. [2] 

This is a critical moment. In the last few weeks more than 85,000 people have taken action with us. Can you help us get to 100,000 by the end of the day today? 

Click here to take action to keep the Internet free. 

More people than ever are fighting back to restore net neutrality. With your support, we have the power to stop the FCC from censoring the Internet. 

Sincerely,
Evan and Kevin
Fight For The Future 

P.S. We're going to fight tooth and nail on net neutrality, and we're going to win just like we did with SOPA. Want to support our work? Donate $15 today. 

--- 

[1] Gautham Nagesh. "FCC to Propose New 'Net Neutrality' Rules".
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304518704579519963416350296 

[2] Edward Wyatt. Edward Wyatt. "Lobbying Efforts Intensify After F.C.C. Tries 3rd Time on Net Neutrality" http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/business/lobbying-efforts-intensify-after-fcc-tries-3rd-time-on-net-neutrality.html?hpw&rref=politics&t=dXNlcmlkPTUzMDk1NzExLGVtYWlsaWQ9NzA0MQ==

Franklin Library: Coffee and Craft for Adults - Zentangle

Want to try zentangle? The library is offering a zentangle class for adults as part of their Coffee and Craft series. This Saturday, May 10 at 1:30 PM.

Coffee and Craft - zentangle

This was re-posted from the Franklin Public Library
http://franklinpl.blogspot.com/2014/05/coffee-craft-for-adults.html

Live reporting - Town Council - May 1, 2014

Present:  Feldman, Padula, Kelly, Vallee, Pfeffer, Jones, Bissanti, Williams, Mercer (remote)
Absent:  none

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
none

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
none

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS
none

E. APPOINTMENTS
none

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS
none

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS
none

I. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
none

started meeting, no items required after pledge so there is a five minute recess

Resume meeting -

F. HEARINGS
- 7:10 PM Budget: FY 2015 Budget Hearing – 2nd Reading
Dacey, Gagner, Nutting

reading of voting doc line by budget line, if any one holds an item that will be discussed before voting

Hold placed on

192 - Public Property and Buildings
Judy - discussion on report of expenses, detailed starting July 1st
want a worked order report, not scrubbed, open items
Matt - why is he not here tonight? I see others here. I am more concerned about our buildings and how they are cared. Brief presentation. Maybe a council walk through of the department
what were the give backs from all of the departments for the last five years? were the budgets reduced?
Bissanti - when the money comes back, what happens?
Nutting - That goes into free cash.

210 - Police
Vallee - how many men do you have excluding dispatchers?
Semerjian - 44 including me, no one is comparable to us, they have different issues
Nutting - an average of 45 across comparable communities, and with the budget tonight, an increase of one more to make it 45.
Semerjian - we usually have 6 and sometimes as low as 4. we don't go down to 2
Padula - Are we a model of other communities?
Semerjian - Milford did have more people and the population has dropped
Williams - with more officers, you'd be more pro-active
Semerjian - yes we are fortunate to have the specialty areas covered with 30-odd patrol guys out on the road to cover. things are going very well!
Padula - Medway has an officer over the the senior center, do we do that?
Semerjian - yes, we do - regularly. I go myself too

510 - Health
new number 176,358
motion to increase, seconded, passed 9-0 via roll call

710 - Retirement of Debt
question to clarify debt amount increase

440 - Sewer (Charles River Assessment)
motion to increase, seconded
motion to divide the remaining amounts among the COA and the Cultural Council
Nutting - does not recommend the change

original motion withdrawn
request to amend the motion - put the money into the Library account 610

Gagener - you'll have a better opportunity to spend this extra money later
vote failed 7-2 via roll call


J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
1. Resolution 14-31: Adoption of FY 2015 Budget
motion to accept, seconded, passed 9-0 via roll call


K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
none

L. OLD BUSINESS
none

M. NEW BUSINESS
none

N. COUNCIL COMMENTS
none

O. EXECUTIVE SESSION
none

P. ADJOURN
motion to adjourn, via roll call passed 9-0

Join the Food Pantry team to race/walk on May 10

Join the Franklin Food Pantry team on Saturday, May 10 in the Elks Care Elks Share 5K Road Race and Walk!

Franklin Food Pantry

The Race benefits the Franklin Food Pantry and Wounded Warrior Project. Contact Jenn Parrella, Franklin Food Pantry team coordinator, at jennifer@parrella.us for details on joining the team.

Franklin Elks

Visit http://franklinelks5k.com/ for race and registration details. The event features a 5K loop of paved roads for runners and walkers, post-race refreshments, giveaways, raffles, DJ, music and free prizes.

Wounded Warrior Project