Governor Baker Signs $200 Million Bill for Chapter 90 Funding; Franklin to get $948,070

"Governor Charlie Baker today (Thursday, Apr 14) signed House Bill 4133, An Act Financing Improvements to Certain Municipal Roads, authorizing $200 million in Chapter 90 transportation funds for municipalities this construction season. Chapter 90 funding supports the reimbursement of every municipality in the Commonwealth for road-related construction projects and comes from general obligation bond issuances.

“Fulfilling the state’s commitment to support municipalities and grant access to critical funding for important transportation improvements across the Commonwealth has been a priority of our administration since our first day in office,” said Governor Baker. “Cities and towns count on this funding each year and we look forward to remaining a reliable partner on this issue for years to come.”

“As I have traveled across the Commonwealth meeting with local officials to discuss the most important issues facing their cities and towns, Chapter 90 is always an important part of the conversation,” said Lt. Governor Polito. “We are pleased the state will provide $200 million worth of funding that will have a direct impact on the everyday lives of everyone in Massachusetts.”

Chapter 90 reimburses cities and towns for costs incurred for eligible transportation projects. Cities and towns must submit receipts to the MassDOT Highway Division district in which they are located which verifies that the expenditures qualify for reimbursement under Chapter 90. The Highway Districts in turn submit these receipts to the Department of Transportation’s Fiscal Department which facilitates the reimbursements to cities and towns."

Continue reading the press release from the Governor here
http://www.mass.gov/governor/press-office/press-releases/fy2016/governor-signs-200-million-bill-for-chapter-90-funding.html

What does Franklin get from this announcement? According to the links provided, Franklin is scheduled to receive $948,070

• City\Town: FRANKLIN
• District: 3
• Mileage: 134
• Population: 31,635
• Employed: 17,513
• Allotment: $948,070

View the FRANKLIN Apportionment Letter

Download the Chapter 90 Distribution (PDF)

For the interactive view to see what other communities receive
http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/highway/DoingBusinessWithUs/LocalAidPrograms/Chapter90Program/Chapter90Apportionment.aspx

screen grab of MassDOT Chapter 90 program page

Mine Brook Area Cleanup and Walk Planned in Franklin

Metacomet Land Trust will sponsor a trail walk and cleanup of the town open space near Mine Brook in Franklin in cooperation with the Charles River Meadowland Initiative, the Charles River Watershed Association and the Town of Franklin Earth Day celebration. 

Everyone is welcome; families with young children please email for more information about conditions.

WHEN: 

Saturday, April 30, at 10:30 AM, rain or shine – duration, approximately 90 minutes

WHERE: 

Town-owned open space along Mine Brook, accessed through the Pond Street Property of the Town of Franklin. Follow the dirt driveway to the north of the the Kinder Care daycare facility at 42 Pond St. to the open “parking” area at the end, approximately 1000 feet. [This location is also known as the former sewer bed area.] While the trail is level, the trail may be overgrown and brushy. Please be prepared for wet ground. Please bring insect repellent, hat and work gloves of your choice. 

Link to Google Maps

WHAT: 

Free; suggested for adults, teens, and families with children 10 and older. Volunteers from Metacomet and the Charles River Meadowland Initiative will be on site to lead a walk over and through town land toward the vicinity of Mine Brook and the US Army Corps of Engineers Upper Charles flood control project lands. The focus is both to clean up any litter along path and to provide the public and local officials with an introduction to the 500 acres of contiguous open space in the proposed Charles River Meadowland area. Trash bags will be provided.

WHY: 

The Charles River Meadowland Initiative is working to bring together Federal and State agencies, as well as citizens and town governments in Bellingham, Franklin, and Medway to improve access to and management of this important open space resource. We also will use this occasion to contribute to the annual cleanup efforts of the Charles River Watershed Association. Mine Brook flows into the Charles River.

Please register to attend so we can provide enough materials for all: please contact Alan Earls at alan.r.earls@gmail.com (mention Cleanup in the subject line) or by call 508 528 6930.​

Mine Brook seen looking toward i495

Representative Roy Announces May & June Office Hours

State Representative Jeffrey Roy (D-Franklin) announced today that constituent office hours will be held in Medway and Franklin for the Months of May and June on the following days:

• Franklin – Thursday May 26th, 8:30-9:30AM — Franklin Senior Center, 10 Daniel McCahill St, Franklin, MA 02038
• Franklin – Friday June 10th, 10:00-11:00AM — Elizabeth's Bagels, 456 W Central St, Franklin, MA 02038
• Medway – Saturday June 25th, 9:00-10:00AM — Muffin House Café, 116 Main St, 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) 722-2020, stop by Room 527A in the State House, or email him at Jeffrey.Roy@MAhouse.gov.

Franklin Senior Center

Instructions for Using Your Bank's Online Payment Service to Pay Town of Franklin Bills

Are you currently using your bank's online payment service to pay Town of Franklin bills? 

If so, please use the required format detailed below to insure that your payment is applied to the correct bill.

Shared from the Town of Franklin webpage
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Treasurer/Online%20Banking%20Payments.pdf

screen grab of Town of Franklin webpage

FHS spring sports record 6 wins on Wednesday

It was a win all around for the FHS tennis, lacrosse, baseball and softball games on Wednesday. Results courtesy of Hockomock Sports.

Baseball

• Franklin, 13 @ Attleboro, 2 – Final 

– Franklin’s offense reached double figures for the second straight game to pick up another road win. Tyler Gomes had a pair of doubles and five RBI to lead Franklin while Jake Lyons had two hits, an RBI and a run scored, Josh Macchi had two hits, two runs and an RBI, Ryan Hodgkins had a triple and three runs scored, Stephen Luttazi had a pair of hits, a pair of runs scored and an RBI and Joe Corsi scored a pair of runs. Mike Skaza got the win on the mound, tossing five innings and striking out four. Ryan Morse pitched two scoreless innings in relief for Franklin. Attleboro’s Pat Collins went 2-4 with an RBI double for the Bombardiers.

Softball

• Franklin, 8 @ Attleboro, 1 – Final

"The game stayed close for six innings. In fact, Attleboro got its first run in the bottom of the sixth to pull within two and get the momentum heading to the final inning. 

But, as has been the case all season for the Bombardiers, there seems to be one trouble inning and on Wednesday afternoon against Franklin it turned out to be the seventh. 

The Panthers scored five runs in their final at-bat, on just two hits, to break open the game and pull away for an 8-1 victory. Junior catcher Clara DeCarvalho led the way for the visitors, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI."

Continue reading the full game write up from Hockomock Sports
http://www.hockomocksports.com/franklin-softball-pulls-away-in-seventh-at-attleboro/

Additonal softball game photos by Hockomock Sports
https://hockomocksports.smugmug.com/20152016/Spring-2016/Attleboro-Franklin-Softball-4/

Junior catcher Clara DeCarvalho (29) gets congratulated by head coach Kate Fallon after her fifth inning triple. (Josh Perry/HockomockSports.com)

Boys Lacrosse

• Franklin, 18 @ Sharon, 4 – Final 

– The teams finished level (3-3) at the end of the first quarter but Franklin won the second quarter 6-0 and the second half 9-1 to get the win. Freshman Jacob Alexander dominated the faceoff X, winning 24/26 draws while sophomore Eric Civetti tied a team record with eight goals in the game. Senior Austin Kent added four goals and three assists and sophomore goalie Connor O’Rourke made seven saves in net. Head coach Lou Verrochi credited the defense of Sean Lockhart, Matt Pleshaw, Wyatt Arsenault and Pat Morrison for limited the Eagles after the first quarter.

Girls Lacrosse

• Sharon, 3 @ Franklin, 17 – Final 

– Julia Jette scored a team-high four goals, including her 100th career goal, and added two assists to lead the Panthers. Grace MacCallum had a pair of goals and four draw controls and Olivia Truenow had two groundballs and played well on defense according to head coach Kristin Igoe.

Boys Tennis

• Franklin, 5 @ Attleboro, 0 – Final 

– Franklin’s Rahul Herur and Eli Brooks picked up 6-1, 6-1 wins at first and second singles respectively to lead the Panthers. Tom Mancini won 6-2, 6-1 at third singles for Franklin, James Johnston and Cam Piana won 6-1, 6-0 at first doubles and Jeremy Gan and Dan Barrow won 6-1, 6-2 at second doubles for the Panthers.

Girls Tennis

• Attleboro, 0 @ Franklin, 5 – Final 

– Franklin didn’t lose a game at first or second singles as well as first doubles to get the win. Hannah Sweeney and Anna Humphreys won 6-0, 6-0 at first and second singles respectively while junior Anja Deric and senior Katelyn Davenport won with the same score at first doubles. Franklin junior Madison Derby won 6-3, 2-6, 13-11 at third singles and seniors Halle Love and Selina Wu won 6-3, 6-2 at second doubles.

For all the results around the Hockomock League on Wednesday
http://www.hockomocksports.com/wednesdays-schedule-scoreboard-041316/

In the News: Library moving, trails cleared, auditions scheduled, empty bowl dinner set

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin

The Franklin Public Library began its move to a temporary location this week as it prepares for a $10.5 million renovation of its Main Street building. 

Workers buzzed about the library building Tuesday morning, moving shelf after shelf of books and disassembling circulation desks. Tuesday was the second day of the library's closure; it is slated to re-open May 2 at 25 Kenwood Circle (off Grove Street near Interstate 495). 

Library Director Felicia Oti said the work had been progressing well. 

"So far, it's been excellent," she said. "I applaud the staff - there's been a lot of heavy lifting, and they're just giving their all."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160412/franklin-library-move-begins

Luke d’Entremont, a Life-ranked Boy Scout from Troop 126 Franklin and sophomore at Franklin High School, made new trails in Franklin Town Forest so that private property would be circumvented. His work was an Eagle Scout Project, which is part of the requirements for the rank of Eagle Scout. 

Trails had crossed private property within the forest. The new trails make the paths wind around the property and extend approximately one­-half mile.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160413/boy-scout-clears-franklin-town-forest-trails

sign posted indicating the trail work underway

Franklin School for the Performing Arts, 38 Main St., will hold placement auditions for Summer Theater programs on April 30. 

Auditions will begin at 2 p.m. for those entering grades 3-5; 2:30 p.m. for those entering grades 6-8; and 3 p.m. for those entering grades 9-12.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160413/franklin-school-for-performing-arts-to-hold-auditions

The Franklin Food Pantry and a Franklin High School club will be hosting an "Empty Bowls" dinner later this month in an effort to raise awareness about hunger. 

The dinner - scheduled to take place on Wednesday, April 27 at the high school from 6 to 8 p.m. - is the first such event to be held by the pantry and the high school's Empty Bowls Club.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160413/franklin-empty-bowls-dinner-set-for-april-27

Unrepaired Gas Leaks in Franklin

Each year consumers spend billions on thousands of natural gas leaks. Currently Franklin has 41 unrepaired gas leaks dating back to 2009. This is not only a financial issue for consumers but it is also a safety and environmental issue. I've provided two links concerning gas leaks. Please consider publishing this in Franklin Matters. 

Thank you, 

Jim Hill

#1

City Maps of Gas Leaks | HEET

this is a screen capture of  the interactive webpage marking known gas leaks for Franklin, MA

#2

America Pays for Gas Leaks: Natural Gas Pipeline Leaks Cost Consumers Billions
A report prepared for Sen. Edward J. Markey; Released: August 1, 2013

http://www.markey.senate.gov/documents/markey_lost_gas_report.pdf

Or read the embedded document here: