Town Council Meeting Summary 5/7/08

This is the summary of the live blogging posts and the audio recordings for the Town Council meeting held on May 7, 2008. The posts are listed in reverse chronological order.

• Feeley responds to McGann (audio)
• New Committee to develop 5 Yr Projections (audio)
• DPW Open House 5/31/08 (audio)
• Water/Sewer Rate Changes (audio)
• Town Common sign placement (audio)
• Other action items (audio)
• Ladder Truck paydown plan (audio)
• 4th of July (audio)
• Four Corners Potential Sale to Walgreens (audio)
• Councilor McGann during Citizens Comment (audio)
• 5 Year Plan committee to be formed (text)
• Town Administrator Report (text)
• Water conservation starting (text)
• Action items (text)
• Four Corners Building (text)
• Election Info - McGann uses Citizens Comment (text)

"taxpayers expect and deserve a five-year plan"

"The most important thing we can do to help pass the ($2.8 million) override is to immediately begin an intensive planning process that will lead to the development of a five-year financial plan before the year is over," said School Committee member Ed Cafasso.

"It's badly needed. Not only do taxpayers expect and deserve a five-year plan, we as town officials need a blueprint to guide our decisions going forward - we can no longer afford to beg for a life preserver every year," said Cafasso.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.

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Learn all you need to by visiting here frequently.

Visit the School Committee override page for the schedule of information sessions

Be informed to cast your vote on June 10th

"I had a lot of preconceived notions"

"Definitely, take the opportunity to go out there. Certainly, before I got involved in town government, I had a lot of preconceived notions about what was going on," Roche said.

"It's a big, important decision, and there are a lot of factors in there," he said.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.

Listen to all that Jim Roche said as he said it at the Finance Committee meeting here

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Learn all you need to by visiting here frequently.

Visit the School Committee override page for the schedule of information sessions

Be informed to cast your vote on June 10th

Finance Committee Meeting Summary 5/6/08

The audio segments from the Finance Committee meeting of Tuesday 5/6/08 are as follows:

Nutting updates the Facilities Issue (audio)

Override Information (audio)

Possible 4 Corners Bldg/Land Sale (audio)

Budget adjustments for snow/ice (audio)

New Ladder Truck arrives next week (audio)

Override Election Budget Approved (audio)

4 Corners Bldg for $2.5M (text)

Nutting updates the Facilities Issue

From the Franklin Finance Committee meeting 5/6/08, Town Administrator Jeff Nutting provides an update on the facilities transfer issue. It may not be resolved before the end of this fiscal year, or before the override vote.

It is not an override vote issue, there will be no money saved this FY 09 budget. The only question is who controls the budget for this the Schools (as they have and done well with) or the Town?

Time: 2 minutes, 56 seconds



MP3 File

Override Information

From the Franklin Finance Committee meeting on 5/6/08, Chair Jim Roche reviews the information on the upcoming override vote scheduled for June 10th,

Time: 2 minutes, 57 seconds



MP3 File


Learn all you need to by visiting here frequently.

Visit the School Committee override page for the schedule of information sessions

Be informed to cast your vote on June 10th

Possible 4 Corners Bldg/Land Sale

From the Franklin Finance Committee meeting 5/6/08, Town Administrator Jeff Nutting provides an update of the upcoming discussion at the Town Council meeting 5/7/08. WalGreen is offering $2.5 million for the land which if approved would net the town approx. $1.1 million for use on another capital asset (i.e. another building or payoff of debt for another building, firestation or Senior Center come to mind).

Time: 4 minutes, 32 seconds



MP3 File

Note: Capital revenues of this sort can not be used for operational expenses.

Budget adjustments for snow/ice

From the Franklin Finance Committee of 5/6/08, budget transfers for the current fiscal year (FY 08) to cover the unbudgeted expense for the winter snow and ice removal.

This will also likely be an under-budgeted item for next year.

Time: 3 minutes, 14 seconds



MP3 File

New Ladder Truck arrives next week

From the Franklin Finance Committee meeting on 5/6/08, Jeff Nutting talks of the new ladder truck (or aerial platform) being delivered next week. The committee approved the transfer of money for the first payment of the $869,000 total cost. $169,000 this year; $175,000 for each of the next four years.

The purchase and delivery of this truck had been delayed until the new firestation was open and ready to fit it.

TIme: 6 minutes, 57 seconds



MP3 File

Override Election Budget Approved

From the Finance Committee meeting 5/6/08, they approved the transfer of $8,000 to fund the override election on June 10th.

Time: 40 seconds




MP3 File


Learn all you need to by visiting here frequently.
Visit the School Committee override page for the schedule of information sessions

Be informed to cast your vote on June 10th

4 Corners Bldg for $2.5M

Live - FINCOM meeting 5/6/08

Per Jeff Nutting at the FINCOM meeting Tuesday evening, the Town Council will be considering a proposal to sell the Four Corners Building to WalGreen for an estimated $2.5 million.

The agenda item is for discussion only. If it does gain interest, it would comeback for a formal vote at the Town Council.

• The money after paying off the approx. $1.1M debt can only be used for a similar type capital asset.
• It can not be used for operational expenses.
• It could be used for paying down other building debt.

Town Council Agenda 5/7/08

The Town Council meeting 5/7/08 agenda has been posted to the town web site here.

There are several items of that should be interesting on the agenda:

• Four Corner School purchase status
• Multiple resolutions for capital expenses including a new ladder truck for the fire dept.
• The sign on the Town Common returns as a resolution for vote (last time this was withdrawn before even getting close to a vote)
• The second reading on the water/sewer rates
• Two by-law amendments (one amending the salary structure in the Personnel Code, the other amending the Water map)

Franklin Contribution 1994-2009

Franklin Contribution 1994-2009, originally uploaded by shersteve.

I am troubled by the declining participation of the Franklin budget in the school area.

Yes, the school budget increases year to year. The school enrollment has increased, the costs have, and yet since 2003 as outlined earlier, there have also been 80 plus positions eliminated from the school department. The positions affected all areas of the operation; teachers, administrators, custodians.

Now would be a good time for Franklin to step up to the plate and help turn the tide on the declining participation in the future of our children.

Note: These numbers come from the table found in the Executive Summary on page 1 of the Town Administrator's budget page (PDF) here. I used the Fiscal Year, School Budget, and Percent Local Funding columns to create this chart. If there are any errors, please let me know.

Be informed to cast your vote on June 10th

Where in Franklin? #48

Where in Franklin? #48, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Hmm, barbed wire, big tank. Is this as large as the molasses tank that created the flood in Boston?

Where do you find this tank in Franklin?

The guidelines for playing "Where in Franklin?" can be found here.

Where in Franklin? Answer #47

Where in Franklin? Answer #47, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Yes, the answer to picture #47 is the Church of the Latter Day Saints on Jordan Road.

ltsjs, can you send me an email with your answer and let someone else try to guess in the comments? Assuming you are first and correct, you'll still get credit. You would help let others participate.

Stay tuned for the next opportunity.

Thanks to all for playing!