Another in a series of podcasts on what matters in Franklin, MA. This one reviews the four key items from the Town Council Meeting of 8/20/08 and the lack of a quorum for the Financial Planning Committee on 8/21/08.
Time: 18 minutes, 20 seconds
MP3 File
Session Notes:
Music intro
My intro
From the Town Council meeting this past Wednesday, there are four things I think you should be aware of. However, the most important item from the week is the lack of a quorum at the Financial Planning Committee meeting on the 21st.
From the Town Council meeting of 8/20/08
1 - Bylaw Amendment 08-627: Chapter 4, Public Notice and Advertising of Public Hearings – 2nd Reading
As discussed in the 7/23/08 meeting, the Council moved to adjust the notifications. Jeff Nutting references 2 of the three questions from that meeting. The third question, to provide examples of such that would be covered by this, if it was answered, it does not appear during the discussion nor in the council meeting package.
The Town Council meeting package for 8/20/08 can be found here: http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_CouncilAgendas/2008tc/082008agenda.pdf
listen here
2 - Resolution 05-55 – Transfer of Care, Custody, Management and Control of Red Brick School From Franklin School Committee to Franklin Town Council
The Benjamin Franklin Charter School inquiry is discussed but the inquiry by the Franklin School for Modern Art is not referenced although the Milford Daily News and the Boston Globe cover both this interests.
Milford Daily News:
http://www.milforddailynews.com/homepage/x169545726/Brick-School-issues-still-need-resolution
Boston Globe:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/08/24/potential_tenants_study_franklins_historic_brick_school/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Globe+West
listen here
3 - Zoning Bylaw Amendment 08-625: Chapter 185-5, Town Code: Zoning Map – Business to Commercial II – 7:10 PM - covers the land of the Knights of Columbus, and along that row of Tedeschi’s, Dunkin Donuts. The hearing was closed and this item was moved to first reading
4 - Town Administrator, Jeff Nutting presented on an update on the Town's efforts to reduce auto fuel used. A "No idling" policy was issued, Jeff will come back to Council with a request to balance the fuel budget. With increase in gas prices, they are projecting they will be about $100,000 short. Jeff talked of coming back in a future meeting with some actions to handle this. Apparently there was a change in our revenue forecast due to the MBTA and GATRA assessments. This change will result in an increase in revenues of about 160,000. Stay tuned to see what happens on this front.
5 - The most important thing this week, I think was the lack of a quorum at the Financial Planning Committee meeting on 8/21/08.
The group is chartered with defining our future financial needs and then coming up with a plan to get the town to agree to. One, their own internal communications appear to be lacking. Of the nine official members, two were present, only one other was acknowledged having a prior notification of absence. What happened to the other 6?
If they can’t communicate within the group, will they be able to communicate out to us?
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This podcast has been a public service provided to my fellow Franklin citizens and voters by Steve Sherlock
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The musical intro and closing is from the Podsafe Music Network
Jon Schmidt - Powerful Exhilarating Piano Music
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Franklin: Schools open Tuesday
Yes, the summer is coming to an end.
Dolores has her classroom ready to welcome her new set of friends at Oak Street.
Check to see what time your kindergarten orientation is on Tuesday.
Drive with alertness to keep all the Franklin students safe!
Franklin: Andro's Pizza
Yes, this used to be Aroma's Caffe.
Soon it will be Andro's Pizza.
BTW - also on the food front, noticed a sign that says Nonni Roses' is now offering a full breakfast Thu-Fri-Sat.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
1st floor framed
From foundation to 1st floor framed in 1 week
The foundation at 188 King St was being set up 2 weeks ago and posted here
Friday, August 22, 2008
Reminder: Beaver St closed beginning 8/25/08
Reminder that due to construction Beaver Street will be closed for approx. three weeks.
The original stories appeared here
The section of Beaver Street from West Central Street to Grove Street will be closed to through traffic from August 25, 2008 to approximately September 12, 2008. The purpose of the road closing is to reconstruct the Mine Brook drainage culvert.
Access up to and including Master Drive will be from West Central Street. Access to the Beaver Street Recycling Center and the Beaver Pond recreational facilities will be from Grove Street.
The original stories appeared here
Wind turbine success
How is this related to Franklin? You may recall that the Sisters of St Mary's Abbey are preparing a wind turbine of their own. It won't be quite as tall as this one. Their wind turbine is reported to be approx. 130 foot tall. This is 253 foot.
Read the full article in InformationWeek here
Jiminy Peak, a western Mass. mountain resort, marked the one year anniversary on August 15 of flipping the switch and connecting its 1.5 megawatt GE wind turbine to the grid. The turbine, nicknamed Zephyr, is now generating a full third of the ski resort's power. But getting there wasn't exactly a breeze.
Nestled in the Berkshires, Jiminy Peak claims to be the first privately held company in the nation to have installed a megawatt class turbine. Its Zephyr (named after the Greek god of wind) sits on a 253-ft. tower, with each of its three blades reaching approximately 123 feet into the air, making the wind turbine taller than the Statue of Liberty.
The turbine generates 4.6 million kWh (kilowatt hours) of energy or enough to light up the TVs, DVDs, microwaves and refrigerators in 613 homes for a year. Most of the power is generated in winter, when mountain winds peak, and demand at the resort is at its highest, due to the demands of snowmaking equipment.
Read the full article in InformationWeek here
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Financial Planning Committee Meeting - live reporting
There is an insufficient quorum for the meeting this evening. Hence, no meeting.
Updated:
Two members present: Rebecca Cameron and Roberta Trahan
Two unofficial members present: Jeff Nutting and Wayne Ogden
One other member was acknowledged as being heard from, he was leaving town for family vacation (Steve Whalen).
Updated:
Two members present: Rebecca Cameron and Roberta Trahan
Two unofficial members present: Jeff Nutting and Wayne Ogden
One other member was acknowledged as being heard from, he was leaving town for family vacation (Steve Whalen).
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