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The official minutes for this meeting can be found here
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The Highwood Condominium Association's board of trustees has decided to trap and euthanize a colony of feral cats at the complex that has been the center of a neighborhood dispute, according to Animal Control Officer Cindy Souza.
The move may be illegal, however, depending on who actually owns the woods where the cats roam and eat, she said. Souza and fellow Animal Control Officer Tracey Holmes believe the state owns the property, and trapping is not allowed on state property, Souza said. If that is the case, the association may instead put traps on Highwood grounds, she said.
"It's sad," Souza said.
Souza first intervened in 1997, when more than 200 feral cats roamed the premises, at times jumping out of a trash bin at people, she said, adding, "it was a real health issue."
She solicited the help of Purr-fect Cat Shelter in Medway to catch the cats, spay and neuter them, provide shots, and release them back where they were found, she said. They set up a feeding station in the woods next to the property, and for 10 years, resident and self-proclaimed "Cat Lady" Dorothy "Dottie" Luff, 81, has been feeding and caring for the cats, which she has also named.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
Town Council last night voted to fund the late bus service to the town's three middle schools at a reduced price of $10,000.
Only Councilor Judith Pond Pfeffer objected to the funding. Holmes Bus Service offered to provide the service, which normally costs about $40,000 annually, for $10,000 this year after school administrators announced the district could not afford it.
The town will pay for the service out of an old account, Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting said.
The money comes from funds "donated" to the town in 2001, he said. In 2000, he explained, the Zoning Board of Appeals rejected an affordable housing application for Franklin Commons at 575 East Central St. by The Gatehouse Cos. The town lost an appeal and negotiated a settlement that reduced the number of units and gave Franklin $40,000 to be used for extending the bus service to the development or for other public purposes, he said. Since the GATRA, or Greater Attleborough Transit Regional Authority, bus passes by the development, the town no longer needs to fund extending bus service there, Nutting said.
Chairman Christopher Feeley thanked the owner of Holmes Bus Co. for his generosity, noting that he is "not even a Franklin resident."
"For the amount of money it's going to cost us, for the service we're going to get - we'd be foolish not to do this," Feeley said.
Read the remainder of the article in the Milford Daily News here
David Roche - Building Commissioner
Nick Alfieri - Conservation Agent
Brian Taberner, Director, Downtown Planning and Community Development
For the first time since its Franklin inception 40 years ago, the Junior Miss program is bowing out.
Organizers canceled the show, which is part of the America's Junior Miss Scholarship Program, this year due to a lack of funds and sponsors, but hope to bring it back next year by appealing to former donors and attracting new ones, said Becky Lavergne, chairwoman of Franklin Junior Miss.
"We have no choice - we have no money to give away. Our committee's gone over this a lot. ... We knew it was probably coming since last November. No one wanted to do this, but it was either give it up completely, or raise as much money as possible and come back next year," Lavergne said.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
People at odds over a feral cat colony at Highwood Condominiums may get a resolution tonight.
The condominium complex's board of trustees will discuss the matter and possibly decide to take action at a meeting open only to condo owners, said property manager Roy Blanchard.
Blanchard declined to talk about the controversy.
"This doesn't need to be in the press anymore. We can take care of our own issues," he said.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
Town Council on Wednesday will discuss whether to fund the school district's popular late bus at a steeply discounted rate.
Parent Communication Councils were willing to fund the bus at $10,000 after School Superintendent Wayne Ogden announced the district did not have funds for it this year, but the district is turning to the town instead, said Chairman Jeffrey Roy, after Council Chairman Christopher Feeley and Vice Chairwoman Deborah Bartlett offered their support.
The late bus has been a hot issue since administrators first warned the district it would have to eliminate it without additional money from the Proposition 2 1/2 tax override that was voted down in June. Concerned about the children of working parents, who would miss out on after-school activities and getting extra help with academics, School Committee member Ed Cafasso pushed the School Committee to find a way to keep the service.
read the remainder of the article in the Milford Daily News here