I went back to the Audit Report from earlier this year and updated my summary and analysis of the report.
This was originally published in February and can be found here
Monday, October 6, 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
FM #16 - 5 Things you should know
#16 in the series of podcasts on what matters in Franklin, MA. This one focuses on the 5 things you should know about Franklin this week: (1) the late bus decision, (2) zoning bylaw rescheduled yet again, (3) Financial Planning Committee, (4) Energy $ense Series at the Library begins and (5) Question 1 on the ballot in November.
Time: 20 minutes, 59 seconds
MP3 File
Session notes:
Music intro
FM #16
This podcast for Franklin Matters will focus on the 5 things you need to know about what happened this week.
First, the Town Council approved funding for the Late bus. Yes, this is the Late bus that due to the override was out of service. In late July, it seemed like the bus could be provided. By the end of August, the bus was back out. As noted in the School Committee meeting of 9/23/08, the Holmes bus company had reduced the cost of the late bus for this year from 40,000 to 10,000. The middle school PCC’s got together and pledged to pay for it. The School Committee worked with the Town Council and Town Administrator and it became know that the Town Council would consider it at their meeting 10/1/08.
In this clip from the Town Council meeting on 10//1/08, we hear the full discussion and vote
- insert clip on Late bus -
I think the Late bus is a good thing but I don’t like how it is being paid for. Money was “found” in an account that could be used for public transportation. This does nothing to restore confidence in Town government. The townies who are keeping track just put another notch in their belt, ha more found money, they did it again.
Second, the bylaw to rezone some parcels along RT 140 near the Knights of Columbus and Dunkin Donuts ended up being rescheduled for yet another meeting as it was evident that the matter was not going to gain enough votes. Two councilors were absent (Bartlett, McGann) with a two thirds majority required to pass. Due to the reschedule we don’t not know of the outstanding information was provided.
Third, the working sessions for the Finance Planning Committee (FPC) continued earnest this week. The Dept of Public Works (Brutus Cantoreggio) and Facilities (Mike D’Angelo) came in to review their departmental operations, their forecast for the next several years, cost drivers for their areas and answer a number of clarifying questions from the committee. There will not be any presentations at the next FPC meeting as they begin to digest what they have learned from the first four departments. The School budget is scheduled for review at a meeting in November.
You should recall that the FPC is charted with developing a long term plan for the Town, assuming there is an override next year (very likely) what is the long term outlook, how many will there need to be, or is something like the Arlington plan going to work in Franklin. This is important work. I encourage you to keep track of what is going on here. There is a whole lot of great data and information being presented. I am doing my best to report it live but if you have a chance to attend, please do so. It will be worth your while.
Fourth,
Fifth, I still believe Question One is the most imminent danger that Franklin faces. Question One is on the ballot in November.
You can find objective information at this link:
http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Massachusetts_State_Income_Tax_Repeal_%282008%29
You can find the Yes position here:
http://www.smallgovernmentact.org/
You can find the No position here:
http://votenoquestion1.com/?adtrack=education&gclid=CO2I-trz65UCFQpwGgodmkJeew
Where would you cut $11 million from the Town Budget?
Public safety is about 9 M, Central Gov’t Services is about 9 M. Public Works is about 6 M. If 2.8 million cost the town 44 teachers, what would loosing $11 million dollars cost the town?
The idea of the commonwealth is for all of us together to work and pay for the community services we need. If you think taking $11 million dollars out of the Franklin budget would bring you the community you want, I’d like to know what it would look like.
These are the five things that matter to Franklin this week:
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
Time: 20 minutes, 59 seconds
MP3 File
Session notes:
Music intro
FM #16
This podcast for Franklin Matters will focus on the 5 things you need to know about what happened this week.
First, the Town Council approved funding for the Late bus. Yes, this is the Late bus that due to the override was out of service. In late July, it seemed like the bus could be provided. By the end of August, the bus was back out. As noted in the School Committee meeting of 9/23/08, the Holmes bus company had reduced the cost of the late bus for this year from 40,000 to 10,000. The middle school PCC’s got together and pledged to pay for it. The School Committee worked with the Town Council and Town Administrator and it became know that the Town Council would consider it at their meeting 10/1/08.
In this clip from the Town Council meeting on 10//1/08, we hear the full discussion and vote
- insert clip on Late bus -
I think the Late bus is a good thing but I don’t like how it is being paid for. Money was “found” in an account that could be used for public transportation. This does nothing to restore confidence in Town government. The townies who are keeping track just put another notch in their belt, ha more found money, they did it again.
Second, the bylaw to rezone some parcels along RT 140 near the Knights of Columbus and Dunkin Donuts ended up being rescheduled for yet another meeting as it was evident that the matter was not going to gain enough votes. Two councilors were absent (Bartlett, McGann) with a two thirds majority required to pass. Due to the reschedule we don’t not know of the outstanding information was provided.
Third, the working sessions for the Finance Planning Committee (FPC) continued earnest this week. The Dept of Public Works (Brutus Cantoreggio) and Facilities (Mike D’Angelo) came in to review their departmental operations, their forecast for the next several years, cost drivers for their areas and answer a number of clarifying questions from the committee. There will not be any presentations at the next FPC meeting as they begin to digest what they have learned from the first four departments. The School budget is scheduled for review at a meeting in November.
You should recall that the FPC is charted with developing a long term plan for the Town, assuming there is an override next year (very likely) what is the long term outlook, how many will there need to be, or is something like the Arlington plan going to work in Franklin. This is important work. I encourage you to keep track of what is going on here. There is a whole lot of great data and information being presented. I am doing my best to report it live but if you have a chance to attend, please do so. It will be worth your while.
Fourth,
The Friends of the Franklin Public Library are pleased to sponsor The Franklin Area Climate Team’s “Energy $ense” Series for residents starting on October 6, at 7:00 p.m. The Franklin Area Climate Team has developed a four part speaker series titled “Energy $ense for Franklin Residents” that will feature energy professionals from around the state who will provide practical solutions on how to reduce your energy costs and improve the environment at the same time.The schedule is available on the Town website, as well as on Franklin Matters.
Fifth, I still believe Question One is the most imminent danger that Franklin faces. Question One is on the ballot in November.
The State Income Tax Repeal is also known as Massachusetts
Question 1. It is an initiated state statute that will appear on the November 4,
2008 ballot in Massachusetts.[1] If the measure passes, it will end the state's
current 5.3% income tax on wages, interest, dividends and capital gains.
You can find objective information at this link:
http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Massachusetts_State_Income_Tax_Repeal_%282008%29
You can find the Yes position here:
http://www.smallgovernmentact.org/
You can find the No position here:
http://votenoquestion1.com/?adtrack=education&gclid=CO2I-trz65UCFQpwGgodmkJeew
Where would you cut $11 million from the Town Budget?
Public safety is about 9 M, Central Gov’t Services is about 9 M. Public Works is about 6 M. If 2.8 million cost the town 44 teachers, what would loosing $11 million dollars cost the town?
The idea of the commonwealth is for all of us together to work and pay for the community services we need. If you think taking $11 million dollars out of the Franklin budget would bring you the community you want, I’d like to know what it would look like.
These are the five things that matter to Franklin this week:
- Late bus back in
- zoning postponed again
- FPC meeting
- energy $ense for Franklin residents
- the imminent danger of Question 1
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
Short school week this week
With a combination of events coming together on the calendar this week: Rosh Hashanah arrives on Thursday and Columbus Day on Monday. Figuring that it didn't make sense to have the students come in for one day, with parents able to take advantage of the long weekend, Friday slips in as a no-school day.
Don't worry, they still get 180 days in, just distributed a little differently this year.
To all our Jewish residents, Happy New Year!
First floor
The new foundation for the house to be numbered either 190 or 192 King Street is getting the first floor laid down.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
In the News - Dean; School Building Committee
Milford Daily News
FRANKLIN —
The entire Dean College community yesterday celebrated the ribbon-cutting of the new Library Learning Commons, a new hub for student activity that made visiting alumni jealous.
"We didn't have anything like this,'' said Jane Dorr, a Class of '58 alumna at Dean for her 50th anniversary this Homecoming Weekend.
Following a ceremony and remarks by President Dr. Paula M. Rooney, Dorr and two girlfriends from '58 toured the officially opened, brand-new building to see a Jazzman's Cafe & Bakery, new library, learning spaces, faculty offices and central home for the college's academic support services.
"Now I know what I'm sending money for,'' Dorr said. "In fact, I'm encouraged to keep giving.''
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
-------------------
Milford Daily News
FRANKLIN —
The Town Council-appointed, newly formed School Building Committee has elected its leaders and will meet a second time Wednesday to begin talks on renovating or rebuilding Franklin High School and prioritizing its other projects.
"It's really a great group in terms of professionals,'' said committee member Ed Cafasso, who is on the School Committee as well.
"We had more volunteers than spots, so many people in the community were willing to serve,'' he added. "It just shows how important the high school and other school buildings are to the community.''
In addition to working on the high school project, the committee will create a plan for the modular classrooms, which have gone past their life expectancy, said Cafasso. The group will also address any other school enrollment issues.
read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
Saturday, October 4, 2008
"We're all affected by the war"
GHS
FRANKLIN —
When Police Chief Stephen Williams returned home from the Vietnam War, the reception he got was "terrible," he said.
"I don't want that to happen to those who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, I don't want that to happen to them," said Williams.
"There's all sorts of support now we never had when we came home - and it's only right," Williams said.
Placing a war memorial honoring those who fought in the current conflicts next to the existing World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War monuments on the common "is a fitting tribute to people in our military," said Williams, a member of the veteran's monument committee.
Franklin's Veterans Agent Bob Fahey put the committee together in November 2006, at the behest of Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting, with the intention of honoring fallen troops from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
How to Cut Home Energy Bills: a Home Energy Efficiency Workshop
When: Monday, October 6, 7 p.m.
Where: Franklin Public Library
What: Heating your home this winter is going to cost you far more than it did last year. This program will show you a variety of things you can do to improve the energy efficiency of your house and lower your energy costs. Most of the things covered will cost little or nothing and you can go home with a helpful resource handout and how-to guidance.
This presentation is free and will take place in the community room, lower level of the Franklin Public Library located at 118 Main Street at 7 p.m.
Where: Franklin Public Library
What: Heating your home this winter is going to cost you far more than it did last year. This program will show you a variety of things you can do to improve the energy efficiency of your house and lower your energy costs. Most of the things covered will cost little or nothing and you can go home with a helpful resource handout and how-to guidance.
This presentation is free and will take place in the community room, lower level of the Franklin Public Library located at 118 Main Street at 7 p.m.
in the news - Library book sale, exercise, folk music
The Friends of the Franklin Library Fall Book Sale will take place on Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Thousands of hard- and soft-cover books will be available in nearly every category.Fiction and non-fiction books are $1, and $2 for trade publications. Most children’s and young adult hardcover books are $1 and paperbacks are 50 cents. Audio and videotapes, cassettes, CD’s and DVD’s are as low as $1 apiece.A selection of books in excellent condition, recent releases or collector’s titles suitable for gift giving may be found in the special pricing section. The book sale takes place at the Franklin Department of Public Works Garage. Take Hayward Street to Public Service Way.Free admission to the public.
Originally published in the Franklin Gazette here
------------------
Read the full article in the Franklin Gazette here
------------------
------------------
FRANKLIN -
It’s not too late to get in shape by signing up for the second fall session of Franklin Schools’ health and wellness classes.
...
Sign up online at the Franklin Public Schools Web site (www.franklin.k12.ma.us). Click on Lifelong and follow the prompts to Adult Education listings. Or contact the Franklin Adult Education office at 508-541-2100, ext. 3178, or e-mail adulted@franklin.k12.ma.us.
------------------
Peter Mulvey returns to the Circle of Friends Coffeehouse Saturday, Oct. 25, at 8 p.m.A live wire on any stage, Wisconsin native Mulvey is an acoustic singer/songwriter/guitarist whose guitar playing seemingly whisks him through more tunings than he has fingers in the course of an evening, as he winds his way from full-throated rockers to deceptively plain-spoken musings, said a Circle of Friends spokesman.
Read the full article in the Franklin Gazette here
Go the Circle of Friends website to view the schedule and order tickets here
Tracey Grammer performs at Circle of Friends on October 11th
Friday, October 3, 2008
cat fight continues
GHS
FRANKLIN —
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
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Live reporting - Facilities
Mike D'Angelo
Any structure that is owned by the town we cover. Electricians, plumbers, roofers, etc. We handle all major construction.
Everything I touch cost more today, plastic bags, etc. The labor market hasn't changed much but all the supplies have.
Signed a natural gas and propane contract, only going up 2.5% is great. It is a significant piece overall but controlled.
Electric put in at a 15% increase.
Water/sewer up due to the rate increase.
Telephone - bringing the police online so all the buildings will be connected and on the same network
How many FTEs?
35 full time, 10 part time and then 4 management staff
The things that are hurting me. The cost of the products that we are buying to replace are killing me. Not labor, just parts.
Will you exceed the $362,000 this year?
I can't. Stuff won't get done.
Remington-Jefferson is 14 years, no longer new; Keller-Sullivan is not new
The King St Fire Station is 10 years.
Can we look at a 5 year period?
But we have new buildings, new town hall, senior center, fire station...
Need to look at the increase in square foot increases year over year, at window sq footage, windows need to be washed
The telephone consulting is actually giving us money back. Reducing lines, keeping numbers. Eventually we want to go with fiber optics, that will help us save more.
5 leased, 4 at Parmenter, one at the High School. All the original ones were leased to own.
Bartlett - What is the life expectancy?
At 15 years, you might expect a total replacement. We did 8, 8, and 10. The first ones are 10 years old.
If you can help us with a narrative description?
Yes
You got to fix the things that you need to fix. As you go towards the end, you hope things don't break that cost a lot of money. You make it though the heating season, and then adjust.
Request is to add staff back at both the school and town. We lost 8 custodians. we clean bathrooms, we clean cafeterias, the rooms are lucky if they get cleaned once a week.
You can always make the schools look good on day one. Going through the year, it gets tougher.
We lost 8 out of forty, that was 20% of the staff. When a custodial system starts deteriorating, you go down a trouble road.
At an elementary level , the standard is a custodian can clean about 25,000 sq feet.
The high school is continuing to grow, maybe it will stop in a couple of years but it is a constant activity day and night.
We would add back four in the first year plus some part timers.
We don't pain enough, we could use the summer help to paint at least in year one. Then try to get the proper amount of folks in to maintain it on-going.
Using students as the part time help, gave them a job and ownership. They gained some respect for the work and effort to paint, clean the school. They would help police the other students to not write on the walls, etc.
Big difference in using students for help between what you can do with a public school versus a private school.
How much more do we spend at the high school due to its age versus the other schools?
I budget by school so I could look at the details. we actually have replaced a lot of systems there with 20/20, etc. If we had not done that, I'd be in trouble. A new high school will increase utility costs but reduce maintenance costs.
No more presentations for next time. Let's start to work on the model.
Look at minutes for the 4th and 18th to see. We should have them on the agenda to approve them next time.
Motion to adjourn.
Any structure that is owned by the town we cover. Electricians, plumbers, roofers, etc. We handle all major construction.
Everything I touch cost more today, plastic bags, etc. The labor market hasn't changed much but all the supplies have.
Signed a natural gas and propane contract, only going up 2.5% is great. It is a significant piece overall but controlled.
Electric put in at a 15% increase.
Water/sewer up due to the rate increase.
Telephone - bringing the police online so all the buildings will be connected and on the same network
How many FTEs?
35 full time, 10 part time and then 4 management staff
The things that are hurting me. The cost of the products that we are buying to replace are killing me. Not labor, just parts.
Will you exceed the $362,000 this year?
I can't. Stuff won't get done.
Remington-Jefferson is 14 years, no longer new; Keller-Sullivan is not new
The King St Fire Station is 10 years.
Can we look at a 5 year period?
But we have new buildings, new town hall, senior center, fire station...
Need to look at the increase in square foot increases year over year, at window sq footage, windows need to be washed
The telephone consulting is actually giving us money back. Reducing lines, keeping numbers. Eventually we want to go with fiber optics, that will help us save more.
5 leased, 4 at Parmenter, one at the High School. All the original ones were leased to own.
Bartlett - What is the life expectancy?
At 15 years, you might expect a total replacement. We did 8, 8, and 10. The first ones are 10 years old.
If you can help us with a narrative description?
Yes
You got to fix the things that you need to fix. As you go towards the end, you hope things don't break that cost a lot of money. You make it though the heating season, and then adjust.
Request is to add staff back at both the school and town. We lost 8 custodians. we clean bathrooms, we clean cafeterias, the rooms are lucky if they get cleaned once a week.
You can always make the schools look good on day one. Going through the year, it gets tougher.
We lost 8 out of forty, that was 20% of the staff. When a custodial system starts deteriorating, you go down a trouble road.
At an elementary level , the standard is a custodian can clean about 25,000 sq feet.
The high school is continuing to grow, maybe it will stop in a couple of years but it is a constant activity day and night.
We would add back four in the first year plus some part timers.
We don't pain enough, we could use the summer help to paint at least in year one. Then try to get the proper amount of folks in to maintain it on-going.
Using students as the part time help, gave them a job and ownership. They gained some respect for the work and effort to paint, clean the school. They would help police the other students to not write on the walls, etc.
Big difference in using students for help between what you can do with a public school versus a private school.
How much more do we spend at the high school due to its age versus the other schools?
I budget by school so I could look at the details. we actually have replaced a lot of systems there with 20/20, etc. If we had not done that, I'd be in trouble. A new high school will increase utility costs but reduce maintenance costs.
No more presentations for next time. Let's start to work on the model.
Look at minutes for the 4th and 18th to see. We should have them on the agenda to approve them next time.
Motion to adjourn.
Live reporting - DPW
Brutus Cantoreggi - presenting the insights on the DPW
We are already $100,000 down due to fuel costs. The salt bid came in at .71 vs .51 cents which is what we had been paying.
Budgeted for 550,000 for snow and ice this year; 500,000 last year just on salt. The past year was 1.1 million spent.
We have been trying to catch up by budgeting another 100K each year. We are short each time and can't catch up.
State reimbursed 3 years ago and 6 years ago.
Last year was an average year, this year will be more just with the salt increase. Over a million, probably 1.2 million.
We use 70 outside contractors, we only have 30 employees. We could not do it all ourselves. It is cheaper to do it ourselves, we pay overtime for our employees and we already own our trucks. Minimum we have to pay the contractors is four hours.
Initially we like to start bringing up the snow and ice budget by $250,000 per year. We need to get closer to the actual yearly cost.
All our road work is paid by Chapter 90, State funds, the Town has not budgeted for sidewalk or street repairs. Typically we are able to get 750,000 from the state. We can keep fixing stuff, it is going to deteriorate.
$28 per square foot for a concrete panel.
25 miles of unaccepted public way, sitting for 6 years in legislature in action
Water line replacement program, at the same time we rebuild the road. We use some water funds to rehab the road. 60% of the water funds, 40% of the Chap 90. Approx $800,000 to do Wachusetts St. They put down three inches.
The hot top is sometimes the cheapest thing to do. The money is in the drainage, storm water issue. Mandates coming down from Federal and State government, but there is no funding behind it.
Cantoreggi - They have targeted the Charles River basin (which we are part of) to reduce phosphorous by 60%. We are going to have 4-5 years but we will have to implement this. Without compliance, there will be a fine, possibly up to $25,000 a day.
Nutting - Police and Fire budgets comparison town to town is easy, they are generally apples to apples. DPW can be configured differently amongst the towns and therefore harder to get an apples to apples comparison.
Cantoreggi - It is a difficult thing to explain, we are out to respond all the time. water break, sewer back ups. Mowing fields can be fill in time. There is no way I can get rid of the guys doing the emergencies, that is what the people see. You need the bodies in house. I don't have the luxury of closing a park and keeping all the others up. What will happen will be a slow down in service, in stead of mowing every five days, it may be mowing every eight days, grass is longer, soccer may complain as the balls will slow down.
Cantoreggi - In DPW there is always more work than help.
The assessor needs help moving things, who are they going to call? DPW
Asphalt along the road is actually more expensive than the stuff on the road itself. We do all that hand stuff to save a ton of money.
Nutting - If we did outsource, we could use less mowers/equipment, still keep some but may not need all.
Cantoreggi - Outsource cutting the high school fields perhaps but use the DPW folks to do the Town Common.
D'Angelo - Pesticide handling is a problem. It actually costs more to print the paper to give the notice to the school students to take home than it does to actually cost to do the fertilizing. There are certain things that are cheaper to do in-house and others are cheaper to do via outsource.
Cantoreggi - The DPW guys are skilled and multi skilled. They paint but they are not painters.
Hardesty - How do you prioritize the work you do?
Brutus - A large chunk of what we do is water and sewer. Wells need to be tested daily. A lot of other stuff is seasonal.
Nutting - Public safety gets the big headlines, but DPW is far more complicated. 33 FTE's.
Whalen - We will need your help to craft the story. The public will see snow removal, fuel costs, salt costs, field conditions. We should target attempting to budget 85%, how do we get there?
Bartlett - Is there anything else we can do budget or legislative issues we can help with?
The street issue is the big one.
Whalen - What do people think about charging field use fees?
Trahan - If we outline how many fees people will pay, it can offset what the override would cost.
Bartlett - If we go with an override and a fee, the override won't pass.
Cantoreggi - a lot of the leagues are good and leading the way to take care of the field. I can't get them to pick up the trash though.
Ogden - we were losing 30-40,000 per year where the building use fees did not cover the expense of maintaining the space. Girl scouts, Cub scouts, and other groups are giving the School Committee a headache about the increase in fee. We charge Recreation for use. We charge Adult Ed.
Bartlett - if we decide to go down this road, we need to get all the leagues together and let them know.
Nutting - they all come together at the Rec Advisory Committee. It is a very difficult issue to address.
Whalen - I don't think we can take it off the table.
Cantoreggi - it is not much money to take care of the the parks and fields, but that is what the people see.
Roche - what about the recycling the older vehicles?
Whalen - this has been really educational. There are so many moving parts, it might be good to do a subcommittee to look at this more closely.
Nutting - Water/sewer is self supporting due to the fees but we get some of the roads covered.
Cantoreggi - They are self funded but not self managed
We are already $100,000 down due to fuel costs. The salt bid came in at .71 vs .51 cents which is what we had been paying.
Budgeted for 550,000 for snow and ice this year; 500,000 last year just on salt. The past year was 1.1 million spent.
We have been trying to catch up by budgeting another 100K each year. We are short each time and can't catch up.
State reimbursed 3 years ago and 6 years ago.
Last year was an average year, this year will be more just with the salt increase. Over a million, probably 1.2 million.
We use 70 outside contractors, we only have 30 employees. We could not do it all ourselves. It is cheaper to do it ourselves, we pay overtime for our employees and we already own our trucks. Minimum we have to pay the contractors is four hours.
Initially we like to start bringing up the snow and ice budget by $250,000 per year. We need to get closer to the actual yearly cost.
All our road work is paid by Chapter 90, State funds, the Town has not budgeted for sidewalk or street repairs. Typically we are able to get 750,000 from the state. We can keep fixing stuff, it is going to deteriorate.
$28 per square foot for a concrete panel.
25 miles of unaccepted public way, sitting for 6 years in legislature in action
Water line replacement program, at the same time we rebuild the road. We use some water funds to rehab the road. 60% of the water funds, 40% of the Chap 90. Approx $800,000 to do Wachusetts St. They put down three inches.
The hot top is sometimes the cheapest thing to do. The money is in the drainage, storm water issue. Mandates coming down from Federal and State government, but there is no funding behind it.
Cantoreggi - They have targeted the Charles River basin (which we are part of) to reduce phosphorous by 60%. We are going to have 4-5 years but we will have to implement this. Without compliance, there will be a fine, possibly up to $25,000 a day.
Nutting - Police and Fire budgets comparison town to town is easy, they are generally apples to apples. DPW can be configured differently amongst the towns and therefore harder to get an apples to apples comparison.
Cantoreggi - It is a difficult thing to explain, we are out to respond all the time. water break, sewer back ups. Mowing fields can be fill in time. There is no way I can get rid of the guys doing the emergencies, that is what the people see. You need the bodies in house. I don't have the luxury of closing a park and keeping all the others up. What will happen will be a slow down in service, in stead of mowing every five days, it may be mowing every eight days, grass is longer, soccer may complain as the balls will slow down.
Cantoreggi - In DPW there is always more work than help.
The assessor needs help moving things, who are they going to call? DPW
Asphalt along the road is actually more expensive than the stuff on the road itself. We do all that hand stuff to save a ton of money.
Nutting - If we did outsource, we could use less mowers/equipment, still keep some but may not need all.
Cantoreggi - Outsource cutting the high school fields perhaps but use the DPW folks to do the Town Common.
D'Angelo - Pesticide handling is a problem. It actually costs more to print the paper to give the notice to the school students to take home than it does to actually cost to do the fertilizing. There are certain things that are cheaper to do in-house and others are cheaper to do via outsource.
Cantoreggi - The DPW guys are skilled and multi skilled. They paint but they are not painters.
Hardesty - How do you prioritize the work you do?
Brutus - A large chunk of what we do is water and sewer. Wells need to be tested daily. A lot of other stuff is seasonal.
Nutting - Public safety gets the big headlines, but DPW is far more complicated. 33 FTE's.
Whalen - We will need your help to craft the story. The public will see snow removal, fuel costs, salt costs, field conditions. We should target attempting to budget 85%, how do we get there?
Bartlett - Is there anything else we can do budget or legislative issues we can help with?
The street issue is the big one.
Whalen - What do people think about charging field use fees?
Trahan - If we outline how many fees people will pay, it can offset what the override would cost.
Bartlett - If we go with an override and a fee, the override won't pass.
Cantoreggi - a lot of the leagues are good and leading the way to take care of the field. I can't get them to pick up the trash though.
Ogden - we were losing 30-40,000 per year where the building use fees did not cover the expense of maintaining the space. Girl scouts, Cub scouts, and other groups are giving the School Committee a headache about the increase in fee. We charge Recreation for use. We charge Adult Ed.
Bartlett - if we decide to go down this road, we need to get all the leagues together and let them know.
Nutting - they all come together at the Rec Advisory Committee. It is a very difficult issue to address.
Whalen - I don't think we can take it off the table.
Cantoreggi - it is not much money to take care of the the parks and fields, but that is what the people see.
Roche - what about the recycling the older vehicles?
Whalen - this has been really educational. There are so many moving parts, it might be good to do a subcommittee to look at this more closely.
Nutting - Water/sewer is self supporting due to the fees but we get some of the roads covered.
Cantoreggi - They are self funded but not self managed
Live reporting - Financial Planning Committee 10/2/08
Attending: Jim Roche, Roberta Trahan, Steve Whalen, Doug Hardesty, Jeff Nutting, Wayne Ogden, Miriam Goodman, Mike D'Angelo, Brutus Cantoreggi, Gwynne Wilschek,
Not Attending: Shannon Zollo, Matt Kelly,
Roche - let's publish an agenda prior to meeting, Steve has been good getting the meeting reminders out. We need to figure out a timeline to determine our financial model, build some assumptions, we are not here to arrive at the right number, we need to determine and understand the cost drivers, set the assumptions for the model.
Whaelen - without assuming we will go for an override, if there is one needed, we are going to need to start earlier, the work product will need to be good, explanable, etc.
Roche - next three months, build the model, start telling our story, circulate it for feedback
Bartlett - the Council will need to prepare in February that if no money is coming across, we are going to need to make some hard decisions
Nutting - the Town budget will need to come together, it likely will come out in the same time frame, one driver will be the School budget
Let's start - DPW will go first
Not Attending: Shannon Zollo, Matt Kelly,
Roche - let's publish an agenda prior to meeting, Steve has been good getting the meeting reminders out. We need to figure out a timeline to determine our financial model, build some assumptions, we are not here to arrive at the right number, we need to determine and understand the cost drivers, set the assumptions for the model.
Whaelen - without assuming we will go for an override, if there is one needed, we are going to need to start earlier, the work product will need to be good, explanable, etc.
Roche - next three months, build the model, start telling our story, circulate it for feedback
Bartlett - the Council will need to prepare in February that if no money is coming across, we are going to need to make some hard decisions
Nutting - the Town budget will need to come together, it likely will come out in the same time frame, one driver will be the School budget
Let's start - DPW will go first
"From a fiscal standpoint, it's a small action"
GHS
FRANKLIN —
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
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