"you just have to do it"

Municipalities often budget low for snow and ice cleanup because, unlike with most other accounts, they can spend in the red and make up the difference later in the year.

But even in Franklin, where the Town Council had hiked its snow budget from $551,000 to $694,000, Public Works Director Brutus Cantoreggi said Thursday he was near the limit.

"I've spent about $550,000 so far," he said. "But one of my salt sheds is empty, and it costs $150,000 to fill, so I'm gone."

Plummeting fuel prices have been a boon, some public works directors said, but road salt is still proving to be a budget-buster. In Franklin, the price jumped from $54 a ton to $75 this season. That means it costs about $30,000 each time Cantoreggi sends a fleet of trucks to put down a layer of sand and salt across town.

"Labor costs are about the same. It's just the salt," he said. "It's been a very busy winter."

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

NewBCamp - find out about blogging, podcasting, Twitter, etc.

It's been almost one year since the inaugural NewBCamp took place and there's another one coming up in Providence.

What is NewBCamp?
It is a gathering of people interesting in learning and sharing about the new social media tools; blogs, podcasts, video blogs, Twitter, etc.

What is in it for me?
If you are interested in learning about these tools, then this is the place for you. The focus is on the new user (i.e. newbie or NewB). You won't feel lost, you will be amongst those who are learning from those who are willing to share.

What does it cost?
It is very reasonably priced at only $10. Less than a movie!

What are the details?

When:

February 8, 2009 - 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Where:

Johnson & Wales

Pepsi Forum
8 Abbott Park Place
Providence, RI 02903

There's also a brand new website http://www.newbcamp.com . Explore the site, add comments and pages to the wiki, and sign up to give presentations!

NewBCamp is brought to you by two organizations - Free Geek Providence and SofT ICE at Johnson & Wales.

If you would like additional information, please feel free to contact me. I will be there at the Welcome/Registration Desk.

Patrick J. Carney

Patrick J. Carney, 22 of Franklin died January 15 in Brigham & Women’s Hospital Boston after a six month battle with cancer. He was the son of Joseph and Kim (Wilcke) Carney of Franklin.

Read the full set of information on the Xaverian Brothers web site here

Chicago - "Share My Inauguration"

Since I started following the students at Worcester Academy and their effort to cover the inauguration, I have also found that there is a group from Chicago:

FOLLOW THEIR JOURNEY
Twenty-four Chicago inner-city 5th and 6th graders will witness Barack Obama’s historic inauguration. Dubbed the DC 24, the students from Frazier Preparatory Academy, a pre-K through 6th grade elementary school, will also tour area universities and monuments during their four-day adventure.

Along the way, they’ll chronicle their journey and share their impressions through a series of blogs and vlogs. Traveling with the students is Tara Settembre, one of LA’s best known bloggers, who will coach the DC 24 on blogging and vlogging.

You can view the DC 24 web site here.

"It finally hit me how much we are dependent upon the state"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Jan 16, 2009 @ 12:27 AM

---

FRANKLIN —

With the economy plunging even further into a recession, the town's long-range fiscal planning committee that had been prepping for a financial windstorm is now bracing for a hurricane.

"When we started in August, we were $2 million short. We're praying now it's only going to be $2 million short," said group member Rebecca Cameron, a Finance Committee member.

The council-appointed group, charged with preparing a long-range financial plan, anxiously awaits Gov. Deval Patrick's news, expected in two weeks, enumerating what state aid he will cut.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

You can also review my "live reporting" notes from the meeting here

Financial Planning Comm 01/15/09

The live reporting posts covering the Financial Planning Committee meeting of Thursday 1/15/09 can be found here:

• Live reporting - Financial Planning Committee (con...
• Live reporting - Financial Planning Committee

Live reporting - Financial Planning Committee (cont'd)

6 - Financial planning (Roche)
handout from Jim, includes listing from S&P listing the ten things for public finance that are characteristics of good planning. Franklin does in fact do all these ten things.

Top 10 List

1. An established rainy day/budget stabilization reserve
2. Regular economic and revenue reviews to identify shortfalls early
3. Prioritized spending plans and established contingency plans for operating budgets
4. A formalized capital improvement plan in order to assess future infrastructure requirements
5. Long-term planning for all liabilities of a government, including pension obligations, other post employment benefits and other contingent obligations would be optimal and allow for comprehensive assessment of future budgetary risks
6. A debt affordability model in place to evaluate future debt profile
7. A pay-as-you-go financing strategy as part of the operating and capital budget.
8. A multi-year financial plan in place that considers the affordability of actions or plans before they are part of the annual budget.
9. Effective management and information systems
10. A well-defined and coordinated economic development strategy

The source for this listing is the S&P article found here

add vital signs and trends, i.e. stabilization fund in 2003 vs 2010 stark difference.

7 - FAQ (Kelly)
summarizing from over all the sources, the questions that have been raised.

trying to provide a quality of life for all members of the community

is a student with and IEP considered a SPED student? or are they categorized separately

8 - Financial Terms (Nutting)
if the state would allow we would do these things
the capital budget
the debt and narrative
the FAQ draft should also be answered from the town figures

discussion on setting up the focus group to review the draft of the report

what is the date for the deliverable? then set the date for the focus group

Feb 5th to internally review the draft
Formalize the draft by the 29th
Focus group on March 5th

half the group gets the report before hand, half gets it upon the entry
will get feedback on presentation simplicity

Live reporting - Financial Planning Committee

Attending: Roche, Bartlett, Cameron, Hardesty, Nutting, Wilschek, Kelly, Ogden, Trahan, Zollo
Absent: Whalen

Meeting opens

Working listing of action items to pull the presentation together (numbered listing that follows)

add self-help items - average person working in lieu of taxes provides about 8000 hours of labor to help the DPW, library, etc.

Report Category
1 - Assumptions (Cameron)
wrote out from the budget draft that Jeff had put together earlier

Outline format to tell the story so those who won't be able to read and understand the table of numbers will get the gist of what is occurring.

Rationalization will be key, a range of 3-5% on one number may not have the same effect on the budget that another number could have a range of 2 - 2.5% and have a significant effect.

Justification for the numbers, i.e. what is the driving factor, health insurance, or lane changes per contract.

Formatting is not important at this time, it is more important to get the content section down.

2 - Benchmarking component (Whalen)
comparison of Franklin to other towns, comparison of Franklin within, i.e. trends
looking to identify the appropriate peer group for Franklin
explain why some towns that some would think would be comparable are not in the report
need good rational for what is included and what is excluded

simply need to demonstrate that the town is responsible, that there is no obvious low hanging fruit

3 - Financial Model/Sensitivity Analysis (Hardesty)
doesn't want to re-do the numbers just yet as the numbers are so much influx at this time, the approach will be the same, will just update with the actual numbers when they become available.

How to enhance revenue or reduce costs with things that can be done easily
For the gap beyond that, this would then list out the choices
taking a layered approach, baseline (level 1) plus (level 2) listing the assumptions that drive the changes

4 - HR Matters (Trahan)
Done with Wayne and Jeff, handout provided with summary
85-90% of the town employees are unionized
the unions have been cooperative in negotiations, the raises have been very reasonable

include the post retirement underfunded liability as an assumption and foot note, unless legislation changing this, it is reportable but would not effect the planning for our time line

5 - Revenue/Expense Enhancements (Zollo)
Will have something formal for the committee next time, a top ten list or a growing total and show the growth over the past and going forward. How far back do we want to go? For credibility, go back at least as far as Jeff. Current management is striving to be efficient. Proposed to go back as afar as 2001. Maybe not the full ten or fifteen, show at least the significant ones.

Appendix listing can show them all, but the top list would cover the 80/20 rule. Factor in the inflation and show what it could have been versus what it is today.

There are two kinds of savings, cuts and efficiencies. Trying to color each to show how they contributed.

Worcester Academy Inauguration project

Thanks to my daughter for the tip, here is an example of a local high school project using social media to report on and record their experiences of the upcoming inauguration.

Their blog can be found here.

This is a sample video posted to YouTube and their blog, recorded with a Flip camera





Way to go Worcester Academy!

"everything that's simple we've already done"

Last spring in Franklin, residents voted against a $2.8 million override, after approving a $2.7 million tax increase the year before. This year, a financial plan committee is preparing a three-year projection to better prepare for the town's fiscal needs. An initial draft should be available by early next month, according to the Town Council's vice chairwoman, Deborah Bartlett.

Bartlett wouldn't rule out the possibility of an override request, saying, "I don't think we're thinking that far ahead yet." However, "it's hard to know, with everything so volatile at this point," she said. "I think people are scared . . . and we don't know how they will feel about committing to more money than they're currently committing."

It's clear that revenues in Franklin will once again fall short of expenses, Bartlett said, and "without more money, we're not going to be able to provide the same level of service as today."

Officials are searching for ways to consolidate services and save money, but "everything that's simple we've already done," she said.

Read the full article in the Boston Globe West section here

"reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere"

The Green Energy Fair is a free event that will be held at the First Universalist Society of Franklin, 262 Chestnut St., on Thursday, Feb. 5. It will feature information from a Wrentham organic farmer, vendors selling green products and energy-saving tips.

The Global Warming Cafe will be held Sunday, Feb. 15, at 2:30 p.m., at the First Universalist Church in Franklin. The cafe is open to the public and is an informal gathering to discuss global warming and how to stop it.

For more information about the low-carbon diet, logon to www.350.org.

To sign up for news of future FACT events, e-mail FranklinAreaClimateTeam@yahoogroups.com

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

Kilowatt Ours - Impressive

Approx 25-30 people braved the cold to view the documentary "Kilowatt Ours" at the Franklin Library on Wednesday evening. In this photo, Ted McIntyre, Franklin Area Climate Team, provided the opening remarks to the group. Fred Schlicher, Program Manager from the Mass Climate Action Network, gave a brief overview of the film.

Outdoor burning season begins

Did you know that the outdoor burning season begins today?

You do need a permit.

Even with the permit, you still can't burn leaves.

Additional details and permit process can be found on the Town web site

SchCom: Sabolinski, Light, Ogden

SchCom: Sabolinski, Light, Ogden, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Incoming Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski and Peter Light listen as current Superintendent Wayne Ogden explains the selection process that resulted in Peter being announced as the new Principal of Franklin High School.

Additional notes from the School Committee meeting can be found here

SchCom: FHS Art Gallery

SchCom: FHS Art Gallery, originally uploaded by shersteve.

The presentation on the Franklin High School Art Gallery activities was made by Art Teacher Mike Caple (center), Rachel Nault (left) and Madison Weber (right).

Notes from the presentation can be found here

Additional notes from the School Committee meeting can be found here