In the News - Dean

"Most theater departments teach the art and crafts of the field - we want not only to do that but also prepare them for the transition of being an artist as a business person," Morgan said. "We want students to know such things as how to do their taxes as an artist and how to transition from here to a mega-market such as Los Angeles, Chicago or New York City.

"We want students to understand how to live and how to get work as an artist," Morgan said.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News:

Dean gets new arts chief

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Angel Roy, Daily News staff

Franklin - shows its color

The little pond along Beech St provides a wonderful glimpse of the autumn color rapidly taking over the landscape.

Where in Franklin do you find good autumn color?

Catherine C Haynes and Cafe Dolce

The featured artist this month at Cafe Dolce is Catherine C Haynes.

She has worked in a variety of mediums and her current work emphasis is pastels in a traditional landscape format.

Her work will be displayed at Cafe Dolce through November 8th.

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

For more information on the artist, please visit her web site here

In the News - fund raising on two fronts

Two mothers get together to raise money for Cradles to Crayons

Give a little, get a little

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Angel Roy/Daily News staff

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Pirelli Scholarship raises money

Father fights to keep son's name alive

from The Milford Daily News Homepage RSS by Lindsay Briggs/Daily News staff

Farmers Market - Nonni Roses

The Farmers Market will be open today from noon to 6:00 PM on the Town Common.

This is your weekly opportunity to help the local economy and to get quality food items.

You can get baked goods in addition to fresh produce. Nonni Roses usually has a tent each week. Nonni Roses' menu was previously published here and here.

Fall Into Art

The 38th Annual Fall into Art Exhibit and Sale will be held on November 7th/8th at the Adirondack Club on Chestnut St.

The flyer I picked up at the Harvest Festival looks like this:

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

For additional information about the Franklin Art Association, please visit their web site here

Gallery 218 - NonArt Teachers featured

Gallery 218 (in Franklin High School) will be opening a new show of art by non-art teachers within the Franklin Public Schools on Tuesday, Sep 29th with a reception from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Come to view the new show in the Gallery!

J W Tumbles - Franklin

J W Tumbles opened here in Franklin earlier this year. I stopped by their table/tent at the Harvest Festival to check in and picked up this flyer.

Schedule - Page 1

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Schedule - Page 2

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Additional information is available on their web site here

Town Council Candidate - Tina Powderly

Tina Powderly is one of the thirteen candidates for the Town Council. You will have the opportunity to choose nine of these candidates at the election on November 3rd.

I have a discussion scheduled with Tina and will publish that as part of the series planned for October. In the meantime, you can review Tina's web site and sign up for updates she sends out.

Tina's web site can be found here.

School Committee Mtg 09/22/09

The collection of live reporting from the School Committee meeting on 9/22/09 can be found here:

• Live reporting - closing items
• Live reporting - Superintendent Report
• Live reporting - Action items
• Live reporting - Policies - 2nd readings
• Live reporting - Elementary School Improvement Pla...
• Live reporting - School Committee

In the News - Communications policy, brain drain, rail trail

Franklin schools OK new high-tech communication policy

from The Milford Daily News Homepage RSS by Angel Roy/Daily News staff

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Franklin experiencing a brain drain

from The Milford Daily News Homepage RSS by Angel Roy/Daily News staff

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Rail trail work set to begin in Milford

from The Milford Daily News Homepage RSS by Danielle Ameden/Daily News staff

Live reporting - closing items

6. New Business
To discuss future business that may be brought before the School Committee.

Sue raised the request for a report overview of the school district to be used to help explain the funding needs and requirements. Sen Spilka is apparently looking to review the school funding process.

7. Executive Session
Contractual Negotiations

Motion to move to Executive session, not to return to public forum.
Motion passed, 7-0

8. Adjourn

Live reporting - Superintendent Report

Superintendent’s Report
a. H1N1 Update
video created, available on demand from Town web site

(the video is also available via this link here)

b. English Language Learners
Need to add a .5 FTE to work with students that are non-English speaking who need additional assistance. It is not an action item for now, she wanted to have it reviewed first. It is a State unfunded mandate. The State will be coming in later this year for a visit and this is one of items they will be looking at.

Our population is getting more diverse.


c. Students Leaving the District
The document referenced is as follows:

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Maureen and Sally are taking 'learning walks' through the schools. Members of the School Committee are invited to join them.

Gallery 218 will be opening an Art Show next Tuesday with art from non-Art teachers

Live reporting - Action items

4. Action Items
a. I recommend adoption of Policy GBAB Acceptable Use motion to approve, passed 7-0
b. I recommend adoption of Policy GBAB-E1 Acceptable Use Agreement 6-12  motion to approve, passed 7-0
c. I recommend adoption of Policy GBAB-E2 Acceptable Use Agreement K-5  motion to approve, passed 7-0
d. I recommend adoption of Policy JT Electronic Device  motion to approve, passed 7-0
e. I recommend adoption of Policy JU Electronic Communication motion to approve, passed 7-0 (as amended)
f. I recommend acceptance of a check for $117.86 from Target’s Take Charge of Education Program for the Annie Sullivan Middle School for In-house enrichment and supplies.  motion to approve, passed 7-0
g. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1,000.00 from the Oak Street PCC for a 3rd grade field trip to Plimoth Plantation as detailed.  motion to approve, passed 7-0
h. I recommend Acceptance of a check for $112.31 from Target’s Take Charge of Education Program for the Horace Mann Middle School.  motion to approve, passed 7-0
i. I recommend adoption of Davis Thayer’s School Improvement Plan as detailed.  motion to approve, passed 7-0
j. I recommend adoption of Jefferson’s School Improvement Plan as detailed.  motion to approve, passed 7-0
k. I recommend adoption of Keller’s School Improvement Plan as detailed.  motion to approve, passed 7-0
l. I recommend adoption of Kennedy’s School Improvement Plan as detailed.  motion to approve, passed 7-0
m. I recommend adoption of Oak Street’s School Improvement Plan as detailed.  motion to approve, passed 7-0
n. I recommend adoption of Parmenter’s School Improvement Plan as detailed.  motion to approve, passed 7-0

Live reporting - Policies - 2nd readings

b. Policy - Second Readings
1st reading was in August, changes were implemented since then

1. GBAB Acceptable Use Policy

2. GBAB-E1 Acceptable Use Agreement 6-12

3. GBAB-E2 Acceptable Use Agreement K-5

4. JT Electronic Device Policy

5. JU Electronic Communication Policy

Discussion to clarify the layout of the policies and the placement in the student handbooks. Intent being that the handbooks should be containing the same rules that exist in this policy. The pieces going into the handbooks are what is in front of the committee this evening. (Documents to be added later)

Q - on whether there needs to be additional wording to address a potential teacher/parent harassment situation.
A - Those are already covered by other items in other policies, i.e. the employee sections.

Q - "school sanctioned" - does that need to be defined further?
A - The issue is how far down do you describe the details, especially with the rapid changes in technology. If we run into problems down the road, we can come back and revisit this if necessary.

Q - I like that interpretation, I was thinking 'school' would refer to 'district' but if school truly refers to each individual school then that works for me. Propose to use the language from the GBAB to add to further define the "good behavior".

Live reporting - Elementary School Improvement Plans

a. Elementary School’s School Improvement Plans

1. Davis Thayer – Shirley Babcock
Three goals, similar to last year, one added

Goal 1 - Literacy
Goal 2 - Communications
Goal 3 - Collaborative Learning
Goal 4 - Math Achievement

2. Jefferson – Jane Hyman

Goal 1 - Literacy
Goal 2 - Mathematics
Goal 3 - Home School Comunications
Goal 4 - Professional Learning Communities
Goal 5 - School Safety
Goal 6 - Supportive Learning Environment
Goal 7 - Technology Integration

3. Keller – Mary Jane Wiles

Goal 1 - Literacy
Goal 2 - Math
Goal 3 - Collaborative Leadership
Goal 4 - NAEYC Accreditation (1st year of 2 year process)

Q - What is this collaborative leadership goal?
A - The faculty have come forward with a suggestion to become more involved in addressing the problems that arise. The major issue we have is actually finding time to meet and implement this. We are attempting to meet quickly at the end of the day. We are looking for the problem to be brought forward with some strategies that have been already attempted.

4. Kennedy – Joan Toye

Goal 1 - Literacy
Goal 2 - Math
Goal 3 - Communications

5. Parmenter – Judi Bassignani

Goal 1 - Literacy
Goal 2 - Communications
Goal 3 - NAEYC Accreditation (2nd year of 2 year process)

6. Oak Street – Corine Minkle

Goal 1 - Literacy
Goal 2 - Math
Goal 3 -Response to Intervention (RTI)

Live reporting - School Committee

Attending: Armenio, Cafasso, Kelly, Mullen, Roy, Rohrbach, Trahan
Missing: none




1. Routine Business

Citizen’s Comments - none
Review of Agenda - move presentation from P Carlucci (sick) to a future meeting
Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the September 8, 2009 School Committee Meeting.  motion to approve - passed 7-0
Payment of Bills - Mr. Kelly  motion to approve - passed 7-0
Payroll - Ms. Armenio
FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence  none

America on the Move - Wed 9/23 - 12:00

As part of the YMCA America on the Move, member of the Franklin Downtown Partnership

will be walking downtown for 30 minutes on

Wednesday, September 23rd at 12:00 noon.


They will be meeting in front of Cafe Dolce.


Please come and join them for a walk downtown.

For more information you can go to www.hockymca.org

Town Council Candidate - Glenn Jones

At the Harvest Festival this weekend, I picked up a copy of this letter to the "Concerned voters of Franklin". For those who did not make it to the Festival, here is your chance to review it.

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Glenn is one of 13 candidates for the Town Council election coming on November 3rd. I met with Glenn recently and our discussion has been drafted. The discussion will be published here during October as part of a series of posts planned to provide information on the candidates for this years election.

If you haven't already subscribed to Franklin Matters, I would recommend that you do. It is free and easy. You can subscribe via email, RSS Feed, or iTunes. The email subscription and the RSS Feed subscription are probably your best bet to get all the information published in a timely manner. The iTunes subscription will cover the podcast which while it is targeted for weekly doesn't always make that schedule.

The subscription options are available in the center column on the front page of Franklin Matters.

Note: email subscribers should click through to view the document on the website.

5th Annual Run for Bob

The Bob Biagiotti Memorial 5K Run/Walk will be held on Saturday, October 3rd at the Putnam Investments facility here in Franklin.

Registration can be accomplished in advance online here


The flyer will additional details can be viewed here:

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Bikes Not Bombs collection Saturday

The Bikes Not Bombs bicycle collection will be held rain or shine Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon in the parking lot of the Department of Public Works, 257 Fisher St.

Read the full story in the Milford Daily News

Franklin teen advocates bikes, not bombs

from The Milford Daily News Homepage RSS by Angel Roy/Daily News staff

Harvest Festival recap

Sunday was a great day for the Harvest Festival in downtown Franklin! If you stayed home to flip between the Pats and the Red Sox, you missed a good time.

Outside Cafe Dolce, Random Play was turning out some good music. The Franklin Republican Town Committee tent was located right there. So close it was hard to have a conversation with the band playing so well.

In the photo above, Don Newton stepped the front with his wireless guitar.

On the triangle over the railroad bridge, Knuf Said was holding forth for their fans arrayed in the shade near their tent.

On Depot St, before heading in to the kids area, Mary Pat McSharry of Closet\and Storage Concepts had their new vehicle and table set up. Nothing like a smart car to show how smartly you can get organized!

I talked with Alan Mercer, Director of Advancement for the New England Center for the Performing Arts about the fund raising they are doing for their new facility to showcase what we know today as the Franklin School for Performing Arts.

I talked with Linda Waters of Back to Business about her new product: Confidence Beads. The website is coming soon.

In front of Rockland Trust, Nothing to No One was getting into their groove.

On such a glorious Sunday, the only real disappointment was in not finding many of the candidates for the Franklin Election in November. Glenn Jones (Town Council) had a tent down by the Post Office (an interview with Glenn is in draft). I did talk with Matt Kelly about setting time for his interview. I met Dan Ballinger for the first time. He may follow up to set up time for an interview with Franklin Matters. Bob Vallee was observed minding one of his grand-daughters. Roberta Trahan (School Committee) worked at the Downtown Partnership table. With no competition for the seven School Committee seats, I am not too worried about that part of the election. The Town Council is respectfully, the more important race this November. If other candidates were around, I missed them in my travels.

It was a real treat to walk down Main St without worrying about the traffic. 

Thanks to the efforts of all involved, especially the Downtown Partnership, the local businesses and vendors, the Franklin Police. This was a great event!

School Committee - Agenda - 9/22/09

1. Routine Business

Citizen’s Comments
Review of Agenda
Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the September 8, 2009 School Committee Meeting.
Payment of Bills Mr. Kelly
Payroll Ms. Armenio
FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence

2. Guests/Presentations

a. Elementary School’s School Improvement Plans
1. Davis Thayer – Shirley Babcock
2. Jefferson – Jane Hyman
3. Keller – Mary Jane Wiles
4. Kennedy – Joan Toye
5. Parmenter – Judi Bassignani
6. Oak Street – Corine Minkle

b. Policy - Second Readings
1. GBAB Acceptable Use Policy
2. GBAB-E1 Acceptable Use Agreement 6-12
3. GBAB-E2 Acceptable Use Agreement K-5
4. JT Electronic Device Policy
5. JU Electronic Communication Policy

c. Lifelong Learning Update – Pandora Carlucci

3. Discussion Only Items
Budget to Actual

4. Action Items
a. I recommend adoption of Policy GBAB Acceptable Use
b. I recommend adoption of Policy GBAB-E1 Acceptable Use Agreement 6-12
c. I recommend adoption of Policy GBAB-E2 Acceptable Use Agreement K-5
d. I recommend adoption of Policy JT Electronic Device
e. I recommend adoption of Policy JU Electronic Communication
f. I recommend acceptance of a check for $117.86 from Target’s Take Charge of Education Program for the Annie Sullivan Middle School for In-house enrichment and supplies.
g. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1,000.00 from the Oak Street PCC for a 3rd grade field trip to Plimoth Plantation as detailed.
h. I recommend Acceptance of a check for $112.31 from Target’s Take Charge of Education Program for the Horace Mann Middle School.
i. I recommend adoption of Davis Thayer’s School Improvement Plan as detailed.
j. I recommend adoption of Jefferson’s School Improvement Plan as detailed.
k. I recommend adoption of Keller’s School Improvement Plan as detailed.
l. I recommend adoption of Kennedy’s School Improvement Plan as detailed.
m. I recommend adoption of Oak Street’s School Improvement Plan as detailed.
n. I recommend adoption of Parmenter’s School Improvement Plan as detailed.
 
5. Information Matters
Superintendent’s Report

a. H1N1 Update
b. English Language Learners
c. Coordinated Program Review
d. Students Leaving the District

School Committee Sub-Committee Reports
School Committee Liaison Reports

6. New Business
To discuss future business that may be brought before the School Committee.

7. Executive Session
Contractual Negotiations

8. Adjourn

In the News - recycling contest

Contest to determine where recycling fees will go

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Angel Roy/Daily News staff

Harvest Festival today!

Come to downtown Franklin for the Harvest Festival, today

Sunday, Sep 20th - 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM

In the News - youth mass, solar panels

Youth Mass at Franklin church fills the pews

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Angel Roy, Daily News staff

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Bellingham farm using solar panels to save on energy costs

from The Milford Daily News Homepage RSS by Angel Roy, Daily News staff

Pictures of the Trolley Crossing Farm solar panels were posted to the Franklin Area Climate Team blog here

The digital natives are restless

Wesley Fryer, writing on his blog "Moving at the Speed of Creativity" has a wonderful post this week:

These are my notes from Robyn Treyvaud’s workshop, “The Natives are Getting Restless: Growing Up and Learning in a Web 2.0 World” at the 21st Century Learning @ Hong Kong Conference on 18 September 2009. MY COMMENTS ARE IN ALL CAPS. Robyn is the author and owner of www.cybersafeworld.com. Her wiki on digital citizenship (created with WetPaint) is http://digicitizen-wiki.com.

You ca read the full post here.

There are two videos worth viewing within the post. One I have shared here previously. One is new to me and I will share here:




Recall the discussion at a recent School Committee meeting about limiting the electronic interactions between teachers and students.

What would you do to foster appropriate digital behavior?


Note: email subscribers should click through to view the video on the website.

In the News - Dean grows, Harvest Festival, Pirelli

Dean to build performing arts center, dining hall

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Angel Roy/Daily News staff

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Franklin Harvest Festival is Sunday

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Angel Roy/Daily News staff

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Comedy night to raise funds to honor Franklin soldier who died

from The Milford Daily News Homepage RSS by Angel Roy/Daily News staff

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Franklin's new "Express Line"

Subscribe to the Town News to receive an email update at least monthly.

This is what the first issue looks like:

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

You can subscribe to the Town's newsletter via this link

In the News - H1N1 video

Franklin makes H1N1 video

from Wicked Local Franklin News RSS by Angel Roy/Daily News staff

You can view the video on the Town website here

Franklin: Farmers Market

The Farmers Market is open today. One of the regular local farms represented is Tangerini's from Millis.

Tangerini's offers fresh produce at the stand on the Town Common each Friday. It also offers shares in their CSA program.

Franklin: Farmers Market, originally uploaded by shersteve.

What is a CSA?
Community supported agriculture. You buy a share in advance and can receive produce from the farm regularly. More information on this program which helps to support the farm's operation can be found on the Tangerini's web site here

Franklin: Anniversary Specials at Jane's Frames

Do you have some photos collecting dust that really should be displayed?

What about that award, why is it sitting in the drawer and not hanging on your wall?

Oh, you never got around to finding the proper frame for those items.

Franklin: Jane's Frames Specials, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Now is the time to visit Jane's Frames. Celebrating its 15th year operating in Franklin, there are daily specials that may just help you find the right frame for that photo or award.

There is still time this month to visit and ask about the daily specials.

Franklin: Cheryl Vendetti Benefit

There will be a chicken BBQ dinner and silent auction at the Franklin Rod & Gun Club to benefit Cheryl Vendetti.

Franklin: Cheryl Vendetti Benefit, originally uploaded by shersteve.

The event is scheduled for Saturday, Sep 20, from noon to 3:00 PM

Tickets are $20 and are available at

• Ferrara's Market
• Franklin Tire & Auto
• The Rome Restaurant

Harvest Festival

Come to downtown Franklin for the Harvest Festival, Sunday, Sep 20th!

Sunday, Sep 20th - 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM

In the News - seniors, casino, recipes

Addressing senior concerns in Franklin

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Angel Roy/Daily News staff

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Franklin Casino Night donations sought

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Staff reports

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Recipes sought for new St. Mary's Church cookbook

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Staff reports

In the News - charter proposals

Should you care about the Town Charter?


Does the US Constitution matter to you? It should. It provides the guidelines within which our Federal government operates. The first ten amendments to the Constitution are generally referred to as the "Bill of Rights". 


The Town Charter is the same document but focused on how our the local government will operate. The Preamble to the US Constitution reads:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The Preamble to our town charter reads:

We, the people of the Town of Franklin, Massachusetts, in order to form a more perfect community, reaffirm the customary and traditional liberties of the people with respect to the conduct of our local government and take fullest advantage of the Home Rule Amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth, do ordain and adopt this Home Rule Charter for our Town.

The Milford Daily News covers the charter discussion from the Town Council meeting here:

Franklin may make some positions appointed

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Angel Roy/Daily News staff

Town Council Mtg Smry 09/16/09

The live reporting for the Town Council meeting on Wednesday Sep 16, 2009 are collected here:

• Live reporting - closing items
• Live reporting - Administrator's report
• Live reporting - legislation
• Live reporting - Charter changes
• Live reporting - Town Council - 9/16/09  

Secretary of Elder Affairs - visits Senior Center Thursday, Sep 17

Meet the Newly Appointed
Secretary of Elder Affairs,
Ann Hartstein

at
the Franklin Senior Center
On
Thursday, Sept. 17
At 12:30 p.m.

The public is welcome to attend to ask questions
and offer feedback
about elder issues!

Originally posted on the Town website (doc)

Live reporting - closing items

L. OLD BUSINESS - none

M. NEW BUSINESS - none

N. COUNCIL COMMENTS
McGann - went to an Eagle Scout ceremony for three scouts at the Elks

What is the duty.legal option for dealing with a coyote. He has a number of coyotes coming up to his door, he doesn't want to loose his golden retriever to a coyote.

Doak - omitted from earlier report on the Charter Commission, did not look at the people currently in the position

Pfeffer - New Secretary of Elder Affairs will be at the Senior Center Thursday.

motion to adjourn - passed 8-0

Live reporting - Administrator's report

K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT


Thanks to everyone's patience, the roads that were to be paved, have now been, some stripping remains.


The first newsletter has been sent out via email. You can sign up at the Town Administrators web page.


Live cable show available for on-demand viewing on the H1N1 virus update.

Live reporting - legislation

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION

1. Resolution 09-59: Amendment of FY 2010 Budget  motion to accept - passed  8-0
2. Resolution 09-60 Endorsement of the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust  motion to accept - passed  8-0
3. Bylaw Amendment 09-634: Amendment to the Franklin Conservation Bylaw Chapter 181-8D: Term of Years- 1st Reading  motion to accept - passed  8-0
4. Bylaw Amendment 09-635: Amendment to the Code of the Town of Franklin, Chapter 25 – Personnel Regulations – 1st Reading  motion to move to second reading - passed  8-0
5. Bylaw Amendment 09-636: Amendment to the Code of the Town of Franklin, Chapter 25 – Human Resource Management – 1st Reading motion to move to second reading - passed  8-0
6. Zoning Bylaw Amendment 09-637: Amendment to Chapter 185-3. Definitions – Referral to Planning Board  motion to refer, passed 8-0
   
7. Zoning Bylaw Amendment 09-638: Amendment to Chapter 185-39. Uses Accessory to Dwelling – Referral to Planning Board  motion to refer, passed 8-0

Notes for above
1 - balancing the budget with some minor adjustments now that the State budget numbers settled. This is a known adjustment, expected since the original budget was passed in June. About 1.4 million dollars was saved with salary deferments and co-pay adjustments.

2 - resolution added related to dissolving the Housing Partnership, the town would use the money to buy some housing and mark them for affordable housing forever.Looking to obtain smaller homes with this approach.

3 - A problem with consistency between the state level requirement and the local bylaw. This will provide some extensions one year at a time to bring the two into alingment.

4 - goes hand in hand with #5, the existing bylaw for personnel would be removed and replaced by a new bylaw to cover Human Resource issues. The Town Council would still be involved for approval as requried for the check and balence but to streamline the process for approvals to changes.
The one significant change is in the time off policy where it would provide more flexibility to the employee to use time but more responsibility and accountability.

Very few municipal governments do this, so they tried to account for the long term employees and still make it workable for the new employees. It is competitive.

Questions to clarify how this would be used, some of the questions are more to the day-to-day management of the personnel rather than the overall procedures being proposed. There are transition coverage items to help the existing employees move from the old way to the new way.

Suggestion to correct the document for the next reading to reflect the proper wording around the 30 days as discussed earlier.

6 and 7 go hand in hand, these had come before the Town Council previously, have been revised and are now being looked for to go to the Planning Board for further hearings and approval before coming back to the Town Council for final approval.

Discussion on need for "fulltime" in the definition, Per M Cerel, the text needs to be as tight as possible to put the onus on the resident to make the proof rather than the town having the burden of proof.

The resolution that was added reads as follows:

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Live reporting - Charter changes

Subcommittee - Doak, Whalen, Zollo

the page of changes to be added later, there are a number of minor changes to reflect better language
One change would remove from the Charter the requirement for the Town Council to meet twice a month and change it to meeting once a month. The Town Council should have the ability via other Town Council procedures to hold meetings.

cleaning up conflicts within the charter and to remove ambiguities

Change of the Finance Committee from 11 to 9, and change the term to 2 (from 1).

Section 7-7 - to be removed, these items should really be covered in a human resources section.

The three page handout from the subcommittee follows:

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

--- page 2 ---

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

--- page 3 ---

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Live reporting - Town Council - 9/16/09

Attending: Whalen, Vallee, Bartlett, Feeley, Pfeffer, Doak, McGann, Zollo
Missing: Mason

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – August 19, 2009, September 2, 2009
motion to approve - passed 8-0

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS
Harvest Festival this Sunday, 9/20/09  11:00 AM to 4:00 PM


C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS - none

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS - none

E. APPOINTMENTS  - none

F. HEARINGS   - none

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS  - none

H. DISCUSSIONS - none

Open offer to candidates for Franklin's Election - November 3rd

As there are several new candidates for election this November, let me re-post my offer.

To the candidates for Franklin's election on November 3, 2009:

I extend an offer to conduct and post an interview with you here. The interview can be either text or audio.

You are running to conduct business on behalf of Franklin. Together, we can share your views, your objectives, and help to spread the word to create an informed voter.

Send me an email (shersteve at gmail dot com) and we can arrange a mutually convenient time.

Be aware that this is my public service effort conducted solely to create an informed electorate here in Franklin.

I do this for fun and education. If it stops being that way, I will stop. This is not an advertising site. This is an information sharing site.

My disclosure statement can be found here.

The Milford Daily News covers the current candidate line up in their article today.

November Election Line up

The line up for the November 3rd election finally has settled and looks like this:


Board of Assessors - 1 Position (For 4 years)
no candidates

updated 10/28/09

Chris Feeley has announced his intention to run as a "write-in" candidate for the Board of Assessors


Board of Health - 1 Position (For 4 years)
Bruce Hunchard
Koren Kanadanian - new

Planning Board - 2 Position (For 4 years)
Anthony Padula
Joseph Halligan - new

Planning Board (Associate) - 1 vacant position (For 4 Years)
John Carroll - new

Town Council - 9 Positions (For 2 Years)
Joseph McGann
R. Scott Mason
Judith Pond Pfeffer
Shannon Zollo
Robert Vallee
Stephen Whalen
Glenn Jones - new
Daniel Ballinger - new
Bryce Kuchs - new - due to changes at his work, he would be unable to fulfill the duties if elected*

Robert Avakian (switch from Board of Assessors)
Matthew Kelly (switch from School Committee)
Tina Powderly - new
Glenna Richards - new

School Committee - 7 Positions (For 2 Years)
Susan Rohrbach
Paula Mullen
Edward Cafasso
Roberta Trahan
Jeffrey Roy
William Glynn - new
Cynthia Douglas - new

* Kuchs name will still appear on the ballot as it has already been printed.

Third Thursday - 9/17/09

Yes, Third Thursday has rolled around for September already. Here are the details for the events scheduled to occur this Thursday evening in downtown Franklin:

Thursday, September 17 4:30 PM - 8:00 PM

hosted by Artbeat, The Creativity Store
 

Turning Sibling Rivalry into Harmony

Meet identical twin sisters (and Bellingham residents) Heather Kempskie and Lisa Hanson this Thursday, September 17th at ARTBEAT from 4:30 to 6:00 PM when we feature their award-winning "The Siblings' Busy Book: 200 Fun Activities for Kids of Different Ages."   Heather and Lisa will share tips with parents, and kids will have the chance to try some fun activities that help turn sibling rivalry into harmony.


Theme:  It's All About Time

Emma's Quilt Cupboard, It's Time to get started on your Holiday Gifts.  Come see our beautiful fall/holiday samples and take advantage of our new class offerings

Jane's Frames, 11 E. Central St. It's Time for Celebrating 15 years in business. Daily specials with lots of 15% off savings!

 H & R Block, 9 E. Central St. It's Time for Tax Planning! Tax talks every 15 minutes. Topics: education, making work pay credit, first time home buyers credit, home energy credits

Hair at Nail It, 20 Main St. Free wash & blow dry & new customer coupon

Franklin Pizza,  18 Cottage Street, Free 2 liter soda with large pizza purchase

Pretty is Pink, 9 Summer Street, It's Time for You. Shop for yourself, enter free drawing for Gift Certificate

Rick's Restaurant  28 W. Central St., It's Time for Taste, 3rd Thursday participants: Diners enjoy free homemade onion rings.

Sarapaan,  17 E. Central St , It's Time for a new look! Design your earrings and let us finish it for you.

Salon Sorella, 9 Summer St. It's Time to relax! Receive a free 10 minute back massage.

Get full details at each participating business

So much is happening Downtown/Uptown Franklin
Come join the Fun!

 

You can also mark your calendar for October 15th and November 19th for the next Third Thursdays!

Boston Globe introduces "Budget Blues", a new blog

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Introducing Budget Blues, a new blog

via Override Central on 9/15/09

We're launching a new blog, Budget Blues, to cover the financial struggles facing Massachusetts communities and their tax payers. We'll write about property tax overrides, budget cuts and some of the spending priorities cities and towns make.

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to Override Central using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

College Cost webinar - Thu Sep 17 - 7:00 PM

The word "college" can trigger a lot of stress, but here's a solution...

One of the country's leading experts in college admissions and financial aid, author and speaker Paul Hemphill, will be conducting a live seminar online Thursday evening, Sept 17, at 7 PM. Topics will include:

• How to cut $42,000 from college costs without a parent taking out a single loan
• The financial advantages to applying to 10 colleges instead of 5
• Why a student should apply Early Action and NOT Early Decision
• The 4 questions to ask to get the most financial aid
• The money advantage of appealing a financial aid award
• The financial advantages of going to college during high school
• The college application – why answers to innocent questions can cause rejections
• Financial aid forms – why you must be cautious

Paul provides 60-70 minutes of pure stress relief. Be sure your high school student is watching - Paul will set their minds - and yours - at ease.

Paul has a fact-filled and fast-paced program that will produce a few laughs from true stories that will really hit home.

Go ahead and register now, and be sure to send this notice of the webinar to 4 of your friends who have high school students.

Here's a free YouTube video Paul created, which has become the second most-watched video on college essays: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ago6tIEnL0g


Click through to register here

Open Learning Initiative - Great Courses

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Open Learning Initiative - Great Courses

via Free Technology for Teachers by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne) on 9/11/09

The Open Learning Initiative offers free high-quality courses created by Carnegie Mellon University. There are courses available in Statistics, Engineering, Science, Economics, French, and more. All of the courses are open to anyone that wants to give the courses a try. Users can create an account to track their progress or users can just jump into the course materials without creating an account.

In addition to offering open learning opportunities to students, the Open Learning Initiative provides instructors with course packages that they can use for free. To explore the free options offered to educators, request an OLI Instructor Account.

Applications for Education
The Open Learning Initiative provides high school students with the opportunity explore their interests and get a sense of what is required by collegiate level courses. If you're school allows you to create independent study opportunities, the OLI instructor resources could be starting place for creating those opportunities.



Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
100 Awesome Open Courses
Lectures and Courses from Great Universities
Yale Open Courses Added to iTunes

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to Free Technology for Teachers using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites