Wednesday, February 3, 2010

More on cyberbullying


... we need to treat bullying as a public health issue. We reduced teen smoking and drunk driving with massive education programs. We can do the same with bullying.
But it starts at home.
Read all of Kevin Cullen's column in the Boston Globe here.
We’ve learned little in the United States, even though the study cited our national anti-bullying efforts to date. I suspect that the reasons the US bullying rate has not moved are complex. But a good place to start is coming up this Sunday as a huge percentage of Americans will sit down in living rooms and bars and watch the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts play in the Super Bowl.
Most bullying begins with nasty words, and what will we certainly see on Sunday? We’ll see player after player jawing at each other and talking trash. No media outlet seems above glorifying in some way the top trash talkers in sports, whether it is reminiscing about Muhammad Ali or observing the most flamboyant athletes of the moment.
And read all of Derrick Jackson's column in the Boston Globe here

The MA Trial Court Law Library page here has a great collection on the legislation around cyberbullying


My preference is for starting at home. The schools can help but even if they do all they can, when a kid goes home and it is not reinforced, all the effort is lost.

Wha do you think?

Are your oil fired buners compliant?

From the massgov Twitter stream today, I saw:
@massgov: Older oil burners must be upgraded to prevent leaks - A law enacted over a year ago (St. 2008, c.453) requires home... http://ow.ly/16tOyU 

When you follow the link you find: (bold added for my emphasis)
A law enacted over a year ago (St. 2008, c.453) requires homeowners with oil burners installed before 1990 to make a small change to their systems by July 1, 2010 to prevent leaks. According to the Mass. DEP, under the Homeowner Oil Heating System Upgrade and Insurance Law,  "Owners of 1- to 4-unit residences that are heated with oil must already have or install an oil safety valve or an oil supply line with a protective sleeve...  Installation of these devices must be performed by a licensed oil burner technician."  "It is important to note that heating oil systems installed on or after January 1, 1990 most likely are already in compliance because state fire codes implemented these requirements on new installations at that time."

The good news is that the law also requires insurers who offer homeowner's insurance to also offer coverage for oil leaks to those who have certified that they have made the repairs or are exempt from the requirement.

More information, including a diagram of necessary repairs, is available at the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection site.
The burner in my house failed and was replaced in Sep 2008 so I know we are compliant. This is the first I hear that there is a deadline to be complaint by July 1, 2010.

Is your oil fired burner compliant?




In the News - road repairs

Ashley Studley, Milford Daily News, filed her report from the Finance Committee meeting that took place last night.

Franklin looks at street repairs

from The Milford Daily News News RSS





Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Partial Live Reporting at FINCOM

I didn't get to tune into the Finance Committee meeting Tuesday evening until it was an hour underway. I did catch part of Chief McCarraher's discussion on the needs of the Fire Dept, and then Robert (Brutus) Cantoreggi's discussion on the DPW's needs.

I will catch up to the full meeting when the video is available on demand and report on the capital outlook. The one good item from this is the attempt to start spending something on a regular basis to repair our roads. As you may be aware, there are approx 200 miles of roads, many of which were built in the last 30 years and with no budget for road repair we are asking for trouble.

Yes, some of our roads do get repaired as part of the water enterprise account when water mains need to be repaired and upgraded. Or when we get some Chapter 90 money from the state, approx 750,000 the past several years. The Town has been very thrifty on this front and will need to start spending something significant on a regular basis to begin to handle the demands.

The Finance Committee did not vote on any capital budget items this evening. Based upon what happened last year, Jeff Nutting will wait to see how the winter treats the snow/ice budget before committing to use some of the "free cash" for capital items.

The meeting can be viewed on the internet video archive for the Town here



Text translator for 'teen speak'

Texting is all the rage amongst teens.

Cyberbullying happens to be one theme amongst the many messages sent.


LG has a website to help translate the texting shortcuts used.


You can translate from the short cut to SMS text or from a regular English sentence translate to text.


Related links:

Teen Angels is a group of middle school students working to raise awareness amongst their peers on cyberbullying. The TeenAngels presented to the School Committee earlier this month. You can see what they did here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-teen-angels.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/teen-angels-pledge-text-think-send.html

Legislation is being discussed to address cyberbullying. I don't think legislation is the answer. Parents, teachers, and the teens themselves can do a better job of creating awareness and changing behaviors.



Green Reel - FLOW, Sunday, Feb 7 at 7:00 PM

A series of films on sustainable living called "The Green Reel" will be held Sunday evenings in North Attleboro. The films are presented free of charge. Some refreshments are available. Discussion about the film is encouraged.

"Flow" will be shown Feb 7th at 7:00 PM

Flow (For Love Of Water)


"An astonishingly wide-ranging film. An informed and heartfelt examination of the tug of war between public health and private interests." - New York Times

"Lively and engaging...Smartly Done" - Los Angeles Times

“The inconvenient truth at the center of Flow: For Love of Water is that while the oil crisis is intensely debated and documented, disasters involving an even more essential fluid go perilously unnoticed.” - Slant Magazine

“Focusing on pollution, human rights, politics, and corruption, filmmaker Salina constructs an exceptionally articulate profile of the precarious relationship uniting human beings and water. “ - Rotten Tomatoes
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Official Selection 2008 Sundance Film Festival

International Jury Prize 2008 Mumbai International Film Festival

Best Documentary 2008 Vail International Film Festival

Winner Best Documentary United Nations Association Film Festival

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Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis.

Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.

Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question "CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?"

Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround.

The flyer for the full series can be seen here:

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io




In the News - regionalization, elderly growth

One of the avenues to explore to more effectively utilize the limited funding available and maintain services is regionalization. Franklin and Bellingham share animal services. Franklin and Medway share library and recreation services. Franklin and Medway share nursing services for seniors.

This article shows other communities are considering additional services for regionalization.

Medway mulls regionalizing nursing, dispatch

from The Milford Daily News News RSS



Presenting data already collected for the foundation, Boston University professor Lorenz Finison told the commission yesterday that the regional population of residents 75 or older in 2000 is projected to grow about 60 percent by 2030. The study area includes the foundation's coverage zone of 25 cities and towns, a swath that stretches from Needham to Westborough and from Hudson to Bellingham.







Group discusses MetroWest's elderly population

from The Milford Daily News News RSS





In the News - pension reform

Given the extended discussion during the Budget Workshop held a week ago, this editorial is timely:

Editorial: Next steps on pension reform

from Wicked Local Franklin News RSS







Monday, February 1, 2010

FM Budget Workshop Part 3 - 1/25/10

Franklin held conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010. This is part three of the session recording. Susan Gagner, Town Comptroller, continues her presentation reviewing page 6, Fixed Costs. There is a whole lot of discussion around this page on pensions, health insurance, unemployment compensation.... All good questions, good answers from Susan and Jeff Nutting, Town Administrator.

Time: 32 minutes, 27 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes:


Susan Gagner - The Six Year Fixed Cost History

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Thank you for listening.

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 music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.

Live reporting from the workshop can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-special-meeting-budget.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-budget-workshop.html

Part 1 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html

Part 2 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-2-12510.html

FM Budget Workshop Part 2 - 1/25/10

Franklin held conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010. This is part two of the session recording. Susan Gagner, Town Comptroller, continues her presentation reviewing pages 3, 4 and 5.
Page 3 - The six year estimated receipts history; Page 4 - The six year State Assessment history; Page 5 - The Franklin Budget breakdown

Time: 14 minutes, 52 seconds




MP3 File

Session notes:

Susan Gagner - The six year estimated receipts history

Susan Gagner - The six year State Assessment history

Susan Gagner - The Franklin Budget breakdown

-----

Thank you for listening.

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 music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.

Live reporting from the workshop can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-special-meeting-budget.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-budget-workshop.html

Part 1 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html

FM #56 - Week ending 1/31/10

This is #56 in the series on what matters in Franklin, MA. This session covers the Busget Hearing and the School Committee meeting of the past week and looks ahead to the Finance Comm and Town Council meetings this week.


Time: 10 minutes, 14 seconds



MP3 File

Session notes:




This internet radio show or podcast is number 56 in the series for Franklin Matters.


Take about ten minutes to keep current with what matters in Franklin, MA as the week ends January 31, 2010


In this session I’ll cover the Budget Workshop on Monday, Jan 25 and the School Committee meeting on Tuesday January 26, 2010


I'll also review changes to the Facebook group for Franklin Matters and the introduction of Franklin Matters Weekly.


Monday night, the budget workshop was held at the municipal bldg. Jeff Nutting credited Maureen Sabolinski with the idea to get folks together to review the basics of the budget and the process rather than having to do it three times, once each for the Town Council, School committee and the Finance Committee.


A great idea. It was well attended. The new folks from the TC and SC were there, I think everyone from FINCOM was there. There were also a few other citizens; an FHS teacher, A DPW worker, and and “average joe” citizen.


The presentation started with Susan Gagner, Town Comptroller reviewing the details of the town incomes and expenses. Very well done. Jim Dacey, Treasurer/Collector reviewed debt and interest rate side of the Town business.


The group took a break for some refreshments and conversation. It seemed too short on conversation as we got called back together to review the School budget. Maureen Sabolinski and Miriam Goodman took the lead, then handed off to Sally Winslow and Beth Fitzmaurice to cover the Special Ed nuances.


After 3 hours of good info, solid Q&A, we broke for the evening. I did record the workshop and will be releasing sections of the meeting for others to listen in and learn what we all did.


Some of the documents have been posted to the website for viewing and printing should you want your own copy.


Watch FM for additional segments as they are released.


Two main takeways from the School Committee meeting Tuesday evening. One the budget history for the past several years was presented. This was effectively the same document reviewed during the budget workshop on Monday. This is not correct. Although I recorded it that way, the two presentations are indeed separate. The School Committee presentation is posted and does cover the historical aspects of the school budget. The presentation from the workshop is not yet posted but will be as I get to that section of the recording.


The School Committee also started a discussion on setting priorities or ground rules for considering what programs would be cut should it come to that to balance the budget. Sue Rohrbach did a good job starting the discussion and laying out some topic for consideration. She had not prioritized them, that would be a next step to do so. By the time the remaining members of the committee weighed in on items to add, it wasn't really a list that could be called a short one, it seemed to me like everything the schools did was now added to the list.


On the one hand, it shows how serious the budget situation is, there are no sacred cows. Everything is on the table.


On the other hand, with everything on the table, the SC does need to get to the next level of determining some criteria for prioritizing the cuts. I think what they have thus far is not better than what they had earlier.


A copy of the presentation is available on Franklin matters


As I have said here before, the next several months will be very interesting. Franklin citizens can provide and should their input to the charter (how we conduct our business), the downtown project (how we will get in and around downtown), and ultimately the Franklin budget (which will effect everyone because of the services that we all receive from it, altho admittedly, some receive more than others.). If you were waiting for a good time to get involved, the time is now.


In recognition that time your time is short, I have created a separate webpage to post the weekly review. For those who just want the facts, a la Sgt Joe Friday from Dragnet, you can subscribe to FM Weekly and all you will get will be the weekly summary once a week. It should clean up your email and help you stay current.


If you want all the details, stay here at FM and you'll continue to get all that I can learn and share about Franklin.


I still need to attend the meetings, take the notes, etc. in order to produce the weekly so there won;t be any change on the FM front. You'll still get everything without a change.


The addition is the FM weekly for you or one of your neighbors, who just wants the short skinny, they can get it.


On Facebook, there is a group for Franklin Matters. I have created a “fan page” for FM and will be posting new info there, eventually removing the group. What's the difference? The fan page is more like your Facebook profile page and easier to manage for me. No change in content just in the location where you can obtain it.


Looking ahead, there is a FINCOM meeting on Tuesday. They are scheduled to look at the capital budget and begin to make some decisions on what if anything we can do on the capital side.


The Town Council meets on Wednesday. Spruce Pond Creamery is up for a liquor license and then the Council has a couple of items of legislation to approve, one to fund the trash totters or new bins that we discussed last time;  two, to clean up some outstanding debt authorizations that we don't need at this time.


As I close this session this week, let me remind you that
  • If you like what I am doing, please tell your neighbors
  • If you don’t like something, please tell me




Thank you for listening.

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 music for the intro and exit was provided by 
Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission


I hope you enjoy!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.





Finance Committee - Agenda - 2/2/2010

Balances as of December 2009
Gen Stab 4,593,427
PW Stab 129,321
Debt Stab 378,688
Traffic Stab 21,327
Overlay Surplus - 0 -
Free Cash 2,173,842
Call to Order

Citizens Comments

Approval of Minutes

Discussion 
Capital Improvement Plan 2010
Technology – Town/School Tim Rapoza, Maureen Sabolinski
Facilities – Town/School Mike D’Angelo
School Vans – Mike D’Angelo
Police – Chief Williams
Fire – Chief McCarraher
DPW – Brutus Cantoreggi

Old Business

New Business

Adjournment



Town Council - Agenda - 2/3/2010

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – January 6, 2010

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS

E. APPOINTMENTS

F. HEARINGS

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS - Application for a New Wine & Malt License – Spruce Pond Creamery

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS

I. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
• Resolution 10-85: Authorization to Expend Funds in Excess of Available Appropriations
• Resolution 10-86: Authorization to Borrow for the Purchase of Trash Totters
• Resolution 10-87: Rescission of Authorization to Borrow – Municipal Off-Street Parking
• Resolution 10-88: Rescission of Authorization to Borrow – Purchase of Street Lights

K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

L. OLD BUSINESS

M. NEW BUSINESS

N. COUNCIL COMMENTS

O. EXECUTIVE SESSION – Negotiations, Litigation, Real Property, as May Be Required

P. ADJOURN



Sunday, January 31, 2010

Budget Workshop Collection - 1/25/10

Franklin held conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010.  This is the collection of live reporting and audio recordings from the workshop.


Live reporting from the workshop can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-special-meeting-budget.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-budget-workshop.html


Parts 1 through 4 cover the Town portion of the budget with Jeff Nutting, Susan Gagner and Jim Dacey leading the discussion.

Part 1 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html

Part 2 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-2-12510.html

Part 3 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-3-12510.html

Part 4 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-4-1252010.html


Parts 5 through 8 cover the Schools portion of the budget with Maureen Sabolinski, Miriam Goodman, Sally Winslow, and Beth Fitzmaurice leading the discussion.

Part 5 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-5-12510.html



Part 6 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-6-12510.html


Part 7 of the workshop recording can be found here

Part 8 of the workshop recording can be found here

In Part 9, Jeff Nutting provides some closing remarks and Bob Richer (citizen at large) provides some good feedback on the session.

The final segment, Part 9 of the workshop recording, can be found here



In the News - Haiti, cyberbullying

Network needed for aid in Haiti

from The Milford Daily News News RSS 

The New England Chapel is located in Franklin

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Cyberbullying too real for teens


Teen Angels is a group of middle school students working to raise awareness amongst their peers on cyberbullying. The TeenAngels presented to the School Committee earlier this month. You can see what they did here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-teen-angels.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/teen-angels-pledge-text-think-send.html