Businesses opening

1 - As pictured here earlier, Cafe Dolce is expanding to the former Choo Choo shop at the downtown Franklin/Dean College station. Conversation with BJ and his father reveals they are looking to open next week. The place has been freshly painted, tables and chairs cleaned and painted. Additional works and final permits are required but with a little luck they intend to open next week.

A better outside photo than the one in the early morning light on Thursday:

The coffee will be brewing soon:

2 - And Maguro House, a Japanese restaurant, will opening this month at the corner of the building opposite from Cafe Dolce.

Updated 2/25/10
The Grand Opening Party is scheduled for Sunday, February 28th from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

These are good signs for downtown!

In the News - lawsuit

Alleging they were victims of what their lawyer called an outrageous display of excessive force by a police officer, one current and three former students at Dean College have filed suit in federal court.

The four are seeking $1 million in damages, and have named two Franklin officers and the town as defendants.

The plaintiffs claim their constitutional rights were violated when Officer Douglas Nix drew his gun and aimed at them after pulling over their SUV on Feb. 28, 2009.

Read the remainder of the article here:

Lawsuit claims police brutality

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

really going to change how the DCR does business

“The DCR forest vision draft, if ever adopted, would represent a major improvement in the state’s practices and policies for cutting on forest lands, because it would much more emphasize stewardship, habitat, recreation, and scenic values, with less emphasis on timber cutting,’’ said Gregor McGregor, a member of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions, which advises local boards in communities around the state.

The draft plan represents “a paradigm shift,’’ he said, in moving land use away from timbering and toward ecosystem values.

This caught my eye although the Franklin Forest is not specifically mentioned in the article. There is a wealth of additional reading available on the DCR website here:
http://www.mass.gov/dcr/news/publicmeetings/tsc_draft_recommendations.htm


Last night there was a forum in Westborough, the next closest forum will be on the 11th in Taunton:
http://www.mass.gov/dcr/news/publicmeetings/forestryfvpupcoming.htm


Feedback can be provided by attending one of the forums, via email or an online survey. Of course,  there is no restriction against providing feedback in all three methods.

You can read the full article in the Boston Globe West edition from Thursday
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2010/02/04/some_state_owned_parkland_being_reclassified_to_minimize_tree_cutting_other_damage/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Globe+West

Cafe Dolce expands to train station

I took the train into Boston on Thursday for a conference and was pleased to find this sign over the door at the former Choo-Choo shop.

Jane Curran had left me know they were going to expand. I haven't caught up with BJ or Dave yet but when I do, I'll provide additional info on when they open.

Hard to believe it is almost a year ago that they opened downtown (4/13/09)! You can view the photo slide show of the opening day here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2009/04/grand-opening-cafe-dolce.html

Franklin, MA: Citizens Rail Trail Committee - meeting 2/9/10

The next meeting of the FCRTC will be held at the Franklin YMCA, Forge Hill Rd. Franklin. The meeting on February 9^th will commence at 7:30 PM and conclude NLT 9:30 PM.

I. Call to Order / Introductions of New Attendees

A. Introduction of new attendees
B. Volunteer to write minutes of the meeting
C. Motion to accept previous meeting minutes


II. Report from our representative from DCR

A. Gates at Spring St
B. Leveling of the Trail
C. Walking Trails


III. Membership Committee Report (Denison, McKeown, Sawyer)
A. Committee to report on membership activity


IV. Report from Finance Committee (Rossetti)
A. Report from Treasurer


VII. Report of Fund Raising Committee (Sawyer)

A. Report on fund raising activities
a. Raffle Ticket Sales
b. Road Race Committee

VIII. Report on Meeting with Franklin PLUC 2/1/10 (Svendsen)

IX. Open Discussion on Restructuring FCRTC

X. Unfinished Business:
A. Questions from members / attendees

XI. New Business:
A.

XII. Set Date for Next Meeting and Adjourn



Additional information on the Citizens Rail Trail Committee can be found on their website
http://www.franklinrailtrail.org/

You can find prior posts on their activities by searching on Franklin Matters for "rail trail"

"build confidence in a high-pressure situation"

"It's a way to compete on a team for kids who may or may not be athletic," said Franklin mock trial team coach Mike Walsh.

Walsh, a social studies teacher at Franklin High School, said the school has recognized mock trial as a true team sport, going so far as awarding varsity letters to those who make the team.

Read the full article about mock trial teams here

Teens try their hand at the law

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Melanie Graham/Daily News staff

Waste Discussion Recap

For a short Town Council meeting, there was a bit of interesting discussion.

The discussion started right away with Citizen's Comments

Michael Galvin, Vice-President of American Waste Services, LLC (the current waste contractor and a bidder on the new contract), also a Franklin resident spoke.

He referenced an 11 page document that apparently the Town Council received (at least some of them) and tried to condense his remarks to keep within the guidelines for citizen's comments (5 minute limit)

He didn't make it; he got cut off at five, but then was allocated another five minutes from another resident.

This is what I walked away with:

 - The contract is still under negotiation, three bidders are involved, why is this discussion in public, shouldn't the other two have equal access?

 - There is some dispute about the numbers. If the current contractor has actual numbers, why wouldn't they be considered along with the research from other communities? Why weren't the actual numbers from Franklin's experience included earlier in the discussion. (If they were, it wasn't apparent from the discussion Weds.)

 - Mr Galvin's comment should have stood alone. However, when the second piece of legislation scheduled for the meeting agenda came up for discussion, the conversation deviated from the matter at hand to get into this.

 - The second piece of legislation was the authorization of the purchase of the totters/bins to implement the single stream contract. The totters would be used no matter which of the three bidders won.

The argument by Councilor Vallee that this is the wrong time to spend any money is interesting. This is actually the best time to buy the totters (assuming we go with this single stream process). 

• The interest rate (for financing the purchase) is as low as it can be
• The cost for the bins will be low
• The waste rate will actually be a cost savings for Franklin residents (from $244 to $220, a $24 savings)
• It will be a sort of 'stimulus purchase' for the vendor who actually sells us the bins/totters, hence a really good deal, especially at this time

Given that the waste fee second reading will come before the Council soon (likely next week), this discussion will possibly be continued and revisited with more time wasted (pun intended) by some folks trying to.micro-manage the situation.

Assuming the second reading does come forward, all it is supposed to do is set the rates for the Town to charge the residents. The contract will still be negotiated sometime before the current one expires on June 30th.

Stay tuned to see what happens next week!

Town Council Mtg Smry 02/03/10

The collection of live reported posts from the Town Council meeting on Weds 2/3/10 can be found here

• Live reporting - Closing items
• Live reporting - Legislation
• Live reporting - License
• Live reporting - Town Council

Senator Spilka to Hold Office Hours in Franklin; Fri - Feb 19

Senator Karen Spilka to Hold Office Hours in Franklin

Join Senator Spilka and Puja Mehta, Senator Spilka's District and Constituent Services Director, for coffee and conversation.  They will update constituents on the latest news and events, and answer any questions you may have.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Franklin: Elizabeth's Bagels and More

10:00 a.m -11:00 a.m.

456 West Central Street, Franklin

In the News - authorized to buy

Highlights of the Town Council discussion on the new waste recycling system from Wednesday's meeting are reported in the paper:

Franklin votes to borrow money to fund new trash system

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Ashley Studley/Daily News staff

FM Budget Workshop Part 4 - 1/25/10

This is part 4 of the Budget Workshop held on Monday, Jan 25, 2010. Susan Gagner completes her presentation, Jim Dacey covers debt and Jeff Nutting explains the Stabilization Fund and 'free cash'.


Time: 26 minutes, 47 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes:

Franklin held conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010. This is part four of the session recording. Susan Gagner, Town Comptroller, completes her presentation reviewing pages 8 and 9 on Net School Spending, and a little on Page 7, which was covered in Part 1.

Jeff Nutting introduces Jim Dacey, the Treasurer/Collector, who goes into detail on the debt process, highlighting the almost continuous planning and re-evaluation done in this area. The master spreadsheet they use has had 57 revisions in about 7 or 8 years.

Jeff gets asked by Scott Mason to explain the Stabilization Fund.
Steve Sherlock asks for them to cover "free cash".

The group then takes a break for refreshments and conversation. We'll resume in part 5 with the School Budget.

Susan Gagner - Page 8 - Net School Spending

Susan Gagner - Page 9 - Net School Spending (cont'd)

Susan Gagner - Page 7 - Chapter 70 and School Budget history

Jim Dacey - Debt process details

Jim Dacey - Debt plan - latest revision


Jim Dacey - Debt percent of overall budget

-----

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/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html

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

Live reporting - Closing items

K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
none

L. OLD BUSINESS
none

M. NEW BUSINESS
none

N. COUNCIL COMMENTS
Powderly - under-utilization of funding available for seniors to provide relief from property taxes


Pfeffer - First information night on Housing trust, 6 couples came for info; Medway looking to become a green community, is Franklin looking at this?
Nutting - we are looking at it, but we are not sure we can meet the standard, our buildings are newer and may not be able to save as much as they would like. We have applied for solar panels for one of the schools
Pfeffer - One of Carlo's words of wisdom was if someone sends an anonymous letter, ignore it
Mason - yes, I have been getting unsigned letters, not that I am not concerned, but if you don't sign it, I can't follow up on it


O. EXECUTIVE SESSION – Negotiations, Litigation, Real Property, as May Be Required
not needed

P. ADJOURN
motion to adjorn

Live reporting - Legislation

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
• Resolution 10-85: Authorization to Expend Funds in Excess of Available Appropriations
a regular house keeping requirement, better to be a little under than over

motion to approve - passed 8-0

• Resolution 10-86: Authorization to Borrow for the Purchase of Trash Totters



motion to approve - passed

Discussion
Jeff in order to implement the new system, need to front the cost for the bins/totters
once paid off, the fee could be used to replenish them as needed and still drop over time

Vallee speaking against the purchase now, the timing is wrong
Nutting - We were told to fix this, we spent more than three years on this, we worked with the Recycling Committee, did a ton of research,
Whalen - I am in favor of this

Garella - the negative vote was due to the single bin option, not due to any other numbers. If you don't go with this program, the cost will increase over time.

McGann - clarification question on bidder delivery of new truck
Nutting - either bidder would have to meet the requirements of the RFP

Nutting - we went out with an increase in recycling, we have been to the Council previously on a pay-as-you-throw process and you didn't like that, we have now come with the single stream process

Pfeffer - my concern is with the seniors being able to handle the units

McGann - proceeding to ask Jeff
Mason - discussion is bordering on the item that would come up for discussion next week. This is for the totters, next week is the fee schedule

Nutting - we would need totters for this system

McGann - question on who pays for some items
Nutting - residents already pay for some items, some of which it will increase, the $25 fee may not be the contract, we haven't finished negotiation yet

McGann - how is there such a difference amongst the bidders
Nutting - I can speak to that, they have to meet the requirements of the RFP

Roll call (requires 2/3 majority)

Jones - can we combine this and do this next week

Vallee - I am against this for the reasons I mentioned before





Passed 6-2  McGann, Vallee - both voted no
1 Absent (Zollo)

• Resolution 10-87: Rescission of Authorization to Borrow – Municipal Off-Street Parking
house keeping item, authorized several years ago, taking it off the books but it is not relevant to anything now

Motion to approve - passed 8-0

• Resolution 10-88: Rescission of Authorization to Borrow – Purchase of Street Lights
The purchases were made with cash and we did not need to borrow to pay for them.
Another house keeping item, authorized several years ago, taking it off the books but it is not relevant to anything now

Motion to approve - passed 8-0

Live reporting - License

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS - Application for a New Wine & Malt License – Spruce Pond Creamery
Motion to approve, Passed 8-0

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS
none

I. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
none

Live reporting - Town Council

Attending:  Kelly, Jones, Vallee, Whalen, Mason, Pfeffer, McGann, Powderly
Missing: Zollo

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – January 6, 2010
Motion to approve, with addition of sentence from S Whalen
Passed 8-0

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS
none

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS
none

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS
Michael Galvin, Franklin Resident, Vice-President - American Waste Services, LLC
speaking on cost for contract bidding of the waste program
"taking away services that residents currently have"





 Robert Delllorco gave his five minutes to Michael to continue speaking

\(I'll add the recording of this later)

Gene Garella - Chairman, Recycling Committee
committee voted three times
unanimous to accept a single stream recycling
3-1 vote to accept (to be filled in)
voted against increasing the fee at Beaver St

program adds overflow bags to residents to cover for parties
recycling made easier with single stream
recycling increase should reduce waste tonnage

No questions allowed during citizens comments

E. APPOINTMENTS
none

F. HEARINGS
none