Downtown Beautification Day - May 22

All residents are welcome to pull on their gardening gloves and bring their tools to help plant more than 1,200 plants during Franklin’s seventh annual Beautification Day on Saturday, May 22, from 9:00 a.m. to Noon. The event will take place rain or shine.

The Franklin Downtown Partnership, together with the Franklin Garden Club and Wadsworth Farm, is again organizing the plantings for the bridge and the islands downtown. Volunteers are asked to meet at 9:00 a.m. on the center island in downtown. High school students who need community service hours are welcome to participate.

“This is our seventh year beautifying the downtown and it’s become a passion for all involved,” says Eileen Mason, Beautification Day chairperson.  “We want to make a strong, positive impression on all those who visit Franklin in hopes that they may someday come back to shop, eat and relax in our wonderfully revitalized downtown community.

“We also do this to soften and minimize the ‘concrete look’ in the center of town,” adds Mason.  “All this is accomplished solely through sponsorships, donations and 100 percent volunteer hours. We need everyone’s participation.”

The color scheme for this year’s plantings is pinks and blues, including Rose and Purple Wave Petunias, Blue Annabelle Lobelia, Persian Shield, Diamond Frost, and blue, white and pink Salvia.

According to Mason, the downtown beautification effort follows a year-long cycle. This spring’s plants were chosen last November, and then planted in the Wadsworth Farm greenhouses in March in order to be ready for planting this May. In October, beautification volunteers remove the plants and prepare for winter, placing evergreen decorations in containers the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

“Although we plant in May, this is a year-round project. Sponsorships and donations are what keep this effort going,” says Mason.

Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Gold and platinum-level sponsors will have their names prominently displayed on a sign in the center island for the 2010 season. Silver sponsors will have their name displayed on a group sign in the center island for the remainder of the year.

Interested sponsors and volunteers should contact Eileen Mason at 508-330-4234 for more details. 


All contributions to the Franklin Downtown Partnership, a non-profit organization, are tax deductible. Please make checks payable to:  Franklin Downtown Partnership, P.O. Box 413, Franklin, MA, 02038.  For more information about the Partnership and becoming a member, contact Executive Director Lisa Piana at (774) 571-3109 or downtown.franklin@yahoo.com. 


Franklin, MA

In the News - Price Chopper, murder mystery, beautification day, support group

Price Chopper eyes Franklin site

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

Franklin Federated Church presents Murder Mystery Dinner Theater

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Staff reports

Beautification day set in Franklin

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Staff reports

St. Mary Church begins bereavement support group

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Staff reports

Franklin, MA

Live reporting - Franklin Market (Price Chopper)

Planning Board
Halligan recused for the hearing on the Franklin Market, 485 East Central St.
John Carroll, the associate Planning Board member has been activated for this hearing/decision.

The shuffling of the large plan drawings are irritating to the ears on the broadcast

There would be a single building with a proposed 307 parking spots, less than the requirement already approved. The prior plan was for multiple businesses in a smaller foot print.

Went before the Conservation Commission on May 13th, doing a site walk through on 5/18 and then coming back before the Conservation Commission on May 27th.

Design Review submission planned to get on the agenda for the June 8th meeting

A good deal of additional information required for submission

Zoning Board of Appeals would be involved later as the plans finalized to cover the removal of the stone.

MASSHighway will be involved as there is a proposed light at the intersection of 140 and the access road.
The applicant plans to have a dedicated left turn lane from 140 into Chestnut Ridge, as well as a dedicated right turn lane from the other direction on 140 into the Chestnut Ridge. The section along 140 would be widened to allow for the turning lanes and maintaining sidewalks.

Store is proposed for a 24 hour operation. Most of the shelf stocking would be done during the off hours but there would be staff to handle purchases of the few around the clock.

The building height would bring the roof equal to the ledge existing. The roof would contain air conditioner units and while screened and muffled for sound would clearly be visible.

The loading dock and dumpsters would be positioned along the East Central side of the building.

There are wetlands and sewer issues to be handled.

The unit would be operated as a Price Chopper in the proposed 61,000 sq. ft. building.

Several residents spoke of concerns about the blasting required to bring the wall back another 50 ft.

Bryan Taberner spoke to address some of the concerns expressed by the residents.
Beth Dahlstrom addressed the special permit requirements which is the one area where the Planning Board will have some leeway to address the concerns on the quality of life, etc.

LEED - Leadership in Energy and Efficient Design  More on LEED can be found here.

One resident was calling for a "master plan". There is a master plan and it is being updated this year.

Beth Dalhstrom also reminded the audience that the plans as submitted by the applicant are available for review by all the residents in the Planning Dept. There is also a public copy available in the Council Chambers for reference during the meeting.

June 8th - Design review
June 21st - continue public hearing at 7:15 PM


Franklin, MA

EPA Storm water proposal information

The handout provided to the attendees for the EPA Informational Forum on the new storm water regulation meeting held Wednesday, May 12th at Tr-County Reg Voc Tech can be viewed here:

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Note: Email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view the document.


Franklin, MA

Franklin MA Holds Steady

While the town of Franklin, Massachusetts has not escaped financial struggles just like most metro west of Boston towns, it appears to have really held its own on the housing front. Homes in Franklin have only marginally lost value during this recession compared to other surrounding towns and informed buyers still seem to choose Franklin over other towns due to a variety of reasons. Most cite the easy commute to highways including Routes 495, 95 and the Mass. Pike. Others focus on the strong school system or the commuter rail service with two Franklin stops. Many agree that the lower property taxes and a wealth of services were contributing factors in their decision.


A 9 month review of five area towns from the Multiple Listing Service reveals the following data:

Community	Within 2% of SP	Avg SP	# Homes
Franklin	98%	$403,410	180
Wrentham	96%	$413,992	65
Bellingham	97%	$279,942	109
Milford	96%	$272,015	117
Medway	96%	$362,435	88

Note: SP is "Selling Price"




This data is all very interesting and although someone would expect that the lower priced towns would attract more buyers, it is clear that the town and what it has to offer make all the difference. Franklin posted higher priced average sales over the past 9 months but had 180 homes sold!

Franklin, MA remains a great value and presently homes are selling rather quickly with at least 3 homes over the past few weeks selling during their first day on the market. If you have questions about the local real estate market, please feel free to email or call me at 508-369-5131. For more resources and information, check out my website.

Authored by: Kathy Stankard, of The Kelly & Colombo Group at RE/MAX Executive Realty.

FM #68 - Week Ending 5/16/10

Let's take about ten minutes to review what matters in Franklin, MA as the week ends May 16, 2010.

Time: 9 minutes, 22 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes:

This internet radio show or podcast
Number 68 in the series for Franklin Matters.

Let's take about 10 minutes to review what matters in Franklin, MA as this week comes to a close on Sunday May 16th.

In this session I'll cover last of the budget hearings by the Finance Committee on Monday, the School Committee meeting on Tuesday, the Downtown Revitalization Project on Wednesday, the open house at the DPW and the opening of the Historical Museum. To close, I'll do a brief outlook at the week ahead.

Beginning with the Finance Committee. They completed their set of budget hearings for fiscal year 2011. The hearings provided a detailed discussion with each department head on their budget needs. One significant outcome from the meeting was an endorsement by the FINCOM of the upcoming override. The committee voted 8-0 to recommend the override. These folks, volunteers as are other Town boards, are closest to the budget and inner workings of the Town.

The details are available
May 4th http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/finance-committee-050410.html
May 6th http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/finance-committee-050610.html
May 10th  http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/finance-committee-051010.html

From the school committee meeting, the update on the dept of elementary and secondary education (DESE) visit that occurred in Dec 2009 was the most noteworthy. This visit effectively reviewed the civil rights, English language learners, and special education programs of the district. On a four point scale: commendable, implemented, partially implemented or not implemented; Franklin had 9 items in the partially implemented category and that was the focal point of the presentation. Many of these items had been discussed previously as a result of the research into the district scores from MCAS exams. Now as a result of DESE visit, there is a formal action plan being put together to address the findings. One visible effect that you can see is the new capability to translate a page on the Schools website to another language.
http://www.franklin.ma.us/auto/schools/FPS/default.htm

With so much happening last week, I realized I did not get a copy of the presentation document itself to post and that should be available shortly. Updated: the presentation can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/coordinated-program-review.html

The other note worthy item from the meeting was the decision not to enable School choice for the upcoming 2010-2011 school year. This keeps the 39 students we currently service in the district in place but does not expand to any others due to the possible class size increases if the override fails to pass. The real negative for this decision is the revenue lost from school choice. The revenue from school choice is a real plus to the district to fill in otherwise under utilized capacity within the class rooms in the district. In days where revenue is looked for, this would really be nice to have. At one point, the district received revenue from 70 students in the school choice program, that has declined to the current total of 39

The full set of notes from the meeting can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/school-committee-051110.html

The Downtown Improvement or Revitalization Project was reviewed by Bryan Taberner and the architects in a good working session on Wednesday. The meeting was broadcast and available for viewing here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/downtown-improvement-project-live.html


The DPW held their annual open house on Saturday. At the same time, the Library held it's annual book sale, Good crowds took advantage of the great weather to explore the trucks and equipment in the DPW yard as well as peruse the books for sale.

A write up on the event including pictures is available here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/tooting-horn-for-books-family-day-in.html

The Historical Museum opened this weekend. A long time in planning and lots of sweat finally came to fruition. Having personally volunteered to move items from the old Washington St location to the former Town Hall downtown, it was really nice to see the finished work.

This is a great example of the low cost approach that Franklin has taken to produce a high quality product. Donations of material (TJ Maxx – display cases), school projects (Tri-County – library shelving and display cases), volunteer help (for the move, cataloging and on-going operational support), helped to make the money the Town spent much more effective.

Additional information and pictures of the new museum can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/franklin-ma-history-on-display.html

Other items of note:

Ed Cafasso published another in his series of informational newsletters
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/letter-from-ed-cafasso.html

The EPA held a public informational meeting on the proposed storm water regulations on Wednesday. It was broadcast by the Franklin Cable group but has not yet been posted for review via the on-demand video. I do have the handout from the meeting to share at this time.

I recommend that you take advantage of the discussion opportunities as we approach the special election on June 8th. Members of the Town Council, School and Finance Committees will be available to answer questions about the budget for fiscal year 2011 and the proposal to raise an additional $3 million dollars to maintain our current services.

If you would like to discuss the budget details with me, please feel free to reach out and ask. I will make time to meet with you.

As we take a look ahead on this week's schedule.

Monday, the Planning Board opens a hearing on the new market proposal for 485 East Central St. What has commonly been seen as the rock pile.

Wednesday, the Town Council meets – agenda available

Franklin Town Budget Informational Forum sponsored by Sullivan, Keller & Davis Thayer PCC at Keller/Sullivan Middle School 7:00 PM

Franklin Town Budget Informational Forum sponsored by HMMS, Oak, ECDC, FHS PCC at Horace Mann/Thomas Mercer Auditorium 7:00 PM

What will you do this week?

As I close this session this week, let me remind you that
If you like what I am doing here, please tell your friends and 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 listen to the audio recording

Planning Board - agenda - Franklin Market

7:15 PM

Initial Public Hearing 
485 East Central St - Franklin Market
Site Plan and Special Permit




Franklin, MA

Town Council - Agenda - 5/19/10

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – April 28, 2010

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS

E. APPOINTMENTS – Design Review- Associate Member (Donald G. Grover)

F. HEARINGS

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS –
1. Recycling Committee
2. July 4th Celebration

I. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION –
1. Zoning Bylaw Amendment 10-645:Site Plan Review and Design Review - Referral to Planning Board
2. Bylaw Amendment: 10-643: Chapter 105, Junk, Secondhand Goods and Antique Dealers- 2nd Reading
3. Bylaw Amendment 10-646:Request for Sewer Map Amendment: Seven Lot Subdivision Off Beech Street at #23- 1st Reading
4. Bylaw Amendment 10-647:Request for Water Map Amendment: Seven Lot Subdivision Off Beech Street at #23 – 1st Reading

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



Franklin, MA

2nd Annual Parmenter 5K

Great weather and a good sized group of runners and walkers participated in the 2nd Annual Parmenter 5K on Sunday.

Unfortunately, while the race was executed effectively, some glitch ruined the results. Without a recording of the finishers as they crossed the line, they were totally dependent upon the timing system and it failed.

The real race is to perform against yourself. I ran better than my time last year and that is what matters.

Franklin, MA

Historical Museum (video)

Warren Reynolds, a Franklin area realtor who blogs at 02038.com put together this video of the Historical Museum opening on Friday night:



My writing on the new museum can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/franklin-ma-history-on-display.html


Franklin, MA

Coordinated Program Review

This is the presentation document used during the School Committee meeting on 5/11/10.

Sch ccom cpr_report_20100511

View more presentations from not applicable.

The notes that accompany this presentation can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/live-reporting-dese-report.html

Franklin, MA

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view the report.

Letter from Ed Cafasso

Hello everyone,

I hope you enjoyed the stunning weekend weather.

As you know, Franklin voters will be asked to go to the polls on Tuesday, June 8, to decide a proposed $3 million override of Proposition 2½. If approved, approximately $300,000 will be used to restore municipal services, $1.8 million will be used to restore educational services, and $900,000 will be used to maintain roads throughout the town.

We need this money to stop the continued erosion of school and municipal services our community and to maintain our property values and quality of life.

Override votes can be a polarizing, which is not surprising when people’s money is at stake. On a pre-tax basis, the proposed override will cost the average taxpayer $254 per year, about 70 cents per day, based on the average property assessment of $368,000 in Franklin. Passage of the ballot question would add 69 cents to the tax rate, or $.69 per $1,000 of the assessed value of your home. That’s the out-of-pocket cost, but please also keep in mind that your local property tax payments are deductible federally.

I am writing today to pass along the wealth of information available to you to explain the proposed override and what’s at stake with this vote – and to offer you the opportunity to become actively involved in the effort if you wish.

Here’s what’s available to you:

An excellent brochure has been developed that attempts to answer common questions and provides a chart of what services will be affected by the outcome of the override vote. You can view and download the brochure at: http://franklinschoolcommittee.wordpress.com/override-brochure/

Up-to-date information and links on financial and academic issues, particularly from a school perspective, are available at: http://franklinschoolcommittee.wordpress.com/override-page/

Concerned citizens who support passage of the override have formed a group called “Invest in Franklin.” You can visit the Invest in Franklin web site for additional information at: http://investinfranklin.weebly.com.

You can visit and join the Invest in Franklin group page on Facebook at:  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2265200218&ref=ts

A Facebook event page has been created as a reminder about the June 8 vote. You can view it here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=118040221563289

If you want to volunteer for the effort, please contact: Elise Nulton at lcnot@comcast.net or Deb Bartlett at bartlett.family@comcast.net. Both Elise and Deb are listed in the Franklin phone book; they would welcome your support.

Financial donations in any amount to defray the cost of the campaign are also welcome. Checks made out to “Invest in Franklin” can be mailed to the group’s treasurer, Deb Bartlett, 2 Eldon Drive, Franklin, MA, 02038.

There are a number of forums and meetings taking place throughout the community in the coming weeks to help our friends and neighbors learn more about why this vote is so important. On Monday, May 24, 2010, there will be a town-wide forum at the Mercer Auditorium at Horace Mann Middle School beginning at 7 p.m. Town officials will be on hand to present the facts and answer your questions. I plan to attend and hope to see you there.

The outcome of this override has implications for all the essential services on which you and your family rely in Franklin.

Your town and schools cannot continue to do more with less and still meet your expectations. From a public school perspective, Franklin now spends below the state average in every single category of measurement.
(See: http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/schfin/statistics/function09_sum.aspx?ID=101).

Yet our students – your children and grandchildren – enjoy one of highest performing school systems and rewarding academic experiences in Massachusetts. Every day, our schools work efficiently and well to earn your trust and support, as do our woefully under-funded police, fire and public works departments.

I hope the informational resources provided above give you an ample opportunity to learn more about the override, so you can cast an informed ballot on June 8. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

This e-mail reflects my opinion alone and is provided as a constituent service. As always, I welcome your thoughts and suggestions. If you are receiving duplicate e-mails or if you no longer wish to receive these e-mails, please let me know and I will remove you from the distribution list. If you know of someone you would like to add to the list, please send along their e-mail address.

Thank you!

Ed Cafasso, Member
Franklin School Committee
edcafasso@comcast.net


Franklin, MA

Franklin, MA: History on display

After some expense by the Town, much effort from volunteers and significant donations from the community, the Historical Museum is now open in downtown Franklin. The building was built in 1842 as the Town Hall, repaired and restored in 1916, and given new life in 2010. It also served time as the Senior center. Today, it is a building worthy of displaying the rich and varied history of Franklin.

As you come in the front entrance, art work on the floor comes close to replicating the Town Seal. Ben Franklin's phrase "Industry need not wish" is one I have written about before.

Along both sides of the main hall, wooden base units support the glass display cases. The wooden bases were all crafted by Tri-County Regional Vocation Technical High School students. Students also built the shelving in the "library room" of the museum (not pictured here). As part of the volunteer move from the Washington Street location to downtown, many were quite pleased how ell the tops and cases fit together. They were finely crafted. In this photo Ben looks over the display cases mentioned.

When the TJ Maxx store closed in Franklin, the museum gained with the donation of several jewelry display cases. These cases are quite good for the display of many of the historical artifacts. One set of four cases forms a nice center piece display upon which a bust of Ben watches over all.

The museum is scheduled to be open on

• Saturday's from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
• Sundays' from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
• Thursday's from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

The museum is staffed by volunteers who are all interested in preserving and sharing the unique pieces of Franklin's history. The museum is also available for special functions. It can seat about 30-40. Inquiries should be made to the Historical Commission or to one of the volunteers during the time the museum is open.

Come on down to re-discover the history of Franklin!

My thanks to Del Arnold for confirming the background information provided here.

Franklin, MA

Tooting the horn for books, a family day in Franklin

The combination of the Library Book Sale and the DPW Open House drew quite a crowd on Saturday.

The Friends of the Library paid for the overtime of the DPW workers. The food and drink provided at the DPW Open House was donated by Weston & Sampson.

The bucket truck authorized for purchase as part of the capital plan in 2009 was on display looking brand new. It is over ten years old. The new look comes from the paint job that was part of the purchase price. DPW Director, Robert (Brutus) Cantoreggi is walking towards us in the photo.

The DPW garage had four mechanics. One just retired this year and due to the budget cuts, the position won't be filled leaving three mechanics to take care of more than 300 pieces of equipment. Which of these two units looks like it is three years old? and which looks like it is sixteen years old? (Answer at the end of this post.)

Most of the equipment that I saw on display had a sign telling the year and use for the unit. The purpose for some was easy to recognize, some were not. This batwing mower is over 10 years old and still doing duty cutting the grass on our athletic fields.

The weather cooperated for this nice family event. If your son or daughter was one of the horn tooters, they probably walked away with a smile. Your smile came from the fact that they at least stopped blowing the horn!

Iqbal Ismail is show below taking pictures of his daughter Zeba and son Faraz in the front seat of the truck.

Note: In answer to the question above: the unit on the left in the picture is 3 yrs old; the unit on the right is 16.
My thanks to Brutus Cantoreggi and Dave Allard for providing the information to share here.

Franklin, MA

Summer programs - Art Institute

Registration is open for the Art Institute to be held at the high school July 19- 30.

Additional information about the summer programs can be found on the Lifelong Learning webpage:
http://cfweb.smartedu.net/lll/aboutus.cfm?category=1ABOUT5


Franklin, MA