Live reporting - Town Council - FY 2011 Budget Hearing

Present: Kelly, Jones, Whalen, Mason, Pfeffer, McGann, Powderly, Zollo
Absent: Vallee

Jeff Nutting, Jim Dacey, Susan Gagner

Part one of two part budget hearing, Wednesday and Thursday
Thanks to Susan and Jim for their work on preparation, the FINCOM also reviewed this, thanks to them for their help

Revenue side
The budget starts in the Fall and as we go through the year
We are always looking ahead to see what we are facing.
As bad as this is, we will be wishing next year that this year is back.
We are already thinking about that.

Revenue up a couple million, allowed to increase up to 2.5 percent - $1.8 million
Interest income, excise taxes, state aid loss again this year (lost in excess of $3 M in last three years)

May have to ask for the Council to change the budget procedurally in July
We are using the House budget, the Senate budget is different
We won't know exactly until the State makes their decision final.

We did take advantage of the meals tax, we have $300,000 from that which helps this year

We will start a $1.2 Million in the hole next year due to one time stimulus funds this year not available next year.

Expense side
All budgets reflect a deferment of the wages from last year's budget
They are in effect this year

The health care changes the employees agreed to and that has saved jobs

Overall the budgets are supressed
The Town loses nine positions, the Schools lose 15 and other changes that they'll will elaborate on as this goes
The DPW loses three people, there will be delays in lawn cutting, etc.
The Police are losing three dispatchers so that will delay some calls, hopefully not 911 calls

Q - Pfeffer
What are the increases reflected in this budget?
A - Nutting
There is no fiscal 2011 increase in this budget
Most of the contracts remain to be negotiated

Q - Pfeffer
I just hope whoever is going into negotiation knows that there is 0%
A - Nutting
Yes

Hold on Police Salaries - Whalen
Hold on unemployment compensation - Nutting
Hold on OPEB - Nutting


1 - Hold on Police Salaries - Whalen
The vast majority is the three dispatchers

2 - Hold on unemployment compensation - Nutting

Putting the Council on notice to add money to this account, with more layoffs coming, we will need more in this account, add $100,000 from free cash

3 - Hold on OPEB - Nutting

If money is put into this account, we can invest it more aggressively 

We need to look at this to meet our unfunded liability

Motion to close hearing, approved 8-0

Council comments

Powderly - thanks for all the activities, those who voted and those who did not vote also counted

The issues are not going to change next year

Zollo - thanks for all the effort

we will respect the will of the voters

As the overrides continue to come, as they will, I hope the increase

Pfeffer
the Fire station, needs to be taken care of, why can't the fireman take care of it
The trees need to be taken care of, they are living trees

Jones
Thanks to all of those who came out to vote
We are going to make some cuts that will hurt

Mason
Overrides tend to bring out the worst in people
I wrote a letter that is posted on Franklin Matters, I am a better writer than speaker, so I urge you to go read the letter

Motion to adjourn, passed 8-0



Franklin, MA

Letter from Scott Mason

Dear Franklin Citizens,

As I write this, I am trying to clear my head after a very long day at the polls yesterday.

Nearly 40-percent of our registered voters exercised their constitutional right to vote in a special election that asked voters to approve a $3 million tax override. The question failed.

Several members of the Town Council, School Committee, Finance Committee, as well as many private citizens, worked very hard over the past month in an attempt to present the facts behind the need for this extra money. We held a public forum, spoke to PCC’s and met with folks in their homes. Many of us used vacation time from work, sacrificed time with families, and postponed personal plans to provide this service. We did this willingly and with enthusiasm for a cause we truly believe in – the Town of Franklin.

Along the way, we met people who welcomed us into their homes, invited their friends to hear us, and were genuinely concerned with the troubles our community faces.

We also met and heard from citizens who don’t believe in what we are doing. We were told that Franklin overspends, that Franklin must live within it’s means; that because private businesses are not providing raises to it’s workers, Franklin too, must continue to cut personnel and services. In some cases, we as the town government were blamed for problems at the state and federal level. Some of these citizens engaged us in polite, civil conversation, and some, unfortunately, made their feelings known in less mature ways.

Franklin has always benefited from a below-average tax rate and above-average services. Our employees work very hard with very limited resources. It is my deepest hope that despite these next round of cuts, they can somehow continue to do so. We enjoy great “bang for the buck” in this town. Unfortunately, seeing the cuts that have been made over the years, the effects on our schools and municipal infrastructure, I know that we are in for a very rocky road.

I want to thank the folks that gave so much of their time to fight for this cause, and I want to thank everyone who took the time to vote, either for or against the override. Let’s never forget the thousands of men and women who sacrificed their lives to preserve our freedom. Democracy works.

Perhaps the best aspect of Proposition 2 1/2, is that it gives citizens the opportunity to determine the destiny of their community. This was played out in Franklin yesterday, and was and will be played out in many cities and towns in Massachusetts this spring. We as a Town Council will work with what we have as we have always done, and I as the Council Chairman will continue to do my best to represent the best interests of all our citizens.

Sincerely,

Scott Mason
Town Council Chairman



Franklin, MA

School Committee - 06/08/10

Notes from the School Committee meeting conducted on June 8th can be found here:

• School Committee - closing items
• School Committee - discussion only items (part 2)
• School Committee - discussion only items (part 1)
• School Committee - building committee update
• School Committee - Maggie Streeter
• School Committee - community service
• School Committee - Retirees
• School Committee - routine business

These notes were reported on from the video archive as I was at the high school for the election results.
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=CMrOAys1pDEl0YEVhOcHuA%3d%3d


Franklin, MA

School Committee - closing items

4. Action Items

a. I recommend adoption of the Facilities MOU as detailed.
Motion to approve, passed 6-0


5. Information Matters

Superintendent’s Report
a. Foreign Language
b. Enrollment Comparison

School Committee Sub-Committee Reports
Cafasso - advertising moving to the field, local businesses are expressing interest




School Committee Liaison Reports - none

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


thanks to the community for another successful All night party
thanks to the  DPW custodial staff for a wonderful job preparing the buildings for the graduation, the all night party, etc.



7. Executive Session
Contractual Negotiations


motion to enter Executive session, no intention to return to open meeting
approved, 6-0 via roll call


Franklin, MA

School Committee - discussion only items - part 2

• Data Assessment & Resource Tool (DART)
• MSBA Architect Selection Representative (already covered)

 DESE has now provided some of the comparison reporting that the District used to do manually
viewable from the DESE website
select the district
DESE selects 10 comparable districts automatically (exactly how they did so, is not yet defined)
scroll down, to chose other districts

schools working with the new data to determine the updates to their strategic planning process
data and fields still in process of updating
changes almost daily, if you download, check back for updates


Franklin, MA

School Committee - discussion only items - part 1

3. Discussion Only Items

• Facilities MOU
• Foreign Language

MOU - memorandum of understanding
covers the agreement for the Town providing the maintenance of the school buildings and grounds
only significant change is term of agreement, proposing to go out five years
still maintains a yearly review with an option for either side to come back and re-do the agreement

Foreign Language
exploring changes to the program
Elementary (K-5) has been cut each year since 2005
eliminate K-5 Spanish and replace with additional programs on health/wellness
students would have PE/Health twice a week
pilot programs with YMCA on food and nutritional items
i.e. addressing the bullying and increase the physical activities
data from MetroWest Foundation reports show need for more foundational work in this area
The "Let's Be Honest" programs held this year were well received

teaching kids about good decision making
start small and gradually develop a full K-5 program
Open Circle would still continue, it is a reactive program, a problem resolution system
we would be adding an instructional piece to enhance that

Yes, we are loosing something. What we are putting back is not what we had sometime ago
It saddens us to make these choices

The Kennedy students who came earlier and showed what they were doing with food, that is a result from the grant work with the Y

We used to say "we are really proud of the Spanish program", now it is all gone

I didn't feel it was responsible for us to take data without providing some guidance to the students on the choices they can make

Middle School foreign language
proposing to eliminate Latin as a foreign language
we have struggled to find certified and qualified teachers in this area
we have had 8 teachers in 4 years, we have looked at different areas to bring the best qualified teachers
maybe this is the time to focus on the high school Latin program and just have Spanish at the middle schools
we tried to work it with one Latin teacher across the Middle schools and the schedule just doesn't work
of the nine applications we found, only three we would bring in for interviews
elementary Spanish teachers would transfer into other positions in the elementary schools

This is a slippery slope that we have been going down with the foreign language programs
The top 10 percent of students were the ones qualifying for the Level 2
It was not a great situation for anyone involved

Maybe an after school or summer school but trying to do it piecemeal wouldn't get real gains from it

I think we need a meeting on the foreign language program as there are pieces flying away
Maybe the meeting wouldn't help us, it is a big change and deserves more attention

We had dropped French to put Latin because it helped in other areas
There is difficulty in finding qualified and certified Latin teachers especially in the middle school area
We would still prefer to have Latin but we can find the right folks to provide the service

230 Latin students in 6th and 7th grade would go into next year as a first year in Spanish?
How to handle them remains to be detailed.



Franklin, MA

School Committee - building committee update

d. FHS Building Update 


Tom Mercer,  Sean Fennel

Daedelus worked on the Annie Sullivan School, Fire Station, Senior Center and Horace Mann projects. Have now been selected to work on the FHS renovation project.

22 firms showed up for a walk through of the high school
9 submitted proposals for the first phase of the project

Projected timeline, best guess at this point
midway through architect selection
July 13th going before the MSBA board (target date)
Town will have option to interview firms at that meeting, interviews would be scheduled later
Coming out of the interviews would be a leading firm and contract negotiations by mid-August

MSBA Board needs to vote on the feasibility study, which is targeted for March 2011
Schematic design approval is required and targeted in Sept/Oct 2011
Then within 120 days of the MSBA approval, the Franklin voters need to approve their portion (i.e. Nov 2011 vote for the debt exclusion as mentioned earlier)

MSBA Board and three designated representatives to chose the architect
One each from the School Dept, Town, and School Committee
This group would be the ones to conduct the interviews and make the final decision on the architect

Q - when and where would the interviews be?
Interviews would be held two weeks later (after the July 13th meeting), in Boston, in the same room
All meetings are public

Q - are you reviewing the proposals now?
Yes, they are being reviewed. The Board is responsible for the decision on the proposals. The MSBA Board has 12 members plus the 3 designated reps as outlined above.

Q - when would be the debt exclusion?
According to the timeline, likely Nov 2011

Q - when would the construction be completed?
Too early to tell, we don't know what the work will be at this point


Franklin, MA