Franklin, MA: Underground Utilities - survey

The facts:

1. The Downtown Revitalization Project is funded by state and federal grants. It is not funded by local taxpayer money.  The grant funds are restricted to use in the Downtown District.
2. Electric wiring near the bridge and that related to street lights along Main St will be going underground regardless as part of the streetscape work in the Downtown District.
3. The additional stretch of utility wiring that is being considered for putting the utility wires underground is outside the Downtown District according to the grant funding. This area is from the bridge along East Central to approximately Simons Furniture store. This stretch is proposed to be paid for by surcharge fees from the utility companies and paid by their customers (ultimately those of us in Franklin).
4. The ESTIMATED fees for the average residential customer would be a total surcharge of approximately $65-75. Because multiple companies are involved (electric, and two cable), the specific details on the timing of the surcharge remain to be worked out. The companies would spread the surcharge amount out over time to minimize the effect on an individual utility bill. We would see the minor increase in both the electric and cable bills. The surcharges are finite and will end after being paid in full.  
5. Putting the utilities underground now is drastically cheaper than normal due to the proposed road construction.  If the utilities aren’t put underground now, it likely will not be considered until the next major road repair of the area (ideally decades from now).

The area already covered by the grant money is shown on the map in the light green. The area in question is shown in pink.

Additional information on the project can be found here:
http://www.milforddailynews.com/topstories/x1452735553/Franklin-council-to-discuss-placing-utility-lines-underground

The Downtown Improvement Project review meeting held on May 12 was broadcast and recorded for review here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/downtown-improvement-project-live.html


The poll question can be found in the center column on the top of the Franklin Matters web page. The question asks "Would you pay approx. $70 to put the utilities underground?" and takes a Yes or No answer.

Feel free to leave a comment here or send me an email.  The Town Council email addresses can be found on the Franklin web page here:
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Council/index

My thanks to Tina Powderly for help in crafting this posting.


Updated 8/29/10
The survey results were Yes - 22, No - 44.

"should be done to benefit the aesthetics of downtown"

... the recession creates obstacles, Nutting said.

"In the present, we're in a different situation. We have to look at it differently," he said. "We want to make sure we do our due diligence and give citizens and business owners the opportunity to come in and ask questions and have their voices be heard before we make any kind of decision."

But the decision has to be made relatively soon, as downtown construction to widen sidewalks, raise crosswalks, reroute traffic and other improvements are planned to begin next year.

"We have a bylaw in town that says when we re-pave a road, we can't reopen it for five years," Mason said. "We either do it during reconstruction or forget about it."

Franklin council to discuss placing utility lines underground

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

Franklin, MA

In the News - accident, Chronicle, Chilson Beach

DA identifies woman who died on I-495

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

WCVB's 'Chronicle' coming to Franklin on Wednesday

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

Victor Pisini, owner of Pisini Shoe Store at 22 Main St., is looking forward to the publicity.

"We're always excited if they're going to promote downtown," Pisini said.

Piana said camera crew will be in town from 11 a.m. to about 4 p.m. During that time, she plans on telling them all about the partnership.

"We have over 130 members now and we've increased out membership quite a bit since last year. It's interesting how our membership has grown so much in the last two years - we've doubled it," she said. "I think it speaks toward how we're a community and how the businesses support each other and work together through tough economic times. The focus is on mom-and-pop-owned (shops), and we have a lot of them."

Chilson Beach will close in Franklin Friday

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Franklin, MA

Franklin, MA: Trash/Recycle Survey Results

As promised, the full set of results from the recent Trash and Recycle survey are contained within the links here. I have provided three reports to access the data.

1. The full and complete set containing the Ref#, the Overall answer (Yes or No), and the comments for both questions. Note: if the comment field is blank, there was nothing submitted. Both comment sections were optional. The Yes/No question was mandatory.
2. The set of answers for the question: "What DO you like about the process?"
3. The set of answers for the question: "What DON'T you like about the process?"

You can access these files directly here:

1. The full and complete set
2. The DO answers
3. The DON'T answers

You can also read them on the web via Scribd here:

1. http://www.scribd.com/doc/35952136/FM-Trash-Recycle-Survey-Results-Full-100816
2. http://www.scribd.com/doc/35952138/FM-Trash-Recycle-Survey-Result-Do-100816
3. http://www.scribd.com/doc/35952137/FM-Trash-Recycle-Survey-Results-Dont-100816

And finally to make it easy to read, the document with the full results is here:

FM Trash/Recycle Survey Results Full 100816

In case you missed it, the quick summary was posted here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/trashrecycle-survey-results.html


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

Franklin, MA: high school field advertising

One source of additional revenue for school athletics that has been approved is advertising in the high school field house. The program was successfully piloted and expanded to include similar banners for the outside athletic field. These banners are posted along the fence on the "home" side of the stands.

Go Franklin!



Franklin, MA

In the News - Latin options

Franklin schools look to modern Latin method

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



Franklin, MA

Native Plants of Franklin

Greetings Franklin! Were any of you able to identify last week's mystery plant?




This is a closeup of goldenrod, which is in bloom now in fields everywhere. There are many kinds of goldenrod, or Solidago L., and they are difficult to tell apart, but all of them are native to North America.




Goldenrod has a reputation for causing allergies. However, this is unfair and incorrect. The real culprit for sneezing right now is ragweed, which is also in bloom. Goldenrod has heavy pollen grans that fall quickly to the ground. The plant relies on insects to carry the pollen from one flower to another. Ragweed, on the other hand, has lightweight pollen which is small enough to float around on the wind.




Goldenrod is perennial that grows in dramatic clusters. It attracts many insects. If you aren't a fan of insects in your yard, consider them to be bird food. All birds, especially baby birds, require insects in their diet.

And here is next week's puzzler, being visited by a hummingbird:




Hint: it's another common flower that is in bloom and feeding hummingbirds right now. Post your answers in the comments section, and have fun!

Franklin, MA

Trash/Recycle Survey - results

The survey results are in. The question was:

Overall - is the curbside trash/recycle process better than before?

69 answered Yes, 17 answered No.

Thank you all for participating. 86 total responses!

The complete set of results and comments will be posted Monday.


Franklin, MA

In the News - tiramisu, St Rocco's

Woman's tiramisu cookie named tops in Franklin contest

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Lluvia Mares

Family fun at Feast of St. Rocco

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Lluvia Mares/Daily News staff

Franklin, MA

No Gatorade shower for winners!

One of the traditions for winning football teams is to douse the coach with the handy bucket of Gatorade.

Don't look for this to happen in Franklin, at least not on the artificial surface at the FHS' Pisini Field. The sign posted below reads:

The operative words:

This facility is for the use of town residents. to protect this field the following are prohibited: 

• sports drinks, soda, alcohol, coffee, or any other beverage other than water.

Oh, and while the pressbox advertises the field name as Pisini Field, why does this sign only say "Franklin High School Oak Street Field"?

Franklin, MA

In the News - accident, Garden Club

Franklin woman killed in I-495 pedestrian crash

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Updated 8/15/10
The headline should be changed to reflect Medway instead of Franklin. Still a tragic accident!
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/milforddailynews/obituary.aspx?n=alicia-mary-ward&pid=144681915

31 Franklin Garden Club first meeting

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Franklin, MA

Spruce Pond Creamery - sign question answered

I slipped in a small trivia question to check on the observational skills of the Franklin Matters readers. The answer to the Spruce Pond sign question is shown below and on the original posting earlier this week.


Updated 8/13/10:

The answer to the question is that the sign is the "old" one and not the one showing today:

This picture was taken on an overcast day in June. The picture above shows the sign in April before Spruce Pond updated it to show that they can now server beer and wine.


Franklin, MA

Farmers Market - today - noon to 6:00 PM

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

Franklin, MA

In the News - freshman intro,

Freshmen get an early introduction to Franklin High

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



Franklin, MA

Looking for work? Hopkinton Networking Group meets Fri - 10 AM to Noon

The agenda for this Friday's Hopkinton Networkers Group (HNG) meeting will be featured by our speaker, Monica Brunaccini. The facilitator for this week will be Christine Hurley.


We will devote the first hour, from 10 to 11 AM to the following agenda: Welcome, Landings, Announcements, New Member Intros, and Needs/Leads.


Please arrive early, so we can make every effort to start on time. In the second hour, Monica will talk about "How to Standout in the Crowd."


How to Standout in the Crowd: (Making yourself known in this unique employment market)

• Why you really need to network
• How to build and expand your community
• Developing your own approach - one that will work for you
• Building your brand - a strong reputation and following
• Leveraging your strengths and what makes you unique
• Your toolkit - navigation resources and techniques
• Q&A - open discussion

The group meets at St John the Evangelist Parish Center in Hopkinton.

Directions: 

Take Rt. 495 North/South and get off Exit 21A. Go through three traffic lights. Colella's Supermarket is on the right at the third traffic light. The first street after the third traffic light is Church Street, take a right turn. The church is on the right. Go around to the left of the parking lot and go into the side entrance of the parish hall.

Depending upon where you live, perhaps you may want to use Mapquest or Google Maps for a more direct route. The address of the church is:

St. John the Evangelist

20 Church Street

Hopkinton, MA 01748

From lead organizer, Gil Krispien's email to the Acton Networking Group mailing list.

Franklin, MA

In the News - car break-ins

Franklin cops probe car break-ins

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


Franklin, MA

Survey reminder

The current survey on the new trash and recycle system is open for your input through Aug 14th.

You can find the survey here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-trashrecycle-status-survey.html


Note:
As of 8/05/10 8:00 PM there were 43 responses.
As of 8/09/10 8:00 PM there were 62 responses.
As of 8/11/10 6:00 PM there were 66 responses.


thanks!




Franklin, MA

Fundraising begins for Jimmy Fund in Franklin

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Fundraising begins for Jimmy Fund in Franklin

via The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc. on 8/11/10

The Franklin Police Department is looking to residents to help raise money for the annual Jimmy Fund Walk next month.

Chief Stephen Williams, with the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, will be participating in the event for the seventh year in a row and has put collection cans out at local businesses.

"Jimmy Fund canisters will be on display in local Franklin businesses from now throughout September,'' Williams said in a release. "We have always relied on the generosity of the businesses and residents of Franklin to make our fundraising for the fight against cancer a success."

To help Williams, visit www.jimmyfundwalk.org and click "support a walker" to make an online donation.

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to The Milford Daily News News RSS using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

Live reporting - Financial Planning Committee

Present: Hardesty, Mason, Bartlett, Rohrbach, Roche, Nutting, Sabolinski, Trahan (late)
Absent: Zollo, Whalen, Cameron, (Morrison)

Agenda document and draft list of "things to do"

FPC Agenda Priority 2010-08-11


Town budget status:
Nutting - negotiating the contract with the architect on the high school, still targeting next Nov (Nov 2011) for a debt exclusion question to pay for the renovation

Lost almost $3.2 million in state aid the last couple of years; this was offset by 522,000 in school aid (which still has not been received).

Approx Jun/Jul 2011 should have a proposal for the MSBA to approve by the middle of July so that Franklin could schedule the vote for the regular Nov 2011 scheduled election. Otherwise, a special date would need to be set.

Membership:
Brendan Morrison has left the committee, should there be a replacement? or stay with nine.

Make offer to consider adding any interested, Jeff will post to the Town website. Scott will announce at the Council meeting.

Web site:
Who can take on the task of checking on the posting of the committee documents to the website? Jim Roche will. Jeff will let Diane know that Jim may call regarding the committee documents.

Bargaining Confidentiality background:
No party discusses the status of what is going on until there is an agreement on both sides.
Broad parameters are set during an executive session prior to negotiation commencement.

Committee priorities:
(see listing - to be attached later)

Discussion to clarify what's on the listing and if there needs to be additional items.
Should the committee be "Just the fact's Mame" or should it be an advocacy group?
Creating a generally accessible document is one thing, advocating for the details, explaining the ins and outs is not the same thing as advocating for or against an override.

Need to understand cost control to reference readily
1 - What is under Franklin's control, what is out of our hands and in the hands of either the State (Beacon Hill) or Congress (Washington)

2 - There are two things to show: (1) the number of employees (i.e. Fire, Police, etc.) comparable to a similar sized community and (2) how their salary compares to other similar communities. These are available and updated regularly.

There seems to be a recurring theme around a lack of trust and creditability.

Ongoing item of differentiating the capital budget and the operating budget. How well do we explain the use of free cash and the capital budget?

Anything to add to the listing?

• Clarification on the charter of the committee, at least to review and re-evaluate the current charter
• If the Administration is already producing a three year outlook beyond the operating budget, why are we producing a report? Should we focus on validating and questioning the current process documents? 

For next time: committee to pick three things to do brilliantly well, what would be the most worthy of our time? Also choose two or three things that should come off the listing.

Exceptions: updating the five year plan remains on the listing and does not need to be amongst the three. Monitoring the web site hits is one that can come off the listing. It is necessary but not something that needs to be done everyday.

Next meeting Sep 8th, 7:00 PM

Note email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view the documents

Franklin, MA

In the News - school ROI, youth hockey, Charter school, absentee ballots

Franklin schools garner national notice

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

Franklin Youth Hockey Golf Tournament planned

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter School hosts fair

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Absentee ballots available in Franklin

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Franklin, MA