Present: Kelly, Jones, Vallee, Whalen, Mason, Pfeffer, Powderly
Absent: McGann, Zollo
A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - February 2, 2011
Motion to approve, passed 7-0
B. ANNOUNCEMENTS
Meeting recorded by Verizon and Comcast but not by Franklin Matters tonight
C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS - none
D. CITIZEN COMMENTS
Warren Ravel - July 4th Committee presented annual report on the committee's work for the event
E. APPOINTMENTS - none
F. HEARINGS - none
G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS
New All Alcoholic Beverages Restaurant License
– Ichigo Ichie Franklin, LLC
motion to approve, passed 7-0
H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS - none
I. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS - none
J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION - none
K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
recognition of training by Police and Fire personnel
recognition of letters to thank the Fire Dept for excellent work done for the citizens
Approx $400,000 in hole on snow/ice removal, pray for warm weather
L. OLD BUSINESS - none
M. NEW BUSINESS - none
N. COUNCIL COMMENTS
Powderly - encourage seniors to take advantage of the Senior Circuit Breaker tax credit
don't have to own to get the credit, if any questions, contact the Senior Center
FHS doing their Spring fund raiser Sunday, March 13th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM
Vallee - question do you have the break down on the Police/Fire/DPW - that was a really big expense?
Revel - Yes, I don't have the specific break out with me but it was about $10,000 for Police and Fire and $3,000 for DPW
Nutting - I can provide a copy of the invoice if you want
Mason - is that alright Bob?
Vallee - yes
Mason - thanks for your work on this, it is a great event for the town and a ton of work. I hope you can continue to do this for some time.
Motion to adjourn - less than 8 minutes (likely a record!)
Franklin, MA
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Happy birthday Franklin!
On March 2, 1778 Franklin was incorporated.
Franklin shares its birthday with another significant MA personality (Dr Seuss) as well as about 70 Franklin residents.
The party will be held on Sunday, March 20th at the Historical Museum. Join the celebration of Franklin's birthday and those Franklin residents who share the Mar 2nd birthday!
Read more about the history of Franklin, MA in Wikipedia
Related post:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/where-you-born-on-march-2.html
Franklin shares its birthday with another significant MA personality (Dr Seuss) as well as about 70 Franklin residents.
The party will be held on Sunday, March 20th at the Historical Museum. Join the celebration of Franklin's birthday and those Franklin residents who share the Mar 2nd birthday!
Read more about the history of Franklin, MA in Wikipedia
Related post:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/where-you-born-on-march-2.html
"I think this a great idea"
A community garden would provide a spot for kids and adults to learn about gardening, the importance of growing food locally and the benefits of working outside, said Amy Acevedo, who started Franklin Community Gardens, a group of residents that are in the process of forming a nonprofit organization.
"There are so many benefits," said Acevedo, 46, who has lived in Franklin for 10 years. "We'd love to see some Scouts and school groups in there."
Efforts to create a community garden began when the Bernon Family Branch of the Hockomock Area YMCA used grant money to build raised garden beds. Last year, beds were built at several locations including the Senior Center, Franklin Food Pantry and Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School, Acevedo said.
Read more: Franklin residents hope to start community garden
Related post:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/live-reporting-community-garden.html
Franklin, MA
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
"increasing the fruit and vegetable choices"
Franklin's six elementary schools, as well as Remington Middle School and Horace Mann Middle School got salad bars. All three of Bellingham's elementary schools will have a new salad bar, and so will Uxbridge's Taft Elementary School.
None of the salad bars are open to students just yet.
"It is a good source of nutrition," said Franklin Food Service Director Clair Doyle. "We are hoping to get them operational by next week."
The program is sponsored by the Whole Foods Market Foundation and chef Ann Cooper's Food Family Farming Foundation. The salad bars were paid for by Whole Foods customers who donated at local stores through a special school promotion as well as online donations.Read more: Local kids to eat salad thanks to donations - Milford, MA - The Milford Daily News
Yes, I endorse this effort and thank the Whole Foods Market Foundation (and all the contributors) for this. We will live better when we eat better.
This effort ties in nicely with the Franklin Food Pantry, the Community Gardens, and other healthy programs.
Franklin, MA
Dean College - James Roosevelt, Jr.
Dean College invites the public to its
5th Annual Dean Leadership Institute Executive Lecture
James Roosevelt, Jr.
President and CEO, Tufts Health Plan
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
5:30 p.m. Networking Reception
6:30 p.m. Presentation
Dean College Campus Center, 135 Emmons Street, Franklin
RSVP to: alumni@dean.edu or 508-541-1612
James Roosevelt's presentation at the Dean Leadership Institute Executive Lecture will be on Social Security and Medicare. Mr. Roosevelt joined Tufts Health Plan in 1999 as senior vice president and general counsel, and became president and CEO in 2005. As general counsel he presided over the legal department and the company's compliance, privacy and government relations functions. In November 2008 President Barack Obama appointed Mr. Roosevelt to his transition team to co-chair a review of the Social Security Administration.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Live reporting - Community Gardens Committee Meeting
About 16 folks here tonight to get the low down on the developments for the community gardens
Where is it?
King St Memorial Playground - most families may have found this spot already due to the variety of sports played here but for those who need help positioning it is off King St, just past Forest St and before you get to the Remington-Jefferson complex.
View Larger Map
44 plots for raised beds is the first goal
4 plots for the 'giving garden'
4 plots for community groups
the remainder for first come first served
How would the plots be allocated?
Ideally, they would be assigned via the Recreation Dept website program (assuming it can be set up).
Worse case, it would be done via some sort of lottery to ensure appropriate allocation
A layout has been designed to optimize space
some of the plots will be on smooth ground to enable wheel chair access
The Steering Committee has worked with Tri-County to get some logos developed
there is a meeting Weds to review the drafts and see which one would work for the group
There is a meeting with Jeff Nutting, Town Administrator, to review the plans thus far
and to hopefully confirm some of the direction and planning
What size are the plots?
The plots are planned to be
Ideally 2' deep to ensure good root growth, with alternative plans for 16" or 12" deep beds
One reason to use raised beds on King St is to avoid the ground itself which has been treated over time with pesticides, etc and would not be good for growing organic foods.
Targeting for Apr 22, Earth Day, for the build - coordinated with the Town's Earth Day
each plot would have a 4' by 10' bed using 2" untreated pine
Yes, the beds would have an early life time but this is too get us started at a reasonable cost.
What else is needed?
Looking for another member for the Board
looking for fund raising ideas
looking to leverage relationships with building materials, etc.
Franklin, MA
Where is it?
King St Memorial Playground - most families may have found this spot already due to the variety of sports played here but for those who need help positioning it is off King St, just past Forest St and before you get to the Remington-Jefferson complex.
View Larger Map
44 plots for raised beds is the first goal
4 plots for the 'giving garden'
4 plots for community groups
the remainder for first come first served
How would the plots be allocated?
Ideally, they would be assigned via the Recreation Dept website program (assuming it can be set up).
Worse case, it would be done via some sort of lottery to ensure appropriate allocation
A layout has been designed to optimize space
some of the plots will be on smooth ground to enable wheel chair access
The Steering Committee has worked with Tri-County to get some logos developed
there is a meeting Weds to review the drafts and see which one would work for the group
There is a meeting with Jeff Nutting, Town Administrator, to review the plans thus far
and to hopefully confirm some of the direction and planning
What size are the plots?
The plots are planned to be
Ideally 2' deep to ensure good root growth, with alternative plans for 16" or 12" deep beds
One reason to use raised beds on King St is to avoid the ground itself which has been treated over time with pesticides, etc and would not be good for growing organic foods.
Targeting for Apr 22, Earth Day, for the build - coordinated with the Town's Earth Day
each plot would have a 4' by 10' bed using 2" untreated pine
Yes, the beds would have an early life time but this is too get us started at a reasonable cost.
What else is needed?
Looking for another member for the Board
looking for fund raising ideas
looking to leverage relationships with building materials, etc.
Franklin, MA
In the News - Tri-County; FinCom Mtg Canceled
Four boys involved in fight at Tri-County
from The Milford Daily News News RSSFranklin Finance Committee meeting canceled
As mentioned in the weekly summary, it is not surprising to see the meeting has been canceled.
Franklin, MA
FM #87 - Week ending 2/27/11
Let's take about 10 minutes to get up to speed on what matters in Franklin, MA as the week comes to a close Sunday, Feb 27, 2011
Time: 10 minutes, 1 second
MP3 File
Show Notes:
This internet radio show or podcast is number 87 in the series for Franklin Matters.
We'll look back at the past two weeks as school vacation comes to a close Sunday Feb 27. Then we will look at what is scheduled for the week ahead.
The School Committee meeting on the 15th before school vacation was a full meeting.
Rep Vallee and Sen Spilka attended to provide an update on the overall budget outlook.
They did arrive in time to see the Franklin Arts Academy presentation which was quite impressive.
The school budget was reviewed and with minor discussion, approved.
While I can understand from the SchCom point of view that they have almost lived with the budget, some on the budget subcommittee more so than the others, and they had spent most of Saturday morning Jan 29th in the budget workshop. But as on that Saturday, the reporter from the MDN and I were the only members of the public, you would think that they would take some time to showcase the budget in this real public forum complete with live video which would be available later in the video on demand archive. But no, they went through it summarily and that is that. Shame on those in Franklin who did not come out to the meeting in person, that was your chance to step up and say something.
I do have links to the budget presentation and to the entire budget book available in the show notes
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/franklin-public-schools-budget-book-fy.html
Kudos to Jim Roche, Finance Committee chair, who did participate in the meeting for the budget discussion.
The notes from the full meeting can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/school-committee-021511.html
The Town Council had a short and relatively uneventful meeting. The meeting notes can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/town-council-021611.html
The only meeting of significance during the school break was the Long Range Financial Planning Committee which did meet on Wednesday, Feb 23. It was a smaller group than normal but they met the quorum requirements (4 of 7). The lower attendance was likely due to the school vacation. There was a special guest, Town councilor Steve Whalen. Steve reviewed his worksheets which had just been updated with Census Data for 2010. The updated data did not change the overall results, Franklin by all measures does get a great deal of quality services for what little it puts out of its own pocket.
Side note – as the documents Steve shared were legal size, I do not have the ready capability to copy them and share them.
My notes from the meeting including highlights from the Whalen updates can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/live-reporting-long-range-financial_23.html
The other significant item that came from the meeting was the revelation that both Whalen and Zollo will not be running for re-election. I have heard this before but there was still plenty of time for them to change their minds. I guess that is not about to happen. So there will be opportunity for folks to run for the Council. It would be good to see some real competition.
And while we are at it, I have no intentions of running. My approach to this situation has not changed, nor is likely to, so you won't have to worry about it. I'll continue reporting on what matters in Franklin. You can review my disclosure statement for the additional details.
Looking ahead:
The Community Garden Committee meets Monday evening at Stop and Shop.7:00 PM 7:30 PM in the community room.
The Finance Committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday. February's meeting you may recall was canceled. The Franklin website does not have an agenda posted but it may be on the Municipal Bldg window and I did not have time to go by and check. The Town Council meeting does not have any financial action items which FinCom would have approved first so not sure what's up. We'll find out Tuesday and not be too surprised if the meeting does get canceled.
The Town Council is scheduled to meet Wed March 2. A new liquor license for a Japanese-themed restaurant opening in the former Piccadilly Pub location is on the agenda for approval.
The Town Council agenda is posted here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/franklin-ma-town-council-agenda-mar-2.html
The Franklin Cafe & Grill scheduled to open soon in the former KFC building on 140 has generated some conversation on the Facebook page. In particular about the sign requirements.
March 2 is also significant for two birthdays – Franklin's own birthday and that of Dr Seuss!
Franklin will hold a party on Sunday March 20th at the Museum to celebrate Mar 2 also with some of the 76 Franklin residents who share the March 2 birthday!
The Commonwealth released data by community for 2001 through 2009 on the senior circuit breaker tax advantages available to them. Franklin does quite well in that there has been an increase each year in the number of filers and in the average credit received. To paint a complete picture, I'd like to know how many are eligible and don't apply?
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/franklin-residents-gain-with-senior.html
The Franklin chapter of the Teenangels were in the news
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/teenangels.html
So as we close this week, welcome back. The snow hasn't gone yet. The budget cycle is getting into high gear in March. The time to be involved is now.
---- ---- ----
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin. I can use your help.
How can you help, you ask?
If you have an interest in covering the Planning Board, Conservation Commission and or the Zoning Board of Appeals meetings in Franklin, please let me know.
And as always -
If you like this, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like this, 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 and Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission
I hope you enjoy!
Time: 10 minutes, 1 second
MP3 File
Show Notes:
This internet radio show or podcast is number 87 in the series for Franklin Matters.
We'll look back at the past two weeks as school vacation comes to a close Sunday Feb 27. Then we will look at what is scheduled for the week ahead.
The School Committee meeting on the 15th before school vacation was a full meeting.
Rep Vallee and Sen Spilka attended to provide an update on the overall budget outlook.
They did arrive in time to see the Franklin Arts Academy presentation which was quite impressive.
The school budget was reviewed and with minor discussion, approved.
While I can understand from the SchCom point of view that they have almost lived with the budget, some on the budget subcommittee more so than the others, and they had spent most of Saturday morning Jan 29th in the budget workshop. But as on that Saturday, the reporter from the MDN and I were the only members of the public, you would think that they would take some time to showcase the budget in this real public forum complete with live video which would be available later in the video on demand archive. But no, they went through it summarily and that is that. Shame on those in Franklin who did not come out to the meeting in person, that was your chance to step up and say something.
I do have links to the budget presentation and to the entire budget book available in the show notes
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/franklin-public-schools-budget-book-fy.html
Kudos to Jim Roche, Finance Committee chair, who did participate in the meeting for the budget discussion.
The notes from the full meeting can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/school-committee-021511.html
The Town Council had a short and relatively uneventful meeting. The meeting notes can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/town-council-021611.html
The only meeting of significance during the school break was the Long Range Financial Planning Committee which did meet on Wednesday, Feb 23. It was a smaller group than normal but they met the quorum requirements (4 of 7). The lower attendance was likely due to the school vacation. There was a special guest, Town councilor Steve Whalen. Steve reviewed his worksheets which had just been updated with Census Data for 2010. The updated data did not change the overall results, Franklin by all measures does get a great deal of quality services for what little it puts out of its own pocket.
Side note – as the documents Steve shared were legal size, I do not have the ready capability to copy them and share them.
My notes from the meeting including highlights from the Whalen updates can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/live-reporting-long-range-financial_23.html
The other significant item that came from the meeting was the revelation that both Whalen and Zollo will not be running for re-election. I have heard this before but there was still plenty of time for them to change their minds. I guess that is not about to happen. So there will be opportunity for folks to run for the Council. It would be good to see some real competition.
And while we are at it, I have no intentions of running. My approach to this situation has not changed, nor is likely to, so you won't have to worry about it. I'll continue reporting on what matters in Franklin. You can review my disclosure statement for the additional details.
Looking ahead:
The Community Garden Committee meets Monday evening at Stop and Shop.
The Finance Committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday. February's meeting you may recall was canceled. The Franklin website does not have an agenda posted but it may be on the Municipal Bldg window and I did not have time to go by and check. The Town Council meeting does not have any financial action items which FinCom would have approved first so not sure what's up. We'll find out Tuesday and not be too surprised if the meeting does get canceled.
The Town Council is scheduled to meet Wed March 2. A new liquor license for a Japanese-themed restaurant opening in the former Piccadilly Pub location is on the agenda for approval.
The Town Council agenda is posted here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/franklin-ma-town-council-agenda-mar-2.html
The Franklin Cafe & Grill scheduled to open soon in the former KFC building on 140 has generated some conversation on the Facebook page. In particular about the sign requirements.
March 2 is also significant for two birthdays – Franklin's own birthday and that of Dr Seuss!
Franklin will hold a party on Sunday March 20th at the Museum to celebrate Mar 2 also with some of the 76 Franklin residents who share the March 2 birthday!
The Commonwealth released data by community for 2001 through 2009 on the senior circuit breaker tax advantages available to them. Franklin does quite well in that there has been an increase each year in the number of filers and in the average credit received. To paint a complete picture, I'd like to know how many are eligible and don't apply?
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/franklin-residents-gain-with-senior.html
The Franklin chapter of the Teenangels were in the news
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/02/teenangels.html
So as we close this week, welcome back. The snow hasn't gone yet. The budget cycle is getting into high gear in March. The time to be involved is now.
---- ---- ----
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin. I can use your help.
How can you help, you ask?
If you have an interest in covering the Planning Board, Conservation Commission and or the Zoning Board of Appeals meetings in Franklin, please let me know.
And as always -
If you like this, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like this, 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 and Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission
I hope you enjoy!
Franklin Public Schools - Budget Book FY 2012
The School Budget Book for Fiscal Year 2012 (FY 2012) is ready for review. Each section is stored as it's own file.
You can also review the folder of all the documents made public on Franklin Matters here
Franklin, MA
- Executive Summary
- District Improvement Plan (DIP)
- Achievement Profile
- Enrollment
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Overview
- ECDC
- Davis Thayer
- Jefferson
- Keller
- Kennedy
- Oak St
- Parmenter
- Horace Mann MS
- Remington MS
- Annie Sullivan MS
- Franklin High School
- Central Office
- Curriculum-Instruction
- Pupil Personnel Services
- Transportation
- Grant Budgets
You can also review the folder of all the documents made public on Franklin Matters here
Franklin, MA
Where you born on March 2?
If so, guess what, you share your birthday with the Town of Franklin!
Although the Town of Franklin is much older (March 2, 1778), we thought it would be fun to invite everyone that shares March 2nd as their birthday to a “Birthday Bash” at the museum. From the looks of things, we will have over 70 people that share that date from children to adults.
We are planning to have a cake, beverages and certainly balloons. Who knows, we may also have some special birthday presents for everyone.
Please RSVP as soon as possible to Deborah L. Pellegri, Town Clerk and Chairman of the Historical Commission at 508-520-4900 or email me at dpellegri@franklin.ma.us
Remember, family and friends are all invited and certainly welcomed.
We look forward to hearing from you real soon
Franklin, MA
Although the Town of Franklin is much older (March 2, 1778), we thought it would be fun to invite everyone that shares March 2nd as their birthday to a “Birthday Bash” at the museum. From the looks of things, we will have over 70 people that share that date from children to adults.
We are planning to have a cake, beverages and certainly balloons. Who knows, we may also have some special birthday presents for everyone.
Please RSVP as soon as possible to Deborah L. Pellegri, Town Clerk and Chairman of the Historical Commission at 508-520-4900 or email me at dpellegri@franklin.ma.us
Remember, family and friends are all invited and certainly welcomed.
We look forward to hearing from you real soon
Your Birthday Celebration
At the Franklin Historical Museum
Sunday, March 20th, 2011
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Invitation to all
Franklin, MA
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Franklin, MA: Town Council - Agenda - Mar 2, 2011
A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - February 2, 2011
B. ANNOUNCEMENTS
C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS
D. CITIZEN COMMENTS
E. APPOINTMENTS
F. HEARINGS
G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS
New All Alcoholic Beverages Restaurant License
– Ichigo Ichie Franklin, LLC
H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS
I. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
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
B. ANNOUNCEMENTS
C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS
D. CITIZEN COMMENTS
E. APPOINTMENTS
F. HEARINGS
G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS
New All Alcoholic Beverages Restaurant License
– Ichigo Ichie Franklin, LLC
H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS
I. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
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
Franklin Cafe & Grill - "now hiring - opening soon"
The former KFC is getting transformed. New signs are up announcing the Franklin Cafe & Grill. There is also a banner announcing "now hiring, opening soon"!
The liquor license was approved at the Jan 12, 2011 Town Council meeting.
Franklin, MA
The liquor license was approved at the Jan 12, 2011 Town Council meeting.
Franklin, MA
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