Franklin Matters

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

FRANKLIN RAIL TRAIL COMMITTEE MEETING - Agenda - 4/12/11

Proposed Agenda for April 12, 2011
Location: Franklin YMCA 45 Forge Hill Road
Start Time: 7:30PM

I. Call to Order / Introductions of New Attendees
A. Review & approve minutes of previous meeting
B. Make sure we have a volunteer to keep minutes of meeting

II. Report from Finance Committee
Report from Treasurer

III. Report from Grant Writing Committee
Meeting on March 31st and begin Strategic Plan
Proposed meeting on April 14th

C. We have an Eagle Scout lined up for proposed work in Forest
D. Need to Meet with EMC and Rockland Trust soon

IV. Earth Day Preparations for Beaver St. Location on April 16th
Tent, Table, Banner, Coffee, Brochures, sign up sheets, etc.
Get to Ron Clough list of volunteers

V. Report of April 23rd Road Race Committee
Discussion on progress to date and of Publicity
Agree on date and time to meet with M & M for final preps

VI. Report on Bellingham
Bellingham Lions – Ken
Politics and Fatman
Kiosk

VII. Unfinished Business:

VIII. New Business:
A.

IX. Set Date & place for Next Meeting and Adjourn

Franklin, MA

Downtown Partnership Networking Luncheon - Apr 29th

Franklin Downtown Partnership

Networking Luncheon

Friday, April 29th-1:00

Dean College Campus Center-Dining Hall

Cost $5.50

Please RSVP Joel Carrara

at jcarrara@printsmartoffice.com

Enjoy great food while networking with other Downtown Partnership members!

In the News - Newcomers, arrest, marathon, approval

Officials meet with Franklin Newcomers and Friends Club

by Staff reports

Police say Franklin teen spit at officer during arrest

by Brian Benson/Daily News staff

Franklin woman to realize dream of running Marathon

by Ashley Studley/Daily News staff

Taco Bell, Wendy's approved in Franklin

by Brian Benson/Daily News staff

Franklin, MA

Monday, April 11, 2011

FM #92 - Week ending Apr 10, 2011

Let's spend a few minutes reviewing what matters in Franklin, MA as the week comes to a close April 10th.

Time: 5 minutes, 58 seconds

MP3 File

Show Notes:

This internet radio show or podcast is number 92 in the series for Franklin Matters.

We'll look back at the week that was as it comes to a close Sunday Apr 10 before getting to the outlook on the week ahead.

As we mentioned last week, the Finance Committee was scheduled to meet on Tuesday. With the budget book not scheduled to be ready until the end of April, the meeting was canceled. The FINCOM budget hearings have been scheduled for May 2, 3, 5, 9 and 10. The calendar on Franklin Matters has been updated accordingly.

The Milford Daily News ran an article on this updated schedule and in the article stated:

Town Council Chairman Scott Mason said the budget deficit probably will not be as bad as the $4 million to $6 million councilors predicted last year. He said he does not expect the council to seek an override this year.

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/04/does-not-expect-council-to-seek.html

So be it.

The Town Council met this week and spent time on the public hearing for the Nu-Style building which is getting closer to demolition and clean up than ever before. Several of the councilors created great sound bites on how long it is taken to do this. Jeff Nutting has the best comment in response:

My notes showed he said something like

”We have been trying to take care of the environment and minimize the Franklin tax dollars in the process.“

The good news from the Council meeting was their action to create a “Community Gardens Committee.” Five members were appointed all from the group that has been working on this for the past several months. This is a great step forward. The King St Memorial Fields will be the site for about 40 raised bed gardens to be set up in May. You can follow the events on the website
http://www.franklincommunitygardens.org/

My full set of notes from the Council meeting can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/04/town-council-040611.html

As for town meetings this week

The School Committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, Apr 12. As we record this on Sunday, the agenda has not yet been posted.

The Long Range Financial Planning Committee is scheduled to meet on Weds. They are likely to pick up the discussion on the questions that they drafted as ones to be answered.

Earth Day comes Saturday. The DPW will set up at Beaver Pond to coordinate the clean up efforts of as many want to volunteer.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/03/2011-earth-day-april-16th-at-beaver.html

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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 writing about something that matters in Franklin, please let me know.

As always -

If you like this, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like this, please tell me.

This feedback loop is important. Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visitFranklinmatters.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!

Franklin, MA

Mick Ebeling: The invention that unlocked a locked-in artist

After making electrical circuit connections with play dough, what do you do? Try solving an impossible problem.

Mick asks himself these questions everyday:

if not now, then when?
if not me, then who?

More on the Eye writer can be found here

Franklin, MA

"These students want to deal with the problem"

"When teachers or adults talk to students, it seems like they're talking down to them," Loureiro said. "We're talking to them as peers."

The program, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Dean College Campus Center, is targeted to college and high school juniors and seniors. But it is open to the community at large, organizers said.

Speakers will educate attendees about the causes of distracted driving, stress the importance of keeping two hands on the wheel and discuss ways technology - often at the root of the cause - could play a role in the solution, organizers said.

"The answer isn't turn off the technology," said Parry Aftab, a lawyer who founded the Teenangels initiative in 1999 and runs the Internet safety website WiredSafety.org. "It's let's make the technology safer, smarter and better. You're not going to drive in a quiet car all by yourself."