Franklin Matters

Sunday, August 12, 2012

"considered high quality by all standards"

Towns with a higher bond rating are more likely to be able to pay off their loans, and as such are often given a lower rate of interest on their bonds.

"On smaller projects, a few (percentage) points isn’t going to matter too much," said Ballantine. "But if you’re building a high school, it can make a significant difference."

Much like there are three main credit bureaus for personal credit scores, there are three main bond rating agencies — Moody’s Investors Service, Standard and Poor’s, and Fitch Group.

Read more: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x521655892/Despite-recession-area-municipal-bond-rates-in-good-shape#ixzz23KDAVE3B

Franklin has been able to maintain a very good bond rating with its overall budget management. This will be a major factor as the new high project goes out to bid for the bonds to finance the building. Of course, the timing for the actual construction bids will hopefully produce the lowest overall cost for the project as well.

Franklin is also aggressive in managing its debt to take advantage of the lowest ratings available. It was able to perform two refinancing exercises that substantially reduced the amount of interest that would be paid over the life of the bond. The most recent of these efforts was reported on during the FinCom meeting in April
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/04/live-reporting-fincom.html

Saturday, August 11, 2012

The Parkinson's Voice Initiative

Do you know someone with Parkinson's? or maybe they are not sure they have Parkinson's?

There is a new service available that with a short phone call to record your voice, the analysis of the recording can determine and track progress of Parkinson's.

How do they do that? In this TED video, Max Little explains:

What is the phone number to call?

In the US, the phone number is 1-857-284-8035

You can visit the Parkinson's Voice Initiative web page for more information http://www.parkinsonsvoice.org/

What is Parkinson's Disease?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_disease

https://www.michaeljfox.org/understanding-parkinsons/i-have-got-what.php

Friday, August 10, 2012

Franklin Food Pantry

If you want to get to the Franklin Food Pantry website, use this link

Note: we are having problems with the redirection of our domain but the information on the website is available. So for the short term, you can use the above link and still get information about the Food Pantry.

St Rocco Festival

The 34th Annual St Rocco Festival is underway in Franklin this weekend. The Milford Daily News writes:

St. Mary Parish’s biggest fundraiser, the four-day festival raised $59,000 last year, with thousands attending. Father Michael Guerino started it in 1979 to honor St. Rocco, the patron saint of healing.

Since then, a tight-knit group of church volunteers, old and young, have made sure the feast pushes on, August after August. They have managed it for so long, the setup has become a reflex.

Indeed, their hard work was on display on the sprawling festival grounds.

In the News: dog bylaw, 4th Congressional, record notification, drunk driver

Town Council asks for second draft of new dog bylaw

by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Due to the Census results, the Congressional Districts were re-aligned and Franklin ends up in the 4th. Rep Jim McGovern used to represent us, now Rep Barney Frank's seat is up for election. There are six candidates across the parties running for this seat.

Do you know a child with an intellectual or physical disability that would enjoying playing soccer? We are hosting a free soccer camp in Franklin this August and are asking for your help to spread the word.

The camp will be held from August 27th through August 30th, 5:00pm to 6:00pm each day at Carpe Diem Field on 34 Saxon Street. The camp is held indoors out of the sun and heat, in an air-conditioned facility.

Many thanks to Franklin Soccer School and Carpe Diem Technologies for their generous donations allowing us to host this special and unique camp.

Participants can be from any town, are asked to pre-register for the camp, and can find more information at: http://franklinsoccerschool.com/challengerform