Town Council - 01/23/13

The Town Council meeting on Wednesday, Jan 23 took about 90 minutes to cover the scheduled agenda. They approved the first phase of the capital plan for FY 2013. They added a license for hotels to serve liquor so that existing hotels here in Franklin can do so. The received an update on the snow plowing plan and priorities and had some discussion around the experience some councilors have had in comparison with other communities.

Treasurer/Collector Jim Dacey made a pitch for putting the Treasurer/Collector position back before the voters to have it an appointed position rather than via election (as it is today). He said: "this is not about appointing me for the next term, this is about appointing the next person to this position."

Franklin Treasurer/Collector tools over the years

In this picture, the ledger (small black book on top) is one used in 1877 by the Treasure of Franklin at that time. The larger book (with the red binding) was used by Jim Dacey during 2000 before he switched to Excel spreadsheets. The laptop (on the bottom) is the current tool for the Treasurer as it provides access to the Excel spreadsheets and to the online software used to report Franklin's finances to MA and the IRS

The presentation documents for both the Snow Plan and the Treasurer/Collector will be added as soon as they are available

The details from the meeting can be found in the links below by section of the agenda.

• Live reporting - closing
• Live reporting - Legislation
• Live reporting - Snow removal process
• Live reporting - Treasurer/Collector
• Live reporting - Town Council - Jan 23, 2013

The DPW Presentation document was added to the Snow Removal Process link and also posted here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/01/franklin-dpw-winter-road-treatments-and.html

In the News: students thrive, capital plan

Franklin High gets input from community

by Matt Tota/Daily News staff

Local business leaders on Wednesday morning took part in a more than hour-long forum guided by this prompt: "students thrive at Franklin High School when…"

Franklin Town Council authorizes FY2013 capital improvement plan

by Matt Tota/Daily News staff

Town Council on Wednesday night approved a capital improvement plan for fiscal 2013.

Note: the capital plan is only one item on the agenda for the meeting that lasted about 90 minutes. For all the notes on what occurred during the meeting check out the reporting here

College student season ticket packages on sale now

For college students at Dean and living in and around Franklin, this is a good opportunity to see quality soccer and get inside Gillette Stadium for less money than a Patriots ticket costs!

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

College student season ticket packages on sale now

via RevolutionSoccer.net News on 1/23/13

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution college student season ticket package is now available for purchase. Available only to students with a valid college ID, college student season ticket holders will receive special benefits including their own section at Revolution home games.
For $99, the 17-game package includes one ticket to every regular-season home game, a limited edition college student season ticket holder adidas t-shirt and the ability to purchase tickets for international games before they go on sale to the general public.
Read More

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State warns drivers to stop using breakdown lane where fourth lane has been ...

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

State warns drivers to stop using breakdown lane where fourth lane has been added to Rte. 128

via Wicked Local Franklin News RSS by Staff reports on 1/23/13

State Police and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation are reminding drivers that use of the breakdown lane on Interstate 93/Interstate 95 (Rte. 128) has been discontinued where a new fourth travel lane has opened.

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to Wicked Local Franklin News RSS using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

Live reporting - closing

K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT 

Water works associate, David Allard recognized by his peers
We have two vehicles in the DPW that

Brutus being recognized by the Charles River Water Association
leading the charge on storm water management

Governors budget comes out, will proceed cautiously until things are a little firmer
we do need to fix roads and bridges and fund schools

L. OLD BUSINESS 
none

M. NEW BUSINESS 
discussion on appointment of the Treasurer

N. COUNCIL COMMENTS 
Kelly - condolences to the DiBaggis family

Powderly - anonymous letter regarding smoking, jurisdiction falls under the Board of Health and not the Town Council

Pfeffer - many of us received a letter from resident on Ledge St
Nutting - was out there Saturday, will make temporary repairs when the weather allows, I did not receive the letter until Tuesday but did reply to him today

Bissanti - I have the advantage of googling , it is more expensive and more effective than rock salt

Roy - House budget due in April



O. EXECUTIVE SESSION
Negotiations, Litigation, Real Property, as May Be Required 
not needed


P. ADJOURN 

Live reporting - Legislation

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION 
1. Resolution 13-01: Appropriation – Capital FY 13 
motion to approve $1.5M from free cash to the capital improvement
passed 9-0

Nutting - taking this is phases to cautiously approach the budget situation overall
these are matters of replacing vehicles and fixing roads
$24K taken off from the Library as the Friends of the Library offered to donate that

Powderly - no text books?
Sabolinski - no, due to the changes at the state level, the text book companies haven't quite caught up to what the standards are so we weren't ready to invest in that now. There are a lot of changes coming, all new science standards coming next year. We want to wait and see


2. Resolution 13-02: Appropriation – Sewer Enterprise Capital FY 13 
motion to approve, passed 9-0
big item here is to replace the pump filters to keep the swifters out of the works


3. Resolution 13-03: Appropriation – Water Enterprise Capital FY 13 
motion to approve, passed 9-0
replacement of generators at pump stations, part of a regular replacement process


4. Resolution 13-04: Appropriation – Water Enterprise Water Lines FY 13 
motion to approve, passed 9-0
continues the successful program, Brook to Daniels, Lewis St, and we are trying to figure out of we can get the rest of the neighborhood at the same time
the streets all have low ratings, all have old pipes, this is our best estimate of marrying the water work with the road surface work


5. Bylaw Amendment 13-699:Amendment of Service Fee Rates: Administration- 2nd Reading 
motion to approve, passed 9-0
addition of the inn holder all liquor license fee, $3,000
we currently don't have this and at the request of our hotels, vote via roll call, unanimous

Live reporting - Snow removal process

Brutus Cantoreggi, Director Public Works and Carlos Rebelo, Highway Superintendent delivered this presentation and answered questions.

Note: the presentation doc was added after the meeting






Budgeted for $378 for this year

$277K spent thus far

salt distributed at 100%

Cost of salt has varied over the years

Sand is a problem when mixed with the salt as it affects our storm water
$80 a ton to get rid of, exceeds the DEP standards for MA

salt as a component is in our water system

5 truck route vs. 'treating the whole town'
$6,810 vs. 23,400

35 pieces of equipment on the road
DPW workers cost $1237.50 per hour  vs contractors at $7450.00

The goal slide is important

aggressive goal to have roads ready 4 hours after snow fall ends!

6" snow = $100K

Reimbursement of $40 for mailbox

Kelly - you don't live in town so how do you find out how to plow the streets
Cantorregi - we have a relationship with the Police, they are on the roads, they'll let us know. I do live in Millis but only 6 miles away. I could live in Franklin and live farther from the office

Kelly - how did you do the switch during the last storm
Cantorregi - sanding trucks are also plows, they tend to come back to refill anyway, they also started out, came back to switch to the plows and while the snow came down a couple of inches in the hour, the trucks went to plow also hitting the road with every other person trying to go somewhere

Dellorco - it took me 20 minutes to get
Cantorregi - we didn't scrap, we salted, it was snow to ice to rain

Dellorco - is there any reason the other towns are better than we are
Cantorregi - I got be honest, i have never heard that others are better than us. I do err on the side of caution when it comes to spending money. I work with the Police, I work with the Schools. We can set different standard, MassDOT has a higher standard. Will no one ever have an accident, no. One accident is too many

Mercer - do you change a priority when schools are going to be open?
Cantorregi - no, our priority is the priority, with school is out, then that is huge for us as it takes so many off the roads

Bissanti - is that typical for how others work?
Cantorregi - yes, 

Nutting - we have a narrow window of opportunity to make a decision, that is the worse time for us to make a decision

Sabolinksi - yes, there is collaboration among the surrounding towns, the last storm the only one delayed was Bellingham. When we spoke there wasn't a lot of snow. It takes about 10-15 minutes to get the message out, the buses are rolling at 6:00 AM. I was driving around to see for myself what the status was. Regionally we all came to the same decision.

Bissanti - how do you feel it being your call?
Sabolinski - the decision for delaying school has an economically impact on our families. You want to weigh safety but you also need to consider the costs, it can extend the school year.

Dellorco - you shouldn't have to drive around?
Sabolinski - we have to get in 180 days before the end of the fiscal year, if we get short, we have to look at other options, i.e spring vacation.

Bissanti - a delay is not canceling school?
Sabolinski - no, a delay is not canceling school.

Cantorregi - we wait until there is moisture on the road so when we put the salt out, the snow helps to hold it down. If we use snow blowers, it can pick up a newspaper and clear the shear pin