Town Council - 02/06/13

The discussion of the Town Council around the proposal to move the Treasurer/Collector position from elected to appointed continued during this session. If I were to read how the Council would vote, most would not individually vote to approve of the change. They all seem to be in favor putting the proposal before the voters to decide.

The question and charter change would simply call for an appointment by the Town Administrator and ratification (approval or denial) by the Town Council. How the selection process for the candidate is conducted is still not defined. Should it be more like a school principal? or more like the current practice for the other appointed positions; fire chief, police chief, etc.

Letting folks have a say in the process and having a defined process before the vote is something that I think would make the voter's decision an easy one.

• If the voter feels comfortable with the process to select the most qualified person with a preference for a Franklin resident, then I think they would be more likely to go for it. 
• If the voters have no idea how the selection is made, the fear, uncertainty and doubt about the quality of selection and lack of participation in the selection will likely doom the vote.

The second major item on the agenda Wednesday evening was the annual auditor's report. It is worthy of note that this is occurring earlier than normal. From my own records reporting on this meeting, except for the forensic audit report to the joint Town Council and School Committee meeting in Jan of 2008, this is the earliest the report has been available. That the report is clean and early is a good indication that the internal processes with Franklin are in a good state of affairs. Are they perfect? No.

As mentioned in the Management Letter, there are some fine tuning possibilities. The formal risk assessment process is one. The separation of duties for the ambulance accounting is another. It is interesting that this separation of duties issue has cropped up and apparently is due to the budget cuts reducing personnel. If you recall, it was also a position reduction in 2005 that lead to the accounting error discovered in 2007 and resulted in the forensic audit. Of note, the best thing to come out of that audit was that the Town finances finally got on the same set of books. Prior to that the School and Town books were separate.

The third major item on the agenda was the final passing of the bylaw changes to the site plan process. You may recall that there had been a great deal of hullabaloo over this when it first came before the Council. More than one Councilor had angry words and cutting comments. A workshop was held to clear the air, help with their understanding, resolve their miss understandings and as a result, last night there was nary a whisper as the roll call voted to approve the measures. Council Chair Vallee voted against one measure and Council Pfeffer voted against one also, the third passed with an 8-0 vote (Roy was absent).


The individual reports from the meeting on Wednesday:

• Live reporting - Closing
• Live reporting - Legislation
• Live reporting: Audit for 2012
• Live reporting: Treasurer/Collector
• Live Reporting - Town Council - Feb 6, 2013

 The full set of documents released with the agenda can be found on the Franklin Town Council webpage

http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_CouncilAgendas/2013/020613.pdf

Blizzard watch issued for eastern Massachusetts; 12-24 inches possible

By all accounts Friday afternoon into evening is going to be the toughest time with the most snow fall. According to what is being shared by the various news and weather outlets this morning, the snow will last into Saturday.

Stay tuned for a decision on the Franklin Food Pantry phone-a-thon which has been scheduled for this Saturday (Feb 9) and next (Feb 16). We may decide to not make any calls this Saturday. The Food Pantry Board of Directors should have a decision to share on Friday morning.

Be safe!

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Blizzard watch issued for eastern Massachusetts; 12-24 inches possible

via The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc. on 2/6/13

The National Weather Service office in Taunton has issued a blizzard watch for eastern Massachusetts for late Thursday night through Saturday morning.

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In the News: charter amendment, culinary competition, Governor's case

Franklin council considers charter amendments

by Matt Tota/Daily News staff

Town Council on Wednesday night mulled amending the charter to pave the way for a November ballot question on whether the treasurer/collector job should be appointed.

Tri-County prepares for state culinary competition

by Matt Tota/Daily News staff

For more than a month, Seamus Geehan spent hours after school cutting smoked salmon into paper-thin slices, then rolling them into the shape of petite pink orchards.

Governor makes case for tax hikes, spending

by David Riley/Daily News staff

Gov. Deval Patrick on Tuesday said consensus is building around his major new transportation initiatives, but his equally ambitious education plan could prove to be a "harder lift."

Live reporting - Closing

K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT 

L. OLD BUSINESS
none

M. NEW BUSINESS
Pfeffer - has the Senior Center had another leak?
Mercer - There have been three different freeze ups since the Senior Ctr opened, all due to design flaws, there are fixes being put into place to avoid this in the future

Vallee - I got a call from the Globe about another community that is withdrawing from the Norfolk County Association
Nutting - we pay a lot of money to belong to the County. I can't really comment without fully understanding what the reporter was saying. I don't know how to get rid of a County. The assessment comes on the Cherry Sheet

N. COUNCIL COMMENTS
Pfeffer - a number recieved anonymous letters, if you can't put a name to the letter we can and won't respond

Mercer - we are starting to go vertical, exactly on schedule

Kelly - we seem to be getting more of them than ever before, we also have a microphone here, without a name on it, we cannot respond to it

Vallee - parking meters, she is giving tickets 24x7, is what she is saying,please look at this issue
Bissanti - does she have a uniform?
Nutting, yes in winter it is covered


O. EXECUTIVE SESSION 
Negotiations, Litigation, Real Property, as May Be Required

P. ADJOURN
motion to adjourn

Live reporting - Legislation

I. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS 
none

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
1. Resolution 13-05: Hoffmann Farms, A Private Definitive Subdivision Acceptance of Covenant with Owner
motion to approve, passed 8-0

2. Resolution 13-06: Appropriation: Town Clerk - Advertising
motion to approve, passed 8-0

3. Zoning Bylaw Amendment 12-695:Changes to § 185-31. Site Plan and Design Review – 2nd Reading
motion to approve, passed 8-0 via roll call

streamlining the site plan for the developers and the Town

4. Zoning Bylaw Amendment 12-696:Changes to § 185-20. H. Signs. Sign Approvals - 2nd Reading
motion to approve, passed 7-1 via roll call (no - Vallee)

5. Zoning Bylaw Amendment 12-697:Changes to § 185-45. N. Administration and Enforcement. Design Review Commission - 2nd Reading
motion to approve, passed 7-1 via roll call (no - Pfeffer)

Live reporting: Audit for 2012

Melanson Heath & Co., 2012 Audit

up to Page 12, MD and A, management discussion and analysis
Page 13
summary of future view

Page 15
unassigned fund balance $4,289
modest improvement over prior year, about 4.2% of general fund, auditor look at that number

stabilization accounts, fund increases due to actions voted but not yet spent

$15M vs. a year ago of $11M, $3M of that was committed 

Page 17 helps to understand why the increase in unassigned fund balance
change in fund balance seen here, majority of this is timing

there is a good deal of info in the footnotes
there is interest in OPEB, if you choose I could talk for hours on it

In the management letter, recommendations begin on Page 3
follow up to prior year, more formal risk process, formal = written

The Town has provided responses to the issues raised, we think what has begun is off to a good start

On Page 4 - issues 2 and 3 will be addressed collectively, billing collection and assessment of funds, no segregation of duties present

on Page 5
Policy on handling fund balances, deals with spending prioritization
there are different constraints on the source of funds, determine which buckets of money shold be used first, would help provide guidance on what to do, what to use

Page 6 - prepare for GASB 68
the handling of the Norfolk County unfunded liability would need to be added to the books
an informational comment, I can not anticipate what that number would be
it is likely to be a large number, liabilities will go up, assets will go down

Powderly - yes,I did notice the quicker turnaround
does this happen often? 

Nutting - we didn't have staffing, one clerk was doing both, we can resolve that with staffing and the outsourcing being looked at.

Risk assessment,the small towns will consider and accept the risk

Gagner, the risk assessment will be a multi year process, we have looked at the Treasurer and Comptroller depts, and once we have ours down, we'll expand to others

Nutting - eventually every department will go through the process, 

Many more appointed treasurers

Live reporting: Treasurer/Collector

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS 
Jim Dacey, Treasurer-Collector

Discussion on current proposal as drafted to start the work to move the position to an elected one

Kelly - can we handle this as we do the school principal?
Nutting - that is the recruitment process, does the council start getting involved every time something comes up. When I recommended the promotion of the current chief, we did that local as we had a candidate

Nutting - when someone comes in from the outside it is a different story, as soon as you get a committee it becomes an open meeting

Powderly - this is changing in general terms, the fine details of the process remain to be defined. While it is an elected position in some communities, the size of the budget does become the determinant?
Dacey - yes, the size of the budget is a key factor

Mercer - you get to choose the candidate and bring it to us?
Nutting - yes, there is a check in balance, we need to keep politics out of it. That would be true of any appointment

Dacey - to get the best possible candidate then we need to have it appointed

Jones - I think we need to let the voters determine this. I don't think we should take a position from the public.

Bissanti - do you feel that on a day to day basis, that you need to be in the trenches?
Dacey - my role is very hands on, there are things I do that no one else in the office does. Tax taking, investment choices, it is very hands on. My assistant is buried right now with the work that she has to do. If she would be the one to support the new treasurer, she would be hard pressed

Powderly - while moving from elected to appoint, the residents don't loose their voice. The Councilors hear from folks all the time. That won't change. I will always favor a Franklin resident, if I have to choose between three Franklin resident and some one who is very well qualified, for the stability of town I would go outside. It is a hard choice. No one can tell us more accurately than you what is needed. That is the most convincing argument. It can be seen as taking power away from people but I don't see that.

Jones - I think the voters are smarter than we think

Dacey - the problem is when someone is in for a week and messes things up, you won't be able to recover from it. It was almost three years before I go the job down pat.

Live Reporting - Town Council - Feb 6, 2013

Present: Mercer, Dellorco, kelly, Powderly, Vallee, Pfeffer, Jones, Bissanti,
Absent: Roy

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
November 28,2013, December 19, 2013, Executive Session
motion to approve, passed 8-0

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS
This meeting is being recorded by Franklin TV and shown on Comcast channel 11 and Verizon channel 29.This meeting may be recorded by Franklin Matters.

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS
none

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS
none

E. APPOINTMENTS
none

F. HEARINGS
none

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS
none

Teens Set to Run 4th Annual Charity 3v3 Soccer Tournament

The 2013 Soccer for Smiles to be held during school vacation in February promises fun for all participants while supporting a terrific local charity, the Random Smile Project. The Soccer for Smiles team is looking for contributions from local businesses and individuals as well as players from ages 5 to high school. The tournament is round-robin style and will be held February 18th, 19th, and 20th at Carpe Diem Field on 34 Saxon Street in Franklin, MA.

Soccer for Smiles 3v3 Tournament

Soccer for Smiles was formed in 2010 when four teenagers combined their love for soccer with their interest in contributing to the earthquake relief fund in Haiti. Colin Berg (16), Tim LaRowe (15), Alexa Frongillo (16), and Cobi Frongillo (15), coaches at the Franklin Soccer School, came together to plan and host their first charity soccer event. The teens were struck by the devastation faced by the people of Haiti after the earthquake. They realized also that many people in their local community were in need of support and felt that they could make an impact through a fun, athletic event with children. This led them to partner with the Random Smile Project whose mission is to provide a bridge of support to people going through difficult times.

With increasing participation of over 100 young players in each of three years the tournament has been great fun and very productive. Raising over $2,000 for Haiti, they recognized the power of soccer and charity. Over the last two years, the team focused on local charities and each year outpaced the previous year’s income. In 2011, the tournament raised over $4,000 for the Random Smile Project (www.randomsmile.org). In 2012 the group chose beneficiaries of RSP and Team Isabella, helping a local girl and her family; contributions exceeded $5,000.

This year, the organizers of Soccer for Smiles look to go even higher hoping to get more participants over three days. Working again with the Random Smile Project, they aim to raise over $7,500. For more information and registration forms, go to www.franklinsoccerschool.com or email them at tournament@franklinsoccerschool.com .

Franklin Library: Fun Club - Mardi Gras Party

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Fun Club - Mardi Gras Party

via Franklin Public Library by Franklin Public Library on 2/5/13

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Live reporting - Finance Committee - 2/5/13

Present: Smith, Goldsmith, Dufur, Quinn, Roche, Dewsnap, Feldman, Aparo, Huempfner
Absent: none

Citizens Comments - none

Approval of minutes from Jan 8th, motion to approve, seconded, passed 9-0

Action item:
Town Clerk advertising $1,000
proposed to move from free cash

motion to approve from free cash, seconded, passed 9-0

DPW Road Capital Plan
Mike Maglio, Asst Town Engineer

roadway inventory conducted and road ratings created
update the database yearly
determines the capital plan based upon the ratings

206 total miles, approx. 30 miles are unaccepted roadways

approx 23 miles are private roads, with another 18 miles  that are State roads

avg rating for roads is currently 76, would like to get up to about 80. That number tends to be a good one for communities of our size

if we attempted to upgrade all the roads at once, it would cost about $48M

$1.2 M per year would keep us just holding steady
$2.0 M would get us gradually to an 80 rating by 2022


The town is doing a lot of planning that folks don't always see
The Long Range Planning Committee reported that roads were one of the major issues to be addressed.

The DPW does work with the gas company to coordinate road work
There is a bylaw passed a few years ago that once a road was re-built, it is not to be touched (unless an emergency) for five years. 

Trying to narrow the width of the roads to reduce the storm water handling

What has been the average road budget?
Not sure, let me check and get back to you. I have been here year and a half and just gettign into the budget business

Can you explain the accepted road process?
Has to do with the final as-built reports and acceptance by the Town Council
Working to get some of those identified and accepted into the process
We would be plowing and doing that kind of maintenance but not physical road repair work

Most of the paving is through contracts
we'll do some of the smaller tasks but the larger roads are better done by contractors

Q - how did the sidewalks account for so much/
A - can't repair them, mostly replace. Hadn't done this particular slide so not sure exactly what the calculation was

Tabling the OPEB valuation discussion (J Nutting not here)

Susan Gagner - not much to add just yet, the Governor's budget is out and we are scheduled for more local aid, if that holds it is very open to discussion

Intending to get budget at end of March

Per Jeff Roy, there will not be a local aid cut for this fiscal year.

Tri-County assessment is up, we have more kids enrolled there

Special election cost
There will be a primary and election, whether the state picks up the cost is open

Jim Dacey
we may come back to you for an increase in the processing of the parking tickets
have written only $20K of tickets, had budgeted only $3K for the processing
will be looking to see what it will be before year end and may come back in Apr/May with a number that should be good

Excise tax bills will be going out next Monday


Annual report will be reviewed at the Town Council meeting
Management letter to be addressed regarding action items
esp. a policy for fund balances

May be a requirement to put the unfunded pension liability on the balance sheet
The county has not presented that number to us
it will be interesting to see, all net assets will go down when it is added

Clarification on the asset versus liability and the balance sheet
we are funding the liability but not booking it (pension)
we are not funding the liability (OPEB) but booking

motion to adjourn

Franklin Historical Museum: All Aboard!

ALL ABOARD!

The Franklin Historical Museum will host a talk on the history of the Southern New England Trunkline Trail, SNETT.

Guest Speaker Ron Clough of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation will give a presentation and discuss the history of SNETT which was designated as part of the National Recreation Trail in 1994.

Franklin Station

Join us for an informative look at the Southern New England Railway and trains in Franklin’s history, and learn about the ‘Ghost Train’.

Sunday February 17 @ 1:00pm, 80 West Central Street, Franklin

The science of NFL Football

The Library at Dean College has started publishing a blog. Their most recent post shares a series of videos produced by NBC on the "Science of NFL Football". Just because the Super Bowl has officially ended the season doesn't mean there is no more football!

Queue the videos!

You can find the series of 10 short (about 3-4 minute) videos here:
http://www.nbclearn.com/nfl

They don't provide a way to embed the video so you will need to follow the link. For school teachers to leverage this for their classes, there is a way to login via Blackboard and download the videos for free.


Links:

The Dean College Library blog:  http://deancultureconnect.wordpress.com/

The Dean College Library post on the football videos
http://deancultureconnect.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/the-science-of-nfl-football/

The Science of NFL Football series
http://www.nbclearn.com/nfl


These videos and more are also available at http://science360.gov/files/ (search for "football"). Note I did not have success in actually viewing the videos on this site. They seemed to take forever 'loading'.

Rep Jeffrey Roy - Office Hours

State Representative Jeffrey Roy (D-Franklin) announced today that constituent office hours will be held as follows:

Medway – Tuesday Feb 5th = 8:00 AM at the Medway Municipal Building, 155 Village Street, Sanford Hall, 2nd floor, Medway, MA

Franklin – Saturday 16th = 9:00 AM at the Cake Bar, 17 East Central Street, Franklin, MA (Parking on street & in the rear)

Medway – Wednesday 27th = 6:00 PM at Starbucks, 67 Main Street, Medway, MA 02053

Christopher Yancich, his legislative aide, will be accompanying him.

Representative Roy stated that all office hours are open to any residents of Franklin and Medway who may have questions or concerns that they wish to bring to his attention. Walk-ins are welcome, no appointment necessary. He looks forward to hearing from you.

He also invites all constituents to call him at his State House office at (617) 722-2425, stop by Room 437 in the State House, or email him at Jeffrey.Roy@MAhouse.gov.

House rejects governor's call for local aid cut

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House rejects governor's call for local aid cut

via Wicked Local Franklin News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc. on 2/4/13

The House today rejected Gov. Deval Patrick's request for the power to make a 1 percent local aid cut and advanced legislation aimed at snapping this year's budget back into balance.

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