"It just needs an extra million bucks a year"

The Milford Daily News catches up to the Franklin DPW Initiative '14 plan introduced at the Town Council meeting earlier this month. It is anticipated that the plan will be part of a funding discussion sometime in the near future. It may come up before the current Council, if not, it should be part of the budget process for FY 2015 with the new Town Council.

"The residents know the roads that are really, really bad, and we know because we get calls about them all the time," said Cantoreggi. "Those roads are very expensive to fix." 

The town faces a roughly $50 million backlog of necessary road projects. And while the DPW plan would not immediately lift that burden, it would kick-start the effort. 

"We won’t get every road," Cantoreggi noted. "On the other hand, it will move things along a whole lot faster. 

"If we get the additional money, we will have a solid five-year plan," he added. "If we don’t, it’s going to take another 50 years (to tackle the backlog)."

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x369949646/Franklin-DPW-touts-5-year-roads-improvement-plan#ixzz2cPIIcCwR


You can find my reporting from the Town Council meeting here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/08/it-will-take-lots-of-money-to-fix-roads.html

You can review the full road plan here.
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/08/dpw-initiative-14-plan.html

DCR "added the Southern New England Trunkline Trail to its online database of state parks and trails"

Milford Daily News reports on a significant milestone for the SNETT trail, it is now included in the MA Dept of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) webpage.

"One of our major goals has been for DCR to create a website for the SNETT," said Jean Keyes, of Bellingham, a member of the group. "It’s their property, but it has never been mentioned on any of their sites listing options for recreation. We were really fighting hard to get that on there." 

In the last two years, volunteers have coordinated projects along the trail, from installing signs and gates to grading or widening certain sections. Starting at the Franklin State Forest, the SNETT stretches east to west, winding through Bellingham, Uxbridge, Blackstone, Millville and, finally, Douglas. 

Depending on available funding, there are plans to link the trial to the Blackstone River Bikeway, a proposed 48-mile trail that would travel from Worcester to Providence, R.I.

SNETT sign at Grove St entrance

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x369949648/DCR-recognizes-SNETT-trail-with-listing-on-website#ixzz2cPEQrhFd

You can find the listing for SNETT here
http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-central/southern-new-england-trunkline-trail.html

Or find the top link to all the state parks here
http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/

Find out about the Davis Thayer Proposal

There are two School Building Committee meetings this week that will be important. The first, on Monday will discuss the proposal to renovation Davis Thayer Elementary School. The second, on Wednesday will  review the construction phases on the high school project and review the new traffic patterns expected in September.

Monday's meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM in the 3rd Fl Training Room at the Municipal Bldg.

Davis Thayer renovation plaque 1973

Wednesday's meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM in the Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of the Municipal Bldg.

Current entrance from Oak St

Fallen Hero: Technical Sergeant Baldo S. Lazzerini, U.S. Army

Technical Sgt Baldo S. Lazzerini was born on January 29, 1913 in Franklin son of Quinto and Julia Lazzerini. Baldo made his home here in Franklin from age 16 with the Pacifico and Amelia Gianetti Family of 57 Hutchinson Street. Baldo’s active duty began upon his enlistment on March 20, 1941. 

Technical Sergeant Baldo S. Lazzerini served with the U.S. 5th Army, G-2 Intelligence service in Italy as an interpreter for General Mark Clark. T/Sgt Lazzerini was involved in the heaviest of fighting in Italy and had personally witnessed the surrender of Italian generals to Allied generals, with whose staff he was connected. T/Sgt Baldo Lazzerini’s brilliance in military operations, coupled with his knowledge of the Italian language gave him rapid rise in rank. 

T/Sgt Baldo S. Lazzerini died as a result of a military vehicle accident in Italy on June 24, 1945. 

Technical Sgt Baldo S. Lazzerini was 32 years old at the time of his death in service during World War II.

Fallen Hero: T/Sgt Lazzerini

For the full series of Fallen Heroes you can visit this link
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/08/franklin-fallen-heroes-series.html

Fallen Hero: Corporal David Laughlan III, U. S. Marine Corps

Corporal David Laughlan III, U.S. Marine Corps, was born on March 20, 1923 son of David and Elsie Laughlan. David lived with his parents, a sister and a brother at 55 North Park Street. David attended the Franklin Public Schools and graduated from Franklin High School, Class of 1941. David joined the Marine Corps two months before Pearl Harbor. 

Corporal David Laughlan III saw a great deal of action as a member of a rifle company fighting against the enemy on Saipan, the Marianas Islands on June 30 and again on July 1, 1944. CPL Laughlan volunteered to lead patrols into enemy territory obtaining valuable information of great value to his company commander. The information was used by his commander in planning the company’s many subsequent successful attacks against the enemy. Corporal David Laughlan III was injured on Saipan and was awarded the Bronze Star for his performance of valor. 

Corporal David Laughlan III later returned to action for the torrid battle on Iowa Jima and lost his life there on February 24, 1945. 

Corporal David Laughlan III was 21 years old when he became a battle casualty while in combat during WWII.

Fallen Hero: Corporal Laughlan

For the full series of Fallen Heroes you can visit this link
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/08/franklin-fallen-heroes-series.html

Franklin Library: Petting Zoo

The end of summer party will be held at the Library on Wednesday from 1:00 to 2:30 PM.

Barn babies petting zoo

Thanks to one eagle eyed reader who was paying attention to the 'petty' when it should have been "petting"

"a good way to do it"

The Franklin Food Pantry is not the only one to benefit from local gardens. The Milford Daily News reports on a garden that Raytheon employees care for that serves the Marlborough Food Pantry.

While making their thrice-weekly trip to the Marlborough Food Pantry to deliver lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers, Raytheon employees Gretel Anspach and Don Jordan encountered a young girl who beamed with excitement about the new produce. 

"She said ‘Gee, mom, we get to have salad tonight,’" said Jordan, an electrical engineer from Franklin. "You hear something like that and it makes it all worthwhile." 

Each week for upwards of 10 hours, Anspach and Jordan leave their air-conditioned offices at Raytheon during their lunch break or at the end of the day to head to the company’s garden to plant and harvest vegetables, which are donated to the Marlborough Food Pantry.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x369949553/Raytheon-garden-grows-veggies-for-food-pantry#ixzz2cJzTKmhw