Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Live reporting - license transaction, zoning bylaws public hearing

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS
New All Alcoholic Beverages Restaurant License:
Artistry Franklin

looking to open before Thanksgiving
motion to approve license, passed 9-0

F. HEARINGS
Zoning Bylaw Amendment 13-719: Changes to Chapter 185. Attachment 9. Schedule of Lot, Area, Frontage, Yard and Height Requirements- 7:10 PM
Zoning Bylaw Amendment 13-720: Changes to Chapter 185-4. Districts Enumerated – 7:10 PM
Zoning Bylaw Amendment 13-721: Changes to Chapter 185-5. Zoning Map- 7:10 PM
Zoning Bylaw Amendment 13-722: Changes to Chapter 185-50. Residential VII Zoning District – 7:10 PM
Zoning Bylaw Amendment 13-723: Changes to Chapter 185. Use Regulations Schedule, Parts I through Parts VII – 7:10 PM

hearing opens with all of the bylaws at once.

Mercer and Bissanti recuse themselves

Jeff provides overview on the package

Richard Cornetta, represents the Cook Family Trust property
Christopher and Ralph Cook

requesting to amend language to striking section in entirity
to remove section that could create a jurisdictional conflict between Planning Board and Conservation Commission
reference to dead end streets, Planning Board has been designated as ruling body, would have approved language codifying language that would have defined the dead end street
as an alternative remove dead end streets

Vallee - getting conflicting info
Nutting - 600' is required by the Planning Board and we would like to keep it
Cerel - proposed alternative would not be legal, they happen to be the special permit authority
zoning has to be uniform, predicable and fixed
it is the only place as an oversight and needed elsewhere
if an emergency vehicles were to be blocked it could be an issue particularly giving the density of the proposal

Nutting - this zoning bylaw will go to other places,
Cornetta - we are no proposing a change in the length, this is just the first place where you have codified the standard. By placing a hardline, you are taking some authority from the Planning Board.

Padula, Planing Board Chair, 600' as stated is for the maximum 12 homes on a 600' road; the homes are likely to be sprinkled, when sprinkled you can cut the space required between houses, it is there for a reason, I don't think the whole bylaw should be changed to cater this plan.

Pfeffer -
one is applied to subdivision and one applies to special permit
if the road gets blocked, emergency vehicles get blocked

McCarragher - if it is beyond 600' you also need a secondary egress, a secondary road to get people out of the area. When you put larger populations in there, you need a secondary road. If you increase the density, you increase the risk - 20 units versus 5, we usually can get in pretty good but it is getting out that is an issue

Powderly - we have multiple recommendation to keep this in, while this might be the first time we are doing this, if we are being smart to do this, then we should do that.

Padula -

Cornetta - we do not disagree with what is being said here tonight, our comment was meant to ilusstrate that this is the first time you are doing this. If you could look at the distinctiion between lop roads or dead ends, maybe we could look at an other design to meet the requirements. The project still is functional with this language.

Bill Roche - President of Franklin Country Club, the Board of Governors has voted to endorse the rezoning

live reporting - Town Council meeting - Sep 25, 2013

Present: Mercer, Dellorco, Kelly, Powderly, Vallee, Pfeffer, Jones, Bissanti, Roy

Absent: none

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
July 17, 2013; August 7, 2013 Executive Session
motion to approve minutes, passed 9-0

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
Planning Board Chair, Tony Padula mentioned that he wants to re-do the vote on the zoning bylaw package to clean up some housing keeping issues with the vote. The motion to approve was made before the hearing was closed. One member has retracted their vote. The vote can be re-done on Oct 7th and back to the Town Council in time for the second reading of this package.

E. APPOINTMENTS
Finance Committee - William Dowd
motion to approve, passed 9-0

Disability Commission - Mark R Thompson
motion to approve, passed 9-0

Franklin - Fall color

fall color along King St

Friendly reminder that the Town Council is scheduled to meet on Wednesday evening at 7:00 PM in the council chambers. The agenda and associated documents was posted here

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/09/franklin-ma-town-council-agenda-sep-25.html

Library Board - Aug Meeting

The minutes of the August meeting at which the October Book Sale was voted to be not held were posted to the Library website on Tuesday after being approved during Monday's meeting..

I am probably not alone in finding it interesting that the book sale which has been held with a preview for Friends of the Franklin Library members on Friday night, open to the public at the DPW garage on Saturday and again on Sunday with the 'bag of books' sale was referred to as a 'one day' sale.

http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Library/minutes2013/AUG2013.doc

Prior posts:

Monday's meeting
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/09/library-board-will-not-reconsider.html

The Board letter to the FoFL
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/09/friends-of-franklin-library-book-sale.html

The FoFL response
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/09/friends-of-franklin-library-fall-book.html

Disclosure: my wife is a member of the Friends and as a kindergarten teacher takes advantage of the book sale to purchase books for her classroom.

Library: "The Science of Crime Scene Investigation"

The Library is hold a crime scene investigation activity for kids in grades 1 to 4 on Friday, October 4th.

Pre-registration is required as space is limited. Register by following this link:
http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e84qpeuva016f194

Silly science and mystical math

In the News: new exam, name released

Franklin district to begin field testing new exam

The Franklin School District has been selected to field test a new computer-based exam that education officials believe will eventually replace the MCAS test.

Police release name of man who died in Franklin crash

A Millville man died on Monday when his silver sedan collided with a dump truck on Washington Street, police said Tuesday.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Library Board "will not reconsider"

The Library Board of Directors held their September monthly meeting on Monday evening at the Library meeting room. The Board was outnumbered by citizens and members of the Friends of the Franklin Library who came to find out if the October Book sale suddenly canceled at the Aug meeting would be reinstated.

The meeting began after Chairman Cindy Dobrynski arrived late apologizing for traffic having delayed her. She sternly outlined the requirements for citizens comments, need to be recognized by the Chair before speaking, use of appropriate language and failure to do so could result in removal from the meeting.

Maria Lucier, President of the FoFL, was recognized and read the following statement.

Since 2005 the semi-annual book sales held by the Friends of Franklin library (FoFL) have produced approximately $150,000 in net revenue that has been used to fund books, programs, passes, e-books and numerous other items for the library, including the chairs that everyone at this meeting is sitting on.

That’s just from the book sales – the FoFL has also received considerable funds from other sources. The last 2 book sales have netted over $13K, and the October book sale would be expected to show over $6K in profits – and all of this is achieved without any cost to the library or town.

These funds have been realized because of the efforts of dedicated volunteers, who put in over 1500 hours a year to make the book sales happen, and who promote the library within their own sphere of influence.

The stated reason for this board’s decision is that the October book sale is not needed due to the popularity of the ‘on-going’ in-house book sale. But there is no reason for the two things to be mutually exclusive, and it makes more sense to supplement the semi-annual book sale revenues with the in-house revenues, resulting in the greatest benefit for the library.

The FoFL respectfully requests that this board vote tonight to reinstate the October book sale.

After a couple of other members of the audience were recognized and added points to the overall question, Cindy made her statement. The Board's strategic planning process included a survey which began last year. The Board is encouraging the library to seek other sources of revenue. She stated that the quoted dollars of revenue from the ongoing monthly sales (reported at about $150/month) have increased substantially. The Board did not want to wait until this Sep meeting to make their decision. They chose to do so at their scheduled Aug meeting. The minutes from the Aug meeting will be available after they are scheduled for vote at tonight's meeting. She encouraged dialog to go forward preparing and planing for creative fund raising events in the future. The Board is looking to create opportunities to bring people to the Library. They have decided to suspend the Oct Book Sale. They are looking to develop creative events. They don't want to be dependent upon a twice a year book sale. Their objective is to increase patron visits to the Library. The Board will not reconsider their decision.

The Library Board of Directors on Monday evening:

Library Board of Directors: (left to right) Kathleen Gerwatowski, Susan Rittenhouse, Cynthia Dobrzynski (Chairman), Felicia Oti (Library Director), Monique Doyle (Vice Chair) and Sandra Brandfonbrener

Board information

Additional information on the Board can be found on the Library webpage
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Library/about

Reading the minutes from meetings earlier this year was insightful.
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Library/minutes2013/index

In Feb 2013, the Board acknowledged reviewing a gift policy the prior month
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Library/gift.doc

In March, the Board approved "a “books for sale” shelf in the Library"
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Library/minutes2013/MAR2013.doc

In April, the Board acknowledged "exploring the creation of a charitable foundation to develop alternative sources of funding." and that the he Board was scheduled to discuss the book sale "issue" at the May meeting.
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Library/minutes2013/APR2013.doc

Survey
The survey was referenced as still being available on the Library webpage (I did not find it). The Franklin Matters archive does have the link from June 2012 when the survey was announced by the Library blog
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/06/franklin-public-library-survey.html

The survey is still open and results will be made available after the survey closes (no date specified during meeting).

Why aren't all science theories taught like this? (video)

If only...

I love this!

And if you liked that, you'll also like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtItBX1l1VY

MassBudget: After the Tech Tax Repeal: Remembering the Big Picture

MassBudget		Information.
MassBudget		Participation.
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center		Democracy.

After the Tech Tax: Remembering The Big Picture

In order to strengthen our economy and improve the quality of life in Massachusetts, the FY 2014 budget included new investments to fix and improve our transportation system and to make higher education more affordable.

One of the things that made such investments possible was $160 million in new revenue from a "tech tax" that covers computer design services and the modification of pre-written software. It now looks as if the "tech tax" is going to be repealed, without being replaced now by a new ongoing revenue source. In the longer term we are likely to see an ongoing debate in our Commonwealth about how best to pay for important investments in transportation, education, and other systems that play a critical role in helping people reach their full potential and enhancing the future prospects for our economy.

Our new factsheet, "After the Tech Tax Repeal: Remembering the Big Picture," describes a variety of ways to generate additional revenue to support our long-term needs. We consider three basic approaches:

Reforming or eliminating special business tax breaks

Reducing opportunities for tax avoidance

Reexamining other major tax cuts of the past two decades, including changes to the income tax that cost the state nearly $3 billion per year.

Rather than an exhaustive list, "After the Tech Tax Repeal: Remembering the Big Picture" summarizes some of the revenue options we could consider as we think about the best, fairest way to improve our schools, roads, bridges, and public transit systems.

Read AFTER THE TECH TAX REPEAL: REMEMBERING THE BIG PICTURE

Learn More About THE MASSACHUSETTS TAX SYSTEM

The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts.

MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER

15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700

BOSTON, MA 02108

two-vehicle crash on Washington Street

The Milford Daily News reports on the fatal accident on Washington St on Monday.

At about 1 p.m., a silver sedan with a New Hampshire license plate collided head-on with a dump truck, according to police. The driver of the sedan, a male, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. There were no other injuries.

Part of the driver's side of the sedan appeared to be lodged underneath the truck.

The circumstances surrounding the crash remain under investigation by the Franklin Police Department’s accident reconstruction specialists, officers David Gove and Rick Grover.

"a huge growth in the solar industry"

The New England Appliance and Electronics Group unveiled the third largest rooftop solar farm in the state atop its Grove Street warehouse. With its 7,200 panels, the installation will produce 2.1 megawatts of energy — enough to power 1,500 households — cutting the company’s electrical costs by 20 percent.

"The solar farm on our roof will cut a huge percentage of our energy costs and reduce our carbon footprint," said New England Group president Steve Moran, speaking in front of the warehouse.

State representatives Jeffrey Roy, D-Franklin, and Kate Hogan, D-Stow, presented the company, a cooperation of 122 appliance and electric stores, with citations from the State House.

Monday, September 23, 2013

A pep talk for teachers and students (video)

Kid President has a message for teachers and students. Spend a couple of minutes with this to get some inspiration and then go be awesome!

Now go be awesome!

For more Kid President videos and the story behind the videos, visit http://kidpresident.com/

Autumn color

A few trees are turning color already.

changing colors

"The guests preferred the old cans ‘by an overwhelming majority"

That’s the key word in discussing expiration dates: “fresh.” A new report released by the Natural Resource Defense Council and the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic yesterday, titled “The Dating Game: How Confusing Food Date Labels Lead to Food Waste in America,” lays bare the illogical, patchwork of sometimes meaningless dating requirements for food products. Even the dates printed on milk, the heart of expired-food fear that lurks in the back of the fridge, hold little meaning.

Read the full article here ->
http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/09/19/food-expirations-dates-are-meaningless

new neighbors - Eagle Brook Village

The Town Council is considering zoning bylaw changes to allow a higher density development on the Cook's Farm property. Have you noticed that Wrentham is soon to be hosting a good sized development just down the road on RT 140?

Eagle Brook Village is under construction by DiPlacido Development. It looks to be about 90 homes in five styles according to the lot plan and house models shown on the developer webpage.

http://diplacidodevelopment.com/wp/sales/eagle-brook/

Franklin Matters