Wednesday, March 12, 2014

The walk (photo essay) (part 2)

The walk on Saturday covered a lot of territory and the results have been split into separate posts. You can find the first section here  and continue the 'reporting by walking around' with me

the 'other' Dean tree
Dean College sitting in the center of Franklin is home to several good large trees. I have highlighted the largest one before. This one on the corner of Main St and Emmons St is also impressive.


tree shadows

One's path in the snow provides a contrast to the tree shadows cast in the early morning light

National Historic District
Yes, Franklin does have quite a bit of history and it has been recognized with a "National Historic District". The display on the Town Common provides highlights on the district.

snow melt reveals the Gettysburg Address
Fortunately, the snow has continued to melt so while the words were beginning to be revealed on Saturday, they are likely completely revealed now. And let's hope the storm that comes by later Weds into Thursday just gives us a dusting of snow.We have had enough already!

Davis Thayer field tree
The tree at the edge of the Davis Thayer field (along School St) provides a good photo in the sunlight


Key dates coming up at Davis Thayer

The 5th has already come and gone but the Auction will be held Saturday the 15th and then there is a fund raising event at the Franklin Grill on March 21st.

The middle part of the walk will be covered in another posting this week. I got out to the DelCarte Property and had some fun walking in the snow. Stay tuned!

"End Distracted Driving" Program - Comes to Franklin High School



 
 TRIAL ATTORNEYS BRING END DISTRACTED DRIVING
PROGRAM TO FRANKLIN HIGH SCHOOL

The Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys (MATA) will bring the "End Distracted Driving" (EDD) program to Franklin High School in Franklin, MA on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at 9:00 a.m.  
The EDD program was started by Philadelphia Attorney Joel Feldman, whose daughter was killed in 2009 by a distracted driver and who will be speaking at the Franklin High School presentation. 
Atty. J. Michael Conley, the President of MATA remarked: "The End Distracted Driving program is one of the most important ongoing initiatives that MATA has ever done. It reaches out to our most vulnerable drivers – high school students. The program is designed to raise awareness of the dangers in driving distracted and hopes to protect young drivers by educating them. What could be more important in our society?"  
MATA has adopted attorney Feldman's EDD program and continues to visit as many high schools and colleges as possible each year to impress upon students the many dangers of driving distracted. 
Representative Jeffrey Roy (D-Franklin), who was instrumental in bringing MATA and the EDD program to Franklin High School, said, "Distracted driving substantially increases the risk of an accident and young drivers are at the greatest risk. While we have laws in place, distracted driving remains a major health risk with deadly consequences. When I saw the End Distracted Driving program I knew that it had to be showcased in our area, as I think it is something all high school students should see".  
As of this date, MATA volunteers and Joel Feldman have presented the EDD program in over twenty high schools and colleges in Massachusetts.

Financial Audit Results

The annual financial audit was reviewed during the last Town Council meeting. It is effectively a 'good' audit. There are some minor issues to be worked on according to the management letter. The complete text of all three documents can be found here


The Annual Financial Statements (53 pages)




The Management Letter (6 pages)




Additional items not covered in the Management Letter (2 pages)




The notes from the Town Council discussion can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/03/live-reporting-audit-report.html

The video of the Town Council meeting can be viewed here
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?ecm=635302006607091250&indexSessionSKU=04Plyid7sgk9t4tfYKAX+A%3D%3D&siteSKU=L7qhQ46xin/r3Z0jcDVCNw%3D%3D

(skip ahead to about 34 minutes to catch the section on the audit)

Franklin Municipal Building
Franklin Municipal Building

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Franklin Schools: Update 3/11/14

A message from FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT

March 11, 2014

Hello

My hope is that spring is almost here and that I will not have to call your homes at dawn with a snow message this week. If I have to contact our families on Thursday you may hear me whimpering and crying with disappointment. We are keeping our fingers crossed for rain.

Last day is June 20 and it is a half day.


Upcoming Events:

  • FHS Winter Carnival
A fun-filled program designed and run by the students at Franklin High School. Games, snacks prize for preschool and elementary students- all proceeds to benefit the Munroe family fund. Sunday, March 16 from 12:00 until 4:00 FHS Fieldhouse



  • Franklin Education Foundation Annual Trivia Bee

Come to the annual town-wide trivia bee on Wednesday, March 19 at 7:00 at the Mercer Auditorium at Horace Mann Middle School. Watch the teams compete for dominance in music trivia, have some snacks and bid on auction prizes. The finds raised support grants to Franklin educators.  See if the Franklin School Committee can repeat as champs and listen to the musical talent of the FHS Jazz Band.

  • PARCC Parent Presentation
Formal presentation by teams of our administrators and teachers on the PARCC Pilot. Breakout sessions by level (K-5, 6-8, 9-12) to view sample questions and experience online assessment. The date of the PARCC Parent Night  is Thursday , March 20 at 6:30 at Horace Mann Middle School. 

  
This e-mail has been sent to you by FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT. To maximize their communication with you, you may be receiving this e-mail in addition to a phone call with the same message. If you wish to discontinue this service, please inform FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT either IN PERSON, by US MAIL, or by TELEPHONE at 508-613-1777.

Franklin Municipal Building
Franklin Municipal Building

Live reporting - Finance Committee - Budget Hearing

Present: Quinn, Fleming, Conley, Smith, Dufour, Aparo, Dowd
Absent:  Dewsnap, Huempher

Nutting, Gagner, Dacey, McNeil

Motion to approve minutes for meeting of Jan 14, seconded, passed 7-0

Nutting  - budget overview
Revenues up, what the Schools do with their budget, we'll find out (School Committee actually meeting on their budget this evening)

Town Administrator budget going up with Town Clerk no longer able to do passports by law

new high has more glass and surfaces that will need to be cleaned regularly
Schools had laid off 8 custodians several years ago, this is time to add one back

Police looking to add one position; between vacation, holiday, sick leave accumulated it amounts to 3 people,  this covers one; haven't been replacing them regularly

4 firefighters being paid by Federal grant, that will expire, no increase budgeted for as there still is not a negotiated contract with the fire fighters union

Retiree health costs transferred to Town Budget from Schools; better situation for this to be handled
this accounts for an extra increase of $555,000

Snow budget increase, this year is up so the rolling average is

looking to add 2600 seniors so Senior Center will be increasing

Library monthly book sale increasing revenues to open up Sunday hours

Bond request coming in the Spring for water improvements
Bond request coming for Library improvements and renovations (within budget)

Sewer plant improvements going to hit budget next year, hopefully the increase will did last year will help us cover that, the exact amount will find out and see

mediation/arbitration coming again with fire fighters but not really an expectation of getting a settlement given the recent history

This is an 'easy' budget in the grand scheme of things, next year will be another sotry

trash account likely to increase about $4 next year, hard to believe it is already coming up to the end of the five year contract.as the economy gets better the trash rates will get better

Q - if recycling rate goes up does that help the overall rate?
A - yes, it does.

Q - would the declining enrollment affect some of their planning?
A - question is better answered by the School Committee. The grade student teacher ratio is different from elementary, middle to high school.

Employee Benefits - G - 10  Budget line 910
Retirement assessment comes directly from the the County
Pension will be about 15% of the budget once we get out of the hole
had been paying 1.7M for retiree health, now it is down to 1.05M
major increase in this line is the $555,000 as mentioned during the overview

all health insurance subject to collective bargaining, they have been good 12 of the 13 have been at the table regularly (800 subscribers, 2000 people) (all non-school and retirees)

Schools generally doing most of the layoffs, teachers not renewing get laid off

OPEB had been planned for $100K but with the funds, lets god with $200K now and slowly grow this. we really need 2.7M per year to fund it, that would be our entire increase each year....

Compensation reserve increase due to the unsettled fire contract, which outstanding requirements increase for another year. what is unused (due to unsettled contracts gets into 'free cash'

Human Resources - A-21  Budget line 152
Police exam didn't cost the Town, the applicants admission fees paid for the exam
promotional exam already in Police Budget, that we do pay for

Town Council - A -1   Budget line 111
minor increase for conference admission fees

Town Administrator A - 2   budget line 123
increase here due to shift in hours from Town Clerk as mentioned

Finance Committee  A - 4  Budget line 131
minor increase for conference admission fees

Comptroller  A -5  Budget line 135
looking to replace a retiree at the end of the year and provide some overlap

Assessors - A - 10   Budget line 141
minor expense increase, less than $5K
usually get a 5-8 fold payback for the expense so it helps

Treasurer/Collector   A -14   Budget line 147
UNibank dropped the ball on the $.25 increase
10-15% use the online bill pay
100 people use the drive up window about this time with excise taxes due

Legal - A - 19   Budget line 151
can hardly measure the cost avoidance for this but likely proceless
reviews contracts before they out the door
works on the real estate deals
working on all the bylaws, still a couple left to do
if we get sued, 99% we are covered by insurance
works with the assessors to cover the appeals to the Tax Board
pretty cheap legal budget for the size of the operations we have
The School do have a separate legal coverage for special ed

more than 20 hours a week counts for benefits, and thereby is 'permanent'
good for some folks but not for everyone as there are some continuity issues

Appeals Board   A -37    Budget line 176
purely advertisement fees, paid for by the applicants

Central Services   A - 50   Budget line 196
covers the copy machines, Iron Mountain records storage
postage machine rental use
postage except for schools covered here
annual report printing comes from this line too

Animal Control  B - 56   Budget line 292
regional agreement with Bellingham
24 hours coverage provided
animal pound down by the DPW facility

Parking Meters  B - 58  Budget line 293
looking to replace the existing meters
pricing for use of credit cards prohibitive
coins or swipe cards
busy is good, if people are parked downtown, then the meals tax revenue will increase
mostly for maintenance for the existing meters
meters and fines pay for the small lot rental and meters

Memorial Day - F - 12    Budget line 692
flags for the veterans

Cultural Council   F - 13   Budget Line 695
cultural events and grants

Debt  G - 1   Budget line 710/750
next year peak year for debt, then we get available capacity
debt ratio in historical data, (page 10)
policy of Council is to not exceed 3.5%
debt is level principle, declining interest - hence able to build capacity
one more small debt financing for the high school when it finishes

General Insurance  G - 22   Budget line 945
a plug number, a best guess until the numbers are available
the old high school cost 9M to build
the contents alone for the building is a staggering amount

collective bargaining agreements are 2.5%
some increases are due to step increases
so there amount will vary from department to department

240 employees, all non union part timers except for the library
all management are non-union (probably 50-60 total)

HR does market analysis; some jobs are easier to compare than others


old business
new business - meeting  Thursday 3/13

end of Mar/Apr will need to talk about the capital budget

motion to adjourn, seconded, passed





Franklin, MA: School Committee - Agenda - Mar 11, 2014

Vision Statement
The Franklin Public Schools will foster within its students the knowledge and skills to find and achieve satisfaction in life as productive global citizens.

AGENDA
"The listing of matters are those reasonably anticipated by the Chair which may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law."


1. Routine Business
Citizen’s Comments
Review of Agenda
Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the February 25, 2014 School Committee Meeting.
Payment of Bills – (from 2/11/14 Meeting) Mr. Clement
Payroll Mrs. Douglas
FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence: Budget to Actual

2. Guests/Presentations
a. Parmenter Update
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/03/parmenter-music-program-pdf.html

b. FY15 Budget Hearing

3. Action Items
a. Pre-Approved via email: I recommend approval of the request for the FHS Jazz Band’s trip to the UNH Jazz Band Festival on March 8, 2014.
b. I recommend approval of the budget transfers as detailed.
c. I recommend acceptance of a check for $500.00 from Parmenter PCC for field trips.
d. I recommend acceptance of a check for $282.66 from Wells Fargo Community Support Program for FHS.
e. I recommend acceptance of a check for $242.28 from Wells Fargo Community Support Program for FHS.
f. I recommend acceptance of a check for $242.28 from Wells Fargo Community Support Program for FHS.
g. I recommend approval of the request of Anthony Joseph to take the Keller 5th Grade on a field trip to Roger Williams Zoo on April 29, 2014.
h. I recommend approval of the request of Peter Light for a field trip to the All State Music Festival, in Boston, MA - March 20-22, 2014 as detailed
i. I recommend acceptance of the award of $1,200.00 of furniture from Jordan’s Furniture and $100.00 IMAX tickets for Davis Thayer students for winning the “Coats for Kids Program” as detailed.
j. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1,000.00 from the Friends of the Franklin Library for a FHS scholarship.
k. I recommend acceptance of two checks ($1,000.00 & $1,500.00) from Mr. & Mrs. Sabolinski and the Estate of Donald Sabolinski for a FHS Scholarship.
l. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1,500.00 from the FHS Class of 1972 & 1973 for the Janet McHale Memorial Scholarship at FHS.
m. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1,500.00 from the FHS Class of 1972 & 1973 for a scholarship in memory of Lexi and Sean Munroe.
n. I recommend acceptance of a check for $134.81 from PBC for FHS Athletics.
o. I recommend acceptance of a check for $240.00 from the Franklin Music Boosters for extra-curricular music.
p. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1,800.00 from the Music Boosters for in-house enrichment at FHS.
q. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1,000.00 from the Davis Thayer PCC for Library Books.
r. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1,217.00 from Keller PCC for a Kindergarten field trip.
s. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1,506.00 from the Parmenter PCC for grade 5 field trip.
t. I recommend acceptance of a check for $700.00 from the Parmenter PCC for buses for field trips.
u. I recommend approval of the request of Mr. Light/Ms. Gilbert for the Transition class to visit Lincoln Technical Institute in East Windsor, CT on April 16, 2014 as detailed.
v. I recommend acceptance of the donation of 30 tickets to the advanced screening of Divergent for Horace Mann students on March 18 at the AMC Theater in Boston from Summit Entertainment.

4. Information Matters
Superintendent’s Report
School Committee Sub-Committee Reports
School Committee Liaison Reports

5. New Business
To discuss future business that may be brought before the School Committee.

6. Executive Session
Contractual Negotiations

7. Adjourn


Franklin Municipal Building
Franklin Municipal Building

Emmons St building discussion documents

The handouts from the meeting last week are available for reading and download.

Emmon St building seen from West Central St
Emmon St building seen from West Central St


From the American Planning Association "How cities use parks for ... Economic Development" (4 pages)




The Franklin Downtown Partnership input (2 pages)




The letter sent for the February meeting from Representative Jeff Roy (1 page)




Helen Chalk's suggestion sent to the Planning Dept via email (1 page)




Sue Sheridan's letter with the recommendation of a multipurpose cultural space (1 page)




The notes from the meeting last week on the future of the Emmons St building can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/03/live-reporting-emmons-st-public-meeting.html