Live reporting - Closing

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
1. Resolution 14-59: Dedication of Town-Owned Land Known as Fletcher Field Located on
Peck Street For Use As A Public Playground Or Recreation Centre, As Provided In G.L. Chapter 45, Section 14 and Authorization For Town Administrator to Execute Grant Agreement With Commonwealth Of Massachusetts And To Take Other Action To Enable Town To Construct Playground

Nutting - routine matter to get the money for the playground
motion to approve - seconded, passed 9-0

2. ByLaw Amendment 14-741: Chapter 65, Collection Containers – 2nd Reading

tried hard to constrain these but they do get out of hand
everyone is making money and we don't want to discourage the collections but constrain the expansions
we do have support from the building commissioner, the health dept, and the police dept

Cerel - certain non-profits have raised issues with protected status so we have not targeted them
we have focused on the activity, a neutral fashion to address the issues the Town Administrator raised
we have regulated the placement (largely the industrial zones)
recognizing that the churches may have up to two on their own property
if the Salvation Army was to locate here, they would be entitled to up to two on there property

the fine structure would help to ensure that it would not get out of hand

Padula - recommend to change to have the permitting authority as the building commissionier

motion to amend as discussed, passed 9-0

motion to approve - seconded, passed 9-0

Padula - pending criminal cases of stealing from the boxes

K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
DPW director will come forth, we have been extremely dissatifed with the performance of the contractor

Harvest Festival this Sunday

Downtown Project - utility work still to be done
paving from Moore ave to Pleasant; base coat no top coat
goal of getting it done in 2015 is still on

just like the State the contractor is overbooked

marketing of the RFP's for Pond St and Emmons St
(copy of letter to be added later)

$4200 grant for recycling efforts
goes into the pot which will help the fees

storm water management expansion with another grant

EPA - MS4 draft permits just came out today after a 6 year delay
we'll before the council in the coming year

Question #5 on the ballot, there are four state wide questions
the 5th will be the dedicated override
$130 tax increase to get better road repair, failing that
Election Day - Nov 4th 6:00 Am to 8:00 PM

Bissanti - where does the money go?
Nutting - we have 220 miles of road
we have water money to do sewers (and then the roads)
we have a couple of million each year, it doesn't cover our needs
Pond St was done in 2001, that was only 13 years ago and it has potholes

Dedicated override can only be spent on the item it was approved for

like a debt exclusion like for a building, can only be used for the purpose

L. OLD BUSINESS
Kelly - Twitter and Facebook to be followed
When are we getting to Facebook?

Nutting- when the technology director can get freed up from the high school
will be using students to replace computers needed

Nutting - twitter is easy, an intern wouldn't be needed

M. NEW BUSINESS
Vallee - to address the Lincoln St
Nutting - we put out a contract, there are limited options

Nutting - we did have  a public hearing, the people were fine at the time
we did address the divider issue
we'll have Brutus come to a future meeting
he hasn't broken the contract

Kelly - isn't this the result of the public bid process and going with the lowest bidder?
Nutting - we can reject low bidders and have to have a very strong case; sometimes there is a big gap between the bidders, all the factors need to be weighed

Nutting - there are difficulties to staff all the details, we have auxiliaries and police from other towns; the police are under a lot of pressure during construction season

Padula - what about fish stocking?
Nutting - conservation discussion on weed control vs fish stocking; weed control did come today and will provide a report. we'll go to the Conservation Commission but it would be more likely in the spring

Leblanc I don't want them to do stuff if it not being done right

Feldman - any info to be shared about the incident at the high school
Nutting - no

N. COUNCIL COMMENTS
Jones - favorite quote from Facebook/Theodore Roosevelt  (to be added later)
Due to circumstance beyond control, I am resigning effectively immediately
potential conflict of interest with position at Tri-County
this is with a heavy heart

Pfeffer - acknowledge the passing of Bob Gagnon

Bissanti - I want to acknowledge my colleague and friend on his decision
my condolences to the Gagnon family

Kelly - thanks for all your time and efforts spent here

Nutting - time for a special election within 90 days

Nutting - my thanks to Glenn, I don't agree with the Ethics Committee


P. ADJOURN
motion to adjourn

Live reporting: Fire Dept presentation

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS 
– Gary McCarraher, Fire Chief

(presentation to be added later)

Franklin, MA: Fire Dept update to Town Council from Franklin Matters

"think of a fire engine as a rolling tool box"

4 personnel out with duty related injuries, and thereby they are operating at reduced staffing
Station 2 can only deploy one vehicle per call (Station 1 can deploy 2 vehicles per call)

education of over 5,000 folks annually primarily seniors and students

concern with a potential spike in calls due to the industrial parks
one new nursing center is online (King St) and another one under construction (East Central)

the number of simultaneous calls is increasing
increase from 44% to 54%
concerned with growth in receiving more than 2 at a time, nearly one a day for the 2014 fiscal year

majority occur 10:00 AM through 7:00 PM
equally distributed over the days of the week

mutual aid calls are increasing

Fire Dept is the lead agency Franklin in emergency management
coordinates any State and Federal resources as necessary

addition of citizen volunteers to the emergency management preparations
Ping4alerts - smart phone app to receive information (no registration required)
training for this system is scheduled next week with roll-out scheduled shortly thereafter

ConnectCTY registration is encouraged
multiple phone #s and email addresses can be added to the notifications

Q - do you need a 3rd ambulance?
A - I need to dig into the data to right size a solution

Q - what is public assistance?
A - exhausted their capacity to find help to get back into bed, and calls like that

the overall call volume isn't going up, but the simultaneous calls are increasing and becoming a concern

Q - the 12 mins for mutual aid concerns me, we need ot try and figure it out
A - that will be the centerpiece of our 2016 budget to figure that out

A- we have a five year plan and it ran out, but we are doing a new plan more incident and need driven, a methodology to say when we get to this level we need to add folks

Q - why haven't we looked at using volunteers/
A - our experience with that, we ended the on call program in 2001, but keeping the program staffed to handle it properly is difficult. I grew up with volunteer fire depts. My father used to get out of his steel mill to go on a call. Folks can't do that anymore. Work is not that forgiving.

Q - we are loosing revenues outside the community
A - we are a little high on the requests in, we are higher on the units coming in. It used to be a wash but now we are running a deficit

Q - the nursing home on 140 is going to hire an ambulance?
A - they are outside our capacity to respond at about 9 mins, we target getting there in less than 8. It is before the ZBA and I sent another memo this week to the ZBA

Q - it is not just another ambulance, it is staffing to go along with it
A - absolutely correct.

Nutting - the grant runs out and we'll need to fund the four ourselves and then look to increasing in some way. You need to hire four to have any effect so that would be about 300,000 to budget for

Q - what is the status of the regional dispatch
A- snails are passing us. We have identified a property in Norfolk, going to bid for software and equipment. I think we are starting to get traction

Nutting -we had a board of directors meeting yesterday to proceed with the purchase of the land, it has been frustrating but this is a better location. we also get to build out from scratch

solar training
A - we haven't had that training yet, but it is looked forward
even at night the hazard is not abandoned. we are all moving quickly to learn and keep our folks safe

Live reporting: Town Council - Oct 1, 2014

Present: Feldman, Padula, Mercer, Kelly, Vallee, Pfeffer, Jones, Bissanti, Williams
Absent: none


A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

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.


D. CITIZEN COMMENTS
Mike Leblanc
asking for a public discussion, the debacle on Lincoln St/Daniels St
appears to be a miss-managed project
starting late, rushing too early
residents can't turn in or out due to the dividers
dip in the road at Winterberry Road
traffic nightmare
Town should hold contractor to re-do the project sections to do it properly
Someone should be held responsible for the work they are doing

Steve Sherlock
offer to Town Councilors to get word out on the dedicated override for the roads coming up on the November ballot


C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS
Eagle Scout - rescheduled
The Franklin Garden Club
(photos to be added)


E. APPOINTMENTS
- Franklin Cultural Council
Ian Kabat
Karen Wellerson Juhl

motion to approve, seconded passed 9-0

Friends of Franklin Library: Meeting - Oct 1, 7:00 PM

The Friends of Franklin Library will hold their monthly (October) meeting tonight, October 1, at 7:00pm in the Community Room at the Franklin Public Library.

Among other things, we'll be talking about next Sunday's Harvest Festival (we'll be in front of the Post Office) as well as an event we are co-sponsoring with the Franklin Garden Club, "starring" Neal Sanders, a local mystery author.  This will be on October 7 at 7PM at the Alumni Restaurant on East Central Street;  admission is an item for the Franklin Food Pantry.  There will also be an opportunity to purchase Neal's books (and they're good mysteries, with a local flavor).

Anyone interested is welcome to attend.

not that we are wishing for any snow: Ben reads outside the library

Additional info on Neal Sanders can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/09/author-neal-sanders-oct-7th.html

Look for your new Franklin brochure!

The new Franklin brochure has been printed and will be distributed to businesses and residents in Franklin and surrounding communities in the next several weeks.

Created by the Franklin Downtown Partnership, the piece details many of the entertainment, dining, shopping, business, and recreation options available in Franklin. It also highlight’s the town’s notable cultural and historic sites such as the Historical Museum, the bronze sculptures, and the Franklin Public Library. Included in the brochure are two maps and a comprehensive listing of nearly 150 Partnership member businesses and organizations to make finding what you’re looking for easy and convenient.

“We have talked about producing a town brochure for years. With support from the town Planning Department and the MetroWest Visitors Bureau, we were able to make it a priority this summer,” says Nicole Fortier, Partnership president.

Franklin Downtown Partnership brochure - p1

Franklin Downtown Partnership brochure - p2

The brochure will be distributed to Franklin Downtown Partnership members in September and October. Copies of the brochure have been included in the Dean College new student welcome packets, and local realtors plan to use the piece as a tool to help new residents get to know their surroundings.

Wider distribution to all residences in Franklin, Wrentham, Millis, Medway, Norfolk and Bellingham will be on October 1 as an insert in each town’s newspaper. Copies also will be available at the October 5 Harvest Festival at the FDP information table.

“This brochure gives our member businesses excellent exposure in nearby towns and with visitors to the area. Franklin continues to change and grow, and more changes are on the way. This piece tells our residents and the surrounding communities that Franklin is open for business and has options galore,” says Lisa Piana, Downtown Partnership executive director.

FDP President Nicole Fortier, Communications Coordinator Terri Frank, and Executive Director Lisa Piana at the Partnership office, 9 E. Central St.

The Franklin Downtown Partnership is a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization dedicated to revitalizing downtown Franklin. Interested in membership or volunteer opportunities? For more information please go to our website, www.franklindowntownpartnership.org/, or contact the executive director at downtown.franklin@yahoo.com.



This was shared from the Franklin Downtown Partnership page here
http://www.franklindowntownpartnership.org/2014/09/franklin-brochure-press-release.html

Franklin Matters is proud to be a member of the Downtown Partnership! We are listed in the new brochure in the Media section.

"We monitor it and empty it often"

The Milford Daily News reports on the 2nd reading of the proposed bylaw to regulate charitable organization collections bins.

The bylaw aims to limit where the bins can be placed and, through the threat of fines, assure they are maintained. Councilors will vote on the measure during Wednesday's meeting, which begins at 7 at the Municipal Building, 355 East Central St. 

Under the bylaw, charities and churches can use a bin on their property, but all other containers will be restricted to the industrial district and the recycling center. 

And addressing concerns over lax maintenance, the bylaw states that bins "shall be kept clean and in good repair" with the surrounding area kept "clean and free of debris at all times."

Continue reading the Milford Daily News article here (subscription maybe required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20141001/NEWS/141009784/1994/NEWS


The full agenda for the Town Council meeting can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/09/franklin-ma-town-council-agenda-oct-1.html

Berry Insurance: 8th Annual Halloween Costume Drive

Kaitlyn-Amanda Berry Ins invited you to Berry Insurance's event   8th Annual Halloween Costume Drive Tue Sep 30 at 2:00pm to Fri Oct 24 at 4:00pm Berry Insurance in Franklin, Massachusetts -Berry Insurance Kicks off the 8th Annual Halloween Costume Drive Supporting Boston Area Kids- It's that time of year again! Berry Insurance is participating in the 8th Annual Halloween Costume Drive... Amy Wood Acevedo and 23 others are also in the guest list.             Join     Maybe     Decline     Pending Invites (7) Block invites from Kaitlyn-Amanda?             Event Invite         Kaitlyn-Amanda Berry Ins invited you to Berry Insurance's event 8th Annual Halloween Costume Drive Tue Sep 30 at 2:00pm to Fri Oct 24 at 4:00pm Berry Insurance in Franklin, Massachusetts It’s that time of year again! Berry Insurance is participating in the 8th Annual Halloween Costume Drive along with Four Points by Sheraton Norwood. All donations are to benefit patients at Children’s Hospital Boston and their annual Halloween parade. Last year we had a great turn out of donations from the local community, and we are once again hoping to top that this year! We are accepting NEW Halloween costumes, accessories, and other Halloween “treats”. The possibilities are endless, from make-up, to props, coloring books, stickers, puzzles or games. Please, nothing scary or violent and no food/candy items. The donated items are collected for all age groups, from infant to teen sizes. Costumes and accessories for both girls and boys are welcome and appreciated! The donations collected allow the kids at Children’s Hospital Boston to celebrate the joy of Halloween during their hospital stay. The hospital holds an annual Halloween parade for all the kids! If you would like to make a contribution to this great cause, please visit the Berry Insurance office before Friday, October 24th, 2014 to donate your gifts. Don’t have time to stop by? Feel free to drop your gift in the mail directed to Berry Insurance (31 Hayward Street, Suite J, Franklin, MA 02038). Don’t have time to shop? We are also accepting cash donations & we’ll do the shopping for you. We truly appreciate your support of this worthy cause. For more information about this great cause, please contact Kaitlyn Pintarich at (508) 440-2290. Thank you in advance for helping to make this Halloween exceptional at Boston Children's Hospital.. Amy Wood Acevedo and 23 others are also in the guest list.         Join     Maybe     Decline Pending Invites (7)        Facebook, Inc., Attention: Department 415, PO Box 10005, Palo Alto, CA 94303

Recap: bomb threat at FHS

Milford Daily News reports on the bomb threat on FHS on Tuesday.

A bomb threat emailed to Franklin High School Principal Peter Light prompted officials to evacuate the school early Tuesday morning, but authorities later confirmed the threat a hoax after a search of the building’s three floors. 

Although they never believed the threat to be credible, school and law enforcement officials still enacted their emergency response plan at about 6 a.m.

Continue reading the article here (Subscription maybe required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20141001/NEWS/141009783/1994/NEWS

Police Chief Stephan Semerjian's statement

http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Police/chief/01EAA59D-000F8513

The Franklin Public Schools issued two updates on Tuesday

#1
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/09/franklin-public-schools-fhs-update.html


#2
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/09/franklin-public-schools-fhs-update-2.html

Franklin High School

Franklin Public Schools: FHS Update #2

A message from FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT

Hello- Here is an update that Principal Light is sending to FHS families. The students at FHS returned to class at about 9:30. Teachers processed the incident with students and counselors were available for those students who needed additional support. All students were safe and law enforcement officials  were exceptional in their response. Thank  you for your patience and assistance.


FHS Families,

Thank you for your patience and understanding during what was a difficult morning at FHS.  The purpose of this email is twofold: to update you with additional information about the incident this morning, and to confirm that tonight's curriculum open house is happening as planned.

I will review the information regarding today's incident with interested families from 5:45 until 6:15 tonight in the school auditorium, but below is a synopsis of the events of today as they unfolded.  This is the same information that I will share with families tonight at 5:45.

I know our faculty are eager to showcase what they will be doing with students throughout the year, so I ask that if you have questions about today's incident you either attend our session in the auditorium tonight at 5:45, or I, or another member of the school administration would be happy to speak with you one on one regarding any questions or concerns you have.

Thank you in advance.

 

Peter Light

Principal

 

Today's Incident:

Early this morning, I received an email that made a threat against the high school.  I immediately notified the Franklin Police and the Superintendent of Schools who in turn reached out to state law enforcement officials.  The threat was immediately deemed not credible, but after consulting with Franklin Police, we requested a full sweep of the building by the state police.  By the time initial communications with law enforcement had occurred and we had developed an understanding of the situation, students had already boarded busses and had begun to congregate outside the school. 

Initial estimates were that the full sweep of the school would be complete prior to busses arriving.  Based on this information and because students had started to arrive at school or had already boarded busses, we made the decision, alongside law enforcement, to begin school as scheduled but have students start at the Horace Mann Middle School.  At this time we notified parents of an ongoing issue at the school which would necessitate us starting the day at Horace Mann Middle School.

Faculty and staff escorted our students as they arrived on campus to locations within the Horace Mann/ Oak Street complex.  At no time did students enter FHS prior to the start of the school day.  As we worked with law enforcement in the early part of the school day, we thought we could return to the school shortly after the scheduled opening.  We then received information that this would be delayed until approximately 9:00AM, and then shortly after 9:30 AM we were given the final "go-ahead" to bring students back into the school.

By 10:00 AM, all students had reported to G period classes and teachers were provided information about the morning's incident to share with students.  Faculty were also briefed on how to monitor students who may need additional support and counselors were available to meet with students as needed.

As the Franklin Police noted in their press release, not all details of the threat are able to be shared as this is an ongoing investigation, and we do not want to hamper the investigation into this matter.  Throughout the morning, school administration worked with local, state and federal authorities to insure the safety of students and to provide the authorities with information necessary to conduct the investigation.  We will continue to monitor the investigation as it progresses, but want to insure all of our students and families that FHS continues to be a safe environment.

Some questions I have received:

Q:  I only received the call this morning to my home telephone.  Why wasn't this sent to email and to cell phones?

A:  This situation unfolded very quickly and when the message was sent, I accidentally selected a feature that only placed the call to home telephones.  Because I was immediately pulled into monitoring students and working with police, I was unaware this was sent only to home telephones.  Now that I am aware of this issue, I will make sure this does not happen again in the event of an emergency.

 

Q:  The message this morning said only that there was an "issue" at the building, but made no reference to a threat.  Why?

A:  Based on the information we had available and after consulting with law enforcement authorities, it was determined that this was the best course of action at the time.  The situation this morning unfolded very quickly and while it was determined early on that student safety was secured, information about the incident, the timeline for resolution and our work in ensuring students could move to Horace Mann Middle School in an orderly fashion all impacted how we distributed information.  As with all situations, we will review our response and use information gathered to make the best decisions in the future.

 

Q:  Why were students held at the middle school so long?

A:  Initial estimates were for a much faster resolution to the incident, however, the size of the school impacted officials' ability to complete the sweep of the building as quickly as initially expected.  As the situation unfolded, we reacted to information as it was made available to us.  It is unfortunate that students had to wait so long before returning to the high school, but it was out top priority to ensure that the school was safe.

 

Q:  Is the school safe now?

A:  Yes, the school is safe.  Once we returned to the school and classrooms, we resumed all school and extra-curricular activities as scheduled.  The investigation is ongoing, but the school has been cleared by law enforcement.

 

Thank you for your time and please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Peter Light

Principal

This e-mail has been sent to you by FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT.

Franklin Public Schools: FHS Update

A message from FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT

Early this morning, FHS Principal Peter Light received an email that contained a threat to the HS. The Franklin Police and Fire Departments were immediate contacted and they in turn, reached out to the MA State Police to bring in additional resources. The threat was not immediately believed to be credible, but law enforcement and administration wanted to take all necessary precautions to ensure a safe environment for students and faculty. As faculty was already in the building, students had begun to arrive, and busses were enroute, we decided to move all students and faculty to the Horace Mann Middle School. Law enforcement officials with the assistance of administration and faculty did a sweep of the building. We anticipate students will return to the HS at approximately 9:00.

Thanks to the rapid response of law enforcement official students and staff were not in any danger. We will be working with forensic technology experts to locate the source of the threat and we will cooperate with law enforcement official to see that those responsible will never perpetrate this type of threat again.

We want to thank our faculty and students for the way they conducted themselves during this situation. Also we want to thank the administration and faculty of HMMS and Oak for their assistance.


Respectfully,


Maureen Sabolinski, Superintendent of Schools

Peter Light, FHS Principal




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.

Gifts can no longer indicate who they were donated by

Sharing this via a couple of requests. This is another instance of something happening at a meeting and folks find out about it or understand the implications of it after the fact.

What is the gist of the issue?

"Gifts may not have any endorsement, advertising or any placards/nameplates from the donor/organization"

Post by Franklin Athletes Never Quit gifted by Kristin Graci Class of 2007.

(Note: for those receiving this via email, the posting embedded from Facebook will likely not render properly. You'll need to click through to the Franklin Matters webpage to view it fully)

screen capture of the Facebook page for the Graci gift

There may be room for a compromise. As it is a 'policy' and recently changed, there is a chance it could be changed again. The policy does get vetted through legal so I wouldn't want to speculate on the likelihood of a change.

There may also be an alternative. Franklin does have a new Sculpture Park. Would the piece be good for an outdoor setting? I don't believe there are such restrictions that would apply at the Sculpture Park.

Note: I do want to take some time to dig through the prior meetings to provide the specific agenda and meeting video links to see what was discussed at the time of the policy change.

Regular readers should be aware that the meeting agendas for Town Council and School Committee are shared here in advance of each meeting. I report from as many of the meetings as I can make. There is also a video replay of the meetings posted to the Franklin webpage.

The School Department has a subcommittee reviewing all their policies to ensure they are current and appropriate. There are two readings of a policy document before it is voted on. Public comment is open. For most meetings that I attend, it is rare to find someone else in the audience.

The archive of meeting notes can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/p/meeting-notes.html

Franklin Library: Halloween Craft

During the Harvest Festival on Sunday, stop by the Library to prepare a spider or pumpkin to decorate your room for Halloween.

Yes, the Library is now open on Sunday's from 1:30 - 5:00 PM from September through May.

Halloween craft - Sunday, Oct 5th

This was shared from the Franklin Library page here
http://franklinpl.blogspot.com/2014/09/halloween-craft.html


You can find more about the Library on the Franklin website here
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Library/index


The map of all the vendor booths and musical performances at the Harvest Festival can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/09/map-of-harvest-festival-where-is-it-all.html

FHS Sports - Results Monday - 9/29/14

Hockomock Sports reports that the FHS girls soccer team shutout King Philip 2-0.

Coming off a draw against North Attleboro on Thursday, Franklin coach Tom Geysen was told that his team looked tired, so he added a day off for the players to rest and regroup. 

The tactic had the right effect as the Panthers bounced back with one of their most complete games of the season to shutout King Philip 2-0 on Monday afternoon. Taylor Cogliano and Alexis Stowell provided the goals in the first half for Franklin. 

“We did things today offensively that we haven’t been doing for several games,” said Geysen. “I thought we controlled the ball well for most of the game. Especially on this field, being able to control the ball shows the kids what they’re capable of doing when they’re playing well.”

Continue reading the article here
http://www.hockomocksports.com/blog/panthers-bounce-back-with-shutout-of-king-philip

FHS Panthers

Boys Soccer

King Philip, 1 @ Franklin, 2 - Final - Franklin's Austin Kent opened the scoring in the 22nd minute on an assist from Billy Dorion. King Philip leveled the match in the 34th minute behind Andrew Allen's 10th goal of the season. Dorion scored the game winner in the 67th minute on an assist from Adam Moessing.

Field Hockey

King Philip, 0 @ Franklin, 7 - Final - Junior Kelsey McPhee scored a hat trick for the Panthers and junior Julia Jette netted her first career goal. Junior Samantha Jones recorded her third shutout in net.

Volleyball

King Philip, 3 @ Franklin, 1 - Final

Read all the results of Monday's action across the Hockomock League here
http://www.hockomocksports.com/blog/hockomock-schedule-scoreboard-092914

MassBudget: Local Data on Earned Paid Sick Time

If you click through to see the full report, you will find that the listing for our area is:

Greater Franklin (includes Norfolk and Wrentham) = 27%

So one in four employed in the Greater Franklin area do not have paid sick time. If they are sick and can not work, they go without pay.

EARNED PAID SICK TIME BY THE NUMBERS: Regional and Local Access in Massachusetts Access to earned paid sick time improves the economic security of working people and families in communities in every region of our Commonwealth. MassBudget's new fact sheet Earned Paid Sick Time By the Numbers: Regional and Local Access In Massachusetts provides data on the percentage of the workforce that currently lacks earned paid sick time in different cities and towns. The table below provides one example breakdown of the rates of workers in Central Massachusetts without earned paid sick time. To view data for your city or town in other parts of the state, please see full report available HERE.   MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108 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

Franklin Public Schools: Upcoming Events

A message from FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT

FHS Curriculum Night on September 30 

Follow your FHS students' schedule and experience HS all over again

Remington / Jefferson Challenge

2K or 5K road race and complete SPARTAN Obstacle CourseSunday 10/5 at 10:45  at Remington/Jefferson       Races begin at 11:00Two Obstacle Courses ( 1 for adults and 1 for children)Great snacks and food available
See Remington/Jefferson web site and click onto PCC

 

Downtown Harvest Festival Sunday October 5^th 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Food, entertainment and fun- see Downtown Partnership web site for event schedule and sponsor list

JFK Ladybug Race

Kennedy School fun run on October 27^th  at 9:30 a.m.See JFK PCC web site for details

 

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.

To save searching for the sites mentioned here they are:

Remington Jefferson Challenge

Visit this page for more info and to register
http://teacherweb.com/MA/RemingtonMiddleSchoolPCC/RemingtonPCC/apt19.aspx

Ladybug 5K Road Race

Visit this page for more info and to register
http://www.ladybug5k.com/

The Franklin Downtown Partnership has more info about the Harvest Festival on their page here
http://www.franklindowntownpartnership.org/

How dry is it?

Please be advised that the Water Conservation Measures are still in effect until further notice due to the dry weather conditions.

How dry is it?

On the walk along the Parmenter Nature Trail, which winds its way along the stream coming from Spruce Pond.  There had been a good deal of water which attracted ducks.

On the walk along the trail this past Sunday, the area is completely dry. No water, no ducks. Any dryer and this will be a real fire hazard.

frozen surface in Jan 2013

where is the water go?

The Franklin website is the source for the water conservation notice

http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_News/01E7CAC3-000F8513

On a brighter day when the Story Walk was still available

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2010/11/parmenter-school-story-walk-photos.html

And from deep in the archives of 2008

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2008/08/parmenter-nature-trail.html

Franklin Library: Science Friday

Miss Gina returns to the Franklin Public Library on Friday, Oct 3rd. Exploring the night sky is the topic this time for kids in grades 1-4.

You can register online or at the Library. (Unfortunately, the Library is the best option in this case as they buried the link to register in the photo itself and I can't find it elsewhere on the Library web places.)

Exploring the Night Sky with Miss Gina

This was shared from the Library page here
http://franklinpl.blogspot.com/2014/09/science-friday.html

FHS Soccer - top of the table

Both the FHS boys and girls soccer teams on sitting on the top of their division in the Hockomock League.

You can check out the posts on Hockomock Sports for the details

FHS Panthers

Girls

http://www.hockomocksports.com/blog/hockomock-girls-soccer-stats-standings-092814

Boys

http://www.hockomocksports.com/blog/hockomock-boys-soccer-stats-standings-092814