Reporting by Walking Around - Sunday, Sep 27 (photo essay)

a good reminder

Signs and other promotional material are available at http://drivelikeyourkidslivehere.com/

Fortunately, Franklin Police do pay attention to speeding and coincidentally, the speed monitor boards were out in both directions on Union St on Sunday. They had been switched over from alerting about the railroad crossing closing for Saturday.

speed monitor on Union St

The traffic was a mess on Saturday trying to navigate around Franklin. Folks unaware of the crossing repair work were being re-routed on East St to West Central St and then to Cottage. Or via Cottage downtown to West Central.

the newly repaired railroad crossing on Union St

brick cross walk showing increase sign of wearing, brick will be coming out soon

even with all the construction, have a wonderful day!

Opioid Abuse in Massachusetts: What Parents Need to Know

"The number of annual deaths related to opioid use in Massachusetts increased dramatically between 2000 and 2014, according to the Department of Public Health (DPH). Parents should be aware that young people are at high risk of becoming involved in this fatal epidemic. Data provided by Governor Baker’s Opioid Working Group indicates that 74 percent of individuals with a substance use disorder began using by age 17. 

With resources from DPH, start a discussion about opioid abuse with your children, and learn how the Opioid Working Group is taking steps to protect young people from addiction."

screen grab of MA GOV page on "What parents need to know"

Continue reading the MA Gov article online 
http://blog.mass.gov/blog/government/opioid-abuse-in-massachusetts-what-parents-need-to-know/

"a pump will be needed to send water to the plant"

We need to be aware of what is happening in our neighborhood, not just along our streets but just over the town line. Medway is tackling the issue of the proposed power plant expansion and now Millis is getting involved.

The Board of Selectmen is expected to approve a contract with an engineering firm to perform a review of the town’s water system to determine the feasibility of selling water to Exelon, which is planning a 200-megawatt expansion of its Medway plant. 

The Medway water system is already overburdened, and as a result, the town can't sell water to Exelon, which needs an average of 95,000 gallons per day for emissions control for two proposed 100-megawatt turbines at its existing 117-megawatt oil-fired facility on Summer Street. Exelon is proposing to purchase water from Millis, which would then pump the water into Medway’s water system.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150927/NEWS/150926483/1994/NEWS

Additional resources:

Medway Peaker Project page  http://www.medwayenergy.com/about-our-project/facts/

Boston Globe's "The Argument" with both sides for the story
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/west/2015/08/13/the-argument-would-exelon-proposed-power-benefit-medway/nUCI1wACGvtYsim7XgZZZP/story.html

And the Stop Exelon Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/nopowerplantmedway

and webpage  www.stopmedwaypeaker.com

Neighbor Brigade is recognized for their work by the Town Council

In one of the shorter Town Council meetings, the Council heard the Neighbor Brigade presentation, recognized them for the work they do, and effectively handled several legislative items in about 30 minutes.

Linda Gagnon, Cheryl Ferri and Council Chair Bob Vallee

The Neighbor Brigade is a volunteer organization that helps individuals and families in need. They have been in existence for 5 years, founded by a woman from Wayland. Linda Gagnon was inspired to bring this community service to Franklin.

They provide a virtual network of services and this is their 3rd year of service for Franklin. They had 15 requests in the first year, 400 requests last year. The requests keep coming in. They coordinate to deliver meals and provide other help as needed.

The volunteers go above and beyond the call of duty. A mother loses her husband and doesn't know how to start a lawn mower. Another mother dealing with impending surgery, no other family support, the volunteers provide that help.

The Neighbor Brigade is in contact with other organization like the hospital, Schools, Fire Dept, Police Dept to make referrals as necessary.

To join or donate to the NEighbor Brigade visit them on the internet at
http://www.neighborbrigade.org/  or in Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/neighborbrigade


In the business portion of the meeting, the Council approve payment of a bill from 2015 fiscal year that just arrived. The Council authorized payment from insurance for a couple of occurrences. This is required when the amount exceeds 20,000 dollars.  

The School Building committee was formally disbanded. While the major work of the committee is complete, there remains a 'punch list' of items that still require attention. Tom Mercer, the committee chair, has been empowered to address those until they are complete.

The Senior Center Renovation Project was funded for an additional 601,000. This provides a total of 1.6M for the project to cover the current estimate. The Committee will now put out a formal bid for the work to be done to build out the second floor, add an elevator and do some other work in the building.

The complete notes taken live during the meeting can be found here:

• Live reporting: Legislation, through closing
• Live Reporting: Town Council - Sep 23

Improvement plans and accreditation are an ongoing cycle

The School Committee meeting featured the overviews of the school improvement plans for the 2015-2016 school year. The Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) and all the elementary schools presented. The Horace Mann Middle school also presented to give Shawn Fortin a chance to cover the work before he leaves in October.

(The new principal for Horace Mann was announced on Thursday as Rebecca Motte. She is currently an assistant principal at the Annie Sullivan Middle School.)

The school improvement plans build upon the District Improvement Plan presented in the prior School Committee meeting. Each school takes the district level plan and brings it to their level.

Links to each elementary school plan are included below. The district plan can be found here:
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2015/09/live-reporting-district-improvement-plan.html

Other note worthy items from the meeting:

The FHS accreditation process will begin Mar 2017. Committee leads have been appointed, training is starting and more info will be shared as the process develops. Recall that one of the drivers of the new FHS facility was to help close an accreditation item. The new school building opened successfully in Sep 2014, the item was closed and the whole new accreditation review cycle will begin again.

On October 15, music students from around the District will be performing at the October Stroll in business locations downtown.

As fall arrives this week, the District is gearing up for first snow planning meeting. They are looking to make some refinements on the snow plan, including to the process for clearing the FHS parking lots.

Finally the last FHS building Committee was held and the committee will be officially disbanded as the work is now complete. This is an item on the Town Council agenda for Weds. 

Updated from the Town Council meeting, while the major work of the committee is complete, there remains a 'punch list' of items that still require attention. Tom Mercer, the committee chair, has been empowered to address those until they are complete.

The set of notes reported live from the meeting on Tuesday, Sep 22 can be found here: 

• Live reporting: closing
• Live reporting: Action items
• Live reporting: Horace Mann Middle School
• Live reporting: Elementary School Improvement Plan...
• Live reporting: School Committee - Sep 22, 2015

the entrance to the new FHS

Franklin Food Pantry seeks additional donated space

The Franklin Food Pantry seeks additional donated space for our busy season!

Space will be used for non-perishable donations October through January. 

Franklin Food Pantry

Looking for:

• Ground level receiving and storing, no stairs.
• Roughly 800 square feet or more.
• Indoor temperature controlled.
• Room to setup tables and shelves for volunteers to sort and store food donations.
• FFP staff will need daily keyed access for scheduled donation drop-offs.

Please email erin@franklinfoodpantry.org or call the Franklin Food Pantry (508-528-3115) if you can help. 

Thank you!

Hayrides at Hoffman Farms - weekends through October

"Come visit Hoffmann Farm on the weekends this fall! We will have Hayrides out to our pumpkin patch, $8pp and you get a to pick a pumpkin!

Kids under 2 are free! 

Rides start at 1pm Saturday's and Sunday's through October. Rides go out every half hour and last ride is at 4:30. 

We have all your fall decor and the farm stand is open 10-6 daily with lots of fall veggies!!!"

Find more info about Hoffman Farm on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/HoffFarm?

Hoffman Farm - Facebook photo