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Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Rep Roy: What's happening in the district - December 2015 newsletter
MassBudget: Data on New Year's Increases to State Minimum Wage and EITC
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In the News: TIF deal agreed to, downtown construction, St Vincent DePaul collection
From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20151228/deal-would-move-holliston-manufacturer-to-franklin
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20151228/franklin-downtown-roadwork-continues
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20151228/NEWS/151229824/1994/NEWS
"The state has approved a tax deal between the town and an area manufacturer aimed at moving that business - and 190 full-time jobs - to the Franklin Industrial Park.
Town Planner Bryan Taberner said the state Economic Assistance Coordinating Council (EACC) had signed off on a tax increment financing (TIF) agreement between Franklin and Holliston business Cold Chain Technologies. Cold Chain manufactures equipment to ensure temperature-sensitive materials are shipped properly.
A TIF agreement encourages businesses to make improvements to local facilities by offering tax discounts on the improved value of the property. The town, though, continues to collect the full taxes on the base value of the property."Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20151228/deal-would-move-holliston-manufacturer-to-franklin
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| then the trees were gone |
"Those driving through the downtown area recently may have seen a sight unusual for this time of year: roadwork.
Work on the large-scale reconstruction of downtown roads has continued into the winter, as abnormally warm weather has made such efforts possible."Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20151228/franklin-downtown-roadwork-continues
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| there were trees |
"The St. Vincent DePaul Society of St. Mary’s Parish will hold its monthly donation collection Jan. 2-3, 2016.
The society asks for donations of personal hygiene items such as shampoo, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shaving cream, bar soap and hand lotion. Society members will assemble personal care bags for those who call St. Mary’s for help."Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20151228/NEWS/151229824/1994/NEWS
Monday, December 28, 2015
MBTA: Commuter Rail notice
| All Commuter Rail Lines will operate a regular weekday schedule on Tuesday 12/29. Please use care in parking lots and on platforms. Tuesday, 12/29, winter weather is forecasted for the Boston area. The commuter rail will be providing regularly scheduled weekday service. Visit MBTA.com (http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/rail/) or a Boston train station for a copy of the schedule. Conditions are expected to be slushy. Last updated: Dec 28 2015 04:54 PM
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Annual Report - 2015: Fire Department
The Department
The Franklin Fire Department is divided into two divisions: Operations and Maintenance, which is the largest and responsible for dispatch, emergency medical services, fire suppression and hazardous materials response. Administration and Support Services is responsible for personnel, budget and finance, training, code compliance and coordinating the Town’s emergency preparedness.
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| Franklin (MA) Fire Dept |
Our Mission
The mission of the Franklin Fire Department is to:
- Have a positive impact in the lives of citizens and visitors of Franklin in their time of crisis by providing compassionate, contemporary, community driven services.
- Safeguard human life from the perils of fire, sudden illness, injury or other emergency medical condition, natural and man-made disasters as well as preserve the environment and property from ensuing destruction.
- Be responsible for a safe, productive and pleasant work environment for our employees, and provide them opportunities to gain new skills and advance their personal career goals.
Operational Objectives
- Initiating advanced life support to patients within 8 minutes of receiving the telephone call at our communications center.
- To access, extricate, treat and transport and transport trauma patients to a level one trauma medical facility within one hour of the occurrence of the injury.
- Interrupt the progression of fires in structures within 8 minutes of open flame ignition.
- To insure response readiness remains greater than 70%.
- Provide safety and survival skills for all school students in grade K through 5 consistent with the Student Awareness Fire Education (SAFE) initiative of the Commonwealth.
- Provide educational opportunities for department members to insure optimal performance and safety.
- To develop and maintain “best practice” to insure personnel and citizen safety.
- Insure fire safety through timely, consistent code compliance services to all external customers.
- Provide all department services in a manner that satisfies the needs of our customers.
Message from the Fire Chief
Fiscal Year 2015 ended as the busiest year in department history, with nearly 3,800 emergency responses. The department continued to enjoy the benefit of a Federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant that provided four replacement Firefighter/Paramedics positions that were lost in 2009. The SAFER Grant will expire in November of Fiscal Year 2016, and with the direction and assistance of the Town Administrator, the department will be able to maintain these positions through the balance of Fiscal Year 2016 and beyond.
This continued support is imperative given the response pattern the department has experienced over the past several years. Over that time, we have seen the number of calls for service that occur back-to-back or simultaneously grow steadily averaging nearly 380 calls per year over the past five years. Back-to-back or simultaneous calls are where the department receives another emergency call for service while managing a call for service (two at a time). Indeed the department, with the guidance of the Town Council has developed our resources to manage this scenario. What is concerning is the frequency of receiving three or more emergency calls simultaneously as we are quickly stripped of resources to respond and typically must rely on out of Town resources. Over the past five years the frequency of 3 or more simultaneous emergency responses has risen by 50%, totaling 360 events in Fiscal Year 2015.
The overwhelming majority of these responses involve requests for emergency medical services. In Fiscal Year 2015, this caused 138 ambulance responses from other Towns into Franklin. The increasing use of out-of-town resources causes delay in our ability to provide timely transport to the hospital emergency room. Franklin’s average response time is 5 minutes, 44 seconds; the average response time for an out-of town ambulance is 12 minutes, 33 seconds – this time difference can have a great impact on the quality of patient outcomes for people with medical emergencies.
This trend of call distribution is compounded by the increasing calls for services. As previously noted, the department responded to nearly 3,800 emergency responses in Fiscal Year 2015, an increase of more than 10% from Fiscal year 2014. We believe this trend is in response to an upturn in our economy. This year saw increased occupancy rates in the Town’s Industrial Parks as well as opening of new businesses and facilities. All of these combine to bring more people into the community and increase our demands for services. We will continue to monitor all of these trends and work with the community to develop strategies to maintain acceptable levels of emergency services within the Town.
The year we welcomed Michael Berthiaume to the department. Mike is a graduate of Franklin High School and comes to the department by way of the Bourne Fire Department – we look forward to his contributions.
Additionally, this year saw the promotion of Joseph Barbieri to the rank of Captain. Joe will be responsible for the department’s fire prevention and life safety operations and brings a great deal of energy and education to this position.
Firefighter Keith Darling has been appointed as the department’s SAFE Officer, responsible for safety training and education for the Town’s young and senior populations.
Congratulations to both!
In addition to emergency response, the department also continued to try to expand its fire prevention education activities, providing safety and survival education to the most vulnerable population to fire – our children and seniors. Through the dedicated efforts of SAFE Officer Keith Darling, the department continued to educate over 100 children per month as well as attend various activities at the Senior Center. This year the department began offering home visit for our senior citizens. The focus of these visits is to insure there are working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, remove trip hazards as well as provide safety education. Lieutenant Tom Carlucci with Firefighter Doug Perro, Paul Molla and Bill Blanchard provide dedicated assistance in completing this important service to our citizens.
Our employees continue to be the chief reason for maintaining our current the level of success and level of services we provide our citizens. They continue to work tirelessly to protect life and property within Franklin. In addition to their on-duty responses, our employees commit countless hours in continuing education and training targeted to maintain and improved upon their emergency skills. Additionally, they continue to press forward in attempt to provide the highest level of service to the community based upon advancement in the fire-rescue field and advancements in technology. These efforts have yielded significant and broad insight into the requirements necessary to maintain and improve upon the services we provide to the citizens of Franklin.
Respectfully Submitted,
Gary B. McCarraher, Fire Chief
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For additional information, visit the Fire Dept on the Town of Franklin webpage
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Fire/index
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| Franklin Fire Station #1 - West Central St |
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Fire/stations
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| Quarterly Scorecard for 4Q - 2015 Franklin Fire Dept |
additional performance scorecards can be found here
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Fire/Quarterly%20Performance%20Scorecard
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"Prior to November 1 of each year, the Town Clerk shall cause to be prepared and made available to the inhabitants of the Town an annual report for the preceding fiscal year which shall include: the annual Town budget, the reports of all Town officers, the records of all Town Council bylaw amendments and resolutions, an abstract of births, marriages and deaths, and the wages, salaries, or other compensation of all Town employees." [Added 5-2-2012 by Bylaw Amendment 12-681]
Shared from the full and complete PDF version of the Town of Franklin Annual Report for 2015
Annual Report - 2015: Design Review Commission
The Design Review Commission (DRC) is a Committee comprised of 5 regular members and 2 alternate members. All are residents and volunteers who are appointed by the Town. The Committee represents Citizen interests and strives to ensure new developments and sign installations enhance the appearance of the Town while meeting Town codes and bylaws. This Committee has approval authority on signage and recommendation input to the Planning Board on Site Plans as to landscaping and lighting and Building Plans as to exterior design, colors and materials.
The Commission meets twice monthly and has addressed numerous projects and sign applications this past fiscal year. The Commission is currently composed of Mark Fitzgerald, Chair, Chris Baryluk, Nancy Coleman, Anna Moses, and Claudine Silverman, as well as associate members, Doug Newton and Kate Harrington.
This past fiscal year, the Commission reviewed and addressed several Site Plans as to landscaping and lighting and exterior Building Plans as to elevations, design, colors and materials. Reviews included projects such as the Midas Store site on West Central, Planet Chrysler-Jeep-DodgeRam renovations and expansion, and Oteri Funeral Home, as well as several other, smaller projects. In addition sign applications were received, hearings held and decisions issued for 50 signs during the past fiscal year.
Meetings are held at the Franklin Municipal Building, 355 East Central Street, Room 205, at 7:00 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Meeting times, dates and agendas are posted at the Town Clerk’s Office.
Respectfully submitted,
Mark Fitzgerald, Chair
- For additional info on the Design Review Commission, the page can be found
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Planning/design
- Definitions applicable to the sign bylaw
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Planning/designdocuments/definitions.pdf
- The sign bylaw
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Planning/designdocuments/signbylaw.pdf
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| The new FHS sign includes a digital sign that is off as it does not conform with the current bylaws |
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"Prior to November 1 of each year, the Town Clerk shall cause to be prepared and made available to the inhabitants of the Town an annual report for the preceding fiscal year which shall include: the annual Town budget, the reports of all Town officers, the records of all Town Council bylaw amendments and resolutions, an abstract of births, marriages and deaths, and the wages, salaries, or other compensation of all Town employees." [Added 5-2-2012 by Bylaw Amendment 12-681]
Shared from the full and complete PDF version of the Town of Franklin Annual Report for 2015
In the News: Franklin's top stories for 2015
The Milford Daily News recaps the stories of the year for Franklin. They list the explosion in October, Dean replacing the campus police, the election in November, and Debbie Pellegri's retirement among the top stories. There are several more listed. Read the full article online (subscription may be required) and see if you would add a story:
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20151227/franklins-top-stories-of-2015/
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20151227/franklins-top-stories-of-2015/
Information Session and Building Tours for the Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School
Saturday January 9 from 10 am to noon:
Information Session and Building Tours for the Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School. 201 Main Street in Franklin.
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| BFCCPS sign |
Saturday, February 6 from 10 am to noon:
Information Session and Building Tours for the Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School. 201 Main Street in Franklin.
Sunday, December 27, 2015
"they go at the problem in a softer, more humane way"
A Milford area addiction specialist is pushing for a new way to combat the growing problem of opiate addiction in the region. It’s called substance abuse navigation, and it’s about building a network of specialists that helps addicts find help to shake the powerful, and often fatal, hold that heroin and other opiates can have.
That specialist is Amy Leone, a Hopedale resident who runs the Milford nonprofit therapy center Community Impact, and organizes several area coalitions aimed at helping addicts.
The vision is a staff of five addiction specialists who service the Milford and Franklin area 24/7. The specialists work as a link between addicts, their families, local police departments, and both inpatient and outpatient treatment services.
It’s something Leone already does, especially in the Milford area. She’s one part therapist, one part social worker and one part advocate. But her goal is to expand the program, and that requires funding.Continue reading the article online here (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20151226/local-officials-push-for-opioid-navigators/
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| screen grab of Community Impact webpage |
FHS girls hockey team topped Mansfield/Oliver Ames 4-0 on Saturday
The FHS girls hockey team topped Mansfield/Oliver Ames 4-0 on Saturday. This was the only Franklin result on a light holiday weekend schedule for the Hockomock League.
For the remainder of the Hockomock League results on Saturday.
http://www.hockomocksports.com/saturdays-schedule-scoreboard-122615/
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| FHS Panthers |
Girls Hockey
- Franklin, 4 @ Mansfield/Oliver Ames, 0 – Final
For the remainder of the Hockomock League results on Saturday.
http://www.hockomocksports.com/saturdays-schedule-scoreboard-122615/
Annual Report - 2015: Conservation Commission
The Franklin Conservation Commission is responsible for promoting and protecting the natural resources of Franklin and protecting the town’s watershed resources. A large part of the Commission’s attention is directed to administering Massachusetts and Franklin wetland protection laws and regulations. Those laws and regulations require the Commission permits to work in or within 100 feet of a wetland, in the 100 year flood hazard zone or within 200 feet of a perennial stream.
The Commission is comprised of up to seven volunteer residents appointed for three year terms by the Town Administrator. The current members of the Commission have diverse professional experience related to environmental science, biology, engineering, landscape design, and project management. Because of their different backgrounds, each commissioner is able to offer a different perspective during the review of applications for a wetland permit that ultimately benefits Franklin.
Franklin has continuously been well represented at the annual conference of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions in March, with Commissioners attending classes and workshops and talking with other Commissioners from across the state as well as lawyers, ecologists and engineers active in conservation.
The Commission, via its Chairman, has also participated in the Keystone Project, which is organized and run by UMASS. The Keystone Project is designed to stimulate forest landowners and community opinion leaders to be advocates of sound forest conservation, and to help inform the land management and conservation decisions of their friends, neighbors, organizations, and communities.
In 2012, the EPA proposed regulations to reduce the amount of phosphorus in storm water runoff into the Charles River basin, with Franklin, Bellingham and Milford as the pilot communities These regulations remain at a standstill as the EPA continues to work out the regulatory details. The Commission monitors the status of these regulations while encouraging and advising on appropriate stormwater management practices where applicable in Conservation jurisdiction.
The Commission continues to work on the DelCarte Area (aka the Franklin Reservoirs) off of Pleasant Street. There are a series of seven “structures” (six dams that had been originally used for cranberry farming and a stone wall that beavers had dammed) along Miller brook thru the 100+ acre DelCarte Area. The dams are identified serially from Dam #1, located closest to downtown adjacent to the MBTA Dean station, to #6, located furthest downstream, closest to Miller Street. The Commission is currently in the process of investigating the undertaking of an ecological study to ascertain the flora and fauna viability in the pond.
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| DelCarte in full fall color |
Since the last annual report, the Conservation Commission has received 63 permit applications to work within areas under their permitting jurisdiction. These applications range from the removal of dead trees in a buffer zone to the construction of industrial buildings and associated drainage. The Commission also issued 26 certificates of completion for various projects and granted extensions to allow projects to finish. Two emergency certifications were also issued to the Franklin Dept. of Public Works. In addition, based on the snow emergency declared by DEP in Feb-March 2015, emergency snow storage permissions were developed and issued.
The Commission would like to draw the attention of the Town’s residents to the many protected natural areas in the Town and the opportunities for passive recreation they enable:
- The DelCarte Area, with parking off of Pleasant Street, has recently improved walking trails through woodlands along a series of ponds. Two canoe launches and an above-water boardwalk to completely connect the trail system have been installed.
- Several Eagle Scout and school/class projects have been completed or are on-going in the DelCarte and Dacey Field areas, and the town forest.. These projects have helped in the clearing of trails and the erecting of educational signage and the cleaning up of debris. Additional projects are being undertaken in the Town Forest to improve the existing trail system; The Town Forest has good access points off of both Summer Street and Russet Hill Road with a network of walking trails thru woodlands and across Uncas Brook;
- There is a network of walking trails that cross Shepards Brook and go thru fields and woods behind the Dacey Recreation Area off Lincoln Street;
- Indian Rock has good access off of both King Phillip Road and Lost Horse Trail with walking trails thru woodlands near two large vernal pools and to the top of historic Indian Rock;
- The Metacomet Land Trust owns several pieces of protected land, notably the walking trails off of Bridle Path and The Lady Bug Trail near JFK school;
- The Franklin State Forest is accessible off of Grove Street and Forge Hill Road and boasts an extensive network of walking and ORV trails;
- The SNETT trail goes all the way to Douglas. There is a Town parking lot off of Grove Street. The Trail section from Prospect Street into Bellingham is currently being reconstructed by the Dept. of Conservation and Recreation. The reconstruction was permitted by the Commission in early 2015;
- The expansive marsh near Interstate 495 exit #17 is the US Army Corps of Engineers Natural Valley Flood Storage Project, preserved to protect against downstream flooding in the Charles River basin. That marsh is along Mine Brook, the largest stream in town, draining about half of Franklin, starting at the extreme south end of Franklin, passing underneath Washington Street, Beaver Street, 495, Grove Street, West Central Street, 495 again, Beech Street, and Pond Street before finally meeting the Charles River on the Medway border.
- Other significant streams in Franklin include Shepards Brook, Miller Brook, Uncas Brook and Bubbling Brook. Lake Populatic is part of the Charles River, the other navigable ponds in Franklin are Spring (Green’s) Pond, Beaver Pond, and Uncas Pond, the last two of which are listed as Great Ponds by Mass DEP. There are many other natural areas in Franklin waiting to be explored.
The Commission would also like the town residents to be aware of the potential tax savings of M.G. L. Chapter 61 (forest land), 61A (agricultural land) and 61B (recreational land). Such programs are designed to benefit the land owner via reducing the tax burden as well as to preserving and
maintaining the quality and quantity of environmentally sensitive and natural areas within the commonwealth.
Conservation Commission Members:
Jeff Livingstone – ChairPaul Harrington - - Vice Chair
Scott McLean
Ravi Pendkar
Steve Younis
Bill Batchelor
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Livingstone, Chair
Please visit our website for additional information including application forms, and regularly posted Conservation Commission agendas and meeting minutes at http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Conservation/index
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"Prior to November 1 of each year, the Town Clerk shall cause to be prepared and made available to the inhabitants of the Town an annual report for the preceding fiscal year which shall include: the annual Town budget, the reports of all Town officers, the records of all Town Council bylaw amendments and resolutions, an abstract of births, marriages and deaths, and the wages, salaries, or other compensation of all Town employees." [Added 5-2-2012 by Bylaw Amendment 12-681]
Shared from the full and complete PDF version of the Town of Franklin Annual Report for 2015
Annual Report - 2015: Charles River Pollution Control District
During Fiscal Year 2015, the Charles River Pollution Control District’s (District) regional advanced wastewater treatment facility received and treated approximately 1,440 million gallons (3.95 million gallons per day) of raw wastewater, including 5.85 million gallons of septage from the District’s member and customer towns before discharge to the Charles River. The volume of waste treated was higher than the previous year due to an increase in precipitation.
The District received its renewed National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit in July 2014 for discharge of its treated wastewater to the Charles River. Under the renewed NPDES permit, the District and the Towns of Franklin, Medway, Millis, and Bellingham will maintain an ongoing preventive maintenance program to prevent overflows and bypasses caused by malfunctions or failures of the sewer system and an infiltration and inflow reduction program. In addition, the new limit for phosphorus has been reduced from 0.2 mg/L to 0.1 mg/L in the summer months and a winter limit of 0.3 mg/L was added.
The District conducted an Infiltration and Inflow Study in 2013, with CDM Smith, to identify areas of the District’s interceptors that needed further investigation and repair. Last summer, the District investigated the manholes in a portion of its interceptors to determine each manhole’s condition. This winter/spring, the District will inspect the same portion of its interceptor to determine the condition of the pipe and identify any sources of infiltration and inflow. CDM Smith and District staff prepared a 20-year capital improvement plan (CIP) to improve the wastewater treatment facility to meet more stringent NPDES permitting requirements and provide a more reliable wastewater treatment facility at its current capacity.
In July 2010, the District was informed of its acceptance on the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (Mass DEP) Bureau of Resource Protection Calendar Year 2010 Intended Use List for State Revolving Funding (SRF). In order to expedite the designs and proceed with the project in a timely manner, the CIP was divided into three phases (A, B and C).
- Phase A, which was completed in December 2013, included the replacement of both primary clarifier mechanisms, addition of two screenings washer/compactors in the wet well, primary scum handling improvements, and plant lighting and security improvements.
- Phase B, the capping of the on-site residuals landfill, was completed in August 2013.
- Phase C, focuses on improving phosphorus removal, replacing the disinfection system, and extending the life of the facility for an additional 20 years. This phase began construction in May 2014 and is expected to be completed in September 2016.
The District funded Phases A and B with a 20-year State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan of approximately $2.9M. Phase C costs will be funded through separate SRF loans of approximately $26.5M, which includes bidding, construction, and resident engineering. Ineligible costs (i.e. design of Phase C) for SRF loans were funded by a General Obligation Bond of approximately $1.95M.
The District’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget is 25.4% higher than the previous years’ budget. The increase is mainly due to the commencement of the repayment of one of the Phase C SRF loans. The District’s FY 2016 budget for operations and maintenance is $3,372,370, while the capital projects budget is $1,857,460. Franklin’s share of the operation and maintenance and capital projects budgets are estimated to be $1,789,070 and $1,154,740, respectively.
Respectively submitted
Douglas M. Downing, Chairman (Medway)
Gene Guidi, Vice-Chairman (Franklin)
Alfred H. Wahlers, Clerk (Franklin)
Joseph Cameron (Franklin)
Paul J. DeSimone (Medway)
CRPCD Officers:
Elizabeth Taglieri, P.E., Executive Director
Emma J. Catalano, Treasurer
Barbara Maffeo, Executive Secretary
Cornetta, Ficco & Simmler, Legal Counsel
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| The Pond St property was the site of the former sewer treatment plant for Franklin before becoming part of the Charles River Pollution Control District |
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"Prior to November 1 of each year, the Town Clerk shall cause to be prepared and made available to the inhabitants of the Town an annual report for the preceding fiscal year which shall include: the annual Town budget, the reports of all Town officers, the records of all Town Council bylaw amendments and resolutions, an abstract of births, marriages and deaths, and the wages, salaries, or other compensation of all Town employees." [Added 5-2-2012 by Bylaw Amendment 12-681]
Shared from the full and complete PDF version of the Town of Franklin Annual Report for 2015
Presentation from 2009 to the Franklin Town Council on the improvements outlined
http://www.slideshare.net/shersteve/charles-river-pollution-control-district-presentation-2509
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