Kids Cooking Classes - Super Suppers - Register Now

Wednesdays March 23 to May 4 6:00 PM to 6:45 PM    REGISTER   Location Franklin High School KIDS COOKING CLASS Six Fun-Filled Sessions with Sandhya Jain  Super Suppers:  Grades 5 - 8 Each class will be approximately 45 minutes long.  Students will learn measuring math, mixing, and basic food science and will work directly with the chef instructor. The instructor will demonstrate basic knife skills and discuss safety rules for the kitchen. It's a great opportunity for young minds to expand their palate by cooking a wide range of food. Each week students will prepare one of the following: Menu:Wheat Pizza, Chicken nuggets, Gourmet Macaroni and Cheese, Pesto Pasta, Chocolate Mousse, Roasted Garlicky Salad with Honey Mustard dressing.   Fee: $120 plus $18 fee for ingredients    About the Instructor  Sandhya Jain, owner of Sandhya's Kitchen and currently appearing on Franklin TV cable television, shares her passion for making cooking easy, effortless, healthy, and delicious. Says Jain, "Cooking has been my passion for over 20 years."  Forward this email

FPS- Life Long Learning, 355 East Central Street, Franklin, MA 02038 Sent by lifelong@franklin.k12.ma.us in collaboration with Try it free today

"We thought we should give a reasonable amount of time"

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin

The Town Council debated the terms of a bylaw that would require anyone serving liquor in town receive alcohol awareness training. 

The council heard from several business officials Wednesday night and discussed several concerns with the proposal, which was originally put forward by councilor Andrew Bissanti. The proposal would require managers, bartenders and all employees who sell or serve alcohol undergo "safe service of alcohol" training.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160309/franklin-town-council-ponders-alcohol-training-requirement

Reminder: Family Science Night at Franklin High School

Family Science Night - Franklin High School 

From 6:00 to 8:00 PM

A community service project by the FHS Science National Honor Society

Live reporting: to Closing

K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
moving in right directions, could be out at end of April to make repairs
the contractor will bear all expenses

did open bids for Pleasant and Chestnut St
will bring to capital committee in future

working on capital budget and annual budget

L. OLD BUSINESS
none

M. NEW BUSINESS
Bissanti - Conservation Commission enforcement practices
would like to see a lighter gentler message
some one apparently put some lawn clippings in his yard in what is a wetland (also on his land)


N. COUNCIL COMMENTS
Jones - looking forward to the lottery on March 30 for the Beaver Ct building
(apparently an open house was held recently)

Dellorco - condolences to the 'Franklin mayor' Peter's family

Bissanti - thanks for pushing along the alcohol awareness program
if this saves one life, then it is all worth it

Pfeffer - there were 2 open houses on Sunday
can't please everyone



O. EXECUTIVE SESSION
- Pending or threatened litigation
1. Proposed Excelon expansion of Medway electric generating facility pending before Energy Facilities Siting Board.
2. Proposed Spectra gas transmission line through Franklin.

P. ADJOURN
motion to adjourn, passed 8-0

Live reporting: Legislation for Action

I. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
no reports, EDC wants to set a meeting

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION

• Resolution 16-11: Declaration of Town-Owned Land on Grove Street (Portion of Former Nu-Style Property) as Surplus and Available for Disposition

Motion to approve, seconded, passed 8-0

• Resolution 16-12: Authorization for Municipal Aggregation of Electricity

Bernie Lynch, Mark Capadona

Franklin Community Choice Aggregation Program from Franklin Matters
• this provides opt in and opt out choices
• aggregation provides choice, stability and savings
• designed to protect customer rights
• no penalties for customers
• largest aggregation company, also a MA company
• local oversight and control with program
• approximate Dec of 2016 for electricity to flow
• possible savings 100-250 mentioned on typical household
• we are enrolled initially, can opt in

• Resolution 16-13: Appropriation: Town Administrator: Insurance Recovery Account – 28123490

motion, seconded, passed 8-0

any insurance claim over $20K needs to be authorized by the Council

Pfeffer - problem with the $5K deductible as it was a problem from the beginning

Mercer - the deductible is a topic of discussion with the principles involved, this allows us to get moving and to recoup the funds

• Resolution 16-14: Appropriation: Records Management – Assessors

motion to approve, seconded, passed 8-0

Kevin Doyle, Director Assessors office

• need most recent 40 years of records for processing
• need to reduce the volume and reorganize the space available for the records
• info does grow annually
• little time to work on the backlog of records to get them organized
• some digital records are allowed but they can not be the 'official' record

• Bylaw Amendment 16-755: Chapter 179, Water – 1st Reading

motion to amend from 21 to 30 days, seconded, passed 7-1 (Pfeffer no)

move as amended to second reading, seconded, passed 8-0

looking for a different process to get access to replace the water meter

• Bylaw Amendment 16-756: Chapter 170 Vehicles and Traffic Article X Winter Storm Overnight Parking – 1st Reading

adjusting the bylaw to cover all public parking during the storm periods to allow DPW to plow

move as amended to second reading, seconded, passed 8-0

parking at Depot St, or at the Library, Fletcher Field, and sometimes the school

notification via website, reverse 911, police called in to get owners to move cars

Live reporting: alcohol training bylaw discussion

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS

• Mandatory Alcohol Awareness Training for Licensees

draft for review and comment 

"If you're going to serve liquor, you should be trained before serving."

most establishments are okay with it as they are mostly doing it today

change time for new hires from 14 to 30 days

don't understand the requirement for the waiting period

a 2.5 hour course good for 3 years, costs only $40, can be done online

will hinder the one day sales in that this will apply to them as well

would prefer to have one on one training rather than online

The ABCC is already watching for any overserving instances as reported by police incidents

There should be a transition period per Cerel

Recommend a 9/1 date and reached consensus on that date

Live reporting: Town Council - Mar 9, 2016

Present: Padula, Mercer, Vallee, Kelly, Pfeffer, Bissanti, Dellorco, Jones
Absent: Pellegri 


A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
none

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS
– This meeting is being recorded by Franklin TV and shown on Comcast channel 11 and Verizon channel 29. This meeting may also be recorded by others.

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS
none

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS
– Citizens are welcome to express their views for up to five minutes on a matter that is not on the Agenda. The Council will not engage in a dialogue or comment on a matter raised during Citizen Comments. The Town Council will give remarks appropriate consideration and may ask the Town Administrator to review the matter.

E. APPOINTMENTS
none

F. HEARINGS
none

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS
none

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS

2015 Audit – Melanson Heath, Auditors

The documents released for this agenda can be found here
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_CouncilAgendas/2016%20Complete/03092016.pdf

Independent Auditors Report

P 14
enterprise funds (water, sewer, solid waste) in the second column
118M high school building to be depreciated
118M other fixed assets being depreciated

42M - OPEB listed, this is the GAAP amount for reporting purposes, not the total outstanding liability.
net pension liability, 39M

1.5M in OPEB trust fund to help fund the liability

deficit equity due to the unfunded liability previously not reported

P 16
9M is a good number, one the bond agencies look for (stabilization accounts and free cash)
at 9% indicates a very strong financial  position

P 20
amount revenues beat the budget, in far column $864K, a good number

$3M
use of free cash and stabilization, appropriately used for one time funds, i.e. snow and ice

very strong financial balances for enterprise funds

Management Letter

no material issues or weaknesses noted

The Risk assessment process mentioned has been for past couple of years and it being worked, still work needs to be done. Looking for Franklin to be more proactive in identifying risks for the town

single audit completed, no findings this year. Thresholds are being raised and more documented policies and procedures are being required. If not completed by next year's report, there could be 'findings' next year.

the audit runs very smoothly