Friday, February 8, 2019

"When we fix these water lines, we also get a brand-new road out of it"

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:
"Several streets will be torn up and repaved over the next five years after Town Council approved the latest installment of the town’s water main maintenance plan. 
Director of Public Works Robert “Brutus” Cantoreggi on Jan. 30 gave a presentation to councilors on the new five-year plan, which starts in 2020. Water mains and certain streets and sidewalks will be repaired simultaneously, a repeat of a schedule the town’s has used for 20 years of performing work in five-year installments. 
Deputy Town Administrator Jaime Hellen said that by shifting the work area every five years, the town has been able to keep up with leaks in the mains and potholes on the streets. 
“The Town Council has authorized a new $7.5 million (payment) to replace these water mains that have leaks,” said Hellen. “And we’re just at the end of this cycle at the end of 2019.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190207/franklin-oks-new-water-main-project


Note: the MA DEP water permit is based upon the average of 65 gallons of water per day (Page 4). Franklin through conservation efforts uses less than that per DPW Director Cantoreggi, we have been as low as 45 gal per day. 

Page 17 of the presentation outlines the street plan and current year for rework.

The presentation used in the Town Council meeting Jan 30 can be found here

My notes from the meeting can be found here
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2019/02/town-council-jan-30-2019-recap.html

DPW Director Cantoreggi and Water Superintendent Laurie Ruszala
DPW Director Cantoreggi and Water Superintendent Laurie Ruszala
presenting to the Town Council Jan 30

Zoning Board of Appeals: Public Hearing Notices - Feb 21



Zoning Board of Appeals, Town of Franklin
Public Hearings - Posting
For Hearing on: February 21, 2019
Printed 0n: Thursday, February 7, 2019 and Thursday, February 14, 2019
Notice is hereby given that the Town of Franklin Board of Appeals will hold a Public hearing on February 21, 2019 in the Franklin Municipal Building, 355 East Central Street, Franklin, MA At: 7:35 PM

Applicant: Michele Ellertson – The Dog’s Pace
Address of Subject Property: 25 Kenwood Circle – Unit J (Map 295, Lot 011)
Petition Type: Special Permit
From Section (or Schedule): Article 185, Section 2.21 (Attachment 3)
To Allow: Applicant is seeking to site an animal training center. The use is denied without a Special Permit from the ZBA

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/agendas/02-21-19_meeting_newspaper_page_2_0.pdf

------------

Zoning Board of Appeals, Town of Franklin
Public Hearings - Posting
For Hearing on: February 21, 2019
Printed 0n: Thursday, February 7, 2019 and Thursday, February 14, 2019
Notice is hereby given that the Town of Franklin Board of Appeals will hold a
Public hearing on February 21, 2019 in the Franklin Municipal Building, 355 East Central Street, Franklin, MA At: 7:30 PM

Applicant: Milford Regional Physician’s Group
Address of Subject Property: 1262-1288 West Central Street (Map 274-002-000-000 and 274-003-000-000)
Petition Type: Variance
From Section (or Schedule): 185-20, 185 Attachment 10
To Allow: Applicant is seeking to install a total of 275.25 sq. ft. of signage where 60 sq. ft. is allowed. Signs on the upper floors facing the street are not allowed and that equates to 226.75 sq. ft. of the total signage. The building permit for the signs is denied without a variance from ZBA.

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/agendas/02-21-19_meeting_newspaper_page_2.pdf

ZBA: Public Hearing Notices - Feb 21
ZBA: Public Hearing Notices - Feb 21

Thursday, February 7, 2019

Notes from the Legislative Forum - Feb 5, 2019

The Legislative Forum hosted by the Franklin School Committee on Tuesday, Feb 5 was an informative evening. My notes taken via Twitter can be read here. I'll share the audio of the 90 minute session later this week.

Updated: Unfortunately, the technical quality of the audio was not worthy of sharing and won't be published.





Or from the Town of Franklin page
https://www.franklinps.net/sites/franklinmaps/files/news/fy20_superintendents_recommended_budget.pdf

Superintendent Sara Ahern's prepared remarks can be found on this page
https://www.franklinps.net/sites/franklinmaps/files/news/superintendents_opening_remarks_legislative_forum_2-5-19.pdf

School Committee Chair, Anne Bergen
School Committee Chair, Anne Bergen

FPS Superintendent Sara Ahern
FPS Superintendent Sara Ahern

School Committee member Denise Schultz
School Committee member Denise Schultz

Left to Right: Rep Jeff Roy, Senator Karen Spilka, and MASC Exec Dir Glenn Koocher
Left to Right: Rep Jeff Roy, Senator Karen Spilka, and MASC Exec Dir Glenn Koocher

School Start Times Parent/Guardian Education Night - Feb 13

Dear Families,

The School Start Times Parent/Guardian Education Night has been rescheduled for Wednesday, February 13, 2019 at 7:00 PM. 

Please see the attached flyer and RSVP for planning purposes.

Franklin Public Schools



RSVP for planning purposes
https://goo.gl/forms/d0QjjcAW3dTNmXg23

Download flyer here or below
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0wjbnXDBhczWllHR2hFQUxtYVlwV1VFaE5hSFBQQnZJeUtv/view?usp=sharing


--
Sara E. Ahern, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Franklin Public Schools
355 East Central Street
Suite 3
Franklin, MA 02038
508-553-4819




School Start Times Parent/Guardian Education Night - Feb 13
School Start Times Parent/Guardian Education Night - Feb 13

FHS wrestling posts win, girls hockey skates to a tie on Wednesday

Via HockomockSports and Twitterwe share the results of the FHS sports action on Wednesday, Feb 6, 2019


Girls Hockey = Canton, 0 @ Franklin, 0 – Final
– "The top two teams in the Hockomock skated to a scoreless tie, but not for a lack of chances. Both defenses played strong and each team had just one power play: Franklin late in the third period and Canton for the final 30 seconds of the game. 

Franklin goalie Gabby Colace made 16 saves for the shutout. “She played outstanding tonight, she made a couple of saves that really kept us in the game,” said Franklin coach Margie Burke. 

Canton netminder Ava Pacitti earned the shutout with 14 saves. “Ava has come so far, she barely saw any time last year and she’s just playing incredible hockey,” said Canton coach Dennis Aldrich. “The girls rally around her. That was the best high school hockey game I’ve been involved this year.”

– Click here for a photo gallery of this game
https://hockomocksports.smugmug.com/2018-2019/Winter-2018-2019/Franklin-Canton-Girls-Hockey-02-06-19/

Wrestling = North Attleboro, 30 @ Franklin, 34 – Final


Gymnastics = Oliver Ames, 135.6 @ Franklin, 133.8 – Final


https://twitter.com/fhs_gymnastics/status/1093350611523944448
@fhs_gymnastics photo
For other results around the Hockomock League
https://hockomocksports.com/wednesdays-schedule-scoreboard-02-06-19/

MassBudget: Analyzing the Governor's FY 2020 budget proposal



MassBudget  Information.
  Participation.
 Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center  Democracy.
February 5, 2019

Analyzing the Governor's FY 2020 budget proposal
Proposal includes some new revenues, accompanied by modest plan to update education funding

The Governor's Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 budget proposal provides modest increases in funding for public education, human services, and several other important investments. This new funding does not, in many cases, reverse deep cuts imposed across the state budget after the tax cuts of the late 1990s and early 2000s - despite a decade of expansion in the economy. Lost revenue from tax cuts has limited the Commonwealth's ability to adequately fund education, infrastructure, and other building blocks of healthy communities and a strong economy.

While the Governor's proposal would increase year over year funding for several programs, it provides the same or less funding for programs such as Public Health, Local Aid, Juvenile Justice, Transitional Assistance, and others, according to an analysis by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget). The Governor's proposal recommends 16 percent less funding for Early Education and Care compared to FY 2001 (adjusting for inflation). Funding for Local Aid is similarly down 38 percent and Environment and Recreation programs remain 29 percent below 2001 levels. Making the necessary investments in our schools, transportation, housing, and other essential programs will require bold, new revenue sources.

Tax revenue growth was unusually strong in FY 2018 and may continue to be strong for most of FY 2019. The Department of Revenue expects that, without policy changes to increase revenue, overall revenue growth will slow markedly in FY 2020 - putting a strain on our capacity to support public programs and invest in infrastructure. While the Governor's FY 2020 budget proposal includes a variety of new and expanded taxes and other revenues, a number of previously-scheduled tax cuts and other revenue-losing policy changes will take a significant bite out of revenue totals in FY 2020 and beyond.

Much of the additional revenue proposed by the Governor would come from a variety of consumption taxes, which typically are regressive (meaning people with lower incomes contribute a larger share of their household incomes toward these taxes than do people with higher incomes). Meanwhile, the tax revenue reductions mostly come from progressive revenue sources. Therefore, these proposals do not help turn Massachusetts' upside-down tax system right-side up.

The Governor's proposal is accompanied by a plan to overhaul Massachusetts' school funding formula that could help ensure that all schools, especially those in low-income districts, are adequately funded. The plan makes some progress, over a seven-year timeline, to implement the 2015 Foundation Budget Review Commission (FBRC) recommendations related to health insurance, special education, and greater support for low-income and English Language Learner students. However, without substantial, new revenues the Commonwealth can only adopt a moderate plan to implement the FBRC recommendations.

The budget proposal includes other notable initiatives. For instance, the Governor proposes creating a trust fund to prevent childhood lead exposure and increasing the "Real Estate Transfer Tax" to invest in climate change adaptation. Further, the Governor proposes new systems for negotiating the cost of drugs used under MassHealth and expands eligibility for low-income elders to qualify for the Medicare Savings Plan.


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


Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, 15 Court Square, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02108

Sent by mrivera@massbudget.org in collaboration with
Constant Contact

screen grab of the MassBudget - Budget Browser
screen grab of the MassBudget - Budget Browser

In the News: Gov Baker talks climate change in DC; Housing crisis leads to homelessness

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

Gov Baker talks climate change in DC
"In testimony before a U.S. House committee Wednesday, Gov. Charlie Baker told Congress to set politics aside and follow Massachusetts’ lead on adapting to a changing climate and preparing to deal with more powerful weather, including setting specific targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions. 
The Republican governor has made climate change adaptation and resilience a central part of his agenda as he begins a second term in office. Last month, he proposed raising a real estate transfer tax to pay for a $1 billion, decade-long program to help Massachusetts cities and towns prepare for and clean up after the impacts of climate change. 
The governor told the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee that states “need strong federal leadership and a bold bipartisan vision on climate change.” He said climate policy is not a partisan issue in Massachusetts because “we understand the science and know the impacts are real because we are experiencing them firsthand,” and called on federal lawmakers to row in the same direction. 
“The magnitude of the impacts from climate change requires all of us - at the federal, state and local levels - to put politics aside and work together. That is the path we have taken in Massachusetts,” Baker said."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190206/baker-talks-climate-change-in-dc

Housing crisis leads to homelessness
"Looking out her window, Kristen McCorquodale reflected on eight years of chasing affordable housing to avoid homelessness. 
It was a January afternoon and temperatures the day before fell below zero degrees. 
“This isn’t May. This isn’t like the last time,” she said, referencing a few years prior when her family lived out of a Ford Expedition. 
McCorquodale, 35, is from Somerville. But over the last decade, she and her husband, Dan, along with their three children, have lived in Beverly, Gardner, Worcester, Marlborough, Dorchester and – most recently – Fitchburg. Their homes during that time included apartments, basements, shelters and a small Boston unit with two families and no working toilet."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190205/housing-crisis-fuels-homelessness-in-massachusetts