Franklin Annual Report - 2018: Metacomet Emergency Communications Center (MECC)

Construction on the building continues. We anticipate dispatching our first call in early 2019. Once complete the MECC will operate state of the art systems and equipment to handle the dispatching of police, fire and EMS calls for service for the four communities; Franklin, Norfolk, Plainville and Wrentham. We will serve a combined population of just under 66,000 residents (2015 census data) covering 76.7 square miles.

The State 911 Department will begin “text to 911” service of the Next Generation 911 (NG911) system later this year. This will enable our call takers to assist with emergency calls with the deaf and hard of hearing population or those who cannot verbally communicate. Remember, “Call If You Can, Text If You Can’t”.

The MECC will staff highly skilled, trained, professional telecommunicators ready to assist, day or night. Rest assured we stand ready to help you in your time of need.

Respectfully submitted,

Gary M Premo
Executive Director



You can read the full Annual Report for 2018 online
https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/uploads/franklin_2018_town_report.pdf

The archive of prior year annual reports
https://www.franklinma.gov/town-clerk/pages/annual-reports


In the Finance Committee meeting of Oct 16, 2018, we learned that Norfolk construction delays for regional dispatch center will affect Franklin and the budget for an additional three months. It was supposed to begin operation in Jan 2019, and is now scheduled for operation in March (Apr 1 for budgeting purposes). The discussion was to fund an $28K for Police and $70K for Fire to cover the delay.

The Franklin Matters notes from the FinCom meeting Oct 16
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2018/10/live-reporting-finance-committee-oct-16.html

Facebook photo for MECC  https://www.facebook.com/meccdispatch/?nr

Public Tour of JF Kennedy School - Oct 2012

Photos from the public tour of JF Kennedy School held on Oct 4, 2012. At the time the School Committee was hosting a tour of each of the schools in the District, one per month.



Or go directly to Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_sherlock/sets/72157631703646697/

School Delay 2/28/19 - 2 hours

Thursday, February 28, 2019

Due to the weather conditions, Franklin Public Schools will have a 2 hour delay on Thursday, February 28, 2019.

When Franklin Public Schools has a delayed opening, ECDC will have a cancellation/delayed opening as follows:

The ECDC morning session will be cancelled. The ECDC extended and full day sessions will delay opening by 2 hours. The delayed opening will NOT impact the afternoon session.

Emergency busing will be in effect and students walking or waiting along routes will be offered rides by our drivers.

Office staff, please arrive as you are able.

Sincerely,

The Franklin Public Schools

On this date: Feb 28, 2016: Reporting by Walking Around

Stepping in to the archives for Feb 28, 2016 I find that this was one of the "reporting by walking around posts" I did from time to time. I find myself doing less now as I am working from home most of the week and thereby can walk almost everyday to stay current. So hopefully, you see more photos daily rather than bunching them like I did.

"Reporting by walking around, I'll share some photos of the walk around Franklin Saturday morning."

The new Recreation Dept facility at 275 Beaver St

Dip into the archives for 2016 and see what has not changed, or changed since Feb 28, 2016
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2016/02/photos-from-walk-around-franklin.html

Franklin Annual Report - 2018: Human Resources

I just finished my first year as Human Resources Director for the Town of Franklin and it was a very busy, but rewarding year. It has been a wonderful experience so far and I look forward to serving as your HR Director for many years to come!

Fiscal Year 2018 was a big transition year for the Town. We had turnover in three key managerial roles, the Human Resources Director, Comptroller, and Treasurer/Collector. Stephanie Lutz, Susan Gagner, and Jim Dacey had almost 50 years of combined service and institutional knowledge with the Town. Finance Director Chris Sandini, Treasurer/Collector Kerri Bertone, and I have tough shoes to fill, but are catching on quickly and operations have continued without a hitch. Jeff Nutting and Jamie Hellen should be commended for their hard work in making sure that there was a smooth transition in leadership.

In addition to these three key managers, several other employees chose to retire or pursue other opportunities this year. We had a very busy year backfilling positions and even adding a few new positions. There were 16 new full time employees including 4 Police Officers, 3 Firefighters, 6 DPW Laborers, the Finance Director, and 2 Civilians at the Police Department. We also hired 3 new part-time Library Assistants at the Franklin Public Library, several part-time and substitute Custodians for the Facilities Department, part-time dispatchers for Police and Fire, part-time administrative positions and over 40 Referees, Camp/Program Counselors, Gate Guards, and Program Coordinators at the Recreation Department. In addition to local students working summer jobs in the Recreation Department, the Town also hired about 30 Franklin students to work in the Department of Public Works and Facilities Department. These students were instrumental in helping landscape our community and get the schools ready for the 2018-2019 school year.

In Fiscal Year 2018, we continued to struggle with the rising cost of healthcare. Other than wages and salaries, the health insurance budget represents one of the largest single costs to the Town. The Town offers health insurance to all active employees working more than 20 hours per week as well as retirees and their families. We currently have approximately 1200 employees and retirees from both the Town and Schools on our plan. Even a small increase in health insurance premiums can have a huge impact on the total budget.

When we started reviewing health insurance for FY19, we were faced with a potential increase of 10.9% on the HMO plan. Town and School management came together with the Insurance Advisory Committee to try to come up with creative solutions to keep costs down, for both employees and the Town. We enlisted our benefits broker, NFP Inc, to prepare a RFP and went out to bid on health insurance. The Insurance Advisory Committee ultimately decided to save costs in several different ways. We went through the arduous process of switching Health Insurance companies from Tufts Health Plan to Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and added a small prescription deductible to our plans.

We also, for the first time, offered employees the option to enroll in a Qualified High Deductible Health Plan coupled with a Health Savings Account. A High Deductible Health Plan offers a lower monthly premium, but the employee may have a higher out of pocket cost, since the deductible would increase from $400 to $1500 for an individual and from $1000 to $3000 for a family. Since the decrease in monthly premiums would save the Town a significant amount of money, we were able to share the savings with the employees by depositing money into the employee’s Health Savings Account ($750 for employees on an individual plan and $1500 for those on a family plan). This money could then be used to pay for any health related expenses and reduce out of pocket costs. Even with this arrangement, the cost to the Town for the High Deductible plan was still lower than the standard HMO plan.

Through the changes listed above, our overall Health and Life Insurance budget for the Town increased by just 5.42%, which is slightly lower than last year and below the national average.

The Town continues to offer a very competitive benefits package, which, in addition to health insurance, offers employees the option to sign up for Life insurance, Dental insurance, Flexible Spending Accounts and/or Health Savings Accounts, Short and Long Term Disability, and two different vendors for deferred compensation retirement plans. In FY19, we plan to review all the benefit plans to make sure that we stay competitive and offer our employees robust, cost-effective benefits.

This year, we worked with MIIA (the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association) to offer Harassment Training to all our employees. A professional trainer came in and offered 12 different classroom sessions. The training focused on the federal and state laws around discrimination and harassment and our responsibilities as employees in preventing harassment and responding appropriately if it does happen. Employees generally had positive feedback about the training and felt that they learned a great deal.

2018 was a very demanding, but fulfilling year. I, along with Sandy Golebiewski, look forward to another great year of serving our employees and our retirees in 2019.

Respectfully submitted,

Karen Bratt
Human Resources Director



You can read the full Annual Report for 2018 online
https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/uploads/franklin_2018_town_report.pdf

The archive of prior year annual reports
https://www.franklinma.gov/town-clerk/pages/annual-reports

Franklin Annual Report - 2018: Human Resources

Parmenter 5K - June 2012

The Parmenter 5K was held on Jun 10, 2012 at the Gerald M Parmenter Elementary School in Franklin, MA 02038.



or go directly to Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_sherlock/sets/72157630033523485/

On this date: Feb 27, 2015 - DPW gets grant to curb stormwater

Stepping into the archives for Feb 27, 2015, we find that the DPW had just received a grant to help with storm water management.

"The Department of Public Works plans to use money from a state grant to curb the amount of stormwater draining into the Charles River. 

The town on Tuesday won a $119,000 grant through a state Department of Environmental Protection initiative to help cites and towns manage local water supplies. In all, DEP awarded around $755,000 in grants to 12 communities, including Medway. 

Franklin DPW Robert Cantoreggi said Thursday the grant will fund work to build a water recharge area off Jefferson Road."

Continue reading the article in the Milford Daily News: http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150227/NEWS/150226926/1994/NEWS#sthash.qKXmtquO.dpuf

The storm water management efforts by the DPW are plentiful and visible all around Franklin.

Rain gardens, tree wells... the listing goes on. 

DPW Director Cantoreggi will be leaving soon (?) to take the Town Administrator role for Norfolk.

one of the rain gardens at Parmenter School