Franklin Matters

Saturday, November 7, 2020

Franklin, MA: Finance Committee - Agenda - Nov 9, 2020

Finance Committee

Meeting Agenda & Meeting Packet

November 9th, 2020
6:30 PM

Agenda

1.    Call to Order
2.    Public Comments
3.    Approval of Minutes

a. June 4, 2020
b. October 6, 2020

4. FY21 Budget Update

a. Amended Budgets for Town Clerk Department & Recreation Department consideration for approval
b. Budget Stabilization consideration for approval

5. Adjourn

Agenda doc

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/agendas/11-9-2020_finance_committee_agenda.pdf

To watch or listen:

Via Comcast (Channel 11) or Verizon (Channel 29)
Call-In Phone Number:Call 1-929-205-6099 & enter Meeting ID # 811 6905 2702 -- Then press #
Via live stream https://www.franklinma.gov/home/pages/live-meetings-stream

For active participation:

Via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81169052702

Franklin, MA: Finance Committee - Agenda - Nov 9, 2020

Franklin Residents: How To Get A Library Card

Apply for a Franklin Public Library Card Online!

If you have never had a Minuteman library card, please complete the form below to get a 6-month Minuteman library card. Then visit a Minuteman public library convenient to you, within 6 months, to complete the library card application. When you pick up your card you must present a photo ID and proof of address.

Please sign up using a valid email address. Your temporary barcode and username will be emailed to you. Visit https://library.minlib.net/selfreg

Your temporary number allows you to:

Login to My Account and establish a password.
Use state-provided online research databases within Massachusetts only.
Place up to 5 requests on Books, DVDs, CDs, etc. in the Minuteman Catalog for pickup at a Minuteman library.
Use our Digital Catalog.

How to complete the registration:

Pick up your full service library card at a Minuteman public library of your choice within 6 months.
After 6 months, temporary accounts, including item requests, are deleted.
Please mention that you have already registered for a temporary card and bring your temporary library number or a copy of the confirmation email.
When you pick up your card you must present a photo ID and proof of address.

Download a copy of this for reference

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LUxG1L7ovd6vIpMqdD6bWfLIxa1Om0MQ/view?usp=sharing

Franklin Residents: How To Get A Library Card

FREE Haircuts for Vets on Veterans' Day - Wednesday, Nov 11, 2020

Sport Clips Haircuts in Franklin

Sport Clips Haircuts of Franklin, a haircare salon that specializes in men's and boys' haircuts, will offer free haircuts on Wednesday, November 11 to all active duty U.S. service members and veterans with valid proof of service. The salon is collecting donations throughout November for the VFW's "Help a Hero" Scholarship Fund and will donate $1 for every haircut service provided on Veterans' Day. Sport Clips Haircuts is located on Route 140 in the plaza next to Restaurant 3. Call: (508) 440-5870 to make an appointment.

Here's a list of Covid-19 safety measures the salon is taking to keep staff and clients safe:

Face masks are required by all clients and staff members.
All stylists are required to wear gloves and eye protection (in addition to masks).
All barber capes, towels, etc. are laundered after each use.
All surfaces are sanitized (e.g. kiosks, barber chairs, shampoo bowls, etc.) are fully sanitized after each use.
Infrared thermometers are used to take all client and staff member temperatures each day.
Our barber chairs are at least 6 feet apart.
We've also installed plexiglass barriers between adjacent barber chairs and shampoo pools for added safety.
Our reception area only contains 6 chairs kept 8-10 feet apart. Everyone else is requested to wait outside until their stylist is ready to serve them.
We employ the latest technology so that clients can check-in online and can be notified via text message when their stylist is ready for them.

Shared from the Town of Franklin page https://www.franklinma.gov/veterans-services/news/free-haircuts-vets-veterans-day-wednesday-november-11-2020

Visit Sport Clips Haircuts in Franklin online https://haircutmenfranklinma.com/

Visit Sport Clips Haircuts in Franklin online

“What we heard from the governor today is a complete disconnect”

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

"Gov. Charlie Baker, along with health and education officials, on Friday detailed an expectation that schools across the state should have students attending in-person learning and that most of the 351 cities and towns should strive to have students in classrooms full time.

The announcement was made alongside a major revision to the state’s weekly COVID-19 risk map, which has been tied to state guidelines for school and business safety policies. Under the new methodology, which adds population as a factor, the number of communities in the “red” or “high-risk” category will decline from 121 last week to 16 on the map that was scheduled to be published Friday evening.

Baker, Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders and education officials on Friday cited various pieces of research that found that in-person learning does not lead to increased transmission of the virus. While about 450,000 public school students attended in-person classes last week, Baker said there were only 252 confirmed cases among those students and staff.

“We continue to see too many communities with students learning in remote-only models,” Baker said. “Not being in school poses significant risk for kids, both related to COVID and related to other health concerns — like depression, anxiety and others. In Rhode Island, students learning remotely tested positive at a higher rate than students attending classes.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20201106/state-education-officials-say-in-person-learning-now-expected-for-most-mass-communities?rssfeed=true

From CommonWealth Magazine we share an article of interest for Franklin:

"THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION on Friday ramped up pressure on the roughly 23 percent of school districts teaching remotely to return to in-person classes by releasing new metrics that downgraded the risk of COVID-19 in most communities and issuing new guidance suggesting hands-on teaching is safe even in hot-spot areas.

Gov. Charlie Baker said the evidence is clear that in-person teaching is safe. He noted cases in public schools declined this past week and Catholic schools statewide, many of them in high-risk areas, have seen few infections.

“Data collected from school districts across the US, of which we now have several months’ worth, shows schools can open and operate safely in person,” he said.

“We know nothing can take the place of in-person instruction,” said Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeff Riley. “The time to get kids back to school is now.”

Continue reading the article online

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/education/baker-presses-for-in-person-learning/

With rejiggered COVID-19 map accounting for population, many MA communities move out of red zone

From CommonWealth Magazine we share an article of interest for Franklin:

"WITH THE NUMBER of Massachusetts communities considered high-risk for COVID-19 growing at an alarming rate, the Baker administration on Friday changed the metrics it uses to set risk levels and cut the number of municipalities designated as red by 87 percent.

The administration had been using a one-size-fits-all system for determining whether a community was low (gray and green), moderate (green), or high (red) risk based on the average number of cases per 100,000 people over the previous two weeks.

On Friday a new system was rolled out that lumps communities into three different groups based on population size and then measures risk for each group using different metrics – the number of overall cases in smaller communities and a combination of cases per 100,000 and the positive test rate (positive cases divided by total tests) in the larger ones. Even the cutoff for the red, or high-risk, designation was raised from 8 to 10 cases per 100,000 people.

Using the new metrics, the number of red communities plummeted, falling from 121 a week ago to 16 on Friday. The number of moderate risk yellow communities increased from 76 to 91 and the number of low-risk gray and green communities jumped from 197 to 244."

Continue reading article online https://commonwealthmagazine.org/health/red-municipalities-plummet-with-changed-metrics/

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

"One day after unexpectedly delaying the release of a weekly COVID-19 risk map, Massachusetts health officials revealed that the next edition of the map will be adjusted for the population of the state’s cities and towns.

Administration officials revealed the first revised map with the new calculations Friday afternoon.

Since the first edition of the map, the Department of Public Health has categorized communities into four color groups — gray, green, yellow and red — based primarily on the average daily rate of new virus cases per 100,000 people over a two-week period.

But only a handful of the state’s 351 cities and towns have a population greater than 100,000. Nearly half have populations smaller than 10,000."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20201106/with-rejiggered-map-accounting-for-population-metrowest-and-milford-area-towns-move-out-of-red-zone?rssfeed=true