Finance Committee Meeting
Agenda & Meeting Packet
November 17th, 2020
6:30 PM
Agenda
1. Call to Order
2. Public Comments
3. Approval of Minutes - None
4. Beaver Street Interceptor Replacement Update - DPW Director Robert Cantoreggi
5. Future Agenda Items
6. Adjourn
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| Beaver Street Interceptor Replacement Update |
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| Budget Sub Committee Meeting/Workshop - Nov 17 |
"BIG NEWS ALERT! We are excited to announce the upcoming launch of Think Franklin First gift cards!
With the incredible support of Dean Bank & the Random Smile Project, these Franklin-only gift cards will be available for purchase beginning on Wednesday, November 25th.
See more... https://t.co/XQ3RcLIvwj"
"They will be redeemable at a wide variety of local businesses! This economic development initiative is intended to help support our local businesses by directing spending away from competition/online retailers into our local economy, where it makes an important impact"
"especially in these difficult times. Stay tuned for more information as we move towards our official launch date!franklingiftcard.com #shoplocal #shoplocalma #ThinkFranklinFirst"
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| Think Franklin First gift cards |
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| Think Franklin First gift cards coming Nov 25 |
FHS Chamber Concert November 5, 2020 => https://youtu.be/Z1psRmPU-WY
The Fall 2020 sports season has almost reached its conclusion. Special thanks to everyone’s flexibility and tremendous support through all of the COVID protocols. The Hockomock League is proud to stand by its athletes, coaches, school administrations, and parents to conduct this unique season.
Our Divisional Champions earned their title through traditional hard-fought dual meets and games. We then constructed a postseason tournament, the Hockomock Cup, for our team sports in Field Hockey and Soccer, to provide additional games for our athletes in a postseason competition in lieu of the cancelled MIAA tournaments. Golf concluded, and Cross Country will conclude, their seasons with their traditional team and individual championships.
Throughout this season, we have followed closely the COVID mandates of our local Boards of Health and must respect their professional decisions on the rules of quarantine. Consequently, the Girls Varsity Soccer Hockomock Cup was impacted by those BOH decisions forcing Foxboro and Canton Girls to forfeit opening round games due to quarantine.
Once again, working together, the League has come up with a flexible solution to keep our athletes engaged in competition. As Canton and Foxboro honor their quarantine, the Girls Varsity Soccer Hockomock Cup will continue with its scheduled games into next week to determine the Hock Cup champion. A Challenge Cup bracket has been added in Girls Varsity Soccer to allow Canton and Foxboro to play against each other on November 19. The winner of that game will then face the Hockomock Cup champion on November 20 for the Challenge Cup title.
Sincerely,
The Hockomock League ADs
Mark Houle, Attleboro Danny Erickson, Canton
Joe Cusack, Foxboro Tom Angelo, Franklin
Gary Brown, King Philip Mike Redding, Mansfield
Peter Boucher, Milford Kurt Kummer, North Attleboro
Bill Matthews, Oliver Ames Nick Schlierf, Sharon
Ryan Donahue, Stoughton Mark Ottavianelli, Taunton
From CommonWealth Magazine we share two articles of interest for Franklin:
"THE NUMBER of communities at high risk for COVID-19 nearly doubled on Thursday even with a new set of metrics sharply raising the threshold for attaining that designation.
The new metrics were implemented last week and caused the number of high-risk, or red, communities to drop from 121 to 16. But the number rebounded this week to 30 as rising case counts began to overwhelm some communities.
Norfolk, which reported 48 cases per 100,000 people last week, saw the number increase to 145.8 this week, largely because of an outbreak at a state prison there. Its positive test rate (positive tests divided by total tests) rose to 11.6 percent."
"SOUNDING MORE and more like a coach trying to rally his team against a superior opponent, Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday implored Massachusetts residents to take COVID-19 seriously.Continue reading the article online
He said infections have been headed in the wrong direction since Labor Day and are rising faster and faster. He insisted the problem for the most part is not at workplaces, schools, or restaurants, but in situations where people let their guard down while engaging in familiar activities in casual settings with people they know.
“It’s the innocent acts of small gatherings where COVID is finding its greatest opportunity to spread,” Baker said at a State House press conference. “People need to change their behavior and get serious.”
Via HockomockSports.com, we share the fall sports results for Franklin High School on Friday, Nov 13
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| FHS field hockey tops Attleboro |
"The coronavirus pandemic created – and exposed – multiple problems with the state’s education system, from preschool through high school. Now, lawmakers appear poised to use the must-pass vehicle of the annual state budget to begin figuring out how to address some of these issues.
A large consolidated amendment passed at the end of Tuesday’s budget debate, after midnight, includes several education-related study commissions, funds, and data tracking requirements.
On the childcare side, Massachusetts’ childcare system is primarily private-pay and expensive, with some subsidies available for low-income children – a system that has long raised concerns about the lack of affordable, quality childcare for many families. Forced closures due to COVID-19 and expensive reopening requirements put many providers in financial peril.
The House budget includes several investments in early education, including a new $10 million fund to help lower income parents pay for childcare on a sliding scale."
"Senate spending plan hews close to House version"
THE SENATE WAYS and Means Committee on Thursday released its own nearly $46 billion budget proposal for fiscal 2021, a 5.5 percent spending increase over the current year, which is in many ways similar to the budget proposal currently being debated in the House.
The House’s initial proposal was slightly higher – $46.021 billion – and amendments are still being added on the House floor.
Like the House budget, the Senate budget includes no new broad-based taxes and relies on a significant draw from the state’s rainy day fund. There are no major cuts to services. Both the House and Senate budgets adopt proposals made by Gov. Charlie Baker to require large businesses to remit sales tax collections more quickly – though not to require daily remittances of sales taxes – and to delay implementation of a state charitable deduction.
“There’s definitely more similarities than differences in our budgets,” said Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues, a Westport Democrat.
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| Elections: Voting for Military and Overseas US Citizens |
According to the new travel order, passengers traveling from NY, WA or DC coming to MA must also quarantine for 14 days or show proof of a negative COVID-19 test. Passengers must also fill out the online Massachusetts Travel Form or risk a fine.
For more information visit Mass.gov/MAtraveler or text MATraveler to 888-777.
Last Updated: Nov 13 2020 04:35 PM
The update to the existing travel order reflects:
Travelers from COVID-19 lower-risk States are not required to fill out the Massachusetts Travel Form and do not need to quarantine. The Department of Public Health metric for determining lower-risk states for the purposes of Massachusetts’ interstate travel policy considers data over two weeks before moving a state from lower risk to high risk. One week of data is the standard for moving states into the lower risk category.
Additionally, the threshold of daily cases per 100,000 residents is 10 (which ensures that Massachusetts’ standard is in line with other states). States are included on the “lower-risk” list based on meeting two criteria: average daily cases per 100K below 10 AND positive test rate below 5%, both measured as a 7-day rolling average.
Data is from covidexitstrategy.org as of November 11, 2020.
The current list of COVID-19 lower-risk states includes:
- Hawaii
- Maine
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
| More info on the MA Travel order can be found https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-travel-order |
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A quiet looking calendar with the FPAC Virtual Gala and Telethon scheduled for Saturday, a virtual concert at the Library on Sunday, and the Cultural Council Masterclass scheduled for Monday evening.
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| Community Calendar |
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| Town of Franklin, MA: December 5 Election Update |
The mail-in ballots for the upcoming Town Election on December 5th have arrived and are being sent out by the Town Clerk's office. Want to know more about important election dates, voting options, and candidates? Visit our website at https://t.co/6vZoiF1KQe pic.twitter.com/uEYSGL7P7v
— Town of Franklin, MA (@TOFranklinMA) November 12, 2020
October 29, 2020
"Throughout the presidential campaign, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon often repeated a mantra from her collegiate softball days to rally staff on endless Zoom calls: We can do hard things.
Even for someone with an optimistic attitude, 2020 presented a particularly high number of “hard things” for the woman running Joe Biden’s campaign — a pandemic that turned traditional campaigning upside down, a polarized left that wasn’t thrilled about a three-time, middle-of-the-road presidential candidate, an unpredictable opponent who frequently said the election was rigged before any votes were cast.
But the mantra, however unflashy, turned out to be true.
“Once she commits to a goal, she’s going to grind it out,” said longtime friend Cloe Axelson, who played softball at Tufts with Dillon and worked on early campaigns with her. “She’s so tough, and she just does the work.”
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