Monday, July 12, 2021

"Swimply has 43 pools 'live' on its platform in Massachusetts, and another 170 are on a waitlist pending approval"

"If you order an Uber, you’ll ride in someone else’s car, and if you book an Airbnb, you’ll sleep in someone else’s home. Now, with an app called Swimply, you can stay cool in other people’s pools.

Erin Moriarty, a teacher who lives in Waltham, heard about the swimming pool app when a friend asked her to download it so he could rent her backyard oasis for his wife’s upcoming birthday party. Moriarty decided to give it a try, but she didn’t expect the flood of interest in her backyard that followed.

“I listed my pool on a Saturday, and when I woke up the next day, I had 10 bookings,” she said. “I’m surprised how many people know about the app.”
Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/11/business/business-their-backyard-some-mass-residents-are-renting-pools-by-hour/

Greg and Kelly Daniell posed by their backyard pool. This summer, the Chelmsford couple have started using the app Swimply to rent out their pool by the hour.ERIN CLARK/GLOBE STAFF
Greg and Kelly Daniell posed by their backyard pool. This summer, the Chelmsford couple have started using the app Swimply to rent out their pool by the hour.ERIN CLARK/GLOBE STAFF


MA News: the digital divide; help for MA arts organizations

"Tracking the digital divide - We can't close it without first documenting it "
"OVER THE PAST YEAR, schools, workplaces, health care providers, and other basic services have moved online. In doing so, the centrality of the internet to modern life became crystal clear to everyone in the country. But for people and families without broadband access, the pandemic has only exposed and exacerbated the digital divide—putting resources like telework, virtual learning, and telehealth out of reach for millions of people. 
Even before the pandemic, many people lacked access to high-speed broadband across Massachusetts. According to the ACLU of Massachusetts Data for Justice project, Census estimates show that more than 1 million Massachusetts residents—about 15 percent of the state’s population—do not have a fixed broadband internet connection. Our Census analysis also shows that internet and computer access correlate with income, such that lower income communities are disproportionately left unconnected."
Continue reading the article online

 
"Long-awaited arts funding finally arriving"
"MASSACHUSETTS ARTS appear to be big beneficiaries of $16 billion in federal relief aid that is finally starting to be released after a delayed start and an arduous review process.

According to federal data on the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, 123 Massachusetts arts organizations have received more than $100 million so far, the seventh-highest amount of any state in the country."
Continue reading the article online


Sunday, July 11, 2021

Next Franklin, MA School Committee meeting July 27

"The School Committee will not be meeting on Tuesday, July 13, 2021. They will have a regular business meeting on July 27, 2021. Agenda will be posted closer to the meeting date."

Shared from Twitter:  https://twitter.com/FranklinPSNews/status/1413599075916820481?s=20

The archive of official School Committee minutes, agendas and supporting documents can be found on the Schools page  https://www.franklinps.net/district/school-committee 

The archive of Franklin Matters meeting notes and audio recordings can be found
https://www.franklinmatters.org/p/meeting-notes.html (scroll down to find School Committee)

Franklin MA School Committee page
Franklin MA School Committee page


DPW and Waste management status update - July 9

Good afternoon, 

Hopefully everyone is dry!  I am sure most folks on this site are aware of the delays in trash and recycling pickups over the last couple weeks.  Folks that are serviced on Fridays have been particularly effected.  My staff and I have been working with Waste Management on this, trying to correct issues and fix issues before they happen again.  

This morning I received the following email from our Waste Management representative, Ms. Heather.  I have worked with Heather for many years and she does an excellent job explaining the issues and what Waste Mgt. is attempting to do to rectify these problems.  Waste Mgt. is experiencing the same problems we all are trying to get back to a normal "Post COVID Economy".  

I just thought I would share this with everyone and thank you all for your patience.

Brutus Cantoreggi
Public Works Director

Good Morning 
I am fully aware that you are experiencing some service issues in Town recently, which is probably making  both your jobs much more difficult, and I do apologize for any inconvenience. I know we have spoken about this before but I wanted to reach out to you personally again to further explain our position. 
Like most, our industry is experiencing a severe labor shortage. Which in turn is impacting curbside services as well as other facets of our service portfolio such as, response time, call center wait times, inventory, container repair, roll off services  etc. 
Because of this, I think  it is prudent for you to know what we as an organization are facing at this time 
This shortfall is certainly not for lack of effort. We continue to face CDL driver shortages prevalent across the county. As I am sure you are aware  by listening to the national news, one of the most severe shortages in labor has to do with CDL licensed truck drivers,  and we are not exempt from that. This deficit, coupled with an increase in waste due to people working from home, has recently caused us to occasionally get behind on pickups and/or caused us  a  delayed response time.   
It is worth noting, and illustrated below that In Franklin we have seen a significant increase in curbside trash and recycling volume 15.5% pre vs post pandemic curbside tons. We have also seen a 23% increase in  bulk and white goods appointments. Your town is not alone in this influx, we are seeing  these types of increases all across the country      
  • Pre Pandemic May 2019- April 2020 – 10,141 curbside trash and recycle tons – 145 White Goods and 1194 Bulk Items
  • Post Pandemic May 2020 – April 2021 – 11,717 curbside trash and recycle tons – 179 White Goods and 1471 Bulk items
As an organization, we are making every effort to actively recruit, hire and train. we have hosted multiple job fairs, offered incentives such as signing bonuses and referral incentives, competitive wages and offered additional benefits  in attempt to retain and hire staff to fill the gap. 
The Norton operating district  recently had 11 Open CDL driver positions of which 6 have been filled and these new hires are still in the infancy stages of their training.  We do have  a CSR (customer service representative) new hire class that begins training on 7/12 and these new agents will enter production mid- August which will help mitigate some of the call center delays.   
Month to date the call center is trending 20% OVER their residential call forecast.  This is primarily due to the operational delays we are experiencing for trash, recycle, bulk and yard waste coupled with requests for bulk and white good collection.  New England Market Area has been sharing residential calls with our Capitol market area since last May so we do have resources to lean on. However, many market areas including theirs are experiencing the same driver shortages resulting in the operational delays.  Therefore we are over call forecast in most areas and due to the high wait times in the residential call queues, customers are using email and chat to communicate with us which in turn is placing us further behind in responding to those inquires. 
The problems created by this labor shortage and increase collection times are exacerbated by the current shortage in truck parts, which makes it difficult for us to keep our trucks on the road. The Covid-19 pandemic has  completely disrupted the parts supply chain as shipments are delayed, re-routed and quarantined. These delays can sideline vehicles for several weeks at a time. Since the onset of the supply chain crunch, we have had a significantly larger percentage of available trucks sidelined for maintenance and repair.  When major repairs are needed on trucks, they can be out of service for more than a month while we wait.  Furthermore, when we cannot get parts to service our newer fleet because the parts are on backorder, therefore we must utilize older spare trucks which have less capacity and as a result takes us longer to pick up your trash and recycling  and also requires more trips to your designated disposal facilities causing us further delay. 
I expect we will experience more service blips as we head into July. While we will continue our efforts to resolve these issues internally to allow us to provide your citizens the superior service you expect, We ask the Town and its citizens to please be patient during this difficult time. 
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may be causing you and your staff. Please feel free to reach out to myself or Brian Burke if you have any additional questions or concerns on this matter 
Sincerely,
Heather Louro
Public Sector Solutions Representative
https://www.facebook.com/931498886934582/posts/4308569902560780/

DPW and Waste management status update - July 9
DPW and Waste management status update - July 9


PMC Kids Ride returns in September 2021

"WE'RE BACK!  
Please join us this fall for our 2021 ride (in person)!!!  It will be held on Sunday, September 19th at Jefferson Elementary School!  We would love to have you ride with us!  Registration is now open.  Get a team together and sign up today!!"


PMC Kids Ride returns in September 2021
PMC Kids Ride returns in September 2021


CPA funds now eligible to use for rail trails

Via Senate President Karen Spilka:
"Great for our MetroWest communities- 
Included in our budget —
CPA funds can now be used to purchase Rail Trails!!

MetroWest rail trails bring us together and encourage environmentally sustainable transportation. With the Fiscal Year 2022 budget enacted today, Community Preservation Act (CPA) communities will be able to purchase rail property in order to expand existing rail trails and create new ones."
Shared from Facebook

Open Track meets return to FHS this summer

Coach Bailey (@FranklinHSXC) tweeted on Fri, Jul 09, 2021:
That's right folks! The Open Track meets at FHS are back this summer and we're looking for athletes and volunteers. DM if you want more info https://t.co/bSvoiVxPuV
Shared from Twitter: https://twitter.com/FranklinHSXC/status/1413641964986191882

Open Track meets return to FHS this summer
Open Track meets return to FHS this summer