FM #578 - Talk Franklin with Jamie Hellen - 07/09/21 (audio)

FM #578 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 578 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares my "Talk Franklin" conversation with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen. We had our conversation via conference bridge to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.

We talk about: 

• 4th of July; Farmers Market and Concerts on the Common

• Fire dept, Red Cross in response to lightning strike

• Maple Hill right of first refusal scheduled for Town Council vote at meeting 7/21/21

• Dale Kurtz retirement among several to be recognized

Links to the key topics covered here are included in the show notes. The recording runs about 30 minutes, so let’s listen to my conversation with Jamie.

Audio file => https://anchor.fm/letstalkfranklin/episodes/4th-of-July-Recap--Farmers-Market--Concerts-on-the-Common-and-Other-Local-Updates-e14bd4s/a-a64am7i

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4th of July Coalition webpage  https://www.franklin4th.com/ 

Town Council agendas  https://www.franklinma.gov/node/160/agenda/2021 

Cultural Festival scheduled for September  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/06/franklin-gearing-up-for-franklin.html 

Harvest Festival scheduled for October  https://www.franklindowntownpartnership.org/2021/04/harvest-festival-scheduled-for-october.html 

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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.  

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

 

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

• If you don't like something here, please let me know

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

FM #578 - Talk Franklin with Jamie Hellen - 07/09/21 (audio)

FHS' Vinayak, Marr, Malhotra, Gundimeda, Shaik recognized as Tennis All Stars; Marr as boys Kelley-Rex Div MVP

Below are the official 2021 Hockomock League Girls Tennis All Stars, selected by the coaches in the league.

KELLEY-REX DIVISION MVP

Katarina Schneider, King Philip

KELLEY-REX DIVISION ALL STARS

Vedika Vinayak, Franklin

Honorable Mentions

Sarah Schiavo, Franklin

Below are the official 2021 Hockomock League Boys Tennis All Stars, selected by the coaches in the league.

KELLEY-REX DIVISION MVP

Liam Marr, Franklin

KELLEY-REX DIVISION ALL STARS

Liam Marr, Franklin

Vayshnav Malhotra, Franklin

Anish Gundimeda, Franklin

Sameen Shaik, Franklin

Honorable Mentions

Thomas Broyles, Franklin

The complete Boys list:
https://hockomocksports.com/2021-hockomock-league-boys-tennis-all-stars/

The complete Girls list:

https://hockomocksports.com/2021-hockomock-league-girls-tennis-all-stars/ 

FHS' Vinayak, Marr, Malhotra, Gundimeda, Shaik recognized as Tennis All Stars

Reminder: Community Conversations - Housing and Race - July 14 - 7 PM (via Zoom)

Housing and Race - July 14 - 7 PM

The Franklin Area Against Racism group (FAAR) is holding the second segment of its Community Conversations series, this time on Housing and Race next Wednesday, July 14th at 7:00PM. 

We invited Jim Johnston (longtime Franklin resident and historian), Bryan Taberner (Franklin Director of Planning and Community Development), and Jesse Kanson-Benanav (Executive Director of Abundant Housing MA) to discuss how how Franklin's housing policies and practices have fostered socio-economic inequities and worked to reduce diversity in the community.

Zoom info contained in the image

Background on Jesse Kanson-Benanav

https://abundanthousingma.org/2021/03/29/ahma-announces-executive-director/ 

Franklin Odd Fellows - Trivia Extravaganza - Aug 1

On August 1, 2021, the public is invited to join the Franklin Odd Fellows for an afternoon of Trivia, fun and good cheer from 2 to 4:30 PM at the Bellingham Sportsman Club at 360 Lake St., Bellingham, MA 02019.

The event will consist of teams of up to ten players with a registration cost of just $10 per person and $15 at the door.  Team pre-registration and pre-payment is strongly encouraged.

After a long and difficult year in 2020 where four Odd Fellows fundraising events were canceled due to Covid-19, William F. Ray Lodge #71 has remained active and continues with the renovation process of the building and with indoor meetings and cookout gatherings in their quaint pine grove back yard.  

This will be our first social event for this year that will help us to continue the longstanding tradition of giving back to our local community - and have a good time while doing it!  The Bellingham Sportsman Club has worked closely with the Bellingham Board of Health and is now following restaurant guidelines for holding public events.  

Get your team of trivia masters together and register today.  Entries at the door will be integrated into whatever teams have space remaining at their tables.  There will be a cash bar available during the event.

Register and prepay:    http://www.franklinmassoddfellows.org/trivia2021/

Download the flyer as a reminder ->    https://drive.google.com/file/d/133QIpuopY5ohYYMvs3X5TXV-jyrOQUcM/view?usp=sharing  

Franklin Odd Fellows: Trivia Extravaganza - Aug 1

Invisible Stories - #2 - "House Calls to Homeless People in Venice Beach"

"the intervention that counts is housing"

Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal) tweeted on Sun, Jul 11, 2021:

Invisible Stories is a mini-doc series that goes beyond the rhetoric, statistics, political debates, and limitations of social services to examine poverty in America via a medium that audiences of all ages understand and can't ignore. 

Link to the second of the series: https://youtu.be/8N2Ry_g15KA

Link to the series: https://t.co/Y0NRNIujar 

Shared from Twitter: https://twitter.com/hardlynormal/status/1414284287034155020

Note: I met Mark at a social media conference many years ago and have been following his work. This series is very well done. Yes, the series is set in LA but homelessness is an issue all around us whether visible or not.

SBA Restaurant Revitalization Fund Grants for Franklin

"The Small Business Administration on Friday released a database disclosing the recipients of Restaurant Revitalization Fund grants.

Massachusetts businesses received $993 million, more than all but five other states in the country. A total of 2,556 businesses here were awarded grants, out of some 6,867 applicants, and the average award was $388,000, the highest in the country."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/12/business/these-are-businesses-approved-restaurant-revitalization-fund-grants-mass/

A query of the data provided returns the following for Franklin

Lets Eat Franklin LLC	Franklin	$620,400.50
GlenPharmer Distillery LLC	Franklin	$159,172.07
Super HK LLC	Franklin	$119,697.62
Proof Restaurant LLC	Franklin	$117,551.00
Silver Spring Donuts Inc	Franklin	$104,862.00
Rhapsody's Victorian Coffee House LLC	Franklin	$88,601.51
JAY AMBE INC	Franklin	$73,596.00
Franklin Donuts Inc	Franklin	$31,300.00
PRATHAM LLC	Franklin	$29,677.00
NGG LLC	Franklin	$22,282.15
Kavish Corporation	Franklin	$14,911.63
140 Donuts Inc	Franklin	$10,287.00

Lets Eat Franklin operates 3

World Economic Forum: "We're living longer - but how can we ensure we stay healthy, too?"

World Economic Forum (@wef) tweeted on Sun, Jul 11, 2021:

"Did you know that 1 in 3 people lives in China or India?

Learn more about how we can live longer and healthier: https://t.co/8OCeNeovTy "

Shared from Twitter: https://t.co/NvD6zPixI6

World Economic Forum: "We're living longer - but how can we ensure we stay healthy, too?"

Franklin●TV Annual Meeting - August 28, 2021

by Pete Fasciano, Executive Director 07/11/2019

This year our Annual Open Board Meeting will be conducted as a neighborhood block party at our 23 Hutchinson St. studios.

Join us, Saturday, August 28 at 3:00 PM.
If you plan to attend, please RSVP by August 15 to: info@franklin.tv

It’s open to all Franklin businesses and residents. We’ll meet-and-greet and enjoy refreshments starting at 3:00 PM. Come hungry and enjoy some great barbeque. You can also tour our studios, and learn about Franklin●TV and wfpr●fm. We’ll also review our progress during the past year and discuss plans for the future. At our meeting you may cast a vote for new and/or renewing board positions. This year we will vote to extend Jay Horrigan’s board position for an additional three years.

Excerpt from FCCA bylaws: (Available on our website http://franklin.tv/ftv_v12_010.htm)

Section 15. Election of Director by the Membership (a) Members shall be notified by the Clerk of the election of a director by the Membership at the Annual Meeting. Said notice shall be in accordance with the notice provisions of Section 4 of this Article IV. (b) Any eligible voting Member may be nominated for election to the position of Director by:

(i) Written notification to the Clerk no later than seven (7) days prior to Annual Meeting; or (ii) By nomination from the floor of the Annual Meeting made and seconded by no less than three (3) eligible voting members.

Our facility enables us to provide full production support for Franklin residents and groups who wish to create TV and radio programs. Thanks to our board members who contribute their time and energy to help make Franklin●TV all that a public access studio can be. 

If you would like to become involved either as a volunteer or produce your own TV or radio programs at Franklin●TV and wfpr●fm, just send an email to: info@franklin.tv with your contact information. You can also call us to discuss and explore your ideas. 508-541-4118.

Please join us at our Franklin●TV event. Again, it’s Saturday, August 28th starting at 3:00pm. We’ll have tours of our facility, some good eats, and you can meet our board and staff. Our brief open meeting begins at 4:00pm. Come meet, greet, and learn all about local TV and radio in Franklin.

See you then. 

And – as always –
Thank you for listening to wfpr●fm. 
And, thank you for watching. 

Get this week's program guide for Franklin TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) online

http://franklin.tv/programguide.pdf  or for archive purposes

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SlWIbM_ejezl2ZhXfCWitXXtVjBxgfTJ/view?usp=sharing

 

Franklin TV studio on Hutchinson St

Invisible Stories - #1 - "We Can't Let Homeless People Die: USC Street Medicine on Skid Row"

Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal) tweeted on Sun, Jul 11, 2021:

Invisible Stories is a mini-doc series that goes beyond the rhetoric, statistics, political debates, and limitations of social services to examine poverty in America via a medium that audiences of all ages understand and can't ignore. 

Link to the first of the series: https://youtu.be/RWVt_arzYoA

Link to the series: https://t.co/Y0NRNIujar 

Shared from Twitter: https://twitter.com/hardlynormal/status/1414284287034155020

Note: I met Mark at a social media conference many years ago and have been following his work. This series is very well done. Yes, the series is set in LA but homelessness is an issue all around us whether visible or not.

Invisible Stories - #1 - "We Can't Let Homeless People Die: USC Street Medicine on Skid Row"

"Franklin teen honored as a Commonwealth Heroine"

"Speaking up, and making a difference. Franklin teen honored as a Commonwealth Heroine"

Not so long ago, Ndoumbe Ndoye would never have imagined herself getting up in front of a crowd to talk about issues of social justice and racism, and to share her own personal encounters.

Now she can't imagine NOT talking about these things — ever since she steeled herself to get up in front of a crowd on the Franklin town common last year as people rallied following the death of George Floyd.

There, she gave an emotional speech that brought tears to her own and others' eyes. And since then she has been actively working to promote racial understanding and justice.

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.milforddailynews.com/story/country-gazette/2021/07/08/franklin-teen-recognized-commonwealth-heroine/7890318002/

The announcement of Ndoumbe's recognition

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/06/franklins-ndoumbe-ndoye-awarded.html

Franklin Senior Ndoumbe Ndoye is a determined and passionate youth activist. Photo used with permission from Ndoumbe Ndoye (Pantherbook image from Jason Beckett )

Norfolk Registry of Deeds Chief Information Officer (CIO)

Dear Friend of the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds:
 
I am writing this letter to make each of you aware of a decision that negatively impacts the Norfolk Registry of Deeds operations.  On June 30, 2021 two Norfolk County Commissioners (Joseph Shea and Peter Collins) voted not to sign the personnel paper for an incoming Registry Chief Information Officer (CIO) to succeed the outgoing retiring Registry Chief Information Officer Jim Limbey effective June 30, 2021 by a 2 to 1 vote. 
 
This onsite Registry CIO position reporting to the Register of Deeds is a needed position that has been in existence at the Norfolk Registry of Deeds for over 20 years.  There will be negative impacts to Registry of Deeds operations that is relied on by title examiners, attorneys, engineers, real estate professionals, registry users and the general public.  Technology has been the foundation of the modernization initiatives that have been implemented over the years at the Norfolk Registry of Deeds.  Technology overseen by the Registry CIO drives services to the users and stakeholders of the Norfolk Registry of Deeds.
 
Additionally, in this era of cybersecurity risks and intrusions taking place not having an onsite Registry Chief Information Officer is not a sound decision and just poor policy.  I and the Registry staff are grateful to Norfolk County Commissioner Richard Staiti for his support and vote to sign the personnel paper for a Registry Chief information Officer.  I am enclosing a copy of documentation that was submitted in support of the Registry of Deeds’ position at the June 30, 2021 hearing.
 
I and the Registry staff value the services that the Registry of Deeds delivers and the Registry users that rely on these services.  Thank you for your patience and understanding as we deal with this challenging setback and situation.
 
Sincerely yours,
 
William P. O’Donnell
WPO/cm 

PDF of this press release

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YiM7dYYikXC9o4gzhEwvMZvd36DdMI3E/view?usp=sharing

PDF of the support document for the CIO position

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oBOzDIGerk8x7_5zcK3PWE2d8OSEFhGS/view?usp=sharing

Norfolk Registry of Deeds Chief Information Officer (CIO)

"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

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

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/tracking-the-digital-divide/

"Tracking the digital divide - We can't close it without first documenting it "

 

"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

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/arts-and-culture/long-awaited-arts-funding-finally-arriving/

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

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

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!!"

https://kids.pmc.org/franklin

Shared from Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/207877159223678/posts/4441495782528440/

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

https://www.facebook.com/100000273510587/posts/4552914384727634/

along the SNETT in 2020

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