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Friday, March 3, 2023
Town of Franklin: March 2023 E-Newsletter
Franklin Health Department: Wellness Update - National Nutrition Month
It is National Nutrition Month.
Fill your plate with 50% veggies, 25% whole grains, and 25% lean protein.
Visit MyPlate.gov to learn more.
Franklin TV and wfpr.fm schedule for Friday, Mar 3, 2023
- wfpr.fm or 102.9 on the FM dial = Friday
- Franklin All Access TV - Our Public Access Channel (Comcast 8, Verizon 26) = FRIDAY
- Franklin Pride TV - Our Educational Channel (Comcast 96, Verizon 28) = FRIDAY
- Franklin Town Hall TV - Our Government Channel (Comcast 11, Verizon 29) = FRIDAY
11:30 am Open Space and Recreation Planning: 02-09-23
2:00 pm Zoning Board of Appeals: 02-16-23
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| Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) |
Thursday, March 2, 2023
“Peonies: Love of My Life” - March 7 at 7 PM
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| “Peonies: Love of My Life” - March 7 at 7 PM |
SheGrooves scheduled to perform at the Circle of Friends Coffeehouse - April 1
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Julie Jacobson starts as part-time Special Assistant to the Town Administrator
"We're excited to welcome Julie Jacobson to the Town of Franklin Administrative team!
Julie will serve as the part-time Special Assistant to the Town Administrator while we recruit & onboard a Deputy Town Administrator.Learn more about Julie here: buff.ly/3y04dds"
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| Julie Jacobson, part-time Special Assistant to the Town Administrator |
FHS boys hockey team opens playoff run with offensive outburst topping Andover 11-2 on Wednesday
Game Results: #12 Franklin 11 #21 Andover 2 (Shots Franklin 34 Andover 16)
1st Period Recap:With a packed barn & an electric atmosphere; the boys came out buzzing! Franklin would strike first at the 12:38 mark on what would be their 6th shorty of the season when Logan Marchand disrupts an attack & the puck squirts out of the zone where Ben Paterson wins a foot race for the breakaway & tucks it home! The second goal would come at 10:47 mark when Tommy Balducci brings it into the zone fires a shot on net & the rebound goes to Jack Wernig who buries it! The3rd goal of the period & 7th shorty of the season comes off a great defensive stand by James Donovan & Logan Marchand that turns into a 2-man breakaway for Anthony Lampasona & Ben Paterson, who in turn slide the dish back& forth several times until Ben Paterson snipes it backside. Wagner has a solid first period locking it down & serves up the donut The period would end Franklin 3 Andover 0.
2nd Period Recap:The intensity &high pace play would continue into the 2nd and the scoring would ensue when@ the 11:34 mark Ben Paterson rips a shot from the point it hits steal & redirects to carmine Iannuzzi who tucks it home. Off the next faceoff Carmine Iannuzzi breaks it out to Ben Jarosz who hits a streaking Dylan McEvoy cross ice who takes it into the zone around a defenseman and hits Ryan Sicchio driving to the back post for the goal. At the 9:53 mark on the PP Ben Paterson walks it across the blue line then dumps it to Anthony Lampasona who puts a slippery pass by 2 defenders to find Dan Daley for the backside snipe. 2 minutes later Liam O'Reilly makes a nice pinch to chip the puck up to Ryan Sicchio who quickly gets it to Dylan McEvoy for the one timer goal in the slot. With 1:02 to go in the period & on the PP Ben Jarosz works the puck across the top of the zone to Ryan Sicchio who dumps it to Dylan McEvoy who hits carter Balducci at the goalie line and puts a nice backhander top shelf, that would end a 5-goal franklin for period. Zach Langevin, Pat Daley, and Mike Gates had an aggressive forecheck going on & turning into some good opportunities. Another strong defensive period for Logan Marchand, Carmine Iannuzzi, Aidan Kuykendalt and Liam O'Rielly in helping Wagner fend off another period and serving up another donut. The period ends Franklin 8 Andover 0.3rd Period Recap:At the 7:28 mark Anthony Lampasona wins an O zone faceoff back to Ben Paterson who slides the puck to Dan Daley who snaps one home from the circle. Andover gets one off the following faceoff & on the ensuing faceoff Franklin would fire right back when Ryan Sicchio chips the faceoff forward & Ben Jarosz wins the foot battle & finds Dylan McEvoy who walks in for the breakaway and tucks it top shelf. With 4 minutes to play strong defense by Aidan Kuykendall and James Donovan hem in Andover and .set up .some nice opportunities for Nick weber, Pat Daley and Mike Gates. At 1:47 James Donovan breaks the puck out to Nick Weber who brings the puck into the zone & drop passes it to Lucas Sheehan who snipes a laser top left comer for the final goal of the game. Andover finds the net 2x this period and that would wrap it up. Colby Wagner another solid performance and chalks up the dub.
Final Franklin 11 Andover 2 (Player of the Game: Carmine Iannuzzi)Stay dialed in boys, great team play tonight! It's win or go home- one shift at a time!
Franklin takes on Marshfield 3/3@ The Bog puck drops@ TBD!
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| FHS Panthers |
Healey-Driscoll Administration filed their Fiscal Year 2024 budget recommendation
The Healey-Driscoll Administration today filed its Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) budget recommendation, a $55.5 billion blueprint for Massachusetts’ future that makes historic investments in climate action, public education and transportation, and workforce development. It also lays out Governor Healey’s plans for first-time use of Fair Share revenue, including the creation of a new Education and Transportation Fund. This budget is being filed alongside the $750 million Healey-Driscoll tax relief package and Article 87 legislation to create the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.
“Our FY24 budget is what Massachusetts needs to meet this moment and build a strong economy, livable communities and a sustainable future,” said Governor Healey. “Combined with our tax relief proposal, we will set Massachusetts up for success by lowering costs, growing our competitiveness, and delivering on the promise of our people. Additionally, we are taking aggressive action to address our housing crisis by creating the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities led by a housing secretary who will coordinate across state government and with cities and towns to move us forward on our housing goals.”
“Massachusetts is made up of 351 cities and towns that each play an important role in helping Massachusetts reach its potential – from educating our kids, to keeping us safe, to investing in places where we build vibrant, healthy, livable communities,” said Lieutenant Governor Driscoll. “That’s why our budget proposes historic investments in local aid, a down payment on the future of our cities and towns, schools, and kids, and fully funds the Student Opportunity Act with the largest ever increase for K-12 schools in Massachusetts’ history.”
This budget, filed as House 1, puts forward a responsible proposal to utilize $1 billion in new spending from the Fair Share Amendment. Governor Healey is establishing a new Education and Transportation Fund to ensure that the money collected is used exclusively and transparently for education and transportation.
On education, House 1 fully funds the Student Opportunity Act with historic investments in Chapter 70 school aid and other local aid accounts. It supports state-subsidized early education and care, increasing child care slots and putting the state on a path toward universal Pre-K, starting in Gateway Cities. It also expands access for high school students to quality early college and career pathways, creates the new MassReconnect program to make community college free for students aged 25 and older, and locks in a four-year tuition freeze across the UMass system.
On transportation, House 1 includes start-up funding for a means-tested program for thousands of low-income MBTA riders, and to spur progress on key projects like West-East Rail, the Red-Blue Connector, and the electrification of the state’s bus fleet. The administration will also recommend funding for new hiring and training supports for the MBTA in an upcoming supplemental budget to help meet their goal of hiring 1,000 additional workers this year. This budget also dedicates funding within various departments in the Executive Branch to maximize the state’s ability to compete for federal grant dollars with matching funds for infrastructure and other projects.
The budget follows through on Governor Healey’s commitment to dedicate 1 percent of the state’s overall operating budget to the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. The administration will be tripling the budget of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center to empower local entrepreneurs, decarbonize buildings and make our state the global capital of the clean energy economy.
The administration is also filing Article 87 legislation to create a new Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, headed by a Cabinet level Secretary, that will be charged with dramatically expanding the work now done by the Department of Housing and Community Development. The Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development will be renamed the Executive Office of Economic Development.
Alongside this balanced budget proposal, the Healey-Driscoll Administration will be filing a comprehensive tax package fully paid for in the FY24 budget at a cost of $742 million on the budget to address the challenges of affordability, equity and competitiveness confronting our families, employers and those who might be considering leaving Massachusetts.
“We approached this budget with the goal of building a responsible and sustainable spending plan for the Commonwealth that invests thoughtfully in its people, its economy and its future, We’re proud to be able recommend historic investments in areas like higher education and climate, while also delivering on tax relief for families and developing a transparent plan to use new Fair Share revenue to improve our education and transportation systems as voters intended,” said Secretary for Administration and Finance Matthew J. Gorzkowicz.
House 1 Overview
House 1 proposes $55.5 billion in gross spending, which represents 4.1 percent spending growth over fiscal year 2023 made possible by the $40.41 billion consensus tax revenue growth estimate of 1.6 percent, as well as $1 billion from Fair Share and other sources of revenue.
This budget does not utilize any funding from the Stabilization Fund, which has grown to a record high $6.938 billion and is projected to finish fiscal year 2024 at $8.962 billion. The recommendation assumes $1.946 billion in capital gains tax revenue, of which $466 million will be transferred to the Stabilization Fund and other long term liability funds for pension and retiree health insurance costs.
The budget recommendation maintains the state’s commitment to fully fund its pension liability by 2036 with $4.105 billion in fiscal year 2024, a $361 million increase over the fiscal year 2023 contributions. Projected sales tax revenues will enable a $1.463 billion transfer to support the operations of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), an increase of $138 million over the fiscal year 2023 budgeted contribution, and $1.3 billion will be transferred to the Massachusetts School Building Authority to support school construction across the Commonwealth.
Fair Share
The voters of Massachusetts in November 2022 approved a new 4 percent surtax on income above $1 million. They did so with the understanding that the new revenue generated from the tax on higher-income earners would be used to promote high-quality education, repair and maintain roads and bridges and improve our public transit system.
This budget proposes to keep that commitment by establishing a new Education and Transportation Fund that would receive all surtax revenues and ensure that the money collected is restricted for the use of education and transportation in the most transparent way possible. House 1 also recommends a mechanism to ensure that while all funds remain dedicated to those purposes, they are used in a manner that is sustainable and protected against future downturns and fluctuations in the revenue stream.
The proposal recommends the establishment of a required minimum fund balance that would be used only in the event of significant revenue decline to preserve base programs funded from Fair Share tax revenue. This balance would grow annually to account for inflation.
To ensure predictability, a cap would be established on recurring spending with revenue collected above the cap used to support one-time investments in pilot programs, start-up grants, studies, one-time capital investments such as bridges, railroad right-of-way improvements, and other non-recurring projects.
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The Governor’s filing letter, budget message and specific account information |
Board of Health hears guidance on tobacco regulation revisions, planning for next Health Fair, etc. (audio)
FM #952 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 952 in the series.
This session of the radio show shares the Town of Franklin Board of Health Meeting held on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. All three board members participated, all 3 in the 3rd floor training room along with the Health Dept staff members.
Quick Recap:
As reported in prior meeting, tobacco license holder checks mostly resulted in violations, primarily regarding paperwork and signage required. The first 40 or so minutes of this session was spent with Sarah McColgan who participated via remote to help walk through the checklist of what State regulations Franklin would change to increase (can’t go lower than the State but can go more restrictive).
The regulations will be drafted by the Health Dept based upon the discussion and brought to the Board for further review and discussion. Depending upon timing likely would need to schedule a public hearing before making the changes official.
Part of the regulations needs to make clear the role of the Police (assuming they continue to assist with enforcement) vs. the Health Dept
Inspector’s report, Nurse’s report, Epidemiologist report all touting volume and some issues but nothing major. Decline in COVID cases, clinics held at Central Park Terrace, Tri-County RVTHS, etc.
Chair Sweet took time to thank the individuals for the work they are doing, they are expanding the awareness and having a positive impact on the community
Next Health Fair is scheduled for May 24 at the Library. Given the May date, Dean students would be off campus for the session, to help with parking and space concerns, maybe see if it can be held there.
The meeting runs about 55 minutes. Let’s listen to the Board of Health meeting Feb 1, 2023. Audio file -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-952-franklin-ma-board-of-health-mtg-03-01-23
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The Board of Health agenda can be found ->
https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/3-1-23_agenda.pdf
My notes collected in a Twitter thread PDF ->
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KpTDdk8OmzKvAMUdw7SoJIQkyOyapC7Y/view?usp=share_link
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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
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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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| Franklin, MA: Board of Health - Meeting Agenda - March 1, 2023 - 5 PM |