Let's spend less than ten minutes to find out what matters in Franklin, MA as the week ends April 25, 2010.
Time: 6 minutes, 4 seconds
MP3 File
Session Notes:
This internet radio show or podcast is number 65 in the series for Franklin Matters.
Let's take about 10 minutes to review what matters in Franklin, MA as this week comes to a close on Sunday April 25th.
In this session I'll cover Earth Day activities on Saturday April 17th , Saturday April 24th and look ahead to both the School Committee meeting on April 27th and the Town Council meeting on April 28th
Earth Day on April 17th was not good weather and also the first day of some folks school vacation week so both those factors may have contributed to only about 100 or so folks helping clean up around Franklin. I also was out of town for a wedding on that weekend and unable to participate myself.
The raised garden beds were set up. I did manage to get pictures of those at the Senior Center, ECDC and Charter School on Monday. A link to that posting will be in the show notes.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/04/franklin-ma-raised-garden-beds-in.html
The Charles River Watershed Cleanup was held on Saturday the 24th. I stopped by Whole Foods Market in Bellingham to see how David Dobrzynski was doing as the local coordinator. He had over 300 folks scattered amongst his area and many good stories to tell. He suggested I head off to the VFW Post 3402 on Pond St where I could see the BSA Venture Crew 22 which had retrieved 125 tires from along Mine Brook.
The details and photos of their great work will be included in the show notes.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/04/there-be-tires.html
In preparation for the budget discussion at both the School Committee and Town Council meetings this week, I have a number of items to share:
You may recall that I recorded the budget workshop conducted back in January. The audio recordings and worksheets from each of the budget sections are available here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/budget-workshop-collection-12510.html
The Financial Planning Committee is updating the Long term or 5 Year Plan for presentation at the Council meeting on the 28th. You can review their prior plan here:
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_BComm/financial%20planning%20committee%20report/
I have worked with the Franklin Town Clerk, Debbie Pellegri, to compile a comprehensive listing of all the debt exclusion and operational override votes that Franklin has had the opportunity to vote on over the years. The listing is available for your review.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AkwjbnXDBhczdHp1bjBJSF9sOVY1ZXlERmFPNHkxZnc&hl=en
The School Committee agenda references a discussion on the budget but there are no documents to indicate what options to balance the budget are up for discussion. So if you recall from their meeting on the 13th that everything would be on the table, it still sounds like everything is on the table.
The Town Council agenda includes the update from the Financial Planning Committee and an action item for an override question. The amount itself is open and remains to be determined by the discussion.
These two meetings will be critical to understanding what choice we will have, if we are provided the choice to vote on an override. Word is already on the street that there may not be enough votes for that.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/04/franklin-ma-role-of-town-council.html
If you think you should have an opportunity to vote on an override, then I would suggest that you let the Town Council know or show up to the meeting in person on the 28th.
Whether you are in favor of an override passing or not, having the opportunity to vote on one I think is key!
As I close this session this week, let me remind you that
If you like what I am doing here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don’t like something, please tell me
Thank you for listening!
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/
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!
Note: email subscribers will need to click through to listen to the audio recording
