Time: 7 minutes, 10 seconds
MP3 File
Show Notes
Let's take less than 10 minutes to review the week ending Sep 12 here in Franklin, MA. Hurricane Earl has already faded into memory, Labor Day and 9/11 have come and gone. Importantly, the first full week of school begins this Monday.
So what should you know from the past week?
The Finance Committee met on Tuesday providing a preview of some of the topics for the Town Council meeting on Wed.
The major action item for discussion was the proposal for $140,000 to move from the debt stabilization account for the Del Carte final design and permits.
The overall presentation to the FINCOM and on Weds to the Town Council was lacking. The presentation attempted to keep it short and sweet. It was short but left too many questions to be asked. It was passed by the FINCOM but postponed by the Town Council until their meeting on 9/29.
The short story is there are seven dams and ponds on the DelCarte property that was donated to Franklin several years ago. There was originally a stream running through the property. It was dammed to create several ponds initially to try as cranberry bogs, then for a fish hatchery. The dams have breached and no longer hold back the water as they should Two of the dams are of size and concern to be registered with the State. Analysis of the work required to repair some of the dams has been reduced from over $3 million to just over $1 million. This takes care of the immediate work required. It does not include the creation of hiking trails to enable further recreational use of this splendid opportunity.
I met with Franklin's Conservation Agent Nick Alferi and Conservation Commissioner Jeff Livingstone to walk some of the property to help my understanding of the problems and opportunities.
Prior post on the DelCarte property
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2009/12/franklin-ma-delcarte-conservation-area.html
The Conservation Commission heard the proposals for securing the dams on the DelCarte property along Pleasant St. I need to do more to understand the proposals and implications but be aware that something with dollars associated is being discussed. You can view the meeting and proposal options here
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=ei0gDcRTz2DPBC%2frEypYuQ%3d%3d
and here
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=mAIQuRUs434FliYRix1Hjg%3d%3d
My notes from the FINCOM meeting can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/09/finance-committee-090710.html
The Town Council met on Wednesday. Amongst the action items were some clean up of bond authorizations no longer needed. The major discussion took place on the DelCarte proposal which was reported on here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/09/live-reporting-action-items.html
The Sep 29th meeting will be a good one. The public hearing for the Downtown Improvement Project is scheduled as well as a presentation and further discussion on the DelCarte proposal.
The full set of notes from the Town Council meeting can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/09/town-council-090810.html
Worthy of note for further discussion, the proposed charter changes were approved by the Legislature and Governor in time to make the ballot for this November.
The text of the changes can be viewed here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/09/charter-changes-ballot-question-text.html
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/09/charter-changes-approved-by-governor.html
What's coming up this week?
The Planning Board meets on Monday, their agenda is available.
The School Committee meets on Tuesday, I have not seen their agenda. It is not available on their website as this gets prepared.
The Franklin Downtown Partnership general meeting is Thursday morning. The new website will be reviewed with the group. To help advertise the new site and to gather input on the Downtown Improvement Project, stay tuned for the release of a survey question on the one-way versus two-way traffic option. You'll have a chance to have your say in that matter.
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 and Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission
I hope you enjoy!
