March & April 2011

A good friend of mine likes to say "time flies like an arrow, and fruit flies like a banana".

Right.

I can't speak for the fruit flies but I can say that March and April zoomed by faster than green grass through a goose. The last two months the Township Committee, and our employees have been working on the 2011 municipal budget. We introduced the budget on March 23 and scheduled the public hearing for April 28. However, we are amending the budget to the point where it will not resemble the original budget- so we re-introduce it on May 12, and have a public hearing on May 24. Apologies to our constituents who have been very patient with us during this process... measure twice, cut once. I look forward to seeing those who have attended each of our budget meetings; their comments have been a valuable asset to me.

The future of our police department has been the focus of this year's budget. The Committee requested proposals from three adjoining municipalities to see how they would provide Franklin with the same police coverage we enjoy today. After reviewing our options, the Committee chose to retain our police department for this budget year. The devil is in the details and I know our Finance Subcommittee, our CFO, and accountant will be busy the next two weeks working out the numbers for public consumption.

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In other news, our school budget was defeated by the voters this week and they voted George Burdick, Kenneth Weiss, and Christine Creilly to the Board of Education. Congratulations to George, Ken, and Christine and thank you for your dedication to our school. With regards to the school budget, I have asked our school subcommittee (Steve Tarshis and Vigdis Austad) to meet with school representatives and go over the budget from top left to bottom right. The school subcommittee will provide the full Committee with a recommendation and we will decide whether or not to support that recommendation. As always, input from the public is wanted and appreciated. By state law we need to have a school budget in place by May 19 so stay tuned.

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Community Day is June 4 and boy we could use one! Try to stop by the firehouse between 4 and 9 pm... get to know your fellow residents, and have some fun.