General Meeting Agenda

Franklin Downtown Partnership GENERAL Meeting Agenda

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Dean College Campus Center @ 8:30 am

Golder Room

I.               Open Meeting                                                   

II.             Adoption of Agenda                                          

III.           Introductions                                                     

IV.           Town Updates - Jeff Nutting                                   

V.             Streetscape Project Presentation - Jeff Nutting  

- Timeline

- Traffic Details

- New Drawings

- Period Lighting and Planters

VI.           Report from Executive Director - Lisa Piana        

- 2015 Meeting and Event Schedule

- FDP Membership Renewal

- FDP Quarterly Updates

- Shop Local Campaign

                  

VII.         Shop Local and “Positive” Campaign                

- Tom McAuliffe-President WMRC Radio

VIII.       New Business                                                                

       

IX.           Adjourn     

Next General Meetings: June 4, September 3, and November 5  

Click here to download and print this agenda.

Congressman Kennedy Visits FDP Office -- Press Release

Congressman Joe Kennedy Visits Franklin Downtown Partnership

U.S. Congressman Joe Kennedy III visited the Franklin Downtown Partnership office Friday afternoon to hear first-hand about two initiatives the nonprofit group has been involved with.

Those projects include a partnership linking local small business owners with Dean College business students and the Roadway and Streetscape Improvement Project.

Kennedy spoke with FDP Executive Director Lisa Piana and Robert Cuomo, Dean of the School of Business at Dean College, about a new initiative that pairs business students with local small businesses to create business plans.

Congressman Kennedy (right) met with FDP Executive Director Lisa Piana and others Friday afternoon at the Partnership's office downtown. 

Kennedy discussed a new initiative linking Dean College business students with local small business owners with Dr. Robert Cuomo, Dean of the School of Business at Dean College. 

The owners of Franklin Yoga & Wellness, Making Whoopie, Pour Richard’s Wine & Spirits, and Drama Kids of Metro West are working with students to develop and enhance all aspects of their business plans. According to Cuomo, the businesses benefit from free planning help while the Dean students gain real-world experience in developing and growing small companies.

Director of Planning and Community Development Bryan Taberner explained the impact the Roadway and Streetscape Improvement Program will have on downtown Franklin. 

Kennedy also reviewed plans for the upcoming Roadway and Streetscape Improvement Project slated to begin in April. Bryan Taberner, Director of Planning and Community Development for the Town of Franklin, described how the project will improve traffic circulation, road conditions, emergency response times and pedestrian safety while enhancing the downtown’s overall appearance and promoting private sector investment.

The project has been in the planning stages for nine years; Congressman Kennedy’s uncle, the late Senator Ted Kennedy, was instrumental is securing $5 million in federal funds for the project in 2006.

Lisa Piana explains some of the numerous revitalization and improvement projects the Partnership has been involved with since 2001. 

The congressman’s visit to the FDP office was one of several stops he made in Franklin Friday. Earlier in the day Kennedy took part in a manufacturing roundtable discussion, toured Franklin High School, and ate lunch at the Rome Restaurant. He later paid a visit to The Black Box.

The Franklin Downtown Partnership is a nonprofit, 501©3 organization made up of business owners, community leaders and residents working to revitalize downtown Franklin. While well known for their successful events, including the Strawberry Stroll, Harvest Festival and Holiday Stroll, the FDP takes an active role in downtown improvement projects like streetscape design and beautification efforts. The Partnership currently has close to 200 members and welcomes all businesses and residents.

Please visit our website, www.franklindowntownpartnership.org, follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FranklinDowntownPartnership.org, and on Twitter at @FranklinDowntwn. For more information contact Executive Director Lisa Piana at (774) 571-3109 or downtown.franklin@yahoo.com.

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July 10 Public Meeting on Streetscape Construction

To access the map mentioned in the letter please go to www.franklin.ma.us. franklinma.virtualtownhall.net

To download and print a copy of this letter please click here.

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Daily News Coverage of 1/9 General Meeting Discussion

Matt Tota of the Milford Daily News attended Thursday's FDP General Meeting and covered the discussion of the Emmons Street property discussion for the paper. Here's Matt's story:


Franklin businesses offer ideas for former town hall

By Matt Tota
Daily News Staff 
Posted Jan. 10, 2014 @ 6:16 am    

       

FRANKLIN — An entertainment club, a quaint hotel, a lush park — when it comes to the question of how to develop the former Town Hall on Emmons Street, the downtown business community has more than a few suggestions. 

Nearly 40 business leaders crowded into a conference room at Dean College Thursday morning to shop ideas for the property’s future. 

The hour-long session, part of the Franklin Downtown Partnership’s monthly meeting, illuminated two potential scenarios for the town: sell or lease the building for commercial use or turn the entire property into green space for the public. 

The Town Council will have the final say on what becomes of the roughly 15,000-square-foot building, which still houses the Recreation Department, and less than 1-acre piece of land at 150 Emmons St. But councilors have said they’ll value outside input. 

"The council wants to know what residents, business owners and community leaders want to see down there," said partnership executive director Lisa Piana, introducing those unaware of the Emmons Street debate to an issue that will figure as one of the council’s more important decisions of the new year. "Our hope is to have everyone think about the pros and cons of what goes there." 

Attendees reached an early consensus: The town should market the property to small businesses rather than the corporate brands that tend to bring with them traffic issues. 

Soon after, the ideas came with haste, as Jane Curran, owner of Jane’s Frames on East Central Street, scribbled them down on large pieces of poster paper taped to a white board. 

One is to build a park on the property with seating and tables for people to lunch or take a break from shopping. Some of the local restaurants might even take advantage of the outdoor area to sell their fare. 

Another option calls for transforming the space into an entertainment venue of some kind, be it an outdoor stage or a performing arts club. The plan was more appealing than reserving the building for retail and office space, because it could have more of an effect on foot traffic in the downtown. 

Sue Brown, director of sales for the Hampton Inn on Union Street, said one of the problems is that the draws seen in other communities are absent from the downtown. 

"Remember, you have three hotels in this town that host almost 300-plus people a night who’re looking for something to do," Brown said. "They have free time and are asking, ‘Where do I go from here?’ Right now, we’re sending them to the outlets, we’re sending them to Patriot Place. But wouldn’t it be nice to be able to send all those people here, have them spend their money within our town?" 

Other suggestions for the property included seeking a developer interested in building a small hotel — in the style of a bed and breakfast — or commissioning a "welcome center" that would hold some municipal offices. 

Piana will present the partnership’s ideas on Jan. 21 at the council’s own brainstorming meeting, scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 355 East Central St. 

Matt Tota can be reached at 508-634-7521 or mtota@wickedlocal.com. 

- See more at:http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140110/NEWS/140119987/11512/NEWS/?tag=2#sthash.v4XrynMj.dpuf

Join the Draft Master Plan Conversation

Have you been following the conversation about the 2013 Franklin Master Plan? A public hearing was held last Saturday to garner feedback from residents and businesses about the DRAFT Master Plan created by the volunteers of the Franklin Master Plan Committee.

Details of the Draft Master Plan can be found on the town website: http://town.franklin.ma.us/pages/FranklinMA_Planning/masterplandoc/doc.  

In case you missed the public hearing you still have the opportunity to comment on the draft plan. Comments will be accepted until Friday, August 16, at 1 p.m. and can be made one of three ways --

By mail:  Planning and Community Development Department

335 E. Central St., Franklin, MA 02038

By email:  bdahlstrom@franklin.ma.us, Attn: Beth Dahlstrom

By the town's Master Plan input webpage: http://www.town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Planning/masterinput

Steve Sherlock has been following the issue closely on Franklin Matters and on Saturday posted this Live Reporting:  http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/08/live-reporting-public-hearing-master_10.html

Latest designs for Franklin downtown project revealed

The following link takes you to the Milford Daily News story about the Downtown Streetscape Project Public Hearing held last night at Town Hall. Construction is projected to begin Summer 2013.

Latest designs for Franklin downtown project revealed

Reminder: Downtown Improvement Project Hearing

There will be a Route 140 Downtown Improvement Project public hearing tomorrow, June 28, at 7:00 p.m. The hearing will be held in the Municipal Building in the third floor training room. 


Click here for the MassDOT official notice of the hearing. 

Public Hearing June 28

The MassDOT will hold a public hearing on the Route 140 Downtown Improvement Project on Thursday, June 28 at 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Building, Third Floor Training Room.


Click here to read the entire official notification of the hearing.


For more information about the Downtown Improvement Project we have links under the Projects tab above. You will also find more information on the Franklin Matters website and at the Town of Franklin website under the Downtown Improvement Project link.

About 15 people attended the meeting Monday night to provide feedback about the PWED grant-funded portion of the downtown revitalization project. Below is part of the Milford Daily News story about the project and the meeting.

Franklin inches closer to downtown improvements

by Brian Benson, Daily News staff, Milford Daily News, January 11, 2011

FRANKLIN -- Planning Director Bryan Taberner hopes to put out bids on $1 million worth of improvements to downtown secondary streets in the next month after residents expressed few concerns at a meeting last night about the project.

There may still be minor changes, but plans to fix deteriorated sidewalks, improve drainage systems, resurface roads and repair the municipal parking lot near the Franklin/Dean College MBTA station are mostly finalized, Taberner said.

"We are looking for your input so we can finish up and get this out to bid," Taberner told about 15 people who attended the meeting.

The work, to be paid for through a $1 million state public works grant, is expected to include the parking lot, Emmons Street between Main Street and Hillside Road, Dean Avenue between Main and Ray streets, Ray Street and Depot Street, Taberner said.

For the complete story on the Milford Daily News click here.

More information on the entire project can be found on the Town's Planning and Community Development web page.

Traffic change approved

On September 29 the Franklin Town Council voted 8-0 to approve the change in downtown roads from one-way to two-way traffic. In addition, the Council decided to hold an additional hearing on Wednesday, October 20, to discuss putting utilities underground on portions of East Central Street.

Read the full article from the Milford Daily News here: www.milforddailynews.com/topstories/x399785561/Franklin-to-make-downtown-roads-two-way

For more information about the Roadway and Streetscape Improvement Project click here: franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Planning/dtimprovement

To see more on the project you can also go up to the Projects tab for more links.

Letter to Town Council: Downtown Improvement Project

There is a Public Hearing about the Downtown Improvement Project scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, September 29, on the 2nd floor of the Municipal Building. The hearing will be part of the regular Town Council meeting.

The following is a letter written by the Franklin Downtown Partnership Board of Directors to the Town Council regarding the project. We invite you to either scroll through the attached or print it out for future reference.

FDP Town Council Letter

Letter to Town Council: Underground Utilities

The Franklin Downtown Partnership Board of Directors also sent a letter to the Town Council regarding the proposal to put utilities underground on East Central Street. Again we invite you to scroll through the letter or print it out for future reference.

FDP Council Letter Utilities

Improvement Project - Traffic Changes - Executive Summary

The Executive Summary of the proposed traffic changes as part of the Downtown Improvement Project can be view in this document: Franklin,MA Proposed traffic circulation - executive summary 20100901

Additional documentation on the project can be found on the Dept of Planning and Community Development on the Franklin, MA website here:

http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Planning/dtimprovement

Downtown Improvement Project - Design Update - Sep 2010

The design document showing before and after views of how the Downtown Improvement Project will change Franklin's downtown area. Franklin Ma Downtown Design Update 20100901

Downtown Improvement Project - Survey

Updated: 9/28/10 midnight - this survey is now closed. Thank you for your contribution!

This brief survey will be open for your input through midnight Sep 28, 2010.

Downtown Improvement Project - live broadcast and presentation

The workshop on May 12th to review and discuss the Downtown Improvement Project plans was recorded and available for viewing here: The presentation used for the workshop is available here:

Franklin MA Downtown Project - May Workshop - 20100512

View more presentations from not applicable.

Franklin, MA