Franklin Aldermen Attend 2016 Retreat

The Franklin Town Board of Aldermen and Staff held a retreat in the lower level of town hall on Saturday, January 30, 2016. A copy of the agenda and the full video of the retreat are posted below.

Town of Franklin Board of Aldermen

Retreat

Agenda Saturday January 30, 2016 9:00 a.m.

1. Call to Order- Mayor Bob Scott

2. Adoption of the January 30, 2016 Retreat Agenda

3. Public Comment Session

4. Upgrade Existing Tablets for Town Board Members

5. Update on Computer Software for Accounting, Tax and Utility Billing

6. Guidelines for Street Closing Requests

7. Update on Crosswalks

8. Speeding

9. Littering Campaign

10. Parking

11. Festivals

12. Whitmire Property

13. Other Considerations/Discussions

14. Adjourn





MEDIA ROLL CALL
(media outlets physically present at the meeting)

Macon Media (me)
WFSC-AM/WNCC-FM
The Macon County News and Shopping Guide
The Smoky Mountain News
The Franklin Press




PREVIOUS RETREATS COVERED BY MACON MEDIA




2013 Retreat (Video is split into multiple parts)

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Franklin Town Board June 2015 Meeting

**update 12:18 am June 2nd** Here is the video of the meeting. Supporting documents are embedded below.




The Franklin Town Board of Aldermen will be meeting tonight for their regular June 2015 meeting. Among the items on the agenda is a public hearing and vote on the Fiscal Year 2015-2016 budget for the Town of Franklin. You can see a copy of the proposed budget and a video of the complete work session held by the town board to review the budget at this link. 

A copy of the 1 page public agenda and the 59 page agenda packet that the Town of Franklin shares with the members of the media are posted below. Currently, Macon Media is the only organization that shares the larger packet with the public.

After the meeting, a full video of the proceedings will be added to this post at the top of the page, so please bookmark it and come back to see exactly what happened and who said what at the meeting.

Town of Franklin Board of Aldermen 

Agenda 

Monday June 1, 2015 7:00 p.m. 

1. Call to Order- Mayor Bob Scott

2. Pledge of Allegiance- Vice Mayor Verlin Curtis

3. Adoption of June 1, 2015 Proposed Agenda

4. Approval of the May 4, May 16 and May 18, 2015 Board Minutes

5. Public Hearing 7:05 p.m. for Re-Zoning Request for Dan Street and Watauga Street

6. Public Hearing 7:10 p.m. for Proposed Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Town of Franklin Budget

7. Public Hearing 7:15 p.m. for Text Amendment to the Sign Ordinance Regarding Banners

8. Public Session

9. New Business

A.) Board Action on Re-Zoning Request for Dan Street and Watauga Street

B.) Board Action on Proposed Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Town of Franklin Budget

C.) Board Action on Text Amendment to the Sign Ordinance Regarding Banners

D.) AT&T Wireless Telecommunications Eligible Facilities Request- Land Use Administrator Justin Sester

E.) Budget Amendments- Finance Officer Kyra Doster

F.) Request for Indoor Gun Range at 245 Carolina Mountain Drive- Land Use Administrator Justin Sester & Town Manager Summer Woodard

G.) Re-Appointment of Cheryl Pullium to the Tourism Development Authority Board- Town Manager Summer Woodard

H.) Re-Appointment of Josh Drake to the Tourism Development Authority Board- Town Manager Summer Woodard



10. Legal

A.) Amendment to Streets and Sidewalks Ordinance Permitting Banners- Town Attorney John Henning Jr



11. Announcements

A.) Town of Franklin Employee Luncheon will be July 2, 2015 at 12:00 p.m. at Fat Buddies

B.) The Town Hall Offices will be closed Friday July 3, 2015 in observance of this holiday



12. Adjourn

Press Packet June 2015 Aldermen Meeting

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Franklin Town Board Holds Work Session on FY 2015-2016 Budget

The Franklin Town Board of Aldermen participate in a budget work session with the Town Manager on May 16, 2015 in the town hall. The meeting lasted about two hours and was the most thorough and transparent public accounting of the town budget I have witnessed since I began covering these meetings in 2010.

Here is a copy of the Town Manager's Budget Message and the proposed budget that you can use to follow along so you can gain an understanding of hat is being talked about by the Town Manager.

FY 2015-2016 Budget Message - Franklin by Thunder Pig

Proposed FY 2015-2016 Budget by Thunder Pig

There were no members of the public present, just Aldermen and town staff and a few reporters.

MEDIA ROLL CALL (media outlets who had reporters present)

Macon Media (me)
The Franklin Press
Macon County News and Shopping Guide
WNCC-FM/WFSC-AM

CROWD FUNDING

This is the part where I beg for at least a dollar a month to help me replace aging and borrowed equipment so i can continue to cover meetings and events. Check out my page at Patreon for more information. 


Thank You to those who have given to Patreon, sent checks, cash and loaned and/or given me equipment to use to cover these meetings. It means more to me than you will ever know!

Also, tell a friend about this website, MaconMedia.com and my pages on facebook.

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Franklin 2016 Budget: Exhibit A - Revenues and Appropriations

The Manager of the Town of Franklin goes through details of the revenues and appropriations for the FY 2015*2016 budget at a work session with the Town of Franklin Board of Aldermen. A copy of the document they are working from has been embedded below for your convenience.

Exhibit A (2015-2016 Franklin Budget) by Thunder Pig

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The Town Manager presents the proposed FY 2015-2016 Budget The Mayor comments on the difficulties faced by Franklin

Photo of the paper copy of the budget about to be turned into electronic format

This post contains two videos recorded at the regular May 2015 meeting of the Franklin Town Board of Aldermen on May 4, 2015. The first contains the presentation of the proposed FY 2015-2016 budget for the Town of Franklin by Summer Woodard, the Town Manager, and a discussion of the budget work session that has been scheduled for Saturday May 16th at 9 am and the public hearing on the budget that will be conducted at the June 1st meeting of the Aldermen.

Budget Presentation

Budget Message from Town Manager

FY 2015-2016 Budget Message - Franklin by Thunder Pig

Digitized Copy of Proposed FY 205-2016 Budget

This copy was digitized from a paper copy handed out to the media at the meeting and Macon Media digitized it, so it may contain errors introduced by the digitization process.

Proposed FY 2015-2016 Budget by Thunder Pig

The second video contains the comments made by Mayor Bob Scott who spoke about the process and the difficulties faced by the town, most of which he said was the fault of the state legislature.


Mayor's Comments





The full video and supporting documentation from the meeting can be seen at this link.

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Franklin Town Board of Aldermen Regular May 2015 Meeting

The Franklin Town Board of Aldermen met last night for their regular May 2015 meeting. Here is the video, public agenda and a copy of the agenda that is shared with the local media. Macon Media is making that public document available to the public in the interest of transparency. Among the items discussed was the 2015-2016 budget, the local media was given a paper copy and I digitized it last night so the public could read it as well. 

CROWD FUNDING EFFORT

For the curious, this citizen journalist effort to accurately relay the meetings of the local governing bodies is currently being supported by a few dozen people who donate funds to keep this thing going, some of them do so on a regular basis online at Patreon. If you wish to learn more about helping out, please check out my Patreon Page. All I ask is a dollar a month. Any amount is appreciated. The more the people of Macon county give, the more meetings and events can be covered.

MEDIA ROLL CALL (the media outlets present for the meeting)

Macon Media (me)
WFSC-AM/WNCC-FM
The Macon County News and Shopping Guide
The Franklin Press
The Smoky mountain News



Shorter excerpt videos from the meeting will be posted later in separate articles for those with short attention spans.

Town of Franklin Board of Aldermen 

Agenda 

Monday May 4, 2015 7:00 p.m.

1. Call to Order- Mayor Bob Scott

2. Pledge of Allegiance- Vice Mayor Verlin Curtis

3. Adoption of May 4, 2015 Proposed Agenda

4. Approval of the April 6, 2015 Board Minutes

5. Public Hearing 7:05 p.m. for Special Use Permit Application

6. Public Session

7. New Business

A.) Board Action on Special Use Permit Application

B.) Presentation of the North Carolina Cardinal Award to Wayne Price- Mayor Bob Scott

C.) Proclamation for Scottish Heritage Week - Mayor Bob Scott

D.) Set Public Hearing for Dan Street and Watauga Street- Land Use Administrator Justin Setser

E.) Update on Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Grant- Land Use Administrator Justin Setser

F.) Resolution Opposing Senate Bill 650 Elections Transparency Act- Mayor Bob Scott

G.) Street Closing Request for 2015- Town Manager Summer Woodard

H.) Request for Water and Sewer Allocation for Siler Road- Town Manager Summer Woodard

I.) Capital Project Ordinance for Town of Franklin Water Plant Upgrade and Expansion- Town Manager Summer Woodard

J.) Reimbursement Resolution for Town of Franklin Water Plant Upgrade and Expansion- Town Manager Summer Woodard and Town Attorney John Henning Jr

K.) Resolution to Appoint Town of Franklin Finance Officer- Town Manager Summer Woodard

L.) Joint Meeting with Macon County and Town of Highlands- Town Manager Summer Woodard

M.) Proposed Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Town Budget- Town Manager Summer Woodard

1.) Presentation of Proposed Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Town of Franklin Budget

2.) Set Budget Work Session for Saturday May 16, 2015 at 9:00 a.m.

3.) Set Public Hearing for Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Town of Franklin Budget for Monday June 1, 2015 at 7:10 p.m.

8. Legal

A.) Ratify Email Vote on April 9, 2015 for Forwarding Amending the Ordinance Regarding Banners to the Town Planning Board- Town Attorney John Henning Jr

B.) Banner Policy- Town Attorney John Henning Jr

C.) Set Public Hearing for Amending the Ordinance Regarding Banners- Town Attorney John Henning Jr



9. Adjourn

Press Packet for May 2014 Franklin Aldermen Meeting by Thunder Pig

And here are the documents related to the 2015-2016 budget.

The Town Manager's Budget Message

FY 2015-2016 Budget Message - Franklin by Thunder Pig

the Proposed 2015-2016 Budget

Proposed FY 2015-2016 Budget by Thunder Pig

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