I Can't Make This Stuff Up...

The frontage to the soccer field, at Dacey Field just up the street from me, has been designated as a "Pollinator Pasture" and has been this way for many years now.

Although, there are some flowers in this area, e.g. Black-eyed Susan's, Golden Rod, Queen Anne's Lace and Milkweed to name a few, it honestly fails at it's intended goal.

However, that being said, I'm sure there have been many insects and critters that have called this area home and completed their metamorphosis there.

Typically, the Franklin highway and grounds division mows this area down in the fall, which has been the extent of their maintenance on and to this "Pollinator Pasture".

Well, that was until a week and a half ago, when some Franklin town numbskull worker mowed it down, see below pic -

Honestly, it couldn't have been cut at a worse time in terms of the critters and pollinators using and relying on it.  I'm guessing there were many an insect in the midst of their transformations, e.g. caterpillar to moth, etc. Perhaps, growing praying mantis and SO much more but no longer, GRRR!

I posted these same pictures to the local Facebook Franklin town page and surprisingly someone from the highway and grounds division responded and claims the area was cut in error and that the person who did it "feels terrible".  HAHAHA, what a crock of BS, the feels terrible thing...

The other issue, which you can clearly see in the above picture, and it's one that I've come to expect from the Franklin highway and grounds folks because it's glaringly obvious in their workmanship most of the time, is the shoddy work they do!

The weeds growing along and up through the fence are STILL THERE TODAY a week and a half later!  Weeds around the trees and telephone pole in that area also still have weeds growing around them AND the cuttings from the mowing are STILL littering the sidewalks!

There doesn't seem to be any oversight from management, supervisors or town administrators and if so no one cares. They all seem okay with lazy half-assed workmanship and the message it sends to all and for all to see, ALAS!

Sadly and frustratingly, this is how the town of Franklin spends my tax dollars.

Therefore, I give the Franklin highway and grounds division AND the putz who "accidently" mowed this area the following merit badge.  It's well deserved for this debacle -

Penny Wise, Pound Foolish!

Alas, as much as it frustrates me to see how the town of Franklin is spending our tax dollars, it does give me some satisfaction to vent about it here.  I don't have the patients or desire to call or try to reach out to the town directly on this issue, simply because I don't care to hear their excuses...

The parking lot at the grade school a mile down the street recently had the parking lines repainted.  However, as you can see in the few examples below, there was little to NO prep work done to prepare for the repainting or to help extend the life of the pavement itself.

Whomever did the work simple repainted over the old faded lines, weeds, rocks dirt and all!  How shoddy is this?!  Who made this decision?  At the end of the day how much money did they save, in the short term, by not prepping (removing weeds, rocks, dirt, etc.) and sealing the cracks (to prevent the winter freezing from heaving and making the issue BIGGER)?

It's an embarrassment really but what I've come to expect from how the town of Franklin is run and managed.  

Side note to further illustrate how skewed the town priorities are - the Franklin town Administrator has an anticipated - annual salary of $245, 267 for fiscal year 2026!  How is the world can this be justified?! Perhaps a BIG reason why the $3.6 million dollar override failed to pass...

"I'll Have It Added To The List"...

Here is an extremely rare photo of a Franklin sidewalk snow-blower machine.

They're seldom seen, as evident by the snow covered sidewalk all over the town.  I just don't think they like the cold and snow.  I was holding out hope they'd have be out and about during February school vacation week to catch up but no such luck.

Calls to the DPW office to inquire about sidewalk cleaning are as equally ineffective.  Typically met with an, "I'll add it to the list" and/or "we're down several machines".

Really?!  Do they really need to be called to have something as obvious as this added to their list?  School's back in session in four days, what are they waiting for?

Yes, I realize they're busy and they've been working to stay on top of all the snow we've had.  However, this is not something that just began happening in 2015.  Nope, it's been going on for years now.  The danger and risk of having people walking in the streets to get to bus stops, the mail, etc. would be something the town would want to avoid.   Seems like a potential legal issue just waiting to happen.  Hope no one gets hurt too bad.