🔨 Exhibit A Leaves Framingham
Tremblay Meets with Council | Old Train Yard Active Again | The Library Wants Your Thoughts! | CPA Info Session for Potential Applicants | The Civic Week Ahead
Have you been watching the Olympics, Framingham? Between Celine Dion’s amazing moment to Simone Biles’ comeback, it has been the inspirational weekend.
There are three major stories in this week’s issue: a beloved Framingham business is headed west, FPS has an interesting statistic, and part of Framingham’s past has returned. Let’s get to it.
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Exhibit ‘A’ Leaves Framingham
Once home to four breweries, Framingham is down to one… Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing announced they are leaving their Morton Street location and moving west to Williamsburg.
Exhibit ‘A’ started in 2016, taking over the old site of Jack’s Abby.
What they said: "Throughout this journey, we faced several challenges and have been so proud of the swift navigation and adaptability of our staff. Most recent and notable are the pandemic and licensing challenges to reopen our beer garden and a planned patio that never materialized. We have loved this space, our neighbors, the community and most importantly the friends we have made during our time here. We are so lucky to have been embraced by the community and fans of Exhibit 'A' since we opened our doors."
What were their licensing challenges? Exhibit ‘A’ opened a beer garden in 2019. When they received their permit to open the beer garden from the Planning Board, according to a Framingham Source article from 2020, they believed the permit was for “as long as they owned the property”. In the midst of the pandemic in 2020, Exhibit ‘A’ was informed by then Building Inspector, now Chief Operating Officer for the city, Mike Tusino that they must apply for a special permit every year they want their beer garden.
The conflict between Framingham and Exhibit ‘A’ extended into the summer of 2020. They did end up applying for a special permit, but their hearing for the permit was delayed due to a meeting filing error by the city’s Economic Development department. The garden eventually opened in 2020.
Where was the beer garden?: The brewery purchased the old Hanson Electric building in May 2019. The beer garden was behind the building, directly across from their headquarters. They planned for a restaurant at the Hanson building, but that never materialized.
The Morton Street location is zoned for manufacturing, not for restaurants, which is a reason why Exhibit ‘A” needed to get a special permit.
The new location: According to their Facebook post, the new facility has indoor and outdoor spaces for events, and a landscaped patio for a beer garden. The location also has brewing equipment that will allow “us to continue to brew our portfolio of beers, experiment with new recipes and introduce new beverages to the portfolio.”
The new location brings them closer to their local suppliers and partners.
This news is certainly not the Cat’s Meow for Framingham.
Tremblay Meets with Council
Discussing recent school violence brought a tense atmosphere to the Blumer Room last week.
Tremblay called to meet: In a 11-0 vote the Council evoked Article II 7b of the Charter, which states that the Council can require any officer, member of a department or employee to appear before it to give any information the Council may require “in relation to the municipal services, functions, powers, or duties which are within the scope of responsibility of that person and within the jurisdiction of the council.”
School Committee Chair Jessica Barnhill joined Dr. Tremblay, with members of the School Committee sitting behind them.
Answering questions: Tremblay shared a 13 page document answering all of the Councilor’s questions that were asked in advance of the meeting.
While Tremblay did not walk through every question in the document during the hour and fourteen minute discussion, he rejected the belief that FPS does not discipline students.
FPS’ Code of Character, Conduct and Support is revised annually, most recently discussed at the November, 1 2023 School Committee meeting. According to the document shared with the Council, the Office of Health and Wellness is working on the next round of updates that will be made to the Code for the 2024-2025 school year.
The Code “outlines school rules and expectations, including the expectation of being respectful to other students and staff, as well as not engaging in aggressive or violent behavior. It also outlines clear consequences, including suspension, for violations.”
Surprising statistic: Framingham has the highest suspension rate in the state.
“That’s a problem for us, but yet there is a perception that we're not doing enough disciplinary action. Arguably, suspension isn’t the answer, because when students are not in school, where are they? They might be at home, they might have supervision at home, or they might be in the community… doing who knows what. We know it’s not coming into school, we know it isn’t learning,” said Tremblay.
Communication breakdown: Both Barnhill and Tremblay remarked several times on the importance of communication between the Council and the School Committee to better address the concerns about the schools.
Tremblay also stressed there are student privacy concerns, which is why full details about certain situations are not released or discussed publicly.
“One of the problems is that we have people that will post on social media with videos and all the things that get in your inboxes, and we have this kind of approach where parents are sending things to city councilors, to School Committee, wherever it is emerging, but it’s not always ending up in the places where we can resolve the problems,” Tremblay said.
Councilor Michael Cannon stated he believed FPS is not appropriately communicating issues like school safety to the Council or the school community, accusing the Front Office of “brushing things under the rug.”
"I’m getting tired of so many different calls from parents who are telling me, 'Mike, my student is beaten regularly by the same kid, it’s an ongoing thing, and my kid has to sit through these humiliating restorative justice conversations and nothing changes,'” Cannon said. ”I don’t know how you can learn if you don’t feel safe. I don’t know how you can teach if you don’t feel safe.”
“My phone is not ringing off the hook. We stand here ready for your call and partner with you in this work. Timelessness is important for an appropriate resolution and we would absolutely love to help you with that,” said Barnhill. “If we don’t hear these concerns, we cannot advocate for them.”
What is next for the Council and School Committee relationship?: Barnhill offered to set up a joint meeting of the two groups, but recommended discussions happen first in subcommittees to tackle the knowledge deficit about operations and FPS.
Council George King, a former education administrator, stated that since the Council approves more than 50% of the budget for school needs, the Council has the responsibility to make inquiries of FPS, not solely about school violence but school performance issues. He supported Barnhill’s suggestion to have subcommittees meet and address certain concerns ahead of any joint meeting between the two groups.
Tremblay invited all of the Councilors to meet with him and have a conversation ongoing, instead of coming to a Council meeting every 6 months.
Old Train Yard Active Again
Ghost of GM Past: The old General Motors rail yard off Hollis Street is operational once again. TransloadX, a company that moves large items like lumber via rail, started their operations three weeks ago.
Informational update held: Representatives from TransloadX came to the last Council meeting to introduce themselves. They shared they had been meeting with the Mayor and Economic Development Director Sarki Sarkisian, and public safety officials for months. Due to the nature of their company - rail - they fall under federal oversight. There are no permits needed.
Expectations: TransloadX expects three railcars a day offloading products at the site, with 10-12 trucks a day moving that product offsite. The trains come from New York, with a stop in Worcester before coming to Framingham.
Mixed reviews from Council: Councilors were taken aback by this information, the lack of community heads up before operations began, and unsure of what the ask was from the Mayor’s Office. Citing that this “is not the long term vision for the site”, Councilors had questions about traffic, environmental mitigation, and plans for the rail trail connectivity through the area.
Making upgrades: The presenters spoke to Sarkisian about updating the fencing, security, and installing new motionsensored LED lighting to limit the impact on the neighborhood. They are seeking a grant from the Commonwealth to fund these upgrades and are asking the Mayor for a letter of support.
What about the rail trail? Several local trails advocacy groups are working together to extend the Upper Charles Trail through that site, to Downtown to connect to the Chris Walsh Rail Trail. The representatives from the company said they are more than happy to help facilitate any way to get the project going.
The Library Wants to Hear from You!
Do you visit the Framingham Public Library website? Do you have any ideas on what you’d like to see and make it better?
FPL wants to hear from you. The library is undergoing a redesign of their website.
According to the press release, Library Head of Technology Experience Dave DiGuardia said, “The current iteration of the website was built and launched a decade ago. This redesign gives us the opportunity to implement new protocols and standards that will make the site easier to navigate for patrons and will also enable staff to keep the site updated more efficiently.”
Deadline to complete the survey is Saturday, August 31, 2024.
CPA Info Session for Potential Applicants
The Community Preservation Committee is holding an informational session for organizations and individuals, who wish to apply for CPC funding for Fiscal Year 2025.
When: July 29 at 7 p.m. in the Executive Conference Room in the Memorial Building (150 Concord Street)
Individuals and organizations can also attend via Zoom.
The Civic Week Ahead
Monday, July 29
Wednesday, July 31
Thursday, August 1
In Closing…
Enjoy the remaining days of July. I cannot believe August is right around the corner.
-Mary Kate
Enjoy your posts. If you have any insight - would love to understand one of the great mysteries of modern times. Why has the lot on the corner of Speen/Rt 30 (across from Mobil) sat vacant for over 20 years ?
Another great and informative post -
Thank You
Bob Draper