🔨 Tug of War
Sisitsky to Start Zoning Review | Should the buses come in-house? | Mayor Seeks Members for SIFOC | Community Events | The Civic Week Ahead
Daylight savings is here, Framingham! How are you feeling? I am thrilled for longer days. Bring on that sunlight!
Big shout out to the FHS Drama Company for making it to the Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild state finals! Over the weekend they earned 6 All Star Company Awards in the semi-final round. Excellent job! We’re cheering you on!
Have a comment or question? I’d love to hear from you. Email me at mkfeeney@gmail.com
Did someone forward this to you? Awesome. Subscribe here and never miss an issue.
Tug of War
As the state’s housing crisis remains on the forefront of the minds of policymakers, especially in light of Milton voters rejecting the MBTA Committees Law, Mayor Sisitsky told the Council that his Administration will work with the Planning Board in assessing and making changes to Framingham’s zoning.
“Concerned” over process: The Mayor expressed concern about the current zoning and how the zoning process has worked to date. Reaffirming Massachusetts state laws and Framingham’s by-laws, the Mayor stated the Planning Board is the recognized community board for planning and zoning.
The Council has a Planning and Zoning Subcommittee, which the Mayor said, isn’t found in many other communities.
What he said: “They [Planning and Zoning Subcommittee] are the subcommittee of our legislative body, the City Council, and they’re meant to advise the City Council on planning and zoning. And I think that is a proper role for them. I don’t think they should be the ones to take on the whole issue of planning and zoning from the beginning. I think it should be in the Planning Board and Administration.”
Hold up, what is zoning?: Every community is divided up into “zones”. Each “zone” outlines what is allowed on that area of land, like residential housing or commercial. Zoning and planning influence and guide development decisions. In Massachusetts, each city and town draft their own zoning laws.
The push back: Councilors, like Christine Long who is the former Chair of the Planning Board and served on the board for 12 years until elected to the Council in 2019, expressed their frustration with the Administration not working directly with the Planning and Zoning Subcommittee. Long is the chair of the subcommittee.
What she said: “I thought we were having a discussion about the process. I didn’t think we were getting a discussion about what you’re doing and that’s it.”
What does the Sisitsky Administration want to review?: Back in January Sarkis Sarkisian, Director of Planning and Community Development, told the Planning Board, the Administration is looking at rezoning at Shoppers World, along Waverly Street from Winter Street to Natick, and 9/90 & the Tech Park. This was restated by the Mayor at the Council meeting.
“And that doesn’t mean mandating that a certain number of units be built or anything. It just mandates that the zoning ordinance would allow certain things to happen depending on what developers do,” said the Mayor.
What about the new state law?: Citing housing is a top priority for the Healey-Driscoll Administration, Council Chair Phil Ottaviani expressed concern about the crisis and worries the state will increase the required amount of affordable housing in a community from 10% to upwards of 15%. “Framingham would be in trouble,” he said.
Framingham is in compliance with the MBTA Communities law right now. However, to be compliant in 2025 and beyond, Framingham must build nearly 4,000 more units and requires one area to be permitted as of right.
Councilors and community will be involved: Sarkisian said Councilors and community members will be part of this process. “I don’t want our community to be stressed over this law.”
Next steps: The Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals are holding a joint meeting this Wednesday at 7pm with Sarkisian to discuss.
Should school buses come in-house?
With no sign the school bus situation is getting any better, the School Committee is discussing the option of bringing school bus operations in-house.
Budget season begins: Tomorrow night (Tuesday, March 12) the Council Finance Subcommittee and the School Committee Finance Subcommittee meet in a joint session to discuss the FY25 school budget. Already there are many signs, especially from the Governor, this is going to be a tough budget year.
What is the problem?: Ask any parent (or kid!), and they’ll tell you about the uncertainty surrounding when the bus arrives at school on time or when the bus will drop off kids in the afternoon. Data shows that 40.33% of elementary school buses departed late from school every afternoon in 2023. Last August, Framingham Public Schools announced that not every student will be provided a bus due to a shortage of drivers. There are 57 drivers at the moment. NRT’s contract says they should provide 77. Since becoming the bus provider for the city, NRT has never fulfilled the number of drivers in their contract. Because the buses are run by a private company, FPS has no control over how much they are paid or provide accountability.
The national driver shortage average is 12.5%. Framingham sits at 26%.
How did we get here?: Framingham voted to privatize the school buses in 2011, after decades and decades of running a bus operation in house. The CFO at the time, Mary Ellen Kelly, projected the then-town could see savings up to $300,000 a year.
Did Framingham ever save money?: Well, that is unclear. If Framingham did, it was totally blown away with the new NRT contract signed in August for 2023-2026 which was $5.6 million higher than the previous contract.
Remember that time they almost went on strike?: May 2023 a looming driver strike put Framingham in a panic. Negotiations between Teamsters 170, who represent the drivers, and NRT had stalled. Framingham had little control or involvement in the contract negotiations. Thankfully, the strike was averted. In February 2023 NRT offered to increase driver rates by $5/hour at a cost of $550,000 to FPS. However, post-potential strike, with a new contract they increased it by $2/hour with an increased cost of $1.8 million to FPS. Right now NRT pays $31/hour.
But since then things have not gotten better. NRT kept telling the School Committee there are more “drivers in the pipeline”, but they never seemed to get off the pipeline into Framingham.
Now what?: An independent audit by the Massachusetts Association of Pupil Transportation done last October stated Framingham is a good option for in-house busing.
District 4 School Committee member Adam Freudberg is the leading voice on bringing buses in-house, including putting together a video about the situation and the proposed solution. He claims bringing the buses under Framingham control would be similar to the current bus budget, with a slight increase to cover benefits, with line item shifting as the city side (and not the FPS budget) pays that particular line item.
Framingham could pay $34/hour plus benefits. In return, FPS gets control over the system, bringing drivers into the FPS community and providing for better collaboration and accountability.
Their contract with NRT states Framingham can lease buses from the company. Freudberg says the switch should be made when there is a guaranteed minimum of 58 in-house drivers. From there, bring the program to Framingham. Freudberg says the state labor agency MassHire has offered support to FPS for training, hiring and hiring needs, to build off of what FPS HR would do to recruit new drivers. Another community used them with great success for their buses.
What he says: “While I do not expect the in-house model if implemented to immediately rise from 53-57 drivers up to 77, implementing change as soon as practical to take multi-pronged approaches to make Framingham a more desirable place to work as a bus driver is necessary as part of a multi-year plan.”
Next steps: While final numbers and timing are under development by FPS and School Committee, the discussion continues. Tune into tomorrow’s joint meeting, and at the School Committee’s public hearing on the budget March 20th to see where this goes.
Want to Get Involved? How about joining SIFOC?
Mayor Sisitky is seeking to appoint three members to the 9 member Strategic Initiatives and Financial Oversight Committee.
What does SIFOC do? Advises the Mayor, Council and School Committee on Framingham’s long range strategic plan, the municipal finances and economy, and other matters referred to the committee by the Mayor, Council or School Committee.
Made up of nine members with three appointees each from the Mayor, the Council, and the School Committee, SIFOC is mandated by the City Charter.
How to apply: The at-large and finance seats need to be filled now. The application is due Saturday, March 16. The local business seat application is due by Wednesday, May 15. Apply by clicking here.
Note: I am the Chair of SIFOC. If you have any questions or interested in applying, please hit reply to this email and we can chat!
Community Events
Virtual Public Hearing with Department of Public Utilities on Framingham Community Electricity
Another step forward for municipal electricity aggregation: The state Department of Public Utilities will hold a hearing for public comments on the proposed electricity aggregation plan.
Framingham filed a request for the plan on February 2, 2024.
The big picture: Municipal, also referred to as community, aggregation is a form of group electricity purchasing. Aggregation benefits include cleaner electricity, and competitive, stable prices (however, no guarantee there will be savings). More than 150 communities around Massachusetts participate in aggregation programs.
How to join the hearing: Held on Zoom, the hearing will take place on March 14, 2024 at 2:00pm. Attendees can join by entering the link, https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81722675035.
If you anticipate providing comments via Zoom during the public hearing, to the extent possible, please send an email by the close of business (5:00 p.m.) on Monday, March 11, 2024, to timothy.m.federico@mass.gov with your name, email address, and mailing address.
Alternatively, any person who desires to comment on this matter may submit written comments to the Department via email no later than the close of business (5:00 p.m.) on Wednesday, March 14, 2024.
Local questions: For any questions about Framingham Community Electricity, please contact Sustainability Coordinator, Shawn Luz, at sluz@framinghamma.gov
Public Invited to Community Gardens Design Meetings
Have ideas about community gardens?: You are invited to attend public meetings on Saturday, March 23 to learn about the community garden program and share your thoughts!
Who is behind this project? Transition Framingham and the Framingham Community Gardens Working Group, in partnership with the City of Framingham’s Department of Planning & Community Development, Department of Parks & Recreation, and Agricultural Advisory Committee, have been awarded Community Preservation Act funding from the Community Preservation Committee to develop designs for possible new community garden sites at Bates Road Park and Roosevelt Park (project no. CPA23-019, “Design Study for New Community Garden Sites in Framingham”).
Where are the meetings?
1:00 to 2:00 p.m. - Roosevelt Park (80 Fay Road) - Meet at shade shelter
3:30 - 4:30 p.m. - Bates Road Park (40 Bates Road Ext) - Meet at baseball field
Facilitated by design consultant RDLA, the March 23 meetings will provide an opportunity for the public to learn more about this project, hear about the unique opportunities at each park location, and discuss ideas for possible garden features.
The Civic Week Ahead
(What a busy week!)
Monday, March 11
2:00pm: Housing Authority Agenda
4:00pm: Board of Assessors Agenda
4:30pm: School Committee Finance & Operations Subcommittee Agenda
6:00pm: Council Environment & Sustainability Subcommittee Agenda
6:00pm: Council Rules, Ordinances and Ethics Subcommittee Agenda
6:30pm: Council Appointments Subcommittee Agenda
7:00pm: Board of License Commissioners Agenda
7:00pm: Board of Library Trustees Agenda
7:00pm: Community Preservation Committee Agenda
Tuesday, March 12
1:30pm: Council on Aging Agenda
6:00pm: Council Finance Subcommittee Joint Meeting with the School Committee Finance and Operations Subcommittee Agenda
7:00pm: Historic District Commission Agenda
7:00pm: Community Development Committee Agenda
7:00pm: Parks and Recreation Commission Agenda
7:00pm: Board of Health Agenda
Wednesday, March 13
4:30pm: School Committee Health & Wellness Subcommittee Agenda
6:00pm: Council Education, Library, Arts & Culture, and Elder & Veteran Services Subcommittee Agenda
7:00pm: Zoning Board of Appeals Joint Meeting with the Planning Board Agenda
7:00pm: Historical Commission Agenda
7:00pm: Cultural Council Agenda
7:00pm: Sustainability Committee Agenda
Thursday, March 14
In Closing…
How am I doing?
I love hearing from readers, and I’m always looking for feedback. How am I doing with The Ham’er? Is there anything you’d like to see more of or less of? Which aspects of the newsletter (or podcast) do you enjoy the most?
Hit reply and say hello - I’d love to hear from you!
See you next week,
Mary Kate
I am all for more affordable housing in Framingham. It's necessary. But you have to address what the additional housing will cause the city to need. More services - like police officers, firefighters, a medical center that's not a hot mess all the time, social services for elderly residents, increased municipal staff - will be needed to be commensurate with the city's population. And you absolutely HAVE to address the need for better schools. Framingham High's student body is getting bigger and bigger - they need to either build a second high school and split the population in half or build a larger school and hire more teachers. We cannot keep adding people to the city and expecting people to get by with the same number of schools and city services - the math isn't mathing, as they say.
We need more housing, but we also need to be realistic about what more housing means. It means we need to build up the city infrastructure - sewer and water services, trash collection, public safety, SCHOOLING. We can't keep things at the same level while still adding residents.
I attended a meeting last week in Sudbury where an official presented this subject matter
I left with the conclusion it was just a group of words that did not amount to anything.
I told the presenter that a city or town only has to designate a prescribe area fo POTENCIALY BUILD in that area.
But it is not mandated to build there.
A bunch of words. He in theory agreed with me!