NEWSLETTER
August, 2004
FRANKLIN COMMUNITY COUNCIL, INC.
Civic Center: The preliminary plans are completed and were presented
to the zoning board at the August 19, 2004 meeting. The final plans
were approved. The next step in the process is approval by the county
commission and rural development. Upon approval bids for the project
will be taken. Please attend the next community council meeting to see the
plans for the construction.
Community Picnic: The Advisory Committee is busy making plans
for a community picnic to be held on September 18, 2004 at the old community
hall site. Please read the enclosed flyer and plan to attend.
This will be a great opportunity to visit with old friends, make new friends
and catch up on the latest news.
Website/History www.franklinkansas.com. If anyone has any history
to add please call Phyllis at 347-8387. The website is getting
a face lift these days! Watch for a new home page. A huge
amount of information on the history of St. Philip’s Catholic
church has been added so we all can enjoy it! Check it out!
There have been several interviews with local residents and there are more
photos and stories to add to the website. If you are interested in
being interviewed or sharing pictures please contact Phyllis (347-8387).
We are also looking into obtaining other artifacts that pertain to Franklin
that can be displayed in the new community center. We are designing
a special area for those items.
We've had 6,262 visitors to the website.
St. Philip Neri Church: The church is being torn down starting
this week and some of the artifacts located in or on the church have been
donated to the community council. These items will remain in Franklin
permanently. They will be placed in the new community park and the
new civic center. Once again thanks to the Toschi/Pitts family for
their generous donation.
We are grateful for this donation and will place the items in areas so they
can be seen by all. The historical artifacts have been removed and
are in storage until they can be placed into a permanent marker at the park
or used at the civic center. A group of men donated their time and labor
to remove these items which was no small undertaking. Pictures of this
process can be viewed at the website on the history page under “St. Philip
Church”. The markers at the new park which will include
the historical artifacts is to be constructed by Scott Crain
He is donating his labor to construct and design these.
The interior items from the church are being refinished by Don Lipasek.
He is donating his time and talents on this huge project. These items
will be used in the new community hall.
Sewer Project: The sewer project is in the final design stages!
Kramer engineers have been completing the surveys for the new sewer lines.
They have been working on them for the last two weeks around the community.
They have started on the plans. The final plans should be done by the
end of September and then they will be sent to Rural Development for approval.
Construction should start hopefully start in the spring.
Larkin Group will be completing the final plans for the infrastructure improvement
project. The final plans will them be sent to the Kansas Dept of Health
and Environment and the grant administrator for approval. We will be
getting a list of contractors. That will allow them to send bid packets
out for the project. We will try and keep all work local. Estimated
time for approval from state KDHE us 4 weeks.
Community Park: The boy scouts are working on plans
to beautify the old hall site and to help with the walking parking.
In addition, the community council has purchased the land behind the old
site to put in a children’s park. Preliminary plans for the park
are being drawn up and then will be presented to the community council for
approval. If you would like to see the preliminary plans, attend the community
council meetings on Sunday evenings at Henry Ashbachers building.
The next meeting is September 12, 2004 at 7 p.m.
Adjacent to the walking park will be a family park with plans for playground
equipment, basketball court and bocce court. The children’s park
project is underway thanks to a grant from the Pritchett Foundation.
The initial groundwork is much more involved than earlier thought.
Although a massive clean up of the area had been undertaken with the help
of volunteers upon closer inspection of the grounds it was determined that
there was debris imbedded in the dirt and several layers of ground will have
to be removed in order to have a safe area for the children to play.
John Harrison of In The Garden has donated landscaping, trees, shrubs and
labor for this project. John is being deployed to Iraq and we are most
grateful for his donation and wish him our best.
Fund Raising: The council has sent out hundreds of letters
requesting assistance from our friends and neighbors. We encouraged
donations to be made to Pittsburg Area Community Foundation on our behalf.
Currently we are also holding a raffle. Drawing to be held at the community
picnic September 18. Tickets are: 50 cents each, 3 for
$1.00, or book of 20 for $5.00
Drawing to be held September 18, 2004 at Franklin Community Picnic. Tickets
can be purchased from members of the Franklin Community Council or at Scotty’s
Classic Cars in Arma. Winner need not be present to win
1st:'Giclee' Art Print (Fall's New Foal), Signed Limited Edition, numbered
1st of 1000, with certificate of authenticity, donated by Artist Marilyn
Cukjati, Franklin, Ks.
2nd: $50 Bond donated by Jerry & Tammy Wayman, Franklin, Ks.
3rd: Handmade afghan donated by Rosa Rhodes, Robertsdale, Alabama
4th: Flag Set donated by Scotty's Classic Cars, Arma, Kansas
We are looking forward to the community picnic and hope you will join us!