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Census Takers Going Door-to-Door

In January, 25,600 Special Census forms were mailed to City of Franklin households. Of those, approximately 10,730 households have responded to date. Over 34% returned their census mailers; an additional 8% came from web responses.

Jaime Groce, Planning Director for the City of Franklin, stated, “With only 42% of the households being counted to date, the true population of the community cannot yet be determined. Given the response rate, it is important that each of the remaining households be visited to verify to the State and for our local planning efforts that our estimates are correct.” The Planning Department recently estimated the City’s population at 59,000.

On March 15th, census takers began going door-to-door visiting those households that had not yet responded to the Special Census. This process will continue throughout March and April.

Residents should know that the Special Census workers will wear orange safety vests and carry official City of Franklin identification; their vehicles will also be marked with a “City of Franklin Census Taker” sign. Census Takers work Monday thru Saturday, from 8 AM until 8 PM. Residents who have not yet responded to the Census may also get a phone call reminder from either Mayor John Schroer or a Census Taker.

This year, Police Officers and Firefighters will also aid in the efforts of Census Takers to reach every household in the City.

To avoid a call or visit by a Census Taker, residents may still go online and complete their information at

http://www.franklin-gov.com/census2008.aspx. For more information call (615) 550-6728 or e-mail specialcensus2008@franklin-gov.com.

The City of Franklin Celebrates National Public Works Week

National Public Works Week (NPWW) is a celebration of the tens of thousands of men and women in North America who provide and maintain the infrastucture and services collectively known as public works.

NPWW is observed each year during the third full week of May. Through NPWW and other efforts, the City of Franklin seeks to raise the public’s awareness of public works issues and to increase confidence in public works employees who are dedicated to improving the quality of life for present and future generations.

On May 17th from 10AM - 2PM at Pinkerton Park, the City of Franklin will kick off NPWW with a community celebration. We value our communities and the role public works professionals play in keeping them safe and functioning smoothly. Our objective is designed to increase public awareness of their contributions as well as to enlighten the public about the duties, practices and goals of public works professionals. Public works professionals include those who manage water, sewer, streets, refuse removal systems and the parks system. They are, in short, the people who maintain and improve the systems and services vital to a community’s health, safety and comfort. Activities will include a DJ, Touch-A-Truck, Paint-A-Truck, clowns, face-painting and fun.

Changes in Your Solid Waste Collection

Beginning June 1, 2008, our department will begin servicing residential customers as defined in the City of Franklin Municipal Code (Title 17: Refuse & Trash Disposal). A copy of the Code is available, in its entirety, within the "Government" tab of our website. To summarize, the following rules will now be enforced:

• Only City-provided Containers will be serviced. Privately-owned trash cans will not be emptied.
• All household refuse must be BAGGED and placed INSIDE your container. Household refuse outside of the 90-gallon container will not be picked up.
• Grass clippings must be BAGGED in BIODEGRADEABLE PAPER BAGS and placed at least two (2) feet from your rollout container.

Efficiency of our automated and semi-automated daily operations depends on help from you, our customer. If you have any questions, please contact our office at (615) 794-1516, between the hours of 7:00 am and 4:00 pm (Monday through Friday), visit our Solid Waste FAQ page, or you may e-mail your question to solidwaste@franklin-gov.com.