Franklin Pond ready for grand opening

FRANKLIN — With the June 23 ‘soft launch’ of Franklin Pond opening a success, the June 30 Grand Opening is on as scheduled.
As Council member John Postas explained, “The dock is put in, ropes are in and we are a ‘GO’ for Saturday!”
Fellow council member Phillip Crabb said the pond swim area is far larger than he remembered and “It’s really amazing!”
The Franklin Band will kick off the musical festivities and fireworks, at approximately 9:30 p.m., will complete the fun-filled day. In between, the public can expect more musical guests, old fashioned pie eating and hula-hoop contests, and the 5K run, currently sporting 134 entries.
The council hopes borough residents will encourage the runners along the route and decorate houses to show support.
Controls for parking include using the Franklin Borough Elementary school parking lot as overflow for race participants.
Administrator Alison Littel- McHose assured residents that the senior center will have reserved spaces during the Grand Opening and throughout the summer. Littell-McHose said, “we will work cohesively together” to address parking availability.
An ongoing concern about badge fees was expressed with council members offering to use their planned 1.5 percente salary increase toward badges for those in need instead of taking the increase for themselves. Borough Attorney John Ursin said that is not something that could be worked out by grand opening day and that as private citizens they could donate, but as an organized council, donation is not possible without a written policy explaining how the recipients of the badges would be chosen.