By Mike Pound
Globe Staff Writer
FRANKLIN, Kan. —
The new storm siren near the new city park is perhaps the most obvious thing townspeople have done to prepare themselves, should a tornado like the one that hit the town in 2003 approach again.
But Phyllis Bitner, bookkeeper and grant writer for the Franklin Community Council, said other work has gone on behind the scenes since that storm killed a longtime resident and destroyed dozens of homes, the post office and the community center.
Franklin has always been an unincorporated town. Residents have long preferred to live without the rules and regulations that come with incorporation. The downside, however, was that in a time of crisis, there was no organized group to lean on or to turn to.
“The (Crawford) County Commission is our governing body and they were wonderful after the storm but there were communities all through the county that needed help so they were stretched pretty thin,” Bitner said.
Immediately after the storm, residents leaned on county, state and federal agencies for help, but as those days turned into weeks, it became obvious to Franklin residents that they needed to take care of themselves.
So, on the advice of an attorney friend, Bitner and others set up a not-for-profit group that now operates under the umbrella of the Franklin Community Council.
Bitner said residents now have an organized body to come to with questions, concerns and suggestions. That group, composed of volunteers, is the main reason the town now has a new community center and heritage museum, Bitner said. It’s the reason there is a new park and it’s why work on a sewer system is expected to begin in the next few weeks.
“We already have everything in place. Franklin is a lovely place for people to come to and build, and the key to the whole thing was our forming a not-for-profit,” she said.
Storm siren
The Franklin, Kan., storm siren was installed in 2006 at a cost of approximately $18,000. The siren was paid for in part with a federal Rural Development grant and a $10,000 donation from the late actor Paul Newman.
