Franklin MAtters Weekly

Saturday, February 7, 2026

More snow, more cold, more budget = winter in New England; Franklin news in less than 5 minutes

More snow, more cold, ah, yes, it is winter in New England.

February also brings a beginning to the FY 2027 budget cycle. And yes, there is more daylight in the forecast so there is hope on that side. Hope not so much on the budget front especially if you were looking for prior cuts to get restored.

Tuesday, Feb 10 the School Committee holds the public hearing on their FY 2027 budget proposal. Of note, the meeting also moves to a 6 PM opening to provide sufficient time for line item review by committee and community.

Per the preview we received at the Jan 27th meeting, they will bring in a level service budget at 2.5%. Which also means cuts made last year don’t come back. Fees at this point, don’t change (up or down).

Wednesday, Feb 11, the Town Council gets the Capital budget and the 5 year fiscal forecast with plenty of info on the seriousness of our budget situation especially given the prior override failures.

Town Administrator Jamie Hellen writes that using one time money to balance this budget “I have provided a model to give everyone time to strategize a game plan for the future without any department cuts or conversations about property tax increases in FY27.”

What that statement doesn’t say is

nothing previously cut gets restored (especially on the School budget, but also across the Town departmental budgets)
AND we will start out the next budget cycle (FY 2028) in the hole (by however much one time funds are used)

The Capital budget proposal is less than normal as $2 million in ‘free cash’ is held aside to help balance the (FY 2027) budget as noted above. And by kicking the can down the road again (using ‘free cash’), digs us a hole for the next budget cycle.

Fasten your seat belt for these budget conversations, they won’t be easy.

There are a number of other regular board and committee meetings scheduled for this week. Some adjusted to avoid the school vacation coming next week.

For all the meetings and cultural events, check out the calendar at Franklin.news where each day, that day's events are posted on the top of the page, the TV and radio schedules are on the bottom, and all the other goodness falls in-between.

Audio link - https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1655-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-02-08-26/

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town page 2/06/26, 7:00 PM ***

Franklin Housing Authority Meeting

Monday, February 9 Time: 4:30 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02092026-2126

Franklin Public Schools Community Relations Subcommittee Meeting

Monday, February 9 Time: 6:30 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02092026-2123

Planning Board Meeting

Monday, February 9 Time: 7:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02092026-2124

Bi-County Collaborative Meeting

Tuesday, February 10 Time: 2:30 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02102026-2132

Franklin School Committee

Tuesday, February 10 Time: 6:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02102026-2129

Friends of the Franklin Public Library Meeting

Tuesday, February 10 Time: 7:00 PM

No agenda for this session

Town Council Meeting

Wednesday, February 11 Time: 6:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02112026-2130

Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Meeting

Thursday, February 12 Time: 2:00 PM

No agenda posted at this time

Charles River Pollution Control District Meeting

Thursday, February 12 Time: 4:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02122026-2131

Conservation Commission Meeting

Thursday, February 12 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/553?fileID=7915

Cultural District Committee Meeting

Thursday, February 12 Time: 7:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02122026-2125

*** Looking back at the week that was ***

The School Committee conducted their brief and ‘remote only’ meeting to authorize the transfer of accounting for health care to the Town budget line 910. Franklin.news has the recap and video link

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/02/school-committee-votes-to-move-health.html

The Town Council conducted their shortest session of this new term in part by punting on setting goals and reserving time for a lengthy executive session to review property decisions. Franklin.News has the recap and video link

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/02/town-council-discusses-goals-hears-last.html

On the High School video performance recorded/broadcast by Franklin TV

Girls basketball Tuesday 2/3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Bb55JhQwk&t=846s
Boys basketball on Friday 2/6 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMotZm6amyE
FHS Winter Jazz concert of 1/27 was published - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcMlZhD7DL8

On the Community video front

Joe Landry’s presentation on Industry through the years in Franklin is available - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfEsSvTOq3A
The presentation at the Library on the Tommaso Juglaris’s mural held in October 2025 is now available for viewing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7heZtFtT9GQ

Town calendar -> https://www.franklinma.gov/Calendar.aspx

Community calendar -> https://bit.ly/FranklinCommunityCalendar

Subscribe for the daily dose of information -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/p/welcome.html

Subscribe for the weekly dose of information -> https://www.franklinmattersweekly.org/p/subscribe-for-email.html

Saturday, January 31, 2026

Franklin News in 5 minutes 02/01/2026 (audio)

Yes, it is cold outside.

Inside, in the warmth of the public meeting places, volunteers will be working with the appropriate Town and School staff planning to deliver services with improvements where possible for life here in Franklin in the short term and longer term.

For example, the Franklin 250 Celebration comes along in 2028 but the planning is starting now. The budget & fundraising subcommittee is scheduled to meet Sunday evening to conduct their work.

The School Committee has added a special meeting to vote on the proposal to realign their health care costs with the Town budget line 910. This will ensure continued focus at the Town level on minimizing health care costs, won’t change the coverage provided, but will enable a better apples to apples comparison for each of the Town Department budgets. Schools were the only department to have to account for these health care costs within their own budget.

This step continues the efforts the Town started years ago with taking over the custodians, and then facilities, to enable the schools to focus on education as it is their primary mission. However much the Town does to support the Schools it all ends up getting sorted out financially with the reporting to DESE resulting in the per pupil cost and Net School Spending calculations done at the State level to ensure consistent accounting across the 351 Mass communities.

The Cultural Council and Board of Health are scheduled to meet on Wednesday respectively addressing their arenas.

The Town Council meets on Wednesday to set up goals for their term of office; what they can, should, and might be possible to accomplish this year and next. “They” doesn’t refer to the Council alone. As a policy making body, they approve of the goals and budget accordingly (we hope) but don’t do the detailed work required. That work is done by the many departments and talented personnel across the Town and Schools.

Another item on their agenda is an attempt to put a closing time on their regular meetings through a revision of their operating rules. Meeting length is generally determined by the items on the agenda. Given an inexperienced Council, meetings generally will take longer as each item is going to be their ‘first’ time around, requiring extra explanation. As their term of office progresses, the cyclical nature of their work could become more evident and hence respectfully more ‘routine’. Until then, it will take time, and forcing a closing time is ‘one’ way to address it. We’ll all see how that works.

Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1646-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-02-01-26/

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town page 1/30/26, 5:30 PM ***

250th Anniversary Celebration Budget and Fundraising Subcommittee Meeting

Sunday, February 1 Time: 7:30 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02012026-2114

Franklin School Committee- Special Meeting

Tuesday, February 3 Time: 6:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02032026-2116

Board of Health Meeting

Wednesday, February 4 Time: 5:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02042026-2115

Town Council Meeting

Wednesday, February 4 Time: 6:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02042026-2120

Franklin Cultural Council Meeting

Wednesday, February 4 Time: 7:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02042026-2117

Bi-County Collaborative Joint Board of Directors & Operating Comm. Mtg. (Walpole)

Thursday, February 5 Time: 9:00 AM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02052026-2122

Franklin Commission on Disability

Thursday, February 5 Time: 4:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02052026-2110

Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) Meeting - NO Meeting

Thursday, February 5 Time: 7:30 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02052026-2112

*** Looking back at the week that was ***

As a result of the major snow storm last week, schedules were changed. School cancellations happened on Monday and Tuesday. Town meetings on Monday were also canceled.

The School Committee did meet on Tuesday and got their first look at the Superintendent’s Recommended budget for FY 2027. Excluding health care, the schools come in with a 2.5% increase.

There is a proposal to move the health care costs to the Town budget item, line 910. This step continues the efforts the Town started years ago with taking over the custodians, and facilities, to enable the school to focus on education as it is their primary mission. This will also enable a better apples to apples comparison of the Town Dept budgets. Schools were the only department to have to account for these health care costs within their own budget.

Meeting recap and video -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/01/school-committee-get-preview-of-fy-2027.html

The Conservation Commission met on Thursday. The Franklin TV video is available for replay -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8r0Lbg2a1M

On the FHS sports live streaming front