With the new Town Council organized around new leadership, the School Committee gets to do the same thing this week.
The School Committee welcomes 3 new members to their organizational meeting on Tuesday. They also have a workshop facilitated by the area director of the Mass Association of School Committees with lots of good info on rules, regulations and process items specific to School Committees.
The Town Council gets into their second meeting with some serious business on the agenda for their Wednesday session. The second FY 2026 budget adjustment of approx. $280K is scheduled for discussion. An organizational change to remove the Deputy Town Administrator and replace that role with one focused on communications and returning a part-time administrative assistant provides some of the savings needed. There is an adjustment to local receipts as well as a reduction to the Tri-County school building assessment due to a lower interest rate actually achieved vs. the original forecast.
The first adjustment was made in August to account for a reduction in State local aid revealed when the State approved their budget in July with a lower amount than already included in the FY 2026 budget by the Town.
The requested rescission of the Town Council approval of the 444 East Central St development proposal is also on the agenda. 1 or 2 of the Council won’t be able to vote on this to avoid a conflict of interest as they are either direct abutters to the property or in the immediate neighborhood.
Part of the discussion should also include consideration of all the options for what to do and what consequences might occur. If nothing is done to interfere with the due diligence process at the ZBA, and they deny the proposal, the Town is in good position as we are above the minimum 40b percent and an appeal to the State would likely not be overturned. As I understand the situation, most other options for appeal to the State could result in additional legal costs to be assumed by the Town to defend its actions.
The ZBA is scheduled to continue their due diligence at their Thursday meeting. The 250th Anniversary Celebration committee also meets for the first time Thursday.
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-1581-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-11-16-25/
*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town page 11/14/25, 6:00 PM ***
Planning Board Meeting
Monday, November 17 Time: 7:00 PM
https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11172025-2005
Recreation Advisory Board Meeting
Monday, November 17 Time: 7:00 PM
https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11172025-2003
Franklin School Committee MASC Workshop
Tuesday, November 18 Time: 5:30 PM
https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11182025-1982
Franklin School Committee
Tuesday, November 18 Time: 7:00 PM
Board of Assessors Meeting
Wednesday, November 19 Time: 4:30 PM
https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11192025-2009
Town Council Meeting
Wednesday, November 19 Time: 6:00 PM
https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11192025-2010
Town Council Office Hours
Thursday, November 20 Time: 8:30 AM
No agenda for this session
250th Anniversary Celebration Committee Meeting
Thursday, November 20 Time: 7:00 PM
https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11202025-2007
Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) Meeting
Thursday, November 20 Time: 7:30 PM
https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11202025-1997
FOFE Meeting
Friday, November 21 Time: 9:00 AM
Council on Aging Meeting
Friday, November 21 Time: 1:30 PM
*** Looking back at the week that was ***
The Town Council met for the first time since the election brought 7 new members to the table. Dellorco was voted as Chair. Grella as Vice-chair, and Cormier-Leger as Clerk. Griffith was appointed temporarily as Clerk to cover the absence of Cormier-Leger for 2 meetings. Franklin TV video is available for replay -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsYVvhWdqWs
The Conservation Commission met on Thursday as scheduled. Franklin TV video is available for replay -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojepfHYFuow
On the Franklin High School sports front, there were 3 live streamed events broadcast by Franklin TV
Volleyball on Wednesday, Nov 12 -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FLttuyC6NQ
Girls soccer on Thursday, Nov 13 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6k4hfKdJ1w
Football on Friday, Nov 14 -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGPwJa8sz_s
On the Youth Football front, 3 teams are scheduled to play in their respective Super Bowl games this weekend. A special 3 part series provides info on the G5, G6 and G8 team success this season
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/the-g5-football-teams-journey-to-emass.html
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/the-g6-football-teams-journey-to-emass.html
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/the-g8-football-teams-journey-to-emass.html
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.
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
