Franklin MAtters Weekly: 5 year fiscal forecast

School vacation is here and thereby a very light meeting week.

Hopefully, the time away will help to settle some things for folks. I had a great deal of hope coming out of the School Committee meeting Tuesday. Many Councilors were viewing the meeting in the Zoom session, one actively participated asking several clarification questions. All that is goodness.

Given the Council had previously seemed to come to consensus on the need for a strategic plan, we could be on the right road. The strategic plan will take some work to put into place and it needs to start with appropriately funding and staffing the Town Administrator’s office. Without resources there, other normal work will be delayed at best or not happen, key among them is that the Town Council subcommittees won’t be able to meet without additional resources.

Unfortunately, Wednesday night saw some of that hope dissipate during the Town Council meeting which discussed the 5 year fiscal forecast and the Capital budget. The discussion on the forecast revealed issues with how to handle the proposed FY 2027 budget. The Capital plan which had already been approved by the Finance Committee saw some heated words expressed by multiple parties.

The prioritization of $100K for chromebook replacements over $75k for camera and related server replacements was not accepted by some. Ultimately, the vote to take out the $100K failed and the vote to add the 75K passed. So much time spent over so little money in the scheme of the $1.8 Million capital authorization was truly making “a mountain out of a mole hill.“

The major concern is still with the lack of trust in accepting recommendations made by the people who are charged with the daily operations and who should know better. The Council position of oversight provides them with opportunity to question and to vet proposals but the nature of the challenge became more than it should have.

Hence, hopefully, the time away for school vacation (no School or Town Council meetings this week) will enable a reconciliation and a return to the hopeful progress that does need to be made to solve our structural deficit. Angry words create problems, they do not resolve them.

WE can only solve our problem with thoughtful civil discourse. The conversations will be difficult but the capability to come up with reasonable solutions is with us.

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-1659-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-02-15-26/

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town page 2/13/26, 7:00 PM ***

Charles River Pollution Control Meeting

Tuesday, February 17 Time: 4:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02172026-2134

Design Review Meeting

Tuesday, February 17 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02172026-2139

Town Council Monthly Office Hours

Thursday, February 19 Time: 8:30 AM

No agenda for this informal discussion

ZBA Meeting

Thursday, February 19 Time: 7:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02192026-2113

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

A full week of Town/School meetings occurred with something every night of the week

Monday, Feb 9 - The Community Relations subcommittee of the School Committee met. The exclusive audio is available

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/02/community-relations-subcommittee-20926.html

Monday, Feb 9 - The Planning Board meeting. The Franklin TV video link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMTWLdaCHic

Tuesday, Feb 10 - The School Committee met at 6 PM to provide enough time for their public hearing on their FY 2027 budget. The recap and video of the session can be found

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/02/school-committee-hear-details-on-level.html

Wednesday, Feb 11 - The Town Council also started at 6 PM with a time limit of 4 hours for this their first session in the new arrangement, and they needed to vote to extend the meeting in order to complete it. The Council got a preview of the updated 5 year fiscal forecast and ultimately approved the first pass on the Capital budget. The recap and video is available

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/02/town-council-adds-to-tier-1-capital.html

Thursday, Feb 12 - The Conservation Commission. The Franklin TV video link -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7914hOHIlLM

On the school front