This week has the shortest list of meetings this year, only 3 on the calendar with one of them canceled.
This would be a good time to get into some of the topics that arose this week that should be further discussed.
Tuesday’s Design Review Commission got a presentation on the proposal for redevelopment of the Depot Plaza. The owner/developer is asking for 2 variances: 1 for 4 stories and 1 for a reduction in the parking requirements.
Objections have already been raised against the 4 stories and around the parking, generally from the same folks who advocated for the street scape project (which changed the look and feel of downtown) but didn’t bring in the additional economic development it hoped for. The developer has expressed willingness to work to adjust the proposal. However, the 4th story is what makes the project financially doable. Maybe it is time to change the approach.
Wednesday’s marathon Town Council session also raised a couple of items for discussion, first up, the potential sale of some of Franklin’s excess sewer capacity. THere is a discussion around how much is excess and what the pricing should be, but there is excess, and if the sewer rate payers can get dollars back, that is a good & neighborly thing to do. More to come in September on this topic.
The 300 Fisher St superfund site is under remediation by the EPA. They are conducting the remediation with Federal funds as the current property owner is not the business that created the mess. The EPA is looking for community input on the potential reuse of the site in order to determine the next steps in remediation. Stay tuned for that opportunity reportedly coming in a couple of months.
One other topic (the audit result) should also help to put to rest the recurring comment around mismanagement of Town finances. There are always going to be differences in priorities, but the Town (yet again) is confirmed as financially in good shape. The AAA rating is a good thing.
So what kind of Town do we want to be? Do we want good revenues to meet the service demands of the community? Our revenue options are limited so the discussion needs to happen.
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-1783-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-07-26-26/
*** Event & Meeting schedule (with agendas) as of Town pages 7/24/26 6:00 PM ***
Franklin Agricultural Committee Meeting
Monday, July 27 Time: 7:00 PM
https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_07272026-2425
Planning Board Meeting - Cancelled
Monday, July 27 Time: 7:00 PM
https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_07272026-2415
Conservation Commission Meeting
Thursday, July 30 Time: 7:00 PM
https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/620?fileID=9803
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*** Looking back at the week that was ***
The light meeting week that was, resulted in 2 broadcasts
Town/ School meetings
Town Council meeting TV link and recap -
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/07/franklin-town-council-votes-to-extend.html
Economic Development Subcmte TV link and recap -
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/07/economic-development-subcommittee.html
All Access Programming
Porchfest 2026 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlre--9Cq9Y
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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
