Be wary of foolishness, April 1 arrives Wednesday

Be wary pranksters may be around this week as April Fool’s day arrives on Wednesday.

“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”   ― Soren Kierkegaard

The FY 2027 budget is now published so there really is no time to fool around. The Board of Assessors met early Monday morning. The Agriculture Commission, Horace Mann Legacy Subcommittee and the Library Board of Directors all meet later Monday.

The Mass Strategic Health Group meets Tuesday afternoon, and the Design Review meets Tuesday night.

Wednesday the Board of Health is scheduled for 5 PM with the Town Council scheduled for 6. The Board of Health continues the discussion started last meeting on a potential ban of mind altering products. The Council gets into their first public hearings on zoning bylaws. Minor and technical changes to the Crossing Neighborhood District and to complete the MBTA compliance requirements are covered in 2 bylaws each (total 4 bylaws for hearings and first readings).

The Commission on Disability meets Thursday afternoon and the newly appointed Economic Development Subcommittee of the Town Council gets its first session in the Thursday evening broadcast time slot not being used this time by the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). The ZBA are scheduled for a non-public, executive session meeting.

The agendas for these individual meetings are provided below.

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-1702-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-03-29-26/

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town page 3/27/26, 8:00 PM   ***

Board of Assessors

Monday, March 30 Time: 8:30 AM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03302026-2212 

Franklin Agricultural Committee

Monday, March 30 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03302026-2215 

Franklin School Committee - Horace Mann Legacy Subcommittee

Monday, March 30 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03302026-2211 

Library Board of Directors Regular Meeting

Monday, March 30 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03302026-2216 

Massachusetts Strategic Health Group Meeting Notice

Tuesday, March 31 Time: 1:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03312026-2225 

Design Review Meeting

Tuesday, March 31 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03312026-2217 

Board of Health Meeting

Wednesday, April 1 Time: 5:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04012026-2218 

Town Council Meeting

Wednesday, April 1 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04012026-2229 

Franklin Commission on Disability

Thursday, April 2 Time: 4:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04022026-2209 

Economic Development Subcommittee Meeting

Thursday, April 2 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04022026-2223 

ZBA Meeting- NO Meeting

Thursday, April 2 Time: 7:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04022026-2213 

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04022026-2228 

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

The Planning Board met as scheduled on Monday, March 23. The video is available https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNdEd3y7QdY

The School Committee Budget subcommittee met on Tuesday at 6 PM before the full Committee met at 7 PM. The exclusive audio and recap of the Budget meeting can be found https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/03/school-committee-budget-subcmte-reviews.html 

The video and recap for the full School Committee meeting can be found

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/03/school-committee-gets-update-on.html 

The Conservation Commission met as scheduled on Thursday March 26. The video is available   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56oBa37n5j4 

Nothing was happening on the school's front this week. On the All Access front, a video “Rockin’ the Boroughs” a concert of senior singers recorded in October 2025 in now available for viewing  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwRuJZfpgrQ 

The audio recording of the No Kings Rally on the Town Common on Saturday is available. The video should be available in a few days. So if you missed this event, you can listen and catch up on what you missed.

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  

From a quiet week to a full week of meetings

Another winter storm on the way seems to confirm that the ground hog did see his/her shadow.

If it gets to be a blizzard or not, we’ll find out as it arrives. In any case, we do have a full set of meetings for this week coming off the school vacation week.

The Agricultural Commission, Library Board of Directors and Planning Board are all scheduled for Monday.

Tuesday has the School Committee scheduled for their formal vote on the FY 2027 budget. The budget book and all the budget details you may want are now available on the School Budget page.

Wednesday has the Finance Committee scheduled to meet to look at a couple of financial funding options for an emergency replacement of one of the fire trucks due to frame corrosion. Also scheduled for their review is the updated 5 year fiscal forecast. Hopefully there will be a more earnest discussion on this than we saw at the Town Council meeting Feb 11.

The Council on Aging and the 250th Anniversary Celebration committees are also scheduled to meet on Wednesday.

The Conservation Commission closes out this meeting week with their regular session on 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-1662-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-02-22-26/

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town page 2/20/26, 6:00 PM   ***

Franklin Agricultural Committee Meeting

Monday, February 23 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02232026-2140 

Library Board of Directors Regular Meeting

Monday, February 23 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02232026-2147 

Planning Board Meeting

Monday, February 23 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02232026-2149 

Massachusetts Strategic Health Group Meeting

Tuesday, February 24 Time: 1:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02242026-2151 

Franklin School Committee Meeting

Tuesday, February 24 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02242026-2148 

Council on Aging Board Meeting

Wednesday, February 25 Time: 11:00 AM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02252026-2153 

Finance Committee Meeting

Wednesday, February 25 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02252026-2152 

250th Anniversary Celebration Subcommittee on Events and Logistics Meeting

Wednesday, February 25 Time: 7:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02252026-2141 

Horace Mann Legacy Sub Committee

Thursday, February 26 Time: 2:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02262026-2154

Conservation Commission Meeting

Thursday, February 26 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/559?fileID=8093 

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

The only Franklin TV meeting broadcast during the past week was the short Zoning Board of Appeals session on Thursday. In the approx. 6 minute remote only session, the Board approved 2 sets of minutes for their prior meetings, and continued the one item per request from the homeowner to the March 5 meeting.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ba6xwcXdBA 

On the FHS live streaming front, the following were broadcast and are available on YouTube:

• FHS boys hockey Feb 16 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaYlaGS51cQ

• FHS boys basketball Feb 16 -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpcNiMiP7zg&t=353s 

On the All Access front we can share the following:

The Franklin Ridge Senior Housing presentation and Q&A session at the Franklin Senior Center on Feb 6 is now available for viewing via YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sD2t0uiwSY

On the Public Radio front, we have the following new shows to share

• Wonderful World of Wine - https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/02/the-wonderful-world-of-wine-www-episode_0243911959.html 

Franklin Matters Radio:

• Town Council Quarterbacking with Max Morrongiello - https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/02/councilor-max-morrongiello-shares-his.html 

• The Franklin Food Pantry has a part-time nutritionist to help them improve their healthy food choices https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/02/the-pantry-is-working-to-expand-dietary.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