Full week of meetings features a packed Town Council agenda & Economic Development session exploring "Permitting 101" (audio)

We are in the middle of September and the week ahead holds a full slate of meetings. 

The Ad Hoc Committee for the Town Administrator Evaluation starts to work on Monday morning.

The Planning Board meeting is canceled on Monday evening but they along with members of the Design Review, Conservation Commission, and Zoning Board of Appeal are slated for participation in a “Permitting 101” discussion on Thursday at the Economic Development Subcommittee meeting.

The Horace Mann Legacy Committee continues their work on Monday. The 250th Anniversary Celebration also meets Monday in a virtual session.

Design Review has enough business to continue to hold their session on Tuesday.

The Town Council has a full agenda with recognition of a number of Town employee retirements, legislative updates from Senator Rausch and Rep Jeff Roy, presentations from the Franklin Food Pantry, SAFE Coalition, and the 250th Anniversary Celebration

The Council holds office hours Thursday morning at the Senior Center

The 250th Events Subcommittee is scheduled to continue their work on Thursday as well as the Economic Development meeting mentioned above.

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-1820-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-09-13-26/

*** Event & Meeting schedule (with agendas) as of Town pages 9/11/26   9:00 PM   ***

Town Administrator Evaluation Ad Hoc Committee Meeting

Monday, September 14 Time: 9:30 AM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09142026-2498 

FPS - Horace Mann Legacy Subcommittee

Monday, September 14 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09142026-2500 

Planning Board Meeting-Cancelled

Monday, September 14 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09142026-2493 

250th Anniversary Celebration Committee

Monday, September 14 Time: 7:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09142026-2501 

Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School Finance Committee Meeting

Tuesday, September 15 Time: 12:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09152026-2510 

Design Review Meeting

Tuesday, September 15 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09152026-2499 

Town Council Meeting

Wednesday, September 16 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09162026-2512 

Town Council Monthly Office Hours

Thursday, September 17 Time: 8:30 AM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09172026-2506 

EDC Meeting (with Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, Conservation Commission & Design Review Commission)

Thursday, September 17 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09172026-2504 

DR - https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09172026-2496 

PB - https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09172026-2503 

ZBA - https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09172026-2484 

250th Anniversary Celebration Events Subcommittee Meeting

Thursday, September 17 Time: 7:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09172026-2511 

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

Town/ School meetings

• On Tuesday, the School Committee Policy Subcmte met. The recap and exclusive audio can be found https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/09/schcmte-policy-subcommittee-tackles.html 

• Also on Tuesday, the School Committee got insights into the District Improvement Plan for this school year and provided feedback. The meeting recap and video https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/09/school-committee-gets-insights-on.html 

• The Conservation Commission met on Thursday. Franklin TV video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v0hjRy54lg 

FHS Sports broadcasts

• FHS girls varsity soccer game on Tuesday - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8HrEx4uEyk

• FHS football game on Thursday shared via coverage by Wachusetts High School -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D63b_TI3WA 

• FHS girls volleyball match vs Bishop Feehan on Friday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AipFJCMPv8 

All Access programming

• The Second Sunday Speaker Series in August features Scott Mason sharing the Franklin connection to the bombing of Nagaski, Japan in World War II. The video is available for replay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGtNLXDSr-Q 

• An episode of Once Upon a Town, filmed with an audience at Franklin TV Studios was published to YouTube. Watch to find out about the history of the race track that used to be on the land where Shaw’s and the HOrace Mann Plaza is today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwWnZ06S0dw 

Franklin Matters

• Town Council Quarterbacking with Councilor Max Morrongiello recapping the Council’s Sep 2 meeting is available https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/09/town-council-quarterbacking-with-town.html 

• The audio recording of the 25th Anniversary 9/11 Memorial Services is available  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/09/franklin-fire-dept-25th-anniversary-911.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    

Thanksgiving leaves, the countdown to Christmas & year end arrives

Hopefully you and most Franklin folks enjoyed the holiday week. It went by quickly. The Turkey Trot set a record with the largest registrations and the FHS football team lost to KP. No significant Town meetings happened last week with the short holiday week.

However, this first week of December has a couple of key meetings. The Town Council gets to set the tax rate, approving a drop in the rate from $11.62/$1000 to $11.42/$1000. This is due to the continued significant rise in assessed real estate valuations. The average residential single family property assessment has increased from $679,400 to $731,400.

The charts will be updated to show the inverse relationship between the tax rate and property valuations. When they go up, as they have for the past many years, the rate goes down. When the valuation decreased (think recession 2008), the rate increased.

The Council also gets the inside scoop on the revenue forecast for the next 5 years. This was shared in August 2025 and with the new Council on board, is intended to bring them up to speed with this info so they can understand what room for decisions they may have.

For those who thought that the Council vote to rescind their approval of the 444 East Central project would suddenly end the project, sorry that didn’t happen. They should note that the ZBA did close the public hearing at their Nov 20 meeting. The ZBA also recommended for their attorney to draft the summary letter as ‘for approval’. Don’t get too alarmed, logically it makes more sense for a “No” vote against the recommendation to approve than it does for a “Yes” for to deny.

The ZBA will review and discuss the ‘draft’ letter at their remote only session this Thursday, Dec 4. Their next session (Dec 18) should have the formal vote on the decision and on the variances requested. The Conservation Commission also meets remote only on Thursday, and will continue to work on the 444 East Central project.

The decision on the 444 East Central project is on schedule to be filed with the appropriate authorities by year end. At which time, appeals may start. When those will end is open to speculation.

The HO scale train town exhibit of Franklin circa 1932 gets expanded to include the Mill Store and Franklin Paint with the official opening scheduled for Saturday, Dec 6. It is scheduled for display through January 2026.

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-1594-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-11-30-25/

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town page 11/28/25, 8:30 PM   ***

Planning Board Meeting - meeting Cancelled

Monday, December 1 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12012025-2016 

Massachusetts Strategic Health Group

Tuesday, December 2 Time: 1:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12022025-2023 

Franklin Cultural Council

Tuesday, December 2 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12022025-2027 

BOARD OF HEALTH MEETINGS

Wednesday, December 3 Time:  5:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12032025-2030 

Town Council Meeting / Tax Rate Hearing

Wednesday, December 3 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12032025-2031 

Franklin Commission on Disability Meeting

Thursday, December 4 Time: 4:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12042025-2029 

Conservation Commission Meeting

Thursday, December 4 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/534?fileID=6990 

Zoning Board Of Appeals (ZBA) Meeting (Zoom Only meeting)

Thursday, December 4 Time: 6:00 PM (Note time change)

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12042025-2034 

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

No significant Town meetings happened last week with the short holiday week.

The Turkey Trot set a record with the largest registrations. https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/over-1000-registrations-for-franklin.html 

The FHS football team lost to King Philip:

• Video for replay ->  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/kp-tops-fhs-football-on-thanksgiving.html 

• Rivalry history ->  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/fhs-vs-kp-football-history.html 

Podcast episodes you may have missed

• Town Administrator Jamie Hellen’s most recent Talk Franklin episode https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/talk-franklin-starts-with-summer.html 

• Scott Mason talks of the Train Town exhibit https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/scott-mason-talks-about-train-town-3.html 

• Pantry Elves & Year end appeal by Franklin Food Pantry https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/pantry-elves-play-important-role-in.html 

• A discussion on the intersection of Franklin Matters meeting Toward a More Perfect Union https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/toward-more-perfect-union-with-franklin.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