Marching forward to Spring day by day (audio)

Daylight is continuing to expand each day, now daylight savings has returned, and we have a full week of meetings for the Town of Franklin, MA.

School Committee negotiations are scheduled for Executive sessions on Monday. The Planning board has their regular meeting also on Monday.

The communications subcommittee for the Franklin 250 Celebration, the School Committee and Friends of Franklin Library all have scheduled sessions for Tuesday. The Friends is deliberately more of a social event than a meeting to attract potential members to find out more about what they do and consider joining.

The Norfolk County Commissioners hold a public hearing on Wednesday for their budget. The shared document shows a $2M deficit with no narrative on alternatives for balancing so that in and of itself is an incentive to participate to find out what’s up on the County front.

The Finance Committee gets to review the Town fiscal policies as well as take a deep dive into the grant process and what opportunities those have presented on Wednesday. The Cultural Council is also scheduled for a meeting that night with the recent Wreath of Franklin results and planning for the next one.

The Municipal Housing Affordable Trust is scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon. The agenda will likely be posted Monday for this session. The Conservation Commission has a full and verified set of items on their agenda for Thursday evening.

The Cultural District Committee gets updates on World Cup planning & MetroWest Boston Visitors Bureau annual meeting among the several items on the agenda also for Thursday evening.

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-1683-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-03-08-26/

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town page 3/6/26, 7:30 PM   ***

Franklin School Committee Negotiations Sub Committee Meeting

Monday, March 9 Time: 4:30 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03092026-2162 

Planning Board Meeting

Monday, March 9 Time: 7:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03092026-2171 

250th Franklin Anniversary Communications Subcommittee Meeting

Tuesday, March 10 Time: 5:30 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03102026-2121 

Franklin School Committee Meeting

Tuesday, March 10 Time: 6:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03102026-2175 

Friends of the Franklin Public Library Meeting

Tuesday, March 10 Time: 6:00 PM - 7:45 PM

Social event, no agenda posted

Norfolk County Commissioners Public Hearing Notice

Wednesday, March 11 Time: 1:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03112026-2159

Public view budget for Norfolk County - https://cms5.revize.com/revize/norfolkcountyma/FY27%20BUDGET%20PUBLIC%20VIEWING%20COPY%203%205%2026.pdf?t=202603060812320&t=202603060812320 

Finance Committee Meeting

Wednesday, March 11 Time: 6:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03112026-2176

Franklin Cultural Council Meeting

Wednesday, March 11 Time: 7:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03112026-2167

Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Meeting

Thursday, March 12 Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

No agenda posted at this time

Conservation Commission Meeting

Thursday, March 12 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/571?fileID=8589

Cultural District Committee Meeting

Thursday, March 12 Time: 7:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03122026-2170

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

To recap the Franklin TV. Franklin Public Radio meetings broadcast

• The Board of Health met for their monthly session on Wednesday at 5:00 PM. Exclusive audio and recap of the meeting can be found https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/03/exclusive-audio-franklin-ma-board-of.html 

• The Town Council met for their first of the month session and managed to stay exactly within their time allocation closing out at 9:59 PM. The recap, and video link can be found. The audio will be ready shortly https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/03/town-council-authorizes-fire-truck.html 

• The Zoning Board of Appeals met on Thursday evening. The video is available https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMbRoIJCjn0 

On the High School front

• The only game broadcast with the end of the playoff run by the FHS girls basketball team vs Bishop Feehan on Tuesday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQDTIhHkSms

On the All Access front

• The most recent Aging Boldfully episode is available via YouTube in addition to being on the cable broadcast schedule https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8zhy3wuZ3c

On the Public Radio/podcast front

• The first episode for 2026 of “Talk Franklin” with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen is available https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/03/in-this-talk-franklin-episode-jamie-i.html

• The Party for The Pantry is the topic for this audio discussion https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/03/have-you-got-your-tickets-were-talking.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