Franklin MAtters Weekly: executive session

Saturday, August 8, 2026

Middle of August and the summer might be already over (audio)

For the summer Town and School meetings, the relatively quiet short list of meeting weeks are behind us now. We are faced with a week chock full of sessions. Yup, from 4 meetings last week to 13 this week.

On Monday, the Franklin Housing Authority starts off with a session at 4:30 at Central Park Terrace.

Franklin Public School Horace Mann Legacy Subcommittee meeting at 7 PM has State Rep Jeff Roy scheduled for a visit to get an update on the work of the committee. The Planning Board also meets at the same time (this session is broadcast). Note that the Depot Plaza development proposal was withdrawn and resubmitted so that item will be on the August 24th agenda.

Closing out Monday, the 250th Anniversary Committee meets virtually to continue their planning.

On Tuesday, the Franklin School Committee Policy Subcommittee meets at 6 PM to get into a bunch of potential policies for review & revision.

At 7 PM, the Franklin School Committee meets. Among the standard agenda items is the approval of the submission to the Town Annual Report, and a 2nd reading on the restraint policy reviewed at a prior meeting.

On Wednesday, the Charles River Pollution Control meets at 3:30. The Tri-County School Committee Nomination Committee is scheduled to meet at 5:15 to confirm an appointment to an open seat on the Committee.

The Town Council meets at 6 PM mostly in Executive Session negotiating the Town Administrator's contract and then in public session to vote on such an agreement.

On Thursday, the Municipal Housing Trust and Conservation Commission have regular sessions scheduled. The Joint Budget Subcommittee is also scheduled to meet either for a short session in Chambers, or a ‘normal’ session in the 3rd floor conference room. Stay tuned for an update on this.

On Saturday, the Town Council added an “Office Hours” session at the library beginning at 10 AM.

The complete agenda for each of these meetings are listed below.

For all the meetings and cultural events, check out 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-1794-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-08-09-26/

*** Event & Meeting schedule (with agendas) as of Town pages 8/07/26 7:30 PM ***

Franklin Housing Authority Meeting

Monday, August 10 Time: 4:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08102026-2437

Franklin Public School Horace Mann Legacy Sub Committee Meeting

Monday, August 10 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08042026-2436

Planning Board Meeting

Monday, August 10 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08102026-2438

250th Anniversary Celebration Committee Meeting

Monday, August 10 Time: 7:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08102026-2439

Franklin School Committee Policy Subcommittee Meeting

Tuesday, August 11 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08112026-2442

Franklin School Committee Meeting

Tuesday, August 11 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08112026-2448

Charles River Pollution Control Meeting

Wednesday, August 12 Time: 3:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08122026-2435

Tri-County School Committee Nomination Committee Meeting

Wednesday, August 12 Time: 5:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08122026-2446

Historical Commission

Wednesday, August 12 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08122026-2450

Town Council Meeting

Wednesday, August 12 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08122026-2444

Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Meeting

Thursday, August 13 Time: 2:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08132026-2453

Joint Budget Subcommittee Meeting

Thursday, August 13 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08132026-2445

Conservation Commission Meeting

Thursday, August 13 Time: 7:00 PM (3rd Fl Trng, updated 8/10)

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08132026-2452

Town Council Open Office Hours

Saturday, August 15 Time: 10:00 AM

No agenda for this open discussion session

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

Town/ School meetings

The Economic Development Subcmte met on Tuesday, Aug 4. The recap and TV link can be found https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/08/econommic-development-covers-variety-of.html

The Zoning Board of Appeals met on Thursday, Aug 6. Franklin TV video can be found on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex5AJ_0B8Ik

The Commission on Disability met on Thursday at the Senior Center. The recap and audio of this meeting can be found https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/08/audio-recording-available-for.html

All Access Programming

A new Once Upon a Town episode on the Ray Block can be viewed on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmvrPrdW3qM

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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

Saturday, March 15, 2025

6 listening sessions leads to a recommendation for the Town Council to review March 19

The last of the 6 scheduled Joint Budget Subcommittee listening sessions was held on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. After continuing to listen for about 2 hours, the subcommitte then spent another hour to discuss and decide to recommend an override in the amount of $3.86 million to be held Tuesday, June 3, 2025. The Town Council is now scheduled to take up this recommendation and decide at their scheduled session, Wednesday,March 19.

"At the final JBSC listening session on March 12th, the Committee voted, 9-1 (with one member absent) to recommend the following:

1) That the Town Council vote to put forth a $3,862,672 override ballot question to the registered voters of the Town of Franklin with the following ballot question language - "Shall the Town of Franklin be allowed to assess an additional $3,862,672 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purpose of the municipal and school operating budgets for which monies from this assessment will be used for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025".

2) That the Town Council vote to place the proposed override ballot question before the residents for a vote at a Special Town Election on Tuesday, June 3, 2025."

As this is the 3rd week of the month, in addition to the schedule of Town meetings outlined below, I conduct 2 Question & Answer sessions. The first, Monday at the Library at 6:30 PM and the second, Wednesday at the Senior Center at 11:00 AM. Both sessions offer a remote option. To get on that mailing listing, please contact me directly or use the form to sign up.

You can also come to the Senior Center Thursday morning to talk with the Town & State officials coffee hour at 8:30 AM.

** For the week of March 17 - March 21 **

Franklin School Committee - Negotiations - Executive Session

Tuesday, March 18th Time: 4:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/School-Committee-35/?#_03182025-1585

Franklin School Committee Community Relations Subcommittee Meeting

Tuesday, March 18th Time: 5:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03182025-1610

Franklin Public Schools School Committee Special Meeting (virtual only)

Wednesday, March 19th Time: 6:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03192025-1635

Town Council Meeting

Wednesday, March 19th Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03192025-1639

Ballot question text -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/03/proposition-2-override-ballot-question.html

Coffee Hour with State & Local Officials

Thursday, March 20th Time: 8:30 AM

No agenda expected, open session

Conservation Commission Meeting

Thursday, March 20th Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/321?fileID=4200

** Looking back at the week that was March 10 - March 14 **

As mentioned about, the Joint Budget Subcommittee met on Wednesday, March 12 resulted in the overrride recommendation. You can watch, listen, ~~or read~~ the details here -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/03/joint-budget-subcommittee-recommends-to_01637031613.html

The School Committee meeting on March 11 revealed

detailed info on what the redistricting does for busing (smooths out the ride lengths, and potentially reduces 2 buses, while handling an increase in ridership)
the facility plans for acommodations and enhancements due to the redistricting, most of the major items would not be done before September when schools open in the new structure
and finally, assuming the proposed override is successful, the sprts and transportation fees could be reduced

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/03/franklin-school-committee-get_13.html

Senior Center closure extends 2 days to March 19 -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/03/senior-center-closure-extends-2-days.html

Chalkboard Chat recaps the March 11 School Committee meeting and the Joint Budget Listening Sessions -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/03/this-chalkboard-chat-condenses-mtg-of.html

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For all the meetings and cultural events, check out the calendars at Franklin.news where each day, that day's events on posted on the top of the page