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  

Snowmageddon, or “Fern” … take your pick, either way, please be prepared

Snow, snow, snow… snowmageddon, or “Fern” … take your pick, if you wish, either way, please be prepared.

When folks ask me what I think of the coming storm, I say that I don’t do forecasts. Seriously, I am better at reporting on what is happening, or has happened. That in and of itself, is challenging enough.

There is a collection of the alerts, and reminders, all accurate information from the trusted sources, to help prepare and deal with however much we get. You can find it on the top of the page at Franklin.news for the duration of the storm event.

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/01/franklin-ma-storm-center-collection-for.html 

Assuming the storm aftermath is relatively clean (we have power, roads are clear…) then the Monday schedule for meetings may occur. If not, there’ll be updates to the storm collection. The curbside schedule for the week has already changed to a one day delay; Monday on Tuesday, etc.

Franklin Agricultural Commission, Franklin Public Library Board of Directors, Planning Board, and Recreation Advisory Board are all scheduled for 7 PM starts in their respective locations. Of note, the Planning Board has a public hearing on the 2 minor zoning changes to bring us fully into compliance with the MBTA Community guidelines. 

We were almost there when the requirements came out due to the previous “Franklin For All” project and have managed to get closer with additional changes. Assuming the Planning Board approves, then these zoning changes come back to the Town Council for their public hearing, and given recent experience, a lengthy discussion before the vote.

The School Committee meeting on Tuesday gives us the first view into the Superintendent’s Recommended FY 2027 school budget.

The Conservation Commission has its 2nd monthly normal session scheduled for 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-1640-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-01-25-26/

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town page 1/23/26, 10:00 PM   ***

11:00am 1/25/26

Town of Franklin robocall with DPW Director Brutus Cantoreggi delivering the messages https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/01/town-of-franklin-robocall-with-dpw.html

With the Town and School buildings closed on Monday, the meetings scheduled for Monday are also canceled and to be rescheduled.

Franklin Agricultural Commission Agenda

Monday, January 26 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01262026-2102 

Franklin Public Library Board of Directors Meeting

Monday, January 26 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01262026-2108 

Planning Board Meeting

Monday, January 26 Time: 7:00 PM

(Legal notice) - https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01262026-2091 

(Agenda) -  https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01262026-2106  

Recreation Advisory Board Meeting

Monday, January 26 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01262026-2097 

Massachusetts Strategic Health Group

Tuesday, January 27 Time: 1:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01272026-2100 

Franklin School Committee

Tuesday, January 27 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01272026-2111 

Conservation Commission Meeting

Thursday, January 29 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/551?fileID=7563 

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

The Town Council meeting on Wednesday was another marathon 5 hour session. Almost 2 hours alone on the Zoning Board of Appeal appointments, which after all was said, both passed unanimously. 

Brutus Cantoreggi introduced his entire DPW team before presenting an expedited update on the overall infrastructure operations provided by the DPW departments. A few of the managers had an opportunity to step up to answer specific questions. You can find the presentation doc on the Town page

Franklin TV video is available for replay. Franklin Matters Radio will shortly have the two primary audio segments of the meeting available to listen to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSZJNniE9Gk 

The Zoning Board of Appeals met for the first time with their new members on Thursday. The first order of business was to reorganize and the results were: Ginelle Lang was elected as Chair, Jennifer Williams as Vice-Chair, and Isabella Carter as Clerk. All votes were 3-0.

https://www.youtube.com/live/RBO9UPZIdZk?si=qbWcn1l52HJ1Oq6Z&t=275 

On the Franklin Public Schools live streaming front:

• FHS boys hockey on Monday - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmXSt0z6Fn4

• FHS girls basketball on Tuesday - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmXSt0z6Fn4 

• Lifelong Learning Strings School concert on Thursday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmXSt0z6Fn4 

• FHS boys basketball on Friday - https://www.youtube.com/live/1h7Xo2FZIDc?si=l0fyJAY82W5fF36P&t=1634 

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