The winds of change have landed in Franklin

The winds of change have landed in Franklin.

Tuesday, November 4 dawned sunny but windy, and those winds may have been the portent of the change that the community saw when the Town of Franklin Biennial Election results were available just after 9 PM.

Only 2 of the Town Council incumbents were re-elected, joining 7 new members. Diane Daddario won the write-in vote for the Board of Health with a convincing margin. 1 of the School Committee incumbents did not return as 3 new members will be joining the committee. 

The first Town Council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov 12 with a 6 PM starting time. The meeting will open with organizational votes so it will be interesting to see who ends up as Chair, Vice Chair, and Clerk for this new team.

The agenda is mainly an orientation to Council operations, open meeting law, Conflict of Interest, Ethics, and other matters that for the prior Councils with less change were covered but not likely in the depth anticipated for this session with so many newbies. 

Other Town meetings this week are scheduled around the Veterans Day holiday Tuesday. 

The Housing Authority meets on Monday. The Historical Commission and Friends of the Franklin Public Library are scheduled to meet on Wednesday. 

The Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, the Charles River Pollution Control District, the BFCCPS and the Conservation Commission are all scheduled to meet on Thursday. The agendas for all the meetings this week are listed below.

For all the cultural events and meetings, 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-1577-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-11-09-25/

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town page 11/07/25, 8:30 PM   ***

Housing Authority

Monday, November 10 Time: 4:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11102025-1994 

Veterans Day - Town offices and Schools closed

Tuesday, November 11

Historical Commission Meeting

Wednesday, November 12 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11122025-1999 

Town Council Meeting

Wednesday, November 12 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11122025-2001 

Friends of the Franklin Public Library Meeting

Wednesday, November 12 Time: 7:00 PM

Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Meetings

Thursday, November 13 Time: 2:00 PM

not available at this time

Charles River Pollution Control Meeting

Thursday, November 13 Time: 3:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11132025-2000 

Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School Meeting

Thursday, November 13 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11132025-1995 

Conservation Commission Meeting

Thursday, November 13 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/528?fileID=6820  

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

The Franklin Public Schools Horace Mann Legacy Subcommittee met on Monday, Nov 3 at 6 PM. Exclusive audio of that meeting is expected to be available by Monday, Nov 10

The Planning Board met on Monday, Nov 3. Franklin TV broadcast the meeting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgAto6ygY8M

The Biennial Election was conducted on Tuesday, Nov 4. The official results were posted by Town Clerk after noon on Wednesday, Nov 5.  6387 voters, 24.4% of the 26,136 registered total cast ballots. Detailed results are available -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/town-of-franklin-official-results-of.html 

The Board of Health met on Wednesday, Nov 5 at 5 PM. Exclusive audio of that meeting is expected to be available by Monday, Nov 10. 

The Finance Committee was also scheduled to meet Wednesday but it was canceled late in the afternoon due to lack of a quorum. The Technology ‘deep dive’ will need to be rescheduled yet again, likely for the next meeting in December.

The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) met briefly on Thursday, Nov 6. They approved the first accessory dwelling unit requiring a variance. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wc7bTwqVFg

With the MIAA playoffs underway, there was only One live steamed FHS high school sports this week. 

The boys soccer team fell to Framingham in OT by a 2-1 score. The video is available   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qNsIesLrv4

A shareworthy presentation by Joe Landy to the Senior Center on “Then & Now” is available on YouTube ->  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7EkZIrEeq4 

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 

Biennial election ballots gets complete, Town Council has a full agenda for the week of Sep 14, 2025

The middle of September is here already. 

The Biennial Election ballot gets close to final this week as all the nomination papers are due Monday, Sep 15. Candidates can still change their mind by Sep 22 to withdraw. After the 22nd, the ballots will get sent out for printing and be back in time for the in person early voting scheduled to begin Oct 17. 

The in person early voting schedule has been posted by the Town Clerk and added to the Community Calendar.

The Town Council agenda is full. Among the key items are: 

• Some Police Dept personnel are sworn in as back fill for retirees

• There are zoning bylaws in a couple of categories; a set of six to create the Crossing Neighborhood District, and a couple of others for commercial kitchens in residential areas as long as the unit is on septic (not Town sewer)

• There is also a presentation on the solicitation permit process by Chief Lynch and Deputy Chief West

• Town Administrator Jamie Hellen is also scheduled to provide a personnel update; i.e word has it the replacement for Bryan Taberner has been hired

2 additional options for getting your questions answered occur this week. Steve Sherlock holds his Franklin Q&A at the Senior Center, Wednesday, Sep 17 at 11 AM. The Town and Local official also hold their coffee hour at the Senior Center on Thursday at 8:30 AM.

Buckle those seat belts, driving safely now that school is settling into their schedule. The Biennial Election campaign period is about to get real active over the next several weeks.

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town page 9/12/25, 9:30 PM

Library Board of Directors Regular meeting

Monday, September 15 Time: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/Library-Board-of-Directors-20/?#_09152025-1904 

Recreation Advisory Board Meeting

Monday, September 15 Time: 7:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09152025-1867 

Town Council Meeting

Wednesday, September 17  Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09172025-1911 

Town Council Office Hours

Thursday, September 18 Time: 8:30 AM

no agenda for this open discussion

Conservation Commission Meeting

Thursday, September 18 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/497?fileID=6384 

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

Franklin TV broadcast two meetings during the week that are available for replay

1 - Planning Board Meeting Monday, September 8

Franklin TV video for replay ->  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSttQT8spbE 

The agenda can be found -> 

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09082025-1897  

2 - Franklin School Committee Meeting - Tuesday, September 9

Franklin TV video for replay ->  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38uXznSNhM8 

The agenda can be found ->

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09092025-1902

The Franklin TV studio was also busy with school sports broadcasting 4 competitions during the week

FHS girls soccer 9/8/25 -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb_52WSHUpw

FHS volleyball 9/8/25 -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bVwmEEaQ4U 

FHS boys soccer 9/10/25 -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U5xsFYOM3k

FHS football 9/12/25 -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5uLubdGr2c 

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

Summertime, “Summertime, and the living is easy”

Summertime,  “Summertime, and the living is easy” 

The Fiscal Year 2025 comes to a close on June 30. Town business starts to shift gears from one fiscal year to the next as the cycles continue. FY 2026 opens July 1 and we’ll start seeing confirmation of the budget cuts due to the failed override to fund the level service budget. No level service? Correct, town delivery of services will decline in various aspects. Some will be more noticeable than others.

With schools closed, the Recreation dept has temporarily moved to use Parmenter while construction on the Beaver St interceptor continues to work in their yard as well as disrupt traffic on Beaver St. They take this week off fortunately but are likely to be back as steel plates in the road remain.

The Design Review, School Committee and SchCmte Policy subcommittee all meet virtually on Tuesday. The Conservation Commission meets on Thursday.

For updates and reporting on the meetings and cultural events, check out the calendar and information 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.

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town page 6/20/25, 6:30 PM

Franklin Public Library Board of Directors Meeting

Monday, June 23 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/Library-Board-of-Directors-20/?#_06232025-1776 

Franklin School Committee Policy Subcommittee Meeting (virtual only)

Tuesday, June 24 Time: 6:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06242025-1792 

Design Review Meeting (virtual only)

Tuesday, June 24 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/429?fileID=5164 

Franklin School Committee (Virtual only)

Tuesday, June 24 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/School-Committee-35/?#_06242025-1793 

Arts and Culture Symposium Subcommittee Meeting

Wednesday, June 25` Time: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/5979/Arts-and-Culture-Symposium_-SubCommittee-Meeting--1?bidId= 

Tri-County Regional Vocational School Committee Appointment Meeting

Thursday, June 26 Time: 2:30 PM

no agenda available at this time

Conservation Commission Meeting

Thursday, June 26 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/430?fileID=5169 

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

The groundbreaking for Habitat for Humanity to formally take title to the Old South Meeting House took place on Wednesday, June 18. The exterior will be preserved while the interior will be renovated to become a single family affordable residence.

The most significant meeting of the week was the Town Council session on Wednesday, June 18. The agenda was a typical variety of business appointments, recognitions, survey results, and a surprise. Fire Chief James McLaughlin announced his retirement effective on or before Oct 1, 2025. The video replay of the full meeting is available.

Chair Tom Mercer and I met virtually to record our Council “quarterbacking” session. We recap the meeting and condense it answering 2 key questions: 

• ok, what just happened? 

• What does it mean for Franklin residents and taxpayers?

You can also find the audio at Franklin.News

—------------

For all the meetings and cultural events, check out the calendars 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