The slow season of summertime lingers this week 07/14 - 07/20/25

“Another day in the park

I think it was the Fourth of July”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjylD7esXDo

The slow season of summertime lingers this week. Only 1 ‘major’ meeting and 3 ‘minor’ meetings on tap for the week. 

The Economic Development Subcommittee meeting on Wednesday previews zoning bylaw changes proposed for the Crossing Neighborhood District located at the junction of Union and & Cottage. 

Stop by the Senior Center for breakfast and open conversation with State and Town officials on Thursday morning. A good breakfast at a very good price and usually a good conversation opportunity.

The ZBA meeting scheduled for Thursday has been rescheduled for July 31.

If you have other Town of Franklin questions, you can also take advantage of the Franklin Q&A session on Wednesday morning either remotely or in person at the Franklin Senior Center. Open to all in Franklin, you bring your questions, I’ll provide the answers either then or via follow up.

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town page 7/11/25, 8:00 PM

OPEB Board of Trustees Meeting

Tuesday, July 15 Time: 11:00 AM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_07152025-1813 

Economic Development Subcommittee Meeting

Wednesday, July 16 Time: 5:45 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_07162025-1818 

(Note: due to equipment trouble in the Council Chamber studio, the meeting might be broadcast from the 3rd Floor Training Room.)

Coffee Hour with State & Local Officials

Thursday, July 17 Time: 8:30 AM

No agenda for this open session

Zoning Board of Appeals ZBA Meeting

Thursday, July 17 Time: 7:30 PM -> rescheduled to July 31, 2025

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_07172025-1811 

Council on Aging Meeting

Friday, July 18 Time: 1:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06202025-1790 

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

The only meeting broadcast or recorded by Franklin TV was the 

Conservation Commission - July 10, 2025

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

The Memorial Day breakfast was published to YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04CztHlxZKE

The Memorial Day parade and ceremonies was published to YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79er1B_Cpd0

And from the archives of Franklin TV, the video of Poetry Day at the Senior Center held Oct 25, 2017 was published to YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4LPTfBJ_vk

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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 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

Early voting is underway with the Town Council picking up their Budget Hearing duties Weds/Thur

Early voting opened on Friday with a steady stream of folks coming to the Town Clerk's Office to mark their ballot for the Special Election on the override question. Town Clerk Nancy Danello reported 214 voters on the first day.

Early voting continues at the Town Clerk's office during office hours and then on Saturday, May 24 until 3 PM. Registration to vote closes out also in the office that Saturday at 5 PM.

The Town Council gets to their public hearing on the FY 2026 budget. Wednesday night is usually the long night as the major questions are asked of each department. Thursday will be somewhat different in that while questions left unanswered Weds, should be answered Thursday, the multiple votes on the budget will be continued to the Council's June 4 meeting.

With the results from June 3 available, the Town Council June 4 meeting will either approve the budget as proposed or make the significant cuts outlined should the override fail to pass.

The Town and School Dept have prepared all the info needed to cast an informed vote. If you still have a question, please raise it Wednesday. 

*** The agendas for the week ahead can be found here: as of 7:00 PM Friday, May 16 ***

BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING

Monday, May 19, 2025 9:00 am

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05192025-1743

Library Board of Directors Regular Meeting

Monday, May 19, 2025 7:00 pm

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/Library-Board-of-Directors-20/? 

Franklin Agricultural Committee Agenda

May 19, 2025 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05192025-1734

Recreation Advisory Board Meeting

Monday, May 19, 2025 7:00 pm

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05192025-1750

Norfolk County Regional Emergency Planning Committee

May 20, 2025, 10:30 AM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05202025-1739 

Economic Development Subcommittee Meeting

Wednesday, May 21, 2025, 5:45 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05212025-1754 

Town Council Meeting

Wednesday, May 21, 2025 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05212025-1752 

Town Council Meeting

Thursday, May 22, 2025, 7:00 PM 

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05222025-1753 

Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) Meeting (CANCELED)

Thursday,  May 22, 2025, 7:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05222025-1723 

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

Monday saw the Franklin Housing Authority rename the Community Center at Central Park Terrace for the late & long time board member Peter L Brunelli. Recap of the event including video of the exterior unveiling ->

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/05/franklin-housing-authority-renamed.html

The Franklin Housing Authority held its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday. The recap and audio recording (an exclusive) is available here ->

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/05/franklin-housing-authority-meets-in.html

The School Committee met for the first of their regular monthly meetings and heard about the traffic study results, plans for capital funding perhaps later this year. There will be no significant dollars spent to prepare for September, 2025. Any projects would be scoped and funded later this year for Sept 2026. In the meantime, consider having the kiddos ride the bus or expect car queue lengths to double for elementary school drop-offs. Recap & video -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/05/school-committee-gets-update-on-traffic.html

The newest volume of "Franklin First" the updated Town of Franklin newsletter was posted on Friday -> https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/5671/Newsletter-3 

Share-worthy interviews to be aware of:

• We have a labyrinth in town at the First Universalist Society of Franklin (FUSF). Find out about the recent renovation of it and how to approach waking it. It can be a tool to help deal with all that is going on -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/05/talking-about-labyrinths-with-bobbi.html
• Tuhina Pal, a junior at FHS, wrote a book of poetry to help her navigate life post COVID -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/05/tuhina-pal-talks-about-her-book-they.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 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

A very full week of Town and School business meetings is scheduled May 12 through May 16, 2025

A very full week of Town and School business meetings scheduled 

Both the Recreation and Planning Board are scheduled to meet on Monday. Housing Authority, Design Review, Friends of the Library, and School Committee and School Policy Subcommittee are scheduled for Tuesday.  The Board of Health, Cultural Council and Historical Commission are scheduled to meet on Wednesday.  Thursday morning starts with the Town and State official coffee social (8:30AM) at the Senior Center, followed by ribbon cutting for the new van and pavilion also at (10:00AM) the Senior Center. Thursday evening has the regular meeting of the Conservation Commission. Friday, the School Committee has a contract negotiation session to close out the busy week.

Over 200 volunteers, yes, some of your neighbors may be part of this group of non-paid volunteers spending some number of hours willingly to provide oversight for the Town and School operations. As a general rule, we should all be kind to our neighbors and more so to those who volunteer to help make this community work for us.

There may be disagreements on specific items but we are all here because we chose to be. We need to work together to make it a better place. Step away from the vitriol on the social webs and have a civil conversation with your neighbors. Franklin will be a better place for us.

*** The agendas for the week ahead can be found here: (as of 8:00 PM Friday, May 9, 2025)

Recreation Advisory Board Agenda

May 12, 2025, 7:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05122025-1713

Planning Board Meeting

May 12, 2025, 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05122025-1727 

Franklin Housing Authority Meeting

May 13, 2025, 4:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05132025-1733 

Design Review Meeting

May 13, 2025, 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05132025-1732 

Franklin School Committee Policy Subcommittee Meeting

May 13, 2025, 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05132025-1737 

Franklin School Committee Meeting

May 13, 2025, 7:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05132025-1735 

Friends of the Franklin Public Library Meeting

May 13, 2025, 7:00 PM - 7:45 PM

No agenda posted

Board of Health

May 14, 2025, 5:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05072025-1722 

Franklin Cultural Council Meeting

May 14, 2025, 7:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05142025-1731 

Historical Commission Meeting

May 14, 2025, 6:00 PM 

No agenda posted at this time

Coffee Hour with State & Local Officials

May 15, 2025, 8:30 AM

No agenda for this informal gathering

Conservation Commission Meeting

May 15, 2025, 7:00 PM

No agenda posted at this time

SC Negotiations - Franklin School Committee

May 16, 2025, 4:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05122025-1713

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

The Town Council met on Wednesday, May 7. The audit is once again “clean” and we also heard of the renewal for our AAA bond rating. This provides significant financial value to the Town. The recap and video can be found

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/05/town-council-hears-of-clean-audit-and.html 

The Town Council Quarterbacking session with Council Chair Tom Mercer condensed the almost 3 hour meeting to about 30 minutes can be found

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/05/town-council-quarterbacking-condenses.html 

The Zoning Board of Appeals had a contentious but informative session on Thursday. More discussion on the key zoning and building topics, including the 40b topic will be coming. In the meantime, catch up on the meeting here (recap and video)

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/05/zba-listens-town-administrator-attempts.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

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

Wet weekend weather continues ahead of the Town Council meeting and informal Q&A sessions

Another wet weekend to dampen the spirits of the area residents. Wet enough that the Applause Gelato shop has rescheduled their re-opening until April 26 to be timed with the Ladybug Trail Walk which hopefully will bring more Spring-like weather. In the meantime, the moisture is gradually refilling the aquifers so that the State is gradually coming out of drought status so that is good. 

On the Town meeting front, the Town Council meets on Wednesday with a zoning bylaw to permit shared use kitchens, authorization for early voting for the special election June 3, and presentations on the Police Dept Mental Health Clinician work as well as the Town’s Crisis Advocacy Team.

Town and State officials hold their office hours at the Senior Center Thursday morning. Franklin Q&A has 2 sessions this week; at the Library Monday night at 6:30 PM and Wednesday at the Senior Center at 11 AM. All three sessions designated for informal question and answers on Town business.

*** Meeting schedule for the week of April 14 - April 19 

From the Town of Franklin calendar - as of 04/11/25 8 PM

Norfolk County Advisory Board Meeting Notice

Wednesday, April 16  Time: 6:30 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04162025-1657 

Town Council Meeting

Wednesday, April 16  Time: 7:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04162025-1682 

Town Council Office Hours

Thursday, April 17  Time: 8:30 AM

No agenda expected for this informal business hour 

Franklin Housing Authority Meeting

Thursday, April 17  Time: 4:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04172025-1681 

Conservation Commission Meeting

Thursday, April 17  Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/372?fileID=4420 

Council On Aging (COA) Meeting

Friday, April 18  Time: 1:30 PM

no posted agenda at this time

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

The School Committee Policy Subcommittee met on Tuesday to confirm that while Horace was never going away, due to some folks impatience with the process, there may be a Horace Mann Campus proposal for the full School Committee to vote on at their April 29 session. The audio for the meeting is available exclusively from Franklin Matters/Franklin Public Radio  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/04/school-committee-policy-subcommittee.html 

The full School Committee met also on Tuesday to get detailed updates on the redistricting efforts for the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) expansion as well as the elementary schools. The video is available for replay from Franklin TV.  https://www.youtube.com/live/3rgXaYFUtNA?&t=100

The Chalkboard Chat session with School Committee Chair Dave Callaghan recaps both the Policy Subcommittee meeting and the full School Committee session to condense the four hour combined meetings to about 40 minutes

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/04/this-chalkboard-chat-condenses-both.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

• 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