Franklin MAtters Weekly: town admistrator

Showing posts with label town admistrator. Show all posts

Saturday, August 15, 2026

A relatively quiet week ahead, let's enjoy it while it lasts

A less busy meeting week down from 14 meetings to only 5 on the calendar.

Like the humidity that seems to have gone for now, we can enjoy the lack thereof and the less busy week while they last.

The Cultural Council meets on Monday and among other things starts to discuss priorities for the next grant cycle, how would the funding be allocated?

The Design Review Commission is scheduled to meet virtually on Tuesday. Recall the hot item on the calendar was the Depot Plaza proposal which is being withdrawn and resubmitted to better align with the Planning Board timeline.

The Town Council holds their monthly office hours at the Senior Center on Thursday morning. Recall they expanded this option with a session at the Library, Saturday, August 15. They plan to add other locations and days/time of day to try and meet folks.

The 250th Celebration Events subcommittee meets on Thursday. The Horace Mann Legacy Subcommittee has a meeting scheduled for Friday afternoon to allow for participation of as many members of the committee as possible at the Farmers Market table. Stop by and find out what they are planning!

On Wednesday, the monthly Conversation and Q&A I conduct at the Senior Center comes around at 11:00 AM. You can participate in person, or remotely, I provide an update on what has happened the past month and take your questions on what is on your mind.

Also of note: 2 Fallen Hero recognitions are scheduled for 9 AM on the 20th and 22th This approx. 5 minute program will include the placing of a Memorial Wreath for the day, the playing of Taps, a salute from those present, and a reading of whatever history may be available for that veteran. This is a way of keeping the memory of that veteran alive.

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-1799-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-08-16-26/

*** Event & Meeting schedule (with agendas) as of Town pages 8/14/26 7:30 PM ***

Franklin Cultural Council

Monday, August 17 Time: 7:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08172026-2456

Design Review Meeting

Tuesday, August 18 Time: 7:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08182026-2461

Town Council Monthly Office Hours

Thursday, August 20 Time: 8:30 AM

No agenda for this informal discussion

250th Anniversary Celebration Events Subcommittee Meeting

Thursday, August 20 Time: 7:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08202026-2462

ZBA Meeting - No Meeting

Thursday, August 20

Franklin Public Schools Horace Mann Legacy Subcommittee Meeting (Farmers Market)

Friday, August 21 Time: 2:00 PM

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08212026-2458

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

Town/ School meetings

The School Cmte Horace Mann Legacy Subcmte met on Mon Aug 10. The recap & exclusive audio - https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/08/audio-recording-of-horace-mann-legacy.html

The Planning Board met on Monday, Aug 10. YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U5X9j_ytEs

The School Cmte Policy Subcmte met on Tuesday, Aug 11. the recap & exclusive audio is available

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/08/school-cmte-policy-subcommittee-reviews.html

The School Committee met on Tuesday, Aug 11

Recap and video link - https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/08/school-committee-gets-multiple-updates.html

Town Council met in Executive Session for 4 hours and public meeting for about 10 minutes to vote on the updated contract for the Town Administrator

The recap including audio & video links as well as links to the current and prior contract https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/08/town-council-votes-to-approve-town_01711482811.html

The Joint Budget Subcmte met on Thursday. The recap and video link -

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/08/joint-budget-subcmte-in-healthy.html

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Town calendar -> https://www.franklinma.gov/Calendar.aspx

Community calendar -> https://bit.ly/FranklinCommunityCalendar

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Saturday, February 14, 2026

School vacation brings a light meeting week (audio)

School vacation is here and thereby a very light meeting week.

Hopefully, the time away will help to settle some things for folks. I had a great deal of hope coming out of the School Committee meeting Tuesday. Many Councilors were viewing the meeting in the Zoom session, one actively participated asking several clarification questions. All that is goodness.

Given the Council had previously seemed to come to consensus on the need for a strategic plan, we could be on the right road. The strategic plan will take some work to put into place and it needs to start with appropriately funding and staffing the Town Administrator’s office. Without resources there, other normal work will be delayed at best or not happen, key among them is that the Town Council subcommittees won’t be able to meet without additional resources.

Unfortunately, Wednesday night saw some of that hope dissipate during the Town Council meeting which discussed the 5 year fiscal forecast and the Capital budget. The discussion on the forecast revealed issues with how to handle the proposed FY 2027 budget. The Capital plan which had already been approved by the Finance Committee saw some heated words expressed by multiple parties.

The prioritization of $100K for chromebook replacements over $75k for camera and related server replacements was not accepted by some. Ultimately, the vote to take out the $100K failed and the vote to add the 75K passed. So much time spent over so little money in the scheme of the $1.8 Million capital authorization was truly making “a mountain out of a mole hill.“

The major concern is still with the lack of trust in accepting recommendations made by the people who are charged with the daily operations and who should know better. The Council position of oversight provides them with opportunity to question and to vet proposals but the nature of the challenge became more than it should have.

Hence, hopefully, the time away for school vacation (no School or Town Council meetings this week) will enable a reconciliation and a return to the hopeful progress that does need to be made to solve our structural deficit. Angry words create problems, they do not resolve them.

WE can only solve our problem with thoughtful civil discourse. The conversations will be difficult but the capability to come up with reasonable solutions is with us.

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-1659-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-02-15-26/

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town page 2/13/26, 7:00 PM ***

Charles River Pollution Control Meeting

Tuesday, February 17 Time: 4:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02172026-2134

Design Review Meeting

Tuesday, February 17 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02172026-2139

Town Council Monthly Office Hours

Thursday, February 19 Time: 8:30 AM

No agenda for this informal discussion

ZBA Meeting

Thursday, February 19 Time: 7:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02192026-2113

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

A full week of Town/School meetings occurred with something every night of the week

Monday, Feb 9 - The Community Relations subcommittee of the School Committee met. The exclusive audio is available

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/02/community-relations-subcommittee-20926.html

Monday, Feb 9 - The Planning Board meeting. The Franklin TV video link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMTWLdaCHic

Tuesday, Feb 10 - The School Committee met at 6 PM to provide enough time for their public hearing on their FY 2027 budget. The recap and video of the session can be found

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/02/school-committee-hear-details-on-level.html

Wednesday, Feb 11 - The Town Council also started at 6 PM with a time limit of 4 hours for this their first session in the new arrangement, and they needed to vote to extend the meeting in order to complete it. The Council got a preview of the updated 5 year fiscal forecast and ultimately approved the first pass on the Capital budget. The recap and video is available

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/02/town-council-adds-to-tier-1-capital.html

Thursday, Feb 12 - The Conservation Commission. The Franklin TV video link -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7914hOHIlLM

On the school front