The budget discussion blossoms

Spring is here, the budget discussion blossoms. The trees are budding and will shortly start filling out with their leaf cover. 

The Finance Committee spent 16+ hours reviewing the FY 2027 budget and will bring their findings to the Town Council hearings in May and to the Joint Budget Subcmte meeting this week.

The School Committee meets on Tuesday and is scheduled for a District and School improvement plan update.

The Town Council meets on Wednesday and is scheduled for presentations from NationalGrid, as well as the Police & Fire Departments where the Council will get some background and updates on those key public safety operations.

The Joint Budget Subcommittee gets to meet for the first time in this new set of terms with new membership from the Finance Committee, School Committee and Town Council. They get a grounding in the FY 2027 budget approach and as mentioned, an update from the FinCom on what they have found and will recommend to the Council.

The 250th Anniversary celebration has a subcommittee meeting on Sunday and another subcommittee meeting on Wednesday. The ZBA is not holding a meeting on Thursday.

Thursday morning at the Senior Center local town officials will meet for an informal discussion and coffee.

 

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-1714-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-04-12-26/

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town pages 4/10/26, 10:00 PM   ***

250th Anniversary Celebration Budget and Fundraising Subcommittee Meeting

Sunday, April 12 Time: 7:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04122026-2248 

Franklin School Committee Contractual Negotiations Meeting - Executive Session

Monday, April 13 Time: 4:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04132026-2197 

Franklin School Committee Meeting

Tuesday, April 14 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04142026-2250 

Town Council Meeting

Wednesday, April 15 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04152026-2251 

250th Anniversary Celebration Subcommittee on Events and Logistics Meeting

Wednesday, April 15 Time: 7:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04152026-2245 

Town Council Monthly Office Hours

Thursday, April 16 Time: 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM

Joint Budget Subcommittee Meeting

Thursday, April 16 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04162026-2252 

ZBA Meeting-no meeting

Thursday, April 16 Time: 7:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04162026-2236 

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

Town/School meetings

The Finance Committee spent 16+ hours reviewing, questioning, and deliberating on the FY 2027 budget over 4 nights. The YouTube videos are available on the TV Town Hall Channel. The meeting recap for each  session is available at Franklin.News

Monday, April 6  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7KSV5MTfHs&t=140s

Tuesday, April 7  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SrQw4jc-r0 

Wednesday, April 8  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Hb_pCl64A&t=164s 

Thursday, April 9   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oIsBHQ73Ts&t=1170s 

The Planning Board met on Monday and the video is available on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyyk7XtPsLM

The Conservation Commission met on Thursday and the video is available on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDH7mr4BEbw&t=1s 

FHS sports live streaming

Girls lacrosse vs Taunton  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i81AGqEiQxk

Girls softball vs North Attleboro  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCcxtb2IKkg&t=192s 

All Access Programs

Frank Falvey interviews Jason Poulos, a candidate for US House of Representatives, District 4 in Democratic primary in Sept 2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtiVLSvBe64 

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  

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