Franklin MAtters Weekly

Saturday, November 29, 2025

Thanksgiving leaves, the countdown to Christmas & year end arrives

Hopefully you and most Franklin folks enjoyed the holiday week. It went by quickly. The Turkey Trot set a record with the largest registrations and the FHS football team lost to KP. No significant Town meetings happened last week with the short holiday week.

However, this first week of December has a couple of key meetings. The Town Council gets to set the tax rate, approving a drop in the rate from $11.62/$1000 to $11.42/$1000. This is due to the continued significant rise in assessed real estate valuations. The average residential single family property assessment has increased from $679,400 to $731,400.

The charts will be updated to show the inverse relationship between the tax rate and property valuations. When they go up, as they have for the past many years, the rate goes down. When the valuation decreased (think recession 2008), the rate increased.

The Council also gets the inside scoop on the revenue forecast for the next 5 years. This was shared in August 2025 and with the new Council on board, is intended to bring them up to speed with this info so they can understand what room for decisions they may have.

For those who thought that the Council vote to rescind their approval of the 444 East Central project would suddenly end the project, sorry that didn’t happen. They should note that the ZBA did close the public hearing at their Nov 20 meeting. The ZBA also recommended for their attorney to draft the summary letter as ‘for approval’. Don’t get too alarmed, logically it makes more sense for a “No” vote against the recommendation to approve than it does for a “Yes” for to deny.

The ZBA will review and discuss the ‘draft’ letter at their remote only session this Thursday, Dec 4. Their next session (Dec 18) should have the formal vote on the decision and on the variances requested. The Conservation Commission also meets remote only on Thursday, and will continue to work on the 444 East Central project.

The decision on the 444 East Central project is on schedule to be filed with the appropriate authorities by year end. At which time, appeals may start. When those will end is open to speculation.

The HO scale train town exhibit of Franklin circa 1932 gets expanded to include the Mill Store and Franklin Paint with the official opening scheduled for Saturday, Dec 6. It is scheduled for display through January 2026.

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-1594-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-11-30-25/

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town page 11/28/25, 8:30 PM ***

Planning Board Meeting - meeting Cancelled

Monday, December 1 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12012025-2016

Massachusetts Strategic Health Group

Tuesday, December 2 Time: 1:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12022025-2023

Franklin Cultural Council

Tuesday, December 2 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12022025-2027

BOARD OF HEALTH MEETINGS

Wednesday, December 3 Time: 5:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12032025-2030

Town Council Meeting / Tax Rate Hearing

Wednesday, December 3 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12032025-2031

Franklin Commission on Disability Meeting

Thursday, December 4 Time: 4:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12042025-2029

Conservation Commission Meeting

Thursday, December 4 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/534?fileID=6990

Zoning Board Of Appeals (ZBA) Meeting (Zoom Only meeting)

Thursday, December 4 Time: 6:00 PM (Note time change)

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12042025-2034

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

No significant Town meetings happened last week with the short holiday week.

The Turkey Trot set a record with the largest registrations. https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/over-1000-registrations-for-franklin.html

The FHS football team lost to King Philip:

Video for replay -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/kp-tops-fhs-football-on-thanksgiving.html
Rivalry history -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/fhs-vs-kp-football-history.html

Podcast episodes you may have missed

Town Administrator Jamie Hellen’s most recent Talk Franklin episode https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/talk-franklin-starts-with-summer.html
Scott Mason talks of the Train Town exhibit https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/scott-mason-talks-about-train-town-3.html
Pantry Elves & Year end appeal by Franklin Food Pantry https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/pantry-elves-play-important-role-in.html
A discussion on the intersection of Franklin Matters meeting Toward a More Perfect Union https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/11/toward-more-perfect-union-with-franklin.html

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

Saturday, November 22, 2025

Thanksgiving week brings a short and condensed set of Town meetings

Thanksgiving week brings a short and condensed set of Town meetings. Time to give thanks for what we do have.

Monday is the busy day with 5 of the 6 meetings for the week scheduled. The Cultural District and Cultural Council, the Agricultural Committee, the Library Board of Directors as well as the Recreation Advisory are all scheduled to meet.

The Design Review is the only meeting scheduled for Tuesday.

Schools are closed Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

The Library and Senior Center close early Wednesday and both are closed on Thursday. The Senior Center remains closed on Friday but the Library is open Friday and Saturday.

Saturday is also a day to focus on supporting the local and small businesses which is a good thing to consider.

Santa Claus is scheduled to be delivered to the Town Common at 4 PM on Sunday via the Franklin Fire Dept for the Concerts on the Common celebration.

Get up early Thanksgiving Day to walk, run, or stroll to help the Franklin Food Pantry with their fundraising efforts. The annual football game between FHS and KP is hosted by Franklin at 10 AM.

Curbside pick up will be delayed for those normally scheduled for Thursday. Thursday will get picked up on Friday, and those normally on Friday will get picked up on Saturday.

As we all go through this holiday week, it is time to give thanks for what we do have.

Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1588-franklin-ma-what-matters-in-5-minutes-11-23-25/

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town page 11/21/25, 9:00 PM ***

Cultural District Committee Meeting