The Town Council met for 5 hours on Wednesday night, Jan 21, 2026. 8 members were present in Chambers with one absent.
Franklin TV video for replay -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSZJNniE9Gk
The meeting agenda -> https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01212026-2101
Quick recap:
- 2 hours were spent talking around and around the Zooning Board of Appeals appointments. After all was said, both highly qualified candidates were approved unanimously (in separate votes)
- Brutus Cantoreggi presented on the DPW and their infrastructure work. As he began he introduced the entire management team which was also present and several of them has an opportunity to answer specific questions during the segment
- The Council again combined "councilor comments and future agenda items" sections in an attempt to speed up the closing of the session. However ended up in an extensive discussion on future topics around budget, timeline, engagement, to have and hold Joint Budget sessions, etc. Seems like that may happen after the budget is released in April. Stay tuned
- An item coming out of the ZBA discussion earlier was a desire to expand the board membership from 3 to 5. That would require a charter change, and per the prior 1 hour plus discussion at the Jan 7 meeting on charter changes, would not likely happen in time for a November 2026 ballot question (although that was the request)
My notes in one PDF -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lz6tu7vPWXskijNcph_qOcdToMGFgi5t/view?usp=drive_link
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| This highlights the central role DPW infrastructure plays in Town operations |
The presentation PDF can be previewed here
