Franklin Matters: Municipal Affordable Housing Trust

Showing posts with label Municipal Affordable Housing Trust. Show all posts

Friday, January 9, 2026

Town Council approves an amended Friendly 40b policy in another long 4 hour session (video)

The Town Council meet for the first time in 2026 for another long 4 hour session with all 9 members present in Council Chambers.

Franklin TV video -> https://www.youtube.com/live/07Ywvi5WtP8?&t=487

The agenda and doc released for this session ->

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01072026-2073

Quick recap:

The longest discussion on a single appointment in my time reporting ultimately resulted in a unanimous vote to approve Mark Minnichelli to the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust. Kudos to Mark for his careful and confident responses to the questions.
Town and School Facilities Presentation - Kevin Harn, Facilities Director https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/8040/8a-1---MEMO---Facilities-Presentation

This discussion was extensive as Facilities and the potential issues facing the Town are something this Council is going to need to get up to speed quickly on to make the decisions and determine the direction to go, all of which ultimately gets to funding and resources
The Davis Thayer (DT) building future has been the Council's hands since the Advisory committee did its work. On Tuesday (Jan 6, 26) the Police Station Building Comte determined Parmenter was the best site freeing up DT for a decision on what it's future is
The combination of the Washington St renovations, Middle School roof, and the Police Station would be approx. $50M. To do and how to fund remain questions before the Council
The presentation doc is not on the Town page or within the Council agenda but pictures of the slides shared can be found in one album -> https://photos.app.goo.gl/1FpYnuiED36kPumw8

2 Zoning Bylaw amendments were referred to the Planning Board. There is likely to be an extensive discussion on these when they return as the Council was not familiar with the bylaw process (usually starting with Planning Dept (as in this case), discussion before Economic Development Subcmte (not yet in place), referral to Planning Board, and then return to Council for decision). As these 2 measure are the 'final' points to bring the Town in compliance with the MBTA Community requirements, the potential for discussion before this new Council is great
The friendly 40b policy came back on the agenda for this Council and they juggled their agenda to get the above items out of the way before settling into this lengthy discussion. Ultimately, 2 amendments to the wording were approved first one by a 5-4 vote to require an annual review of the policy, the second to fix the confusing wording in a sentence by a 9-0 vote, and then the overall measure passed by a 9-0 vote
Multiple personnel changes were announced in Town Administrator Jamie Hellen's report. Of note, the Council also gave the go ahead to the hiring request they had approved at the tax rate hearing and then also asked to put on hold. The Town Administrator's office which used to be 4 people is only 2, and one was sick this week. If the Council wants the Town to get work done, these resources are required. Fortunately, the Council agreed

My notes captured in one PDF file -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zmqgACh7aVrr8OnerWndCC74ehZoDuuL/view?usp=drive_link

The combination of the Washington St renovations,
Middle School roof, and the Police Station would be approx. $50M

Thursday, January 8, 2026

What's happening in Franklin, MA: Thursday, January 8, 2026 ???

Thursday, January 8

Christmas trees scheduled for curbside pickup on your normal trash/recycling day

6:00pm Candlelight vigil (Franklin Town Common)

7:30pm Musical Bingo (Teddy Gallagher's Irish Pub)

Library & Senior Center events

For additional details on Library events ->

https://www.franklinma.gov/942/Calendar-of-Events

For additional details on Senior Center events ->

https://www.franklinma.gov/calendar.aspx?CID=37,24&showPastEvents=false

** Town Meetings today **

Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Meeting

Thursday, January 8 Time: 2:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01082026-2081

Franklin Commission on Disability Meeting

Thursday, January 8 Time: 4:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01082026-2070

Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School (updated 1/05/26)

Thursday, January 8 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01082026-2078

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Find the full Community event calendar https://bit.ly/FranklinCommunityCalendar

If you have an event to add to the calendar, you can use the form to submit it for publication: https://bit.ly/Submit2Calendar

The Town meeting calendar is found https://www.franklinma.gov/Calendar.aspx
The School district calendar is found https://franklinpublicschooldistrictma.sites.thrillshare.com/o/fpsd/page/school-calendar

Thursday, January 1, 2026

Franklin Ridge Begins Construction

After 11 years of groundwork, the affordable senior housing project moves toward construction with an eye toward opening in late 2027

Through the Franklin Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, the Town of Franklin is proud to announce that the Franklin Ridge Senior Housing project has secured all necessary funding and construction-related approvals to commence the construction of this three-story, 60-unit affordable senior housing complex in November.

Franklin Ridge Begins Construction

Over the past eleven years, the Town of Franklin and Franklin Municipal Affordable Housing Trust have worked closely with JNJUHL & Associates, a local, affordable housing developer, to provide much needed affordable housing for Franklin’s senior community 62 years of age or older. Located adjacent to the Eaton Place senior housing complex, the Franklin Ridge housing development will consist of (54) One-Bedroom Units and (6) Two-Bedroom Units, in addition to community space that includes a community room with a kitchenette, library, a multi-purpose room and offices for management and social service staff.

"With the senior population in Franklin growing exponentially, the Town continues to be committed to providing high quality affordable senior housing which keeps our Franklin seniors within the community for the long-term” stated Town Administrator Jamie Hellen. “Seniors are an essential and valued component of this community, providing not only an important link to our past, but a viable element that continues to make a significant contribution through volunteering as well as supporting town activities and organizations. This project will allow income eligible seniors to right-size their living situation and stay in the community they love”.

With 70% local preference, which is the maximum percentage allowed under state regulation, the Town is focused on getting as many local eligible seniors as possible into the Franklin Ridge Senior Housing project upon its completion in 2027.

Jon Juhl, President of JNJUHL & Associates, continues “this project was truly a community effort: the Franklin Municipal Affordable Housing Trust is providing the land, as well as a significant financial contribution of $500,000 toward the project. The Town is also using over $320,000 in Community Preservation Act funding to leverage millions of dollars in federal and state funding from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. "

"This affordable housing project could not have been accomplished without the hard work and support of many Town Departments and Committees including the Town Administrator’s Office, Department of Planning & Community Development, Building Department, Conservation Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals; all with one goal in mind: to meet the supportive housing needs of seniors while building a green and sustainable project. Franklin Ridge will be just that: housing which has adaptive, accessible apartments, is 100% electric, and has solar back-up. It is a project that will benefit Franklin seniors –and our community—for many years to come.”

Franklin Ridge Senior Housing Project has been designed for seniors, age 62 and older, who meet income eligibility requirements. Construction will start this winter and occupancy is expected by mid-late 2027. Rental applications will be managed by The Community Builders, a Boston-based non-profit housing development and management company, starting in early 2027. Outreach sessions to the senior center and broader community will begin in 2026.