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| Franklin, MA: Agenda for the Town Council meeting May 13 at 6 PM |
FM #1397 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1397 in the series.
This session of the radio show shares our “Town Council Quarterbacking” with Town Council Chair Tom Mercer. We had our conversation via the Zoom Conference Bridge on Thursday, March 6, 2025.
Our conversation condenses the three recent meetings:
Police Station Building Cmte Mtg - 02/25/25
Town Council meeting - 2/26/25
Town Council meeting - 3/05/25
We focus on two questions:
• ok, what just happened?
• What does it mean for Franklin residents and taxpayers?
Topics for this session
Police Station Building Committee 2/25/25
Team together and starting work; No site chosen, no design or estimates other than rough ballparks; Site visits planned to see others recently done; Open houses planned to enable the community to see inside; Video also planned to share views/walkthrough, website with info being built; Likely at east 2 years before some firm details, estimates, sometime after a decision on building vote or not
Town Council meeting 2/26/25
ALS/BLS ambulance fee increase approved
Did get confirmation from the Commonwealth, August 31, Best Western will be closed to the emergency shelter program
Town Council last night - 3/05/25
Police swearing in, replacement for recent retiree,
String quartet and proclamation
OPEB update
Good position, funding plan, AAA related impact
FY 2026 budget update
Listening session at Senior Center ¾
Council Chambers, 3/8 & FHS auditorium on 3/12
JBSC recommendation at end of 3/12 session
Town Council to take up 3/19
$3.862 M shortage, no money to be found otherwise raise or cut
Details on Town page, opportunities for discussion, questions as mentioned
Easement for DCR, and commitment on $1M to help with rail trail extension when the federal acquisition process allows
Let’s listen to my conversation with Tom as we recap the three recent meetings
Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1397-town-council-quarterbacking-03-06-25/
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Franklin TV video is ready for replay
Police Stn 02/25/25 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWC6PbFTu0s
Town Council 02/26/25 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbkmz3G_q6Y
Town Council 03/05/25 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAHS9BRE4cA&t=100
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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like something here, please let me know
And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
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| 3 meetings, approx 5 hours distilled to a 30 minute summary in this Quarterbacking session (audio) |
a. This meeting is being recorded by Franklin TV and shown on Comcast channel 9 and Verizon Channel 29. This meeting may be recorded by others.b. Chair to identify members participating remotely.c. Upcoming Town Sponsored Community Events.
a. Citizens are welcome to express their views for up to three minutes on a matter that is not on the agenda. In compliance with G.L. Chapter 30A, Section 20 et seq, the Open Meeting Law, the Council cannot engage in a dialogue or comment on a matter raised during Citizen Comments. The Town Council may ask the Town Administrator to review the matter. Nothing herein shall prevent the Town Administrator from correcting a misstatement of fact.
a. Police Department - Swearing In of New Patrol Officers
i. Steven Dejoieii. Tyler Hosley
b. Proclamation & Performance: Franklin Fine & Performing Arts Students
a. Town Administrator Evaluation Ad Hoc Subcommittee Reportb. Capital Budget Subcommitteec. Economic Development Subcommitteed. Joint Budget Subcommitteee. Police Station Building Committeef. GATRA Advisory Board
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| Franklin, MA: agenda for Town Council meeting March 5 at 7 PM |
FM #1367 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1367 in the series.
This session shares the Capital Budget Subcmte Meeting held Wednesday, January 29, 2025 in the Council Chambers. All four members participated.
1. FY25 Capital Plan & Subcommittee recommendations
a. Town Administrator Memo
https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/4098/2025-01-29-CBSC-Agenda---1a-FY25-Capital
b. FY25 Department Summary Requests & Capital Plans
c. Quotes
https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/4116/1c-Quotes
The votes to approve all recommendations were 4-0
The agenda doc https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01292025-1526
The recording runs about 3 hours , so let’s listen in. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1367-capital-budget-subcmte-mtg-01-29-25/
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My full set of notes in one PDF ->
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GNNvCsoWOmoEZ8ReL0iqH6B9MO9Moj96/view?usp=drive_link
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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like something here, please let me know
And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
------------------
You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
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| The "free cash" allocation overview for the capital budget proposal |
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| Capital Budget Subcommittee |
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| The capital budget proposal on the agenda for the Capital Budget Subcommittee Wednesday |
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| Capital Budget Subcommittee |
a. Town Administrator Memohttps://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/4098/2025-01-29-CBSC-Agenda---1a-FY25-Capitalb. FY25 Department Summary Requests & Capital Planshttps://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/4117/1b---Capital---Dept-Requests-and-5-Year-Plansc. Quoteshttps://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/4116/1c-Quotes
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| The capital budget proposal on the agenda for the Capital Budget Subcommittee Wednesday |
The Capital Budget Subcommittee agenda -> https://franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01292025-1526
The meeting will be broadcast to Comcast & Verizon subscriber as well as to Zoom and to YouTube https://bit.ly/FTV-TownHall
FM #1311 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1311 the series.
This session of the radio show shares the Town of Franklin Finance Committee Meeting held on Wednesday, Nov 6, 2024. 7 of the 9 members were present in the Council Chambers and 2 members absent (Batchelor, Hamilton).
Quick Recap:
Committee voted to keep the same org structure as prior given status and new members, etc. Conley, Chair, Riley, Vice-Chair, Corbesierio, Clerk (passed 7-0-2; 2 absent)
Committee approved the minutes for the 3 budget hearings in May (passed 7-0-2; 2 absent)
Town Administrator Jamie Hellen walked through the recommendation on FY25 Budget Adjustments and the committee voted to recommend them as discussed to the Town Council (passed 7-0-2; 2 absent)
Jamie took time to outline the new Town and School Finance and Human Resources organization restructure, a work in progress for a number of years and finally operational, answered a number of clarification questions
Jamie also presented the FY24 Preliminary Expense Recap & Local Receipts year-end report and the Stabilization Account Report and answered a number of clarification questions
Brief update on the FY26 Budget Model and Fiscal Forecast Update, discussion around dodging a massive increase in the Norfolk County Retirement Fund, procedurally the Retirement Board should have bene more forthcoming about the increase, they weren't, still an item to watch
Related to the retirement funding, it had been anticipated that once it was fully funded (approx. 2032, now 2035), those funds could be reallocated to the OPEB account and start paying that down more sooner. Confirmed delayed to 2035 currently
As a result of the OPEB funding process, why doesn't the Town consider helping the Schools with the "hold harmless" funding. Can't be done all at once, it is about 12-15 Million, but the town is chipping away at OPEB, we should consider chipping away at the "hold harmless" too
member comments lead to discussion (and future discussion) around how the committee can help raise the awareness of the community on the fiscal issues. More to come on that front
The meeting runs about 1 hour & 50 minutes. Let’s listen to the Finance Cmte meeting Nov 6, 2024. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1311-franklin-ma-finance-cmte-mtg-11-06-24/
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The Finance Cmte agenda can be found -> https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/agendas/2024-11-06_finance_committee_agenda_packet.pdf
Franklin TV video -> https://www.youtube.com/live/ejPhlcZs29g?si=otfRPnwkBa6Yta-B&t=158
My notes collected in a Twitter thread PDF ->
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nZYVtQx2ljoXcuxpA78ltwoeWgRxKIlB/view?usp=drive_link
--------------
We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like something here, please let me know
And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
------------------
You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
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| Finance Committee gets preview of FY 2025 budget adjustments, Norfolk Retirement issue, Finance & HR reorg for Town/Schools (audio) |