Blocking new development doesn't "preserve" your town—it drains your wallet.
No new homes = no new taxpayers… but guess what does grow? School budgets, potholes, annual maintenance costs and legacy pension requirements.
Fewer people to split that bill = higher taxes for you. https://t.co/PXUVh5dlAG
FM #1383 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1383 in the series.
This session shares my conversation with the new "former" Chair of the Master Plan Update Committee Glenn Jones. We had our conversation in the Franklin TV & Radio Studio on Monday, February 10, 2025.
This session focused on the review of the full process and approval of the Master Plan to help guide Franklin for the next 10 years.
We had talked at the beginning of the process (Feb 2023) and also before the major Open House event at Dean College (March 2024). Links for those are shared below.
The recording runs about 58 minutes, so let’s listen in. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1383-master-plan-recap-w-glenn-jones-02-10-25/
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| Glenn Jones shares lessons learned from the Master Plan |
https://www.franklinma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4018/Final-Report
We met in Feb 2023 to talk about the beginning of the Master Plan effort
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/02/talking-about-master-plan-committee.html
We also met in March of 2024 talking about the forthcoming Open House at Dean College and gathering resident input
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2024/03/glenn-jones-talks-about-what-master.html
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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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| La Cantina Winery is still looking for help |
"We are quickly approaching our opening date and need a few more energetic people that want to join our team.
Please reach out if you or someone you know is interested!"
FM #1155 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1155 in the series.
This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Town Councilor Glenn Jones. Glenn is currently Chair for the Master Plan Update Committee. They have been working diligently for the past year to revise and update the “Master Plan” for Franklin.
The Committee is preparing for the Open House event, March 23. To be held at Dean College, 60 School St from 11 AM to 3 PM. Refreshments will be provided by Dean College.
We talk through the Master Planning process and what remains ahead of them.
The audio recording runs about 45 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Glenn on the Master Plan and come to hear more on March 23 at Dean College. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1155-master-plan-update-with-glenn-jones-03-05-24
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Master Plan Update Committee page ->
https://www.franklinma.gov/master-plan-update-committee
Inventory Report (Updated) -> https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/franklin_master_plan_inventory_assessment-rev_03-07-2024_ia_with_maps.pdf
Event info for March 23 -> https://www.franklinma.gov/home/news/town-franklin-master-plan-open-house-march-23-2024
--------------
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
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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| Glenn Jones talks about what the Master Plan Update Committee is doing and the Open House March 23 (audio) |
"IT’S A QUESTION that looms large over the effort to promote more development in housing-starved Massachusetts: Does increasing the supply of housing, even if it’s mainly higher-cost, market-priced units, temper the runup in costs that has so many residents straining to make ends meet?The idea follows the basic economic principle of supply and demand – when more of something is made available, its price falls. But there are plenty of “supply skeptics” who aren’t convinced that simply opening the housing production spigot will lower costs, and argue instead that it often just drives up prices by promoting gentrification.In a recent report, only 30 to 40 percent of those polled in a national survey of urban and suburban residents believed a 10 percent increase in housing production would result in lower home prices and rents. Against that backdrop, however, a research team at New York University issued a report last month arguing that there is clear evidence that boosting supply is the key to lowering or moderating housing costs.“All the evidence shows that it does reduce housing costs,” said Vicki Been, director of the NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. The report by Been and two NYU colleagues attempts to look at all the evidence available from studies of the question.“In sum,” they write, “significant new evidence shows that new construction in a variety of settings decreases, or slows increases in, rents, not only for the city as a whole, but generally also for apartments located close to the new construction.”
"Although “supply skeptics” claim that new housing supply does not slow growth in rents, we show that rigorous recent studies demonstrate that: 1) Increases in housing supply slow the growth in rents in the region; 2) In some circumstances, new construction also reduces rents or rent growth in the surrounding area; 3) The chains of moves sparked by new construction free up apartments that are then rented (or retained) by households across the income spectrum; 4) While new supply is associated with gentrification, it has not been shown to cause significant displacement of lower income households; and 5) Easing land use restrictions, at least on a broad scale and in ways that change binding constraints on development, generally leads to more new housing over time, but only a fraction of the new capacity created because many other factors constrain the pace of new development."
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| The Taj Estates apartments on East Central street |
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| Finance Committee get to review the FY 24 budget changes on Wednesday, Nov 8 at 7 PM |
a. Town Administrator memo, revised budget document and backup materials https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/3a_fy_budget_amendment_materials_0_0.pdf
a. Approval of Minutes - None scheduledb. Stabilization Account Balance https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/stabilization_fund_balances_9-30-2023.pdf
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| Finance Committee get to review the FY 24 budget changes on Wednesday, Nov 8 at 7 PM |
FM #1078 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1078 in the series.
This session shares the Town of Franklin (MA) Joint Budget SubCommittee meeting held on Wednesday, October 11, 2023. The meeting was conducted in the Council Chambers. Remote participation was enabled for the public for this session.
The Joint Budget Subcommittee is composed of the 4 members of the Town Council, 4 members of the Finance Committee and 3 members of the School Committee (to avoid a committee quorum for each of the respective bodies).
Chair - Tom Mercer, Brian Chandler, Cobi Frongillo, and Melanie Hamblen of the Town Council
George Conley, Nataly Riley, Nicole Corbosiero, and Lauren Nagel of the Finance Committee
David McNeill, David Callaghan, and Denise Spencer of the School Committee
Quick recap:
Town Administrator Jamie Hellen provided a brief update on FY 24, change in new growth coming, reduction of $250K, implications remain TBD
Schools updated some of their numbers, starting to plan for FY 25, to include the 4 years after, due approx.. Mar/Apr; looking into comparable communities (i.e. Hockomock League)
Finance Committee meeting Nov 8, Town Council meeting Nov 15, Tax rate hearing set for Tuesday, Nov 21 (Yes, note it is a Tuesday!)
Next Joint Budget Subcmte session in Jan 2024 (TBD)
The show notes contain a link to the agenda, the Franklin TV meeting video, and to my notes.
The recording runs 75 minutes, so let’s listen to the Joint Budget Subcommittee meeting of October 11, 2023. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1078-franklin-ma-joint-budget-subcmte-mtg-10-11-23
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video link -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3sqZhpIT9Q
Meeting agenda ->
Photo album capturing some of the School presentation
https://photos.app.goo.gl/v1qW8nmPYUQTcLgm8
My notes captured via Twitter and collected in one PDF
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YHP7KFAXd6DDwtAKGLIUwnEFOX_qFte7/view?usp=drive_link
Joint Budget Subcommittee page -> https://www.franklinma.gov/joint-budget-subcommittee
--------------
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
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"
 |
| one of the FPS slides used for the budget update |
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| one of the FPS slides used for the budget update |
FM #1014 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1014 in the series.
This session of the radio show shares the audio recording of the housing and zoning discussion with Brad Chafee, Melanie Hamblen, and Cobi Frongillo. We were joined by Town Administrator Jamie Hellen and Town Council Chair Tom Mercer for this discussion on new growth. Most of us were in the Franklin TV Studio on Monday, June 5, 2023. Tom joined us via the Zoom conference bridge.
Consider this a continuation of the downtown zoning discussion from the “Franklin For All” project which is underway with review and discussion at the Economic Development Subcommittee Plus meetings that Melanie Chairs and for which Cobi is Vice-Chair.
The conversation centered on new growth and how the zoning decisions have a relationship with the budget.
The recording of our conversation on zoning runs about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let’s listen in. Audio file -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1014-franklin-for-all-8-new-growth-06-05-23
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The collection of Franklin For All zoning discussions can be found here ->
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/02/franklin-for-all-housing-zoning-podcast.html
The value-per-acre visual that Cobi mentioned
https://twitter.com/CobiFrongillo/status/1569899170042978304
The "Growth Ponzi Scheme" Cobi mentioned
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/8/28/the-growth-ponzi-scheme-a-crash-course
Town Budget page for FY 2024 -> https://www.franklinma.gov/town-budget/webforms/fy-24-budget-materials
Town Council budget hearings for FY 2024
May 24 & 25 (budget hearings) - recap & audio links -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/05/audio-recordings-for-1st-of-2-budget.html https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/05/town-council-approves-fy-24-budget_01384873643.html
recap & video links -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/05/town-council-approves-fy-24-budget.html
Finance Committee budget hearings for FY 2024
May 11 - (FY 2024 budget hearing) public safety (police, fire, dispatch) -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/05/finance-cmte-completes-fy-2024-budget.html
May 10 - (FY 2024 budget hearing) schools (FPS, Tri-County, Norfolk Aggie) recap, audio & video links -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/05/finance-committee-budget-hearing-2-gets.html
May 8 - (FY 2024 budget hearing) general government and DPW (enterprise accounts (sewer, water, solid waste & stormwater) - recap, audio & video links -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/05/fincom-gets-fy-2024-summary-from-town.html
The “must listen’ intro as mentioned with the 30 minute overview of the revenue projections https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/05/franklinites-spend-few-minutes-with.html
--------------
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
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"
 |
| The #8 episode in the Franklin For All series gets into Zoning and New Growth - 06/05/23 (audio) |
