FM #1689 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1689 in the series.
This session of the radio show shares our “Town Council Quarterbacking” with Town Councilor Max Morrongiello. We had our conversation in person at the Franklin TV & Radio Studios on Wednesday, March 11, 2026. Our conversation condensed the Town Council meeting of Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
We focus on two questions:
ok, what just happened?
What does it mean for Franklin residents and taxpayers?
We cover the following key topics
Snow and Ice total at $2.1M which doesn't include the $65K from last night's double coat of salt to counter the ice. This amount will eat into the operations budget as it has already wiped out the snow/Ice stabilization amount
Ad-hoc subcommittee with 3 Council members will report back with community input on potential charter changes was approved by 9-0 vote
Appropriating Funds by Borrowing to Pay Costs of Purchasing a Fire Truck for the Fire Department was approved by 9-0 vote.
$20,000 from special fund for paid parking fees was authorized to pay for the system (2 years worth) and some repairs to one of the kiosks by a 9-0 vote
2 zoning bylaws (Zoning Bylaw Amendment 26-948 & Zoning Bylaw Amendment 26-949) were approved to refer to the Planning Board. They will conduct their public hearing and send them back as is, or with comments for adjustments. The Council will then hold their public hearing (possibly in April) before voting on the measures. The new Planning Director Morena Zelaya made the presentation for her first appearance before the Council
Then they got to the goals discussion. After a lengthy discussion with some tweaks, some cuts, but mostly approval of the goals as presented the Council was able to move to accept the goals as revised at approx. 9:58, approved to waive the reading, voted to approved, and then with seconds to spare, voted to adjourn before 10:00 PM
Max shared his goals tracking to provide details on the survey and feedback received vs. how that played into the set of goals agreed to by the full Council
The conversation runs about 34 minutes. Let’s listen in
Audio link - https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1689-town-council-quarterbacking-with-councilor-morrongiello-03-11-26/--------------
Add link to goals survey tracking
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/03/town-councilor-morrongiello-resident.htmlThe Franklin TV video is available for replay https://youtu.be/3jkYtB5_Y3g?&t=136
The agenda (and released documents) can be found https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03042026-2166
The thread of my notes captured via Blusky can be found in PDF format - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ONzSiMKofgqw1riOlBPJyqB-Hopo3bcs/view?usp=drive_link
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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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