Franklin Matters Radio

This session of the radio show shares the School Committee - Space Needs Subcommittee meeting held hybrid, some in the 3rd floor conference room on Monday, Mar 27, 2023, other virtual via Zoom webinar. (P-present, R-remote) SubCmte Chair - Al Charles (R); committee members - Denise Spencer (P), Elise Stokes (R); Central office support - Supt Lucas Giguere (P), Business Manager Miriam Goodman (P) Recording by Sherlock (R) Brief recap: (caution, albeit brief I believe I have the gist of the...

This session of the radio show shares the audio recording of the Economic Development Subcommittee & Steering Committee meeting held on Wednesday, March 22, 2023 in the Council Chambers with 6 members participating; 5 in person in the Council Chambers, 1 remote via Zoom. “Franklin For All” Steering Committee (or EDC Plus) Quick recap: The recording of the meeting runs just under 2 hours. -------------- The agenda doc also includes remote participation info ->...

This session shares the Franklin, MA School Committee meeting held on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. The meeting was conducted in the Council Chambers with all seven members present. School Committee Chair Denise Spencer opens the meeting at 7:02 PM. Key items on the agenda The show notes contain a link to the full agenda and to my notes & photos captured via Twitter during the meeting. The Committee entered Executive Session on a negotiation discussion and did return to public meeting. I did...

This session shares the Franklin, MA School Committee meeting held on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. The meeting was conducted in the Council Chambers with all seven members present. School Committee Chair Denise Spencer opens the meeting at 7:02 PM. Key items on the agenda The show notes contain a link to the full agenda and to my notes & photos captured via Twitter during the meeting. The Committee entered Executive Session on a negotiation discussion and did return to public meeting. I did...

This session of the radio show shares the audio recording of the housing and zoning discussion with Brad Chafee, Melanie Hamblen, Cobi Frongillo and Dean College Chancellor Ed Augustus. Brad, Melanie, Ed and I were in the Franklin TV Studio on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. Cobi joined us for the discussion via Zoom. 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...

This shares my conversation with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen and Town Council Chair Tom Mercer. With the reschedule, we combined our normal Talk Franklin session with one of the series of conversations meant to provide a recap of the prior Council meeting. The combined session also ends abruptly but we’ll have more to talk about in future sessions. Akin to one of the many sports post-game analysis broadcasts we are familiar with in New England, this would be a discussion focused on the...

This session of the radio show shares the School Committee - Space Needs Subcommittee meeting held in the 3rd floor conference room on Monday, Mar 20, 2023. SubCmte Chair - Al Charles; committee members - Denise Spencer, Elise Stokes; Central office support - Supt Lucas Giguere, Business Manager Miriam Goodman The meeting reviewed the feedback from the 114 responses to the survey after the two information sessions (1 in person, 1 virtual). The group worked through the feedback and did not...

This session of the radio show shares my recorded conversation with Franklin School Superintendent Lucas Giguere. We had our conversation in person in the Superintendent’s office in the Municipal Building on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. At a high level our topics were: The recording runs about 39 minutes -------------- Superintendent’s page -> https://www.franklinps.net/district/superintendent Storymap with the three options...

This session of the radio show shares the Town Council meeting held in Council Chambers on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. All 9 members of the Council were present in the Council Chambers. Quick recap: The 121 Grove St 40b proposal The Franklin, MA Town Council whiffs on an easy layup to bring more housing and "Affordable" housing to Franklin. At the Council meeting on Wednesday, March 15, the Council voted 4-5 to support a "friendly 40b" proposal. The proposal needed 6 votes to pass, it was...

Hello Everyone It's been wonderful talking with you all weekly on Fridays - but alas- the time must come to an end. As of this upcoming Monday March 20th the Franklin Senior Center will be back to "normal" and fully open. The Ben's Bounty Gift Shop is planning to open Wednesday, March 22nd. The Senior Center library and area around the fireplace are still going to be temporarily blocked off, but we have set up a faux library down in the computer lab for your reading pleasure. Again, as of...

This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist via the Zoom conference bridge Tuesday, February 21, 2023. We were joined by Avery Palardy, the Sustainability Program Manager at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. You’ll also hear that there is a family connection that I need to disclose as a procedural matter. Avery and her team were recognized for their accomplishments and as you’ll hear, we had a great discussion. In this...

This session shares the Town of Franklin (MA) Joint Budget Subcommittee meeting held on Wednesday, Mar 8, 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 budget subcommittee of the Town Council, the Finance Committee and the School Committee. Chair - Tom Mercer, Brian Chandler, Cobi Frongillo and Melanie Hamblen of the Town Council George Conley, John Grace, Michael...

Hello Everyone! Next week, the Franklin Senior Center will continue to be open only partially. The Senior Center's Common Grounds Café and attached multipurpose room will be open and fully functional. Although the rest of the building will still be inaccessible, we are able to have breakfast and lunch daily, as well as varied programming throughout the week! Everyone will need to enter through the multi purpose room doors (to the left of the main entrance), as entrance into the lobby will...

This session of the radio show shares the Franklin Public Schools Redistricting Forum conducted in person at the FHS Media Center on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. This is the first of 2 forums for public input, this being in person, the next (scheduled for March 13) will be a virtual meeting. The same material is to be presented at both meetings. Quick Recap redistrictinganalysis@franklinps.net The meeting audio recording runs about 89 minutes. Let’s listen to Redistricting Forum held at FHS on...

This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist via the Zoom conference bridge Tuesday, February 21, 2023. We were joined by the Town of Franklin Conservation Agent Breeka Li Goodlander and as you’ll hear, we had a great discussion. In this episode we covered the following topics: This discussion continues our journey understanding the MA roadmap toward net zero and while it helps me “make sense of climate”, we hope it helps...

Hello Everyone! It was great to see a lot of you in person this week. Next week, the Franklin Senior Center will continue to be open only partially. The Senior Center's Common Grounds Café and attached multipurpose room will be open and fully functional. Although the rest of the building will still be inaccessible, we are able to have breakfast and lunch daily, as well as varied programming throughout the week! Everyone will need to enter through the multi purpose room doors (to the left of...

This session shares the Franklin, MA School Committee Budget SubCommittee meeting held on Wednesday, Mar 1, 2023. The meeting was conducted in the 3rd floor training room. Remote participation was enabled for this session. Chair Dave McNeill opened the meeting. School Committee member Dave Callaghan was present, member M Whitmore was absent. Superintendent Lucas Giguere, Business Manager Miriam Goodman, Asst Supt Paula Morano and Asst Supt Dr. Tina Rogers (remote) also participated. Quick...

This session of the radio show shares the Town of Franklin Board of Health Meeting held on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. All three board members participated, all in the 3rd floor training room along with the Health Dept staff members. Quick Recap: The meeting runs about 55 minutes. Let’s listen to the Board of Health meeting Feb 1, 2023. -------------- The Board of Health agenda can be found -> https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/3-1-23_agenda.pdf My notes...

This session of the radio show shares my "Talk Franklin" conversation with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen. We had our conversation via conference bridge on Thursday, February 23, 2023. Topics for this session Economic Development Subcmte • 40b ‘deep dive’ • Friendly 40b preview of 121 Grove St Master Plan preparations • Open Space public hearing, focus groups underway • A&C listening sessions scheduled • Applications still open until March 3 (also Davis Thayer, Police Station, et...

Hello Everyone! We have some great news- the Senior Center's Common Grounds Café and attached multipurpose room will be open and fully functional starting Monday, February 27! Although the rest of the building will be inaccessible, we will be able to have breakfast and lunch daily, as well as varied programming throughout the week! Everyone will need to enter through the multi purpose room doors (to the left of the main entrance), as entrance into the lobby will be prohibited while...