Thread by @FranklinMatters

Getting ready to report on the Town Council meeting, first one of the new term, organization of the committee up first once it opens
Follow agenda here franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/V…

To be broadcast to Comcast 9, and Verizon 29 subscribers and YouTube bit.ly/FTV-TownHall

Town Administrator Jamie Hellen
Town Clerk swears in the Council
Nominations for chairs, Dellorco
Vote cia roll call, passes 9-0 Cormier-Leger remote

Ken nominated, Grella nominated
Grella takes it by 5-4 vote

Clerk, Dellorco nominated Cormier-Leger
Vote via roll call by 9-0

Motion to temp replace Cormier-Leger , Caroline
Passes 9-0

Resolution 25-71: Adoption of the Procedures Manual of Franklin Town Council
Max explains a potential future enhancement
Resolution read by temp Clerk
Motion to approve, second, vote on the motion via roll call 9-0

Announcements from the chair

I stepped up to remind the Council of the studio alive in the chambers and the importance of speaking directly to the mic

Caliegh on the library event collaboration Thursday

M Minnechelli thanks for the crosswalk at Chestnut Ridge, Chestnut St

K Mu Chow, coat drive underway, with 5 drop off boxes, already picked up 15 coats, last year delivered over 300 coats, give away in December

D Callaghan, thanks to all of you, looks forward to working with all
SchCmte meeting next week 11/18
Cookies also available

G Love Red Gate Ln, 444 East Central decision coming
Many don't feel it is in the right place;
There is something that can be done, ZBA can deny, Council can rescind support, it is coming up quickly

Town Clerk update on the election results, and all who made it happen

Next up, Town Council orientation
Jamie and Town Attny Mark Cerel will walk through the basics
Lots of info on schedule, docs, and resources for the budget included

The purpose of this orientation is to publicly engage in a question and answer session around the core elements of responsibility of the Town Council.
Massachusetts Public Records Law
Massachusetts Open Meeting Law
Massachusetts Conflict of Interest and State Ethics Laws
...

There are many links to docs and resources in the agenda
franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/V…

Explanation of use of town email vs personal email, public record, retention, etc.
Use of personal devices are ok,
Discussion on the Town provides devices? Expensive and given budget needs a discussion on who, how far, and how much

Any communication where there is a quorum, cannot avoid this with a serial meeting, "any" means oral, text, etc.
Attny General is enforcement of this but generally responds to complaints
48 hours required for agenda posting,
PostCOVID, quorum 4 physical participation not reqd

Identification of all members participating remotely, all votes need to be via roll call
Limits on executive session
Until transactions are complete; exec session notes are not public until the item is resolved
Email subscription is available for agendas

Elected officials who violate confidential info from executive session, can be charged

Ethics training is a valuable exercise
Ethics law is actually a criminal statue, criminal terms apply

Interesting stories of unwittingly commiting violations

Ethics has issued guidance on property abutters , what town employees can do or not do on elections,
Conflict of interest is worth the 5 minutes to get clarification in advance, rather than deal with the aftermath

State Ethics Commission is the body for investigation and enforcement of all claims; may not take up an issue immediately, not a readily transparent process. Neither the TA or the Town Attny are the "ethics police"

Highlights of the ethics law
Several sections cover really serious stuff
Self dealing; interest in a contract other than the Town business
Appearance of conflict can also be a trigger
Valuation of gifts, $50 or less
Use of Town equipment for your own benefits

Town charter, forms the boundaries of government
Charter commission at sometime,
Brevity, simplicity, checks and balances. Approved in 1978
Charter commission would draft changes, needs to be elected , and then the changes need to be approved at an election

Presentation coming on the charter change passes
Town is a hybrid form of government, Council/manager moves quicker than other forms
Finance Committee is also unique to us

Importance of distinction between legislative body vs acting in administrative hearing, then you can be liable and exposed
Public hearing process is key to follow
ABCC heavily letigus, alcohol licenses are rather valuable
Lots of stakeholders make things challenging

Changes in staff, stock, etc all require TC approval
Clarification on sting process
Reduction in drunk driving, reduction of liquor use, attempts
Tip training is one of the standards that have come out of the sting process

MMA membership available, conf in Jan 2026

What does the TA do?
Sec 2 article 4
ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter…

TA nominations and then the Council ratifies, key details of responsibilities
Worked with the boards and committees to review the candidate
Full style assessment center for key roles
Collaboratively, works with the council to recommend those who would be approved

TA has the traditional CEO role, some of which he may not want to do, his rant about the Chair of the ZBA has resulted in some quality candidates, likely changes to be made in future

Next up the budget, not a presentation but links to the current info for past and future items

Jamie covers the general timeline, S Malloy asks about discussion before the Gov numbers as some of the numbers won't change much.

Dellorco says we need to get folks together, the same folks came to the Joint Budget subcmte

Joint Budget needs to be solution finding. Need to agree on what we are looking at in order to find a solution

Decisions on DT, Police station, Rem Jefferson, many facilities items

Malloy, future items,
Cannabis outline to relook at
444 East Central

Ojukwo, understand the budget baseline

LeBlanc, withdrawal of prior Council vote on next session; discussion on charter and what actions we can take

Jane nothing at this time other than what Ken said

Max, diving deeper into how we fix our town, more to some of these problems, curious if we can find a way to produce better solutions

Grella, second work on budget, goal setting, set some simple goals

Dellorco, also second LeBlanc on 444; looking at the budget as soon as we can, no sense in turning our back on the budget, it is there

Comments
Malloy, thanks to those who voted
Ken, when this Council was voted in, we do all feel strongly on moving the Town forward

It is important to be clear on goals, so folks are aware of what we want to do, won't hit it all but will try

Griffith, thanks to fellow councilors we are off to a good start
Thanks to all here or watching, will be watching, encourage you to come to the meetings

Leblanc, weird sitting here, sat here 20 years ago; hope you'll be rewarded for your votes
Recognizing the prior 7 and their years of service, made difficult decisions, we will make such decisions

I am here to represent you. I am looking forward to be a responsible leader

Jane, thanks for the confidence in me to be here. Change is here, residents have to be part of the change. Send me an email (town email please)

Max, together we can make positive change, united in making positive change, to the public reach out to me, your voice matters

Grella, thanks... Optimistic about what we can do for the town. Differences yes but we can come together to do what we can

Dellorco, thanks to those here and those not here, is a huge team player
We can do a lot of good people here

Malloy to be adhoc on rules and procedures

Motion to adjourn, passes 8-0-1

@threadreaderapp unroll