FM #1689 - Town Council Quarterbacking with Councilor Morrongiello - 03/11/26

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 topicsSnow 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 amountAd-hoc subcommittee with 3 Council members will report back with community input on potential charter changes was approved by 9-0 voteAppropriating 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 vote2 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 CouncilThen 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 PMMax 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--------------Add link to goals survey trackingThe 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--------------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 neighborsIf you don't like something here, please let me knowAnd if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach out. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we doThrough 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 comThe 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"