Environment

More than 200 people showed up Sept. 15 at the Senior/Community Center to give their opinions about the siting of a natural gas compression station in the southern part of the township. And judging by the comments made by people outside the building and in prior venues, there weren’t too many positive opinions given. The so-called “scoping session” was held …

The Somerset County Park Commission Horticulture Department at the Colonial Park Gardens has scheduled a fall “Flower & Garden Photography Workshop” from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 17. The session will take place in the Colonial Park Perennial Garden, Parking Lots A, F.. The workshop will be presented by professional photographer Brien Szabo of Nature Images 321, Inc. …

Autumn is almost here and the Somerset County Park Commission’s Perennial Garden, located in the Colonial Park Gardens, Lot F, is approaching peak bloom. On Saturday, Sept. 10, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., the Colonial Park Gardens Horticulture Department is inviting the public to join a field study of fall-blooming perennials. The staff will discuss plant care, demonstrate gardening techniques, …

A township company’s plan to create a 9-acre solar farm has gained an unlikely opponent – the township Environmental Commission. The commission is opposed to the plan because the company, Rotor Clip, wants to clear more than 17 acres of trees to install the farm, and members say that’s not a good trade-off. “The trade-off does not benefit the environment,” commission member …

The Somerset County Park Foundation is providing an opportunity to pay tribute to family and close friends through a donation of a tree or park bench at a location within the Somerset County Park system. A tax-deductible donation of $2,000 will earn the placement of a bench or tree with a plaque memorializing the contribution. The Park Foundation will maintain …

Submitted by the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association. The Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association is happy to gain a new partner in its efforts to engage community members in its mission to keep water clean, safe and healthy in central New Jersey. L’Oréal USA Franklin generously donated 20 barrels to the Watershed Association for community rain barrel workshops this summer and has offered to …

Township commuters could have a rough go of it the morning of Aug. 1 as heavy weekend rains have caused flooding in several areas. As of the evening of July 31, the Blackwells Mills and Griggstown causeways off Canal Road were flooded out, and “(m)otorists should anticipate that these causeways will remain closed through the morning commute,” according to a …

A small green insect, indigenous to Asia, is causing some consternation in the township. The Emerald Ash Borer is killing Ash trees in Franklin, as well as other parts of Somerset County and in five other New Jersey counties. The female lays eggs on the trees’s bark which, when they develop into larvae, bore into the tree and interrupt its nutrient flow, …

Bee Wise – Bee Surprised, a free program of the Somerset County Park Commission Horticulture Department, is scheduled to take place at the Fragrance & Sensory Garden from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 6. The Fragrance & Sensory Garden is located in the Colonial Park Gardens, Lot A 156 Mettlers Road, Somerset, New Jersey. Admission is free (donations greatly …

Submitted by Veronica Guarraia. On June 25, the Rutgers Master Gardeners of Somerset County, together with other volunteers from Community Baptist Church in Somerset, and Habitat for Humanity landscaped their 28th Habitat for Humanity home in the township. Two distinct groups are involved in completing this task. This same process is what a typical home owner should use when designing …