Taxes

A plan that would temporarily close New Brunswick Road to replace an aging bridge was endorsed March 10 by the Township Council. The council voted to push the “preliminary preferred plan” to replace the Al’s Brook bridge, which carries New Brunswick Road close to the Cedar Grove Lane intersection. The bridge, which was built around 1979, needs a replacement of …

Hikes in stipends for two of the township’s four fire districts were approved March 10 by the Township Council. Fire districts have their own budgets, but the council must approve some items, such as commissioners’ stipends. Commissioners in Fire District 1 received $1,000 increases, from $5,000 for commissioners and $6,500 for the chairman to $6,000 for commissioners and $7,500 for …

Township police may one day wear body cameras, Police Chief Lawrence Roberts said March 10. The chief, speaking to the Township Council, said he is researching body cams for the department. “We’re going to look into it,” he said later. “It’s a big expense, so I don’t know what direction we’re going to go yet.” The issue of police wearing …

Two leases with township farmers were extended Feb. 24 by the Township Council. The council voted to approve the second of two one-year extensions to Albert Puchalek for Catalpa Farm on Old Vliet Road. The farmland consists of 50 acres, with a fee of $51.25 per acre, or $2,562.50 for the year. The council and Puchalek originally entered into a …

Update: The budget was introduced at the March 10 Township Council meeting. A public hearing has been set for April 14. Original Story: The $57.2 million township budget expected to be introduced next month will carry with it a 3 percent hike in the amount to be raised by taxes, the Township Council was told Feb. 24. Based on that …

Members of the township Open Space Advisory Committee are willing to shoulder some of the cost of laborers to help maintain township parks, but they want the township to chip in, too. The committee on Feb. 17 voted down a suggestion from the Township Committee that it shoulder the entire $100,000 cost of two new laborers in the Department of …

The township’s payroll could grow by eight more positions this year, based on requests made at the Township Council’s second budget hearing on Feb. 12. Department heads presenting their budgets to the council also made requests for trucks, technology and other capital items during the four-hour hearing. In a process begun on Feb. 9, the council heard from seven department …

  Requests for a new bus for senior citizens and a new pickup truck for the township’s Fire Prevention department were made Feb. 9 during the Township Council’s first hearing on the proposed 2015 budget. The council heard from the heads of nine township departments during the session. The roughly $57 million proposed budget was put together by Township Manager Robert Vornlocker. …

More than $1.8 million was earmarked for a number of suppliers for purchases for 2015 by the Township Council at its Feb. 3 meeting. Items approved were: $25,000 in engineering services to CME Associates of Parlin, The Reynolds Group of Raritan and Carroll Engineering of Hillsborough. $10,979.40 for two AutoCAD license updates to DLT Solutions of Herndon, Va. $20,000 for codification …

[wpgmappity id=”18″]   The Township Council wants to sell two Churchill Avenue parcels to Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity. An ordinance authorizing the sale of the township property, for a “nominal” fee, was introduced at the council’s Feb. 3 meeting. The parcels are 140 and 178 Churchill Ave. The land will be used to construct affordable housing. The ordinance will …