Environment

Township residents can recycle their Christmas trees from now though Jan. 31, 2018 at Colonial Park Gardens, Parking Lot F, 156 Mettlers Rd. The Somerset County Park Commission is accepting the trees for recycling from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Each family is limited to only one tree that must be free of all ornaments, wires, netting, and tinsel, …

The Somerset County Park Commission will be accepting natural Christmas trees for recycling from Tuesday, December 26, 2017 through Wednesday, January 31, 2018. Somerset County residents may bring their tree to Colonial Park Gardens, Parking Lot F, 156 Mettlers Road in Somerset, Franklin Township or to North Branch Park, at the lighted baseball field, 355 Milltown Road in Bridgewater. Both …

A natural gas compressor station proposed for the southern end of the township would have no affect on water quality should an adjacent quarry be converted into a reservoir. That was the word from a representative of Williams-Transco, the company that wishes to build the 32,000-horsepower compressor station on 13 acres of an approximately 52-acre tract off Route 27, near …

The Open Space Advisory Committee on Dec. 5 said goodbye to its consultant, praising her work in preserving township open space. Fran Varacalli was the township’s open space consultant for the last six years. During that time, she participated in or oversaw a number of preservation initiatives, including the redevelopment of the old Kingston School, the $14 million purchase of …

The late chairman of the township Environmental Commission and a local school’s youth group were honored at the Nov. 28 Township Council meeting for their environmental efforts. The commission used the council meeting as its platform for awarding its annual Stewardship Awards to the late Arnold Vernick – the commission’s former chairman who died earlier this year – and the …

Gov.-elect Phil Murphy has tapped a township resident to serve on his transition team. Ed Potosnak, the current Board of Education president and executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, will sit on Murphy’s Environment and Energy committee. “With the election of Gov. Murphy, New Jersey has a tremendous opportunity to re-claim national leadership on critical environmental …

The township Shade Tree Commission is preparing for its 2018 tree sale. Orders for the sale will be taken on the commission’s web site beginning Dec. 1. The trees cost $45 each, and there is a limit of two trees per species. Trees that will be offered for sale are Firefall Maple, Service Berry/Autumn Brilliance, Tulip Tree, Basswood/American Linden and …

Update: The Mayor’s Summit has been postponed to either late January or early February, Mayor Phil Kramer said Sept. 26. Kramer said many of the people he was inviting to the event, originally scheduled for Oct. 7, said they could not attend because they would be campaigning, and that they wished it could be held another day. In light of …

Submitted by the Somerset County Park Commission. The Somerset County Park Commission’s Colonial Park Gardens will offer an interactive “Peony Propagation Workshop” from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Oct. 5 at the Colonial Park Garden, 156 Mettlers Road, Somerset. Led by Kathleen Gagan, National Peony Expert and owner of Peony’s Envy, the educational hands-on workshop will include an hour in which participants will …

The Somerset County Park Commission Colonial Park Gardens will welcome participants to the “Flower and Garden Photography” workshop led by professional photographer Brien Szabo on Saturday, September 16, 2017 at 11:30 A.M. The session will begin in the Horticulture Building next to the Colonial Park Rose Garden, Parking Lot A, Colonial Park. The workshop will begin with a brief lecture …