Environment

EXPLAINING OPTIONS – Township attorney Lou Rainone explains what options are available to the Township regarding the Williams-Transco NESE pipeline project. The last of the state permits needed for the construction of a $1 billion, multi-state natural gas pipeline project – part of which will come through Franklin – was approved January 12, and was immediately blasted by state environmentalists and …

BLOWER BAN PROPOSAL – Environmental Commissioner Arnold Schmidt has proposed banning fossil fuel-powered leaf blowers six months out of the year. A suggested Township ordinance amendment that would ban the use of gas-powered leaf blowers six months out of the year was the main topic of discussion at the January 5 Environmental Advisory Commission meeting. The idea was brought up …

EXPLAINING THE CONCEPT – Township Open Space Consultant Tara Kenyon describes Stormwater Management Utilities to the Environmental Commission at its December 1 meeting. The township Environmental Commission wants Franklin to join the small roster of New Jersey towns that charge landowners a fee for the the amount of stormwater runoff generated on their property. The Commission at its December 1 …

NOT HAPPY – The crowd of residents, mostly from Canal Walk, who watched the August 6 Planning Board hearing on approval conditions for the B9 warehouse development. (File photo). There was more legal wrangling November 17 in the controversial B9 warehouse development on Schoolhouse Road. Attorneys for the the developer and a Canal Walk-based citizens group opposing the development argued …

Nearly 100 people – including Franklin residents – gave state environmental officials an earful November 13 during a public hearing on a controversial natural gas pipeline project. The project, Williams-Tranco’s Northeast Supply Enhancement Project, will run from Pennsylvania, through New Jersey and eventually into New York. Don’t Miss Out! No other media outlet covering Franklin Township brings you the depth …

Local officials denounced the state Department of Environmental Protection November 7 for its approval of water permit applications needed for the Williams-Transco Northeast Supply Enhancement project. The officials also criticized the New York Department of Environmental Conservation’s approval of a similar permit application on the same day. Don’t Miss Out! No other media outlet covering Franklin Township brings you the …

UNDER CONSIDERATION – The Eagle HD Portable Bariatric Power Wheelchair is one of three mobility devices under consideration for purchase by the County Parks Commission. The Somerset County Park Commission is looking for the public’s input on the planned purchase of an all-terrain wheelchair or other power-driven mobility device. The device would be used to help visitors enjoy trails and other …

LEADING THE CHARGE – Mayor Phil Kramer led the Franklin delegation in a virtual public comment session run by state environmental officials about permit applications for a controversial natural gas pipeline project. More than 170 area residents – including a healthy contingent from Franklin – took to the Internet September 10 to persuade the state Department of Environmental Protection to …

RECOMMENDS DENIAL – Loren Altshuler, from Highland Park-based Gabel Associates, tells the Township Council that it’s the company’s recommendation that the one price quote for energy aggregation be declined. Any potential electricity cost savings for township residents through energy aggregation will have to wait a while longer because the Township Council declined to make a contract award to an energy …

More than 150 people gathered in and around the township Cultural Arts Gazebo June 12 to renew their opposition to a project they thought they’d already defeated. The group rallied in the wake of the decision by Texas-based Williams-Transco to petition the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reinstate their three-state project that would include building a 32,000-horsepower, natural gas-powered twin-turbine …