Environment

Environmental Commissioner Arnold Schmidt was credited with doing the “heavy lifting” in getting the proposed anti-idling ordinance ready for review. Environmental Commission members were given a final look January 23 at the anti-idling ordinance they will propose to the Township Council. The ordinance, now being sent for attorney review, is based on the statewide anti-idling law, but adds a few …

Tara Kenyon, the township’s Open Space Consultant, describes the grant to Open Space Advisory Committee members at the January 17 meeting. Township officials are preparing a grant application targeted to fix up the trail and make other enhancements at Naaman Williams Park. Plans are to apply for a grant offered by Sustainable Jersey, a statewide organization whose mission is to …

Environmental Commission member Robyn Suydam said a conversation with a Council member spurred her to suggest the change in the sub-committee’s scope. The scope of an Environmental Commission sub-committee working on a “green roof” ordinance has been expanded. The decision to expand the sub-committee’s charge came as a result of a suggestion by Commissioner Robin Suydam. Suydam said her suggestion …

Environmental Commission member Robin Suydam suggested that the Commission broaden the scope of a proposed “green roof” ordinance. Members of the township’s Environmental Commission will soon begin crafting a proposed ordinance that would require large new commercial buildings to have some form of “green” roof in their design. That design could include solar or wind energy capturing units, or complete …

Environmental Commissioner Arnold Schmidt said it’s time the township charged developers the actual cost of replacing trees they remove for projects. Developers have been getting off easy for too long when it comes to paying to replace trees they remove for building projects, and something needs to be done about it. So says the township’s Environmental Commission, which moved on …

Joe Paulin, from the Rutgers University Cooperative Extension, talks to the Committee about the township and region’s deer problem. Damage done by deer is costing farmers in New Jersey millions of dollars in lost crops, the township Open Space Advisory Committee was told on September 20. And although non-lethal forms of deer management – such as sterilization – have limited …

Energy Aggregation and why it is important is the subject of a presentation set for 6 p.m.. September 29 at the Franklin Township Library Community Room AB, 485 DeMott Lane. Presented by the Franklin Township Environmental Commission in collaboration with the Franklin Township Library, Gabel Associates and Sustainable Jersey, the program is designed to teach attendees more about energy aggregation …

The D&R Canal 5 Mile Lock parking lot will be closed for about three weeks starting around July 25. (Map: Google). The tow path/trail next to the Landing Lane Bridge, and the 5 Mile Lock parking area on Easton Avenue will be closed for repair and rehabilitation starting July 25. The New Jersey Water Supply Authority will repair the Landing …

Doris Lin, of the Animal Protection League of New Jersey, discusses nonlethal methods of deer control at the Open Space Advisory Committee’s June 21 meeting. The township Open Space Advisory Committee could not be called an anti-hunting group, but nonetheless its members listened politely to an animal advocate who tried to convince them of the merits of nonlethal deer control. …

Bob Chilton of Gabel Associates explains an aspect of clean energy aggregation during a special Township Council meeting on June 20. The pros and cons of clean energy aggregation were discussed at a special Township Council meeting on June 20. The meeting was necessitated by the submission of petitions requesting that a question be placed on the November ballot asking …