News-pourri

NEW DIRECTOR – Stephen Dahl, the Township’s new Recreation Director, made his public debut at the Independence Day Celebration on July 3 in the Municipal Complex. The Township has installed new leadership in the Parks & Recreation Department and the Franklin Township Youth Center. Stephen Dahl takes over the helm of Parks & Rec, according to a July 3 announcement …

STUDY DESCRIBED – Dave Roberts, a planner with Bright View Engineering, discusses the results of the company’s traffic study at the Master Plan Community Meeting on June 27. Traffic conditions at eleven of 14 key intersections in the township’s Business and Industry Zone are bad and will get worse when all currently approved warehouse projects are operational, an engineering consultant …

ARCHITECT SPEAKS – David Minno, the architect for the proposed 200-unit apartment building in Rutgers Plaza, testifies before the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The Rutgers Plaza retail center will get a complete facelift with the approval of a proposed 200-unit apartment building in the former K-Mart space, the Zoning Board of Adjustment was told during a contentious June 20 hearing. …

SWEARING IN – Fr. Simon El Hajj, Rabbi Eli Garfinkel and Rev. Jamin Powell, left to right in white shirts, are sworn in to their FTPD Chaplaincy positions at the June 25 Township Council meeting. Three of the five Chaplains in the Franklin Township Police Department’s “revamped” Chaplaincy program were sworn in at the June 25 Township Council meeting. Rabbi …

PARKINSON’S PATIENT – Mayor Phil Kramer announced that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. (File photo). Mayor Philip Kramer has been suffering from Parkinson’s Disease since the middle of 2019, he said on June 24. Kramer, 68, said the disease has not affected his mobility and that he has no plans to resign the seat that he’s held since …

APARTMENTS APPROVED – An artist’s rendering of the 5-story, mixed-use Hamilton Street building approved by the Planning Board on June 19. A 120-unit apartment building and affordable day care center targeted for a tract in the Hamilton Street Business District was approved June 19 by the Township Planning Board. The Board vote was unanimous, although there was some reticence expressed …

ALL SMILES – Just three of the hundreds of prom-goers at the annual Franklin High School senior prom, held June 13 at the Westin Hotel in Princeton. There was music. There was food. There was glam. There was even the occasional squeal from two friends who had never seen each other prom’d up before. The setting was the annual Franklin …

Certain new developments would be required to post anti-idling signs under ordinance amendments approved June 11 by the Township Council. The amendments were recommended by the township Environmental Commission in August 2023. The amendments “will work towards preventing instances of idling, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the release of harmful pollutants, and educate the public about the negative impacts of …

MAKING HIS POINT – East Franklin Volunteer Fire Department Chief Dan Krushinski gestures as he speaks to the Fire District 3 Commissioners during the June 11 Commission hearing. The Franklin Fire District 3 Board of Commissioners on June 11 granted a 60-day reprieve to the East Franklin Volunteer Fire Department to allow time for the two groups to compromise on a …

BEST OF THE BEST – Schools Superintendent John Ravally speaks at the annual Educators of the Year breakfast. The best of Franklin Township educators were honored June 6 at the annual Educators of the Year breakfast, held at The Imperia on Easton Avenue. Honored were teachers of the year and educational professionals of the year from each of the district’s …