News-pourri

Animal Control Officer Katie Nordhaus shows Carl, the Boa Constrictor, to students at the Youth Center. A group of township middle schoolers got an introduction to some animals and learned the responsibilities of Franklin’s animal control officers at “Pet Care Day” hosted by the Franklin Township Youth Center. On hand to present the animals and answer questions were animal control …

The school district is looking to return some students to temporary classroom trailers, such as these at Franklin Middle School – Sampson G. Smith campus, to deal with issues caused by its growing pre-Kindergarten population. The Board of Education at its January 26 meeting agreed to submit a request to the state Department of Education to use trailers at five …

Another six state Cannabis Regulatory Commission applications for potential businesses in the township received resolutions of support at the January 24 Township Council meeting. Four of the applications will be for retail establishments while two will be for either cultivator, manufacturer, wholesaler or distributor licenses. The Council’s resolutions attest that the applicants meet the criteria for cannabis-related businesses set by …

Deputy Mayor Ram Anbarasan is given the Oath of Office by Shanel Robinson, the Somerset County Board of Commissioners Director and a former Township Councilwoman. The ceremony was delayed by several weeks, but Deputy Mayor Ram Anbarasan was finally sworn in at the January 24 Township Council meeting. Anbarasan was out of the country during the January 3 reorganization meeting …

The Tour de Franklin is the Franklin Food Bank’s largest fundraiser. (Photo: Franklin Food Bank.) The 34th annual Tour de Franklin Charity Bike Ride, the largest fundraiser for the Franklin Food Bank, will be held on April 30 at Franklin High School.  The Tour de Franklin consists of seven events including 62-, 40-, 25-, 10-, and 5-mile rides through Somerset …

Zoning Board of Adjustment attorney Francis Regan reads off the list of conditions attached to the approval of the Saharose bus company’s application. The Zoning Board of Adjustment was forced on January 19 to approve a bus company’s application to park 15 buses in the rear lot at JFK Plaza on John F. Kennedy Boulevard. The application for a Use …

Mark Healey, the Township’s principal planner, describes the Master Plan changes to the Planning Board at the January 18 meeting. The ban on warehouse development in the township came a step closer to reality on January 18 with two actions taken by the Planning Board. The Board approved amendments to the Master Plan that excised any mention of warehouses from …

The ballroom at the Double Tree Hotel on Davidson Avenue was packed for the 25th annual Franklin Community Breakfast. More than 300 people were encouraged to keep Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of racial equality and equity alive January 18 at the 25th annual Franklin Township Community Breakfast, sponsored by the Franklin Township Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community …

Township Planning Director Mark Healey described the proposed zoning changes that would effectively ban new warehouses in the township. Planning Board members didn’t have a lot to say about proposed ordinance amendments that would effectively ban new warehouses in every zoning in the township. The Board considered the amendments during a special Master Plan review meeting on January 11. The …

FTPD officers stand with the remaining boxes of produce at the January 4 food distribution. A food distribution program that is estimated to have given out about 12,000 pounds of produce a month for more than a year is still going strong, police say. The program is run by the Franklin Township Police Department’s Community Relations Bureau at 935 Hamilton …