News-pourri

The 2023-24 budgeting process began for the Board of Education on September 22, with the approval of a set of eight budget goals and tentative budget calendar. The goal is to have a budget ready for submission for state approval by April 2023. The Board’s budget goals are: Support district initiatives that ensure the physical and mental well-being and safety …

Original Project Graduation volunteers were joined by more recent program volunteers at the September 22 Board of Education meeting. Seven long-time Project Graduation volunteers were honored by the Board of Education at its September 22 meeting. Project Graduation is the program run for graduated seniors on the night of graduation in and around the high school. New;y minted seniors arrive …

The Board of Education at its September 22 meeting approved $622,238.11 worth of contracts for goods and services for the new school year. The contracts are: A renewal contract with Frontline Technologies Group LLC for EEM with Evaluation Frameworks with Danielson and Framework for Teaching Annual Subscription for the 2022-2023 school year in the amount of $61,535.66.The purchase of security …

Miguel Rivera addresses the Board of Education September 22 after being appointed as new principal at Claremont Elementary School. The Board of Education on September 22 once again elevated one of the district’s own, naming Miguel Rivera as the new principal at Claremont Elementary School. Rivera has spent the last nine years as principal at Pine Grove Manor School. Genesi …

Project engineer Josh Sewald testifies before the Planning Board at its September 21 hearing. A warehouse measuring 74,800 square feet and targeted for a 5.2-acre Schoolhouse Road parcel was approved September 21 by the Planning Board. The developer, BH 31 Schoolhouse Road, will install a sidewalk along the 300-foot Schoolhouse Road frontage. The warehouse will be accessed by two driveways, …

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 …

Just about 200 cyclists and walkers showed up at the Franklin Township Senior/Community Center September 17 for the annual Renaissance Cyclists Defeating cancer United charity bike-a-thon. The RCDCU event has been going on for 15 years – with some time off for the Covid pandemic – and has raised more than $31,000 for prostate cancer awareness. Offered were a 3-mile …

Rendering of two proposed warehouses at Schoolhouse and Mettlers roads. (Graphic: Link Logistics Real Estate). The developer of two proposed warehouses at Schoolhouse and Mettlers roads will have to redesign the project to conform to the township’s Scenic Corridor zoning regulations, township officials said. That’s because Mettlers Road has been designated a Scenic Corridor, a zoning overlay which imposes a …

An artist’s rendering of Cosmopolitan at Somerset Town Center, the building with which Levin Properties is proposing to replace the former K-Mart building. The owner of Rutgers Plaza on Easton Avenue will have an “informal” discussion before the Planning Board to discuss its plan to convert the former K-Mart building into a 200-unit apartment complex. Among the topics of discussion …

More than 1,200 backpacks were distributed to area children through the annual backpack drive run by the office of state Assemblyman Joe Danielsen (D-17). The backpacks were distributed to children throughout the 17th District. Danielsen’s goal was to reach more families than the drive had in the past and ensure each child has the supplies they need to succeed this …