News-pourri

Delays in a project at the National Guard Armory on Hamilton Street have forced the relocation of five township polling places. Township Clerk Ann Marie McCarthy told the Township Council at its October 12 meeting that the Armory “had delays in their asbestos removal project,” and so would not be able to serve as a polling place. As a result, …

Changes to speed limits on two streets were introduced by the Township Council at its October 12 meeting. The speed limit on Pleasant Plains Road will be lowered to 25 miles per hour, and a stretch of Union Street between Church Street and Laurel Avenue will be lowered to 20 miles per hour. The rest of Union Street will remain …

Elizabeth Avenue School has reported nine cases of Covid-19 infection, the most in township schools. (Photo: Franklin Township Schools.) Two people affiliated with the school district are in quarantine, and there are 28 total Covid-19 cases in district schools as of October 4. The coronavirus cases are spread out among all district schools save one – Claremont Elementary School – …

The oversight of school district guidance services will now be handled by two people instead of one. The Board of Education at its September 23 meeting voted to create two new positions: Supervisor of Guidance Pre-K-8 and Supervisor of Guidance 9-12. The positions replace the former district-wide guidance director position. The former Director of Guidance, Dana Karas, left the job …

Mail sent from Franklin Township post offices will be delayed under the new USPS plan. (File photo.) Township residents using the US Postal Service will have to allow for at least another day of delivery time for mail sent and received, thanks to new standards out in place on October 1 by the U.S Postal Service. The new delivery times …

Vimal Sodhani presents the donation check to Board of Education president Nancy LaCorte at the September 23 meeting. A local charitable foundation made the first of what will be sustained donations to the school district’s Innovation Competition. Sodhani Foundation founder Vimal Sodhani donated $3,000 at the Board of Education’s September 23 meeting. The Innovation Competition is a STEM-(Science, Technology, Math, …

Board of Education candidates who showed up for the event responded to four questions. Six of the nine candidates for the Board of Education tried to put their best foot forward September 29 during a “Meet the Candidates” virtual event. The event was sponsored by the Franklin Township PTO Presidents’ Council and the Franklin Township Women’s Club. The candidates were …

The pickup of household items damaged and destroyed by Tropical Storm Ida “went very well,” Township Manager Robert Vornlocker said. (File photo.) The pickup of household items destroyed and damaged by Tropical Storm Ida concluded in the morning of September 28, but its final cost won’t be known for several weeks. That’s because the debris that was collected over the …

Dignitaries participate in the ceremonial groundbreaking of the Franklin Township Youth Center on Aug. 15, 2019. (File photo.) A spike in the incidence of township residents contracting the coronavirus has delayed the opening of the township’s youth center on Lewis Street. The 24,000-square-foot, $9.8 million youth center was expected to be open by the end of this month. Official shad …

This is how the Township Council, and all other municipal boards and commissions, will meet, until at least the end of the year. A spike in the number of township residents acquiring the coronavirus prompted the Township Council to decide to keep all municipal meetings virtual through the end of the year. It took a legal opinion rendered by township …