News-pourri

Township Recreation Director Beau Byrtus said that the department’s programs were very well-attended during 2022. The township’s recreation programs are “doing gangbusters,” the Director of Recreation said at the December 14 meeting of the Advisory Recreation Council. Director Beau Byrtus gave Council members an end-of-year update on program participation, and a look into what is planned for 2023.

Mark Healey, the township’s Principal Planner, talks about the Master Plan during a special Town Hall meeting December 12 in the Council Chamber. Dozens of township residents showed up to a sometimes contentious December 12 town hall meeting on the process behind creating a Master Plan. The residents came armed with questions, most of them about the meeting’s topic. But …

Colonial Park Gardens is one of two places in Somerset County residents can drop off their Christmas trees for recycling. The drop-off location is located at 156 Mettlers Road, Parking Lot F. Trees can be dropped off from Dec. 26 to Jan. 31.

Submitted by the Greater Somerset YMCA. Greater Somerset County YMCA (GSCYMCA) held its first in-person Saturdays in Motion (SIM) Holiday Party since 2019 for special needs children and their families on December 10, 2022. During the pandemic, the SIM regular programming and special events were virtual through an off-shoot program called SIM Connect. A virtual holiday party during that period even …

The Franklin Township Animal Shelter was recently the beneficiary of some donations from Ocean State Job Lot in Franklin Park. (Photo: Ocean State Job Lot.) The Franklin Township Animal Shelter was one of more than 200 animal welfare organizations throughout the region benefiting from Ocean State Job Lots third annual “To the Rescue” charitable program. Recipients include municipal shelters, wildlife …

Update: The Township Council introduced the ordinance as expected at its December 13 meeting. Warehouses would be removed as a permitted conditional use in Franklin’s Business and Industrial Zone under a proposed ordinance set to be introduced at the December 13 Township Council meeting.

An application to create two “flag lots” on Cedar Grove Lane was approved December 7 by the Planning Board. The applicant, Stephen Sliwka, will eventually build one house on each of the two new lots. A house currently exists on the smaller lot created by the subdivision.

Applicants between the ages of 15 and 23 are being sought for the newly formed New Jersey Legislative Youth Council. The Council is intended to function as an advisory to the Legislature and all of its committees, commissions, and task forces on the needs, opinions and welfare of young New Jerseyans, according to a press release about the Council. It …

A township-based arts organization was one of six in the county which received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan. The Ukrainian History and Education Center received $25,000 from the NEA, which was passed through the Somerset County Board of Commissioners.

First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens is one of 13 local organization receiving a total of nearly $500,000 in grants from the St. Peter’s Healthcare System. The church, located on Somerset Street, received the grant to “support their wellness and care initiatives that addresses health care inequities,” according to a press release about the awards.