Township Council

BUDGET QUESTION – Township Councilman James Vassanella asks a question about an aspect of the proposed 2023 budget requests. The final municipal departments made their 2023 budget requests to the Township Council at a special March 21 budget hearing. As is the norm, Township Manager Robert Vornlocker presented the departments’ proposed budgets with respective representatives on hand to answer any …

Local Girl Scouts, and Girl Scout Week, were honored at the March 14 Township Council Meeting. Citations commemorating individual and group efforts were awarded by Mayor Phil Kramer. Molly H. of Troop 60607 (the girls’ last names were not used due to privacy concerns) was commended for achieving the Girl Scouts’ Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can …

ACTION! – The designation of Franklin as a “Film Ready Community” by the state is hoped to bring to the township more movie crews, such as this one filming David Duchovny’s “Bucky F*ing Dent” over several days in September 2022. Fresh on the heels of Franklin being designated one of the first “Film Ready Communities” in the state, the Township …

RISING WATER … RATES – Mayor Phil Kramer said increases in what the Township pays for water forced its hand in raising rates to township customers. An ordinance amendment that calls for a 15 percent increase in water rates was introduced on first reading at the March 14 Township Council meeting. The hike would be the first such increase in …

BUDGET TIME – Public Safety Director Quovella Maeweather prepares for her comments to the Township Council at its first 2023 budget hearing on March 13. Budget requests for a number of township departments were heard at a special March 13 Township Council hearing. The hearing was one of two that will be held before the township’s 2023 budget is introduced, …

Alex Kharazi, leader of the township Interfaith Coalition, has been tapped by township Democrats to run for a Township Council At-Large seat. (File Photo). A political newcomer and three incumbents will carry the banner for township Democrats in the June 6 primaries for Mayor and At-Large Township Council members. Leading the ticket will be Mayor Phil Kramer, who is seeking …

WILL NOT RUN – Township Councilwoman Crystal Pruitt announced at the February 28 Council meeting that she will not seek a second full term on the governing body. Citing the travel demands of her job as the reason behind her decision, Township Councilwoman Crystal Pruitt announced February 28 that she would not run for re-election this November. Pruitt, a Democrat …

A Hamilton Street developer is suing the Township over claims that political pressure scuttled an apartment building project targeted for the Hamilton Business District. The developer, John Park, claims in the suit that after township officials became aware of his project – comprised of two four-story buildings holding 233 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments and retail space, and a covered …

Attorney Francis Linnus led the charge of lawyers speaking against the proposed ordinance amendments. Update: The Township had to re-do the ordinance’s public hearing on February 14 because the notice advertising the first hearing did not include the Municipal Building’s address, making it defective. No new arguments were presented either for or against the ordinance during the second public hearing, …

A mistake in the public notice about the January 24 public hearing on the proposed zoning ordinance amendments banning new warehouse development in the township requires a second public hearing, a township official said on February 1. The initial public hearing notice left out the hearing’s location, which was the Township Council Chamber in the municipal building. That rendered the …