Township Council

HEALTH MATTERS – Saffie Kallon, foreground, discusses the health assessment report with the Township Council as Tara Kenyon looks on. The results of a nearly two-year study of data, demographics and surveys on the factors that affect the health of Franklin Township residents was previewed at the December 12 Township Council meeting. The information was presented by Tara Kenyon, the Township’s …

SAYING GOODBYE – Township Councilwoman Crystal Pruitt reads her farewell address during the December 12 Council meeting. The Township Council said goodbye to Councilwoman Crystal Pruitt at its December 12 meeting. Pruitt, a Council member since 2019, decided to not run for re-election this year. Alex Kharazi, also a Democrat, won Pruitt’s seat. Pruitt was appointed to the Council in …

A long-term tax abatement plan for a township low-income senior citizen apartment building was approved by the Township Council recently. The Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT, program was deemed necessary by the Council to aid in the rehabilitation of the Wilentz Senior Residence at the Wilf Campus for Senior Living on DeMott Lane. The Council approved on second …

REQUEST DENIED – Mayor Phil Kramer said he did not think it was appropriate for the Township Council to pass a requested resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Hamas-Israel War. The Township Council on November 28 declined requests to pass a resolution supporting a cease-fire in the Hamas-Israeli War. Council members, led by Mayor Phil Kramer, said they did …

BIAS OUTRAGE – Ardaman Singh speaks to the Township Council about an alleged bias incident against a township Sikh boy. An alleged bias incident against a township Sikh boy has members of the religious community calling for justice. According to Ardaman Singh, who described the incident at the November 28 Township Council meeting, the unnamed boy was assaulted by a …

MEETING SET – Township Manager Robert Vornlocker said he and several other officials will brainstorm on the best way to ask Somerset County to decertify some County roads for truck traffic. Township officials plan to put their heads together this week and strategize on how to ask Somerset County to decertify some County roads for truck traffic. The idea is …

NURSES SEEKING HELP – Township resident Erika Colindres, a nurse at RWJ New Brunswick, speaks to the Township Council at the November 13 meeting. UPDATE: The Township Council unanimously passed the resolution in support of the proposed bills at the November 28 Council meeting. A contingent of nurses from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital New Brunswick asked the Township Council …

LIGHTS OUT – PSE&G is working to fix a broken electrical line that powers lights along the driveway that fronts the Municipal Building off DeMott Lane. The front of the Municipal Building should soon be well-lit again. The lights along the building’s circular driveway, as well as in Veterans’ Memorial Park and in the parking lot across John M. Collins …

A “Why We Vote” town hall meeting is set for 6-8 p.m. October 26 at Franklin Middle School – Sampson G. Smith campus, 1649 Amwell Road. The town hall is sponsored by the Central Jersey Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, the League of Women Voters of the Greater New Brunswick Area (GNBA), the New Brunswick Area Branch …

LOCAL HISTORIAN – Township Councilman Ram Anbarasan holds up the book, Community Collection for Kingston NJ, written by Kingston resident Markus McParland (right.) A 14-year-old Kingston historian was commended October 10 by the Township Council for his work in creating a book about the history of his home town. Marcus McParland was an 8th Grader at the Ying Hua International …