Township Council

Township Manager Robert Vornlocker discusses the ordinance amendment that would create a Public Safety Director’s position overseeing the police department. An ordinance amendment that would replace the Franklin Township Police Chief’s position with a Public Safety Director was unanimously introduced at the July 9 Township Council meeting. The change comes at a time when the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office has …

The heads of the two unions representing township police officers say they were blindsided by the Township Council’s move to eliminate the Police Chief and Deputy Chief positions in favor of a Public Safety Director. The two union presidents say their members would prefer the department stay under a Chief/Deputy Chief command structure.

Township Manager Robert Vornlocker would appoint and supervise the Public Safety Director. (File photo.) An ordinance amendment that would replace the Chief and Deputy Chief of Police with a Public Safety Director is expected to be introduced at the July 9 Township Council meeting. The ordinance amendment would also increase the number of Captains in the department from one to …

Township Councilwoman Kimberly Francois led the effort in the ordinance amendment. An ordinance amendment that would allow the Township Council to remove some board and commission members “for cause” was introduced at the May 28 Council meeting. The amendment would give Council members more leeway in removing board and commission members than they now have.

Zoning ordinance modifications that tweaked a few spots in the township were further tweaked before they were adopted at the April 9 Township Council meeting. The changes – affecting properties outside the Canal Walk development, at the intersection of Mettlers and Weston Canal roads and some properties on roads off DeMott Lane – were meant to fix anomalies that did …

The Franklin High School Lady Warriors basketball team’s victory tour continued April 9 with a commendation by the Township Council. The Lady Warriors posted an historic season, going 34-0 – the best single-season record in state basketball history –  and winning the state Tournament of Champions for the second time in three years.

Several months after having sold the first retail consumption liquor license in 13 years, the Township Council on March 12 put another one up for sale. The minimum bid for this one is $225,000, a $25,000 increase over the one sold last November.

FTP Sgts. Ken Daly, Ariel Almora and Kevin Fitzharris, left to right, were sworn in at the Council meeting. The three newest Franklin Police Department Sergeants were formally sworn in at the Township Council’s Feb. 26 meeting.

Township Councilman Rajiv Prasad asked for a review of area Municipal Court Judge salaries in early 2018, including that of presiding municipal court judge Hector Rodriguez, barely a year into Rodriguez’s current term. The review, requested several months after Prasad steered a township landlord to Rodriguez for help with a tenant issue in 2017, came around the time budget appropriations …

The Township Council on Feb. 12 honored one of their own who died in late January. John Clyde, a former Councilman and Mayor, died Jan. 24 at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. A Council member for 16 years, Clyde served as Deputy Mayor in 2000 and Mayor in 2001.