Township Council

Township Republicans have submitted three candidates to the Township Council to fill out the one-year unexpired term of former Mayor Brian Levine. Levine is now a Somerset County Freeholder. The candidates are township Republican chairman Bob LaCorte of Blackwells Mills Road, Chris Kelley of Hilltop Lane and Raleigh Steinhauer of Pinecrest Drive. The names were submitted by LaCorte to Township …

Township Councilwoman Kimberly Francois (D-At Large) was unanimously elected Deputy Mayor at the Jan. 6 reorganization meeting. Francois will lead council meetings until a replacement is picked for former Mayor Brian Levine, who is now a Somerset County Freeholder. The council has 15 days from the time three names are submitted to pick a candidate for the post. Francois, who …

Mayor Brian Levine was honored Dec. 11 by the Township Council at what was his last meeting as a local official. Come January 2015, Mayor Brian Levine becomes Somerset County Freeholder Brian Levine. Levine, the lone Republican on the dais, was the township’s first directly elected mayor. He was first elected to the post in 2004. Prior to that year, …

The ad hoc committee formed to strike a compromise in the dustup over a sound system in Middlebush Park may have accomplished its mission after one meeting. The committee is comprised of four Township Council members, three Middlebush area residents, three representatives from the township’s Pop Warner football program, and a neutral resident. At issue is whether a sound system …

Seeking to find a compromise among residents who are for and against installing speakers in Middlebush Park, the Township Council Oct. 14 tabled a proposed ordinance that would have prohibited the use of any type of sound system in the park. Instead, the council decided to form an ad hoc committee comprised of council members and residents to try and hammer …

The controversy over a sound system in Middlebush Park will likely erupt again at the Oct. 14 Township Council meeting, as a large contingent of Pop Warner families are expected to attend to oppose an ordinance banning speakers in the park. The council on Sept. 22 passed a resolution banning any type of sound system in the park, which is …

Although at least one other town has repealed a similar ordinance, the Township Council doesn’t need to take any action on its curfew ordinance, the governing body was told Sept. 23. Curfews have come under fire from the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union as being unconstitutional. The township’s ordinance – which generally prohibits children under 18 years of age …

Gov. Chris Christie recently said that it should be left to New Jersey’s towns to decide if smoking should be banned in open spaces, and the Township Council is scheduled to take him up on that. The council is scheduled to consider at its Sept. 23 meeting the introduction of an ordinance that would ban smoking in all public parks. The ordinance …

The Township Council will not be presented at its Sept. 9 meeting with a resolution concerning installing a speaker system at Middlebush Park. The resolution was postponed because one council member, Roz Sherman (D-Ward 2), will be absent from the meeting, and because a new proposal for portable speakers has surfaced, said township manager Bob Vornlocker. Vornlocker said the portable …

Township senior citizens looking for a break on their cable television bills got some relief at the June 24 cable franchise agreement public hearing. Bob Clifton of Comcast Cable, told the seniors that the only discount the company is legally allowed to give is 10 percent to those eligible for the state Pharmaceutical Assistance to the Aged and Disabled (P.A.A.D.) …