Township Council

The Township Council officially began the search for a new police chief on Dec. 12, but the decision to do so was not without its drama. Current Police Chief Lawrence Roberts is retiring on Dec. 31. He announced his intention in June.

The Township Council said goodbye Dec. 12 to one of their own and to the township’s police chief. FTPD Chief Lawrence Roberts is retiring at the end of the year, capping a 30-year career in law enforcement, while Councilwoman Roz Sherman did not run for re-election this year.

The township has already provided for more than enough low- and moderate-income housing to meet its Mt. Laurel obligations through 2025, a township official said in the wake of an affordable housing agreement approval. An agreement between the township and the Fair Share Housing Center, approved at the Township Council’s Oct. 10 meeting,  sets Franklin’s “fair share” of affordable housing …

An Eagle Scout and the leader of a township-based cancer support organization were in the spotlight at the Sept. 26 Township Council meeting. Joseph Repsher, an Eagle Scout with Boy Scout Troop 113, chartered by Somerset Presbyterian Church, was commended for attaining the highest rank in scouting, and Dorothy Reed, co-founder and president of the Sisters Network of Central New …

An idea to place a “performance gazebo” on township property next to the library’s main branch was given conditional support July 11 by the Township Council. The gazebo would be donated to the township, but paid for by private donations and managed by the Franklin Township Cultural Arts Council.

A proposal to reduce the amount of time hunting is allowed on two township nature preserves this year was adopted July 11 by the Township Council. As a result of the vote, hunters using firearms on the Negri Nepote Native Grassland Preserve and the Griggstown Native Grassland Preserve/Bunker Hill Environmental Center will be restricted to from sunrise to 9 a.m., …

Update 3: After a lengthy discussion, the Human Relations Commission deferred making a recommendation to the Township Council, pending information members said Mayor Kramer was going to supply. The mayor also told the commission that part of the recording package would be a relocation of their meetings from the library’s Historic Collections Room to the municipal building’s large conference room. …

The township will increase the number of board and committee meetings that are recorded and televised. That was the decision June 13 by the Township Council, after the idea was broached by Mayor Phil Kramer.

A student member of a township commission, a charitable foundation and awareness of PTSD were recognized June 13 by the Township Council. Nicholas Renda, a Franklin High School senior who was a junior member of the township’s Human Relations Commission for two years, was commended by the council for his work.

It took a little while to get there, but the Township Council on May 11 approved a proposal to close to automobile traffic Canal Road from the Griggstown Causeway to Route 518 two Sundays in the summer. The idea is to allow bicyclists, walkers and joggers unfettered access to the road, similar to what is done on the southern end …