Township Council

GIVING THANKS – David Carcieri, CEO of the Greater Somerset County YMCA, expresses his thanks for the $750,000 allocated by the state and distributed by state Assemblyman Joe Danielsen for the construction of a Y in Franklin. The fundraising campaign for a township-based YMCA branch got a large boost from the state on September 24. State Assemblyman Joe Danielsen (D-17) …

Contracts for nearly $700,000 in goods and services were awarded July 9 by the Township Council. The Council approved five contracts totaling $696,588.10. Nine companies were awarded contracts valued up to $500,000 for surveying services. The companies are Carroll Engineering and Van Cleef Engineering Associates, both of Hillsborough; Boswell Engineering of South Hackensack; Colliers Engineering & Design of Holmdel; CME …

More than $3 million in road reconstruction contracts were approved July 9 by the Township Council. The five contracts total $3,248,933.94. DeSantis Construction of Somerset received two contracts, one worth $761,188.59 for the resurfacing of Cornelius Way, and the second worth $662,244.48 for the resurfacing of the Mosher Road area. Z Brothers Concrete Contractors of Sayreville received a $640,330 contract …

SWEARING IN – Fr. Simon El Hajj, Rabbi Eli Garfinkel and Rev. Jamin Powell, left to right in white shirts, are sworn in to their FTPD Chaplaincy positions at the June 25 Township Council meeting. Three of the five Chaplains in the Franklin Township Police Department’s “revamped” Chaplaincy program were sworn in at the June 25 Township Council meeting. Rabbi …

PARKINSON’S PATIENT – Mayor Phil Kramer announced that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. (File photo). Mayor Philip Kramer has been suffering from Parkinson’s Disease since the middle of 2019, he said on June 24. Kramer, 68, said the disease has not affected his mobility and that he has no plans to resign the seat that he’s held since …

Certain new developments would be required to post anti-idling signs under ordinance amendments approved June 11 by the Township Council. The amendments were recommended by the township Environmental Commission in August 2023. The amendments “will work towards preventing instances of idling, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the release of harmful pollutants, and educate the public about the negative impacts of …

LOBBYING FOR RESOLUTION – Mohammed Turan was one of many members of the township’s Palestinian community and their supporters who once again tried to convince the Township Council to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. Members of the township’s Palestinian community and their supporters were once again unsuccessful on May 28 in convincing the Township …

STREET WOES – Township Councilman James Vassanella said that he’s noticed that since Covid, overall conditions on the Easton Avenue corridor have declined. Some short-term “fixes” to Easton Avenue traffic issues my be put in place before major reconstruction work is set to begin later this decade. That was the upshot from a May 20 forum on safety issues with …

CALLING FOR SUPPORT – Sami Shaban, the Board of Education vice-president, asks the Township Council for a resolution calling for a cease fire in the Hamas-Israeli war. Members of the township’s Muslim community once again on May 14 asked the Township Council for a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Hamas-Israeli war, and once again left disappointed. This was …

AD HOC COMMITTEE MEETS – The Township Council’s ad hoc committee on retail signage chose to hold its first public meeting virtually on April 29. Changes to the Township’s retail signage regulations that take into account a businesses’ location rather then set broad-brush standards may be in the offing. That was the upshot from the first open meeting of the …