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The pickup of household items damaged by Tropical Storm Ida has begun. Although the Township Manager said he doesn’t expect it will all be used, the Township Council on September 14 voted to set aside $800,000 for costs related to Tropical Storm Ida and its cleanup. Of that total, $200,000 has been earmarked for salaries for police, dispatchers, public works …

Household items destroyed by Tropical Storm Ida could be picked up starting as early as September 13. Update: The cost for the pickup will be more than $290,000. The Township Council on September 13 will vote on an emergency resolution allocating $223,350 to AshBritt for the pickup, and $69,622.68 to Tetra Tech for the monitoring. Curbside pickup of household items …

Township Councilman spoke in favor of replacing the skate park. Work on a new skate park in Middlebush Park will probably start in the Spring of 2022, now that the Township Council awarded a $308,000 contract for its design and construction at its August 10 meeting. And once the park is open, the township ordinance regarding wearing safety equipment while …

A 2 percent rate hike that would raise residential sewer rates by $9 a year was approved August 3 by the township Sewerage Authority. The rate hike was proposed in July by the authority’s interim executive director, state Assemblyman Joe Danielsen.

Claremont Elementary School was the capstone project in the $85 million school referendum passed in 2014. (Photo: Franklin Township schools.) Work on the $85 million school referendum passed in 2014 has been completed, Board of Education prescient Nancy LaCorte said on July 22. The keystone of the work, which began in 2015, was the construction of Claremont Elementary School.

An artist’s rendering of the proposed skate park replacement for Middlebush Park. Rather than replace the skate park at Middlebush Park, members of the Open Space Advisory Committee said July 20 that they would prefer a spray park in its place. Some Committee members contended that the skate park was rarely used, and that a spray park would be a …

Contracts totaling nearly $2 million for goods and services were awarded at the July 13 Township Council meeting. Included in that amount was $678,572 for the purchase of vehicles and software:

Three township parks’ playgrounds will get new equipment and playground surfaces under a series of contracts awarded by the Township Council at its June 22 virtual meeting. The playgrounds are in the Rutgers Heights, Kingston School, and Dunham Lebed parks.

A multi-year contract giving district teachers average 3 percent raises in each of the agreement’s three years was approved June 16 by the Board of Education. The contract, which takes effect in the 2021-22 school year, also includes average 2.5 percent raises for district clerical staff and average 2.7 percent raises for district paraprofessionals in each of the agreement’s three …

The Township Council introduced its proposed 2021 budget at its April 13 meeting. Update: The Township Council adopted the budget, with a slight modification, at its May 25 meeting. Township Manager Robert Vornlocker said that the township anticipated being able to use $581,000 of a federal CARES grant to offset losses in revenue from hotel taxes.