Taxes

The township’s payroll could grow by eight more positions this year, based on requests made at the Township Council’s second budget hearing on Feb. 12. Department heads presenting their budgets to the council also made requests for trucks, technology and other capital items during the four-hour hearing.

  Requests for a new bus for senior citizens and a new pickup truck for the township’s Fire Prevention department were made Feb. 9 during the Township Council’s first hearing on the proposed 2015 budget.

More than $1.8 million was earmarked for a number of suppliers for purchases for 2015 by the Township Council at its Feb. 3 meeting. Items approved were:

[wpgmappity id=”18″]   The Township Council wants to sell two Churchill Avenue parcels to Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity.

A bond ordinance earmarking $18,500 for a 9/11 memorial was introduced Feb. 3 by the Township Council. The money is left over from a 2004 bond ordinance.

[wpgmappity id=”17″]   Resurfacing of another portion of Canal Road is on the Township Council’s to-do list this year.

The architects of the township’s July 4 celebration are looking to expand the kind of entertainment offered to residents. Township Councilman Carl R.A. Wright (D-Ward 4), a member of the planing committee, said at the Feb. 3 council meeting that the group has “a  lot on the agenda.”

The school district will be able to enroll up to 90 more general- and special-education students in its Pre-Kindergarten programs. Interim schools Superintendent Lee Seitz said at the Jan. 22 Board of Education meeting that additional federal and local money has been found to fund the limited expansion of the program for the remainder of the school year.

The Delaware & Raritan Canal bridge on Amwell Road could be closed until the end of February, the state’s transportation chief said Jan. 16. State officials abruptly closed the bridge – which spans between East Millstone and Millstone – on Jan. 16 after it was determined that oversized trucks were further damaging the already-damaged bridge infrastructure.

An $85 million referendum that will result in a new elementary school and a realigned district was approved Dec. 9. The final tally was 1,953 “yes” votes to 1,463 “no” votes. Of the 16 voting districts established for special school elections, “no” votes outnumbered “yes” votes in only three: 2A and 2b, which includes several adult communities, and 6, which …