Taxes

Repaving of New Brunswick Road between John F. Kennedy Boulevard and DeMott Lane is expected to start about May 15. The Township Council at its April 22 meeting awarded a $384,381.78 contract for the work to Sayreville-based Z Brothers Concrete Contractors.

The school district’s roughly 150 substitute teachers will be working for a Cherry Hill-based company starting next year, for a little more money and better benefits. The Board of Education at its April 24 meeting voted unanimously to privatize the substitute teachers, awarding a $1.4 million contract to Source4Teachers.

A water main shutdown by the South Brunswick water utility from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 30 will interrupt water service for some Franklin residents. According to a notice released by the township, the shutdown will affect all water services south of Princeton Highlands Boulevard (Allston Road) on Routes 27 and 518 will be interrupted.

All but one of the 11 members of the nascent Hamilton Street Advisory Board were named April 22 by the Township Council, although the final picks were not unanimous. The 10 names were drawn from a list of 15 business owners and residents of the Hamilton Street business district. The district runs from about Franklin Boulevard to near the New …

Several groups hoping to get Community Development Block Grant funding for projects ranging from helping homeowners who are facing foreclosure to renovating kitchens in a senior residence made their pitches April 8 before the Township Council. The council’s finance committee will review all 14 grant applications and make its recommendations at a later date. The township received $254,170 in CDBG …

In a fast meeting April 8, the Board of Education selected Illinois-based ECRA Group to lead a search for the new schools Superintendent. The company, which has an office in Jersey City, will charge the district an $18,500 basic consultation fee for the search, plus expenses.

A partisan debate over new sidewalks and road resurfacing projects punctuated the introduction of the 2014 budget at the April 8 Township Council meeting. But when the dust settled, the proposed $57 million spending plan – which calls for a 3.6 percent increase in the amount to be raised by taxes – was introduced.

A New York-based bus company that took over most of the school district’s bus routes has agreed to take on some more. Montauk Transit Service of Medford, N.Y. has agreed to purchase some equipment from and assume some district bus routes held by Mercy Transportation Inc. of Monmouth Junction.

A vacant building on Lewis Street, owned by the Somerset Community Action Program, is being eyed by the Township Council as a youth/community center. The council at its March 25 meeting gave the go-ahead to township manager Bob Vornlocker to hire the engineering firm CME to take a thorough look at the building and estimate what it would cost to …

The “how to” of the township entering into an energy aggregation contract was explained to the Township Council at its March 24 meeting. Gary Finger, an ombudsman from the state Board of Public Utilities, explained the process by which the township would contract for energy supplies for all township residents.