Taxes

The Township Council on January 23 approved a contract with senior department heads that will extend through the end of 2025. The contract, with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, covers senior department heads and is retroactive to January 1, 2021. Township Manager Robert Vornlocker said that negotiations on a new contract were sidelined mainly because of …

(Photo: East Millstone UMC.) An ordinance that would allow the purchase of property in East Millstone for open space preservation was introduced by the Township Council on January 23. The ordinance would allocate $261,500 from the Township’s Open Space Trust Fund to buy the property at 4 Elm Street. The property is owned by the East Millstone United Methodist Church, …

Township schools will receive more than $175,000 in aid to be used for construction and other capital needs of school buildings. The district’s $175,572 allocation from the state Department of Education is the second-highest in Somerset County. Only Bridgewater-Raritan Regional’s $194,138 is more. The aid is part of a $75 million state school aid package announced January 23 by Gov. …

Contracts for new police cars and cleanup services were approved November 28 by the Township Council. The Council approved a contract worth $319,709.60 with Nielson Ford of Morristown for seven Ford Police Interceptors. The Council also approved a contract worth $150,000 with Panfietti Construction of Phillipsburgh for property cleanup as needed. The contract is effective through November 2025, and cannot …

A long-term tax abatement plan for a township low-income senior citizen apartment building was approved by the Township Council recently. The Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT, program was deemed necessary by the Council to aid in the rehabilitation of the Wilentz Senior Residence at the Wilf Campus for Senior Living on DeMott Lane. The Council approved on second …

BRIDGE TO CLOSE – The pedestrian walkway on the Landing Lane Bridge will remain open during the month-long construction project. The Landing Lane Bridge will be closed in both directions for approximately a month starting December 4 for priority repairs to the retaining wall. Work will be conducted around-the-clock to expedite the construction, according to a press release from the …

Contracts worth more than $941,679 for goods and services were approved November 13 by the Township Council. The contracts awarded were: A $24,900 and a $6,300 contract to Francen Contracting of Branchburg for rehabilitation of 26 Tamarack Road. A 2-year, $200,000 contract to Fyr-Fyter Sales & Service of Pennington for Central Station Monitoring. Maintenance, Repair and Testing Security Systems, Sprinkler …

The Board of Education on October 19 approved contracts for goods and service worth more than $185,000. The Board approved: A contract worth $9,457 to Open Systems Integrators of Hamilton to upgrade access systems at a Board administration building. A contract worth $2,200 with the state Department of Human Services/Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired for a student to …

RATE INCREASE EXPLAINED – FTSA executive director Joe Danielsen explains the need for a 10 percent rate hike in this year’s budget at the October 3 Sewerage Authority Commission meeting. Customers of the Franklin Township Sewerage Authority will notice a slight increase in their quarterly bills as a 10 percent rate hike takes effect in November. The rate hike was …

GENERATIONAL FARMING DISCUSSED – The Generational Farmer panel at Somerset County’s Influencing Agriculture Conference included (l-r) Carol English of English Farm in Basking Ridge; Matt Puskas of Middlebush Farm in Franklin Township; and Jimmy Abma of Abma’s Farms in Hillsborough and Doug Van Nuys of Hillsboro Farm. A township farmer was among 13 Somerset County farmers who participated in panel …