Taxes at Work

FTSA Executive Director Joe Danielsen. The Franklin Township Sewerage authority approved its $17 million 2024-25 budget at its August 6 virtual meeting. The Authority is expecting to bring in $17,016,784 in revenue, with $16,365,901 in appropriations, leaving a $650,883 surplus. The budget includes $3,099,500 in capital appropriations costs for the year. Line items include projects such as the Hamilton Street …

The Township has provided the following update on the various road work projects being conducted throughout Franklin. Blackwells Mills Rd Reclamation -Reclamation will begin on or about August 12, 24. Road will be closed for 24 hours a day for approximately 2 weeks.  Arden Area Resurfacing  -Concrete work in progress.  Shannon Ct Arden St Park St Gary Ct Laird Terr Girard …

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 …

ON THE HOT SEAT – Members of the Fire District 3 Board of Commissioners at the July 9 Commission meeting. Representatives of the east Franklin Volunteer Fire Department and the Fire District 3 Commissioners will meet before the end of July to try to iron out a fire service contract that has been in dispute for months. That was the …

Resurfacing and sidewalk and curb improvements to nearly 100 streets in the township will be funded by a bonding ordinance approved at the June 11 Township Council meeting. The ordinance allocates $5.2 million of the overall $7.6 million capital improvement and equipment ordinance approved by the Council to the road program. The work also includes upgrades to the water and …

RATE HIKE EXPLAINED – Mayor Phil Kramer explained the necessity of a water rate hike at the April 23 Township Council meeting. Water rates would increase nearly 17 percent under an ordinance amendment introduced at the Township Council’s April 23 meeting. The Township would also charge a water meter fee ranging from $4 to $257.25 per quarter, depending on the …

BUDGET TALKS – The Township Council held its second budget hearing of the year, a three-hour affair – on March 19. A hike in township water utility rates may be in the offing. If it comes to pass, the rate hike would be the second such increase in two years. A discussion about the water utility budget during the March …

The three volunteer fire departments that comprise Fire District 2 will benefit from a $75,000 grant the District received through a federal program. The District was one of 353 firefighting organizations that received $20 million under the American Rescue Plan Firefighter Grant program. The departments under the Fire District 2 umbrella are Franklin Park, Griggstown and Little Rocky Hill fire …

EXPLAINING THE PLAN – Schools Superintendent John Ravally explains the plan to use the former Middlebush School as a pre-school center to offer universal, free, pre-school to District children. The Board of Education on February 22 took the first step in reclaiming the former Middlebush School building as a school. The Board agreed to give district administrators the authority to …