Township Council

A purchase that township officials said will impact Franklin for decades to come was approved May 24 by the Township Council. The council voted to award a contract worth $80,608 to Hopewell-based 4Ward Planning for a market study of the Hamilton Street business district and the Corporate Business zone near Interstate 287. It’s hoped that the study will result in …

A Parsippany firm was tapped by the Township Council April 12 to provide a traffic study for the proposed Catalpa Park. The RBA Group was awarded the $4,600 contract. The Council on April 12 also approved on second reading a bonding ordinance that includes $3.6 million for the design and construction of the park’s first phase. Phase I of the park, …

Township officials are reviewing more than $200,000 in requests for Community Development Block Grants, but the program’s administrator warned that some of the requests will not be filled. The township’s 2016 CDBG figure has not yet been arrived at, program administrator Deborah Mitchell told the Township Council at its March 22 meeting, but requests in one category exceed what the …

Updates: April 12: All ordinances were approved on second reading. Ordinances for various capital improvements and equipment purchases were introduced at the March 22 Township Council meeting. The ordinances total $12,299,316. All of the projects were discussed during the council’s budget hearings earlier in the year. Included in the ordinances introduced were: A $1,333750 bond ordinance for the restoration of …

A North Brunswick firm was chosen March 8 to provide a sound system for Middlebush Park. The Township Council awarded the $13,675 contract to Coskey’s TV Radio Sales and Service. Coskey’s was one of three companies to bid on the project. The system will be primarily used by the township’s Pop Warner football program. Bids for the project were originally received in …

Updates: April 12: The council unanimously approved the amendment and the 2016 budget. March 22: Three revisions in the proposed budget forced the public hearing to be re-scheduled to the Council’s April 12 meeting. The changes reduce the overall budget by $50,000, to $59,488,016. In his budget address, Mayor Phil Kramer said the tax impact on the owner of a …

Building on an action it took in the 2015 budget, the Township Council is discussing using more Open Space Trust Fund money to pay for township workers who maintain township parks. The issue arose at the Feb. 16 budget hearing, the second and final such hearing the council has held on the 2016 budget. At issue is paying for workers’ benefits …

More than $12 million in capital improvement and equipment expenses were presented to the Township Council Feb. 16 during its second budget session. The total includes nearly $5 million in projects and equipment, another roughly $5 million in Open Space Trust Fund expenses – including $3.6 million for the design and construction of Phase 1 of the controversial Catalpa Park …

Tempers flared at the Township Council’s second budget hearing Feb. 16 after one councilman said he’d been “hoodwinked” by his colleagues over sidewalk installation in his ward. Township Councilman Carl R.A. Wright (D-Ward 4) said he was “kinda miffed” that none of the $750,000 included in the 2015 budget plan and earmarked for sidewalk installation in streets around Franklin Middle …

The Township Council Feb. 9 took the first step in creating a youth center when it introduced an ordinance permitting the acquisition of a Lewis Street property. The property is located at 429 Lewis Street, which was the home of the Somerset Community Action Program before it moved to Hamilton Street. The ordinance, which will have its final vote at the …