Township Council Taxes

The proposed 2014 budget that will be presented to the Township Council next month includes a slight tax increase and money for street repaving and a controversial sidewalk construction plan. Whether that $750,000 allocation for sidewalks on streets near Franklin Middle School survives in the budget that is finally adopted by the council remains to be seen. Mayor Brian Levine …

Voices got a little loud at the March 20 Board of Education meeting when a Township Councilman and the board president engaged in a heated discussion about a meeting between among members of both bodies. Councilman Phil Kramer (D-Ward 3) used the board meeting’s public portion to tell members that a meeting he has requested with its facilities committee has …

This year’s rash of heavy snow storms has forced the township to so far spend about 2.5 times the average in snow removal costs. This year’s cost is about $310,000, said township manager Bob Vornlocker. The yearly average, he said, is about $125,000. The extra money will come from the township’s snow trust fund, into which unused snow removal money …

Purchases worth $53,950 and a number of professional and service contracts were awarded by the Township Council at the March 11 meeting. The council approved the $44,000 purchase of technical support for land development software from Spatial Data Logic of Somerset through Feb. 28, 2015. The software is used by a number of township departments, including building, land use, code …

Two contracts worth $69,000 were approved by the Township Council at its Feb. 25 meeting. The largest of the two, worth $55,000 a year, was awarded to Joseph Smentkowski, Inc. of Jersey City for servicing the township mini-dump. The two-year contract expires on Feb. 28, 2016. A $14,000 contract for electrical services as needed was awarded to Vetter Electric of …

The Township Council is now the body in charge of the Hamilton Street business district Special Improvement Zone. Thanks to a last-minute amendment to the ordinance making that so, the council’s status as the SID’s “district management corporation” is limited to two years. Business and property owners included in the Hamilton Street SID are eligible to be named to a …

Professional contracts worth $273,000 were awarded at the Feb. 11 Township Council meeting. The largest, $200,000, was for township attorney Louis Rainone, a member of the DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick and Cole law firm. The council also approved contracts for: Township prosecutor, with the Singer & Fedun law firm, worth $28,000 Associate prosecutor, with Art Skaar of Hillsborough, worth $20,000 Alternate prosecutors, …

A host of contracts for the year for services and supplies were approved by the Township Council at the Jan. 28 meeting. Many of the awards were for state and shared purchase contracts. The awards were as follows: Somerset County and Morris County Cooperative Pricing Programs – Janitorial Supplies – CY2014 – W.B. Mason/Bio-Shine/Central Poly Corp./Spruce Industries/Mooney-General Paper Company – …

A proposed ordinance that would give to the Township Council  all meaningful power over the renovation of the Hamilton Street business district – and relegate business owners to an advisory board – is being opposed by a group of those business owners. The ordinance was introduced at the Jan. 28 council meeting, but not before Councilman Carl R. A. Wright …

They’re just temporary fixes, but crews from the township and Somerset County have been traveling township roads over the past week filling in potholes that seem to appear about this time of year. The mixture of lots of moisture, then cold and warm temperatures, as we’ve had over the last several weeks, makes the perfect recipe for bone-rattling potholes, township …