Township Council Taxes

Contracts for goods and services worth $289,723 were approved at the Jan. 7 Township Council meeting. The council approved the $39,918 purchase of a pick-up truck with snow plow from Beyer Brothers Corp. of Fairview. The money comes from the 2013 capital spending plan. A $13,000 contract with Peak Software, Sandy, Utah was also approved. The software will be used …

Agreeing that commissioners should appear at a meeting and explain why they feel they need a more than $100 a year raise, the Township Council Jan. 7 tabled approval for the proposed 2014 salaries for Fire District 3’s five commissioners. The council did, however, approve proposed raises for commissioners in fire districts 1, 2 and 4. Although fire district operations …

There’s a new portrait hanging among the presidents in the Township Council chambers, that of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The portrait was unveiled at the beginning of the Jan. 7 Township Council meeting. Officiating were Council members Rajiv Prasad and Kimberly Francois, both D-At Large; Mayor Brian Levine, R; Paul Curry from the Franklin Democratic …

Sparks flew at the Township Council reorganization meeting Jan. 1 when the all-Democrat Council refused to place Republican Mayor Brian Levine on a key township committee. The refusal sparked a rare show of public anger from Levine, who accused teh council members of playing politics. But one Democrat said the reason Levine was not placed on the Administration Committee as …

It’s not uncommon to have special guess show up at municipal reorganization meetings. But it is a bit unusual to have a sitting U.S. Senator and Congressman appear at the sessions. That was the case Jan. 1 when newly minted U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, and Rep. Rush Holt, D-17, showed up at the Township Council reorganization meeting. Both spoke …

Resolutions to buy nine RADAR units for township police cars and a dump truck with a plow were approved at the Dec. 11 Township Council meeting. The council also voted to award bids for HVAC maintenance and repairs for township buildings, extend its current snow plowing contract and increases in two attorneys’ retainers at the meeting. The nine RADAR units …

The township and the Franklin-Somerset First Aid Squad are on the verge of a deal over two ambulances, but some details still have to be worked out. Township Council members at the Nov. 26 council meeting seemed amenable to the idea of selling two 1990s-era ambulances to the squad for $4,000 each. The only sticking point is who would pay …

The township Ethics Board was officially dissolved at the Township Council Dec. 10 meeting, by a vote of 6-2. Voting for the motion to move the board’s duties to the state Department of Community Affairs’ Local Finance Board were Council members James Vassanella (Ward 5), Ted Chase (Ward 1), Brian Regan (At-Large), Phil Kramer (Ward 3), Rajiv Prasad (At-Large) and …

The Township Council Nov. 26 voted to buy a new Dodge Durango for the Department of Fire Prevention and lease copiers for the finance and animal control departments. The 2014 Durango is needed by the Fire Prevention department because of the addition of a new fire inspector, according to a memo from Township Clerk Ann Marie McCarthy. The truck, including …

New Brunswick should “ante up” if the township has to do any additional water supply testing in the wake of charges that the neighboring city’s former water department operator falsified three year’s worth of water tests. That was the word Nov. 26 from Township Councilman Brian Regan (At-Large) and Mayor Brian Levine after the council was told of a possible …