The Township Council introduced its proposed 2021 budget at its April 13 meeting. Update: The Township Council adopted the budget, with a slight modification, at its May 25 meeting. Township Manager Robert Vornlocker said that the township anticipated being able to use $581,000 of a federal CARES grant to offset losses in revenue from hotel taxes. Don’t Miss Out! No …
Read More »Big-Ticket Budget Items Discussed At Council Budget Session
New vehicles and equipment for the township police and public works departments, improvements to parks and upgrades in software and hardware systems highlighted the Township Council’s second 2021 budget hearing on March 10. The nearly three-hour session featured mostly capital improvement requests, the big-ticket items in the yearly spending plan. Don’t Miss Out! No other media outlet covering Franklin Township …
Read More »Residents Encouraged To Report Potholes, Street Issues
Spring is in the air, and young public works’ employees’ minds turn to filling potholes. The annual pothole repair program is underway, and township officials are asking for help from residents in finding them. Don’t Miss Out! No other media outlet covering Franklin Township brings you the depth of information presented by the Franklin Reporter & Advocate. Period. We are …
Read More »Township Council Hears First Details Of ‘Boring’ Budget
The Township Council held a virtual budget hearing on March 2. There were no shocks or surprises in the first hearing for the 2021 township budget, something for which township officials were thankful. The majority of the 18 or so departments that presented their funding asks were either flat from last year or had decreases. Don’t Miss Out! No other …
Read More »Township Council Ok’s More Than $120,000 In Services Contracts
Contracts worth more than $120,000 were approved February 9 by the Township Council. The Council approved contracts to provide employee health services, and for maintenance for the township 9-1-1 system. Don’t Miss Out! No other media outlet covering Franklin Township brings you the depth of information presented by the Franklin Reporter & Advocate. Period. We are the only truly independent …
Read More »Councilman Galtieri: I’m Not Pursuing Grandparents’ Park
Township Councilman Will Galtieri announces that he will no longer pursue the proposed “Grandparents’ park” project at the virtual January 26 Township Council meeting. The push to build a pocket park on Willow Avenue formally ended on January 26, with Township Councilman Will Galtieri publicly pulling the plug on his brainchild. “I have heard you loud and clear and at …
Read More »Proposed ‘Grandparents’ Park’ Plan May Be Dead
Township Councilwoman Kimberly Francois said during the January 25 Redevelopment Agency meeting that the Council is “not going forward” on the proposed Grandparent’s Park project. A controversial plan to build a small park on Willow Avenue, near New Brunswick Road, appears to be dead, according to a comment made by a Township Councilwoman. Councilwoman Kimberly Francois (D-At Large) made the …
Read More »Public Pans ‘Pocket Park’ Plan
The Township Council heard from residents on January 12 during a virtual hearing involving a proposed park at Willow Avenue and New Brunswick Road. Residents opposed to a proposed “Grandparents’ Park” in Somerset spent more than two hours January 12 expressing their feelings about the plan to the Township Council. The Council held a special hearing on the plan, necessitated …
Read More »Township Council Goes To ‘Plan B’ For CDBG Grant Money, Will Help Renters
Getting almost non-existent response from East Franklin businesses to a COVID-19 relief grant program, the Township Council has decided to instead use the money to help township renters. Mayor Phil Kramer said at the November 24 virtual Township Council meeting that given that only one business owner applied for the special Coronavirus Aid Relief & Economic Security (CARES) Act grant, …
Read More »Township Could Absorb NJAW Rate Increase For Rate Payers
The township may temporarily absorb a nearly 7 percent rate increase from New Jersey American Water that has been approved by the state. But that won’t be indefinite, and at some point the increase will be passed on. Don’t Miss Out! No other media outlet covering Franklin Township brings you the depth of information presented by the Franklin Reporter & …
Read More »
The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community