The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Somerset County earlier this year assumed the $89,266 it cost to clean up unauthorized work at Marconi Park, and will not seek reimbursement from the Marconi Foundation, which started the project without proper permission or permits.
The Marconi Foundation – a Foundation started in the early 1990s to recognize the achievements of inventor Guglielmo Marconi – in late 2023 began an unauthorized redevelopment project at the park, which is bordered by Easton Avenue and John F. Kennedy Boulevard.
The plan was to create a structure housing a bust of Marconi as well as other aesthetic improvements.
The problem was that although it is maintained by the Township, the park is owned by Somerset County, and neither County authorization nor the necessary Township construction permits were secured before the work began.
Township officials issued a stop work order in December 2023, and also issued several construction code violations for the unauthorized work, which included laying an electrical line that was planned to be used to illuminate the Marconi statue.
The project was finally rejected by Somerset County in February.
Township Manager Robert Vornlocker said on November 12 that the permit violations were not pursued because legally, they are issued to the property owner, which is Somerset County. That, he said, would have put the Township in the position of taking Somerset County to court.
County spokesman Nathan Rudy said in an email that the County “assumed the cost of the work on the park as part of our regular work there, and Franklin will handle the ongoing maintenance. The cost for the work is $89,266.16.”
He said in a follow-up email that the County would not seek reimbursement.
“There is no reimbursement requested, and traditionally Franklin maintained the park and will continue to do so,” he wrote. “The work was mostly cleanup of the site and walking paths to encourage passive recreation.”
