thanks thank you I'm start a couple minutes our Our Guest presenter we going to be going to be a little bit late so so we'll start the meeting and then when the comment will stop I will startop the meeting doy back there yeah yeah you wish you had a I'm getting there put the bathroom no towel towel theath toilet tissue Alex was going to go home with some cookies in his pocket I had I got mine uh signing sheet okay it's floating I'm going to start the meeting so this way we can get going you number one let me introduce you to our Al HRC commissioner who was approved last night back to next to Alex with the council KJ Sha so this is he has a very good uh background he was highly recommended to me by you Raj pad he highly recommended me to him and we we appointed him last evening KJ welcome thank so we have one more opening um a couple other things the uh Edna Nora John tibs and John aamba were all reappointed so you were you all reappointed at the annual at the annual meeting so you're going to hear from an Marie she will send you the correspondent you have to sign that have it an aoriz and get it back to her so those are the two items that I wanted to start with so um the only thing I want to stop you all should have received a u copy of the December 13th minutes so aily prepared by our two Junior Commissioners I need a motion to approve the those minutes okay all right I'm going to call on the police report uh first as I indicated when our presenter comes in I'm going to stop the meeting because he can that's our new Deputy Mayor so um I'm happy to open the for a police report uh last evening at the council meeting we installed uh five new police members so yes so uh hi do not know me um so we did uh swear in the five new officers oh oh one other thing we have a new liaison for the council Alex G us but yes we did swear in the five new officers um they come on as well as others that are in the academy right now currently also being hired but trying to get through the academy um 6mon process so when you see some new faces on the road don't be scared they're learning um but uh just a few programs that we have either currently going on or or that you guys would feel free to join um we do have a senior Police Academy that we're doing right now um 55 and older uh anybody that is 55 and older you all look very young not really sure who can Jo who can join um but that is currently going on we just teach them about what we do on a daily basis when it comes to IIA patol traffic that kind of stuff how do you sign up for that uh just through the township website if you go to the community relations Bureau you'll see a list of all of our programs you'll be able to look at and just sign up if you need um if you don't want to do the 55 and older one we do have another one that we just call civilian Academy um you can look at uh that should be going on in the spring starting up again okay but the other one started now it is currently ongoing um so you can still I'm not sure if you can apply mid um session with that so keep an eye for the civilian one that should be coming out in the spring I believe oh okay um but usually we run two of those a year so we'll be doing the two 55 and older a year as well as just civilian 55 and older 5y old is the new one is it yeah because the civilian one I attended that's on the website there that's about 10 12 weeks yes how about 55 and overh same thing same thing yeah but that is run uh during the uh middle of the day starts starts at 1 ends at 3 okay cuz the other ones during the night how many one day a week uh yes one day a week I believe it's uh Thursdays oh okay it's the same thing both are same same exact thing we're just uh kind of catering to the older generation that usually are asleep what does that do what is what uh it just teaches you guys about what we do on a daily basis um cuz a lot of people don't know it's just uh teaching them what Patrol is like what a traffic stop is like that's my favorite part because I'm usually an actor in it so you guys get to do a conduct a traffic stop on us all control and uh you know we give you a little bit of a hard time it's a little fun but um teach you about IIA Internal Affairs uh detective Bureau traffic uh the Traffic Unit community relations sorry community relations just teaching you a little bit about the police department and just us this is notary Poli no you go to the police I think we we kind just stayed in your car I think Tri what you could do and everything they brought dogs in from the county oh yeah and the classes already started you said uh yes this 55 and older one has started but the civilian one should be starting in okay no worries uh so there's that one um for the kids side of it uh right now we have something called canvas connections going on it's an art program that we're actually running one of our officers is very gifted at uh painting I'm not so um that's run through the Youth Academy I believe that also goes on every Tuesday I believe it is again anyone interested in signing up just go to the website uh under the community relations Bureau and they get signed through there um we have the chess program I don't I believe it was brought up before or not uh but it was start starts March 6th so anyone interested in playing chess also do Rees he's very good at playing uh he's beaten me multiple times I chess too but I'm not very good so I can I think the library does it too I think CH yeah he he does it every Thursday it's going to be at the youth center this year or well this session so it's a it's a great time the kids love it um currently also we have the cooking with cops program going on that's every Friday at the high school the kids um it's all signed up for that uh so just keep an eye on the pictures you know it looks really good we'll be at stage house I believe the last session of it it's a great program going on and as well as the uh Cadet program that's also currently going on I'm the liaison for that um kids that are interested in law enforcement we put them well we give them an idea of what law enforcement is like uh this is specifically for high schoolers um so if you know anyone in a high school that's interested becom a cop or want to learn more about becoming a cop they are brought in we teach them kind of like the civilian Academy but it's a little bit longer it's throughout the year and then we actually use them for over the summer at National Night Out they come out they run a table uh they talk to the public about it what they do what they do with us they have the nice uniform you know it looks good but uh it's a great program for that so you know anybody interested um me I want to ask you about the uh who's running the Trad program that's Sergeant habish I'm also the on for that as well you Sergeant habish Sergeant habish yep okay ha i e c anything else um I do want to indicate that uh last evening when we installed the uh five new officers the uh public a safety director made a big push about the community uh U uh keeping their lights on because there has there have been a ration M this as a a matter of fact I heard her today on CBS he was interviewed by the CBS so we're on the map so we have to be very careful who was that yeah Police director C Mayweather who the Police director was onc with um oh okay yeah I did see it right there was an emphasis for anybody who sees any suspicious activities called the police which is a very simple number 732873 2300 of course if an emergency you call 911 otherwise you call that number and also uh everybody know arrive together program I presume you have heard about it this is a program that Township started uh since oober yes would you like to say a few words about that so the arve together program uh detective Rios as well as a social services worker um her name is Nicole I believe it is um very nice very nice woman met her a couple times but uh what they do is they respond out to all the uh mental health calls Mental Health crisis uh detective Rios is in plain clothes he looks like a normal person except the police patch still has his weapon on him uh and a badge so what they do is respond out these mental health calls and uh the social services Nicole she is the direct person who like she deals with that so she like uh walks in as well as detective Rios who is just there for safety aspect of it um but he is train he got some more training in that to assist um with helping that person right away instead of waiting for a screener or come out um or us having to if they're not voluntarily wanting to go to the hospital then unfortunately we do have to get them into the ambulance to go get help if a screener is not coming out but so this way the resources are right there as as soon as they arrive and they're going to all these mental health calls which they are very busy right now um but they're responding out to all these calls for for the assistance so it's a great program that's going on we're actually I believe we're the first one in the state or the count I know at least in the county we are the first ones that in the county that are uh that's running this and what's itday again arrive together program and by the way it stands for alternative response to reduce innocence of violence and escalation that's why I bring Dr k CU I would like to see if we can get them to come over to our community to uh you know speak at one of our meetings or something like that can I can bring that to detective Sergeant Leah and see if they be they is that on the website uh I'll have to talk to the detective Sergeant so I don't I don't you can call right I just don't want to get arrested okay all right I'm going to stop to me thank you very much I actually you going but did you have a question no I just wanted to again complain about the Speeders they're coming to me neighbors talking about the Speeders going up and down Winston Drive even the yellow buses okay they speed up and down when about that before they yeah but they keep knocking on my door if I'm out there they're walking their dogs they're still complaining about the traffic the traff Poli first the uh the traffic safety Bureau they're the ones in charge of that um if you do contact the police department um ask for the sergeant in charge for the detective Bureau that's Sergeant Rees I don't know if you want to write that down okay Sergeant re re r a i CS okay I'm going to stop a meeting because we have a presenter and I just give him a call he he usually all the um traffic enforcement speak sorry okay um I I am happy to introduce our son Deputy Mayor Ed cnic and all of you should know it because he's been around a long time he was head of our board of education for a while he's been a while but he was appointed recently as the deputy mayor and I thought it would be a good idea for him to come to us as as his presenter and to tell us how the HRC can help him in any way so Ed the floor is yours whatever you want to do well super I appreciate being back actually and um I think when I was first elected just maybe it's two years ago now I got a chance to come so I appreciate that opportunity and then I actually asked the mayor to provide some things cuz I'm Deputy Mayor and that means I just get to say the things that he's working on and the council's supporting RIT large so just as a little bit of a a spokesperson but um I just want to say thank you to all of you for your service for helping us to and reach and connect with different portions of the community um you know Franklin is extremely diverse and with it comes a lot of advantages and challenges um and you know having all of you here thinking about issues to how we can be um more connected and supportive just is just critical um you know and a lot of good things have come out of the work that everyone's done your I appreciate that so I ran through like a sort of a little bit of list on what thought I'd do is just like cover a few topics and then if you all have other things you want us to be aware of I mean you've always got council member Cy um you know to to bounce things off of but we can have a discussion also what might be uh helpful but these are some really exciting things that are happening that it's important that all of you know as leaders in the community that you can share with other folks and some are on the horizon but just around the corner and some are already in place so you heard about one of them already from officer Russo with regard to arrive together and and Dr cray thank you for mentioning that as well the whole idea is that you know when someone's in a mental health crisis that they're not greeted by police officers doing law enforcement because they're that response is not necessarily appropriate and we've seen really bad things happen um in situations like that so this is you know trying to meet the moment um in a way that's that's more appropriate and hopefully deescalate if there's a chance of any sort of violence and get the person the mental health they need and that takes special training that I don't know if anyone in this room has but you know takes a lot of experience and you know keeping Folks up and and refresh on that I think it's it's nice that attorney general plaen has made that a priority and it's nice that Franklin embraced um our community and the I think the force has been um really positively supportive as well um and understanding that and it's not that they weren't sensitive before it's just different and I think if you're like me I've had lots of different experiences through my life uh with folks in Mental Health crisis and there's a lot of stigma with that folks when this came up the other last night at the council meeting um that folks don't really talk about it um but I think if we just sat for a moment and ask you all to share some time that you've seen someone in crisis we'd all have a lot of stories and they'd be pretty emotional and it's hard um but that's what a community is about that's what our police is about but with the mental health as an extra level we're going to be able to be more supportive and helpful so we're really helpful for that program uh to continue to be successful um and we have a number of uh sort of Cooperative arrangements with the board of education so before I was on Council I was on the board of education and I had a small st being president of the Board of Ed and one of the things we worked hard to do is bring the Board of Ed which is paid for with your tax dollars and the township which is paid for your tax dollars closer together find scales of economy so like a simple thing um there's mechanics that are paid for by the township but some of the money is paid for by the school board that help to maintain the school Vehicles so we don't need to have our own garage and our own mechanics and our own tools and our own heat and you know payroll and all that kind of stuff so that was one piece um so the next few um enter in a couple different areas one um which I think is a really awesome program is a partnership with zu fall Health Center um they provide medical care regardless of insurance stat us on a sliding scale they've been doing it in like a we call it a van but it's a mobile unit like an RV which is set up to be a medical facility there will be a permanent home on the Hamilton Street campus of the Middle School um and if you know that one you go down that windy road I don't know exactly the name I usually miss it unless I look for the green sign and there's a big parking lot used to be the high school and then there's some Fields up at the top and play some um some football there at the very edge of the property I don't think construction is is is happening just yet but there's going to be modular units that put together to have exam rooms Dental as well as Vision Services permanent separate from the school but on the school campus primarily and and I mean prioritized for the students and their families and then as things get more spun up with more Staffing and more hours to their community at large um it's not surprising what may be surprising but I I say this all the time people in America die from tooth infections because they don't have medical coverage or dental coverage and that's really I think unacceptable so this is a great opportunity um and actually we did a health assessment study uh through the environmental commission that looked across the entire Community was like a one-year study and access to Medical Care particularly in the fourth and fifth WS which this is in the in the fourth ward is lacking um folks are not getting an opportunity um um likely due to access so having a place makes a difference and it's really cool because the the township is going to pay for the building the schools got the land already and then they're going to pay for the ongoing maintenance electricity security and different pieces like that so it's a real partnership and then Zu fall comes with grants to provide all the rest and then they medically Bill if there's an opportunity there's other kinds of State support um so that's a really nice program and then in addition um this is Tak a little bit longer to explain but if you've been to consola which now is called the board administrative complex over on Route 27 um it has its tree line and in the front we put a community center in and if you haven't been there to zoning board meeting I think they had a planning board meeting there it's a really wonderful facility it's open to anyone in the township um through our normal rules and through our recreational uh Center but the school board got that building in a land swap with the township and they swapped middle Bush School where um the board used to be which is just right around the corner you can walk there from here so that happened the school then sort of renovated the facilities for the board they do inservice training they don't have to cancel school cuz it's a separate off-site location to have trainers and adults there's the community center a couple Community rooms and there's two classrooms that are flexible so we could have workshops and education programs during the day and at night adults all that there's no students there's you know um we you know you don't have to worry about security issues related um and now the town has the middle Bush School prek three and four yearold programs have been a big priority for the schools and they're looking to expand them they're free to everybody but they're popular and there's not enough space so they've been shopping around trying to find space in the town so they could put in a a prek school to expand it cuz all the schools can't fit it well it turns out that the middle Bush School with some Renovations would be a great facility so right now we're exploring with the schools that the township would invest the funds to renovate that school make it appropriate for three and four year olds and put that as you know it's centrally located and then lease that back to the school because they get federal and state grants to pay for the program completely so it'll be a net neutral for taxpayers um and great facilities and they would the the students wouldn't need to be all over and all the other schools we wouldn't need to do additions in all the schools and we save off some of the growing population so those are two b e projects that are pretty exciting and then the third one is we're facing almost 40% increase in our Healthcare cost for our Municipal Employees imagine that right that's really a lot of money so we're looking at self-insuring um and we're going to be working with the school board because they started self- Insurance when I was on the school board um and they've created a Health Center that's available for their employees which they're going to allow Township employees to go to so which is another way and so that's going to reduce our increase premiums from 40% to 20% there's still going to be an increase and roughly at my my day job my organization the increase was supposed to be 25% it's around 12% it's it's happening everywhere but we had to reduce coverage to get the increase down um so you should know your tax dollars are going to work in ways um that help stretch dollars farther while still providing high level services and expanding Services right frankly young kids three and four year olds it is such an important piece that they get that prek education and Wealthy communities people pay for it themselves um I could tell a story maybe it helps when I was on the hill I worked in Washington for a member of Congress I was was a teacher at the time and I was at a prek they called them like briefing and then they're in the room and there's a debate whether prek is good or bad should we do Universal prek or not everyone's talking and I'm my first week on the job I'm like why is this even a question I had prek I was lucky enough to have prek so I just took the microphone hey guys they said everybody in this room stand up if you never had prek nobody stood every and I said well that's why you're in the capital of the United States of America one of the strongest best nation in the world deciding on the education of our future because you had prek and there are people that didn't have prek not in this room so it's been a priority for the uh schools and you know I think the township is meeting that moment by providing an opportunity to get the facilities the schools are unable to borrow the money without voter approval we can borrow the money without voter approval but we also know the money is going to be paid back one to one so it's not actually going to cost the voters anything so it's a really interesting way to partner um so that's stuff with the schools um couple of other art funding so this is funding from the pandemic response and investment American Rescue plan the $2 million going into water main Replacements so that's nice cuz that's not going to be picked up by the rap pairs um if you're if you have a well um and then $2 million in sewer projects by the township again another way to save money if you're on a sewer I happen to have a well and a septic take so I don't pay either of those two things but folks that have them that's a great benefit to keep your rates from from going up um YMCA a lot of folks are very supportive we've carved out a portion of the town in the land swap there was a portion parked out at that uh board administrative complex for the wi so the land we have a land we have land available um we need money and investment to make the wire reality and there's a lot of support from Council also the schools and I think folks around this room and we're going to need to work together on finding Solutions there CU it's not cheap um but we want to make sure that that's a available um both for swimming life instruction just so many great things that the Y does and the Y's been getting more involved in Franklin they ran a summer program over at uh Colonial Park which was uh operation sore or program I think it was the name of it it was very well attended by Franklin youth um and successful and they they're looking to continue that but having a home base will be helpful where is the L um so it's on Route 27 at The Bard stat complex I don't know the address I think it's like 2973 I'm making it up um but on that campus on that campus that beautiful tree line campus so some of it's open space so it can never be developed um or could be far your cousin's Lane is it is it that yeah I'll have to Google it I don't know brought my phone get the hidden LS oh yeah I did we'll find you the add hidden LS yes oh okay I know where it that is yeah before before the Stewarts the that's how I know on the right side if you're headed towards Princeton yeah on the right side of your head and you're head towards get free now that main building now I haven't been up there in a while you know I got to go yeah but that main building now what is that you've turned that into the it's basically a welcome center for registration that first building right there but the rest of it's a community center so there's a massive multi-purpose room that's where the board meetings are warming kitchen so uh you can do Weddings But you have to bring an outside cater and they can eat F they can't cook it there two classrooms in the back and then you go down the hallway and the small Chapel cuz it was a religious facility is now a meeting it's beautiful um all available to the public so it's for rental it's people rent it's not just for our use yeah um as a town There's a the way that town does it is similar to how the schools do it there's like a cascading scale by how many what percentage of people are from the town what kind of recognized organization is it could be free all the way through to if it's a weekend and they have to open they may charge a custodial fee because someone has to unlock the door clean up after you so um but it's available um you used to have parties there and and um repairs funerals used to have room available it is available for that first primarily for educational purposes and then but it's not used a ton for that so it's pretty available I know charos on jaka's um daughter got married there it was a beautiful wedding I didn't get a chance to go a conflict wedding so that that's cool and then exciting and and sort of related to education the library opened a southern Branch over by the Franklin Park School and we were renting land um over in I call it The Confectionary yours now it's like the ocean state odd job uh OD lot I don't work for them but I I like the place that development there um and they've been there for a while the library but the library moved now and the branch is now over by Franklin Park School also the um Boe sold that land to the library so that they could have a place to build it and now they're not paying rent and they got grants from the state to build the building so it's really reducing costs and increasing Library services and if you haven't been it's beautiful it's really cute Library it's a smaller than than the one right here um you should check it out movies and they can transfer things this is still open don't I yep still open um so that's nice to expand it um and then the I guess the last thing I'll mention is um we're doing a traffic study to look at the BNI Zone we know um with increased uh development comes increased traffic particularly with warehouses and you know reaching uh what I would consider and I don't speak for Council on this uh sort of a maximum um what that's doing to our communities how it's changing it what may um be able to be done to alleviate that Etc so um that should come out I don't know the timing exactly sometime this year but we'll get a report back on that and then a little bit more on the health impact study if you live in my w so I'm from W one which is the the southern part of Franklin Kingston basically up to I don't even know what street I end on uh it's going to be sedan across to um Claremont is so pretty it's the biggest ward in the town you're going to live 10 years longer than if you're from more four or five something like that eight years that's a big difference some of that has to do with income some of it has to do with air quality Etc we're going to look more at at what that is Access to Health Care was also flagged as an issue by that Health Center really matters than the fourth W than the fourth or fifth W you know there's a there's a health disparities um committee so yeah one one's age compared to the other W was was quite a bit different correct older folks in war one right yeah right does does that stablished more established in W one whereas W four um I had a question no one else has yeah and so that um yeah so we're going to look at some solutions another thing with that is transportation came up as an issue so you know almost 6% of folks who live in the town don't have cars and we don't have great public transportation options so we're going to do a micro it's not on this paper but a micro Mobility study to look at what can we do Trenton has something called EV go where they have four little electric EVS that are available for like $180 you just call them they come and pick you up and take you wherever you want to go so it's microtransit it's available to people who need it and everyone but it's not like running constantly empty up and down the roads so that's one like inrim solution to a more of what they call mass transit so I WR micro um and we'll see if that's something that's viable for our town and then maybe some people drop their car save on insurance parking and all those kinds of things and you know are able to enjoy New Brunswick and the trains to the city and get around and get the things they need so um I'm personally excited about that option because we're finding more and more folks wanting to live in walkable communities rather than car Centric communities and this is a Suburban generally Community which means it's very car Centric um the couple areas not so much Hamilton Street on 27 Corridor no sidewalks we've got challenges so um it's a lot I could tell you more but these are the things I I just wanted to let you know about I think it's important to get your feedback on so I had a I had a question I have questions to you I don't have any ANW I just can things no go ahead on the on the YMCA now I I I I've heard very bill gri was very hot heavy about it the council but um how does that replate because and I and I was going to ask Kimberly the exact same question is we had spent a lot of time and a lot of effort and everything else on on establishing a youth center so how does the YMCA tie in with the youth for the community I mean it should be sort of seamless I mean look 47 square miles you could have a lot of amenities okay um we don't have one park and say we're done we have lots of parks um Colonial Park is beautiful from the county where the way she supposed to go so that that consolat what we call now board administrative campus which is pretty far it's pretty far okay um and and there is talk too about Transportation because we want it to be accessible to everyone in the town so this Transportation conversation is coming at a good time um I think from the Township's perspective the land is like sort of our donation and then I think from the council's perspective we want to like hustle to help with fundraising and raising awareness Etc but it is going to take private investment um as well to make that a reality and they can Finance some interest rates obviously have gone up so it's getting more more expensive and these facilities are expensive okay I I I neglected to recognize Our Guest again Michelle Peterson so to be the happens to be the Republican uh a missible chairman but she's been coming to our our meetings and I'm trying to talk her into becom an an HRC commissioner so I'm not I'm not free with that good and she has and she has Al good to know she brings cookies that's who brought the cookies I see how it works yes the best way the best way to your heart is your stomach everyone need I just wanted to ask you Ed I can't have cookies out what is going on with the Kmart well that it's a good question so they've refiled again that's on my agenda but go ahead they've refiled again um no changes to the application it's coming for the it'll become before the board um and it needs a variance it's not you know like we don't have here in our Township like Somerville you know they have the new apartments there with the um rooftops and we don't have any of those retail on Hamilton Street though that's there's mixed retail there people don't want to have um anything like that they think it should be restaurants more restaurants where we can go in town yeah too but well you're saying all the things I would say I mean this is not a I can't speak for Council on this I could just speak as council member in this case um and I would say with my environmental hat on too mix use is great right if um in my ward confectional yours that whole Plaza if it had apartments above it it would be a great place to live because you could just go downstairs and go to the gym you go downstairs and get Chinese food if you need a bottle of wine go to the liquor store I mean the library was there right um so there is a um a desire for that sort of thing and then the idea too is like the parking lot during the day the business people there and at night the apartment people are there when they're back from work you know people are working from home so you got to get the calculation right um I think ultimately what's good for the goose is good for the gander meaning if we're going to make a change and allow something we should allow it in all the similar areas and that's where what we should that's this is my opinion that's 11 Mr 11 he did did still own the building right still yeah still living yes mm okay I'm about to call them and I would and I would concur like you know the demand for retail I argue with people is up or down like we still need laundry mats we still need go grocery shopping and people are going back to Brick and Mortar stores but we need restaurants right we need our share of what we have in in my opinion in Bridgewater you go there for The Container Store where's our Container Store you know where's our we have you know Stop and Shop give us two oh we've got three um shop right we've got one so four grocery stores that's amazing sometimes don't have any you got to go outside but some of these other things we certainly could have space for um I think we need to be be sort of careful about that so um you know it's out out of our hands in that the the independent boards and commissions pick up that work for now but um you know I like the idea as you know we look at the Hamilton Corridor having that walkable Community with Living Spaces above it it works there it wouldn't necessarily work like say down Cedar Gro um maybe in 30 years we could find a way to make it work there so I think we need to make sure that that kind of development is appropriate for each of the unique areas of town um and like I said that it's not as of right in this condition that they're proposing they would need variances um because the retail area does not allow for housing how are things going in Hamilton Street um I think that's a question I got it he's got it that's what we live at in H Street yeah and and I know but I think Johnny you have you don't know what I have don't start here on the counil on for that street but I give you some of well here I moved to Frank I lived there for like 20 years so home hman um telling them well you you came out when you come out you cannot make and go down to Jefferson and come down that's the only way you can go that's the only way you make that to you you said that precisely I know lot me I start I love it you can't come up man yeah and what I would say is you know as we've developed more long-term Challenge and we need to start thinking about it now it really becomes an issue is you know some of the buildings have parking but street parking for the retail p is not sufficient and that's why I know the the the Turning situation because of those businesses they're parking outside the little white coming in quick to get a whatever it is but at the corner you cannot see dangerous so absolutely all come before on Z board yeah you know we really had auss CRI show yeah yeah do you know do we have like Brunswick has a New Brunswick Development Corporation so we attract these businesses how like a container I know we're not going to get a container store but how do we out to places like those it's a challenge so I mean role in some ways helping folks to navigate um that business udman that was kind of in that in that you know the government is like you know some people believe in small reality uh the government doesn't create independent small business own you know trying to live a dream or grow something again when I was in college got started and now it's eyes and you know mics uh you know that that kind of thing those come from entrepreneurs government zones and says this either create it or don't create it what's been happening along Hamilton Street have been quietly assembling property till they can get to put a footprint of what's allowable in the area that takes a lot of taxes and that's why some things look like well this looks like empty right um Hilton that are more empty than when I live there when I moved in now because of that but if you look at the to pick it together it'll say like some name one they're parcel some name two and it's like well they're the same names they're probably a holding company that s together and then build that multi story with the bottom my view again is that I think it's really stick true to the retail and that the builders Etc say well there's really no Market or appetite for that they're going to want things below that's why they're moving there and apartment or we'll do something else um our future is not it's not going to be like a um a new uh Highland Park or a Summerville people go we drive their park and go to go up the people up are coming down to enjoy the first floors and so keep on pushing um and again we can't do that we can't open the business that would be start open coffing shops and like Franklin Township runs a Starbucks Starbucks and we yeah we can't tell Starbucks go here this model and we think this place is better um It's Complicated um and I think there are critics of Dev Cod champions of Dev Cod and and so um you know I think we have to be true and make sure our policy also all of us are good sales people like Franklin is a great place to invest we've got a community and there's a lot of opportunity it's R for a restaurant to open and fail I mean most of the ones started have stunned it with a few exceptions um you know and every so often you need a Chinese pizza place you need a dry cleaner and you know um Pharmacy close up from time to time so that work and of course uh Johnson and Johnson was a big behind that difficult very very involved yeah with Johnson and Johnson and Redevelopment is tricky too because whenever you revelop an area there were folks that were there that are displaced that's now we talk on now we talking my talk go ahead okay well there's a couple things that's come this come from the community God this comes from the fourth word okay first they tell me that in 1920 census that the uh said that the fourth hord had the highest density of poverty under uh they were undercounted number one and they met all low-income federal guidelines in terms of yearly salary for each family they all met federal guidelines as poverty based on federal guidelines okay and then had a massive erection of building of new apartments right in the middle of the fourth wood which causes what you called uh you didn't call the word but they call it gentrification yeah gentrification that's what they call it that's what they call it this comes from the community and they quite upset about that being done and the people on the uh environmental I mean the Redevelopment commission there was a force behind that to get all that done but this is H it's like The Quiet Storm like and everything has happened during the same period of time right now now we had an agency in town which provided jobs for all of the community people that where they could build a careers and move on to other better jobs and so forth now it's gone it's going move to another town so you have that was was SC SC they didn't move to Manville which is the most manv ni Town y but uh we really needed bad we needed in in some the community people bought it the people built it with Blood Sweat and Tears matter fact you was talking about the PK and daycare centers the people that built scat they started the first daycare PK centers in this country and they went around all different other states and cities and taught them how to start prek and Head Start programs matter of fact if you look look at your history Mr Theodore Taylor which was our director was promoted to the Washington DC as the national daycare director of America and he came out of Somerset New Jersey I was his uh uh air parent and I'm proud of it okay all right most um no graduates from college or career job training facility can afford to live in their own Hometown there's nowhere available there's no apartments available nowhere in Franklin that everybody living one paycheck from homeless they one paycheck from homelessness and because I understanding about a lot of business in the town I don't know where they going to get the money from they build right in the middle of a of a a prop stricted neighborhood so our job now is to have a training center a work training center in the poty area to train these people so they can get these jobs and be able to for some of the businesses that you're bringing in into town I mean you can't bring a guy a a sandwich shop in the middle of the of a homeless shelter you know you didn't expect to sell anything okay all right secondly now there with all this build building apartments do you know that they have shut down the rent leveling board in Franklin Township there is no more rent leveling board there was nobody that have any problem with any of the landlords they don't have nobody to go to it's like you're using the you using the landlords to evi people out and they ain't got nowhere to go so they got to get out of town that's another form of gentrification that's all it is no ain't no problem but that's what what's happening okay and on top of that the Franklin Township Housing Authority which provided the type of low income housing for the citizens and Franklin Township we've been here over 100 years before you guys even got here I got the Briggs and the Hain and the and the uh mcgomery mg mcgomery and all people they built scap they built they have to build a whole town and the Frank town housing authority is given to the new Housing Authority now excuse my what the hell is the Housing Authority going to do anything for the FR residents come on guys now that's how that that's what the Frank Fourth Ward and fourth and wood that's the Dilemma they're in right now and without jobs you know that there's a policy that they can't come to Franklin Township and get a job they can't apply for a job they they supposed to be known that they can't get a job and I mean one time one year I squeezed a couple jobs out for the summer for a couple kids out of bom of course he had to squeeze it too you know what I mean you know please and then that happened they after that final of the year they went off and had to get a job somewhere and they form the gang and you know what happened with that and I got little kids 13 years old 13 or 14 years old R the r and Rob and kill the C driver because we don't have the mentoring and the the job performance support for those young kids coming in this is our town man I'm a part of I'm a part of this town here let me I'm going to ask you a followup question that because one thing you said I'm interested in learning more about is that the end of the list or no that that was pretty much so this question comes up so one thing is we can bring training programs here and have them right in a community like let's say at people's doorsteps that's one piece or we could have transportation options that allow folks to access other training programs that are available more that's a problem I I heard you say that before we that's our bu problem we don't have no transportation to get nowhere and we really wish I know what they think I know how they think what they think if I can get them I'm trying to get a building down in the the pro the H Street uh where where where the uh old pal Township pal to be at oh yeah okay that' be perfect for work Training Center there that way I can train them how to drive for clips and C well I guess what I'm saying is let's say there's one available in Edison but there's a way to get there no no no they they they the best success you can have for your own people is to provide your own own training within your own home structure yeah and you have the federal government I can the federal government pays for it you wouldn't have to pay for anything in terms of the township the federal government pays for everything I guess my question is like if there was a transportation system that allowed folks to have access to educational programs and to go to work and to get health care and to we you know I'm with you they're doing it now but you're not you're not going to have no success because ain't nobody gonna get on no bus and about Cel of father is too far I'm looking to building the C father to do things the town's big I mean even even R got some things over over on on H Street so I'm trying to work this him in terms of getting certain things as close as possible to the middle of the most active poverty scking area if the economically challenged area put that area that's that's what I'm you know that's I'm a proponent of that's all it's a good point Johnny can I add one other thing a couple things actually so the there was this uh health study Health assessment study and that's where where they came with the state of that eight or eight and a half I'm on it I'm on it correct thank you for that I Amazon on The Advisory Board of Health yes sir and they are going to take that assessment results and they're going to be identifying two three items that will have the most positive impact in the health of the community especially the for board and so forth yes sir so I'm hoping that by the end of the year there will be things that is going to be implemented to close that gap which goes along with the uh this additional facility for people to go and have the check up if they don't have insurance they can do that what's interesting some of those things were happening before we had the study that said we needed him so it was nice to you know you know what happened and you know what happened we had uh her his his daughter had the whole thing set up and she was running it and she even got some of the doctors that was in the school out of down Ruckers that was a be part of the program that was going to get up the house and so forth but she promoted now she's a doctor now God bless she W she's a doctor now but but the same concept of what you're talking about we have been talking about it before with with you know here tell you with some of us here so I'm proud of you I'm I'm looking for matter of fact I'm on that committee with the sustainable garden committee which Ed and and and some of the other people in the community I got the hton park I mean got the uh Pine gold school and and by the way p u somebody told me yesterday I was at a meeting that meeia called Paul Drake I work for him dur election time that he wants to become a part of us become a part of us because he wants to set up some gardens in Colonial Park yes that's was telling that so I'm getting I'm having a meeting at about two more months I'm think about two more weeks two more middle of February that I'm going to try to get you that's I'm a part of you I thank you sorry I thank you so the other thing that I wanted to add to his comments about the AR this program started two years ago and uh now government has $10 million budget to expand it across the state because it was so successful they were able to uh basically prevent U arrest uh and uh escalation about 2,000 people all right so even in our Township starting uh October there have been 80 cases that they have used the arrive together program which they have really uh found very useful so this this arrive together arrive together together when you have an officer and a mental health specialist they go together they assess the situation they decide what to do and the money is there and it's going to be expanded uh I didn't get a chance to ask my question um but uh one of the things is tied to the Community Health needs assessment so so um you mentioned that the organization that's coming in and that land what's the timetable for that and if the first clients will be the school children you mentioned and their families so is there an idea of when we're going to roll it out to the community at large yeah it should be within the years I think by the by September I can double check the timing because it's been a little while and it's really outside of our hands cuz the professional staff is monitoring it more um so I I have to get back to you when it'll be available and I guess when we say student students first it's you know some of our students aren't actually students because they need vaccinations but they don't have access to a doctor they can't get the vaccination to actually learn and so that's kind of what that that model to Target the families in that area first our students and then families and then as we have more availability you know more success in the program allows for expansion of hours and quite frankly it's highly likely that community members are going to bring in under the model like more Revenue because of the way the state insurance and the federal government allow for um you know filling the gap between people's insurance or uninsured so um pretty much everyone pays something um that that they can afford to pay and obviously if you have insurance insurance pays everything and so you need people who have insurance and people who don't have insurance make it cover for that and is the contract with that organization uh exclusive so in other words say you wanted to create um have a health care a health fair once a month or or once every six months for for example on those grounds because you know people can walk to it on Hamilton Street etc for many reasons would that mean that you could partner with our two Healthcare institutions in the area to also bring services to um the people say you know maybe somebody would be responsible for covid vaccines on the spot someone else would do Eye Care on the spot you know and then they would do the more Primary Care things like BPS and a1c's ET it's everything so I mean I would say I can't imagine they would be close to anyone who wanted to come in right especially if they're not charging or they have before in first well I just know that when I when I worked at St Peters we there were certain sites we went to where we had exclusive right to to um provide health care services at community events and so no one else but there were other places we went to where we were collaborating with you know Robert Wood I I'm now I I work out of market now but I work up in North Jersey but no kind of SHP no that's those are those are both good questions and I'll I'll find out like when the opening date is and if it's exclusive I mean zua was very active in securing grants etc for it so my likely they're kind of the primary there but I can't imagine they slam the door on anyone who wanted to come it will but if it if it's available especially if it was a health fair if it was a community health but there's 100 places we could do that you don't need a doctor stable or dental screen like you know light can can the Youth Center provide job skills to these youth on Hamilton Street we are we're talking about it in a number of different programs yeah that came skills you know I mean thank you thank yeah that that something we talked about you know let me tell you before you received see received that money I had been talking to M Miss Watson Coleman about the job training facility down this area and the need for job training the money came down and they emphatically called it a youth center which that means it cut everybody off at the age of 16 so that left the whole Community which we was hoping for a community center we was we because a community center and it took all the community center out senior C kick him out behind right now what do you mean Johnny I can't go in there and for people that at risk to youth if you go back some the council meeting you here even Bob himself we talked about at risk users but that's not that what that building for that counted out that put all the Mis youth out and put the community out it's called a youth center and it was purposely called a you Center if you get my drift joh watches I said told you that I just you have to watch that CH one last thing um have we thought again about part partnering with r and Valley Community College when the program was on Hamilton Street we are it was oh we are yeah it's happening at I thinking the board administr Council Rison has he's doing it now yeah we were he was looking at other spaces I think there was opportunity in one of the open space spaces that we had it would need renovation and since we had those classrooms they are ready to go I mean they've got outlets in the ceiling for maker spaces it's a very flexible environment they're available let's get it in a facility that already exists see how popular see how we have to expand it see how we can do with some of the existing fac I'm very much about I kind of push back on creating a new space because being with the schools for so long we have so many amazing spaces and if we're not using them at night and we can swap it and someone else could use it it really is about timing some of the programs actually happen during the day and you can't have adults with kids so the consolata board administrative complect makes sense but adults that's going to be night any of our schools pretty much could be made available for that and that's a good use of Tex spare money so let's not recreate something and Gary I meant to say this one thing you told me that I meant to tell you that they said no you need to hear this they told me they told me what you just told me this few months ago they told me they're now is not going to take that position they're going to share all of the services that came down so forth and I was very happy I should have said that first I'm sorry I don't want to hear I don't want to hear from mayor Kramer anymore about that I didn't no Mar okay um one other thing I lost oh with the Board of Education we have to be very careful because uh we have we had ask and you were on the board because you have to watch for in insurance purposes for example the Senior Communities had volunteered to do some of their uh teaching and training after hours and it was turned down because of insurance really because the Board of Education can't open the schools evening for people that aren't on the board you you on the board yeah I mean there's it's uh we could do better I mean I I would say I'm not on the board now so I could be critical we could do better with some of the volunteer opportunities I mean New Jersey's litigious there's lots of rules there's screenings there's costs associated with the fingerprinting and background checks Etc um we are really blessed to have such a great 55 and older community adult active adult community and they're a resource that I don't believe we tap into to help our our young people dist has been advocating for that for many years we're talking 10 12 years there are barriers talking about we could do better that's where P clock was but bring the Schoolboard folks in to talk about that because you know I think it's a good it's a good reminder too do have the new school board President coming next month okay good yeah okay thank you so much I'll give her a warning too thank you guys thanks for everything you do thank you sir feel free to reach out to any of us my number is on the website it's available and um my day job I run New Jersey League of conservation voter so I do environmental work I'm on the board of sustainable Jersey which did the health impact study which was pretty cool you so I got 109 Pages a couple other things because we are running a little L see thank you welc this is our first uh meeting for for 2024 I have to officially get the approval of the committee for a a chairman and a and a a vice chairman Edna has been my vice chairman and and I of course have been the chairman but if the committee as a whole wants to appoint someone else it's up to you but but I have to officially get get the committee to appoint chairman and vice chairman commend you continue nomination process is I make a motion you nominated you're on again okay so we got to make a motion to approve Gary as a as a chairman I don't know what the bylaw is as far as whether that vote has to be in secret or whatever but I guess we can without all yes name all those in favor all right uh the last couple of items um you did bring up the Kmart Shopping Center and I did want to tell the committee I'm on the zoning board that is going to come before the zoning board and we do expect a Township to come out and complain about it when day when well it hasn't been announced yet oh announc I saw Venus put up a sign that they're moving oh jewelry store yeah yeah where are they moving they're moving right across yeah the last the last thing I have is jewelry stores V last month um Edna proposed a possible HRC project that she called Flags in other towns so I asked her to report again tonight so sure before I put together um something in writing um because certainly we have to go to the council for um for guidance on this too um I did some research so it the the and there's actually I want to add a second part to it but let me address first the the project is called Hometown Heroes um and that's the the flags that you see in different towns that have some have all deceased some have living and deceased um uh residents who have served um in the armed forces so um there's a I can send a YouTube video on the program to everybody so you can review it and the way it works the organ organization actually helps you to get the program started what I haven't found out yet is what kind of cost is involved on the part of the town but um if you decide to sign up and do this they provide a template for you to do all your promotional materials so there's a template for the Flyers template for cards you can give out there's a template for a form that you would give um you would distribute to families who are interested in having their love one um what I researched was some towns have a formal ceremony and leave up the in Bound Brook the the they're up for uh eternity um in some places there is a formal ceremony um when they go up and then after an agreed amount of time they come down and they're gifted to the families so that would be you know something we would consider you know how we want to um now each family pays for their it each family pays but I don't know I there was an intake form which I made a copy of um but the intake form does never mentions money it just says you know uh the name of your loved one the birth date where your loved one served which one of the Armed Forces the program's been around since 2006 and this particular program designs the the banner too now I I've seen some out in Pennsylvania I've seen some really large ones um I think the ones in B Brook are too small you know you have to get up really close to see um the name of the person being honored um with the banner so I did send an email to uh info@ Hometown hero.com I haven't heard back from them yet but I can certainly report at the next meeting you know what cost involves because it sounds to me like there is some cost for the for the municipality as well as for the family but I don't know those um on here so yeah so he can go back to the counsel yeah once I didn't want to put it in writing until I was sure that we were definitely interested and I didn't have any information last time just the idea um so I'm sorry um Linda oh yeah so that's something we would need to talk about you know would we want to recommend a place to have them put up you know certainly that would be the count il's um decision but you know go to the counil yeah um but um certainly I think we could weigh in and say hey we would love it if it was you know maybe the Hamilton Street Corridor is the place because you know it's being built up and there's more rest there's more retail We Believe it'll be go on those ground floors of those apartment buildings that are have gone up I think about some of the places that everybody goes to on Hamilton Street like Sophie's everybody in this town goes to Sophie for example there's some places that are gathering places in town May used to be that way I don't think it's so much since the new owners took it over but um people who tell me they've lived in this town for many years and I have not um I've only been here 25 or so years tell me that um Hamilton Street was uh more of a downtown than any other place in Franklin Township okay so you'll follow it up for us and then we have to go to the I have a I have a suggestion to today agreeing with you go ahead very quickly I to say okay I have a suggestion that I agree with your idea and what you would saying but uh raaj pide right now is building a park for just such causes what's what's the guy's name that's on name the park M Marone Marone yeah what are they doing he's all right I'm getting now he's building exactly what she's talking about right now where you can you can uh uh appraise uh you can honor a hero and matter of fact malcone is a veteran hero I think it is so they so you in tune they are building a park for just such things that you're talking about for the flag of the individuals that you want to be a hero in Frankl town I thought that Park was um was going to recognize the contribution of Marone and our place in history as you know I'm just suggesting that's what I thought also yeah I'm just suggesting that there is a place getting being built for can honor just what you're talking about as opposed to some other retail place that you know that that there's part me and that I think us least consider well well certainly the council would be providing us with Direction has to go to the council so the typically what we uh recommend for projects like that to find a nonprofit organization who will be responsible for the maintenance and any other cost because we really don't want to impose on a taxpayers so like the Zebo for example we have such an arrangement and there's another project that um uh I have been uh talking to a couple of the members in Council uh that I will talk hopefully next time uh if uh it's a viable project I will bring it up here but again our goal is to avoid any cost of taxpayers right so there are nonprofit organizations that they will love to be engaged and they would like to be part of it so you may as you are putting things together explore see if you can find a nonprofit organization that is willing to support the ongoing expenses and the maintenance so I that will be that will be ideal you know just say okay here is C this is the street we are recommending by the way there is no cost for the taxpayers MH okay so that would make for a success of the project if this not so I I will um reach out to one of the council members and okay in in Bound Brook and then I have another I have another thing to bring up um I thought it's not necessarily tied but it is about recognizing contributions and service and your place in our Township and when uh the night of the um that you were all installed in your uh respective elected offices um that night everybody after they were sworn in um spoke about the diversity of the Town even the deputy mayor talked about the the diversity of our town and how amazing it was that here we had you know an Iman and a rabbi um and one other religious uh leader whose Name Escapes my memory the Reverend yes so that Christian you know there was Christian there was Judaism there was Hinduism and there there was uh Islam represented so dialing way back now beyond our existing diversity um and I don't know if this has been done anywhere I haven't found anything on the web yet but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist you know how everywhere you see signs that say um settled in Incorporated in you know welcome to such and such Town Incorporated in wouldn't it make sense for us to be Trail break Blazers in this area and put up signs that welcomed people to our town but recognized who was here even before we were here you know um these are sacred lands that that belong to another uh community of people specifically native um the native population in this area in New Jersey of course the Lenny lopies uh were U the dominant group but why wouldn't we um consider and again this is beyond this meeting I think we have to have another discussion about it when we have more time but would we consider you know wherever you see a sign that says Incorporated in or settled in to also uh pay homage to the community ities that were here before we were here does Frank have a historical society yes I don't don't it's formal we have a cultural cult because there's grants to do Stu like that uh the county I don't know about Somerset County but midd County offers different grants that you can write and they'll pay for different projects like that exactly signage project so and other I just going to mention since we're short in time does the uh Township cuz I only been in the township for a couple years years uh do they name streets after uh veterans that's a big program in some places very similar to your I don't know of none uh but they uh they don't change so they don't change your address or anything they put it on top and they had different veterans that's been very successful in a lot of towns and they work through the the American Legion the VFW those two programs so it's very similar to your program that you're talking about which I'm sure they can identify the different you know but to put signs and they do a formal ceremony and and again I don't know how it's funded that's the key something like that but it's uh it's very well received by obviously uh men and women who you know G life for our country that's a great idea our fire 91 we have right here we have a beautiful place we know that in front of the municipal building right yeah Memorial yeah yeah what talking about is the road down on 27 McDonald McDonald that was named after somebody yeah there's some streets I'm sure they're named years and there is the firefighter who died in 911 he has a street okay yeah I think they have the okay 11 thank you all our next the meeting is it's easy to remember this it's February 28th this is Leia so we have February 29th we're going to be having the new head of the Board of Education and we could uh ask your questions like we asked the deputy mayor and I thank you I welcome we did that I do want to recognize restaurant Dr a little bit you know he come he comes to us with uh pretty good credentials he he he served 25 years in corporate management of a power engineering and Manufacturing group concerning the pollution caused by coal fryer power generation so he you about that what's her name he he's a Pioneer in India to create over 20 technical uh technical LW with a better of the environmental issue so welcome to our committee welcome sir United Nation had a car full of un him just one suggestion in in uh the committees or the advisory boards that I member of each one trying to have two three goals for the year that they can do something that will have positive impact in the community so it will be great if this group also think about couple things that you wanted to do that is impact ful to the community and of course you know we've I've been with this for quite some time we bring uh speakers we learn something we go and tell others about it but I think think about a couple of things that we can do and basically say okay this is what HRC is going to do which will have this kind of uh impact positive impact of the community so please think about it and maybe that will be a couple of uh Training Center yeah that's a good idea okay I just to put on the in the minuts there that U you know the Lea on with the high school with the um equity and inclusion oh that's and uh just to put on the right we'll talk more about it next time but they do have a u their programs coming up Friday uh may3rd I'm 68 over at um the Franklin Middle School hton schools uh school campus there and I think we should have what we should have a table there that night okay okay so we'll talk more about that as a group is that the black history thing uh no this is a we have there's another big thing in town the Black History Month well it's coming on February second I believe second or third be at the uh at the U uh the center here right yeah we hear yeah and also we should also remember that we had C four actually great events in our Township this month we had the MLK we had two uh Muslim Heritage fund event and uh we also had the uh Pang pangle I don't know do you know what pangal celebration is okay it is a Tamil celebration to welcome basically uh or or appreciate the nature the farmers and the farm animals and happens that they takes place on 14th of January get the list of the Nam and so I learned a little bit about it this time one other good thing when we went to that event there was one student high school student uh who had translated a book H from Tamil language to English this is the children's story book oh and that was pretty unique for that young student from from our Township so please take advantage of these events in town they usually people know and of course next month is the Black History Month I think I highly encourage you to go to events we need to learn from the history and those are the ancestors of this this uh town and also our nation so and I think as you mentioned as you mentioned also that we shouldn't put in our minutes there that it is a Muslim her month you know we are human Relations corre Committee that we should least have it on our well we have people here yes so put that in our I think so the governor signed a resolution May and declare or designate in January as Muslim her month that's correct so there have been all kinds of activties schools in fact I'll just tell you one thing that uh when we had the MLK event in double Tre hotel and there was a coalition or organizer for the Muslim herish fund uh month and they asked me is there any place in town and I said let me work out with the uh double to Hotel so we brought that business they going to another town they brought the business to our town and they were very happy organiz were very happy 2,000 people came and so it's going to be definitely a one one winwin situation don't remind me of Pete about that he would sent me something about your committee right I sent you the report there that that's the uh and that's one of the things we can talk about as a mission is uh more working together with the Board of Education in in the when she com yeah um anybody know anyone that wants to work the polls they're looking for pole workers so just let me know and I can bring I can bring some applications in the next time we meet cuz we need po workers that's for November right it's for June June have another one in June I need a motion to adjourn I need a motion I make a motion that we J you thank you all right have a good night everyone good night everybody