perhaps all right oh okay excellent all right well let me you wanted swear them in I was going to swear them in real quick two seconds let me do that it it was absolutely shocking what they did yeah fortunately we we to me you know you had and then didn't have and this one so it gave us suppose we great over the weekend week another lost weekend what this pass rain snow and on what and wind this weekend this weekend I wouldn't better snow but they're they're saying oh good evening everybody this is the planning board meeting of March 20th 24 in accordance with the open public meetings act P 1975 chapter 231 adequate notice of this regular meeting of the planning board of the township of Franklin has been provided if everyone could please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay Mahir Rafi and councilman in in barison asked to be excused uh Ted Chase Robert Lort Samy sioban Jennifer ragno here Charles Brown here Robert Thomas here Rebecca hbert here uh Mark Dancy is a brand new member we'll have introductions a little bit later this is everybody that's Mark Dancy and chairman Rini here so uh welcome welcome Mark so um yeah as Christine just alluded to um we did we did have some uh membership uh adjustments um uh so I think Mahir is back to being a regular member um that is correct uh Mark Dancy has become the second alternate and Rebecca Hilbert is the first first right um and so um uh Mustafa and uh Erica in ense you have departed Erica of course now on the school board um so so uh welcome and um without further Ado we have no hearings tonight so we going to be a quick meeting so minutes for uh February 7th everybody can vote except Charles Brown and Mark Dancy I will make a motion to approve who is that I'm sorry Bob okay okay um Bob Lort yes bennifer ragno yes Robert Thomas yes Rebecca Hilbert yes chairman marcini yes um resolution um adaa gy Family Trust pln 2313 I know I can't vote on that cu the only people who can vote on that is Jennifer ragnell Robert Thomas and Charles Brown oh and Ted Chase move the resolution and I'll second it uh Jennifer ragno Yes Charles Brown yes Robert Thomas yes and I'll wait for Mr Chase to sit down go all right um so I'm going to turn turn it over to Mark Healey our our director of planning um to briefly explain the resolution of the um business and industry Zone study and the appointment of the ad hoc committee uh resolution that you were just sent by email so sure um so uh so basically the what the resolution does is um uh appoints a steering committee that would be um separate from the planning board to basically assist and inform the planning board during the preparation of the uh business and industry uh study that um is ongoing um the first few whereas Clauses in that resolution basically provides a little bit of background um indicating the the the reason why the study um is moving forward because of the the large number of uh warehouses the concerns that that has raised um including but not limited to traffic uh indicates that we've hired a consultant Bright View engineering to assist the town in the preparation of the master plan um evaluation the fact that it has it's basically two main components one being a traffic evaluation of the evaluating the impacts of the um existing and projected Warehouse development on the Township roadway Network and then a second uh component that's a planning evaluation looking at the bi Zone making recommendations to the master plan and draft zoning uh amendments that would subsequently subsequently be sent to the council for adoption um the last few whereas Clauses I'm just going to read um because it kind of sets the stage whereas the end result of this effort will be the preparation of a master plan reexamination which makes recommended improvements to the master plan along with recommended zoning ordinance amendments for subsequent consideration by the township Council that sounds familiar um whereas since adoption of amendments to the master plan are under the jurisdiction of the planning board the planning board will be the entity responsible for formal adoption of the master plan reexamination and an ad hoc steering committee will be formed to assist and inform the planning board in the preparation of the master plan reexamination which committee is comprised of citizens residing near the bi Zone as well as other areas of the township representative of the business community members of the planning board representation from the township Council and Zoning Board of adjustment so and then the last the now therefore be it resolved uh outlines the suggested members so um chairman Nini met with staff um there was a discussion of of this membership um again it should be uh made clear that um ultimately the planning board is going to be uh adopting whatever document is produced um you are going to be intimately involved throughout the process um there's going to be a number of different um um Community input sessions um public hearings Etc all of which you're going to be involved with we felt the need to have a kind of a separate steering committee um that could also again inform and and assist the board in the in the preparation of this so we we did want to have planning board representation um so So the plan board representation that's uh proposed in here is um Charles Brown um due to his um background um Robert Thomas obviously board member but also Zoning Board member so there's a representation there and then councilman ly Barson um because again there's some Council representation and the planning board um and then that we have one um member of the business Community because we felt there should at least be some some representation from that side of things and then there's citizen representation tried to spread it around um geographically there's two members who reside near the bi Zone uh one's in Ward 4 and another member uh resides I believe in um the First Ward uh uh and also a former member of the environmental commission um that's Randy Jones so that's um that's the recommended um uh you know membership of that committee I know Ted frankly I know you wondered about membership um you know obviously it goes without saying your input is going is going to be necessary through this process and I'll just say that you know this board ultimately whether it gets adopted or not it's going to be up to this board so there's going to be lots of opportunity um for the planning board to be involved and it it's um and we just wanted to kind of we wanted the steering committee to be set separate and not be somewhat I I'll just use the word overloaded with board members so we wanted to try to limit it to three um and at the same time try to have again representation from the from the zoning board and Township Council um so that's that's why we made that recommendation um so that's the again that's the resolution before you um to establish this ad hoc steering committee and Ted you raised a good point in your email to me was about um you know planning board input during the process so um one thing that won't happen is that you know the bra View and and the steering committee will come up with a proposal that then we'll see once or twice and and and then have to adopt that that's not the plan the plan is to have work sessions periodically that track with the progress of the study and what bre view is coming up with um for both the traffic component and the bi Zone component um and I mean that's why I didn't want be on it because actually I'm not the best qualified of this board to be on it it's really it's really Charles and Bob and and yourself and then it became a question of we don't want to like Mark said not have too many members of either board on it um and and give ample uh slots to uh citizen members for for transparency I mean we don't want people coming up in the open public portion and saying well you know you did this behind closed doors there's four citizen members on it and one uh business member who's actually I think root clip is that the roic clip guy or is that the I believe uh I believe he's uh with first industrial they own a number of flex spaces and warehouses along primarily along World's Fair Drive a number of buildings so so that we know we have somebody who actually has is operating Warehouse uses in town um have to give voice there right people may not like of that but it is what it is I think we need to represent every bu and um so that was that was the thinking behind the whole thing so thanks Mark for that explanation and uh I assume this needs a vote so I will uh I will move it second Theodor Chase yes Robert Lort yes Jennifer ragam Yes Charles Brown yes Robert Thomas yes Rebecca Hilbert yes Mark Dancy and chairman orini yes Mr chairman uh I don't want to delay the meeting or anything but is it could I ask Mr Hy a question it's directly related to this uh resolution you just passed a few meetings ago we passed a resolution asking the county to get involved in a in a study uh Eric Bernstein's our zoning board attorney he's the Hillsburg planning board attorney he has he Hillsboro has also done the same thing very similar to what we did and I'm understanding that Montgomery is about to do the same thing and request the county to get involved but my question to Mark is have you gotten any feedback from Walter Lane in the county or did these resolutions just go to the county and then into the County's circular file I I I would say I don't have an answer ultimate answer to that second question I I I am aware in fact uh one of those towns asked us for a copy of our resolution probably so they can model it um I know the county is aware of it um I believe um town the township manager Bob vlocker had a conversation with Walter Lane who's the planning director at the county um that was um about a month ago so I I last I had heard that they were aware of it and were probably shouldn't even characterize it I I wouldn't say that it's gone in a circular file what I would suggest is I will uh reach out to the county and find out what if anything they're going to do I I think that's where it stands as far as I know thanks I might add that before we even had a resolution I happened to run into Walter Lane and said that we were preparing such a resolution and he said yeah we're working on something of the same sort so it's probably a question of integrating the township questions with whatever they have in mind Mark what's the timeline for this um well the timeline would be it I think well first of all it's already started um you know the the consultant has done a good amount of work a lot of the background um doing a lot of the traffic valuation uh and analyses um and reviewing the planning documents Etc so it's already underway um we're kind of at a place now where um within the next month or so where we're going to start doing the community engagement um overall the goal is to have this done by the end of the year thanks Mark um and thanks Bob and Ted for your questions um we have one discussion item a request for the extension of time page riera PN 202 good evening members of the board Matt Flynn from the law firm of savos shock in Somerville on behalf of the applicant Pedro Vieira uh back in 2020 the applicant was granted a minor subdivision from this board uh for the creation of lots 29.01.2012 trepo Road in the township the uh applicant was subsequently granted an extension of time to perfect his minor subdivision deed uh to early 2022 and is here seeking a further extension of the time to record the deed of minor subdivision uh with the county in a September 2020 September 20th 2023 letter to the board um my partner Mike ogrodnik from my office uh described the delays that the applicant experienced in obtaining uh njd approvals which were a condition in the original resolution obviously it's a required Outside Agency and there was some uh additional language that was required the applicant has since received an Loi and has an njd approved plan showing the wetlands limits and determining that the feature that was in conversation during the original hearings uh were considered of ordinary resource value uh with no required additional buffering um now that we have this approval in hand and it has been recorded the applicant is returning to the board to try to get a further extension to perfect the minor subdivision deed and basically effectuate the original sub subdivision that was part of the original application in front of this board uh I have two witnesses with me tonight I have Ed cook of eastern states environmental uh who can go through the process that the applicant had with DP sorry I don't I don't actually think we we need Witnesses I mean you're we we're offering them in case the board has questions the only question I would have is is is your plan that was originally approved changed at all as a result of this Loi I I think the answer is no we we we had multiple meetings and again that's why I brought Mr cook Y no then we we really in my opinion don't need don't need any Witnesses um okay obviously if if you were going to change the plan we we would and we we'd actually have it have an another hearing rather than just an extension of time sure but if you're going just for an extension of time to perfect what you already have right um because of the time it would took you to get the LOI then I don't think we I don't think we need that I all I really need to is when you want the extension to great um I guess I will defer to the client the extension through I mean we have to get the Deeds recorded so give me a date three months okay let me ask a question do do you know yeah I think one of the questions might be you got the approval there's probably going to be conditions and staff reports and stuff like that have you do you know if you've satisfied all the other staff reports and it's kind of ready to go or is there still like storm water thing comments that you need to rep so that may affect your time frame right my understanding was that this was the lingering item that has held us up um again I was not the attorney for the original approval I have the resolution and it appears that we've done the plan updates to uh comply with the conditions but I mean we will diligently pursue uh you know ensuring that your professional staff at the township clear our compliance okay um I know I'm lucky enough to sit in Mr vgo's seat multiple times a week and the typical that I advise my boards is you know three four months from the uh the date of the extension Pete what do you suggest I I think hate when this thing isn't on at this point I I think we want to make sure they have enough time to get it done I mean give them if you want to give them six months that's probably should be enough time in light of what they have if you know if they proceed with all deliberate speed so sound good six months so I mean you always come back I mean you by right you're allowed three one year extension so I mean I could give you a year right now but it doesn't sound like you need it why don't we say September 30th of this year that that would work that would be great so then um that's all I need so I'll make a motion that we extend time to September 30th 2024 second Chase yes Robert L cour Jennifer ragno Yes Charles Brown yes Robert Thomas yes Rebecca Hilbert yes Mark Dancy yes chairman orini yes thank you I expected that to be slightly more complicated not more complicated unless you're coming back with a change then we have to you know we won't do that I am sure that there are plenty of time when you think it's going to be easy and it isn't so this is the corollary one of most enjoy meetings I five years simple question though were you about to say something um I'm going to note that um rather than opening and closing the public with uh no public here other than the applicant just make a note that there is there is no public to open to so um just just to note that and I'm not I'm not going to um do that um Just One Last Thing Before we we leave for the evening um I've asked Pete and and Jim Clark and likes to do this um it's been a while since we've done it maybe a couple years where Jim has given us a um a legal update of planning case law that could be relevant to us now I read that planner and there's a few things I note in there that are interesting but you know I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV so therefore I'd rather have Jim do it and Jim likes to do it so um you know Christine if you could just like make a note that the next time Jim has the meeting maybe we have a brief uh work session uh after the meeting if it's short enough to have have Jim do this it generally doesn't take him more than 15 or 20 minutes but um he tells me he's the one that U loves to do this he he he he certainly does I would be happy to do it but frankly it's something that's well in his wheelhouse um I would say that um he's away until week so I think he's probably covering your first meeting in April but if we want to give him a little leway so that he knows that he needs to do it uh he could do it off the cuff but he's much better when he he knows he has to well our meetings in April are going to be we're not going to do no it's it's not I just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page we we we can defer till after um I know April is going to be the warehouse we're going to be at consol right yeah I have it here to you guys I'll turn it over to you in a second you can let us know when the next meeting is and where it is but you know may or or or whenever it's not a hurry I just want to get on the radar okay so you just need it as a work session and and and whenever Jim's got to cover so Pete Jim usually comes to the first one he's usually your first meeting of the month so yeah okay so we'll let him know in April and then he can prepare something by May if we're if we're in the clear in terms of he won't need much time last time it took like 15 or 20 minutes go go go ahe I was just saying if I'm completely off base and it's something I need to do then I'm I I'll coordinate that cuz every once in a while I make a mistake and he lets me know yeah Mark and I will look at the schedule and try to see when it's like a little less and then we'll uh communicate that to you and you can let Jim know I'd love the opportunity to like submit questions ahead of time to him if that's allowable sure we can try to work that out yeah just we can work together on what the answers to those are great okay Emil Christine uh one quick question Mr chairman yeah uh maybe we could also arrange for uh Peter when he has updates available to keep us informed of the new affordable housing regulations that were just signed into law today because that's going to be we'll have to be taking some action before or close to the end of the year mark and I were just talking about this before the meeting started so uh yeah that's definitely on the radar and we will have to be fairly Snappy about it so y yeah we will we'll definitely be be doing that you'll be getting your a full dose of that um more than you ever would wish for um with that you want to let us know Mark you're new to the board um when we have certain wareh seems warehouses or churches whatever and we can't fit people here we have to go to Route 27 the Board of Education are you familiar with that on route 7 right past the soccer fields yes I am okay so the next planning board meeting we have it will start at 7:30 sharp I suggest you get there a little bit early because there's no place to park the young ladies didn't have anywhere to park the last time so just get there early and you can your name will be out on a table and that's where we're going to have the meeting uh for the next meeting okay thank you okay okay so the next meeting is April April 3rd 3rd and it's going to be a a lot and and probably the following one I would yes I think it's already prescheduled for April 3rd and the 17th I want to say yeah um Mahir uh is is um exercising her rights not to be here because of Ramadan I'm not sure about Sammy I'm assuming so we already down two people so if you're not going to come for any reason Anything Could Happen please let me know right away so that we don't have people come all the way out there just to turn them away we had that happen one time it didn't go over very well yeah no we actually had it happen the last time but it was basically because this place was Fuller than full and and and fire code was but yeah they they booed the heck out of us because we didn't hear it but um that's what I'm saying could you imagine April doesn't make a lot of sense because we actually want to like enfranchise people and if we can't do it here then we'll you know move it and it then but nobody ever said everybody makes sense so anyway um yeah let's let's make sure that we keep in touch with Christine if you can't make it because we need a minimum of five people to have yeah and uh councilman and Barson I'm not sure about him either he has to be excused this evening so I'm not sure so that may be three members already gone so all right we'll have to keep a close eye on that because yeah we we do not want to repeat that I would definitely agree all right so with that um make a motion to adjourn second all in favorite have a great evening all right