in accordance with the open public meeting Act of state of New Jersey adequate notice of this work session regular meeting of the Franklin toship Council was made as required indicating that this work session regular meeting would take place at the municipal building at 700 p.m. on Tuesday February 27 2024 if we could all stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and then remain standing for the invocation by councilman karazi I pledge allegiance to As We Gather here today as members of the township uh Council we pray that we are ever mindful of opportunities to render our services to fellow citizens and to our community keeping in mind always the enduring values of life exerting our efforts in those areas and on those things upon which future Generations can build with confidence let us continue to strive to make a better world Amen Adam clerk please call the role councilman EMB Barrison here councilwoman Francois here councilman Kazi here mayor KR here councilman Oni jaka here Deputy Mayor pnik councilwoman uden here councilman vasella here councilman white We're on to item number five on the agenda copies of the agenda are available up there here the clerk uh first is a commendation for Charles Maria uh by councilwoman sheepa Udin good evening okay all right Perfect all right whereas the township of Franklin is benefited by their employees who contribute their time talents and skills for the betterment of our community and whereas Charles Maria has and continues to serve the community of Franklin Township somerson County as follows Fire Marshall in the fire prevention department for over 29 years and holds the titles of senior Fire Marshal and Department training officer volunteer firefighter with Somerset Volunteer Fire and Rescue company number one for over 36 years with being line officer for 11 years and six years as Chief appointed commissioner in 2022 of the New Jersey Fire Safety commission assisting and Advising NJ DCA on the New Jersey uniform fire safety act fire service instructor at the Somerset County Emergency Services training academy for over 24 years and is currently the senior lead instructor and whereas Charles Maria has received numerous Fire District number one and Department honors and awards including life saving cross distinguished volunteer service award and the Richard veter Knights of Columbus volunteer service award and whereas Charles Maria has fire service instructor has designed and created new numerous training courses that were thought to Firefighters Nationwide in Canada and whereas Charles Maria was asked to review the chief officer principle and practices as published by Jones and Bartlett which is used nation and worldwide to teach fire officers and whereas Charles Maria submitted short story that was published in succeeding edition of chief officer now therefore we the township Council of the township of Franklin County of Somerset New Jersey on behalf of its residents to hereby thank and commend Charles Maria for his devotion and dedication to our community its residents and firefighters that's right oh he goes by Chuck thank you to his friends I'd like to thank the council and specifically council person oudin for recommending me for this uh it's been a long career long time and uh I'm just glad that I could give back to my fire service Community I wanted to thank my family my fire service family my office family all here sharing this moment with me thank you very much I've known I've known Chuck for at least 15 years I think um he's uh a good friend and everyone here who's ever been had their house saved or themselves saved uh by a firefighter it's probably because of the training he developed so he's uh a great asset to Franklin and he well deserves this thank you um can we ask all the fire prevention team and Community to show up here including the family we can get a picture next we have the uh environmental commission stewardship award Sarah Malone your show Sarah Malone has been on the shade tree commission for oh is this on okay Sarah Malone here has been on the shade tree commission for over 10 years and she's come to retire and uh we want to commend her and offer this plaque um I want to mention a little bit about what she's done which was written by Arnold Schmidt who's also on the shade tree commission oh in the Mike yes okay uh chair and member Franklin Township shade tree commission member since 2013 while SAR was a member of the Sha tree commission she was instrumental in advancing the care and visibility of the tree canopy in Franklin Township s worked tirelessly to educate the public through many orbit Day events maintaining Franklin townships Tree City USA certification she recruited several new members to the Sha tree commission and develop plans to increase the use of automated tools such as it tree to measure manage and maintain cannaby cover in Franklin she contributed thousands of hours volunteer time to help manage the shade trees of Franklin Township which would produce environmental and community community benefits for generations of residents and we have this plaque that says in recognition of outstanding efforts of environmental stewardship presented to sh do you want to add something to it or you all set okay okay good I don't have much to say other than thank you very much this is quite an honor it's a a big surprise thank you Arie for recommending me and um thank you mayor for many Arbor days for uh the environmental commission obviously I have a motion to open to the public seconded move then second and all in favor of opening to the public say I I oos say nay motion is carried we are open to the public 5 minutes a person may only speak once no yielding of time please state your name and address when you come up there you go good evening I'm Elizabeth Egan nasus I've lived in the township for over 50 years I know I look younger but uh my was our our first house and we're still there uh we raised five children and moved here for the quality of life and we want to thank you for that because we have enjoyed a quality of life and we know that it's hard it's hard to plan it's hard to be prudent in planning and it's hard to focus on that quality of life because you have a lot of vested stakeholders that ask you to do different things and balance is really critical since we've moved here actually this is my second meeting my first meeting was many years ago when uh a developer wanted to put a strip mall right here yes in this area you probably weren't here then but uh a group of us fought it and we were successful and now you have this beautiful Municipal Building you have an area where people can gather and celebrate uh it used to be a farm or it was farmed um over the years the traffic here has gotten horrific and uh it takes us uh we live 75 voran Avenue it takes us sometimes 15 minutes just to make a left turn onto Amwell Road uh so when I heard that we were going to rejuvenate uh the corner of eastn Avenue and JFK I started thinking of the impact of traffic because we're experiencing it critically here um I would ask that um if you do rejuvenate you rejuvenate it with a mall and without Apartments I think that apartmentss if this is a plan because I'm I'm hearing that it might be uh would would be about 300 Apartments 200 Apartments double that with cars um I don't think that JFK can support that you have a school there you're going to increase traffic JFK is already a conduit from Easton Avenue all the way down to Livingston Avenue over to North Brunswick to Route One uh it's hard enough to navigate the traffic without bringing something in that I don't believe we need I think that um if we want high-rise apartments or apartments that are larger um we have New Brunswick um they have high-rise apartments and they can sustain it I think for us number one it's not necessary number two it's not going to be sustainable and number three it's going to have an impact on the quality of life for the current residents I think we need to uh focus on them and what it is that we can offer them rather than increasing um residency of infrastructure and also um we can't forget that East Avenue right there is a a flood zone so um those of you have trafficked that when it it's it's uh there's been a deluge know what I'm I'm talking about I don't think there's any way that we've ever been able to correct it since uh my husband and I have lived here so thank you for listening to me um I hope that I've given you some things to think about in terms of a residence point of view and uh how that might impact the quality of the lives of a lot of people here and again thank you for all that you do thank you anyone else wishing to speak good evening my name is guy catapan I live in 45 McAfee Road and I've been in this Township for 51 years I'm here to oppose any development along Eastern Avenue corida specifically the old Kmart building on Eastern Avenue and JFK Boulevard I not here to debate the legal issues of this development but to discuss the intable traffic issues on Eastern amenu that is that this other development will cause the county as the c e AV will be one of not the worst roads in Somerset County because of the rate of accidents the increase in traffic from development bringing population growth Warehouse development bringing more heavy trucks and the development of the Helix in New Brunswick which will undoubtedly add traffic to the route from 287 to New Brunswick and return from East on Eastern Avenue the favorite statement is Easter Avenue is a County Road and I know that the proposed $1 million study is underway the statement of it's a County Road just puts off the issue the surrounding Community Somerville Bridgewater Hillsboro Manville and others have negotiated via compromise many changes on County Roads Traffic Direction changes speed limit changes no right turns on red lights better signage with the county approval as well as local police traffic patrols the $1 million study at best will not help this situation with the final concept paper developed in the summer of 2025 this means that changes would not go into contract construction started and implemented until Beyond 2027 if resident input is ignored and no action is taken by this Council that would represent the leadership roles you were elected to put forth there will not be any changes that will help the current situation in enough time there are a number of changes that could be implemented via negotiation with the County Commissioners I will not detail them here but I will tell you there's a group of residents who have been working on these issues and would like discuss the to discuss these recommendations with you my question is why is this Council has not considered this a priority issue over the implementation of bamboo regulations sign this for can cannabis operation or contracts for items not a priority we are talking about lives that have been lost and near misses with auto accidents on this road my wife and I have experienced two accidents and numerous near misses and I know other residents have experienced the same I would like to call for this Council along with county commissioner and Township Police to hold a meeting with residents to discuss the eastn Aven issue issue and not approve any further development in the Eastern Avenue Corridor thank you thank you anyone else wishing to speak hello Valerie jezak uh 30 Highwood Road Somerset and I've lived here since 1961 my father and I and my family have built four houses in the township and um I was here last two meetings we discussed the kmore development um Redevelopment and um as I predicted last time uh I knew the developers would come back they just would my my theory is they just come back until they get what they want and they've got the pockets the wherewithal to do it um I just ask that for this once could we could we once have one square inch not redeveloped into more residential in this Township that's what I would just love to see there are other options I know we're not getting big Bock stores there but there's plenty of other stuff I would love to not have to ride East and na to 287 every time I need a screwdriver or a hammer things like that um and um my brother just had an accident on East that's an um what Mr catapano referred to I'm on the little committee on Caston Avenue safety and um you know there's been so much development where I really it doesn't look to me like anybody took into consideration the traffic on eastn Avenue so my um I don't know I just said uh I just ask that you please reconsider um I would there's so many things that the residents would uh would rather see here um I I'm not I'm not a fan of this high density housing if you've seen Hillsboro I mean it's just everywhere and um we're we're not it's we have suburban sprawl we don't need urban sprawl now um so that's all I have to say thank you thank you hello I know you don't all know me my name is Sue an derkash and I president of The Meadows Foundation um I've involved with that group for about 10 years we are a small group of volunteers who work very hard with our hands and our hearts to uh maintain and keep open for the public four historic sites in Franklin the van Di van wickle house the Hagman Farm Sarah um the wof garritson house and the van ladam house and I would just like to thank the council for their ongoing support and the support of the township everybody who comes to these houses just absolutely adores it and has a wonderful time and we've had people visit us from not only other towns counties and States but other countries and they just love everything that we have here for them we had one gentlemen come all the way from the Netherlands to do a study on Dutch housing from the early period because they don't have it in the Netherlands because they didn't have Lumber you know they were already so developed by that point that they didn't have any timber structur so he came all the way from the Netherlands to study ours and uh he was just absolutely thrilled and and fascinated and we get that reaction a lot so I'd just like to thank everybody the mayor the council and Bob for uh for all of your support and all of your endeavors on our behalf thank you do you want to give a web address so people can join The Meadows foundation.org make sure you put the wordthe in there theowf foundation.org and yes membership is a whopping uh for seniors $10 a year but uh every little bit absolutely helps thank you great thank you and and just to add to that there's another part of the website where you can fill in your own number and become a p Patron so you don't have to be limited by a $10 donation Terry thoron 18 Leed Drive let me um welcome mayor Kramer as one of the newest members of The Meadows uh having recently joined and I encourage all the other council members to join as she said a want being $10 for seniors $15 if you're not a senior $20 for an entire family it's a bargain okay but I'm really here but I'm I'm really here to talk also about the Le properties there are 200 proposed units 131 of them are two and three-bedroom apartments so I'm assuming kids that are going to be added into our school system I'm curious for the uh traffic study were school buses taken into account because they're not mentioned anywhere there the traffic estimates were generated using land use code 220 for lowrise housing by The Institute of Transportation engineer and according to it the weekday Peak 85 cars Rel Le assuming only one vehicle for per apartment which is highly unlikely and excluding school buses that means only about 35% of the cars leave at the peak time I guess they're assuming a lot of stay-at-home moms or work from home or Flex hours the estimates generated by the land use code 820 for a fully functional shopping center which it is not now uh by The Institute of Transportation Engineers says that on a weekday p p m Peak 273 will enter look at those PM numbers it means 166 additional Vehicles entering during the PM there are no real life measurements just estimates from a generalized chart anyone in this room could have gone to the codes and constructed this report the only way to get real numbers is to sit in the parking lot and count the number of vehicles entering and leaving now not when it was a functioning department store because we really don't have a department store in Franklin anymore the left turn on to JFK is incredibly dangerous now with the slope of the road from the left impeding your vision The Jug Handle directly opposite the exit feeding cars onto JFK and the traffic coming directly across Eastern Avenue currently most people will not attempt that left preferring to turn right and make a looping detour through local streets to get back to JFK the traffic study says no increase in traffic Levan's environmental impact statement me mentions the increase in traffic which of their application statements is true building a densely occupied building on what is suset County's most dangerous road is full fool hearty as to storm water the developers calculations do not seem to be up to date with the 2023 data the 10year storm in the their calculations is about 5 Ines we had that amount in one weekend in December and 4 Ines the weekend after and Eastern a was flooded from JFK to Foxwood both times precisely the area that this project would impact the only exit from that parking lot would be that dangerous left-hand turn onto JFK the impervious cover is supposed to be reduced to 73.4% why not stick to our requirement of 70% why have regulations if we constantly negate them we have an opportunity to reduce flooding why not take it cutting out parking spaces would be the obvious answer but of course their application refers to the impossibility of adding another level I'm assuming they're referring to underground parking which can't be done there because of the high water table the parking spaces seem excessive 200 Apartments even upping the number to giving them two parking spaces for apartment and a third one for a guest adds up to 600 they're asking for over a thousand the shops out are there probably don't need 400 at any particular time all 325 of the trees uh must be replanted they have to be native trees and they have to reduce the runoff no contributions to the tra uh the shade tree fund $300 per missing tree doesn't make up for the danger and the Damage that the floods cause the variances the new application Cuts their variances from six to four and why do they cut not the high of the building not the increased floor area ratio not failing to reduce the impermeable cover to meet out Town standard standards not conforming conforming to our zoning use signs they C cut out two variances about the size of signs and if they could put signs on a building so they're going to come in there and say we cut a third of the variances we were requesting but what they cut was stuff that was probably stuck in there so they knew they could bring it out later on in addition with the future in mind more EV stations are needed it's easier in the construction initially than to retrofit forget the minimal state and federal Reg ations if we're looking to the future we need more EV stations also mandate that all Franklin new Flatt toop construction must have green roofs that means wind solar and plantings the view from the DNR Canal has to be considered in winter when the project is completed not 10 years down the road in the summer when the trees are all leafed out and mature and they mentioned public transportation there is none that's your time can I have one more sentence just one yes circumstances change but just because the Levan Corporation made what has become 50 years later a bad business decision doesn't mean the township has to make them whole thank you is Lorraine far I live on Academy Road um i' I'm 75 I've lived in this Township uh 30 I mean 61 years um I've seen a lot of changes go on in this town and I've not objected to to any of them um I've always lived close to eastn Avenue um right now I'm on about um four or five houses off of Eastern Avenue um and before that I lived on on ran um I have no objection to change but this is not a good idea I don't have the facts as other people have but I think we all know what the facts are it's not a good idea I think that is your job as representing the people it's your responsibility to consider this we're not just here to complain because we feel like complaining or because we're older and their senior citizens and we just don't like anything to change in our life that's not it we are committed to this town many of us grew up here we stayed here I'm retired here and I'm not going anywhere and it's not a good idea what you're going to be doing at in the um Kart shopping center the the traffic is just going to be unbelievable and I tell you because we're so close to Eastern Avenue when that's flooded and that's down we can't even get out of our street so I just think that I want to be sarcastic but I think it is your job to listen to what everybody has to say because we're not just spouting it because we have nothing do on a Tuesday night so please consider our thoughts thank you thank you theor Chase jr9 Old Georgetown Road I come tonight mainly to ask whether there has been any progress on developing a plan for watering trees that have been planted because I want to see us plant more trees particularly east of Franklin Boulevard which has a lot less tree canopy than most of the rest of the township I might also ask whether the council is considering the suggested change to the tree ordinance which would reduce the minimum size at which trees are considered uh when a site plan has to spef specify how many trees they will either plant or donate to the shade tree fund we have a lot of money in the shade tree fund already that I want to see us get going on planting more trees we had a few trees planted not by the township but by psng last fall and I hope they will be properly watered in the spring thank you thank you hello good evening um Kiki anastas uh 3204 Enclave Circle I live in Canal Walk but I'm here tonight um to join my voice to those who friends and neighbors who live close ucer to the um JFK um raters Plaza um Kmart Lev properties um project um the more I learn about this particular project the more I'm astounded by the last four or five years that this particular company has tried in different iterations um to introduce uh this project of theirs um the multi uh residential um apartment complex in a uh commercially zoned uh mall and um my understanding is that um they have submitted an idea they with have withdrawn the idea they have gone in front of the planning board then they withdrew from the planning board they are it's clear to me that they're trying to wiggle their way through because what they look at is their profit margin their shareholders if they have any but we as residents although I live in Canal walk walk I cross Eastern Avenue just like um most of the other people here and those who are not here to go to the hospital to go to the doctors to go to see my friends in Highland Park to go to the restaurants in new bronswick and on and on to go to take friends to the emergency room in in um the um the various hospitals um it's a big deal this project is a big deal and it is beyond me or rather it's not Beyond me but it's actually very surprising to me I would say that LE properties is irresponsible in trying to propose a project at a time when a federally funded traffic study is trying to deal with a county road that has the horrible reputation of having several fatal accidents over the past several years and and it's it's uh not only a flood zone um and here we are with a traffic study from C with several County and federal agencies trying to correct and find a solution to the problem of Eastern Avenue and here is this corporation that it seems to me the only they cannot wait for the traffic study to be completed they cannot wait to see what needs to be done so that not so many people get killed on Eastern Avenue okay but they cannot wait to improve their bottom line because that's what corporations do well as Citizens and residents of Franklin we're very for forunate because you esteemed Council you are our defense you are our defense against corporations like Le properties to protect the safety and the quality of life of those who live in the area and those who Traverse Eastern Avenue for so so many reasons so let's use our Franklin first approach not leing properties first they are doing their work they're doing what they're supposed to do as corporations they're for profit so they clearly are looking after their profit margin let's look at Franklin as a whole not only the economic devel velopment but also the well-being and the safety of the uh the residents and as I said we rest Our Hope and and our um our desire to to to maintain a safe uh lifestyle in Franklin Township and we are counting on you and I know that you can protect us as you have done in the past so thank you very much I know it's a difficult job thank you so very much thank you my name is Lorraine Suarez and I live at 1228 Easton Avenue that's between Academy Road on the south side of Academy Road to uh JFK Boulevard or The Jug Handle as we call it the Taco Bell Jug Handle needless to say it's a terrible place to live um I'm very curious to know um the council has seen any of the marketing plans that Levan has had prepared uh for the existing location without a development for a high-rise apartment building has anybody seen anything of their marketing plan so we answer at the end of public session pardon me we answer at the end of public session so all my questions will be answered at the end I'm not going to promise that but I'm I will try all right um I was wondering if what the other options were that Levan had for that development at that corner um so I probably will have to wait till the end for that answer as well when you say marketing plan do you mean marketing plan for things other than than a high an apartment building yes yes did they did they suggest anything else to go to that piece of land that's been sitting there for almost 5 years empty and it's deteriorating before our eyes because we've allowed it to happen there are a great number of apartment complexes already in Franklin Township I'm not sure why we need another one is any member of the council in favor of this change a variance change from from retail to residential it's it's now zoned for commercial properties is anyone anyone answer or do I have to wait for that answer till the end as well has any consideration been made for the police departments Fire Department emergency services schools sewer system utilities such as water natural gas electricity that would be needed for this type of development a traffic study stating that 200 apartment complex would not increase or de would not increase traffic but decrease traffic to the area doesn't make any sense to any reasonable person has has anybody any reasonable minded person has to admit that bringing 200 Apartments to this location would ex ex exasperate an already dangerous traffic location in fact as I understand a million dollar million dollars has been allocated for full-blown traffic study by the state or the county or the federal government for eastn Avenue and this is the exact location that has been the most difficult for us to trans transcend approving such development for this site to final conclu before the final conclusion of a traffic study doesn't make any sense and if anybody believes if anybody in this audience or in this Council believes that the development would not be a detriment to the town I have a bookland bridge to settle as a 45-year resident of Eastern Avenue in Franklin Township I have witnessed The increased development from easn Avenue being a single Road in each direction to a double Road and it's been a nightmare traffic in the middle of the night is going so fast through easn Avenue that I my bedroom physically physically shakes and I have a 2 and 1/2-year-old great granddaughter that sleeps over on Friday nights and her first thing to say to me is Grammy traffic trucks Noise two and a half years old it's not my imagination I think that it's an additional burden that a situation like this would be allowed to happen most certainly would increase traffic without a doubt would increase accidents without a doubt and increase taxes at some point for the residents of Franklin Township which we have already are burdened with very high taxes hopefully the council members will think of their residence and not of a developer that comes to Res that does not reside in the town and I respectfully appreciate you're listening to my complaints and my hope that the council really take takes this to Serious consideration as you can see there's many many people in the town that do not want this development to happen thank you thank you good evening mayor and councel and staff uh Shirley tman 57 tomman Lane in Canal Walk and I I didn't really um have a prepared statement here but a couple of things came up today first of all I want to register my uh position as well on this project I don't know that there's much more to say about it I think people have certainly given voice to the issues the real issues and I also uh follow suit with the issues that have been stated here I I am not in favor of the project I don't use East Avenue for the very reasons that the last speaker mentioned to me it's a death trap truly I've been on it I don't like it I think we could do a lot more uh perhaps uh controlling some of this traffic but it would be major Investments to change the road patterns the other thing is a question uh I had quite an extensive conversation with a good friend of mine who um I've known for years a very thoughtful person uh she and her husband now live in the state of Washington along that line I also have a goddaughter who with her physician husband moved to California and this is all around the same time uh my goddaughter and her husband and children returned home uh the couple that I just mentioned that uh moved to Washington they are there because they have family there so they won't be returning but both are very concerned with water shortage um and I'm my question is this I know that we're bordered on an ocean as well as the West Coast uh you know you would think well why why would we have water problems a shortage of water but with growth development and that's what we're talking about here further development a fair number of Apartments coming in uh there's more there are more people more people that we need to satisfy with drinkable water pure drinkable water my question is this do we have a long range plan for water drinkable water in our Township simply that I'll be interested in hearing uh if we do and where we're at with it and what the forecast is for how much more we can develop how many more people we can bring in here and provide guarantee drinkable water thank you so hello I'm cine sportac I live at six lison Road you may know me I walked around with my dog and I collected over 1,3 I think 50 some odd uh signatures for a petition to stop this development why you may ask well I walk JFK and I can tell you I've seen atrocious driving I've seen people uh crossing the double line I see speeding and it's a matter of time uh before there's a very bad accident where it ends up in someone's backyard which I clearly don't want to happen also did you know which you probably do that East avue ranks as number three on the list of worst Highway crash corridors in the state of New Jersey not the county the state this is per nj.com there's also as everyone's mentioned a million dollar Grant to study how to improve traffic there were 270 crashes on E Avenue from 2014 to 16 there were also deaths so if we add 200 Apartments to this hight trffic area please tell me how does this improve traffic because it doesn't 200 Apartments translates to at least 400 plus cars as it is now when I try to make a left-hand turn onto JFK I can't I have to make a right-hand turn do a year turn and do a left-hand turn and I can't begin to tell you how many times I get stuck behind someone also trying to make a left-hand turn so I end up making my situation worse by trying around traffic there really is no great answer some days um so more development will create more gridlock it will require more lights and potentially an extra traffic lane on JFK so now we're going to lose our GR green way we're going to lose our walkway you can't add additional Lanes to eastn Avenue to alleviate the traffic you have a canal you have water I mean are you going to try to build on top the canal because that's pretty much the only answer you've got or eminent domain um there's no shoulder that you can create a third lane like they do on Route One during high traffic times so what's the answer to the additional traffic again I ask uh Landings Lane eastn Avenue do you how many people go through red lights and create horrible traffic accidents with dump trucks I've seen I mean it's very very scary the traffic on this road okay so I asking who is looking out for the safety of the residents there's no need for more Apartments but there is a need for some small stores and some restaurants we have a store desert and a and almost a restaurant desert as of 5:00 P p.m. today there were over 400 apartments available for rent in Somerset on apartments.com please check it out that doesn't include the apartments that are in Flight getting built now so you can add to that number as to what's going to be available okay so how much more overdevelopment do we need at what point do we decide that traffic is so bad it's unlivable and people leave when do quality of life and traffic begin to matter for the residents we've already had one road rage incident on E Avenue where shots were fired at another driver do you remember that it wasn't that long ago they were fighting over a lane of traffic someone wanted to get in and there was no room and so they took out a gun and they fired a gun twice I believe so how many more people will die before we add traffic lights to JFK if we allow this apartment complex you know you have to have several fatalities before you add traffic lights it could be you it could be your family it could be your friends it could be your neighbors that ends up dying before these traffic lights are added and you add these apartments so that decision you're making today could kill kill people and I want you to think long and hard about that it could be someone you know and love again I have to ask when does the safety and quality of life begin for the residents thank you my name is Connie Rossy I live on Hughes Road which is right off of JMK I agree with what everybody's saying that's why I'm here tonight it's sometimes it is so difficult to try to make a leftand turn already when it's Rush Hour um on JFK and I I just hope that you will consider what everybody's saying here thank you uh Jim Johnston 30 before Norwich place I want to talk about my favorite subject uh warehouses okay um you know I I'm not against warehouses I think like I said before warehouses should be put on Atrium Drive and uh Davidson Avenue and that is the reason that is the main reason why you passed that ordinance uh three years ago but now we we now have to deal with yet another Warehouse that's being put in a very inappropriate place like I said here last time uh the across the street from the sharpr on Elizabeth Avenue uh 785 old new brunck road the Onyx Warehouse last week we had a planning board meeting February 21st and I wanted to go on record if if I'm not mistaken that this that was the biggest crowd I have ever seen in these council chambers we had 300 people in this in this room W toall people standing standing room only the the the crowd was overflowing into the lobby out there you you wouldn't believe you had to you had to be here to see it uh I I I still can't believe it so I I wanted to I wanted to go on record we had this massive turnout that that that should show you how strong is the sediment in this town against warehouses okay and and so I I cannot emphasize that enough and and so I but but that that's the good news but but the bad news is the uh the chairman of the uh of the uh planning board commission uh Michael orini uh he he didn't see it that way he I mean he he he he's I think you all know we we've complained about him in the past the past two years we've been complaining about chairman or horini uh with with the B9 Warehouse all he he he is not what I would call a tactful person okay he he he has a tendency to be rude and condescending when those 300 people were here he he he had like he wanted to get rid of us as quickly as he could he he even before the meeting could start he said he said meeting has been postponed uh to April to the uh Board of Education building and that's all he said he he didn't say thank you for coming he didn't say he was going to uh look forward to talking to us again and learning learning about our concerns he said nothing and and and I I feel S I feel so sad for all the 300 people who were in this room they came all all the way here and then and then then they and then he tells them that that that was very uh very disrespectful uh but he but he he mentioned uh the the the uh uh the he mentioned the fire code uh the size of the crowd exceeded the fire code now uh I I I'm not an expert in the fire code but I remember all those meetings we had in the Board of Education last year uh uh I I've heard that there was only one door that was unlocked the other doors were locked that uh no no one no one ever talked about the fire code back then but now all of a sudden they're talking about the fire code so now again I'm not an expert I'm just using my common sense in this building here we got those four glass doors over there we have a door over here so so why do they say that this this room is not safe but they say that the Board of Education building is safe all right so I'm but also um I mean if if they want to have it the Board of Education building that's fine that's okay but but but all I'm saying is that we're probably not going to get as big a crowd over there because it's a long way to drive okay i' I've heard I we we've heard so from several people uh who have alternate suggestions that they said that there are other big rooms around here in this Municipal complex that we could possibly use uh or or or some people have suggested the the gymnasium and and the uh in the high school so so I so I don't know uh which is best um okay but uh right but but you know I I think that the the the oh okay the the reason I think is we we're getting this big crowd now is that you know thousands and thousands of people go to that Shar rate on Elizabeth Avenue if if there's already two warehouses that border that store if they put in this new Warehouse that that that Shar R is going to be surrounded by three warehouses so anybody who wants to go on sharp rate they're going to have to fight their way through a wall of warehouses and trucks just to get in there you know that that's why we have all these hundreds and hundreds of people coming in here to protest all right so uh you know so okay so so thanks a lot anyone else good evening Arnold Schmidt 134 Hickory Road Somerset a highdensity apartment building with 200 units including over 330 bedrooms is what is all in what is already the most densely populated section of Franklin right on eastn Avenue the County Highway that already has the most Accents in Somerset County is irrational Franklin's master plan was meticulously prepared by our Township planners and planning board to show where retail General Business Industrial Residential Properties and more would be best suited for the proper mix of development we currently have empty apartments in Franklin and undeveloped land zoned for residential we should welcome the property owners with residentially zoned land to build new housing for families to purchase or rent but new development needs to be built where our master plan designed it to be Lev's apartment building would be a Monumental and forever unsightly reminder to the voters of Franklin of the ineffectiveness of our leaders who ignored our expectations this is not a time to give in to bullying when the bully has zero negotiating leverage whatsoever we have no reason to fold to Levan's demands this is a time to stand up for what your base recently overwhelmingly told you and what the asses want no residential where it does not belong Le may think they have leverage because of some inappropriate promises that may have been made by people without the authority to make them if approved this four or three or four story apartment building would be 1,000 times more of an eyesore to our community than the vacant building that currently stands there if approved it will eventually negatively impact our infrastructure needs and costs leading to the higher property taxes for all residents if this first 11 Domino is allowed to fall it will open the gates for every other retail General business or commercial property owner to apply for the same variances up and down Route 27 Cedar Grove Lane and all over Franklin and our zoning board and Council will likely be unable to say no because of the precedent it sets leading to thousands of more residential units in money many other areas contrary to what master plan allows Public Safety 11 residents will attempt to walk to the McDonald's right outside their front door through this heavily trafficked parking lot and across this now dangerous entrance roadway off JFK Boulevard where FedEx trucks Amazon trucks Stop and Shop delivery trucks and cars go to their destinations we will be culpable when the first young child teenager or adult is injured or worse by one of these vehicles when trying to get to McDonald's or across Eastern Avenue to several other establish establishments also within walking distance yes the road that is currently being studied with do and Federal Highway funds due to the currently highly dangerous conditions our culpability will be because we will have allowed Levan to build residential where it does not belong right across from these attractive nuisances who will result in more vehicle and pedestrian accidents than we already have in this area in no way would this benefit Franklin residents especially those living in shopping at commuting through this area or traveling to get to 287 to go to Bridgewater pasca way or other shopping destination stores that we do not have in Franklin where we can purchase essential items such as clothing and hom Goods it is not the job of the people of Franklin to bail out a billion doll Corporation by allowing them to build housing much less a high density housing where it does not belong Levan needs to live up to their own hype their own accolades as posted on their website that celebrates their expertise as posted on their website celebrates their expertise in retail and commercial property management and find options that work within our master plan that is their job we are not Levan's sugar daddy we should not be held hostage to their incompetence if Levan wants to keep paying property taxes for an empty building which they do I for one welcome their contributions it is not the zoning board's responsibility to Grant substantial zoning changes to our master plan and we need to have the township attorney let this be known to the zoning board as you unanimous unanimously voted to do last year hopefully nothing has changed since then thank you anyone else wishing to speak anyone else at all looking to speak okay I'll motion then to close the public portion seconded second move then second and all in favor of closing public portion say I I both say n public portion is closed so I'm not going to answer particulars about either project that was mentioned tonight um if you look at the filing um for the B9 Warehouse things I've said in this session and in other sessions and the things you said in session are quoted in the lawsuit so anything I can anything I say about the particulars of of these projects anything other council members say about the particulars of these projects Canon will be used against us Canon will be used against you it is not in your interest for us to answer those questions if you put enough pressure on us some of us might that's not in your interest and particularly with the um Kmart project because if it goes if they if the zoning board were to approve it one option is for it to be appealed to this Council and if we've made statements beforehand that may not work in the in towards the end of what you desire um as far as having viewed a market plan no I haven't um as far as police fire uh water all those things those are all reviewed by various experts throughout the the town so that's part of the application process um I've not seen a long range plan for water I've always been concerned about how population growth will affect water uh maybe Mr borlock I I believe that our primary supplier New Jersey American water has a long range water plan on their website so you might want to check the New Jersey American Water website we don't um treat water in Franklin Township we purchase water from two major suppliers about 75% from New Jersey American water and about 25% from New Brunswick water um and the water is uh all water allocations are overseen by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey water supply Authority in in the case of the uh the Delaware and raren Canal which is where new Bruns draws their water from so it the the the water all of the the uh information I think you're looking for can be found primarily on the New Jersey American Water website no no um the um as far as Mr Johnston's comments about uh not hearing the case uh of Onyx because of the fire code I'm steering at the fire code limits of how many people can be in this room it's posted right there next to the clock you're correct you are not an expert on fire code can can you read that one from there no I was say because I walked over there and read it it says 210 so I Believe by Mr Johnston's estimate of 300 people we were exceeding the fire code occupancy load for this room and the reason why other rooms aren't used such as the gymnasium Etc it's because they were all considered but they would not work work with the video so that we would not be able to video them and present them uh on streaming well we didn't stream them we still couldn't stream them but we couldn't put them on YouTube as we do all the other meetings so there's rhyme and there's reason to it as far as Mr oini goes can he be rude yes he's can be rude to me sometimes too it's part of his it's part of his charm but Mr orini stuck his neck out about um 15 years ago go at Great political risk to himself to stop a 600 Home Project between benck Slane in Veronica and he then worked very hard on The Recoil along with me to make that happen so Mr oini who understands land use far better than I ever will far better than most people except maybe Mr Chase um has done quite a bit for this town and has done it at Great personal risk to himself um let's see as far as The Meadows land goes um uh I do encourage people to join um and contribute they do Prive those houses for us and if we didn't have the Meadows uh Foundation then um the town would be paying much more money so they I I thank them for their uh particip ation um I'll let Mr born Locker answer about Community participation in the eastn a study uh trees pardon oh trees right I can get that one too okay that's that was the the one question is for me and the one question is for Council Members as far as considering smaller caliper trees to be considered for okay payment by development I think I'm done you can go ahead okay so so just to further the discussion about fire code because I do want to finish this because I think that a grave uh disservice would be made if we didn't address the comment that Mr Johnston made about locked doors absolutely totally false all right any door in that building is a push outd door for people to exit a building in the event that there was a fire so to give anyone an indication that any of those doors were locked at that fac facility on Route 27 would be a disservice to everyone involved um in fact as I said the fire uh occupancy load for this room is 210 um and obviously um if there was an excess of 210 then I wasn't here but if I had been contacted I would have instructed Mr orini to postpone the meeting so that we could relocate it to another location obviously I didn't need to do that because he did it on his own which was the correct thing to do um the other question about trees was from Dr Chase um as far as your question about a maintenance plan Dr Chase CME the township engineering Consulting engineering firm prepared documents to be considered by the shade tree commission as far as a cost estimate for them to prepare maintenance plans and planting plans um for our Street trees uh do a tree inventory of our street trees and our developed Park trees as well as um maintenance plan that the the the tree inventory and a planting plan for Memorial Forest and I believe that the shade tree commission gave some consideration to it I would look for a shake up and down of a head of a member of the shade tree commission who's president in the meeting right now um yes you was that considered by the shade tree commission yet that CME prepared cost estimates for all of those things that I just said and it were given to the chairman of the shade tree commission for consideration by the shade tree commission as far as whether they recommended moving forward with those projects by the township engineering firm very good so that's what my understanding was as well we're now in budget season so we would move forward with that project once the budget um for the listening audience the answer was yes yeah it was it was yes so that that I hope Dr Chase answers the question that they have now provided us with the cost estimates to prepare all of those plans as far as watering the trees the public works department will continue to water new newly planted trees as they have done in the past including the newly planted ones on JFK Boulevard um and I think that was the questions that I had to answer there was many other things said and as the mayor said I we I'm I'm now not I don't want to be named in the uh the action either so I won't comment on all of the development related I got distracted did you answer the East and a study Community particip it's still on in the banner our website if you wish to participate in the eastn Avenue study um that's being conducted by Somerset County I encourage you to do so um if you go to our website um there's on the on as soon as you go to the homepage is uh is the uh information on it um I can tell you that it is also www. easton.com is the website if I'm not Mist quickly for you uh and going to Easton Avenue project and stay informed you can follow them in a number of different ways can email eastn Avenue Carter gmail.com if you want to make comments or if you have questions about what you see on the on the website um the link is there on our homepage I encourage everyone to do it there's also a survey and uh there will be public meetings regarding it and there will be uh community outreach as well as part of the project so that's that's where I would direct people for the eastn Avenue study okay does the council want to make any comments um mayor yes yeah uh while we're on the subject about um I know the eastan quarter studies of great concern and I appreciate the way you explained it I know uh guy um in the back and a couple other people that have been communicating with me and among themselves um were interested in more of the shorter term issues and I know you and I communicated about a um Town Hall type meeting or a gathering that public people from the public can come including them who have some interesting ideas and questions now just wondering not to put you on the spot but I know it's tough to kind of schedule all staff and well I you to give me dates and as soon as you give them to me councilman I will schedule it oh I'm sorry last email was asking what dates you thought would be best but I can give you dat I don't believe that I should make that decision as to when you want to have a meeting um if you provide me with dates I'll contact the County I'll contact the police department and I'll set up the meeting for you I I don't get to tell perhaps I misinterpreted your last email that you were going to get back to me but I I will do that sure we we'll come up with two or three I'm sure the group is pretty flexible um but hopefully that can happen maybe at least later in March um other than that um because of what the attorney said uh as suggested or the mayor mentioned and I conferred with the attorney um I'm not going to read some uh not my opinion but uh was literally just information that I think addresses some of the questions literally Direct in quotes from Levan but I think it's better after confirming with the attorney that uh you anybody interested here tonight or out in the public please go to their site learn more about economics Commerce Franklin this site and the ability of um you know anything involved with this I don't want to get into any details but that website is uh w ww Len LV NM gt.com Len management.com and uh I think you know you'll maybe get some more input because it's best as was mentioned that we don't get into any details so we don't want to have to recuse ourselves because of something we've said if it comes before Council right so that's theor going on the attorney suggestion of just but please engage whatever your opinions are um we're always happy to hear them um the other thing was I think the tree what ask about that tree ordinance it's kind of a tricky situation because if I remember right the ordinance there's a little contradiction where the replacement size could be two and a half but they're considered only needing to be replaced if it's 4 in so I don't think it was meant to be kind contradict itself but I'd like to see it be one consistent number you know what's good for considering a tree a tree for replacement should be the same for cutting it down and being specified um I'm not an expert two and a half sounds reasonable maybe it's three but yes I think it should be consistent and perhaps uh lowered um there's one other question that was asked excuse me um other than anything to do with Levan um the van wickle H well I'll wait until comments cuz don't think that was a question that was more of a my my feedback but uh the tree issue and um yeah I think that's it so I'll save the rest for Council comments thank you okay let's move on to council comments your call Mr Wright you want to go first or last first that'll give you a chance to think of the other thing you want M Mr Mayor couple uh just a couple things real quick um recently I've always come in here and I've always heard the same thing the people in the fourth W the people in the fourth w we need to to have things in the fourth War um they can't afford this they can't afford that well listen there are more than just African-Americans in the fourth w we have Caucasian Americans Europeans indian-americans Russian middle eastern native tribes in this neighborhood I mean think about it we all live amongst each other so why is it that four blocks off of Hamilton Street either way a little bit off of Franklin Boulevard a little bit off of JFK encompasses the entire Fourth Ward don't ever come in here and say that because as soon as it comes out your mouth I'm going to stop you and say think about what you're about to say because it's going to be stupid and I'm going to cut you up for it um second uh the YMCA I hear everybody wants it in the fourth W well hold up where the hell you gonna put it in the fourth W come on if you can find the land step it up now we have down at the uh consulada and we um when we purchased that um the Board of Education took a little piece uh all the rest of it except the YMCA footprint was Bent by open space everything else we pay through our the township funds why you can't do nothing with open space except open space and we want to put a YMC there a YMCA there now again what am I going to do it in my backyard stupid because you live on Elizabeth Avenue Buttonwood uh charer neighborhood councilman R's neighborhood uh Jimmy vasella uh councilwoman sheep's neighborhood how the hell you going to get there we all got to struggle to get there so it's not one person it's everybody got to get there so let me ask you a question hell you know how to get to work so if you have a problem getting there well everyone's going to have a problem getting there it's not just you so we we we have to work on that now when I went to the YMCA years ago uh that's where I learned how to swim and the Board of Education uh got with the township who got with the county to help sponsor a bus so almost every school had a bus that took you to the YMCA and brought you back um that's how we went to the YMC a for after school for study that's how we got to the YMC the YMCA for swimming classes and other things naturally but everyone's got to get there it's not just me everybody's got to get there I would love to put in my backyard but H everyone's got to get around there um Franklin Boulevard actually Hamilton stre Street I love Hamilton Street so much that I took a flying leap and I went to our counselor um our attorney lisis Ron and I said Lou Urban Enterprise Zone man I I I I read about it I love it can I get it councilman r i i i called you uh I called uh councilman uh Ed and I said you guys got to get on board because I know what you got and I I got our counsel I mean our our attorney and he threw cold water on me I says what what what's the problem here I mean you know we we got the the the whole setup but this guy here tells me no and I said you're working for me dude so here here's the problem we live in Somerset County and we all know what happens to Somerset County we are rich County now uh I try to get around now but our esteemed uh attorney who I'm going on the fire next week he said uh Carl it's not going to work uh we're number what number are we uh L 254 254 down on the pipe to get a Urban Enterprise Zone I can't leap over anybody I beg to leap over somebody it's not going to work so we think about what we're going to do I you know you look at everything I even went down further on 27 just weren't going to work so uh that Ed that uh now to a subject that's it's controversial but I got to take a stab at it um some residents like you uh have all come up and said um what's with the buildings and I say well we need to bring life to the fourth W as far as Hamilton Street we got to BR some commercial now the story goes like this if you build commercial on the first floor and you put residence on the second floor and the third floor well the residence on the second and the third floor would lose the the commercial on the first floor and you know it it makes sense um Somerville uh done it uh New Brunswick has done it and everyone's happy but you see we're different we're not downtown we don't have a downtown we're not there so uh we got to make the script happen now uh I represent the fourth ward not developers and and I've been given my marching orders because you know a councilman gets marching orders and I got them uh so with that uh contrary to everybody else out there I guess that's the word I want to use I want to stop the building on Hamilton Street um and it's not a thing of pausing the building uh you can't do that you got to script the the overlying the overlay that we put there that allows you to build uh higher than uh two stories or one story however the thing works now I know I'm going to get push back some of my council members are going to give me push back because we want to place commercial where commercial can go to um stimulate the area because it's been dead and I've been here been married uh 32 years 32 years I've been married so I've been here 32 years uh I live in a compound with my cousins her cousins the uncles the aunts unbelievable um now how am I going to do that is the question um and that's what I have to think on because I have to get an ordinance somewhere and I got to get it introduced somewhere and I got to get everybody to vote under somewhere um and everyone's going to give me all kind of good stuff but I take it this way at the last uh Hamilton Street advisory meeting the developers were there and I asked how are these kids going to cross the street no how are these kids going to play I think we need a little small give me a little small corner of a pocket park I'm not asking for nothing big just a little small more corner you know what I'm saying give me a half a block you know give me something and they said well nean Williams Park is three blocks away okay it's three blocks away and they can go to that Park yeah makes sense but here's the gotcha how the hell they GNA get over Hamilton Street how they GNA do it it's a major th Fair how they GNA get cross Hamilton Street um hell you know you got to pick and choose how you going to dodge the car you know it's got the the rumble script on one part but unless you go down to the fire department that's how you can catch or you go down to what used to be CVS I think or R A you can cross the street uh unless you got your Big Brother Big Sister your mother your father your aunt your cousins you're not going to get across that street um so that's why I said you know how you going to fix that and they all looked at me there was a little Snicker in the room and I was like really you're going to Snicker this is important stuff we got here this is very important it may not be important to you but it's important to me and everyone else that lives here then we come to solar panels we have some people with solar panels solar panels in the neighborhood and we all know that the shadow of a building is real big now if I have solar panels and I've been getting I've been sucking up that sun which means I got money coming and you build your building and I don't get the sun anymore who pays me money because I got a solar panel up there and you just blocked it how how's that going to work um I got no question on that I mean no answer on that nobody did that anything they just looked at me and stared and I'm saying to myself these are some of the questions that you ask now fortunately some of that stuff sort of worked out I got to admit but at the same time no I I I can't do it I I I I got to stop that little puppy from going on and yes I'm on the land use committee here in Franklin Township um but I I I got to go outs side of of that thing and just cut this thing right in half uh like I say I take my marching ERS from the people that voted for me put me here I see this is where they put me and do what I got to do uh now I think I've taken up enough time uh to speak and tell everybody what I want wanted and how I want to do it but I'm definitely in that neighborhood but again I hear what people are saying commercial on the bottom housing on the top they go to the bottom they do all this kind of business but I can't do it so that being said Mr Mayor um I'm done all in favor of Mr to WR having taken up enough time say I councilwoman sheepa oudin I don't know if I can follow all that stay away for two minutes you have a lot to say you said a lot of important things so um I just have a handful of things um last Saturday we celebrated uh the fourth annual International mother language day um and I was honored to be there we had about 10 kids of our own from our community that um attended the event and they spoke in their own mother tongue language um ring from I think we had a kid from uh he was speaking Spanish we had someone speaking Korean Indian buali I mean it was a nice event to go into and see the diversity of of our community um and I really enjoyed uh that event especially seeing our kids get involved now with our um community events um it just shows us that you know we are uh going in the right direction of now blooming our younger generations to come and be part of events so very nice event um this Sunday we have the Ramadan lighting ceremony um that will take place in the senior center and that's March 3rd from 3: to 5: everyone's welcome to join for that event um and the last thing that I had um as a question um either for mayor or Bob um I'm not sure if you guys addressed one of uh councilman Ted's question I just probably missed it about watering trees so for planting trees how are we watering them today is that something we're not doing we we don't we we are watering them what what they were looking for the shade tree Commission in particular was a comprehensive maintenance plan for newly planted trees going out 3 to 5 years we currently water trees when we plant them but they wanted a comprehensive maintenance plan for 3 to 5 years on newly planted trees we are not equipped to prepare that type of plan so there is a certified tree expert on staff at CME and we would engage them but it will cost money and why so um in this particular case I was looking for the recommendation of the shade tree Commission because it would be using shade tree trust funds thank you you got it and that's all I had thank you councilman v um speaking of sha Tre I don't not sure why maybe it was a technical glitch but for some reason the building was locked so the um they couldn't have their meeting on Thursday but I know that they've been working on IDE there for a long time and communicating to the manager and like he said we we uh well I'm not sure if he's saying we should do it but I think we should do it and uh but yes we have to determine the specific funding source although I don't think it will be all that expensive it will take an expert to do it and the idea is we lose a lot of trees after the first year or two I mean a incredible amount which sometimes it just happens I mean no matter how good you take care of them you're going to get things that die especially with our weather patterns but I think a lot can be uh salvaged or not let's just say things will be blooming a lot more and healthier so um I look forward to that I know it's something cha Tre commission is really dedicated to and I I think we'll hopefully do that this spring uh come up with a conclusion and a plan a conclusion for the funding uh someone was meel LE van wickle house my opinion just my opinion the most best kept unfortunately the most best kept secret in Franklin um enough was said about it I I'll tell you my first encounter was in was 1989 at the van wickle house and I went to a cousin second cousin's christening and um it's like where the heck am I going for a christening and I tell you it was my most beautiful place to uh for any reason to gather and uh have been back to the building not as many times as I would like and should but I've been to several of the buildings over the years but please do engage and uh follow through with um uh the suggestion of joining or at least attending some of their events uh public safety meeting um is postponed till next month so there's uh nothing with that um presently and um thank you for bringing your comments and your concerns as you I hopefully understand we can't get into details but I encourage people to do their research and come whatever your opinion is whatever it is bring it to council or whatever um I guess there's a hearing in April uh I don't know the exact date the zoning board we don't get involved directly with them but um thank you so much for bringing your comments and please continue to bring them because we want to hear from you about any issue especially ones that will have a a big effect uh for for well generations to come uh that's it thank you councilwoman fruis okay I never write down what I'm gonna say but I wrote it down today so I'm GNA read it and I never read as I continue my term as your councilwoman please know whether whether it is to help lower taxes fight crime stand by our First Responders and Veterans invest in child care invest in our children invest in our families and invest in our infrastructure or to keep our air and water clean I share your commitment to protecting our Jersey values and I share your commitment to protect our quality of life here in Franklin Township thank you Mr Mayor thank you world traveler Ramen Barrison um May I yield my time to councilman right I have may I'm done because I'm sick and I need believe I have nothing to report um thank you councilman you're my favorite councilman right now councilman only Jaa oh okay okay thank you mayor I was was privileged yesterday to attend thean event yesterday to Mark the 700 days of the war the event was marked with pictures was a pathetic event rekindled my past experience I had during my last remembered me war is not a good experience especially when kids this always rain not war thank you uh councilman karazi thank you Mr Mayor and good evening everyone um I wanted to uh Echo what council woman mentioned fris about our commitment to listen to our citizens and make sure that whatever decision we make is at the best interest of Franklin and it's so uh I attended a couple of uh committee meetings uh we had a great Trail meeting during various which we reviewed various projects the team is finalizing the update of the trail brochures and will be having them printed at the county print shop and the new maps use digitalized Trail data making them more accurate than the previous Maps also the pathways and Trail plan is in the final draft and currently being reviewed by the open space advisory committee uh in addition the TAC team continues to work on the implementation of the green infrastructure along the newly paved path at Nan Williams Park and this project actually is implemented through a $20,000 Grant from uh sustainable Jersey and we also organizing events and hikes in in uh for Earth Day which is April 22nd and a National Trail day which is June 1st and we are hoping that community members can take advant of our Trails we have over seven miles of trails in our Township 70 70 70 miles of trails in our Township and thank you Bob and uh so uh the maps will be there and hopefully uh you'll enjoy them Franklin Foundation committee that was another one that attended uh after electing the officers for the coming year the team agreed to award two $5,000 scholarship to two graduate and High School School best and brightest students so if you have anybody who's graduated from high school please make sure that you apply for the scholarship there are um two uh meetings that is coming up one is tomorrow human relations commission and that is tomorrow across the hall it starts at 7:00 and we have a special guest speaker our public safety director Mrs Mayweather so please join us on that day and also uh we have uh Advisory Board of Health meeting which is going to be on March 6 and they will be two guest speakers from our own Township Samy safy and Tara who will review the health assessment and the goal of the team is to identify a couple of items that will have the most positive impact on the health of our community members especially award four uh the meeting start at 7:30 p.m. I also attended a couple of meetings uh there was a Black History Month uh event uh which was last Sunday and uh senior community center and as well as I joined couple of our colleagues uh for the event which was organized by the Ukrainian Church to commemorate the second Ann anniversary of the war thank you as for my comments uh thank you all for coming I really do appreciate you coming it gets us out of our bubble gets us to hear what you're thinking um but as I said during the election leadership isn't about grandstanding leadership is sometimes about shutting up and that I will shut up and Mr um manager thank you Mr I have a couple things um that I'd just like to report um first I and I know she's gone but I also know that some of her um fellow Meadows Foundation members are still here um Sarah Malone who is recognized by the environmental commission for her stewardship um was um my very first appointment to the shade tree commission went after I became Township manager I met Sarah at a sustainable rat and River initiative meeting at the blowstein school in New Brunswick um we we got to talking at before the the event started and she indicated that she lived in Franklin and that she was a Master Gardener and I said by any chance would you want to participate on the shade tree commission uh because we had some vacancies then and she said well that sounds interesting and look Lo behold she she put in so 10 years of of tremendous work with the shat Tre Commission and uh i' I've already thanked her for it personally but I just wanted to recognize her again tonight um so that was one thing um another uh and this is on a a staff member note um for those of you who have had anything to do with the recreation department over the last six years um you obviously have gotten to know a man named Bo buris um Bo bis's last day with the township is Friday um Bo has taken a position as the deputy director of the mammoth County Park commission and so clearly a step up in his career and I can't quite blame him uh and I can't quite match them uh so um Bo is uh is going to move on to bigger and better things uh temporarily at least for the time being in his place Wendy white who is our deputy director will be the acting director for those of you who know Maryann rean who's currently our senior uh program coordinator she will be the acting deputy director until we have people in place for that um Bo I'm sure is not listening um so I can say and I don't think he'll watch this tape before Friday um so we'll be celebrating his um moving on and promotion so to speak on Friday as staff members will kind of cut the cake with him no no secret nobody tell him um but uh I I I certainly he has big shoes to fill he did a great job and he we brought him on originally as the deputy director um under Alice aitz when Alice retired B is the natural to progress into that position and uh we we are um we we will not let you down I promise we will we will do as well if not better moving forward and and will continue to progress so that is one thing I wanted to report and then I'm going to get to do something I don't get to do very often I'm going to get to report on an upcoming event that I am kind of shocked that several council members up here didn't report on and that is that there will be a Ramadan lighting ceremony at the senior center on oh you did I missed it see I gotta pay better attention right Shea even had it well I was kind of hoping she's still your Su you can still say it again I can say it again Sunday 3 to 5 commun Senior Center and I understand that there will be wonderful refreshment served as well and I know that Council woman uden and the recreation staff and my special projects manager safy Ken put a lot of work into having that these events and uh so everyone who is interested in learning a little bit about Ramadan and um celebrating with your fellow Township residents um I encourage you to attend and that's it Mr Mayor that's I say I was going to get you and you got me there you go he just doesn't listen um okay there is no council discussion item approval of the minutes I present the following minutes to the township Council for their approval Township Council work session regular meeting February 13th 2024 do we have a motion the mo moved in seconded any discussion anyone like to change an item correct an item Madam clerk councilman and Barrison yes councilwoman franah I abstain I was in Vegas on vacation councilman karazi yes mayor Kramer yes councilman Oni joa yes councilwoman udine councilwoman V councilman vasella yes councilman right approv of the warrants warrants and the amount of 14, 111392 789 on February 27th 2024 presents to the township Council for payment do we have a motion on the warrants I move that the warrants as read be paid mve then seconded any discussion anyone like to pull an item Madam clerk councilman EMB Barrison yes councilwoman franois yes councilman karazi yes mayor Kramer yes councilman Oni jaka yes councilwoman uden councilman vasella yes councilman right um there is no second readings of ordinances there's no ordinance introduction and first reading consent agenda the items a through n is listed on the consent agenda portion of this meeting are presented to the township Council for adoption do we have a motion on the consent so moved second moved in seconded any discussion and anyone like to pull an item or have an item explains so Mr Mayor there was one thing that I just kind of wanted to draw attention to um on behalf of all of you up here which was item um L yes L thank you item L which is the authorization execute uh a grant agreement with the Board of Education utilizing American Rescue plan act funds to fund a uh Health Care Facility that will be run by the nonprofit Zu fall Health um for um our students and students families that will be built on the grounds of the Hamilton Street Middle School campus um that's kind of a a unique uh relationship that exists between municipality and Board of Education I think ours is is unique oftentimes I talk to my peers and that relationship does not exist in their towns um and this one is to benefit initially students and their families but ultimately will benefit all who are in need of Health Care regardless of financial or citizenship status um or Insurance status and that it is something that is a a very in my opinion a very wonderful thing that we are utilizing those rescue plan funds for I'll just point out item M the council is uh open space money to help The Meadows Preserve the in their efforts to pres anyone else Madam clerk councilman EMB Barrison yes councilwoman Francois yes councilman Kazi mayor Kramer yes councilman Oni jaka yes councilwoman UD yes councilman vasella yes councilman Wright all business 2024 boards committees and commissions does anyone have a um appointment nomination seeing none we have to um we appointed someone to the alternate position that was held by councilwoman Fran sis on the sewage Authority and there is an opening as a full member on the sewage Authority I'd like to nominate her be her being Kimberly franois um to the full member the full member opening on the seage any other nominations for that position I second hearing none we can do this by acclamation all in favor of appointing Kimberly Francois as a full member of the SU authori say I iOS say nay motion is carried congratulations make sure someone calls her to let her know that that's happened uh any other um appointments nominations um so item number 18 I present the following resolutions coun Council for their approval resolution 24091 authorized executive session attorney client privilege Le management application do have a motion on that item so moved second moved then seconded any discussion is there going to be any action taken I'll get to that Mr um any other discussion Madam clerk councilman EMB Barrison yes councilwoman franois yes councilman Kazi yes mayor Kramer yes councilman Jack yes Council yes councilman vasella no councilman right okay there being no further action in Township Council uh afterwards we will not be taking action after the executive session um all we'll be doing is returning to the meeting to close the uh uh to come out of executive session and to close the meeting uh so taping is going to stop at this time um we are now going to stop the tap and adjourn to Executive session be well Franklin