let call to order Madame clerk in accordance with the open public meeting Act of the state of New Jersey adequate notice of the work session regular meeting of the Franklin Township Council was made as required indicating that this work session regular meeting will take place at the municipal building at 7 pm on Tuesday April 23rd 2024 thank you if we could all stand for the pledge allegiance followed by the invocation from council member pesnik deputy mayor pzn pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America for liberty and justice let us take the next few moments of Silence to each seek our own way whatever sources of inspiration will grant us strength and power in our thoughts and our decisions to be for the benefit of all people at all times and may we find peace in the Middle East for our brothers and sisters that are suffering there and peace for the Ukrainian people amen cler please call the RO councilman barison here councilman fris councilman karazi mayor Kramer here councilman on jaka yes deputy mayor pnik president councilwoman Udin here councilman vasella here and councilman Wright thank you uh councilman Wright you had [Music] a no Amendment to the agenda uh we have commendations and proclamations the 2024 Arbor Day Proclamation by councilman uh binella and shade tree chairman extraordinaire [Music] there you go okay all right it's that time of year again I'm sure many you know have are have heard about Arbor Day but I'll read this Proclamation and we'll all learn a little bit more about it whereas in 1872 J Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of AR agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planting of trees where the holiday called Arbor Day was first observed with the planting of more than 1 million trees and whereas National Arbor Day is celebrated annually in April by communities Nationwide as a time to promote the benefits of trees and whereas trees can reduce the erosion of our precious top soil by wind and water lower our Heating and Cooling cost moderate temperatures clean the air sequester carbon produce oxygen and provide habitat for wildlife and whereas trees are a renewable resource given us paper wood for our homes fuel for our fires and countless other wood products and whereas trees in our Township increase property values enhance the economic Vitality of business areas and beautify our community and whereas trees wherever they are planted are a source of joy and spiritual renewal and whereas the township of Franklin has recognized the value of trees by creating a shade tree commission to promote tree conservation and planting and maintaining trees on public property throughout the throughout the town Township and whereas in a 2016 Proclamation the township of Franklin adopted a tree canopy cover goal of 42% to preserve and increase its valuable tree canopy and whereas the township of Franklin has been a proud Tree City USA for 22 years and whereas the shade tree Commission in partnership with the Franklin Township Board of Education will host an Arbor Day event on Friday April 26th 2024 at the township gazebo right outside our municipal building now there for we James vasella councilman and Philip Kramer mayor on behalf of the entire Franklin Township Council Dubai here to hereby Proclaim Friday April 26th this Friday 2024 as Arbor Day 2020 it says 2023 in the proclamation as Arbor Day 2024 in the township of Franklin Somerset County and I urge all citizens to gener to celebrate Arbor Day and to support efforts to protect our trees and Woodlands for this and Future Generations so sorry it was so long but hopefully informative and interesting um we take for granted trees I think a lot we all do it gets me an annoyance when the leaves are falling or there's a branch has to be cut and you can't reach it with your pole saw but overall from if one if half of the things in here they talked about trees boy that is sounds like the Magic Bullet To Everything the magic pill to make everything better obviously the environment everything from property values to just generally how people feel and the um the positive health benefits but I'm not going to go on and on I do want to uh introduce Steve Gully one of the hardest working chair persons of any committee we have in Franklin Township uh Arie Schmidt he's a little more bashful he's in the back he's also been an incredible asset and contributor to the shade tree commission um and many of people in the audience here I recognize that are involved in conservation efforts so I'm going to turn it over to Steve but please um if you can't come out Friday for the event we're doing just in general try to celebrate um and maybe Steve we'll give you a couple more ways you could do that but I want to uh give this to uh our chairman Steve [Applause] gooli thank you Mr vasella yes and I'll just I'll keep this very brief for the audience uh Arbor Day as you know is the day we focus on planting trees but our shade tree commission along with the environmental commission and the open space committee works all year long to add trees to Franklin Township I'm very happy to say last year now that we got through covid we're back to planting trees last year we added over 70 new trees to public land in Franklin Township this year we're already scheduled to plant over 150 trees on Hamilton Street and that's just the beginning of the year so we're going to keep adding trees to Franklin keep keeping the trees that we have keep adding more as we go and you can participate in that uh this week if you go to our Township shade tree commission website we are selling trees be root trees for distribution this weekend that you can plant we don't have a very large number of them but they are available for you to purchase great for this area of the country not very expensive hard to find at nurseries so we we tried to get a good selection for the township and this Friday 3:00 we'll read the proclamation at the Gazebo all are invited to come by for that exciting event and uh this weekend we'll be Distributing trees over at the convenience center so you're welcome to stop by and uh go online order a tree come by and pick it up this weekend and if you're interested we have two openings on the shade tree commission so if you like the environment in our town and want to help us do more with it please join and that's it thank you again please find a way to celebrate Arbor Day obviously just uh Earth Day another uh environmental holiday that there are little things you could do to uh promote trees the environment and conservation General thank you and now for the Franklin Township compressor station task force commendations come on Dr Chase so good evening my name is Ed pzk I'm the pleasure of being Deputy Mayor here in Franklin Township and uh first I want to start off by just saying happy Earth Day um that was just yesterday and I think this makes Earth month or Earth week you see lots of activity the shade tree commission and Arbor Day um but what we're here to do today um is celebrate the efforts of an A A group of outstanding volunteers um some of which were able to make it t tonight and others of which are watching from home uh maybe continuing to do their work but really is about seven years of advocacy um people people have been you know thanking me for my work but I think tonight is really about thanking all of you the people who are here who made made it happen but if you hadn't heard if you hadn't read about it in the newspaper the Williams Transco company has pulled the plug on the Northeast Supply enhancement project which we refer to as Nessie which would have put a compressor station 206 in Franklin Township over on Route 27 would have been closer to my house than the new yor grocery store and it would have been right next to the higgins's um and not only is it the wrong move for us for our clean energy goals and the public health but it's also um would have had a detrimental impact quite quite uh significantly for the township and so um a lot of things happen to make this project go away and protect our children and our grandchildren protect our elderly populations and vulnerable populations from the air pollution um there was a lot of fundraising there was a lot of public education you know when we first started I remember um Patty and I we did an event and you know with Linda and folks didn't really know what it was what does that mean what is a compressor station what does that mean to compress it why are they compressing it is there more pressure what are the dangers the Mayor found an article in Franklin Township where a pipeline had exploded um I don't know how many years ago it was like 80 something years ago previously luckily it was in a field um but the dangers from that kind of thing are also real uh uh we also work to educate elected officials to engage folks uh to testify to write letters there was intervening and then when they would file again there was re intervening and intervening again and not screwing it up because each time the pool got smaller a lot of the press nationally were reaching out and saying how are so many people intervening it's so hard how do you get hundreds of people well when you have a community as densely populated as Franklin Township and you want to put two 32,000 horsepower uh natural gas fired engines constantly spewing pollution into the air a lot of folks take notice but because of the efforts of the the folks that are here today research searching rallying and so much more it's important for us to stay vigilant before I read this and present it to folks and just you know if anyone particularly is feeling like they want to share anything burning quickly we'll open the microphone as well um uh well some folks so Linda says we didn't do any fundraising but the truth is there was money the the township did dedicate some funds um as well as folks in different homeowners associations so it wasn't fundraising like uh Bak sales but there was there was uh some investment um so the Commendation reads and I know the mayor's here too thank you for your leadership whereas it is our sincere gratitude and admiration for the outstanding service displayed by the gas compressor station opposition ad hoc committee for protecting our community from the dangerous and unneeded Williams Transco Northeast Supply enhancement project and whereas the April 10th 2024 email from the Williams Transco informing FK which is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that they would not seek an extension marks a significant milestone in the collective effort spanning over seven years by the gas compressor station opposition ad hoc committee and whereas throughout this time uh their unwavering dedication to advocacy fundraising public education engagement with the public testifying letter writing intervening researching and rallying has been truly commendable and whereas the benefits of their tireless work are immeasurable and by preventing the construction of the Nessie project our community will enjoy cleaner air protection of our public health and the elimination of safety RIS uh risks and whereas these efforts ensure our children and grandchildren will inherit a healthier environment free from the potential harms posed by this unnecessary project now therefore we at pesnik De Deputy Mayor and Phil Kramer mayor on behalf of the entire council with deep appreciation and gratitude extend our thanks to the individuals here for your commitment to protecting our community and uh shine making it a a shining example of the power of collective action and Grassroots advocacy without your dedication this Victory would not have been possible so let's give it up a round of applause for these folks um I'm going to say their names the folks that are here and then again if anyone wants to share anything briefly um Linda Powell who was a a very Mighty force in keeping us on task each step of the way Petty kronheim um who came all the way down from Mammoth County to be with us once again um we appreciate her efforts Julie Higgins and her husband thank you guys um for uh most recently uh one of the reasons they kind of withdrew is because they have to have continuous operations and um they weren't doing their part to actually do anything on the project they were going to sit on the permit and with together with New York put a lot of pressure on them and you were monitoring it closely because they had an access well they didn't have well anyway thank you for monitoring that closely uh calone for your leadership um uh bernardet Mah appreciate it Arie Schmidt This Way Princeton Highlands Community you guys want to take it you're no oh you're not with okay never mind I thought maybe we invited some folks uh Dr Ted Chase former council member um also Super Active and uh great with the research and Analysis um are into the elected officials in other category if I missed anyone we'll we'll get them um Mr Bob born Locker a lot of folks have mentioned um his sty leadership I think um the you know forming the ad hoc committee but also ensuring that the township was appropriately engaging um that takes effort and commitment and we appreciate that um assembly man Joe Danielson thank you for coming for your efforts our hometown assembly and folks that couldn't make it tonight Kirk Frost obviously folks from Princeton Highlands Barbara cuthber I have other ones on the desk over there and Teresa Ford um we appreciate all of you and if you want to share any thoughts I'll start with the mayor and then uh see if anyone else has anything to share congratulations and thanks very very quickly um I never thought it was going to work I I I I I'm I'm going to admit it I never thought we would be successful but I did know that it was worth the fight and Linda always had faith and the rest of you always had Faith so we kept up the fight so thank you for that thank you for keeping me pointed in the right direction yeah I'd like to say something first of all um I want to thank Patty who is my pipeline Guru um she I think bit her eye teeth on on uh working against the penes pipeline which is another pipeline that did not go through New Jersey and um two of our researchers and our main writer uh Barbara cirth and and Kurt Frost couldn't be here tonight um so of course they they were definitely I think uh Barbara was the one who was constantly in contact with um our town manager um Bob for Locker I think because he got tired of hearing from me and not true and Ed ptasnik who was not Deputy Mayor at the time helped us from the beginning as did um assemblyman Joe Danielson um who was very concerned being a a a firefighter or concerned about this the issue of fire um with an explosion since that was in a dynamite blasting Zone the proposed compressor station was in the dynamite blasting Zone in an area that with low water pressure so you know everyone was really on board with this and um we hope we don't have to do this again but if we do we [Applause] will hi my name is Patty cronheim and this wasn't my first pipeline fight but I wanted to say that working with all of you I always said that fighting at pipeline is is like getting a master's degree and fighting fossil fuels and coming into your community and uh you know working with all of you I was just so honored it was such an honor because I have never worked with a group of people who have been so dedicated so stalwart through the all this the turns and the and the obstacles and all the impediments and things that happen when you fight a pipeline you all just were steady you had the support of your Township so Kudos um and I just want to say it was a total honor working all of you you all passed a master's class with flying colors and go off and get got your phds and I know many of you now do environmental work in the Greater Community um because that's what happens when you start fighting these things and uh the world is a better place um if anything good came out of this it's because of all of you and now your light shining out in the world helping F fight fossil fuels in the state of New Jersey and Beyond [Applause] thanks hello Franklin Linda Linda Linda you are a one woman Army the warrior of all Warriors but like the mayor I too thought we were going to lose but I love a good fight and this was a good fight and I like fights that we win even better than just good fights and this fight we won and in great part uh to you and all your partner Warriors that are behind us and even those that are not here the community you brought everyone together on every level I um you know I had assembly resolution ar32 and uh that was presented in the assembly and uh proudly I could say and for the first time in 10 years in the legislature I get to withdraw one of my own bills I've never done that before because it's no longer in consideration because we won so maybe we should have a bill withdrawal party and we could then tear it up celebration but good for us we are now safer we are now healthier and because we're Franklin We Are Better God bless [Applause] everybody I just want to say that South Brunswick had a group that worked with us you know basically all local people and people from around the state Grassroots and environmental groups and New York because New York was also engaged in this fight so we we really did have a massive Coalition of people working and that's why I always like to call it the proposed compressor station to not make it a reality putting obstacles in your way I'm doing good to interrupt my meeting so the next item is public portion but before we do that we have a very special guest in the audience today and um we have a very special guest in the audience today uh councilwoman uden's daughter is here and do you want you want to introduce her oh but we love to we're we're trying to keep her May or not scare her away so Samar oudin is here Samar do you want to stand up really quick and just say hi to everyone she's my intern in training thank you that'll teach you just you know we all have parents um do we have a motion to open to the public so moved second moved and seconded any uh all in favor say I I oos say nay motion carried we are open to the public five minutes each one uh only may come up once no yielding of time please state your name and address good evening I'm Deborah Inman and I live on Roberts Road 67 Roberts Road and I am here this evening just to find Clarity on the Right to Farm Act as it applies to Franklin Township in a residential neighborhood there is a residence on Philips road that has a rooster I've gone to the um zoning department I spoke with um Mr Gregory and informed him that there was a rooster and it cows at the crack of dawn and then all day long I hear it as I'm working from home so someone can give me clarity about the farm to act in the zoning um as it relates to the Zoning for farm animals so we just take the comments now and at the end we'll respond so if that's all you have okay no I have one more okay there is a food truck parked on the corner of Ralph Street and Roberts Road it's an obstruction when cars are coming down um Ralph Street and if cars are coming out of Robert Road at the fork in the road and there is no stop sign it's an obstruction it's an obstruction for the school buses and it's obstruction for traffic so who handles that that's a quick one you should contact the police department thank you hi my name is Loretta Evans I live at 60 Roberts Road and I live on that corner where the food truck that was previously mentioned is parked and I'd just like to state that I have called traffic they have ticketed it towed it they got it back a couple months later parked it in their driveway because they had plenty of space to park in their driveway and now it is back on the corner being an obstruction to the traffic as she stated I have two children that ride a school bus it is a hazard in the morning for the school bus so I would like to ask how do we just keep contacting the police over and over and over again and I would also like to second on the rooster incident so if you could just that would be great and then how do we get the police to have someone with a deciel reader over the weekends when people are playing music too loud we've no they don't come during they said when we call they state that they work Monday through like they don't come out on Friday Saturday and Sunday we answer at the end thank you hello my name is uh mraa Patel I'm at 29 Julie Court in Somerset in the Housing Community called Hampton Ridge and this is a community uh some of you are aware which is in the back of Westminster Road the only way to access the community is through the apartments Somerset Park and then the town homes Somerset Glenn in the recent past few weeks there's a a section of the community between the town homes and our housing community there's an Easten there uh which doesn't have have a sidewalk no street lights no parking spots but we've seen the Overflow of vehicles from the town homes or whoever it is parking in that little section all the way up to the corner and not only cars But it includes tractor trailers uh motor transport vehicles with cars loaded on top of it commercial uh towing trucks are you talking about on Westminster yes Westminster towards the end before our the Julie court and Deborah Drive begin yes so uh it's a section where school buses stop in the morning at the corner but there are all these cars and trucks and tow trucks getting parked in that section which doesn't have a sidewalk Street lighting or any any signs whatsoever okay again we'll answer at the end sure and I I was late in uh sending a present I did email some pictures for your reference which you can review later uh the the other thing we have on that same presentation is there was a chain put up between the next community over Somerset Muse uh uh yes which uh which has worked well but lately last couple of months that keeps coming off I don't know how they're removing it or I saw kids jumping up and down on it removing it um so I'm sorry is it or a no I'm sorry Air Drive Drive is the other a drive I know where the chain is yes a drive to Julie Court we have two oh oh not the one Mindy a drive that's the other from the town homes to the yes there's a CH no okay I know I know where that one is too okay yes uh so this one is into our housing community between AR and Julie there are two chains so if we can uh see if is in any way to better secure that and then I'll bring Sheila My Neighbor Next hello everyone my name is Sheila Phillips murf and I live at for deborra Drive where I've lived for the last 24 years I am very familiar with our Township I happen to like it very much I've actually lived here 34 years um I'm coming to you today today because I am very extremely concerned about the cars and the trucks and they're so high that when you I leave in the morning CU I'm in the education field and the kids are standing there at the bus stop but you can't see them because they're tractor trailers their trailers with cars parked on the track on the tractor up to six seven vehicles in addition to additional cars my feeling is when the when the easement between Deborah Drive and Victoria was built or created my thinking is it wasn't created for parking space because there's no lights there no street lights there's no sidewalk so in the summer in our community we get a lot of people who are walking in the streets because there's no sidewalk my thinking is with the new management at Somerset Glenn if it's their intention to create this easement area for parking space then they need to do the right thing keep us safe keep our children safe keep my grandchildren safe and install Street lighting a sidewalk and the proper identification for parking which they probably would not get more than four cars parked there so why incur the cost that's basically it for me thank you Goin sadri from 17 Julie Cod the same development I'm just adding to the same points it's a big problem people illegally parking in that corner and um in the night it make it gets it gets worse because we canot see who is coming from the other side as well so I would like the council to take action on that thank you thank you Chase Old Georgetown Road just it was good to hear all that about Arbor Day and the value of trees and I want to particularly recommend as I have before the planting of more trees in that part of the township east of Franklin Boulevard and also uh what's just west of Franklin Boulevard and South of Hamilton Street because those are the areas with the lowest tree canopy in the township and increase in the tree canopy will lower the ambient temperature in that area and it's it's really something we can do for that area it's good to hear that the tree planting is going ahead on Hamilton Street but I ask you to then go ahead with more tree planting in the general area east of Franklin Boulevard I sent a a list of places where one could conveniently plant trees uh in the township right away um to achieve this result and I I hope that the plan for u tree maintenance is moving ahead and will soon be complete and supportive of new tree planting thank you thank you councilman anyone else yeah Debbie Stewart to farington congratulations to the uh compressor station task force great job um I know it's been a long hall for you and I'm sure a very difficult task and we all appreciate everything you've done um and also Arbor Day love all that stuff with the trees so important for us all um quick question I woke up one morning and saw that there was a sidewalk going in on Schoolhouse Road all the way down that was surprising if you could tell me a little bit about who what when where how is that funded I it's probably through the developers some of it is black top some of it is cement I mean I think it's great we need more ways to get to the shopping centers that being said the little shopping center that doesn't have much going on there I know you have a business development team if they can try to get in from Canal Walk folks I hear a restaurant a restaurant and I always think of confectional yours which I think is the greatest little place we have in town um something where people could go with their friends to have some lunch breakfast bring their grandkids into the shopping center there walk down take their bikes whatever now and also is that I know it's a sidewalk but there really is no safe way to ride a bike down Schoolhouse Road so I'm wondering if that's a multi-purpose sidewalk also then getting back to meter's Road um is there any way to put in some safe biking walking path from the Colonial Park down then towards Schoolhouse just to make everything nice and flowing I know that's part of your task that you're trying to accomplish Lish in the town have people have a way to get around um even if it's not an impervious surface but something maybe like the canal path soft chips or gravel to make it safer I saw a family the other day coming from they must have been coming from the park toodling down metler Road like they were in a lovely little safe environment and that is anything but safe on metler road first of all As I've mentioned the speed limit is too fast on meter's road around Colonial Park um and they were totally oblivious and I I just said oh my gosh they have no idea what they're encountering and as I went around a Bend here comes a a pickup truck flying in the other direction and I just said a prayer for them hoping obviously nothing happened but it's a frightening so if that could be more user friendly that section there and um yeah that's it but anyway love the sidewalk and uh thank you anyone else get no Bob you you know you got you got your mission going on on me man you know you win you win let me first say this you win you win all all right now give me a break let me live please name and address Johnny you don't know me man front 25 par side excellent what's going I knew y'all sitting there first of all let me commend Linda pow and her gang she knew she had her gang my G behind her all the time so just in case yall want to go the other way let me tell you you know congratulations and God bless um now you know I got a 100 things I'm destitute I ain't got no job y'all Bob done got me for calling you know you man you know you know the deal you know y'all got me all right but I'm still here in pide be here forever till I live and die I'm going be here in pide trying to I need your help to do what I supposed to be doing if you win your mission's over now told you you win all right first of all uh St where's my garden man they got my phone cut off you know you guys in the IT department you know I'm got my phone by the way they let some of come through the other W let come through and that just talking about he gave me important message they cut my phone off then they cut it back on they live me some they don't and I know it's them because I heard them talking with these they they mess around and said the wrong name and I heard the name I found out this department all right I need Ted here yeah Tedy I'm I'm getting to you Ted I'm please address Council Mr tips oh I'm sorry yeah oh okay oh Lord anyway uh yes I need the Public Works to please put my plot and so could they want to get the garden started I got a couple guys that help me and I'm a volunteering I'm going on with that I understand Mrs Figaro you got a grant you gave a grant her a grant for Pine Grove part well she was saying something like that and Mr daily the the council your your your um County man Da his what's name da last name is Da our County Commissioner what chel him anyway he called and some he wants to become a part of two the community garden project sustainable garden and he want to put one in colonal park that's all right I had to go to you Bob you know all right all right please let me get started people drop me what see D drive me crazy okay uh the bump walk the kid they still flying up and down marck street 100 miles now now I hope one of my little kids don't get hit by this is the third time I'm I'm telling you now okay now we need them bed on top of that in the in the park Bob they got two water pipe drainage pipes that says open up you know about that that don't used to see them man one little girl spish girl they was out there planing and she was pling around for the park Ian see the FR in the hole and she the drown that's how deep it is you in the middle of the park okay so you know about that all right all right that's the other one off my mind all right you know about that one my garden and uh oh by the way I want everybody here to know that any money that came down to Franklin Township to your your uh uh uh Youth Center that was money that I've been begging for and fighting for for the past five six seven years finally I've been telling everybody apply for that money they know about Bonnie Watson come they all know but they send the money down here and they went to you it's supposed to went to scap to my Manpower program so I can train all the young men in town I'm going save try to save all young black men and put them in service I'm a veteran by the way and I'm proud of it but all the money money Valley got that your sender got that's some of my money and the rest of the money that kimy and scap got you guys on the board developed the Manpower training program which I was the director of it for years and years and years so we the guys on the board they ain't about nothing you know they don't know about how to pursue your own money I don't you know that's money that supposed to come down to me to us in the community that's why it's called Somerset Community Action Program the Somerset Community was fighting for that money it's not no Somerset County acting program you got Northwest County my buddy up there they take care the county in terms of manv and all that other stuff all right please do that now if you know when anytime you know you got a little 14 and 13 year old kid committing a crime you know there's a problem someplace else and we want to the community the Somerset Community want to address those problems thank you r r knows I'm talking about he you know we have to have our own place to train our own place in Somerset I appreciate it your help and support thank you very much thank you anyone else wish to speak see no one else no no here hi uh good evening uh my name is Elvis Brown I reside at uh three Da Vinci Court um is uh just down the block U of um what I'm here uh speaking about is a recent incident um that uh occurred um whereby um in our development which was uh built the Glenn Aro homes which was built around uh 23 years ago I am one of the original owners that had the house had a house built and in fact I was one of the first uh who had a c a certificate of occupancy in terms of uh um residing and uh in 2001 in fact I remembered that because I was stuck in London on 911 in in when I uh had a business trip uh in London and I couldn't come home um so let's get to the point what I'm here to speak on is uh we recently had the roads paved in um in our block um the main road which is R shagal uh takes the entire Block in a circle um I think it's like a maybe a two three mile circle um I live on a cuac called Da Vinci Court um recently uh or couple of years back the the rigal itself was in pretty bad shape guess what so it was Da Vinci Court um we saw that the township uh Public Works actually came and um filled up or sealed the gaps in the uh um basically see the gaps in in in the uh roads but they forgot about Da Vinci Court now recently um we just had a uh a contractor come and pave all of ragal um but again the Vinci Court was ignored um however the vendors uh the contractors had their equipment parked they remember Da Vinci Court to park there and they Park all of their equipment back holes bulldozers and uh that uh stuff that uh spreads the uh the tar and stuff like that all in front of my house blocking my my mail I thought that was hypocritical guys I call Public Works uh just to find out what is going on why is this happening I was given what I thought was a very fleeting answer oh uh there was a survey done on your road and your road didn't seem deemed to uh uh be in need of repair well with all that heavy equipment on the road sure as hell did need repair then um I called again the public works and found out uh asked for documentation concerning how did they make this determination because we were considered not in the budget and then also we're given a statement saying that we'll be considered for repaving 5 to7 years um I would like to bring this to you guys attention because this is a mess it's a just a sheer mess I have no idea how did this happen but I would like to bring it to your attention to not let it happen again thank you anyone else see no one else come forward I'll motion to close a public portion of the meeting second we then second and all in favor of closing public portion say I I I say nay public portion is closed well I can answer a bit about D Vinci Court um the way that we decide how to pave roads is we grade each Road um from 0 to 100 uh and we take the worst roads but we when it's time to decide when to pave the roads we start at the bottom and work up until we run out of money um we budgeted $3 million this year three million and three and a half million less four million this year sorry finish the budget yet and I'm already forgetting um $4 million this year and there are roads we would like to pave that we just don't have the money for I don't know where on the list of eni cour is um if you tell us though that the trucks there damaged the road I'll ask Mr vorn Locker to have someone inspect it Mr Mr Mayor this has been a lengthy back and forth with Mr Brown and councilwoman udine and Mr Hal um and I have the information if you but as far as you can go the temporary repair the repairs to Mr Brown Street um Mr Hal has given him every assurance that those repairs will be made if they're necessary including the crack ceiling on his street um Da Vinci's score was a 52 with the latest ratings um for the third- party vendor who provides that um inspection of all the Township roads um the the street that is being paved had segments ranging between 29 and 36 therefore they qualified and while it might seem just natural that we would pave the culde saxs off of the main road the truth is as you described the funding for Street Paving is limited and we need to make those stretch as far as we can and those culde saacs get far less traffic that was also explained and that the impact on those roads from less traffic means that they will last longer than the road that receives all of the traffic for all of the neighborhood going in and out and that was the case here um and so that's that's the answer and as far as the staging of equipment the equipment can't stage on the road that's being paved it has to be staged somewhere so that's you know it it was staged on that called thect yes and uh and if there's anything that needs to be done to restore that road after the paving is over it will be done thank you and that was explained in emails back and forth with Mr Brown and Mr Hal okay in my mind the rest of these issues are best handled by Mr vorn Locker did any other Council have a comment BN Locker it's thank you it's my show huh okay so roosters so there has been some back and forth about roosters and whether or not they're classified as livestock Polster our our poultry I should say our ordinance prohibits Livestock in the zone that you live in um what I will do whether I whether others agree with my my opinion or not is that we have enforced the ordinance in our zoning ordinance in the past for that and I will turn it over to the Animal control officer to investigate the only thing I I you know you're not supposed to talk now but I'm going to ask you a question is it on Ralph Street no Philips Road thank you I it's I they will find it I'm sure it will Crow for her certainly familiar one second um so I know uh a citizen anise Millstone did investigate the word livestock and in New Jersey you are correct livestock includes poultry ptry now which is the position we've taken for as long as I've worked here which is is longer than I want to mention what I suggest though is that goes before admin that we add the word poultry because the average person reading it may make that mistake but I do I do agree with you the law includes poltry we we have enforced it on many occasions and I will speak with the Animal control officer to do the same here um as far as the food truck again the squeaky wheel gets the oil right I mean so in all honesty as a former traffic Sergeant in the Franklin Township Police Department the people who called and complained about those parking violations most often are the ones who got the most action call the police department and make a complaint if it's a parking violation all right and depending on what type of vehicle it is it might be a violation whether it's parked on a street or in their driveway so then it becomes a zoning violation so the police department will pass it on to zoning if that's the case um Westminster so that portion of Westminster is not a public Road it's not an easement it is a private road the only easement that exists is for the residents of Deborah and Julie in that your development has an access easement over their property as far as any regulations on that road it would be the responsibility of the association or apartment complex owner depending on which section you're talking about if there are trucks park there that exceed a certain weight limit and from the photographs that I saw and I can tell you that this was already provided to me by some one of you through the mayor's office I believe last week or the week before and was turned over to the police department if there are vehicles that are parked there between midnight and 6:00 a.m. that exceed a certain weight limit and it look like some of them would then it would be a zoning violation not a police department violation but a zoning violation because it's not um a public roadway it's private property the zoning department enforces that portion of the ordinance for parking commercial vehicles and excesses of certain weight and I'm not going to get into the weights because it's it's a whole chart so but if they're park there you need to notify the police department but I've also notified the police department to do periodic checks between midnight and 6:00 a.m. and if those vehicles are seen there then they would report that to the zoning officer for enforcement so that's that's what I can tell you as far as sidewalks and Street lighting that's a private development and the fact that they don't have them is is not anything that we can enforce no you can't speak now this is my turn to answer your questions um and um but the the answer is that that's completely up to them it's their property that you drive through to get to your street and and and it's up to them as to whether or not they want to permit parking there's nothing about that street that would limit parking it's the same width as the street in your neighborhood and parking is permitted on both sides of the street it's sufficient withd to allow parking so that's the answer to Westminster Miss is the you miss noise on Ralph Street missed noise on Ralph Street right the same people about about the noise meter yes so the police department they left well the answer is the police department has noise meter operators working on all shifts not just Monday through Friday Monday through Friday during the day the noise meter is operated by the health department all other times it's operated by the police department and they have a number of officers who are trained in its operation so it's not a matter of Monday through Friday during the day it's actually that's the time that the police department doesn't do enforcement the Health Department does it so a drive chain if the a drive chain is not secured you should contact either my office or the public works department um it's maintained with a lock that that is both a lock that the fire department has and the Township Public Works Department has because there's two different ways to get through you know they can they each can get through that chain if they need to um but if the chain is not up then my officer the public works department should be notified sidewalk Schoolhouse there you are so as a as part of the obligation of the of the uh development of summerfields there was a multi-purpose path to be installed along Schoolhouse Road from I believe Rucker Boulevard to Randolph Road to the shopping center that's what's being installed now it is a multi-purpose path to serve both um pedestrian and bicycle traffic um I believe you've been here in the past when I've had conversations about the um shared bike lanes and bike Lanes on Schoolhouse Road with one of the residents of Canal Walk um Jim um so anyway it's been it's been a a fairly common topic here when he comes and asks about the bike Lanes oh um bike Lanes at one on one on several sections of Schoolhouse are going to be striped but there are sections of of Schoolhouse that don't allow for bike lanes because of the turn lanes that were put in um on Schoolhouse at Ruckers and uh Canal Walk Boulevard that now uh prohibit because of roadway width the installation of of uh bike Lanes however there was a discussion about shared arrows basically shared lanes for bicy and and motorists um but of course that requires a speed limit of less than um 35 35 or less and the speed limit is posted at 40 and a speed survey was done and now that's not allowed because the speed survey showed that it's an appropriate speed limit so bicyclists and pedestrians both as far as our economic development director and the owner of the shopping center you do you know who owns that shopping center it is your developer all right and we have met with your developer and your developer is actively pursuing businesses for his shopping center and we have had discussions but to be perfectly honest with you he's a far better marketer of his properties many of he owns many than we could possibly be and he is actively pursuing the type of businesses that you are speaking about pathway from Canal Walk to Colonial Park so there was discussion about a pathway to from uh Canal Walk to Colonial Park a number of years ago and um there was um inquiries made to the Canal Walk homeowners association at that time and there was a lack of interest on having a walkway from Canal Walk to Colonial Park and subsequent to that the county had acquired the property to the back entrance uh along the backside of Colonial Park and and it's currently under agricultural e uh um leases and there is not sufficient RightWay for a walkway along metlers it only has a 33t RightWay and so there's insufficient roadway width to put a pathway alongside the road that's the that's the situation there far as speeds I will certainly refer it to the police department I've spoken to the police department on more than one occasion about complaints about speeding on meter's Road Mark Street Jim you're still here okay um Mark Street speeding I will turn over to the police department and I will let them know I don't have a I don't wear a badge and a gun anymore John I don't go out and do radar enforcement so I'll let the police department know it as far as the uh community garden and uh non Williams Park let's talk about that for a second so the community gardens in non Williams Park had gone untended for 4 years and became completely and totally overgrown and rotted and so the public works department could not restore it back without removing all of the materials that created the beds previously as well as the fence that needed to be replaced because it had been unused and untended for four years as such and because it seemed that there was a lack of interest in it I had a discussion with um the pastor of Community Baptist Church as part of a food in security committee that I sit on with a number of other people and the pastor of Community Baptist Church here on deont Lane along with his congregation have expressed a great deal of interest in assisting with that community garden so I've did did have a discussion with both TK Kenyon and and Carl Hal about completing the rebuilding of the park of the the community garden and what it how it should be rebuilt and so it's going to be rebuilt with 4T by 8T raised beds that have 36 in between the beds so that it's ADA handicapped accessible and that they'll be somewhere between 2 feet and 30 in high again so that all the beds will be accessible to all people regardless of their um their challenges and we have the materials in stock in the public works uh yard and we hope to get that project started to complete it um next week or the following week so there there's your community garden and I will tell the pastor that you're interested in helping him okay great Mr tibs sorry you can't M Mr tibs I'm sorry you can't speak now thank you I think that was everything Mr Mayor um councilman EMB Barrison had something to say uh yeah I just want to respond to Johnny's uh request for training funds yeah you go yeah okay yeah so Johnny I don't know whether you were here we approved a $300,000 funding to uh Franklin Board of Education uh for uh training atrisk youth uh over the next course of next 12 months um you know so there 18 months 18 I'm sorry 18 months yes three semesters yeah three sum summer session yes correct so I think um if you have a group of Youth that you want to put them through construction trades uh Workforce training to be to get them ready for uh work uh I suggest that you speak to Dr Vali um and he the school is running the program at the um um P not the p is p group middle school middle school middle school Frank Middle School yes talk to me later so we will we will connect and they are trying to recruit uh kids so we need to get them in front of them so every time we try to run these programs we don't get kids so it's a it's a catch 22 so let's Mr tibs I'm sorry well we we'll talk separately uh any other Count Council of comments uh mayor I just want to mention some of the managers before I forget not that it's the biggest issue but maybe we could put a blurb in our next uh newspaper about we love roosters and chickens but because no no I'm mean sarcastic we but that because it pops up here and there and understandably people don't know and you know whatever you can make it humorous or just a piece of ordinance but maybe we could just pop it in the next uh I I'm fully behind that thank you just want to mention that before I forgot because it was relevant to a question that was asked thank you mayor thank you we'll move on to council comments and reports we'll start with um councilman only Jaa and things change I've changed you had a presentation you couldn't do it I'm sorry Jo okay may um I'm just very familiar with uh the P the parking problem we have in h West Minister I've said our problem has been there for almost since 2022 actually before that area Hampton moved to move to W one actually the parking on that road constitut a lot of problems I would say men in that but the unfortunate part of it is Land Development marked that area as a parking spot without giving the actual specification or standard that will determine the cars or trucks that we build there so actually they constitute a very big problem very unfortunate for the for so I'm happy that uh B really touched it really need to do something about it thank you mayor thank you councilman EMB Barrison thank you Mr Mayor so last couple of weeks uh there were a few events that took place uh that we uh participated Chamber of Commerce had their annual Gaya on the 17th uh well attended event large event at at muray Gold um was I there was a planning board meeting that I participated I think most of you were there um one of the warehouse application was heard and the coverage was provided by the newspapers um nothing more to add there there was a YMCA event that uh I attended um they uh they all expressed a continued interest in fund racing to have the Y uh in Franklin so that's a project that uh we'll all be undertaking very very shortly um upcoming events um job assemblyman uh Joe Danielson is going to have a job fair at the Imperia on the 24th um 10 10 p 10: a.m. it opens up I think through 2: p.m. so if you have if anybody looking for work uh please go there uh Franklin food bank is doing the annual 2D Franklin event this Sunday on the 28th it's going to be a a grand success I think their goal is to get to 100,000 in funds and I think they have raised about $93,000 so if you are uh willing to support them please do they they do tremendous job of fighting hunger in town and they need your support um just so you know I'm I'm a sponsor uh yeah the uh Monday the 29th at 700 p.m. we are going to have a zoom meeting uh to discuss uh our uh retail sign signage information and and and uh getting some feedback from the business community so if you're running a business uh you have a chance to uh give support to your business as well as the others uh that might require some uh improvements in our ordinance uh which I understand is quite uh dated last but not the least uh on the 9th May uh we have a meeting set up with rvcc and Franklin Board of Education we want to uh start uh looking at uh college level courses uh at the consul campus we are going to continue that conversation I'm not giving up bringing rvcc to town that's all I got mayor thank you councilman EMB Barrison councilman vessel mayor have a few things I'll try to get through them quick on the more Lighter Side I wanted to acknowledge um students of St maias school I'll just read this blur three St maias school students are among 35 V finalists in a partnership for a drug-free New Jersey fourth grade folder contest three of the 35 finalists were picked from a pool of thousands of students so 35 out of thousands figure maybe one or two in the whole County there'd be there was three from St Maas and finalist I don't know if I'm pronouncing their name right Aiden Bill Emanuel Victor and Lorraine Colo colomo and contest recognizes students creative talent and commitment to promoting healthy drug-free Lifestyles students from across the state have artistically brought the life to life to theme fun things to do instead of drugs underlining the importance of positive life changes the artwork um of the two grand prize winners will be distribute featured in folders distributed Nation Statewide but that's a that's um pretty amazing group for students I'm sure congratulations everybody St Mias for those who don't know is one of the I think longest running and largest um proprial schools in Franklin Township which I can say all but pretty much most all of the um students are Franklin students um just um you know in appropriate as far as a public but congrat school um here in Franklin congratulations to them um congratulations to our group here that still here to stick it out through a lot of meetings Linda ver bernardet and I God I apologize Carol um I'm not going to repeat what had covered it pretty well but uh mayor was a little skeptical but I also know he was 100 100% supportive and always said we got to do what we can um and um I don't think skeptical of the effort but you know we were up with David versus Goliath so it's a classic David versus Goliath and I'm glad that Franklin David one um well a lot more people Beyond Franklin but us especially um real quickly I wasn't here at the last meeting but earlier in this month attended the opening day of God I don't know if it's a 72 well Township Franklin Township baseball also known sometimes as Franklin Township Little League had their opening season and just one little tidbit of History here I um I'm going to read a blurb from 50 years ago this month uh we had a local newspaper um called the somerset spectator anyway kind of did on paper a lot of what our uh two online papers do here online and uh one prin uh monthly five girls among approximately 300 Franklin youths practicing for the upcoming Little League season according to Tom brendl of the local organization uh assignments were given for major minor and Saturday morning divisions will be made the next few weeks for the girls as well as the boys who signed up for this year the season gets underway May May 5th it was 50 years ago this month uh or yeah April that Franklin Township Little League first had girls playing uh and there was uh they don't have their names here congratulations to those few that um five that were the first well now not do not only do we have uh I believe a few dozen we actually have a league of uh I think there's a few teams of baseball softball that is all female so our U our our country's come a long way and our town um along with it 50 years ago anyway back to some Township business tonight we had a public works meeting uh we have a very large and complex water system so we're just delving into some technical issues uh and concerns we're trying to um uh get out in front of and uh we spent quite a a bit of time with our manager and uh water director or Department director tonight reviewing that and we'll update the council rest of the council in public in upcoming meetings um there was also um apologize oh the E Avenue meeting that's right it's not a regular committee meeting the eastn Avenue Corridor study the $1 million study uh we had a two-hour pretty intensive session I believe our manager was on there along with some I'm not sure who else I think councilman medine was there for a bit uh it was a pretty intense meeting uh long story short they are doing what they're supposed to do but it's going to take a long time there was over 80 people I think most of them were Franklin residents just participants besides the study team and uh others kind of on the peripheral like myself um with the study team so they're planning a meeting I believe in the fall where we will be a large public meeting to really get into the nitty-gritty of the uh data and possible solu engineering Solutions going forward um in the fall separate but very related the manager and I are finalizing what hopefully will be in a few weeks from now a public uh somewhat of a town hall meeting that will deal with some of hopefully some issues that we we could do between the township and the county um to make it let's just say safer and more attractive um in the short term so that will hopefully be announced very soon it's a matter of trying to line up uh the the many people would be hopefully contributing uh positive contributors to that meeting but um it is moving along the bigger study and I think that is um that is it for tonight thank you mayor thank you councilwoman thank you good evening um so a lot of the updates have been already provided by my peers um I was also part of the eav meeting um is it eastn a.com where people can go and it's on our website while while you're talking I'll look it up so I'll give it in my report okay thank you all right so so if anyone missed that you can go and the PowerPoint everything is still there um so you can read it on your own leisure um we also had the Public Works meeting and um you'll notice there's ordinance here around water which uh councilman bessala has provided updates on so I think with that I just want to say Happy Spring happy hly happy boy shaki vaki Earth Day and Passover so it's been uh Springtime so it's all those holidays so wishing everyone very blessed and joyous thank you thank you and councilman wri you have nothing to to say so we'll oh I love you um this laptop was supposed to be internet capable I got here and it wasn't and the reason why I'm I'm mad at my computer is because I went and saw milder Robinson she's 105 years old and her sister's 95 years old and they don't drive as well as they used to in the dark so forgive them from not coming in I went to them so I went to the house and we had food all the family showed up for this Proclamation and I had this little puppy on tape and I was going to play for you the damn thing don't take Internet uh but um it was beautiful celebration was good um and when we have the next meeting I'll have this internet so I can show it to you but I think you'll like it um her sister who's 95 says well just waitting 5 years I get to do mine right and I says no you're not 105 years old in 5 years so you got to do better than that um whereas mild said well when I turn 110 I hope we do the same thing and uh I said okay you know I N said okay and I just let it go um but yeah it was a lot of fun and I think you'll you'll get a rise out of that second June 10th even though the actual day is on Wednesday the 19th of June we will be having our celebration on the 15th of June uh we will have a parade up Highland then on to Hamilton Street on our way to nean Williams Park where once again food fun activities for the whole family um we want everyone to come out because it's not just our juneth it's everybody's juneth um not because it's a holiday or anything like that come out for the fun it's the community thing so come on out and enjoy the community celebration with us um that's about it oh one other thing Mr uh Mr V Locker when he brought up the uh community garden which um like you said hasn't been used and every time I talk to somebody nobody wanted to actually go out the residents didn't want to go and actually do something they did it first couple years but after that just didn't want to do it so I'm glad that uh we have someone that that wants to come by and up do a little upkeep and I'm more than sure as the upkeep goes in goes up everyone else will come come involved with that uh that Park situation I hope um so we're going to give it a a go and I I might you know test that my little green thumb over there and see what happens uh I do have a garden at the back of my house I used the compost and I dug a hole and spread it out and I got a little garden going back there but it too has weeds so if you want to come by you can take care of that for me other than that um Mr Mayor I think we're done thank you uh Deputy Mayor pesnik I just want to wish everyone a Happy Passover may your worries melt away that's my report tonight thank you thank you uh I too want to wish everyone a Happy Passover today Mr vlocker and I um were on a um what do you call it teams meeting a zoom meeting essentially essentially um about um the intersections of Jake middlebush South middlebush Road and Cordo um this is a project that was started I Believe by councilman uh Chase um which I picked up and I've been ated by councilman U um or Deputy Mayor basnik and councilman onaka uh because that's the exact border of the third and First Ward uh but it's basically to have a turning lane on South middlebush um to because it backs up when someone wants to take a left onto Cordo or a left onto Jake's Lane uh it backs up they're not only planning to do that they also want to put left and right turning Lanes off of caloo and Jake's Lane to facilitate safety and traffic there um I was very pleased to see that the state finally has it clearly understands the issue that we want there was times that it just seemed very confusing they came up with a plan of what to do I'm not thrilled about their timeline um but we're making some progress on it the it's one of my goals in life is to get that done um and Mr Chase here you I think you're the one who thought of it so uh kudos to you um and okay thank you for the that credit um September 29th meeting which was mentioned by uh councilman EMB Barrison it's mainly the goal of the meeting is to hear what businesses have to say it's open to the public we'll listen to everybody but the goal of the meeting is to understand the needs of the people who put up the signs eventually we will have a meeting we can hear from the public to see what their thoughts are about the signs and that is all I have Mr manager thank you Mr Mayor um I'm going to concentrate my efforts of on my report on one particular I item today and I know that I have talked about this in the past but I'm going to talk about it again because it it is something that is important to me um and I think it should be important to all of us as as people who live here in Franklin Township and or or serve Franklin Township here and that is The Meadows Foundation um so on our website right now in the Township news is events at The Meadows there's a very nice um recap of upcoming things uh that The Meadows is hosting I'm not going to tell you all about everything that they're hosting um through the summer but there's things like um backyard birds which is a Hands-On field workshop on identifying birds that are local to our area um the honeybee which is about go figure beekeeping um at the Second Sunday Museum tours at the white go Garson uh House on South midle Road and then a new thing Club Meadows which is just kind of a get together with people who share interests in common uh specifically I would guess related to Historic things here in our town and just have a nice chat um and but what I really want to talk about is the financial considerations for the metos foundation um if you don't know everything that The Meadows Foundation does is based on donations and memberships and patrons and they have fallen on some hard times recently and this has been a topic of conversation here at this Council uh at a council meeting recently so it is not some deep dark secret that they are hurting for funds to be a member as an adult of The Meadows foundation for the year costs $15 15 not 50 not 500 15 um if you're a senior it's even less 10 um if if you're a full-blown family it's 20 okay we're not talking about a great deal of money um you know and and I would say that anyone who has any interest in the history of this town and the historic structures of this town um take a shot and be become a member you might just like it if you really like it you might become a volunteer who actually works for some of these events that will again raise even more money um the meows Foundation H is the caretaker for homes that we own that the township of Franklin owns if you live here you own them okay these are homes that are historic and and and important to the town and its history they cost a lot of money to maintain um there's currently um three of the houses have caretakers um they get paid in to to a small degree and they also pay rent so there's a give and take there but but the township also spends a significant amount of money on maintenance for the more costly report reps and maintenance that needs to be but it's a very worthwhile organization it's been around for nearly 50 years 1977 I believe coming up on their 50th anniversary in a couple years um give it some thought and you know and I am going to I am going to um live by my words and do the same and make a donation become a patron become a member do something good that that will make you feel good to help save the important homes in our town and that's my thank you uh and my wife and I recently became members and we you did your name is on their website and we went to a recent um lecture about Einstein and we plan to do more it's really worthwhile it's a great thing to contribute to okay um we are on to item number 10 the agendas are up there if you want them Council discussion item we have none approval of the minutes there were none submitted we're moving right along to pay the bills the warrants in the amount of 7,11 2016, 32989 cents on April 23rd 2024 are presented to the township Council for payment do we have a motion on the warrants so moved moved and seconded uh um any discussion anyone would like to pull an item Adam clerk councilman EMB Barrison yes councilman Francois councilman Kazi mayor Kramer yes councilman on jaka yes Deputy Mayor patnik yes councilwoman Udin yes councilman vasella yes councilman right yes public hearing and Adoption of ordinances on second reading um we have a first reading to introduce an ordinance and let people know that we will be considering it later on uh and then we have a second reading where we vote on the ordinance and we also have the portion of time for the public to make comments um ordinance 4435 d24 an ordinance amending the code of the township of Franklin County summer said state of New Jersey more particularly chapter 112 Land Development uh amending the variance submission checklist uh site plan submission checklist subdivision checklist uh subssub subdivision submission checklist and the General application submission checklist is presented for the public hearing and final ad object the public has been noticed as required to have a motion to open to the public so moved seconded any uh all in favor say I I I both say nay we're open to the public on this item same rules as before Debbie Stewart to farington can you just tell us a little bit about what this is I missed prior meetings I'm I'm assuming it's just updating forms but I don't know it is it's kind of updating forms so that they corresponds with um what's going to be on the web so that people can do these things over the web that pretty much right Mr that's exactly right seeing no one else jumping at the bit to get to the microphone and move we close public comment on I'd also like to have the minutes reflect that I got that right one in a row one in a row very good um we have a motion to close do we have a second second m in second it all in favor of closing public portion say i i f say nay motion is carried you have a motion to adopt seconded moved then seconded any other discussion Adam clerk councilman embarrising yes councilwoman franois councilman karazi mayor Kramer yes councilman Oni jaka yes Deputy Mayor pnik yes councilwoman Udin yes councilman vessella yes and councilman Wright yes ordinance on first reading 4439 d24 an ordinance amending the municipal code of Township of Franklin County of Somerset state of New Jersey more particularly chapter 384 water sections 384 -12 quarterly consumption charges uh 34-18 uh fire service charges and 384-2038 [Music] ation in accordance with law and public hearing and final adoption at the meeting of the township Council to be held on May 14th at 7 p.m right here in the council chambers to have a motion to introduce a moe second then seconded so the discussion is we raised the um water rate last year but the last time we had raised it before that was in 2012 and 201 uh 13 and I believe we raised it 10% and 20% last time 15 and 20 last year we raised it 15 and we said we may be back and we unfortunately we are back the 15 didn't cover it we raised a 20 in the 10 years that passed the amount that we pay for water went up 19 % that's just the water part not the um not the uh maintenance the operations the pay Etc so um we feel now it's again we need to go up to 20% Which to the median uh rate payer um is $69 so why do I use median instead of average averages work nice when you have a L curve of uh things you're uh trying to summate but most people pay at the low end of water so there's a big spike and then at the high end of water it dribble dribbles out so median is a uh better way to measure it so the median will be $69 um a year increase there will also be a $16 a year so $4 a quarter new fee for meters the problem we're having is people pay for meters or when when a meter has to be changed we ask them to pay it and it's a big sum all at once the meter lasts about 20 years $16 is $320 uh dollars total so you'll pay it slowly at $4 a quarter so um unfortunately we're increasing water rates we had talked about uh having water rates go up automatically as we get as we get more of a charge so that 19% happened over 10 years and now we're doing a sudden jump we feel it would be easier if that came slowly as we get an increase you get the increase um we're not ready to do that yet but that may come later on this year um that's where we are does anyone else have comments Madam clerk councilman EMB Barrison yes Council M Francois councilman karazi mayor Kramer yes councilman oi jaka yes Deputy Mayor patnik yes councilwoman Udin yes councilman fanella yes councilman Wright it passes um so okay consent agenda items a through Q is the listed on the consent agender portion of this meeting are presented to the township Council for adoption do we have a motion to accept moved second moved in second and any discussion on the consent agenda does anyone want to P pull anything yes mayor yes um I'm sorry 24- 160 resolution that's H just vote that separately well I had a couple questions I don't know if we need to vote separately um I had ask your questions um I was little surprised I saw this could manager if you can just give me a give us a quick recap and hopefully good news that this will get out there real quick it it's already ready to go back out again so the problem was is that when the bid package went out to the prospective biders it didn't not include all the federal paperwork required for an American Rescue plan funded project and so the bid had to be cancelled and rebid so it's it's ready to it might be going back out already might actually be already advertised with the appropriate paperwork to go back out it was an oversight on the part of the township to not include the ARP fund forms that are required by the federal government so back out to bid a little quick but it's moving fast it shouldn't it's and like I said if I look on the website it might already be advertised okay and I guess when if we do more we know exactly what to include because hopefully we'll be investing some more I'm glad that it's ready to go back out I didn't have a chance to ask you earlier I know we were a lot of other things and I just had uh I'm going to try to keep it really simple it's just uh uh this contract for the water uh American Water ITF 24-1 158 yes and again I don't necessarily think we need to vote it separately I'm trying to keep it minimal but if I could just ask the attorney a couple quick very quick questions here I just I know it's for 25 years or automatic renewal of 15 I read in it and I I just got it today so I I you know didn't read the whole thing but if it says that the either party wants to not Renew at the 25 years they have to give a threeyear notice prior to not renewing correct is that uh good bad is that just standard is there no reason we could do it with any less time just thinking forward I know most of us might not be here in 20 some years but so water is a unique resource got when you analyze this contract you analyze it in that way we were talking about electricity there are lots of providers who provide electricity there's a National Grid we go out to bid we get 10 bids for people who want toly us power we pick from them we could every year we get the best water is water water infrastructure comes from a couple of I if this wasn't our supplier there may not be another supplier in some respects this is a contract that uh what we're doing is locking in a long-term commitment because part part of what happens the the part of the magic around here that that people is go in and you want you build a single family house and you want to hook up to our water system you need to get a permit that permit is based on a permit that we have our water system has with the state if we can't satisfy the state of New Jersey that we have have a uh uh Dependable water uh Supply that supplies our system the state of New Jersey says you can't have people hook up to your water system anymore um so we enter into these long-term contracts because it what we're trying to do now is establish stability as I said this isn't one of those things where we're thinking well you know two or three years from now we're going to go out into the market and see whether or not we can get a cheaper rate for water because there are in other places we can go and get you know there are other Water Systems around us we know that right we this is there's this water system there's new couple of others but but they they operate under the same rules that we do meaning that they might not have the capacity to supply us so what we want to do is lock in this capacity for as long as we possibly can because it gives us the ability to manage growth and have a a a valid water supply the overlay to all of this councilman and not to be overly complicated is that the state of New Jersey has gotten I don't want to say stricter but they have changed their philosophy and how they manage um water supply how they calculate the numbers so suddenly two or three years ago Water Systems all across the state of New Jersey got letters from the state D that says you no longer have water capacity for a for the system that you have or for any any additions to your system um that has forced all of us even those that didn't have a expiring contracts to go in and re-evaluate their contracts and it's all about locking in a supply so three years is not is not odd in fact it might be a little short because if we got three years notice that we that they weren't going to supply us water it might take us a damn site longer than three years to try so you know that's one of those things where we we tried to building those protections to the town because it's such a critical infrastructure that have to make sure that it it no and thank you that's why I said I don't know if it was too short too long um not to rehash what you said but water yeah water is um you know we kind of own and run it as a council but we have we're relying on these suppliers um so I don't want to get further into it thank you for for shedding some light on that it is a 25e contract and water is issue right now and most people don't think of it but we got a lot of things going on and a big system so the only other question I had um I didn't get to read all of it but one that stuck out my mind or that I was curious how um I know we have limited options and I'm not going to get into any um but say for some reason we were to get start getting much more water from another company or there's any other any other things that happen in 25 years we build a water tower whatever are we obligated at minimums that if we backed off had a little more control over or options over our volume this is with the largest supplier of our Township I understand largest supplier by far so are we kind of locked in if we do come up with ways that we lessen our Reliance on American Water Well the the answer is we are locked in and so is American water so American water has to have infrastructure to supply us this amount of water in order to have to maintain that infrastructure they need to have guaranteed contracts essentially from places like Franklin Township and surrounding a lot of surrounding municipalities so um no it's not in our best interest because there there is not ever a concern that five years from now we'll have more water than we know what to do answer is that's just that's the opposite of what no but but just saying volume need reduced at all um I know we have minimal options believe me I just wanted to know how locked in I understand there's a benefit to being locked in but at the same time um I just from what I've been hearing and reading there's hopefully going to be some maybe either legislative or Innovative changes that will hopefully make it a little easier for towns to manage your water systems I'm a fan of the New Jersey legislature they cannot create water right they can't so the bottom line is you know if you said to me that it it interesting because I've been reading about this recently and I'm not really sure why if you said to me well you know Lou in 15 years the sixmile one reservoir was going to get built and it's going to be another source of water then I would tell you that we would be negotiating a shorter term contract because we would know that but there's a reason why the state of New Jersey Plans reservoirs things like 75 years in advance plus they are trying to stay 75 years ahead of the water demand the the demand for water is not is you know we're going to get more efficient but it's not going to get less and one of the things that we did and and Bob will tell you we negotiated this contract for the better part of almost two years because is because we want to wanted to get we want we wanted and it's not really me we wanted Carl ha and those who run our system to be comfortable that this number was a number that they could live with for 25 years and and that and that was a concern and you know we manage our various water supply contracts remember that you know we do that so that we the take or pay contract we make sure we we're always taking um and and it's those things but really once again this is a it's literally a closed system there's not much on the horizon as to uh I guess the New Jersey water supply Authority right is is kind of regulates the the systems around here but yeah there's nothing about this that would change um change our mind because the big concern would be okay we'll take less of a minimum and then you know and then someday we'll go to the water company and say look we really need more water and they'll say look everybody's locked in all of our allocations are taken up you don't you no longer have a seat at the table that is a that's a disastrous consequence no I I understand and I appreciate you're explaining in in I think terms we can all understand and appreciate is kind of a little bit of a catch22 because I know I know there's not much and I wasn't suggesting anybody that we're going to do that Reservoir in Franklin but I I get your point and I was thinking just more something and hypothetical we could end it here is you know they do this big thing eastn Avenue in eight years from now they're literally digging up one side and expanding and we decide to run a water main further down from another company this is all hypothetical that we would expand our you and then we would just need less that we are kind of locked in but what you're saying is uh is just it's there's more benefits especially with there being little to no options in the foreseeable future right and we okay and once again um knowing a little bit about the water infrastructure in this area there are only a handful of there used to be more but there are only now a handful of companies that that companies and municipalities that control water supplies and you know the problem is is that there's so it this is not a question of whether or not there's other companies it's it's where they would draw the water from I mean you you have to get water from a body of water or get it from a well it's one of those two things and um you know unfortunately we know all the bodies of water we know where everybody's drawing water from they're all kind of spoken for the only one the only one that's not in just just to be complete is I believe that they built a Round Valley Reservoir and I don't believe that anybody actually takes water from it yeah no actually the Round Valley Reservoir is used to bring the water levels of the rtin river up when the waters run low to supply the draw of from the ran River by New Jersey American Water there you go so that that's the answer to your question no and I appreciate it and I know it's been a long contract and I'm only asking these questions tonight because quite frankly I wish I knew about it sooner when I understand we did do a good job negotiating it uh it scares me because I contract and I negotiated it twice so that frightens me you negotiate the last one sure 19 so this contract ran from 1992 to 2022 right but you negotiated a New Brunswick water right contract and you also negotiated obviously the extension of this water contract to get us from 22 to 24 just last year just last year we don't have as long we don't have a farington lake in our town I think they do most in New Brunswick Supply but we we are we have what we have and we're doing what I guess the limited uh options allow us but I appreciate you giving us a little more insight to that again I I just got it otherwise I would had looked uh you know spoke to you prior okay um mayor I'm I'm satisfied I appreciate the time explained those two resolutions and uh I'm not asking for it to be separated out okay anyone else I would just like to comment you can make water thank you it's just you just can't make it into a lot can't make it into one okay confused I can't um Madam clerk councilman EMB Barrison yes councilman Francois councilman karazi mayor Kramer yes councilman Oni jaka yes Deputy Mayor patnik yes councilwoman Udin yes councilman Vella yes councilman Wright yes boards committee commission vacancies any nominations hearing none I'll just list the uh committees that have openings on the clean commit communities committee Advisory Board of Health uh advisory Recreation Council Cultural Arts Council Hamilton Street Advisory Board and senior citizen advisory committee there and Sh alen shade tree we don't we don't appoint shade tree that's why it's not listed here the manager but yes there is State Tre openings available and we have no executive session do we have a motion to adjourn so moved seconded moved and seconded all in favor say I I oppose say nay we are adjourned be well Franklin e e e e e