this work session regular meeting of the township council is called to order Madame Clerk and accordance with the open public meeting Act of the state of New Jersey adequate notice of this work session regular meeting of the Franklin Township Council was made as required indicating that this work session regular meeting would take place at the municipal building at 7 p.m on Tuesday June 25th 2024 can again stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and put remain standing followed for by an invocation from councilman Rah and Barrison pledge allegiance to the flag of the United let us take the next few moments of Silence to seek each seek in our own way whatever sources of inspiration will grant us the strength and power in our thoughts and decisions to be for the benefit of all people at all times amen thank you we'll now um I'm still standing because I'm going to get up so um we're going to have the swearing in of the police chaplain we got to take the roll call oh I did it again and this tiem at no excuse Madam cler please SC the RO councilman narison here councilwoman fra here councilman karazi here mayor Kramer here councilman Oni jaka here Deputy Mayor basnik pres Council woman UD here councilman vasella here councilman right now time for accommodations and proclamations swearing in of the police chaplain e good evening everyone evening I'm captain Sean Heen from Franklin Township Police Department and today as they stated we're here swearing in new uh police department chaplain um chaplain are are no uh stranger to Franklin Township Police Department we've had them here before um however under the direction of uh director corll Mayweather we revamped and updated our chaplain program the these are three out of the five uh chaplain um possibly six that we're going to be swearing in um and Franklin Township Police Department is a very diverse Police Department that represents a very diverse Community we also wanted our chaplain to also represent that diversity so you'll be able to see here um a range of different um faiths and a range of different um uh uh backgrounds to offer those services to not just our police off officers who are in need of prayer at times and police officers do need prayer where people that you know are going into the thick of things sometimes our officers of people and sometimes uh they they hurt and suffer as well um as well as members of our community um there are things that happen here that require us to go beyond just going and serving and protecting through uh whatever we carry on our um Duty belts um sometimes we have to really uh dig deep into helping someone in a deeper way and that's where the chaplain come in and could be of uh great support um for our agency so here we have uh today um Rabbi Eli garfinkle who has been a uh uh chaplain from uh from way back when I don't know I don't know 18 years so he has a lot of history here with Franklin he's he's been with the chaplain program in the past and uh he's here with us um continuing on to serve today we have um um and he's representing um Temple Bethel we have Reverend Jamon Powell from Community Baptist Church um who's here and you have some uh um background as well in um in um in chapy from uh a previous count Orange County Sheriff's department and uh we have father uh Simon uh Simon elj that's say right perfect perfect all right from uh St charbel um not here with us um today is going to be Reverend Dante quick from First Baptist and Imam SED rizy from Masjid Ali I state your name do solemly swear that I will support the Constitution of the state of of the United States and the Constitution the state of New Jersey the state there will bear two faith and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments established to the government the United States United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people that I will Faithfully will impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties of all the duties of police department chaplain Police Department chap the township of Franklin the township of Franklin according to the best of my ability help me God [Applause] help uh once again we are faced with our um diversity and uh we display it here and with the other two um and it's we're better served this way I'm sure each of you uh will contribute and sounds like you've already done some uh in the past do either of my colleagues have anything else to say congratulations I know you guys are not shy about know for a give a man of the cloth a microphone see what happens mayor we we can't help ourselves uh for 18 years the phone uh in terms of the chapy program has been very very quiet uh in fact there have been no calls that I know of um on the one hand I hope that the phone remains quiet because if that phone rings that's not good news uh on the other hand I hope and I know that my colleagues and I will be ready to help should that need arise [Applause] the next it is item is the 20 24 pride month Proclamation I'm going to ask uh officer Pua Patel to come join me from the county sheriff's office happy Pride everyone um this is a proclamation for pride month whereas pride month serves as a time to celebrate the remarkable contributions culture and history of lgbtq plus Community recognizing their resilience diversity and spirit in the face of adversity and whereas despite significant progress the LGBT plus Community continues to face discrimination and inequality making it essential to stand in solidarity to advance Justice and ensure that every individual is treated with dignity and respect and whereas the theme of pride month of 2024 is embrace the Spectrum and encourages us to acknowledge and celebrate the full diversity within the lgbtq plus Community including different sexual orientations gender identities and expressions and fostering a more inclusive Society for all and whereas we honor the contributions of LG LGBT plus individuals in every aspect of life from arts and culture to Science and Technology from politics and activism to business and education and we recognize that our communities are enriched by their presence and the achievements and whereas it is crucial to educate and raise awareness about the history struggles and triumphs of the LGBT plus Community promoting a cultural understanding acceptance and love and whereas we affirm our commitment to creating safe and inclusive environments for all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity and we pledge to continue to work toward equality and justice for all LGBT CL uh plus community members now therefore we Deputy Mayor Ed pnik and mayor Phil Kramer on behalf of the entire Council to hereby Proclaim June as pride month and call upon a residents of the township of Franklin to join in the celebration and of our diversity and to stand up against discrimination and Prejudice and support the ongoing efforts to secure equal rights for all members of the LGBT plus community and I I just wanted to share a sort of personal note um we had a pride month sort of inaugural celebration in the Gazebo just a few weeks back that was very well attended I think that's going to be something we continue to do in the future and I invite more folks to particip iate if you're interested in getting more involved definitely let me know as the first we say openly gay member of council because there probably were some folks before that weren't open or maybe they didn't know and we want to recognize that as well um it's really important to have strong allies like the mayor and officer Patel and I'm just going to turn over them if they want to share anything um for pride month you got to get really close because there people at home I just want to thank you guys on behalf of the somerson county Sheriff's Office um our lgbtq liaison Sergeant Han and officer ski were not able to make it tonight but on Bas on behalf of the community outreach program bias hate crimes um we appreciate Franklin Township making this acknowledgement um I think it's very important for everyone to be included especially you know how everything is today in today's day and age I think it's very important that we give everyone the Equal Opportunity so thank you and thank you all of the board members and Council I I will mention too we should give her a round of applause she's a graduate of Franklin lives in Franklin Township over 20 years let's give it up for officer Patel thank you please pass it on to colleagues uh very quickly we've made great strides in the LGBT community over the last decades uh and I fear that slipping backwards so we uh can congratulate ourselves for Where We Are but we need to stay vigilant thank you okay it's now time for public discussion do we have a motion to open to the public move second Mr Mayor uh if I may uh make a statement before we start the public discussion one second let's just take the vote thank you though um all in favor say I I I those say nay motion is carried you want to make a statement before public discussion thank you Mr Mayor one one moment if no one has any objection we'll do this by um unanimous consent go ahead thank you Mr Mayor good evening and thank you everyone for coming and we have seen many of you coming and asking the council to present a resolution calling for ceasefire in Gaza not only by Palestinians but also by Muslims and non-muslim community members we have heard some of you expressing fear of bias amb bigotry and hate we recognize that the uncertainty about the safety of the people in the Middle East in particular in Israel in Gaza West Bank and South Lebanon weigh heavily in the minds and hearts of many of our community members so it's natural for us to be saddened and feel the pain and even shed tears when we see you are coming here is speaking to us in pain and sometimes in tears or sending us emails sharing your pain as well I would like to make the following statement as your brother in faith or equal in humanity as your neighbor as your friend and as your councilman at large as you have heard several times this Council has has had a policy to only present resolution to matters relating to Franklin after President Biden called for a ceasefire during my June 11 council meeting comments I suggested Council to discuss possibility of reviewing that policy I discussed the suggestion with council members not once but twice and after thoughtful consideration It is believed it is the right thing think for our town to continue the current policy I'm sorry if some of you are disappointed to hear this but this has not been an easy decision for us especially for me as the past president of interface Council and someone who always has promoted peace and peaceful coexistence let me also mention that uh this policy is not only just for the International matters but also applies for other matters in the nation in fact one of my colleagues gave an example of Mr George Floyd who was murdered by police and this council at that time stayed out of presenting a resolution to condemn his murder as always I'm committed to help to bring the community together and promote mutual respect I have reached out to the interface council president and participated in their meeting last week they are planning to have a meeting when several fa leaders will discuss ways to have a hate and bias-free Community with mutual respect to recognize each other's Humanity to care for those who grieve to pray for peace and Justice and mutual understanding so that strained relations can find Healing they're also planning to organize training on bias hate and civil rights most likely on July 31st starting at 6 6: p.m. in the Senior Citizen Center there will be some discussion about mental health impact of bias and discrimination I encourage all to participate and support the interface council's effort the second phase mentioned by the interface council is a possible town hall meeting finally some of you may have remembered the resolution the council issue last December about peace and rejection of hate and bigotry copies of the res resolution are on the table and I would like to read the four elements the council noted the Council of the Franklin to fr the town of Franklin has zero tolerance for any form of hate bigotry and discrimination of any kind against any race religion nationality ethnicity gender or persons and is committed to uniting the Franken community and ensuring everyone feels respected and valued and ask all residents to respect one another despite our differences and reject any form of hate and bigotry and vious peace and Harmony Prevail around the world we pray for the war to stop and atas them pe's return to their region thank you Mr Mayor thank you so now anyone wishing to speak may come up uh you have five minutes no yielding of time may only come up once please address your comments to the council good evening uh good evening council members my name is shamsa and I reside at 14 Sebring uh we just heard the health advisory mention the impact of the crisis overseas on Mental Health in our community and I wanted to begin by thanking you for opening the uh public um portion of the meeting acknowledging the pain in the community um one of the concerns I wanted to address that was brought up by the council members was the worry repeatedly was the worry that the choice of words can cause further division in the community um as something that was holding uh the council back from uh you know even moving forward with a resolution indeed words are very powerful but we are overlooking their power to unite such a diverse Community as ours out of more than 100 resolutions passed in the US I wanted to read one of them it's a short one out loud I will not take the name of the locality because I want all of us to hear what a ceasefire resolution that represents a diverse Community sounds like um resolution calling for a sustained ceasefire in Gaza humanitarian Aid and release of hostages and and condemning anti-semitic anti-palestinian and Islamic rhetoric and attacks resolved that the council calls for a sustain seuse fire provision of life-saving humanitarian Aid in Gaza and the release of all hostages and be it further resolved then the council urges the Biden Administration and Congress to call for a ceasefire humanitarian Aid and the release of all hostages and be it further resolved that the council condemns anti-semitic anti-palestinian islamophobic and xenophobic rhetoric and attacks and be it further resolved that the council condemns hamas's attacks on Israeli civilians resulting in the deaths of at least 12200 Israeli people on October 7th 2023 and be it further resolved that the council condemns the Netanyahu government's attacks resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and be it further resolved that the council believes that a just and Lasting peace between the Palestinian and Israeli people requires new lead leadership on both sides and a willingness to commit uh and commitment to negotiate in good faith and be it further resolved that the council urges the International Community to work with Palestine and Israeli people to find a just and Lasting peace and to conduct a full investigation of the conduct of all parties in this conflict and hold all parties and individuals who have overseen or engaged in war crimes and international human rights violations included including but not limited to gender-based violence and killing of children accountable for anyone wondering this resolution was passed in January of this year in a west coast city of about a million residents and I'm just curious if anyone found anything controversial or divisive is this a resolution that you can stand behind I want to remind everyone that while we wait for what is the most harmless action that can be taken a ceasefire resolution children continue to be massacred children like hind RAB who waited in her car a car full of her dead relatives for rescue but instead was killed I think last we heard by 335 bullets if they're not killed they're left injured with Without Limbs uh you know for a lifetime of disability there are countless who are trapped under rubble and countless children who are orphans the resistance or the reluctance to call for a ceasefire resolution uh to me is I'm I am because I you know I've been an educator for a long time is strange to me I I I understand your policy but I think we can all agree that it is important to collectively voice our stance against the senseless death of children thank you for your time thank you anyone else wishing to speak good evening man sa 146 Emerson wrote I came here tonight not knowing what resolution being PR presented thank you for the people who have presented this resolution to CE have ceas by uh but I wanted generally to talk about this and what is happening in our old Township I just had a few hours ago talking to a friend who's also a realtor in the township and she told she told me that she's leaving the township she has been living here much longer than I have been here she's an African American woman she has been forced to send her mother to California from here and she's moving herself out of the out of the township and she said to me that are many people who are leaving the township because of the rightwing reactionary and I'm adding this fascist group of individuals that are in the township as harassing the neighborhood for example I was told and I was not I haven't observed this but I can easily understand it that there is a a neighbor of this friend had had a big megaphone of some sort a night before two nights before I his house at night and having all sorts of right-wing reactionary um discussion and music and everything else there and I said to her why did you call the police she said I would I would not call the police she's scared and to me and most of you know me I am somebody who is works on human rights and is offensive to me for example I don't know if we have Township has any uh limitation to the sides of the signs posted in the township whatever signs they are there is an offensive sign on the M Lane huge sign I have signed on my uh on many of you have seen I have sign usually I have peace and Justice signs and but this sign is overwhelming people have called me said have you seen this sign because I usually don't go to the Lane I use a mer road to go in and out and and also there is I was told Again by this friend that on the corner of uh uh new brunck Avenue and C Grove this uh business has taken his American flag down and put a rightwing you know slavery time type of flags all all around there I don't know what we can do but I thought is my job especially my friends said I'm not going to do anything I said but I cannot sit quiet when I see people are being run out of this Township because a bunch of people for whatever reason whatever purpose they have they're harassing the community and forcing them to leave the community and that's why I came here and I would like to see I would like you to discuss it uh do whatever you can do with it if I I I would not I can't be quiet about this I have been crying for seven months with razza it's unacceptable that in for years and years and years I've said people didn't know when Holocaust happened but now everybody the whole world knows that Holocaust is happening in razza and it's going to expand it seem that it's going to expand I cannot be silent and I I would have my voice all the time here from now and I'm going to come here and go everywhere and I'm willing to do work with anybody and everybody who wants to work on these issues so we stop people from leaving this is absurd 2024 people are leaving their home because they're forced to leave home their home because they're making their life miserable is UN should be unacceptable one thing that has been on my mind to come to the council and talk about is about the green resolution that we have what's happening with that is it being implemented answer questions afterwards okay so so that's why that was my question thank you for listening I know this what I was just said brings pain to everybody who has lived here I know everybody everybody here has been trying to make this bring us to the point that we have the diverse community that we are but I needed to talk about this and bring it to all of our ATT mention thank you very much and have have a good evening you anyone else on forward thank you everyone and good evening to you I happen to notice that there was a debate on um this issue a few days ago while I was in uh kettman having a bagel because they have the report the Franklin report over there I didn't even realize that this was a topic that was um being discussed at a council meeting and I respect your decision not to make a specific decision a council decision on this particular matter however however for some reason many people have forgotten that there was was a ceasefire in Gaza it ended on October 6 23 by a horrendous attack on Israel I'm sure the people who somehow did not remember that are prob undoubtedly unaware of the fact that years ago Israeli troops came into Gaza in order to remove any Jew who was still living there because they knew they could not live in gasa there would be no peace amongst the people if Gaza were to be ruled by Muslims by Arabs by islamists so they left and they left and there was no Israeli presence there only only when at the border they there was a great many instances of um border attacks something had to be done about that we know about borders in our own country here so in any case there was obvious obviously the IDF did get involved when there were border attacks okay I think I should also remind people that um Hamas did not end the war on October 7th if you would have read most of the media you would think that attacks were only occurring from Israel nothing could be further than from the truth there are still Jews that are in Gaza they are all called prisoners at this particular time and they are being mutilated and they are being mutilated so I must tell you that I very sincerely I very sincerely care about innocent people who are being hurt or even or murdered worse I am not asking you for any resolution I am asking you a council resolution let's put it like that I'm asking you to kindly look into your heart and your head determine what you feel is right and discuss it individually with your own groups your families your friends your co-workers whomever and do the right thing this is it Ma you have to speak into the microphone you have to address councel okay can you read it demand Hamas surrender that is what has to be done they haven't they haven't shown any size of sign of adhering to any kind of ceasefire as they are continuing to fire weapons at Israelis and continuing to mutilate the hostages even probably after they are dead thank you anyone else wish to speak hello Council doc Cunningham 11 STAR Court in Somerset I uh stopped by today in person to express my thanks to some of you individually and probably to most of you collectively for the chance to gain your guidance and support Over The Last 5 Years with C America in color as you know C American color as we call it saic is a social Edge campaign and platform that brings a better picture of Civic and social issues for a higher level of citizenship and I'm grateful and I won't call you by names but you guys know that I've worked with you over the years and I just stopped by to say thanks and I know there are monthly updates that are shared via email and some of you reive those uh those updates and I I will acknowledge you as well there but every now and then I think it's helpful to stop by in the flesh in person to look at each other eyeball to eyeball just to express my appreciation I had a chance to attend the juneth event recently hosted by the Somerset County Board of Commissioners and let's just say it was an awesome event and a number of public officials were gathered there they actually got honorable mention and one of the performers mentioned something that struck with me she said that as a community and as a nation we need to elevate we need to raise the relevance of civics in the public space and as you might imagine that felt like music to my ears it I felt like I was in the right place at the right time so I wanted to stop by today to share with you a public interest proposal along those lines that basically has two elements two broad elements uh one is uh takes a page from history so it's a historical look back takes a page from the summer of 1787 when our Founders got together and laid out what I like to describe as a vision for the Republic based on citizenship and Leadership and one of the things we're drawing from that uh will potentially lead to a resolution and I I hear that that that that word called quite a bit today that a resolution that speaks to even some of the ethnic and cultural and Civic conflicts that we're dealing with today the second uh the other uh side of it uh is a call to action and that call to action I believe will leverage the participation and involvement of public officials public servants across all levels so I just stop by to share that in brief I will be sharing more information with some of you via email so I didn't want it to drop in your inbox and you say what's this all about at least you have a preview of things to come and I'm hoping to have your support as as many of you have shown over the last five years let me leave you with this if if 50 years from now or a 100 years from now someone in your seat were able to look back and say you did something Monumental something pivotal in the life of this country to advance Civic ideals and uh greater public good would you want to be in that number and so I leave that thought to you and I look forward to chatting and and exploring this conversation further thanks much uh Benjamin guy um pretty much uh I just want to highlight pleas um the young lady didn't sayate her address not trying to be disrespectful and I missed it and she didn't even State her name so I understand so I'm not trying to be disrespectful huh so 35 patent drive and Mar see you got it see you you guys all know so I don't have to re so I made a mistake I'm sorry so we're good I just want to be consistent so um real quick just for um just for noting uh events that are coming up um during the time frame I know we uh Mr Von Locker will probably highlight this but just want to make sure the community was uhw for what was going on for July 4th weekend or July 3rd that we're gonna be highlighting here again also in August um also in August we're trying to look at um National Night Out just to make sure that if there's anyone who wants to participate with that with the police department that wasn't brought up yet and also week of people Festival that will be coming up in August also cuz that is one of the uh things that people can plan for that the the community can come together on and actually work together on uh for events at all um second portion I just wanted to um wanted to put this out to here because this came up in a um Hamilton Street board meeting during the time frame with uh with two of the council people and they can uh comment on this afterwards was that one is if there's advisement on how we handle certain things at all I would like to get a consensus from the Town Council about recommendations to improve stuff um I'll take an example from um Hamilton Street board whether that's the planning board or any of the other boards that we uh or subcommittees that we have some of these committees are involved for extended periods of time frame and they've been established for a long period of time frame so sometimes we need to reassess how they're being handled and what they need to be done reassess how their how their performance will be n in the future I'm asking the Town Council if you have recommendations because it was brought up during the Hamilton Street board meeting to actually say if there's a consensus report that you can give to us that we can actually review on recommendations that you guys want us to take care of please do that and have it done probably over the next two months because we won't be meeting again probably until August so that we can reassess and look at that for advisement going forward in the future um because as we move forward I want to make the recommendations for things like Hamilton Street board to be labeled and this goes back to the Town Council again as a Main Street District because again we don't really have a Main Street District in here but with all the development that has happened there we need to maybe classify it as a Main Street District so it can be regulated around the state and it corresponds with a Main Street District followings at all so that it can be funded and it can actually be properly done in the future to actually be handled that way so that is something that the H that the Town Council can make a recommendation for because in their bylaws when it was actually formed it was formed in in essence from the town council's recommendation back in 2014 so that is something that can be actually reassessed and redone alog together that would actually help to improve with funding Acquisitions actual Community programs and social initiatives that actually can be done over there whether or not is for housing housing reforms that we actually need to be done during the in the period of time going forward in the future which is part of the correspondence that we need need to look at four affordable housing reassessments that's coming down the pipeline at the end of this year so that is a recomend ation to The Count Council to actually look at and maybe mandate that that is something that the the Hamilton Street board actually looks at and does for the whole city so that is that's one thing that I would make a recommendation second portion is that this will go to Mr V Locker all together is that for what we're doing as we see all these roadways improvements that are going on I just want to see whether or not we're talking about INF infrastructure pain uh uh spending and actually improvements that are going on in the city is there a way that we can have a posting that's supposed to happen over the next next seven 3 to five years that we can actually put up so that the city or the township knows exactly what's going on whether that is roadways or anything else so that the city can actually make uh correspondent um information relays to other people that are in the areas whether not it's Elders or anybody else that might not know that certain RADS might be blocked off at a certain time frame or there's road work that's going to be done in certain areas I know we we're trying to improve and do sidewalks but I would like to be a little bit more informative because we are expanding and as lot of construction that's going to be done especially with housing developments that are getting approved in their planning board so I would like to make sure that that's being done and then the second thing the last last recommendation that I actually wanted to say is that for um because we have a Public Health crisis that was just labeled out by the I think um the uh the health the health advisor for um for the United States at all saying that gun violence was uh one of the biggest epidemics for uh youth at this specific time frame I would like to look at how we going to have how handle this from a mental health standpoint as far as advisement not a legal standpoint going forward with uh the youth and actually advisements going forward in the future so that is the one of my recommendations going forward at all thank you anyone else my name is Muhammad salahudin I'm resident of 120 Del Monica Avenue thank you you very much okay uh respected mayor and council members uh just wanted to put certain points before the the council members to especially on the record uh respected speaker the senior citizen here talked about the doing something about this uh ceasefire and all this thing about the conflict that's going on in the Gaza and all one thing I just wanted to make sure that uh please remember that history did not start on October 7th it started long before that one the operation of the Palestinian people started somewhere in 1948 with the Bala resolution or even before that one and uh it is something that what is taken out of context here is what's happened on October 7th I we all agree that it is heinous crime it's not a it's not a good thing that has happened but what is the impact of that one what's the retaliatory thing that Israel had done to the innocent children 35,000 children one small kid getting 355 by bullets I mean can you imagine that one and also recently many of you must have seen I mean Israeli soldiers in Van tying up a Palestinian person or Palestinian wounded because they wanted to have a human shield is this Humanity I mean somebody's talking about something which is happened on October 7th as if that's the start of everything no it's not the start of that issue this issue goes back to long before than that one and if some someone comes to my house and occupies my house and says you have to be a slave to me or you get out how can you feel ma'am you should be able to put yourselves in the shoes of the people who are suffering there not because somebody's mistake they have given that one it cannot be taken as a reason for justifying all this hemous act action and crime so I just wanted to make it clear to everybody including the am speaker who just said that makes surrender and all this thing let's get out please get out of the Gaza please leave them under the under their own rule then it will be easier for everyone to live in peace thank you very much thank you good evening mayor councel Dan kinsky Chief East Frankland volunteer fire department my address is 638 Nassau Street North brunsick New Jersey I've been the fire chief at East Franklin for 24 years I've been brought before this council with given two proclamations uh my fire department is very well recognized not only in town but through the state and other places that I travel to teach other fire departments about Recruitment and Retention how to get members and how to keep them currently East Franklin has 65 active firefighters which is probably the most in any fire company in the state of New Jersey with that being said um over the past couple months we've had some contract issues with the board of fire Commissioners and going back and forth with some news reports and some bad information was passed along and some contacts from uh people from the Democratic committee n sending me text messages and other committees saying well there's two sides of every story so one of the things I want to bring to light um is one of the things that is a policy that the board just recently passed that they changed the last hour of drinking from eight hours to 4 hours so if you had a beer at midnight you weren't allowed to get on a fire truck till 8:00 a.m. the board of fire Commissioners changed that to 4 hours in 2006 we had a line of duty death in Franklin Township where that individual was given a federal claim by the federal government he did not have alcohol in him everything was okay with that his family got the money by them changing that policy God forbid there's another line of duty death four hours is no good so you could see why we as the firefighters at East Franklin are upset with some of these policies New Jersey State title 4A says the board of fire Commissioners job and function is to provide fire apparatus equipment and manage the fire district they have no say on the fire scene they can't tell me where to park a fir Tru they can't tell me what to do at a fire three of the five policies they tried to pass had to do with me operating on the fire scene that's one of the reasons we didn't sign the contract the other reason we didn't sign the contract and I I see people you know talking on the street about cameras and fire trucks and Chief's cars and that and that and everything thing we've had cameras in the firet trucks for the last 15 years with no policy with a sticker on the dashboard and a sticker in the back of the truck that say you are being recorded we're okay with that because everybody knows that what they just tried to do now is put a camera facing forward a camera facing backwards and at any point in time a fire commissioner can turn on your phone and zoom into your car without you knowing it and hear your conversation whether I'm talking to the mayor of Franklin I'm talking to the mayor of North Brunswick I'm talking to my doctor whatever it is without any notice we got in touch with an attorney we hire an attorney she put a stop to that because it's a New Jersey Law of wiretapping there's a one-on-one I know I'm being recorded I don't have to tell the person that's sitting next to me they're being recorded but if a third party Zooms in on my camera in my car it's a third party so not everybody knows or being recorded which is against the law that's why we didn't sign the policy the other reason we didn't sign the contract is that for years for 20 years I've been there it was in the contract that the Chiefs and the Commissioners sat down they came up with policies and procedures and when you got to the head you agreed or disagreed you went back to the drawing table and you fixed it and we moved on they remove that from our contract so it says if the fire chief doesn't like the policy or procedure they put in place they have 30 days after it's adopted by the board to send the letter opposing it that's putting the court before the horse and realistically when they're trying to pass policies about being on a fire scene how can you sign the contract they have no jurisdiction on the fire scene their attorney resigned we've been trying to meet with them for two and a half months we offered an olive branch to meet with them I sent the text to one of the Commissioners yesterday they don't want to meet with us now that they don't have an attorney and they gave us a 60-day grant on time before they hire an attorney our time is going to be expired and then what do we do again yes I'm done thank you Chief okay so you have my emails anybody wants to contact me directly please thank you thank thank you chief good evening uh at this point I'm not new to this Township council meeting uh my name is Aisha Ali at 20y Super Court um I I know I may I may appear to be redundant but I cannot satisfy my conscience by any other way so I'm just going to ask again even though I understood the uh the statement you made at the beginning for asking for a ceas fire resolution I realized that the previous responses are indicating it's not in our lane but we had a glimmer of hope when it was suggested that the council response could be in support of our President Biden who has called for a ceasefire with hearing about children losing limbs each day that this war progresses I feel compelled to continue speaking and it compels me to come each meeting to know that the stories and experien of these children and other innocent people are not getting lost in the rhythm of our daily life this heart continues and gets worse each day as it continues and the humanitarian crisis is so incredibly terrible that even news outlets are not covering it fully but but that does not mean it's not happening so and if this so that's the reason I just make a statement because I just don't want it to just get washed away but if the ceas fire resolution is still seen as not relative to this council's office I supplement with another request because Franklin Township is so diverse and comprises of citizens that are impacted deeply by this conflict we ask the township to keep talking about Palestine not just for his Palestinian residents but by all those residents who are hurting by what they know is happening to others right in front of the world's eyes with each passing day of this war Palestinians and their cultur is being wiped out in Gaza churches schools museums and so forth are demolished or destroyed the people of Palestine are dying each day but their stories should not we want to make FR Franklin Township a Palestine friendly town we want to be able to talk freely about our culture our strive for Freedom peace and right to exist without intimidation or harassment or indication that we're acting divisive so going back to your peace resolution and also we talked about some other approaches that we can take such as an Interfaith vigil um a town hall meeting you know these are good steps that we can take in that direction um so that we can talk about our feelings and our hurt and and and also to keep the story alive let's normalize discussions and references to Palestine let's advocate for literature in our Township Library libraries that talk about Palestinian history its culture and its people let's carry out our Interfaith vigil Our Town Hall where we can address our feelings and why we feel pain let's celebrate Palestinian culture through classes on embroidery cooking and art that represent the traditions and contributions of this culture and how is added to the diaspora of Franklin Township let's include in our Franklin Township events like Franklin day where others can see and learn about these people and their struggle for a voice We There are Palestinians here and it is part of our Franklin Township Heritage so it should be okay to speak about them in other ways besides the war let's introduce a resolution that protects our rights to speak voice our concerns and iterate the story of Palestine together with the councils and the town support let's weave in all the different traditions of our backgrounds all our personal narratives into Franklin that represents each one of us and I think that should be in line with what you're advocating for as you can see the purpose of a peace resolution the purpose of this Interfaith vigil and this town hall is to achieve that goal where people of all different ethnic backgrounds can be free to express themselves and live freely without having to be scared or intimidated so I hope you can take steps toward that if not a ceasefire resolution but at least these steps that can help tell the story of Palestine thank you thank you anyone else I'm Arnold litsky I reside at 13 Dalton Drive in Somerset and this is my first uh uh attention to uh your council meeting but I was uh attracted by the uh overwhelming concern that I detect in the Community regarding the matter of uh uh Gaza and Israel and indeed there is a war going there and to uh restate the obvious and often stated comment that I know of I don't have any more inside information than most people if the hostages those who are alive and dead in the hands of Hamas were to be returned today the war would be over there would be no need to ask you or anyone else for a ceas fire the Israelis have been pretty clear they want hostages and they will stop I had the uh pest inspector come to my house today he's going after a mouse first time I've seen him and all the time I've lived there but what happens if I want to get rid of that Mouse I will have to put up traps and to prevent any other Mice from coming in and I will go after all those who dare to come in and I think that there's a history as one gentleman has pointed out of uh one-sided harassment of the other side that is to say there were bombs and uh missiles being uh thrown from uh Gaza into Southern Israel for years typically with few responses uh but when the response has occurred everybody wants to hold stop and have a ceasefire you bring the heinous criminals in and now you're punishing them their relatives and all the unfortunate children that is beyond regrettable that is horrible thing to happen to innocent Palestinians or to any other peoples uh but you have to consider who has started this and what are you asking the October event was beyond Humanity it was horrendous the only comparable events I know of or perhaps in so Africa perhaps in uh uh in in Germany and Europe uh it was beyond comprehension now the reaction is terrible and severe but the numbers are nothing you had 12 1200 people New York Times today who dying from heat in an Hajj in Saudi Arabia war is awful war is terrible nobody wants War unless they are hate mongers with no other value in life but to destroy another people to destroy a stable people I want to remind this gentleman whoever else has spoken there are many Arab and Muslim members of the elite in Israel people are able to rise there is not the hatred and Prejudice for people who retain civil attitudes and [Music] Humane decency towards other human beings I'm all in favor of peace I'm all in favor of ending War I'm all in favor of understanding that there's a simple step now to put an end to it turn the hostages over and I willing to bet the israelies will not bomb again thank you thank you anyone else wishing to this is she has time here she has yet all right I know but it was it was about a month ago so good evening Council and mayor uh my name is sinina satar I live at 18 barbery Court Franklin Township um I wanted to respond to some of what I've already here today first and then I'll get to what I wanted to comment on um I think it's unfortunate that people only see what they want to see you know um someone mentioned that you know what happened on October 7th was the worst that has ever happened but I think you know it seems like then they don't care about the massacres that occurred in there Yen the massacres that occurred um in Gaza and other parts of Palestine for many years um and to say that you know Israel doesn't sort of respond to things I think it's just duding ourselves um if you actually look at the facts and you know any human rights organization around the world will tell you the facts um and they're very clear um that it's very one-sided and we're funding all of it with our tax dollars um I I often come here just to update you on the crisis in Gaza because we've been you know asking for a ceasefire resolution for some time um just today Israeli air strikes killed 24 people hitting two schools hitting evacuation centers hitting tents for displaced people um Israeli soldiers have been uh have killed Palestinians in the West Bank not even in Gaza um and half a million people are at risk of famine according to the the un uh human rights organization children are dying in their parents' arms from Hunger because humanitarian Aid is not allowed into Gaza um and I say this because right now you know I and others have been uh speaking up um about what's happening over there um in you know this forum and other forums um but there are now two bills in the New Jersey senate um that would define anti-Semitism to include the things that we've been saying to include uh and Criminal ize um how we've been trying to stand up against what the Israeli government is doing um and you know to basically you know make all criticism of Israel and Israeli policy um conflated with anti-Semitism so I wanted to just ask the council if they would consider um passing a resolution that defines anti-Semitism in a way that doesn't uh stifle descent and you know will allow us to have uh these conversations because as it would seem you know uh currently the trend is to stifle any Palestinian support um and uh as it seems to pass bills uh that would criminalize Pro Palestinian speech thank you I'm sorry I didn't understand when you said stifle defense descent descent okay anyone else seeing no one else come forward May or motion to close the public portion of the meeting a motion to close public portion a mo second second moved in seconded all in favor say I I I opposed say nay motion is carried public session is closed um me address a few things first of all thank you Dr Ki um my heart and brain is with you I think that was very well said uh as far as the uh complaint from Mrs Saba that someone was living next to somebody with a megaphone Etc Mr vlocker can later can um do his usual speech of you have to call the police you just you have to call the police I can't I can't make things just go away uh our police sometimes can so I'm not blaming the person I feel bad for what she's has to do but you have to call the police far as the sign on on um Mont um it's his right but that doesn't make it right but it's his first amendment right even that word first uh the Supreme Court has said you cannot have uh vulgarity but by that they mean so uh I don't want to give it too much oxygen if you want to call me I can tell you more details but don't want to give that more oxygen and Mr Mayor I'll address the flag comment ma'am you've had your opportunity there's no other opportunity to speak I am ma'am I am using the microphone and I'm telling you that you need to remain silent now while Council addresses the comments thank you okay I will I will use the microphone I will also address the flag because I think there is certainly a great deal of misunderstanding regarding the flag that's flying at the corner of and Cedar Grove Lane and I will inform this audience exactly what that flag is and the family who's flying it if you'd like me to do it now I'll do it now no uh [Music] actually let me finish and then you can absolutely do all the things you need to do um did you want to address the green resolution yeah I think what you're referring to was the energy aggregation yeah so um the way that the Board of Public Utilities works is on a three-year rolling average for Energy prices and with the war in Ukraine which has skyrocketed fossil fuel prices like o and gas um which are a major component of how we get our energy um they have just kicked in on the rolling average those prices have started to come down so the rolling average now is is higher but may not be according to our energy expert high enough for us to be competitive because according to the what was passed by the public it needed to be 10% cleaner so you know um wind or solar and 5% less expensive uh for us to go forward with it so she's recommended that in the end of this summer um that we put together the specs to go out in the fall so that's kind of the new plan for based on market conditions so that's where we are um but I can think around the corner we'd hoped to do it two months ago but the market wasn't ready and they're waiting to see basically how the um other auctions go the summer some of the folks that are in the hopper we're just looking for the same type of energy yeah um it troubles me thank you it troubles me that people don't feel they can speak freely I guess we had an example of it tonight uh we had uh people from two different viewpoints uh speaking and it remain civil so I appreciate that um okay I'm going to move on to the fire department um um the I I've spoken to the chief several times Council has no Authority here we there's we don't control the fire departments we collect their taxes but we don't it's not up to us whether we give them to the district or not uh then the district um I won't go into the whole e economics of the fire system but we have no authority over the fire department I have however talked to every commissioner in town for starting with the uh statement that I have no Authority uh but I uh I am the mayor and so I certainly have an interest I've spoken with the chief as I've said and I've spoken with the governor's office about it so I'm keeping them informed about it um I've also said I will not take a side on it and so I won't but uh I am aware of it the U manager is aware of it any council member who wants more information I'm happy to speak to them but we we are keeping an eye on it and I what I want most of all is that um that they come to a resolution so that uh they sign a contract um I think that's all our comments on right now Mr manager do you have more I just I I wanted to address Miss aba's comments about someone making a comment about the flag that flies on the business at the corner of New Brunswick and CER Grove and that it has some um nefarious meaning um the flag is referred to as the Christian flag it it is in fact I'll read it is the flag that was adopted by the United States Federal Council of churches in 1942 it's being flown on a flag pole on the o the business owned by a family that I believe it is the longest running Commercial Business here in Franklin Township um they are um a very much a God loving family very active in their church and I don't think that it has any could or could even possibly mean anything in any negative way other than their love of God it is literally called the Christian flag and it was adopted by the Federation of churches in the 1940s so I don't know who is spreading rumors about this family and the flag that they have on their flag pole but I would ask that they stop I known this family for my entire time working here in Franklin Township and I can give you every assurance that they're nothing but very much Church involved um Peace Love and and community-minded family so I think you should tell whoever told you that that that's what that flag is um and other than that anything else will be in my report okay any council members okay Mr Mayor uh Miss Saba asked about the size of the sign and I think it's worthwhile for you to know that 4T by 8T and the measurement of the has already been determined to be less than what is uh the mandatory uh maximum sign permitted in Franklin Township for a political sign ma' I can't I'm I'm I'm telling you that everything about this sign has been determined to be legal not only by our Police Department zoning department but also by the township attorney that's why ma'am Saba you can't no no Miss Saba Miss sa can't we believe me when that sign went up we paid attention and we did what we could do um okay uh time for Council comments uh councilman uh Kazi thank you Mr Mayor um just a couple of things first of all I attended the juneth uh celebration it was a great rent and uh the other one was the high school graduation so congratulation for all the high school graduates especially our uh Castle Woman yudin's daughter and congratulations on that the HRC meeting is coming up tomorrow and there will be some discussion on homeschooling and New Jersey National Guard and Miss Peterson is going to be talking about it and also we will be appointed a new Junior commissioner due to graduation mayor those are the two items that I have thank you very much councilman jaka yeah may I don't have much to say let me use this okay for thanking uh Dr Kazi for boldly repeating our stand I'm very happy for what he said and it's it's what we stand for thank you thank you um um councilman EMB Barrison I almost called you doc I think of VI is I got two in my house okay thank you mayor um yeah so last couple of weeks uh we did a number of things we had a planning board meeting uh there was uh a development that was approved on Hamilton Street um with a huge support from the local community so that was see often times we uh hear people coming in opposition to projects um there was also an interesting uh presentation by the um Somerset County engineering department on the Eastern Avenue uh Corridor project um that's a traffic study uh it's a multi year project that's one of the first meetings that they presented uh pretty much uh the data on the traffic study uh that data is on the website by the county uh I encourage you to take a look at it and uh they welcome any feedback from the citizens um in terms of providing some ideas uh or issues that they facing so they're going to come up with some solutions to relieve traffic and if the fal Department of Transportation approves those ideas uh then uh they will fund it and it'll take a few more years uh for the project to be complete hopefully that would relieve uh the traffic congestion to certain extent then not going to be able to solve it but uh hopefully we'll get some relief I also attended the juneth parade it's a great event as usual every year uh we have been going there for a number of years now good speakers uh lot of uh organization set up uh tents and uh we had a good time uh also the graduation it was fantastic do you know 578 high school students graduated this year um it was fantastic uh uh in fact it was it was very hot in the afternoon so it was moved from 3:00 to 5:30 in the evening so it was a wonderful event congrats to uh the daughter of uh Council monin uh she's going to Rus and uh in New Brunswick uh it was a a a great occasion to see them together and took a picture for them um other than that um I met with the good folks from of YMCA the Y otherwise called and they are putting together a fundraising team and uh I agreed to serve on the uh steering committee uh uh for for the fund uh racing activities that's going to be happening uh in the next few years uh it's a welcome addition to the township and they're also focusing on our neighboring towns uh in terms of raising funds uh more details would follow shortly um other than that there was uh we welcome another uh uh cannabis shop in the Kingston area of town called City Roots um it's uh at the place where Jano was uh before um it's hidden from the Main Street so you cannot really see it it's a small boutique shop um assemblyman Danielson tells us that uh that's the kind of shop that they Envision at the state level when they pass the law um and promote local businesses a family-owned uh businesses as opposed to uh huge corporations coming in and setting up shops that's all I have mayor thank you thank you councilwoman franois yeah I would just like to thank our Dr karazi our councilman esteemed councilman Kazi Alex karazi for the work that you've done even before you became a member on this Council and the work you continue to do in the Partnerships that you've continued to evolve and explore and maintain with the Interfaith Council think your leadership here on this board is is exemplary and I do appreciate all the work that you're doing in the community and you know um a lot of times when people become on city council things that they used to do before they became a politician they pushed his Wayside but I think it's really really important that he maintain the the level of Excellence that he's had before even becoming a politician and maintain that relationship and embody what you've been doing in the Interfaith Council so I just want to thank thank you for your leadership and work that you're doing in our community to bring about peace thank you very much all I have Mr Mayor thank you councilman Wright our esteemed clerk was like why didn't you start over here like you always do you know so she Mi it up okay got to mix it up he apologized um couple things I think no no I didn't loving you um couple s right quick in that Township manager would be the the one to answer this question um I didn't uh but I'm more than sure he got a headache on this one there a sign on deont Lane they had an issue with the wording on it for Mr Biden and um the email uh came to me I I I think that's what we all just addressed earlier counselor yeah I'm just say you know it came to me and I don't know if it came to everybody else but I've gotten many on it we got probably about a hundred of them yes all the time yeah and that's what I just addressed in the mayor just whenever I get when I call the person right and I didn't know so Bob that's why you get paid a million I tell you no that's why your toship attorney gets paid the million dollars I get paid 10 [Laughter] um my second thing uh we just had juneth uh Franklin Township uh week ago and I want I want to say outstanding event as usual um and I love my fraternity Omega Sci-Fi fraternity because along with the other uh black Greek letter organizations we had a float and um outstanding I I just want to say it was outstanding and the vendors that we have and more importantly the uh the sounds of freedom and when I say the sounds of Freedom uh the uh performers were there and if you pay attention to some of them well all of them uh they gave you a little snippet a little nugget for you to chew on that tells you this is what we are this is what happened and this is where we're going um to that event uh I like that uh next year I hope to have a bigger one uh and again everyone's invited no matter color shape size form everyone can attend because we all know what it's like to be put under the thumb of another uh majority or minority so we need to express our uh gratitude not just for us but for everyone so it's every person parade um do come out for it um Recreation advisory committee summer concert June 28th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the township gazebo I know we're going to love this it's called total soul and from what I understand I haven't seen them but everyone else has that it's guaranteed to be a barn burner ain't that right Miss Francois have you seen him no I haven't you haven't seen them because I've gotten all these emails saying that this is going to be the crew that knock out so I I plan on being there uh for this event and also we have VIP parking P don't you just love it and this is for our um Franklin Township fireworks on Wednesday the 3 2024 so all of you come out to our fireworks now there are lot of townships that don't have fireworks we do and uh people from other townships come out and hang with us so I'd advise all you Franklin if you want to get a good parking spot come early that way you get your spot um and indeed have a good time with us because we will have a good time all our my fellow council members will be there I don't know if they'll be wearing bells and whistles but they'll be there um and that I think oh yeah that's it thank you Mr Mayor thank you uh coun woman you thank you um let's see so uh councilman Dr Ki um thank you for your words um a lot of folks that may not know Dr Ki councilman has very strong ties with our community so appreciate all the uh relationships that he brings in and the skills um I think it helps us we're all very diers in our career paths and um just our skills so it's so nice to have councilman Kazi provid his inputs and be with our team so thank you again for your words um Franklin High School graduated I attended a couple graduations uh last week uh cjcp had graduation ceremony um and Franklin High School so thank you to my peers um councilman an barison and Dr karazi councilman karazi who uh got me videotaping and Sami shab who got some pictures very closeup professional pictures of me and my daughters thank you again um I think when you have peers like that like who needs the paparazzi right they're amazing so thank you again um and congratulations to all the seniors that graduated um June I missed the event um because I have a very young adult who is going to records so I had to attend um couple sessions of the tour of rers University that day so I heard it the event was amazing but I couldn't make it I will be there next year um we do have with when you mentioned Friday June 28th there is the summer concert so with that June 29th we have the eat celebration the annual eat celebration which is our second year doing it this year um that's happening in the Hamilton Street campus we had it originally at Samson G but because of the overwhelming positive response from the community we have over 500 guests that have reserved um so we are excited to see everyone on Saturday June 29th starts at 5:00 P pm. we have Kali musical night that's happening so we have a band that's coming in with seven members with their whole sound system so it's going to be a very fun um funfilled evening and then we have bone artists and face paint for the kids from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. so it's a family event everyone is welcome to join um please do be there because um I think uh we have also many elected officials coming in from various of our Sur surrounding cities and towns um and I think that wraps it up thank you very much thank you councilman vasella I want to um I know they all left but uh congratulate I know it's the chaplain that were here and plaud our director Safety Director's um efforts that I was not as aware of the wonderful result until this evening of expanding what probably is more important now than ever in the field of law enforcement and that is to have some resources to deal with the many things that they deal with which are I don't know how they do it quite frankly but uh congratulations to those chaplain and to our public safety director for enhancing that program um I'll be a little less formal Alex which is how I met the man um several years ago um I enough was said about your work with the interf committee so I don't want to be repetitive I did get a I do think of things when I'm hearing are these Council comments and no one has to jump in now but I'm actually wondering we have so many Liaisons I don't know if we technically have a liaison to our Interfaith committee so not to get into that now but um understandably and I'll I'll move into my main what I was saying um you have to readjust when you get on Council uh where whatever especially if you're involved the way uh Alex my friend Alex has been in the community um or if you've been here like myself for many many decades or whatever the reason is you could be new to the town but you need to um it's a I'm G to say sometimes a difficult transition because there's a lot of things you I say say can't do but need to approach much differently than you're used to as a not don't mean you only Mr Ki tonight any of us I'm sure went to a transition period but usually you're not dealing with something quite as sensitive and and delicate and upsetting as the issue we've been dealing with um but I want to also expand on that the first before I got in Council the first Township committee I ever served on was the Health Board and all a health ad and although we had a fantastic and I know Bob knows many of people served on it back then most of them are gone now as much as it was a great uh uh Advisory Board I'm glad to see that it's going wonderful places and uh um that your Ras on there moving along real quick uh Civics somebody mentioned Civics I don't think there's uh other than health and safety and well maybe keeping our infrastructure intact to to encourage and open um opportunities for people to engage in Civics uh is so important whether it's to a grammar school aged child or a senior citizen that is uh looking to put their time to use in their community so we do a lot we're open to doing more in a general sense of engaging people in Civics you're welcome to bring your idea to me or any council person you're comfortable with fourth of July's coming up I think I heard it mentioned our fourth is our third the third is to become the new fourth for Franklin I think last couple years we had that as our date this year it's the third if my uh information thaty mayor just looked at is correct uh hopefully we won't get weathered out like we did with our Memorial Day seems like every year something gets Franklin this one of our great celebrations gets uh canceled or changeed because of the weather but let's hope that that stays intact especially since Memorial Day Parade did not happen unfortunately we did not have a public safety committee meeting tonight because we had the health Advisory Board and we usually have that prior to our meeting I'm not going to get into the details um concerning E Avenue councilman Rah explained general of the larger projects many of you may know I had a town hall meeting uh a month ago a little over a month ago now that got into some uh shorter term initiatives and I'm not going to go into detail tonight CU I wanted to get some information from uh confirm some information with our manager who's been helpful in this process and our public safety director but we're doing some local initiatives I say we the county and the town with helping e s and you become a self a safer better maintained Corridor so um probably the next meeting or two get into a little bit more detailed update on what I think are good things have the Mantra I want more and I'll keep repeating that probably as long as I live in this Township but I'm pleased that some of these short-term initiatives are starting to move forward um I apologize I don't want to repeat other things that were mentioned by other Council people if I could avoid it and I think that's all I have for today mayor thank you thank you Deputy Mayor pz um I want to extend appreciation to Dr k councilman we ran for school board many years ago I can't even remember the year I'm trying to think back I just going to leave it at that and also councilman oudin um for for their tremendous uh I would say courage and and you know the challenges as along with the well with the mayor um you know as we've we've talked through uh the the resolution I also want to give a shout out to councilman Oden because of the tremendous satis satisfaction it is to have a child graduate and I think back to my education days and when I was on the school board you know all the trials and tribulations throughout a year and you know watching graduates go across that stage and the joy in their eyes and in their family's eyes um is just tremendous so a lot of love to you um and happy graduation to everybody special appreciation to the parents um those who were parents by birth those who became parents by um vicinity um as well as the teachers and the administrators and the whole Community because it does take a whole Community to raise a child uh to be successful and um that's all I have thank you thank you um think I have anything Mr manager well I I I would like to thank councilman Wright and councilman vasella and who for giving my report tonight good job you covered everything that I needed to cover already um fireworks and concerts and all of the like um there there is one I'll just that you all missed um and how we were talking about it councilwoman oud councilwoman uden asked me about it earlier before the meeting um the planning board's um business and industry sponsored um master plan study H is having a public meeting a community meeting uh to uh meet with the uh the consultant that the planning board engaged uh Bright View engineering to do both the traffic uh study as well as the planning study um so it is this Thursday the 27th at 7 p.m right here in this room for anyone who is interested in that um and uh I I I'm surprised that no one has asked me but I will give the report that I received this week from Dr rali on the construction trade program uh that the township Council chose to fund with American Rescue plan funds there are uh it begins on July 1st most of the materials necessary to run the class have been received or are anticipated to be received next week and there are 24 students involved uh enrolled all uh seniors and they all are slated to be in on the 1st of July with a mix of students from uh the U regular tract as well as RTS so that is on track to begin on July 1st and I that that might be it thank you there are new Council discussion items approval of the minutes I present the following minutes to the township Council for their approval Township work session regular meeting and executive session on May 28th 2024 we have a motion on the minutes all moved seconded moved in seconded all in favor say I I iOS say nay Mo carried uh Sor do we have to votee on minut councilman and Barrison yes councilwoman franois yes even though I wasn't here good job councilman karazi yes mayor Kramer yes councilman on jaka yes Deputy Mayor pnik yes councilwoman uden yes councilman vasella yes councilman right mov of the warrant time to pay the bills in the amount of 2 million1 8,753 and2 on June 25th 2024 were are presented to Township Council for payment to have a motion on the warrants some moved seconded move then second any discussion anyone would like to pull an item Adam clerk councilman EMB Barrison yes councilwoman franois yes councilman karazi yes mayor Kramer yes councilman onaka yes Deputy Mayor pnik yes Council woman udine councilman vasella councilman yes time for ordinances on second reading this is where we uh vote on the ordinance um ordinance 44 uh 4724 an ordinance amending the municipal code of the township of Frankland County of Somerset state of New Jersey more particularly chapter 183 Property Maintenance by adding new article uh 8 uh property privately owned salt um storage is present for the Township Public hearing and final adoption the public hearing has been noticed as required do we have a motion to open public hearing so moved second move then second and all in favor say I I oppos say nay we're open to the public on this item only see no one looking to speak on this item mayor a motion to close the hear public hearing on the ordinance second uh moved in second and all in favor say I I oppos say nay motion is carried um do we have a motion on the item so moved second we' then seconded any discussion on it this is uh people have to contain the salt that they have for salting roads if they own it privately so that it doesn't uh get into our storm water any other discussion CL councilman EMB Barrison yes councilwoman Francois yes councilman Kazi yes may Kramer yes councilman on Jaa yes deputy mayor pnik council councilman vasella yes councilman R Excuse Me Miss ali uh if I could uh put upon you to wait until the meeting is over pardon in trouble thank you um where uh 13 13 ordinance on introduction and first reading this is when we introduce to the public that we're going to consider an ordinance uh 44 38-24 an ordinance amending the code of the township Franklin County of somerson state of New Jersey more particularly Police Department section and bureaus the foregoing ordinance presents the township Council for adoption first reading and posting and publication in accordance with Law Public hearing and final adoption at a meeting of the township Council to be held on Tuesday July 9th 2024 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers do have a motion to introduce so moved second seconded this is a uh change to an ordinance of three words renaming divisions and bureaus um we have uh any other discussion Adam clerk councilman EMB Barrison yes councilwoman Francois yes councilman Kazi yes may Kramer yes councilman on Chaka yes Deputy Mar vasnik yes Council B yes councilman vasella councilman right ordinance 4448 that's 24 ordinance amending the uh Municipal Code of the township Franklin County of Somerset state of New Jersey more particularly chapter 226 vehicles and traffic section 22617 Vehicles over designated weight exceeding uh excluded from certain streets that's Cedar Avenue and Grigg Street the following ordinance is presented to the township Council for adoption first reading posting and publication in accordance with Law Public hearing and final adoption and a meeting of the township Council be held on Tuesday July 9th 2024 at 700 p.m. and the town motion to introduce so moved second Mo then seconded discussion this is as limiting Cedar Avenue and Grigg Street to four tons other discussion Madam clerk councilman EMB Barrison yes Council woman franois yes councilman Kazi yes mayor Kramer yes counc on jaka yes deputy mayor pnik council councilman vasella councilman right yes consent agenda uh items a through o is listed on consent agenda portion of this meeting are presented to Township Council for adoption to have a motion on the consent agenda so moved second moved and seconded does anyone like to pull an item or bring out an item yes Mr Mayor yes think your mic is on you're not I can't hear you councilman go I'm sorry I couldn't hear you oh um number I and number n if you can please um since some you know he's not here to to hear the reply to this that's okay um they ask for um information on these things but never stays to hear them but I think all other members would love to hear about it and uh number D uh sidewalks I mean sidewalks has been a thing that we've done for a very long time well I I'll I'll answer letter I and letter D and letter N I don't know any numbers like that oh well you know what I mean you know help a brother I'll start with i i is insertion into the calendar year Municipal uh 2024 Municipal budget a grant that is is received annually to provide meals to those children in our summer camp program so and D is authorizing a change order on sidewalks that were installed because it came in slightly at a different number than what was budgeted I believe that it came in slightly over budget by I about 8,000 about 8,000 I say under 10 um which is with well within the 10% margin permitted on change orders and what was it n was the other one I have it on the computer Alex that's F authoriz execution of Grant agreement Franklin town this one's kind of funny this is where the federal government often doesn't make much sense so the township of Franklin received American Rescue plan funds and we are utilizing a portion of those American Rescue plan funds to install replacement water mains in our town that are under the control of the Township's water utility and the federal government says that you the township Council have to authorize the granting of the money to your own water utility I'm not quite sure why they are saying that we have to do that but that's what we've been told we have to do so that's what that is for that is to expend American Rescue plan funds on uh water main Replacements here in Franklin Township under the control of our water utility now just one more piece of that since we you know getting through that um how many more water M pipes or is that going to be a continuing thing that we're just going to keep going you you will continue to replace water Ms until long beyond all of us are here so is that a set amount that every so yes the the anticipation is that um the useful life of a water m in its current form the new type of materials used in water mains is about a hundred years in in past iterations um it was 5050 years so you generally would replace pipes at a rate you know that falls in line with that useful life of the pipe based on the amount of pipe that you have um so it it's anticipated that we will continue to replace water mains within our water system forever it's just only a small portion of it every year now another question uh and I've been looking at this this and I guess we've been going around and around uh because we were looking to do U some replacement over here in councilman vasella's neighborhood in mine yes um and when I look at word not neighborhood I just want to be clear your in your W neighborhoods but um looking at the uh Fourth Ward and doing some of our our water main Replacements is that a special need area because I know well well there so there's a couple different factors involved here one that section in the the Hamilton Street corer is the oldest portion of our water system um some of it having been inherited from New Brunswick um when we first created a water utility in 1958 but um the so but the the decision on where to use American Rescue plan funds is also driven by the fact that the federal government had encouraged uh that rescue plan funds be utilized for this purpose one and in census tracks that um exhibited the most need from a uh from a a financial standpoint of its residence thank you that's what I was trying to bring up because some people want to know how does that work um where do we replace them is that just a oneoff you know somebody thinks about where we're going and the water the water mains are being replaced I mean there in some cases All Over Town based on Age and and history of of main breaks and things of that nature but in particular the rescue plan funds were focused on um the fourth and fifth Wards in that General vicinity um of the Hamilton Street Carter which also coincides with like I said the oldest portion of our water utility system thank you thank you very much so not the belor the subject I just had a technical question I manager a lawyer could probably answer I couldn't be happier in the SE is on there and um uh councilman right I could tell you that um this whole area has been slated actually several years ago so uh I'm glad to see this is happening because we all know what happens when you have main break so I had a question yes mayor I'm sorry I'm just um happy to see this on here I know it gets tricky with the uh Grant the federal grants and I know from uh being involved with this at public work meetings that there's a possibility that we're not sure exactly what streets although we know they're going to be in that area I just want to make sure there's no technicality here that if we add or delete a street based on when they start to do the design elements and and figure out the bit you know what we can afford to do as much as we can do we have to have any street that we possibly incorporate into these projects on here um or is there any technical I know gets very tricky with the federal funding like if we want to add a street because we can do these two but not this one here you can only do what we have funding for no I mean fully expended whatever the well and it will then probably be supplemented with normal water utility budget money it it's it I there's not it's not a question of adding streets this money is will be utilized to fund water main projects in that area that we've ident IFI that I've just spoken about so I guess maybe I that right if we if we find that we can add another Street in need in that same neighborhood I think you're missing my point it's not it it's it will not do all of the streets at to begin with so we won't be adding streets you're going to be supplementing with Municipal Water Utility okay now I understand in all the breakdowns in our PW meeting so we didn't see P Street because we hadn't got to that point but what you're saying is we'll probably have to throw a little rate Peg or a little of our uh water funding not probably you will yeah we will okay so I got you now I understand thank you and uh that's it mayor thank you uh anyone else I'd like to just mention item number M uh the township is helping uh the school build build Zu fall Health Clinic um the bids came in higher than expected uh so we're kicking in half of the increase uh and that's why this is on theend but we're bringing Health Care to the masses anyone else Madam clerk councilman EMB Barrison yes Council woman franah yes councilman karazi yes mayor Kramer yes councilman Oni Chaka yes Deputy Mayor baznik yes councilwoman udine yes councilman vas yes councilman M yes done Rich there were no resolutions to be voted on separately uh old business boards committees commissions anyone have a nomination I do um actually a couple Jessica Johnson was a full member of the environmental commission resigned and Amry I think they sent that over your way to the clerk's office um I want to nominate Robin Sadam who is currently an alternate to to the regular member for uh Jessica Johnson position that's ending December 31st 2025 and then to fill the alternate two member position Ellen vasta v s t o l a of 43 Norwick place also ending December 31st 25 we have any other nominations for those positions Mr Mayor there are two uh applications one for uh C senior citizen advisory committee and the other one for advisory Recreation Council which they have openings each one has one opening so the first one is by uh Mr Robert aquai I pronouncing the last name correctly and the other one is by Mr Fad akar so these positions are a open and they have application you have any other nominations for those positions so we can do these all by acclamation um those in favor say I I I couldn't hear who you nominated oh the res the applications are in the packet yeah um the nomination Council ran is uh for senior citizen advisory committee and that's Mr Robert uh aquai and also for the advisory Recreation council is Mr Fad akar can I ask for a roll call on fad akar um sure uh so we'll do the other three by acclamation all in favor say I oppos say nay motion is carried so we'll do roll call on H ACTA do you any discussion well I'm not sure if folks are familiar with him um I I I something else happened I think we received an email from the individual and I did some Googling um and I have some concerns so I'm going to be a no vote you want a motion to table maybe we could table it so folks could have another more time to consider uh move we table the nomination of act uh excuse me first name fad ofar we have a second second so motion and a second to table the only thing that can be discussed is when to table it uh does anyone have any discussion when table it to dep mayor did you have any suggestion uh table table inde definitely okay um Madam clerk councilman Barrison yes councilwoman franois yes councilman karazi yes mayor Kramer yes councilman Oni Jaa yes Deputy Mayor pnik yes councilman M yes councilman vasella yes councilman Wright yes any other boards committees commission vacancies we have no executive session we have a motion to adjourn so moved seconded we've then seconded all in favor say I I I those say n and n motion is carried be well Franklin thank you