in 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 March 26 2024 can all stand for the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a and remain standing for an invocation by councilman Kazi May those assembled here today enjoy the many offerings of our Township may we abide by the rules we have established those of trust fellowship and ethics and may rep place service above self in our daily Endeavors and may we always test ourselves and our efforts to be sure they are truth good for good for all concerned of benefit to Mankind and provide peace and understanding mam clerk R call councilman EMB Barrison here councilwoman Francois councilman karazi here mayor Kramer here councilman on joa Deputy Mayor pnik councilwoman UD here councilman vasella here councilman mik um councilman on maaka uh is in Atlanta and his plane flight was cancelled so I'd like to move that we excuse his absence do have a second mov in seconded all in favor say I I iOS say may um thank you karazi could you knock on that door councilman Paz a meeting he probably doesn't realize um have no commendations or proclamations can I have a motion to open for public discussion so seconded moov seconded all in favor say I I those say nay motion is carried we're open for public session 5 minutes for speaker no yielding of time uh may only come up once please state your name and address that's not working here thank you thank you for lining up it saves time thank you look at that started a movement evening Council my name is Don Myers I'm the current chief of grick toown Volunteer Fire Company please excuse my voice it's not really it's halfway there tonight um I just wanted to um speak on behalf of the consideration for the cell tower approve in the grick toown area um I just have a couple little tidbits of information I'd like to pass along um as a fire chief that's needed for emergency response and public safety for us during the Ida major flooding event on September 2nd 2021 um the County's radio system was overwhelmed and we lost communication at that point we were on our own for the entire evening our radio system was in and out because of the channels that we run on WE relied on our cell phones or tried to rely on our cell phones for most of the evening a lot of times our members don't carry portable radios because they're young and they're inexperienced and they're not officers so we do rely on that it's very difficult to operate in those emergency situations without advanced Sal service coverage um again on Friday March 15th motor vehicle accident theocc on Canal Road we happened to be at our Firehouse during that incident a passer by tried to call 911 what was unsuccessful they stopped at the firehouse fortunately we uh we had a crew there standing by we responded and provided immediate aid without sell Ser without us being there I'm sure it's a self service not in use the response time would have been a little bit greater and we don't know what the outcome of that incident would have been um at the end I would like to say one thing regarding that um so our apparatus computers are cellular based with no and their Verizon cellular based so with the lack of service in the low-lying area we're missing critical information mapping and pre-plans that are in place to provide us ways to do our job efficiently um we leave the firehouse behind the eightball because we don't receive cell service till we're past the golf course on Bunker Hill Road that timing is crucial to calling in additional units if need be in those situations there's also a couple other incidents I don't have dates cuz it was long it was a long ago and my work schedule didn't permit me to look it up we had a gentleman broke his ankle on the cuse uh on the toe path um and he had no self service either a passer by stopped came to our Firehouse again and we got the ambulance there two girls fell into the water during a canoeing event on the canal same situation so this has been an online issue um I'm sure in 1985 it wasn't a problem but we also didn't have the amount of residents or traffic in the area that we do now um with that being said I just want to give you an update on the incident that took place on that Friday night the the woman that was involved in the accident um with the assistance of myself one of our fire Commissioners Mr Herman and two officers from the Franklin towns Police Department responding quickly and providing medical care she was flown out and it's recovering at Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center from traumatic injuries to her brain and expected to make a near 100% recovery so I just wanted to commend everybody on that and thank you for your support thank you for your surface good evening my name is Nicole Herman I live at 152 copper mine about a year and a half ago my husband and I went for a horseback riding Adventure in the Griggs land grasslands preserve roughly half a mile away from any road or anything like that and my horse was spooked I was thrown off of of my horse injuring my hip and was unable to walk I'm also bringing up the cell tower he has Verizon services was not able to contact 911 for myself I luckily did have AT&T so he was able to use my cell phone to get PD FD EMS services to the area um we believe that better cell phone service in the area could help anybody who is having any kind of traumatic or emergency need in the area thank you thank you my name is Lori sleda 28 Washington Avenue in Greg toown I have lots of uh hats that I wear just echoing a little bit of that I am um ran with Kendall Park Squad which covers the south end of Franklin and I could regail you with many stories of when I'm on a scene and need help and I can't get anybody but that's you've heard that before I'm talking today as someone who has had the opportunity to work from home certainly since Co and it don't have that opportunity because forever getting in the middle of a meeting and calls are getting dropped so have to get out to get above the church so basically going out to Dunkin Donuts or working at the church to uh to try and um be able to perform our work at home with the remote work area that we have now because so many people are staying home um it would be great if we actually had sell service to enable that thank you for your time thank you and I'm Tom Bary I live at 119 Drake Road uh this is addressing uh the Franklin against Residential at Kmart can I do that here now yes just in support of it I just want to ask the obvious question do you answer the questions now or or is it after the answer after but we okay I'll the question now well I'll give you a little heads up we're not going to answer about that because where're it's an application before the zoning board you can ask your question but we won't answer it we don't want to influence the zoning board yeah I'll I'll ask it nevertheless okay you're welcome to whom do you think and this goes for everyone on the council will benefit mostly from this building this giant apartment building financially for instance the developer the residents the building contractors Etc just if you had a thought about that who you think would benefit most and just a couple points uh these apartments uh of course will increase the infrastructure needs including Schools Police and more meaning higher property taxes for all of Franklin residents uh my second point is this property is not zoned for residential site that is it is not zoned for a residential site I guess the burden is on the developers to change this zoning uh just an as side of that is these apartments are approved will open floodgates for developers of we'll have the opportunity to do this in shopping centers all over Franklin which may mean thousands of more Apartments would likely be added to non residentially zoned areas on Route 20 7 uh my third point is our Township Council thank you was elected to represent the citizens of Franklin Township not developers it's not the zoning boards it's not the zoning board's responsibility to Grant substantial changes to the township master plan that was meticulously prepared by our Township planners and our planning board to show where retail residential buildings belong just one more point maybe on a personal note but probably for all residents of Franklin Township Franklin Township has we all know most of us do has very little retail space in fact it is a retail desert to borrow a phrase from a new friend uh of mine okay thank you thank you good evening my name is Mark sleda I live at 28 Washington Avenue in griggstown the Norville section which comprises Lincoln Washington and Le ficon uh I'm currently on the board of the Norville Incorporated um talking to a lot of residents I'm also in favor of improved self-service we're dropping calls all over and we're really uh need service to provide for emergency services and and various reasons so um hopefully we can get that done thank you did you Ser board in New Jersey volunteering on the ship thank you hello how are you uh my name is s sugam I live in 15 Lincoln Avenue G sound as well so can you talk a little closer to the mic uh I live in griggstown as well and uh I have four father four daughters and it is a really big issue more of a safety issue to have cell service in 2024 it's pretty bad and this gentleman here I agree everything what he says thank you good evening my name is Demitri mof I live at One Washington Avenue uh we moved in to this area excuse me GNA ask that we check that because I I know we can't hear very well over here okay is it good better so we moved in into 2018 it's a beautiful area it's a great neighborhood the only uh downside was cell phone service uh I had A8 pH phone for my company and I had to install the roof antenna and the amplifier for myself and my family used Verizon and we had uh like this um internet based Verizon um access point but then 3 years later Verizon retired that technology and we don't have it anymore so my point is that um uh in our time cell phone service is not a privileg just kind of commodity right so a lot of different Services rely on it like um a lot of services require uh like dual authentication right but usually they send you some code by you know cell phone message and if there is no cell phone coverage you don't get it you don't have a service it's kind of disappointing so my point is uh what would benefit if Verizon installs they um like extra towered the quick sire company thank you thank you good evening my name is Renee mcginness I reside at 93 Oakland Avenue Somerset New Jersey I work full-time I also am a caregiver to my 86y old mother who has been residing in Somerset County in Somerset area I remember I'm here for a couple of reasons but I remember um the Hallmark store Kmart I remember that clothing Shopping Center for Women which was absolutely beautiful and Venus Jewelers had a lot of great options to to surround it to protect it for people to visit to bring in business and it looked lovely was probably the nicest Hallmark store that we had in this area in the state of New Jersey Jersey so I'm here for a couple of reasons definitely that resident area I am totally against it one because we definitely need to keep the Zoning for shopping the way I shop now is that I have to go to Bridgewater South Brunswick East Brunswick North Brunswick which means that I have to travel leave my mother find arrangements to go out on a highway to pick up something that I could actually go down a Street walk to we drive shortly to get there I hear a lot of excuses about people saying people shop online yes they do but not everybody does and when I go to the store I see plenty of people shopping matter of fact I have the statistics here with TJ Maxx it's parent Corporation TJX which owns TJ Maxx Ross um hoods they have profited $13.3 billion as of no November it was reported so they're doing substantially well I have to go to Piscataway I have to go to East Brunswick to do that shopping and it needs to be done here my other sense and I'm going to take this really quick is that as far as food bearing we need more resources I noticed that McDonald's is moving over and putting a nice big McDonald's which we do not need we have plenty of Taco Bells we have plenty of McDonald's and Wendy's and a lot of unhealthy resources we're in an area that is desirous of more organic healthy options and we need to have that I'm also here because I'm off of eastn Avenue and we need better signage for people making left turns that they're not supposed to make if I drive to New Brunswick I can easily see I cannot make that turn but we do not have that here and there have been fatalities horrible accidents that people are risk-taking when people leave my home I really ask them please go out go to Franklin Boulevard do not try to make that left turn at all but they do it every single time and it needs to be noted my final request is that I love Johnson Park I love walking over there I love biking and the thing is we have and I understand that either the county handles it or the state handles it but we need walking accessibilities there's so many people who do not drive in the area people who want to go over to Johnson Park and people almost get hit trying to just go I remember there there was a Ruckers University had a game there were no police there and this gentleman almost got hit because people are trying to make that right turn we need to make we need to have a a place this town hall meeting where we can come together and submit a plan of action to have accessible walking ability the health and the care of our residents is imperative thank you so much M can I I just can I just ask a quick question before we get the answers ma'am when you say vehicles are making a right-hand turn where are you talking about from where from where to where I know where you live I heard where you live to the mic no no no you just talked about walk into Johnson Park which is in Piscataway so where are you talking about where there's oh so here's issue because Johnson Park is right across on EAS Avenue so if I'm walking Franklin Boulevard I'm walking directly across to go to Johnson Park you're talking about Crossing easn Avenue from Frank Landing Lane Bridge so land no The Landing Lane bridge is not in Franklin that's why I'm trying to be clear what you're talking about so I'm trying to be I'm very clear about it okay I have called the county already Township ma'am I'm asking you where you're specifically talking about a problem Crossing Franklin Boulevard in East Avenue or crossing further down at George Street and the Canal Bridge and The Landing Lane Bridge all right so I'll repeat it walking across Franklin Boulevard okay across E Avenue going to Johnson Park heading towards land the main Bridge well that's in New Brunswick not in Franklin so that's why I'm asking so I start Franklin ends just about 100 feet in on Landing Lane all right but the thing is I'm on eastn a I'm on East Avenue in Franklin Boulevard which is Somerset is that and once you start walking down Landing Lane you leave Franklin and you enter New Brunswick it's New Brunswick from just as just from a short distance but that's I'll we can talk later that's fine so I I understand that and what I said when I was right here is that we should get together so that we can design a plan that works together with the neighboring I don't know if it's the state that runs it or the county that handles it but we are part of it and and that's fine I just need to clarify where it is so I know who to get involved so that's my point I can't do that without knowing this is public session thank you thank you good evening I apologize for my raspy voice um that's how much this means to me my name is Randy mty I'm a 49 Dre quote in Somerset I have been here um member of Franklin Township since 1975 so the Hallmarks was actually the garden of paper for those of us that are really really old people frankly that's my so um I'm also against excuse me I'm against it with him he said everything that I wanted to say um I was here for the FL of Floyd um that whole area of IHOP get destroyed if a building is to go with more people and more children and apartments I can't even imagine how we're going to get in and out of Stop and Shop when Co hit all the people coming in and out getting the elderly in just to get supplies it's very scary because we don't have any other options for food shopping got to go all the way over to shop rate um like other people said you got to go shopping for Necessities um my husband who's here he said we must just go in the camer to get windshield wi wipers or fluid right from your car when you're like oh can you run and go get this or that we don't have any of that um I'm in the public school system our schools are going to be absolutely exploding I can't even fathom that Aon Avenue is so dangerous the traffic backed up on JFK just now is treacherous when E Avenue has um road work to be done it's it's insane to get to 287 um I'm scared like I said I've been here since 1975 um I've seen so many things come and go um the the I just don't think it's a good opportunity for us we don't have any more shopping stores I know that that's what this is zoned for um like he said if we put a highrise here with more people a big thing is police presence my husband wanted me to remind or reminded me that I was hit last August at stage house I called our finalist police officers nobody could come to me because there wasn't enough staff so I came here and sat outside of the chambers of the police office U police building nobody could me because they were busy with other things if we have a higher rise with more families and more kids and more people that need assistance 911 EMS we're going to be in um big trouble because we're backing School teachers police officers so I just I'm not for it and I just pray that you guys even if you put in another like something great like I don't know anything that's like came out to help us um another shopping um opportunity that would be much better than trying to force people into that little area where there's only one way in and one way out and now with McDonald's I don't even know what's going to happen so thank you and again I apologize for my voice thank you thank [Applause] you hi my name is Elizabeth tools I live on tendia Road in Franklin Township um we've lived in Franklin Township for 32 years um I'm here because we are against the building of the four-story apartment um building in the place where the old Kmart used to be like every I mean pretty much everyone has said everything that um that I'm having a problem with but I do want to reiterate some of the things first of all I don't want to drive from my house up to East Avenue and with the four story apartment complex right next to the roadway I think it would be unsightly and I think it kind of goes against the kind of atmosphere that for the longest time that we've had here in Franklin Township not looking like like a small City next to the highway um secondly I agree I do all my shopping at Bridgewater Somerville even Hillsboro Franklin has basically nothing so I see no reason why we need to bring a four-story apartment complex um you know right here off of the highway I have gone um on eastn Avenue at times where I've waited in traffic for over an hour just to get from where the Kmart is up to Landing Lane um just trying to get through the traffic in Franklin so I can't even imagine how much more there's going to be if we put up this four-story building um additionally every time we're told we're going to get a tax break my taxes go up we end up having to build additional schools we end up having to widen the roadways so I just you know want to reiterate that we appoint the council to represent what the township wants and this is not something that we want um and and it's not something that we feel will benefit the township or the residents thank [Applause] you all right uh Benjamin gy 35 patent drive so um there's some there's a specific point that I'm coming up to address because of the last Council Council board meeting I was uh actually done uh where I was in able to attend so we had a discussion about what our projective was of trying to invest in our futures meaning what can we do for our youth and work with our school boards to actually do something together so what happened is that we distort facts we get up here and start talking about stuff when we don't have factual information because we're not we're not prepared before the meeting so I just want to address a couple things that were distorted during this time frame so one of the things that was distorted was that saying that we we actually do these type of things or we didn't do it before so I wanted to direct directly address this to um uh the councilman Ram at all so R when you were actually stated the last thing you can comment after I finish is that you said specifically that we didn't do anything with Workforce and that you didn't do anything prior to it with Workforce Development which is inaccurate but based on 2019 2020 there was actually a resolution passed by the council board so precursor you guys already agreed in principle to actually do a Workforce program so we're four years into it so you have a should have enough statistical data to actually move forward on any of the objectives that are there it was tested out with Ron value where they was actually behind the scenes where they refused to come over to Franklin Township and support it because they don't have the Supportive Services to facilitate to be in Franklin Township to do anything this was actually done back in the 90s and it was actually done in 2000 because of Pastor Pastor s's actually doing with Ron Ry out out of uh out of the Bank of America spot to actually do anything that was during that time frame it was actually allocated money that was actually spent that was actually appropriated for this and it and it was not done because of the Buy in from somebody outside of Franklin trying to do this now fast forward we try to get the school district to partner and put their own money up and Supportive Services up to commit to doing something for our kids we say as a town we cannot afford it we're arguing about a middle school amount of money which is about 4% of your actual spending Capital that you actually have from a federal Appropriations you refuse to actually invest into your citizens you're quick to invest in infrastructure uh material items but you refuse to invest in your citizens you have not spent four you spent about roughly in your budget about $400,000 in The Last 5 Years about training that means that includes probably police training all together that's just on your regular residential steps at a $320 million budget right that's ridiculous and you guys to sit up here and say that you guys want to help your citizens you hear these people you're not helping them you're not helping them you're not listening you are really not listening to your citizens anymore it's a shame it's a shame that you guys are up there doing that and arguing about something Petty we're talking about investment in capital and human capital to move things forward this is a shame you guys should be ashamed of yourself and again I blame both calll and I blame councilman ran because again it's in it's in Call's W and he should already had a conversation with you so you guys should be held accountable for that all right so again just to go into that statistical wise a little bit more uh stat stats of this alt together so again we have a New Jersey sty study showing that we need to invest in these people and Dev develop more businesses develop more you know industries that are here trades and everything else that's here we refusing to do that step forward and do that we want to be left behind again because we are used to Old politics and old ways of doing certain things all right that is a shame because in in the historical perspective in New Jersey Department of Social Justice put this report out about about uh about a year ago it takes $600,000 to lock somebody up but it takes $10,000 to train them if we don't want to spend that on individuals and we don't want to get their lives together we should be ashamed of ourselves Franklin Township specifically and uh from statistical reporting has the highest unemployment rates for the Somerset County but we refuse as a county to spend money on our own people we refuse that that is a shame 20,8 583 people is the documented evidence for from 2020 to 2023 all right this is documented for Somerset County for Sumer County facts at all from the Department of Education directly from do there has been an increas recent school incidents uh from 266 to uh from that was documented 2017 to 2028 uh 2018 to 22 22 I mean from 2122 from two up to 282 this is because most of the youth don't have nothing else to do with themselves there is no extracurricular activities there's nothing else for them to do and when they get out of school there's no young adult programs for them to do or anything else you guys need to fix this you need to invest in your people thank you anyone else wishing to speak good evening Arnold Schmidt 134 Hickory Road Somerset I basically had my say about the kmore departments at the last two Council meetings um this is not B9 or onx Warehouse we're next door to those proposals there are closed there are closed Senior Communities with thousands of residents with their own internal conference rooms meeting rooms built-in Communication email lists so we never expected to get the turnout that here for you know that the issues that we're looking at today for Kmart that said I've read hundreds and hundreds of comments on social media over the past two or three years uh that have been overwhelmingly opposed to these apartments being built at Kmart so mostly due to our needs for local retail stores for household goods and clothing as other people have said we have a retail desert here in Franklin in apartments at Rutter's Plaza would only amplify that problem that said we all know you are not the people who will be making this decision that'll be the zoning board next Thursday April 4th at 7:30 right here in these council chambers but we will still again want to impress on you how we feel about this 11 proposal thank you thank [Applause] you good evening my name is Christopher Grant live on Boulder Lane been a resident for about 10 years this is actually my first council meeting and it actually stems from an event I had earlier this week driving up to M Lane with my 9-year-old it appears that there's a political sign on there that's I found to be rather abrasive and I'm not sure what the the rules or the municipal codes are for that over it's protected Free Speech but I was just a little surprised how offensive and abrasive it is because it started the conversation with my 9-year-old like Dad why is he saying blank Biden and whoever it is but it's just the the action itself which you know I work in the city I'm kind of used to that in the city but to come home to Somerset as a suburban community it to me speaks of a lack of Civility and Community Living so I'm not sure exactly if this is the right form to share it but I just want to put that out there it might have already been discussed before I just want to get some feedback in terms of how people move forward or if this is just the political season and we just have to buckle [Applause] up anyone else wishing to speak oh hello I'm Katherine sportac I'm back I'm at six Larson Road I'm the woman who walked around with my dog for many nights in the dark and cold getting people to sign a petition over 1300 signatures my dog says hello yeah so um I will tell you this um plan to add Apartments I can only name about two to three people who were okay with it everyone else violently opposes it they're horrified at the idea of changing the footprint of this town the impact is so great I'm not quite sure you realize it now last time I was here I was talking about how many people will die how many accidents will happen because I know you're not going to FIP traffic lights right away we have to have deaths first well I don't like to speak so lightly on human you know life but I realize that is the case um so just something to bear in mind but I will tell you lately I'm noticing more and more accidents I don't know if anyone else is but I have so on Thursday bad accident on Hamilton Street anyone else see that a car tried to cross where there was no light tried to sail across the lane got broadsided seeing more and more of it I don't know if anyone else is no to is it but it's traffic that traffic even on the side streets Hamilton has two lanes there's nowhere to go and you keep building I don't understand what this phenomenon is but you keep building um when they're all going to be you know filled you're going to have gridlock I don't know if you thought about this yet but you're going to have gridlock there are right now 366 apartments for rents in Somerset so you can imagine adding 200 more is a surplus even greater than 366 yes and I'm not a math Wiz anyway um so the question is why do we keep adding Apartments when we don't need them what we need is stores restaurants why do I have to go to Bridgewater for a great restaurant like why is that or New Brunswick I'm sure everyone else is tired of it too uh another note 200 Apartments is approximately 400 additional Cars not Cars that already are here not people who need to go pick something up these are additional cars creating more traffic they're not already living here so we're talking about massive gridlock also a question if we've got one two and three bedrooms how many young couples share a one bedroom so that's two cars for one apartment probably something people didn't think about so that's potentially even more than 400 cars are they you know going to sell tell them they're not allowed to have cars and you know they I'm sorry you can't add to the traffic because that seems to be the only solution also what are your solutions to improving traffic especially on eastn Avenue E Avenue is a nightmare I avoid it at all cost but I will tell you sometimes I have to take it adding more cars is not the solution thank you for checking your phones all right also I have no traffic lights out of my subdivision my little tiny subdivision has no traffic lights that means I most times have to make a right-hand turn to make a left-hand turn I have to wait patiently up to maybe 10 minutes or more I just give up um so what that means is if you do add these apartments I won't get a light to get out of mine I will have to make that's right a right which means that I'm making a right on Buttonwood so I'm sorry if any of you live on Buttonwood or off of Buttonwood because my whole subdivision will be going address the counil or your way but I know you don't probably live there um Magnolia deat Cedar Groves so we're going to be flooding even more of the back streets and this will be a domino effect on traffic you will literally create such a backfill of traffic there was a lady talking about how she couldn't get out of own driveway on on Academy Road that's going to be more streets that are going to have that problem because you're putting so many cars in such a high traffic area I don't understand why you'd want to do this I really don't uh I don't see how this is in any way shape or form safe or wise or even what we need as a community so if you're thinking in terms of what does the community need it is certainly not this by the way I already have great neighbors I don't need 400 more thank you [Applause] good evening Kiki anastasius 3204 Enclave Circle I had prepared some comments um for my objecting to the Kmart um to the Kmart um replacement by 200 apartments and um many of the things that I had written um were already mentioned by other esteemed members who are attending today I also um being new to Franklin Township I had to go online to find out the history behind this uh leevin property uh project I was especially interested as to why leev properties has been trying for so many years I believe it goes back to 2021 and um back then a couple of things happened in 2021 the first is the change.org petition which is still on Google um that was started by the young lady who spoke right before me uh which um uh actually has 1375 signatures um right now and because many people are not here out of those 1300 because they are either working a double shift or working a second job or helping their school kids with their homework and so they cannot be here because they're not retirees like me um but I just I just want to urge every council member to go on on Google or online and search for Save uh JFK Boulevard Somerset New Jersey from 200 new homes on change.org and uh read the comments as to why people residents Franklin signed that petition um I just want to say that some of the the key words that stood out were to me overdevelopment overbuilding gentrification traffic congestion environmental disaster and need and need for more retail okay so the second thing that I found out was that um shortly after living properties uh submitted their application um those who were in the Franklin Township council at the time um objected very strongly against the application and uh the main objection was very very interesting to me as a political science buff and teacher because they said that um only the township has their excuse me sorry for my voice that the township alone is responsible for zoning in Franklin and this application would stop it of that would strip it of that right and I think that is that is the cracks of my objection to this as a matter of fact the township at the time and I don't know who was in the council I know there are many new members right now but they even uh took the step of d ing the township attorney to appear before the zoning board and express the Township's position which was against the application at the time so my real true question is what has changed between 2021 and 2024 uh clearly this is a saga that uh one can write a book um about a very powerful developer Ling properties um trying to to push a project um that will seriously change the master plan of the township so I would like to ask the esteemed Council are we ready to give up this almost sacred right that the council has to protect the master plan and to protect Public Safety and um quality of life in Franklin because many of the people who spoke here today including myself have voted in for this present Council in order to protect us by the likes of leev properties and Link Logistics because they are looking at their bottom line they're not looking at the public good they're just only trying to make their Deep Pockets even deeper so so I remain hopeful that the right decision will be made in this particular case then thank you so much for allowing me the time to speak thank you evening call rosack 140 Drake Road I'm not going to go back and Echo to everything that everybody's saying today but I obviously agree with it all my main question is if this is a rezone of that area I'm concerned with storm waterer management I saw the proposal and living was here I saw nothing that was adding on there any retention infiltration ponds Wawa was put in up there and they have two retention uh infiltration ponds there residential housing on E Avenue at Hollywood and also at uh what's the other one there that are residential houses that have to put on a retention Pond or underground storage for water containment Burger King was knocked down McDonald's already built there I see nothing that was added on that it's new construction and nothing for retention of storm water management the proposal for 11 for knocking down Kmart rezoning and building a whole another building there all that water gets dumped right into the canal in there the creek and the canal floods in front of IHOP and nothing beings mandated for them for stone Wonder management I don't understand why uh it's I don't understand how they can do this whole project and get away without putting in Retention Ponds infiltrations or anything like that thanks [Applause] anyone else any anyone else coming forward if there's anyone else coming forward I motion to close the public portion the meeting second who then second and all in favor of closing public portion say I I poose say May public portion is closed the next item is to address the Public's comments uh I'll start with uh might as well start with Kmart um as I said last meeting I believe the Kmart is a d variance it is possible that the D variance can come before us um therefore if there were I I'm trying to be as neutral as possible if there were so if there were people here who agreed with you but they did it now in public then the then if it was brought before us after going to the zoning board the applic and they voted against it the applicant could argue that we had predetermined the answer it is not in your best interest for us to answer those questions you have anything to add about that um and I and I don't want to just merely restate you and for some of this I I apologize for the one thing I did want to note and I think it was to the last gentleman is our website is actually pretty detailed all of the all of the um leevan application is on the website under the um the planning department zoning board and I know some some folks who have dealt with these issues before know that you can find their storm water management report by the way they also and they're subject to the new storm the State's new uh storm water regulations which came out and July of last year and which were adopted by the Township in I believe September of last year so just for that issue to the mayor's Point um under the state's Municipal land use law and Franklin's ordinances if if a the variance in other words a use variance was granted on this application the first appeal could be to the township Council and because of that the council sits kind of like the appell at court let's call it so I've instructed that everybody on the council especially with regards to a pending zoning board application to not make public comments because if anybody said I'm in favor or I'm against this application it would immediately uh preclude them from hearing the appeal and what that would do is honestly the appeal to council is something that usually citizens used and if that if everybody here had a conflict you would lose your right to get an appeal to the council and you'd be forced to have to hire a lawyer and go to court it's much less um in expensive uh process so we kind of protect that process as best we can so and I don't want anybody to take and I'll say this on behalf of the council not having pulled them on anything specific uh I don't I don't want you to take silence mean anything at at this point in time and this all the silence means is for once and by the way it's early in the meeting so who knows what'll happen um they're actually listening to what their attorney is telling them and and that and that's all I can say so I don't I I I don't want anybody to take it as a matter of disrespect to anybody's you know heartfelt comments here today and certain Council listens to everything but ultimately because this is a variant application it will be heard on that record that's established before the zoning board and it may in fact end up before this body and at that point in time everybody will get a chance to P everybody you know get a chance to say something about it and the council will have to vote up or down um to the thank you to the gentleman who came up about sign on deont Avenue I I don't want to give it too much oxygen um I uh it is the First Amendment right we can't stop it one of these two plaques has a my phone number on it call me and I'll tell you much much more but that's all I want to say in public um the uh I'll let Mr vorn Locker handle when it's his turn East AV and signs on eav um gentleman came up and spoke about uh training uh and he cited two council members so I'll let them respond if they wish Mr Wright and Mr uh EMB Barrison thank you Mr Mayor uh yeah so um first of all how many of you believe that we should raise taxes to train our people but the town the township the township has a budget ma'am so our budget is spent on providing services to the township right so we have been trying to bring a institution of higher education to provide Workforce training uh to the people of uh Franklin we had some money um Deb is here she can talk about this program we attempted to allocate some funds to train our people because there was a Federal grant that we got some money we announced a program in partnership with uh scap and we provided several opportunities to our youth to um take the train at rbcc we provided transportation we provided other wraparound Services I think a total of four people signed up something like that very few um the gentleman that uh called us out here I his interest and sincerity but we didn't see any of the any of uh his efforts go into recruiting and supplying students to our program unfortunately you know we didn't spend the money the program didn't take off um so having said that I still training trying to run programs here in town although it's not really uh the main goal or the mission of the council but that's I've had a lot of background in that space so uh I I try to um bring programs whenever I can uh to the township so it's not a simple it's not as simple as signing a line item and say okay 400,000 500,000 goes to train our people every 350,000 we spend is 1% in increased tax for for you so uh so as much as um Mr gu is a good friend of mine his heart is in the right place but there's more that we have to the subject than simply saying spend some money uh to the training Mr wght he was you were called out as well absolutely and the good part about this is I know Mr guy nice guy but Mr guy couple things that just as a taxpayer rub me the wrong way because at some particular point in time this gentleman over here is going to come up to me and say Carl why are you spending my money over here and not on Township business over here now I'm going to be stuck in between a rock and a hard place do I raise taxes to cover what councilman Ry said or do I leave them flat and make you pay for them or not have them done in this town but let me ask you a question everybody a question and it goes like this most of the towns and I went to New York where my friend home is at and I asked a couple council members how do you do this and how do you do that with the programs and they said something that I knew public private Partnerships public private Partnerships we're trying to do that down here but you got to understand one thing some it's just not working but yet you want me to spend the money for that Mr guy uh Mr councilman R say it's only four people show up so now I'm going to take it one step further you had a company come in hate them or love them I really don't care Amazon they came to tell I don't care what you think about them they had jobs they stuck a sign in the ground you go to Veronica Avenue they stick a sign in the ground how many people get up and want to go apply for a job now it's not a job you want to keep forever it's a job to get you started on something whatever it's a job to get started and they also promote from within like I say love them or hate them there's a job to get started there's some training do you take it or don't now hearing lies another problem I am not responsible for every single person in town that doesn't want to do for self you understand me if you don't want to do for self why you blaming me if you don't go to school if you don't go actually out there and look for something why am I the problem now there are some people with broken homes there are some people that legitimately need a helping hand to move that's the guy I want to help that's the guy that needs my help not the guy that wants to sit here and I do a damn thing except take a hand out okay I ain't doing it now I might be wrong vote me out of office I but I'm not doing it I'm not doing it now that's just my thing philosophy now we try now Mr guy you once said that we mentioned about putting rvcc over there on 27 even though we don't think they want to come really but you said well how can the people in the fourth W get there and I counted how could how could the people in the first W get there how can the people off Elizabeth Avenue get there they're going to have to do the exact same thing and that's get there now any other way I can't do it the Board of Education sits over there the YMCA if we can get it it's going to sit over there some people ask why couldn't I put that in the four FL come on man I can't there's no space for it and then two and why she want to go there it wants to go there where they got can make money so whenever we try to do something we have to balance it by saying if I do it here what can I do there where am I going to get the money from now we do have some funds coming up that just might be dedicated to what we need done just might be dedicated to what we need done but we got to work on it so I might be the wrong guy to do it that's fine but uh um that's what I have to say on that little piece of issue there um I just expect that people should do or try to do better I'm African-American and I know my Heritage and I know that there can be a stigma attached to trying to get a job trying to get ahead yes don't make any mistake about that it does exist thank you Mr Ray yeah so that's all I got to say on that um we try Mr and that's what I want to address weet try Mr VOR Locker sure thank you Mr Mayor um so I I think that really the to the uh woman who had concerns about E Avenue safety are you familiar with the the study that's currently being conducted by Somerset County regarding safety on eastn Avenue between Franklin Boulevard and Landing Lane in Wills Fair Drive so what I would suggest the one thing that you do if you haven't done already I'll give everybody the website right now is the website is [Music] www.v.com pretty easy one not Avenue but eastn a.com eastn a.com okay go to that website and you will have an opportunity to one get information on the particular study that's being done but also sign up for notifications on future meetings related to it so that's one thing that I would suggest you do the other thing is and and councilman vasel I I'm going to give you up on this one um councilman vasel who's the fifth word councilman um and that the fifth W constitutes a large portion of Easton Avenue has also taken it on as more of a Grassroots uh effort on the part of the councilman and some residents that live in your general neighborhood um and I know that he's planning on having a meeting in the upcoming future so write write this one down I'll even spell it for you you got your pen out now all right councilman dot vasella v a SS a n e l l a vasella at Franklin NJ all one word.gov I'm sure if you send an email to the councilman he'll give you an update on when we're going to have what we we'll call a town hall meeting about safety related issues on eastn Avenue it'll be right in this room right here mayor can I just piggy back on on for a moment go for it took me uh two years to realize there's only one e in vasanello but yes go ahead that's why you're not the manager sure those of us with names that start with V know how to spell names um but in all seriousness um I'm well myself and uh councilwoman udine because some of it's in the second word that she represents are part of that study group um I've been to every uh call so far we've had a few uh M fact we're having one uh next month um we got to go out I won't go into detail but with Engineers from the state the county the the the private firm that's handling the the whole review we were walking it bottom line is I'm there to Advocate and I have been advocating and I will continue to and a lot of what I advocate I literally write down quotes from residents especially if the ideas are practical and they've embraced them obviously some are just a given because it's kind of what they say a no-brainer but there are little things that and I think they appreciated that we don't um they don't travel it they don't live there those are little nuances so uh I say this maybe cautiously in me with any questions um leave your a phone number I'll give you a call back I hate driving E Avenue but I love talking about it so um and the Grassroots effort is something separate because the federal government effort quite frankly is going to roll out pretty much from n from starting in 26 as far as seeing actual uh work going through till um uh like 2035 2031 to 2035 because little money allocated for a few years from now but then the big stuff will happen literally seven a year but in the meanwhile there can be little things that I know the manager is committed to this um so again just I don't need to go on on but um please anybody out there because it's it's happening and we I think as a council in the county who has a lot of say we'll be doing smaller things in the near future so sorry maner but I no I to my heart wanted you to say say your piece there I figured I'd give you the segue into it but just and and just so you understand that the reason why all of those so it go it is at the county state and federal level that this study is being done and it is a county jurisdiction roadway for all of those roads that you mentioned not only eastn Avenue but also Landing Lane in Franklin Boulevard so they have jurisdiction over it and that's why they're leading this study um and this is a this is a unique uh Grant from the federal government and that it's a million dollars to do the study but it also guarantees the funds to do the work recommended from the study from the Federal Highway admin ministration so it it it will take time you know the wheels of of government often grind slowly but it is something that if if you're interested you should get involved in um Mr Mayor the only other thing that I wanted to comment on was was not necessarily a question but Chief sleta president sleta a number of different titles that I've known him as over the course of my career here um and and and you know all of all of your neighbors in griggstown so obviously I was involved in emergency services for um 27 years before I put this hat on and the issues related to Greg toown and cellular coverage go back to the first days of cellular phones and police cars um as kind of an extra function not a primary function um and all of the equipment in our police vehicles operate the same way that the equipment in your fire apparatus operates and and I would certainly be very very supportive as is the public safety director uh in the police department now of any efforts to get cellular service improved in the griggstown area so it's not anything that that falls on a deaf ear in this particular case no pun intended um it it is something that we take very seriously um and and that I know that the police department and I personally will will support any efforts that are made to find cellular carriers for Greg stown that's all I have Mr May thank you yes I neglected to address that question because I knew we were having the the re the res resolution later um but I doo support it think well we'll see what everyone else does um okay Council com uh Council comments um let's start with Dr Kazi thank you Mr Mayor uh before I I uh make my comments I just want to thank all the Comm community members that they are here today thank you for coming and sharing your concerns and your uh thoughts uh I want to promise you that uh all of us here will listen to your uh to your comments and whatever decision we make will be at the best interest of our community so that's that's just given um as far as my comments um I I wanted to First U mention that uh I mentioned last time that we have a bench in front of a Senior Citizen Center and that is to increase the awareness about opio Alternatives and it's a loan from prevention resources so if you have not been there please take go there and see it in fact the Franklin reporter and Advocate did an excellent story about the bench yesterday and it opened up a discussion about the alternatives to opio and uh we had uh dor of Park recreation uh Miss Wendy white and we also had Dr ly chair of uh Advisory Board of Health as well as we had Miss Paige Ying of Prevention Services during the broadcast I wanted to thank everybody and also Franklin reporter and Bill Bowman and PJ Parker for making that possible on April 30th at 1:00 p.m. there will be more discussion there's going to be a meeting at the senior center and uh talking about the opioid and Alternatives so please uh if you can participate and share with others as well one more thing that I think is important I would like to report is that Dr Lei send us a a great excellent document which has all the resources for various Services provided by the county it's almost 43 pages long and it covers any every everything from food assistant to mental health health for blind and handicap employee assistant income assistance and many more and that document is going to be on the township website under the uh Advisory Board of Health uh committee uh section so please take a look if you know anyone who needs help that's the best document that I've ever seen everything is there um I also had the opportunity along with mayor and a couple of my colleagues to 10 interface dinner at M Ali mosque and was happy to present a check for $10,000 to Food Bank as you know food bank is one of the greatest organization we have in Township which helps those in need of food and we were very fortunate to present that check it was a great event and people of different phas came together to share meal and show unity and Pray for Peace um on the trail committee nothing really to report except that we all looking for a warm weather to see more of our community members to start using the 70 mile of trail that we have in our Township uh of course we had a busy week or busy month actually with the uh working with a Township uh budget review and today I also attended the Public Safety Committee which I believe councilman R will provide additional information and that's it for mayor for me oh one more thing April is our 40th annivers wedding anniversary and my wife and I planning toh take a couple of weeks break and travel so I won't be here during the April council meeting very nice congratulations thank you uh councilman EMB Barrison uh thank you Mr Mayor um yeah just we had a public safety committee meeting today uh we discussed a number of uh uh initiatives uh that are going on uh top of the list is the arriv together uh initiative where uh on an emergency call um in addition to the officer a trained um mental health counselor companies um and uh the numbers are looking up uh 80 calls in January and we are at 133 last month so uh we seem to be getting more and more the people are getting more awareness about the program and um so we are uh putting a good use of our resources uh to these issues and then there's another program called My Brother's Keeper um which is run by the crb our community um relations Bureau um it's a mentorship program uh for kids uh to um connect to the offices and and and grow together uh so that program there's a uh going to be a summit in June uh to uh to promote that program among kids in uh in in the community uh so we are hoping that uh more people get to know about that program and take advantage of it uh New Jersey MBC Motor Vehicles Commission is going to be in town they're going to set up um uh at the police department opposite of the police department in the parking lot there by the senior center on the 18th April 18th May 30th September 17th so there the three dates uh they announce it on the uh website and Al as well as uh the newspapers emails uh they fill up quickly so if you have some services that you need you don't have to go to the MBC office you can do them right here um there's going to be another entry level test testing administered by the township for new police offices uh that's coming up we already have 80 applications from our uh folks our residents and others uh that want to join our um PD uh we're expecting about 250 and um that's going to be administered in May so if you know uh any youngsters youth unemployed people who are less who are younger than 35 years of age they're all eligible to apply uh just high school diploma is all you need um so uh please get the word out the policeapp.com is the website where you would apply it's policeapp.com uh we have a number of openings in the police department we have retirements attrition and uh open open spots to fill uh so there's there's a good chance that uh will hire maybe 10 to 20 out of that uh pool and we send them to the police academy at our expense get them trained and then we bring them back uh to Ser um that's pretty much I have me thank you councilman vasella I knew you were going to do that I thought you were a couple few things there um I'm sorry I don't think this was mentioned because I think it just happened recently since the last meeting uh we've been fortunate enough in Franklin uh to be chosen and I think this is to the due to the dedication of the staff especially the executive director and the volunteers over there at the food bank but they got $1 million the largest gift the funding whatever you want to call it that I uh I believe they've gotten I'm going to say one of the biggest we've ever got in Franklin Township for a nonprofit uh bottom line there uh I'll go into details so philanthropist that gives out I think they couple hundred but there was thousands and thousands of people applying for this thing um so bottom line we found out recently we that they they got it I say we got it because all of us here are going to benefit it because it benefits the people in this town that are most vulnerable so anyway I just wanted to mention that was thrilled about that um and uh councilman Kazi he walked away uh mentioned before but uh his mosque um uh sponsored a wonderful Interfaith committee um well we broke fast and quite a bit of activities but uh his Mo Moss sponsored it and it was a wonderful event and uh they're very gracious I know that the homeland security director for the state was there a high ranking person from the Attorney General's office it was kind of like a little bit of a who's who in the state and uh um the mayor and our assemblymen and I think Ram you were there so um anyway just wanted to mention that um couple things other things real quick uh on the agenda tonight you'll see we're approving the purchase of the m police uh command post which is almost really like a Mobile Police Department uh God forbid uh when needed in an emergency or catastrophe also could be used for other uh uh Community uh events and training and whatnot but um uh the majority the money for that came from our assembl men got it from Trenton fortunately so it didn't have to come out of anybody's in the audience's pockets whether they're at home or out here now um and uh mentioned or kman mentioned um about the police program you know I never realized and I've been involved in public safety to a degree for a long time how many uh responses uh 911 responses involve uh uh emotional issues mental health issues drug addiction issues the type of things that are very difficult for any human being to deal with um so having somebody that understands that to accompany the the police uh that team effort I I just I sometimes wonder why it hasn't been done um years and years ago but I'm glad it's there now and um I just want to mention I think r u councilman Barrison and councilman Wright uh gave a lot of information and uh uh responded quite in detail as they were asked to concerning job training I just want to mention um I'm not going to rehash what they said but just so people out there understand we're not not doing anything we spent almost $15 million on the youth center and that's wonderful but that's part of the reason we built it we got a a million or a million and a half Grant from our congresswoman job training skills training teaching people how to get ready for interviewing um Etc so there are programs uh besides that we have certain programs with the County College our our School District um there's County votch uh we have the police programs I mean I'm not saying I don't want more and I'm not saying we may not need more but we do and have been doing an incredible amount of nonprofit sponsor some uh there are corporations who provide free on the job training um there is there it's out there do we want more can we do more yes but no means don't think any anybody should walk away thinking this town hasn't literally literally spent into tens of millions of dollars in the last decade or so for for things related to um what was mentioned earlier just wanted to say that uh that's it mayor thank you one one last thing that's important and the juneth parade that uh I was under the impression was June 22nd and was a couple months away but people were planing planning for it and I know I'm getting involved uh it's June 15th so I just want to mention that out throw that out there because I just found that out today sorry mayor oh it's the 15th yes okay yes went through a few dates there okay very good some of us thought it was originally 22nd okay um councilwoman uden hello everyone so uh first I want to say happy holy uh Festival of Color Springs so it's springtime we're very excited for the change of weather um holy just passed um I've been attending a um couple interfa thars um for the last couple uh weeks actually into it um going and breaking fast with multiple um other groups of people so it's very nice to see the committee come together and just talk about what's on the table is food um loved it um Franklin Food Bank received a million dollars which was a very ni nice thing I read about that I thought it was great um I think mid Ali that Dr Kazi or councilman Kazi mentioned that 10,000 came directly from a lot of from our local community members so it just goes to show how we all connect and you know we're there for each other um and and it goes back directly to our own so we're supporting our own people that are in need of the basic food Necessities um it's very nice to to hear about it we're talking a lot about job opport unities trainings and I do know that our sen man Joe Danielson is having a career um training sorry not career um he's having a I think job fair job fair on April 24th at the Imperial rate on Thea so you know he's having a a bunch of companies come recruiters come so if people are interested um please go out there with your resume and it might be your next job apart from that I just want to say and Easter and Sunday so happy Easter to all thank you thank you councilman Wright Mr Mayor some U residents asked about the housing authority over on Parks side uh whether there any uh available units and the answer to that question is no um they do have a waiting list so um that's the situation there RPM which is the Redevelopment agency here in Franklin Township that I'm on um we do have some housing units available they have some housing units available uh so again you would have to go to their website um and tell them what you're looking for and they'll try to match you up with an apartment that they if they have available um they will be building new sites uh we did approve some sites for them uh and again they're in the Redevelopment area which is bounded by Franklin Boulevard over to First Baptist Church um on Barry Street all the way out the voy he's have so um definitely come by and look at those if you want them uh to look at those um Recreation advisory committee we need five new members um so I I invite you to go to the township website um go down to is it community service Recreation there's a tab for boards and committees and when you go on that page if you scroll down you can do a citizen leadership form okay thank you um and we need people that have kids don't have kids want to be a part of a program to help Recreation and other things in town because just not playing balls and sticks and stuff like that uh Zumba class as You Name It We Do It come on down uh we love to fit you into that program um oh coming up um I don't know if any of you have followed the Franklin Township sports but our scholar athletes are doing outstanding work over at Franklin High School uh they're doing really good work over there and while I will not burden amarie's office uh cuz I I I like her very much and and I don't want to get stabbed in the back uh we will just bring them in say hello and have the athletic director and the principal say hey these are our guys uh not only do they Excel on the field but they excel in the classroom because I told the uh uh the principal I don't want him here just because they can score a th000 points I want them here because they have the knowledge uh and the Brain to to go somewhere and and that's why I'm wed here so you can see where your tax dollars are going for the Board of Education uh I think councilman Ed would agree with that he was on the board of education um so that's what we want to do and we have a 105 year old young lady here in town I can't bring her in because she can't drive at night uh so what I'm going to do is find my way to her house with the rest of her family do a video bring it back into town and show it here for everyone to see instead of bringing her in um we can all see 105 year old lady with her 95 year old sister uh so that ought to be a good thing and uh Mr Mayor that's all I have for my time allow it thank you thank you uh Deputy Mayor pzn so Ramadan Mubarak and happy happy Easter um I also want to just mention on April 13th at 9:30 a.m. stream cleanup and celebration of Earth Day at the IHOP this a sort of a theme Hoy Easter IHOP um on eastn Avenue it starts at 9:30 and it's a great way to get back to the community in advance of Earth Day and you'll be surprised how much stuff we'll find there in the rariden well I think it's a roller Ridin partnership will'll be there supplying all the things you need like gloves Etc if you have more questions let me know there's a flyer and we hope to see you there thanks that's concludes right now for my part so what I'm about to say is completely not related to Kmart as I'd be saying it regardless of whether Kmart was applied for or not I am not advocating for what I'm about to say I'm just letting you know what is coming uh if you've been following what's going on in Trenton they passed a bill about affordable housing may have heard of it is before it was called COA that was actually an administrative Department I'll call it and that COA no longer exists but I'm just trying to remind you of it um the way it's going to work is has the has the governor signed it yet none so seven week seven weeks seven months from that time by at least that time we're going to be told how many affordable units generally Apartments were going to um be required to provide so the number that I've heard is estimated between uh 800 and a th000 likely for Franklin Now generally the way these things are built is someone Builds an apartment building and they make 20% of them affordable if you do the math just on say it's a thousand just because it's easy math to do you're talking about 5,000 new apartments again I'm not advocating for it I'm just telling you what's coming um we may have some of them already in our pocket maybe a 100 so that would cut down on a little but we will have until um as long as it well no we will have until January 31st to come up with our plan if we disagree with this state I I have to be careful my words again we have to come up with our number by January 31st and then by June 30th we have to come up with the plan as to how to do it we could just agree with this state um or we can come up with our own plan um we so because we want to be ready for that we're going to be putting out an RFP for an expert to help us with that because there's 564 towns around this state they're all going to be looking for experts we want to avoid the rush and get that done uh and get our own plan in we need to do these things otherwise we will run into what's called Builder remedies if we don't have a plan and we don't do do the things we need to do then a builder can very they come in go before the zoning board and then go to a judge after and say they're not building this project they're not following the plan and the judge it's going to be much easier for them to get it by a judge so we're going to do our our homework we're going to start early with that um and when I was sitting in those seats and I heard about this last time uh it it was a shocker because of the things that we curred tonight um so I just wanted to make sure everyone uh knows about that and that's all I have so uh Mo the minutes there are none submitted yes I have quite a bit to report and I am on the agenda every every two weeks he always notices when I miss him yes sir um so so and for those of you who are interested in Reading legislation that is at times very tedious um the affordable housing legislation that the mayor referenced is assembly Bill A4 it was adopted uh and signed by the governor on March 20th just several days ago um and uh so if you're interested in reading that I urge everyone who has an interest in affordable housing or housing in general to read it um as far as the job fair that uh councilwoman Udin mentioned uh that's being sponsored by assembly M danison um at the uh at the Imperia upcoming um I I would just say that in attendance there will be our Police Department to discuss with anyone who's interested in becoming a police officer um the upcoming entrance exam that councilman and barison mentioned and also our HR department will be there are a number of openings here at the township that um if you know of someone who is interested in uh maybe beginning a career in government or is already in a career in a position that we have open um we would certainly be interested in having them submit a resume for those positions that will be open there will also be another job fair for students of Franklin High School um in April as well and we'll also be in attendance there in hopes of recruiting the township budgets annually for seasonal summer employment for those um over the age of 16 for in the public works department the water department and open space um it's an opportunity for perhaps you have a brother sister child who might need summer employment um there there are a number of open positions we are we are beginning to receive applications for those positions now I believe they start at $18 an hour so it's a nice job for a high school kid who's about to start uh or or she we have had CS work in the public works department too we're we're an equal opportunity employer um for a a young person to uh earn some money before they start college or perhaps a foot uh a a foot in the door for a future career here um for those who might be interested in that so I encourage everyone to kind of get the word out about those job fairs and those job openings um so couple upcoming events um just to add some information to council member pik's uh mention of the upcoming John Clyde stream cleanup at SEL run uh which is the IHOP near that shopping center there is a pre-registration required if you're plan on volunteering on that day um that day being Saturday April 13th 9:30 to 12 the pre-registration link is on our website if it's an in the news article so just click on the article and then you can register for that event um and uh the police department is sponsoring a uh a selfdefense program for women over the age of 16 the name of the program is rad r a systems um it is the only self-defense program that's been endorsed by the International Association of Campus law enforcement administrators at the National Academy of Defense Education and National self-defense Institute um it is a uh 4 Day program for you for um women to complete the program they must attend all of the sessions it is April Tuesday April 9th Thursday April 11th Tuesday April 16th and Thursday April 18th all of the information is on our website again it's in the news uh there is a deadline to sign up for that and it will fill every time the police department has run this program it has filled to capacity and so if you have someone that's interested in this type of program I urge you to do it soon the deadline is April 5th so that's right around the corner it is it is the open it is open for registration now and and the deadline is April 5th um to register um and and the April is autism acceptance month and on April 19th which is a Friday from 600 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in our community Senior Center there will be a care Share aware program where there will be a free resource Fair celebrating all abilities you can meet with service providers participate in activities and win giveaways if anyone is interested um they should contact Maria dwas of our Recreation Department she is a certified apeutic Recreation specialist and uh you can contact her at the recreation department um and if you have any questions but otherwise it's free to attend and no registration is required you can just show up on April 19th at 6 o'clock and take advantage of all the resources that will be there uh to uh to educate you if you need to be educated or to Pro provide services if that's something that you might need um and that that's what I have tonight Mr Mayor thank you Mr vaselli you had a motion yes mayor and thank you uh I I think there's some people that might be waiting uh about this cell phone cell area cell phone tower situation so I'm going to ask the council move uh what's on my agenda is number 17A resolution 24-1 129 uh to the next item in the on our agenda to vote on we have a second second second all in favor for amending the agenda say I I oppos say nay motion is carried uh resolution 24129 supporting the establishment of a Greektown area cell service to improve Public Safety to have a motion I I'll move that second it move in second do you have discussion on that I just want to say a couple things first I want to thank the chief I know a former Chief left already and also the my neighbors for coming out tonight to talk about the safety considerations given the dead zone around the griggstown area appreciated first of all that you were so articulate and brief so that's always helpful um and also had recognized as someone who travels in that area knowing exactly when service starts again at Bunker Hill Golf Course and also the church across the street so um you know clearly this is something that's impacting folks and you know last week there was a quite a severe accident where as it was mentioned the folks couldn't call anyone for help they literally had to drive to the the firehouse to get help and minutes make a difference when someone's hellac from a location where they had the accident to the hospital and I'm glad to hear that the individual is doing better and hopefully we'll have a full recovery um and I'm really pleased that the council took this issue up on the agenda to express our support and I I'm hopeful that it's um passed it's it's a number one concern I hear from residents in the area when I say I live near there all the I don't get my self service there Etc um and it is off obviously a safety consideration among other things like you know security systems in your house and just so much is now cell-based so um just thank you to the council for folks coming out tonight and hopefully we can um you make this something in the rear viw mirror where there's no nothing negative in this resolution I hope helps to do that so appreciate everyone's time any other discussion Madam Clerk cman councilman EMB Barrison yes councilman Kazi yes mayor Kramer yes Deputy Mayor basnik yes Council woman councilman vas councilman Wright thank you it passes congratulations um so now we have uh no council discussion item no approval of minutes we have to pay the bills though the warrants in the amount of oh this is is not so much $747,500 30 wow we would like would you like it to be more I can comma no legal fees I know forgot to put in forgot to put in your billing no legal fee uh I presented the township Council for payment do we have a motion on the warrants all moved second moved and seconded uh any discussion anyone like to pull an item Adam Clerk councilman andaris yes councilman Kazi yes mayor Kramer yes Deputy Mayor pnik yes Council woman uden yes councilman vasella yes councilman right yes item number 13 on Sy 2024 Community Development block grant program my program says we have a we have a presentation sh good evening everyone uh I'm here for the Community Development block grant program uh it is time for the presentation of applications for 2024 uh for the block grant program uh the township qualifies for the uh Community Development block grant program uh based on our population um that we exceed the threshold of 50,000 people so we are an entitlement Community uh last year the formula grant for the township was 348,000 uh These funds are uh provided to the township through the Department of Housing and Urban Development uh we uh do not know what our 2024 funding allocation will be we expect to receive that some time around the first part of May however we are going to proceed with the receiving of the application so that we'll be ready in time for our summer submitt uh tonight we have a few applicants here to make presentations to council concerning their 2024 funding request not everyone is present who submitted an application we had 16 applications this year uh the total amount of funding applications received was 3 47,2 2563 um I'm going to let the people that are chose to come out and speak on their applications speak and then I have prepared a summary of the other applicants who not present good evening everybody uh my name is Ali O'Brien and I'm here on behalf of the Franklin food bank we are seeking funding through the cdbg program of Franklin Township for an expansion of our services via a Mobile Trailer the Franklin food pank has certainly um in the past 5 years but specifically in the past 2 years experien tremendous growth not only in the number of families that we were able to serve or the visits for which we are able to provide food but also in a growing need in this community for food assistance we've also done an excellent job of staying educated on all of the up-to-date research and food security space and all of the emerging evidence suggests that it takes more than food to address hunger and so for the past 2 years the Franklin food bank has been piloting and then delivering formalized wraparound services in the form of monthly snap sign up and other benefits enrollment assistance through a partnership with the Community Food Bank of New Jersey as well as monthly cancer and health screenings through a partnership with Ruckers the Cancer Institute and finally nutrition class classes that are held on site during non-operational hours with the exception of our nutrition programming all of these services are offered Outdoors only while we do provide tents and tables and chairs our partners and our clients are delivering or receiving Services outside in the sun in the heat in the rain in the cold in the snow this trailer would enable the Franklin Food Bank not only to deliver on our promise of holding these additional services but also on our mission of serving in an atmosphere of dignity and respect not only will we be able to perform lap bround services but we will also be able to perform private intake and assessment for the families that we serve who are coming to us at a vulnerable time in their lives we would be able to spend this funding immediately and report on it in a timely fashion and it would truly help to build the capacity of the Franklin Food Bank of which we have known to spare on any given day the Franklin Food Bank sees between 80 to 100 families all who are residents of Franklin Township and have to prove their residency and many of who might be interested to participate in these Services were they to be offered in a more private setting we are so grateful for all of the support we have received over the years from this body and respect the unique position Franklin Township is in to be able to offer cdbg funding to local nonprofits as cdbg funds are often allocated by the county Somerset County has a robust cdbg program for which we are eligible because this Township is so unique in its ability to support organizations like ours so this body is truly one of the only potential impact partners that can offer this type of support I'm so grateful for this opportunity to speak on behalf of the food bank I'm so grateful for all of you and I would be remissed if I did not plug the tour to Franklin it's our largest fundraising event of the year it's celebrating our 35th year this year and it will be held on Sunday April 28th at the Franklin High School registration is open now on our website Franklin foodbank.org and I hope everyone can attend and thank you to all the sponsors I'm happy to answer any questions if there are any did you say that you have to prove you're a Franklin resident yes we have residency requirements to participate in our client Choice Pantry so as part of our intake of our clients um we do we do require that they prove that are Franklin Township residents to be a returning client of the food bank so what if they live in Franklin but documentation we're very flexible in terms of working with all of our clients um in addition to working with Social Services for people who are temporarily housed in Franklin Township residences or local hotels or that sort of thing um in the end of the day no one gets turned away without food okay else thank you thank you good evening everybody some of you are new uh that I've never met before my name is shanon Clark I'm the executive director of the Central Jersey bless you Housing Resource Center and I want also thank you for your past support we wouldn't be where we are right now and able to serve so many without your help um we keep running out of money that's why I had to request more money this round usually we run out um by the second quarter this time we're projected to run out by the end of April or early May which means I have to get rais the funds from other places 21% of our clients are Franklin residents seeking the help I was very interested in what went on today um we do more than just housing but I can tell you we have a huge shortage of housing it's at a critical stage for our clients which are all very low low moderate income so and we have waiting list for everything so we coordinate with RPM the Barry Street all the other places um and we have waiting lists everywhere we also have a senior guide a rental guide a purchase guide um there's more to housing than just housing issues for example we have a car leasing car buying and lemon law because people sign it's a big expense every month and then if they have a problem paying the car payment they can't get to work and then they can't pay their mortgage or their rent so we were kind of full encompassing we also work collaboratively so we don't duplicate Services we send a lot of people to the food bank I think they are a wonderful entity there's many other wonderful entities I just came from the County Commissioners um April's housing month it's the anniversary of the fair housing act so there's a calendar I'll leave here with amarie maybe um and some of the other webinars but I just wanted to thank you for everything and ask uh if anybody has any questions about our application or about what our nonprofit does thank you so much for your time and I hope everyone has a good holiday thank you thank you very happy to be here my name is Peg Wright and I'm the CEO and founder of the center for Great Expectations unfortunately you've got me my team's all sick so they they emailed me at 10:00 last night so I'm here we are uh I come before you you know with a tremendous sense of gratitude to Franklin Township to to the police to the firemen to the this body who has supported us for years and uh we couldn't do it without you um specifically for this cdbg grant we're requesting $20,000 to augment the cost of providing services in Katie's Place Katie's Place is our Child Development Center which serves the residents that live in the Adolescent and the adult residential Center as well as uh children from Supportive Housing which are the Grove children so um you know we raise a lot of money to make this happen as well so it's it's very difficult to find funding for uh daycare and the vouchers don't cover all of the costs I think most of you are fam amiliar with the Continuum of Care that we provide uh through our programs we have residential programs for adult women for adolescents who are pregnant and parenting 20 residential units in total we have supportive 16 Supportive Housing Apartments in the Grove we have an outpatient program which certainly Franklin Township residents are more than uh welcome to access it's in uh North Brunswick uh we have an inhome program called start which will go in the home of an opioid dependent woman who is new newly delivered and provide case management du support services and substance use disorder treatment uh we also do training and consultation so we're a fullservice nonprofit and we've grown you know quite substantially over the last number of years and in part due to your support and I'm very grateful so thank you any questions great need you I think everyone who presents it is going to heaven um that do you have heard from three of our most prominent applicants we also have received the following applications from Middle Earth for for the journeys program at the Franklin Youth Center uh funding for Staffing to assist in activities youth activities and an employment Readiness component for up to 20 youths between the ages of 14 and and 18 they're asking for 24978 from a new applicant hopes cap which uh requested $20,000 to do uh an expansion of ESL classes in financial literacy home ownership training to participating P families um they are currently assisting 228 families in Franklin in the Franklin facility here 111 are spanishs speaking families and 17 families speak um other languages um home sharing and Incorporated uh requested $10,000 for its shared housing program to serve uh 250 Franklin residents the YMCA requested $128 for the swim around program which they have provided for the K5 um Title One schools Pine Grove Elizabeth Avenue and Hill Crest sister to sister had asked for $5,000 for staff support for counseling for low and moderate income breast cancer victims and cancer survivor scholarship training that is the bulk of the public service total uh amount of requests $16,493 % of your Grant total we also have public facilities request from Sister to Sister to install a uh wheelchair accessible ramp at their main entrance to the parking lot um the food bank uh Ally spoke but she didn't give you the total they're requesting $100,000 Somerset cap is requesting uh improvements to the facilities for $10,000 sister to sister again a third priority for a building and ground cleanup at $7,000 Franklin Township environmental commission uh requested funds to uh upgrade the community grounds uh Garden uh 9,621 55,67848 20,29 from the center for Great Expectations to install a sump pump and sewage ejector at um their um two homes um on Delwood Lane and the Arc of Somerset requested 45,000 for reconstruction of driveway paving and sidewalks at one of their facilities total housing request 65,8 129 that's all I have thank you thank you on to item number 14 public hearing and Adoption of ordinances on second reading first reading is when we announce to the world that we're considering an ordinance second reading is when we um vote on it if it makes it that far ordinance 4430 d24 uh accepting a deed of dedication from Enclave at Canal Walk Condominiums Owners Association Inc at block 513.88 a portion of lot 1.02 Schoolhouse Road is presented to the public hearing final adoption the public hearing has been uh notified as required so we have a motions open to the public some moved seconded Mo then seconded all in favor say I I Mo say n we are open for public discussion on this item only nine no one coming forward a motion to close the public portion at a hearing on the ordinance second moving second and all in favor of closing say I I oppos say nay motion is carried you have a motion to adopt move seconded and seconded any discussion Burke councilman EMB Barrison yes councilman Kazi yes mayor Kramer yes Deputy Mayor basnik yes councilwoman Dean yes councilman vasella yes councilman Wright or 44 31-24 calendar year 2024 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget Appropriations limit and to establish a caps bank is presented public hearing and final adoption the public hearing has been noticed as required do have motion to open to the public some moved seconded all in favor say I I fos say nay we're open to the public on this item only see no one coming forward mayor a motion to close the public portion on this hearing on the ordinance second mov in second it all in favor say I oppose say nay motion is carried uh motion to adopt so moved seconded and seconded any discussion on this item Madam clerk councilman EMB Barrison yes councilman Kazi yes mayor krer yes Deputy Mayor Paz yes councilwoman uden yes vasella yes councilman right on to ordinances on introduction and first reading ordinance number 44 32-24 an ordinance amending the municipal code of Township of Franklin Somerset County New Jersey with the addition of a new chapter 153 entitled lead based paint inspections foregoing ordinances presented the township Council for adoption on first reading posting and publication in accordance with law and public hearing and final adoption on a meeting of Township Council to be held on Tuesday April 9th 2024 at 7 p.m. we have a motion to adopt Some Mo second and a second oh which Mo than seconded so this is for rental units that have were built before 1978 1978 is when they took lead out of paint uh to be inspected periodically um for lad um and councilman B I mean councilman patnik Deputy Mayor patnik I'll get it right um did you have questions about this or they' been answer there was a question in one part of it it says that it's every three years and then later it says that you get a certificate for two years which exempts you from having to do it and it's seems strange that one was three and the other was two so then our Township attorney looked up the actual law that was passed and it was passed with that strange attribute and which means we don't have the flexibility to change it we would be not in compliance so um and this is it's odd this is basically not optional to us correct and we have um secured the um a company that will do this and take care of all the paperwork so that we don't get involved uh they willon charge the home or the renter $250 but it will be at no cost to the taxpayer so the owner renter not the person who rents the person who owns the building will pay that $250 um any other discussion I still had a couple questions for clarification I'm not against the ordinance but like councilman Nick we a few things that just seem very strange to wording so I just want to be clear with the attorney so when it says D the owner landlord blah blah blah to OB required to obtain inspection for lead-based pain hazards every three years comma or at ten and turnover whichever is earlier so that's null and void let me be careful how I word this the part that says a tenant turnover somebody had to leave after 6 months that's null and void if they have the form that the state sends them anyway certifying that's good for two [Music] years a valid if you have a valid lead certificate then then you're okay so then that ten tenant turnover within the three years won't matter if that 2-year certificate you're holding on to and is that the certificate they get from the state after you do your first inspection and get cleared certificates come from the state not from the township is okay so the weirdness it seems weird you know one's three one's two one's whichever's ear this is this ordinance itself is is is the requirement based on a statute yes yeah in fact okay so we didn't have any we didn't have any set how it's your ordinance that you see there is is a copy and paste of the state law that was enacted about 2 and A2 years ago in which this municipality and every municipality has an obligation under that law to adopt an ordinance by July 1st of this year and Institute this program it was effect of July 22nd uh 202 okay and just one other thing I I I'm sensing now we can't change it because I I'm glad you're doing the ordinance but boy it's worded weird I would should have assumed if you wrote it or we were putting it together it would probably make more sense or sound more logical but anyway number B I just want to be sure here I'm understanding standing it under the penalties portion a property owner feels fails to cure the violation assuming I guess they don't pass after 30 days they can be assessed a penalty up to $1,000 a week so just say in a situation somebody it's vacant and somebody's going to renovate or sell or tear out walls or something they could be penalized yes even if it's empty if the everything's not done or the place isn't sold or renovated in 30 days yes wellow I'm not landlord but that just seems a little over um overbearing but again it's the state so we have no uh say whatsoever okay I just figured out the thank you yeah so I mean it's great we're doing it it seems like a kind of a flawed wording but again uh just one of clarification thank you I know go ahead well remember what the what the notice what the notice says in B is that $1,000 until the required inspection has been conducted so if you're out of compliance and you haven't expected you have to get an inspect or the remediation has been so so you mean if it's started somebody takes an effort to start something you have to start the removal correct okay I figured out the two-year three thing year think Anella triggered my mind that you have to get it every three years or when somebody moves out but if you have a certificate and it's within two years when they moved out and you don't don't have to get it in okay great thank you for clarification and know we have a lot of rentals in town so hopefully we'll end up being even a little more safer at the end of the day with this thank you any other discussion Madam clerk councilman EMB Barrison yes councilman karazi yes may Kramer yes Deputy Mayor pnik yes councilwoman uden yes councilman vasella yes right ordinance 4433 d24 and ordinance amending the municipal code of Township of Franklin uh Township of Franklin Somerset County New Jersey more particularly chapter 13 boards committees commissions Article Five Cultural Arts Council section 1313 committee structure and 1314 term of committee members forgoing waran is presented to Township Council for adoption on first reading posting and publication in accordance with the law and public hearing and final adoption at a meeting at the township Council to be held on Tuesday April 9th 2024 at 7:00 p.m. at the Town council chambers um have a motion so moved take it with then seconded um we're basically expanding the board by two people uh any other discussion Madam clerk councilman EMB Barrison yes councilman Kazi yes mayor Kramer yes Deputy Mayor basnik yes councilwoman udine yes councilman vasella councilman right okay we're on to ordinance 44 34-24 an ordinance amending the municipal code of the township Franklin County of Somerset state of New Jersey more particularly Chapter 93 alcoholic beverages resending section 93-1 location restrictions for licensing the forgoing ordinance present the township Council for adoption on first reading posting and publication in accordance with law and public heing and final adoption at a meeting of the township Council to be held on Tuesday April 9th 2024 at 7 p.m in the council chambers to have a motion to introduce and set public hearing move second moved then second it so this takes away the 2000 foot restriction between um lier licenses or or place that sell alcohol um any other discussion Madam clerk councilman EMB Barrison yes councilman Kazi yes mayor Kramer yes Deputy Mayor pnik yes councilwoman udine councilman vasella councilman right the items a through n is listed on the consens agenda portion of the meeting are present oh I'm sorry we moving on to the consent agenda um so items a through n as listed on the consent agenda portion of the meeting are presented to Township Council for adoption do we have a motion on the consent agenda second move then seconded anyone any discussion anyone like to pull an item or clarify an item I would just like to uh bring notice to it was already mentioned but we are buying the command BR item number I finally it's been years years in the making but we finally have the money to do it um any other items Adam clerk councilman EMB Barrison yes councilman Kazi yes mayor Kramer yes Deputy Mayor pnik yes Council udine yes councilman vasella councilman Mike yes and resolutions to be voted on separately we already did the one for the cellow we have one other resolution 24-30 authorized grants application Firehouse Subs Public Safety foundation so uh do we have a motion all moved second and second it so Firehouse wants to go for a grant and uh no actually it's our Police Department mayor The Firehouse Subs is a sub shop that's in other places in the country just not here locally in New Jersey and they have an Emergency Services grant program and our Police Department is applying for a grant from them that makes so much more sense there you go that's what I'm here for oh I didn't see this until I arrived here tonight okay great uh any other discussion does it come with Subs I I I wanted to know the same thing because there was not a particular item for which we're applying that I can see so I thought maybe we're asking for food that tasty sub is very good get to choose what kind of subs or we take moving on any other discussion trust me Doone for you Adam clerk councilman marrison yes councilman karazi yes mayor Kramer yes Deputy mayoras yes councilwoman uden councilman Wright boards committees commissions vacancies anybody just a reminder that we need uh five members for the recreation advisory committee so please fill out the forms kids and no kids as long as you got kids at heart will'll take you thank you amarie do you have the names of those people for the cultural arts oh we should wait and do it all at once when well that's right that was first reading right okay very good um okay uh moving on so before I adjourn the one thing I forgot in my Council comments be strong Baltimore uh do I have a motion to adjourn I move moveed then second and all in favor say I I opposed say nay we are adjourned bwell Baltimore