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 January 23rd 2024 we all stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and remain standing for invocation by James vasella I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United for As We Gather here today as members of the township Council and residence of Franklin we hope and pray that we are ever mindful of the opportunities to render our service to fellow citizens and to all of our community keeping in mind always the uring values of Life exerting our efforts in those areas and on those things upon which future Generations can build with confidence let us continue to strive to make a better world Amen ad clerk please call the role councilman EMB Barrison councilwoman Francois here councilman Kazi here mayor Kramer here councilman Oni jaka yes deputy mayor pnik presid councilwoman udine here councilman Wright councilman vasella here I have backwards thank you um next is item number five commendations and proclamations first in is swearing in of our new police officers who is there she is thank you thank you you're up okay um so good evening everyone my name is director Mayweather I am the public safety director um I am in charge of the police department tonight I am honored to um present to you four of our newest officers who have well four of them just came out of the Police Academy and one is a trans transer from another police department but we are grateful to add additional officers to our Force we definitely need more officers young officers I'm proud tonight to say that four out of the five officers are from Franklin they are Franklin residents um two of them are actually Franklin uh Youth Academy graduates they were part of our Youth Academy they went to Franklin High School and they are here now they are Franklin police officers so that a message to our young people in town that guess what it is possible to live and serve in your Township and be a proud member of this police department so I thank them for that too trusting in us and coming and staying home um first I would like to have I'm going to do them in order of seniority there's a slim window of seniority listen cops they believe in it even if it's by a minute a day the alphabet senority is seniority so uh going first will be veto Ross so if someone from his family would like to come up and hold the Bible where his mom is yes okay I state your name me SAR do Solly swear I will support the Constitution that I will United States of the UN Constitution and the state of New Jersey of the faith that I will bear true faith and same to the same to the governments established and to the government established in the United States in the state and in this state under the authority of the people people the other people and that I will faithfully and that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform partially and justly perform all the duties of all the duties of police officer police officer of the Franklin Township Police Department of the Franklin Township Police Department according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God [Applause] congratulations got your photo Spence all right uh next Ashley [Applause] Ramos dat your name I me swear do Sol swear that I will support the Constitution that I will of the United States of the United Constitution and the con they will bear two Faith they will bear two and Allegiance and Al governments established and to the government United States in the united stes in the state and in authority of the people under the I will faithfully and harshly and justly perform all the duties of all the duties of officer police officer Franklin Township Police Department of the Franklin town best of my [Applause] ability and I I want to say real quick um Ashley um actually drove back and forth from the police academy and she was in Camden County Police Academy it was tortured to me that one day I had to drive down there so I know um she was determined to have this job thank you a career it's not just a job all right Zary [Applause] Salis United States of the United Constitution and theate of New Jersey of the St government's established to the government United States and the United I will faithfully and partially and justly perform Frank Township Police [Applause] dep and I I want to correct myself I actually Zari came from Ruckers PD so she had a few years on and I actually swiped her from Ruckers but it was a good swipe she was from Franklin I called the Rucker's Chief I said look she's from here can I have her please he said no but he let her go graciously he have a choice but I don't think I saw a bill yet I want to talk to soon all right ishma [Applause] Saleem I ishim Solly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution United States of the United States and the Constitution and the same to the same governments established to the governments established in the United States in the united I will Faithfully partially and justly all the duties of police Franklin Township police depart I make them a little nervous it's okay Patrick [Applause] Cano I state your name I Patrick Cano do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the con that I will support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and the state of New Jersey there I will bear true faith in to the same to the same to the government's established and to the government's established in the united states in the United States and in this state in this state under the authority of the people and I will faithfully and I will faithfully and partially and justly per partially and justly performed all the all the duties of police officers Township police depart Franklin Township Police Department according to the best of my ability so help me so help me God [Applause] congratulations can we get the whole class up here and any council members who want to join me down here [Applause] so and I just want to say this these officers represent the diversity that's in our community and I appreciate each and every one of the citizens of Franklin for trusting in myself and the Command Staff for making sure that we are doing that we will be and we are the leaders in the state of New Jersey and mirroring our community and making sure that we have officers of almost every country represented and I will tell you this we will have more details later about that but when I say trust and believe that we are trying to mirror the community that's with uh female officers um officers from um other countries first generation we are doing that in Franklin and we will win the award with the Attorney General's office for making sure that Franklin Township Police Department is a diverse town and believe me when I say it I do not go out looking for these officers they come here because this community represents what they looking for so I owe it all to you secondly um in terms of today you probably see all over the news about the burglaries I am not going on camera I am not making it public about the burglaries to terrorize everyone I want everyone to be able to help themselves and I'm telling you it's as simple as turning on your lights turn on your lights around your house if you have an expensive house buy a camera you have an expensive house you don't have an expensive house you rent an expensive house everything's expensive right now turn on lights have cameras call the police immediately nothing is too simple nothing is too minor that is what we are here for these officers you pay for these officers to do their job help them do their job call us if you don't know where to call call 911 and they will direct you to a 9 emergency I see my Command Staff cringing when I say that but I don't want you to overthink it we will put out there in social media everywhere where you should call if you have information to help us but we will not let people come into our community and pray upon us just because we are a good community of people who want to do the right thing and work every day and take care of our families we will not do that and coming into our homes is unacceptable it infuriates me I am a resident of Franklin now I've been here for a couple years now I love Franklin wish I had moved here first but that's another story but I'm GNA leave it to the mayor now I'm sorry mayor no thank you good words um to the five who just were sworn in and to everyone in the room with the badge just a moment ago we were standing behind you Council stands behind you both literally and figuratively because you stand for us and you help keep us safe so thank you for all you do and thank you for what you're about to do all five of you [Applause] councilman karazi you're going to present the Muslim Heritage Month Proclamation yes I think mayor are she councilwoman udine myself and you mayor we can go forward just to I'd like to M uh Mr Mayor I would like to invite the representatives of uh four organizations actually two host of worship and two nonprofit organization in town and uh first one is uh representative from nna this is a nonprofit organization that helps Our Community member quite a bit and I'd like to ask them to come forward we also have uh representatives from GMA who is a new organization nonprofit organization and they are going to be uh also help in our Township I'd like them to come forward we have uh drbal chairman of M Ali would you please come also and then we also have uh Mr uh Rahman who is uh the representative from MAV islamia M the West Africa M so please come forward and we're going to be coming and joining [Applause] you okay hello everyone good evening so this is uh recognition of the inauguration of the Muslim Heritage Month in the state of New Jersey whereas Franklin Township is proud to recognize the contributions of the Muslim Community and declare the month of January as Muslim Heritage Month annually and whereas Franklin Township is home to a vibrant Community Muslim Community and whereas Muslims are the world's second largest religious group practicing the Islamic fate representing approximately 25% of the world's population and whereas there are about 3.5 million Muslims in the United States from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and there are nearly 300,000 Muslim Americans in New Jersey representing one of the largest Muslim American communities in the United States and where as Muslims have made significant contributions to our nation throughout history including notable achievements philosophy mathematics chemistry physics astronomy medicine music architecture literature and the Arts and many more and whereas during the month of January 2024 the Muslim Community in the township across the state of New Jersey will collectively celebrate Muslim Heritage and whereas during the month of January 20 uh sorry and whereas the town of Franklin supports the rights of all its residents and calls Upon Our Community to eliminate prud and Batory as we celebrate the great diversity of all our citizens and extend the promise of our country to all now therefore we Shea udine Council Alex Kazi councilman and Philip Kramer mayor to hereby extend greetings and best wishes to all observing January 2024 as Muslim heritage month and I'm going to give one to all the organization SOA brother jaad is here um n team kid okay kma team is mahare and Salah raana and here's brother Raheem and I have one more um I I've been to uh several uh Muslim heritage um events this past uh week or so and it's just um I I've seen things I've never seen before um exciting things um the no uh event that we had at the community center was wonderful and it's just it's part of being in Franklin you just learn from each other and you celebrate you don't just celebrate your thing you celebrate everyone's thing and it's it's just it it's a wonderful place to live and to [Applause] learn my name is Jad Ahmed I'm a resident of Franklin Township and I recently moved here about a year and a half ago and uh I'm really delighted for this Proclamation first of all I thank the governor of New Jersey governor Murphy I also thank the Franklin Township Council and the mayor uh for recognizing izing January as the Muslim Heritage Month um there are a lot of Muslims living in Franken Township and that's one of the reasons I moved here to be amongst this diverse community and we appreciate the support and the help from all different background ethnicities for recognizing this month thank [Applause] you yeah so I just wanted to say uh thank you on behalf ofma and the new Knight committee and the team to for the council to recognize us and to honor we're humbled and um we appreciate it thank you so [Applause] much I'm Bri ran chairman of D islamia yeah we are truly humbled and honored for you to recognize the Muslim heritage month I come here often I do not Bel belong to Franklin but I've adopted Franklin Township as my second home and the reason for that is D islamia is established since 1992 here in Franklin even though I had moved from Franklin 30 years ago I still come here regularly I want to thank the mayor mayor krer who has been a source of help to us and also have to thank my friend Dr Alex kazai who has been the inspiration to all of this I thank you all thank you Township members I thank the new police officers who are going to keep this city safe thank [Applause] you good evening salamu alaykum peace be upon you I'm uh from Masjid Ali which is our M consider Grove land this way I'm part of this community I'm honored I'm humble thank you very much Council thank you very much uh mayor krer Dr karazi and the members of the council for recognition of this month and this is unique once again we are proud to be part of it God bless [Applause] you for a final Commendation Captain Sean Hebron MLK Community Foundation presid uh president another important one we have another we have another important one just turn around wait a minute everybody don't go away we have a commendation for one of our own yeah yes yes don't go away please turn around if you're going to leave please exit Co I've officially lost control all right excuse me please don't stand in the uh in the um the aisles if you and can someone close the doors thank you trying to direct traffic that's why we need more traffic hello everyone with a show of hand how many of you have been to uh Dr marel Luther King breakfast wow great this is a foundation which was formed about 26 years ago and every year we have a wonderful community breakfast to commemorate the legacy of Dr Dr Mar Luther King and in addition the foundation have raised quite a bit money to give scholarship to graduate in Franklin High School students in fact 230 students have received the scholarship so far with a total of over 200 close to $270,000 and this year we had a great event on the 15th of January and there is a Board of Trustees and the president of the foundation is our dear friend here Captain heaven so we have a commendation by the mayor and the Council of the township of Franklin We Philip Kramer mayor Kimberly franois councilwoman and Alex Kazi councilman of the township of Franklin in the county of Somerset and state of New Jersey on behalf of the township Council and all residents of the township of Franklin do hereby extend on behalf of the Franklin Township Dr Martin Luther King Community Foundation to Captain Shane h hean president appreciation and Commendation for organizing an active participation in the 26th annual breakfast held on January 15 2024 to commemorate Dr King's Legacy and raise the scholarship funds to help graduate and Franklin High School students this want to say first of all I don't know if uh well thank you for for this uh for this honor um I don't know if anyone ever planned an event of a large magnitude but it takes a lot of work and it's a lot of effort that goes involved it's not something that I do alone it's a team that's working with me to to create that year after year um it's not a team that gets paid it's not a a a a position that um offers a a whole lot of prestige that's why this is so meaningful to me but what it is for is for our kids here in Franklin um the the energy that's put behind it is really to get to that point in May when we could take the money that we raised and give it back to our Public School graduating seniors to help pay for their college um I'm putting someone through college now a young person through college now and it's not cheap and um you know it's a state uh New Jersey state school and it's you know it it it requires a lot of money so the effort that goes in is to help those students and help the parents that are that are helping those students from right here in Franklin to be able to afford that education so um I'm I'm I'm honored and humbled to do this every year and uh it'll always be a part of my heart we are we're encouraging young people um to join uh to join us in our efforts because um things are getting younger social media is a thing we want to be able to have more young people to be able to take the torch and pass it on to because I can't do this forever our team is getting older and we need some young energy behind that so uh you know said that 26 years from now this is still a thing so um thank thank you and Young Folks let's do this we're waiting on you Franklin needs you all [Applause] right okay just got another check so that's it it keeps coming in and we love it we thank you from the from the Muslim foundation so look um we we're still taking it our websites available if you want to donate you could always log on to ftml k.org and we will gladly accept that and pass it directly on to our students again I said no one gets paid from this that money comes in and goes right back out to our students all right thank [Applause] [Applause] you okay that's it for the proclamation we'll be having public discussion if I'll take give it a minute or two for people to exit if they want to exit we have a motion to open to the public call moved second moved and seconded all in favor say I I opposed say nay we are now open for public discussion anyone wishing to speak may do so we will have five minutes no yielding of time may only come up once please state your name and address when you come to the mic yeah that's good hope I can do it okay you hear me all right uh Jim Johnston at 34 norch place um I want to talk about my favorite subject uh preserving open space all right um um the the planning board at their uh upcoming uh February 21st meeting they're going to be having a hearing on a proposed warehouse at 785 old New Brunswick Road which is right across the street from the shop right on Elizabeth Avenue it's also across the street from Somerset run and it's and it's next to a nursing home um this is going to be a a big Warehouse right in the middle of a very busy shopping center uh it's 102,000 Square ft uh 61 parking spaces um at uh 12 truck Bays okay and um uh the and you know every time I go over to that shopping center most of the time I go over there it's very busy the parking lot is full it's hard to find a parking space and now on top of that they're going to add this big Warehouse with 12 truck Bays going out into that little road that you need to go on to get into the parking lot of the Shar R so I don't know how that's going to work and and then again it's going to be right next that's going to be across from Somerset run where more than a thousand people live in Somerset that run uh and also it's going to be right next door to a uh an an assisted living facility uh a a um a rehabilitation and nursing facility right there on Old new brck road right next to the where that warehouse will be so all the patients who live in that nursing home are going to be looking out their window and they're going to see trucks lots of trucks right outside their window all all the noise and Diesel fumes uh so you know I I just don't understand it but uh okay okay but that's um now now um you know I'm I'm not against warehouses uh but I'm wondering if this Warehouse could be relocated somewhere else maybe hm drive or Davidson Avenue because I I know that three years ago you passed that ordinance uh that rezoned uh Atrium Drive and and Davidson Avenue to be business and industry to allow for warehouses and a AGM drive and and and uh Davidson Avenue are located uh they they would be the ideal place to put a warehouse because they're they're far away from any uh residential areas they're far away from retail businesses and schools but now uh but there's one thing I'm not too clear on I I think last year correct me if I'm wrong last year didn't you pass another ordinance that banned warehouses from Atrium and Davidson because I'm not too clear but anyway that that would be my suggestion to relocate it over there Atrium or David or if it can't be relocated just cancel it because that that that is the the worst place to put a warehouse right in the middle of that big shopping center you know if if they they could not have found a worse place to put a warehouse even if they tried okay okay so that that's unbelievable but okay well thank thank you very much anyone else wishing to speak Debbie Stewart to farington Plaza I Echo what that gentleman just said about the warehouse um also um a while back we were told there would be cameras placed in certain strategic areas I can't recall where they were but I know something on Schoolhouse Road where there was a big accident a couple of weeks ago I don't think it involved a tractor trailer but I get a lot lot of my neighbors and Friends shooting me text messages and with pictures of tractor trailers going down Schoolhouse turning right onto Weston canal coming down metlers and they say to me can you show them this can you tell them what are we supposed to do here's the picture and I say first of all don't get in an accident to take a picture of a tractor trailer that's number one but what should they do with that and and how are these cameras going to work and I don't feel the right thing is call these wonderful police officers we just met maybe that's what you're saying but I have called there and the first thing they say isn't an emergency no okay now you're driving down the road and you see a tractor trailer first of all you got to pull over you got to take your time then you got to be put on hold a couple times I'm not faulting the police officers cuz seeing a tractor trailer is not an emergency I will agree with that but there has to be a reasonable way to record these and I'm also wondering how once the cameras are installed what will the procedure be and will it make sense or is it just going to be oh the cameras are there call them up okay anyway maybe you can fill me in on that so that's number one number two going to the open space um I see there's nordan's coming up but a a first reading um some of my friends in neighbors also attempted to go to one of the open two of the open space meetings recently one they arrived and the doors were locked I guess it was cancelled yeah so I think we found out if there's not an agenda on the website that means there's no meeting well anyway they got there and it was locked and there was no meeting I don't think but anyway it would be nice if it said cancelled because they were very disappointed then I think the second one might have had to do do with weather um but what I'm trying to figure out is you know we start to have this conversation last time I was here there's a church and I assume it's a historical property that's what I'm thinking but can the township since it is our money is there a place we can go to see what your rationale was what your thought process was why this should be purchased with our money and how it will benefit the township and um an easy way to look this up maybe on their site and maybe it's there and I just can't find it this property is being purchased because we think it is this that or the other thing it will be utilized by the residents or will not be utilized by the residents I want to know this stuff anyway thank you uh Benjamin guy 35 patent Drive uh just want to point out one thing um February 3rd there's going to be a Black History Month uh presentation or celebration that's going to be at the senior center um by the uh sumerset Black Caucus it's from 1: to 4:00 p.m. uh just for the informational purposes I'm not sure if you're going to have a um another Township meeting before then but I don't think so but uh just putting out there publicly so uh drinks and refreshments will be here for you know I'm saying all to be attendance so it's a free event so I just want to make sure that we're commemorating that because we had adopted Muslim heritage month but we have Black History Month also rolling up uh next month also so um just tell a friend to tell a friend for that to be uh to be out to actually put out there for public wise um second portion I just got a question and just in the future because it's going to come up um not this year but next year and the years that come um just for any infrastructure projects that's coming up that we do can we actually have a posting in the Township municipal p uh Municipal uh building about anything there and I'm just going to use example um we had roadways we had curb work that was done over the last couple of uh couple of days or or month or or alt together and the reason why I'm saying this is because we have students that have to travel back and forth with buses and because we're a densely populated area in certain areas it causes a problem when they leave when they leave equipment on the road the buses have have hard times around have hard times getting around sometimes and because we have slippery roadways if we're putting a new curve workor and their kids can't walk it causes a problem and I just rather prepare over prepared overc communicate than rather uncommunicated about certain things that are getting done in certain Wards and even if the ward people can actually uh let their WS know and send a alert out that would be uh that would be something that can be done um I experienced it directly because I live in a area where where I live directly on a an intersection where two roadways meet where the kids can't have to walk in the street and if it gets icy you can't do nothing with the kids so it becomes a potential Hazard and then we have four four buses that come that stop at that corner at all so just want to make sure we putting that out there just for communication wise um the second p uh my other things are just business questions that I want to uh want to put out there that uh just looking looking for enhancements one is um we have uh in this town we have liquor licenses that are being sold I see an ordinance uh resolution that's getting out here but also for since we're having new businesses and a lot of new people coming in here and based on quoted population right now that stay in this uh liquor license consumption and there was new Murphy um new uh Governor Murphy just passed a new uh update for a lot of liquor license that going on I think we have three that might be have to be sold in this specific town if we can post those and post those things because we have new business people that are coming in the area that are moving in this area they might be able to be interested to actually take advantage of those typee of things but they won't know if it's not posted anywhere so a lot of times when we have business opportunities that might be sitting around whether not it's uh liquor licenses or old things that are there it'll be nice to have a posting board in the Town Council somewhere that knows about old things that might need to be rent uh renovated and updated for you know economic resources at all so that's just a suggestion the last p uh one of the last portions that I want to point out is that I want to point out for uh just because uh potentially for a national election coming about I think cannabis will be on the election ballot sooner or later at all and we have we're one of the cities that we're promoting um the usage of uh cannabis um uh cannabis uh shops have popped up in our STS I think it's about be 12 that well 7 to 12 that might be licensed now in our areas but there are more that that apply for applications um to get ahead of this because it goes into school and I don't want to go back to the 80s with certain things but to get ahead of this what educational wise I think we should start communicating with the school boards and starting to get ahead of proactive approaches on how we're going to handle this going into next year as far as the school boards are concerned because most of the time kids will be experimental during the summer times and spring times and if they get in trouble for certain things that they bring in school because school property is a little different than actually recreational use we need to we need to start communicating how we're handling this portion with the with the kids going forward especially in the spring and summertime so I'm just trying to get proactive being that we just hired in new officers this is another thing that we need to start Comm communicating how we're going to be handling this but also how we're going to be taxing that and using that for public education um to actually put out there for you know I'm saying for for uh the betterment of community so that's my time for now and that's that's just my suggestion thank you uh Mike Hampton 319 Shilling Drive Somerset um Happy New Year to everyone my New Year's resolution I've been unplugged for the entire month so I missed a lot of what was going on in the town but I decided to come out tonight to the meeting um one of the things I did find out though was the new stigma Coalition what yeah stigma free um I was curious to know what the council's plan was as as far as diversity for that particular commission um speaking as a black Christian I could say the way that we have certain stigmas in every community that are a little bit different so I just wanted to know if the council has a way to ensure that enough communities because we are one of the more diverse towns in Somerset County that there's enough diversity on that particular commission more than any other because I can't tell you about stigmas in a community I'm not from or a community of people I don't necessarily interact with on a daily basis and vice versa um the other thing I'm curious about is based on the previous speaker one of the biggest stigmas is weed versus alcohol um our town has more liquor stores and dispensaries than we have full service sitdown restaurants but we're creating a stigma Coalition on Substance Abuse and Mental Health but our over promotion of two of the most argued substances is a little bit questionable to me so what are we going to do to ensure that because it's one thing to say oh we're going to get together once a month and we'll come up with some events and you know the municipal area and people can come out and we'll have posters and we'll raise money and we'll donate it to a nice cause but what is that really doing like just in the sense of are we taking proactive measures to ensure that maybe we have too much liquor being sold in the town my other question is what caused the creation of this particular Coalition Council whatever you want to call it was there a rise in mental health calls within the town over a certain period of time was there a rise in substance abuse was there a rise in substance arrest was there a rise in overdoses like what what caused this because when I brought up about a month ago about creating some sort of commission on the food insecurity crisis everyone told me about these other organizations that exist but aren't directly from the council in the state of New Jersey I can tell you we spend more money on mental health and drug abuse than almost any other state in the country besides California and Florida especially with rehabs being privatized rehabs versus non-private rehabs so I'm just confused on why what what specifically led to the creation of that particular Council or commission uh I got two minutes left so let's switch to open space uh the church that we're buying I have some similar questions I read the little page that comes out and it says you know betterment of the town or public interest like whatever what specifically I'm just curious I'm not opposed to spending the money over there to preserve that part of the town but what is that church offering to the town do they host NA meetings AA meetings Outreach programs online it says that they have 10 members that actively go there so the church itself can't be I I don't want to you know say anything but like the 10 people we have a town of 70,000 it just just it's the land with all due respect with all due respect the land please don't with all due respect please do not interrupt my time not interrupting I'm just you are interrupting and I would ask the mayor to advise him or the township attorney who handers these exact things to inform him you cannot speak over me during my five minutes he is a guest of the council at that he doesn't even have the power unless you all give it to him he has a designated amount of time he stole about exra minute like come on SO in terms of the open space even if it's the land I'm assuming it's the development rights which would then mean can we can the town decide to knock the church down and sell those development rights to someone else is that an option is that something that gets discussed at these meetings um my other question is with some of these meetings they do get cancel quite often certain meetings for various reasons I want to know if the council is willing to put in some sort of ordinance that would say you have to however many meetings you decide when you guys set your calendar for the year you have to make 80% if you can't make 80% you need to step down we can't not have things being having meetings because folks who volunteer don't show up or when you go to these planning board meetings and certain folks are there less frequently than other folks are we keeping tally of how many people that sit on these commissions that are quote unquote volunteers are showing up and not showing up and is there a standard that's set where if a person doesn't show up this many times then we're going to do something also my last minute I want to take into account and this is going to be a sensitive subject for some of you on the council Thomas Chase there's been numerous planning board meetings I've been at that he sits on the planning board one of in particular was the pulio group that came in they were the Christmas tree company they're going to be over on Atrium and Davidson he was sleeping during the presentation now there were two female members of the planning board right next to him one had to nudge him at one point to wake him up our Town's being sued because of warehouses and if I feel like if somebody were to go back and look at the cameras this isn't the first time because I've seen it on a couple of occasions as well and I want to know if the council's willing to look into this you could check the footage for yourself and if you find that he is sleeping how is that going to be addressed we can't have members sitting on the most important board in the town sleeping when folks are presenting and if they're a quote unquote quasi judicial body as the mayor has said on numerous occasions on public record I don't know a court in this country where a judge or any lawyer and you have one sitting next to you would allow a juror to sleep and then cast a vote on something and you're being sued in court and if they were to see that I'm pretty sure they'd overturn a lot of these rulings about banning the warehouses anyone else wishing to speak May seeing no one else coming forward I'll motion to close a public portion of the meeting second um for those who spoke on the wehouse uh you got to take a vote second thank you um moved then seconded we have a second second yeah um all in favor say I I opposed say nay motion is carried public session is closed thank you for correcting me on those who spoke on the warehouse thank you for the information thank you for keeping us uh informed I have been following uh that warehouse uh those comments are best delivered at the planning board meeting the cameras um around uh Schoolhouse the plan is to put up the cameras so that we can monitor the activity so we can look for patterns we can look for gee the trucks coming from Warehouse X are they tend to go down meter's Lane so we talk to Warehouse X about that we can um maybe there's times of the day that things are happening we can't give tickets from the cameras um but we we can learn habits from the cameras and uh take action from that I'll let Mr vorn Locker when and then there is additional uses for those cameras as well and the additional uses of the cameras are and and and yes I will sound like that broken record call the police call the police call the police you're not bothering them the public safety director just said that that's their job that's what you pay them to do and that's to enforce the law so that's what you should tell your friends call the police if it's a non-emergency the reason why the dispatcher might ask that question is because they might be more than one or two calls coming in at the same time and they have to prioritize calls so that will often times be the first question that they ask is this an emergency and then they'll say please hold but that doesn't mean that you don't convey the information about whatever the violation is that's being observed and these cameras can be used in conjunction with those phone calls to determine where exactly those trucks are going or coming from all right because now the cameras on Schoolhouse Road in Randolph Road and you call and say that a truck just went down Schoolhouse Road from Randolph Road or in the opposite direction whatever it might be and then it aids the police depart police officers in attempting to locate that truck it might now be backed up to a loading dock right so then they can go find it based on a description and seeing what what's happening on the cameras that's the purpose of the cameras as far as uh how they'll be used there's eight different locations that the cameras will be put up at at various intersections to cover most of the roads in the in the uh industrial area of the town we have a timetable well the timetable is all in the hands of Public Service Electric and Gas who has to be able to provide us with the electricity the cameras are in the IT department right now waiting to be installed um the property around uh East around the church uh in East Millstone we're not buying the church we're buying the prop some property around it they're they're sectioning off what two and a half acres roughly yeah there's there's a portion of land that the church currently owns that will be sold to the township not not having anything to do with the church building itself we're buying it outright we're not buying development rights and we're preserving land is the is the main answer to why we buy open space it happens to complete a ring that goes around East Millstone so it's useful in that way uh but we buy open in general We Buy open space so that people don't build things I mean it's it's it's kind of humorous to me that um excuse me that we get criticized for not buying open space and we're buying open space and people are criticizing us for buying open space um we I suppose we could post why each one is doing it but in general we are buying open space to preserve it to preserve Habitat to preserve trees all the things that people have come here and complained about when a warehouse is going up far as um liquor licenses maybe after when it's your turn Mr VN Locker you can add more to this but I don't know that someone looks in a paper or looks on a website and says oh there's a liquor license there hm maybe I'll build a restaurant someone wants to build a restaurant they call the town up and they say do you have any liquor licenses available I don't know that advertising when I first heard about that I thought that was a good idea I don't know that advertising will help uh and the world's going to change with liquor licenses when uh govern well when the new change in alcohol um licenses comes about B out um there is a uh attendance standard for committees it's 50% uh at 50% we can remove them uh our Township Clerk and probably one of her most uh hated uh um jobs that she has to do at the end of the year when we're going to appoint new committee members she compiles a list of of many things including what their attendance has been so we've taken that we take that into account when we the point the reason why I missed the vote to close the public session is because of the words about Mr Chase it's Ted Chase not Thomas chase Mr Chase has done more for this town than most people ever will I've often seen Mr Chase look like he's sleeping and then lift his head up and ask a pointed question that changes the course of what that meeting's doing so said enough Mr Bor I'm sorry any other council members have any comments to make uh yeah about one or two things that were mentioned thereor right um I believe it was Mr guy if I'm wrong sorry that mentioned about uh Vehicles construction type vehicles I think you're referring to that are parked on roads we're doing and if I'm misunderstanding I'm sorry but I do want to respond that uh in as much as I've seen instances we do a lot of infrastructure work not just roads and sidewalks but a lot of different infrastructure work around town below and above and sometimes it's very difficult to find the appropriate places to park a lot of these sometimes very huge Vehicles occasionally I agree I've seen them in spaces that at night even if you have a cone or something it could be a dangerous situation ation and and I agree but I must say that most of the time we do find really appropriate places to keep them um because of the volume of that kind of work that's going on especially with the sidewalk stuff I think you're referring to which is really important for everybody but especially school kids and disabled that as we're doing that work and we have a lot of projects scheduled all over town coming up this spring and summer that um at a public works meeting committee meeting which I'm on I'm going to ask that it's on the agenda because like I say I think do a great job I think we have to do a little bit better because of the share volume which is a positive thing but the last thing we want is somebody walking your dog or some riding a bike or a car especially at night and to Ram into the back of something um that doesn't have to be where it is so I hear you I I I I think we can um sharpen that a little bit and um hopefully um avoid any issue and just expound real quick on what the mayor was saying because he helped these old modesty helped kind of write that whole situation with attendance because it it it it used to be terrible I'm talking decades ago and uh we had a debate and some people like myself thought it should be a 75% threshold some people thought other things we landed on a 50% threshold now there could be exu circumstance someone has a family crisis or an illness and the they give what's called an excused absence but otherwise um I I I mean I agree we we do focus on that the clerk does it it's all public record is my understanding um so if you are interested in seeing the attendance records of any committee commissioner board I'm sure upon the proper request that the clerk would provide that and we are uh conscious of that because if there's not a really truly valid reason we don't want somebody taking up space and name only but on the other hand we've had so many wonderful wonderful volunteers over the years understandably sometimes their attendance cannot be um all the time so for now we're going to leave it at that and just uh take a a serious look at it each year we do our we appointments I don't know if that helps but if you're curious the data is public publicly available thank you anyone else from Council yes yes Mr Mayor I just want to make a comment on this mental health stigma uh unfortunately you're going to be okay that's fine I was going to say that but uh yeah that's clear that was talking about that very good I want to say something mayor yes Ma so one example was last night we had a Redevelopment agency meeting that got cancelled the reason why the meeting got cancelled I was sick so I couldn't make it and uh there were a few people on the board that didn't respond if they were able to attend so we didn't have a quorum and because we didn't have a quorum we canceled the meeting that that that we only have 12 meetings a year that's the first time that since I've been on Redevelopment and for a long time that we cancel meetings but people do get sick you know things come up and uh we do have a couple openings and so if we can fill the seats the likelihood of us having a a full quum if one person gets sick or if somebody doesn't respond we don't have to cancel meetings so that's one of the reasons why meetings get canceled because sometimes the the commissions the boards the Committees they don't have a quorum anyone else from Council yeah mayor if I could just mention one thing uh Dr Ted Chase um I have similar experiences to the mayor and uh interacting with Professor ameritus Chase uh who um taught at the biochemistry and microbiology at the school of environmental and biological sciences at Ruckers University I think he still does some classes now um in addition to serving on a number of boards and commissions within the municipality um uh I would say looks would be deceiving it's probably the best description um where he seems uh like he's resting and might be taken to be sleeping and then boom paid attention to every single word um he's quite an astute scholar um a dedicated public servant and it's not something any of us have have missed uh um but his work is always impeccable um he reads every single detail and provides um copious Corrections um to a lot of material and has shaped and continues to in all of his activities um positive change on a number of different subjects particularly with his background in science um and I know his uh commitment in the environment so um you know thanks for noticing we We join you in noticing um and and that's the the truth behind it thanks anyone else from Council Mr manager thank you Mr Mayor just answering further some questions um Debbie in reference to your questions about the open space meeting so certainly open space meetings which I attend all of them as ases the mayor and uh the deputy mayor uh they they're the two councils but I have I've attended all of the uh open space meetings um since I became manager um the the most recent one was cancelled and it and we post it on the website so when a meeting is canceled it is posted on the website it'll be in the news I in fact for this most recent one the reason it was canceled was there was an impending ice condition and in the interest of Public Safety we we just chose to cancel that meeting as there were no pressing matters that couldn't be carried to the February meeting um so while I apologize that someone may have come out to attend a meeting what I would always say is check the count the township website before you leave it's always posted on the township website and T Kenyon who's our land manager man agement consultant and who manages those open space meetings is is very diligent in making sure that the IT department gets it on the website should it be canceled so that that that says that as and and you know I'm not going to Echo the words of the mayor already about the the um the motivation to preserve one piece of land versus another I think I had a pretty indepth conversation with you at the last council meeting in reference to that topic and what drives and and what is the motivator to acquiring property and the number one the number one even more so the mayor says preserve land trees all those other things but the number one compelling reason that that drives the township to pursue a piece of property is an interested seller all right because without an interested seller without someone who actually wants to part with their property it makes it very difficult to buy that property um you know you know Mr Johnston talks about the property at Old New Brunswick Road and New Brunswick Road that is on the on the planning board uh agenda I'm not going to discuss the the application itself but he infers that that should be pursued for open space that property owner has there's a building on that property and that building owner has no interest in selling that property to the township of Franklin we pay a rate of pay that he would have no interest in because he has you know these visions of of a great deal of profit by constructing a warehouse there um and it's in a Zone and that property the the time of application rule for that it the application was deemed complete before any ordinances were amended so that that application is a valid application to the planning board to answer your question Mr Johnston so that that's the that kind of puts that in in some context hopefully um Mr gu questions about infrastructure I think councilman fanella did a very good job of answering that what I will say is that all Township construction is uh the ongoing work is on our Township website under the Public Works page and also nixel are put out daily when that work is being done and I I just not questioning anything that Mr gu said uh as as to time frame but generally concrete work and asphalt work doesn't get done past the month of November because weather conditions don't allow for concrete to be poured beyond that time frame and asphalt plants shut down so you can't get asphalt to pave roads so that work wouldn't be done when it's generally icy conditions although it certainly could be rainy I certainly won't you know say that liquor licenses liquor licenses are sold by auction sealed bid auction the township doesn't just say to a person who's interested in it sure we'll sell you one here's the price it has to be by sealed bid auction so the posting of availability is kind of irrelevant to someone people will approach the clerk's office and ask if we have any um liquor licenses available liquor licenses both distribution licenses and consumption licenses are based on census population and the most recent census allowed for us to have more consumption licenses and distribution licenses we sold our distribution licenses no longer have any available consumption licenses if someone approaches the town and says that they would be interested in purchasing one then the elected officials can consider whether or not to sell another one and that's the reason why I think we have one on the agenda um for sale um as far as the mental health and substance use disorder stigma Coalition we'll call it uh I think that's Council I'm sorry Council so this is part of the mayor's Wellness Campaign which is a nationwide uh organization that that municipalities take part in um we're a we a a uh um community that has gotten involved in this over the last several years it's a program that um generally is under the um the management of safy ker special projects manager th this is not about a program Target substance abuse it's a program targeting the stigma attached to people who have mental health issues or substance abuse substance use disorder which which is a clinical diagnosis and it's people who suffer from those disorders both mental and substance use disorder often times feel alienated and and and not part of the community and and that the community is not welcoming to them they're Paras and this council is to hoping to work towards you know a better understanding of those conditions and us becoming a more compassionate Community as it relates to people who suffer from those disorders so I don't think that this has something to do with the state spending a tremendous amount of money on Mental Health abuse this is addressing a different level in that it's looking at trying to become a more compassionate Community as it people who suffer from those those things and if I I I would strongly encourage those people in this room who want to have a better understanding of that additional information it relates to that and how the community engagement can be done but most importantly attend the meeting on um February 21st at 6:30 here in the municipal building RSVP there's an email address and a phone number for safy on our website it's the banner one of the banner items on the township website um you know the email address no one's going to write this down but people may be watching TV if you're interested is healthy franklinfranklin nj.gov um safy kalen's extension on the main Municipal number is 6427 RSVP and coming get involved all right that's the way to get a better understanding of what this um effort is about I think that was all of them Mr Mayor now I I don't have to report that in my my manager's report later because that was one of my report items you don't have to RSVP to come yeah so because it we are asking for RSVP to determine the room because there's other meetings that night we currently have it in a large conference room but if there's a large number of people who are interested in coming then we would move it to this room that's the only reason why just to to get an idea on the number just didn't want people to shy away if they no absolutely not I mean if last minute you can come then come absolutely you don't have to RSVP we're asking people to RSVP so that we can determine the room size okay um we are now on to council comments and uh reports we can start uh to my left with councilwoman Udin thank you so first I want to congratulate our uh police department for soring in um our latest newest police officers I think um a lot of what's happened we're getting a lot of phone calls on home break-ins and I'm positive that our chief will be on it and as she mentioned her tips and uh tricks is to keep your lights on and um invest in a a good camera which will help um I also want to uh talk about the Muslim heritage month so there's been quite a bit of um events in the last two weeks that happened um the first one is the nor night that was put together by the kma team that was here earlier today um they did a phenomenal job if you attended you would have seen um so much culture Traditions or put together um performances uh traditional um food and um uh performers by the dka team I think there was a Sufi swirling um so a a lot of things went together and they did a great great job of just putting it together within two weeks so about I think 4 to 500 people attended the event in the Senor Center which was a great turnout so thank you to them on top that um we also had last Sunday the MH the Muslim Heritage Month Coalition had an event in Double Tree and about 2,000 residents showed there so another phenomenal event with a lot of performers educational um knowledge sharing and um a lot of good food so thank you to to both of the organizations for putting it together I also um attended a a festival in the library called um Pongo Festival which is um uh happens in in taml Tam which is south of India and it's uh Thanksgiving to Nature Farmers farm and animals basically a kickoff for the farmers and um Pungo festival means so many things to so many different um cities within or countries in South Asian continent and um very similar Festival happens throughout and um it's it's usually a kickoff of all the great um agricultural uh farming that's going to take place one thing that I want to point out as on the festival um that we went to uh there was a Franklin Warrior student who um shared with us uh a book that he created or he actually um interpreted it was called the eagle or the eyed the egg eyed uh chameleon and carthic you're here right carthic is here um so thank you caric uh for putting that book together um at your spare time and uh just giving it to the library so that our residents can read off of it and just uh you know he's he's my son's classmat so very proud to see him uh be very successful and I I know you're going to do great caric so thank you um yes uh you know one thing the mayor mentioned um on the festival was that there are 72 languages spoken in Franklin Township 72 and I thought that was a a great um just showcases our diversity in town of how many people and religions and ethnic backgrounds and just you know we're we're uh increasing in numbers of diversity and it's just so much to be thankful and blessed to be in in a town such as Franklin um uh let's see okay so the other thing I attended was the ml breakfast um congratulations to Captain Shawn and the staff and the kids for putting together an awesome program um I love seeing kids take part in programs and just uh having them there with the dancing and you know just showcasing their talent was um very nice so thank you to that team um that's all I had mayor thank you so much thank you uh just to switch things up councilman karazi mik thank you very much and uh it was a pretty busy uh three weeks for me Mr Mayor uh but first I want to thank the public work department uh for doing an excellent job in clearing and salting the roads in fact I got my first call from a resident complaining that their roads uh is not clean and by the time I return her uh call she said everything is fine so that was great so want to thank the Tona manager as well for uh coordinating that I also spent quite a bit time uh with the township manager and safety director as well as uh director of public work department just to be oriented and um they were a couple of uh committees and board advisory meetings that I participated the first one was the uh Advisory Board of Health and during that meeting we discussed uh about the health assessment done in the township and the board will be reviewing and planning to select couple of the recommendations from that assessment that will have the most beneficial health benefits to the residents and uh also uh m the chairman of Advisory Board had attended a meeting of the Somerset and hunterton safety Community Coalition and one of the requests that they made which I shared with you mayor and as well as Township manager is to have uh nxen in the AED boxes in case there is a case of drug overdose to be used to save lives so I think uh going to be looking at it and maybe Township manable it might have already been done at this particular point I tried to do it the next day fantastic to the police department and because they have a police officer also on on those committies they had already reported it back as well great great thank you so much and also the uh Advisory Board requested Township to become a member of New Jersey local Boards of Health Association to allow them to uh get useful information and this is being done as we speak uh their next meeting is on February 7th at 7:30 which will be in person in the conference room across the hall uh the other uh committee that I I attended was the trail advisory committee and uh this was uh a zoom meeting and uh they reviewed the final Franklin pathway and Trail plan and it is a extremely uh comprehensive plan which clearly identifies the vision for Franklin Township's trail system over the next 10 years and I also learned that we have over 70 miles of trails in our Township and which is managed of course by the municipality somerson County and state of New Jersey and the new plan contain contains site specific recommendation for uh Trail development improvements and enhancements to make these spaces usable safe and welcome coming for franklen residents as well as the visitors so we encourage uh resident to really take advantage of these Trails their next meeting is on February 14th at 7 p.m. and it will be in person um this week I will be attending two more uh meetings one is the uh tomorrow is the human relations commission meeting which will be in the large conference room across the this Hall it's going to be at 700 p.m. and I understand that Deputy Mayor is going to be guest of honor during that meeting to talk about his goals and plans for the year and uh also by the way HRC has two openings and one of them um hopefully will be filled tonight which I believe we going to be talking in shortly and I Friday I will be attend the senior citizen advisory committee meeting that's at 10:00 a.m. and again it's open to uh public and that one is going to be at the senior centers uh we didn't have Hamilton Street Advisory board meeting this month and I had the privilege of attending four great events and uh Council woman Shea mentioned all of them and U I just want to congratulate uh our uh Franklin High School student this is the book that he translated from Tamil it has five children stories it's really great and I encourage people to buy this or definitely we will have one in our school library we thank you very much for that and other uh events I also participated in those events and lastly Mr Mayor I attended a dayong training by leag of conservation voters and uh actually we had several other elected officials uh and newly elected officials from other townships and in fact one of them from Berkley Heist as to uh get a copy of our uh threee removal and replacement ordinance uh because they are trying to implement the same thing and um I we provided the link for them to take a look at it and thank you deputy mayor for arranging that that's it Mr Mayor thank you councilman vasella trying to keep us on our toes mayor um anyway I was referring to the order of which he calls us uh a couple things I don't want to be repetitive here did go to the MLK event great event been to the majority of them in the last couple decades um moving along I know they were here and we've mentioned it I just really want to and uh not to be disrespectful I believe if I wrote it down I was a little hard hearing Rocco Ashley Mary isal and Patrick who are now sworn officers of this Township if I got any of those names wrong I apologize I was trying to write while everything was going on um we don't take lightly I don't I know everybody up nobody up here takes lightly that these people have sworn and taken a note to put themselves In Harm's Way if necessary to protect every single person in this Township and uh when when push comes to shove that's what it comes down to and uh I feel blessed and proud and although one of them wasn't and they're going to do a great job anyway to find out that the um uh other four or five the majority of them seems like most of the higher now with police are coming with from Franklin some that have lived here their whole lives that's a fantastic things because when you're here putting your life on the line to protect people uh to understand the people and the landscape and everything about it I think just makes it a little bit more of a connection uh not that we won't take and have wonderful officers that don't live here or grow up here but again thank you congratulations and we keep you in our thoughts and prayers and please be safe um went to Central Jersey Housing Resource Center which I'm On The Board of Trustees for nothing major report a few other meetings I'm really just going to mention now the um public safety meeting we had because there's a couple issues I think are worth updating I'm on that committee we had it earlier tonight uh councilman Kazi uh was also there um and before before I do sorry before I just read out some main points from the meeting um something was mentioned about snow we had a pretty mellow snow storm or whatever you want to consider it fortunately but it's still relatively new rule so I just want to mention and because it's integral it's very important us doing a great job with snow removal and salting and everything else uh we you have other than a few streets a few streets that are designated and I believe the people know that live on those streets every street every other Street in this town you must take your vehicle off when it is snowing um it's spelled out exactly when but obviously if you're getting a Storm you need to remove your vehicle you know put do it safely but your driveway your lawn if you have wherever a friend's house but that is really an important part that in the past has kind of interfered with doing a stellar job because you can't you know if the cars are on the road so I just want to mention that because people are think are still getting familiar with it and if we have a really big snowstorm that's going to be a a a very relevant uh anyway quick quick read out on a public safety committee meeting um arrive together alternative responses to reduce instances of violence and escalation is when we send a mental health expert along with the responding officers I know it's been talked about here previous uh the director gave us an update we've had 80 responses since October that they the person or I don't know if we use a couple of people professional has gone and went on these calls and if I remember the meeting correctly cuz we talked about this in quite a bit every single instance there was not um nobody ended up harmed I think somebody officer may have gotten bit or something but basically there was no injury um to the people involved in the situation and that is a not like we have a big history of people getting hurt but obviously when you have a mental health issue that is what I think they said half of the instances that involve fatalities at police responses in the state of New Jersey involve a mental health issues so I just I think that program is great we're monitoring it and um it it is today today's world probably more important than it ever ever was so just to give a little update on that program um we are uh we ordered our command poost vehicle which can do a lot of things but in case of an emergency God forbid can actually be like a mob police station if needed fides many other uses uh we got the funding mainly it's mainly being paid through grants that our uh legislators the district head by Joe Danielson assemblyman was able to get the bulk of the money I know that's been told said here before but point is it's ordered it should show up this year uh guess kind of like a car you're getting customized they building it to spec and it just takes time but the goal is that that will be here in arrival and I'm sure you'll hear more about about it but it's been ordered and that that was a major step in in that process the um last thing I'll mention is the oh we're have an entry-level test it was mentioned that we recruit um especially locally the test to get sent to the police academy if that's your choice of career it's free for residents um and there's a slight fee for non-residents but if you know anybody that's interested in a career uh please the first step is to take entry level test exam and uh there's one this spring and summer and whoever does that successfully would be in the academy um in the first quarter of uh last quarter of this year or first quarter of of of um of n uh 2025 um it it moves quick and and we changed the way we did that a few years ago and I think it's great that I think the results that we saw by the people sworn in tonight is is is partly based on on our um let's just say um initiative there um last thing you heard her comments so I'm not going to repeat them except she said please remind people I'm talking about our director of Public Safety call call call if you see somebody I'm not talking about trucks and that stuff for a minute not that that's not important but I don't go down the whole list but these burglaries were we are focused on she very Proactive or forces but a lot of this is people who however ways they disguise them being there or don't disguise them being there if you see anything anybody any vehicle even if someone looks like they're a vendor um it's very easy for the uh police to confirm if somebody is legitimate or not not trying to have everybody be scared but her message she said please repeat call if you have you know use your discretion if there's something happening in the moment you think is an emergency call the 911 if you don't call the uh non-emergency but if you don't know or don't have the non-emergency her instruction was call the 911 if it has to do with something suspicious and important in the moment but please they they they truly need the resident help in um getting over this situation so I just want to emphasize that uh thank you mayor thank you councilman Oni Jaa thank you mayor is with infinite happiness that today we West African Community watch a full integration of the West African Community into Franklin Police forceing in Patrick Kell very happy about it the young man Patrick yes I knew when Ambassador M was mentoring him in Franklin here now he turned out to be what we are all proud of No Doubt MRE will be happy wherever he is today marks a very substantial and distinguished time and day for the West African Community today happy about it thank you mayor thank you um this councilwoman uh franois okay thank you mayor yeah I would like to also say congratulations to the police department and the new officers that were sworn in today I'm very pleased that the diversity of the township is being increased and represented with with the uh police officers within the department I also want to give myself a pat on the back because I heard that there were some of those police officers that were sworen today that were part of the Franklin youth initiative Police Academy we started that police academy uh years ago with Captain Sean hubman who was not a captain back then we spent many years working to get that Police Academy up and running and so I'm giving myself a paddle on the back to see that we actually had some police officers go through that some some children go through that Academy and become police officers it made my heart very warm and the other thing I want to say another pat on the back the Martin Luther King breakfast started when I was the mayor back in 1997 I know the Von Locker gets Mr Von Locker gets all the credit but I was back there then too and I was was the mayor back then the first one we had I would get credit for going I would get credit for going to everyone you moved away to Colorado for a while you missed a couple I got to go to all of them yeah you got to go to everyone no I did not but it was a wonderful breakfast it's always a good breakfast and I want to say Kudos uh and I'm very thankful that Captain Sean hubin is the chairman of that breakfast it's always well attended very inspiring and I'm glad that it has sustained itself for all these years one 3 years the Legacy continues thank you Mr Mayor you tell are you telling me I got to come up with a breakfast probably and now introducing our Deputy Mayor well it is hard uh to to stay thin in Franklin because every holiday and we have such a diverse Community is celebrated with wonderful food and it's insulting not to eat every last ounce and try every single course um including the very successful Martin Luther King Jr breakfast and as well the uh Muslim Community with the um nor KN and and and all the different um celebrations um so I want to congratulate those folks both for recognizing um the Muslim faith for governor Murphy recognizing it in the council um particularly during um in these difficult times um where folks are really feeling a lot of islamophobia and heightened a sense of insecurity uh from threats it's you know heartwarming to be able to come together and and recognize an important part of our community um and the breakfast is just outstanding and Captain he has just been outstanding leader in my time on the school board picking you know up with with with some of that um and and transitioning as they went on their own another facet of their growth and their independence which has just been quite spectacular um I don't have a lot more to say except I want to give um a shout out to um Police director spru for her leadership her which is tremendously strong um it's consistent it's compassion compassionate and also inclusive and you know making the community aware of things they can do to help deter crime and what to do if they see something and we've always say see something say something um that that's an active proactive measure um and I commend her for for doing that and if you haven't seen the ABC clip where she was on the news earlier um and I would say I would say watch it you know it's it's very informative um I'm grateful to have her leadership but all of the officers and I'll end with you know everyone's mentioned our new officers with the whole Force were very appreciative of that the safety that they provide and but so many other services um when we're in times of need which are very much appreciated thank you thank you I also want to again acknowledge the police and the ones who were sworn in police force is looking more and more like Franklin I was glad to actually see a police officer that I'm taller than I'm sure she would appreciate you making note of that mayor um the uh and and Patrick coming on as the first uh uh West African to be on our force uh is very gratifying he uh West African Community has been very good to me uh and I'm glad that they're being represented um uh we had a financial oversight meeting where we discussed uh another partnership with the um School Board using our art funds for a program they want to do um we had some questions so we're going to hold off or now as we get the questions answered and hopefully start that program a little bit delayed um and you've been close to that if you want to add what it is welcome to do that far we can wait until we get it done we can wait till we get it done okay uh and we discussed uh salaries for our uh judicial uh team which we rest the council will hear about when we uh get to the budget and um Deputy Mayor chimed in but uh Mr vasella said it correctly call call call it I call them probably once a week because there's a part of a log on a street which they don't take care of they send it to public works or maybe they go and look at it and put a cone in front of it or something but all that that's that is what they are there for and if it's not if it turns out to be not important that's what the um dispatchers have been trained to do figure out what's important and what isn't they're very good at it so you're not bothering them please call because there's I I've done a ride along I've done seven ride alongs the you're you're covering one little area at a time driving around you're fishing it'd be great if somebody out there was telling you here's where the fish are please let them know that to help you that's all I have Mr Mr Mayor if I may just give the telephone number one more time I don't think people know that that is a very if it's non-emergency the number that you should call is 732873 2300 so please save that on your phone just remember 732 873 2300 now of course it's emergency 911 is the best number to call correct thank you and manager so good analogy Mr Mayor this like you know fishing I like the analogy very good one so um and and I'm I'm G to I'll I'll be the broken record on this because anyone who happens to watch this all of you will go through this some people will watch this on on TV on recording um countless countless countless major cases throughout Franklin Township Somerset County New Jersey this country the world have been broken by somebody who saw something and told the police department what they saw um when you talk about how crimes are often solved it it is like fishing in an ocean but if you can if you can make it a much smaller ocean smaller smaller small and you get that tip from somebody who says you know I saw this car or I saw this person who looked like this and and you let the police department know that information you might not know why your information is helpful but it's it's case after case after case when I was a detective got solved by someone saying you know we just saw this car parked in in you know down the street from our house and we don't recognize it and it was that call that broke 55 residential burglaries in in the levit development I mean that I mean I'm not making that up that's a case that that I handled um and so that's what you need to do so broken records sometime is necessary um the only other thing I have to report Mr May on upcoming events is on Friday February 2nd right here in this room um there will be a blood drive also happens that while February is also Black History Month it is also um Blood Donor month I guess National blood it's National Blood Donor month exactly what it is according to my website here um and on Friday February 2nd from 9:00 a.m. to 3 p p.m. we ask people to come here and donate blood the the area is always in need of blood this is the New York blood center um on our website you can make a an appointment to donate your blood or you can come here without an appointment and they will still take your blood um just like you can still go to that meeting even though you don't RSVP you can give blood with an RSVP or not so um we ask people to uh to give the gift of blood and I think that kind of wraps it all up for tonight for me Mr Mayor uh thank you since Mr Wright isn't here I'll I'll be the one to take two bites of the Apple uh I forgot to mention on Valentine's Day I will marry all comers um as many as the people come to get married and they have to come up beforehand to get license Etc uh I will marry many this will be a celebration of weddings um hopefully will'll get many people married um do they need to RSVP they have to pre-register okay um mam clerk do you have anything no I don't thank you how about you Township attorney why do we pay you to listen and witness okay very good um Council discussion items we have none but we have minutes to approve I present the following minutes to the township Council for approval Council work session regular meeting November 13th November 28th and December 12th 2023 executive session no I didn't do the didn't do the executive session they're presented for approval um do I have a motion on the minutes so move second and seconded any discussion any corrections Adam clerk councilwoman franois yes councilman Kazi I wasn't here so I won't pass mayor Kramer yes councilman on jaka yes Deputy Mayor pnik yes councilwoman uden yes councilman vasella yes approv of the warrants in the amount of $1,992 6815 on January 23rd 2024 presented to the township Council for payment do I have a motion I move that the warrant is where be paid seconded move to and seconded discussion anyone like like to pull an item question an item Adam clerk councilwoman Francois yes councilman Kazi yes mayor Kramer yes councilman Oni jaka yes Deputy Mayor basnik yes councilwoman Udin yes councilman Vasan yes there are no ordinances for second reading but we have some ordinances for first reading first reading is when we announced to the world we're considering an ordinance second reading is when we actually vote on it uh and the public has an opportunity to speak at the second reading for our first reading is ordinance 442-4841 more particularly section 384-1954 Council to be held on Tuesday February 13 2024 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers do we have a motion uh to uh introduce so moved seconded moved and seconded uh any discussion that we do this every year um we have to by law to set the connection fees to uh water system someone who wants to any other discussion councilwoman franois yes councilman Kazi yes mayor Kramer yes councilman Oni Chaka yes Deputy Mayor pnik yes councilwoman uden councilman vasella yes ordinance number 44 26-24 uh an ordinance amending the code of the township of Franklin County of Somerset state of New Jersey more particularly chapter 226 vle Les and traffic providing a new section 20 uh 22635 road closures except for emergency vehicles providing for closure of a portion of Brookline Avenue to all traffic accept emergency vehicles the forgoing ordinance is presented Township Council for adoption on first reading uh posting and publication in accordance with law on public hearing and final adoption at the meeting of the township Council to be held on Tuesday February 13th 2024 at 7 p.m. and council chambers do we have a motion to introduce so moved second moved then seconded um the very end of Brookline uh has um a uh sewage Authority Pump Station um sometimes people are uh of in the area are parking their commercial vehicles they're overnight and it's blocking them from getting into the station so they're going to close that portion of the road and um put up a chain so that uh they can get there that station has some propensity to flood is that right no I there's no propensity to flood I thought uh I thought um the director said something about that you often have to go to that station okay no the the pump the pump station is one that's maintained daily by the by the sewage Authority so they have to be able to get in and out of the pump station and when it's blocked by Vehicles not always necessarily commercial but any Vehicles Park it's a dead end so people park at the dead end and they Block in the uh the pump station and and the sewage Authority has the does to get in to go do their daily maintenance and we want the Pump Station to be daily maintained because when that pump station doesn't work it's not a good thing um okay any other discussion Madam clerk councilwoman Francois yes councilman Kazi yes mayor Kramer yes councilman Oni jaka yes Deputy Mayor pnik yes Council woman Udin yes councilman vasella yes uh the next item is is uh ordinance 4427 d24 an ordinance accepting a conservation easement from Royal Somerset Inc to the township of Franklin for property known as block 502.040 two also known as 315 Davidson Avenue the forgoing ordinance is present the township Council for adoption and first reading posting and publication in accordance with law on public hearing and final adoption at a meeting of the township Council to be held on Tuesday day February 13th 2024 at 7:00 p.m. in the town council chambers I have a motion to moved second moved and seconded I think it's pretty self-explanatory any discussion CL councilwoman Francois yes councilman Kazi yes mayor Kramer yes councilman Oni jaka yes Deputy Mayor pnik yes councilwoman oudin councilman Vas yes the next two ordinances are both uh about um property that's been spoken about earlier in East Millstone that we are uh buying uh because it's government we have to do it twice to get one thing done uh ordinance number 4428 d24 ordinance to acquire uh uh by purchase or condemnation certain lands within the township of Franklin County is summer at state of New Jersey pursuant to njsa 42-13 a property known as East Millstone Methodist Church also known as block 73.1 lot 4.01 and commonly known as 4 Elm Street East milstone New Jersey the forgoing ordinance presents to the township Council for adoption on first reading posting and publication in accordance with Law Public hearing and final adoption at a meeting of the township Council to be held on Tuesday February 13th 2024 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers um can I do the two of them together no no no now you really earned your money motion to approve do I have a second to Second mov in seconded um we've discussed this throughout this meeting uh it does say condemnation which is eminent domain that is not being used in this case it's just the terms of art that we have to use here um any other discussion mam clerk councilwoman Francois yes councilman karazi yes mayor Kramer yes councilman Oni jaka yes Deputy Mayor basnik yes councilwoman udine yes councilman vasella yes ordinance number 4429 d24 a capital orance providing for the acquisition of the property known as East Millstone Methodist Church also known as block 73.015 one and commonly known as 4 Elm Street East Millstone New Jersey in and by the township of Franklin in the county of Somerset state of New Jersey [Music] appropriating sorry uh $261,500 therefore there from the open space trust fund of the township of Franklin to pay for the cost thereof the forgoing ordinance is presented Township Council for adoption of first reading posting and publication accordance with law on public hearing and final adoption meeting of the township Council to be held on Tuesday February 13th 2024 at 7 p.m in the council chambers do we have a motion so moved seconded move then seconded any discussion I just want to mention one thing with this um Township manager for Locker I believe it would have been four houses that would have been able to probably legally be constructed on this parcel if it could have been more than that depends on the grading but overall it's I'm looking at the property right now it's what 2.2 72 it's in the r10 so that's 10,000 square ft each acre is 40,000 square ft so that's 880,000 square fet plus some you got to build a road um there is some grade down toward closer so I mean I'm going to say a minimum of four maybe more maybe more yeah just so folks have an idea so thank you thank you you any other discussion mam clerk councilwoman franois yes councilman Kazi yes mayor Kramer yep councilman non Jaa yes Deputy Mayor basnik yes councilwoman udine yes councilman vasel yes thank you uh consent agenda the items uh a through n as listed in the consent agenda portion of the meeting are presented Township Council for adoption to we have a motion on the consent agenda moved second then second any discussion anyone like to pull an item to discuss an item CLK councilwoman franois yes councilman karazi yes mayor Kramer yes councilman Oni cha yes Deputy Mayor basic yes councilwoman uden yes councilman vasella yes uh we are on to all business boards committees commissions vacancies does anyone have a nomination yes I do Mr May may we have uh on the uh human relations commission as I mentioned we have two openings and uh I am happy to let you know that uh we have Dr kamla Sharma who has uh expressed interest and filled out the citizens interest form which everybody got a copy of it so I would like to um uh request approval of uh his nomination to become a member of the charc okay any other nominations so I have a nomination for Tanya Burson Cultural Arts there's two openings there guess I could nominate her for the one expiring on 2026 yours was for human relations they're identical so you don't have to specify any other nomination ations can do this by acclamation all in favor of these nominations say i i v say nay motion is carried congratulations uh Miss charma and M bertran um so um we have a resolution uh 24 05 sorry 2453 uh authorized executive session for contract negotiation AFS CME 2426 senior managers for 2021 through 25 to the township Council for consideration do we have a motion to go into executive session that was a motion in the second uh any discussion Madam clerk councilwoman Francois yes councilman karazi yes mayor Kramer yes councilman Oni jaka yes Deputy Mayor basnik yes councilwoman Udin yes councilman vasella yes so unlike it's typical that we go in there and then we just come out and adjourn there is an action we will come back into public session out of executive session so moved second moved and seconded all in favor say I I opposed say nay motion is carried we are back in public session um so resolution uh 24-54 I present the resolution 24-54 uh authorized exe execution of afscme 2426 senior manager contract January 1st 2021 to December 31st 2025 to the township Council for their consideration so we have a motion so moved seconded seconded any discussion Madam clerk councilwoman franah yes councilman karazi yes mayor Kramer yes councilman Oni jaka yes Deputy Mayor basnik yes councilwoman UD yes councilman vasella yes that concludes our business do we have a motion to adjourn so moved seconded and seconded all in favor say I I opposed say nay we are Jed bewell Franklin