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 meeting would take place at the municipal building at 700 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. If we could all stand for the pledge of allegiance and
then remain standing for the invocation by Deputy Mayor Sheepa Udin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. If there is to be peace in the world, there must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, there must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities,
there must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between neighbors, there must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the home, there must be peace in the heart. Amen. Please call the role. Councilman
embarrass here. Councilwoman Francois. Councilman Karazzi here. Mayor Kramer here. Councilman Ni Jaka here. Council member Bataznik. Deputy Mayor Redine here. Councilman Vasinella here. Councilman Wright here.
Uh Councilman Pataznik is out of town uh saving the uh Earth. Um that's his job. Uh so I move that we have make it an excused absence. Do we have a second? Second. All in favor say I. I. opposed.
Thank you. Um, well, commendations and proclamations. We have six of them. That's a record. It It's a record as far as I know. That's for sure. So, council members, a target, I'm not going to
limit you, but a target towards three minutes would be great. And the Faulner Act does not require you to read every whereas. So uh we will start with the Sierra Leone Independence 64th anniversary.
Councilman Oni Chaka. Okay. You don't have to read the whole thing. Yeah. Do you have anyone here to receive it? Yes. Okay. We're not doing well on the threeminut rule.
You didn't you didn't stop the clock. Yep. Keep it. Here we go. All right. I think that is working. Great. Thank you, Councilman Karazzi. So, we're here once again uh to
acknowledge the independence of the uh anniversary of independence of Republic of Sierra Leon. So, read this. Whereas the Republic of Sierra Leone gained its independence from Great Britain on April 27th, 1961, ending over 150 years of
British colonial rule, marking this year as the 64th anniversary of independence. Whereas many Sierra Leoneian organizations and individuals in Franklin Township are dedicated to the principles of civic, economic, and educational programs by encouraging the teachings of African culture and social
contributions of largely West African immigrants. And whereas the Sierra Leone Ser Leoneian American community has established deep roots in Franklin Township, contributing significantly to the rich cultural diversity and economic vitality of our community. And whereas
Franklin Township wishes to acknowledge and acclaim the contributions of our Sierra Leone community to the life of our community. and where Sierra Leone path to independence represents the triumph of self-determination and democratic values principles that are
cherished by the citizens of Franklin Townships in the United States of America. And the celebration of the Sierra Leone Independence Day is a time of freedom, responsibility, peacefulness, and loving that reminds us of the sacrifices made by numerous heroes and freedom fighters to secure
freedom cherished today. And therefore, Councilman Charles on Ajaka to my left and myself and Mayor Phil Kramer and the entire township council hereby proclaim April 27th, 2025 as Sierra Leone Independence Day in Franklin Township
and encourage all residents to join in recognizing the cultural, social, and economic contributions of Sierra Leoneian American community to our township and participate in celebrations and activities commemorating this important occasion. Now, of course, this occasion happened a couple of weeks ago,
and it was a little uh low-key this year, but uh for those who don't know, we have an incredible um West African community here in Franklin Township, uh several countries, probably Sierra Leone being uh the largest as far as how many people have been here and for how long.
And anybody who doesn't know the history, I'm not going to go into it now because we have a lot of proclamations, but please, not only did they go through um everything it took to become independent just 64 years ago, but then about 20 to 30 years ago had a lot of civil wars and strife between themselves
and neighboring countries, which still unfortunately today goes uh probably is one of the most unknown and uncalked about tragedies and genocides uh I in the world. But anyway, it's a great country. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being part of our community and
we look forward to um the contributions you continue to make on behalf of the community. Thank you. Can I just finish? Yes. Okay. Honoring the life and legacy of Lemen Alazar. Okay.
Whereas our community mourns the loss of lamemen Azen, a distinguished community leader who served as chairman of the serialonian community of New Jersey with unwaving dedication and exemplary
commitment and lame men was instrumental in the recognition of April 27th as Sriian day in Franklin Township, demonstrating his commitment ment to preserving culture, heritage and
fostering community connection. Whereas as Alman was known for his humility and inclusive and ensuring that planning committee under his leadership were diverse and
represented organ represented organization across the the community and now therefore we councilman Charles on Jaka and Jim Vaslina and the mayor Pramer on behalf of The township council
do hereby honor and commemorate Lamin Azim for his exceptional service to our community. his his tireless advocate for life of countless individuals both in
New Jersey and in Syria alone and dedicate April 27, 2025 as lame to commemorate his contributions and inspire others to follow his example
for selfless community service. [Applause] Thank you very much. And um I'm not going to bellay the point, but first of all, I want to say thank you to Mayor Kmer and the dynamic um councilman and council women here and also the audience
present here. As um our um our councilman said, um um Vasinella, James Vasanella, we had been in this partnership forever. This is our second home. And over 14 years ago, we made our 50th anniversary. And it was wonderful.
And we promise that come next year, our 65th anniversary will be a big bang and a blow for everyone to see. That will show how rooted we are in this township. With me, I have my elder brother and colleague. Uh Mr. John Sambar. He is one of our key men in the community. And
also Charles of course is also a brother of mine. And we have a cross-sectional people here. So and since there are so many proclamation to be made, this has been a wonderful event for us because 27th of of of April, we had through the
the the dynamic work of the cler, we had a proclamation and we were in the field raised the flag and said the the proclamations both proclamation for the for us cerealians and for Mr. Lamin Dagazi who has been our lifelong
chairman now passed. So we're happy the They recognize him for his his work and we will continue to serve this great township of of Franklin and make sure that we all collaborate and do the best that this township should have. Thank
you. [Applause] Mr. Mayor, good evening everyone. I am really honored here to invite couple of my uh good friends,
Rabbi and also Mr. Gary Rosenthal who is the chairman of the human relations commission and Rabbi Garingel is the rabbi at Temple Betal. And I'm sure you probably know by now which uh American
group I'm going to be recognizing their heritage. And so it's my honor. Mr. Mayor, by the way, since you're the Jewish, would you like to come also join me? Just let that blood circulate a little bit. All right. So, anybody else would like
to join? Please welcome Whereas Jewish Americans have been an integral part of American society since colonial times, contributing pro profoundly to the social, cultural, and
economic and political fabric of our nation. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I know you would. Whereas the Jewish community of Franken Township has deep roots enriching our community through their achievements in
business, science, medicine, law, education, philanthropy, and public service. And whereas Franklin Township celebrates the the diversity of its residents and recognizes the importance
of educating citizens about Jewish history, culture, and the ongoing fight against anti-semitism. And whereas JewishAmerican Heritage Month provides an opportunity to appreciate the achievements of Jewish Americans and to
reaffirm our commitment to the principle of religious religious freedom established by our founding fathers. And whereas Franken Township stands firmly against anti-semitism and all forms of
hatred and recognizes the importance of fostering mutual respect and understanding among all residents. And now therefore, we, Alex Kurazzi, Councilman, and Philip Kramer, Mayor of the Township of Franklin, County of
Somerset, State of New Jersey, do hereby proclaim May 2025 as Jewish American Heritage Month in Franklin Township, and encourage all residents to participate in appreciation to appreciate activities
and programs that celebrate the heritage, culture, and contribution. ution of Jewish America. [Applause] Thank you, Alex. On behalf of the Jewish
community of Franklin Township and as the chairperson of the HRC, it is with honor that I e accept this proclamation that and those words which you just
expressed. I'm also pleased to present our uh local Jewish leader, Rabbi Gingerel, to say a few words. I have nothing prepared, but that never
stopped me before. Um, I'll just say that I am grateful to uh as a Jewish American and I'm grateful to live in a place like Franklin Township uh which really has the the secret sauce. I wish that what we have here could be spread
all over the nation. If we could figure out exactly what it is and put it in a jar, then we could sell it in Costco or something like that. Uh but uh the the very diversity that makes being a Jew so comfortable in this town is the same
thing that makes it so comfortable to be a Muslim, to be from Sierra Leone or what whatever you have. You you you have always probably lived in a diverse uh community. So you don't know what it's like out there. And let me tell you, it's not so diverse. uh and uh it's
really a a joy uh a pleasure and most of all a privilege uh to live here. Thank you. [Applause] Left my phone in the car. Okay. Okay. Thank you.
We get we get we get double the time, right? Which one you doing? All right. Good evening everyone. So, it's my pleasure and honor today uh to celebrate the AAPI Heritage Month. It's
a AsianAmerican Pacific Indian Heritage Month. Every May uh has been designated as uh as such. So, uh we have made it a custom to uh proclaim May as a heritage month again and invite the few community
leaders from Asian community. So we are all so this is we Franklin Township is 100% Americans right so every subgroup is Asian-American Taiwanese American Jewish American so we are a perfect town
a diversified very well and uh we represent all communities uh in a unified fashion and we live in harmony and we are proud of that fact. So today I'm going to read a proclamation. I'm not going to read all of it. I have
strict orders from the mayor. I can't exceed 3 minutes each. So that's three three nine minutes. Mayor Oh, okay. All right. Only three. All right. Okay. Whereas Franklin Township is home to a vibrant and diverse Asian-American and
Pacific Islander community that has contributed significantly to our local economy, cultural landscape, educational institutions, and civic life. and to the last paragraph. Now, now therefore, we Rahman Basange, um, Deputy Mayor Shepo
Udin, and Council Philip Kramer, Mayor of the Township, Franklin, County of Somerset, and the council members do hereby proclaim May 2025 as Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in
Franklin Township and encourage all residents to participate in programs, ceremonies, and activities that celebrate the heritage. culture and contributions of Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders to our community and nation. Can
I can I invite the community members to come up here? Yeah. Yeah, we can as well. So, yes, come on in. So, I also want to invite Ming and his family um and anyone else that would like to come and join to be part of
this AAPI proclamation. So, please feel free to join us. Safy, you're the official photographer. Let's move back. Yes, let's move back. Yes. No. No. Council. some investinella.
Thank you so much. Thank you, sir. [Laughter] Okay. Well, anybody, whoever needs to. I know. I know. I'm Okay.
So, uh, ironically, I'm going to say this proclamation kind of affects every culture because I don't think there's any culture or quite frankly any person in this room that to some degree hasn't struggled with some kind of mental health issue. And unfortunately, a lot
of people struggle with ones that get serious, turn into crisis, and can become catastrophic. So, on a more serious note, I'm going to read this proclamation. It's actually pretty short. in considering the complexities of this issue. Anyway, whereas mental
health is an essential part of overall health and affects one's physical health, relationships, and ability to thrive. And where whereas one in five adults will experience a mental illness and one in five children either currently or at some point in their life will have or had a serious debilitating
mental illness according to the CDC. And whereas for too long the stigma associated with mental illness and substance use disorders have prevented residents from seeking the treatment they need. And whereas Franklin Township is a leader a real leader in Somerset County to end stigma and to increase
access to treatment services through the efforts of the Franklin Township Stigma Free Council. Now therefore, I, James Vasinel, along with my colleague, Councilman Alex Kurazzi and Phil Mayor Philip Kramer, uh, do hereby proclaim the month of May
to be mental health awareness month and urge everyone in our community to reduce stigma by signing the Franklin Township Stigmafree Pledge and cultivating a stigmafree culture. Um, we have a couple representatives here
from Thank by all means. um from the stigmafree council. I recently became the liaison to what I believe is probably um one of the most important uh groups technically they call
themselves council. So I don't want to say committee but seriously probably one of the most important one that um I and others probably wish was around a lot longer but they've done a heck of a lot of work in the short time they have been around and uh probably uh there's no
other issue in my mind that is entwined in like I said every demographic and just about every culture and since Franklin has so many we want to be there in the same way to help in so many ways with anything to do with this issue. So, I'm going to turn the mic over. Uh, I'm
sorry, Councilman Kurazzi is going to say a couple words and then if the chair or whoever from the stigmafree council maybe could quickly tell people more about that because I think it's still very much unknown in this town. Thank you. Thank you, Cas. I just wanted to also introduce uh the chairman of
advisory board of health, Donna Lesi. and in a in a advisory board of health the mental health we talk quite a bit about it and the ways that we can help the people and so forth. So we are really closely connected to this stigmafree group as well.
Good evening. Good evening. Just want to make sure you're out there. Um, May is mental health awareness month and I am saying this with joy in my heart because Franklin has fast become a place where
we will not tolerate stigma. We will not tolerate judgment. We will not tolerate shame for those that are just seeking to be healthy. The pursuit of health and happiness are longtime concepts. So we are out here supporting those that are
pursuing health and happiness. The stigmafree council is um united in creating programming and education opportunities and awareness opportunities um to battle stigma whether it is substance use disorder
stigma, mental illness stigma in any and all forms. So if you want to join us in this mission, please come to the community senior center which is on the other side of the complex 6:30. It is the third Wednesday of every month. Um,
if you drove in today and you noticed that the lights were green, that is because May is mental health awareness month and we are lighting it up green with mental health in New Jersey, mental health association in New Jersey in order to show our support. So, we ask
that you show your support as well. And if you would like to sign the pledge, we have the pledge on the computer right outside in the hallway. There are two computers where you can just sign your name. You can also sign on the board that we have here. I have a very
intricate signature capturing technology over here, which is a pen on some ribbon. So either way, um, we would appreciate you and we want you to stand together with us in our mission. It is lovely for us to be talking about
something that's so important to me during a time where we're also honoring Sierra Leone because I'm Sierra Leoneian and and Bob is wearing Sierra Leone colors. So you're welcome, my friend. Welcome. So I just want to acknowledge Phyllis Beiel. She is my co-chair um for
the Sigmafree Council and here in Franklin where I have worked for quite some time, I am the um special projects manager for the township. Please feel free to email me or Phyllis or Stigmafree and let us know what we can do to support everyone. Okay. Thank you.
Oh, speaker. Um, just really quickly, I'm sorry, just really quickly, we are having a speaker on the 21st. The um, program is called Stand Together Veterans Suicide Awareness. A speaker is coming in from the VA to talk about what
resources are available to veterans that are struggling, to their friends, to their family, and that will be 6:30 on May uh, 21st. Thanks. Awesome. Okay. Thank you. Information I work in a
I'm coming over and I wrote a book about population and I will give you some of that wonderful exist. Awesome. We thank you. We thank you. It's mine.
[Applause] All right, we made it. Uh, do I have a motion to open to the public session? So moved. Second. Moved and seconded. All in favor say I. I. Oppos say nay. Motion is carried. We're
open to the public uh for each me each member of the public can speak about anything to do with government. You have five minutes. No yielding of time. May only come up once. Please state your name and address. Yeah, certainly.
Late in the first right spin it around for you. Perfect timing. Perfect. Good evening. They can't hear you. Let me begin again then. I just had a wonderful dinner at the
pink pistachio. I highly recommend it. Whoever gave them their license, you great thing. Nobody knows about the pink pistachio. Okay. It's hard to get in there, isn't it? Tell us who you are and where you
live. I'm going to I'm going to get to that. And you know I'm Tolman on Tolman 57 Tolman. Shirley Tolman. And gosh am I revved up here tonight, Mayor. I am so glad you're back. Not to say that Deputy Mayor Uden
didn't do a wonderful job while you were gone, but we did miss you. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay. two two things that I have on my mind and I got four and a half minutes to do it. First, uh, Deputy
Mayor Uden, you and I had spoken briefly and I You and I had Good. You and I had spoken Oh, that's better. Okay. You know, I haven't been here in a while, so I'm a little
rusty. Okay. you and I had spoken briefly and uh I told you that I would get back with you regarding a program that you're working on and I would give you five inputs. The first one and I believe that
Dr. Kramer will agree with me here is stress. Stress is a big issue for seniors and certainly warehouses hasn't helped it at all. But enough said about that. Under stress, I would put that it
leads or comes from loneliness. So that would be another thing. It can lead to suicide. Which is extremely sad and serious. It can lead to Alzheimer's
disease. And then fear. Fear is right up there with stress and that wonderful program that you put together for us, Mayor Deputy, uh, with the FBI coming in and talking with us that highlights some of the
fears that we have with scamming. And I thank you again because I learned a lot there. The the three FBI representatives were excellent. Okay. Now, um I want to move over to the
business that I had with the township manager when he told me last time that my my idea was not a good one. Well, I'm coming back at you. Okay. And I have called the mayor, excuse me,
the uh government office of the city of Eugene, Oregon, where I resided after I was married back in the 70s. And I worked for the same kind of government that we have here. Strong
manager. We used to call it weak mayor, but there's nothing weak about you, Mayor Kramer. Understood. Okay. So, moving along here, uh, the sub I don't know. Let me just bring you up to date here. What what I'm dealing with here,
trying to find a solution for, I don't believe cameras are going to work to keep those tractor trailers off of the roads that they're not supposed to be on, namely Metlers and Weston. Well, I guess they're allowed on Weston, right?
No, they're not even allowed on Weston, but they keep coming, especially when 287 is blocked, backed up. Where else are they going to go? I can't fault them, but we have to stop them because it's dangerous.
So, uh, in talking with the, uh, representative at the city of Eugene mayor's office, they're both the the manager is now retired and the mayor is now retired, but they have a pretty
good traffic department. and he said that even though those are tight, those roads are tight, there should be a way to build a roundabout. And that's what I am advocating for. And you can smile all
you want, but I have a drawing here on a napkin or a bill from the pink pistachio. And if I can do it in five minutes, certainly you can look at it and make it better. We have land on all four corners that we
can buy into if we have to. It doesn't have to be an interstate turnabout because we don't want people speeding and we certainly don't want the high school kids gunning their engines at
that intersection and someday they're going to kill somebody including themselves. So, I would like to work with someone to show them the idea. Thank you.
While you're there, which intersection are you talking about? Uh, Mayor Kramer, I'm talking about the infamous corner of Weston and Mettlers. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak?
My name is Carol Peterson and I live at 12 Lake. Mrs. Peterson, just try to go closer to the mic. Over here. Yeah. Yeah. The TV won't hear you if you're not. Okay. Um, I've lived here 46 and a half years. I lived in a nice neighborhood with nice people. I've
worked at a hospital with somebody from every country in the world and I've gotten along well with them. Since March of last year, my husband and I have been having a
neighbor that we now are calling harassment. We have vandalism of the back door. We've had yesterday, sometime during the night, and later today, vandalism of the
garage door. My husband is now in the hospital for the second time with congestive heart failure. I would like somebody from this council and perhaps Mr. a rayon. It might have to be you
that sends my neighbor at 10 lake a letter stating his property line ends where the fence runs down. He does not own 81 12 Lake the 80 by 150
property just because there's a piece from another lot that ran across the back of Tan Lake and he thinks it's his property. Have we done anything to him? only once
called the police because he set up a tent with a PA system and was making noise with a PA system after 10:00 at night. I know another woman in the neighborhood with children has called
and I don't think he likes being interrupted in what he's doing. I now have a junk yellow car that leaks gas and oil sitting next to the fence. I've called and asked zoning to please have
it removed. I do not want my property contaminated. We do not burn. We do not toss garbage on the ground. And we do not leak oil and gas as he has done down the storm drains. So, if somebody could
please please send him a letter tell him where his property ends and send him a copy of the ordinances in Spanish so he knows exactly what they are. I would appreciate it because as I said, we used
to have a very nice neighborhood. We don't anymore. Thank you. Anyone else? Thank you. Good after Good evening uh respective council members. I am Prabhakar Ja. I live in 23 Princeton Highlands and I am
here to please close the I am okay better now. So I'm here to uh know the status of the signal that is traffic signal that is uh requested at the Princeton Highlands and route 27 intersection. uh I know that there has been lot of progress and initial approval had been
given uh but it's been 2 years and uh three summers I think uh in between so now with the summer coming and kids at least teenagers back in the community who will use the even if we tell them to go from the other side they just try to take the shortcut and uh just because of
the speed limit that is at the intersection you know people just try to zoom in because it's 50 and even people don't you know stay within 50. So it's quite dangerous like you know there have been accidents I know that in Franklin Township it may not have been captured
all of them because some of the land is other side is southbound police department. So um I but I total incidents that happen at the intersection is definitely substantial and I know that there is a progress being made. I just wanted to request if
there's any way we can expedite the the overall process. I know there are multiple players in the picture but thanks for supporting all along and hopefully it will come very soon. That's about it. Thank you so much. Thank you. Anyone else?
Good evening. My name is Abinod Gupta and I live at 8 Eagles Pass, Princeton in this township. Uh Mr. Mayor and the councilman, I like to make two points. First, thank you for the pro proclamation of uh celebrating American
Indians and South Asians or Asians actually and my colleagues. Thank you so much. We really appreciate it. Uh I would also like to uh join uh my uh neighbor Prabhakar J who already spoke about the intersection and the missing
traffic light on Route 27. at the intersection of Route 27 and Goldstar Drive. I live in that town uh uh neighborhood and I commute to New York every day for the last 5
years. I can tell you it's very very scary. Many times I have almost hit an accident and I'm fortunate to be alive here. Once I was crossing the pedestrian
way and somebody coming in a car instead of respecting to stop there he what he did he spit on my face that is the condition there we have
to have a traffic light there I really appreciate the council has supported and really helped us getting our various uh approvals from a state but this is still an unfinished business. We need to complete
it. Please take it to a logical conclusion. Thank you. Hello Mayor Council Doc Cunningham from Stout Court Somerset. Mayor, welcome back from your international trip. I understand we missed you last time. Good to see you back here. Normally when I
visit the council meetings, I'm trying to give an update on what we're doing in civics and much of the time I try to keep it light and easy. Every so often I get the sense that there's a need to
share more context or maybe even go a little deeper. Sean Heban and I were having our normal strategy discussions recently and we were thinking about and discussing some of the things we anticipate doing over the next uh 100
years and I was reminded of this quote that says you can't lead where you don't go you can't show what you don't know you can't
grow what you don't sow. And so it's in within that context I want to offer a few additional bits of information in terms of what we're doing with civics. Many of you,
I'm sure, have seen and heard the frustrations outpouring at town halls all across the country. Folks are, as what one person once said back in the day, sick and tired of being sick and tired. And I think part of the
challenge we have as public officials, you guys, as regular citizens like myself, is to fully hear and appreciate what these concerns are. And I'm going to give a quick example. I like to connect the dots, as you know,
between history, civics, and culture. But I'm going to give a quick history example to give a sense for the type of information we need to be sharing with everyday citizens so they
understand how we got here as a country. Right? So real quick, I'm not going to give you the long version, but John Adams happened to be the second president of the United States. And when he ran for office, he ran on a platform of grievance.
He did not like certain groups of people in the country, particularly those who aligned themselves supporting the French because this was the time of the French Revolution, right? He also did not like certain media in terms of how they
described and responded to what he was doing. So John Adams as a second president, it was the one that signed into law the Alien and Sedition Act. That act has four parts. One of
them being the Alien Enemies Act, which is what's being used today to justify mass deportation. All right? So let's hold that thought. So that's John Adams ran on a platform of grievance. Fast forward a few decades and let's
talk about Andrew Jackson who ran on a platform of hate. He was the one who was instrumental in signing the Indian Removal Act which was responsible for forced relocation of Native Americans. If you've heard of the term Trail of
Tears, that describes that period. Again, I'm giving you the fast forward version. So, let's fast forward. So, so Jackson ran on a platform of hate. Lastly, let me talk about James Buchanan who was the president that led
into the civil war. He ran on a platform of divisiveness. Historians say he had a back channel to the Supreme Court and they cut some deal that contributed to accelerating moving towards the civil
war. So, what am I saying? There are three former presidents. One ran on grievance, one ran on hate, and one ran on divisiveness. Well, what we just experienced in the last election was one side, one party running on all three. We
got that full bowl of wax of grievance, hate, and divisiveness. And here's the kicker. What you run on is how you govern. And so all the chaos we we've been experiencing is directly tied
to how that one campaign, that one party ran their campaign. So again, I realize I'm running out of time. I just wanted to share a little bit of history, but I'll close with this. I heard uh Senator Booker once said once said that the
power of the people is greater than the people in power. and I spend the last 5 years trying to understand was that meant to be just a catchy slogan or something seriously that we can entertain. I hope that as a council we'll continue to explore that question.
Thanks Bill Connell, 25 Spring Street. Hi everybody. Carl, last time I was here, Councilman, uh you were eating a donut. Did you have dinner? You everything okay? You got here? Good. Excellent. I just want to make sure you had enough to eat. Um you good. Love you, too. Um
first off, it was nice to see Rabbi Garfinkle here tonight. Um I am a Roman Catholic, but basically I raised my kids Jewish and the people of the Temple Bethl community um were very kind to me, including Gary and his late wife, uh
Roseanne. And I just it was just nice to see him being honored and and and uh uh it just made me think about my child raising experience and how Temple Temple Bethl community uh you know you know respected me and and it all worked out
very nicely. Um what was the other thing? Um I have been um thinking about bike helmets and ebikes. It really in like when you go to a city like Washington DC, you see them a lot more and it's amazing how many
people don't ride the uh ride bikes with no helmets and I assume it they're not going to go away. Um now I thought there was no law at all but apparently there is laws. Okay. But I don't know either a you know I guess when you get these
things you you you should know but it doesn't seem like it's messaged at all that people treat them like regular bicycles and not and um and I can tell you I've been in a few situations where they come up on me and not good. Um and
uh I thought there was something else but I forgot. Anyway um have a good evening. Uh Benjamin Guy, 35 pat drive. Um just had a basic question. Um two things just point out. Um one is u Memorial Day is coming up. So I know we're having a um
there's going to be a parade in the area on um May 26th. I think this is the last council board meeting before that uh before that portion. So I just want to uh just want to bring that up and see whether or not uh somebody's going to talk about the the parade or anything else that's here. Just inform the public about that. That was one thing. The
second portion is um there was uh two things that would happen um from the last time we had this uh meeting. Uh one is um um um Councilman Ram and uh also Carl had a affordable housing portion. I just wanted to see whether or not they was going to give a summary report um
from their uh council comments about that pretty much because I guess based on attendance and just public uh public opinion about certain things that are going on because uh I know the town's trying to restrict the number of units that we're trying to build based on zoning requirements and everything else. But I think that public session sort of
showed you that there is a growing need base in this area and because of the uh because of how the county actually manages it and u Miss Clark actually stated it in the meeting herself before she left is that we've grown where we
need additional assistance in that specific area. And the reason why I'm bringing that up is because we did the needs assessment that was done u from the state department. And the reason why they're they're putting that number there is because I think based on the growing need that is in this this region that I know Franklin Township might have
done a good job in the past and we we try to applaud applaud the people that have done it in the past. I think there is a basic uh better needs uh needs assessment uh that we actually probably need to actually look at and how we're going to grow over the next 10 years. The reason why is because in that last
meeting that was there I guess and I'm not sure you guys can clarify this when you talk when you talk altogether I think we only thought it was going to be a small number of people that was going to actually come come to that meeting um it probably triple what you actually expected during that period of time frame and the reason why is because
there's different needs that are actually unmet at this specific time frame whether or not it's workforce housing whether or not it's nursing housing whether or not it's just affordable housing periods uh that are there and right now currently as a town I don't think we really assess that on a separate agenda and because the lady
Miss Clark she only handles and manages with certain developers that are here based on her own statements is that we look at and we don't look at the wards and we don't plan out accordingly based on our planning portion to actually do what we really need to do. So this is something I think that we really need to undertake and look at um as a separate
portion all all together. So that was one thing. Second thing is um I brought this point up before and I know uh we have to separate out the conversations. I know we're spending the opioid money and we put the opioid money to just put towards back towards taxes, but I asked this question because it was raised at
one of the gentlemen. He was kind of heated at the last thing about the cannabis portion. the cannabis portion. I think me personally and I don't know what what you guys can do is that I think this needs to be set set up as a separate thing because it's just like it's a growing growing tax base that's
going to be here, you know, beyond this board and everything else that's going and starting. I think from a county uh from based on how we rolled this out, this should be looked at as a a subset to actually be looked at in a discussion in a separate board at all because how
it was handled with this township council altogether. Meaning, we wrote it out, we opened up the doors, we we let a lot of people into the doors, but it was never communicated properly how it was handled. And then we jumped at something else and we reformed it. And then now we're collecting tax base that's small,
but it means something to certain people in the community because uh for cannabis itself, the product itself and the municipal and the use that is there, it impacted a lot of people lives, mostly brown and black people uh brown and uh brown and black people lives at all. And because their voices are never heard in
this community on a regular basis, not communicated, I think they should be a part of the conversation on how that tax base should actually be paid uh should actually be used going forward at all because that was really what the state use was for and that's what Ron Rice and everybody else got behind in the beginning when they actually made this
made this sort of made these laws up at all. And I don't think that is really being communicated and it's just be pushed under the rug and that's why you're getting the push back from certain people in this community at all. So these are just my g general points and again I just want to make sure that you're communicating is right because
the people that's impacting you're making decisions for but you're not really communicating very well to them about you know saying about what what can be done for them all all together. Thank you. Anyone else? Javon Walker 15 Street. Can you
hear me? Yep. Perfectly. Um, I'd like to say I'm very impressed by the proclamations that you had today with Sierra Leone, the AAPI. Um, I'd like to give a personal testimony, my own travel stories along with reason why I'm here is my first travel experiences outside
was as a study abroad student from Ruckers and I went to the Czech Republic to study um, Jewish studies in Central Europe. I like the I like the class. It was a three-week course. We went to a concentration camp, terrorism shot, where it opened a love of travel for me.
And I believe that traveling, you you learn culture, you learn experience, you learn language and so forth. I've been in the Galopagos, Buddhist monasteries of South Korea, Cuba, uh the pyramids of Giza. There's so much that I've learned from all cultures, language- wise,
culture-wise, experience-wise, and history-wise, that I think we can always make improvements into where where we live. And myself as the fourth ward township township council candidate, I'm trying to at least improve Franklin
Township from a standpoint that one day I can replace Councilman Wright or whomever on this on this council and try to improve Franklin Township to a level that everyone can be further proud of this township. And I'd like to say that we can do everything possible within the
township to improve. It just has to be the right people, the right policy, the right governance, the right questions being asked. I think that there there are so many improvements that we can have in Franklin Township. And I just like to announce myself as a candidate. Um, if it's possible, I'd like to ask if Councilman Wright will be okay to having
a further discussion in the next couple weeks before the end of the primary debate. Um, maybe I can get an answer for that. But as for right now, I'd like to just announce myself. Also say thank you for the proclamations. It's awesome. Um, and that's about
it. Anyone else wishing to speak? Mayor, seeing no one come forward, I'll motion to close the public portion. So moved. Second. Moved and seconded. All in favor say I. I. Oppose say nay. Motion is
carried. Uh public portion is closed. It's time for us to answer the questions. Um Mrs. Tolman, the purpose of the cameras um is and some people have suggested
that we give tickets using the cameras. We can't do that. The state of New Jersey has uh prohibited the use of cameras for identifying cars, doing making traffic violations and greeting
the license plate and issuing fines or tickets that way. Um but What they can be used is when someone tells us they're seeing truck traffic coming down schoolhouse road, we can look at the camera, identify the truck,
then look at the films from other cameras and back it up and we might be able to figure out which warehouses the offender that these trucks are coming from and then speak to the property owners uh so that uh they can talk to
the truck drivers. That's one way. Perhaps Mr. Vorn Locker will have some other ways we can use them. As to the roundabout at Weston and Metlers, I'll let Mr. Vornlocker handle that since he's got so much experience with traffic.
Um, I'll leave it to Mr. Vornlocker to look into Miss Peterson's issues uh as appropriate. Um, Princeton Highlands intersection. Um, I've been in discussion with Mr.
Warn locker about that. I'm going to cover the uh call the um uh head of the HOA tomorrow to discuss where we are with that. Um Doc Cunningham, I too have never been able
to forgive John Adams for the Alien Insition Act. It's the main thing I hold against him. Um I can't get beyond it. Uh Mr. Connell, uh actually Mr. Mr. Vasinello, you responded to Mr. Connell's email. If
you want to comment, all I'll say is um I believe that Trenton should revisit the issue and I believe that education uh in response to what he said probably is the one place that we can do better.
I think we do some but I think we can look at that as an opportunity to educate um young people especially I think was your concern but everybody with bicycle safety um and uh we obviously we council doesn't direct a
police department but perhaps they can um our director who's wonderful at dealing with current issues especially at this time of year I'm hoping maybe could um provide for us at public safety meeting any of her ideas for possible initiatives to counter that. But that is
a serious issue and I thank Mr. Connell for bringing it about. But most of it does lie in the state's hands. Thank you. I'll address some of that as well. Okay. The last sentence that you just said. Okay. Well, when you So, I can jump in
on that. So, so, Bill, I I received your email as well. Um, under the motor vehicle code specifically, and I I'll give it to you. I can email it to you as well. Under 394-197, the Motor Vehicle Code
specifically uh disallows municipalities from enacting ordinances that would supersede chapter 4, which is the the chapter under which helmet laws exist
um by ordinance. So that this council doesn't have the legal authority to adopt an ordinance that would exceed what the state of New Jersey requires under title 39. So it it's one of the things where they don't have the power
to do that. Um, ebikes are an interesting little kind of dilemma that law enforcement has in that the way that the law was written, it it breaks ebikes into two
specific categories. Those that produce uh 750 watts or less and those that are 751 watts or more. It talks a little bit about the the cc's of an engine. That's
where you get into the old moped laws. Um, mopeds require helmets. Bicycles don't for those over the age of 17. So, it it it's kind of a uh I don't want to say it's a gray area, but it's a difficult area for enforcement because
when you see an ebike, without stopping it, you can't tell how powerful it is and you can't stop it without probable cause, right? So, you know, it's a motor vehicle violation like any other motor
vehicle violation. So unless you have some cause to investigate that bicycle or that ebike, you don't have the right to stop it. So it it kind of puts the police officer in a difficult position. But not
that I'm defending my former profession, but I'm defending my former profession. It's a little bit difficult. It's a little bit of a catch 22. Catch 22. Absolutely. So that's that's bill. And then I can go back to the beginning here. Um roundabouts. So, Mrs. Tomman,
it's an interesting interesting idea. Unfortunately, I I don't know that it would particularly work at that location. And here's why. According to um the the Federal Highway Administration, the design criteria for
a roundabout requires the installation of what I would call mountable curb. You know what mountable curb is? Means that a truck can drive up and over it. In particular in that location, it would be necessary for fire departments. So if you have a fire company that's right on
Amwell Road that would respond to Canal Walk, for instance, that fire truck would need to be able to get through there as well. A 50 uh wheelbase 50 truck would have to be able to get through that intersection. There's also a business on Metler's Road that would
also need access. So it would require mountable curb and and if you go there's a roundabout in Bound Brook, right? When you cross over the Queens Bridge into Bound Brook, look at the curbing on that roundabout. It's so that a truck can go up and over the curb because of the the
long wheelbase requirements of uh the turn. Uh so it it's not you're it's not a beall endall solution here. Not to mention that one of the corners is county open space. So we wouldn't be able to use that corner for land. So
there's a lot of lot of things that would have to be looked at. If you want to suggest it, I would say you suggested to the township engineering department. Okay. So you're not going to take it all? I I just gave you my answer on what my opinion is. If you would like it
investigated, we can have a discussion with the county engineer. I mean, I'm sorry, the township engineer. But I would like to work with you. I I'm done giving you my I gave you my opinion. I don't think it will work. So, I'm not going to spend time trying to investigate it. Okay. No discussion with
the audience, please. Okay. So, that you can have a discussion with the township engineer, Darren Massie. I believe you're familiar with him. He's the one at all the planning board and zoning board meetings. The count Mr. Borlocker, please stop discussion with this is time for it's
time for council to answer questions. Um, Mr. Guy, thank you for pointing out the parade and all the other wonderful things over the past few council meetings um that council is doing uh in this town. Uh you keep pointing out the
great work we've done, the great work Mr. Wright has done. Uh you're once again wrong about affordable housing, characterizing it as we're trying to restrict units. We have gotten time after time after time accolades about the great work we are doing with
affordable housing. It's interesting that you have decided to align yourself with a party whose likely nominee for governor has wanted to end Mount Laurel. So that's where you stand on the situation. You seem to be wanting to be
with a party that wants to end the Mount Laurel decision um and reverse it. Um the opioid money is not going to help with taxes. The opioid money is dedicated to opioid uh prevention. And
uh we promised the um voters that the cannabis money was going to go to uh relieving tax burden. Uh so if you don't believe in keeping campaign promises,
that's your issue. But we do. Um, that's all the answers I have. Does anyone else have any other answers? Mayor, I just want to thank Doc for the great uh history lesson. Thank you so much. Very educational. Appreciate it.
Any other council comments or council responses? Um, okay. We are now on to council comments. Mr. Wright. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I only have
two. One is for an organization that's near and dear to my heart. Having had I think you're having had cancer. Um, the sister sister to Sister Network is definitely on my radar. Uh, they're having their 25th uh, anniversary
celebration on Saturday, June the 27th of 2025. And the theme of it is passion and purpose celebration. Now, the president uh of the organization and one of the founders is Miss Dorothy Reid. She's the
president. And in talking to her, um, she said, you know, this is about cancer and sometimes it's about that cancer that we as men don't want to talk about, but we as men have women that have this type of cancer and we should
talk about it. And I told my wife, you know, getting those mammograms and and and going to see the doctor and doing those self breast examinations are something that we as
men should hope that they do. We should encourage them. We need to have them do that because the last thing you want to hear is them coming to see, and I hate to say it, me, I'm a funeral director, so you know, I got to push this. I definitely want women to go out there
and do that selfexamination. I definitely want them to get those uh uh breast exams by their doctor because in the end it'll save their lives. It'll save the husbands and more importantly it'll
save the kids because um kids need to know about this also. So um the website is s number22s cnj.org and definitely buy a ticket.
Definitely come out. It's going to be held out in Bridgewater um excuse me out in precipitate at the embassy suites um 11 to 3 and I think it would be uh a good
thing for everyone to go see a good thing for us to support especially those of color um because we have been underserved underserved in this area for a long time and Um, we need to get that done. Councilman
Wright, I believe it's in Biscataway. Piscatoaway. I'm sorry. You said Barcipany. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Pipony on the brain. I'm sorry. Sorry about that. Uh, also one last thing. Uh
Junth on June the 14th of this year, the 14th, we will have our annual Junth parade uh held at Nean Walk Nean Marcus Nean Williams Park. My wife got me on that Marcus deal, upscaling it. Nean
Williams Park uh to be from 11 to 3:00 p.m. Um and it's a celebration that is picking up speed. Uh every year we get more and more uh vendors, more and more people that
want to come celebrate with us and more and more people that want to come to find out exactly what is Junth, exactly why is that a day that we as African-Americans celebrate? But it's
not just about us celebrating because even though it's basically us as a party individuals as a race, it's for everyone to celebrate because it's somewhere down the road in particular in between the sheets, however you want to do it,
everyone celebrates freedom. Everyone celebrates when the yoke of oppression is taken off of someone. So when we look at Junth, let's look
deeper than the parade, ladies and gentlemen. Look underneath the sheets. We all have those things underneath the sheet that we need to bring out in the daylight to say this is what we did in the past. This is why we can't do it in the future. Some of us want to go backwards and and close up and tuck in
the sheet so you can't see anything. But ladies and gentlemen, at some particular point in time, and we all have to do it, look underneath. pull the sheets up and say this is something we can't allow happen anymore. And it's happening now far
corners of this earth. It's happening. Wars are everywhere. Genocide is happening. Slavery is happening. So I guess what I'm trying to say is look, come out for our Junth celebration, but come out with your own celebration
because you too have been oppressed. That's it, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Wright. Um, let's see. Councilman Bassinello. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you for those comments,
Councilman Wright. Um, just three quick updates. One having to do with affordable housing. Actually, Central Jersey Housing Resource Center, which I'm longtime board member of, had its annual fundraiser um brunch. Um,
long story short, it was very informative. They had a panel uh uh uh structure this time as opposed to just having a keynote speaker and our own planner in town, Mark Healey, who's uh leading our uh one of our leaders in
this affordable housing um round for Franklin. He was one of the panel represent panel members and our own um uh director freeholder um Chanel Robinson was a moderator. Anyway, the bottom line is uh you know, I thought I knew a lot and I do, but I learned that
day. There was more stuff. Uh this is a very different, as our attorney has pointed out, different uh way of they're doing it and uh uh than the past and also allows for I think a better outcome. Bottom line though is um if I could for a moment pat uh us on the back
and I mean collectively Franklin Franklin still honestly is looked at uh as a prime example of how to do affordable housing. And I'm not going to bore you with all those details, but uh I'm proud of that. And is it perfect? No. But it's, how do I put this? Probably one of the best literally in
the in the state as far as how we've handled it collectively over the last several decades and and especially recently. So, moving on real quick. Uh the something wasn't mine. um Eastern Avenue study there there was
one a Zoom uh whatever you want to call it Zoom a uh virtual um presentation by the study team and anybody who lives in his township uh that is familiar with uses or knows of Eastern Avenue please take a look at the program there's 30
day there's a 30-day window and I say the program it was a presentation that went into details from lowering the speed limit to discontinuing lefthand turns turns to reworking intersections to putting uh uh boulevard like um dividers and and sidewalks. There's just
so much stuff. The project's not happening for five or six years as far as the construction, but this is a 30-day period for the public to chime in. And I can tell you cuz some of those ideas that they cultivated and and tweaked out were direct results of our study team, our township staff, myself,
and other officials and the public. They take what you have to say serious because they know you use it every day. Some people have been using it for decades. Please go on online. My understanding is there's a link on our website. Uh there's a 30-day review period. We're already about a week into
it. So, please, it will be literally a once in a half century rework. The last time anything this significant was done for the East Corridor was the 1970s. Please, please take a look at it and voice your opinion. They will listen. I can't swear that they'll take your um do
exactly what you're asking, but it will be part of the official record and considered. The last thing I'm going to mention is uh just a quick followup um question as the manager was talking about the electric helmets, I mean the
electric uh vehicles. Uh just the clarification in our parks uh and you can wait till the rest of council is done in the manager's report but in our our parks I I don't know a couple people have asked me if electric um bikes, skateboards, scooters, any things that
people move around on electronically if they're allowed to be used on our like walking trails and that kind of thing. It was just a question that came to me. Otherwise, uh hopefully the state will move forward because Mr. Vorlocker described it right. I know I think a couple times in the past I brought up to
him and and that's how I actually learned a lot about this from from his uh initial responses to me because I think several of us are concerned about what unfortunately is accidents waiting to happen. Thank you, mayor. Uh and hope
to see everybody at the um Memorial Day parade. Thank you, Councilwoman Francois. Sorry. Sorry. Oops. He's died. Look at that. Yes. Okay, my mic is on. Sorry I
was late. I work in New York. Anytime it rains, the traffic backs up no matter what. People don't know how to drive and it's just it's crazy. I only have two things to say, Mr. Mayor. We're talking about uh organizations and celebrations. The New Jersey Orders is celebrating its
40th anniversary this Saturday. And um the New Jersey Order started right here in Franklin Township. So, if anybody has been around for a long time, you should remember Mr. Hunter, James Hunter. He was the original founder, my fraternity brother. Yes. Go ahead. Talk about that.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. I'm hoping I'll see him there. Uh, but I I just wanted to mention that uh the New Jersey Orders is a organization that's been around. It started in Franklin Township. It's homegrown, but it's established all over the state of New Jersey and other
states, by the way. And uh they teach our young people how to speak. and it's had many many impacts on many many youth throughout the years. So, um, everybody got an invitation. Hopefully, some of you will be there. And then the other thing I wanted to say is, um, I'm doing
a plug here. I want to thank the, uh, Franklin Township Chamber of Commerce for giving me a public service award last Wednesday. and some of my council colleagues were there. The mayor, Councilman Brahm Amberson, Councilwoman
Udin and Councilman Wright and his wife. I think Councilman Charles forgot about it because you bought two tickets. I bought two tickets, but you didn't show up. Oh, yeah. So, he was still supporting me in in spirit and in truth. It was a beautiful, beautiful event.
uh very well done and um I'm very honored uh and humbled by what happened that evening. It was very nice event and I want to thank the chamber for acknowledging the work that I've done over the years. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. It was welld deserved. Well, thank you,
Councilman Embarrass. Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. When I grow up, I want to be like you. uh councelor, congratulations on your work and continued uh service to the community. Two more years. Two more years. Okay. Uh anyway, um I just want
to um point out another traffic study on Hamilton Street that the county undertook and there was a presentation some time ago and they identified uh one of the intersections uh at Hamilton Street and Home Street as the most
dangerous uh because of a number of uh accidents that were happening there. Uh anyway, I I brought that message back to our township manager and he commissioned uh our engineer to uh uh go there and uh
and scope uh what the issue was and I think uh uh he came back with some recommendations and uh we have since then approached the county the their uh study and the uh the future action uh
is going to be about five six years down the road uh just like the eastern traffic study, but we can't wait for the intersection uh to be left uh as dangerous as it has been. So, u I
brought that up to the count county officials and I think uh the county engineers are now talking to our engineer. uh we hope to have some resolution and some plan of action to make that intersection safer for the people and and the uh and the traffic
that goes through that uh intersection. Um anyway, that's all good work. It's a partnership between the county and the township. Um and and we hope that uh we will see some results. Uh apart from that, I just wanted to u
recognize guy a guy's comment. um Ben's uh Mr. Bengai's comments about the affordable um house seminar that we did on the 24th. Uh it was well attended. We had 25 handouts prepared and thanks to
Councilman Kurazzi, he did uh he made uh more copies as people were coming in twice. So I think everybody I think we had about 75 people or so. Thank you councilman for the support uh timely support. uh and it definitely told us a
story where I think there are people that uh need the affordable housing as well as they do not have the right information. So our the purpose of the seminar was to disseminate the right information uh to the people that are
looking for housing. Um and I think we achieved that and uh you know probably we will do more uh down the road. uh it's got nothing to do with our affordable housing um project that effort that we are we have undertaken
it's been ongoing and our planner has been very diligent in preparing the analysis and responding to the state and um looking at the proposals and uh uh trying to meet the state's uh our regional uh numbers uh I think that's
well on our way uh to uh accomplishing that um other than that there were a couple of other meetings that uh I uh it's part of our duty uh here planning board on the 6th and historic preservation advisory coun uh commission
on the 5th. So uh routine business uh took place there. Nothing to report on that. That's all I got. Mayor, thank you. We're actually planning to exceed the requirements of the state on affordable housing. Oh, Mr. Mayor. Yes,
sir. Um, one thing, uh, Councilman Ram, when we had the room filled up with the people that came out that evening for information, some of them actually belong to different townships, but through that organization, uh, Central Jersey Housing came because we were the
only ones that were giving the information away. So on that regards again, Franklin Township in the front and everyone else kind of like trying to catch it from from the rear and um it was definitely a worthwhile Councilman
Rahman and and some uh council members dropped in and out because there was a couple of the meetings going on. But um definitely as you said, we need to do one in the future again. But the more we have, the more people
that'll come in from other areas because we're the ones giving the information out. We're the ones moving forward. And that I think we should commend ourselves for because we're looking out for our people first and then bringing everybody else in the mix. That's a very good
point, Councilman Wright. Uh we had um a South Brunswick uh committee woman uh friend of mine uh was here uh in the in the in the meeting uh listening to uh the information so she appreciated that we were doing that. Good point. Thank
you. The two of you are a loud voice in favor of affordable housing. Mr. Oni Jaka. Yes. Okay. Thank you, Mayor. I'm making reference to the building you know that is uh in the junction between you and the
middle bush. Uh I express my profound happiness the way uh that this issue is being handled as at this moment. Uh the police patrols that area and the neighbors are
they are complaining. They are very they complained actually when I was out of the town but when I came back they sent me a letter that that area has been uh covered the police patrols there and the security is good but the issue is uh how
long will that be because they want that building to be demolished. So it's a security risk to that to that area and war three too. So, so I don't know how we're going to handle the demolition of that house. That's a state issue, Councilman, and
you should speak with Assemblyman Danielson about that issue. Okay. We are plagued We are plagued with a number of abandoned homes owned by the state for when they took over that area for the reservoir, which never happened. Um,
there's a number of abandoned homes I would like them to tear down. Okay. Thank you mayor. Thank you Dr. Kurazzi. Thank you so much mayor. Uh good evening everyone again. Um there are a couple other observation that
takes place in New Jersey. And uh actually the first one is that New Jersey officially observes older Americans month every May. And as part of its commitment to honoring its older residents and recognizing that Franklin
is home to many seniors, I would like to take the opportunity to recognize their contribution to our community and wish them a long all a long healthy and stress-free life. And as the council
liaison by the way for the senior citizens committee I encourage all the seniors to participate in their various activities that they have every month and it's a great group of people. They have all kinds of programs during the
month. It happens in the senior center. So please uh spread the word. Let our seniors to come and enjoy the activities. The other one is the uh um the May 21st which uh in
2002 UN uh established world cultural diversity dialogue and development day and uh the purpose of the day is to promote cultural diversity as an essential condition for sustainable
development, encourage dialogue among cultures to achieve peace and mutual understanding. Re raise awareness of the richness of the world cultures and the importance of preserving culture cultural heritage and combat combat
stereotypes and intolerance by fostering respect for differences. Believe it or not, there are 20 3,800 different cultures around the world. So, we can enjoy and learning
about them as one. So this past Saturday uh in our township library a a nonprofit organization Tina American organized a wonderful event and what impressed me was the the participation by the many
young school students grade three all the way to high school and they had prepared amazing essays and they were reading it and hopefully next time that we have the council sub meeting at least one of them will come and read some for us and after
listening to their essay uh to these students and I really felt that the future of Franken Township even is brighter Mr. mayor. So, it's is really wonderful to hear them. And last, uh, tomorrow we have the trail committee
meeting. It's going to be a Zoom meeting starting at 7:00. Please, if you have time, join that Zoom meeting. And you'll be amazed what a beautiful trails we have in our township. And hopefully with the nice weather coming up, you will have the opportunity to walk in our
trails and enjoy it. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Deputy Mayor Odin. Thank you, mayor. Um, I do have quite a bit of updates. Um, it's been very busy for me in the last two weeks. Um, first off, planning board meeting I was at the
annex one that happened. Um, I think it's all online. You guys can definitely go back and if you missed it, you can go and um, view the YouTube video that's on um, interesting um, communication that was passed around. So, we'll be more um, coming from there. fire prevention was
um last week, sorry, this this week and um no other information besides we're just looking at there's a gala that's going to happen um next month. So more to come from there. Eastnaf quarter study, I was on that meeting as well. Um more information on
ww.naf.com if yep that's the that's the website. Um war two um there's a cut off between four and two. So a lot of the residents utilize Eastnav. There's a lot of traffic that happens there. So, I'm concerned with some of the updates and I think a lot was discussed in that
meeting with voicing from residents on their feedback which um interesting. Like I said, it's it's back to the some of the common themes that we have on traffic, which is um something I'm interested to see how Eastn the county engineers and the team comes back with some of that
feedback. Um fraud and scam um or in a seminar was held at Canal Walk. We had over 120 residents that showed up for that event. Um so it just tells us that there's a much needed um awareness and seminar. I think back to what Mr. Wright said around transparency and this
governing body has been very transparent with a lot of things that have been coming to our needs and speaking to some of the residents and hearing from them on you know things that they're getting scammed at day in day out text messaging. Um, one of the things that our um, the FBI that was present as well
as our local um, Lieutenant Price FTPD mentioned that if you're not aware, you can always bring it up to them and that way you can understand whether it's a scam or not. I mean, scammers are getting very smart these days with links and um, some of the common themes that they're using is Amazon, right? So, you
click on it and then your entire phone gets taken um, hacked. So, just be careful. Um, you know, one of the things that the other things that they mentioned was some of the elderly folks are getting calls from like SSI. Um, they won't call you, right? Um, so if you're concerned with something like that, you can always call them and
verify. Um, so that way there are some professions that you can take. If you're still concerned, um, feel free to reach out to our, um, FTPD and the non-emergency number and they will guide you to make sure that you're not getting scammed. Um, it's funny because one of
the um, younger cops mentioned that they thought that they were getting scammed um, because they kept getting alerts from their bank but using a third party vendor, but it was truly their bank asking them for information. So, as they were trying to ignore the calls, they actually made a phone call, he made a phone call to his bank just to verify
and it was truly the bank trying to reach out. Um, so you can always call and verify within that specific bank or your delivery person, etc. just to make sure to avoid cuz these days, like I said, it's getting really bad and um how do you protect yourself? These are
things that um the FBI agents that were there as well as our FTPD, they did a rundown of things, tips and tricks of things that you can do to prevent um from getting scammed. So, I think we're going to have another one coming up because of just how much of an interest
it grew on the seniors. Um, I think we're going to have another one in the near future just to make sure we um summarize of things that are happening. Also to go over anything that happening local. That way if someone is aware, they can just it's just more awareness that goes out. Um, we also had our
Franklin Township, I'm sure someone's probably going to talk about this, the police unity tour that happened on Saturday. The cops that go from New Jersey to DC, they ride their bikes. I was there along with Councilman Embarrison, mayor. um you know the cops make their rides to um represent the
folks just made the sacrifice. So it's actually a very interesting um right there was it just grows. I think the numbers just grow in years and um towns just kind of gather in and they meet town to town to um go on the tour to DC.
So very interesting there. Um street cameras have been spoken about. um public works meeting was canceled today, but if you're interested in the street resurfacing projects that are coming up, statuses, you can go online at Franklin Township website under street sur resurfacing project and it'll tell you
ones that have been paved, what's out to bid, what's in design, um as long and also if you have a question about a particular street, you can take a picture of it and submit that online and you'll get an um that ticket gets logged and someone will come back and and tell you what's going on with that, whether
it's a pot or um missing street sign or tree branch, whatever it is. Um I do want to um call out Miss Tolman. Thank you so much for giving me the five key things. I just I'm always eager to understand what's um what things that people would like to know and how we can
bring some of the key topics. I am working on um health fair series along with um which is aligned to our mayor's wellness campaign. Um, and along that I'm asking to see what we can bring on speakers, whether it's, you know, about stress or um, a specific fitness program
or um, you know, Alzheimer's, whatever it is. I'm just interested to know what we can bring on and again be as transparent to our residents. So, thank you for giving me your feedback and I'll see how we can align to some of that to what we have existing right now. And
also back to your roundabout, I know our mayor um a mayor and our township manager had given the feedback, but again I would also suggest you can reach out to our township engineer, give your design, you can take a picture of it and send your thoughts and they will be more than happy to give you again the
response. So thank you for for working on that. Um, I do want to mention um before I I want to say there is gonna I know Ed Pasnik wasn't here, Councilman um Ed, but there's a Franklin Pride. He wanted to give a shout out to Saturday, January
7th happening at the gazebo from 12 to 3:00 p.m. So, I'm sure he's going to bring it up more and more, but June 7th, this is happening. And um this is hosted by Council Member Ed Patasnik, Mayor Phil Kramer, and the Franklin Township community. So, it's going to be a a very
interesting and fun event. Um, and I re encourage everyone to join the Franklin Pride. The last thing that I do want to mention is I have been in touch with the Hillsboro um council member and I know last time we spoke about the ordinance on warehouses and specs and all that.
Um, Mr. Renown, if you can just repeat what we stated last time just because I know people are reaching out about the Hillsboro warehouse. The Hillsboro ordinance is not it's not different in any respect from the township of Franklin's ordinance because it requires
um people to identify when they when they um file a site plan application the use for the property. Now identifying the use for the property and and identifying the exact tenant and prohibiting spec warehouses are two completely different things. You obviously have to identify the use
because you have to identify whether or not it's a use that's permitted within the the zone in question. things like hours of operation or which is something else that Hillsboro ordinance asked for is something that's regulated in in in Franklin. So this misconception that
somehow you have to identify your tenant and that can only be the tenant that can go into a building when you're building a warehouse or frankly any other house in any any other uh structure be it an office building or a retail store or a u
a resident is just just not true. And and in any event, if they did it, it would be uninforceable because we don't we regulate uses. We don't regulate occupants. So we don't have any right to say, gee, well, you know, warehouse
company A is good, we like them. Warehouse company B is bad, we don't like them. So there we're going to deny your application. We don't we you know we regulate hours of operation, we regulate truck traffic, we regulate size of buildings, we regulate uses, but we don't regulate the the identities of the
people that go into those buildings. So, I just I know it's a it's one of those things that keeps getting kicked around and I think part of it and in all due respect and and and I I spend my entire adult life defending mayors. This is a mayor who made a comment and said if you
got a spec warehouse, you're not going to get a really friendly, you know, uh welcome here in Hillsboro. That's got nothing to do with what the the code says. And, you know, mayors are allowed to state those things. That's that's okay. It's okay for them to say those
things, but that doesn't mean they have an ordinance that prohibits spec warehouses. Let's make it clear that was the Hillsboro Hillsboro mayor. I was going to say when you looked at him, I said no. Hillsboro may I didn't mean to I it was a I said a mayor, but it was the mayor of Hillsboro said that. And I think that that's the quote that's been
recited back to me and and certainly that doesn't mean that they h either a have a code section or b have the ability to regulate who the actual tenant is in a building. and they can regulate everything else um that's allowed by law, but they can't regulate the name of the who who the tenant is or
whether there is one or not. Thank you. That's all I had. Thank you. Um Memorial Day parade is on May 26th, Monday on Memorial Day. Uh the parade begins at 11 o'clock uh at the
corner of Deont Lane and uh New Brunswick Road and comes down to Mont Lane to the municipal building. Uh those who are going to participate in the parade should be there at least 15
minutes if not a half an hour early. Mr. uh Lort who or has organized the parade for years and years very excited about it and wanted me to get the word out. Um the uh we had a resignation from the
library board, my representative uh Zach Lickman uh because he's moving out of town. So I am replacing Mr. Lickman with uh Deborah Kelly. If for those of you who don't know Miss Kelly, you might know her husband
Chris. Um, and then uh a little background about myself will explain will um make help you understand the next thing I'm going to do. Uh I have three jobs. Uh anyone watching here I assume
knows that I'm the I'm the mayor. Um besides that I'm uh a doctor uh as most people know and what few people know is I also do uh expert witness work in my specialty as a doctor.
Um so uh with that as a background uh I sent the following to Mr. Renown. um that I received an email from a constituent uh referencing the B9 warehouse and when I opened it uh there
were two attachments uh two PDF files. Upon opening the attachments I came to know for the first time the name of the law firm representing B9. It is safer saferman le
uh le kind sha saferman lind. So I'm not even that familiar with it. I have in the past done and I'm currently doing consulting work as a medical expert witness for saferman uh lind uh and will
be albeit with a different attorney than is involved with the B9 project. While I do not feel conflicted, I wish to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest. I'm therefore immediately recusing myself from any Franklin Township matters dealing with B9. If
there are further actions you recommend I take now or in the future, please contact me immediately. So, tonight we're having an executive session that includes, amongst other things, uh what's going on with B9 legally. Um,
we'll have that as the last item on the agenda for the executive session and I will leave the executive session and not be part of that. Um, and u, madame clerk, when you prepare the minutes, put those in separate minutes. So, I will won't be looking at the minutes until
they've been um, accepted by council. And Mr. Borlocker, you're up. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, couple things. One, I I just I couldn't help but listen to Councilman Wright talk about the fact
that there were people from other towns here um for our affordable housing o open house. Um, and I and I kind of thought it was interesting because, you know, a lot of people believe that a
municipality has the right under state law to limit the affordable housing that is built in their town to township residents, which is not true. And I'm sure the township attorney will not had an agreement with me on that. and
affordable housing doctrine that came out of Mount Laurel was that towns would be we'll call it assessed affordable housing as part of the region not just their town. The number that's provided
that by the by the DCA as part of their analysis was a regional number divided by various criteria to come up with each municipality's contribution to the region. and and a Central Jersey Housing
Resource Center. The name should spell it out, Central Jersey Housing Resource Center, clearly represents not just Franklin Township, but a regional approach to affordable housing. And I know that they advertised that particular event that Sharon Clark
hosted here. So, it doesn't surprise me at all that people came from other towns. Um, because it is a regional and statewide and nationwide issue, not just a Franklin Township issue. Um, and
speaking of legal, um, our very own Assemblyman Danielson of the 17th Legislative District is hosting law night uh, in conjunction with the New Jersey State Bar Association. If you have questions that
are related to trust in estates, landlord tenant issues, family law, labor and work protections, immigration law, civil litigation, or more, you have the opportunity to speak with a a member of the bar um at our senior center on
Wednesday, May 28th between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. You're not required to register. You can register so that they have an idea of the number of attendees. You can register on our website. Um, uh, there's a QR code or a hyperlink to
register, but walk-ins will be permitted. The mayor, you covered the the parade quite well, so I don't think I need to say anything about that. And as I said, Mrs. Tolman, Mr. the mayor wanted us to move the meeting. I will certainly have a conversation with Mr.
Mazy about your idea of a roundabout and have him reach out to you. Thank you. You're welcome. the uh manager. Oh, and there was one other thing that you said. I'm sorry to throw it at you last minute. Yes. By uh Councilman,
motorized vehicles are not permitted of any type on anything off the roadways and parking lots of our parks. So, even if there's a trail or anywhere on any type of motorized vehicle at all. Okay. and and and I'm it might be marked but if maybe in some of our parks and I
could talk to you about of every park sign that that we have and if someone has a concern they should just call the non-emergency line of of the police. No, they should just not don't say non-emergency. Sometimes people get confused about that. Okay, you tell them what 7328732300. The main number where a
dispatcher answers the phone. It's not a 911 call, but the non-emergency is for general business, not for reporting incidents. call the 2300 number if you have something to actually speak with a dispatcher about. Thank you,
Mr. Vlocker. Just quickly, I forgot to say um NASA Park, do we have a water fountain installed there? The the water fountain is I believe the water fountain is in and we're waiting for um New Jersey America to make the connection to the water man. Okay, thank you. We should have a ribbon cutting.
Well, I think appropriate would be to hit it with a champagne bottle, maybe. I don't know. might not plastic water bottle. Yeah. Oh, wait. Metal water bottle. I'm sorry. Um, okay. Uh, there's no council
discussion item. There are no minutes submitted, but darn it, we do have to pay the bills. So, approval of the warrants in the amount of 8,284,86742 cents on May 13, 2025 are presented to the township council for payment. Do we have a motion on the
warrants? So moved. Seconded. Moved and seconded. Any discussion? Anyone like to pull an item um or discuss an item? Madame Clerk. Councilman Embarrison. Yes. Councilwoman Francois. Yes.
Councilman Karazzi. Yes. Mayor Kramer. Yes. Councilman Onichaka. Yes. Deputy Mayor Redeem. Yes. Councilman Vasanella. Councilman Right. Thank you for staying, Miss Tolman. It seems that everyone else leaves when the
actual meeting starts. He's okay. Oh, he's getting um item number 13, this calendar year 2025 municipal budget hearing amendment
adoption. So before um so uh I guess I have to start resolution 25183 uh read the calendar year 2025 municipal budget by title only is presented to
township council for adoption. Do we have a motion on that? Move. Seconded. Seconded. Any discussion? Madame clerk. Councilman embarrass. Yes. Councilwoman Francois, yes. Councilman
Karazzi, yes. Mayor Kramer, yes. Councilman Oni Jaka, yes. Deputy Mayor Dean, Councilman Vasanella, yes. Councilman Right. Yes. Every year I worry that council's just going to try to get back at me for all the things I do and make me read the entire budget.
One of these years. Um, okay. Calendar year hearing on um on I'm sorry. Public hearing on calendar year 2025. municipal budget as introduced to have a motion to open for
public hearing. So moved. Seconded. Moved and seconded. All in favor say I. Oppose say nay. We are open to the public for uh a hearing on the municipal budget only.
See no one come forward. Me mayor a motion to close a public portion of this hearing. Second. Moved and seconded all. Oh yeah. Yep. Yeah. I'll I'll pause that motion. I'm not prepared, but I'm just going to bounce this off of It's on. I'm
not going to I'm just going to bounce it off of you. Do we have money, mayor, for a turnabout? No money has been set aside for a turnabout. But it could be, right?
Uh management. No, actually that would be a capital project and it would have to be included in the municipal budget as a separate item and then some funding me mechanism determined for it either by bond or cash. That was not included in
the 2025 capital plan. So that would not be funded this year. It would have to be if if and I'll be honest with you, Mr. Tolman. Um, there's no way that the design and approval process could be completed in calendar year 2025 for
construction. That's just not realistic. So, it wouldn't matter anyway. If there was some decision made by this council to build a a roundabout at Weston and Metlers, that wouldn't get funded until 2026 at the earliest. Well, I guess I'll just have to put up
with it, won't I, mayor, for another year, right? I guess either that or sell my house and move to Princeton. I think they have trucks there, too, just so you know. Oh, not not in downtown Princeton. They don't. Oh, they
sure do. Just that's Route 27. My brother's funeral home is there and I spend a lot of time there helping my brother. No tractor trailers there. Zip.
Oh me. Um, the police won't allow it. Mr. Vasel, mayor seeing I'm sorry. Go ahead. Was our public done? No. Okay. Seeing no one else coming forward. All motion motion to close the public portion of the hearing.
Second. Second. All in favor of closing public say I. I. Say nay. Motion is carried. Miss Mr. Connell, I didn't see you there. I I apologize for not noticing. I'm not shy. Um, I know where
to find you. So, now we have a public hearing calendar year 2025 on the municipal budget amendment. Oo, do we have a motion before we open to the public? Mr. Hodlick, would you like to explain the amendment? It's a technical
No, you need to come to the you need to come to the mic. Said it's a technical cleanup. which is exactly what it is. It's a it it was to to adjust some figures in the uh water utility uh appropriate uh anticipated revenues um
to uh move money in equal amounts from one place to another to better account for where those antip anticipated revenues were coming from. So I know the answer to this will it change the levy? No. Will it change the taxes people pay?
No. Um, is it considered a substantive change? So, we have to reintroduce. No. Okay. So, we're now open to the public. Uh, it's like it's like I'm one of those ventriloquist people. Mayor, right? We
have a motion to open to the public. Second. Move and second. We're we're not we're not only on that item. Wait. Excuse me. We have a motion and a second. All in
favor say I. I. Opposed say nay. Good. Now, if you have something to say on that item only specifically related to the amendment to the budget, that's the item that we're to speak about, the amendment to the budget. Then let me let me put it in the
form of a question. Does that item that you just voted on have anything to do with why I need to have a water guy come in and change my meter? No. So, no. One, we haven't voted on it yet. And two, no.
Okay. Thank you. Because I'm very confused about why you're making me do that. Okay. The manager can explain that later. Um, all right. Do we have a motion to close public hearing? So, move. Well, nobody motioned it. M, Mr.
Mayor, technically, so I'll motion to close the public hear. Yeah. Just wanted it to be technically correct. Want to second it? I'll second it. Thank you, Councilwoman. Okay. All right. Um, moved and seconded. All in favor of closing public portion say I.
I. Say nay. Motion is carried. Now to the item resolution 25184 adopting adoption of 20 of calendar year 2025 municipal budget amendment is presented to the township council for adoption. Do we have a
motion on the amendment? So moved and seconded. Any discussion? Madame clerk. Councilman. Yes. Councilwoman Francois. Yes. Councilman Karazzi. Yes. Mayor Kramer. Yes. Councilman Ni Jaka. Yes. Deputy
mayor. Councilman Vasinella. Yes. Councilman Wright. Yes. So now the motion the calendar year agenda uh the calendar year municipal budget 2025 has been amended. Resolution
25-185. Adoption of the calendar year 2025 municipal budget as amended is presented to the township council for adoption. Do I have a motion on the budget? So moved. Second. Thank you. Moved and seconded.
Any discussion on the budget? Madame Clerk, Councilman, yes. Councilwoman Francois, yes. Councilman Karazzi, yes. Mayor Kramer, yes. Councilman Oniaka, yes. Deputy Mayor. Councilman Vasinella, yes. Councilman Reich, yes. The budget is adopted. Mr.
Mr. Porn Locker, start getting those things done. I will, you know, m Mr. Mayor, I don't usually ask for permission to do this, but I'm going to ask for permission to just make an observation right now that that So, this is my 13th budget that you've just
adopted. And I think it's probably the one of the most, if not the most important votes that this council takes on items throughout the course of a year. And I find it ironic that people come and question you here at these council
meetings and what you do. And the only people left in the audience with the people on TV can't see are Bill, my friend Bill Connell, and my friend Mrs. Tolman here and our financial consultant. And the rest of the people who come to the microphone and question what you do throughout the course of the
year got up and left before the most important vote that you take every year. And I just find that very ironic. And that's my commentary for the day. Uh m Mr. Mr. Mayor to township manager, I've always said that people leave, they get
up, throw their little bones at you, walk out the door, and you never see them again. And here we are spending their money, and they're gone. I don't understand that one. I guess
they trust us. So, so my comments on the budget are um the total So, we're you're affected by the assessments and you're affected by the money that we spend. The total
assessment of the town is 16.7 billion. That's up 12.2%. The residential assessment is um 11.3 billion. that's up uh
16.6%. So, residential assessments went up more than total assessments. Because of that alone, taxes go up on a $55,000 $555,000 house, which is what the average house now is in
Franklin. The assessment alone increased tax is $46.40. The total increase because of our increase in the levy is $7966. So roughly $80. $3326 is due to the levy increase.
$3326 to the average home is due to the levy increase. That's the only thing council has control of. The school board, by the way, increased their budget by $11 million. And to the average home, that's
$670. I mentioned this because in the upcoming, this is an election year, and in the upcoming election year, you're going to hear from the opposition party about how much council raised taxes. Well, if they they hopefully they will watch this and they will understand
council raised taxes to the average home $3326. In the time that I have been the mayor since the year before I was mayor six 2016 the consumer price index has gone up 35%.
During that same time, the levy has gone up 13.5%. Less than half of the rate of inflation. So, I hope whoever addresses the increase in taxes gets those facts right. This year, we are responsible for
$3326 to the average home. Okay. Um public hearing and adoption of ordinance on second reading. Uh first reading is the one where we announce to the world that we are going to uh
consider an ordinance and the second reading if the first reading passes um is the one where uh people from the audience have uh ability to comment and we give final judgment on whether we will pass the ordinance. Ordinance
4463-25 and a more ordinance amending the municipal code of the township of Franklin County of Somerset State of New Jersey more particularly chapter 230 massage bodywork and somatic therapy section 20 uh
230-12 prohibited acts is presented to the public hearing and final adoption. Public hearing is notice as required to have a motion to open to the public. So moved. Seconded. Moved and seconded. Uh all in favor say I. I. I. Oppos say nay.
Motion is carried. We are open to the public on this item only. Anyone wishing to speak? Seeing no one come forward. May I motion to close the public portion here? Do I have a second? Second. Moved and seconded. All in favor say I. I. Oppos say nay. Motion is carried. Public
session is closed on this item. Do we have a motion to adopt? So moved. Second and seconded. All in favor say I. Oh, I'm sorry. Roll call. Roll call. Councilman Ambarrison. Yes. Councilwoman Francois. Yes. Councilman
Karazzi? Yes. Mayor Kramer? Yes. Councilman Onaka? Yes. Deputy Mayor Rudine? Yes. Councilman Basinella? Yes. Councilman Wright? Yes. It passes. Ordinance 4464-25.
uh ordinance to acquire by purchase or condemnation certain lands within the township of Franklin County of Somerset State of New Jersey for the purposes of open space preservation pursuant to NJSA 4A 12-13A for the property known as L Kahab
Kahhatib property also known as block 286 lot 14.02 02 and commonly known as 360 Franklin Boulevard, Somerset, New Jersey, is presented for the public hearing and final adoption. Public hearing is
noticed as required. Do you have a motion to open to the public? So move second. Moved and seconded. All in favor say I. Oppos say nay. Motion is carried. We're open to the public on this item only. Seeing no one coming forward,
mayor a motion to close the public portion of the hearing. Do I have a second? Second. Moved and seconded. All in favor say I. I. Post say nay. Motion is carried. Public session is closed. I just want to say on
this this is acquiring some open space and uh condemnation was not used. That's just a requirement of the way you title it. Um, do I have a motion to adopt? So move. Second. Moved and seconded. Any
discussion? Madame clerk. Councilman. Yes. Councilwoman Francois. Yes. Councilman Karazzi. Yes. Mayor Kramer. Yes. Councilman Onaka. Yes. Deputy Mayor Rudin. Councilman Vasanella? Yes. Councilman Wright? Yes.
So now ordinance 4465-25 capital ordinance providing for the acquisition of property uh known as El Cahab Elahhatiphat property say it again
Katip uh as located on block 286 lot 14.02 also known as 360 Franklin Boulevard in the township of Franklin County of Somerset. That's unless I cut and pasted the same thing twice. We should be doing the open
space capital ordinance. Yes. Is a capital ordinance providing for the acquisition of a property? No, we just did that one. That's I'm saying that I cut and paste twice the same ordinance.
Hold on. I might be able to help. Yes. I'm just opening it up on my computer. One is for the person. Yeah. Let me read Let me read the You want the one with the money in it, right? Yeah, I can I
can I got it right here. Read this right here. Or maybe I'm jumping. Why don't we just let the clerk read it so that she has it? I I I I I rather than the mayor. Mhm. We're on 4465.
Correct. That's 25. Yes. All right. I did cut the wrong That ends with appropriating 765,000. That one didn't. The first one didn't have that. No, no. Where do we on the
agenda? The title is correct. It's a capital ordinance providing for the acquisition of property. Yep. Right. Letter C. No, he's right. I'm wrong. There you go. It's capital order. Yeah. No, I'm wrong. I jumped one ahead. And
also known as 360 Franklin Boulevard in the township of Franklin, County of Somerset, State of New Jersey, appropriating 765,000. Therefore, in the open space trust fund of the township of Franklin
to pay the cost thereof is presented for public hearing and final adoption. Public hearing has been noticed as required to have a motion to open to the public. So moved. Seconded. Moved and seconded. All in favor say I.
I. Opposed say nay. Motion is carried. We're open to the public. Mayor seeing neither of the two people here looking to come forward. I will motion to close the public portion of hearing on this ordinance. Second it all in favor. Well, hold on. Now I'm seeing somebody one of
the two does want to speak. I'll rep my motion and um go ahead. Mayor got a question. I I'm sorry. I'm probably tired now and I but I I hear mayor name and address please. Shirley
Tolman, 57 Tolman Lane in Somerset. Now, open space. That got my attention. What is happening with open space that I understand is going to disappear. We're going to disappear open
space at the Wait, no, no, no. Let me finish. Ma'am, it's not specific to this ordinance. This ordinance is uh regarding the acquisition of a specific piece of property. So if you have a question about that property, we can't float the money someplace else. No, this
is regarding a specific. You're welcome. Thank you, attorney. And by the way, Madame Clerk, it's always a safe bet to think that I'm wrong. So you're I was wrong. I jumped up one. So I'll I'll now reinstate my motion.
Mayor um that we close the public portion of the hearing on this ordinance. Second. Moved and seconded. All in favor say I. I. Oppos say nay. Motion is carried. Motion to adopt. [Music]
So moved. Seconded. Seconded. Uh madame clerk. I'm sorry. Any I'm sorry. Any discussion? Madam clerk. Councilman embarrist. Yes. Councilwoman Francois. Yes. Councilman Karazzi. Yes. Mayor Kramer, yes.
Councilman Onaka, yes. Deputy Mayor Rudin, Councilman Vasinella, yes. Councilman Wright, yes. Ordinance 4466-25, capital ordinance appropriating 990,000 from the open space trust fund
to pay for various capital acquisition and improvements for the township of Franklin and the county of Somerset State of New Jersey as presented for public hearing and final adoption. The public hearing has been noticed as required to have emotions open to the public.
So moved. Seconded. Moved and seconded. All in favor say I. I. Post say nay. Motion is carried. We're open to the public on this item only. Mr. Connell, member of the open space
committee. Bill Connell, 25 street and a member of the open space committee. So 9990 $990,000. Uh can you just give a brief explanation of what that is because I believe these are the little nicities. We talk about land acquisition. You and
I had a public conversation that I enjoyed very much. Um could you just give a brief explanation of what some of those little things are or maybe big things in the ordinance? Wildlife blinds, big belly solar powered trash compacting bins and other related
equipment. uh the provision of ADA access for the preservation and recreation needs assessment and action plan, the implementation of miscellaneous site amenities at various parks, including reservicing the walking path at uh Deler Park and the
construction of Katapa Park. Some big things and little things, Mr. Thank you for asking. Anyone else? Uh making sure. Okay. Seeing no one else coming forward. Motion close the public
portion hearing on this ordinance. Moved and seconded. All in favor say I. I. Post say nay. Motion is carried. Public session is closed. Do we have a motion to adopt? So moved. Second. Moved and seconded. Any discussion? Madame clerk. Councilman. Yes. Council
woman. Yes. Councilman Karazzi. Yes. Mayor Kramer. Yes. Council, sorry. Yes. Deputy Marine. Councilman Vasanel. Yes. Councilman Wright. Yes.
So, we just recently this uh meeting passed the uh budget. So, now we're going to spend some of that money. Ordinance 4467-25 bond ordinance providing for the various 2025 capital improvements and
equipment acquisitions by and in the township of Franklin in the county of Somerset State of New Jersey appropriating 9,959,994 therefore and authorizing the issuance of 9,461,900
$194.30 bonds or notes of the township of Franklin to finance part of the cost thereof is presented for a public hearing and final adoption. The public hearing has been noticed as required. Do we have a motion to open to the public?
So move second. Seconded. All in favor say I. Oppos say nay. Motion is carried. Uh on we were open to the public on this item only. Um mayor seeing no one coming forward a
motion to close the public a portion here. Second. Moved and seconded. All in favor say I. I. Post say nay. Motion is carried. Public session is closed. We have a motion to adopt. So moved. Second.
Moved and seconded. Any discussion, Madame Clerk? Councilman embarrass. Yes. Councilwoman Francois, yes. Councilman Karazzi, yes. Mayor Kramer, yes. Councilman Oni Jaka, yes. Deputy Mayor Dean, Councilman Vasinella, yes. Councilman Wright, so that was for the
general budget. Now we're going to do the same thing for water. Ordinance 4468-25 bond ordinance providing for various 2025 capital improvements for the water utility buy and in the township of Franklin in the county of Somerset State of New Jersey
appropriating $6,964,950 therefore and authorizing the issuance of $6,964,950 bonds or notes. uh of the township to finance the cost thereof is presented for public hearing and final adoption. Uh the public
hearing has been noticed as required. Do I have a motion to open to the public? Second. Moved and seconded. All in favor say I. I. Oppos say nay. Motion is carried. We're open to the public on this item
only. Public mayor conference. Seeing no one coming forward, a motion to close the public portion of the hearing. Second. Moved and seconded. The the public is in caucus right now. All in favor of closing say I. I. Post
say nay. Mot. Motion is carried. Uh brief respit. Uh do we have a motion to adopt? So moved. Seconded. Moved and seconded. Uh any
discussion? Madame Clerk. Councilman Embarrison. Yes. Councilwoman Francois, yes. Councilman Karazzi, yes. Mayor Kramer, yes. Councilman Oniaka, yes. Deputy Mayor Readine, yes. Councilman Vasinella, yes. Councilman Right. Yes.
God has sent his blessings to us and there are no first readings on the agenda. You know, we we saw that there were 17 commendations. you know, the introduction of ordinances. Hey, we got through those in 20 minutes. Yeah, I was going to say,
mayor, I thought that actually went pretty smooth. Thank you. We used to have a limit. What happened? We never had a limit. We never had a limit. Amarie said three and we stopped at five. I meant three. It's all good. Okay, we're on to the consent agendums.
Consent agenda. Items A through W as listed on the consent agenda portion of this meeting are presented to Township Council for adoption. Do we have a motion on the consent agenda? So moved. Second. Moved and seconded. Any discussion? Anyone like to pull an item? I have a question on item B. Mayor. Item
B. Go ahead. So I'm trying to understand there's a cancellation of uncollectible taxes to virtual homeless. Yeah, they were assessed twice by accident. I I just want to understand that's exactly what it says is exactly what it is.
Assessment. I understand. I understand. It happens. Yeah. So I I usually get bills and I pay. I don't never check. So it's surprising that uh there was it was a few there was a subdivision and it was this it was an
accidental assessment on that on what was a consolidated lot. So Okay. It's just cancelling what was not collected. Excellent question. Anyone else? Madame clerk. Councilman Barrison. Yes. Councilwoman Francois. Yes. Councilman
Kurazzi. Yes. Mayor Kramer. Yes. Councilman Oni Jaka. Yes. Deputy Mayor Dean. Councilman Vasinella. Yes. Councilman Wright. Yes. Resolutions to be voted on separately. There are none. Old business. 2025 boards, committees, and commission
vacancies. Does anyone have a nomination? Yes, Mr. Mayor. I would like to nominate um Larry Zimbro, uh Roseanne Clli, and Dr. Nicholas Sullman Solomon to the Municipal
Alliance Youth Services Commission. Any other nominations for those positions? Any other nominations? We can do this by acclamation. All in favor say I. I. Oppos say
nay. That passes. Congratulations to those members. Um, item number 19, executive session resolution 2025-09, authorizing executive session pending litigation update uh as
presented to township council. Um, move for adoption. Um, do we have a motion to go into executive session? So moved. Moved and seconded. All in favor say I. I. Oppos say nay. Oh, I'm sorry. It's
real quick. Councilman, yes. Councilwoman Francois, yes. Councilman Karazzi, yes. Mayor Kramer, yes. Councilman Onaka, yes. Deputy Mayor Dean, yes. Councilman Vasanella, yes. Councilman Right. So, we're now going to go into executive session. I'm going to
recuse myself for the B9 portion of the executive session. Uh we'll come out of deputy mayor will bring us out of executive session, close the meeting, but no other actions will take place. So, uh, the videotaping will stop at this
time. Be well, Franklin.