this work session regular meeting of the township council is called to order Madam clerk in accordance with the open public meeting Act of the state of New Jersey adequate notice of this work session regular meeting of the Franklin Township Council was made as required indicating that this meeting would take
place at the municipal building at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday February 25 2025 we could all stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and remain standing by the for the invocation which I will initiate 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 um so it was back in 2016 2016 that the council first stood
up and took a pledge to stand for the other uh I thought it would be time to repeat it and those of you who wish to can join in with us and we were introduced to this by Dr Kazi so I thought he might lead us in it thank you
Mr Mayor and good evening everyone as Mr Mary said 2016 this Council took this uh pledge and not only this Council the following year all the students in franklen Township and in many occasion
many of the people have taken this pledge we pride oursel because we are the second most diverse community in New Jersey and you can look around it and you'll see who we are so I'd like to read this and please uh just read it
together while interacting with members of my own faith or ethnic Community or with others if I hear hateful or derogatory comments from anyone about members of any other community I pledge
to stand up for the other and challenge bigotry in any form thank you thank you thank you Madame clerk it's time to to call the rooll councilman EMB Barrison here councilwoman Francois here councilman
Kazi here mayor Kramer here councilman non jaka here council member vasnik presid Deputy Mayor Udin here councilman vasella here councilman Wright here so a little uh announcement to excuse myself
I'm usually like 15 or 20 minutes early I came only 5 minutes early today because I was getting my new hearing aids fixed or fitted and things sound different to me so if I act a little strange tonight it's because I'm trying
to cope with getting used to them um next item is item number five commendations and proclamations copies of the agenda up near the clerk first item swearing in of police officers I'll leave it to the director
no some all right good evening everyone I am the public safety director quella Mayweather tonight we will have the swearing in for our newly hired officers our newly promoted sergeants lieutenants
and captains I will say it's been almost 5 years uh it'll be 5 years in April that I have been the public safety director and it was with pleasure and amazement today when the officer in charge gave me these numbers I didn't even realize it in the 5 years that I've
been here I've hired 49 officers that's a lot of officers um due to retirements and promotions we often have to fill the ranks uh also Al amazingly 27 of our 31 supervisors have been promoted during my
tenure so I am very proud of the men and women of this department I thank the council and the mayor and the town manager for allowing us to create a fair and Equitable process for which promotions can happen throughout our department so join me in celebrating
that first I'd like to do the officers um first officer Matthew George he was hired by Franklin Police Department July 2024 and he currently Works Midnight's um and patrol officer when I call your
name come forward I'm sorry officer Deshawn Jones was hired October 2023 he currently Works midnight patrols officer Patel hired Franklin hired 2024
January currently Works midnight Patrol officer Rodriguez hired January 2024 he currently also works midnight patrol officer Peterson hired October 2023 currently Works
dayshift officer casem is ill he's not here tonight um he was hired June 2024 currently is doing field training midnight shift patrol officer Solomon hired June
2024 currently also works he's doing his field training sorry day shift Patrol okay look mayor don't feel so bad I'm reading without my glasses okay so we'll swear in the officers at once and then we'll do the
other ranks you the mic just did that okay everybody raise your right hand repeat after me I state your
name do solom swear s that I will support the Constitution I will support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and the constition of the state of New Jersey St of new and there will bear true faith faith and allegiance to the same
Al to same and to the governments established in the United States the United States and in this State and under the authority of the people the authority of the people and that I will faithfully and I will fath impartially and justly
performed all the duties of police officer of the Franklin Township Police Department according to the best of my ability AB so help me God so help me congratulations all right next we'll have the sergeant
Sergeant Kevin frola 19 years in law enforcement 11 Franklin Police Department currently assigned to patrol afternoon shift Sergeant Manuel Rios 19 years law enforcement 17 years in Franklin
currently signed to day shift Patrol Sergeant Robert Young 17 years Franklin Police Department currently assigned to Professional Services Division okay I state your name do solom swear that I will support
the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey there are be two faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments
established in the United States and in this state under the authority of the people and that I will faithfully and partially and justly perform all the duties of Sergeant of the Franklin Township Police
Department according to the best of my ability abil so help me God congratulations next we'll have the lieutenants Lieutenant Stacy Grant Stacy has been with Franklin Police Department 24 years she is now the
lieutenant that oversees afternoon Patrol and she also supervises telecommunications which is our dispatchers Lieutenant George habish 13 years in law enforcement 12 Franklin Police Department currently serves as a
lieutenant overseeing midnight shift Patrol Lieutenant Trevor Wilson 30 I'm sorry I I knew she was going to do it to you Trevor no that was a mistake I'm sorry 26 years in law
enforcement um 22 years of those have been in Franklin and Lieutenant Wilson overseas Professional Services Division and I often get my Wilson's confused because I have a lieutenant Wilson I have a captain Wilson and uh sadly we
had a detective Wilson in that pass but yes all right I state your name do Solly swear that I was supp the Constitution of the United States and the
constitution of the state of New Jersey there are be two faith and allegiance to the same and to the government's EST lished in the United States and in this state under the authority of the people and that I will
faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of Lieutenant all the of the Franklin Township Police Department according to the best of my ability so help me God congratulations
and I'd like to say that Lieutenant Grant is the next highest ranking female in the department I don't know if she realizes that and last but not least um captains no okay all right I'm sorry uh Captain Brandon domator 18 years
Franklin Police Department currently serves as the captain in charge of our investigations division Captain Vincent Wilson 20 years in law enforcement 18 years Franklin Township Police Department currently in
charge of our Professional Services Division wait I'm stand on the other okay I state your name do Solly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the
constitution of the state of New Jersey there will bear true faith and allegiance to the same until the governments established in the United States and in the state under the authority of the
people that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of captain of the Franklin Township Police Department according to the best of my ability so help me God
congratulations it's okay and um i' just like to say uh Captain Lloyd Fredericks he is the newly appointed officer in charge he was already sworn in I was losing it just now I was like why aren why isn't your name on this list but he is our newly appointed officer in charge
we do not have a chief so he serves in that role for me basically all right mayor uh I don't know if the television cameras can show the back wall or not but there's a sea of blue there we are all in the safest room in the state
right now um and that's the way I feel every night every day with this incredible police force that the director has led that you have followed and and done
remarkable things uh and sometimes not done things that's that's important too shown restraint when we needed to um and showed um uh rigidity when that was needed to
to as well so we're very proud of you I sleep safely or soundly when because I know I'm safe with you around please keep up the good work thank you next we have a proclamation by councilwoman Udin we'll take a pause
here as people wisely leave and not have to watch this meeting thank you for taking of us thank you Charles
yes I had on I I said wisely leaving okay to say that again Mee Public Safety oh okay not know just want to make thank start right we're
good going to do the resolution so this hello so this Proclamation is for the mother language day whereas language is a fundamental means of communication culture identity and Heritage for all people around the world and where else every language carries
with its unique Expressions histories and traditions of its speakers reflecting their connection to the world and to one another and whereas the international mother language day obs oberved annually on February 21st calls for the preservation and promotion of
linguistic diversity the revalation of inder languages and the affirmation of the importance of mother languages in empowering individuals and communities and whereas more than 7,000 languages are spoken across the globe and yet many are at extension jeopardizing the
culture and intal richness they embody and now therefore we Deputy Mayor sheep oine and mayor Philip Kramer do hereby Proclaim February 21st 2025 as International mother language day and encourage all individuals organizations communities and governments to promote
linguistic diversity preserve endangered languages and ensure the right to education in one's mother language Let Us embrace our shared Humanity through the richness of our languages fostering a world where every language thrives and every voice is
heard I believe I have a couple organizations here I think the am is here as well that will accept this uh Proclamation have two of them one is for okay you're welcome I think uh mayor once mentioned that we have about 60
plus languages is the 60 plus languages in Franklin Township um and so we are honored to celebrate this and make sure that we recognize um International mother language day just the past weekend we had a program done at the library um for our community by the ner
organization um which had all of about six or seven of our students from I think from Samson G Smith and Franklin High School across other schools that came in and they spoke in their mother language day uh mother language tongue which was really nice to hear um the
students that are so small picking up languages um and being able to kind of speak it and also translate it at the same time in English um so thank you for hosting that event and bringing that awareness in the library for our
community than thank you so moved second sorry um time to open to the public do we have a motion to open so moved second moved and seconded all in favor say I I opposed say nay motion is
carried we're open to the public um please come to the mic if speak about anything regarding government you have 5 minutes uh no yielding of time may only come up once please state your name and address yes good evening uh my name is
Robert Scott pay and I live at 209 anuka Court I want to thank the council for holding a vote on a resolution to support the New Jersey climate Superfund act under this act large carbon
polluters will pay for the mess that they have made the money will fund remediation and abnation projects in municipalities such as Franklin Township the cost of climate change is climbing
yearly action is needed now I support passing the resolution thank you thank you hi uh bernardet M for Norris Road here in Somerset uh I want to again thank the uh Council for considering
resolution 25- 093 this evening this resolution is in support of the New Jersey climate superf fund act uh this act will help to ensure that residents of our municipality and state are not unfairly penalized for the actions of
the large fossil fuel companies thank you good evening Linda Powell 22 buffer Drive um I also want to thank you for considering this Municipal resolution to support the uh New Jersey climate
superone act um S3 3545 and a 4696 um last last um meeting I also mentioned the Immigrant trust act which is
basically to limit the resources in New Jersey being used by uh the federal government uh ice um and and Customs and Border Protection and not using our resources in turning the state into
massive detention centers and I I want to publicly thank our assemblyman Joe Danielson who is co-sponsors of both of these bills in the assembly so I was very happy to hear that and I also want to thank this Council in general some of
you been here for as long as I've been coming to meetings I would say in the last 10 years there's nothing that has that I'm aware of that's come before you that would benefit our residents or protect the health and safety of the
resident that you haven't supported and I I'm grateful for your support thank you Carol Peterson 12 Lake Avenue in Somerset New Jersey I'm here representing residents from Spring Hill
and Lake our goal is I have contacted Trenton there is no idling in any private or public space in the state of New Jersey other than the amount of time allocated
for school buses trucks getting gas Etc ET etc etc because you can look it up we are sick and tired of being awakened every night not once not twice
sometimes for four or five hours as trucks are sitting because they have no place to go neighbors are also guilty because I guess if their truck doesn't start the next day they're not going to be going
anywhere and all it would take would be for somebody and they're not expensive because they have them at at the municipal building the public service building and probably down on 27 where the school board is located is a no
idling sign you're discussing tonight various things about pollution and we suggest that you start looking at pollution from the idling trucks we don't know if they're smart
Alex or what they are but I can tell you this much last night again they hit the mailbox they're vandalizing my house I guess because I become the spokesman for the neighborhood we are now having to
replace because the company does not exist anymore a back door to Our Deck that's going to have to be made of metal with a metal front frame around it that's going to cost us $4,000 I can assure you that's a lot of
money I can't prove who's doing it but they're now stealing the cameras they're they vandalized the mail box I've had Cinders thrown up against my front windows and I think it's time that you
look into a neighbor who's moved in at Tan Lake and if you haven't been there and seen it go look and you find little old ladies for grass and flowers and you can't find them they
also have sitting in the backyard five or six ladders out where somebody can get to them they have a rollar around ladder where somebody can get to it they have two or three ladders in the front yard and I think that the goal is going
to be two find out what's going on over there and stop the idling and that'll help stop the air pollution that everybody's so concerned with except in our neighborhood and when
you're awaken coughing and you can't get your breath it's all because of whatever they're doing and with their trucks three of the trucks I should say once a car doesn't even move it's sitting up on cement blocks no wheels on it
so it's time to clean up for the gander what you've done for the goose and she only had grass a few Weeds now and then and her flowers she of course is
deceased but since these people have moved in they have been wrecking the community for everybody and I know there's certain friends here so take a good look think about living beside them would you
want that and would you want idling trucks you can't even lay down in the afternoon to try to get a nap that you don't have somebody coming by sitting and idling and sometimes at night they're idling so much it shakes your
bed so you got the message I hope so loud and clear because we've lived here almost 47 years and never had problems until March last year thank you very much so if you're going to come up
together you get a total of five minutes not if you want to come up separately you get five minutes each yes okay the microphone up not yeah there hold the that's flexible there you go put it up near your mouth there all right good evening
hello everybody my name is Marcel Rodriguez I'm from 657 Hamilton Street in Somerset New Jersey just want to say God bless everybody and good evening um we are we shop cvd we are originally a health and wellness store okay um we went and submitted an application with
the CRC for a dispensary license at this time currently we're having issues with the the CRC because they state that we needed approval from Township based on the ordinance and laws that were passed in November 2024 we no longer uh would qualify for our dispensary license if we
don't have Township approval um we're going to to you know we are trying to stay focused on our health and wellness part of things we're trying to stay focused on our health and wellness part of things in our store we're looking to work with the council and the township
to see if we can resolve our licensing issue and be allowed to submit for our cannabis license um again we are Wellness store we we we focus on products for the community at a reasonable price all of our products could be purchased online could be
purchased through vendors we go to Legal vendor events to purchase our products and bring them to the community we bring a affordable product to our Township unlike the dispensaries who are astronomically expensive to a lot of the folks in our community we find an
alternative health and wellness product that can help them at a reasonable price we've been here since 2020 June 2020 we opened our doors we've been you know the township asked for us to come here and and show off our cannabis products and our wellness products because they
wanted an alternative option we gave that to the township we submitted for the CRC the township gave us a letter stating that they wanted to support our location for for a cannabis store um we've had tons of businesses moving to our town because of us you know they've
come to our store and seen how we've worked with the community and help the community and they are they've taken advantage of that and now they've settled in put themselves into town got their licenses through the CRC because they put their money in you know I'm I am not some rich guy it's just me okay I
don't have no huge company backing it's just me and my staff working with the community because we're from this community so because we're from this community people can connect with us a lot better than a lot of the dispensaries in the area because we care more about health and wellness products
and natural products and organic products we connect a lot better with the community than a lot of this dispens and this is our store manager and and one of our partners for the business my partner and we we are just coming here to ask you guys to understand we are
here to do the right thing for a first to apply for we put in our paperwork we let Township know what we came here to do so what I'm asking is if you guys can uh think about changing that ordinance and
allowing a company that was already in the application process that have already submitted all their paperwork and you guys can allow us to open as a dispensary not just the health enrollment store that's that's all if you guys um
have any questions I know a lot of you guys have our information please email us contact us and uh we'll wait for an answer all right thank you guys God bless good evening Council DRC Cunningham 11 stock Court Somerset great to be with
you again two quick things and then I'll share uh some additional information first I want to commend you guys for providing that know your rights link that was made available on the website as you all know I'm an immigrant
and so obviously I'm from an immigrant family and I thought that was important for me to share with my family and I think it was well received so I didn't want to keep all the credit to myself I wanted to make sure I acknowledge that here secondly I found out that I missed
the recognition you guys gave to Captain heon last meeting so I want to add my voice and my hand claps to the 27 years of service he provided to the township I've lived in Franklin Township for 30
30 plus years and I have uh observed quite a bit over that period of time I wouldn't say I know a lot of men in blue but from my observation of Captain heon he uh certainly strikes me as someone who's
very Civic minded I often think about when you hear stories of police involved incidents across the country I often think about the fact that one skill cannot be tied to the two that you wa you wear on your waist or the stripes
that appear on your sleeve but it has a lot to do with what's on the inside and I think uh Captain Heaven heon has a heart for service so I just wanted again to add my voice and uh my hand clap uh
to the recognition you guys provided in now now I thought it was important to share that because I'm grateful to have Captain heon's advice and allyship in some I think some of you are already aware of that we formed uh recently in the township
called the hometown Civic leaders Coalition and that name takes a page from Dr King's scclc Southern Christian leadership conference and as you may
know SCC was started back in 57 as a way to bring more Focus and Synergy around the issues of the time around the frustrations and concerns that citizens had at that time and so it is in
that vein that the hclc the hometown Civic leaders Coalition was formed and Captain heavon has agreed to support and provide advice and allyship in that effort lastly let
me say this before my time runs out one of the reasons it's uh important to begin a coalition like that is because I'm sure I'm not breaking news to you guys that we're living in some interesting
times and the times we're living in suggest uh seem to align with something Dr King said back in in' 68 when he says uh the nation is in trouble there's a lot of confusion around and I think some of what we're
experiencing is consistent with those words and so one of the things I'm hoping that we starting right here in Franklin Township might be able to do is closely tied to why we exist We Exist because of the township act of
1798 which forly Incorporated 100 plus townships across 13 counties in the State uh recognizing everyday citizen who are committed to to uh handling their public affairs and so with that in mind one of
the things we're looking to do is to leverage that history in a way that it demonstrates what we call Civics in action and maybe at another time I'll be I'll be able to share with you something from American
history and one of the Constitutional Amendments and how that came to be that started with one regular citizen who had an idea that he wrote about in a college project he got a bad grade on that
college project and he was frustrated by that bad grade and to make a long story short he decided to put Civics in action and because of those steps that the 27th Amendment now it is and I believe
there's a lot to learn learn from his example and as I often share with folks I'm not a celebrity I'm not a public official I'm not a corporate executive I'm not a cable media personality I'm a regular citizen in Franklin Township over 30
plus years and I'm hoping that you guys will be able to join us in this effort thanks for your time thank thank thank you well hell over there G how you doing
Johnny how you doing call Mr Mayor see when you got God in your heart man it's nice to be happy I know by I'm coming to you too you know put your hand down your thing John TS 25 Park Side uh is that the lady is that the
lady lawyer for you guys is that the lady lawyer she's a lady and she's a lawyer I know she was a lady I didn't know she was a lawyer not sir I'm well aware of the ladies I'm a lawyer um Miss
lawyer I'm making an official demand public demand from the public from the fourth W citizens
a demand to the township government that the building at 429 leis Street be given the top floor be given to the Community Action
Agency which is in Somerset New Jersey the Somerset Community Action Program I don't know where the count is at now but there something said commun active program which I'm a part of I make an official demand that they give the top
floor of that building to the citizens in which that building is being built on and with the ground built on the building that building is built on yeah I know it can't happen but I can try yeah I know but I can try because
the C you know we still live there you know um that be given back to the citizens that we lives in that area half of that building and the other half so it can go to the divisional reason that build was
built for the community center and for at risk youth there was some other people that decide to make it his way so we can't go in the building so I'm going try to make it officially
I'm makeing demand from the citizens to make it legally whatever you want to do then you get an answer please make that secondly just argument of that much time of
citizens moving out being displaced what's that word I got the word already what's that word you move black people out there area we move black people out their homes gentrification gentrification gentrification yeah
gentrification all under gu of Redevelopment okay it's fine Redevelopment fine but not when you got to move the whole town out of town there's another motive behind moving all the blacks out of fourth War you know that don't you there there's another element moving along that moving all the
black votes out of the fourth wood I want you guys to know I want to sit up here and embarrass nobody but you know why they moving all the black boats out of the fourth wood and they moving all the people that you guys are Democrats they moving down in new buy they moving
everybody out of Frank town newy and thank you by one time you gave the in the citizens the poor little guys in the neighborhood in the hood a job they still talk about how wonderful they had work upon the township it's too bad
you guys can't do that again you know we live here in Franklin Township just like you do we've been here before you got here and least you can do is take care us anytime you got a little kid to learn buy test and he got to pay
$176 at your you Center to learn how to be test anytime you got kids want to uh play basketball and he got to pay $64 before he can join the basketball anytime you got little black
kids you got to pay $176 to join according the gentleman's time is I got you mayor it's a shame that you been part of that and that's what you're doing to the black community in Franklin Township in fourth wood
thank you very much uh Benjamin guy 35 patent Drive um just wanted to go over uh two things real quick uh one is um just an announcement for a program uh there's supposed to be a program that's supposed to be launching off uh next month uh that you guys are involved with which is
a uh civil construction program that you're going to be doing for adults that you got to partnership with with the Board of Ed and also uh Somerset Community Action Program so um that program is supposed to be starting in March of next uh next uh next month all together first cohort will be starting
uh right now next week Mar March 3rd next month I don't have the date well I do have the date in Fr me sorry about that so um just for the public to announce for it um I'm probably stealing Miss uh Francois Thunder but just to have it on record all together um it's pretty much a civil construction program is designed to teach uh individuals the
basic basis of a general construction the core training consists of uh basic safety uh job sites uh construction math uh hand tools power tools uh blueprint rating uh basic communication skills and basic employment skills and material handling skills also there will be
probably added into CPR and first aid certifications that'll actually be involved um this is for Franklin Township residents people that are interested can go to the uh Somerset Community Action Program to actually sign up for it um or they can call 732 uh I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do
this but 732 846 8888 just for just for Just For more information at all um this will be actually hel held at the uh Franklin Township Board of Education building on uh Route 27 um this will be stiped and actually um child care services for people that work um or need
anything else will actually be provided also if they're um if they're eligible and uh Transportation can be also provided for for individuals anybody over 18 in that's a resident in Franklin Township is suggested to sign up for this program this will be the uh first of the cohorts that are there all right
uh second question I got is um in reference to uh uh I think Miss frall is going to probably take care of this next month um um I know the youth center is supposed to get a award I think this week at all in Atlantic City or tonight sorry about that so um I just want to make sure that that's on the agenda so
that the public is aware of that all going forward at all so that's what that's one thing um also uh Mr Von Locker I think you'll be doing this um over the next probably month or so I know it's budget season because the state budgets started coming out so state budget submissions and I guess the
county budget submissions will probably I mean the city budget will probably start being uh looked at also so I just want to make sure that the Public's aware of those type of things also so that they're you know so that they're aware of certain things that's going on uh last portion I got um because I'm still a little little lost with this one
but um I know we're doing an affordable housing assessment and I know you started having meetings um I just want to know uh publicly um if the township I mean if the township can actually just say who's who's part of this subcommittee that's going to actually do the assessments CU
I know the assessment is due I think in the end of April at all I think uh or something like that I'm not sure y'all guys are qualified because you like to correct me after I leave so it's fine um but but again I just want to know who's on the subcommittee for that just so that people if they have questions and they see you in public they can ask you
questions about it because um because it's a it's a vital a vital time for a lot of people a lot of uh your terms will probably end by the time this is actually placed and um for you actually involving and changing the Dynamics in the community is really vital that people get involved with this type type
of uh type of Appropriations because uh as we move forward and we grow as a Township we change the demographics we changed demographics a lot here even uh Mr voler probably knows this best over the last probably uh 10 years since we've done this we've changed a lot all right in the last 20 years that we've
done this we've changed a lot so again this is a vital crucial piece that's that's going to change the demographics for our town for the next 10 years at all so again these are things that we need to be involved with a little bit more so publicly I just asked this to be a little bit more uh a little bit more transparent because this is a vital
crucial piece and a lot of people's ten years will probably end by the time this actually gets placed in because I think we're roughly in the paper recordered we're probably be doing about maybe between 460 to 600 units that we're actually going to be plac in give or take what what the state state accepts
us to do for our town which will affect us for people that want to be residents longterm here so that is my time at this specific time frame um to actually do it and I'll move on through from here thank you anyone else wishing to speak see no one come forward mayor I'll
motion to close the public portion second move then second and all in favor say I oppos say nay public portion is closed answers to the public first I'd like to thank the three of you for coming in and actually putting in front
of us the um the super fund act climate superf fund act it's on the uh consent agenda because of you so thank you for letting us know about it um at least let me know about it maybe others knew about
it beforehand um to Mrs Peterson um essentially she just made a uh a uh maintenance uh
complaint and so I hope someone will look at the okay that's and can someone look at a road to see if it's appropriate for no idling signs sure
great um Dr Cunningham thank you where is he there he is he taught me some history I didn't know I bet there's a lot more you can teach
me um I'll leave the others for others to comment on anyone else wish to comment mayor I just want to add back to our three persons that bought up the super fund um account and thank you so much for bringing it to our notice um I
think this is where we have that Community Building um we sit here but we want to make sure we're brainstorming with you guys as well if we're missing anything that's happening if there's something that we can partner with you guys so thank you for bringing it um Linda always can can out you guys so
thank you anyone else yeah I want to say thank you because you know the other thing is you never take anything for granted and in the decades you've been coming to these meetings a lot of people just say okay we kind of got it done thank you for seeing it through to the end and sometimes we can't always act on
it because they have to be tweaked we have to look at it most of what you bring us is wonderful you know it's a great we've been able to accomplish a lot thank you mayor I just have a comment on the Cannabis business um I've got a couple
of calls similar to the gentleman um today here uh unfortunately when we made the ordinance um that uh at the time of the ordinance anybody who had gotten the preliminary or the final approvals uh would be
eligible to uh open the shop unfortunately uh his uh situation as well as the others that have called me um we had to tell them that the ordinance uh stands as it is and uh they they're not able to open new shops in
town so uh that's unless the council decides otherwise uh we would not be able to uh accommodate that request correct I want to add on to that but I also thought that we put a cap of 18 and if there were some that went out of business then we would keep that
pipeline open and we would allow new new ones to come in it's actually more than 18 once we finally once everything was finalized with this ordinance Amendment the state of New Jersey cannabis Regulatory Commission indicated that
there were 23 licenses that had been issued for Franklin Township um th so those licenses were issued and those businesses by your ordinance will be allowed to open um and certainly you
know there there's a there's a a thought that if one of those license holders were to go out of business then there would be the opportunity for someone else to come in but there's just you know and and and I think that you know
we we talked a lot about this particular topic before this ordinance amendment was passed um we have more cannabis licenses in Franklin Township than I believe any other municipality in the state of New Jersey
to include large municipalities like Jersey City Newark um and and the like so I you know the idea behind the Cannabis legislation initially and the manner in which it cannabis licenses
were to be distributed was was that no one particular municipality would shoulder the burden um of of all and others would have shoulder none um and what really has happened here and why
you took the action that you did was because it became apparent that we were beginning to shoulder the burden of what was beyond what was our share yeah yeah and I think that the folks that came here tonight it it sounded to me like
they had gotten the approval a letter from US way back when they got a letter before the state state was kept coming back and forth the state also indicated to us and and all through the process that the number of licenses would be extremely limited per
municipality and the state did not hold true to their word and continued to issue licenses in Franklin Township far and above what anyone had originally anticipated we had anticipated probably a maximum of eight licenses to be issued
for the entire Township and like I said 23 have been issued to date that's far more than eight that's that's a lot Dr CI no I was just going to get a little bit of clarification so
we the ordinance say 18 so if no the ordinance the the ordinance says or any licenses issued at the time the ordinance is passed and that's the number that were issued so if any of them decides not to open or there
licenses in invalidated or expires we still not going to replace that until we uh go below 18 18 okay just want to make sure that's clear yes anyone else want to I I just want to comment on um Mr tibs he was a a
a huge proponent and has been a very very actively involved in scap for many many years one of the original Founders I know you've been back when when scap first started 50 years ago and you've been a community activist all these years and because of you you've also
been a community activist of us getting that youth center you put a lot of time and effort coming here talking about the youth and what the youth need and so we put that youth center at 429 Lewis Street now you're coming back and you're saying you don't want that there you
want something different we we we put it what what I from what I heard what from what I heard you want the top floor to be you know for for the community Mr tips the for you to comment it's my turn to speak the youth center is for the
Youth and that's the way we built it for the Youth to have community events there and then some of the comments you made about what we're charging for different activities there is not correct but we we can you and I can talk I think you you you've been somewhat misinformed
about what's going on over there Mr tibs this is not public speaking time does anyone else on Council wish to speak you're not on counil I know well we need to also that's what I'm I want to talk about's questions and that's
what I want to give the ANW commit so now okay great so to Mr gu's questions about the affordable uh housing committees that are evaluating so that the deadline for our affordable housing plan which is a component of the master
plan so it is a it is also a function of the planning board so the state has given us a deadline of um June 30th so the report the the the plan- which is which is in some ways a living plan that
that plan over the course on the third round was amended on multiple occasions to make changes to how we were going to satisfy Our obligation and I'm quite certain that over the 10 years that this round will last that there will probably be um amendments to the plan as it moves
forward as well but the committee is comprised of four members uh there's an ad hoc committee that's comprised of four members of council and four members of the planning board as well as staff members uh Mr dominc Mr Healey myself um
and those meetings have there's already been um three three meetings now I guess so far well we have no no because the other committee is the luse committee councilman so there have there have been now three meetings held so far between
the land use committee and the ad hoc uh affordable housing committee there's another meeting scheduled for this Thursday and as we move through it the other thing is there's a a period of time for which people
developers not people developers can object to what we have proposed is to correct obligation number for future obligation where that was 714 and we've done a land uh vacant land analysis that
uh proved that the vacant land as provided by the state was incorrect and the new number is 623 there once that period is done the the committee will continue to meet as
we've met so far and discussed what uh particular locations will be considered as part of the plan what proposed developments um what developments funded through the affordable housing trust fund all of those things and then there
will be at at least one public meeting of the planning board where there will be the opportunity for public input um as is the case for all all uh master plan amendments which is what this is as
a new component of our uh affordable housing plan um and then uh a meeting of the council um all of that so all of that has to be orchestrated so that the planning board has their meeting in
ample time to refer the the affordable housing plan to council so that Council can have it adopted by June 30th so that that's the the makeup of the the people currently considering it inhouse council members and planning board members um
both the land use committee and the ad hoc committee that this Council created um a few meetings ago and then the planning board also created an ad hoc of their own okay okay that's it Mr Mayor thank you uh Mr
Mayor yes can I have uh 30 seconds is this something appropriate for Council comments or are you answering a question oh no no no council comments just real quick thing we're there before you do Council comments I still want to add on to what Mr Von Locker said so the
four members of council to be transparent cuz we're not doing anything behind closed doors where this super secret going on here this is public land this is a public ordinance so the four members of council that are on the ad hoc committee is myself
uh councilwoman Shea Udin councilman Charles onaka and councilman Jim vasella the people that are on the land use committee I believe are the mayor councilman ROM councilman Deputy councilman council member Ed and council
member councilman Carl right right right and then and then the planning board ad hoc committee is Chairman orini Mr Lort Dr Chase and and um uh Miss Mrs Rafi
okay so now you so now you know I had uh one quick question well no summation Mr guy mentioned he sent this little email out and uh it basically in
my opinion call some people Liars because we didn't know we were talking about and that's not good especially when you say that we don't understand what we're doing but in actuality Mr guy you don't damn thing because see what
you did was you made everybody up here talk about it and that's what we're going to do for you right now to explain it to you to educate you on it now you mentioned that 268 that you said that we didn't do well
that 268 my friend it comes down to this a friend of mine's father needed some stairs done but he was in the in the percentage of what do you call that Mr vo Locker that he fit that social Stratus the economic um so so when
you're in lower moderate income right and what happened is the township went in he made an application the township went in said yes Mr Roberts you do need this done you fit the qualifications get the a
contractor and we'll pay for it and we did with the stipulation that when the house changes hands we get our money back I believe it's uh interest free it is yes interest free so that's an ongoing process that it happens every
year so that number you can just put that number aside and Mr hilly because I'm on the Redevelopment agency here in Franklin Township and the land use committee which means I get two bites at the Apple two
um that number 7 14 that you put down on your paper he actually went out there and bullet ho hold that thing down he went everywhere the township manager said to you at the last meeting that you were here
that land was open space land was Farmland land was wet lands so he drilled it down but you still said that we was wrong and I'm here to tell you no
as far as the Redevelopment agency is concerned and he presented it to us with facts with data no you're wrong so the next time you want to come up and throw some arrows at people make
sure you got it right dude now I ain't saying you need you need to apologize to anybody because you won't no you won't and at least to me because you always come to the meet and want to pick on me but that's besides the point um the next time you want to come in and throw some
arrows make sure you know what you're talking about dude because I don't think we need to sit up here and listen to this garbage you don't okay I know I know but I sit here now B don't Mr guy no not the way public
meeting works but I'm just so okay so let's I make a motion we move on to council comments thank you I don't think I need the second you don't need a motion I don't think need
second I'm not even going to ask for a second I know or we're all in favor we're all in favor oh Council comments Mr Wright would you have anything to say now why you want to start de now you
you want to come down here to me um the underground experience uh my daughter um it's a high school history teacher here in Franklin Township went to the school and everything like that and she's now a
history teacher here freshman she went and took her three little little uh kids with her my grandkids and said it was an outstanding and and and informative session now my daughter uh down at
Tennessee State historical black college she attained two degrees one in history and one in black history so when she went to the experience she said you know hey Pop I learned all this good stuff
but some people don't know it and with her group there were people that were enlightened as to what actually happened during that period of time periods of time I should say so um I wasn't able to
go because you know being a funeral director had to go to work um she said maybe we should do a little bit more maybe people should come in and we have people come in and explain a little bit more as to what happened on
that slave trade and the inner passage maybe we we could explain more of how we became who we are and that is important um and she said after that it was definitely A A A Beautiful Affair as it
were um something else I have for you Mr Mayor but I just got thrown off my track because I I didn't want to hear that and I apolog I apologize to all my fellow council members about what I just did but
I I just didn't like us being beat up I'm sorry I just didn't like that at all especially our Township manager who does yman work Mark Hy who does absolutely outstanding work I just so that's
it thank you council member pesnik um just briefly on Friday at 5:30 um we're going to be having a pride 2025 planning session so anyone who's interested in finding out more please send me an email available on the
website if you'd like to attend um where will it be it will still working on a location so that's why no actually you need to check your email I believe that the room has been reserved for you it will be in the large conference room here in the municipal building it'll be at the large conference room here in I
did check before the meeting started maybe she didn't send it to you she reserve the room for you breaking news breaking news but if you're interested let me know um just so I can make sure we have the right size room um and the right amount of snacks um it'll be one of many meetings so if you miss this one you can't attend and you're interested
uh please please do uh feel free to come we're going to need a lot of help and I think we're seeing um particular parts of the LGBT plus Community being targeted right now by a number of individuals um so it's a time to stand in solidarity and celebrate the progress but also reflect on the work we have
left to do so um it's it's open to allies and U members of the community as well thanks oh I'm it's my turn to say something councilman Vella thank you mayor I'd have a few things to report out on tonight uh first of all before I
forget doc Cunningham uh your tenacity and your sincerity is refreshing and I look forward to when a full program uh somewhere in town can be led by you um moving
along they're all gone but I Echo a mayor's word from before uh I feel very safe in this town I feel very blessed that have the first sorry thank you the First Responders that we have here all of them
especially our police who obviously have a very dangerous job and that being said I'm going to have to repeat 49 new officers in five years I knew we had a lot that's Monumental I'm going to dare say Bob might jump in interrupt me here
but that's probably the most turnover we've ever had and to do it in a way that as far as I'm concerned was relatively seamless uh speaks volumes about the quality of the officers and the quality of our Administration over there and I'll leave it at that thank
you I have a couple more um readouts on some meetings and some of the issues that were brought up tonight um first of all I'm not going to I don't know what the communication is I see Mr guy left anyway and councilman right but I was at the meeting uh the
affordable housing committee meeting and I'm going to just give a little bit of information about that first of all I'm going to say right now we can't be talking about specifics and details what I can of the different projects that we may utilize to fulfill
our requirement what I can say is we have what I saw was a a a a blessing of options laid out in front of us that we may be able to build and build all of
the affordable housing we are required to and maybe even then some without having to build other things in places that we probably don't need or want just to achieve our fair share responsibility
and other words we really have more options than we've ever had before and um we're not being secretive like they said we're being transparent this is probably going to be the most transparent Community involved program ever because we have more options and
it's still going to be rough and it's still going to cost money and there's going to be a lot of negotiations and changes and tweaks so I don't know where Mr guy get information from but uh like the manager said things evolve I could tell you from being involved with three of these and literally studying this since the Mount Laurel that's started
all this back 40 some years ago that um uh I feel much better about this round than ever before and I can't speak for others but I hope I have the opportunity for next several years because the next few years are going to be vital because that's when we negotiate and that's when we work with Builders and that's when we
find the special needs within affordable housing type of housing that really can affect people uh not just with financial needs but other whether it's disabled or veterans or elderly whatever so I'm really excited and again this will be a transparent process and as soon as we
can not only will we tell you about those options we'll probably have a Public Presentation or few that will um really hopefully engage this public in a more positive way than we ever have with affordable housing and I hope the heck I'm able to use my experience to uh see
this through the next several years I think we are blessed in that dep in that area real quick um that's all affordable housing um in a perfect Society we wouldn't need
groups and I wish we didn't like the stigma-free council but we are all Floy including every single one of us up here and everyone out there some thank you mayor some issues that people have require special assistance
and not going to go into the whole mission but I was blessed to I couldn't get to the whole thing but I've read about it and I went to the stigma free council meeting and the part of it that I saw let me tell you if they if their work hasn't already saved lives
it definitely will be saving lives going forward and uh we'll never know who what when and where but their work is um work we is something we need to have in this town and and I think we're blessed to have that so I hope to be in
any way possible help them uh Advance their mission um so that's it mayor thank you thank you councilwoman Francois thank you Mr Mayor uh thank you all for being so supportive of the um
New Jersey climate climate super act super fun act that we're going to pass tonight you guys have been wonderful over the years we we need more citizens like you that have the tenacity and the perseverance to bring things to us to
make to hold us accountable as well so that's we appreciate all that you do and the other thing I want to say it was very nice to see the blue wall on the back and the swearing and uh it did my heart good to to see that um Franklin finest continues to be better and better
and better every year in the work that they do for us to keep us all safe that's all I have Mr Mayor thank you councilwoman councilman rahen barison uh thank you Mr Mayor first of all congratulations to the new officers uh
and the promot promoted uh sergeants and the lieutenants and the captains um as you as you heard uh many of them or most of uh that got promoted had been here for uh two decades three decades not three
decades uh two decades plus and um so this is a place that officers can come and build their career careers until they are ready to retire like Captain hean did um a couple of meetings ago so
uh we welcome all the new offices and and convey our best wishes to them as well as uh to the promoted uh offices um along that line we just had a public safety committee meeting this evening uh a few exciting initiatives
happening but I can't talk about it um not yet at least um but what I can talk about is the wonderful work that the um community relations Bureau is doing at for the township uh every first Wednesday of of every month uh there is
a food distribution at the First Baptist Church um our crb has been doing it for a number of years um uh that to benefit who who those uh are in need of uh food um that's one and then there is an event
on the 23rd Colonial Park uh and the surrounding streets West uh that's a Garden State Track Club 10 miler uh so the surrounding streets Western Road West Canal uh and Elizabeth enamel and metlers there'll be some traffic
restrictions uh so be aware of that on the 23rd March and then uh the read Across America program is going to be happening on March 3rd at the U elementary schools in town uh the crb
will be coordinating those uh um read across programs uh with the schools directly um and uh that's it's all about the public safety meeting um the U black history month program there were two
events actually the one uh my colleague councilman Wright spoke about I have a big shout out to uh Muhammad jalo um son of our County surrogate what a talented young man he put together he wrote the
whole program The Underground experiment and he selected the authors he trained them directed them choreographed them at the senior center that was a very nice surprise we were there uh with my colleague here councilman karazi we
really enjoyed and we learned a lot about black history and that was very appropriate and he has written books I he what a great talent and I I wish he would do more of those programs so we can all learn and benefit from the
history and the culture and the black heritage great job Mohammad jallo and then there was another Black History Month celebration last weekend I briefly attended that after the international mother language Day celebration uh that brought a lot of
kids and Council uh Deputy Mayor oin recognized that organizes uh great program I mean these are kids from all cultures different countries different religion they come and speak on their n native languages um it was wonderful to
be there and hear uh some of them are Indian languages that I happen to know oh by the way English is my second language uh my mother tongue is Tamil um so uh it was a great program and and this is what is good about Franklin we have so diverse so many cultures so many
different uh um countries and languages spoken here and we celebrate it uh in the township and we welcome those kind of programs all the time uh that's all I have mayor thank you thank you councilman on jaka okay
thank you mayor um that was Thursday yes I was privileged to attend the Ramadan lightning ceremony that we had on Saturday was it
Saturday yes yes so Saturday yeah the occasion was heavily attended and it shows the diversity we have in Franklin and freedom of worship we have here a lot of people came they serve good foods and and it was a good
and enjoyable to I want to use this opportunity to congratulate our Police Department tonight shows the efficiency and the safety we have in
Franklin it's very very commendable this guarantees that our security is very very tight and front it thank you mayor that's what I have thank you councilman Kazi good evening everyone I I will start by echoing my colleagues about
congratulating our new officers and those that they promoted so um this past Sunny Sunday a few members of the tri Trail committee and I which I'm the council leaon we took 2 and 1/2 hours of
uh walk through a large wooded open space which is located on County Route 518 and this open space does not have any Trail and objective of our walk was to see if there is an opportunity to add
some trails to that portion of our beautiful Township we took some pictures and some notes and we will be discussing during our next meeting which is going to be on March 12th and last uh couple of weeks we had
a few uh community events my colleague uh councilman ambras mention about the the black history and the walk through uh history in recognition of the Black History Month was really an amazing and
very powerful production and I congratulate also Muhammad jalo for doing that and in fact when he was speaking as Martin Luther King I really thought that is mar Luther King his voice was just amazing similar
to what Dr King was so it's just beautiful thing he did and we also had the fifth annual Ramadan lion which was held this uh past uh Sunday and was organized by Deputy Mayor sheep Odin
with the help of many volunteers and again they did a fantastic job and by the way Ramadan officially was start on March 1st and I'd like to take the opportunity to congratulate to the Muslim Community who live in our Township and they will be engaged in in
monthong of fasting prayers reflection community service and acts of Charity um we also attended myself and along with councilman amb brassen attended the executive committee meeting
of YMCA as part of an ongoing support to pave the way for building a y in our Township um I guess we heard about the budgeting yes is the time for budgeting as several of us along with uh our Don
manager uh we are having meetings to discuss the uh the budgeting as well uh we uh uh we have two uh meetings that is coming up one is the human relations commission meeting which is going to be tomorrow starting 7
pm and will be held across the hall in the large conference room and we will have a guest the speaker who's going to be the interim High School principal Miss Kelly guro and we will also introduce the newly approved
commissioner the next meeting is the meeting of advisor uh Board of Health meeting which is going to be on Wednesday March 5th again in this building starting at 7:30 uh will be at the large conference room and we have guest speakers who are
representative from zofall health and Dr ravali John rali our superintendent of his schools also will be there and they will be discussing the expanded Health Services in franklen Township and we will also introduce four new approved
members uh that they uh joined us and I'm really pleased to to uh see that for the first time in years we have full membership in The Advisory Board of Health so so please come to these meetings and we appreciate everybody
that they can attend thank you so much Mr Mayor thank you Deputy Mayor oene thank you good evening um I think many of my updates have been already stated so I'll try to keep it as uh short for for my updates um I was just actually
checking the purple air device tracker online and it shows that we're at uh the air quality is little or no risk which is good um so uh we had ordered these I believe last year the devices um so looking at them on and off just to keep
track of our air pollution I know there's been a lot of discussion around that so looks good so far we're we're good um so the affordable housing meeting we had I think councilman um vasella Township manager has mentioned um the
minutes and you know we'll get to uh providing more insight so that as we have information I think we're still vetting the layout Etc so um think it's too early to provide information on that we're still going through um information but it's great information so you'll
learn as we get to provide um through the public sessions and um answer some of those questions that you may have but I think they're going to be it's looking good so more to come from there um fire prevention um there's nothing to
report there where look look at some of the um they're looking at some of changing some of the devices so that's being worked on right now um International mother language day and we had a couple events back to back this weekend International mother language
day Black History Day and then welcome Ramadan I think one of the things that I um reflected at least between all these three events is we had a lot of law enforcement that attended those events our local cops and what I saw from our community the positive feedback back was
just like that Community relation building um we had our Interfaith committee come out for the Ramadan um ceremony again it's the positive impact that we're having with our community I think that partnership that collaboration it shows when we're all
together and uniting for different events um and it's just very nice to see that been like I said the three events through out last weekend and it it showed um pretty nice solidarity amongst everyone um some upcoming webinars that I think are going to be very interesting
and some of the things that I'm also hosting um I'll give more information as we um have them down this spring um working with the FBI on some scam and fraud bringing that to town um some educational information um also
partnering with our assemblymen on some anchor uh state New Jersey program so that's going to also come out soon we'll give more details as we're building those uh flyers and then some other upcoming things is we're going to have um East a quarter study so that's also
upcoming so there's just a lot of stuff that's happening um we will get you guys more transparent as the dates start getting fixed and you will hear about those through our site website or through one of us through this council meeting so just stay tuned um for information that's all I had mayor thank
you thank you um for my comments um the stigma free program is a very important program I went to their first meeting I was UN aable to attend this next one so I'm glad councilman vasanello was there he's
shown quite a bit of interest in it now the stigma free um organization was not formed by ordinance it kind of developed on its own so it's not constrained uh in the ways that uh
committees that are formed by ordinance are so I would like to um nominate without exception uh Jim vasella or a point without exception um Jim vasella to be the
liaison to the stigma free uh Council because they um he's really shown an interest in it and is important I'd be honored mayor so if they're without objection so it is thank you I want to
again uh extend my thanks to the our police force and all they do um yeah as as it's down at a personal selfish level as Mary you worry about things like that I I don't have to worry about that not
that nothing could possibly happen but I know that they're well trained well disciplined and uh all have their hearts in the right place uh there was a financial oversight meeting tomorrow I mean last night
um we've got some challenges we talked about health care one thing I can report is uh our fund balance sometimes referred to as our Surplus but Surplus on the federal level means how much extra money you have each year this is
essentially the money we have in the bank and we have a fairly large one compared to most towns and that that gave us a lot of freedom like during the um pandemic when they want to delay take collecting taxes
for a month uh to help people catch up that was no big deal for us some towns had to take out bridging loans in order to do that so uh it also gives us a High um Bond rating because we have that much
money so we uh it was at 20 3 million the beginning of last year and it's basically at 21.5 million so we we it's gone down a little bit we
wouldn't want it to go less than 20 uh so we have to uh be very careful so that we don't push it down I'd like to keep it a little bit above 20 um so that constrains us we've got other
constraints such as Healthcare which we discussed quite a bit last night um and we'll be coming out with a budget relatively soon that's all I have Mr manager thank you Mr Mayor I just one
one uh upcoming event to report on and then I just wanted to touch a little bit more on affordable housing before we call tonight um the event is the Hamilton Street safety improvements study that is
under way uh funded by the Federal Highway Administration and the north Jersey Transportation Planning Authority there was a public information uh Center that was scheduled in this room um back a couple weeks ago and it got snowed on and it had to be
postponed so the new date is Wednesday March 12th here in this uh in this room um it will be from 5:30 to 7:30 it and and it is in a way an open house on the
on the Project's uh progress thus far but also at 6:30 that evening there will be a presentation made by the consulting firm and Engineers so if you're interested in that Safety project it's the Hamilton Street project which runs
from the the township corporate line with New Brunswick all the way to Vanderbilt which is one of the side streets that goes into the middle school the old high school um so um if you're interested there's information on our website it's in the news on the main homepage um and uh
anyone who has an interest in Hamilton Street is uh encouraged to attend so the other thing I just I just wanted to touch on we we we talk about a lot about round obligations and and the like
so our third round obligation was 2,76 affordable units and our plan to meet our third round obligations was
2,162 so we had a buffer or a plan surplus of 86 units of those 86 units Surplus 67 were not built for whatever reason
the developer chose not to build their project um which leaves us with a current remaining surplus of 19 now there are still 130 units to be built as part of the
Redevelopment plans um and there are Redevelopment agreements with those redevelopers to continue those that's just a phased development in the Redevelopment area and they'll be built as we move forward to the future but
what that really means in total is that out of Our obligation of 2076 we actually have 1965 built and occupied which you know we've talked
with Professionals in this business that's kind of a number that's unheard of in in the in the state of New Jersey um that that's 95% of our third round have not only were proposed but
were built and are occupied which is a number that all of you up here should be proud of um some of you were here right around the time that the third round began 1999 um but some of you I think Kimberly
was just about do finishing her first stint on council at that time and so the third round got extended for a number of legal reasons and that's why we're just beginning our our 10year round now with
the third round having been Now 26 years ago um but it it it's something that we we Banner back and forth about meeting obligations but that's a significant number that the public should hear um
2,000 affordable housing units were built and occupied in our third round and if you read the newspaper and you look at what other municipalities are dealing with right now many in our area didn't meet their obligation at all and
I think that's a that's a story that should be on our website since there's and so there is going so Mark Healey it's he's a busy man these days is putting together a frequently asked questions and maps to be put on our website to better explain the affordable
housing process so yes I agree good and that's the end of my report Mr Mayor yeah I'll add to that I get emails from Mayors around the state saying please join us in our lawsuit against the state to get rid of these affordable housing
obligations I've not signed up no and mayor just St add to what the manager said I'm On The Board of Trustees of the nonprofit that manages a good portion of it and for over a decade they're like how do you guys do this or
when they talk about an example of what works they reference Frank and they don't do it to flatter me believe me they they are we are the shiny example of how to handle it especially for a town our size I just wanted to add that and I think councilman franu you're
right we should we should um wave that flag and and let people know it doesn't mean we're doing it perfect but we're doing it darn near perfect and we have affordable housing all over Franklin Township oh it's it's I was going to say an educational session for people to understand not only what we're going to
do going forward but what we have done and really get a visual well we don't have to go into it now but I I think that history should be a part of that presentation and that'll be another thing that's a part of that frequently asked questions but it'll also be part of the the uh the meetings the public
meetings going forward when we get to that point in the plan process education before we break our arms patting ourselves on the back it is time for the 2025 Community Development block grant program I'll
just know we're an hour and which by the way mayor also plays a part in affordable housing you couldn't leave it alone no well I'm just saying it does in fact play a part in affordable housing because it's through the cdbg grant money that much of that housing
Rehabilitation um takes place I mean the so what a wonderful segue perfect Perfect Since I'm here to talk about the next five years if we're lucky
yeah right yeah if we're lucky by the way the township of Franklin um with that Community Development block grant money I took a quick look since this program has been instituted it has done over 106 units of
Rehabilitation single family home rehabilitations for Township residents that's y we did we're doing well good okay um just for uh edification of those
who don't know anything about the program uh the township is a recipient of Community Development block grant funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development uh we received that fund uh
from the from the uh government because the township has a population that exceeds 50,000 people and we have four census tracks in which 51% of the households earn less than 80% of the air area
median um in 2024 for Franklin Township the median income is 8,34 um in accordance with our citizen participation plan we're required to conduct at least two public hearings during the plan year
but during the submission of the Consolidated plan we also required to add additional Community meetings Community surveys and the like so that we expand uh public participation in the process as we develop our fiveyear plan
to that end we will have two Community meetings locations to be determined April 2nd and the 16th those would not be formal council meeting meting it would just be Community input meetings and a final public hearing is
tentatively set for June 24th that is provided that we get funded this year um and as soon as I know you will um I will get that information to you we are also posting the online
community survey it will be um up on the website on March the 1st I would appreciate it council members if you would participate in the survey this year and anybody else you can think of so that we can get a good um handful of
surveys back um usually the responses are limited but I would hope that I can get at least 50 this time um and I believe that's it for me I I'll keep it simple everything else is
posted on the website applications are posted on the website they're in PDF form they're in um you can do the application right online for organizations that are interested in participating um and that's all I
have thank you mayor I have a question yes so in the past when were we notified of the monies that were needed to be appropriated what time frame was it in March somewhere sometime it won't be March this year I know but in the p yes
sometimes it's march sometimes it's April okay okay if they do do a continuing resolution and they include funding for it then uh we'll have that but no one knows what's going to happen at this point all right thank you okay
all thank you thank you so it's now appropriate to have a public hearing on the Community Development block grant have a motions open to the public so moved seconded and seconded all in favor say I I oppos say nay motion is
carried we are now open to the public on this matter only same rules see no one come forward I make a motion to close second all in favor say I I oppos say nay motion is carried uh
public session is closed we're on to council discussion items we have none approval of the minutes Township Council reorganization work session regular meeting of January 7th 2025 and the work session regular meeting of January 28th
2025 do I have a motion on the minutes so move seconded moved and seconded any discussion anyone would like to change edit not since Ted Chase was on Council um Madame clerk councilman EMB
Barrison yes councilwoman Francois yes councilman karazi yes mayor Kramer yes councilman on jaka yes council member basnik yes Deputy Mayor Dean yes councilman vasella yes councilman right yes time to pay the bills warrants in the amount of
26,4 6133 And1 cents February 25th 2025 are presents to the township Council for payment do we have a motion on the warrants as R be paid I second that we've been seconded any discussion
anyone would like to pull an item Madam clerk councilman and parison yes councilwoman Francois yes councilman Cari yes mayor Kramer yes councilman onaka yes council member basnik yes Deputy Mayor oudin councilman vasella
yes councilman right yes no ordinances on first or second reading government at its finest doing nothing consent agenda items a through K is listed on the consent agenda portion of this meeting are presents to the township Council for adoption to have a
motion on the consent agenda so move second moved then seconded anyone like to pull an item discuss an item mayor yes sir uh if it's appropriate I'll leave up to manager but maybe you can expound a little bit on I and how that may help um some of the issues we're
battling in town if that believes it's not appropriate we don't need to no it's fine it's said there are certain Municipal ordinance violation cases that demand a little bit more time than the municipal prosecutor has time for and we routinely assign them to the legal team
of Ron coflin and Mello and they are Township attorneys obviously and in this particular case now the administrative office of the courts has asked that this governing body adopt a resolution just indicating that so this may help us
solve some of these issues with the and we're already doing it like I said this has already been done this is now the the state Court saying we would like the governing body to adopt the resolution formalizing it that's all thank you anyone else any other
items Madam clerk councilman EMB Barrison yes councilwoman Fran yes councilman karazi yes mayor Kramer yes councilman Oni jaka yes council member pnik yes Deputy Mary Dean yes councilman vasella councilman right
yes uh there are no resolutions to be voted on separately old distance boards committees commissions does anyone have a nomination hearing none I'll just read off where there are openings advisory rec council Cultural Arts Council Hamilton Street Advisory Board Housing
Authority development Redevelopment agency senior citizen advisory committee and the trails committee uh we have an executive session resolution 25 uh
097 authorized executive session uh potential land acquisition uh I'm not I'm G to butcher this guda El kapti y
property uh at 360 Franklin Boulevard and the negre Farm LLC at 406 408 skilman Lane present to Township Council for adop option do have a motion to go into executive
session sove mov seconded move and seconded all in favor say I I oppos say nay motion is carried so we're now going to go into executive session there will be no official actions
taken after the executive session so we're going to stop taping now uh the meeting is essentially adjourned e for