Week of January 24

Putting Franklin aside for a moment, this week was big for me personally. On January 26, 6:58 PM my wife Laurie and I welcomed our second child Andrew Steven Bauman into the world. Andrew weighed in at 8 pounds, 3 ounces and measured 21 inches. Mom and baby are doing great; all of us, including our 3 year old son Ryan are adjusting as a family. Needless to say, there may be some late-night posts coming your way!

January 25 was the Environmental Commission reorganization meeting and regularly scheduled meeting. Congratulations to former Committeewoman Diane Burgess for being appointed Chairwoman of the EC for 2010. Congratulations also to Lisa Wood who won the confidence of her fellow commissioners who voted her to serve as Vice Chairwoman for 2010. I look forward to working with the EC as we continue to protect Franklin's precious environmental resources. The EC meets the last Monday of each month at 7:30 in the municipal building- the meetings are public and all are invited to attend. Copies of the meeting agenda are posted on the township website and the bulletin board in the municipal building.

I was called out of the meeting mid-stream to take my wife to the hospital so I cannot personally attest to what happened but my review of the meeting minutes show that in 2010 the EC plans to work with the Land Use Board on crafting a solar energy systems ordinance, a wind energy systems ordinance. The EC also wants to inventory / improve our trail systems, and inventorying the township conservation easements. Once the meeting minutes are approved by the EC they will be posted on the township website.

The Jan 27 Land Use Board meeting was canceled due to a lack of a meeting quorum; the next meeting is scheduled for February 10, 2010 at 730 PM in the municipal building.

January 28 was the Township Committee meeting. Good news- the State Local Finance Board extended their statutory budget deadline by making March 31 the new deadline for municipal introduction and approval of a budget, and May 11 the new deadline for municipal adoption of the budget. Our Finance Director Ron Matthews is already busy preparing the budget and the Finance subcommittee (Committeeman Steven Tarshis and myself) are preparing as well. For more information on this check out the Dept. of Community Affairs website at www.nj.gov/dca/lgs.

With regard to Committee business, we took the following actions:

1. Voted to approve the January 5 and January 14 meeting minutes.
2. Voted to authorize the Mayor to sign a Contract for professional accounting and auditing services for 2010 between Franklin Township and William M. Colantano, Jr. CPA. On a side note, if you haven't read a municipal audit, you don't know what you are missing!
3. Voted to introduce the first reading of Ordinance 2010-01- the Local Government Cap Law which allows Franklin to increase our 2010 budget by up to 3.5% over the 2009 final appropriations.
4. Adopted Resolution 2010-18 authorizing the tax collector to cancel property tax refunds or delinquent amounts of less than $10.00.
5. Approved a $945.00 bid from Clem's Ornamental Iron Works to fabricate and install 3 aluminum handrails at the front entrance of the municipal building.
6. Adopted a resolution authorizing the release of 2007 and 2008 redacted executive session minutes.
7. Heard a presentation from John DeMarrais of the Open Space Committee.
   
8. Heard a presentation from a property owner who is interested in creating two accessory apartments on his property which would help the township fulfill our affordable housing obligation.
9. Decided to not permit Union Township from using our tennis courts for their youth tennis program.

We learned of newly introduced NJ Senate bill (S-1) which proposes significant reforms to the Fair Housing Act and abolishes the Council on Affordable Housing. We also received an update on the ongoing school addition / construction. We were told that someone from the school will update the Committee on progress made on a monthly basis. I look forward to these updates.

A busy week indeed, and it is just the first month of the year!

Week of January 17

Without any meetings scheduled this week I was able to catch up on some paperwork and filing. Since I serve as chairman of the Environmental Commission, I prepared the agenda for the January 25 meeting. All EC agendas are available on the township website and all are welcome to our meetings.

I did spend some time talking with our Land Use Board chairman and our township planner on the status of our Natural Resource Inventory (NRI). Once the Board formally adopts the NRI it will be on the township website. You will find this document helpful when determining environmental constraints and characteristics of any property in Franklin Township.

I also spent time speaking with the State Agriculture Development Committee concerning the status of our Farmland Preservation Plan. This plan was submitted to the SADC in December 2008 and since the SADC has been reviewing the plan chapter by chapter and providing us their comments. The light at the end of the tunnel is an appropriation of $750,000 from the State to the township to be used for the purchase of farm preservation easements. Many Franklin residents are to be thanked for volunteering their time in making sure this plan is approved by the SADC. The Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance is currently responding to the SADC comments and revising the plan.

Week of January 10

The week of January 10 was a busy week. Tuesday nights is open house at town hall- stop down some time and get to know your municipal employees. I plan on making it to town hall on as many Tuesday nights I can.

On Tuesday January 12 I met with our Tax Assessor, Construction Official, Zoning Officer, and Finance Director. I look forward to getting to know them, their jobs, and how we can all work together to give the citizens of Franklin the efficient and professional services that they deserve. The highlight of the evening was learning that the new school addition plans are in the Construction Official's office- check them out if you can- it is your tax dollars footing the bill for this project.

Wednesday January 13 was the reorganization meeting of the Land Use Board. I am the committee representative to the Board. Besides the formalities of appointing our chair/vice chair, engineer, planner, attorney, meeting schedule, newspaper, and secretary, we also interviewed 2 potential candidates for the Board and we held a brain storming session on our goals and objectives for 2010- the notes from this vision session is still on the white board in the upstairs meeting room in town hall- check it out! If anyone has questions about the Land Use Board feel free to contact me and I will do my best to get the answers you deserve.

Thursday January 14 was our Township Committee regular meeting. We received reports from our tax assessor, tax collector, public safety director, and public works department. We authorized $3,732 for a contract with City Connections, LLC for website services for 2010. We also adopted Resolution 2010-16 regarding Class II police officers which we carried over from our last meeting.

We approved a salvage yard license application for 552 Pittstown Road. We also received a Notice of Order to Comply from the NJ Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development / Office of Public Employee's Occupational Safety and Health. Basically we have to install railings at the front steps of town hall, install crash rails/guards near the LP gas containers in the rear parking lot, reconfigure some electrical equipment in the police patrol room. Some may see this as petty, but it does involve the safety of our employees.

We also approved St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center to act as our animal control officer for $6,300. We also appointed our Open Space Advisory Committee to serve as our 2010 Municipal Open Space Coordinator.

The Committee also serves as the Board of Health- at our meeting we granted septic system waiver requests for 371 Pittstown Road.

As you can read, it was a busy meeting- and a busy week! Still reading? Congratulations!

Reorganization Meeting Recap

In my last entry I meant to provide the public with a quick summary of the January 5 reorganization meeting. I am going to do my best:

1. The Committee approved Linda Jacukowicz as Mayor and Robert McGeary as Deputy Mayor for 2010; congrats to the both of you!

2. Here is a list of the resolutions we adopted; most of these are routine beginning of the year formalities:

• Resolution 2010-01: named the official depository of funds for Franklin.
• Resolution 2010-02: permits the interest rate to be charged for non-payment of taxes.
• Resolution 2010-03: awarded professional services contracts for attorney, engineer, planner, and auditor.
• Resolution 2010-04: authorized the township attorney to file tax appeals with the Hunterdon County Board of Taxation
• Resolution 2010-05: authorized appointments made to the various committees and commissions.
• Resolution 2010-06: authorized official signatures for township checks
• Resolution 2010-07: designated the Hunterdon County Democrat, The Express Times, Newark Star Ledger, Courier News, and Hunterdon Review as official newspapers for legal notices.
• Resolution 2010-08: authorized a temporary municipal budget.
• Resolution 2010-09: we did not act on this resolution regarding subcommittee expenditures until the voucher/encumbrance policy adopted in 2009 is reviewed.
• Resolution 2010-10: established our annual meeting schedule.
  
• Resolution 2010-11: approved a budget for the township participation in the Joint Court of North Hunterdon
• Resolution 2010-12: authorized the North Hunterdon Municipal Court to engage a municipal court administrator
• Resolution 2010-13: established salaries of contracted Department of Public Works employees.
• Resolution 2010-14: acknowledging Patrolman Kevin Ballaro achieving 1st class rank.
• Resolution 2010-15: established salaries for contracted police department employees.
• Resolution 2010-16: this resolution regarding Class II police officers was carried to the January 14 meeting.

Fun, eh? If you are interested in the details of any of these resolutions, you can contact our municipal clerk.

Happy New Year Franklin!

On January 5, 2010 I took the oath of office as Township Committeeman for a 3 year term. I received my subcommittee assignments:
- Administration
- Finance
- Construction/Planning/Zoning
- Recreation

I am very proud to be a public servant and I am ready to get to work for the residents of Franklin. Open communication and transparency are paramount to me; open dialogue and public decision making is key to a citizen-friendly government. I will do my best to serve the public interest and I look forward to working with the Mayor and Township Committee on keeping our spending in check.

I want to hear from you; how can I help you? Do you have suggestions on how Franklin can be a better place to live? Please contact me at scottsbauman@gmail.com