On Wednesday October 20 I met with planners Rick Steffey and Bill Millette of the Hunterdon County Planning Board to discuss the status of farmland and open space preservation in Franklin Township. The County offers to meet with municipalities on a monthly basis to discuss the status of ongoing farmland and open space preservation projects as well as anything else that might pop up during conversation. This was my first meeting with these gentlemen – I was filling in for Mayor Jacukowicz and Open Space Chairman John Demarrais who could not attend. I used the meeting as a fact finding mission for myself and I look forward to attending more of these meetings.
Our county planners are helpful and wiling to offer assistance when they can. As a planner myself, and a former county planner (Union County), I commend the Hunterdon County planners on scheduling these meetings on a monthly basis- open communication is key to cooperation and I am looking forward to taking advantage of this opportunity the County has given us. If there are any issues Franklin residents would like me to present to the County please contact me and I will do all that I can to assist.
I missed the October 25 Environmental Commission meeting. My review of their meeting minutes revealed they are working on a tree ordinance, GIS trails mapping, and they want to participate in the review of a recycling ordinance that the Committee has been discussing.
On Saturday October 23 I joined the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts in their annual roadside litter patrol. I’ll be honest- picking up litter at 8:30 AM on a Saturday wasn’t the first thing I wanted to be doing but as the morning progressed I found the experience rewarding and downright therapeutic. I got to know more Franklin residents, with two sons I am sure at least one will be interested in scouting, and being able to walk some of our most beautiful rural roads on a crisp, fall Saturday morning while beautifying them by removing trash was rewarding in its own way. Many folks driving by slowed down to thank us for the work we were doing.
I want to thank Jim Foran for accommodating my desire to be part of this project- I was the only non-scout affiliated person in the crowd and Jim made me feel comfortable enough to want to come back the next time the scouts decide to do litter patrol.
Wednesday October 27 was the Land Use Board meeting where we heard and approved an application for a lot line adjustment (minor subdivision) on Block 10, Lot 11. I had to recuse myself from the second hearing of the night involving Block 10, Lot 26. The Land Use Board has a few draft ordinances in the works, in particular I was given a copy of a draft solar / wind power ordinance.
Thursday October 28 was our Township Committee workshop session. Highlights from the meeting included:
1. Adoption of the 10/14 executive session and regular meeting minutes
2. Payment of the bills. The 800 pound gorillas in this check run included: transfer of tax levy to the Franklin Board of Education ($801,185), transfer of tax levy to the North Hunterdon/Voorhees High School ($529,748), 4th quarter county taxes ($425,455), 10/22 municipal payroll ($45,544), 4th quarter county open space tax ($44,187), 4th quarter county library tax ($35,895), December billing for the North Hunterdon Municipal Court ($9,024), and we paid our township attorney $8,161. The check control registry is public information so if you want to see it in its entirety, stop by the clerk’s office.
3. We approved resolution 2010-69 supporting the “Over the Limit Under Arrest 2010 Year End Statewide Crackdown” whereby we pledge to increase awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving; our police officers will exercise increased impaired driving enforcement from December 6, 2010 through January 2, 2011.
4. We discussed a recycling ordinance (again!)…. It was formally introduced and referred to the Environmental Commission for their review. The public hearing on the ordinance will be on December 9, 2010.
5. We approved to spend (an amount not to exceed) $6,500 for a sound system upgrade for the meeting room. The upgrade consists of a digital recording system, wall mounted speakers, new microphones, transcription software package, installation and set up costs. The lowest quote that suited our needs was from Gramco Business Communications. The two other bids received were in the amount of $10,460, and $15,710. This sound system will be used not only by the Committee, but also by the Land Use Board, and any other group that chooses to conduct a public meeting in the municipal building. The system will enable us to have audio files of the meeting available on the township website and we can do away with the cassette tapes.
6. Our zoning officer reported on the zoning applications received year to date. For 2010 our zoning officer has reviewed 63 zoning applications. October’s applications included an equipment shelter and new antennas to the existing monopole at 95 Quakertown Road, and a residential roof mounted solar array.
7. The Committee reluctantly accepted longtime Land Use Board member Kurt Fischer’s resignation from the Land Use Board. I’ve known Kurt since I began on the Land Use Board in 2006; he was a valuable asset to the Board, his knowledge and dedication will be sorely missed and I wish him the best. Mayor Jacukowicz appointed alternate Board member David Dallas to Kurt’s unexpired term.
8. Our township planner gave us an update on the Appellate Court decision on COAH’s Third Round Rules and its impact on Franklin Township’s Third Round Plan. A copy of the document can be viewed here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/40781910/101026-COAH-Update
COAH stands for the Council on Affordable Housing and they are a state agency whose purpose is to ensure that each NJ municipality provides its fair share of affordable housing. The history of COAH goes back to the mid 1970s, it is not my intent to give the background or express my personal opinion about the topic of affordable housing; my purpose here is to keep Franklin residents informed on our legal obligations and the cost to the taxpayer. The Appellate Division invalidated COAH’s third round growth share methodology and directed COAH to come up with a new way to determine each local government’s fair share obligation within 5 months. How does this affect Franklin? Our COAH assigned 65 unit obligation number has now been invalidated; we should get a new number within 5 months. Our township planner’s letter spells out our situation succulently, for now the Committee has chosen to “stay pat” until the rest of the cards fall- once we have a new affordable obligation number to work with we can either contend it or decide to work with it. What upsets me is that all of our work and dollars that went into our first 3rd round report was also invalidated- we are not getting refunded the money we paid to prepare our reports, and as the statewide policy continues to morph, we have to continue paying our consultants to stay on top of the issues or we risk being sued by developers.
9. We received a letter from the NJ Department of Environmental Protection informing us that we stand to lose $137,427 in Green Acres funding. We were awarded the funds in September 2008 and there has been “no movement on the Township’s part to advance a land acquisition project since August 2009”. If we wish to pursue the acquisition of a parcel related to our Open Space Plan we need to inform Green Acres by December 1. The Committee is taking this letter seriously; our finance officer is going to inform us about how much money is in our open space accounts and we will then decide whether it is prudent to proceed with open space purchases at this time. The letter concluded by stating that our decision not to proceed with spending the $137,427 would not jeopardize future Green Acres funding.
My personal commentary on matter: I support open space and farmland preservation- keeping Franklin rural and agricultural is the reason why I first volunteered on the Land Use Board, it is why I am active with Rural Awareness, and it is also one of the reasons why I decided to run for public office. Our audit ending December 2009 states we have $279,881 in our open space account. We are anticipated to collect an additional $280,000 this year. We still need to pay down past open space acquisitions- Summit Manor ($425,000), and we need to start making payments on the $1,122,996 we spent in 2006 on acquiring development easements on a 70 acre parcel on Sidney Road. I understand from the Open Space Advisory Committee that we have $117,000 due from the County open space tax. There are also other opportunities to obtain matching funds for open space acquisition. All this said, I am a firm believer of moving ahead with a “clean slate”- we need to control our debt that has accumulated from past open space purchases. If we have to wait out a round of open space acquisition in order to manage our finances that are already making an impact on our budget that is something we are going to have to do now. While I support open space acquisition it must be done in a way that has minimal impact on our daily operating expenses and if we have outstanding debt that still requires financing I am uncomfortable moving forward and passing on the debt to future Committees because it will be the taxpayers who will get burnt. If I have any of my facts misconstrued I invite your comment; I understand the Open Space Advisory Committee is meeting in early December and I look forward to meeting with them to discuss how we can work together in managing our past debt while planning for the future.
I had the honor to be a judge for the costume contest at the Township Trunk or Treat Tailgate Party held on Friday, October 29, sponsored by the Recreation Commission and the Police Department. The CERT (Certified Emergency Response Team) and the Quakertown Fire Department did a great job with vehicle and crowd control. In the spirit of Halloween I arrived in a pretty outrageous costume; I just hope the pictures took don’t come back to haunt me! If you missed Trunk or Treat you missed out on a lot of fun! After the costume contest everyone headed to the tailgate party where I witnessed the talents of our residents who decorated their vehicles in the spirit of Halloween. I grew up in suburban Milltown, New Jersey and when it came to trick-or-treating there were many houses close together and we made out like bandits on Halloween. When my wife and I moved to Franklin one of the things I thought about was “well there goes my children’s chance at trick-or-treating, we will have to drive to Clinton or Flemington for decent trick or treating.” I was pleasantly surprised at the Trunk or Treat turnout, the friendliness of the attendees, and the whole atmosphere at the Trunk or Treat Tailgate Party; now I can rest easy knowing that my children will have fine memories of Halloween in their hometown just as I did.
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