Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Environmental Commission Shade Tree topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Franklin Township environmental, shade tree commissions outline Earth Day, Arbor Day work and canopy goals
Summary
Environmental Commission and Shade Tree Commission presented accomplishments and goals during the council’s Earth Day and Arbor Day observances, including stream cleanups, a community energy plan, a food-composting pilot and a plan to reverse a decline in tree canopy from about 39% to roughly 36.5%.
At the April 22 Franklin Township Council meeting, members of the township’s Environmental Commission and Shade Tree Commission delivered reports tied to Earth Day and Arbor Day observances, outlining recent projects and a slate of near-term goals for planting, maintenance and community outreach.
The Environmental Commission, represented at the meeting by Stan Yaraj, summarized a year of volunteer work and technical reviews, saying the commission “reviews and provides feedback on site plans” and pushes measures such as requirements for solar-ready roof space on warehouses, EV charging readiness, permeable pavements, bike racks and native-plant landscaping. Yaraj said the commission ran an annual stream cleanup in April that collected 750 pounds of garbage and 285 pounds of recyclables with more than 100 volunteers, and that the commission helped obtain a $10,000 NJBPU grant used to develop the township’s Community Energy Plan.
The commission listed a set of current-year goals that include a food-composting pilot at Canal Walk, pursuing Sustainable Jersey certification (continuing silver-level work), finalizing recommended amendments to three local ordinances, assisting the planning board on climate-hazard vulnerability assessments, and implementing items from the community energy and micromobility studies.
Steve Gillooly, chair of the Shade Tree Commission, told the council the commission’s work focuses on trees on public property and on increasing the township’s canopy. “We are just an advisory board for preservation and expansion of tree canopy in Franklin Township,” Gillooly said. He described recent plantings—more than 55 trees on Hamilton Street, 30 on Ridings Parkway and 40 replacements along JFK Boulevard—done in partnership with engineering, DPW and utilities, and said the township earned its 23rd consecutive Tree City USA designation.
Gillooly emphasized a canopy goal adopted in 2016: a target of 42% tree canopy. He said the township’s canopy had been measured at about 39% in 2016 and fell to around 36.5% as of the most recent state data (February 2023), “the equivalent of a 56-acre loss of tree coverage since 02/2017.” He said the commission will focus plantings in denser neighborhoods, update the community forestry management plan, pursue funding for school- and park-based plantings and work with DPW to maintain the town’s urban forest.
Both commissioners pointed to outreach and education as a continuing priority. The Environmental Commission runs screenings and tabling at community events, promotes home energy-efficiency programs and is preparing a micro-mobility report that identified two priority east–west routes to the municipal building. The Shade Tree Commission said it is updating the tree-replacement fee in the municipal ordinance to reflect current market prices for trees and coordinating more closely with DPW crews that perform roadside tree work.
Council members thanked both commissions for volunteer work and detailed reporting. The reports conclude with a list of near-term actions including ordinance amendments, grant applications, piloting food composting and expanded tree inventories in targeted wards.
The commissions’ written materials and a fuller list of their site-plan comments and outreach events were placed on the township’s public record.
