Franklin approves new street names

FRANKLIN — The Borough Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to change “Independence Lane” in the Franklin Meadows complex to “Dina's Way.” Full approval was also given to rename “Hospital Road” as “Sergeant Dennis F. Premock Road.”
The latter shift is being made to honor Premock, a Franklin resident who was killed in action on May 6, 1968, while serving with the Army in Hua Nghia, Vietnam. Premock's name is listed on Panel 56E, Line 14 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The change in Franklin Meadows is being made in memory of former community resident Dina Arrigo Wyckoff, who died last year of cancer at age 34. Arrigo's family still resides locally, and her mother told the council in May that Dina was a devoted and active member of the Franklin community.
The council previously indicated the changes will come with a minimal impact, affecting a few homes on old Hospital Road and the Franklin Meadows Clubhouse on old Independence Lane.
A new street sign for Sergeant Dennis F. Premock Road was presented to Premock's family during Franklin's Memorial Day event in May. A ceremony to dedicate a new sign for Dina's Way is scheduled for later this month.
Though some residents reportedly questioned the procedural criteria for the change to Dina's Way, Mayor Nicholas Giordano said the move is “just a nice thing to do.”
“Doing something like this is what being a community is all about,” Giordano said.
More Franklin residents will be honored going forward.
The council has tasked a new committee, headed by Borough Historian and County Freeholder Phil Crabb, with developing a list containing the names of other distinguished local veterans. Those will in turn be used to name streets in any new developments that come to town, Giordano said.