Local Company Named to Brownfields Committee

A Plainfield woman’s loss of her husband to brain cancer and another woman’s extreme reaction to new carpeting were both factors in the launching of a business dedicated to promoting non-toxic paint and related supplies.

On its web site, the poignant story of Frankly Green’s beginnings is told in the “About Us” section. Click here to read it. The company’s name came up at Monday’s City Council meeting in the context of formation of a Brownfields Development Area Steering Committee.

In a discussion of proposed appointments to the committee, Public Works & Urban Development Director Jennifer Wenson Maier described the company as a local vendor selling “green cleaning supplies.” Although the company is new, many in Plainfield know its founding partner, Audra Frank, as a successful businesswoman whose clients include many celebrities. Frank has 30 years’ experience in high-end painting.

The rationale for the new committee is to have a broad-based group of community members who can help identify Brownfields Development Areas that will be eligible for state funding for remediation. Proposed members include Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs’ confidential aide, Barbara James, to represent the mayor; a council member; Planning Director Bill Nierstedt; Al Restaino, who is in charge of the city’s Community Development Block Grant process; Jacques Howard of the city’s Economic Development office; attorney Ed Boccher from the Union County Improvement Authority; property owner Andrew Arditti, who owns the E. Paul building; Howell Electric; a consultant from Excel Environmental Services; Dornoch Plainfield and Cecil Sanders, representing developers; and Frankly Green as a local business.

Counciolman Rashid Burney, who questioned some of the appointments, agreed to serve as the council representative.

If approved Wednesday, the committee will meet once a month, Wenson Maier said. To learn more about such committees, click here.

--Bernice Paglia