State Fire Safety Planner Said to Be Investigating Volunteer Fire Company Serving Bass River Twp. Scrutiny Was Reportedly Spurred by Anonymous Complaint Related to February Meeting Called by Chief
By Bill B onvie Staff Writer
BASS RIVER—New Jersey Division of Fire Safety Emergency Management
By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer
TABERNACLE—There were two main conclusions from a March 10 town hall forum on the future of Tabernacle Town Hall (currently shuttered due to concerns over its structural integrity, though it has since been stabilized) and its associated Municipal Complex at 163
Carranza Road, now that demolition of the Town Hall has been staved off.
First, all except one person, who either took the time to attend the town hall or write an email to the mayor on the subject ahead of time, expressed their desire that Town Hall be maintained in some capacity as a centerpiece of Tabernacle Township, with an overwhelming majority
of the participants expressing a desire that it remains a municipal building.
Second, almost every participant in the March 10 town hall raised their hands at one point in support of seeing “Public Works gone completely from that area” and relocated to a new site,
Planner Donald Nelson has initiated an “investigation” of the New Gretna Volunteer Fire Company, Bass River Township Mayor William “Rick” Adams revealed at the March 10 Bass River Township Commission meeting. The investigation is one that reportedly stemmed from an anonymous complaint made in response to an open meeting the company conducted Feb. 3 at which Fire Chief Patrick Monaghan attempted to address public concerns that it might close down due to a disagreement with the township over funding, an account of which appeared in this newspaper.
Based on what she knew, Township Solicitor Joanne O’Connor described whatever scrutiny Nelson had undertaken as being “at the point where they are trying to nip it in the bud before it becomes a penalized investigation,” with “a list of what we need to do” in the
to ‘Revisit’
By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer
WASHINGTON—A long-sought plan to redo and expand the parking lot for the Washington Township Municipal Building, as well as add some amenities to the municipal lot, last presented in February 2023, is one Resident Barbara Cavileer is calling on the Washington Township Committee to “revisit” after it seemingly went by the wayside.
The township advertised the project twice previously, and each time it got a lone bidder. During the last attempt back in 2023, a $175,840 bid was received, causing then-mayor (and current deputy mayor) Daniel James to declare at the time that he “can’t justify” the cost of the project, which would, in addition to resurfacing of the municipal lot, call for the installation of flag poles, pavers and park benches.
Township Engineer Kevin Dixon previously recommended to the township committee that should it wish to continue to pursue the project, the public body may want to “break the scope apart,” but maintained that ultimately the governing body “has to make the decision” and it is a “business decision” that has to be made. It was also discussed at the time about how rejecting the bids twice would allow the township to lawfully negotiate with potential contractors.
But February 2023 was the last time the project publicly came up, until now, or during the Washington committee’s latest March 4 proceedings.
“Can we revisit the parking lot here?” Cavileer asked. “You talked about grants coming up. Can we use one of the grants for paving and get the parking lot done? This was approved years ago, and nothing has been done!”
Dixon responded that the “grants I am familiar with are for roadway paving” and “wouldn’t apply” to the project at hand, to which Cavileer asked, “There is no way to tweak any of those to benefit paving on the site?”
“I mean, it is possible to pave the parking lot in a separate individual contract, but it comes down to the same bidding process,” Dixon answered.
The township engineer pointed out the previously established budget for the project “was blown up by the bids that were received.”
Dixon then explained what had happened during the purported attempts to break up the scope of the project, describing that “there was some insurance and bonding problems with the people that were available to do slices of that work.”
Despite people having been reportedly “all ready to volunteer their time,” and others offering to contribute their labor at a “discounted” rate, according to Dixon, “they would have had to have had insurance and bonding.”
“There is really a decision process that needs to be made about whether or not to put it all out to bid, and budget the money that the bid would yield,” Dixon said. “Or to try to break it up into separate, smaller contracts.”
He warned, however, “in both cases, public bidding laws would apply.”
Cavileer previously spoke about how her husband, Barry, had first pursued the project back in 2016, when he was a thencommitteeman. At the time, the governing body had run into obstacles with the Burlington County Planning Board and Pinelands Commission, ones that were finally ironed out back in 2022.
“I hate that things get left for years, and not resolved or addressed, or just forgotten,”
Barbara Cavileer declared on March 4.
Current Mayor C. Leigh Gadd, Jr., in recounting the previous two bid amounts, called the amount of money sought by the contractors “astronomical.”
“The amount of money was crazy because of, presumably, the size of the job,” Gadd said. “Everyone had bid high.”
Barbara Cavileer, in response, proposed the possibility of the township “using millings” instead of asphalt “so we get more parking spots and get it more efficient.”
“Can we get creative?” she asked, to which Dixon recognized, “There are a number of things you can do – they are all ‘creative.”’
The township engineer further acknowledged that “asphalt millings are an option,” but maintained, “That is a decision that the committee would need to make, and move off the scope that was originally designed.”
Cavileer also proposed the committee reduce the scope of the project to simply “parking spots,” foregoing the rest of the intended improvements such as the bench. Dixon, however, pointed out that the “biggest number” came from the cost of the proposed paving.
The committee previously awarded a contract to Arawak Paving Company for the resurfacing of Old Church Road, but according to Dixon, “They didn’t even want to bid this project,” despite an official having reached out to the firm, with James noting the reason was, “It wasn’t big enough.”
Former Democratic Candidate for 8th District Assembly, Current Mayor of Lumberton Arrested; Charges Include DUI and Child Endangerment
LaPlaca Was Already Facing Criticisms for Vulgar Language in Public Outburst This Month During Protest Over Husband’s Fire Appointment in Mount Holly
By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer
LUMBERTON—Former Democratic 8th Legislative District state Assembly
arrested on March 17, and subsequently charged with driving while intoxicated and endangering the welfare of a child, among
Medford Lakes Police Chief Proposes Lowering Curfew Times, Citing Major Uptick in Purported Unruly Behavior by Juveniles
Chief Reveals Over 350 Curbside Warnings Have Been Issued in Borough to Juveniles Since State’s Juvenile Justice Reform, with 43 ‘Cases’ Probed; Medford-Vincentown Rotary Donates 2 E-Bikes
By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer
MEDFORD LAKES—Details of a proposed “Parental Responsibility Ordinance” have now been released by Medford Lakes Police Chief John G. McGinnis, Jr., with him calling the proposal an effort to “help residents negatively affected by juvenile justice reforms,” with him adding he hopes it will “get juveniles who commit ordinance violations and crimes back on track.”
According to the chief, the proposed ordinance, if passed, would lower the curfew to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, whereas it is currently 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 12 midnight on Friday and Saturday.
But the chief cautioned that the police will “not bother” youth if they are simply picking up pizza from nearby Riveria Pizza, for example, past curfew, or ice cream from The Sand Stand (though both establishments currently close before the proposed curfew would take effect, anyhow, based on their listed hours).
“We are not looking here to hammer these kids,” the chief declared during a March 12 Medford Lakes Borough Council meeting.
Rather, the ordinance would give local officers “the ability to deal with problems that come into town and are in town, especially continuous problems throughout the borough that I know a lot of the residents have felt for years.”
“My officers will have discretion on citing parents for the violation of the parental ordinance,” McGinnis added.
What specifically brought about the proposed changes, according to McGinnis, is “we have purported problems with excessive loitering, fights, noise, littering, fireworks, CDS (Controlled Dangerous Substance)-use, alcohol consumption, and vandalism” in certain areas of the borough, as well as there having been instances of “criminal mischief to both borough and Colony properties.”
“Beach Drive is the most common area that is affected, followed by Brooks Field
(a recreation site in the borough), the 7-11 Plaza, Beach One, and Neeta School,” the chief maintained.
McGinnis emphasized that the situation being realized is not how it was in the old days in the Lakes, rather his department has issued over 350 curbside warnings over the last four years “and if we could write faster with a pen, we would probably have more on record.”
Some 43 cases of late, the chief noted, have involved juveniles, but the chief said he suspects “that number is a lot higher because we have ‘suspected juvenile activity,’ as far as crime reported.” Juveniles are suspected, he said, given the nature of the acts reported “we wouldn’t expect an adult to have committed.”
McGinnis also recognized that “it does happen a lot where there are kids from other towns getting dumped into Medford Lakes, or they just come here naturally.” However, of the 43 aforementioned cases, “I would say the majority are probably Medford Lakes’ kids, but we do have some out-of-town kids that have gotten in trouble before.”
The chief touched on one case previously reported by the Pine Barrens Tribune in which a family “has been continuously harassed by groups of juveniles for over two years,” including “juveniles basically cursing at the family, setting off fireworks,” in addition to incidents of “criminal mischief” at their home.
As far as reported vandalism to various Colony properties, the chief asserted, “I can’t tell you how many reports I’ve taken” because there have been so many.
He also revealed that juveniles are suspected to have damaged a speed radar sign coming into the borough, which is located near Shawnee High School. Additionally, purported vandalism to golf carts and the golf course at Medford Lakes Country Club is being attributed to “suspected juvenile activity,” the chief reported.
“And during the 2024 Canoe Carnival, multiple juveniles were found extremely intoxicated on Colony property, some of whom were transported to the hospital,”
Tabernacle Committeeman William Sprague, Jr., drilling down on what the public would like to see happen to the Tabernacle Municipal Complex.
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with Committeeman William Sprague, Jr., who asked for the showing of hands, declaring, “I think that is going to answer a lot of questions.”
“What do you mean by ‘completely gone’ from that area?” subsequently asked Stuart Brooks, a local transparency advocate who is on the Building Subcommittee.
Sprague, also a member of the Building Subcommittee, then suggested what he had in mind would be to “clear” that “whole area” at the Municipal Complex, or
from where Town Hall is located (not the Town Hall itself) to the Pepper House, or demolishing two buildings that presently house Public Works, as well as an Annex.
“I think we need to have a picture of what the town thinks that their town center should look like,” Sprague declared. Sprague was drilling down on a “vision” first proposed by Mark LeMire, head of the township GOP and also the township’s Recreation Committee chairman.
LeMire asserted “we need a public space” for meetings of not only the township, but for volunteer groups in the community, maintaining that “when you See TOWN HALL/ Page 7
his decision to replace Allen as township fire commissioner.
maintained that someone had read in the article (and presumably told Nelson) that “the fire department was shutting itself down”(no such assertion having been made by this newspaper in its coverage of the fire company meeting).
Adams, however, maintained that at the previous commission meeting on Feb. 10, he had contended that “it would never shut down.” (His actual quote, as reported by this newspaper, was “I can assure the town you will have fire coverage and EMS, period.” He also said at one point during the Feb, 10 session, “the fire company is not closing and we are going to have EMS,” contrary to what is written on Facebook.)
Adams, asked in a March 17 phone interview if he had been in contact with Nelson since the meeting, told this newspaper that he was scheduled to once again confer with the fire safety planner at a time that was past its deadline.
So, we always had to do things separately.”
The mayor, she related, “then said he was just going to take it over and I found that out.”
Allen admitted to being ambivalent about the new arrangement – “upset,” as she put it, on one hand because she was reluctant to give up her status as fire commissioner and still hoping to learn more about that assignment, but also wanting to do whatever she could to make life easier for the fire company.
“If he (Adams) wants the information and he needs it, and that was decided with the state guy, then it would expedite (the situation) for them,” she acknowledged, noting that while she might not have agreed to relinquish her role, she also realized it would enable the fire company to resolve situations faster. “That's honest.”
process of being formulated.
O’Connor provided further clarification in a subsequent phone interview with this newspaper saying she was given to believe its purpose was to help the fire company with compliance matters and didn’t anticipate that any penalties or fines would result.
In a related development, it was disclosed at the March 10 commissioners’ meeting that Commissioner Jane Allen, a newcomer to township government whose official duties are supposed to include serving as director of the Department of Public Affairs and Safety, had been summarily relieved of responsibility for the fire company, with Mayor William “Rick” Adams, a life member of the company who is considerably more knowledgeable about its operations, having taken that role on himself – an action the legality of which was questioned by a resident in attendance.
Also aired at the session was an explanation by former mayor Deborah Buzby-Cope of how fire company issues were handled under her administration, which in turn prompted the mayor to justify the rationale for policy changes he claimed were necessary for him to implement during the past few months.
The news that “right now, the fire company is under an investigation” was conveyed by Adams himself in the course of a drawn-out debate with resident John Gormley over the township’s handling of money set aside for the volunteer unit and
In response to further questioning from Gormley as to whether Adams “had a meeting with the inspector,” Adams acknowledged he was “here” with the fire chief, Township Clerk Jenny Cleghorn and Nelson. The mayor maintained Nelson had “requested the meeting.”
When Gormley inquired about why Nelson had decided to focus on the New Gretna volunteer unit, Adams initially replied that it was “because he read everything from the Pine (Barrens) Tribune (which never indicated in covering this issue that any such investigation was called for) and he called Cleghorn and said, “We have got to have a meeting with the chief. That is how it all came about.” (The article to which he referred was apparently the account in the Feb. 8 edition of this newspaper of a Feb. 3 fire company meeting, attended by about 50 members of the public, regarding concerns reportedly “expressed by a lot of people” in the community that the fire company might be on the verge of closing due to financial issues it was having with the municipal government, “which Monaghan, along with his wife, Melissa, and other leaders of the organization attempted to dispel.”)
But in reiterating that allegation, the mayor, who described Nelson as “the man who is in charge, who has all the rules and regulations,” maintained that “the township commissioners did not call him— it came through the Pine (Barrens) Tribune,” with Cleghorn adding it was the result of “an anonymous complaint.”
Further expounding on that, the clerk
The disclosure about the investigation followed an exchange in which Gormley took Adams to task for the way he described having assumed the oversight of the fire company originally assigned to Allen, at a meeting between him and Deputy Mayor Louis Bourguignon, to which Allen allegedly wasn’t invited, and not informing her of the decision until the next day.
“Are you the liaison between the council, commissioners, and the fire company?” Gormley asked the mayor, and when the latter replied, “As of now, I am, yes,” Gormley then inquired, “What happened to Jane?”
When the mayor responded that Allen “didn't know too much about what was going on with the fire department,” Gormley came back with the admonition, “You replaced her and didn’t tell her?”
It was then that the mayor revealed that it was he who had assumed her fire department responsibilities, after learning that Nelson had launched his “investigation” of the New Gretna Volunteer squad.
Allen subsequently came forward in an attempt to “clarify” what had just occurred.
The failure to inform her until the next day, she maintained, “was because I really didn’t know a lot and I was trying to do it and I would always ask Rick (Adams) for information, anyway.”
“So, when I wanted to go to a meeting – and I met at the fire department a lot with them – I would go first, then Rick would come, and I would leave because it would be a quorum if we were together.
Earlier in the meeting, Gormley had questioned the mayor on why the previous chief, Tom Wetmore, had been allowed a certain amount of flexibility in using his specially equipped truck so that it could be more readily available in emergencies. The mayor’s position has been that the township’s Joint Insurance Fund (JIF) prohibited the truck from being kept at the chief’s home or driven around town for that purpose. At the February meeting of the fire company, where these issues were discussed, Gormley at one point had offered to pay the extra cost of having the truck covered by a more lenient insurer.
But Gormley, at the March meeting, told Adams that he would like to see a copy of the document containing the JIF restrictions on use of the truck, to which the mayor replied, “that is easy for me to get you that.” (As of early on March 19, however, Gormley told this newspaper he still had not received any such document.)
When Gormley inquired about why no public hearing was held on the apparent rule change in regard to restrictions on the chief’s truck, Allen ultimately replied that it was contained in the new “volunteer handbook,” which was “voted on” in October. She pointed out that the policy applied to “every volunteer” and was not specific to just the fire company.
“The town is not supposed to use the truck for personal use,” she added.
The issue, however, appeared to have been resolved when the New Gretna volunteer company recently switched its coverage of the specially equipped vehicle
See INVESTIGATING/ Page 8
(Continued from Page 2)
According to a criminal complaint obtained by this newspaper from the Lumberton Township Police Department, a “witness” provided police with “video footage from a possible intoxicated driver operating a vehicle” and who was “failing to maintain (their) lane” in “multiple instances.”
The vehicle at issue, according to the complaint, was “also observed on video almost colliding into a utility pole.”
The vehicle at issue was later determined to have been operated at the time by LaPlaca, and according to the complaint, when police made contact with her, she “admitted to drinking and stated that she had recently picked up her son from daycare.”
A search of LaPlaca's vehicle, it is noted in the complaint, then “yielded positive results for an open container” or “alcoholic beverage.”
A pair of child endangerment charges (one second-degree, and another a fourthdegree offense) listed in the complaint stem from it having been determined by the responding officer that LaPlaca was “driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol,” all while her child, or “victim” as the police put it, was “secured in a car seat in the driver’s side, rear seat of the vehicle.”
Summonses were issued for the other charges, to include: operating under the influence of liquor or drugs, reckless driving, careless driving - likely to endanger a person or property, driving with an expired license, having an open container of alcohol or unsealed cannabis in a motor vehicle, and failing to adhere to marked lanes of traffic.
Police would only provide the complaint to this newspaper, with an accompanying message, “Due to the ongoing criminal investigation involving Mayor LaPlaca, the Lumberton Township Police Department has been advised by legal counsel to refrain from making any comments or statements at this time.”
It was not said what road the reported incident had occurred on.
LaPlaca wrote the following day, in a comment thread in a local Facebook group underneath another media outlet’s coverage of the pending charges against her (which drew an array of critical comments about her), “It is truly sad that people are
celebrating this or find it amusing.”
“The unfortunate fact is that I have a disease, one which millions of people share and that I would not wish on my worst enemy,” LaPlaca continued. “My husband is taking me today to get the help I need and which I have been reluctant to get because I am not one to admit ‘weakness’ or ask for help. The two things I love the most in this world, and which bring me the most joy, are being a mother and serving Lumberton.”
This was not LaPlaca’s first run in with the law. Previously, she was arrested in 2023, according to the New Jersey Globe, for allegedly assaulting her husband, Jason Carty, a known political activist and past political consultant for Democratic campaigns.
Carty was also arrested at the time, according to the New Jersey Globe, and later took responsibility for the purported domestic violence incident, causing the charges against LaPlaca to be dropped.
Public records also show that LaPlaca was charged in 2019 for driving the wrong way on a one-way street.
And according to the New Jersey Globe, a police incident report had been filed in 2017 denoting a verbal argument after “LaPlaca arrived home intoxicated,” with it also noted that Carty, then her boyfriend, left the house they shared with his young son voluntarily.
A few days before the March 17 arrest of LaPlaca it was also reported by the Asbury Park Press that LaPlaca recently had resigned from her position as business administrator of Neptune Township, a role she had reportedly held since 2022, having purportedly attributed her decision to a “changing political environment,” which was not defined further.
Earlier this month, prior to LaPlaca’s March 17 arrest, LaPlaca was filmed verbally berating a member of the public who had attended a Mount Holly Township Fire Commissioners’ meeting, in video obtained by the Pine Barrens Tribune
An attendee later told this newspaper that the outburst came amid one of a pair of tense, packed public meetings of the commission over a two-day span, which saw a majority of the public objecting to a possible appointment of Carty to the commission, given his purportedly troubled past. There was purported heckling that occurred at the one meeting, and tensions were already running high after purported
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McGinnis revealed. “And those juveniles were issued written warnings per the Attorney General’s directive.”
And there in lies the problem for Medford Lakes (and other towns up and down the state, particularly shore communities): “our hands are tied on how we can give corrective action to what they are doing,” McGinnis declared, attributing it to the implementation of Juvenile Justice Reform back in 2020.
Sgt. Mark McHugh, of Medford Lakes, expanded on that point, describing that the “point of the reform was basically to keep juveniles out of the system.”
“Less criminal complaints,” he said. “Less juvenile complaints. “Less kids, I don’t want to say getting in trouble, but more serious trouble for their actions. As part of the Juvenile Justice Reform, they laid out the steps that we are supposed to take when dealing with juveniles based off of the alleged crime or local ordinance violation that they are committing. The lowest form of punishment is called a ‘curbside warning.’”
He defined a “curbside warning” as basically being something “just on paper,” and police simply “going out and talking to juveniles and telling them to knock it off.”
“We tell them, ‘Hey, this is what you are doing wrong,’” he described of the required process that is restraining the force from taking more decisive action to bring an end to the activity. ‘“You can’t do it anymore. You need to leave or vacate the area, or go somewhere else.’ That is all it is. There is no follow-up. There are no other corrective actions that we can take. We get their location where it is happening, and their age, if they' will tell us.”
McHugh also pointed out of that required process “we don’t call parents.”
The next “above” step to be taken, if the juveniles’ actions are “deemed more dangerous or more intensive,” according to McHugh, would be a “stationhouse adjustment,” in which police “handle it within the police department,” but the alleged wrongdoing “doesn’t go to the county reporting systems” or prompt involvement of the courts. However, during this step “that is when we involve the parents” and “corrective actions” can be assigned.
However, McHugh indicated the bar is high to trigger a stationhouse adjustment – the juveniles must be suspected of having committed at least a fourth-degree crime
if tried as an adult.
“Obviously, anything more serious than that, it can go to juvenile complaints,” McHugh said. “But to get to juvenile complaints, we have to involve our Prosecutor's Office, and usually get approval from them. Most of the time, they tell us just to knock it down to a stationhouse, anyway. The whole point, like I said, of Juvenile Justice Reform is to keep kids out of the system.”
The hope of lowering the curfew in Medford Lakes, the sergeant said, is to give his officers “another tool to try to help our residents, and keep kids moving along.”
Mayor William Fields, who previously served in law enforcement for 25 years, said of the Juvenile Justice Reform that “it just hand-tied the police, and the kids know it.”
“Word got around,” he added. “New Jersey, you basically do what you want if you are under 17.”
However, according to Fields, “If they (the police) can’t deal directly with the juvenile, we can definitely hold the parents accountable, which is what ultimately you want” as they are the ones that must help foster “corrective” action.
According to McGinnis, who is in his 19th year of service to the community as a Medford Lakes Police officer, the proposed ordinance has been drawn up in a “collaborative effort” with Borough Manager Dr. Robert Burton, Borough Solicitor Doug Heinold, “our prosecutor, my officers, and members of the community.”
“This isn’t something new,” McGinnis declared. “We are not reinventing the wheel.”
The proposed ordinance for Medford Lakes takes after those passed in Lumberton, Maple Shade, Beach Haven, and Pemberton, the chief maintained. Heinold noted that he “thinks with the revisions that were made at the state level” with regard to juveniles, what Medford Lakes is proposing “may get parents involved sooner than they are now.”
“And I think a lot of parents would actually appreciate that,” Heinold declared.
Councilman Thomas Cranston pointed out that revisions to the borough’s present curfew ordinance were considered a few years back, but at the time council didn’t feel it was necessary, but times have changed on account of the state’s reforms.
“When your hands are tied because of the state law, it makes your job that much harder,” Cranston said. “Tools need to be in place in order to allow you to address the
See CURFEW/ Page 8
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James recognized it was “Barry’s project,” to which Barbara Cavileer responded, “I’d like to see it done.”
“It slipped off the top of the pile because it was just not financially feasible,” James recognized. “… “Because it is such a small job, nobody really wanted to touch it because it would cost them more to bring the equipment in for a day than it was for what they would make on the job.”
Cavileer, however, pointed to paving
1. State in southwestern India
4. Pashto
10. Corpuscle count (abbr.)
11. Supervised release from prison
12. Greeting
14. Type of drug
15. __ Sagan, astronomer
16. Every year
18. Nasal cavities
22. Nova __, province
23. In an inactive way
24. Cream-colored root
26. Nervous system disease
27. Guitarist Clapton
28. Three came to see Baby Jesus
30. Lebowski’s nickname
31. Play a role
34. Not fresh
36. Where golfers begin
37. Negatives
39. Wild goat
40. Releasing hormone
41. Makes up
42. Fastens
48. Exists in large numbers
50. A connecting word
51. A phase of the heartbeat
52. Northern Ireland county
53. An independent ruler or chieftain
54. Pacific sea bream
55. Commercial
DOWN
1. Pastes for filling crevices
2. Acquire
3. Heralds
4. News group
5. Exact copies 6. Particles 7. Noted 20th C. performer Lena 8. Tempted
9. Midway between north & east 12. Slotted, hinged metal plate
contractors who are usually quick to take on residential driveway jobs, and James noted he was “just thinking about that,” but Dixon pointed out it is “different” for a contractor to earn revenue on a municipal job “because of the insurance, the bonding, and the prevailing wage.”
“They really jack up the price of everything,” Dixon asserted.
Gadd suggested “maybe we should try the bid process again,” adding “maybe we can just see where they are at, and if we can just get it done, just get it done.”
“It would be nice to see it done and actually have a flagpole out front,” the mayor added.
Protected oneself against loss
13. South American hummingbird 17. Neither 19. Walk with confidence
20. Omit when speaking 21. Imperial Chinese currency
25. A bakery specializing in French pastry
29. Talk incessantly
31. Ethnic group of Nigeria
32. Longtime NY Times film critic
33. Beginners
(Continued from Page 3)
look at Tabernacle, there is no restaurant, and there is no other commercial property where we can actually have any sort of group meeting.”
“Obviously, a park-like setting would be great,” added LeMire, whose input is likely to carry significant weight given the Tabernacle Committee is an allRepublican body.
His vision includes “preserving town hall, putting in “some eating space adjacent to that,” while “clearing out all those other buildings that belong to Public Works.”
“Move them off, and then have it be a welcoming space,” LeMire declared.
Before any public input was gathered, however, Land Use Board Chairman Raymond C. McCarty, Jr., also a member of the Building Subcommittee, suggested that an investigation tasked to the subcommittee last fall by current deputy mayor and former mayor Noble McNaughton, to explore whether a former dump site on Old Indian Mills Road could be used for a possible new Public Works facility, is now no longer thought of as a viable idea.
McCarty revealed March 10 that the subcommittee “pretty much ruled against that” because the property is “so remote from the rest of the town,” whereas currently Public Works is “pretty much” in a “central” location.
In addressing a question from resident John Druding about where Public Works would be relocated, former mayor Rick Franzen, also president of the Tabernacle Township Historical Society and a member of the Building Subcommittee, responded, “We have looked at a lot of different options for that” and “There are a lot of others.”
“We are not ready yet to say exactly what we feel about that, other than to say we have looked at eight or 10 sites,” Franzen said. “We have pluses and minuses on eight or 10 sites, and we are not exactly to the point where this committee is ready to recommend a particular site or two to the full township committee.”
But when asked by resident and local business owner John Redmond, “Do we have any other property that we own?”, besides the former dump, it was when current Mayor Joseph Barton proclaimed, “We have looked at a lot of properties that you are not aware of.”
“Unfortunately, we can’t make public everything that we have looked at,” Barton declared.
Redmond, however, pressed the mayor if the township would be able to publish the list of properties that are under consideration, to which the mayor responded, “No, tonight is not the night,” but it would do so “in the future.”
“Here is how it is going to work,” Barton told Redmond. “We want to hear the feedback from the community tonight. This subcommittee will then reconvene. We will take all your ideas with the ideas we already have.
“And then we are going to make a recommendation to the committee. And there may be several recommendations (with the) different scenarios that the committee can do. And at that point in time, this committee of five is going to
have to take a look at it, and probably will have to start spending some resources to come up with some conceptual plans to see which plan is the best. At that point, we will have to spend some funds. To date, we haven’t spent any funds (since the subcommittee’s creation*) other than the volunteers meeting and coming up with some different scenarios.”
(*However, the committee, with a different makeup of elected representatives last year, voted at the time to demolish the Town Hall on the premise it was posing an imminent danger of collapse, and then favored a proposal to build a new $8 million municipal complex down the street from the existing one, and had concept plans drawn up for it. It was in the process of negotiating the purchase of 144 Carranza Road, down the street from the present site, and seeking approval from the Pinelands Commission, but the location of the property and cost to build a new town hall drew controversy, as well as the proposed demolition of the existing Town Hall, and the would-be seller ultimately withdrew their offer to sell the land. At the March 10 session, McCarty addressed the cost, by pointing to a downsized plan for the $8 million that would not have included a new Public Works facility, asserting, “It is funny to talk about money, millions, like it is something, you know? And it is your money. It is my money.”)
Redmond responded the “dump sounds good” to relocate Public Works, “but if we have some other properties, it is going to be easier” to build there, to which Barton replied, “There are. We have looked at it. And unfortunately, we are not at liberty to tell the general public everything that we have looked at,” with Township Administrator and Clerk Kathy Burger making a point of stating, “Yet – yet.”
“When the time is right, we will be open and transparent,” Barton vowed. “But we have got to get there.”
Local Jason Anderson suggested to officials that “instead of looking elsewhere and buying property, just use what you have,” and “just start developing a plan for the center of our town, for town hall, and just sit down and start designing a plan for the dump for municipal works.” It was then that Brooks maintained “it is not as if the dump is a cost-free option.”
“Everything costs money, but the dump brings special costs,” Brooks said. “We don’t know the scope of those special costs, but they could be real large, like using a small fraction that is usable, but having to cap the entirety of it.”
Anderson responded for officials to “build a building on the usable part,” and then “store equipment, salt and everything else on the unusable part,” to which Brooks asserted, “We can consider that.”
Resident Cyler Vena, however, maintained of the old dump that it is a “piece of land that we are going to hold on to forever,” and therefore, “We might as well use it and get something out of it.”
Vena pointed out that for the “past four or five years” officials have not had a “number,” or cost estimate to “cap whatever section needs to be capped.”
“That is something that needs to be addressed, so that we can make that decision, or you guys can make that decision,” declared Vena, noting that only if it is a really high figure, such as $20 million, then “it is not worth it” and
that will allow a decision to be made to “go find someplace else” to rebuild a new Public Works facility.
However, he emphasized, “if that piece of land can be used, you might as well use it, because it is not going to be used for anything else, is it?”
Resident Ian McDowell joined with a chorus of others who expressed that “getting Public Works out of there would be a move in the right direction for that whole area to look better.”
“Public Works – it is an eyesore,” McDowell continued. “Again, those gentlemen do an excellent job. Getting them somewhere with more room is obviously going to make their jobs more efficient.”
Originally, officials said they were looking at moving Public Works out of the existing municipal complex because any additions to Town Hall, some of which are reportedly required to be able to utilize the vacant building again as a municipal building, require a certain amount of impervious soil coverage to meet wetlands standards set by the state, and the only way to increase the amount of impervious soil coverage at the limited acreage site would be by relocating Public Works elsewhere.
However, at the March 10 town hall, Barton spoke of a need, “after touring Public Works for two hours” recently, of giving “Public Works more space, in a better location.”
“Those gentlemen do a wonderful job, but they are kind of shoehorned in the size of the property that they have,” Barton said. “So, they are always moving stuff to do their jobs. It is not very efficient, the way they operate for the small space they have, but they make out very well with the space that they do have. It would be nice, if we can afford it, to put them in a new facility where they could be very efficient for the next 50 years.”
LeMire, in response, surmised, “maybe Public Works is the key to this thing,” contending, “I think we have already decided they are shoehorned there.”
“Finding a place for those 10 employees or so to work, and finding it somewhere close to (their existing location), so that they can store their equipment, frees up that property quite a bit,” LeMire asserted.
The town hall on Town Hall, however, featured another key stakeholder, whose presence at the meeting and inputs offered are significant, given, as he pointed out, “this hall was built in 1874 by men of the Junior Mechanics and others,” and that it was later “conveyed” in 1892 to John Irick, of Tabernacle Council No. 49, Junior Order of United Mechanics (Jr. O.U.A.M), followed by, in September 15, 1966, the building being “conveyed” by officers of the organization “to the township for use as a municipal building and site for the municipal building, or for other municipal purposes.”
Donald Gerber, of Tabernacle Council No. 49 Jr. O.U.A.M and also an officer of the State Council Board of Directors, asserted the organization has “wishes and requests,” before reading aloud what he pointed out amounted to “10 items.”
Among them:
• “After raising the building and adding supports, move the structure north one width and a half of the current location and then stabilize the building;
• Build a foundation and full basement
(on the) south side, next to the road, but approximately one-half width of the building to allow necessary room for water drainage and water diversion;
• Basements should hold all heating and air conditioning equipment, and use existing duct work, and add more if needed, and the basement would also be acceptable for storage;
• Leave the second floor open and available for various meetings, displays or for whatever other purposes;
• If used by the township as Town Hall, all existing offices could remain. If the offices will be relocated to another part of the building, then remove all first-floor offices and remove the first floor and create an open first floor for meeting purposes;
• An elevator installation is necessary, obviously, as we are suggesting it be in the area near the coat rack;
• Restore the exterior as is seen in the Historical Society photo – that includes (using) double-floor siding, and (putting in) new windows, shutters. Keep existing entrances, but install new energy-efficient doors, put a new roof on, and that debate would be between shingles and metal;
• Exit existing hall through a new hallway to a large single-story building with an entranceway and restrooms, the optional offices from the old hall, and the large meeting room for committee public meetings and for court. That would be entered in an exit way to a new entrance and exit way on that new building, basically as you come around, but it would basically go out from where that section is on the Town Hall now that sticks out;
• Move Public Works into trailers, obviously, and maximize parking spots as much as possible;
• Correct the sign over Tabernacle Town Hall to what it should be, ‘Tabernacle Council No. 49 Hall, Jr. O.U.A.M, 1874,’ and underneath of it, if it remains the Town Hall, ‘Tabernacle Town Hall, 1966.’ So, there would not be a need for a town hall sign over the existing building. It would be around where the singlestory building is to be erected.”
Upon Gerber finishing the list of wishes and requests from Tabernacle Council No. 49 Jr. O.U.A.M, Barton told him “thank you for your comments.”
Some of the most pivotal questions of the night came from Druding, who in addition to asking if properties were available for relocating Public Works, initially had asked, “Do we think it is even possible to get fully back into the building, or are we dealing with a second building, probably, anyway?”
Franzen answered it was a topic of conversation for the Building Subcommittee, and due to load concerns, unlike what was the case for many decades, now “you probably could not put a public meeting room on the second floor, from what I know, but you could put offices up there.”
Suggestions from the public for Town Hall included “I would love to see the See TOWN HALL/ Page 8
(Continued from Page 7)
building raised, a new foundation put in place, and then used as our Town Hall once again,” to “the space could be made available to rent for private gatherings,” to it featuring “a museum section depicting the history of Tabernacle,” to “I would like to see a renovation so that we can use it as a full-service municipal building.”
“I believe a Town Hall, as a centerpiece, will help convey to the rest of the community the spirit that we all have, but don’t always get to share in a community setting,” resident Angelo Capoli declared.
A debate also developed about the feasibility of Town Hall being utilized as a rental for private gatherings, with some, including Capoli, believing it could work out if “marketed properly,” while
(Continued from Page 4)
from JIF to a private insurer reportedly offering more flexible rules.
Buzby-Cope, however, said she, too, “just wanted to make some clarification” in regard to why her administration had allowed Wetmore to make his truck more easily accessible than Adams had done.
Prior to the present situation, the former mayor contended, the JIF didn’t have a problem with the chief making limited use of the truck, which would make it readily available in emergencies. When the vehicle was replaced with a new one, she said, former Chief Tom Wetmore asked about getting it registered.
The township clerk at the time, Amanda Somes, checked into it, according to Buzby-Cope, and found there were no changes required by the JIF in regard to the truck being used so it was readily available in emergencies.
“Now, I deal with insurance companies daily,” noted the ex-mayor, who works as a chiropractor. “They change the rules all the time.” So “obviously, if there is a paper involved that you guys have found, then you have to follow all rules and regulations in order to do that, versus having to pay out of your chief’s fund.”
“But just for the record, at the time when they got that new truck, it was OK,” she maintained. “And there were no other papers involved. Now, I don’t know when they changed the rules on that, but like I said, they are insurance companies.”
The other thing Buzby-Cope said she wanted to clarify was the handling of the budget, which she estimated had gone up
(Continued from Page 5)
issues that need to be addressed. And I have great confidence in all your officers, and I know over the years that discretion is one of the most important tools that you have.”
Cranston added that the “developing culture” in the wake of the Juvenile Justice Reform has “not been a good thing,” and that he has observed increased instances of “disrespect” for law enforcement.
Resident Corey Landante, in reacting to the proposal, said, “I think what the chief is
others, such as resident Sharon Grovatt, declared “the idea of renting out space sounds wonderful” but that it “doesn’t really work that way.”
“I am part of the church across the road,” she said. “We have two groups that are going to be meeting with us for free because they can’t afford it. They can’t afford to pay rent. We might get two baby showers a year, and we charge $400. So, unless you are going to charge $100 for this space, it is just really not that practical. I would really urge you to look into doing what you need to do to the building, fixing the foundation and putting new offices in it. Even if you went with the idea of putting an addition on it so we could keep all of our business right there together, that is great. Maybe consider the upstairs for a museum for the Historical Society, but to maintain the building as the Town Hall.”
However, one woman, according to
to about $35,000 for the fire company back around 2019 and got increased to $50,000 the following year due to the pandemic (when fundraising efforts were curtailed).
“Just like we bumped up emergency management at that time, we didn’t know what was in store,” the former mayor explained. “So, we added, gave them a little bit more. And what we found out was that the bills coming in were probably around $40,000 at that time, $45,000.”
But there were a lot of other things the firefighters needed, she said, like tires, equipment, and additional testing, especially given new state rules and regulations that were then coming into effect. And, she added, “the other reason why we did it, too,” was Bass River had compared what it was giving to the local fire company to what other municipalities were paying their local fire companies.
She noted that neighboring Washington Township, for example, was giving each of its fire companies $50,000, and yet, Bass River has “more people” and “more homes,” and therefore, “that is why we left it at the $50,000.”
Chief Financial Officer and Tax Collector Al Stanley then confirmed for Buzby-Cope that “normally municipalities do not pay bills directly for a volunteer fire company” and “whatever you budget, you give them a check for the total amount when the budget passes and they can do what they want to do with it.” However, he pointed out, “what we did here in Bass River” was the township budgeted $50,000 and “if they spent maybe $35,000, $40,000 at the end of the year, we were giving them a lump check at the end of the year for $10,000.”
It led Adams to question Stanley, “What was the accountability for the $10,000?”,
presenting here is a great piece of prevention law enforcement that our town needs.”
“We haven’t had it for some time, and they are trying to figure out ways to work around this reform, and it is not just a tool for your guys,” Landante remarked. “It is prevention from these kids getting injured, killed, our property getting destroyed, and much worse. All it is going to take is one kid messing up bad, and then it is going to look terrible, and we are all going to feel it. So, I really think this is a valuable tool for the citation.”
Former borough councilman Joseph Aromando III, however, in recognizing the room was not full of local parents,
Barton, wrote in to him, simply, “Knock it down,” adding “the whole thing was ridiculous.”
There was also a question asked by Redmond about the feasibility of using the Tabernacle Emergency Services Building, a new building housing the Tabernacle Rescue Squad (TRS) and Tabernacle Office of Emergency Management, at least in the interim, as a new municipal building.
McCarty responded “there is very little parking there,” while TRS Chief George Jackson made his opposition to such a plan known, maintaining that it would create difficulties with storing vehicles, for instance, and additionally there is no septic system for the facility, rather the building is tied to the adjacent school’s sewer system.
Instead, the chief declared, “As a resident who was born and raised here, I would like to see Town Hall saved in
prompting the chief financial officer to claim, “that is why I was asked to keep it (the budget) at the $30,000 (for this year).”
Adams then jumped in, claiming that he had reviewed “what was spent” for “the last three years” and it was “about $26,000 to $27,000 on average.”
“So, in their budget, we gave them $30,000, which was over what they spent in the last three years,” Adams maintained.
Adams then called the additional $20,000 (or whatever amount would account for the difference) a “gift.” (At times during the exchange, the mayor provided different examples of figures.)
“The difference was, you would sign a check over to them and hand it over to them,” the current mayor told the former mayor. “We didn’t want to do that because we needed money to go in other places. So, we weren’t taking taxpayers’ money and just gifting money out and not being accountable for the money.”
Adams maintained the fire company had yet to provide his administration “documents” he said he had been requesting for the past three months (which the fire company previously said township officials may view, but not take with them).
“When you take township money, and you are going to write them (the fire company) a check for $20,000, I think the residents of the town need to know where did that $20,000 go,” Adams told BuzbyCope, to which the former mayor snapped, “We never wrote a check for $20,000.”
The two debated the check amounts, and it led Adams to declare, “All I am looking for is accountability.”
“It is not right for this town to pay taxes and not know where their money was spent,” contended Adams, repeating
called it a “mistake” to not send out a communication to all borough parents prior to the proposed ordinance’s passage (it has not yet been introduced for first reading, as the chief’s presentation on March 12 was a first step).
Aromando said the borough should let “every family in this town know before you actually do it.” McGinnis pointed out that his scheduled presentation was previewed previously by the Pine Barrens Tribune McGinnis ultimately pointed out “if you are a parent, you are responsible for your child, no matter where they are coming from, no matter where they live,” and that
some manner, within reason.” However, if the cost of such restoration is going to cost $20 million, the chief asserted his openness to a “replica,” calling on the parties to be “smart” about how they go about any project.
Sprague recognized of the township committee that “it is pretty unique, because it is five different opinions, and to try and narrow that down, it is not easy for us, let alone putting the rest of the room and their opinions (to use).”
He further acknowledged “it is not something that we are going to be able to resolve tonight,” but Anderson, later on, urged, “Stop wasting money looking up different avenues, wasting money on engineers looking at this property and that property and this, that and the other.”
“Just focus on what you have and work with it,” he added. “Make it work.”
he has been asking for documents, but this time saying his requests date back to October. “Where was the money spent?”
When the mayor was asked by a member of the public “what money is he talking about,” Adams answered “the overage,” and when the mayor was challenged about the township having given the New Gretna volunteer company $20,000 for the last three years, he clarified he was speaking of “whatever the balance was that they didn’t spend (of their budget) would go to them,” before emphasizing the “township has a right to know” what that balance went towards.
At one point during the exchange, Adams brought up the money collected from the fundraising coin drops the New Gretna volunteer company holds, contending Stanley had told him “that is still township money,” before declaring, “they have to be accountable.”
“Well, since you are on that subject, I wholeheartedly disagree with those guys being out there soliciting money on Route 9,” Gormley asserted. “And if you are worried about liability insurance and everything, we better get those boys off of Route 9 and those women. Because that is the numberone safety problem they have got, (which) is distracted driving. And you are putting them on Route 9 on holiday weekends.
“If this town can’t afford to give them the money they need to operate,” Gormley added, “that is shame on us.”
The mayor also revealed in the process that the chief’s account is now part of the general fund, which he confirmed with Stanley.
Reporter Douglas D. Melegari contributed to this story.
of any juveniles coming from out of town to cause problems in the borough, their place of residency “doesn’t bar us from writing their parents” too.
“It starts at home,” the chief reminded local parents and guardians.
Meanwhile, it was announced on March 12 that the Medford-Vincentown Rotary Club is donating two E-bikes to Medford Lakes Police, which according to the chief, “will help with our ongoing issues with some of the juvenile matters that are going on, and the spring hitting.” The “100 percent street-legal” bikes are on order from Wheelies Bicycle shop.
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behind-the-scenes meetings and attempts to prevent public comment.
LaPlaca, according to the attendee, who requested anonymity for this story, fought back, reportedly declaring her husband (who previously served as a fire commissioner for Mount Holly from 2005 to 2014 and has held various other fire leadership roles in the state,
according to his LinkedIn page) was a “good, decent man” and that the charges the public was speaking of had been “expunged from the record.”
She declared, while being escorted out of a commission meeting by Mount Holly Police, in appearing to point to one elderly woman sitting in the audience, “You don’t know what I have been through you fu****’ skank bi***.”
Carty was reportedly ultimately installed this month to the fire commissioner post in a 3-2 vote, however. LaPlaca, when
the video of the outburst surfaced in a Neptune social media group, according to the Asbury Park Press, resigned from her Neptune post a few days later.
LaPlaca ran unsuccessfully for an 8th District state Assembly seat back in 2019.
On March 18, Carty said through WPVI-TV, the local ABC affiliate for Philadelphia, “Gina is someone who has struggled and is now getting that help that she needs. I ask that everyone keep her in their thoughts as she moves forward on her road to recovery,” with him reportedly
adding, “Gina is a loving and caring mother and stepmother. Our oldest is a teenager and can see all the unkind things online. I simply ask that you respect our privacy. Just be better humans and show some compassion.”
LaPlaca, in her March 18 Facebook response to the latest charges against her, told her constituents, “And no, I will not be resigning my position. I will come back from recovery stronger and more focused on what is best for my family and our community.”
