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Medford Township Internist, Who Has Become a Community Staple in Providing Primary Care with Personalized Touch, Announces His Retirement After 36 Years, But Educates His Patients and the Community at Large for a Final Time on How Physician–Patient Relationships Have ‘Become Fractured’ Due to Industry Changes
By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer
MEDFORD—Dr. James Holton, an internist in Medford Township, has made it his mission of “bending over backwards” for his patients during the past 36 years. For that reason, as well as serving as one of the physicians for the Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD), he has become a community staple and a household name in the Medford area.
“I have been seeing Dr. Holton for over 30 years now and just want to say he is very caring, thorough and I couldn't ask for a better doctor!” wrote one of his patients on Vitals, a website that allows patients to leave reviews about their doctors.
But now Holton, who has helped lead a “very solid primary care practice in the community” alongside Drs. John Waldron and Joseph Hickey, (which, since 1994 has been located at 69 N. Main Street in Medford Village, in a building formerly the Medford Train Station), is announcing
his retirement.
Over the past couple of weeks, Holton has informed his patients of his pending retirement, and in seeing his patients for the last time, he asserted, “I am appreciative of how really affected they are by my retirement.”
“I am really thankful I get to say goodbye, wish them well and so forth,” the retiring physician added, noting that helping people to live long and healthy lives is really the most important thing for a primary care physician. “It is a little bit emotional for me, and a bittersweet experience.”
But in saying goodbye, Holton wants to do what he has always done best – educate, and in this case, he wants to inform both his patients and the community at large of how “physician and patient relationships have become fractured” due to the “profound effects” of recent changes in the healthcare industry, which has led to his decision to retire.
Holton, who went to Rutgers Medical
School, graduated with a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree in 1985. He then performed his residency at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia.
It was in 1988 that he joined Waldron’s primary care-internal medicine practice in Medford, where, according to Holton, they “saw and treated adults with chronic medical conditions and provided acute care.”
Hickey, a fellow resident doctor at Hahnemann, joined Holton and Waldron in 1992 and the “three of us worked together in the same practice for 30 plus years.”
“In 1994, we moved to 69 N. Main Street where we purchased the train station, and we called our practice Medford Station Internal Medicine,” Holton recounted. “The three of us worked together all the time, basically doing the same thing, day in and day out.”
Providing physician services to the LRHSD has also been “part of our job since 1991,” Holton noted, where they have
New Councilman Appointed to Fill Vacancy in Pemboro Calls for Policy Changes to Address Rentals, Develop Higher Enforcement Standards Ben Bernacki, Who Comes to Council from Planning/Zoning Board After Resignation of Nick Conner, Asserts Opinion Following Complaints About Rental Home and Roosters Crowing
By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer
PEMBERTON BOROUGH—Nick
Conner, a Republican councilman in Pemberton Borough of the last couple years, has resigned, with Ben Bernacki, who has been serving as the vice president of the local Planning and Zoning Board, chosen to take his place.
Conner, whose term was set to expire at the end of December, stepped down from his council post during a June 17 Pemberton Borough Council meeting, and while he did not publicly give a reason for his decision, an official later told this newspaper it is due to a change in residency.
“It has been an honor and privilege to serve the town I grew up in,” Conner said. “I greatly appreciate the townspeople’s confidence in me these last two-plus years in serving as a councilman. I wish nothing but continued success and great things for Pemberton Borough. I will miss the borough, but know that it will still be governed by awesome individuals who love the community with their whole hearts.”
GOP Mayor Bonnie Haines, in thanking Conner for his service, declared it was a “pleasure for me” to serve alongside him.
Bernacki was among three people recommended by the local GOP to fill the vacancy, the others being former councilmen Tim Quinlan and Robert Brock. Bernacki was sworn in to council on the same evening that Conner stepped down.
Bernacki’s first full meeting was on July 15. It was then that the council heard a complaint from a resident of Mary Street, including that a purportedly broken-down car was being allowed to just sit on the street after some three months passed, with a couch “just dropped out the day before” the third borough Food Truck Fridays event, which was held in the same vicinity. She also described a “rental apartment” next to her residence also reportedly being unkept,
Photo Provided
Dr. James Holton, an internist in Medford Township, when he worked in India.
Tabernacle Officials Try to Anticipate What They Need to Do to Get Fully Functional Facilities Again, But Face Uncertainty
Not Only Does a Lot Depend on a Judge’s Decision on Town Hall, But Officials Need to Find ‘Old Files’ for Former Landfill to Learn Feasibility of Building New Public Works Garage There, and Also Await Word on Whether It Can Connect to School Septic System
By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer
TABERNACLE—While the fate of condemned Tabernacle Town Hall rests with a Superior Court judge, the Tabernacle Township Committee is trying to anticipate what it will need to do to get the municipality fully-functional municipal facilities again, now that, after so much expense and time investment, it has dumped its plan to build a new complex on a 19-acre parcel at 144 Carranza Road, down the street from current complex at 163 Carranza Road, the latter which is saddled with septic system problems as well.
What was evident at a July 22 committee meeting in discussing the future, however, is there is so much uncertainty, that the committee runs the risk of running afoul in spending even more time and expense on what could potentially end up being simply a futile effort if it isn’t diligent and careful in its planning.
Consider, for example, that Mayor Noble McNaughton and Deputy Mayor Joseph Barton want to re-examine what
the committee came up with some 10 years ago in researching a potential new building for Public Works on the township’s former landfill on Old Indian Mills Road, with the mayor asking officials to find the “old files” reported to have been drafted at the time.
But as Township Administrator and Clerk Maryalice Brown acknowledged, “I am trying to think where the files might be,” with her noting such documents have been moved because of the Town Hall’s status of having been vacated.
And then, Committeeman Samuel “Sammy” Moore, pointed to a belief the landfill might not even be capped, with officials conceding they don’t know that for sure either, at this point.
It was also recognized that they don’t even know what part of the former landfill is buildable (former dumps can have unstable ground and contamination).
Additionally, it was mentioned that stormwater management regulations have since changed from 10 years ago, which is also leading to an unknown as to whether there is actually enough
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Richard J. Weber, DMD
Dr. Weber has been recognized for excellence in dentistry and has trained nationally and internationally with the most prestigious members of the profession.
Another Cannabis Entity Anticipated to Join Cannabis Enterprise in Operating Out of Former Shamong Diner Site in Shamong Twp. Main Principals of Original Firm Have Recently Changed, But the Business Is Still Reportedly ‘Minority Owned,’ with New Owner Expecting ‘Boon’ Enabling Tax Relief Amendments That Would
By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer
SHAMONG—“Another entity” will be joining a cannabis enterprise in operating out of the former Shamong Diner site in Shamong Township.
It was announced during a July 9 Shamong Township Committee meeting that BioGuyax, LLC, will manufacture cannabis products in the “diner” portion of the property.
This company will produce edibles, vape pens and topical cannabis products, according to Shamong Township Administrator and Clerk Susan Onorato.
As previously reported by this newspaper, Southern Jersey Bud, LLC, will be selling its cannabis products at the site as well, and it has been revealed their sales will be from what was the Pine Barrens Store, which faces Route 206.
“A dispensary has been granted at the thrift store and processing at the diner,”
Bruce Sussman, now identified as the coowner of Southern Jersey Bud, told the Shamong committee.
There is a third building on the diner property, which will be used as “administration/storage/distribution of product.”
Sussman described a “shared space”
concept between the enterprises to the Shamong committee, with Onorato pointing to the shared use of the third building as the “relationship of Southern Jersey Bud to BioGuyax, LLC.”
Russell “Rusty” Kutcha had been listed as principal of Southern Jersey Bud, with Manny Monteiro, the now-former owner of the Shamong Diner, previously described as being part of a partnership with Kutcha.
But Sussman, when asked by Committeeman Neil Wilkinson about the relationship between the two enterprises, described that “what happened is” that “Rusty Kutcha’s wife owned the license,” and if you want to take the minorityowned license and process a change with the state, it will take three to four months.
Therefore, he contended, “we went minority to minority” with the ownership because “as you know, I have been backing the minorities because I believe everything should be a fair game.”
“Southern Jersey Bud has been changed from Rusty’s minority group to my group,” said Sussmann, contending South Jersey Bud is a “minority-owned corporation” that has the “dispensary and processing under its veil.”
“It is simple,” he added. “We are just going to keep the two on the same
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Three-Story Buildings in Browns Mills Town Center Fail, Threatening to Derail Proposals for Redeveloping Former Sun Bank, Browns Mills Supply Properties
By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer
PEMBERTON—An ordinance that would have amended the Browns Mills Town Center Redevelopment Plan to essentially change the local zoning to allow for units to go as high as three stories there, as opposed to a maximum of two stories, and also allow for light industrial uses, has been rejected by Pemberton Township Council in a 4-0, bipartisan vote, following public outcry yet again
about planned redevelopment. The light-industrial-use provisions, which were intended to benefit a prospective redeveloper for the former Browns Mills Supply, were struck out of the ordinance prior to council entertaining it, with Business Administrator Daniel Hornickel maintaining of the prospective redeveloper that “they apparently have obtained larger contracts and need a place triple the size,” and so they no longer
See AMENDMENTS/ Page 7
Photo By Nick Weissman
Bass River Mayor Says Disappearance of Street Name, Stop Signs
Endangering Residents’ Lives as Well as Costing Township Money Police, Firefighters, First Responders Hampered by Missing Street Info; Commissioners Informed of Miniature Steam Railroad Expansion Plans
By Bill B onvie Staff Writer
BASS RIVER—Among the problems that Bass River Township’s new mayor, William “Rick” Adams, is now in the process of addressing is a quite literal form of identity theft that he told those in attendance at the July 8 township commission meeting had recently been brought to his attention.
The disappearance of approximately 20 signs, mostly bearing street names, from various locations around town, Adams said, has not only created a genuine public safety hazard in situations where minutes can mean the difference between life and death, but is costing local taxpayers a not insignificant amount of money, in the neighborhood of a couple thousand dollars, for replacements.
But then, in an emergency, “We cannot have streets unmarked,” he asserted.
The signs involved, which Adams said seem to have gradually gone missing over an undetermined period of months, are those that provide the identities of certain streets, as well as a few stop signs and one or more signs asking residents to pick up after their dogs – a situation he learned about from the municipal employees responsible for road maintenance.
The removal of street-name signs, the mayor noted in a phone interview with the Pine Barrens Tribune, is no mere prank, but can have serious potential consequences by keeping police, firefighters and first responders from being able to find an address quickly, and a missing stop sign at an intersection can result in a serious accident. Additionally, not being able to determine if one is on the right street can greatly inconvenience people visiting the community, he pointed out, because “sometimes a GPS system doesn’t take you exactly where you need to be.
Adams also noted he had met with the township engineer about possibly having a lighted speed-limit sign installed on north Maple Avenue, which is now being traversed by an unusual volume of truck traffic.
“We have to put in something, because we have a lot of trucks coming in here from Route 72,” he contended, adding
that he thought some sort of change in the GPS systems used by truck drivers is now directing them to use North Maple Avenue, rather than Route 539. “They need to upgrade or recalculate it (the GPS system) to keep big trucks off our small-town roads.”
On another matter, an attendee at the meeting, Dudley Lewis, one-time mayor of adjacent Washington Township and a current committeeman there, informed the commissioners that a plan was in the works to expand the miniature steam railroad at Bass River Township Municipal Park, which he now represents, by adding another 1,100 feet of track to the existing 3,500 feet.
The recreational attraction, intended to be a one-eighth scale model of the 19th Century Tuckerton Railroad that once carried passengers between Tuckerton and Whiting in Ocean County, whose operators have had a lease with Bass River for the past 18 years, is open to the public on weekends. According to Lewis, it now covers about 10 acres of the 64-acre park, which also features trails that the proprietors of the railroad, as part of their lease agreement, maintain for visitors free of charge on a volunteer basis.
The proposed new stretch of track, he said, will extend out to Route 9 and be “very close to the property line,” but will still be “basically within our operating area.”
Lewis indicated he wanted the commissioners to be aware of the expansion plans so that they can be prepared to renew the lease, which is up in September of 2027. He also noted it has been previously revised, prompting Solicitor Joanne O’Connor to say that she would examine the arrangement to determine whether it needs to be updated or renegotiated.
“Whatever is going to work best for all parties,” Lewis responded, adding, “We want to continue to be an asset to the town.”
At another point, resident Leo Assur reminded the mayor that at the previous meeting, he said he would be seeking volunteers to serve the community in various capacities and asked him what kind of volunteers he was looking for.
Adams replied that he first wanted to
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By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer
TABERNACLE—The relocation of tennis courts at Seneca High School has led to some public questions at recent Tabernacle Township Committee meetings about whether Burlington County is getting ready to install a roundabout at the intersection of Carranza and Flyatt roads. However, Tabernacle Township officials have been unable to muster up any answers for the inquiring residents as to exactly why the tennis courts adjacent to Carranza Road are being moved, so this newspaper took the public’s questions to the Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) in an attempt to get answers.
“The replacement of the Seneca High School tennis courts has been on the LRHSD’s long-range facilities plan,” LRHSD Spokeswoman Allyson Roberts told the Pine Barrens Tribune. “The courts are close to 24 years old and are failing, and require replacement as simple maintenance would no longer provide a cost-effective resolution of the issues with the courts.”
She noted the project to relocate the courts was approved as part of the LRHSD’s 2023-2024 budget and is being funded through designated capital reserve funds.
“The decision to relocate the courts involved multiple factors, including improved accessibility and safety by moving them away from the road and closer to the school building and other athletic facilities (which are in the back of the high school),” Roberts said.
Roberts recognized that “although the county had previously given some indication of potential roadwork in the area along Caranza Road some years ago, no formal or official plans for such work were ever finalized.”
“As such, the LRHSD’s demolition of the old courts is not directly related to any possible future roadwork or changes in traffic pattern at the site,” Roberts maintained. “As part of the relocation of the courts, the New Jersey Pinelands Commission required that the site of the old courts be returned to pervious soil.”
Photo By Douglas D. Melegari
Intersection of Flyatt and Carranza roads.
Shamong Requires Traffic Study, Certain Standards to be Met
Should Farms Want to Make Use of 2015 Provision Allowing for ‘Youth Soccer and the Like’ in Agricultural Production Areas
Requirements Described as Preventative Measure in Wake of Prior Proposal
By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer
SHAMONG—In response to a 2015 state law that has allowed for farm-based recreational activities in agricultural production areas “for youth soccer and the like,” and in light of some past concerns that farms in Shamong Township might be used for large soccer tournaments that can draw thousands of people at a time (with a use in that regard occurring in a neighboring town and a prior proposal that would bring such activity to Shamong), the municipality has strengthened its local code to enable more oversight in the event any such use is proposed.
The governing body passed an ordinance last year implementing a number of changes to the township Master Plan based on the recommendations of the Shamong Joint Land Use Board in performing its required five-year re-examination of the plan, and according to Solicitor Doug Heinold, one of the changes to the local law now “most notably” requires a “traffic study” when low-intensity recreational uses are proposed in agricultural production areas.
A subsequent Pinelands Commission review of the new requirements determined that the township needed to “more specifically define and narrow” the changes to “those types of uses,” or “farm-based recreational activities added by 2015 amendments” to the state law, and ensure the regulations, such as requiring a traffic study, are not applied to “other things that may come up, like a trailhead parking lot of a few parking spaces and things like that,” according to Heinold.
During what turned out to be a usually business-heavy Shamong committee session on July 9, the committee passed an ordinance specifying the changes in the law only apply to “farm-based recreational activities” as defined in the 2015 state law.
However, when the Pinelands Commission’s request for specificity
recently came before the local Land Use Board, according to Heinold, it “further revised the conditions to make it not only that a report be provided, but some actual standards have to be met.”
“I think that makes sense,” Heinold declared.
One such standard is that a “state licensed civil engineer having expertise in the field of traffic engineering,” Heinold noted, would have to demonstrate the safety of “all turning movements” and “all ingress and egress” to proposed turf fields being used for recreational purposes.
The addition of the standards to be met, according to Heinold, were recently run by the Pinelands Commission, which, he contended, is “fine” with them.
“Several years ago, we had an application for a turf field and there was an overwhelming, voluminous outcry against it,” said Onorato of the reason the township is now adding such requirements. “So much so, the applicant finally rescinded their application. And we are just looking at this due to the potential of something like that happening again.”
Onorato appeared to be referencing when back in 2020 (just before the Coronavirus pandemic commenced), Indian Mills Farms, LLC, a sod farm in Shamong, proposed to create up to 40 soccer fields on about 45 acres of its land, and parking on another 30 acres, to host tournaments from March to November.
The plan was to replicate the operations of the Tuckahoe Turf Farms in neighboring Hammonton, but it caused hundreds of people to attend a Shamong Land Use Board meeting in opposition to the proposal, and also saw a petition in opposition garnering more than 1,800 signatures, with the overwhelming concern relating to traffic.
Onorato, in pointing to what Shamong officials have come up with to address the issue, maintained it was discussed “if this would be in the way of anyone
Southampton Forms Brownfield Redevelopment Area Steering Committee as It Seeks Brownfield Development Area Designation of 21-Acre Property Designation Would Allow Town to Obtain ‘Cleanup Money’ for Former Cannery Site
By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer
SOUTHAMPTON—A Southampton Township Brownfield Redevelopment Area Steering Committee has been formulated as the township looks to have a 21-acre parcel along N. Main Street classified a Brownfield Development Area (BDA).
The steering committee was created during a June 26 Southampton Township Committee special meeting. It comes as the township files an application with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Office of Brownfield and Community Revitalization, to obtain the BDA designation.
A requirement of the state program, according to a corresponding resolution, is that any application must be submitted by the township on behalf of the steering committee.
Readers may recall that the property in question, where a commercial cannery once stood, back in the spring of 2023, was the subject of some controversy after residents had observed soil at the site being disturbed.
At the time, it was told to this newspaper by the then relatively new owner of the property that it was a concerted effort on his part to remove solid waste materials that were purportedly deposited there without a permit over a period of several years.
The work was reported to be falling under the supervision of the NJDEP and the guidance of an environmental consulting firm that the owner hired “to make sure any past misuse of the longneglected parcel of land is corrected in a proper and lawful manner.”
At the time, it was described to this newspaper that if the tract gets a clean bill of health from the state, however long that takes, its potential uses could conceivably
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replied, “we certainly can use it,” with Township Solicitor Doug Heinold having earlier stated when revealing now two cannabis enterprises will be operating from the former diner lot, “both are doing similar operations - hopefully increased activities means increased revenue.”
Sussman told the mayor it could be only a matter of “days” before the opening,
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pervious soil coverage at the site (which would not be reflected in those old plans, if found).
Of course, whether or not the Town Hall needs to be razed for public safety reasons hasn’t yet been decided by the judge, as of press time, with him awaiting a report from an independent structural engineer who was scheduled to visit the Town Hall on July 31.
Whether Town Hall comes down or is
include a residential development with a mix of affordable and market-value homes, a use for which it was approved once before. However, the owner promised to seek the input of the community before any housing plans are formulated.
The NJDEP, last year, provided this newspaper with a lengthy legal brief from state Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin providing the myriad details of a lawsuit the agency brought on April 20, 2023, against several firms it accuses of having “repeatedly and flagrantly dumped construction waste on innocent property owners’ land, without holding the proper permits,” with the 21-acre parcel being among those cited.
Southampton Mayor Michael Mikulski told this newspaper shortly after the special meeting and creation of the committee that a “guy owns it now,” or the property in question, “who purchased the property” with permission of the state “to get it cleaned up.”
The intent of obtaining the BDA designation is to get “cleanup money,” the mayor said.
As for the prospect of any low-income housing, the mayor told this newspaper that “no actual plans ever came before us.”
Passage of the resolution forming the steering committee, however, was not unanimous with Committeeman Bill Raftery voting in opposition.
Mikulski said of Raftery’s decision that the committeeman “didn’t think we have enough information on what it (the steering committee) would do or the township’s role.”
Property tax records online, as of press time, show the property last sold in August of 2021 for $95,000.
Reporter Bill Bonvie contributed to this story.
“shooting for” an Oct. 1 grand opening (he later told this newspaper it may now be in mid to late October), with a 60-to90-day period the state has established to process final paperwork for licensing, followed by a “one-month review” by the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC). It was suggested some Land Use Board approvals for a “site plan” are also required before the opening.
“We are going to do a really nice, elegant job,” Sussman declared. “And you guys are going to be so pleased.”
relocated at its present site, or the Public Works facility next door is removed, officials recognized, would impact the stormwater requirements at 163 Carranza Road for future construction there (a certain amount of pervious soil coverage must be maintained to permit further construction, under state law). Yet McNaughton spent part of July 22 talking about adding a possible addition to the building to allow for a meeting room potentially seating 75 to 100 people.
Another unknown, McNaughton
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attracting “squatters” and drug activity.
“He keeps getting different people in there,” the resident lamented of the landlord, and in returning to the vehicle with allegedly “expired tags,” asserted, “After the third Food Truck Night, I would have thought someone would have done something.”
Haines vowed to speak with code enforcement and the Police Department about the complaint.
“When you are walking, you notice a lot more than when you are driving your car,” said Fanucci in response to the complaint, with the councilwoman known to walk around the borough frequently to pick up litter. “Just like on Mary Street, when you are driving your car, you are probably not noticing the white car with the flat tire that has been there for three months. You are not noticing the side yard, full of junk that looks disgusting. But when you are walking, you see everything. And we want to make this a walkable, nice town.”
It was followed by another complaint, one from a Hearthstone retirement community resident, about “getting awoken by roosters.”
The resident pointed to past calls (by Councilman Diane Fanucci) for an ordinance to prohibit roosters in the borough.
“The roosters have got to go,” the man declared, to which Haines responded, “I don’t know if banning roosters is the answer as there is a part of our nuisance code ordinance dealing with noises.”
“It is in there,” Haines maintained. Fanucci noted she got the “same
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property. “There will be transparent books. Processing will have a set of books. The dispensary is going to have a POS (Point-of-Sale) system.”
A second man, Larry Giberson, was introduced as “now part-owner” of Southern Jersey Bud, with it noted he is a neighboring property owner to the diner and a resident of 58 years.
“I am the local eyes and ears,” said Giberson in describing his role. “I am also helping with the layout and design.” Sussman, in returning a later call from this newspaper in attempting to further clarify the relationship and ownership roles, when asked about whether there
response” when she previously called for a rooster prohibition, and this time declared, “They are not dogs or cats – you can’t bring them in the house to stop them from cock a doodle doo-ing. There are no other options. Nobody is going put their hand over the beak for hours to keep them from cock a doodle doo-ing!”
The councilwoman further maintained this is “not a farm community, but a residential community,” adding, “That is why the only way we can stop this is to ban them.” However, Fanucci said she is in favor of grandfathering the “ones already here.”
“Once they are all gone, they are gone,” she asserted. “They are very raucous, and they just don’t crow at dawn. They crow all day and all night – whenever they want to. And it is loud, disruptive and they will wake you up out of your sleep.”
Fanucci further maintained a ban would be “for everyone’s quality of life,” to which Haines simply said, “OK … .”
Bernacki, in responding to the rooster complaint, said “one of the reason’s I decided to run in this upcoming election” is to address “what I think, personally, are bigger issues in town that we should be addressing before, if not in conjunction with those kinds of complaints, which would include on the top of my personal list, our rental property situation in town.”
“Compared to neighboring districts and neighboring towns, our standards are very low, especially when it comes to code enforcement,” Bernacki declared.
If “you want to make sure this town thrives and stays a safe and beautiful community,” he further maintained, “that is what you have to go after,” with him indicating he is in favor of tougher penalties.
had been a change in ownership, replied, “my minority group consisting of a diverse group bought Manny’s facility and Rusty’s holdings for both sites,” including the processing and thrift store dispensary “like the township had provided for.”
When asked what happened to Kutcha being a principal in Southern Jersey Bud, Sussman responded, “Rusty will remain a small partner,” describing him as the “magic” and an “amazing man.”
In response to a question about whether Monteiro is still involved, Sussman replied,
“Manny is a great entrepreneur” who is a “fixture” that ran the Shamong Diner for 18 or 19 years and “everyone loved him.”
“I speak to him once or twice a week,” Sussman maintained. “He is doing well and on to retirement.”
As far as how Southern Jersey Bud
“I would like to see us changing our policies for rentals and standards of code enforcement,” Bernacki said. “That being said, I also think that some of our codes are outdated, especially for as small of a community and (as) limited (as we are) with the property sizes we do have.”
He further called for the borough to take steps to make it a “more private” community, taking issue with the burdensome variance process for fencing, for example.
But his remarks immediately put him at odds with fellow Republican Councilwoman Melissa Tettemer, who, along with her husband, are known to be landlords in the borough.
She asked Bernacki to “elaborate a little bit” on the renter issue, contending she “doesn’t know” what he is getting at.
“It is not really the renters, other than mowing the grass,” the newcomer councilman clarified. “It is pretty much on the property owner to do that.”
He then pointed to the code of Cherry Hill, contending that municipality has “very outlined, point-by-point standards on their website,” asserting, “I have yet to find ours.”
“They say no gutters can be hanging,” Bernacki noted. “All gutters must be matching, not peeling on the house. If shutters are on the property, they can’t be falling or flapping. Yards must be cleaned. Sidewalks must be maintained.”
Tettemer asked a follow-up question, “Wouldn’t that apply to everyone?”, causing Haines to answer, “It is property maintenance.”
But while “Yes, 100 percent,” replied Bernacki, he maintained it “seems to be a common complaint” amongst borough residents about rental properties, “which we all know we have a huge number of in
remains a minority enterprise, Sussman contended to this newspaper he “felt it was a minority majority,” and “we have a “diverse group” that is “skilled and experienced,” pointing to the involvement of Del Reilly, a hemp farmer and cannabis cultivator who brings a “wide range of knowledge” to the firm.
Tyler “Ty” Adams identified himself as the owner of BioGuyax. Adams, during the committee session, described that his firm will be “producing cannabis products” and “manufacturing them.”
Sussman, when asked to elaborate further on any relationship between the two enterprises, responded that “one is selling products to the consumer” for “medicinal and recreational use,” while the other is “processing,” getting “raw materials and processing them
this town,” adding the complaints are not aimed at those occupying the homes.
“I come from a family that has owned rental properties in this town in the past, and I have a relative who still owns rental properties, and I am all for people owning rental properties,” he said. “But I think all should be held to a higher standard – all owners of a property.”
But Tettemer questioned whether what Bernacki is proposing would be “singling out the renters,” to which he retorted, “I don’t think it would be singling out the renters, I think it would be singling out the property owners all in general.”
He further noted that the renters don’t pay fines and that is why they don’t want to be property owners.
Tettemer maintained that she is pretty sure the local code enforcement officer is “pretty on top” of violators, but Bernacki shot back, “he reported there were six this month (violations issued) and I am sure if we all went around town, we could point out more than six things that need to be fixed on properties in town that may be safety issues.”
Fanucci noted she has “been on my high horse about the amount of rentals we have in this town for two years,” noting it was last reported to be at 52 percent.
“Renters don’t have skin in the game,” she said. “Owners do. So by in large, most of our issues are from rental properties.”
But Haines shot back “property maintenance issues can’t be separated between owner-occupied and renters.”
“So, it is the property maintenance ordinance we need to tighten up, maybe,” Haines said. “But not specifically ‘renters.’” Fanucci said she agrees with Bernacki that the “problem seems to sit” with the renters.
into different concepts,” which are then “packaged and sold at local dispensaries.”
However, Sussman noted, “they are two different businesses.”
Sussman concluded the call with this newspaper by making a point that he just wants to be “agreeable and friendly” in the community.
Sussman, during the committee session, predicted that the “revenue we are going to generate” is going to “blow your mind,” vowing to “give back almost double what we discussed,” and in noting a required two-percent tax on product sales, Sussman asserted “we are going to give three, and if it is a boon like I believe it will be, we might even double it to four percent.”
Shamong Mayor Michael Di Croce
See CANNABIS/ Page 9
UNCERTAINTY
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acknowledged, is whether the township will be able to tie into a nearby septic system of the Tabernacle Township School District.
“Mr. Barton and I have been talking to the school about the sewer system,” McNaughton reported. “Things are progressing … but there are still issues. They have potential capacity, but are they set up for the capacity?”
McNaughton, in posing the question, explained that he learned that the school district used to have its own licensed engineer for the system, but now that position has been privatized with the district making use of the services of a private company.
“And they are setting up a meeting with that private company to discuss the flow, or anything that has to be done to the plant to increase the flow,” McNaughton said. “But I am very optimistic that will finally happen.”
While it would appear that a septic system tie in is such a critical piece of the puzzle to officials knowing the full capability of what they can actually do at 163 Carranza Road, any such arrangement might not come to fruition anytime soon.
McNaughton pointed to Township Engineer Joseph Raday having reminded him of the “permitting and things like that” which would be required for any connection, including from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and Burlington County.
“It will be nine to 12 months before that will be completed,” the mayor said.
And then McNaughton also acknowledged of the school administrators who recently met with him and the deputy mayor: “of course they have to go before their board, too,” to get approval.
“If we can get that done, that really helps establishing what we can do with the property there as far as the sewer system,” McNaughton said.
But officials didn’t discuss any possible alternatives should the tie-in not be approved.
“We still have a possible problem with stormwater,” McNaughton also recognized. “What capacity do you need there?”
McNaughton added that “what we need to do is have a rough idea of using the downstairs of the Old Town Hall,” in raising the possible addition to Town Hall.
“How big will that addition be?” he asked. “Then we have to have a civil engineer go in and design and see if we can do that with (the) stormwater (requirements).”
But then came these remarks from Barton.
“I would suggest we have our engineer look at the Town Hall site and think of three different options,” Barton said. “Do we rebuild the building in place? Do we relocate the building to a different location on site, or is the cost so prohibitive to relocate and try to salvage the building, do we demolish the building and build a new building – a replica building that I would propose on the site?”
One of the litigants who brought a lawsuit against the township to get a temporary injunction to save the building, upon hearing the questions raised by the deputy mayor, shook her head back and
forth (upset with the idea of any demolition being raised once again), while others in the audience could be heard grumbling.
It was, of course, a committee quest earlier this year to obtain its options for the Town Hall that led to the ongoing kerfuffle over demolition, which the majority of townspeople oppose because of Town Hall being historic (though that opposition was also, in part, because of the plan to replace it with a much more massive, costly facility).
“What I would ask is have our engineer take a look at what is there today,” Barton said. “If we move Public Works, do we have a stormwater management requirement?”
McNaughton, in apparently trying to get Barton to take a step back, responded, “I think that is part of the lawsuit.”
“I think we need to wait for that report and then go from there,” the mayor added.
But Barton posed a further question to Rayday, “If you took the size of that township property, would you be able to reverse engineer … to see what would fit for stormwater management?”
The engineer answered, “Yes.”
“I think we are getting ahead of ourselves,” interjected McNaughton, noting the determination of Town Hall by the judge is “going to impact everything.”
Moore, meanwhile, raised the prospect of whether residents of Old Indian Mills Road should be notified of the township’s potential intentions at the old dump, noting they “probably don’t know” about them.
“Right now, let’s just dig out the old files, see what they came up with, see what the restrictions are, and see what they thought we had to do,” said McNaughton of the old dump plan. “Right now, we just have to investigate.”
And then “when we start really discussing it, we’ll let the people know we are discussing it,” added the mayor, who at one point during the July 22 session proposed a garage for the old dump site, as well as an office for Public Works workers to have a meeting, contending the township doesn’t need indoor vehicle storage (as previously called for in the plans for 144 Carranza Road) as the municipality, he maintained, currently gets 15 to 20 years out of its vehicle fleet, as is, pointing out most private construction sites have vehicles out in the elements.
But as the discussion seemed to veer from simply digging out the old files for the old dump site, McNaughton reminded his colleagues of the need to take only “small steps.”
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AMENDMENTS
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propose such a use, but are still “interested in purchasing the old Browns Mills Supply to develop it.”
However, he asked that council proceed with the other aspects of the amendments to the redevelopment plan, and now that council did not go for it, it endangers a previously-agreed to redevelopment plan to turn the former Sun Bank at 1 Clubhouse Road, also known as the yellow bank to locals, which sits atop a hill overlooking Mirror Lake, into a proposed lounge with an outdoor beer garden, with apartments planned for the second and third floors (the decision also threatens to derail possible housing also slated for the former Browns Mills Supply lot).
“We have a redevelopment agreement for this,” said Hornickel of the former bank proposal. “This ordinance would just basically embody what we negotiated and agreed upon in the redevelopment agreement.”
The Pine Barrens Tribune previously reported on the proposal laid out by Tyrone Gillon, of Before and After Properties, LLC, a firm listed as based in nearby New Egypt (Plumsted Township).
The township, according to Hornickel, had retained the property, abandoned back in 2012, in 2017 or 2018.
Since Gillon’s presentation, council unanimously approved a redevelopment agreement for the property in August 2023, with the municipality, after a due-diligence period, having sold the property to Gillon in December 2023.
But resident Marie Reynolds pointed to the version of the redevelopment plan for the Town Center approved back in 2018 describing a “need for a hotel and recreation areas” in Browns Mills, and identifying the “two places of primary interest are the Browns Mills Supply Building and also 1 Clubhouse Road,” the latter where the former Sun Bank is located.
“The plan laid out for 1 Clubhouse Road is vastly different than what is in the redevelopment plan,” she said. “That was in 2018.”
She further declared that “with all deference to the person who came forward with this plan” to redevelop the former bank into a lounge and apartments, “I think all of us would like to be sitting on a hill, looking at the lake.”
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Reynolds also pointed to what she believed is the historical nature of the building, which is prominent not only because of where it is located in the town center overlooking the lake, but also because of its Victorian architecture.
“To develop that into a rental property on the upper two floors, it will do what it has done to every Victorian property in Pemberton Borough and Mount Holly,” Reynolds maintained. “It will ruin it!” Reynolds, the founder and former publisher of the Community News newspaper (which ceased publication in 2012), described her having done research before coming to the meeting and finding that “everything around the Sun Bank property was put into National and State Historic Preservation in 1992 by the township, including Mirror Lake, the dam, and the remains of the pumphouse.” She pointed out that the infrastructure surrounding the building was added to the National Registers of Historic Places on Sept. 8, 1992, but as to “why they didn’t take this property,” or the former bank into account, “I have no idea,” however, she maintained, it “really is the old birthplace of the town.”
“It was the old hotel that gave us our notoriety,” Reynolds contended. Reynolds then visited the Buzzfeed site to look up information about Before and After Properties, because “I know we have had some real problems with the redevelopers we are dealing with here.” She said her research found the firm is located in New Egypt, was formed in 2019, and is listed as simply “a holdings and investment office” with experience in “management.”
But of more concern, she indicated, is that it “has two employees and its revenue listed by Buzzfeed is $119,614.”
“I am not sure we want to hand over a $600,000 building, even in its current state, which has 248 years of history, to this developer,” Reynolds declared. “I think we need to take a break. I think we are pushing through things like crazy, and not researching or studying. We are not ready for it. I would urge you to stop this! We have too much history there. It is a glorious building, the gemstone of our community, with Browns Mills built on a grist mill right across from it.”
Hornickel, in response, emphasized that the township has already committed to a redevelopment agreement and sold the property.
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Worship Guide
FirstBaptist Church
INTERNIST
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been actively involved with all four of its high schools.
The three physicians, prior to Waldron’s retirement two years ago, according to Holton, grew their primary care practice to a “patient panel of over 10,000 patients” with Holton describing them and their practice as having had a “profound impact” on the Medford area.
“Over the years, we have done our best to help tens of thousands of patients,” Holton said. “We have been a fixture for the Medford community. We have gotten to know so many people and have longstanding relationships.”
One of the most rewarding things for Holton in having stayed put for more than three decades has been his ability to get to see “many generations of the same family.”
“Now that I am retiring, I have come to realize that we have really been welcomed into people’s lives, and we’ve had a meaningful impact on people’s health and their longevity,” he said.
Holton described to this newspaper that he has “always felt” that he and his colleagues are “somebody people can talk to” in a time of need and were there for their patients to “be their advocate” and “help them,” during the most challenging of times.
“I think that is really our most profound impact – the relationships we established with the population,” Holton said. But the future of healthcare, Holton declared, is “disheartening” and is not living up to the standards he and his colleagues have become known for in the Medford area, a point he wanted to convey in giving insight
on his decision to retire.
He shared with this newspaper that many independent medical practices have been purchased by private equity firms and large hospital systems in recent years, and “we followed suit and sold in 2018.”
“Physician - patient relationships have become fractured,” Holton declared to this newspaper. “The emphasis in primary care should be on relationships and trust, not corporate profits and not stock prices.”
He described to this newspaper that “too many financial pressures are placed on physicians and practices now” and it has resulted in “less attention being given to the quality of patient care and patient satisfaction.”
“It really has disrupted the relationships we have had,” Holton said. “It seems corporate entities are much more concerned with bringing patients in for annual physicals than sick visits.”
There is a simple reason, according to Holton, as to why an emphasis is now being placed on annual physicals: they bring about “greater reimbursements” to the controlling corporations.
“In my view, patients want to see their own doctors when they are sick, or when something bad is happening in their lives,” Holton said. “When those patients are referred to urgent care, it is not reassuring, or satisfying and they feel a sense of abandonment.”
While Holton and his colleagues have prided themselves in providing reassuring acute medical care over the last three decades, he was blunt in saying “quality of care” as a whole in the industry “has deteriorated within the last three decades.”
“Right now, the industry is so dysfunctional, and I feel I don’t want to be part of it,” Holton said. “It really has
contributed to my decision to retire.”
Holton pointed out that the trio “as primary care docs” were “all internists,” but he says you now “won’t see that in private practices anymore.”
Holton told this newspaper that “one thing I am really proud of in my career” is that he “started and maintained” a clinic in India from 2004 to 2013, where he saw patients twice per year in an underserved area.
“It provided a level of fulfillment in medicine that I could not have imagined otherwise,” the retiring physician declared. “Seeing the gratitude and thanks, the expressions on people’s faces – that is probably the most satisfying thing.”
It is the clinic, Holton maintained, that “made me feel most accomplished” and “feel like a real doctor,” and it is simply because he could “take care of them without maintaining progress notes” or “reporting to insurance companies and so forth.”
Holton told this newspaper he “worries about the future of healthcare and how it is going to impact our patients and even my family,” noting that now that he will be retiring and is approaching age 65, he too will need to find a primary care provider.
“We have a real access to care problem and there is less of a sense of concern in the medical community,” Holton said. “When corporations run medicine, physicians don’t feel the same sense of responsibility or sense of bending over backwards for their patients. When doctors are de-identified and made just an ‘employee,’ they are less likely than to go that extra mile.”
Holton warned he is “seeing that now” already, pointing out that some patients have to wait a year to make an appointment to see the right specialist.
“That is just not right, and it is a really new phenomenon,” Holton lamented. Holton, when he hangs up his hat for a final time, says he will “regroup,” and while he doesn’t have any immediate plans to be an activist, added, “it has been a long and winding road, and I don’t know which way the road is going will take me.”
He does plan to stay in the area and spend time with his wife, Sue, who recently opened Anytime Fitness in the Village at Taunton Forge, which also has a reputation of putting members first with Sue’s personalized attention to client needs. Holton also noted that “we have great clinicians at Medford Station,” where Dr. Hickey will be in command, accompanied by Scott Auty, P.A., who joined the practice in 2018, and Jay Durivage, N.P. who joined the group in 2023. Holton, in his final days on the job in Medford, also “wrote a goodbye letter” to his patients that has been posted in his patient waiting room.
“When I came out of residency, I was gung-ho on the science of medicine, and over the years, I really embraced the art of medicine,” Holton said. “And I learned over these decades what relationships mean and how interactions, eye contact, or just being around to help people when they are nervous or afraid – how that can positively impact a patients’ health.”
“I think a lot of newer docs are now ‘employees’ and happy to be employees and a lot of their work day comes down to data entry, templates, and checking the boxes on the computer. There is less time to make eye contact, and to really get to know patients, and to be there to reassure them and comfort them when they need it. In that sense, I feel like a dinosaur.”
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STUDY
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having an ag tourism event or concert” on their farm, and it was determined that “if something like that triggered more than 300 people” the plan for the event would be sent to the local emergency management coordinator to “see what
SIGNS
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consult with the township attorney to determine how the forms signed by the volunteers should be worded.
“We don’t want to be left with a lawsuit somewhere, so I don’t want to speak on that yet until I talk with her,” he said.
Earlier in the meeting, when the commissioners were in the process of adopting on second reading four ordinances that O’Connor noted had been “handed down to us” by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Pinelands Commission “as amendments to our existing ordinance for stormwater,” Assur maintained from his perspective that neither entity was a legislative body and asked whether the commission was “just
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“This is not meant to get in the way of hayrides and things like that for our farmers,” Onorato emphasized. “This is meant for when these commercial entities come in, take over, and have sporting events with thousands of people, and thousands of cars that our roads are not built for. We are looking at a way to have a little bit of control over that.”
rubber stamping what they’re doing.”
O’Connor responded, “Yes, for the most part,” but noting that one related to tree cutting had been revised by a number of townships to better accommodate the needs of farmers and cranberry growers, with the approval of the Pinelands Commission.
She then pointed out, however, that the U.S. Supreme Court had recently ruled in its “Chevron” decision that the policymaking abilities of such agencies could now be contested by somebody filing a suit to that effect, potentially resulting in such new regulations being “rolled back.”
The commissioners also approved a resolution appointing Savannah Beaulieu of Little Egg Harbor Township as the new full-time deputy township clerk, replacing Mari Ann Capriglione, who recently retired from the position.
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AMENDMENTS
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“They don’t have any plans to tear the building down at all,” said Hornickel emphatically. “In fact, their goal is to restore as much as they can, especially on the first floor, where they want to keep the staircase intact, furnishings along the wall, and the fireplaces. They want to do as much as they can to preserve that property.”
Hornickel, who revealed the sale price of $250,000, maintained “their agreement requires them to open it as a lounge so the public gets to enjoy it.”
“The contractor’s estimate, just for the cost to get it habitable, is somewhere over $250,000,” Hornickel said. “There is no copper wiring in the place, the upstairs floors are torn apart – torn apart! Vandals have been in there, and homeless people have been found in there numerous times. It is not a light lift to restore it! Nobody was eager to do that! The place is decimated!”
But Reynolds said the redeveloper “gave, as qualifications, that they ran a luncheonette” and that the individual runs a “five-year old company” that she maintained “has very little assets.”
“I think you are asking for trouble,” she declared.
Resident Vikki Adams also maintained it is “a historic building,” and expressed the belief whatever the future is for the building should be taken seriously as “we are trying to make a town where that is the center of the town” and the building “is going to be one of the key elements for our town.”
“They don’t want this,” she said of all the residents that came and spoke during the past few council meetings.
America Phillips was more forceful, asserting, “I don’t know what you people are thinking in reference to the yellow bank!”
She said the township should have renovated the building and turned it into
a conferencing center, so that it could lease it, maintaining “you can rent it out and make a lot of money there.”
“What is wrong with you people?” she asked of the council and officials.
Republican Councilman Dan Dewey, after the public hearing was closed, maintained that since being seated on council the “biggest problem” he has seen is “whenever we have someone who wants to make a deal, we don’t vet anybody!” He maintained the administration of the township doesn’t even so much as require prospective redevelopers to “fill out a credit application.”
While he maintained he is “not a visionary,” he made a prediction “this is what is going to happen,” launching into a theory that the redeveloper is “going to get halfway done” and “be out of money,” and in turn, “That beautiful building is going to be on the ground!”
“They are not even qualified to own it!” said Dewey, despite council’s previous unanimous support for the redevelopment agreement. “It is a sin we do the things the way we do them here!”
Council is currently comprised of two Republicans and three Democrats. Democratic Councilwoman Elisabeth McCartney has proven to be a pivotal swing vote. This time, McCartney declared she is “in support” of Dewey’s position, further asserting, “I would love to see that building more enjoyed by residents as a historic property.”
She questioned, however, since 2017 when the township had purchased the former bank, how many people came to the township interested in its use for historical purposes.
“A grand total of three people expressed interest in that building,” replied Hornickel, before reminding the council, “We do have a redevelopment agreement and they (Before and After Properties) own it.”
That led McCartney to ask, “What do we do if we break that contract?”
Township Solicitor Andrew “Andy”
Bayer replied, “I would have to look at the agreement and then give you that advice.”
“I would not want to opine off the cuff,” he added.
Bayer’s advice was for council to accept removing the light industrial uses from the ordinance, as requested by the administration, and table the rest of the ordinance.
“I think we should wait for Andy to give us an answer as to what it would cost us if we throw them out of town, and until the whole Master Plan thing gets figured out (the Master Plan is due for a re-examination with residents wanting less reliance on redevelopment),” Dewey declared.
Dewey made a motion to “not accept the ordinance” amending the Town Center with the rejection of the entire thing passing, 4-0, with Democratic Council President Paul Detrick joining with Dewey, Ward and McCartney in giving the denial, all as Councilman Donovan Gardner was absent.
As the crowd cheered, Bayer advised that the decision “leaves the current zoning in place.”
Meanwhile, as for the former Browns Mills Supply element, resident Michele Forman seized on a previous description by Hornickel that the redeveloper is planning to raze all the buildings on the site and construct housing over retail in the front, with Dewey having previously remarked six stores and three-story townhouses are proposed. Forman, however, claimed to be under the assumption that actually fourstory units are proposed.
“You don’t want to turn it into a ‘town center,’” she said in taking a jab at the Browns Mills Town Center Redevelopment Plan. “You want to turn it into a city!”
She said buildings of such a height and nature are simply “rowhouses.”
“They want to turn this town into a city with warehouses everywhere!” Forman lamented. “That is what they want to do! I don’t hear anyone coming to these meetings saying they want four-story high
houses! I hear people coming to these meetings saying they don’t want all this development, and warehouses!”
She added “you got to fix what is there in this town center” already, to which Detrick quipped, “You mean such as the Browns Mills Supply and old Sun Bank?” But Forman kept pressing officials as to what happened with the plans for a grocery store at the site of the old Acme at the Browns Mills Shopping Center, repeatedly asking, “What happened to that?!,” to which she got no immediate answer (but at the end of the session, in response to a query from McCartney, Hornickel said he anticipated the redeveloper, New Horizon, to have an application before the Planning Board in August to demolish and reconstruct the Browns Mills Shopping Center).
Forman pressed officials as to whether they are trying to get through zoning changes that would allow four-story high residential units, and it led Bayer to call it “conjecture,” with the ordinance that floundered calling for “first-floorcommercial use, second-floor-residential use, and third-floor-residential use.”
“So, that is three stories,” said Bayer, to which Forman asked, “Right now, we only have two-story high, so why are we changing it to three? Why does it have to be more and more like warehouses and city-like?”
Bayer let out a gasp of evident frustration with Forman’s questioning, before raising his voice and snapping back, “Are you getting a throng of investment in this area? Did you think maybe it would be an enticement?”, before pointing out a property owner that has “enough residential units” would get “a greater return on investment.”
“They are not going to be happy until they turn this town into a city with too much traffic, too many people, and a lot of trees are going to be cut down,” Forman declared. “They are not going to be happy until this place looks like Lumberton, or Woodlane Road!”
