Pine Barrens Tribune June 1, 2024-June 7, 2024

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QUILT OF VALOR

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

Group of Area Quilters Launches Local Chapter of Organization That Awards Quilts to U.S. Service Members and Veterans as ‘Symbol of Gratitude, Sacrifice and Valor,’ Gifting One of Its First to Washington Twp. Veteran Touched by Several Foreign Wars

Photo By Nick Weissmann

Local veteran Richard J. Jankowski wrapped in a quilt created by the Jersey Shore Quilts of Valor Chapter #95426, a “formal expression of appreciation” for his service in the U.S. Air Force.

WASHINGTON—A local chapter of the Quilts of Valor® (QOV) Foundation that launched about three months ago, Jersey Shore QOV Chapter #95426, awarded one of its first quilts to veteran Richard J. Jankowski, also a retired lieutenant colonel of the New Jersey State Police, during a May 7 Washington Township Committee meeting.

Ac c o r d i n g t o o n e o f t h e l o c a l chapter’s founding members, Loreen J. Wise, the QOV foundation was founded in 2003 by Catherine Roberts, whose son at the time from Delaware, Nat, was deployed in Iraq.

D u r i ng t h at d e p l oy m e nt , W i s e expla i ne d , Rob er t s , “a nu r s e a nd quilter much like myself,” is said to have had a “vivid dream” in which a “young soldier was visually burdened by the weight of war.”

In the “next s c ene” of that told dream, Wise re counted, the young soldier was “wrapped in a quilt” and that led the soldier’s “whole demeanor to change” from “one of despair to hope and wellbeing.”

“This dream conveyed the message that quilts have the power to heal,” Wise declared. “Quilts provide an equal feeling. Consequentially, Catherine believed that every service member and veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces deserves to receive a quilt as a symbol of gratitude, sacrifice and valor in serving our nation.”

The quilts, she further asserted, are a “formal expression of appreciation from a grateful nation.”

“It is awarded, not a gift,” noted See VALOR/ Page 11

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Saturday, June 1, 2024

Selection of Political Novice ‘Rick’ Adams as Bass River Mayor Prompts Commissioner Capriglione to Announce Resignation Municipal Election That Resulted in Longtime Mayor’s Ouster Leads to Surprise Twin Twists at Sparsely Attended Reorganization Meeting NEW PATIENT

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Saturday, June 1, 2024

North Pemberton Train Station and Museum Reopens with Emphasis Not Just on Historic Railroad, but History of Pemberton, Pine Barrens

Photo By Andrew King

The North Pemberton Train Station Museum, which reopened on May 19.

By Jenn Lucas Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—For years, no one really knew why the Township of Pemberton was named after James Pemberton, a man who didn’t even live there.

Few know about the silent movie and local pianist; or the fact that if you eat a cultivated blueberry in the United States, it started here; or that Albert Einstein has ties to the area.

Now, however, thanks to the efforts of Mark “Paulie” Wenger, president of the Pemberton Township Historic Trust, everyone can come learn the unique stories that shaped the history of the area at the North Pemberton Train Station and Museum, which reopened in grand fashion on May 19.

“We had a really great day and are happy with the turnout,” Wenger said.

A mong the 100 or so v isitors in attendance were speakers, residents and special guests like Joanne Gibbs, sister of Ed Gillespie, former counselor to the President of the United States.

Advertisements for train excursions, as well as what appear to be soldier trading cards and old railroad uniforms were just some of the items visitors got to see during the reopening; but it doesn’t stop there.

The items on display are just the “tip of the iceberg,” according to Wenger.

In storage are boxes and boxes of donated items and stuff packed away when the museum was closed by the township in 2012, according to Tom Besselman, a member of the Trust.

“There is a good mix of stuff,” he said. “ Scrapbooks, legal papers, photos and some weird and unusual things.”

The museum may be in a train station, but it is not all about trains. Even though there is a lot of train memorabilia, with the reopening, Wenger has included more general history about the area and is focusing on growing that part of the collection.

“We hope to show off the history of the

Pine Barrens and prove people here were more than just ‘Pineys’ (a word, at times with a derogatory connotation, though some now embrace it, often used to refer to people from the area),” he said. “You can’t tell the history of the area, though, without mentioning barges, trains or cars, so it is fitting.”

With Wenger at the helm, the museum is not only reopened, but may even be brought into the 21st century.

“We really hope to get a grant for an archivist to digitalize stuff,” he said. “We have some really cool items so it would be great if people could just look that up online, so they don’t have to come here.

We always welcome people, though, if they want to come write books or something.”

To say Wenger is enthusiastic about h istor y is an u nderst atement. His credentials speak for themselves.

With a Bachelors and Master’s in History from Rowan, he is working serval jobs while getting his Doctorate in American Civilization (History) at the University of Delaware, all while handling speaking engagements, opening the museum and running the Trust.

“Our new president, Paulie, has done an awesome job,” said Trust Secretary Sherry Scull.

Wegner is the embodiment of a history buff and is happy to take a minute to share a tale of the past with anyone.

“I fell in love with history from living in the Pine Barrens and hearing the stories of the myths and legends that are found here.” he said. “Growing up there and hearing the incredible stories of the Jersey Devil, the ominous Black Dog, and pirates along our coast encouraged me to no end.”

He ended up learning about the area in an equally historic and unique way. He said he spent a lot of time at the home of his great grandfather, Charles Graf, whose father built the home in Browns Mills in 1919 after receiving the land from the Philadelphia Press land-subscription See TRAIN/ Page 12

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Ending 16-Year Stint at Helm of Bass River Twp., Buzby-Cope Says She May Keep Open Possibility of Future Runs for Political Office Ex Mayor Forewarns Politically Inexperienced New One of 24/7 Responsibility, Unanticipated Crises That Await Him in Assuming Small-Town Leadership Role

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

BASS RIVER—After having spent nearly a quarter century on the Bass River Township Commission, including 16 years as mayor of this rural community that occupies the southeastern corner of Burlington County, Deborah BuzbyCope is not necessarily ready to ride off into the political sunset just yet.

“I’m not closing that door, because who knows what the future holds?” is how she replied to a Pine Barrens Tribune reporter’s query about whether she planned any future runs for office, either locally or on a larger scale, after having pulled the short straw among the four candidates on the ballot for three com m ission seats in the tow nship’s recent municipal election.

One position she will not be filling, however, is that of temporary commission member until a suitable replacement can be found for former Commissioner Nicholas Capriglione, who unexpectedly resigned at a May 24 reorganization meeting —having already been asked to do so by new Mayor William R. “Rick” Adams, with her having declined the request, she revealed.

She also maintained that she was as

surprised as anyone by Capriglione’s decision to abruptly end his years of service to the township after Adams, a newcomer to elected office, was voted in as mayor by the two other commissioners, o n e b e i ng h i m s e l f a n d t h e ot h e r Commissioner Louis Bourguignon (who was also reinstated in the role of deputy mayor), despite Capriglione’s having won nearly 90 percent of the votes cast by the local electorate. “ S o, ye a h , t h at w a s s ho c k i ng ,” she asser ted when asked about her own response to that unanticipated development. She indicated, however, that she could understand what had motivated her former fellow commission m e mb e r t o t a ke t h at a c t ion a f t e r h is th re e de c ade s of de d ic ation to community service.

“The man has put in a lot of time,” she observed. “He’s done a lot of things for people, privately, that never were acknowledged because that’s the kind of person he is.”

But Buzby-Cope, a licensed chiropractor with an office in next-door Little Egg Harbor Township, appeared to take her own defeat in stride when both reviewing what’s been achieved by the municipal See OFFICE/ Page 15

Seventeen Kindergarten Aides, Two Deans of Students Saved, in Part,

by First State Aid Increase in More Than Six Years to Pemberton Schools Pemberton District Sees $551K Increase in Aid Allotment for 2024-25 School Year, But Lingering Effects of S-2, Which Caused District to Lose $16M in Aid Since 2018, Place $28M Local Fair Share Burden on It, Resulting in Attrition, Another Levy Rise

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON — S eve nt e e n kindergarten aides, which have been on the chopping block for years in the Pemberton Township School District, have been saved yet again from being cut, this time, in part due to an increase in state aid to the district for the 202425 school year, the first time that has happened in more than six years.

And so, the decision has been made to move the aides – which have been funded for the current school year through r e m a i n i ng C oron av i r u s p a nd e m i c Element ar y and Se condar y School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds – into the local, general fund budget for the 2024-25 school year, announced Business Administrator Pasquale Yacovelli during a pair of recent Pemberton Board of Education budget presentations.

However, the effects of S-2, legislation also known as “Chapter 67” signed into law in 2018 that revised the school funding formula, continue to linger, indicated Yacovelli, with the district having seen its state aid reduced by $16,695,423 over the past si x years

through S-2, in addition to setting a Local Fair Share (LFS) burden for the district at $28,946,794, or “what the local contribution from taxpayers should be.”

T he lat t er h a s d ic t at e d t h at for yet another school budget cycle, the district must raise the local tax levy by 9 percent to get closer to meeting its LFS obligation, although interestingly, in what is supposed to be the final year of S-2, the district will still have not met its LFS, only reaching $24,062,381 through the new budget.

As for the amount of aid the district lost since the 2018 enactment of S-2, Yacovelli noted that in the first school district he had worked for, prior to becoming the business administrator for Pemberton Schools, succeeding Dan Smith, he dealt with a total budget of only around $7 million.

“It is more than two sizes of the budget for the first school district I worked for,” declared Yacovelli of the $16,695,423 st ate aid reduction th roug h S -2 to Pemberton Schools since 2018.

As Yacovelli noted, with this being the final year of the phase in of S-2, See AID/ Page 6

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES ♦ Page 5

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Estimated Cost of $45K for Well Installation at Chatsworth Firehouse Surprises Woodland Officials, with Mayor Calling It ‘Extremely High’ Paving Bids Awarded to Asphalt Company Despite Recognized Ongoing ‘Dispute’

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

WOODLAND—A $45,850 estimate to install a well for the Chatsworth firehouse of the Woodland Fire and EMS Company has reportedly surprised Woodland Township officials.

For the past couple of years now, Mayor William “Billy” DeGroff has called for a well to be installed at the firehouse so that fire trucks battling blazes in the town and surrounding area can be filled more easily and quickly, than having to draft water out of a lake, especially given how wildfire prone the municipality is with its vast forestland.

The township has no fire hydrants (outside of the state-run New Lisbon Developmental Center Complex).

A local well company had based the estimate on an “8-inch PCV Schedule (Sch) 40” well to go down to a depth of “up to 140 feet,” per a copy of the estimate that was included in a provided agenda packet for the Woodland Township Committee’s May 22 session. The esti mate also included a “40-foot by 8-inches PVC high capacity” well screen, in addition to a 15 HP submersible, single-phase pump with a control box, as well as other necessities for the project, such as a drop pipe, iron check valve, fittings and wellhead.

Well chlorination and development were also built into the price, in addition to labor, the estimate showed.

“Did we put this out to bid?” asked Mayor William “Billy” DeGroff during the May 22 Woodland committee meeting, to which Township Administrator and Clerk Maryalice Brown replied, “No, Tom just got an estimate to see what we are looking at.”

It led DeGroff to declare, “I think we need to go out to bid because that estimate is extremely high, I think, for a well.”

DeGroff previously vowed that the cost of the well would be funded through Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Secur ity (CARES) Act funding the municipality had received following the pandemic, with officials previously descr ibing that the project was an acceptable use of the relief monies.

But Chief Financial Officer Kathy Rosmando warned the governing body during its May 22 meeting that “you have about $24,000 of COVID money” left, calling the amount remaining “not that much.”

“Well, that is what we were thinking that it was going to come in at, and it came in double that,” DeGroff responded.

Rosmando stressed for the governing body to “just be aware of that,” or the relief funding remaining, because the township doesn’t have a capital ordinance at the moment, and “we would have to find money in our budget to pay for the rest of it,” or the remaining balance of the cost to install the well after all the relief monies are applied.

The committee ended up ordering Township Engineer Tom Leisse to put the well project out to bid, but at a cost “not to exceed $5,000.” (Township Solicitor

William Burns later clarified to this newspaper that the $5,000 maximum was for the work Leisse is to do to prepare for the bidding).

While Brown contended Leisse was surprised also to see the estimated cost, she read aloud an email from Leisse that indicated it might be at least somewhat difficult for the governing body to find a lower cost.

“What Mr. Leisse says in an email he sent to me is that this estimate was based directly on a site meeting with (the local well company), and it was based on the size of the pump and motor, and what they wanted for discharge,” Brown said.

“He doesn’t feel you can go smaller or be much cheaper.”

Additionally, Leisse in that email had pointed out to the governing body that the “estimate also does not include the cost of electric to run the new pump.”

The well is not for potable water, the engineer added, and officials are pursuing simply “irrigation well permitting” because it is a “much more straightforward” and simpler process, compared to the one for potable water.

“I think it is something we definitely need,” said DeGroff after Rosmando raised the possibility of the township having to fund part of the project if the cost holds around the initial estimate.

Fire Chief Shawn Viscardi, in attending the May 22 session, put in a request to the committee for funding to repair a fire truck based at the company’s other firehouse in Lebanon Lakes, a truck that Viscardi described as having failed a pump test back in April. After the fire chief described it requiring repairs somewhere in the” neighborhood of $1,900,” the governing body granted the request, in a 3-0 vote.

Viscardi, following the approval, forewarned the governing body that another vehicle in the company’s fleet has a “pretty substantial oil leak” in which he is “not sure where it is coming from.”

“I have to get an estimate,” he advised.

Mo m e n t s l a t e r, w h e n i t c a m e ti me for “Com m itt e e Com ment s,” Committeewoman Donna Mull asked Viscardi for a “report” to justify the quarterly contributions the township has been giving to the company (an audit was previously requested of Viscardi).

The fire chief responded that the reports given to the committee had been “changed” to add additional detail, but Mull, in contending she was seeking “transparency,” maintained it was not detailed enough.

That led Viscardi to respond that the company’s attorney advised it is “not required” of the company to provide that level of detail to the township, but that such reporting is available for any audit.

Mull, however, persisted that she wanted to see the “checks” showing specifically what the contribution dollars are being spent toward, to which Viscardi replied he would “talk to the treasurer about it.”

“I just think there should be some more See WELL/ Page 15

AID

(Continued from Page 5) the district is to be “100 percent into reductions,” but the saving grace for this year causing the district to not lose even more state aid is that the formula “compares calculated aid versus actual aid,” and “in Pemberton Township’s case for the 2024-25 year, the state aid differential was a negative number.”

“S o, t h i s worke d i n Pe mb e r t on Township’s favor – the district received an additional $551,576 in a total state aid increase,” Yacovelli revealed.

More specifically, “when we looked at the adequacy spending, which is c a lc u lat e d sp e nd i ng ver su s a c t u a l spending,” ac cording to the school business administrator, “Pemberton Township is below adequacy for the 2024-25 year by $7.45 million.”

“So, we are spending below adequacy, which is the amount in the funding formula that the state determines you should prov ide for a thoroug h and efficient education,” Yacovelli explained.

However, the Pemberton district also ser ves Pemberton Borough, and for that municipality, “it is a little different situation,” Yacovelli noted, with there being a “positive state aid differential” of $102,046.

“So, 100 percent of that amount was taken for reduced state aid for Pemberton Borough,” Yacovelli said.

W hat the ade qu a c y c a lcu lat ions have me a nt is t hat for Pe mb er ton Township, the LFS is $27,241,870, while for the borough it is $1,704,924, and per Yacovelli, “you add these two numbers together to get total LFS of $28,946,794,” or “according to the funding formula, that is what the local contribution from taxpayers should be.”

In year seven of S-2, in accounting for another 9 percent increase in the tax levy, Yacovelli noted, it brings the LFS accounted for in the budget to $24,062,381, “so we are still well below the LFS, almost $4.9 million below.”

S-2 is to “sunset” this year, according to the school business administrator, causing him to declare, “I hope that they continue to put additional funds in the state budget.”

Legislators, as previously reported by this newspaper, appear to be taking the first hard look in quite some time to address inadequacies observed with the school funding formula, after some 146 school districts throughout the state saw funding cuts this year, all as they contend with post-pandemic realities and inflation. For some districts, the cuts were of millions of dollars, with the level of loss reportedly unanticipated and unpredictable.

In a chart Yacovelli displayed, updated from previous years, it now showed two additional years of 9 percent increases in the local tax levy to go, to meet the LFS, in addition to a 1.24 percent tax levy increase planned for the 2027-28 school year.

While Yacovelli didn’t mention the possibility of two more years of 9 percent increases in the local school tax levy while delivery his presentation, what he did say in noting that the district has

Saturday, June 1, 2024 yet to meet its LFS is that the district “doesn’t eliminate the LFS until 2027-28 school year.”

As for the impact on local taxpayers of the 9 percent increase in the tax levy for this upcoming school year, a Pemberton Township home assessed at the township average of $165,239 will see a $112 annual increase, which amounts to $9.34 per month.

A Pemberton Borough home assessed at the borough average of $186,258 will see a $169 annual increase, or what amounts to $14.09 per month.

All in all, “local revenues” will account for about $34 million in the district’s $117,827,352 budget for the 2024-25 school year, while “state and federal aid” will account for some $70 million. ( Ya c o v e l l i a l s o n o t e d i n h i s presentations that while adjustment aid has been cut over the last six years, Democratic Gover nor Phil Mur phy has been a “very strong advocate for preschool programs and our district is a benefactor of that,” seeing a “sizable increase” in preschool funding for this budget cycle. A total of $8 million in preschool aid, an increase of over $500,000 over last year, accounts for part of $12 million in total special revenue factored into the district budget for this cycle.)

As Yacovel l i pointed out, “ever y budget needs a balance,” or “needs to equal appropriations or revenue.”

And as a result, while the district has saved the kindergarten aides and also two Dean of Student positions, and inserted them into the local budget, the balancing for the budget will “come by way of salary and benefits totaling $1,180,713,” with the district eliminating 10 full-time positions “currently not filled” through “attrition.”

But the district is adding a “floating nurse,” so the net effect of reductions is nine, the school business administrator said, adding, in response to a question from a school board member, that the nurse will travel around as needed within the district with the intent to save money on a contract that the district has with a vendor to provide coverage in the wake of a purported shortage of nurses.

“No physical body is being let go,” Yacovelli declared. “… I am very pleased with the budget.”

Rob e r t Ho r n , p r e s i d e nt o f t h e P e m b e r t o n To w n s h i p E d u c a t i o n Association (PTEA), who has railed against past proposals to eliminate the kindergarten aides, a proposal that was even unpopular among several school board members, following Yacovelli’s presentation, thanked the board and administration for “retaining the aides and deans of students.”

“We are all grateful as you could have decided to spend those funds (the $551,576 state aid increase) in other areas,” Horn asserted. “So, we appreciate that the adm in istration and the board have recognized the importance and value of retaining the kindergarten aides and deans of students. Not only does it save 17 jobs, but our students and families will benefit greatly from the invaluable assistance the aides provide in those classrooms. The staff at Newcomb and Denbo Crichton are relieved to know See AID/ Page 16

Saturday, June 1, 2024

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Public Comes Out in Force to Hear What Tabernacle Committee Has to Say About Latest Town Hall Developments, Resignation of Deputy Mayor, But Lack of Quorum Forces Meeting Cancelation B y D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

TABERNACLE—It was a packed hous e at the Tab er nacle fi rehous e i n a nt ic ip at ion of t he Tab er na cle Tow n sh ip C om m it t e e hold i ng it s s che du le d May 28 me et i ng t here, which was supposed to be the first session sinc e the municipality had fi l e d a c o n t r o v e r s i a l m o t i o n o f reconsideration of a judge’s order, the latter which has temporarily halted the unpopular, planned demolition of Tabernacle Town Hall.

It w a s a l s o s u p p o s e d t o h av e b e e n t h e fi r st m e et i ng s i n c e t h at s a me judge ordere d la st we ek the “im mediate” reclosure of Medford L a k e s -Ta b e r n a c l e Ro a d , i n t h e vicinity of the Town Hall, through the pendency of the civil litigation, with residents not only coming out to voice concerns with any reclosure, but with questions, somewhat perplexed by what had been the lack of updates since the May 22 emergency management pronou nc e me nt ab out t he judge’s de cre e, and the road remai n i ng open throughout the Memorial Day weekend.

And the scheduled May 28 session was also supposed to have been the first since Natalie Stone, who played an integral part in the vote to demolish the

Town Hall, had resigned as township deputy mayor in the wake of not only controversy about her decision, but 2020 derogator y c om ment s about Pineys surfacing, which, since the last governing body session, have now made

Saturday, June 1, 2024

national and even global headlines, including in the Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Post and U.K. Daily Mail.

Some also came out to the planned meeting to simply see if there would be any decision made on who would replace Stone on the committee, or if there would be any indication given about who might replace her.

But the planned May 28 meeting was never called to order, and the crowd that had gathered was instead

d i s m i s s e d by a v i sibly fr u st r at e d Township Solicitor William Burns, on the account of Mayor Mark Hartman and Committeeman Samuel “Sammy” Moore, the other two committeepersons who had previously joined with Stone to vote to tear down the building, not showing for the session.

According to a later interview with Burns, even though Stone resigned from what is supposed to be a five-member See QUORUM/ Page 16

Photo By Tom Valentino

Three empty seats at the dais for a scheduled May 28 Tabernacle Committee session, including those of Natalie Stone, who resigned from the governing body, Committeeman Samuel “Sammy” Moore, said to have a prior commitment, and Mayor Mark Hartman, who at the last minute canceled his expected appearance, reportedly contending he was held up from a business meeting he had in North Jersey.

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Chatsworth Elementary Special Education Teacher Charged Last Year with Sexually Touching 7 Kids, Faces New Charges of Touching 7 More Public Records Show Teacher at Issue Resigned in Late February from District WO ODL A N D — A n ow - fo r m e r The investigation revealed that the special education teacher at Chatsworth victims, all of whom are male, were touched E l e m e nt a r y S c ho ol i n Wo o d l a n d in classrooms inside the school building.

Township, who was charged last year with The investigation further revealed that the sexually touching seven children while abuse occurred over a multi-year period. they were enrolled there, has been indicted The names and ages of the victims, on those offenses and along w ith sp e c i fic charged with touching information of their an additional seven enrollment dates, are students, according to being withheld by the a press release from prosecutor’s office in the Burlington County an attempt to protect Prosecutor’s Office. their identity.

A Burlington An official with the Cou nt y g ra nd ju r y Woodland Township returned a 28-count School District i nd i c t m e nt ag a i n st previously told this Vincent Root, 59, of newspaper that Root Philadelphia, charging was hired on Sept. 8, him with 14 counts of 2010, by the district second-degree sexual as a special education assault and 14 counts Root teacher. of second-degree DATAUNIVERSE, a public employee endangering the welfare of a child. database, lists that Root was enrolled Root, who was originally charged in the public pension system for the in October 2023, entered a plea of not Woodland district in October 1997. guilty at his arraignment last week, the Root, following the initial charges, was prosecutor’s office said, and he is currently placed on administrative leave. Meeting free, pending a trial. minutes for the Woodland Township An investigation began in September 2023 Board of Education show that the board after a student had come forward and accused approved the resignation of Root on Feb. Root of touching him inappropriately during 29 of this year. previous school years.

Two New Medford Lakes Councilmen Are Study in Contrasts, But Both Have Aim of Preserving Borough’s Unique Culture B y B ill B onvie Staff Writer

MEDFORD LAKES—As profiles go, the two newly elected members of the Medford Lakes Council may be a study in contrasts. But both appear to be similarly committed to preserving the lifestyle of this somewhat unique resort community just as it is.

One of the pair, Burlington County native Matt Bailey, is familiar to many residents as a genuine hero, having been honored with a plaque at a council meeting for rescuing a man who he saw

Protectors Of Public Health & Property

had fallen through the ice on Ballinger Lake back in 2021. But then, you might say he was well trained for the rescuer role, hav ing “rescued p eople from hazardous situations while running “snatch missions” two decades ago for the U.S. Marines, of which he is still a proud member.

Bailey, according to what he told the Pine Barrens Tribune in a recent interview, subsequently decided that the b e st pla c e he c ou ld s er ve h is country was in his community, which See COUNCILMEN/ Page 16

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Medford School Official Declines to Disclose What Transpired at May Board Meeting in Which Chatsworth School Principal Was to Be Employed as Principal of Kirby’s Mill Elementary

Chatsworth School Principal Misty Weiss.

B y D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

MEDFORD—The school business administrator for Medford Township Public Schools, Evon DiGangi, who is also the recording secretary of the Medford Township Board of Education, is, as of press time, declining to release public information to this newspaper about any board action taken during what was supposed to be a special, op en publ ic me eting of the school board on May 20.

The sp e cial me eting, wh ich th is newspaper only learned about after its apparent occurrence, was to have a scheduled agenda item taken up: the planned appointment of Misty Weiss, longtime superintendent and principal of Chatsworth School, to be principal of Medford’s Kirby’s Mill Elementary School.

Weiss, this newspaper has learned through Woodland Board of Education m e e t i ng do c u m e nt s , t e nu r e d h e r r e s i g n a t i o n w i t h t h e Wo o d l a n d Tow nsh ip School Distr ict on May 10, and was seeking acceptance of

File Photo

that resignation from the Woodland board on May 20, with July 8 her last day scheduled to be in the Woodland district “unless released prior.”

The tenured resignation of Weiss came just days before the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office announced additional charges against a special education teacher (originally charged in October of last year) for allegedly “sexually touching” now 14 pupils at the school over a “multi-year period” (see separate story), all males, a case that has caused tumult at the Chatsworth School, particularly given its smallschool setting.

As listed on the Medford school board agenda for May 20, published on the district’s website, Medford Board Member Trudy Cole, chairperson of the Medford Board of Education Personnel Committee, was to ask for a “motion to approve personnel matters as listed b elow” w ith the identi fied subje ct “personnel appointments.”

T he “re com mende d action” was further identified as an appointment of See PRINCIPAL/ Page 16

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VALOR

(Continued from Page 1) Wise of a QOV quilt, which is either 100 percent handmade or made by machine.

“It must be recorded. It is earned, and the recipients are nominated based on their selfless service and sacrifice in defense of our nation.”

The quilt presented to Jankowski, Wise pointed out, is “meant to comfort you and thank you for your service and sacrifice in serving our nation during the Vietnam War.” Jankowski enlisted in the Air Force on June 15, 1957, and after completing training in Texas, “found himself in military air police,” according to Wise, or what is known today as the Air Force Security Forces (SF).

She added that Jankowski achieved the rank of Airman Second Class before being honorably discharged.

Jankowski then made a decision to enlist in the New Jersey State Police in October 1961, Wise explained, and later ear ned a deg ree in Cr i m inal Justic e, before ultimately retiring as a deputy superintendent in 1993.

A fter wards, Jan kowsk i b e came an instructor for Atlantic Cape Community College and Stockton University, and served as the director of Public Safety for Egg Harbor City. He currently is the secretary of the Washington Township Planning and Zoning Board.

Upon being wrapped in the quilt made

not only by Wise, but also Dottie Garbutt a nd M i c h e l e S c h n e i d e r-Mou lt on , a “humbled” Jankowski became emotional as he recalled the reason for enlisting in the service.

“I remember growing up during the second World War, and I said to my mom, ‘Mom, how come we have black shades in the house?’” said Jankowski, whose mother was an immigrant with his father’s parents having come from Poland. “She said, ‘So, the airplanes don’t see us if they fly over.”

While he and his parents during his childhood “lived within our means”, Jankowski recalled the occasions where air raid sirens would sound and he would be hurried to a nearby factory, about a block away from his then-home, where he would then be put in a cellar until the threat had passed.

“So, during the war, I remember all of those things happening,” Jankowski said.

Jankowski also recalled that his uncle, who also went into the ser vice, while fig ht i ng i n Eu rop e, h a d b e e n t a ke n a Pr isoner of War (POW ). His uncle ulti mately “escaped w ith some other fellas,” Jankowski said, but then had gotten into a battle, in which his uncle later “got a Purple Heart and a star.”

Shortly thereafter, in 1950, the Korean War had broken out and that is when Jan kowsk i’s brother had joi ne d the service. Then, Jankowski, upon learning that one of h is h ig h s chool fr iend’s

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES ♦ Page 11

Photo By Nick Weissmann

Close-up view of the quilt awarded by the Jersey Shore Quilts of Valor Chapter #95426, to Richard J. Jankowski, also a retired lieutenant colonel of the New Jersey State Police. brothers had been killed in Pearl Harbor, decided “I am going to join too.”

“I enjoyed the service,” Jankowski said.

“Our country is so divided, so I wanted to tell the lady who worked on this quilt that I really appreciate it.”

Ja n kow s k i c a l l e d t h e t h r e e lo c a l quilters who made the quilt for him “true heroes” and “patriots.”

But as Wise pointed out, “a veteran is an American who wrote a blank check to the U.S., up to and including their life.”

MAYOR

(Continued from Page 2) in a May 24 reorganization meeting that unexpectedly gave her former p o s it io n t o t h e p ol it i c a l nov i c e with the second highest vote count, causing the incumbent commissioner who had re c eive d the most vote s among four candidates for three open seats on the ballot to cause an even bigger stir by abruptly resigning from the municipal government.

On ly a handful of attende es, however, were present to witness the unanticipated drama that unfolded at the midday meeting when William R. “Rick” Adams, a local landscape business and tree service owner with no political experience, was voted in to replace now-former Mayor Deborah Buzby-Cope after he himself, following See MAYOR/ Page 15

Photo By Nick Weissmann

William R. “Rick” Adams is sworn into the Bass River Board of Commissioners on May 24, along with incumbents Nicholas Capriglione and Louis Bourguignon.

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(Continued from Page 4) model, a program where you would receive land if you purchased a subscription to the newspaper.

With the Rails to Trails walking path beginning behind the parking lot, Wegner hopes people who use it will stop in and check out the museum. A volunteer will staff the building on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“We hope to make people proud to be from Pemberton as there is a lot of rich history here and people should be proud of it because it is important to us,” Wenger said. “From the resilient farmers who weathered crop illnesses or down turning markets to the transportation history that created places like Camp (and later) Fort Dix to the personal lived experiences of the families who resided and died here, each of these stories tell us about ourselves and compels us to do just a little bit better.

Through this examination of our past, we can learn to be proud to call ourselves residents of Pemberton, New Jersey. These aren’t just facts that we are yelling into the void, but moral lessons and life experiences that can push our town forward.”

Some short terms goals with the reopening include getting more children involved with field trips to the museum and with the Sunday stop-in times, Wenger hopes the Trust will grow its volunteer base too.

“We have 25 members now and used to have close to 100, so we are trying to work our way back up,” he said.

So why was ‘Pemberton’ named so?

Wenger will be happy to answer that in depth on any Sunday he may be there. In case you can’t wait that long, the short version, according to Wenger, is that James Pemberton was a Quaker who sided with native Americans, founded the Pennsylvania Abolitionist society, was exiled from Philadelphia and was very philanthropic in the Pemberton area.

Photos By Andrew King

Scenes from the grand opening of the North Pemberton Train Station Museum.

Visit the North Pemberton Railroad Station at 3 Fort Dix Road, to learn more about this and so much more.

History of the History Museum The reopening of the museum was a long time coming, according to Scull.

The original museum was opened in the 90s and served mostly as a train museum, but did educate the town about its roots.

At that time, the trust had six train cars

displayed on the tracks outside the museum and, according to Scull, were a huge draw for people to come visit. Once the township closed the museum, they removed the train cars and it has been a hard-fought battle to try and get them back.

Shortly after the cars were removed, the township closed the museum, Scull said, and it “devastated us.”

So, when the new township mayor let the Trust back in recently, they were thrilled to see it in such great condition. It had been remodeled in 1999, Scull said, and “looks

just as good.”

Before it was a museum, it was an actual train station for quite a while. Though the station stopped transporting people in the 60s and 70s, it was a major hub up until then. From moving troops around in World War I and II, and even before that, to helping spread the cultivation of blueberries, the trains have always played a big role in Pemberton history. At one point, around the early 1900s, Scull said you could basically get anywhere in the United States by train from Pemberton.

Historic Fun Facts: • The train station opened on Jan. 1, 1863, and was used to transport troops.

• In the early 1900s you could go anywhere in the U.S. on a train from Pemberton.

• In 1919 Fort Dix opened in order to recruit soldiers after a lack of soldiers for the U.S. effort in World War I. Photo By Andrew King

A crowd that gathered for the grand reopening of the North Pemberton Train Station Museum.

If You Go

• King Joseph Bonaparte of Spain and Adm. Stephen Decatur both allegedly saw the New Jersey Devil on visits to the area.

• In the 1890s, Pemberton Borough & Township separated.

• WHAT: Pemberton Museum at the North Pemberton Railroad Station

• Albert Einstein was instrumental in supporting the Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills.

• WHERE: 3 Fort Dix Road, Pemberton

• The current train station was built in 1891.

• WHEN: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sundays • INFO: pembertontwphistorictrust@gmail.com

• Fort Dix gave land it took from the Township back to build schools.

Saturday, June 1, 2024

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES ♦ Page 13

Student Lounge Shawnee Debate Team Wins South Jersey Debate League Championship MEDFORD—The Shawnee Hig h School Debate Tea m recently defeated Moorestown High School to win the 202324 South Jersey Debate League Championship.

It wa s t he Me d ford To w n s h i p - b a s e d h i g h school’s first championship sinc e 2018, ac cording to a school press release.

The South Jersey Debate Leag ue (SJDL), the release not e d , fol low s a n at ion a l debate topic, selected by the National Catholic Forensic League, the National Debate Coa che s A s so c iat ion, a nd t h e Nat i o n a l Sp e e c h a n d Debate Association, all organized under the umbrella organi zation, the National Fe d e r at ion of St at e H ig h School Associations.

The leag ue consists of various schools throughout South Jersey, and students debate following the crossexam i nation pol icy debate style. The South Jersey Debate L e a g u e, a c c ord i ng t o t h e release, helps students learn

valuable skills that will help them fi nd suc c ess in their future endeavors, including in researching, public speaking, bu i l d i ng a rg u m e nt s , a n d collaboration.

The Shawnee High School Va r s it y t e a m c o n s i s t s of students Sophia Tenebruso, Mitchell Bar ra, Samantha Barrile, and Jeffrey Andolaro.

In addition to the team win, Tenebruso was co-awarded South Jersey Debate League “Be st Sp eaker,” an honor given to the student(s) with the highest speaker ranking throughout the regular season.

“The students on the debate team are incredibly dedicated t o h e lp i ng on e a not h e r,” said Shawnee High School History Teacher and Debate Team Advisor Zachary Bear.

“They put in countless hours researching and honing their argumentative skills.”

According to Bear, all four students participated on the team throughout their fouryear high school career.

Photo Provided

The Shawnee High School Varsity Debate Team members, including Jeffrey Andolaro, Mitchell Barra, Sophia Tenebruso and Samantha Barrile, pictured from left to right.

Student Lounge Eight Seneca High DECA Students Travel to California to Compete In National Business Competition After Receiving State Awards TABERNACLE —Eig ht students from Seneca High School in Tabernacle Township traveled to Anaheim, California from April 26 to May 1 to participate and compete in the DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC).

Receiving DECA State Conference Awards to qualify for the national

competition were freshman Victoria Rutkowski, sophomores Kathryn Kutsmeda and Reese Venable, juniors Robert Tiver and Christopher Webb and seniors Kelsey Besser, Sarah Latterie and Piper Ludwick.

The conference, according to a school press release, brought together more than 23,000 high school students, teacher-

advisors, and business professionals, p r o v i d i n g DE CA m e m b e r s t h e opportunity to demonstrate their college and career ready knowledge and skills by participating in DECA’s industryvalidated Competitive Events Program, in the areas of marketing, finance, hospitality, management and entrepreneurship.

“The highlight of my trip was getting to travel to a new place and meet people from around the world,” Rutkowski said. “There were thousands of peers from all around the

United States, Canada, and so many other countries at DECA ICDC. I was amazed by the number of people from everywhere that I got to meet and talk to and that I would eventually compete against.”

T hou s a nd s of DECA m e mb e r s participate in DECA’s Emerging Leader Series, the school added, which helps them attain 21st Century Skills in the areas of collaboration and teamwork, communication, critical thinking and problem solving and creativity.

Photo Provided

DECA Participants representing Seneca at the International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, California. Pictured from left to right are Robert Tiver, Victoria Rutkowski, Kelsey Besser, Piper Ludwick, Sarah Latterie, Kathryn Kutsmeda, Reese Venable and Christopher Webb.

Page 14 ♦

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(Continued from Page 11) t h e l e a d of C om m i s s ion e r L ou i s Bourguignon, cast the second of the two votes he needed to attain the top position. It was at that point that the third member of the governing body, i nc u mb e nt Nichola s C apr ig l ione, the bigge st vote -getter among the c om m is sioners, re sponde d w ith a resounding “no” because it ignores the voters’ choice,” then followed up that declaration by chastising his fellow com missioners for having failed to communicate their plans to him and reading a letter announcing he was stepping down.

The sparse turnout at the highly consequential midday meeting just p r ior t o Me mor i a l D ay we e ke nd contrasted sharply with the crowds that showed up at a couple of other recent township business meetings to protest the proposed conversion of a closed local grade school to a yeshiva, which ended up being authorized by the local Planning Board for legal reasons, de spit e over whel m i ng c om mu n it y opposition that caused those sessions to be moved to the firehouse.

T h e r e s ig n at io n l e t t e r r e a d by Capriglione, he told the Pine Barrens Tribune in a subsequent phone interview, was one he had penned the previous evening in the event that Adams and Bourguignon decided to go ahead and name the former as the township’s new mayor, something he had heard they might be about to do although he was never actually informed that was their intent. In fact, he said, he had given copies before the meeting to Township Solicitor Joanne O’Connor and Clerk Jenny Gleghorn with instructions to “rip them up if I don’t need this.”

His decision to quit the Board of Commissioners after having served three terms, two of them as deputy m ayor, a nd b e e n r e - e l e c t e d t o a fourth, he said, “wasn’t about me not being made mayor,” but rather about the right of the voters to have their preferences recognized, as reflected by h is hav i ng re c eived not on ly a substantially higher number of votes than the other candidates—some 198 as compared to 169 for Adams and 135 for Bourguignon—but the support of nearly 90 percent of the residents who came out to cast their ballots, which he considered a popular mandate “to lead them in the next four years.”

But whe n it c a m e t i m e for Capriglione to oppose his two fellow commissioners, whom he accused of deciding to ignore the voters’ wishes by putting themselves into office (having also renamed Bourguignon as deputy mayor), Bourguignon pointed out that there is no legal obligation in New Jersey to use voter preferences as a basis for determining who fills positions on a governing body, which a majority of its members are empowered to decide.

“State law has nothing to do with how many votes someone gets – that’s false presentation,” he asserted.

Capriglione responded by contending that in order to have a government in which there are three commissioners,

it is necessary for those commissioners to c om mu n ic at e w ith e a ch other, whereas “what you have here is a twocom m issioner gover n ment because no one communicated with me”— a situation he expected would continue for the next four years.

He went on to thank residents for having allowed him to serve for 30 years, both on the Board of Education, where he recalled going up against prevailing opinion when he thought it necessar y, and on the Tow nsh ip Commission, before indicating he was about to call it quits.

“I don’t care if there’s a law or not a law,” Capriglione declared. “This is the first time … we have had someone who has just stepped in off the street, and no disregard to Mr. Adams, but someone w it h ab solut ely no exp e r ie nc e a s opposed to (an individual with) 30 years’ experience,” who he then announced would be “stepping down today.”

Then, reading from h is letter of resignation, he noted how he “was really looking forward to accepting the chal lenge and usi ng my years of experience to navigate the town through what will be very turbulent ti mes,” but that had he chosen to stay on, it would only “legitimize and validate” a three-commissioner system in which only those two commissioners would be effectively running the local government “their way.”

Capriglione, who spent two years of h is youth at a Jesuit sem i nar y, concluded his reading of the letter by again thanking his fellow townspeople for his three decades in office and “a l l ow i n g m e t o l e av e w i t h t h e satisfaction of knowing that almost all of the voters selected me to lead them in office.”

“May God bless you and your families, and I am blessed to be leaving having made so many friends,” he added.

O n e r e s u l t o f C a p r i g l i o n e ’s unexpected resignation, as confirmed

by O’Connor, will be the necessity of now having to have a third commission member temporarily appointed by the remaining two commission members to fill in until next November’s general election, when a permanent replacement can be chosen by local voters.

Selecting an individual to serve in that capacity, Bourg uig non noted, was not someth i ng they c ou ld do immediately, since it involves having to find members of the community who are suited to occupy the post and having to choose the best qualified among them.

As of May 28, the first business d ay fol low i ng the reorga n i z at ion meeting, the township website (which is handled by a local volunteer, Bill Curtin) had already been revised to reflect the makeup of the temporarily dow nsi z e d new c om m ission, w ith Capriglione’s former position being designated as “TBD (to be determined) C o m m i s s i o n e r,” w h o s e p r i m a r y responsibility will be “Director of the Depar tment of P ubl ic A f fai rs and Safety.”

Adams, according to the site, is now “Director of the Department of Revenue a n d Fi n a n c e ” a n d B o u r g u i g n o n “Director of the Department of Public See MAYOR/ Page 19

OFFICE

(Continued from Page 5) government during her years as mayor and in putting the events of recent days into perspective during a phone interview with this newspaper.

“Whatever the people wanted was what I have always gone with,” she contended.

“When they didn’t vote for me, that’s fine—I accept that.”

She likewise was willing to accept that someone else might do a better job than she could.

One factor she did mention that might have contributed to the outcome of the commission race, however, was the relatively low turnout of less than a quar ter of the local electorate — something she attributed to many of the township’s voters having been unaware that an election was even taking place.

Some residents she clai med, subsequently told her they didn’t receive their sample ballots until just before the election, or in some case, not until after it had taken place.

Sending sample ballots is a task handled by the Office of the County Clerk, whose job Buzby-Cope twice unsuccessfully sought to compete for in recent years.

When asked her opinion of Adams as her new replacement at the helm, she responded by characterizing him as “a nice guy, a businessman,” but one who having no prior experience in government will have to ascend a steep learning curve now that he has assumed the top responsibility for the well-being of the community.

Addressing what that entails at the beginning of the reorganization meeting, she described being mayor as “a 24/7 job” always subject to unanticipated crises.

“I think on every vacation or every conference I’ve ever gone to, something has come up where I’ve had to answer the call,” she recounted. “I think the hardest one for me was when I was on a Royal Caribbean cruise in the middle of the Mediterranean and (was told) this document had to be signed” involving a crucial grant application. She then was faced with the unexpected job of figuring out how to get that accomplished “by 5

WELL

(Continued from Page 6) transparency on where the money is going … ,” Mull declared.

The less than 20-minute meeting, the last one scheduled before a GOP primary in which local Battalion Chief Christopher Stopero is challenging veteran GOP Committeeman and Deputy Mayor Mark Herndon, began with the governing body awarding Phase I and Phase II of a Lebanon Lakes repaving project to Earle Asphalt Company.

One awarded contract (for Phase 1) is for $110,313.13, and the other (for Phase II) is for $123,113.12, with the township having previously received grant funding from the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) to put toward the resurfacing project.

But DeGroff, prior to the committee making the award to Earle, questioned

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES ♦ Page 15 o’clock that day.”

“If he has the best interest of the town in mind, he is going to have to take that responsibility,” she said of the post’s new occupant. “That is just what the mayor’s role is.”

Still another part of the job BuzbyCope hoped would continue under the new administration is membership in the Conference of Mayors, of which she was past president as well as being on the board of directors of the League of Municipalities and, on a regional level, involvement in the affairs of the New Jersey Pinelands Commission.

She also enumerated some of the key th ings ac complished under her ad m i n istration, i nclud i ng mak i ng much-needed repairs and renovations to municipal facilities, getting a new loader for the Public Works Department and “a new firetruck we waited three years for,” completing about three-quarters of the work on new tax maps, and most important of all, taking care of more than 140 foreclosures on delinquent prop er ties that were conti nu i ng to cost the municipality money (with the exception of a final few that have been delayed due to a county court case), turning them from a liability into a source of revenue and making them available to residents who wanted to purchase them at auction.

Among the jobs that still remain to be completed, she noted, are obtaining grants to clean up brownfield sites, working with Viking Yachts on the dredging of local waterways to make them more navigable, and getting back an estimated $80,000 from the state in PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes for open-space acquisition) funds that were withheld a decade ago by the administration of then-Gov. Chris Christie.

But for now, relieved of all those responsibilities, she told this newspaper, “I’m having fun and enjoying myself.”

And in regard to her recently completed work with her two fellow commissioners, as she told those who attended the reorganization meeting, “We worked really, really good together. We might not all have agreed on some things, but we have been one heck of a team for 12 years here.”

“I wish the next administration the best,” she added. the governing body giving contracts to the company “even though we have a lawsuit” against them, to which Burns denied that was actually the case, though he acknowledged there is an ongoing “dispute” between the township and the company.

“We are not suing them in civil court,” Burns said. “We have an ongoing dispute with respect to that because the NJDOT has never really weighed in.”

Since Earle “came in as the lowest responsible bidder” for Phases I and II of the Lebanon Lakes repaving project and it is not on a “list” that would deem the firm unqualified to bid on the project, Burns declared, “there is no way not to award them.”

And so, the governing body awarded the paving firm the pair of contracts even as DeGroff alleged the company “did not do a good job last time,” with Burns asserting the mayor was “absolutely correct” in that the last time, there were allegedly “air pockets within the paving.”

Page 16 ♦

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

PRINCIPAL

(Continued from Page 9) Weiss, seeking an “emergent approval” o f h e r e m p l oy m e nt t o “p r ov i d e necessary staff to operate (the) school.”

By designating it as an “emergent approval,” the district, per the listed a c t i o n it e m , w a s s e e k i ng c ou nt y superintendent approval to utilize a provision under the law that allows for Weiss’ hiring “prior to receiving

QUORUM

(Continued from Page 8) committee, leaving it with four members currently, a “quorum is still a majority, plus one,” and thus three committee members needed to be present for the meeting to be held as scheduled.

Video of the dismissal captured by a Pine Barrens Tribune photographer shows t h at m a ny i n t he c rowd became frustrated by the dismissal a n d l a c k of qu o r u m , w it h s o m e calling it “outrageous” and others, in expressing disbelief, pointing out that the township’s professionals will still likely have to be paid for having shown up, and that there was also labor and expenses in setting up the firehouse for the meeting that never happened.

Burns, in dismissing the crowd, told them that Moore had informed officials he had a “prior commitment” in which “he could not be here” and that “very recently” Township Clerk Maryalice Brown “received a phone call from Mayor Hartman, who indicated he had been unduly delayed from a business meeting up north, and would not be able to make the meeting.”

Later, Burns told this newspaper that Moore’s absence was “planned,” with him having “noticed the clerk” about h is planned absenc e several

COUNCILMEN (Continued from Page 9)

is what spurred him to run for Borough Council in the town that he, his wife and two children have called home for the past four years.

“I think I can speak for the majority of residents in saying we are very happy with the way things are run here,” he said.

But at the same time, he felt the borough needed “a fresh set of eyes on things” to be aware of what is going on

AID

(Continued from Page 6) there will still be deans of students to assist the administrators with student discipline problems.”

The overall decline in state aid that the district has seen since 2018, and the looming expiration of the ESSER funds, however, has meant that for the district’s Summer Enrichment Program, “2024 is the last summer funded,” according

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criminal history background clearance.”

But whether that agenda item had b e e n pu l le d , t able d , approve d or disapproved on May 20 is unclear as of press time.

When DiGangi was asked by this newspaper to provide this newspaper with the voting record on the item from what was supposed to be an open public meeting, he responded, “The meeting minutes will not be approved until the June 24, 2024, meeting, therefore we are unable to comment.”

He then contended, “The special m e e t i n g w a s c a l l e d fo r m a t t e r s unrelated to personnel.”

DiGangi did not respond to a followup email from this newspaper, copied to Medford Super intendent Keira Scussa, seeking the availability of any meeting audio tape, or basic details of what exactly transpired at the public meeting, nor did he address a question originally posed by this newspaper about what exactly constituted the “emergent approval” being sought,

especially given the current school year is almost over.

Kirby’s Mill website, as of May 29, lists Tami Aronow as interim principal.

The action item lists Weiss’ start date as “TBD.” DataUniverse, a New Jersey public employee database maintained by a state newspaper group, lists Weiss’ last reported salary at Chatsworth School as $116,616. The Medford district, per the agenda item, intended to hire Weiss at $132,000.

days before the scheduled meeting (that came about from rescheduling of one that was to be held prior to Memorial Day), but that Hartman’s absence was “unplanned” with the solicitor only learning the mayor would not be in attendance “when getting there,” or to the firehouse.

Hartman, Burns contended, was in North Jersey. Attending the meeting by phone (which is permissible under the Open Public Meetings Act), the solicitor contended, was not an option for the mayor, though he didn’t say why that was the case.

Bu r ns attr ibut e d h is det e ct able frustration also in this reporter’s phone call to having crisscrossed the state to be at the planned meeting, for there only to be none, and having to crisscross back to where he came from, and that it had simply been a “long day.”

It is unclear whether Hartman, who has a non-working listed telephone number, knew of Moore’s intended absence.

But had Hartman been a participant in any meeting without Moore, in the wake of Stone’s resignation, it could have led to a significant change in direction for the governing body on the issue of Town Hall, potentially having given the opportunity for Committeemen Noble McNaughton and William Sprague, Jr., who have been adamantly opposed to the demolition, an opportunity to pass items in 2-1 votes, including the

potential for a reversal of the demolition decision and the ability to appoint a replacement for Stone.

If the fu l l c om m itt e e had b e en present, any motion by McNaughton or Sprague could have died on the account of possible tied, 2-2 votes, leading to a deadlock.

The decision of Moore and Hartman not to attend the meeting also means that the pair, facing an increasingly serious challenge in a GOP Primary on June 2 from residents Joe Barton (a for mer mayor outspoken about the Town Hall vote and road closing p r o c e s s) a n d D a v i d O i l e r, w i l l have averted any additional public confrontation and having to take any actions on the latest developments until after the primary election, with there not being any meeting scheduled until a planned June 10 workshop.

A s for t ho s e wo n d e r i ng ab out the status of the road closure, and whether the tow nsh ip wa s si mply openly defying the judge’s order over the holiday weekend given the chaos and commotion that had ensued when the road had been initially closed by the committee (which later reversed course after the injunction was handed down and there was immense blowback for having closed it over more than a half-dozen issues), and it being wellknown that the road is a shore route that in turn brings needed business to

the downtown, Burns contended it was not the case.

Instead, he told this reporter, Medford Lakes-Tabernacle Road “as you well know is a county road” and the township has “to get authorization” from the county to close the thoroug h fare.

Additionally, he contended the township has to “remobilize a traffic control company and they will be out tomorrow (May 29).”

The county, he said, was contacted on Thursday, or May 23 (the day following the judge’s order), but it takes some time to put the closure in place.

“There was absolutely no delay or statement that it was not to be closed for Memorial Day,” Burns told this newspaper. “It is because of the detour plan and such, and it is taking time to mobilize the traffic control company.”

A hearing on the township’s motion to reconsider the Town Hall demolition i nju nction order, wh ich had b e en scheduled to occur before the holiday weekend, has now been rescheduled for June 4, Burns confirmed, with the township attorney contending he didn’t know the reason for the delay.

But before this reporter let Burns go on the phone, the township attorney added someth i ng else i n tr y i ng to assure this reporter (and the public) ever y th i ng is “status quo” for the moment, including pointing out that Town Hall is still there, still standing.

and thus protect the quality of life in the community, which he considers “a great place to raise kids.”

A construction worker for a general contracting firm who is a former member of the ironworkers Union and a “fitness freak” (which is why he was running around Ballinger Lake when he made that rescue), the 43-year-old Bailey added that he “basically always knew that Medford Lakes is a special place,” which was what encouraged him to move here.

Even more immersed in the culture of the borough is Bailey’s running mate, Gerald Yowell, who, while never having

held public office, has served on the Medford Lakes Colony Board for five years in the roles of director, director of lakes, director of property, co-vice president of recreation and currently vice president of property.

The specialist in finance and data/ operations analytics has also coached in the MLAA program and just wrapped up the soccer season.

He told this newspaper he now would like to take his years of Medford Lakes Colony Board volunteer services and build on them to help the community even further.

“A reason I ran for council is to provide a safe and clean community for all families in Medford Lakes,” Yowell added. “We moved to Medford Lakes because of all the wonderful amenities for families. I want to be able to maintain and enhance the same for all in the community.”

Both Bailey and Yowell easily won over perennial candidate Joseph A. Aromondo III, who ran for the council for the 15th time, but only won a seat on his first try (in 1998) and has gone down to defeat ever since.

to Yacovelli, but for the district’s After School Tutor ing Program, “we will utilize any available Title 1 funding (a district is eligible for such funding if at least 40 percent of students are from lowincome families).”

School Board Member Vicky Adams pressed both Yacovel l i and Superintendent Jeffrey Havers as to whether any school staff currently being funded through the ESSER relief monies will lose their jobs once the money runs out, pointing out that security guards

are also currently being covered through the program.

Havers responded that the district would lose its summer programs, but “all staff are in the general budget” now, noting there also staff being paid through Title 1 and Title 2.

Adams pressed the officials as to whether the staff being put into the local budget means they will be “safe” from future cuts, to which Havers pointed to the recent funding cut surprises some local school districts saw, asserting, “I

don’t think anybody here could say that everybody’s job next year is guaranteed,” with Yacovelli adding “no one knows what the state aid will be” for the 202526 school year.

Havers contended it is why “we need stability.”

“With S-2, it is sunsetting for lack of a better word,” Yacovelli said. “I guess it is why we have to continue to maintain communications with our legislators to come up with some continued level of funding for school districts.”

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(Continued from Page 15) Works and Property.” In reality, though, Bourguignon told this newspaper in a phone interview, those areas of responsibility are occasionally shared informally among the three commissioners, especially when one is not available for some reason.

Commission members receive a nominal amount of money for their services, which former Mayor Deborah Buzby-Cope estimated to be in the vicinity of $4,350 a year, with the person who holds the post of mayor receiving about $4,800.

W he n a ske d i f t hey w i she d t o r e s p o n d t o C a p r i g l i o n e ’s decision to part company with the c om m is sion, both Ad a m s and Bourguignon said it came as a surprise to them, with the latter having “no further comment” he wished to offer at this time and the for mer only adding, “If he wants to resign, it is his privilege” to do so.

Capriglione, though, claimed

he was completely taken aback when he heard that there was a plan afoot to “by pass the popular vote” by naming Adams to the mayor’s post, especially having called him about a week before to extend congratulations when an unofficial count had first indicated the new candidate would be joining the commission “and to say I was looking forward to working with him.”

“At that time, he said he wasn’t s u r e h e wa s r e a dy t o hold a position,” Capriglione claimed.

“I said, ‘It’s a learning process,’” to which Adams had reportedly responded, “Let me think about it” and would get back to him.

T hat wa s t he la st t h i ng he he ard from either one of the ot h e r el e c t ion w i n n e r s u nt i l the reorgan i zation me eti ng when Bourguignon nominated Adams for mayor and the latter seconded that motion.

“I’m reti re d from pol itic s,” Capriglione, 75, said when asked if he had any further political aspirations. “I’m going fishing.”

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