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FR EE
August 22, 2020 – August 28, 2020
Sunbury Village Landlord, After June, July Shootings, Again, Pleads with Council for Surveillance Cameras
SAFETY FIRST
In Wake of Past Opposition, Gober Issues Dire Warning About Safety of Local Police
By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
Photo By Andy Milone
A faded 25-mph speed limit sign posted on Buckingham Drive in LeisureTowne.
Man Who Lost Close Friend in July Biking Collision in LeisureTowne Calls on Area Officials to Improve Safety for Pedestrians and Bicyclists, Including Posting Stop Signs at Intersections and Curtailing Speeding State Police Withhold Footage of Crash That Involved Trooper, Claiming Disclosure During Investigation Could Be Detrimental By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
SOUTHAMPTON—A Southampton Township resident has set out on a mission to improve roadway safety and reduce purported speeding in the LeisureTowne retirement community here after his close friend and fellow bicyclist, Barry Reingold, who was said to be a 77-year-old father of two and a grandfather of six, was struck and killed July 1 while riding a Murray bicycle southbound on Newbury Drive, near Turnbridge Court. John Goudy, who told this newspaper that he walked in the mor nings and occasionally rode bikes in the afternoon with Reingold, shared his observation recently at a Southampton Township Committee meeting that “traffic is very heavy and fast” in LeisureTowne. Goudy explained in an email to this newspaper prior to the meeting that the traffic and speeding problem on the retirement community’s main streets (Huntington and Westminster drives), which he contended has been going on for at least 15 years, has now forced many bikers to take to surrounding roads, and evidently,
“we are not safe on our less traveled roads.” “Barry and I used to walk and we would say, ‘What can we do?’” Goudy told the township committee. “He said, ‘Nobody is going to do anything until someone gets killed,’ and the irony is he is the one that got killed.” Goudy, in both remarks made to the township committee, and in a letter dated July 3, sent to the township, LeisureTowne Board of Trustees and New Jersey State Police, noted an increase in the number of pedestrians and bicyclists in the community “exercising outside,” resulting from the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic that began in March. “I feel there has been little accommodation to provide a safe environment for outdoor activity,” Goudy wrote. Goudy, both in his letter and during the township committee meeting, called on officials to post stop signs at several i ntersect ions with i n the ret i rement community, including on the “road he (Reingold) died on.” This newspaper, in recent weeks, o b s e r ve d n u m e r o u s i n t e r s e c t i o n s throughout LeisureTowne that either did not have stop signs or stop lines, or
both, along with roadways that had faded speed limit signs, faded crosswalks and faded striping. Some streets in LeisureTowne h a d no st r ipi ng. Sig n age wa r n i ng motorists of crosswalks and that stop sig ns are ahead were not posted in numerous locations. One street had a lit street lamp that was lying down on the side of the road. “My understanding is that we have had some stop signs already brought out and more are on the way to specific areas that are already designated with stop lines, but may not have stops signs there,” replied Mayor Michael Mikulski to Goudy’s stop sign request. Mikulski added that he and other township officials have been meeting “roughly quarterly” with the LeisureTowne Board of Trustees, and while he can’t say there were discussions about stop signs, recalling just conversations about “eyebrows” (mini U-turns shaped like eyebrows due to a small island, known as loop streets) in the community, he contended that he will make sure the topic comes up at the next meeting between the parties. See SAFETY/ Page 10
PEMBERTON—A Sunbury Village landlord is again calling on Pemberton Township Council to have surveillance cameras installed in that community, this time after a handful of reported shootings during June and July within and near there. Richard Gober, who now owns only 15 houses in Sunbury Village after recently selling more than 65 residences there, first called for the installation of cameras in 2017 to deter and record any criminal activity in the area, following months of shootings, breakins, and other disturbances at that time in the Pemberton Township neighborhood. He renewed his call for the installation of cameras last year after a Pemberton Borough police officer, assisting Pemberton Township Police, fatally shot a man reported by civilian witnesses to be armed with a long scythe during an altercation in the village. That shooting resulted in a chaotic scene for several hours in the neighborhood. Last year’s police-involved shooting led several township stakeholders to also voice support for surveillance cameras in the beleaguered, high-crime neighborhood. Gober, during council’s Aug. 5 meeting, offered a dire, chilling warning to council if it does not act. “I would hate to see a police officer drive into Sunbury Village, and get shot and wounded, or get shot and killed,” Gober said. “Quite frankly, as much as I say that with a prayer on my tongue, that is not too far away from happening in that development.” David Jantas, who retired earlier this year as the longtime chief of the Pemberton Township Police Department, when Gober first raised the issue of cameras, made a point that Gober, not taxpayers, should invest in the security of his properties. Gober, upon learning of Jantas’ remarks through this newspaper, sent a fiery email in response to Jantas. The email was sent to nearly every elected and non-elected Pemberton official, most of his tenants and the press. Dennis Gonzalez, who was the municipal business administrator at the time the email was sent, was irked by Gober’s email and responded to all persons copied on it with 12 bullet points “to share the truth,” leading to a feud between the men. Other tow nship of ficials sided with Gonzalez and Jantas, and the cameras were never installed. “I do not want the taxpayers of Pemberton See CAMERAS/ Page 11
INDEX Business Directory... 12
Job Board.....................14
Marketplace.............. 15
Games..........................14
Local News................. 2
Worship Guide...........11
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