Pine Barrens Tribune February 27, 2021-March 5, 2021

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Redevelopment Plan for Birmingham Pits, Fmr. Country House, and 13 Other Parcels Adopted by Council

A NEW STANDARD OF ACCOMMODATION

Plan Follows Interest from Developer to Build Warehouses, Auto Auction Lot, But Auction Use Prohibited Through It

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

Photo By Andy Milone

The Southampton Township Committee Votes 4-1 to Raise Nitrate Limit for Groundwater That Firms May Not Exceed in Areas Zoned Commercial, Hoping It Will Encourage Development (That Many Residents Don’t Want)

By Andy Milone Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—The nitrate dilution standard that applies to Southampton Tow nship’s I ndust r ial and Highway Com mercial zoning dist r icts, which do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Pinelands Commission, has been relaxed by the Southampton Township Committee in a bid to attract more revenue-generating commercial ratables to help support future municipal budgets.

The new concentration standard will allow

a maximum of five milligrams of nitrates per liter of groundwater, as compared to the previous, more restrictive limit of three milligrams per liter, which reportedly resulted in excessive septic-system expenses for businesses looking to set up shop in Southampton.

The original standard was established in 2003 to protect groundwater quality from nitrate pollution in a community where many residents rely on their own wells for drinking water, and where a great deal of emphasis is placed on preserving the

town’s rural character, streams, agriculture and ecology. The right to have such a requirement was upheld in court when developers challenged it shortly after its initial passage.

In a 4-1 decision on Feb. 16, the township committee approved an ordinance to change the standard from three to five milligrams per liter, with committeeman and former township mayor James F. Young Sr. casting the lone opposing vote. The vote had See NEW/ Page 11

PEMBERTON—A redevelopment plan for a nearly 200-acre parcel known locally as the “Gateway Property” or “Birmingham Pits,” located just east of Birmingham Road and due north of S. Pemberton Road where mining activities were reportedly conducted decades ago, and 14 other properties (including the former Anapa’s Country House Restaurant) that run contiguous to it along S. Pemberton Road (also known as County Route 530), has been approved by Pemberton Township Council.

The unanimous Feb. 3 approval of the plan had followed a council-authorized redevelopment study of the area, performed

by CME Associates and funded by a potential redeveloper through an escrow account, to see if the parcels met the state’s criteria for a noncondemnation redevelopment area.

The plan approval also came in the wake of a handful of Pemberton Township Planning Board meetings, in which it made recommendations and scrutinized a draft of the plan following its complete review of the study, and a Jan. 20 council meeting, featuring not only a review of the planning board’s inputs, but also remarks from both the township’s special planner and potential redeveloper’s legal counsel.

The General Commercial/Light Industrial (GCLI) zoning standards that had previously See PITS/ Page 8

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Local News................. 2

Events........................ 7

Marketplace.............. 13

Worship Guide......... 12

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Saturday, February 27, 2021

Washington Officials Look to Remove ‘Trees in Question’ After Many Fall During Past Few Months, Cause Outages

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

WASHINGTON—Multiple incidents of downed trees, poles and wires have been posing an issue for both emergency crews and residents in Washington Township over the last few months – causing the town fathers to take a look at removing some “trees in question.”

During the last week of January, for example, wires were downed on Godfrey’s Bridge Road, according to municipal Emergency Management Coordinator David Simpson.

On Feb. 1, he said, a pole and wires were taken down in the vicinity of Belhaven Lake RV Resort, forcing the overnight closure of South Bend Road.

Committeeman Paul Seybold noted that there had been a couple of “high wind events,” one of which caused a cedar tree to fall across Turtle Creek Road.

“It took the wires down with it,” he said.

“That road was probably shutdown for an hour to an hour-and-a half.”

Seybold said that because downed wires were involved, emergency crews had to wait for the area electric company, Atlantic City Electric, to respond “before we could even touch that tree.” He added that there was also a brush fire caused by the downed, apparently live wire involved.

Officials have been discussing at committee meetings the need to trim and remove trees on Turtle Creek Road.

“This just reinforces the work that needs to be done down there in removing these trees,” Seybold said. “It is something that needs to be done because there are a couple more trees in question down there.”

Seybold contended that on the same day that the cedar tree fell, “an additional tree went down” in the Green Bank section of the municipality.

“Oddly enough, the electric company’s troubleshooter truck that was at Turtle Creek Road, out of West Creek, it could not respond to the (second) tree event,” Seybold said. “We had to wait for another truck to come out of Pleasantville to come down to Green Bank.”

Seybold said the incident highlighted the need to take care of the trees, “because of how long it takes the electric company to respond” to the area (which is rural and remote in nature).

“This just gives you an idea of what first responders have to deal with sometimes down there,” Seybold maintained.

A large tree, considered to be in dangerous condition, had been removed late last year on Bulltown Road by a contractor that the town had retained.

Frank Tedesco, a spokesman for Atlantic City Electric, told this newspaper that the utility “completed” tree trimming along the power lines that deliver power to customers in Washington Township “in 2019 and in 2020.”

“We notified the township, as required

by the BPU (Board of Public Utilities), with information regarding the tree-trimming scheduled in this area prior to performing the tree trimming and vegetation management work,” he said. “Customers and/or municipalities are encouraged to contact Atlantic City Electric if there are concerns regarding a specific tree in close proximity to a power line. Our vegetation management experts, trained in proper arboricultural pruning techniques and practices, will remove tree branches within 10 feet of a powerline to allow a private tree company to safely remove the tree.”

Tedesco added that t rees coming in contact with electric infrastructure and wires cause about 23 percent of power outages for Atlantic City Electric customers each year across the utility’s entire service area (which includes all or parts of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem Counties), and that “through our ongoing vegetation management practices, the frequency of outages caused by falling debris from trees has decreased by 42 percent since 2011.”

“As part of our ongoing efforts to further improve reliability for our customers, we have a robust vegetation management program, which includes trimming trees that could potentially impact the electric system,” Tedesco said.

“We perform routine vegetation management work throughout our service area on a fouryear clearance cycle, adhering to BPU specifications.”

The company spokesman pointed out that pruning trees near power lines is “hazardous” and asked for individuals to contact the utility so that it can perform such work, noting “our tree trimming personnel are specially trained to work in close proximity to electrical conductors.”

As for the specific tree concer ns in Washington, and whether the utility will perform additional tree work in the municipality based on them, Tedesco maintained that, “We are happy to continue to work with the township and encourage officials and/or customers to contact Atlantic City Electric regarding any concerns with a specific tree in close proximity to a power line,” but noted that “our vegetation management experts do not remove trees” and that once the utility assists with trimming away any branches a safe distance away from powerlines, any tree removal “would need to be done by a private tree company.”

For additional information, or to request tree and vegetation management services, visit atlanticcityelectric.com/treetrimming or call 800-642-3780, Tedesco added.

The company spokesperson was unable to provide this newspaper with the number of tree-related outages in Washington, contending that the utility “does not track outages at the municipal level resulting from outages specifically related to falling tree debris.”

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Saturday, February 27, 2021

Councilwoman Given Proclamation Upon Her Departure, Recalled as ‘True Leader of Community, Servant of Jesus’

♦ Page 3

Former Attorney Recently Seated on Pemberton Council Discusses His Take on Development, Surveillance Cameras Newest Councilman is Son of Former Pemberton Mayor, Current Mayor Reveals His Plans for Township This Year

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

Norma Trueblood, who served on Pemberton Township Council for eight years.

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—The Coronavirus pandemic didn’t stop Pemberton Township officials from finding a remote way to safely celebrate the contributions of Norma Trueblood, a longtime community public servant and religious leader who left Pemberton Township Council at the end of December, after eight-years of service.

Trueblood, a two-term councilwoman who had decided not to seek re-election last fall, was the subject of a proclamation read into the record by Mayor David Patriarca during a recent telephonic council meeting.

Patriarca, in reading the proclamation, noted that he has made it a practice to only seldom issue them, despite receiving a lot of requests, giving significance to the occasion.

T he mayor mai nt ai ned t h roug h t he proclamation that Trueblood put the interests of others ahead of her own, thereby causing her

service to the community to come naturally, and also pointed out that “great leaders throughout history were essentially service providers” and “when given the opportunity to serve, true leaders are discovered.”

He added that when an individual is entrusted by the community to lead them into the future, such a decision demonstrates the “confidence they have in your commitment to others and your ability to lead.”

“I, David A. Patriarca, mayor of the Township of Pemberton, recognize Councilwoman Norma Trueblood as a true leader of the community serving the interests of the residents for eight years as an elected member of council, and as a servant to the Lord Jesus Christ as a pastor at the International Revival Tabernacle in Browns Mills, New Jersey,” said the mayor while reading the conclusion statement See DEPARTURE/ Page 10

Photo Provided

Mayor David Patriarca (left) swears in Paul Detrick to a four-year term on Pemberton Township Council, while his wife, Roni, looks on.

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—Paul Detrick, whose legal career spanned nearly 40 years before retiring from a local law practice in 2018, is Pemberton Township Council’s newest member, and in a Feb. 23 interview with this newspaper, he discussed his take on several issues of importance to residents, including commercial development and the use of surveillance cameras to combat crime.

Detrick, who was elected by township voters to a four-year term last fall and seated in January, has filled a vacancy left behind by Norma Trueblood, who served on council for eight years (see separate story).

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Meters for Pemberton Water Department Customers to Be Upgraded to Allow for Remote Data Collection

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—A project to upgrade water meters for all customers of the Pemberton Township Water Department is underway.

Business Administrator Daniel Hornickel, during a recent Pemberton Township Council meeting, said that the township administration introduced “a four-year plan to upgrade all of the water meters throughout our water system” through last year’s municipal capital budget.

“The reason for doing that is that we have several water meters that are certainly beyond their useful life, although they may be functional,” he maintained. “But also, because the future of running a water system is to be able to take readings remotely.”

The new meters will eliminate the need for the manual inspection process, according to remarks made by both Councilman Jason Allen and Hornickel at the recent council meeting.

“This will allow us to eventually reduce staffing costs because once we go fully remote, we will only need one meter reader, possibly no meter readers,” Hornickel said. “Right now, we have two meter readers. We want to reallocate staff to have them perform more functional work on the actual water system, rather than go to each house and have them read accounts.”

Mayor David Patriarca later told this

newspaper that the devices are called radio-read meters, and that they can be read wirelessly through a radio signal, “whereas someone now has to get out and read the numbers on the meter.”

Patriarca said that the new meters can either be read from a vehicle driving down the street, using a device to collect data, or officials can collect the data from a remote location. He maintained the township is “more than likely” to choose the “drive down the street method” to collect readings, though he cautioned that the township is in the “early stages of this process” and was just beginning “the swapping out of meters.”

“We are trying to get certain areas done first,” Patriarca said. “We are putting software in place to implement this. This will also incorporate us being able to use software to monitor wells, tanks and how much water is being put out by the wells.”

While the total project cost was not immediately available, Patriarca called it a “substantial investment,” adding that the township is “looking to get a return on the investment through efficiency,” or by “not having personnel out there reading meters constantly” and “being able to monitor for any problems more accurately and quickly without having to have person at a tank or well multiple times a day to gather readouts.”

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SHAMONG —Students in the Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) were given the option this past week of either returning to the classroom for in-person instruction five days per week (starting March 1) or continuing to learn remotely from home, with the district’s “hybrid” system of both in-person and remote instruction having been discontinued for now unless it is deemed necessary to resume it again.

“There is no hybrid group as of March 1,” a district spokeswoman told the Pine Barrens Tribune.

Since September, LRHSD students have been given the opportunity to either attend classes in school buildings every other day as part of the hybrid model of combined remote and in-person instruction, or learn entirely at home. An estimated 80 percent of the student body took advantage of the hybrid arrangement initially, with students being assigned to one of two different cohorts, inasmuch as all of them could not be safely accommodated in the buildings at the same time.

There have been a number of changes since the fall that led to the latest decision, which were detailed by Superintendent Dr. Carol Birnbohm at the most recent LRHSD Board of Education meeting on Feb. 17. Most significant, she said, was that the 20 percent of students who had at first been learning allremotely had increased to about 45 percent, resulting in more space becoming available for those who want to attend classes in-person.

“We believe that we can safely bring back Cohorts A and B every single day, and be able to safely socially distance,” she said.

The merging of the two hybrid cohorts into one to allow for in-person learning every day of the week amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic was approved by the LRHSD board of education in a 10-0 vote. Board member Bonnie Olt was not in attendance.

The recent decision ultimately means that

students in different cohorts “from the other side of the alphabet,” who aren’t friends outside of school, will be able to see more of their classmates for the first time since the onset of the pandemic, according to the superintendent.

The half-day rotating schedule, which extends from 7:30 a.m. until 11:55 a.m., that has been in place for all students since September, will remain in effect for now while the possibility of a new schedule remains under discussion, Birnbohm said.

While the idea of bringing back some semblance of a full day in-person schedule is still being considered, she listed some factors, such as the risks faced during the lunch period when students need to take off their masks to eat, that is limiting the district’s ability to do so.

The superintendent noted during the board meeting that more “A” grades are now being given out than in the recent past, but so have more “D” and “F” grades.

Another recent development permitting the district to make the jump to five days a week of in-person instruction was Burlington County’s having changed from an orange (high) to yellow (moderate) status in the spread of the virus, Birnbohm said, noting that it appears the county is headed in the direction of green (low) as more vaccines are administered.

“We’ve been talking about bringing kids back together for a long time here, but we just couldn’t when our whole county was in orange status,” Birnbohm said. “It just didn’t make sense with the numbers being so high. We were seeing positive cases in the county well over 200, sometimes 300 a day. Last week, the numbers plummeted. The week before that, they were low. This week, they are really low, so we’re going in the right direction.”

A nother d r iver of the recent recommendation was the district improving its handling of the day-to-day operations of See LEARNING/ Page 15

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Saturday, February 27, 2021

Former Colony President Fills Opening in Medford Lakes Borough Government After Death of Mayor Robert Hanold Sr. Cranston Appointed to Serve in Mayor’s Post for 3rd Time

Photo By Andy Milone

Clerk Mark McIntosh (right) administers the oath office to Dennis O’Neill, a newly-appointed councilmember.

By Andy Milone Staff Writer

MEDFORD LAKES—The vacant council seat of the late Medford Lakes Borough Councilman Robert “Bob” Hanold Sr., who had been serving as mayor at the time of his passing last month, will be temporarily filled

by Dennis O’Neill, a resident who has served as a member of the Medford Lakes Planning Board, former president of the nonprofit Medford Lakes Colony and an adult leader in Boy Scout Troop 48.

Council unanimously appointed O’Neill, a local resident since the late 1990s, to fill Hanold’s council seat at its Feb. 10 meeting.

According to officials at the meeting, the governing body is required by state law to fill

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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a council vacancy within 30 days.

Hanold, who had been a councilman in Medford Lakes since 2010, died during the early morning hours of Jan. 12 after a long battle with a rare neuroendocrine cancer.

Councilman Thomas Cranston, who had been serving as deputy mayor since July 1, was also elevated to the position of mayor, which he has held before on two separate occasions (2012-2014, 2016-2018). He will now finish out Hanold’s unexpired mayoral term, which ends on June 30, 2022.

O’Neill, a director of credit and collections at MISTRAS Group, Inc., a multinational provider of asset protection solutions, will serve See FILLS/ Page 15

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Browns Mills Man Charged with Murder In Shooting of His Cousin During Dispute PEMBERTON—A resident of the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township has been charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of his cousin during an apparent argument.

Antwian Warthen, 29, of the 400 block of Garden Avenue, was arrested on the night of Feb.19 after his cousin, Horace Warthen, 39, of Burlington City, was pronounced dead by a physician at Capital Health at Deborah – Emergency Services, where the suspect had transported him following the incident, according to a press release from the office of Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina.

Police were initially dispatched to Antwian Warthen’s home in response to a report of a man severely bleeding, possibly due to a stab

wound, only to be told that the victim had been taken to the hospital. When they arrived there, they discovered the suspect had left on foot, but managed to locate him 30 minutes later walking in a nearby neighborhood, and took him into custody for questioning.

An autopsy performed by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood determined the victim died from gunshot wounds, the release said.

Antwian Warthen, who was also charged with two weapons violations, was lodged in the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly pending a detention hearing in Superior Court, with Assistant Prosecutor Bob Van Gilst, supervisor of the BCPO Major Crimes Unit – Violent Crimes Section preparing the case against him for review by a grand jury.

Phase II of Countywide Probe into Online Child Porn Nets 15 Suspects, Including 7 from Pine Barrens Area MOUNT HOLLY—Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina has announced that the second round of a multi-agency investigation has resulted in the arrests of 15 individuals on charges such as possessing and distributing child sexual assault material, among other more serious offenses.

Seven of the suspects are listed as residents of Pine Barrens area communities.

“Operation Safe Quarantine II is the latest result of our pledge to patrol cyberspace and capture the depraved individuals who believe it is acceptable to exploit and endanger children for sexual gratification,” Coffina said. “There is much more work to be done, and this effort will continue to be a priority for the BCPO

and the agencies who partnered with us for this investigation.”

W hile noting that cr imes involving children are always of paramount importance, Coffina added that probes into specific ones have become even more urgent as the mass quarantine from the COVID public health crisis has significantly increased the opportunities for online sexual exploitation of children.

The number of cybertips received by law enforcement agencies in New Jersey has increased substantially during the pandemic, according to the prosecutor, who noted that the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children See SUSPECTS/ Page 15

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Pemberton Man, 29, Pleads Guilty to 2019 Attack on Woman in Exchange for 12-Year Prison Term PEMBERTON—A 29-year-old Pemberton Township man has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a woman in a Burlington City alley in late 2019 in exchange for a 12-year sentence in New Jersey state prison.

John Lewis, of the Browns Mills section of the township, entered the guilty plea to firstdegree aggravated sexual assault on Jan. 27 and must serve 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole, according to a press release from the office of Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina.

Lewis’ name will also be placed on the New Jersey sex offender registry upon release, and he will be subjected to parole supervision for life, the release noted.

The plea was entered before Judge Philip E. Haines, who scheduled Lewis’ sentencing for April 14.

The victim of the assault told Burlington police officers, who had responded to reports

of a woman screaming for help, that she was walking home from a friend’s house when she was attacked by a stranger who both sexually assaulted her and punched and kicked her in the face. She was taken to Cooper University Hospital in Camden for treatment of facial fractures and a brain aneurism.

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WE’RE HERE TO HELP! HOW TO REACH US: Ad Hotline: 609-801-2392 Report News Tips, Breaking News: 609-801-2392 General Questions: 609-801-2392 Fax: 609-801-2395 Submit Ad Copy: sales@pinebarrenstribune.com Submit News Tips, Press Releases: news@pinebarrenstribune.com Send Letters to the Editor: letters@pinebarrenstribune.com Write Us: Pine Barrens Tribune, P.O. Box 2402, Vincentown, NJ 08088 The Pine Barrens Tribune is published each Saturday, except Easter, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Serving Medford, Marlton, Vincentown, LeisureTowne, Browns Mills, Chatsworth, New Gretna, Little Egg, Whiting and Hammonton, and all points in-between.

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If you believe that you see a mistake, please call 609-801-2392. © 2021 Pine Barrens Media

Saturday, February 27, 2021

Capital Health Expands Its Footprint in the Pinelands Area to Provide Residents Hassle-Free Access to Top Quality Care

By Judy Cohen Minches Staff Writer

BROWNS MILLS—Once a newcomer to the Pine Barrens, Capital Health has recently expanded in the greater Burlington/Ocean County area, including to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

On July 1, 2019, Capital Health had filled the vacancy left behind by Lourdes Medical Center on June 30, 2019, when it partnered with Deborah Heart & Lung Center in Browns Mills to assume the operations of a satellite emergency department (SED), now called Capital Health at Deborah – Emergency Services.

Since joining Deborah, Capital Health Medical Group has opened comprehensive women’s health and primary care offices on the Deborah campus at 6 Earlin Avenue.

Capital Health is a large and interconnected healthcare system with nearly 500 providers located throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

It is comprised of two hospitals, the Regional Medical Center in Trenton and Capital Health Medical Center in Hopewell, along with an outpatient facility in Hamilton, and primary and specialty care practices.

The decision for Capital Health to build a bigger presence in Browns Mills took shape when they realized they could make a difference for residents.

“We started noticing patients coming to the ER who needed access to services – following their visits –that are close to home,” said Arlene Walsh, Senior VP and Chief Administrative Officer of the Capital Health Medical Group.

Walsh said she sees the necessity to travel a distance as a potential obstacle to healthcare for individuals given the “definite gap in the area” and that Capital Health wants to “close that gap” by providing care in the community.

“The easier you make it for patients before they get into a crisis situation, the better,” she said, emphasizing that Capital Health’s “overall goal is to keep people as healthy as possible.”

In April 2020, the Capital Health OB/GYN – Browns Mills office opened with five boardcertified physicians in obstetrics and gynecology.

They provide a range of services including, but not limited to, annual women’s health exams, menopause counseling, gynecology surgery and cancer screenings.

The team of Drs. Robert Berk, Neil Bluebond, Amy Harvey O’Keeffe, Mark Kuhn and Anne Walker, all of whom are now practicing in Browns Mills, provided care to women in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, for almost 30 years before relocating.

Eight months later, board-certified family physician Dr. Eddie Akrout took the lead at the Capital Health Primary Care – Browns Mills office, providing services to individuals of all ages, from pediatrics to geriatrics.

Akrout focuses on maintaining his patients’ health and well-being with check-ups, preventive care, helping those with chronic diseases such as hypertension and other issues to avoid

hospitalization, sick visits, and more, Walsh said.

Capital Health has also recently opened a Behavioral Health Services Center in Bordentown with four full-time psychiatrists and 15-18 therapists on staff, including those who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of children, adolescents and young adults.

Telehealth visits have worked well for patients seeking care from therapists during the pandemic, and “they love it, too.”

“It’s convenient,” Walsh said. “Some have gotten really comfortable with it and would actually prefer it.

“Why trek into an office each and every time they want to talk with someone? Maybe they can go in every other visit. Maybe they’ve had to use their lunch hour at work or have had to take a day off or a half day. Now they can call from wherever they are.”

Walsh added that virtual visits for those interested will continue after the pandemic.

Capital Health has created a robust line-up of Zoom and Facebook Live events, including classes, to reach as many individuals as possible during the pandemic, said Jason Stacchini, communications and marketing manager for Capital Health. Most programming is free, other than when class materials need to be ordered.

During the upcoming weeks, Capital Health will offer classes on babysitting, yoga for cancer patients, a diabetes education program, breastfeeding and baby care basics, an information session on Medicare and more. Check out the updated schedule on their website, listed below.

Physicians also facilitate discussions on different topics: an OB/GYN recently spoke about women's health screenings during COVID-19, and, in the spring, orthopedic surgeons will address arthritis in the knees, knee or hip replacements and much more.

Stacchini said that, over time, Capital Health will “continue to assess and identify ways to address the health needs of the Browns Mills community.”

Here are some important Capital Health website links and telephone numbers for your healthcare needs: Capital Health Emergency Services at Deborah: www.capitalhealth.org/deborahsed , 609-735-2950 Primary Care: www.capitalhealth.org/ brownsmills , 609-303-4560 OB/GYN: www.capitalhealthobgyn.org/ brownsmills, 609-537-7200 Behavioral Health: www.capitalhealth.org/ our-locations/behavioral-health-specialists, 609-689-5725 Classes and Events: www.capitalhealth.org/ events

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Saturday, February 27, 2021

EVENTS

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Deborah Launches Post-COVID Recovery Program Addresses the Health Needs of COVID-19 ‘Long Haulers’

MARCH 2021 EVENTS

Events and special promotions happening locally this month!

March 6

Train Rides Through the Woods of New Gretna

Location: Bass River Township Details: The Woods of New Gretna Park and the New Jersey Shore Live Steam Organization provide train rides for all each Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The small steam locomotives, and other trains, wind their way through the beautiful park. The rides are provided by a group of dedicated volunteers who have revitalized the park and laid out the railroad track, based on the historical Tuckerton Railroad. The volunteers maintain the railroad and walking trails - and are constantly expanding them. Riding the trains is free, but donations are very much appreciated. The train rides are outdoors. Face masks are required.

♦ Page 7

To promote your April event on this page contact Jayne Cabrilla at 609-801-2392 or email jcabrilla@pinebarrenstribune.com

March 20

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Location: Medford Township Event: The Woman’s Club of Medford is once again offering a $1,000 scholarship to a female high school senior who resides in the 08055-zip code and will be furthering her education (college or trade school) upon graduation.

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Dr. Andrew Martin is with Steven Magnotta, of New Egypt, one of the first patients in Deborah’s new Post-COVID Recovery Program. The patient contracted COVID at the end of December, was sick for seven weeks, and suffered from pneumonia for four weeks, and now requires some post-COVID recovery care.

BROWNS MILLS—Deborah Heart and Lung Center, New Jersey’s only specialty heart, lung, and vascular hospital, and an alliance member of the Cleveland Clinic Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute, has announced the opening of its Post-COVID Recovery Program.

This new pulmonary medicine program – under the medical direction of Andrew Martin, MD, Deborah’s Chair, Pulmonary Medicine – is specially designed to address the present, and emerging, health problems of patients who have had COVID-19, and are negative for the virus.

Patients in the program will receive a thorough evaluation, followed by a diagnosis and individualized treatment plan. This plan will address either the continuing health problems of those who never fully recovered from their initial bout of the virus; or for the brand-new, previously undiagnosed, medical problems which have emerged post-COVID. The program will integrate other specialties in the treatment plan of the patient as deemed necessary, including cardiology, hematology, radiology, pulmonary rehab and physical therapy.

John Hill, RRT-NPS, Deborah’s VicePresident, Pulmonary Services said the program was created to fill a critical community need.

“We have already seen many patients presenting with lingering effects of the virus,” he said. “These patients are no longer contagious, but they still don’t feel right. Their breathing may be labored, they may still be

weak, and they may have a myriad of other conditions. We want to work with these patients to help them recover as much of their strength and functionality as possible. After a year of studying the Coronavirus, we now know that COVID-19 is exceptionally hard on the body, and recovery is not as simple as getting over the flu, especially if during your illness, you needed to be on a ventilator.”

Hill called the developments of the past year “just the beginning.”

“I suspect we are going to be dealing with the effects from COVID for many years in the future,” he maintained. “Deborah is well positioned to play a key regional role in postCOVID recovery. In addition to the resources of our pulmonary staff, we have an excellent rehabilitative team and one of the top-rated cardiac programs in the country.”

Patient eligibility includes: • Previously tested positive for COVID-19 and were not hospitalized, but who continue to experience respiratory symptoms more than six weeks following infection or; • Hospitalized for treatment of COVID-19 or; • A pre-existing underlying lung disease and who had COVID, and; • Currently testing COVID-negative for an active infection.

For more information about Deborah’s Post-COVID Recovery Clinic, visit www.

DemandDeborah.org or call 609-621-2080 to make an appointment.

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Page 8 ♦

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Saturday, February 27, 2021

PITS

(Continued from Page 1) been applied to the 15 properties have been replaced by the plan, which acts a “new zoning ordinance,” with the hope that the new permitted uses will spur economic development in the area.

Commercial development and operations in the vicinity of Birmingham has been a hot-button issue during the past few years, with many residents of the neighborhood previously contending that they did not want to see their “hamlet” disturbed, but nobody from that neighborhood was in attendance for the Jan. 20 council meeting, or council’s Feb. 3 public hearing on the redevelopment plan, both of which were held by telephone due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The potential redeveloper, identified during council’s Jan. 20 meeting as Dipal Patel, of Route 530 North, LLC, originally appeared before council in early 2020, as previously reported by this newspaper, with a proposal to turn the pit parcel into warehouse facilities and/or an auto auction lot.

At that time, he requested of council to declare the pit parcel “area in need of rehabilitation.” According to several appointed township officials attending the Jan. 20 and Feb. 3 council sessions, Pemberton Township’s Community Development Office had since asked of Patel to also fund the study of the properties on S. Pemberton Road contiguous to the larger Gateway property, some of which are also vacant. It’s unclear, however, if Patel will have an interest in expanding the size of the current lot he has been interested in.

An initial draft of the redevelopment plan, according to CME’s Chris Dochney, serving as the township’s special planner, had permitted an “auto auction market” as a “conditional use,” but the planning board, he said, ultimately recommended against it.

“The planning board did recommend that (auto auction market) be removed entirely as a permitted use and placed as a prohibited use in the redevelopment area,” Dochney said.

Council did adopt that prohibition in the final redevelopment plan.

However, according to Dochney, the permitted uses for the area that the planning board did recommend (and were adopted by council) include “anything that was already permitted in the GCLI light industrial district, along with warehousing, distribution centers, flex space industrial uses, craft breweries or distilleries, or any scientific medical research laboratories.” Also recommended (and now approved by council), he said, are wireless telecommunications facilities “subject to towers being set back a pretty considerable distance, with a maximum height restriction on any antennas or other equipment.”

The planning board had also recommended, Dochney contended, against allowing for any

Former Anapa’s Country House restaurant.

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

Photo Provided

Pemberton Township tax map showing the new redevelopment area located just east of Birmingham Road and due north of S. Pemberton Road. new commercial building to exceed 50 ft. in height.

But Steve Gouin, shareholder of Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla, P.C., during council’s Jan. 20 meeting, urged council to reconsider that building height language.

“Upwards of 60 ft. is preferred, and anything over that is great so that we can maximize the type of tenant and our ability of attracting a better quality of tenant,” Gouin maintained.

“60 ft. is better than a flat 50 ft. cap. This way we have the maximum flexibility to get the best possible end user in there that works to the benefit of the township as well.”

Council, administration and the township professionals, following Gouin’s request, debated whether the legislative body, which has the final say, should change the maximum building height size.

While Gouin said that doing so would help bring about the “mayor’s vision” of an industrial facility in that area that “helps to drive economic development and provide a user

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that would be providing jobs to local residents,” David Patriarca, the mayor of Pemberton Township, also a member of the planning board, actually expressed some reluctance for council to provide for a greater building height limit, contending that he believed “it could be problematic” for the residents of Birmingham.

“My concern is if we approve a 60 ft. structure, even with dense vegetation and a living buffer, a 100 ft. warehouse is going to be immense,” said Patriarca, who then proceeded to discuss certain warehouses that are visible while traveling the New Jersey Turnpike, calling them “turnpike monstrosities.”

“I don’t know that anybody would want them built in their backyard,” the mayor added.

Patriarca disagreed with Dochney that a 120 ft. setback would be sufficient if 60 ft. structures are permitted. Township Solicitor Andrew “Andy” Bayer, in response, contended that he did not think one would “notice much of a difference” between a 50 ft. and a 60 ft. structure.

“My concern is the potential to develop adjacent to the Birmingham side of this property, which will certainly impact the residents along that particular roadway,” the mayor maintained.

The new zoning standards call for a 100 ft. buffer between a residential use and commercial use, according to Dochney, or requires “dense vegetative buffers around residential development, especially to protect residential uses both on S. Pemberton Road and Birmingham Road so that there are minimal impacts to them for any noise or odors, or anything else associated with truck traffic.”

Patriarca, in debating the maximum building height that council should allow for in the redevelopment plan, pointed to warehouses that were built in downtown Florence Township “directly behind an old residential area.”

“What they did is they put a mound up (in-between the residential properties and warehousing), which goes up about maybe 10 or 15 feet in height, and then they got a 20 foot wall on top of that, and these residents, who have looked into woods all their lives are now looking at a wall,” Patriarca said. “And that wall doesn’t look like it is more than 100 ft. away from the property lines, and it is just outrageous.

“So, we want to avoid impacting our residents in that much of a negative way, understanding that this property is a targeted property for development of the community.

And it has been for decades. But we also want to be conscientiousness … and try to be as courteous as we can to the existing property owners there.”

Prior to the pandemic, dozens of Birmingham residents attended both Pemberton planning board and council meetings to voice concerns over a plan for Seldat Distribution, Inc. to erect a 509,038 square foot warehouse on an approximately 30-acre lot that sits on the northwestern corner of the intersection of Birmingham and S. Pemberton roads (outside of the new redevelopment area).

T he Seld at wa r ehou se, now u nde r construction after approval was ultimately given, however, is to be built with an “elevation above finished floor of 56 feet” and height of 65.9 feet, and will have three, 150 sq. ft. signs at the top of it, 15 wall mounted light fixtures and 95 dock doors. A surrounding parking lot will include 36 truck storage spaces, and is expected to contain a number of 17.5-ft-high downcasting-3,000-Kelvin LED structures.

T h e r e sid e nt s of t h e Bi r m i ng h a m neighborhood, many of whom are businessmen or businesswomen, were not necessarily opposed to efforts to bring in new business, but believed such a facility would disturb their self-described “hamlet” and is inappropriate for the residential and mostly wooded character of the neighborhood. They also shared stormwater management concerns.

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Saturday, February 27, 2021

PITS

(Continued from Page 8) far m that had become overgrown with vegetation were recently removed to make way for the Seldat warehouse, though the plan for that project does call for a vegetative buffer to be installed once the warehouse is finished. Seldat is proposing 180 shade trees, 480 Evergreen trees, 42 flowering trees, 969 shrubs and over 1,300 decorative ground plantings, with the majority of those plantings slated for the eastern or southern side of the site, or closest to the homes.

Gouin, during the Jan. 20 council debate over what the maximum building height should be for the new redevelopment area, pointed out that the Seldat warehouse was approved for a maximum height of “60 ft. with a setback of 175 ft. from the line of Birmingham Road.”

Council, based on what had been approved for Seldat, then agreed to allow for a maximum building height in the new redevelopment area of “60 ft., with a 175-ft. setback, of which 100 feet will be a densely vegetated buffer,” according to Bayer.

“That 100 ft. buffer is to be located between the residential property lines and development,” Bayer added.

The redevelopment area, Dochney said, includes about five houses on S. Pemberton Road. According to both the special planner and Patriarca, the existing residential uses will still be subject to previous “residential standards,” or R-96 district regulations.

Howeve r, i f t he S. Pe mb e r t on Roa d homeowners decide to sell their property to a business, or “change and create a business there, it will be considered a change of use and then the parcels would have to conform to the new zoning.”

Also included in the redevelopment area

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

Construction begins for a new warehouse at the northwestern corner of the intersection of Birmingham and S. Pemberton roads, adjacent to the new redevelopment area. is the former “country house,” or Anapa’s Country House Restaurant, which has been permanently closed for many years now.

Though Patel previously presented council with a prospective site plan showing eight warehouse buildings on the pit site, and pointed out that an analysis he conducted

suggested 100 acres of the pit site are developable and any project he undertakes would preserve upwards of 150 acres of wooded area, Business Administrator Daniel Hornickel, following council’s Feb. 3 approval of the redevelopment plan, contended, “The fact that we now have a redevelopment

♦ Page 9

plan approved by council, it will give the redeveloper an opportunity to make a (formal) proposal on what to do with that property.”

Hornickel pointed out that the pit site has been “in a status of disrepair for decades,” and has not been generating any revenue for the township. “ Fr o m wh a t I u n d e r s t a n d , it u s e d to be a m i n i ng operat ion,” Hor n ickel maintained. “When the mining operation ceased, the miners just didn’t tidy everything up and go away, they left everything a mess.

This property has got its challenges. That is why over the years developers kind of stayed away from it. With this redevelopment plan, not only did council basically approve zoning for that parcel, council also indicated what they don’t want on that parcel, which is an auto auction.

“The fact that we now have a redevelopment plan approved by council, it will give the redeveloper an oppor t u nit y to make a proposal on what to do with that property.

Whatever the developer would like to do in redeveloping the property, he would still have to go through the normal channels of applying to the planning board and presenting it with plans for consideration before anything gets done. So, again, the process is going to continue to be transparent, with the planning board having to provide approvals, and then he will have to come back to council for a redeveloper’s agreement and (any application) for a financial agreement. Hopefully he will put some kind of beneficial use on that property, which will employ township residents and get us some tax revenues for a property that is not really producing any for us now.”

Patriarca, in a later interview with this newspaper, noted that the township has been trying to develop the Gateway property for the last five decades, and different proposals have been received during that time.

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LOCAL NEWS

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DEPARTURE (Continued from Page 3)

of the proclamation.

While there were no visuals due to the telephonic nature of the meeting, several individuals, including Trueblood, could be heard choking up and grabbing tissues.

“This is the town I loved, and this is the town I plan to stay in,” said Trueblood in her initial reaction to the proclamation. “I hate this pandemic.”

Trueblood recalled how the late Diane Stinney, a former councilwoman, had asked her to serve on the legislative body when an opening presented itself, and thanked her for “giving me a vote of confidence,” all while hoping she was looking down on her from heaven.

“God bless everyone,” said Trueblood, who wished for the resumption of in-person council meetings later this year and to have the opportunity to see all of the officials in action, including Paul Detrick, who was elected to the

SEATED

(Continued from Page 3) Township has managed to keep taxes pretty low for residents, and given that it is not a high-income area, I want to try to continue to keep taxes low,” said Paul Detrick of his initial goals for Pemberton. “While maintaining taxes as low as they reasonably can be, I want to give residents the best bang for their buck so to speak, so that their money is not being wasted, but yet they are getting a good level of municipal services, everything from water and sewer service, to police and roads.”

In the “bigger picture,” Paul Detrick added, he wants to see council attract “a little more commercial development to the areas of

Saturday, February 27, 2021

open seat that Trueblood vacated.

Trueblood, in 2018, became the township’s first Hispanic council president. She continued in the leadership role throughout 2019.

2019, however, was a tumultuous time for Trueblood, who faced heavy public scrutiny for leading council through a controversial decision to disband the Pemberton Township Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA). At times, as township officials recalled during Trueblood’s last meeting as a councilperson, the public outcry turned personal.

Yet, Trueblood’s steady poise during that experience was praised by both her now-former colleagues and township officials.

“I had the opportunity to observe Norma’s leadership through the dissolution of the MUA, and I can tell you that after having served several freeholder boards, I was extremely impressed by her poise in handling that matter,” said Business Administrator Daniel Hornickel. “And her graciousness – even when at times the attacks got to the personal level, she still took the high road.”

Trueblood, during her latter year as council

president, also dealt with controversies involving a treatment center and warehouse development in the Birmingham section of the municipality.

And during the year preceding her becoming council president, she heard the concerns of many residents about gun violence in the Sunbury Village neighborhood.

“She has worked with the township during very trying times,” said Gaye Burton, who has served as council president since Trueblood left that post, and is a congregant of International Revival. “But she always pulled through, always with her head held high. She passed the baton to me, and I just want to say kudos to you.”

Trueblood, a 33-year resident of the township after being born and raised in New York City, has served as pastor of International Revival Tabernacle of Burlington County for 30 years.

She retired from Burlington County College, where she spent 30 years in education. She been married for more than four decades to her husband, Bishop Dr. Ernest E. Trueblood, Jr. In 2010, she was inducted into The National Council of Community Colleges for Hispanic

Leaders; and a year later she was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame at Burlington County College; and at one point she also received a Certificate of “Special Senate Recognition” from the United States, in recognition of her outstanding and invaluable service to the community.

Norma Trueblood has also received a “Citation Award for Community Action to the ‘Servicios Latinos,’” from the New Jersey State General Assembly, and the “Latinos Making a Difference Award” in recognition of her taking steps to overcome language barriers when providing services to the community.

Burton called Trueblood a “role model” and referred to her as “the most dedicated member in our township.”

“Norma, I can’t say enough how it has been a pleasure to have worked with you, and to continue working with you,” Patriarca said. “You have been here during so many good, pleasant times, but also have been here supporting this community in the hard times. You have always hung in there as a trooper, and led this community.”

Pemberton that are appropriate for commercial development,” particularly Browns Mills.

“I want to see if we can attract tax ratables, and bring in a little more revenue,” he said, noting that street improvements are another priority for him.

In addition to commercial development and ratables, another major topic of concern in the township is the recent uptick in gun violence, particularly in Sunbury Village, a township neighborhood that has long been beleaguered by crime.

Since another uptick in 2017, council has heard several requests for the township to install surveillance cameras in the neighborhood.

Those calls have grown louder in recent months due to the more recent incidents.

However, Mayor David Patriarca, the township and police administration, and the

majority of council members have long opposed such installations, citing privacy, monitoring and cost concerns, but Paul Detrick told this newspaper on Feb. 23 that, “I am tending to think they might be helpful,” especially after recently speaking with the police chief of Burlington City, a municipality that uses surveillance cameras to combat crime.

“I spoke to the police chief in Burlington City a couple days ago and they have 30 plus cameras over there,” Paul Detrick said. “He spoke very highly of them. Just like a cellphone, the quality of cameras is going up, and the costs of such devices are going down. He thought they were very helpful in solving shootings and crimes over there. So, I am leaning favorably toward them now, but more discussion is to be had, and of course, we have to find the funding.

So, I have my eyes peeled toward grant monies

for that.”

The mayor, along with officials from the township administration and police department, were to meet with Sunbury Village residents on Feb. 25 (past this newspaper’s deadline time) to unveil and discuss a proposal to change the traffic patterns in the neighborhood to help deter crime.

W hile few details of the plan were revealed ahead of time, both Paul Detrick and Councilwoman Elisabeth McCartney (one of two of Paul Detrick’s running mates last November) did reveal at a recent council meeting that officials will propose to the residents a “one-way in and out” to the neighborhood to prevent any shooting perpetrators from having an easy escape route, and to allow for better See SEATED/ Page 12

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NEW

(Continued from Page 1) followed a motion by Young to table the ordinance, which had died due to a lack of support from other members.

Young, a 27-year Southampton committeeman who served as the municipality’s mayor for a quarter-century up until the start of 2020, said during a public hearing on the ordinance that he believed the township’s residents, rather than the governing body, should be the ones to decide whether to relax the standard through a referendum question on the ballot.

“It has been this way for years and I feel this is how it should be done,” he declared.

A previous attempt by the township committee to change the nitrate dilution standard generated considerable controversy.

And the decision to move forward came amid backlash over a Southampton Township Planning Board vote on Feb. 4 approving an application for a Dollar General in town, with dozens of area residents, upon learning of it through this newspaper, taking to social media to express how one of their chief reasons for living in or moving to Southampton is its relatively modest amount of commercial development.

The hearing on the nitrate dilution ordinance, however, saw only one member of the public attending in-person, with a handful of residents/ stakeholders attending virtually through Zoom, and generated no firm opposition to the measure. The lone resident attending the meeting in-person raised some environmental concerns, but concurred with the need for more ratables, and a local real estate agent praised the move, noting that he observed too many businesses leave town rather than have to contend with the previous standard.

“What we should have done is waited until the COVID thing was over and people can be

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in a room to discuss this,” Young contended.

“There are a lot of people who don’t even know about this.”

Current Mayor Michael Mikulski, however, asserted that he didn’t think the town could “afford to wait” until the pandemic is gone.

“We don’t know when that is going to be,” he said. “We face these difficult decisions often.

We don’t have public referendums on them, and there was no public referendum when (the 2003 standard) was passed.”

Mikulski, during a prepared presentation, also refuted what he described as a common misconception that this “ordinance will contaminate our drinking water,” claiming that most other municipalities in both Burlington county and New Jersey have a nitrate standard of five milligrams per liter.

“There is absolutely zero empirical evidence of any kind, anywhere, that the change in this ordinance will impact the drinking water … and it will certainly not contaminate it,” he maintained.

According to the mayor, the newly adopted standard could save an enterprise building a facility in the commercially zoned areas located along the west side of Route 206, along Route 530, along Route 38 (west toward Lumberton), and off Route 70 near the Red Lion circle, as well as on Eayrestown and Red Lion roads, from having to spend an additional $100,000 on an on-site septic system geared toward removal of the nitrates found in wastewater.

The change in the standard was first proposed last month by Committeeman Bill Raftery, based on a recommendation from the “Re-examination of the Master Plan,” adopted by the Southampton Township Planning Board in 2019, that indicated a “less stringent” New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) nitrate requirement would help address the township’s longstanding development problems and contribute to an overall effort to make it more business-friendly.

When Raftery previously attempted in

June 2019 to exclude commercial properties altogether from the nitrate standard by proposing an ordinance that never made it to a second reading, he was met with considerable opposition from some committee members, including Young, who was mayor at the time.

Young, however, doesn’t appear to be the only one in Southampton who is resistant to measures that could make the township more receptive to commercial enterprise.

The Feb. 4 decision of the planning board to move forward with approval of an application for a Dollar General in town has since been met with a storm of backlash on social media from dozens of area residents who, upon learning of it through this newspaper, have made it clear that they oppose more commercial development and that keeping it at bay is one of the reasons they like living in the township.

“I moved here in 1996 because it is rural,” wrote one man about the project that was approved by the planning board in a 7-0 vote.

“If I wanted closer stores, I would have chosen another community.”

When Philip Magazzo, the planning board chairman, was reached for comment about the backlash, he noted that the meeting in which the plans for Dollar General were approved was properly advertised, and offered both limited personal attendance and unlimited attendance via Zoom.

“No one from the public was in attendance to voice their objections,” he said in an email to this newspaper. “The planning board cannot consider social media comments in their deliberations. I encourage everyone who has concerns about any applications to attend the meeting and provide their input for consideration by the board.”

The old nitrate standard didn’t prevent the developer of the Dollar General from seeking approval of its plans to open the outlet in Southampton, but Mikulski said it made the project more expensive.

The developer, Birmingham, Ala.-based firm

♦ Page 11

Capital Growth Buchalter (CGB), according to Mikulski, was informed of the nitrate standard revision being considered while its plans were in the process of being approved. This led Young to pose the question of whether the firm could now sue for the additional money it had to allocate for including the septic system in those plans prior to the change, to which Township Solicitor George Morris responded that it could not.

When Southampton first adopted its nowformer nitrate standard, it was part of the High-Quality Ground Water (HQGW) Act, otherwise known as Ordinance 2003-2, which was adopted to protect the health of both the people and the environment.

It was adopted after several town hall meetings, special planning board meetings and considerable research, based on state standards and engineering calculations. Discussion of the proposal began a few years prior to it being officially adopted, according to Joseph Springer, a former member of the township environmental commission involved in the crafting of the original township provisions.

These guidelines ensure that the pollution that accompanies development does not exceed the carrying capacity of the land and does not degrade the environment, according to Springer who organized a news release regarding the ordinance at the time of its adoption in 2003.

Nitrates, described as colorless, odorless and tasteless, are toxic at high levels to children under six months of age and harmful to the environment, he added at the time.

“Not surprisingly,” noted a news release from Springer at the time, “developers have challenged the (2003) ordinance in court and have mounted a petition calling for its repeal.

Recently, Judge (John) Sweeney ruled that the town has a right to invoke the ordinance. …

The petition seeks to repeal the ordinance and would leave the town defenseless. The township See NEW/ Page 12

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(Continued from Page 11) is committed to continued protection of its groundwater, however, and is confronting these challenges, as it must.”

The court however, ultimately ruled against the developer in that case, upholding the measure.

But supporters of the new standard at the Feb. 16 meeting said they needed to find ways to incentivize developers to build on vacant commercial land and accumulate new ratables in order for the municipality to incur new expenditures and avoid significant tax hikes in the future.

The old, more stringent standard was considered an obstacle that was causing businesses to look to establish themselves elsewhere.

And supporters pointed to a recent article in the Pine Barrens Tribune in which Springer indicated that there should be no reason to be immediately concerned with the impact of changing the standard from three to five milligrams per liter.

Increasing municipal costs, including salaries and utilities, and hundreds of thousands, and possibly even millions of dollars in new expenses for things like fire trucks, trash trucks and infrastructure projects such as roads and drainage improvements, were among those future municipal expenses mentioned, during a presentation, titled “Nitrate Dilution Misconceptions,” by Mikulski at the Feb. 16 meeting.

The mayor said there are state programs taking properties off the township’s tax rolls, such as the one qualifying 100 percent disabled veterans for exemptions, and another one encouraging that properties be sold to the state for the sake of preservation.

Southampton lost about 10 properties off the tax rolls in 2020 and anticipates losing at least 10 more in 2021, according to Mikulski. In addition, he emphasized that there has been a reduction in Southampton families with school children.

“When costs increase, there are two options and two options only, and if anyone can tell me there is a third, I’m all ears,” Mikulski said. “You either increase revenue or you decrease services. What we are trying to do in Southampton is not decrease any services. We want to keep services exactly as they are and we want to look for ways to increase revenues, so we don’t have to raise taxes.”

The mayor also contended that the fivemilligram limit acts as a “cushion” in New Jersey to allow for the various times of the year when there are nitrate increases from fertilizers that may inch toward the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) threshold of 10 milligrams per liter, which is considered dangerous if reached in drinking water.

“The amount of nitrates that a doctor’s office will be putting into the ground is less than (that found in) many of our lawns when we fertilize in the spring and fertilize in the fall,” Mikulski said. “But yet we are going to charge that doctor’s office an additional $100,000 or so to build in Southampton.”

No one on the committee, he asserted, wants to turn Southampton into “strip malls lining up and down Route 206,” which he called another misconception some residents have.

“But also understand something: that the

WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM township committee does not determine what businesses come into Southampton,” he noted.

“The planning board does that. The township committee establishes ordinances … and as long as a business comes in that is willing to work within those ordinances, it can be built, whether we like it or don’t like it.”

Deputy Mayor Ronald Heston previously voiced opposition to the 2019 proposal that would have “excluded properties in commercial and/or business and industrial zones” from the nitrate standard, and voted against the new ordinance’s introduction last month.

But after having had a chance to read the language in the new ordinance, he voted in favor of it on its second reading.

“When really thinking about how does this impact Southampton Township, and after much soul- searching, I’ve decided that the financial burden of living in Southampton Township should not just be on the homeowner,” he said.

Heston said this ordinance is “necessary in order to encourage” businesses to come to Southampton, “as long as the planning board continues to do its job of looking at the ratables that wish to come in” and make decisions based on what is best for Southampton Township.

The one resident in attendance, Patricia Finlay, agreed during the meeting with the proposition that more ratables are needed, but added that residents should be kept informed of the groundwater nitrates produced by businesses, and that the nitrates should be periodically monitored to determine their impact on nearby communities.

“Where are these nitrates going to go?” she asked, pointing out that there are residents living in areas throughout the township that could be potentially affected. “What about the communities behind Route 206 or beyond Route 38?”

Michael Miller, a longtime resident, and realtor, who joined the meeting over Zoom, agreed with the committee that the town cannot sustain itself with taxes from just residents, and noted having seen Main Street go from being a “vibrant commercial community” to basically being “just a pizza shop.”

The real estate professional, listed on a number of websites as having been involved in the pending sale of 1823 Route 206, the new home of the Dollar General, said Southampton should take advantage of its highways as one of its “great assets” with 35,000 cars driving up and down Routes 38 and 70 per day.

By not having nearby commercial outlets in the township, he said the residents are impacted in another way: by rising gas prices that means they will have to spend more to travel to surrounding towns to buy goods.

“It comes down to this, no one here wants to see the town overrun with commercial development,” he said. “… Nobody anywhere that has a sound mind wants to introduce something that is going to injure them healthwise. The fact is that the state does a very good job and we are well known as one of the most environmentally protective states in this country.”

Township Engineer Frank Morris added during a subsequent discussion that the township is still being “conservative” when it comes to nitrate dilution, whether it goes with five milligrams per liter or three milligrams per liter.

“Many other municipalities don’t even have a nitrate dilution target compound,” Morris pointed out. “Southampton is (going) above and beyond.”

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SEATED

(Continued from Page 10) monitoring of the traffic flowing in and out of the community.

“I think trying the traffic thing first is a wise decision because it is less intrusive in peoples’ lives and you don’t have big brother watching you,” Paul Detrick maintained. “Some people don’t like cameras watching them 24/7. But nonetheless, we certainly are aware there have been shootings and we are looking at what we can do.”

Business Administrator Daniel Hornickel, in response to renewed pleas for cameras in Sunbury Village, during a January council meeting, pointed out that the cost of a single camera “with the type of lens and hardware we would need” that is powerful enough to read license plates costs about $10,000. He said that cost does not include the service contract to have a wireless transmission of the feed to the municipal servers, nor does it include any measures to make such devices durable to “withstand potential abuse,” such as the throwing of stones at them.

Donovan Gardner, a council colleague of Detrick, who was his other running mate last November, recently maintained his long-held position that it would be better for residents of the neighborhood to purchase their own cameras and put them on their houses, contending it would provide for better coverage if each house has their own system.

He further contended a camera program, if enacted by the town, would not be cheap, and was concerned residents from other neighborhoods would want them too.

“The traffic control measures we would like to try first before looking at funding for cameras,” Hornickel said. “We think traffic control measures would be a better solution to addressing crime. Even if we spent $10,000 on one camera, where are you going to put it?

One camera won’t capture criminal activity in that neighborhood.”

McCa r t ney recently st ated that she is “suppor t ive of t he t r af fic pat ter ns being discussed,” and that she thinks the ad minist ration “has taken a proactive approach” in determining what are the best safety measures to implement in Sunbury Village.

Paul Detrick, in the Feb. 23 interview with this newspaper, was optimistic that council will be able to bring about a resolution to another longstanding township issue, development of several dilapidated Browns Mills properties, including the Browns Mills Shopping Center – though he called “soon” an interesting word when asked if he thought the long-planned redevelopment of the business district would come to a head soon.

“I don’t know what the exact timing will be, but we are doing it step-by-step,” Paul Detrick said. “You don’t want to just have anybody and anything in there just

to have something go in there. You want to have something go in that you are proud of years f rom now. We are talking to potential developers, seeing what interest there is, but of course, with COVID, it is hard to get anything going right now. The economy is bad, but we are shaking the trees, talking with developers and seeing what we can get going.”

The new councilman revealed to this newspaper that there are a couple of new housing developers showing interest in the Browns Mills area, potentially considering building housing developments.

Paul Detrick, who did a lot of personal bankruptcy, municipal court, planning and zoning, wills and estates work during his nearly four-decade long legal career, told this newspaper he has a “reputation of being straight forward and honest” and hopes to maintain that through his service on council.

The New Lisbon section resident, who grew up in Pemberton and is a Pemberton Township High School graduate, remains active with the Whitesbog Preservation Trust, serving as its treasurer, and in the summertime, he, and his wife of more than 40 years, Roni, run a pick-your-own blueberry operation.

Paul Detrick, who “was brought back home” after finishing law school and landing his first professional career job as an attorney for a divorce practice, has two children, a daughter who is a psychologist near Boston, and a son who is also an attorney and handles data privacy affairs for a bank based in Northern New Jersey. Currently, when Paul Detrick is not serving his community, he is a caretaker for his parents, who he noted are both still alive and in “their high 90s.”

McCartney, Gardner and Paul Detrick were sworn in during the first days of January in private ceremonies due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During council’s reorganization meeting, held via telephone, Patriarca said he hopes to bring a park improvement plan to council (tentatively scheduled for March 17), erect a new addition to the police department that will provide township officers with locker rooms (which he noted was “well-deserved”), and launch or continue various water and sewer projects this year – including extending waterlines into Rocco Village.

T he mayor also an nou nced that the Department of Public Works has recently formed a tree crew that will be dedicated to performing tree trimming and removal along township rights-of-ways, along with other related projects such as chipping. The crew will also be tasked with clearing underbrush nea r la keshores to, i n pa r t, mai nt ai n “tremendous views.” The formation of the crew was considered necessary due a number of reports of dangerously-leaning trees in the township.

The mayor also said he hopes to continue “our aggressive road program as we have See SEATED/ Page 13

Saturday, February 27, 2021

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(Continued from Page 12) in the past” and “address faulty stormwater systems in the township.”

“These are projects that we hear (need to be done) from our residents, and we are responding to residents on these issues,” the mayor said.

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FILLS

(Continued from Page 5) as a councilman until May 11, which is when a special municipal election is expected to be held so that voters can select the individual they would like to finish out the final year of Hanold’s council term.

The motion to name O’Neill as the newest council member was made by Councilman Dr. Gary Miller, who was later named deputy mayor until June 30, 2022.

“I am aware of many of Dennis O’Neill’s contributions to Medford Lakes,” Miller said in a statement to this newspaper. “He has proven himself as someone who loves this borough and is willing to donate his time and energies to important events and projects.

Additionally, he has demonstrated strong leadership in his being the past president of the Colony where he distinguished himself nobly.

I have every confidence that he will make a

SUSPECTS (Continued from Page 5)

Task Force received nearly 2,400 such tips for the five-month period ending December 31, 2020, and that in the last six months, the BCPO High-Tech Crimes Unit has received 74.

Among those arrested from August 2020 through January 2021 were: • Frank Gibson, 72, of Foxchase Road in Tabernacle, who was charged in September with third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, as well as possessing child sexual abuse material, including images of infants and toddlers; • Douglas Harper, 53, of Guilford Court,

LEARNING (Continued from Page 4)

running schools in the era of COVID-19 and not having worries that were prevalent at the onset of the pandemic such as those related to the students’ compliance with the new rules, according to Birnbohm.

In addition, more teachers qualified to return to in-person work as the criteria for determining an individual at “high risk” had changed, she said, and employees have been able to take advantage of the vaccine roll-out.

These changes to in-person learning, however, come at a time when the district is still not completely immune to COVID-19.

Individuals at the district’s four high schools

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wonderful councilman.”

However, the legality of the manner in which O’Neill was appointed to council, and Miller was promoted to deputy mayor, was questioned by former councilman Joseph Aromando, who has often tried to regain a seat on council and now is a regular participant at meetings.

Because of the fact that the opening wasn’t purportedly formally advertised to the public, and O’Neill’s name reportedly “showed up out of the blue” without any discussion between council members, he argued a decision appeared to have already been made prior to council convening that evening, when O’Neill was in attendance to receive the oath of office.

In addition, there were three other council members who could have been appointed deputy mayor, Aromando noted, but “somehow, magically, everybody agreed outside of an open public meeting to make Gary Miller the deputy mayor.”

“I don’t think anybody here understands what the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA)

means,” he contended. “This work is not done behind the scenes. This work is done in plain view of the residents.”

Cou ncil members indicated O’Neill and another individual had expressed an interest in the open council seat before the meeting.

Borough Solicitor Doug Heinold denied any violation of the law, inasmuch as there is no formal “public process” stipulated as to how council should fill such a vacancy, and added that conversations are allowed to take place outside of public sessions as long as they do not include more than two members.

What occurred here is “common practice,” he maintained.

“I just want to make it clear that we complied with the Open Public Meetings Act,” Heinold said. “We’ve been through this previously. I have been through this many times with other municipalities, and I’ve never seen it done any other way, quite frankly.”

In an interview after the meeting, O’Neill said he would like to help the council continue

the “great work” it has been doing to preserve the lifestyle of Medford Lakes, which he described as “a unique niche community,” unlike most others.

“If we lose the way this place functions, then we are never going to get it back,” he contended.

At t he s a me me et i ng t h at c ou nci l reorganized, Lisa Scafidi also took the oath of office to become Medford Lakes’ new chief financial officer (CFO) for a four-year term, after completing a required exam and a slate of courses. She had been serving in the borough’s Public Works Department as a secretary to the superintendent, and as a fiscal officer in the administrative office.

“To the residents of Medford Lakes, I will do my very best to safeguard you and this great town, and I will always strive to work hard and uphold the laws of New Jersey,” said Scafidi in prepared remarks with many members of her family in attendance. “There is no place in the world like Medford Lakes, and if you’ve ever been here, you know you’ve been somewhere special.”

Marlton, who was charged in October with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child (three of them second degree), and with distribution, possession with the intent to distribute, use of file-sharing software and possession of child sexual abuse material; • Trevor Brown, 34, of Conestoga Drive, Marlton, charged in October with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child (one of them second degree), and with distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material; • David Epps Jr., 34, of Atsion Road, Medford, who was also charged in October with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child (one of them second degree), and with distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material; • Stephen Gifford, 36, of Pine Valley Drive, Medford, charged in November with two firstdegree counts of endangering the welfare of

a child, and distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material, and • Bryan Bereza, 40, of Elizabeth Street, Pemberton Borough, charged in December with nine counts in all of endangering the welfare of a child (two of them first degree and six second degree) and two counts of third-degree invasion of privacy, along with manufacturing, distributing, possession with the intent to distribute and possessing child sexual-abuse material, endangering the welfare of a child by impairing or debauching the morals of a child, and invasion of privacy by secretly recording an underage female while she was nude and then sending the images to other individuals, and second-degree sexual assault.

In addition, a 16-year-old from Medford, was charged in January with third-degree

endangering the welfare of a child and with possessing child sexual abuse material.

The cases are now being prepared for presentation to a grand jury, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Ten defendants were apprehended on similar charges over a two-month period ending in July 2020, with seven having since pleaded guilty in Superior Court.

The probes are being spearheaded by the BCPO High-Tech Crimes Unit, which investigates crimes that involve the use of high-end technology such as computers, cellular telephones and telecommunications e qu ipme nt , w it h a ssist a nce f rom t he Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the New Jersey State Police and United States Homeland Security Investigations – Cherry Hill Office.

have still occasionally tested positive for the vir us, including earlier this month at Shaw nee H ig h School, lea d i ng to all Shawnee students reverting to remote learning for a week, according to the district’s website.

As for what learning looks like inside a high school, at the moment, she reminded those in attendance at the board meeting that students don’t remain in one classroom all day, as happens at an elementary school. They are therefore asked to wipe down their personal areas after each use.

There are now ther mal temperat u re scanning cameras at each entrance to district schools, and everyone is being asked to wear masks at school, Birnbohm said. District nurses, she added, have become “experts” in contact tracing and are being mindful of students’ mental health during the pandemic.

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