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This project was supported, in part by grants from the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL or CMS policy. Department of was Health and Human Grantees projects under government sponsorship to express freely(CMS) their of findings conclusions. This project supported, in partServices. by grants from the U.S.undertaking Administration for Community Living (ACL) and the Centersare for encouraged Medicare & Medicaid Services the U.S.and Department Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL or CMS policy.

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9731 CS_PBT_Full Page.indd 1

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Accommodations are available for deaf and hard of hearing. Accommodations are available for deaf and hard of hearing. Vol. 5 – No. 15 ♦

The News Leader of the Pines

♦

January 9, 2021 – January 15, 2021

‘ONE OF THE BIGGEST WE’VE EVER HAD’ Photo By David Hernandez

Police Probe Yet Another Vehicle Gunfire Incident in Pemberton Township By Douglas D. Melegari

This project was supported, in part by grants from the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department This project was supported, in part by grants from the U.S. Administration for Community (ACL) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of theStaff U.S. Department Writer ALiving three-alarm of Health and Human Services. Grantees undertaking projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or dwelling fire in Shamong. of Health and Human Services. Grantees undertaking projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or PEMBERTON—Another shooting involving opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL or CMS policy. opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL or CMS policy.

9731 CS_PBT_Full Page.indd 1

1/22/20 12:04 PM

Three Alarm Fire Suspected of Starting in Dodge Viper Being Charged Destroys Two-Story Home, Five Cars; Causing $1.2 Million in Damage Three Firefighters Suffer Minor Injuries, Another Hospitalized After Heart Episode By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

SHAMONG—A three-alarm dwelling fire in Shamong Township on Dec. 26 that Indian Mills Volunteer Fire Company Chief John Smith, a 48-year veteran of the agency, said was “probably one of the biggest fires we’ve ever had, and probably the biggest fire we didn’t have a chance to get out (before creating damage),” destroyed the two-story home on Twin Oaks Drive, ravaged five vehicles and displaced a family of seven. Three firefighters sustained minor injuries in the blaze, Smith said, while a fourth, who happens to be his cousin, suffered a heart

episode while helping to coordinate its massive response. The damage, according to the fire chief, has totaled at least $1.2 million. Following the fire, the community came together to raise more than $111,000 through GoFundMe to give to the affected family, with a local daycare also arranging a clothing donation drive for the occupants. “It (the house) was already gone before we got there,” Smith told this newspaper. “If we immediately put it out, it would have been totaled.” In fact, Smith said he called for mutual assistance while on the way to scene, after

observing a massive smoke column in the sky. “The whole house was fully involved in flames on the one end when I got there,” Smith said. “Then a gust of wind came along and the flames went right through the house and came out the second floor, on the opposite side of where the fire started. That gust of wind is when the fire blew right through the house.” “The end result”, the chief said, “wasn’t good”. “The home burned all the way down to the ground,” Smith said. “It was a total, total See BIGGEST/ Page 11

vehicle gunfire has occurred in Pemberton Township – this time on Dec. 15, 2020. The latest such shooting is believed to have played out in the vicinity of Phillips Avenue, located in the Browns Mills section 1/22/20 12:04 PM of Pemberton, according to Lt. Jay Watters, a spokesman for the Pemberton Township Police Department. Currently, there are no known injuries from the incident. Responding officers, Watters said, arrived in the 100 Block of Phillips Avenue around 8:30 p.m. and located “a scene in the street,” which consisted of empty shell casings from a firearm. “Witnesses in the area advised that an unknown subject in a dark colored sedan shot multiple rounds at an unknown white sedan that was in the area,” Watters said. “Both vehicles then departed the area in different directions.” Later in the evening, according to Watters, police located a white Mercedes Benz in the Oak Pines section of Pemberton, “which had a bullet hole located in the trunk area,” and it was determined that the vehicle “had been struck by the gunfire on Phillips Avenue.” The Pemberton Township Police Department is requesting of residents from Phillips Avenue, Garden Avenue and West Lakeshore Drive to provide them with any surveillance video that they may have from Dec. 15 from between 8:15 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. No arrests pertaining to the Dec. 15 shooting have been announced by Pemberton Police, as of press time. It follows a Nov. 3, 2020 incident in which a 27-year-old man was fatally shot around 4 a.m. in the Sunbury Village section of Pemberton, while riding inside a vehicle, in the 100 Block of Kinsley Road, as a front seat passenger. See GUNFIRE/ Page 12

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Saturday, January 9, 2021

TRS Line Officer Named Township Fire Chief In Hopes of Improved Emergency Response Keith Zane Partook in Fire, EMS Activities for 25 Years By Andy Milone Staff Writer

TABERNACLE—A veteran first responder has been appointed the first chief of the newly formed Tabernacle Township Fire Department with an expectation of resolving issues that have reportedly “plagued” local emergencyservice operations in the past. Keith Zane, a longtime member of Tabernacle Fire Company (TFC) #1 and Tabernacle Rescue Squad (TRS), and who had been a member of the Medford Farms Volunteer fire Company (which no longer exists), is the township’s choice to lead the volunteer fire department, simply called “Tabernacle Fire Company,” and his appointment comes with hopes of improvement in its working relationship with the Tabernacle Rescue Squad (TRS). The Tabernacle Township Committee approved the appointment, which took effect immediately, in a 4-0 vote at its Dec. 14 virtual meeting, although Deputy Mayor Joseph Barton, who has expressed disagreement with the process by which the township has moved toward enacting its centralized fire department, was not in attendance. The expectation is that a department roster, including the official naming of the line officers, will be finalized sometime around the end of January. The township committee decided in late October that TFC #1 will no longer provide firefighting and rescue services to the township, as of Jan. 31, which is when its $90,000 contract with the municipality officially ends. Zane, a Tabernacle resident, said he plans to step down from his current role as assistant chief of TRS. The new deputy fire chief, approved by the township committee, on Jan. 4,

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ZANE will be John Gajderowicz, a Tabernacle resident who is a volunteer in the TRS and a captain with the Joint Base McGuire Dix Lakehurst Fire Department, and who was one other finalist for the chief’s job before reportedly asking to be removed from consideration for the top role and to be considered for a supporting one instead. Zane first became involved in Tabernacle fire and EMS activities nearly 25 years ago and has held a wide array of roles in both areas. His experience in emergency services dates back to his adolescence in the 1980s. The new fire chief, also a professional investigator in the Burlington County Medical Examiner Office, will earn a $10,000 annual stipend in his new role, beginning this year, also approved by the committee in a 4-0 vote. See CHIEF/ Page 12

s Present

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. This newspaper is protected under the Federal Copyright Act. Reproduction of any part is not permitted by mechanical or electronic means without the expressed written permission of the Publisher. The Publisher reserves the right to revise or reject any advertisement. No liability shall be attached to the Publisher for interruption of publication or limitation of size/and or pages due to shortage of material, failure of transportation, flood, fire, severe weather, winter weather, riots, strikes, pandemics, acts of God, or other causes beyond his or her control. It is our policy to promptly correct errors. If you believe that you see a mistake, please call 609-801-2392. © 2021 Pine Barrens Media

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Veteran Woodland Township OEM Coordinator Resigns, Deputy Coordinator Made Acting Coordinator for Now Officials Maintain Support for Cell Tower Project That Outgoing Coordinator Helped to Organize By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

WOODLAND—Shawn Viscardi, fire chief and EMS chief of the Woodland Volunteer Fire and EMS Company, has resigned as the emergency management coordinator for Woodland Township. Viscardi’s resignation from the municipal emergency manager post (he is still the fire and EMS chief) became effective Jan. 1, and was announced by Mayor William “Billy” DeGroff during a Dec. 16 Woodland Township Committee teleconferencing meeting. “I would like to thank Shawn for the tremendous job he has done for this town,” DeGroff said. “I think he has been a tremendous benefit, and I would hate to see him leave this position, but I understand.” DeGroff contended that Viscardi was resigning from the municipal emergency management (OEM) post for “personal reasons,” related to his day job. Shor tly af ter an nou ncing Viscardi’s resignation, the Woodland committee entered into an executive session, in part, to discuss the future of the local OEM post. Upon returning from that session, DeGroff announced that Mike Huber, who has served as deputy municipal emergency management coordinator for the last two years under Viscardi, would be appointed as the township’s acting OEM coordinator. “Mr. Huber, who has been our deputy, will be assuming the position of OEM coordinator,” DeGroff said. “We will also be posting for a deputy OEM coordinator. Once we decide that,

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PEMBERTON BOROUGH—A deteriorating duplex on Hanover Street in Pemberton Borough, deemed a public safety hazard by the municipality’s construction official, is one step closer to being demolished after being turned over to the municipality in exchange for the forgiveness of more than $10,000 in taxes and other debt owed to the borough by its owner. The borough council, in a Dec. 28 virtual meeting, accepted ownership of the unoccupied building as a “gift” without any objections. The deal was labeled as the most expeditious and cost-effective way of eliminating what has

Photo By Andy Milone

been declared to be a nuisance at 54 and 56 Hanover Street; however, as Solicitor David Serlin noted, it still comes with the reality that “unfortunately, the ‘gifter’ is getting a gift in return,” referring to 2020 taxes totaling $7,320, as well as $2,987 in electric and water/sewer charges that will be canceled. An ordinance and resolution needed to enact such a transaction were adopted in separate 5-0 votes at the meeting, in which Councilman Cliff Rutherford did not take part. “This is the quickest way to get the result that everybody thought was best in terms of removing the building,” said Serlin, who See DUPLEX/ Page 14

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Southampton OEM Coordinator Retires from Position After Establishing Operations Center Following Flood By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—William “Bill” Casian, who was chosen in 2019 to be Southampton Township’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) Coordinator after previously serving as a bioterrorism planner in Florida, has resigned from his emergency manager post “to retire 100 percent.” “It is time to go,” Casian told this newspaper in a Dec. 28 interview. “It has been a couple years that I have been in this position, and things are now getting a little tough for my age. I am almost 80 years old, and have been doing OEM for almost 20 years, and it is time to sit back, retire and enjoy myself. It is time for a change.” Casian’s resignation, which took effect Jan. 1, was announced by Southampton Township Mayor Michael Mikulski during a Dec. 15 Southampton Township Committee meeting. “He has indicated he is happy to help in the transition as we look for someone to fill his shoes,” said Mikulski as the committee accepted Casian’s resignation with regret. “We would like to thank Bill, publicly, as he put a lot of hours in, particularly between February and June as the (Coronavirus) pandemic ramped up, to make sure that he gathered lots of PPE that we were able to provide to the fire companies and emergency squad.” Casian was just four months into his Southampton OEM position when a major flood struck Southampton Township in June 2019, and the response, officials later admitted following backlash, was wrought with communication issues. New Jersey municipalities have long been required to each have an Office of Emergency Management to coordinate local operations

in cases of emergencies and disasters, but Southampton did not have a physical office for emergency management, according to a previous interview with Casian, when he took the job. “I worked on getting an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) together, and got it updated, ready and approved by the state, which worked out very well,” said Casian to this newspaper on Dec. 28. “I also started working on developing an Emergency Operations Center (EOC). We man that now, and our EOC has been open at a lower level since COVID started in case somebody needed information or assistance.” The EOC, he said, has been established in the Southampton OEM office, which he said has been established in the Southampton Township Municipal Building. “Myself, and my deputy, Mike Mazzacco, both have had a couple of desks back there, emergency radios, and we also carry emergency telephones. I have always taken the call, anytime, anywhere. But nothing has appeared serious enough to run there (to the EOC), but it is always available at all times.” Mazzacco, he said, has “handled a lot of muscle work,” including picking up personal protective equipment (PPE) and distributing it to township first responders. “We developed a small stash of it in township building, and the office continues to support first responders,” he said. “We have gloves, Tyvek suits and all the other things needed to handle a COVID situation.” Casian noted that he did not know what Mazzacco’s future plans are, but noted that “it is a great opportunity, a lot of fun, but that

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—Officers and detectives f rom t he Pember ton Tow nsh ip Police Department converged on the Pemberton Bypass one day last month, after receiving i n for mat ion t hat “several subject s i n possession of firearms for unlawful purposes” were in the area, the Pine Barrens Tribune has learned. Two people were taken into custody. The situation occurred amid a surge in gun violence in the general vicinity, which began last summer, with vehicles or individuals being fired at. Some of the shootings have played out on area roadways, with vehicle-tovehicle gunfire (see separate story). Authorities, according to Lt. Jay Watters, a spokesman for the Pemberton Township Police Department, received information on Dec. 10 that “several subjects were in possession of firearms for unlawful purposes,” and located the subjects “occupying several different vehicles” in the area of the Pemberton Bypass around 4:34 p.m. Multiple investigative motor vehicle stops, he said, were then conducted in the area pertaining to the investigation. “During one of the stops, Kyree Weathers and Jadae Hodge were found to be in possession of an unlawfully possessed handgun, which was in the vehicle they occupied,” Watters told this newspaper. “Weathers was the operator, and Hodge was the only other occupant of the

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Loaded Firearm with Hollow Point Ammunition Recovered After Police Receive Information About Several Individuals in Area of Bypass Having ‘Firearms for Unlawful Purposes’ vehicle at the time of the stop. The handgun was also found to be loaded with hollow point ammunition.” Weathers, 23, and Hodge, 22, both from the Browns Mills section of Pemberton, were charged with unlawful possession of a handgun, possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of hollow point ammunition, and “certain person(s) not to possess firearms.” It is unclear, as of press time, whether any other summons or arrests were made as a result of the motor vehicle stops, or if police believe others might have been unlawfully carrying firearms in the area, but eluded them. Following word of the Dec. 10 incident and arrests, Watters told this newspaper that Pemberton Police are “committed to proactively targeting areas that have seen gun violence recently” as well as “targeting subjects that are directly responsible for the violence.” T h e P e m b e r t o n To w n s h i p Po l i c e Department, he added, is working with the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office Gang, Gun & Narcotics Task Force as well as the FBI Greater Trenton Safe Streets Task Force “to reduce the violence in our area.” Anyone with information about this incident or other crimes occurring in Pemberton Township is asked to contact the Pemberton Township Police Depar tment Detective Division at 609-894-3310, or its Confidential Tip-Line at 609-894-3352.

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Deputy Clerk Leaves Southampton for Town of Bernards, Said to Have Left to ‘Further Career,’ Gave Verbal Notice By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—Christine “Christy” Andres, the deputy clerk to Southampton Township Administrator and Clerk Kathleen D. Hoffman for about the last two years, has resigned. Andres, the Pine Barrens Tribune has learned, was hired on Dec. 15 by the Township of Bernards, in Somerset County, to serve as its deputy township clerk. “Christy was with us for a while and has been offered a position with another township to further her career, and we thank her service,” said Southampton Mayor Michael Mikulski during a Dec. 15 Southampton Township Committee meeting. “We wish her well for her other future endeavors.” Andres, according to public records, was paid an annual salary of $43,000 in Southampton, plus stipends for other positions she held, including serving as Southampton’s wellness coordinator. Bernards hired Andres at an hourly rate of

$24 for a 40-hour work week, where she can potentially earn $49,920 annually in her new post. In response to an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request seeking any resignation letter Andres submitted to Southampton, Hoffman replied, “no such document” existed. “It was verbal,” Hoffman said. The decision of Andres to leave Southampton came two months after Hoffman resigned from her secondary longtime post as the township clerk of Washington Township. Hoffman, in a resignation letter, said she left Washington for “personal reasons.” Hoffman, in Southampton, is paid an annual salary of $82,732 for her administrator role, and another $27,578 for her clerk role. A replacement for Andres has not yet been announced. A Southampton Township job posting indicates that Hoffman will consider applicants with at least 3 years’ experience in a municipal clerk’s office, and who possess an associate degree.

Browns Mills Man is Killed After Colliding with Tree, Causing Part of It to Fall on Top of Buick Rendezvous By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—A 31-year-old man from the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township was killed on Dec. 26 after purportedly losing control of his vehicle on Lakehurst Road and striking a tree, causing part of it to fall down on top of the vehicle. The fatal collision occurred around 8:31 p.m. on Lakehurst Road, near Ridgeview Avenue, according to Pemberton Township Police Spokesman Lt. Jay Watters. “A preliminary investigation revealed that a 2004 Buick Rendezvous, which was being operated by Donte Boyer II, was traveling westbound on Lakehurst Road when it lost

control,” Watters told this newspaper. “The vehicle that Donte was operating left the roadway, and struck a tree in the area of 420 Lakehurst Road, and a portion of the tree that the vehicle struck fell onto the top of the car.” Boyer, said to be the sole occupant of the vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, according to the lieutenant. “It is believed that Donte was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash,” Watters added. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Pemberton Township Police Department Traffic Safety Unit at 609723-8300, its Detective Bureau at 609-894-3310 or its Confidential Tip-Line at 609-894-3352.

Police Recover 9mm Handgun from Sunbury Village While Executing Warrant for Narcotics Investigation Five Pemberton Residents Face Various Drug Charges, One Man Charged with Multiple Weapons Offenses By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—Authorities have recovered an allegedly “unlawfully possessed” 9mm handgun from inside a home in the Sunbury Village section of Pemberton Township after several law enforcement agencies executed a search warrant on Dec. 22 pertaining to a narcotics investigation. A total of five Pemberton residents were charged with various offenses as a result of the search. Officers from the Pemberton Township Police Department, with the assistance of the New Jersey State Police and the FBI Greater Trenton Safe Streets Task Force, executed a search warrant at a residence in the 100 block of Kinsley Road around 5:30 a.m., according to Lt. Jay Watters, a spokesman for the Pemberton Township Police Department. “During the search of the residence, a quantity of suspected controlled dangerous substances was recovered,” Watters said. “Further, a 9mm handgun was recovered from inside of the residence and determined to be unlawfully possessed by Delaquan BartlettSutton.” Bartlett-Sutton was charged with unlawful possession of a handgun, certain person(s) not to possess firearms, possession of a firearm without a serial number, possession with the intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, possession of a controlled

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dangerous substance, possession of a handgun during a controlled dangerous substance offense and possession of ammunition without possessing a valid firearms identification card. Bartlett-Sutton, 25, was lodged in the Burlington County Jail pending a future court date. Also charged was Kareem Crawley, 27, Emmanuel Paramore, 45, Ronald Kay III, 29, and Sherlonda Sutton, 47. Crawley was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and contempt of court (due to purportedly having outstanding warrants). Crawley was released on a summons pending future court dates. Paramore was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and released on a summons pending a future court date. Kay was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and contempt of court (due to purportedly having outstanding warrants). He was lodged in the Burlington County Jail pending a future court date. Sutton was charged with the intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance and possession of a controlled dangerous substance, and released on a summons pending a future court date. The 100 block of Kinsley Road has been the scene of gun violence since June of last year, and was also the scene of gun violence in 2016 and 2017.

17-Year-Old Juvenile Charged in December Smash-and-Grab of Country Farms in Browns Mills, Arrested for Second Time After Police Learn He Was Co-Conspirator in 7-11 Robbery By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

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PEMBERTON—A 17-year-old male juvenile has been taken into custody after allegedly burglarizing a Country Farms store, located in the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township, last month during the overnight hours. That same juvenile has now been determined to have been involved in an armed robbery of a 7-11 convenience store, also located in Browns Mills, back in May 2020, purportedly conspiring with another 17-year-old male juvenile to commit the robbery. The Country Farms store, at 59 PembertonBrowns Mills Road, according to Pemberton Township Police Spokesman Lt. Jay Watters, was bu rglar ized arou nd 1:03 a.m. on

Dec. 3, 2020. “The investigation disclosed that a subject threw an object through the front door, entered the store and removed approximately $250 worth of merchandise,” Watters told this newspaper. “The subject caused approximately $750 in damage to the store as well.” A burglary suspect was quickly identified, he said, after investigators reviewed video surveillance from the store. He added that officers also recovered “physical evidence” from the area. Later that day, based on what had been gathered from the investigation, Pemberton Police executed a search warrant at a residence on Peony Street in Browns Mills. See ROBBERY/ Page 15

Saturday, January 9, 2021

$1.9 Million Capital Budget Approved for Evesham That Includes Funding to Repair Closed Sports Field

Photo By Andy Milone

Evesham Township’s M1 multi-purpose athletic turf field, which has been closed since the fall after failing impact testing.

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

EVESHAM—In one of its last major actions before Evesham Township Council became absolute Democratic-controlled on Jan. 4, the 2020 governing body that had two Republicans and three Democrats serving on it, approved a $1.9 million bond ordinance, or capital budget, which will allow the municipality to make improvements and purchase equipment now, and spread the costs out over their useful lifetimes. A major component of the 2020 capital budget, approved on second reading by a 5-0 council vote, is the allocation of $845,240 in funding, in part, to replace Evesham Township’s

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M1 Turf Field at the Memorial Sports Complex on Tuckerton Road (part of that allocated funding figure will go toward municipal building and other park improvements as well). The M1 turf field, which according to Walt Miller, president of the Marlton Recreation Council, serves some 5,000 athletes each year and is the site of over 500 events annually, has been closed since early fall, until further notice. Bob Hennefer, PGA, head of Evesham’s Golf, Recreation & Open Space Department, explained during an October 2020 council meeting that the closure was the result of M1 “failing in multiple locations” g-max, or impact See FIELD/ Page 17

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Pines Not Spared Post-Holiday Surge in COVID Cases, County and Other Entities Begin Vaccination Rollout

Photo Provided

John Orcutt, of the Evesham Fire-Rescue Squad, receives his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 28 at the Burlington County Emergency Services Training Center in Westampton Township.

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

MEDFORD—Despite the unveiling of a vaccination program in New Jersey for the Coronavirus, with the vaccine distribution currently in its first phase and the drug currently being administered in nursing homes, developmental centers and to first responders, the area has not been spared a post-holiday surge in COVID-19 cases. Several municipalities in the Pine Barrens are now reporting all-time high daily or weekly COVID-19 case counts, according to the latest statistics released by the Burlington County Health Department.

That includes Medford Township, where officials on Dec. 30 closed the municipality’s administrative, Fire/EMS and Neighborhood Services offices to the public until further notice, “in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID.” Over the course of just the first three days of the new year, 34 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Medford. In recent months, Medford would have a handful, if any, new reported positive cases of the virus. Serving as an indicator that the potentially fatal respiratory virus was spreading in the

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Resident Again Stopped from Speaking at Public Meeting, But Ultimately Given Special Time to Ask About Legal Bills Special Counsel, Making Special Appearance, Defends Legal Billing for Handling GRC Complaints and Tort Claim Filed by the Resident, Later Selected as Town Solicitor Again After Leaving 10 Months Ago and Talks Officials in to Dropping Controversial ‘Roll Call of Public,’ Assures Moving Forward Meetings Will Be Conducted Professionally By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

WO ODL A N D — Ja ne D onog hue, a n outspoken Woodland Township resident who recently filed costly complaints against the municipality with the state’s Government Records Council (GRC) over purportedly not being given access to time sheets for Township Clerk Maryalice Brown, among other things, when requested through an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request, was again stopped from speaking all of her piece during a township committee meeting – this time on Dec. 16, 2020 by Mayor William “Billy” DeGroff, just a month after being cut off from speaking by Township Clerk Maryalice Brown, who asked the resident, when doing so, “When I was taking roll call of the public, did you announce your name?”, and by the mayor, when she voiced concerns about the way in which she was being spoken to by Brown.

The latest Dec. 16 incident involving DeGroff came just mere minutes after Robert N. Wright, Jr., Esq., read a letter into the record from Evan Crook, serving in the capacity of municipal solicitor at the time, contending that no individuals, who did not announce themselves at the start of any committee meeting, were “ever denied an opportunity to speak during a public meeting,” adding it is “disconcerting that a Tribune article raises implications of the process being followed by the committee is not appropriate.” Donoghue, at several recent meetings of the governing body, has questioned legal bills that were submitted to the municipality for the handling of matters involving the GRC complaints. The submitter of the legal bills, William Burns, Esq., made an appearance at the end of the Dec. 16 meeting to defend See SPEAKING/ Page 15

A.C. Man Charged in 2019 Fentanyl Overdose in Evesham, Victim’s Toxicity Level ‘Five Times’ What Is Needed to Die By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

EVESHAM—A man from Atlantic City was charged on Dec. 15 with causing the death of a 37-year-old woman who fatally overdosed in Evesham Township last year on fentanyl-laced heroin he sold to her the day before she died. Kahlil Carpenter, 30, of the 1800 block of Marmora Avenue, in Atlantic City, was charged with first-degree strict liability for drug-induced death, third-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance and thirddegree distribution of a controlled dangerous substance. Carpenter was served with the warrant on the morning of Dec. 15 at the Burlington County Jail, in Mount Holly, where he is lodged on an unrelated narcotics charge, according to Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Evesham Township Police Chief Christopher Chew. He will be scheduled for a detention hearing in Superior Court. According to the law enforcement officials, an investigation was initiated on Dec. 14, 2019, after Evesham Township police officers were dispatched to Inverness Circle for a report of an “unconscious and unresponsive female.”

Saturday, January 9, 2021

Tuckerton Resident Sought in Shooting of 55-Year-Old Man at LEHT Business LITTLE EGG HARBOR—A Tuckerton resident was the subject of a widespread search by local, state and federal authorities in connection with the shooting of a Little Egg Harbor Township man at a local business on the evening of Jan. 5. The suspect, identified in a press release from Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer as Donald Rutter, 51, was charged with attempted murder and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, after allegedly shooting Thomas Jarvis, 55, in the midriff at Jarvis Marine, located at 234 Radio Road in Little Egg Harbor Township. Jarvis was subsequently transported to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, in Atlantic City, where he was reported to be in stable condition as of the evening of Jan. 6. According to the press release, Rutter was identified as the alleged shooter in an investigation conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit. He was still reported at large as of this newspaper’s press time following an extensive search by the Major Crime Unit. The High-Tech Crime Unit and Regional SWAT Team of the Prosecutor’s Office, the Little Egg Harbor Township and Tuckerton Police departments, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office, New Jersey State Police and New Jersey State Park Police, and the United States Marshals Service are said to

RUTTER be assisting with the investigation. Bryan Huntenburg, a spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, when contacted by the Pine Barrens Tribune, declined to discuss a possible motive for the shooting, but said there had been no further developments in the case as of this newspaper’s Jan. 6 evening deadline. Billhimer, in the press release, described Rutter as “currently a fugitive from justice” and urged anyone with information concerning his whereabouts to contact Detective Denis Mitchell, of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, at 732-929-2027.

Clerk Says ‘Computer Issues’ to Blame for Approved Minutes Not Having Vote to Amend Agreement, Body Acts to Revise Clarifies That Tabernacle Will Not Have to Pay Woodland for Courtroom Use ‘As Long as Court is Not Being Held’ By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

CARPENTER The officers purportedly entered the home and found the decedent, Holly Morris, in her bed. An autopsy performed by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood determined Morris died from fentanyl toxicity, with “levels in her system five times greater than the amount necessary to cause death,” the officials said. “The investigation determined that Morris had met Carpenter in Lumberton Township on Dec. 13 to purchase the drugs,” the officials added.

WOODLAND—Meeting minutes for a special Nov. 16, 2020 Woodland Township Committee meeting have been amended following a Pine Barrens Tribune report that previously approved minutes for the session contained no mention of a governing body vote pertaining to a court agreement between Tabernacle and Woodland townships – a vote that was held despite it not being listed on the posted agenda, and later learned about by this newspaper listening back to a recording of the session, as no public was in attendance. The 2-0 committee vote on Nov. 16 apparently amended an agreement between the two townships, originally entered into on April 25, 2018, that had called for Tabernacle Township Municipal Court Services to pay Woodland about $14,400 annually for its use of the Woodland Township Municipal Building for court sessions given access issues at Tabernacle Town Hall. As

part of the original deal, Tabernacle Municipal Court hears cases that involve violations of the law committed in Woodland. “The committee did make the motion to allow Tabernacle, as long as they are not using the room (due to COVID-19), to not be required to pay rent,” said Brown of the amended court agreement, after the Woodland committee amended the meeting minutes for its Nov. 16 session during a Dec. 16, 2020, meeting. “I put that in the special meeting minutes, but if you recall, last month, I had computer issues. The agenda (for Nov. 24) didn’t even get put up on the website and everything. I didn’t even realize that portions of the minutes (for Nov. 16) didn’t get saved. I don’t do all my minutes at one time. I do them in pieces, as I put things together. So, everything that I had done, on a particular day, didn’t get saved.” “The motion that was made, that should have See CLERK/ Page 9

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CLERK

(Continued from Page 8) been in the special meeting minutes, but didn’t get saved to the file. I didn’t realize it, printed the minutes out, and put them up on the agenda, not realizing that the motion was missing from the minutes. That is why the minutes are being revised for approval tonight, because the motion was not in the minutes when they (the committee) approved them last month.” A governing body customarily approves its meeting minutes to make sure that they accurately reflect the decisions that were made, and topics of conversation held. Draft minutes are supposed to be sent to the members for them to read before a meeting, and then members can come to the meeting prepared with any corrections. Brown did not address during the Dec. 16 committee meeting why the Woodland committee had still approved the minutes on Nov. 24, 2020, without a mention of the vote. However, Williams Burns, appointed Jan. 5 as the municipal solicitor after leaving the post ten months ago, declared in a Jan. 6 interview with this newspaper that, “I can assure you that from my experience with the committee, they all review the draft minutes individually, discuss them and all take their jobs very seriously.” He added Brown takes her job seriously, too. “Having said that, it is often times hard to prove a negative, meaning it is easier to detect an irregularity in the minutes than Maryalice recording something or summarized something incorrectly, as opposed to leaving something out,” Burns contended. “… We will work together, moving forward, to ensure that the minutes continue to reflect the business that was transacted at committee meetings, and I am sure the committee members, individually, will continue to do their due diligence that the draft minutes accurately reflect the past meeting.”

The latest Nov. 16 special meeting minutes, posted to the township website on Dec. 17, following the Dec. 16 regular Woodland committee meeting in which the amended version was approved, now reflect that, “It was moved by Mayor DeGroff, 2nd by Committeeman Daniels to authorize the Clerk to inform Tabernacle that as long as court is not being held, and there are no expenses being incurred by Woodland Township, Tabernacle does not have to pay the rental fee and the agreement will stay in place. Vote: DeGroffYes, Herndon-absent, Daniels-Yes.” It was just a few months ago that a resident contended that she had been misquoted in the township’s past meeting minutes, and was therefore concerned about a recently implemented policy to no longer post the Woodland committee’s draft minutes ahead of its scheduled meetings. Posting the draft minutes before a meeting, she said, had allowed the public to review the minutes and bring needed corrections to the floor before they are approved. “Draft minutes are in fact drafts,” Burns contended in the Jan. 6 interview with this newspaper. “… They are generally not finalized until after formal action is taken at a committee meeting. I think it is difficult to provide draft minutes to the public beforehand to review because there might be suggested changes or comments by the committee, or they need to be discussed, and it is hard when Woodland has a three-member committee for individual committee people to talk about the minutes prior to an outside meeting because of the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA).” On Sept. 23, 2020, the Woodland committee approved meeting minutes for a Feb. 5, 2020 meeting that had apparently been held – despite a search of a public meeting notice database maintained by the New Jersey Press Association coming up short in locating the required legal notice advertisement for the meeting. In response to a resident asking on Sept. 23 what took so long for the governing body to

approve the Feb. 5 minutes, Brown replied, “To be quite honest, in my 27 years, it is the first time I forgot to do the minutes and put the minutes forward for approval.” Brown contended that the Feb. 5, 2020 meeting “was a very simple meeting,” in which officials acclimated a committeeman to the township’s Department of Public Works (DPW), along with its supervisor and foreman, and that procedures were outlined for the DPW to follow. But the Feb. 5 minutes provided to this newspaper through the township clerk also discussed a second executive session held that day with Chatsworth School personnel, including the municipality potentially cutting the grass at the school’s sports field so that the Woodland Township School District would not have to pay a landscaper, dried grass and sprinkler timing issues, a request for the municipality to repair the school’s sidewalk, basketball court, and tennis court, tree trimming, recreation field lighting and how the municipality should handle anonymous complaints about the school, with the conclusion that any anonymous complaints would not be addressed by the township. DeGroff, according to the minutes provided by Brown, also asked “what is going on with” the Woodland Township Recreation Association (WTRA) [a separate entity from the township], and it was agreed that Brown would write a letter requesting information on its “banking activity” and “any surplus.” “Moving forward, Maryalice and I will work together, as I will work with Maryalice and the mayor, and all the other committee people individually, to ensure the minutes are thoroughly reviewed, as they have always done, and will continue to do,” said Burns in the Jan. 6 interview as he was pressed about the number of recent meeting minute issues, adding he wasn’t aware of other problems with the minutes besides the Nov. 16 incident and that 2020 was an interesting year. “And the committee, and the clerk, want to ensure all minutes approved by the committee are accurate, and they want to

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be open and transparent about it, which is why when there was an omission, they went back and corrected it.” Residents had already been concerned about transparency at the Woodland Township Municipal Building following the events of September, in part, pertaining to the release of the Feb. 5 minutes. No members of the public attended the Nov. 16 Woodland special committee meeting believing that the topic of conversation would be limited to approval of a grant application for COVID-19, since that was the only action item listed on the agenda for that session. Members of the public, however, did attend the Nov. 24, 2020 regular Woodland committee meeting, when the erroneous special meeting minutes were approved, but officials made no mention of the revised court agreement. The court agreement, when it was approved in 2018, was controversial as some residents of the community believed Woodland should charge Tabernacle a lot more money for its use of the municipal building. Deputy Mayor Mark Herndon, who defeated a primary opponent that raised the issue, vanished from the Nov. 16 meeting just prior to the roll call vote being taken on the amended court agreement. “Why wouldn’t it (the revised agreement) have been presented during the (Nov. 24) regular meeting – ‘That we did have an executive session and during that time we decided … ‘?” asked resident Terry Sheerin during the Woodland Committee’s Dec. 16 meeting. Despite Sheerin pressing Brown for an answer, the clerk did not respond to the question. Burns, on Jan. 6, said “action was taken at a prior (public) committee meeting,” and therefore, indicated he didn’t understand why what occurred would have to be announced at a subsequent meeting. But when advised that the agenda for the Nov. 16 meeting did not list the court issue, but rather an insignificant one that resulted in the public not attending, he replied, “I will have to look into that issue.”

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To Advertise Call (609) 801-2392 • WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM health care workers at hospitals. Virtua Health, a major medical healthcare system in the area, has received its own shipment of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, according to county officials, and has started administering it to its own employees. Virtua Health started immunizing its frontline staff on Dec. 18, according to a press release from the health system. The first Virtua teams to receive vaccines were those with “the highest inherent risk for exposure to the coronavirus, due to their work.” These included teams from emergency medical services (e.g., paramedics and EMTs), emergency departments, and intensive care units. “This is an encouraging, historic day for Virtua and the South Jersey community,” said Dennis W. Pullin, FACHE, president and CEO of Virtua Health. “I am extremely proud of the extraordinary efforts by so many Virtua colleagues to make today’s vaccine logistics possible. This much-anticipated milestone is exactly the boost we needed to enable us to better protect the lives and health of countless people across our region and beyond.” The health system expects to continue vaccinating seven days a week for the next several weeks. The Pfizer vaccine is a two-shot vaccine, given 21 days apart. “This is a crucial step toward ending the pandemic,” said Dr. Reg Blaber, Virtua’s executive vice president and chief clinical officer. “The vaccine is an essential tool to defeat this highly contagious, deadly virus.” Virtua expects to receive weekly vaccine shipments of about 3,000 doses for the first three weeks, and larger shipments thereafter. This will enable Virtua to begin providing second doses as soon as the first vaccine recipients require them, while continuing to provide first doses to additional people. “We anticipate that any and all of our 14,000-plus colleagues and extended medical staff who want to be vaccinated will be able to receive their first dose in a matter of weeks,” Pullin said. The Burlington County Department of Health is responsible for vaccinating other health care employees not affiliated with Virtua or its hospitals, including Hampton Behavioral Health Center and its employees, as well as school nurses. “We will vaccinate a few hundred people this week to start, but we expect to expand the number of vaccinations as more supply is made available from the federal and state governments,” said Dr. Herb Conaway, the director of the Health Department, on Dec. 28. “It is a big undertaking, but we know it is a tremendous weapon in our fight against the virus.” Conaway said Burlington County will operate its vaccination program out of the Emergency Services Training Center Health Department Building in Westampton Township, until a state-planned vaccination mega-site is ready to open at the Moorestown Mall in Moorestown Township.

(Continued from Page 7) municipality at a higher rate than in the past was the Medford Township Department of Fire & EMS posting on Dec. 12 that it had decided to forego the tradition of having Santa Claus ride throughout town on a firetruck, in part, because of “being hard hit ourselves.” “We cannot justify potentially exposing our members and their families unnecessarily,” the department wrote in a statement. “We understand this will be disappointing to our community. It is just as disappointing to us as we take great pride and satisfaction in doing this for all of you each year. The health and safety of our members is paramount, and we are working hard to protect them so we are ready at a moment’s notice in time of need. We look forward to returning with Santa in 2021.” Bass River Township, where only a handful of cases in total were reported during the pandemic’s first wave, has recently reported a handful of new cases each week. In Southampton Township, where a few cases each week was being reported, recorded 20 new cases of the virus in just the first three days of the new year. The same is true in Tabernacle Township, which reported 14 new cases of COVID-19 during the first three days of 2021. The surge in COVID-19 cases with the second wave, locally, was first seen in Evesham Township, as previously reported by this newspaper. Over the past few weeks, the number of new cases there seemed to fluctuate some, but, from Jan. 1 to Jan. 3, 87 new cases were reported. The Burlington County Department of Health received its first shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and started administering the first doses on Dec. 28 to Emergency Medical Services workers and other healthcare workers in a manner consistent with New Jersey's phased COVID-19 vaccination plan. EMS workers from Evesham received their first shot of the vaccine on Dec. 28 as part of the initial launch of Burlington County’s COVID-19 vaccination program. “The authorization of the first safe and effective vaccines is something we waited many months for and it’s fantastic to see that it’s now being administered in Burlington County to the very heroes who have spent months on the front lines in service to our residents,” said Burlington County Board of Commissioners Director Felicia Hopson. “This is a milestone we can all celebrate, and I’d like to thank our Health Department and Office of Emergency Management for all their planning and preparations they undertook to make sure they were ready for the vaccine and able to begin administering it as quickly as possible.” The first doses of authorized vaccines began arriving in New Jersey in mid-December and are being administered to mostly frontline

The mall site, he said, is intended to be a regional vaccination center and will be operated primarily by the State Department of Health and the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management. Once opened, each mega-site is expected to administer as many as 2,400 doses of vaccine daily. Conaway added that when the mall site opens, the county plans to shift to operating mobile vaccination clinics in locations throughout the county to vaccinate populations unable to travel to the mega-site. Vaccines are not expected to be administered to the general public for several months and Conaway stressed the need for residents to continue wearing masks in public and obeying social distancing and quarantining guidance. “While the rollout of the vaccine is exciting, we must remain patient and continue to be vigilant and do our part to prevent the virus’ spread,” he said. Meanwhile, ShopRite announced on Dec. 21 it has joined a partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to ensure Americans have access to the COVID-19 vaccine. Under the federal pharmacy program, select ShopRite Pharmacy stores now have, or will soon have, the opportunity to “further support the critical effort to help stop the spread of COVID-19” by providing increased access to COVID-19 vaccines. ShopR ite Phar macy, according to a statement f rom Wakefer n Food Cor p., which maintains the registered trademark of ShopRite, is working closely with state and local jurisdictions to “participate in earlier phases of the campaign that aim to reach priority populations, including healthcare workers, long-term care facility residents and frontline workers.” “ We’r e proud t o t a ke pa r t i n t h is groundbreaking public health campaign, which could significantly reduce the spread

Saturday, January 9, 2021 of COVID-19,” said Jeffrey Mondelli, RPh, vice president of Pharmacy, Health & Beauty at Wakefern Food Corp. “The federal program is aiming to mass immunize the population throughout the spring of 2021, and our pharmacists are up to the challenge and ready to help our communities. “We are proud to partner with the CDC and HHS to offer the vaccine to our shoppers at our participating ShopRite Pharmacy locations once it is available. By working with these federal agencies and a network of pharmacy partners, we can help rapidly expand access to COVID-19 vaccines in the neighborhoods served by our ShopRite Pharmacy stores. This is the next step in helping to revitalize our communities.” Nine deaths from COVID-19 were reported during the first three days of the New Year in Burlington County. Virtua Health announced on Jan. 5 it is now providing “a leading-edge treatment for Coronavirus,” known as monoclonal antibodies. The medication, called bamlanivimab, helps non-hospitalized, high-risk patients with mild to moderate COVID-19, according to a second press release from the health system. In recent days, both The Washington Post and The New York Times have reported t h at m a ny “ove r bu r d e ne d ho s pit a l s” are not offer ing the t reat ment due to logistical challenges, “but Virtua has provided this vital service to nearly 100 individuals since early December 2020,” the health system noted. “We’re very proud to be among the first in our region to offer this exciting new therapy,” said Dr. John Matsinger, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Virtua Health. Meanwhile, many area schools that previously decided to either return to in-person or hybrid class schedules beginning this month, have held off on doing so due to an uptick in COVID-19 cases or staff shortages resulting from the situation.

Sharing Our Community’s Strength & Stories As the consequences of COVID-19 affect our community and our world, the importance of our connection to reliable information, resources and one another is more evident than ever. As your local newspaper, we are committed to keeping you connected through local news, outbreak updates, stimulating features and community engagement as we make our way through these troubled times toward a brighter future together.

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(Continued from Page 1) loss. There isn’t one item left in that house. The family lost everything they owned.” The fire chief told this newspaper that firefighters never got a chance to get inside the home, as within minutes of arriving on scene, its walls were collapsing, requiring of the firefighters to “stand back and set up a collapse zone.” A total of 23 fire companies, he said, were involved in the response to the fire. Smith added that since Shamong Township does not have fire hydrants, the tender trucks of many area fire companies were needed to help transport water to the scene of the blaze, and two pools were also set up “for the operation of water.” Extra manpower was also required to help control the traffic at intersections in the area so that the fire trucks did not have to stop while transporting the water to the fire scene. “We used 35 loads of water at 3,000 gallons a load,” Smith said. “That Is what we dumped on this fire –105,000 gallons. That is a lot of water.” Smith told this newspaper that the state and county fire marshal has determined that the fire started in a Dodge Viper that was parked inside the garage of the home, which was located on its westside. The 12-cylinder vehicle, he said, had a charger hooked to it at the time that the fire started. “The homeowner was down in basement playing pool with one the kids and the smoke alarm went off in the kitchen, at least that is what he is telling us, and another child ran down into the basement and said, ‘Dad the smoke alarm is going off.’ The homeowner ran upstairs, saw smoke coming in from a door that goes from the kitchen to garage, opened it and saw the car on fire.” Smith contended that the homeowner then opened the overhead door to the garage, and tried to put the flames out with a fire extinguisher, but couldn’t get it out. “That is when he ran in and got everybody out of the house,” Smith said. The fire chief described to this newspaper a “just awful” and heart-wrenching scene as the family, including five young children, watched their home and vehicles burn from across the street. The sound caused from the burning tires exploding was particularly “rough on the children,” he said. “I have never seen a house go like this,” said Smith, noting that it was a top-three fire for the fire company. “It just went.” Smith told this newspaper that the home was originally built in the mid-1970s, and it is believed to have been remodeled sometime in the 1980s. “The house was gorgeous, with an assessed value of $732,000,” Smith contended. Two BMWs, a Land Rover, a Jeep, a

passenger car, and GMC, along with the Dodge Viper, were destroyed in the blaze, according to Smith. “$500,000 worth of cars burned up,” Smith said. “They also lost a shed that was in front of the cars. The shed was loaded with all kind of equipment and bicycles.” Fi refig ht e r s we re able t o prot e ct a neighboring dwelling on the westside from sustaining damage in the blaze. The embers caused a “ver y small leaf fire,” which firefighters were able to put out quickly, on a property behind the main fire scene, according to Smith. A fi refig hter f rom t he I nd ia n Mills Volunteer fire company sustained a laceration to his finger. A second firefighter from Indian Mills had an ember get inside of his gear, and suffered a small burn to his neck. “Neither one was t ranspor ted to the hospital,” Smith said. A third firefighter, from the Taunton Fire Company, based in Medford, dislocated his shoulder, but was able to put it back into place before arriving to the hospital, and instead returned to the Taunton fire station, according to Smith. “Then, another firefighter from Union Fire Company (in Medford), who happens to be my cousin, was at my Indian Mills station, coordinating covers, etc., as he is a county coordinator, and didn’t feel good, went home, told his wife to call 911 and they took him to hospital,” Smith said. “It was determined he had an electrical heart episode where is heart was out of sync.” That firefighter, Smith said, was scheduled to have a catherization procedure, and may require a pacemaker. “The good news is he didn’t have heart attack, and we didn’t lose him,” Smith said. “There is a lot of work to this mentally, when as a county coordinator, you are trying to get stuff going and everything. Your heart is pumping, and there is a lot of excitement. I definitely say that had something to do with it (the heart episode), I believe.” The GoFundMe fundraiser for the family displaced, which as of press time had more than 1,200 people donate more than $111,000, identified the beneficiaries who lost everything as the Schwartz family. “Jacqui and Jerry are two of the kindest, most involved and generous people in ou r tight com mu nit y,” the GoFu nd Me fundraiser’s organizer, Amy Debye, wrote. “They have five amazing kids Maddy, Joey, Benny, Danny and Auggie. The light up every room with their smiles and personalities.” A Child’s Place daycare and preschool in Shamong arranged the clothing donation drive for the family. Both Debye and A Child’s Place did not immediately return a message seeking comment on this story. “A beautiful community we live in,” wrote one woman in response to the fundraisers and donations being organized. “Showing true love of thy neighbor.”

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

Photo By David Hernandez

The aftermath of a dwelling fire on Twin Oaks Drive in Shamong. The blaze scorched several vehicles parked near the house.

Photo By Douglas D. Melagari

A smoke column from a fire in Shamong Township on Dec. 26, as seen from the parking lot of Holy Eucharist Roman Catholic Chuch in Tabernacle.

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CHIEF

(Continued from Page 2) â€œ We welc ome Keit h ab oa rd ,â€? s a id Committeeman Samuel Moore, a member of the public safety subcommittee who has been involved in the fire department transition, in an interview with this newspaper. â€œHe is a wonderful person and a big part of this community. He is not a stranger to anyone in town, and he is a longtime public servant in Tabernacle with a wealth of knowledge.â€? Although Zane has not been actively involved with TFC #1 since 2016, when he served as its health and safety officer, he was selected from a pool of six applicants by a panel of outside firefighting experts. The panel included Robert Carr Jr., Burlington County fire marshal, Anthony Burnett, chief of the Willingboro Fire Department, Joe Jackson, chief of West Berlin Fire-Rescue, and Burlington County Assistant Fire Marshal Stephen Woods. â€œI want Tabernacleâ€™s emergency response to fulfill the needs of the people, whether that be during a fire, a health emergency or an automobile accident, not the needs of the organizations,â€? said Zane in a later interview with this newspaper. Zane said he will be working to â€œmend fencesâ€? between the two organizations in hopes of improving emergency response, which has â€œnot been the best it could beâ€? when they were on the scene together. At the meeting, Committeeman Robert Sunbury, as a member on the public safety subcommittee, described Zane as having â€œarisen above the frays of the old conflictsâ€? and met the â€œchallengingâ€? requirements. â€œCertifications, training and experience are important pre-requisites for a fire chief, but we wanted more than that in a chief,â€? Sunbury said. â€œWe were looking for integrity, strength of character, a level head and someone with a reputation for being fair, unbiased, and professional.â€? The fire chief job description, obtained by this newspaper, described how the chief must â€œfully subscribe to the principle that we (Tabernacle fire department) are one of five

OEM

(Continued from Page 3) position, but I am certainly looking to do my best to assist the township to help run things smoothly in the event of any emergencies, snowstorms, fire emergencies, and so forth.â€? Huber added that â€œhe has always assisted with different thingsâ€? to help the town out, including helping to update its website, perform snow removal and install lights on the municipal flag pole. Huber, an 11-year Woodland resident, who told this newspaper that he is not part of any emergency service agencies, said his background is in construction and engineering, and that he currently works for a company that manufacturers products for the hardscaping industry. â€œShawn, as far as continuity, is staying on as the fire chief,â€? Huber said. â€œShawn will be available for any assistance or questions that arise from the transition.â€? A neighboring municipality, with a hospital, recently discussed its preparation for the possible distribution of the COVID-19 vaccination through Public Points of Distribution (PODs), and was awarded a grant to purchase portable radios to communicate during any distribution. Huber told this newspaper that the Woodland OEM was not currently planning for local distribution of the vaccine, because â€œit wonâ€™t happen at our level unless the vaccine requires less of a burden (refrigeration, allergic reaction protocols, etc.) and storage.â€? Woodland has no hospital or medical venues. â€œWe will, however, certainly help facilitate residents to the nearest distribution site,â€? he

To Advertise Call (609) 801-2392 â€˘ WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM emergency service providers to the citizens and visitors of Tabernacle Township,â€? and must â€œfully cooperate, create and maintain a positive relationship with Tabernacle Rescue Squad, Tabernacle Office of Emergency Management, Tabernacle Fire Prevention Office, New Jersey State Police and any other emergency service agencies not listed.â€? Sunbury said in a later telephone interview that â€œit breaks my heart to have been a part of a town where fire and EMS werenâ€™t one team.â€? â€œWe should all be here for the same reason,â€? he added. Sunbury described Zane as a â€œwell-liked and respected, seasoned leaderâ€? who will act as the â€œbridgeâ€? between Tabernacle Fire and EMS response. â€œKeith felt a responsibility and a commitment to make emergency services better for the community,â€? Sunbury said. â€œIf he didnâ€™t raise his hand to step up, he felt there would be no reason to complain.â€? In addition to healing the relationship, the department is expected to usher in a new era for fire service in Tabernacle via centralization that provides municipal leaders with more oversight, specifically over finances and membership decisions. It is hoped that this will help move the township beyond past dysfunction involving emergency services. W he n a ske d d u r i ng t he i nt e r v iew about decisions â€œbeing based on personal relationships, rather than merit,â€? as was described in findings from a year-long review related to township fire response, Sunbury contended there was no â€œanti-nepotism clauseâ€? in the companyâ€™s bylaws and there was a power imbalance with clear favoritism toward family members that led some volunteers to be pushed out of the organization and limited others in their opportunity to grow and learn. And while he pointed out that he â€œhad no accusations to make on how taxpayer money was spent,â€? when asked about another finding that financial transparency in the operation was insufficient, he did acknowledge that audits from TFC #1 were often delivered late and were â€œdevoid of any detail.â€? Attempts to reach TFC #1 Chief Al Freeman and TRS Chief George Jackson III for interviews for this story were unsuccessful. said, believing that the vaccine could eventually be managed through an area hospital. Huber told this newspaper that Viscardi approached him prior to the Dec. 16 committee meeting asking him if he would like to assume the head OEM position, and he replied that he would be willing to do the job. â€œHe just said he had a little too much on his plate between all the COVID response stuff, the fire department and EMS position in town, plus his regular job working as a firefighter and EMT on the Joint Base (McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst),â€? said Huber of the reasons Viscardi gave him for wanting to resign from the OEM post. â€œHe told me it has just been a little overwhelming this past year.â€? Viscardi, who at tended the Dec. 16 Woodland committee meeting by phone, thanked the mayor for his remarks that expressed appreciation for his efforts, but did not offer any comments of his own about why he was resigning. He could not be reached for comment on this story. Brown denied this newspaperâ€™s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) to obtain a copy of Viscardiâ€™s resignation letter, contending that â€œthe requested document is exempt from release pursuant to NJSA 47:1A-10.â€? While N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10 states that â€œâ€Śthe personnel or pension records of any individual in the possession of a public agency, including but not limited to records relating to any grievance filed by or against an individual, shall not be considered a government record and shall not be made available for public access,â€? the stateâ€™s Government Records Council (GRC), on Jan. 13, 2005, in Larry Loigman, Complainant v. Township of Middletown, See OEM/ Page 13

Saturday, January 9, 2021

GUNFIRE (Continued from Page 1)

As previously reported by this newspaper, authorities said the gunshots in that incident were â€œfired into the vehicle.â€? The Nov. 3 incident was preceded by another shooting in Sunbury Village, and one in Oak Pines, which occur red just hours and miles apart, on Oct. 10 and 9 of last year, respectively. Those remain under investigation by Pemberton Police, including to determine if there is a nexus between them, and no arrests have been made in the October 2020 incidents. The Su nbu r y shooting incident that occu r red around 1:38 a.m. on Oct. 10 involved three individuals being fired upon in front of a residence in 100 block of Kinsley Road, while the Oak Pines shooting that occurred at about 7:03 p.m. on Oct. 9 involved vehicles being fired upon in the area of the 100 block of Oak Pines Boulevard, according to Watters. Two vehicles had departed a residence in the area of Oak Pines, on Oct. 9, when they were fired upon as they were exiting the development, Watters previously told this newspaper. One was not struck by bullets, while the other had been â€œstruck numerous times with rounds.â€? Officers, according to Watters, arriving at the Oct. 10 Sunbury shooting scene, had discovered three people in front of a residence who had sustained gunshot wounds. It was later determined that a vehicle had pulled up in front of the residence where all three victims were standing, and then a passenger from inside of the vehicle fired a gun numerous times at the victims and the residence they were standing in front of. The October 2020 shootings in the Oak Pines and Sunbury neighborhoods had come just a few weeks after apprehensions were

made in a July shooting that played out on a roadway near the border of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and Pemberton Township. Several other shootings occurred in both June 2020 and July 2020 in Pemberton, several of which were reported to have occurred in Sunbury. Police have not yet announced any arrests in the other shootings, but had made a series of arrests for hand gun offenses in mid and late July, which had seemed to quell the gun violence up until the early October shootings. Business Administrator Daniel Hornickel, in response to a question posed about the police investigations into the summertime shootings, previously said during an Aug. 5 Pemberton Council meeting, â€œthey identified a couple of individuals basically playing a game of chase in a couple of vehicles.â€? Police in Pemberton, a few days before and after the Dec. 15 shooting, made another round of arrests involving firearms (see separate stories). â€œ T h e Pe m b e r t o n Tow n s h i p Pol ic e Department is committed to proactively targeting areas that have seen gun violence recently, as well as targeting subjects t h at a re d i re ctly re sp on sible for t he violence,â€? Watters said. â€œSince Jan. 1, 2020 the Pember ton Tow nsh ip Police Department has seized approximately 18 firearms, which were possessed for unlawful purposes and arrested approximately 17 different subjects for unlawfully possessing the firearms. â€œ T h e Pe m b e r t o n Tow n s h i p Pol ic e Department is working with the Burlington County Prosecutorâ€™s Office Gang, Gun & Narcotics Task Force, as well as the FBI Greater Trenton Safe Streets Task Force, to reduce the violence in our area. We encourage our residents to reach out to us to report gang violence, illicit drug distribution and weapons offenses as we continue to target those involved.â€?

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OEM

(Continued from Page 12) Custodian of Record, unanimously ordered the disclosure, in its entirety, of a sought after resignation letter for a police chief, contending that the letter is neither “interagency or intra-agency advisory, consultative or deliberative material or otherwise exempt from disclosure under the Open Public Records Act.” The Middletown matter has served as a reference point for the public disclosure of resignation letters authored by municipal officials. William Burns, appointed the Woodland Township solicitor on Jan. 5 after leaving the post ten months ago, in a Jan. 6 interview with this newspaper, pointed to a Libertarians for Transparent Gover n ment v. Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office case and told this newspaper he was seeking further guidance from the GRC to determine if the township can release the resignation letter to this newspaper. But the solicitor maintained it was his understanding that Viscardi resigned for personal reasons. Spokespeople for both the county and state OEMs told this newspaper that the Burlington County and New Jersey Offices of Emergency Management have no involvement in who municipalities appoint or remove as OEM coordinators. Viscardi, in his final year at the helm of the municipal OEM (interconnected with his fire and EMS chief position), dealt with a massive Coronavirus outbreak at the New Lisbon Developmental Center, a state-run facility in Woodland, that, as of press time, resulted in the deaths of 10 residents, two staffers, and infected a total of 184 residents and 207 staffers. Prior to the start of the COVID-19 outbreak at New Lisbon, the New Jersey Department of

To Advertise Call (609) 801-2392 • WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM Human Services (NJDHS) said 288 residents were living at the facility. Viscardi, on April 29 of last year, contended about 250 staffers worked there. T he now-for me r OE M c o or d i n a t or discussed the severity of a Coronavirus outbreak at the New Lisbon Developmental Center, a state-run facility in Woodland, du r i ng a n Apr il 29, 2020 eme rge ncy Woodland Township Committee meeting – remarks that gave further credibility to that of a whistleblower, an employee of New Lisbon, who described a “very dire situation” that had been occurring then at the state facility, contending that it came about due to a lack of PPE, staffing shortages, cross contamination, and inadequate containment facilities. “The way they are going, their population is pretty much…like…decreasing daily here,” said Viscardi during the April 29, 2020 meeting. “It is a shame to say, but with the numbers I got this morning, the respiratory calls are going to continue to go up until this level off. “Unfortunately, with the way New Lisbon is setup, and the way they work their staff, it is just a vicious cycle—it will keep cycling through the facility until we get a vaccine or something.” As previously reported by this newspaper, prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Viscardi had reported to the Woodland committee that the Woodland Volunteer Fire and EMS Company was seeing a significant increase in calls due to needing to respond to incidents at New Lisbon after the facility did away with its own EMTs and ambulance, and that the situation was “draining residents of Woodland of their services.” A spokeswoman for NJDHS later confirmed that New Lisbon ceased operating emergency transportation services in September 2016 to align the developmental center operationally with other state developmental centers, which provide only non-emergency transportation.

De moc r at ic Gove r nor Ph i l Mu r phy eventually learned through this newspaper’s questioning of him last year that DeGroff had contended that the COVID-19 situation at the New Lisbon facility had put a “strain” on the township’s EMS agency. Shortly after this newspaper questioned Murphy about the 2016 decision by NJDHS to discontinue New Lisbon’s emergency services transport service, and whether bringing it back during the pandemic was a consideration, the CEO of New Lisbon, apparently offered the Woodland Volunteer Fire and EMS Company 300 gallons of “diesel and gas,” or f uel, per month if the mu nicipalit y ag reed to a one-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement stipulating that the EMS squad would continue providing its services to the state-run facility. The Woodland committee ultimately decided to enter into the MOU with New Lisbon, and Viscardi said the Woodland Township Volunteer Fire and EMS Company, on average, has been spending $3,000 to $5,000 annually on fuel, on top of “1,300 gallons we get right now,” and that the state’s offer would “help us out moneywise, for now.” In October 2020, Viscardi, contended he “doesn’t know what else to do here,” while announcing that he had received a denial letter from the Federal Emergency Ma nageme nt Age ncy ( F EM A) ea rl ie r that day for an Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) for Vehicle Acquisition, despite the fire company being without a tanker truck since January 2018 “due to mechanical, pump and tank issues.” FEMA, responded, howeve r by not i ng t h at it h a d g ive n the fire company $403,462 in grant monies for other items during the latest grant cycle. The tow nship is still without a tanker truck. In 2019, Viscardi was praised for receiving

GAMES

♦ Page 13

a grant through FirstNet to have a cellphone tower installed in close proximity to the Wo o d la nd Fi r e a nd EMS C ompa ny’s C h a t s wo r t h fi r e h o u s e s o t h a t it c a n access what would be improved signal, given the often-spotty cellphone reception in the area. But in recent months that project has become controversial, and now the Pinelands Commission has issued a stop-work order, at least until the state agency acts on a “substantial issue” raised by the “conditional use and minor site plan approval with bulk variance relief granted by the Woodland Township Land Use Board for the proposed development.” The apparent sticking point is that the applicant applied to the township “for a wireless telecommunications facilit y to accom modate fou r wireless ser vice providers, not for an accessory tower to the existing EMS/Fire Company.” “Are we getting the tower or not?” asked resident Karen Winks, also the township’s office clerk, during the Dec. 16 Woodland committee meeting, adding she hoped the township would get it. “Obviously, we need it.” DeGroff replied the issue is now between the Woodland Land Use Board and Pinelands Commission, and the Woodland committee cannot comment on the issue. “We can’t say ‘yes, we are getting it,’ or ‘no, we are not getting it,’” said DeGroff, adding that the township “absolutely needs” the tower. The issue appears to have been precipitated by allegations that property owners living within 200 feet of a street that was vacated by the township to the fire company last summer, for purposes of the tower, did not receive notification of a public hearing, before it was approved. See OEM/ Page 14

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

Page 14 ♦

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(Continued from Page 13) “Were all the regulations followed for vacating Giles Avenue and giving it to the fire department?” asked resident Jane Donoghue during the Dec. 16 Woodland com mit tee meeti ng, addi ng that if the project were to be squashed, it would be “detrimental” to the community. DeGroff replied that as far as he knew, yes, but when the mayor asked Brown for additional input, she reminded him that t he sit u at ion wa s l it igat ion i nvolv i ng the Land Use Board, and that off icials s h o u ld t h e r efo r e n o t b e m a k i n g a ny comments. Hu b e r, a m e mb e r of t h e L a n d Us e Board, later told this newspaper on Dec. 28 in the interview about his acting OEM position that he “certainly does” support the cellphone tower project. “Beyond t he obviously need for emergency com mu nications, it is a quality of life issue for anyone who lives in Woodland,” he said, noting that even during the course of his inter view with this newspaper, the call dropped for a time because of the weak signal in Woodland. Viscardi, after being initially appointed to the municipal OEM post in 2013, was not reappointed to the position during a March 2017 Woodland committee meeting by then-mayor Mat thew Hen r ich, who expressed at the time that he “ thought it was a good idea to spread some of the load,” troubled by an pur por ted lack of com munication f rom Viscardi during a forest f i re i n Ju ne 2016. DeG roff, and Deputy Mayor Mark Her ndon, however, maintained their support for Viscardi, and squabbled with Henrich over the dismissal. Viscardi was i n itially replaced with

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Saturday, January 9, 2021

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Thomas Skleros, said at the time to have more than 30 years of experience working in emergency preparedness at a nuclear power plant, but his tenure, overshadowed by the controversy over Henrich’s decision to not reappoint Viscardi, lasted only three months. Skleros, after alleging to this newspaper, upon his departure, that the OEM office had lacked a number of necessities, was succeeded by Justin Wozniak, appointed in Aug ust 2017, said to have a f ire and EMS background. Wozniak, however, also resigned from the OEM position after a short stint, following a dispute in which De G rof f a nd Her ndon (t he com m it tee majority) would not agree to provide him w it h a pager to receive messages a nd signals pertaining to emergencies. Hen rich, at the time, alleged that his then-colleagues not agreeing to provide a pager to Wozniak was retaliation for his decision to not reappoint Viscardi, a n d a d i s pu t e b e t we e n Woz n i a k a n d Viscardi involving financial activities of the Woodland Volunteer Fire and EMS Company, but DeGroff maintained that he spoke to the Burlington Count y Off ice of E m e r g e n c y M a n a g e m e n t a n d w a s told by the county off ice that not ever y municipal emergency management coordinator is given a pager, and it wasn’t recommended. DeGroff, at the time, contended it was up to the fire company to give Wozniak a pager, and Henrich, at that point, called on Viscardi to step dow n f rom his f ire chief position. But Visca rd i st ayed put, a nd i n t he wake of DeGroff becoming mayor in 2018, Viscardi was appointed in August 2018 to a three-year appointment to fill the OEM post vacated by Wozniak. Viscardi’s term would have expired on Aug. 22 of this year.

Hanover Street. At the Dec. 28 meeting, the borough council also voted 5-0 to approve a new five-year contract, effective Jan. 1, for trash removal with its current vendor Garden State Removal Company. The previous contract between the borough and Garden State expired Sept. 30, but the borough received no offers on the job when put out to bid – once for a 60-day period and then for a 30-day period – even from Garden State; however, the Springfield-based company agreed to continue providing its services in the interim until one was awarded. As had been anticipated, the borough will pay significantly more than the previous $243,374 contract in the form of 60 monthly installments. As part of the new contract, the total payments will come to $65,430 for the first year; $68,114 for the second year; $71,459 for the third year; $72,453 for the fourth year, and $75,635 for the fifth year, amounting to a total of $353,091. “Although I was allowed to negotiate a contract due to no bids being received on two occasions, Garden State Removal was the only company willing to negotiate,” Mull said. “They (Garden State) have committed themselves to improving their service 100 percent.” The other companies contacted, she noted, were Waste Management, Republic Services, Central Jersey Waste, and South Jersey Sanitation, all of which were said to have either declined to negotiate or failed to return her calls. While most of the firms approached did not provide a reason for lack of interest, Mull added, Waste Management, one of North America’s largest waste removal companies, which has previously serviced Pemberton Borough, told the municipality it would need to purchase the containers compatible with the company’s automated trash trucks out of its own coffers in order for any new contract to be considered. “That is something that the borough is going to have to consider because it is going to be the future way people collect trash,” she said.

(Continued from Page 3) added in the discussions that suing the owner of record, Dovbear Property, LLC, of Great Neck, N.Y., would be a costlier alternative possibly involving months of litigation. Demolition of the structure, however, as has been previously discussed at meetings of the governing body, would still involve a cost to the borough and likely would require a bond because of the necessary funds not being available in the annual municipal budget, according to Borough Administrator Donna Mull. Once the building is razed though, the borough could decide to sell the land and recoup some of its financial losses. When reached by telephone, the head of Dovbear, Sebastien Ayache, told this newspaper that he opted to give up the structure, rather than repair it, as a result of being financially strapped due to COVID-19 and issues with finding a contractor to take on the work. It was only a few months ago that Ayache vowed in an interview with this newspaper that he would make the necessary repairs, after the borough’s now-retired construction official, Harry Wetterskog, first deemed 54 Hanover Street an “unsafe structure and an imminent hazard,” as defined in the Uniform Construction Code (UCC), and put forth a deadline of Sept. 24 for progress to be made in resolving the issue. The duplex has caused headaches for borough officials for some time and following its purchase by Dovbear in February 2019 thousands of dollars in fines were levied against the new owner when no progress was evident in repairing the structure. Ayache owns a number of other properties on the same street, including 60 and 62 Hanover Street, 76 and 78 Hanover Street, and 6 Hanover Street— some with similar safety concerns that are not as severe as those identified at 54 and 56

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Saturday, January 9, 2021

RETIRES

(Continued from Page 4) the next person who would like to do this might want to be a little younger to me.” “Whether it is storms, floods, or high winds, you have got be ready to help people,” Casian said. “In fact, I just put out an email to all the township first responders letting them that a Code Blue was in effect, and that there are warming centers overnight available for people who require a little bit of care. And, as a matter of fact, I have to take off in a little bit to provide our first responders with more PPE this evening.” COVID-19, he said, was another consideration for leaving the municipal OEM position. “Older people are susceptible to a lot of things,

ROBBERY (Continued from Page 6)

“During a search of the residence, the proceeds from the burglary were recovered,” Watters said. “A 17-year-old male juvenile (Juvenile #1) who was at the residence was arrested.” He was charged with burglary by entering a structure, theft by unlawful taking and criminal mischief with damage. The suspect in the Country Farms burglary was arrested again on Dec. 7 at his residence after it was determined “through further investigation” by Pemberton Police it was found that he was involved in the May 11, 2020 armed robbery of the 7-11 convenience store, at

SPEAKING (Continued from Page 8)

them, with DeGroff ultimately allowing Donoghue special time, after public comment was closed, to question the esquire, remarking that he hoped “it would put this issue to bed.” But the next day, the resident was taken to task on social media by a township Land Use Board member, who in a later interview with this newspaper, said she stood by her remarks. Burns was later appointed as the municipal solicitor again after leaving the township ten months ago, and during his first meeting back at the solicitor helm, the “roll call of the public” seemed to go by the wayside. He later confirmed to this newspaper on Jan. 6 that, after discussion with both Brown and DeGroff, “we are not going to require everyone to introduce themselves at the beginning of the meeting, verbally, so as long as we maintain compliance with the New Jersey Administrative Code.” Donoghue’s questions during the December regular meeting of the Woodland committee came before Burns spoke, and were expanded to other billing matters. “Who is laughing at me this time?” asked Donoghue during the Dec. 16 teleconferencing meeting as she inquired during public comment about the necessity of the town purchasing iPads for $690 and what wellness reimbursements listed for payment were covering. “Because that is going to be my next thing. You gentleman need to listen to the tapes of the last meeting where you can clearly hear a female when I introduce myself, saying, ‘Oh God.’ That same female laughs. “This is not the first time that someone, who asks a legitimate question of the board, has been laughed at by a female. Now, there are only two people that I know of who were on the meeting last month that would have had their mute button off the entire time. So, you can …” It was at this point, during the Dec. 16 meeting, that Donoghue was stopped from speaking her piece by DeGroff. “Let me ‘stop’ you right now!” DeGroff said. “I am not going to sit here and listen to you make accusations! I don’t know what you are

To Advertise Call (609) 801-2392 • WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM and people my age are getting COVID-19,” he said. “I have to be very careful with who I hang out with. I am not young enough to only take 14 days to sit and relax. Now I can sit back and relax.” Casian, who thanked and praised the township staff and administration for all of the support and opportunities they have provided him with over the past two years, and said he truly enjoyed his tenure with Southampton and was grateful for the encouragement they provided him in pursuing his objectives, added he is looking forward to playing a little more golf when the weather warms up. And as far as whether his resignation announcement within a day Shawn Viscardi (see separate story), his counterpart in Woodland Township, that also took effect Jan. 1, was anything more than a mere coincidence, Casian replied, “that’s news to me.” 131 Trenton Road, where a subject entered the 7-11, brandished a knife and demanded money, Watters told this newspaper. “In that case, a separate 17-year-old male juvenile had been charged with the robbery, however it was determined that the 17-year-old juvenile (in the Country Farms incident) had conspired with the other juvenile to commit the robbery, provided the weapon that was used in the robbery and also split the proceeds from the robbery with the other juvenile.” The 17-year-old male involved in both incidents was charged with robbery by force, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery. He was lodged in the Middlesex County Juvenile Detention Center pending a hearing. talking about! I haven’t heard it! So, I am not going to have you come here every meeting and make accusations against somebody. This is not what these meetings are about – to come here and make accusations like this.” DeGroff added that if Donoghue has a “legitimate complaint” about something involving the township, “that is fine,” but for her “to make accusations that someone is laughing” at her, “I am not going to listen to it.” A person, however, can be clearly heard laughing while Donoghue was speaking at around the 31:36-minute mark of the township’s official recording of that Nov. 24 session, obtained by this newspaper through an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request. There is also some sort of brief sound heard when she first begins to speak during the Nov. 24 meeting, but this newspaper is unable to identify what it was, or if it was in fact words spoken by a person. DeGroff did ultimately let Donoghue question other matters during the Dec. 16 meeting, but Donoghue, under the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA), is allowed to voice “public comment on any governmental or school district issue that a member of the public feels may be of concern to the residents of the municipality or school district,” and individuals attending that meeting later expressed to this newspaper that they felt the mayor was “outof-line.” Donoghue did not announce herself during the start of the township committee’s December meeting, but her not doing so was not used as a reason to stop her from speaking later in that session, like was the case during the Nov. 24 governing body meeting, also held by telephone. As previously reported by this newspaper, Crook, (who had assumed the township solicitor post from Burns in February 2020, after Burns left the law firm of Malamut & Associates) during an April 22, 2020 committee meeting, the first teleconferencing one of the pandemic, said that “when it comes to public comment, it will be allowed, of course,” but asked that members of the public announce who they are. He did not initially say when that had to be See SPEAKING/ Page 18

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Saturday, January 9, 2021

FIELD

(Continued from Page 7) testing. Such testing measures the shockattenuation performance of sports surfaces – including turf athletic fields, serving as indication as to what, if any, impact might be absorbed by a player's body when they hit the ground while playing in a competition. “Therefore, the recommendation is that if any one section fails, we have to close the entire turf field until any kind of remediation can take place,” Hennefer told council. Hennefer contended that the typical life span of a turf field is between seven and ten years, and that M1 was installed in 2009. Hennefer declared that his department “has been plan ning for this,” and had anticipated that M1’s replacement would be included in a 2020 capital budget, but that such a budget had been held off due to concerns about the township’s financial situation due to the Coronavirus pandemic. “Therefore, the project did not move forward,” he said. Mayor Jacklyn “Jackie” Veasy, during the October council meeting, had asked Hennefer, given there was knowledge that the field would eventually reach an end of life, if money had been set aside annually for the replacement of a new field. Hennefer initially replied that the field has been groomed right from the start, and that takes place multiple times a year. But when pressed by the mayor, he revealed that “as far as a capital program, no,” but that field rentals and field signage sponsorships were agreed upon, with the hope that it would help offset any capital expenses. Hennefer also noted that council should be planning to re-turf Evesham’s M2 field, built in 2014, “in the next 4-5 years.” “It is an unfortunate situation that we are in the middle of a pandemic and we need to replace a turf field,” Veasy contended. “And there has been no savings plan done to replace the turf field ahead of time. There was no plan, and now we have to do one turf field this year, and in another three years, do another turf field for a half-million dollars.” Hennefer noted that since M1 went out of service, his department “has been making the best out of the situation we have,” and had moved fall sports teams, such as soccer and football, to grass fields that are around town. “We’re thinking that has been working out OK,” he said. “But the preference would be to have the kids play on a turf field.” Miller, in explaining the benefit of a turf field as opposed to grass, during a public hearing on the capital budget, contended that turf offers a “better playable surface for children,” and results in less injuries. “And it is the durability of it,” Miller said. “When you use grass, you have to give a grass field a break in between use. With

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

To Advertise Call (609) 801-2392 • WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM turf, you can play about 500 percent more activities on that field over its lifetime than you can on grass.” Miller added that another advantage of using a turf field is that its construction allows for it to quickly drain runoff after a heavy rainfall, whereas a “grass field holds water.” “So that is really important – limiting the down time of those fields,” he said. Turf fields, Miller contended, also come with decreased maintenance costs “as they are cheaper to maintain than grass,” and also don’t require the use of pesticides, lessening the chance of possible chemical exposure to children. Hennefer, in October, said that newer turf fields have longer fibers, and therefore, if any area fails g-max testing, “the fibers are long enough where you can add some rubber infill and you can remedy those areas.” But the older turf fields, like M1, he said, have shorter fibers, and “therefore you can no longer add more rubber infill to remedy the situation.” “As far as any patchwork to do it, if you are going to replace sections of a very old turf f ield with a new one, then you are going to have very uneven levels of fiber and it creates an even more unsafe surface,” Hennefer said. Deputy Mayor Heather Cooper questioned why, beginning in 2009 when M1 opened, no money had been set aside annually in the municipal budget, perhaps as a dedicated rider trust, for the eventual replacement of M1. “it is quite a substantial amount of money for the taxpayer,” she noted in October. “And I am concerned we don’t have a plan and have to utilize capital to borrow money.” She called on the gover ning body to consider an annual f ield /park planning program similar to that of a road program. “I think if we do some planning, we can be in a better place in the future,” Cooper declared. In November, when the bond ordinance to create a capital budget had been introduced for the f irst time, Veasy contended that “originally, we had not planned to do a capital budget,” but added that “we had always planned for one just in case.” Ken D’ Andrea, attending his second to last council meeting on Dec. 1 as a councilman, noted that the governing body ultimately being able to do a capital budget in 2020, amid the pandemic, was the result of it implementing furloughs, tightening spending and proceeding with “necessary evils to even get to this point,” along with the state deciding to keep its aid to the municipality f lat and giving it COVID-19 relief monies. Township Manager Robert Corrales called the capital budget “small,” adding that the “items in this capital budget are definitely beneficial to the township.” In addition to “funds that will be made

available for the f ull replacement and reopening of the M1 Turf Field,” among the other items that are included in it are five new police vehicles, which, for the first time in Evesham, two will be environmentally f r iendly elect r ic cars for the Evesham Township Police Depar tment Detective Bureau; new playground equipment for mu n icipa l pa rk s; a new plat for m for Evesboro Downs Park; new f looring in the municipal building, and a formal road program evaluation that will “present a current, up-to-date analysis of every road in the township and provide fair and objective recommendations on moving forward with a robust road program.” A lso i nclude d a re e ng i ne e r i ng a nd improvements to drainage issues to various roadways, but in particular, within Hopewell Road and Marbel Avenue. “I appreciate that we can be cost efficient and plan ahead,” Cooper said. “… Capital budgets are about budgeting and planning for what we need. The M1 field is definitely an important part of our community. A lot of investment went into that, and I look forward to maintaining it.” Councilwoman Patricia “Pat” Hansen declared that she was “very pleased” with the capital budget that had been put together, and hoped that everyone would benefit from it, and was particularly satisfied that council could fulfill the needs of the township police department, adding that she “never heard any resident complain about our police.” O n t h e fe n c e a b o u t vo t i n g i n t h e affirmative for the capital budget on second reading was outgoing veteran councilman Rober t “Bob” DiEnna, who voted “no” during its first reading. “I am ver y concer ned about addi ng to our indebtedness, especially when we are so close to getting over the hump that caused us to have physical palpitations because of the golf course (the township still has large debt resulting f rom the maintenance of a township-owned golf course [Indian Springs Golf Course] that it needs to pay off over the course of the next four years). DiEnna inquired whether there was a way to fund the replacement of the M1 turf field, and police department needs, without doing it through capital improvements, such as through surplus, or monies received through a recently-discussed sale of the tow nship’s cur rent Public Works yard, etc. Elizabeth J. Peddicord, the township’s f inance director, advised using the sale money wasn’t possible, while Thomas Hastie, the township’s bond counsel, recommended a g a i n s t u s i n g s u r p l u s (w h i c h w a s around $10 million as of Dec. 31, 2019, but the town’s 2020 Budget passed in July 2020 had an anticipated surplus use of some $6 million). “While you can use surplus at any time, rating agencies don’t like using surplus,” Hastie contended. “One of the stress tests is

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how much surplus are you using compared to what your average annual budget is. If you spend dow n because you got it and don’t want to borrow, and you don’t want to pay capital as a pay as you go, rating agencies often say you are leaving yourself too thin. Additionally, sur plus i s h a rd t o r ege ne r at e a b s e nt r eg u la r t a x i nc r e a s e s. I n 2020, s ome of ou r municipal revenue I suspect is off (due to the pandemic). It is likely that the ability to generate su r plus has been reduced g iven all t he cu r rent complex it ies of the economy.” Hastie added that earlier in 2020, the township saw bonds with a net interest cost for 15-year debt of 2.12 percent. “That is a very attractive interest rate environment to borrow,” he said. “If you can get use of your money and spread it out over use of life of all capital improvements, that can look pretty good, compared to spending surplus that you are not able to generate back.” DiEnna, ultimately, said he would “defer to our professionals,” and voted in the affirmative. “I want to be able to walk out that door and be confident that I am able to articulate that we are not f r ivolous in incu r r ing additional debt,” the councilman said. “I want to be able to ensure residents that we overturned every stone, and sought every opportunity and ability to provide for our needs. We need that field. The chief needs them (the police cars). But I want to be sure we missed nothing, and be su re I can defend all our approaches to additional indebtedness.” According to a later press release issued by the municipality, with the capital budget totaling less than $2 million, it is well below the more than $3 million in debt the township was already scheduled to pay off in 2020 (which was at the advice of Phoenix Advisors, Cooper noted, a f irm council brought on in 2020 to serve as a financial advisor to the municipality). C ou nci l , i n Ju ly 2020, h a d p a s se d some $38 million municipal budget with “reduced appropriations, steady use of surplus in line with previous years, and a decrease in municipal taxes (of $48 on an average assessed home) to provide relief for Evesham’s residents and businesses in need” during the pandemic. “C u r rent pla n s a re to have cou ncil consider a resolution for engineering work for the new replacement (M1) f ield at a council meeting in the near future,” said Zane Clark, a spokesman for Evesham, on Jan. 4. “However, while the replacement project is beginning to move forward, at this stage, it is still too early for the township to have dates for when installation work would begin.” FieldTu r f wa s t he m a nu fa ct u r e r of the original M1 Field, and LandTek was the installer.

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

SPEAKING (Continued from Page 15)

done. But upon immediately taking roll call of the elected and appointed officials during the April 2020 committee meeting, Brown asked Crook if he wanted “members of the public, since we can’t see who is here, to state their name.” “Why don’t we do that, just so that we have an idea of who is on the phone, and make sure that we touch base with everyone at the end of the meetings,” replied Crook at the time. “Why don’t we have members of the public just announce who they are, and what their address is for the record. That would be helpful.” During the beginning of a July 2020 committee meeting, Brown asked at the time that members of the public “state their names so we know who attended the meeting.” Crook again asked that members of the public on that call announce themselves, and only after a handful of people did, despite the township clerk reporting that she could see that some 16 people were on the telephone line through a software application, the mayor proceeded with the meeting. Up until the Nov. 24 Woodland committee meeting, no member of the public had been stopped from speaking because they did not comply with the request of Crook. “You are going to censor my right to freedom of speech?” asked Donoghue in response to being stopped from speaking by Brown on Nov. 24, who proceeded to ask Donoghue, “When I was taking roll call of the public, did you announce your name?” “No Maryalice, and no I do not have to,” Donoghue responded. “So, please, let me speak and do not interrupt me again!” The OPMA, also known as the Sunshine Law, allows for a municipal governing body to determine the length of the public comment period, and the length of time that speakers in general are permitted to speak. But that is as far as the act goes in addressing public comment protocols. However, emergency remote meeting protocols issued in the wake of COVID-19 by the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) for local public bodies states that “a local public body may require members of the public to state, prior to providing public comment, whether they wish to speak and to identify themselves prior to speaking.” But “may” is the operative word, and Brown, in response to a recent OPRA request placed by this newspaper, responded that there are no responsive records for a public comment policy adopted by the Woodland committee. Eventually, after a member of the public came to the defense of Donoghue on Nov. 24 by repeating Crook’s previous statements indicating it was not a requirement to participate in a roll call, as previously reported by this newspaper, DeGroff asked Donoghue, “What are you questioning?” , allowing her to ultimately offer public comments.

To Advertise Call (609) 801-2392 • WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM Donoghue described to the mayor that she wanted to respond to Crook’s statements offered during an Oct. 28, 2020 committee meeting in response to her questions aired at a September committee meeting about recent bills submitted to the municipal government by Burns, who served as special counsel to Woodland following his February 2020 departure from the municipal solicitor post. Burns, as Donoghue previously pointed out, was selected by the township committee as special counsel on June 23, 2020 to handle only one of three GRC complaints filed by Donoghue that had still not been closed. The GRC complaint that was “open” at the time of the June 23 township committee decision has been a sore spot for Donoghue, who has contended, as previously reported by this newspaper, that the June 23 committee meeting was the first time she had heard the settlement paperwork for it had not been received by the state agency, and that the issue could have been resolved by municipal officials just simply communicating with her. Donoghue added that after that June 23 meeting, she resubmitted the paperwork, and had to followup four times before the issue was resolved. Donoghue, as this newspaper previously reported, contended “what is interesting” is that the third complaint is related to an OPRA request in which she purportedly requested time sheets for five township employees, including Brown, in her quest to see whether savings could be obtained by the municipality through salaries. Donoghue said that Brown had responded to that OPRA request by providing the time sheets for four of the five employees. She said time sheets for Brown were not provided, and unlike prior circumstances where the records custodian would notate the reason any documents weren’t provided in an OPRA response, no explanation was provided for the missing documents pertaining to the township clerk. Donoghue added that during the mediation, Burns said that “Brown doesn’t have any documents, she doesn’t fill out time sheets. She only answers to the township committee.” “All we (those who have suppor ted Donoghue’s initiative) were trying to do is find out how to save the township some money,” she said at the time, pointing to Brown’s onthe-record comments, in which DeGroff later backtracked, saying that the municipality was broke. “I am big on saving the township money, and if they paid people for the hours that they worked, they could save $80,000 a year. They don’t want to listen to me.” Donoghue also had told this newspaper she is “absolutely” convinced that what occurred during the June 23 meeting was a setup by officials to portray her as actually wanting to cost the township money. In September 2020, Donoghue had pointed out that despite the township committee only giving Burns the authority on June 23 to serve as special counsel to handle the unresolved GRC complaint, the special counsel submitted

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bills to the municipality prior to that agreement (dating back to April), and for other items, such as “conferring with clients over a Notice of Tort Claim,” and “reviewing a client’s article in the Pine Barrens Tribune.” She also previously noted that the bills show that the special counsel “ran conflict checks, prepared new files and drafted a contract for legal services.” The bills from Burns totaled more than $4,000. Officials couldn’t answer Donoghue’s September committee meeting questions about the bills, particularly why charges were submitted by Burns before the June 23 action taken by the committee, with Crook at the time “cautioning” officials that whatever is asked of Burns in terms of the advice, discussions and opinions he gave to the committee “is subject to attorney-client privilege.” That remark drew a rebuke from resident Terry Sheerin at the time who contended “the funds of the public—our taxpayer dollars—are the funds that pay for your fees, and for the employees.” She also later remarked on a public forum that “transparency has left the building” at town hall. Brown, during the Oct. 28 committee meeting, asked Crook if he would like to address Donoghue’s concerns about Burns’ billing since “she is on the line,” even though Donoghue did not announce herself at that meeting. The township clerk contended that she and Crook had since reviewed the bills submitted by Burns. Crook responded that he could “give a general response,” but that he would not “get into things” that is “subject to attorney-client privilege.” Crook had contended that there was “various correspondence,” along with voicemails and emails in March in regards to the GRC complaints, and that eventually Malamut & Associates was advised it needed to submit a “Statement of Information” on behalf of the municipality to the GRC. He added that it made sense for Burns (who joined the law firm of Carluccio, Leone, Dimon, Doyle and Sacks, LLC at the time of his leaving Woodland) to handle the matter since he previously “handled the file” and that he would not have to relearn it. Crook also contended that “the township,” in April, then directed Burns to “open a file” and “proceed ahead.” He a dded t hat on Apr il 2 , a GRC representative contacted Donoghue advising her that “she needed to return the signed settlements.” He contended that Donoghue told the GRC in an email reply that “she had been busy.” On April 27, Crook contended, “it appears” two of the settlements were received. Crook said that Burns was then informed on May 1, via email, by the GRC that the third settlement agreement had not been received from Donoghue. “Mr. Burns asked for a status update on May 19, and ultimately, at that point, (the GRC representative) responded he had reached out on April 7, 16, 20 and 28, as well as he had reached out (by phone) to Ms. Donoghue

Saturday, January 9, 2021 and there wasn’t response, and therefore, the complaint was being referred back to the GRC,” Crook said. “Again, Mr. Burns emailed on June 3 to check on the status and the (GRC representative) responded there was no settlement and Mr. Burns should proceed to file in the interest of proper representation of the township.” A nother GRC representative, Crook contended, received an email from Donoghue on July 6, 2020 asking for a status update on the open GRC complaint, but no settlement agreement had been received, and it was at that point the GRC asked the municipality for a “statement of information.” “We were advised the complaint was waiting adjudication, and subsequently to that, on July 7, finally the GRC confirmed it had received Ms. Donoghue’s withdrawal of the complaint and no further action was required,” Crook said. “In terms of the questions why Mr. Burns was involved, and what he did – I believe after reviewing his bills – it reflects what I just stated for the record and I do believe his bills were appropriate and necessary in light of the uncertainty over what was going on over Complaint No. 213.” Donoghue, after DeGroff allowed her to ultimately speak during the Nov. 24 committee meeting, said “several of my questions were not answered, or not addressed” by Crook in October, but that she would be “glad to wait” until Crook returned if that was the mayor’s preference. She added that she was not in a position to speak during the October meeting. The mayor asked her to wait until the township solicitor returned, and Donoghue agreed to comply. While Crook was not present during the Dec. 16 committee meeting, said to be absent for a second consecutive meeting due to a “scheduling issue,” once DeGroff closed public comment on Dec. 16, the mayor said he would like to have Burns address Donoghue’s recent questions about his billing. Burns contended that it was the township’s understanding that all three GRC complaints “were collectively resolved in mediation,” when he left Malamut & Associates, “but as time moved forward, only two mediation agreements were returned.” B u r n s c o nt e n d e d t h a t a f t e r m a ny communications star ting in May 2020 with GRC officials, which revealed that the complainant had been “unresponsive” to requests to return the third, missing complaint mediation agreement, the matter was then referred back to the GRC for adjudication. A decision, he added, was made to “respond vigorously” in offering a Statement of Information that was required ahead of pending adjudication, and that the statement given “was quite substantial,” because there was no signed agreement previously agreed to in mediation. “It was at that point that the complainant filed and sent the signed mediation agreement to the GRC, which ended the matter,” Burns said.

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SPEAKING (Continued from Page 18)

Burns contended that “with respect to reviewing the Notice of Tort Claim,” he was “specifically mentioned in it” and “specifically witnessed some of the alleged violations,” and that it discusses OPRA matters while he was involved with Malamut & Associates. Burns said that his review of this newspaper’s article was “centered around the various OPRA complaints that were filed at the GRC and pending.” “Based on the history here, the bills in totality were incurred in defending, or responding to, GRC complaint 2019-13, and reviewing the Notice of Tort Claim with respect to how OPRA requests were responded to …,” said Burns, noting a previously policy established under former Mayor Matthew Henrich that all OPRA requests had to be sent to the municipal solicitor, and that the claim questioned that policy. Burns added he did not know if that policy has been continued to be followed by the township since his departure as municipal solicitor. After Burns finished speaking, DeGroff asked Donoghue if the special counsel “cleared up her questions,” adding that he hoped that his remarks would “put this issue to bed.” Donoghue replied “yes and no,” reiterated “that she sent that thing (mediation agreement for the third complaint) back four times,” and then again asked about the billing from Burns that occurred from April to prior to the June 23 action taken by the committee that authorized the special counsel to handle only the third GRC complaint that had been still open. “Why was the resolution passed just specifically to handle that, but yet we were charged for Notice of Tort work, outside the scope of the resolution?” Donoghue asked. Burns, in response, contended that the first two GRC complaints were resolved while he was employed at Malamut & Associates, and that when he transferred to the new law firm, a GRC representative emailed him that the third GRC complaint was “open, but not in mediation,” and that the representative noted he followed up with Donoghue on April 7, 2020, April 16, 2020, April 20, 2020, and April 28, 2020 and she “‘neither returned the signed settlement agreement or otherwise got back to me.’” The open complaint, Burns noted, was referred back to the GRC for adjudication on May 31, 2020. Burns reiterated that “with respect to the Notice of Tort Claim,” the matter involved how OPRA requests are responded to, and he was the municipal attorney at the time, while at either Malamut & Associates, or possibly dating back to his days at the law firm of Capehart Scatchard, when the policy at issue relating to OPRA requests being sent to the municipal solicitor was put into place. “That was the reason Maryalice sent me the Notice of Tort Claim to review, to ensure, it was my understanding, that it continued,” said Burns, noting the Notice of Tort Claim was filed while he was still employed by Malamut & Associates. “I reviewed it after leaving Malamut & Associates, per Maryalice’s suggestion, to ensure everything was done in accordance with the policies and procedures.” Burns added that it took him “approximately 18 minutes” to review the Notice of Tort Claim and discuss with Brown. DeGroff noted that everything Burns

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recalled was his understanding of the situation, and added that Burns was “brought back” because he was “most familiar with it.” He then proceeded to ask Donoghue if she had any further questions, and she replied “no.” “Hopefully this will put this to rest, and that it will get this settled finally,” said DeGroff, to which Donoghue replied, “Yeah … uh huh … I have no more energy for it.” But the next day, on an area social media g roup, Don na Mull, a member of the Woodland Township Land Use Board, also the administrator of Pemberton Borough, wrote online “To the resident who filed a GRC complaint against our clerk about an OPRA request, instead of trying to work with her instead of against her, thanks for costing the taxpayers $4,000 in attorney fees to defend. Always on here bitc**** about taxes and wasting money, think about that next time you decide to file a complaint!!! You got the tongue lashing you deserved last night!” That Facebook posting, which has since been removed from social media, started the back-and-forth all over again, with Donoghue making several replies to it. “I always stand by the comments I make, and rarely, do I ever regret what I say,” Mull told this newspaper in a Jan. 5 interview when asked about the posting. Mull said that she was not worried she would be censored for making the remarks. “People should be more willing to work with the town, instead of always ready to sue and fight with them,” Mull contended. “My mother always taught me you catch more flies with honey, than with vinegar.” Mull was asked by this newspaper if she believed Donoghue had a right to speak her peace, even if one might not necessarily agree with her viewpoints, and if she also recognized the increasing concern in town over the resident being allowed to voice her opinions at a public meeting. “I think she should have right to speak her peace, but does not have the right to badger an employee at the meeting,” Mull replied. “I think when the mayor said to her, ‘If you have a complaint, make a complaint. But if you don’t have one, that is enough.’ I would say that goes for anybody.” Donoghue, during the Nov. 24 Woodland committee meeting, had been cut off from speaking her peace a second time during that meeting, when voicing concerns about Brown letting meeting attendees know that she is on the telephone line without her making her presence known (as occurred in October) and for another time in which the township clerk mentioned her by name in discussing the GRC complaints, revealing publicly that it was her who filed the GRC complaints. “If I want to announce myself, that is my right,” Donoghue said. “She does not have to use her condescending tone of voice like she did last month to let everyone know on the meeting …” As Donoghue made the remarks, that is when the laughter Donoghue spoke of during the Dec. 16 committee meeting was heard, and, shortly thereafter, DeGroff talked over Donoghue to stop her from speaking. “We are not going to make personal comments like this toward each other!” the mayor said. “This is not the time, or place, or kind of meeting to make these kinds of comments! I am not going to have that!” D u r i ng t he Wood la nd Com m it tee’s See SPEAKING/ Page 23

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Jan. 4 reorganization meeting, the Woodland committee appointed Burns and the law firm of Carluccio, Leone, Dimon, Doyle and Sacks, LLC as its municipal solicitor for 2021. “I am asking the elephant in the room – what happened to the other firm?” Sheerin asked. “Was it over cost, over their contract. Does anyone want to share that, or not?” One of the committee members subsequently asked, “Can we?” “We went out for Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for professional services, for all the professionals, not just the solicitor,” Brown said. “Mr. Burns’ firm, and Mr. Burns, we not only feel has more experience in this town, but their rate is slightly better.” Burns, when asked by Sheerin if he needed to get “up-to-speed” on anything going on in the township following his return after ten months, said his understanding of “open items” are a Route 72 redevelopment project, an ongoing dispute with a cellphone tower and conservation group, issues with both the state and federal environmental protection agencies, as well as some other legal matters pertaining to that and “potential condemnation of an unsafe property.” Burns invited Sheerin to call him after the

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meeting with any other issues that may not be on his radar, and noted in giving out his direct line, “it is a public number.” The next following day, Burns, along with Brown, participated in a lengthy interview with this newspaper—marking a sizable shift in the township’s approach over the last few months, which had included shying away from responding to requests for comment. “I will say, based on my experience here, Woodland Township has always conducted their meetings in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, as well as the requirements for open public participation, and will continue to do so,” Burns contended. Burns told this newspaper that Crook had members of the public identify themselves at the beginning of meetings “so nobody would be able to speak out of turn, and if they did, they would be able to be identified.” But when asked by this newspaper if the much scrutinized “roll call of the public” will be dropped, as this newspaper learned through a news tip, he replied “basically, yes.” “We are going to ensure that the meeting is done as they have been in accordance with all the new administrative codes and regulations promulgated by the division,” Burns said. “Having said that, after talking with the clerk yesterday, as well as the mayor, we are not going to require everyone to introduce themselves at the beginning of the meeting, verbally, so as

long as we maintain compliance with the New Jersey administrative code.” Burns noted that “there is no place in public meetings” for any township staff, committee people or members of the public to express any derogatory comments, generally. “I mean there is first amendment privileges … but meetings must be run in an orderly fashion,” Burns said. “And the mayor, who is the chair of the committee, has a right to stop people he believes are disrupting the orderly flow of the meeting.” When this newspaper asked Burns if he believed Donoghue was disrupting the proceedings by expressing concern about the laughter that was audible, he replied that he was not the solicitor at the time of the meetings in question. “I cannot tell you,” Burns added. “I did not have an opportunity to review those audio recordings. But I will say that moving forward, the committee will conduct all meetings in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act and ensure that all members of the public have an opportunity to address the committee in accordance with the act, and in accordance with their first amendment rights.” As for the implication by Donoghue that the laughter might have come from an official, Burns told this newspaper that “moving forward, the committee and all members of the staff, will conduct themselves in a professional matter,

as they have during committee meetings, and if they do not, or have been found not to, the committee will take appropriate actions with respect to that. “But again, it is the mayor’s position and committee’s position that they have, and the staff has conducted themselves appropriately and professionally in the past and will do so in the future.” In response to questions about Mull’s remarks, Burns pointed out to this newspaper that she is not an employee of the municipality, but rather a volunteer who serves on the Land Use Board. “All citizens enjoy First Amendment rights, and one of the founding tenants of the country is the ability to criticize not only one’s government, but to have different opinions,” Burns contended. “We have often heard the expression, ‘The only cure for bad speech is more speech,’ and we do not – and I speak for the committee with respect to this – condone or approve Ms. Mull’s statement, no do we criticize or condemn them. They are her statements, not the statements of the committee, or the township.” Burns, in conclusion, emphasized to this newspaper that the committee, and mayor, “firmly believe” everyone “has an equal right to participate” in meetings during public comment, and that “they can make any comments that they would like, regarding any topic.”

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Saturday, January 9, 2021

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