56 minute read
Happy Haunting
The mysterious disappearance in Stonehill
By Sarah Beauregard and Johannie Dufour Translated by Jasmine Heesaker Wanda the witch and Greg the ghost are two friends who live hidden in a clearing near Stonehill. Every year on Halloween night, they disguise themselves as humans to collect delicious sweets.
As Wanda waits for her partner in crime at their usual meeting place, she hears a commotion:
“My candy for the trick-or-treaters was stolen!” exclaims a man dressed as a pirate.
“Mine too!” an elderly woman shouts from her balcony.
“Same here!” yells a young couple in unison.
The neighbours soon gather in the street and begin exchanging theories on how their candy was stolen. Suddenly, Greg shows up, looking mischievous and wearing a sheet, so no one suspects he’s a real ghost.
“It was you!” Wanda accuses him immediately.
“What!? I’m not a trickster,” he answers with a wink.
“That’s right, so you’d better find my great hiding place right away!” laughs Greg. “I figured it all out when I ‘borrowed’ the candy last night. If you solve my riddle, they’ll get their candy back.
1. I’m full of colourful treasures of all shapes and sizes. 2. You must wear good shoes when you visit me to stock up. 3. I provide you with the vitamins you need to stay healthy.”
Wanda glances at the worried crowd. She must guess the answer quickly! She paces back and forth, thinking about it. Then, suddenly:
She bolts down the street as Greg chases after her with a sneer.
When she makes it to the U-pick farm up the road, the young witch looks everywhere for a potential hiding place. Wanda sees a row of pumpkin boxes and rushes over to discover one filled with treats.
Wanda cautiously hands over her broom. Greg removes the sheet he’s wearing and transforms it into a massive sack of candy, which he ties to the broom handle.
“It’s time to save Halloween,” he says, smiling.
“Well done,” she replies while mounting her broom.
On this memorable Halloween night, the town of Stonehill is showered with candy. The costumed children look up in awe and open their bags to collect the falling treats. Afterwards, some say they saw a strange shooting star, while others swear they heard joyful laughter echoing through the sky. Of course, no one will ever suspect that the candy showers are the work of a kind-hearted witch and a prankster ghost.
THE END
30 board games to celebrate Halloween
Are you looking for something fun to do with family and friends this Halloween? Here are 30 themed board games to discover — or rediscover.
FOR KIDS
Treat your kids (and yourself!) to one of these cooperative or competitive games suitable for young and old.
1. Ghost Blitz 2. Monster Chase 3. Zombie Kidz
Evolution 4. Similo: Spookies 5. The Mysterious Forest 6. The Legend of the Wendigo
FOR ATMOSPHERE
Dim the lights and get ready for a fun or frightening experience. Which will you choose?
1. Betrayal at House on the Hill 2. Black Stories 3. One Night Ultimate Werewolf 4. One Night Ultimate Vampire 5. Obscurio 6. Mystery House 7. Greenville 1989 8. Mysterium 9. Unlock! 10. Exit: The Game 11. The Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow
FOR CASUAL GAMERS
Get your teens or friends together and have fun playing one of these accessible and captivating games.
1. Sub Terra 2. The Little Death 3. Ghost Stories 4. Zombie Dice 5. Villainous 6. Mr. Jack 7. Onirim
FOR EXPERIENCED GAMERS
Roll up your sleeves and prepare to challenge yourself with one of these games for seasoned players who aren’t afraid of rulebooks.
1. Mansions of Madness 2. Eldritch Horror 3. Nemesis 4. Zombicide 5. Dead of Winter 6. Tiny Epic Zombies
If you feel like going out, visit a board game café near you to try out some fun, spooky-themed games.
Following Verdict in 2014 Suit Brought Against Pemberton Township by Some 30 Current and Former Cops, Settlement of $390K Reached
U.S. District Court Found There Had Been Violation of Federal Labor Law, Opening Door to ‘Fee Shifting,’ But Did Not Find Evidence of Retaliation; Settlement Covers Plaintiffs’ Attorney’s Fees, Plus Monetary Judgement
By Douglas D. Melegari
Staff Writer
PEMBERTON—An approximately $1 million lawsuit that was brought against Pemberton Township back in 2014 by 33 current and former officers of the Pemberton Township Police Department, who alleged that they were owed overtime compensation for “pre-and post-shift work,” in addition making “claims of retaliation,” has ultimately resulted in a court recently awarding $26,308.67 in collective unpaid overtime wages over a twoyear period to the 30 officers who ended up sticking with the suit all the way to trial, the Pine Barrens Tribune has learned, with the retaliation claims ending up being dismissed.
However, because there was a judgement against the township in a civil matter involving the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the municipality is also required to pay the police officers’ legal fees, according to both Pemberton Business Administrator Daniel Hornickel and Pemberton Mayor David Patriarca, with the parties having recently settled to pay $390,000 in total to the cops (collectively), which includes the entered judgement (which ended up being doubled by the court) and attorney’s fees.
Considering the municipality was originally facing a $1 million suit, on top of its own legal fees, as well as facing the prospect of having to pay the plaintiffs’ attorney’s fees in the ballpark of “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” the township, in an Oct. 26 statement provided to this newspaper, emphasized that they believed the settlement is a “win” for the taxpayers.
The township also called the final judgement in collective unpaid overtime wages one that is “modest,” and a “paltry amount” considering what the officers had originally sought from the court.
Patriarca, in suggesting to this newspaper the suit was frivolous, pointed to a “time clock policy” that had “specifically prevented the sworn police officers from performing any work before or after their shifts without obtaining authorization,” with the township release containing his remarks adding that it came about as members of the local PBA “were unhappy with the status of ongoing collective bargaining negotiations at the time” and was filed “on the eve of the mayor’s re-election.”
The case involving the officers, Thomas Stewart II, et. als, v. Pemberton, was filed in U.S. District Court. The suit had alleged that “the defendants,” or the “township,” had failed to pay them “overtime wages for pre-and post-shift work” between November 2011 and October 2014 and then “retaliated” against them after they had filed their initial complaint in the court on Oct. 30, 2014.
Specifically, the former and current employees of the police department brought claims for violations of the FLSA, retaliation under the FLSA, violations of state wage and hour law and retaliation under state wage and hour laws.
According to a copy of a Pemberton Township Council resolution “authorizing” the settlement agreement, the plaintiffs in the See SETTLEMENT/ Page 6
GOP Challengers for 3 Evesham Council Seats, Including Mayor’s, Combine Community Ties with Experience in Finance, Business
Dennis Mehigan, Michael Thompson and Bonnie Olt Hoping for Chance to Revitalize Downtown, Be More Responsive to Retailers and Residents
Photo Provided
Republican hopefuls for Evesham Township Council, from left to right, Michael Thompson, Bonnie Olt and Dennis Mehigan.
By Bill Bonvie
Staff Writer
EVESHAM—The GOP contenders for three open Evesham Township Council seats in next month’s general election, including that of mayor, bring some qualifications to the table that could well pose a serious challenge to the three incumbents now running for re-election on the presently all-Democratic council.
Should mayoral candidate Dennis Mehigan and his running mates, Bonnie Olt and Michael Thompson, manage to win over more voters than the current mayor, Jaclyn “Jackie” Veasy, Deputy Mayor Heather Cooper and Councilwoman Patricia Hansen, it would put this most populous of Burlington County municipalities back under the control of a Republican majority, as it was prior to the election victories of the latter council members back in 2018 (the other two incumbent Democrats, Eddie Freeman III and Ginamarie Espinosa, having been elected two years later).
Besides having deep hometown roots in Evesham, both Mehigan and Olt possess considerable experience in financial disciplines. Mehigan has spent more than 20 years as a certified public accountant as well as being a certified fraud examiner, a specialty he has also utilized during his 15year tenure as manager for a multi-state law firm with 65 attorneys, while Olt has served as a credit risk analyst for the federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, since 2019 and a project analyst See COUNCIL/ Page 7
November 8th LET'S TRY HARDER VOTE APPLEGATE
SOUTHAMPTON TWP. SCHOOL BOARD
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Saturday, October 29, 2022 AD HOTLINE: (609) 801-2392 or SALES@PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES ♦ Page 5
New Addition Added to Pemberton Police Headquarters to Provide
Locker Room Space to Township Officers and Offices for Senior Staff
The Pemberton Township Police Department with its new addition.
Photo By Douglas D. Melegari
By Douglas D. Melegari
Staff Writer
PEMBERTON—A new addition for the headquarters of the Pemberton Township Police Department, located at 500 Pemberton-Browns Mills Road, is nearing completion.
Made of three modular units, according to Pemberton Township Mayor David Patriarca, the addition has “probably added about 40 percent of usable space for the police department.”
The addition, he said, was attached to the “back” of the existing police department facility.
“When you go inside, you don’t realize it was three modular units put together,” the mayor maintained. “It is basically a new unit there.”
The new space, according to Patriarca, will consist of offices for senior policing staff, including for the department’s lieutenants and police chief, the latter title currently held by Jay Watters.
“It also has a common area in there that they can use for training purposes,” Patriarca said. “There are also two, brandnew locker rooms, one for the male officers and one for the female officers.”
Those locker rooms, he explained, are “equipped with showers, bathrooms, etc.” for use by the officers.
Overall, according to the mayor, the addition will “relieve some of the space being occupied in our smaller police department currently” and “allow them to utilize that space for other purposes within the department.”
The department’s facility, with the added addition, “looks and feels more like a building,” Patriarca contended, “as opposed to what was there previously,” noting that what had been there “kind of just felt like a couple of construction trailers.”
“This is a much nicer feel,” declared the mayor, a former township cop himself, in regard to the department with the added addition.
Patriarca told this newspaper in an Oct. 25 interview that “everything is accessible now from the inside,” which is part of the intent of the project, whereas before, officers wishing to use certain police department facilities had to go outside first to the construction trailers that had been set up.
Another of the reasons behind the “whole new upgrade,” Township Solicitor Andrew “Andy” Bayer explained, is to “improve the workspace for the police officers.”
That is important, the mayor added, because “we have experienced some officers who find the grass is greener on other side of the fence and they’ll move on to another department,” and the “most received response” when an officer decides to leave the department has been that they want to “work closer to home.”
“Well, if we can make it nicer for them here, and give them something in which they don’t mind driving a little bit to come to work, we’ll do that,” said Patriarca of the project’s impetus. “We have a lot of good officers, and we are getting more and more younger officers who are coming on who really have an interest in our community, and serving our community, and we want to keep them here. But we have to do that by providing amenities that make them feel comfortable.”
At the same time that the police department has had an addition put on it, the township’s Department of Public Works, the mayor noted, has been working to repaint the municipal building, which is part of the same complex as the police department.
The “sprucing up of the building,” he maintained, has made it look “crisper,” pointing out that all of the paint work has been done by Public Works, resulting in a “substantial savings” to local taxpayers.
As for the police department addition project, Patriarca said $1 million was budgeted, and somewhere between $850,000 and $900,000 was spent thus far. Pemberton Township Council, on Oct. 19, awarded an additional $16,165 contract to Mill Creek Contracting, LLC, for curb and sidewalk installation around the revamped police station.
Previously, Joseph and Company was awarded a $7,450 contract for the plumbing and sewer installation inside the addition, and ARH Associates (the township’s contracted engineering firm) was awarded $29,500 for field survey and site preparation work for the addition project.
On March 17, 2021, council had authorized the purchase of a 36.5 x 52-foot modular building from Modular Genius Inc., through the Keystone Purchasing Network, for $644,697.
Once the curbing and sidewalk around the police station is completed, along with a “punch list” of items, the mayor expects the addition to open and be occupied.
“By the time you factor in the municipal employees and so forth (with Public Works having painted the walls and installed drop ceilings inside the addition), it is a substantial investment into that department, and rightfully so,” declared Patriarca of the close to $1 million investment into the police department retrofitting. “They have certainly outgrown the space that they are in. So, this should make a better working environment for the officers, and hopefully they will finish out their careers here.”
By Douglas D. Melegari
Staff Writer
PEMBERTON—Regulations regarding “noise” have been tightened in Pemberton Township, to now include an earlier prohibition on “loud and disturbing noises” during most weeknights.
Previously, yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling or singing on the public streets, was prohibited in Pemberton Township “particularly between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.”
But now such activity is prohibited in town “particularly between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., Sunday through Thursday, and between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. Friday and Saturday.”
“This just adjusts the times when you are supposed to refrain from loud and disturbing noises,” explained Councilman Paul Detrick during an Oct. 19 Pemberton Township Council meeting in which the new regulations were approved. “Otherwise, the ordinance remains essentially the same as it was before.”
Yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling or singing remains prohibited any time of the day in the township if it “annoys or disturbs the quiet, comfort or repose of persons in any office, dwelling, hotel, motel or other type of residence, or of any persons in the vicinity,” according to a copy of the new noise ordinance obtained by this newspaper.
Additionally, the playing, use or operation of any “radio receiving set, television, musical instrument, loudspeaker, amplifier or other machine or device for the producing or reproducing of sound” with “louder volume than is necessary for convenient hearing for persons who are in the room or building in which the machine or device is operated, and who are voluntary listeners,” or what is “clearly audible at a distance of 50 feet,” is now also prohibited between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. Friday and Saturday, versus what had been any day between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
“It is moving it back to 9 p.m.,” said Municipal Solicitor Andrew “Andy” Bayer in explaining the intent of the ordinance.
The changes were the result of recommendations from the “administration,” Detrick noted.
Resident Michelle Forman declared “this is a good thing,” noting that she has discussed noise problems in town for some 20 years.
“I love it!” Forman declared. “This is a really good thing.”
However, Forman maintained that she felt the language of the ordinance is such that it almost gives one the “impression” that loud noises are allowable outside of the specified times.
“There are limitations to noise levels pertaining to all hours of the day,” replied Mayor David Patriarca.
However, according to Detrick, “while there is probably a limit to everything, in general, if you want to be in your backyard, having a BBQ and playing music, this tells you when you ought to shut down.”
Councilman Donovan Gardner indicated that a violation of the noise ordinance during the daytime would possibly kick-in if one knocked on their neighbor’s door, and mentioned, “you can turn it down a little bit, I am trying to sleep,” and the request was ignored.
“If they didn’t turn it down, they would probably say, ‘We got a neighbor here who is playing loud music. Can you come and talk to them?’”
Gardner suggested that the intent of the ordinance is to provide some guidelines for someone who has a “big rock band in their backyard on a Saturday,” but Forman, who has had past issues with dogs in her neighborhood, inquired if a provision could be added for “barking dogs.”
“Generally speaking, when you have a specific ordinance regarding the dogs, it is better to have that,” replied Detrick, with Gardner pointing out there is already an existing township ordinance regarding animals that addresses barking dogs.
Exceptions to the noise rules have always broadly applied to municipal government, law enforcement and other emergency operations, as well to places of worship.
An added exemption has been carved out specifically for “activities of municipal or public utilities or municipal Public Works to respond to emergencies, public health or safety issues or to repair critical infrastructure.”
“I’d love to have a quieter town,” Forman declared. “I’ll just love it.”
Tompkins Again Seeking to Replace Patriarca as Pemberton Twp. Mayor, with Two Newcomers Hoping to Oust Council Members Burton and Allen
Republican Trio’s Goal Is to Make Township a More Inviting Locale for Business
By Bill Bonvie
Staff Writer
PEMBERTON—Longtime Democratic Pemberton Township Mayor David Patriarca is once again being opposed by former Republican Councilman Jack Tompkins, who has joined forces with two newcomers to the political arena who are hoping to establish a GOP presence on the township’s now solidly Democratic fivemember council.
Running on the Republican side of the ballot along with Tompkins in next week’s general election are Pemberton township natives Dan Dewey, who recently retired from the automotive business, during which he arranged for vocational students to be trained by Subaru to become apprentices and eventually employees at dealerships, as well as having spent 30 years on the Burlington County Institute of Technology Advisory Board, and Joshua Ward, a Medford Township restaurateur and a former commander of the U.S Naval Sea Cadet Corps at Fort Dix who currently serves with the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary in Manahawkin and as a member of the Berkeley Township Underwater Search and Rescue Squad.
Tompkins, a retired U.S. Air Force NCO who was elected to the fill the unexpired 14-month term of Councilwoman Sherry Scull but lost a re-election bid in 2016, last challenged Patriarca four years ago, garnering a total of 3,669 votes compared to the 3,965 that won the incumbent mayor a fourth term.
This time, he told the Pine Barrens Tribune in an Oct. 25 phone interview, he is hoping that popular momentum in favor of the GOP, in contrast to the “blue wave” of 2018, will turn the tide and get him elected, as well as helping his running mates oust Democratic incumbents Gaye Burton, the current council president, and Jason Allen.
Should all three manage to succeed in that effort, their goal, they say, will be to create a friendlier climate for business in Pemberton Township, which has been attempting to revitalize a commercial district that has had its share of struggles in recent years.
“I don’t have a crystal ball, but if I had to guess, I would say this election is going to be See MAYOR/ Page 8
Photo By Tom Valentino
Jeff Fortune, a Republican candidate running for county commissioner, says he would not have it any other way than attending in person the LeisureTowne Candidates’ Forum on Oct. 19.
OVERLAY
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The county commissioners, also on Sept. 14, authorized the “re-issuance and advertisement of the solicitation of bids for the 2020 state overlay program,” according to the public record, this time receiving five bids by an Oct. 4 deadline.
But, on Oct. 12, the county commissioners passed 4-0 a resolution rejecting those bids too (with Commissioner Tom Pullion abstaining), following a review reportedly conducted by the county purchasing agent, county solicitor, Department of Public Works, and Division of Engineering, and a subsequent recommendation. The reason for the latest rejection, according to the public document, is that “the lowest bid substantially exceeds County of Burlington’s appropriation for the budget.”
“It is further recommended that the county enter negotiations to award the contract,” the Oct. 12 resolution rejecting the bids continued.
It is permissible in local and county government that when bids for a project exceed the allotted budget, after two tries, a governmental agency can instead negotiate to award a bid, rather than award one to the lowest responsible bidder.
County Republicans, however, maintained in the press release that the Democratic commissioners have “dragged their feet for six months.”
David Levinsky, the county’s public information officer, later told this newspaper that “in general” the county awards a bid “within 45 days” of a project being advertised for bid solicitations, but that in this instance, the county, since April, “had to make some addendums that caused the process to be longer.”
The GOP, in its press release, also charged that “even if the board were to pull itself together in time to award a contract in the coming weeks, it would then be too cold to begin work,” maintaining that the county commissioners could thereby miss a deadline and have the $10 million relinquished.
“They will relinquish $10 million because we didn’t act on fulfilling our commitment to pave those roads,” Fortune told the crowd at the LeisureTowne forum.
The GOP press release went further in charging that “residents will endure roads in disrepair through at least next year,” maintaining, “Burlington County’s allDemocrat Commissioner Board has made history in the worst way – by not paving even one mile of county roads as part of the annual road overlay program.”
According to the bid specifications posted online, the roads that are supposed to be part of the 2020 overlay program (the year involved in the title is based on the funding source year) involve portions of Marter Avenue in Mount Laurel and Moorestown townships, Woodlane Road in Westampton Township, Irick Road in Westampton, Eayerestown Road in Lumberton, Mount Holly-Smithville Road as well as Powell Road in Eastampton Township, Monmouth Road in Eastampton and Springfield townships, Mount Holly-Jacksonville Road in multiple towns, Burlington-Bustleton Road in Florence Township, BordentownCrosswicks Road in Chesterfield Township, Chesterfield Road in Chesterfield, Main Street in Chesterfield, Wrightstown-Cookstown Road in New Hanover and North Hanover townships, Browns Mills-Cookstown Road in New Hanover, Westfield/Tom Brown Road in Moorestown, Red Lion Road in Southampton, Tuckerton Road in Medford, as well as Eayerestown Road in Southampton.
Levinsky, after being presented with the allegations from the GOP, responded that the county’s annual overlay program is actually “another county success story.”
“Last year, the county repaved just over 28 miles of roadway in 17 municipalities, and it completed dozens of outstanding items and ‘punch list’ work on those roads this year,” he said. “And the Burlington County Division of Roads and Bridges filled close to 5,000 potholes and used over 3,000 tons of asphalt fill while performing emergency repairs and other small paving jobs on both county roads and local ones as part of shared service agreements with various municipalities.”
He pointed out that while the “commissioners are committed to maintaining and enhancing infrastructure,” the members are also “elected to provide prudent fiscal oversight to ensure both taxpayer dollars and grant funds are spent appropriately and efficiently.”
That is why, he noted, the “county’s record of having the lowest average county tax” in 2019, 2020 and 2021 is a “testament to their (the county commissioner’s) leadership.”
“In the case of the current year’s overlay plan, the county solicited bids twice already in 2022 and on both occasions the bids received greatly exceeded the engineer’s cost estimates,” Levinsky explained. “The county is now in negotiations on an acceptable contract and is hopeful that work will be able to commence soon.”
He added that “while the paving is weatherdependent,” work has “successfully been completed during winter months on several occasions previously.”
The county, he noted, is also “readying a request for bids for next year’s program” and “there is no reason that work cannot be undertaken simultaneously to this year’s resurfacing.”
The Pine Barrens Tribune, in locating online the copies of the five bids the county received on Oct. 4, learned that they ranged anywhere from $12,624,513 to $15,996,051, or ran approximately $2 to $5 million above the reportedly $10 million contribution from the state.
However, Levinsky pointed out to this newspaper that the county can also contribute funding toward any road overlay program, and while he said he did not know the specific bid values, and he was not at liberty to reveal the county engineer’s estimate (due to the active negotiations), he could say that the bids were “approximately over by $1.2 million.”
But still, Fortune charged during the LeisureTowne event that rejection of the bids is an example of where “our current administration thinks the rules don’t apply to them.” In light of Eckel not showing up to the forum, and the fact that two affected roads are in Southampton where LeisureTowne is based, Fortune tried to convince attendees “many people here have a lack of representation in Mount Holly,” something he repeated several times over the course of his allotted five minutes to the local seniors.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said of attending the LeisureTowne forum in person. “I would move heaven and hell to be here, in person, to see your faces. I am running to serve as a check and balance on the one-party rule here in Mount Holly, in Burlington County. We have such a lack of representation; such individuals as you don’t have a voice. We need someone who is going to come in and represent the voiceless.”
Eckel, in her statement, however, maintained “community involvement is a duty” that her father, a Vietnam Navy Seabee, taught her at an early age, pointing out that as a “military spouse” who at one time lived in Germany, she led the Family Readiness Group for the 561st DENTAC during the unit’s deployment to Iraq.
“This was the first time I saw how my education and energy can be used to serve my community by connecting people with the resources offered by the government,” she wrote. “I was responsible for the well-being of the unit’s families on the base, as well as those back in the states.”
It’s that service, she maintained, that “set the tone for the types of community opportunities” she sought when she and her family settled in Medford, including serving on the township’s Economic Development Commission.
“As a county commissioner, connecting people with government resources is the most important part of my job,” she wrote. “The county’s resources address our quality of life in Burlington County.”
She added that “we offer” items such as
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case sought more than $1 million in “wages and damages.”
The retaliation allegation, according to a detailed court-issued opinion narrative obtained by this newspaper, stemmed from when about a month after the October 30, 2014, complaint was filed, on November 5, 2014, the township changed schedules for “patrol police officers from 12 to eight-hour shifts,” and then two days later, the police locker room was said to be “unavailable” for “renovations.”
Additionally, on Nov. 10, 2014, according to the narrative, the township had issued a “press release” after the complaint was filed, calling the lawsuit “frivolous” and denying any allegations in the complaint.
After the November 2014 township press release maintained “the residents of Pemberton Township deserve much better than the nonsense filed by the 33 plaintiffs” and pointed out the township planned to defend the lawsuit “vigorously,” on or about Nov. 13, 2014, the township was alleged by the plaintiffs to have filed “internal affairs complaints against the plaintiffs,” though “no action was ever taken on these complaints.”
In defending itself against the alleged wage and hour law violations, the township responded that it has maintained a timeclock policy since June 10, 2010, prohibiting pre-and post-shift work, and that the plaintiffs also failed to file any grievances.
But the plaintiffs reportedly argued that the township and police department’s then-leaders were actually aware that the officers were doing pre-and-post shift work from November 2011 through October 2014 and “intentionally disregarded” the timeclock policy.
Robert Lewandowski, who was the township’s chief of police between November 2007 and July 2010, reportedly testified that it was “cultural knowledge” that officers were “expected to prepare their vehicle and Saturday, October 29, 2022 “food security, housing security, workforce development, economic development, infrastructure, support for veterans, support for those with disabilities, programming for parks and a vast trail system, open space preservation, farmland preservation, and, of course, the county’s high school and community college.”
She also pointed out in the statement that she currently oversees the county’s departments of Resource Conservation and Parks, Military and Veterans Services, and Public Safety, as well as is the county governing body’s liaison to the Board of Social Services.
“My challenger attacks my integrity with spin, misinformation and sometimes flat out lies,” she declared in the statement. “Some people call that a normal campaign, but I don’t play those games. I am here to do the job. I am here to serve my community the way my father taught me. I am proud of my record and work I have done this year – and the good things we are working on in the county.”
After the LeisureTowne forum concluded, however, the county GOP put out a second press release sharply criticizing Eckel, who last year unsuccessfully ran for one of two 8th District Assembly seats, for “being absent” from the forum for a “second year in a row.”
“It is a shame Allison Eckel blew off this important event,” said Fortune through the release. “The LeisureTowne Civic League works hard to put on this event each year, and voters show up to hear directly from the candidates. Well, Allison Eckel robbed the voters of that opportunity Wednesday night. This is just another example of how Allison Eckel thinks the rules don’t apply to her and that she can do whatever she wants, whenever she wants.”
Fortune, in attending the function, revealed “unfortunately, in my life, my wife and I lost a child, so I always thought it was important to give back to our future.” He also revealed that his uncle “ended up dying in streets of Philly with a needle in his arm.”
The loss of a child led him to run for local school board, while the loss of his uncle, he explained, caused him to partner with the City of Philadelphia in participating in the Fair Chance Hiring Initiative.
“I believe in giving people a second chance, not only allowing them to pay their debt back to society, but to give them a sense to be part of it – a sense of, ‘Hey, I am working, paying my finances, and paying my bills,” Fortune said. “Most importantly – giving back, a sense of self worse, as when they come from drug rehab, they are lost. But they are looking for a chance to give back to society.”
Having his company employ “many people returning from incarceration and drug institutions” is “such a fulfilling role for me,” he declared.
Eckel, in her statement aired during the forum, noted she and her fellow county commissioners are “committed to continuing to keep the county tax rate flat while continuing to support” the long list of services she touched upon.
“And, I always have plans for ways we can improve communications, deliverability and efficiencies,” she wrote.
equipment before the scheduled start of their shift.”
“Even after the timeclock policy was implemented in June 2010, plaintiffs have testified that Chief Lewandowski and (subsequent) Chief (David) Jantas were aware of, and encouraged, officers to disregard the timeclock policy during their respective time as chiefs,” the narrative states. “Two plaintiffs have testified that officers were told to clock in within seven minutes of their scheduled shift and to ready their vehicles before the start of their shift.”
One officer apparently testified that Jantas told him “they (the township) can make the See SETTLEMENT/ Page 7
(Continued from Page 6)
policies, but I run the day-to-day operations and we are going to do what we have to do to make it work.” However, Jantas, in his testimony, reportedly stated, he was not “aware of any practice or efforts by officers that did any work prior to the start of their work” and he “was never put under undue pressure to be in early” from his superiors when he first began working in 1994.
Former Pemberton business administrator Dennis Gonzalez also reportedly testified that he “was not aware” of the pre-and-postshift work being conducted by officers until an accident involving an officer who was performing such work in October 2013, and upon learning of the work, ordered it must “absolutely stop” and directed Jantas to “explicitly prohibit” others from violating the policy.
While three plaintiffs had ultimately “voluntarily dismissed their complaints against the township,” 30 former and current police officers moved forward with having a “trial.”
Following what was described in the resolution a “multi-day trial,” the District Court issued a “final judgment” in favor of the plaintiffs in the aggregate amount of $27,623.95 (having also only found overtime claims before 2013 valid).
However, because the court “did not believe or accept the sworn testimony of the thenpolice chief that he was unaware of the patrol staff and the sergeants performing pre-shift work” despite “his direct order forbidding the work and the township policies and PBA (Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local 260) agreement the township administration put in place to ensure no uncompensated work was performed,” the court increased the amount owed to $53,247 in a judgement entered on April 19, 2022.
A lieutenant had also testified in the matter that “officers are not mandated in any way to perform duty off the clock.”
In the event of an “adverse verdict” in a FSLA matter, defendants become liable for “fee shifting,” and in this case, the municipality was required to pay the plaintiffs’ attorney fees, estimated to have racked up to $589,785.73.
Indian Harbor Insurance Company, the township’s insurance carrier, per the resolution, “disputed coverage for litigation,” but agreed to “contributing a large percentage” of any settlement amount.
The township and 30 current and former law enforcement officers – Thomas Stewart II, Peter Delagraza, Michael Geibel, Shannon Fallen, Robert A. Shinn, Jason Luis, Arthur H. Shinn, John Hall, Daniel Matthews, Anthony Luster, Wayne Davis, Vincent Cestare, Jason M. Gant, Michael C. Brewer, Bruce Phillips, Sean Smith, Shannon Lagaff, Thomas Lucas, Andre Byrd, David Geibel, Perry J. Doyle, Robert Hood, Kenneth M. Volk, John P. Laffan, Shaun Meyers, Michael Bennett, David Sawyer, Charles Bennett, Stephen Price, and Justin Kreig – arrived at a $390,000 settlement agreement for both the attorney’s fees and judgement in late July of this year, according to public records.
The settlement was formally authorized by Pemberton council during its Aug. 3 meeting, and signed by Patriarca that same day, with a separate council resolution authorizing an emergency appropriation of $69,382.66 also approved on Aug. 3, which represents the township’s contribution toward the settlement that is not covered by insurance, according to Hornickel.
The plaintiffs and their “respective heirs, family members, executors, agents and/or assigns,” in exchange for payment, according to a copy of the signed and executed settlement agreement obtained by this newspaper, “fully released and forever discharged” the township and its representatives from any “claim, complaint, charge, duty, obligation, demand, grievance or cause of action and/or relating to or arising from the facts upon which this action was based.”
The agreement also contains a “no admission of liability” clause noting “this agreement is not and shall not in any way be considered or construed as an admission of wrongdoing and/or liability by the defendant of any kind, including, but not limited to, discrimination, retaliation, tortious conduct, or of any violation of any laws, common laws, or federal, state, and local laws, statutes or regulations, or of any employment policies, township policies, regulations, standard operating procedures, practices, contracts, or agreements, of any alleged duties owed by defendant, or of any unlawful or wrongful acts whatsoever by defendant.”
“Notwithstanding the judgment, the defendant wholly denies wrongdoing of any kind and is entering into this agreement to amicably resolve any and all disputes in anyway related to the action with the plaintiffs, and to avoid continuing litigation costs and risks,” it is added in the settlement agreement.
The court, however, had previously found there “is evidence that patrol officers were doing pre-and-post-shift work without extra pay during the period of November 2011 through October 2014,” and that with respect to the retaliation claims, “the mayor asked Chief Jantas to conduct research and look into changing patrol schedules to save money in overtime costs,” and that “the change in shift hours was associated with ‘manpower’ and ‘feasibility’ issues with the police department,” with the “plaintiffs having offered no contrary evidence.”
Additionally, it is noted that the “defendants presented evidence that access to the locker room was never actually removed, but temporarily suspended for renovations, and that the mayor testified that it was done to “eliminate extraneous access” and to stop “officers from coming in whenever they wanted to,” with the court determining “this evidence is undisputed.”
As for the alleged internal affairs complaints, the court determined, “in any event, no action was taken against plaintiffs as a result of the internal affairs complaints and plaintiffs did not suffer any adverse employment action,” and noted the “plaintiffs offer no evidence to the contrary or show that the township had no legal right to file internal affairs complaints.”
“Finally, plaintiffs assert that defendants retaliated by circulating ‘a false press release attacking the plaintiffs in an attempt to smear them,’” the opinion concludes. “Press releases are legitimate means for local government agencies to share information and updates with their constituents. The press release here, not surprisingly, presents the defendants’ side of the story and includes a statement that the ‘frivolous lawsuit shall be defended vigorously.’ While it is strongly worded, it is clearly not retaliatory conduct.”
The township’s statement to this newspaper on Oct. 26 of this week about the settlement started out by contending that “33 sworn police officers and members of the Local PBA 260, unhappy with the status of ongoing collective bargaining negotiations at the time, filed a lawsuit against the township and the mayor in October of 2014, on the eve of the mayor’s re-election, alleging that the township failed to compensate patrol officers and sergeants for duties they alleged to have performed before and after their scheduled shifts.”
It then pointed out that “a large percentage of the plaintiff officers have since retired from service.”
“Through their initial court filing and several subsequent amendments to their complaint, which included purported acts of retaliation, the sworn police officers sought more than $1 million from the Pemberton Township taxpayers in unpaid overtime wages and damages,” the statement continued.
The sworn police officers alleged in court filings they performed 25 minutes of pre-shift and 15 minutes of post-shift work for which they were not compensated. Eight years later, after dismissing all of the officers’ purported retaliation claims, and one full year of wage claims as a matter of law, the Federal Court granted a modest judgment in the officers’ favor.”
While the Oct. 26 statement contended that “the federal judge found the officers’ witnesses to have provided conflicting testimony about how much overtime they purportedly worked,” the municipality acknowledged that the “judge also disregarded the sworn testimony of the township’s former police chief, who testified that the sworn officers were ordered not to perform any overtime work without their supervisor’s approval and that he was completely unaware they were performing unsanctioned overtime work.”
“The judge found the officers weren’t performing any post-shift overtime work whatsoever and also determined that the officers performed only 10 minutes of pre-shift work – a stark contrast to the sworn officers’ claims that they were working 40 minutes of unpaid overtime per shift,” the township maintained. “The Federal Court awarded the police officers $26,308.67 in collective unpaid overtime wages over a two-year period, or $876.95 per plaintiff. Considering the average officer worked about 400 shifts over that twoyear period, the damages compute to about $2.19 per officer, per shift.”
However, the municipality in the statement recognized that “unfortunately, the total expense to the taxpayers was far greater than the judgment amount because the law requires the township to pay the sworn police officers’ legal fees.”
“These fees, along with the township’s attorney’s fees, ran into the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” the Oct. 26 statement continued. “Because the officers sued for more than $1 million and received the paltry amount awarded by the court, this is clearly a win for the township and its taxpayers.”
It was also pointed out that the township’s insurance carrier covered about half of the total damages, “a huge savings to taxpayers.”
“I fought this fight on behalf of our taxpayers and residents because the mayor’s office, as the Appropriate Authority under law, enacted a Time Clock Policy in 2010, more than three years before the alleged pre-shift work allegedly occurred, that specifically prevented the sworn police officers from performing any work before or after their shifts without obtaining authorization from their sergeant supervisors,” said Patriarca through the Oct. 26 statement. “We enacted this policy to insulate the township from liability for the exact claims brought by the sworn police officers. Unfortunately, some of the police department’s command staff, and the named sworn police officer’s blatantly disobeyed the township’s policy for their own personal benefit.
“The police department is a quasi-military organization, and all sworn officers are required to directly obey all orders from their supervisors, which included compliance with the Time Clock Policy. As a former Pemberton Township Police Officer, I find it inconceivable that a sworn police officer would directly disobey an order of the police chief and that the chief’s command staff, including the police sergeants who filed suit, and who did not enforce the department’s orders regarding overtime. But that is what the Federal Court found in this case. There was clearly a breakdown in the chain of command under the former police chief.”
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for more than five years before that.
Thompson is the proprietor of a local insurance agency that provides all kinds of coverage and represents some 70 different carriers in 13 states, having previously been a sales agent for Liberty Mutual in Evesham for seven years.
In addition to their professional areas of specialization, each of the trio’s members has a background of service in various municipal and civic capacities.
Mehigan, for example, has served for the past six years on the Evesham Township Board of Education, where he has chaired the finance committee, as well as being a member of the personnel and policy committees, and was also a member of, as well as school board liaison for, the municipal Planning Board for four years until his term expired in June, and has been a coach with Marlton Recreation Council Youth Sports.
Olt has also played an active role in educational oversight, having served on the local school board for 16 years and on the Lenape Regional High School District Board of Education for the past five years before resigning to run for council, as well as having been previously involved in parent organizations while her own children were in school.
Thompson holds the distinction of being current district governor of Rotary International District 7505, which encompasses some 73 chapters of the service organization in South and Central Jersey (a role in which he has helped the Sunrise Rotary Club of Medford promote its fundraising drive to purchase ambulances to transport injured civilians in Ukraine that was chronicled in previous editions of this newspaper, as well as coordinating a campaign to support a beleaguered Ukrainian orphanage).
In addition, his achievements as a board member of the Marlton Business Association and chair of Marlton Day on Main Street have included leading an effort to better coordinate the events being sponsored by various local organizations so that they didn’t conflict with each other, he told this newspaper.
Thompson’s civic activities have also included membership in the Marlton Elks and serving on the board of the Evesham Education Foundation and the Township Council’s Economic Advisory Committee until Veasy asked him to step down, he maintains, following his decision to change his political affiliation from Independent to Republican and announce his candidacy for a council seat.
Prior to that, however, the mayor and council had seen fit to recognize his contributions to the local scene with a “Power of One” award two year ago, he noted. He was also honored with a “Citizen of the Year” citation by the Evesham Police Department earlier this year.
In separate phone interviews conducted by the Pine Barrens Tribune, all three candidates indicated that one of their primary goals should they be elected to the council would be to find ways to optimize the township’s desirability as a business-friendly locale.
In Mehigan’s view, “our business environment in Evesham Township needs to be revitalized,” which he called “one of our top focuses.” And while he wouldn’t say the current council has “done nothing” toward bringing this about, he is also of the opinion that local businesses “do not feel they are See COUNCIL/ Page 8
Page 8 ♦ LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES
WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM Probe into Carjacking at Medford Wawa Remains Active, ‘Top Priority’, But Police Have Since Recovered Stolen Vehicle and Made One Arrest
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MEDFORD—Authorities are investigating an apparent weekend carjacking of a woman that took place at a Wawa store in Medford Township, located at the intersection of Eayrestown Road and Route 70.
One arrest has since been made in the case, as confirmed on Oct. 27 by Lt. James D’Averso, a spokesman for the Medford Township Police Department, but the “investigation is still active.”
Three male suspects, according to a press release from Medford Police, dressed in dark clothing, “approached the victim while she was waiting at the air pump in the rear of the building” around 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 22.
That’s when one of the suspects, police said, “physically removed the victim” from her 2015 Black Nissan Rogue.
The woman was uninjured in the incident, police maintained.
The suspect who removed the victim from her vehicle was described by police as weighing around 140 pounds and is believed to be in his late teens or early 20s. He was later observed operating the Nissan towards Eayrestown Road, according to police.
“Security video obtained of the incident showed the three suspects exit the parking lot with no additional victims reported,” Medford Police reported. “This incident is currently being investigated by multiple law enforcement agencies.”
An individual who had revealed over the weekend on social media the existence of this incident had reported that the stolen vehicle has since been recovered, which D’Averso on Oct. 27 confirmed to this newspaper is in fact the case.
When asked if any arrests have yet been made in the carjacking, he replied, “one adult has been arrested,” but noted the “investigation is still active.” D’Averso declined to release the identity of the person who was arrested due to the active investigation.
“As it relates to the alleged carjacking, we are working with several agencies identifying possible suspects involved in this incident,” D’Averso added.
The case is one that he described is a “top priority” currently for the police department.
“It is at the top of the list to get figured out,” he added.
There were also online reports that this incident was somehow connected to other carjacking attempts in the vicinity of Medford Township. When asked about those reports, D’Averso said he “can’t comment” on that, but added “we got information from other agencies” that was “similar” and “so we pieced some things together.”
But given that information came from other agencies, D’Averso said he was not at liberty to comment further on what that information entailed.
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represented and well supported” by the present membership of that governing body.
Mehigan added that when he looks at the conditions and situation in the township today, he can’t help feeling he would have done things differently over the past few years and that he and his running mates are considerably better qualified than those they seek to replace “to make improvements moving forward.”
Thompson, whom Mehigan credited with being particularly proficient in this regard, elaborated on those sentiments.
“I’ve been approached by multiple business owners who are very unhappy that they get no communications, no support, no help and no results from the township,” declared Thompson, adding that he’s also been called, emailed and texted by residents with similar complaints about the lack of response from council members and the township administration.
Some of that alleged lack of responsiveness, Thompson contended, may be due to dissatisfaction within the ranks of municipal employees, noting that he had spoken with a number of them who were “very unhappy with the way the town is being run and the way they’re being treated personally,” which he believes is a factor in the township having lost so many of its employees during the last few years.
Such complaints, in his view, indicate the need to “sit down with everybody and make an assessment of their strengths and weaknesses,” which is one of the things he and his running mates hope to be in a position to do. He would also like to arrange to have regular town hall meetings between council members, business owners and residents in order to “give everybody an opportunity to be heard and to speak on their concerns or ideas of things they want to see happen.”
Thompson’s other goal if elected would be to fill the vacancies that now exist in Evesham’s business district and make it
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really close,” Tompkins told this newspaper.
Should the vote go in his favor, Tompkins believes that both the supervisory skills he cultivated while in the military and the more than a decade of experience he subsequently had working for a communications company will serve him well in his ability to perform the job, especially since part of what he did in the latter capacity was helping police and fire departments with their electronic communications capabilities.
He has also been deeply involved with the Disabled American Veterans organization, having served for three years as a chapter commander as well as on a state level. In addition, prior to the pandemic, he worked for a couple of years with the Browns Mills Improvement Association, as well as with the Presidential Lakes Civic Association since 2015, participating in community cleanups that helped in obtaining grant money to finance scholarships for high school students, and has even played Santa Claus in free photo sessions for neighborhood kids.
What he and his running mates would most like to do, he maintained, is to “promote Pemberton pride” and “do the right thing” for the people of the township, which, in addition to encouraging local business, would include making the most of its “phenomenal recreation department” to foster youth sports and creating more opportunities for lower-income residents.
Tompkins, in response to a question, said he’d also like to be the “squeaky wheel” that might encourage the federal government to take over the former campus of Burlington County College and use it as a Veterans Administration clinic – a prospect he said he has already discussed with GOP congressional candidate Robert Healey, Jr., who “indicated he would look at it if he gets elected.”
“It would be something I would definitely want to pursue if I could,” he contended.
Dewey, who noted in an interview with this newspaper that his family has resided in Pemberton Township for over a century, recalled a time when the town boasted four auto dealerships, which provided jobs that helped support the community, as well as a couple of butcher shops and two bakeries.
“Now there are none,” he pointed out. “You’ve got a Dunkin’ Donuts, but that’s not a bakery. Half the stores are empty.”
He also decried what he characterized as unnecessary regulation that impede the development of commercial ventures, claiming that a sign, “the most important thing needed to succeed in business,” would currently cost between $9,000 and $10,000 to put up due to such bureaucratic hurdles.
“If we get elected Nov. 8, this town’s going to be open for business,” he asserted. “And we’re going to be taking a good look at all these regulations.”
Ward, in a separate interview, expressed a desire for the community “to get back to a bottom-up rather than a top-down approach to politics,” meaning that the residents should have more of a say in decisions. While acknowledging he’s had no first-hand political experience as of yet, he indicated that has been out campaigning hard and that the impression he’s gotten is that “people are looking for a common-sense approach to politics.”
His years of experience in the hospitality industry, he maintained, have made him well qualified “to converse and communicate” with the public—something he believes the town’s present leadership doesn’t do nearly enough of. In addition, his having worked as an employee of Tuckerton Seaport in a statefunded waste management program to reclaim Barnegat Bay provided him with some firsthand environmental training, he noted.
Ward also said he thought there’s still a place in the township and always will be for small businesses, and that he would like to see “the old mom and pops come back and be what they used to be.”
Instead, he contended, “you’ve got warehouses getting built, and that’s not going to supply anything good to the community” while “there are a lot of empty businesses in town that need to be revitalized and infrastructure that’s just become dilapidated.”
Ward added that he thought a big problem is the current administration, which has had 16 years to fix such problems, but “we haven’t seen anything from it” in the way of results.
Asked by the Pine Barrens Tribune if he would care to respond to those allegations, Patriarca replied that his administration had actually “corrected a substantial amount of problems in 16 years and continues to work to correct problems daily.” In fact, he contended, “one of the things we’ve been successful at doing is finding the solutions.”
He also claimed that “doing things from the bottom up is how we’ve operated since we came into office.” Listening to residents and acting on their requests, he said, is the way his administration has always done things. As for small businesses, he maintained that he would also “love to see a butcher shop, a bakery, seafood stores.”
“We’ve had them,” he pointed out. “But people aren’t opening them, and it’s not for government to open those types of businesses.”
Warehouses, however, are huge revenue generators for the town, he pointed out, with the one that’s now open on the last property of a five-lane county highway set to bring in half a million dollars a year in taxes, and another $3.5 million square-feet of warehouse space scheduled for development along Route 206, well removed from the residential population, projected to add “in excess of $3 million a year in revenue to the municipal budget and an additional $3 million to the school budget,” as well as potentially providing hundreds of jobs.
“Our approach to responsible development is what is going to allow Pemberton to be an affordable community for our residents,” Patriarca declared.
But such efforts, he emphasized, take years and sometimes decades, an example being the redevelopment of the Browns Mills Shopping Center, which began back in 1994.
“As long as we stay focused, we’ll get there,” the mayor contended. “But it’s not the time to hit the reset button. We can’t afford to start over.”
Saturday, October 29, 2022 more family friendly.
“We’ve lost too many family-owned enterprises here in town that we should have helped to stay here,” he asserted, pointing to Randolph’s Bakery, which closed its doors after 40 years, as an example. With three potential buyers having indicated an interest, “had someone stepped up on a municipal level, we would still have that business here in town,” he maintained.
Olt proposed taking a similar approach to revitalizing the business district.
“Part of our plan would first be to assess the number of vacant properties that we have and put together a committee of property owners as well as business owners,” she said. “We want to be able to offer a thriving community where people can fulfill all their needs without having to leave town.”
As for the current leadership, while she “wouldn’t necessarily say that they’re doing things to discourage business, I don’t think they’ve done enough to attract it,” she declared, citing as an example “the number of planning board meetings that have been cancelled.” Finding out from local business owners what can be done to help them stay in town and including planning and zoning officials in such meetings is also an essential part of the process, she added.
Both Thompson and Olt emphasized that they would be flexible and receptive to good ideas, no matter where they originated.
Were he and his running mates to win the election, Thompson told this newspaper, and the two remaining Democrats on the council to propose a great idea, “I’m going to support it,” he declared.
Olt likewise promised to be “open to all possibilities,” and “would say nothing is off the table as long as it benefits the town.”
“I’ve always been a believer that the most creative solutions come from everyone having a voice,” she maintained.
But she also believes that elections should be more about qualifications than party affiliation, and that with their particular skill sets and backgrounds, she and her running mates can do a better job of moving Evesham Township forward into “the uncertain economic landscape of the future.”
Saturday, October 29, 2022 AD HOTLINE: (609) 801-2392 or SALES@PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES ♦ Page 9
Two Evesham Pedestrian-Involved Collisions in Span of Couple Days
Leave Two Township Residents, Including Child, in Critical Condition
In the Initial Incident Involving Young Boy, Driver Has Been Said to be Cooperating and Stayed on Scene, But In the Second, Motorist was Arrested for Fleeing Scene
By Douglas D. Melegari
Staff Writer
EVESHAM—Two separate motor vehicle collisions that left pedestrians injured are under investigation in Evesham Township, including one that involved a child.
The first “pedestrian-involved motor vehicle crash” occurred on Oct. 20, around 3:20 p.m., in the 200 block of Stallion Court, according to a press release from the Evesham Township Police Department.
Responding officers reported that they found a 7-year-old Marlton child “located in the street, suffering from serious bodily injuries.”
Both the Evesham Police and Fire departments attended to the child, it was reported, and coordinated a medevac helicopter landing to be able to airlift the child to Cooper Hospital in Camden for treatment.
The Frances S. Demasi Middle School, which is located a short distance from the crash site, was placed into a “shelter in place” mode so that the medevac helicopter could land for the medical transport, police noted in the press release.
The child, after being transported via air to Cooper, “underwent surgery” and is currently listed in “critical, but stable condition.”
“Our hearts and minds are with a young boy who was seriously injured by a motor vehicle near a local school yesterday afternoon,” said Evesham Mayor Jacklyn “Jackie” Veasy in an Oct. 21 statement about the initial pedestrian collision. “Although we cannot share details to protect the family’s privacy, we will continue to pray for this boy’s healthy recovery in the weeks and months ahead. We ask all of Evesham Township to please join us in keeping this child and his family in your thoughts and prayers as they move forward.”
The mayor, in the statement, also commended the “quick actions of our local police, fire and EMS personnel.”
“Evesham’s first responders are without a doubt some of the finest serving anywhere in our state, and their skills and professionalism were on display yet again yesterday as their actions helped save this young boy’s life,” Veasy declared.
While the mayor had reminded local motorists in the wake of the pedestrian collision involving the child to “please remain alert while driving, be aware of your surroundings, and be prepared for sudden or unexpected situations,” another such collision occurred just a couple days later in the township, this time in the Kings Grant section of the municipality.
According to a second press release from Evesham Police, on Oct. 25, around 12:40 p.m., officers responded to the area of Kings Grants Drive and East Coventry Circle for a report of a pedestrian who was struck by a vehicle.
“Upon the first officer’s arrival, the pedestrian, who was later identified as a 51-year-old male and Marlton resident, was located unconscious in the shoulder of the roadway with critical injuries,” police reported.
The pedestrian was quickly transported to Cooper for treatment. There is no further word on his condition as of press time.
In the first, unrelated pedestrian crash, police reported that the person who struck the child stayed on scene, as compared to the second incident, in which the driver of the vehicle who hit the 51-year-old man was alleged to have “fled” the scene of the collision.
“During the on-scene investigation, officers located a vehicle hood emblem from a Nissan,” police reported. “Additional officers immediately began checking the area for a Nissan with body damage that could have been attributed to a recent motor vehicle collision.”
An officer, according to police, ultimately located a black Nissan with a “shattered windshield, consistent with a pedestrian motor vehicle collision,” on the unit block of Canterbury Court.
The officers then reportedly canvassed the immediate area and were able to locate video footage showing the driver parking and exiting the vehicle shortly after the motor vehicle collision.
“Officers then checked the area on foot and located the driver, Nicole Bosco, 25, of Vineland, nearby on Canterbury Court,” it was stated in the second press release.
Bosco was then arrested on scene and charged with third-degree knowingly leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in serious bodily injury, as well as for driving while intoxicated, which is a traffic offense.
Bosco was released on her own recognizance with a mandatory court date, police reported.
“We ask residents to join us as we offer our love and support to an Evesham resident who was struck by an automobile in the Kings Grant section of town yesterday,” said Veasy on Oct. 26 in another statement following the second pedestrian collision. “We cannot share further details due to privacy concerns, but we do ask that you please keep this individual and their loved ones in your prayers as we wish them a speedy and healthy recovery.
She also “once again” commended the response of local first responders “who continue to serve as one of the finest groups of first responders any township could have.”
“We’re so proud to support these amazing men and women, and we are so fortunate to have them supporting us in return,” she declared. “Finally, we cannot stress enough that every motorist driving in our township should be mindful while they travel through Evesham. Please remember to always drive carefully, always be alert, and always obey the traffic laws.”
The investigation into the initial pedestrian crash is ongoing, with police reporting that the driver in that incident has thus far cooperated in the investigation.
Tabernacle Twp. Motorcyclist Killed After Reportedly Failing to Negotiate Curve on County Route 532, Striking Utility Pole
TABERNACLE—A Tabernacle Township man riding a motorcycle was killed in an Oct. 23 crash in the municipality after reportedly failing to negotiate a curve on County Route 532 and striking a utility pole, New Jersey State Police reported.
According to Trooper Charles Marchan, a state police spokesman, based on a preliminary investigation conducted by the agency, Jeff D. Barner, 67, of Tabernacle, was operating a BMW motorcycle in the westbound lane of County Route 532, in the area of milepost 4.5, when around 9:27 a.m., he “failed to maintain directional control while negotiating a curve in the roadway.”
Barner’s motorcycle, according to the State Trooper, then “exited the roadway to the left and struck a utility pole.”
Barner was ejected as a result of the crash, Marchan described, and sustained fatal injuries.
The crash remains under investigation and there is no additional information available at the moment about it, according to the spokesman.
ATTENTION
Pemberton TownshipResidents! Areyou HAPPY with:
1. 600morehomesbeingbuiltonaformerjunkyard, pigfarm/dumpsite?(Theimpactonourinfrastructure, schoolsandthetrafficthroughtownwithonlyoneentryon LakehurstRd.tothedevelopment?) 2. AdditionalhomesproposedfortheGreenbergFarm onSouthPembertonRd.? 3. AdditionalhomesproposedoffofPembertonBlvd. inBrownsMills? 4. Morewarehouses? 5. Townshipbeingournewtrashcompany?(More employees,moredebttobuyequipment) 6. Townshipbeingintherealestatebusiness? 7. CountryLakesBeachbeingclosed? 8. Ourtaxdollarspayingover$3.5millionforthe“Old Acme”site–justtotearitdown?
1. Responsibleplanning–determiningthetruecost toourinfrastructureandschoolswhennewhousingis planned. 2. Morefinancialaccountability. 3. toRestoreandpromotelocalsmallbusiness development. 4. toIncreaseourpoliceforcetobetterserveour community. 5. toRestorePembertonPride.
