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www.pinebarrenstribune.com
Vol. 5 – No. 29 ♦
@PineBarrensNews
Facebook.com/PineBarrensTribune
The News Leader of the Pines
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FR EE
April 24 - April 30, 2021
Shamong EMS Squad On Verge of Merging with Tabernacle Unit
CAR CLASH
Consolidation of Resources Seen Solving Problem Posed by Shortage of Volunteers By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer
A drone’s eye view of the traffic back-up outside Atco Dragway on April 18.
Photo By Ranger Ramirez – Elite Tuner
While a Massive Traffic Jam Generated by an Atco Dragway Car Show Is Used to Help Justify Replacing the Track with a Distressed Auto Lot, a ‘Material Change’ in the Plan Is Being Called an Environmental Threat
By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer
WATERFORD—If an institution’s popularity with the public was the thing that determined its ultimate fate, Atco Dragway’s ability to remain open and intact for the foreseeable future should be pretty much assured. Paradoxically, however, aside from its owner’s apparent determination to sell
the dragway to a company that wants to turn it into a storage site for distressed and disabled cars, it is the track’s very appeal to racing enthusiasts, both active and passive, that could now conceivably help set the stage for its demise—that is, if what occurred on Sunday, April 18 is any indicator of the sort of situation local and area policing agencies might heretofore be facing as a result of the amplified level
of fan support the pending sale may have created. On the other hand, opponents of the dragway’s proposed demolition are currently hoping that what they and the township’s engineering firm consider a potential environmental hazard posed by a ‘material change’ in the applicant’s plan for the property will prove serious enough See DRAGWAY/ Page 6
SHAMONG—As of the beginning of April, the Indian Mills Volunteer Fire Company’s Shamong Emergency Medical Services (EMS) division has formally ceased to operate pending an anticipated merger with the much larger rescue squad maintained by neighboring Tabernacle Township, which, according to the chief of the Shamong squad, is now effectively providing emergency ambulance service to the residents of his community. “What we’re working on is hammering out the final details of merging our services to create a regional agency,” Dave Taylor, who has served as Shamong’s EMS chief from August 2007 through December 2014, and again for the past 16 months, told the Pine Barrens Tribune in an April 19 phone interview. “Our key personnel, who have been the backbone of the organization, are joining forces with Tabernacle in order to be stronger together than we are separately.” While doing so is expected take anywhere from three to six months, however, for all practical purposes that “umbrella” EMS is already functional, with the small contingent of volunteers from the Shamong organization either spending time at the headquarters of the Tabernacle squad, which he estimated has around 30 members, or keeping Tabernacle ambulances at their homes once or twice a week to expedite responses to any calls from Shamong residents. “There is very little practical difference See MERGING/ Page 13
INDEX Business Directory... 12
Marketplace.................14
Local News................. 2
May Events................11
Worship Guide...........11
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