Pine Barrens Tribune May 22, 2021-May 28, 2021

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FR EE

May 22 - May 28, 2021

FIERY WEEK Ground view of Ballanger Fire.

Another view of the Ballanger Fire.

Forest Fire Consumes 617 Acres in Bass River, Little Egg, But Indirect Attack Method Prevents Significant Damage

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

BASS RIVER—A forest fire that was spotted in the Bass River State Forest on Sunday afternoon, May 16, and consumed 617 acres of land split between Burlington and Ocean counties, and threatened as many as 100 structures at one point, was fully contained Tuesday morning, May 18, with no significant property damage or injuries reported.

The area consumed by the conflagration spanned both Little Egg Harbor (in Ocean) and Bass River (in Burlington) townships, according to Caryn Shinske, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), which oversees the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS).

The blaze, dubbed the “Ballanger Fire,” named for its proximity to Ballanger Creek, originated in a section of the forest between Stage and Otis Bog roads, according to NJFFS Section B Firewarden Trevor Raynor, who spoke during a May 17 morning press conference held outside Little Egg Harbor Township Police Headquarters.

“The fire Sunday was first detected by (staff manning) the Bass River Fire Tower, which is located a couple miles west of the fire,” Raynor contended. “The fire was said to be spreading pretty quickly from a fire service standpoint. When I arrived on location, within five or so minutes, the fire was approximately already 5 or 10 acres, burning 5 to 15 feet high, and burning

See FOREST/ Page 4

Photos By NJDEP

Sunlight obscured by smoke rising from the forest floor off Four Mile Road.

NJFFS Says Bass River Fire Tower Helped ‘Avert Disaster’ Year After Disputed Clear-Cut Improved Observers’ Sight

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

BASS RIVER—It was more than three years ago that Jeremy Webber, assistant forest firewarden of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS), stared this reporter in the eye and said that there

was “an imminent need” to clear-cut 16 acres of 80 to 100-foot-tall White Pine and Loblolly Pine trees that were obstructing the view from the Bass River Fire Tower, all as the agency was fighting considerable See TOWER/ Page 4

Second Significant Wildfire Consumes 407 Acres in Pemberton But Posed No Threat to Structures

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—A wildfire that was first spotted late Monday evening, May 17, near Pea Patch and Turkey Buzzard roads in the Pemberton Township section of the Brendan T. Byrne State Forest, consumed

407 acres before the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) achieved 100 percent containment late Tuesday evening, May 18.

The fire, according to Jeremy Webber, assistant forest firewarden of the NJFFS, See WILDFIRE/ Page 8

INDEX

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Job Board................. 13

Marketplace.................12

Worship Guide...........11

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Elimination of Benefits for Most Senior Paraprofessionals in Evesham School District Raises Objections from Union, Concerns About Future Erosion of Special-Needs Program

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

EVESHAM—An Evesham Township Board of Education decision to strip most of the local school system’s veteran paraprofessionals of their medical benefits as an austerity measure has given rise to both objections from the Evesham Township Education Association (ETEA), the union that represents employees of the local school district, and serious doubts about the district’s ability to continue to provide special-needs pupils with the same level of care, attention and dedication that it has given them up to now.

In a 7-2 vote at a special meeting on May 6, the board approved a 2021-22 budget in which those benefits will be eliminated for some 48 paraprofessionals starting in the first half of 2022, resulting in a projected savings of $600,000 for the first semester of 2022 and an annual savings of $1,200,000 b eyond that, ac cordi ng to Evesham Township School Superintendent Dr. Justin Smith.

Smith, who recommended the move, told the Pine Barrens Tribune in a phone interview this past week that it was necessary due to “a very unfortunate set of circumstances” involving multi-year reductions in state aid to the district, with this year’s cut expected to be $1.6 million, combined with losses of approximately $1,150,000 in revenue for the district caused by programs like Teddy Bear Academy, Evesham Child Care Before and After Care and a tuition-based kindergarten program having to be curtailed on account of the pandemic, as well as $950,000 in yearly loses that began on Jan. 1, 2020, due to an overhaul of health benefits plans in New Jersey under Chapter 44.

“It was really like a perfect storm of negative impacts,” Smith asserted, noting that the district devotes 83 percent of its budget to paying salaries and benefits and contending that its “only alternative would be cutting more positions, which is going to hurt kids even more.”

But ac c ord i ng to the af fe cte d paraprofessionals and their supporters who showed up at the meeting (and have been campaigning since last fall to have the benefits retained), that cost-saving measure could well make their jobs no longer financially feasible. Should they be forced to hand in their resignations sooner than anticipated as a result, they claimed, it could make a very tangible difference in the ability of youngsters with special needs, many of whom suffer from autism, to function as well as they do in the public-school settings where they are currently being taught, either in classrooms with other students or in their own dedicated ones, depending on their Individual Educational Plans, or IEPs. The prospect of the board’s passing a budget with those benefits removed was also enough to result in the filing of a grievance last month by the ETEA, according to its newly elected president, Russell Bowles, who in a May 19 interview with this newspaper, called the issue “a big deal, because back at the end of 2020 the district tried to do the same thing.”

“We fought to save their benefits, and we did, and now, six months later, we’re back in the same place,” he added.

As a result, he said, “we have not ruled out the possibility of job actions,” the local union having been in “constant communication” with its parent organization, the New Jersey Education Association, to determine how to proceed if no resolution is reached in forthcoming negotiating sessions with the board.

The union, Bowles maintained, had

suggested various ways that the district could still allow affected paraprofessionals to keep their benefits, such as using the proceeds from two properties it had recently sold or three new rounds of federal funding it had received, but had been rebuffed by district officials, who said that money had gone for other purposes, such as transportation and other positions.

Paraprofessionals, Bowles added in response to a question, are the only group of district employees who are in the process of losing their health benefits, which are not only given to full-time teachers, but jobholders such as custodians, secretaries and bus drivers.

T he d is c repancy b et we en how paraprofessionals and other distr ict employees are treated was reflected in comments made at the school board meeting by several paraprofessionals.

One of them, Corinne Halabura, a teacher’s aide at the Richard L. Rice School, told the board she has “never felt so unappreciated, undervalued, disrespected,” although not by the teachers with whom she works, and that the prospect of losing health benefits had been a source of considerable anxiety for her and her colleagues.

“Why are we being treated differently … why were we targeted?” asked Meryl Schindler, who has worked as a paraprofessional for 21 years and seven months at Robert B. Jaggard Elementary School, which she said has 11 special-needs classes. “Why are we the only ones who are getting our benefits cut? It feels like I am being discriminated against.”

Should nothing change, the paraprofessionals impacted by the decision, who represent slightly more than a third of some 142 currently working in the K-8 school system, will join some 86 hired in the past eight years who receive no benefits as a result of a previous cost-cutting decision to stop offering them to new recruits for the job, according to Smith. (Another eight with more than 23 years of service are slated to continue getting their benefits during the next school year.)

The method being used to eliminate their benefits is to reduce the hours they work to less than 30 a week, which would no longer entitle them to benefits.

The loss of hours and benefits is something a number of them claim would make continuing in their jobs no longer a viable proposition.

“When I was hired almost 22 years ago, the benefits were part of the employment package,” one of them, Lucia Millington, told this newspaper in a phone interview. “We were all hired with that understanding—that was the deal. Those of us who did get them were told we would never lose our benefits— we would be grandfathered. So even though our actual pay is not that high, it was worth it for most of us. But by taking our benefits package away, you’re taking away half our income.”

Millington described some of the specialeducation classes in which she and her colleagues have to work as being “really tough emotionally, physically draining at times.” She maintained that “you have to be a dedicated person to do this work.

We’re making less than half of what teachers are making, but we are the backbone of the school and implement everything the teachers need the children (in those classes) to do.”

The kinds of services provided to autistic pupils by paraprofessionals were described at the school board meeting by Beth Fischer, who teaches some of them in grades 2-5 at See EVESHAM/ Page 9

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Saturday, May 22, 2021

♦ Page 3

Medford Township’s New Town Hall Opens for Business Providing More Functional Environment for Staff, Public

Structure Fire Due to Extension Cord, State Police Say After Woodland Fire Chief Fails to Respond to Queries

Township Manager Gives Tour of New Building to Tribune and Discusses What’s to Come as Library Aims to Relocate

Incident Shines Light on Recent Lack of Public Information Provided by Township’s Volunteer Fire and EMS Company

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

Photo By Douglas D. Melagari

The exterior of the new Medford Town Hall on its opening day.

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

MEDFORD—History was made Monday in Medford Township, and Township Manager Kathy Burger was beaming with pride and excitement, as a plan in the works for reportedly more than two decades (and that really came together beginning around 2018) finally came to fruition.

Medford Township’s brand-new, twostor y combination librar y-municipal building, with an official mailing address of 49 Union Street, opened for business for the first time at 8:30 a.m. on May 17.

Burger, who provided a tour of the municipality’s new digs to this newspaper that afternoon, when asked which part of the building was most revered, replied, “the whole thing.”

“It is just amazing to see this,” she added, while standing in the hallway of the building’s second floor, which is nearly 11,700 square-feet.

The now-former municipal building, at 17 N. Main Street, contained tight hallways that mimicked a maze, Burger said, and accessing the clerk’s or manager’s offices on the second floor presented quite a challenge for the handicapped, given that there was no elevator, but only steps.

While a sign in the old building had advised the handicapped that township staff would gladly assist with running any items upstairs for processing, some would still attempt to climb the stairs, she added, struggling along the way.

The new town hall, she pointed out, is See TOWNSHIP/ Page 14

WOODLAND—An early morning fire on May 15, which reportedly occurred at a structure near Mayo’s Halfway House on Route 72, was due to a faulty extension cord, New Jersey State Police reported after multiple inquiries made to Woodland Volunteer Fire and EMS Company Chief Shawn Viscardi failed to elicit a response by press time.

According to Lt. Jeff Flynn, a spokesman for the New Jersey State Police, state troopers and fire crews responded to a structure fire at 114 Route 72 in Woodland Township (with Mayo’s being located at 112 Route 72) at around 12:41 a.m. “ P r e l i m i n a r i l y, a n i nv e s t i g a t i o n determined it to be accidental due to an extension cord,” Flynn said. “There were no reported injuries.”

A manager at Mayo’s Halfway House, when reached on May 19, told this newspaper that the fire occurred at an apartment next door to the restaurant, and that the building belongs to the same owner as the establishment.

“There was more smoke damage than anything,” he told this newspaper, adding that “nobody is allowed back inside until everything is cleaned up.”

Attempts to confirm the extent of the damage and obtain other details about the fire (which traditionally comes from the local fire chief) were unsuccessful as multiple emails sent to Viscardi were not returned as of press time.

A woman who answered May 19 at a cellphone number previously provided by the chief told this newspaper that she is going to “try to find a phone number for him because I have been getting a lot of important calls for him,” and that she had just been assigned that number a few months ago when she purchased a new phone.

The fire company’s online call report, as of press time, had not been updated since May 2. The fire chief has not attended any Woodland Township Committee meeting so far this year, despite being expected to do so and being listed on the agenda to offer a monthly report.

Township Clerk Maryalice Brown noted during both the March and April township committee meetings that Viscardi had not submitted a monthly report to the township to be entered into the record.

Viscardi resigned as the township’s emergency management coordinator at the end of last year, but it was said at the time that he was to remain the fire chief.

After this newspaper mentioned to Brown on May 18 that the fire chief had not responded to requests for comment on this story, an email was sent to this newspaper from Township Solicitor William Burns on May 19, in which he contended that he was both the solicitor and Public Information Officer for “the township,” and to contact him with questions about the fire. Burns, however, could not be immediately reached for comment.

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

FOREST

(Continued from Page 1) towards Stage Road.”

The NJFFS, he said, decided to launch an “indirect attack” as the blaze grew to 15 acres and threatened homes in the vicinity.

Considerations for launching that style of attack, he noted, included that there were threatened structures in the woods, or “structural hazards,” and “wildland hazards,” including “dangerous, dead trees” that were the result of a “gypsy moth kill.”

“Indirect is falling back on existing barriers to stop a fire’s spread,” Raynor explained. “In this case, those ‘barriers’ were the area’s roads. We decided to use paved roads to contain this fire. That was the most-safe fire attack at that point because we brought the fire to us, and we were outside the woods at that point and that allowed us to fight the fire safer.”

In further describing the location of the blaze, Bass River Deputy Mayor Louis Bourguignon, who is also the deputy emergency management coordinator for Bass River, later told this newspaper that it was “more towards Tuckerton” or “only a couple miles away” from the town’s Offshore Manor development.

“Where the Walmart is – there is a pit behind the Walmart,” Louis Bourguignon said. “It is a gravel pit where people run quads and motorcycles.”

On Sunday, to protect nearby structures and contain the fire, firefighters set backfires and performed controlled burns with small fires along sections of Route 9, in the Offshore Manor development and in several parts of the West Tuckerton section of Little Egg Harbor.

Richard J. Buzby, chief of the Little Egg Harbor Police Department, noted during the presser that the “situation in the West Tuckerton section of Little Egg Harbor could have been very tragic but for a brilliant response once again by our colleagues at the New Jersey State Forest Fire Service,” adding that he was both “grateful and happy” that “we lost no homes, and no significant property, and there were no significant injuries reported.”

By late afternoon Monday, May 17, of the 30 homes that had been still listed at the time by the NJFFS to be “at risk,” down from 75 to 100 early evening Sunday, all of them were in Little Egg Harbor, according to Louis Bourguignon, and Sally Bourguignon, who is Bass River’s emergency management coordinator.

Louis Bourguignon told this newspaper that Bass River was “lucky we had no wind”

WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM during the blaze, because if there was, there could have been a “different scenario.”

“But if the wind would have changed directions, or picked up – that is what you have to prepare for,” he said. “Offshore Manor would have been our major priority if that occurred.”

Louis Bourguignon added the incident was an oppor tu n ity to rem i nd area homeowners to use landscaping stones around their homes, rather than wood chips, as the embers from a wildfire can “fly a long way into the chips.”

“In past years, we had problems with places catching on fire because of wood chips,” he said. “I am just trying to warn public and let them help us out.”

At 7:35 p.m. on Monday evening, Shinske contacted this newspaper to report that “the fire no longer poses a threat to any nearby structures and all roads in the area are now open.” The fire was 75 percent contained by that point, up from 40 percent late Monday morning.

On Tuesday morning, May 18, the NJFFS announced on Facebook it had has achieved “100 percent containment.”

“Forest Fire Service crews and mutual aid partners made strong progress Monday to reinforce containment boundaries around the fire, which was spotted Sunday afternoon inside a large-forested area that is difficult to access,” Shinske wrote. “A New Jersey Forest Fire Service helicopter was used throughout the day to aid suppression efforts.”

According to Raynor, during the presser, a wildfire is declared “under control” only “once the fire has a safe control line all the way around and it is contained,” or “when the fire is not going to actively spread.”

The fire, first spotted at around 4 p.m. on May 16, according to a Facebook posting from the NJFFS, had resulted in officials issuing a “voluntary evacuation” order, but according to Raynor, he “doesn’t believe anyone was evacuated as a result of this fire.”

Pinelands Regional School District’s Junior High School was designated as both a shelter and command center.

The school, however, opened as scheduled May 17, offering the option of virtual learning to students “who could not get to school because of road blockages,” in addition to “not marking students affected by the wildfire late for school.”

“Thank you to our firefighters for your bravery and for keeping our community safe,” the district wrote in a statement.

That sentiment was echoed not only by officials during the presser, but in countless Facebook posts in social media groups that are dedicated to the two municipalities.

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TOWER

Saturday, May 22, 2021

(Continued from Page 1) opposition over the removal plan, with some opponents contending that tower systems are obsolete and can be replaced with cameras.

From the tower’s cabin, at the time, you could only see for 110 feet looking north, 170 feet looking south, 390 feet looking east and 10 miles looking west, when, ideally, you should be able to see for 10 miles at 360 degrees.

In January of last year, the clear-cut finally took place, and the role the Bass River Fire Tower played in detecting the May 16 “Ballanger Fire” that consumed 617 acres of the Bass River State Forest in both Bass River and Little Egg Harbor townships, according to NJFFS Section B Firewarden Trevor Raynor, in response to a question posed by this newspaper during a May 18 NJFFS teleconference with the media, “was super important.”

“This fire tower was only a few miles away (from the blaze) and was able to detect this fire quickly and avert disaster, honestly,” Raynor said. “If we used any other system, or relied on 911 for this fire’s detection, by the time that this fire would have been detected and reported (to us) by 911 (dispatch), it would have been at the back of people’s houses, and then it would have been too late, and surely there would have been damage to homes.”

Raynor, the day before, at another presser held outside Little Egg Harbor Police Headquarters, described that he arrived “on location” within five or so minutes of the conflagration being detected by an fire observer manning the tower, and upon his arrival, the fire had already spread rapidly to cover 5 to 10 acres, with flames burning 5 to 15 feet high.

The Section B Firewarden, also in response to this newspaper’s question the following day, provided further detail about the initial moments that the fire was detected, contending that the fire observer initially observed “light, wispy smoke” from the tower, but that when Raynor arrived, he told him it “was black and spreading.”

“The black smoke would mean it is burning intensely and rapidly, and he said (the observer) it was much wider than what he originally detected,” Raynor recalled.

Caryn Shinske, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), which oversees the NJFFS, later told this newspaper “the smoke from the wildfire was seen coming from the direction formerly blocked by trees.”

Richard J. Buzby, chief of the Little Egg Harbor Police Department, in a May 18 letter he wrote to Democratic Governor Phil Murphy and Attorney General Gubir Grewal, which he also released publicly through the police department’s Facebook page, wrote “that he would like to express our

Photo By NJDEP

Faint grey smoke from Ballanger Fire in a picture (on top) captured when the fire was first spotted from the Bass River Fire Tower. The photo on bottom is the smoke condition five minutes later.

sincere appreciation for your administration’s support for the tree thinning project that restored the service’s Bass River Fire Tower to utility only recently,” adding that “this incident comes close on the heels of that important work (completed just last year) and it best demonstrates the wisdom and foresight of that action in that it was this tower that first observed this fire and allowed for this immediate and appropriate response.”

Buzby noted that “literally hundreds of local homes and thousands of citizens were seriously threatened and we are delighted to report that not one home was damaged, no significant personal property was lost and not even one serious injury was reported.”

“This is truly remarkable when you consider the close interface between the threatened forests and the areas of homes and people nearby,” Buzby declared.

The fire, according to Trevor during the May 18 presser, was “spreading pretty quickly toward Stage Road” and “came very close to the homes,” with “a lot of houses in that wildland urban interface, or where the woods meet the homes.”

The blaze was named for its proximity to Ballanger Creek, but as was noted by NJFFS Chief Greg McLaughlin, during the May 18 presser, initial plans to use the creek and associated wetlands as “one of the holding areas” to contain the blaze “didn’t pan out” because it was “much drier” than expected due to recent dry weather conditions in the area.

“It came to people’s backyards – so that is how close it was,” Raynor said. “We always like to advocate to the public to have good defensible space – and that is the reason why – because we want to keep fire away from houses. If they can reduce the amount of brush and debris near their houses, then that helps our cause.”

Saturday, May 22, 2021

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♦ Page 5

Project to Remediate and Demolish Home Declared Unsafe ‘A Lot Bigger’ Than Woodland Officials Realized, Clerk Says Wet Demo and Abatement Deemed Prudent Course of Action Weeks After Flipper Transfers Possession of Property to Town

Photo By Farwez Ali

A home at 4007 County Route 563 in Chatsworth. immediately followed the workshop, Burns

By Douglas D. Melegari quickly interjected each time that a question Staff Writer was posed about the project, contending that WOODLAND—Officials in Woodland the municipality was only “putting specs Township, after essentially forcing a flipper together” and that “township committee to give up a home he was in the process of reserves right to reject bids, including if they rehabbing, claiming it was “ready to fall come in over engineers’ estimates.” He also down” and presenting an imminent danger spoke in more uncertain terms than during to anyone who enters it, and that his work the workshop session. to make repairs was further jeopardizing “I think what we are talking about is the its structural integrity, have now inherited a demolition and what the committee did remediation/demolition project that Township in the workshop session is authorize the Clerk Maryalice Brown admitted late last engineer to work with Maryalice and I to month is “a lot bigger than any of us realized.” put together bids to demolish that property That admission came during an April 28 to be in accordance with state and federal Woodland Township Committee workshop regulations, including any remediations meeting discussion, in which Brown pointed with asbestos,” Burns said. “Mr. Leisse did out that the “entire structure needs to mention the fact that it might have to be a be treated as if it has asbestos” and that wet demolition because of asbestos.” ultimately whoever the contractor is who will Resident Terry Sheerin, during the April 28 be tasked with remediation will have to “get workshop meeting, asked the governing body approval from the New Jersey Department if there was a reason why the municipality of Labor for a wet demo and abatement.” was doing the remediation/demolition at “I am assuming this will be well over its own expense. Mayor William “Billy” $17,000, and we will probably have to go out DeGroff replied that he was “trying to think for sealed bids, and not just (solicit) quotes,” of how to recoup our money,” but conceded Brown said. it would be a tall order.

The property, as previously declared by “We tried selling it, and nobody seems officials, is a non-conforming lot, and is only interested in it,” the mayor contended. “That a 50-foot-wide. The foundation of the home building is so unsafe, and it goes into the on it abuts the neighboring property given other property.” its location on the lot.

Township Solicitor William Burns added “Considering there is a resident right that the “township was trying to market next store, we can’t take chance of doing it,” but that the reality is “the lot is not big something that is not appropriate,” declared enough to develop” and called it “a tough Township Engineer Thomas Leisse during piece of property.” the April 28 committee meeting.

“That really limits people trying to Leisse said that the “environmental issues” purchase it,” Burns said. could “go up to the federal Environmental Brown previously contended one of the Protection Agency (EPA)” level if not neighboring property owners had called her handled correctly, and the governing body to express interest in buying the troubled lot, wants to avoid that from happening. but at recent governing body meetings, said “Remember, you are going to have a she had not heard back. DeGroff surmised cover dumpster, line dumpster, and pay to that “maybe the adjoining property owner have (all that waste) sent to a landfill that will want it” after the lot is cleaned up. handles hazardous material,” said Leisse in “Once the hazardous condition is cleared advising the committee. “And they have to do up, we will be able to list for sale,” Brown said. sampling, and air clearances. It does add up.”

The mayor, however, agreed with Sheerin Township Solicitor William Burns called the that by that point it would be a “pennies course forward that both Brown and Leisse on the dollar” situation, with Burns noting had described “a prudent course of action,” that once the home is knocked down, the especially due to the “environmental mitigation “property will lose its non-conforming status.” that has to go on” and “hazardous material.”

Brown noted that the property was last However, during the governing body’s assessed at $85,000, but added that she is regular meeting, which had twice as many members of the public participating and See DEMOLISH/ Page 8

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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‘Standardized Vetting and Verification Process’ Proposed for Entities Requesting More Than $5K from Washington

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

WASHINGTON—Requests for funding submitted to Washington Township (with past recipients, according to an official, including the Green Bank Volunteer Fire Company, Lower Bank Volunteer Fire Company, Green Bank Ambulance Squad and the [send-receive] Washington Township School District) could apparently soon be subject to much more intense scrutiny than in the past.

A draft ordinance introduced May 4 by the Washington Township Committee would add amend Part 1 of the township code, titled, “Administrative Legislation,” by adding a new Chapter 68, titled, “Municipal Funding Requests.”

The proposed ordinance cresting that new chapter states, in part, “the township committee believes that all significant external funding requests should submit to a standardized vetting and verification process before such funds may be granted.”

Requests of “$5,000 or more per annum” would be subject to the process.

That process would require any organization or entity making the funding request to submit an annual report that includes the “names of all board members, principals, executives or other members/officers,” copies of all their policies and procedures, copies of all certifications held by each of its members, a list of its vehicles and their current registrations, a reviewed income statement and a reviewed balance sheet for the current year.

In addition, an audit “prepared by an independent firm” would be required to be submitted “no later than Feb. 15 of each calendar year.”

“We do receive, periodically, throughout the course of the year, funding requests from

what could be the emergency squad, or the fire department, or a non-profit – and I am assuming our auditor would find this helpful – what this is designed to do is make the process, when we include funds in our budget that do go out to the entities, more transparent,” said Township Solicitor Tom Coleman of the proposed law’s purpose on May 4.

The solicitor, who noted that “to the best of his knowledge, for as long as I have been here, there haven’t been any problems,” added that “what he does not want” is the municipal auditor to “scratch his head at the end of the year” and ask, “Who are these entities?”, “How do they spend it?”, and “Who are the people behind it?”

“This is an opportunity to head-off any problems in the future,” Coleman maintained.

“And I don’t expect that there will be any problems. It is not in any way any effort to thwart or push away any entities that come in and request money. It is just an opportunity for more transparency.”

Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Simpson contended that if the governing body proceeds with passing the ordinance, it would then need to also amend Chapter 35 of the code book, which designates both the Green Bank and Lower Bank fire companies as the official fire companies of the township, and outlines procedures for them “requesting contributions.”

“You are going to have to re-do that one as well as far as what it says about requesting contributions – fire companies to the township,” Simpson maintained.

The subchapter that Simpson apparently referred to is 35-2, titled, “Municipal Control Limited by Budget Allocation,” stating, See VETTING/ Page 15

Saturday, May 22, 2021

Budget Adopted for Washington With Spending Decrease; Town Under Audit with Accountant Asking Public for Help Survey Led by Municipality Indicates Majority of Residents Opposed to Cannabis Businesses in Town, Ban Introduced

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

WASHINGTON—A municipal budget has been adopted for Washington Township with a decrease in spending of $19,000, or what amounts to a 1.98 percent decrease over last year.

The Washington Township Committee, during its May 4 meeting, voted 3-0 to adopt the $947,416.69 fiscal year 2021 municipal budget, with no objection from the public.

Chief Financial Officer Kristin Manning, during a recent budget workshop meeting, noted that $50,000 had been set aside last year in a reserve account, at the recommendation of then-municipal clerk Kathleen D. Hoffman, so that the township Office of Emergency Management could purchase any supplies, if necessary, to respond to the Coronavirus pandemic.

However, the county Office of Emergency Management, Manning said, has been providing supplies to the municipality.

“The reason for the decrease in spending in this year’s budget is that you may remember last year the township provided a $50,000 appropriation for emergency management COVID expenses,” said Registered Municipal Accountant Michael S. Garcia, of Ocean City-based Ford-Scott & Associates, on May 4. “None of it was spent; it was a reserve account. This year the township has reduced that appropriation to $25,000, which, basically, accounts for that decrease in spending of $19,000.”

Initially, during the budget workshop, Manning had presented a draft municipal budget to the governing body with the

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re s er ve for e mergenc y m a nage ment completely removed, but Emergency Management Coordinator Dave Simpson cautioned against doing that, in case the municipality could no longer get the supplies it needed from the county, while also noting “the county’s stuff hasn’t been very good.”

A few months pr ior to Hof fman’s November 2020 resignation as municipal clerk for “personal reasons,” she requested that Washington continue to share with Southampton (where she is an administrator and clerk) in paying some of the costs for her work cellphone, so that she would not have two work cellphones. At the time, she indicated that she was displeased that some Washington officials had questioned the arrangement, with Manning being one of the officials who reportedly expressed concern.

A formal agreement, after initially being tabled, was ultimately approved just prior to Hoffman’s resignation, in which Washington, deemed “the recipient,” agreed to pay “the provider,” Southampton, 50 percent of all cellular phone expenses incurred by the “shared employee” for “official government purposes,” in addition to reimbursements for training and license fees.

Lisa Hand, city clerk and registrar of Ventnor City, has since filled the municipal clerk post in Washington.

Now, according to Manning during the budget workshop, the township just pays for two work cellphones, which she said are assigned to the emergency management See BUDGET/ Page 8

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Revegetation Plan for Clear-Cut Reportedly in ‘Violation’ Ridiculed After Disclosure That Seedlings Will Be Planted Woman Asks What Would Stop Animals from Eating Them, With Officials Responding, ‘Jersey Devil’, ‘Bag of Deer Corn’ Before the Mayor Adds He Isn’t an Expert and Doesn’t Know

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A cleared section of forest in Woodland Township as seen last month.

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

WOODLAND—A revegetation plan previously approved by both the Pinelands Commission and Woodland Township Committee, which calls for 600 pitch pine trees per acre to be planted by a Woodland Township resident within the municipal rights-of-way of both 12th and 13th streets, along with Prince and Kossuth avenues, was ridiculed at the municipal governing body’s latest meeting following a revelation

by Mayor William “Billy” DeGroff that the trees required to be planted are only “seedlings,” or about “4 to 6 inches in height.”

The resident, Stanley Worrell, of the Chatsworth section of the township, had trees and other vegetation that followed along what were township paper streets cleared in 2019.

The land that was clear-cut, about three-acres in size, is also the subject of development applications that Worrell filed with the Pinelands Commission. However, since the clear-cut came to light, Worrell has insisted that he only created a firebreak, with the latter not requiring commission approval, unlike clearing for a development or new street.

Chuck Horner, director of regulatory prog r a m s for t h e c om m i s s ion, h a s now appeared to have finally made a determination about Worrell’s intent, writing in an April 27 letter to Township Clerk Maryalice Brown, that the “vegetative clearing undertaken by Stanley Worrell continues to constitute a violation of the application requirements of the Woodland Township land use ordinance and the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP).”

“I don’t know – I just can’t believe all this bullsh**!” declared resident Darlene Hatfield during the latest township committee meeting, after hearing that only seedlings were required to be planted by Worrell at the site of the clear-cut.

Hatfield said that it was her understanding that the replacement trees would be at least 3 to 4 feet tall.

During preceding township committee meetings, Hatfield had described that the clear-cut site, which is directly behind her home, has since been serving as a haven for off-roaders, dirt bikers, ATV enthusiasts, motorcyclists and horseback riders.

The cleared land is accessible from a dirt clearance that connects to Hatfield’s driveway, and she has previously complained to the governing body that the traffic is tearing it up, in addition to freshwater runoff reportedly originating from the cleared land, which is reportedly making access to her home difficult at times.

Dirt mounds placed near the access points

by Worrell had reportedly done little to deter the traffic.

The township committee, on March 24, approved of Worrell installing 10-foot gates at two access points to the site, with woven wire secured with wooden posts on either side of the gates. In addition, the governing body OK’d the placement of fallen trees in the vicinity of the access points to “further restrict vehicular access.”

However, the commission was said at the time to have needed to sign-off on the township committee approval (which Brown claimed at this latest committee meeting has since been given), delaying installation of the barriers.

Previously, it was said that the barriers had to be installed by March 31 of this year, but Brown said during the preceding committee meeting that she wasn’t sure it was a “legal date.”

T h e h e i g ht r e q u i r e m e nt s o f t h e replacement trees were revealed by DeGroff after Hatfield challenged remarks during the latest committee meeting made by Brown, who contended that she had been advised by Worrell that the revegetation had begun and that a forester was in the process of doing it.

Hatfield maintained that she has a pretty good view from her property of the whole length of the clear-cut tract and didn’t see any newly planted trees, but rather had seen a piece of equipment that removed some debris and graded the dirt.

“I don’t believe the trees are going to be very big – four to six inches,” DeGroff replied.

Hatfield asked DeGroff to clarify if he was speaking of the diameter or height of the trees, and the mayor replied it was the latter.

“What is going to stop the animals from pulling them out and eating them?” Hatfield asked. “… That is just asinine. With all the deer and turkeys and stuff out here, those trees are going to be put in and they are just going to be dug up again.”

Despite the gover n ing body being embroiled in controversy over the dispute after DeGroff and Deputy Mayor Mark Herndon previously admitted to having at least some advance knowledge of Worrell’s plans, and agreed to allow him to retroactively submit a “clearing” application on the municipality’s behalf to the Pinelands Commission (he actually filed a development application), all while questions surfaced as to whether Worrell violated the Pinelands CMP, the deputy mayor appeared to make light of Hatfield’s question by replying, “the Jersey Devil.”

DeGroff, who also replied to that question, remarked, while giggling, that a “bag of deer corn” would stop the animals from removing the trees, before, replying further that, “I don’t know – I can’t answer See CLEAR-CUT/ Page 9

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

BUDGET

(Continued from Page 6) coordinator and code enforcement officer.

“Any other cellphones are paid for by the individual,” Manning declared.

According to Garcia on May 4, staff from his office are currently conducting an audit of Washington’s “2020 financial statements and transactions,” reviewing “transactions here, payroll, expenditures and those type of things.”

He urged Washington residents to cooperate with the process by returning an “unsolicited” confirmation notice that had been mailed asking for “confirmation of dollar amounts paid by taxpayers to the township.”

“It helps us determine if the tax office is posting and recording tax transactions properly,” Garcia said. “We can’t force you to return it. But if you do respond to that, we appreciate it, as it helps us in conducting the audit of the township, and it ultimately helps us make sure your tax dollars are being properly accounted for.”

Garcia, in a May 19 interview with this newspaper, said that an audit of the municipality is “totally routine” and that all towns are required by the state to conduct an annual audit. He also told this newspaper that sending “confirmation notices to confirm payments and balances of taxes” is routine as well.

“There is no indication of a problem or issue at all,” he maintained. “These are procedures utilized to confirm tax records are accurate and complete.”

He added in the interview with this newspaper that not all residents will get the notices, but rather “they are selected at random.”

“Everyone shouldn’t expect to get one,” he said.

Garcia pointed out that this is the first

WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM year that Ford-Scott & Associates was conducting Washington’s annual audit.

The registered municipal accountant, during the May 4 committee meeting, noted that Washington has a “very strong surplus position,” increasing its surplus last year (despite the pandemic) by $21,000, to $3.9 million.

Still, however, the municipality has seen its revenues negatively affected by a 2010 cut in Open Space Payments In-Lieu-of Taxes (PILOT) funding from the state. Mayor Daniel James said recently that the Pinelands Municipal Council (a group of representatives from Pinelands communities, which includes representation from Washington) continues to lobby the state to restore the funding to post-2010 levels.

Democratic Governor Phil Murphy’s administration had said early last year it would restore the PILOT funding, but then didn’t, attributing the decision to the financial impact the pandemic had on the state.

“We got the same amount we got last year,” James pointed out. “They told us we were going to get our full-funding and then 20 minutes before they were to write the check, they told us they weren’t.”

At least two municipalities in the Pines (Bass River and Shamong) are considering allowing cannabis businesses as a new revenue opportunity, after Democratic Governor Phil Murphy signed three historic adult-use cannabis reform bills into law on Feb. 22 – which not only legalized cannabis use and possession for adults 21 years and older, but allows such businesses to establish themselves with local approval and a license.

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See BUDGET/ Page 15

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WILDFIRE (Continued from Page 1)

who spoke during a May 18 teleconference with the press, was first reported around 8:30 p.m. on May 17.

“The Turkey Buzzard fire, which we are calling it, was detected after the fire towers were down for the day,” said Webber, in a response to a question from this newspaper.

“It was around 8:30 at night when we first got a report of it, and towers typically go down at 5:30 p.m. or 5:45 p.m. at night. So that fire, we presume, started after the towers had gone down, and had a significant time to spread on its own before it was detected by someone.”

“Firefighters responded to it and found a

DEMOLISH (Continued from Page 5)

“not sure it is a 100 percent good assessment considering the condition of home.”

Farwez Ali, who tried to flip the home after purchasing it, a civil engineer who said he had migrated from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to the U.S. over 40 years ago, previously claimed to this newspaper that he had found the home to be “structurally sound,” though he added it requires a “substantial” amount of work.

A l i h a d c o nt e n d e d t h at s e ve r a l circumstances, including Brown expressing her belief at a committee meeting that he was cutting holes in a wall of the home to make it fall down faster, were the result of someone very powerful in town working behind the scenes with the township’s code enforcement officer, Tom Boyd, to see that the home is removed.

There were also allegations made by Ali that suggested possible discrimination might

significant fire burning in the interior part of the woods,” he said. “They conducted burnout operations overnight to contain that fire and that containment area is approximately 407 acres.”

The fire, he said, posed no threat to str uctures and there was no damage reported.

However, it forced the temporary closure of not only the two local roads, but Four Mile Road, a main thoroughfare that connects Pemberton Township to Routes 70 and 72, along with the Batona Trail west of Four Mile Road.

The trail, he said, would be closed “for the foreseeable future.”

The NJFFS, New Jersey State Fire Marshal and Burlington County Fire Marshal are investigating the fire’s cause. be involved. Burns previously called Ali’s statements “false” and “defamatory.”

Boyd issued a notice of stop-work to Ali on June 5, 2019. On Aug. 6, 2019, Boyd issued a Notice of Unsafe Structure and gave Ali until Aug. 30 of that year to resolve the purported issues. But Ali walked away, and the matter went to court, with the flipper contending he had already taken a $40,000 loss. Boyd disputed the integrity of hand drawn architectural plans submitted by the flipper.

Ali, as he disputed the township’s position, listed the home for sale, along with his business partner, on Facebook for $16,000, which Brown previously said had generated beaucoup calls to the township with “tons of interest” in it.

The township solicitor, during a March committee meeting, reported that in regards to 4007 Route 563, the “(now) former property owner entered into a settlement with the township” where he issued a “partial payment to the township for back taxes owed” and “transferred the property to the township.”

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Robert B. Jaggard Elementary School.

Several of these students, Fischer said, are nonverbal and have devices to help them communicate, information from which she relies on paraprofessionals to interpret.

Others in her classes need paraprofessionals to keep them from stuffing so much food in their mouths that they are in jeopardy of choking, she noted.

Then there are autistic students who either “don’t want to leave at the end of the day because transitions are so difficult for them” or who tend to “run out of the building,” as well as those “who can’t take care of their own toileting needs.” All such situations and more, she noted, are effectively handled by the paraprofessionals (the great majority of whom are women).

“Kids with autism don’t develop the way other kids do,” said Fischer, which requires a lot of data on them to be collected “so we can see those things because they’re not as obvious as they are with typical students.

The paras do that.”

“We can’t do our job without our paras,” she declared. “I need them, the school district needs them, the students really need them.”

Filling in for substitute teachers when needed is yet another job assigned to paraprofessionals, who, like Millington, are qualified to assume such responsibilities.

Given the myriad tasks paraprofessionals do, cutting the benefits for more experienced ones, they and their advocates argue, will also lead to the degradation of a system that has come to be regarded as a model

CLEAR-CUT (Continued from Page 7)

that question.”

Additionally, after Com m itteeman Derrick Daniels, in response to Hatfield’s inquiry, maintained that he thought the “Pinelands knows what to plant because that is what they do,” Herndon remarked, “Don’t plant them, just hug them.” It was at that point that Hatfield expressed her disbelief about the situation.

“I am no expert,” DeGroff said. “We are just doing what is required.”

Horner, in the April 27 letter addressed to Brown, pointed out that correspondence from both Worrell and the township had indicated that three 10-foot gates would be installed at three access points to the site, but that correspondence from Township Engineer Thomas Leisse proposed only two such gates at just two access points, and that a “product detail sheet” that was said to be attached with his letter was actually not.

The regulatory programs director left it up to the township, however, to determine if what is proposed will “resist damage” from motor vehicles attempting to access the site, “including motorcycles.”

Additionally, Horner noted that Worrell was “objecting to the installation of temporary plastic fencing along the portions of the Kossuth Avenue right-of-way and the 13th Street right-of-way” and that such fencing would “protect the seedlings that are planted for revegetation from being destroyed by motor vehicles using the now widened rights-of-way.”

STRUCTURE (Continued from Page 3)

hold had not been previously divulged to this newspaper, and such a position was not listed in January on a township committee-approved

AD HOTLINE: (609) 801-2392 for students with disabilities, as attested to at the meeting by the father of a child diagnosed with autism who claimed he had “scraped together all the money I had and bought a house (in Marlton) to keep him here.”

Bowles reinforced that point in talking to the Pine Barrens Tribune.

“We have a lot of parents who have moved from all over the country to Marlton because of our special education program,” he contended.

Halabura also raised the point that given how difficult it has been for many businesses to find workers in the wake of the pandemic, the district may have a hard time replacing the veteran staffers who will resign rather than work for reduced compensation.

“None of us want to be here, it’s a horrendous situation for the staff who are being impacted,” Smith told this newspaper, maintaining that he was “tremendously sy mpathetic” to the situation of the paraprofessionals, whom he characterized as “great people.”

“I understand the levels of frustration,” he said. “At the same time, the decisions that are in the best interests of the students are the ones that need to be made.”

The superintendent, however, did contend at the meeting that, “We are open to all considerations as things move forward.”

When a motion was made to approve the budget, board member Janis Knoll seconded it, but subsequently voted no. This was deemed a rule violation that caused the vote to be retaken. During the second goround, board member Melissa Fleming, who had originally voted to approve the budget, changed her vote to “no.”

“By copy of this letter, we are advising Mr. Worrell that, unless the township determines that the installation of temporary plastic fencing along the above referenced areas is unnecessary, the temporary plastic construction fencing is required to address the violation,” Horner wrote.

The township committee, during its latest meeting, deliberated whether the temporary plastic fencing was in fact necessary.

Township Engineer Thomas Leisse, who during the deliberation, said “I would want the orange fencing” and “I would want temporary fencing,” noted that by the committee members concurring with each other, the governing body was “holding to him (Worrell) to whatever is in the (commission’s) letter.”

DeGroff said he “would be good” with requiring that Worrell install orange temporar y plastic fenc i ng, us e d for construction, along Kossuth Avenue, between 12th and 13th Streets, to “protect the seedlings he is going to plant.” Daniels and Herndon concurred.

Leisse’s recent recommendations about the barriers have drawn concern from the public about the township assuming potential liability in the matter. Questions continue to surface about who is legally responsible for the maintenance of the cleared land that follows along the paper streets, and who bears liability for any injuries.

Horner noted in his letter to Brown that a “portion of the 13th Street right-of-way between Prince Street (aka Lebanon Road) and Savoy Boulevard will remain cleared as a forest fire fuel break.”

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Woodland to Establish Searchable Online Codebook

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

WO O DL A N D — A f t e r Wo o d l a n d Township residents at the end of last year questioned online why they were unable to access the municipality’s codebook on the web (so that they could easily research and know what the laws of the town are), and a small businessman was fined for placing a commercial sign on his property and later told this newspaper that he had not actually seen a copy of the municipal ordinance regarding commercial signs, officials here have decided to join with the majority of other Burlington County towns and put the laws of the township online.

But to bring the township further in line with the 21st Century, it will come at a cost of $23,500.

That is how much General Code, a firm that claims to employ “codification experts,” requested of the municipality to develop a searchable online codebook, unique to Woodland, to put at the residents’ fi nger tips. T he Wood land Tow nsh ip Committee awarded a contract to the firm in the said amount during its April 28 meeting.

The price also includes the firm reviewing the existing township laws, in conjunction with the township solicitor, “to make sure they are all legally written and not saying something opposite another,” according to Township Clerk Maryalice Brown.

“It is a major job,” Brown contended.

“She (a representative of the firm) took six binders out of my office, and we are talking ordinances from back in 1940.”

Current estimates are that it is a project that will take nine months to a year to complete, she noted. If laws prior to 1940 surface at a later date, the township will have to pay extra to have them incorporated into the codebook.

Once the codebook is launched (with three hardcopies of all the edits provided to the township, which is also included in the price), Brown said the municipality will have to pay General Code an annual fee of

$1,095 “that keeps the code on the website up to date.”

“Anytime we make change (to our laws), they will add it on there,” Brown said.

As previously reported by this newspaper, anytime anyone wants to know the laws of the township, they have to wait on Brown being available, who then has to search through the binders.

If one wishes to maintain their own copy of a particular law, it then has to be scanned or photocopied. It is a burdensome and time-consuming process – with the public often having to file Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests, or visit town hall in-person. And during the Coronavirus pandemic, town hall had been closed at times, further adding to the hardship of accessing the information.

“I will say this will cut down the time that Maryalice has to spends on these (requests),” said Township Solicitor William Burns during the April 28 committee meeting. “Though it is very expensive, they are codified online and it makes it easier for not only Maryalice to search, but it would be easier for me to search, and anyone else looking at them. It would save a lot of time and effort moving forward, instead of flipping through the books and trying to figure out which ordinance is which, and which is controlling it. But it is very expensive.”

Deputy Mayor Mark Herndon, earlier this year, said of the current process, in part, that if someone were to want to do something in the township, and wanted to know what its laws and regulations are, follow us on facebook.com/MedfordUMC they could call the township and ask its clerk specific questions.

But the township is not even open five days a week, and closes at 3 p.m. the days it is open. The online codebook would provide for 24/7 access.

“It will help (Construction Official) Tom Boyd when he has to look at the zoning ordinances,” Brown maintained. “Tom Boyd frequently calls me asking, ‘What does this See CODEBOOK/ Page 13

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(Continued from Page 11)

ordinance say?’ and then we have to pull it out and look.”

Brown said that there were more than 600 pages in the six binders that were taken from her office that General Code now must sift through.

“It is a monster job, not a job I would not want to do,” the township clerk declared.

It was noted by Brown that Woodland is one of the few towns in Burlington County that currently does not have its codebook accessible online, and that she recently discussed the platform with a former clerk of Tabernacle, who gave it high praise.

“It is going to make things a lot easier,” concluded Woodland Mayor William “Billy” DeGroff.

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handicap accessible, with both a wide set of stairs and an elevator to the second-floor, where all of the township’s departmental offices are located.

“Space wise – it is just more functional,” she said.

The first stop on the tour was the first cluster of many rooms, this particular one housing individual offices for the manager, clerk, registrar and human resource officer.

But unique to this cluster is a 490-squarefoot conference room (which is set up like the U.S. President’s Situation Room).

“Before we had a six-seat conference table,” Burger pointed out. “Now, we have a 16-seat conference table. We can now have full-sized meetings, which is a nice treat.”

Upon exiting the administrative offices, just past the elevator, is another cluster of offices dedicated to construction, with tables designed to accommodate very large map layout and drafting.

Separating the construction cluster from the zoning/planning cluster is a “plan review room,” with a variety of township plans laid out on a table.

Rather than having plans and documents stored away in storage boxes, or in closets, as was the case in the old town hall, according to Zoning Official and Open Space Coordinator Beth Portocalis, the new building “gives us a chance to sort the plans out,” and organize them in a way that gives the staff the ability to go right to them when requested or needed.

“Really – it is like we died and went to heaven,” said Portocalis of her new workplace.

Planning Board Secretary Kimberly Moore, whose desk is near Portocalis’ office, added that it is “nice to now move around

Photo By Douglas D. Melagari

The lobby of the new town hall in Medford includes the township seal ingrained in its Terrazzo floor, along with a seating area.

Photo By Douglas D. Melagari

The new “Children’s Library” room inside Medford Town Hall awaits the arrival of books and furniture. more freely and easily.”

The move from the old municipal building to the new municipal building took two full days to complete, Burger said, with Portocalis noting that “it made us take a look at what we have (all the various files and plans) and forced us to take a look at how we can consolidate files.”

The planning/zoning cluster contains

an “HD Storage Room,” allowing officials to put issued planning and zoning permits together in one place, which are sorted by block and lot.

“Just like with social security numbers, here every address has a block and lot,” Portocalis told this newspaper. “We have over 9,500 addresses in Medford, which are called ‘line items.’ Now everything is

numerical sequence, whereas before, we ran out of room to do that.”

Having all of the planning and zoning permits stored in numerical sequence, the zoning official added, is especially advantageous currently given “we get a ton of OPRA (Open Public Record Act) requests from people buying and selling their houses wanting, for example, to make sure their fences are legal.”

“I have been here 25 years, and we’ve waited a longtime for this, but this council got very serious with it once they came out of a lot debt with other projects,” said Portocalis, noting that she first heard discussion about possibly constructing a new municipal building for Medford shortly after beginning to work for the township.

The service windows and doors to all of the township’s various departmental clusters follow along a single hallway on the second floor. Across the way from the zoning/planning and construction clusters are ones for tax/utility collection, the tax accessor and finance.

Tax Assessor Joe Rahman told this newspaper that the significantly bigger space has allowed for an “expansion of the filing cabinets,” which he called “a big plus.”

“We have a shared service agreement with Medford Lakes (for tax assessment services), and before, the files for the borough were in a box,” Burger added. “Now we have a place to accommodate them.”

The first-floor of “Medford Town Hall” is currently unoccupied, but the Burlington County Library System’s Pinelands Branch is expected to move in this summer. Burger said the library was asked to wait until the municipal staff got settled and familiar with the new workplace.

“We have been talking Aug. 1,” Burger told this newspaper, noting that negotiations See TOWNSHIP/ Page 15

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TOWNSHIP (Continued from Page 14)

regarding the particulars of the relocation were continuing, but that an agreement is “forthcoming.”

Nevertheless, everything is set up for the library to move in, with a layout that includes a “children’s library” and “regular library” along with a “teen room,” 102-seat multipurpose room, and “tech center.” Three sets of offices for the library’s operations are also waiting to be occupied.

As for the future of the old municipal building, a redevelopment plan was just presented to council at its May 4 meeting, and Burger told this newspaper that “we are now working on putting something out there to see if there are interested parties.”

Someone, she said, had already recently inquired about purchasing the old municipal building to open a restaurant.

“The (current) library building will probably be available in the future as well,” said Burger, noting that the municipality owns it.

But for Burger, her immediate focus was on the present – a momentous day, where she got to oversee the grand opening of a new facility

VETTING

(Continued from Page 6) “Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as requiring said municipality to make any contributions to purchase any equipment for, or assert any control over, the Volunteer Fire Departments of the Township of Washington other than those annual contributions determined in each municipal budget as the municipality’s annual contribution to said fire companies and such controls as are mandated by state law.”

BUDGET

(Continued from Page 8) However, if a municipal governing body decides to take no action, “you are presumed to be included” in the state’s cannabis licensing program, (or, in other words, the borough is presumed to allow local marijuana businesses and sales).

James had previously announced that Washington had sent a survey to its residents asking them if they were for or against allowing cannabis businesses to operate in the municipality, and the committee would then possibly base its decision on the results.

“15 people said ‘yes,’ 41 or 42 said ‘no,’ and either 3 or 4 filled out, ‘They don’t care,’” said James on May 4. “So, by what the survey says, the township doesn’t want licenses issued for various items for

for municipal government – a project that had initially failed to materialize, she said, initially tied in with a “Medford Crossing” development proposal made around 2005.

A dedication plaque in the building’s lobby – that has the tow nsh ip s e al ingrained in its Terrazzo floor and is lit by a chandelier – not only thanks the current council of Mayor Charles “Chuck” Watson, Deputy Mayor Erik Rebstock, Councilman Bradley Denn, Councilman Frank Czekay, and Councilwoman Lauren Kochan, but also past councilmen Jeffrey Beenstock, Christopher Buoni and Randy Pace, along with the project’s contractor, Arthur J. Orgren Inc.; Construction Manager, New Road Construction Management; and Civil Engineer, Environmental Resolutions Inc. Council, in October 2019, awarded a $8,194,000 contract for the construction of the new building to Arthur J. Ogren, Inc., with Watson previously noting that with professionals’ fees and property acquisition costs accounted for, it is “about a $10 million project.”

The over 20,000 square-foot new town hall was designed by Garrison Architects, and is set back roughly 300 feet from Union Street.

Its brick façade matches the neighboring, historic Haines House.

It appears, after this newspaper searched the municipal code book, that Chapter 35 is the only one currently that touches upon municipal contributions to any of the outside agencies.

All three members of the township committee are reportedly affiliated with either the Green Bank Fire Company, Lower Bank Fire Company or Green Bank Ambulance Squad.

Some of the administrative officers of the local emergency service agencies could not be reached for comment for this story, nor could Mayor Daniel James.

marijuana. Therefore, we had Mr. (Solicitor Tom) Coleman create an ordinance letting the governor know that we don’t want those businesses authorized in our township.”

The mayor noted that the “ordinance is good for five years,” and that if “something should change,” the Washington committee “can change it at that time.”

A proposed ordinance to “prohibit the operation of all classes of Cannabis businesses” was then introduced 3-0 by the Washington committee, with Coleman noting that because it is a “land use ordinance,” it will be sent to the township zoning/planning board, before it comes back to the governing body.

Deputy Township Clerk Karen Bacon said that because of the meeting schedules, a second and public hearing before the Washington committee would occur in July.

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