Pine Barrens Tribune August 27, 2022-September 2, 2022

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August 27 - September 2, 2022

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Pemberton Twp. School Bus Driver Charged with Neglecting Children in Case Where 9-Year-Old Boy Was Allegedly ‘Strangled’ by Aide Video Shows Driver Did Nothing to Intervene While Watching Assault, Authorities Allege; Aide Has Since Been Fired, Driver Resigned

THE ‘SMALL’ CHILL

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

PE M BE RT ON —T h e d r i v e r o f a Pemberton Township school bus, where a bus aide had allegedly assaulted a 9-year-old boy late last month when the vehicle was stopped at Third Street in the municipality, See DRIVER/ Page 5

Tammy Dwyer’s ice-cream parlor in Medford Lakes.

Medford Twp. Considering Its ‘Options’ for Collection of Solid Waste, Bulk Trash After Missed Pickups Extend Several Days, Weeks

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

The Proprietor of The Sand Stand, a Medford Lakes Ice-Cream Shop, Attempts to Have Mister Softee Trucks Banned from the Borough, a ‘Little Island’ She Says Isn’t Big Enough to Support Both Businesses

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

MEDFORD LAKES—At a time when society has been beset by every type of tribulation, from pestilence, war and political turmoil to cataclysmic droughts and floods, the insular appeal of the small-town tranquility and tradition that characterizes Medford Lakes Borough

has perhaps never been more pronounced.

But even this 1.27-square mile enclave of log-cabin-style buildings, ubiquitous bicycles, a summer camp and tree-lined lakes that boaters, kayakers and swimmers find so enticing is apparently not immune to the type of dispute over turf that one might ordinarily expect to hear about in a large, crowded metropolis like New York

One Possible Option is to Bring Trash Hauling Back ‘In-House’; Another Town Petitions County for ‘Shared’ Collection System

or Philadelphia.

Only in this case, it is the borough’s very diminutiveness that has given rise to the question of whether the stewards of two of America’s best-loved traditions— the ice-cream parlor and the ice-cream truck—can co-exist within its confines, the proprietor of the former having

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

MEDFORD —A mu n icipal ity that neighbors Medford Township describes what is happening in the latter as a “kerfuffle.”

When Medford Township cut ties with Gold Medal Environmental of NJ, Inc., its solid waste collector and disposal service provider See TRASH/ Page 4

See ICE CREAM/ Page 3

INDEX Business Directory...................................10

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

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

Marketplace........................................................9

Job Board...................................................9

Worship Guide............................................8

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Page 2 ♦

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Medford Council Decides to Raise Taxes for First Time in Over Nine Years, a Year After Three of Its Members Ran on Platform of Not Having to Do So Planned Project to Renovate Firehouse Put on ‘Pause’ After Official Describes Need to ‘Tighten Our Belts’ Following Years of ‘Inflated Capital Plans,’ Large Expenditures

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

MEDFORD—When Medford Township Mayor Charles “Chuck” Watson sought reelection last November with Councilman Erik Rebstock, and was joined on the Republican ticket by realtor and nowCouncilwoman Donna Symons, they ran advertisements and distributed campaign materials convincing voters they were the team “Focused on Medford,” honing in on the fact that the GOP-led council during Watson’s tenure accomplished “no tax increases for nine straight years.”

But in the first year of Watson’s and Rebstock’s new terms on the governing body, and in Symons’ initial term – when there is no municipal election being held, council has unanimously decided to raise the municipal tax levy by one cent, or what amounts to a $20 increase on the average assessed home.

And Township Manager Kathy Burger isn’t completely r u l i ng out that the future may hold additional tax increases, contending it might have to happen because of a possibility for an increased demand in services, the result of development happening in town.

But for this year’s budget, Watson and Burger have recently acknowledged that the “debt service payments” on several large

expenditures, including “improvements to buildings,” are in fact part of the reason behind the first tax increase in over nine years, in addition to “giving everybody who works for us a raise” of a minimum of two percent annually, in combination with expenses in general on the rise due to inflation and the lingering impact of the pandemic.

“We have to start getting some of that back,” Watson declared.

The details behind the tax increase only recently came into better focus with this newspaper obtaining last week the audio of a special March 26 budget council meeting – the only one as of late with video footage not posted on the township website.

It was at that meeting that municipal officials held a lengthy deliberation about whether or not to raise taxes on Medford households, or to proceed with a one to two cent increase in the tax levy.

That deliberation represented a shift in council’s previous posture that it was holding the line, and could continue to the hold line, on tax increases.

One council member even surmised during the deliberations if now is the right time to present an increase to residents, given they too are impacted by inflation.

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ICE CREAM (Continued from Page 1)

formally requested that the operator of the latter be legally frozen out of any right to do business there (evoking the old cinematic cliché, “This town ain’t big enough for both of us”).

Such a ban is what Tammy Dwyer, the owner of the Sand Stand Ice Cream Shop, one of five retail establishments along Trading Post Way, the borough’s quaint, log-exterior commercial hub, sought from the Medford Lakes Borough Council at its Aug. 10 meeting by requesting that a “non-compete clause” be written into the language of the application for a permit to operate, one that would state “that the solicitor (of the permit) shall not operate a business substantially similar to or directly competitive with a current business located within the Medford Lakes business district.”

The intended object of that proposed prohibition is the Mister Softee franchise that she claimed was threatening the economic viability of her establishment by soliciting the very same residents – and kids in particular – to whom it caters.

“As a local business owner, it is very frustrating to see an outside company sit across from our beaches and sell, less than 100 feet away, the very product that makes up 97 percent of our business,” was how she put it.

The Sand Stand, which Dwyer purchased back in 2018, has been open for 18 years, she noted, giving many local youngsters their first real job, pays taxes to the borough, and operates on “razor-thin margins” but

continues to do so out of the belief that it “is essential to our Laker way of life.”

Maintaining that her enterprise and neighboring ones have recently started to come together as a business association to support each other and “to build something here,” Dwyer said it was their hope that “the council understands the importance of these few local businesses and makes a move to protect us now and in the future … from outside companies shutting down our business for an $800 permit.”

The permit to which she referred was one recently issued by the borough to the Mister Softee franchise after what she also complained was a period of several years during which its truck had operated without one in Medford Lakes despite what she alleged were “numerous warnings by neighbors as well as police,” which she believed raises a question about whether the franchisee possessed the “upstanding moral character” to have been belatedly granted such a permit.

But when subsequently asked in a phone interview with the Pine Barrens Tribune whether she would still oppose the presence of Mister Softee had it done everything according to Hoyle, Dwyer said she would because of the unique character and exceptionally small size of Medford Lakes, as well as the fact that it already has softserve ice cream available a mere two-minute bike ride from anywhere in the borough, with a window where customers can place their orders without even having to set foot in her establishment.

“What is the need to have Mister Softee here?” she asked. “What is the benefit to our community?”

Dwyer added that she “does feel that

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because of the way we run our town, we are our own little island.”

“And I don’t understand why we can’t protect those establishments in our own little island,” she said.

According to Borough Attorney Douglas L. Heinold, however, Medford Lakes, despite whatever claims it might have on cultural uniqueness, is just not in a position to create so parochial a constraint.

While the borough has “rights to regulate permits,” he noted, a noncompete restriction is “a private right municipalities don’t have the ability to impose.”

“I know there’s a non-compete clause within Trading Post Way, between the businesses by deed,” Heinold asserted.

“That’s permissible under the law, but it’s not permissible for a municipality.”

He added, however, that “doesn’t mean there’s nothing that can be done on the ordinance,” indicating that the council might see fit to review it. Contacted by this newspaper on Aug. 23, however, neither Hei nold nor Medford Lakes Borough Manager Rob Burton indicated that anything of the sort had yet been undertaken.

“I have not yet received anything from the governing body,” Burton said. “I think they’re going to evaluate the situation.”

Whether one agrees or disagrees with Dwyer’s characterization of Mister Softee as an “outside company” encroaching on the limited patronage of a local business, that’s not quite the way the State of New Jersey viewed the company and other icecream vendors during the mandated closings of many other retail enterprises two years ago in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At that time, ice-cream trucks were actually accorded an “essential business” desig nation and allowed to continue operating while restaurants were strictly limited to delivery and take-out services, althoug h Mister Softe e, base d i n Runnemede, Camden County, voluntarily chose to take its vendors off the road for six weeks to prepare them to comply with various sanitary and distancing restrictions, according to Medford regional franchisee Dave Skow.

And while it may be true enough, as Dwyer pointed out, that a log-and-mortar establishment pays considerably more for the privilege of running a business to the municipality itself than does a mobile icecream vendor, that’s not to say that the latter by any means can manage to operate ‘on the cheap.’

Mister Softee, which advertises itself as America’s oldest and largest franchisee of soft ice cream trucks, requires a $7,500

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

♦ Page 3

franchising fee, and initial deposit of approximately $50,000 for a branded truck, which ultimately costs a total of from $185,000 and $200,000, according to Mike Conway, the company’s vice president.

And that doesn’t even take into account the cost of fuel and ingredients, which have sharply increased in recent months, as a New York Times article pointed out just a month ago under the headline, “Melting profits threaten the ice cream man.”

Interviewed for this article by phone, both Conway and Skow offered a predictably different perspective on their Medford Lakes operation than Dwyer, whose proposal Conway referred to as an attempt to “push us out of the town.”

“From my understanding, that would be a monopoly,” Conway commented. “That’s why the town gives the franchisee the permit – it’s just normal competition. Why not let the kids vote on it? They probably want two ice-cream vendors.”

According to Conway, who said he used to run the operation in the area that includes Medford Lakes, much of Mister Softee’s business in the borough has been devoted to catering private parties, for which no permit is required, whereas, “If you drove around without a permit, the cops were going to pull you over.”

“What we do is great for families and kids,” he contended. “I think people really enjoy an ice-cream truck that rides around their neighborhood.”

The idea of the borough not having an ice-cream truck for a reason of this nature, he added, is something wouldn’t be fair to its residents nor to his drivers.

Skow, to whom Conway referred this newspaper for more detailed answers, concurred that the trucks in his franchise had gone for a long time without a Medford Lakes solicitor’s permit because their business there was mainly for private parties, maintaining that a driver might occasionally get lost afterward or wander into the borough without realizing it and turn on the truck’s bells. He further claimed that none of his trucks had been given a citation under such circumstances, as Dwyer alleged, but on occasion have been asked by the police to leave. (Whether or not a citation was ever actually issued by the borough to a Mister Softee truck as Dwyer claimed it was, could not be immediately determined.)

“It’s not like we were sitting there in front of her store trying to attract her customers,” he said of Dwyer’s charge.

He added that the reason he finally decided to apply for a Medford Lakes permit was that he was “flooded with phone calls See ICE CREAM/ Page 11

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

TRASH

(Continued from Page 1) of nine years, back in January 2021, Township Manager Kathy Burger asked residents for their “patience” as the new hauler, Republic Services, took over in town and learned the collection routes.

But the patience of many Medford Township residents has been running thin in recent days, after reportedly thousands of households in the municipality, within the last month, went anywhere from several days to two to three weeks without seeing a garbage truck on their street, and amid a heatwave to boot, with several homeowners describing in phone calls to this newspaper, as well as online, an awful stench originating from the uncollected garbage that sat curbside in their neighborhoods, in addition to the spoiling contents purportedly attracting animals and other pests.

And according to several Medford Township residents, supported by a series of postings on the township’s official Facebook page, the latest string of delayed collections is on top of many other repeated delays in collection since Republic took over trash hauling in Medford just about a year-and-ahalf ago, with those individuals reporting no real significant problems that they can recall with the prior collector.

“Just tell me who to vote for!” declared one person online after the most recent string of issues. “I’m not fond of trash containers sitting out for days.”

Another asserted, “Republic is ‘trash.’”

Several other residents took aim at Medford Township Council for deciding to privatize collections in town nearly a decade ago, writing, “We should have never outsourced our trash ….” and “This administration shouldn’t have outsourced the trash to begin with.”

Burger, in later remarks at an Aug. 16 Medford Township Council meeting, blamed the issues of the last month on Republic having “mechanical issues,” with three to four trucks broken down in one area alone, all while the firm, she revealed, also “experienced a shortage of drivers.”

But Burger maintained “other towns have had problems all along” with Republic that “had not affected us until two weeks ago,” at least not weeks’ worth of no solid waste and bulk trash collection, as had been reported to be an ongoing issue in several riverfront towns in Burlington County.

However, while Medford Township Mayor Charles “Chuck” Watson maintained “there had been none of this long-term stuff” in his municipality, he acknowledged there had been issues “a day here, a day there.”

Medford Township, on a number of occasions last year, notified its residents through Facebook, “Trash collection in some parts of Medford may be delayed,” or

WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM “Republic Services has again experienced delays collecting trash.”

Those type of postings from the township began becoming more numerous in February of this year, with “mechanical breakdowns,” “unforeseen circumstances,” and “staffing shortages” among the reasons cited by the township for Republic falling behind in collection.

The situation got to the point that by July 21, Medford Township posted on its Facebook page, “Medford Township officials have been and will continue assessing penalties against Republic Services for failure to perform trash collection services without delays.”

But Medford Township, even after reportedly assessing penalties, found itself again posting about collection delays on July 22, July 27, July 28, Aug. 2, Aug. 4, Aug. 9, Aug. 12, Aug. 15, Aug. 16 and Aug. 19, including that bulk trash pickup was also delayed in some areas of Medford.

And while the township advised residents in the Aug. 9 posting that “Republic Services continues to deploy additional resources to town to collect the missed trash from last week,” by the Aug. 15 posting, the municipality recognized “areas of Medford” have “not received trash collection in more than a week.”

Some shared that post reporting it had actually been as long as three weeks prior since they had last had their garbage collected.

A traffic message board, deployed on Stokes Road (also known as County Route 541), was even utilized to inform Medford Township residents of trash collection delays, urging them to keep their trash curbside for collection.

“Township officials are aware of the delays in collection and are exploring ‘options’ to help prevent this type of delay in the future,” it was posted on the Medford Township Facebook page. “Further updates will be provided as we receive updates from Republic officials. We appreciate your patience as we work through this temporary delay.”

Burger did not return a message from this newspaper, as of press time, seeking an explanation as to what those “options” are that are being considered.

However, during a Medford Township Council meeting the following day, Burger revealed she is “exploring what it would cost for us to bring it (trash collection) back in house.”

Council, back in November 2012, according to township meeting minutes, made the decision to privatize trash collection beginning in January 2013, citing the potential for up to a $350,000 “net annual savings” if as many as seven Public Works employees at a then-salary of $63,000 are terminated, though officials sought to “reassign” four of them.

It is unclear how many employees, who had been assigned trash collection, were ultimately let go from the township payroll, with Burger not responding to an inquiry about that.

Burger, township clerk of Medford at the time, was in the process of taking over the

township manager post from Christopher Schultz, with the present-day Medford Township mayor, who is Watson, and Medford Township Deputy Mayor Frank Czekay, serving on the then-council as councilmen.

Casworth Enterprises, Inc., said to be one of four bidders at the time that the Medford Township ceased in house trash collection, was given the initial privatization contract. During the first year Casworth hauled trash for the municipality, the firm was paid $499,800 for its collection and disposal services.

Gold Medal, according to past Medford Township Council meeting minutes, in 2015, acquired Casworth Enterprises. Gold Medal charged the township $643,658 for its collection and disposal services during the final year of its most recent contract with the township (2020).

Watson, when Medford Township made the switch from Gold Medal to Republic, contended that the municipality saved over $300,000 through privatization.

Burger, at the time of Medford Township switching to Republic, did not disclose, and would not tell this newspaper when queried, the reason the municipality decided to switch from Gold Medal to Republic.

However, this newspaper previously reported that a December 2020 bid placed

by Gold Medal to Medford Township for a three-year trash hauling contract, was for $1,105,799 in year one, $1,218,249 in year two, and $1,241,147 in the final year, for a total of $3,655,195.

If Medford Township would have awarded a contract to Gold Medal, it would have resulted in an over $400,000 annual increase in trash collection services, with a municipality often obligated to go with the lowest, responsible bidder when awarding a contract.

Republic, in a bid for the same contract, said it would charge Medford Township only $810,781.20 during its initial year of providing services, $840,124.80 in the second year and $870,477 in the final year, for a total of $2,521,383.

During the Aug. 16 Medford Township Council meeting, Watson reiterated “we were saving hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by having them (a private contractor) doing it (trash hauling),” but acknowledged “it may not be that way now.”

Burger replied that she was “looking into all those figures,” and now has a “risk manager looking into the cost if we went back in-house.”

However, she pointed to the nationwide shortage of truck drivers and workers in general, asking, “What is the likelihood we are going to get drivers?” should the municipality actually proceed with bringing trash collection back in house.

“Are they going to chase the dollar and just hop from here to there?” she asked.

The Medford town manager also pointed to the nationwide shortage of large vehicles, including trash trucks, due to recent supply and demand issues in the U.S., declaring,

Saturday, August 27, 2022 “Who knows if we can even get a truck?”

“That being said, I still think we need to look into it for the longer term,” Watson contended.

Both neighboring Medford Lakes Borough and Southampton Township, at one point, also considered privatizing their trash collection in favor of achieving a possible cost savings.

However, both of those municipalities ultimately decided against it, siding with concerns that once workers are laid off and the equipment is sold off, it is hard to get them back, in addition to taking notice of instances throughout the region where a contractor initially comes in with a low figure to collect waste, only to raise the price substantially when it comes time to negotiating a new contract.

“It was interesting, I was recently on social media and there was a whole lot of kerfuffle in Medford about Republic trash,” said Medford Lakes Borough Manager Dr. Robert Burton during an August Medford Lakes Borough Council meeting. “And I think this is just another indication of why you don’t want to outsource your trash to a private company, because they are getting their trash picked up weeks late.”

The Medford Lakes Borough Council, Burton added, “made the right decision” in recently deciding to move forward with “getting another trash truck.”

“They are doing a great job and are helping to keep costs down, so hopefully we continue doing things that way,” said Burton of the situation in Medford Lakes.

William Fields, deputy mayor of Medford Lakes, pointed out that his wife receives Nixle emergency notifications from Medford Township, and “every week it has been ‘trash delay,’ ‘trash delay,’ and ‘trash delay.’”

“It is every week that it comes out,” Fields maintained. “I am so glad that we did not go that route and we have our own, especially with this past week and all the delays.”

Medford Township, however, has not been the only county municipality that has been affected by collection delays, particularly those involving Republic.

Watson acknowledged as much during the Aug. 16 Medford Township Council meeting, in referencing what has been happening in Delran Township, for example.

“They have it way worse than we have it,” he said. “I spoke to the mayor there, and they are not happy. It is unreal what they are dealing with.”

According to Gary Catrambone, mayor of Delran, in one of several letters sent to residents of his town, “Delran, like many other municipalities, has experienced a considerable problem with the quality of trash collection; including missed collection issues that last for days, trash left on our streets, and leaking hydraulic fluid from poorly maintained vehicles.”

“More must be done to resolve these issues See TRASH/ Page 6

Saturday, August 27, 2022

DRIVER

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allegedly observed shaking the bus aide’s hand, while declaring, ‘“You protected yourself man ... good man ... good man.’”

(Continued from Page 1) Pemberton Police Chief Jay Watters, in a press release provided to this newspaper in a case that has since garnered national announcing the arrest of the bus driver, attention, has been charged this week with notes that “a joint investigation into the “neglect of children.” incident by the Pemberton Township Police T he fou r th- deg re e charge agai nst Department and the Burlington County Anthony Kijonka, 70, from the Browns Prosecutor’s Office is ongoing.”

Mills section of Pemberton Township, was The criminal complaint filed against filed Aug. 22, several weeks after the July Kijonka notes that the bus driver is later 28 purported assault that only reportedly seen “conversing with an unidentified first came to light on Aug. 1 when the child’s female” following the incident, “recounting grandmother reported the incident to the details of the assault.”

Pemberton Township School District.

Kijonka, charged with fourth-degree The bus aide, Donald Pride, 72, also of neglect of children, has since been processed Browns Mills, as this newspaper previously at Pemberton Police headquarters and reported, is alleged in a criminal complaint released on a summons pending a future against him to have “grabbed” the child “by court appearance, according to Watters. the neck” and then “strangled” him for The basis of that charge, according to the approximately nine seconds, to the point criminal complaint, is that the “defendant that the child was depicted on surveillance being a parent, guardian or person having video showing visible signs that he was at care, custody or control of a child,” was least momentarily struggling to breathe. both “cruel” and “neglectful” in his actions A Pemberton patrolman, who noted involving a minor, specifically, in this case, his later observations from conducting a “observing Donald Pride verbally and review of the surveillance video, alleged physically assault (the victim) in his presence in the criminal complaint w it hout at t e mpt i ng to against Pride that prior intervene and/or stop the to the assault occurring, assault and/or report the the footage depicted two assault.” ch i ld re n “shov i ng a nd In addition to the boy grabbing one another in the purportedly placing his aisle of the school vehicle,” “ha nd s on h is th roat ” and that despite being “told following the assault, this to sit down” by Pride, “the newspaper has since learned students continued to ignore from the criminal complaint the bus aide’s commands.” filed against Kijonka that That is when, according the child “sustained visible to the patrolman’s narrative i nj u r i e s t o t h e t h ro at of the video, Pride stood up a nd ne ck ” a ft er b ei ng and approached one of the “strangled.” children and purportedly It continues to remain told that individual, “‘You unclear whether the child Kijonka think you’re real tough, was treated for those injuries don’t you?’” or has been evaluated since T h e a l l e g e d a s s au lt the incident. Additionally, followed. it has not been said if the The criminal complaint children involved in the against Pride, however, shoving and grabbing are made no mention of the facing, or will face, any whereabouts of the school disciplinary action(s). bus driver on that day, Following the charges as prev iously repor te d brought against the bus by this newspaper. Both d r ive r, t he Pe mb e r ton the school distr ict and Township School District township police department told this newspaper in a told this newspaper they statement, “The Pemberton could not comment on the Township School District investigation and have, as is deeply com m itted to of press time, refused calls ensuring the safety and to release the surveillance security of all students.”

Pride video, in part, citing an “When we were initially active and ongoing criminal investigation alerted to an alleged altercation on a school a nd t h at t he foot age i s a c r i m i na l bus involving a district bus aide on Aug. investigatory record exempted from public 1, we immediately launched an internal release under the Open Public Records Act investigation, contacted the appropriate (OPRA). authorities and placed the employee on However, the Pine Barrens Tribune, in administrative leave pending further obtaining Aug. 25 the criminal complaint investigation,” the statement continued. filed against Kijonka, has learned that “Since that time, this employee has been a township police detective has since notified of their termination from the conducted a “full review” of the surveillance district. video, and in doing so, allegedly found “Today, we were informed that as a result that prior to the victim entering the bus, of our continued and ongoing support Kijonka remarked, “‘We got A1, A2 and A3 and cooperation with the Pemberton .... Assh*** 1, Assh*** 2, and Assh*** 3,’” Township Police Department and other before referring to the victim as “A1” when law enforcement authorities, charges have he “enters the camera’s view.” been filed against another of the district’s Kijonka is then alleged to have “observed employees over the alleged altercation. This watching Pride” assault the boy “through employee has resigned their employment a rearview mirror” on the bus without with the district.” “verbally or physically” trying to stop it.

The school district maintained “it is our Following the incident, Kijonka is alleged mission–and our pledge–to continue to to have said, ‘“Are we ready now ... there put our students first, striving to provide you go.” The bus driver ultimately resumed a welcoming and safe environment where driving the bus. all students can learn, thrive and succeed.”

“At the conclusion of the video,” Kijonka The statement also reiterated that “as and Pride are seen, according to the this is a confidential student and personnel detective, discussing the assault and even matter, we are prohibited by law from share a “laugh.” In fact, the bus driver was discussing further details.”

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Page 6 ♦

TRASH

(Continued from Page 4) and I have been looking at several options moving forward; working with elected officials from other municipalities to explore all possible solutions,” he declared.

Delran, despite knowing “many residents have been unhappy with the current trash collection and its inherent problems regarding missed collections and delays,” agreed in September 2021 to signing another three-year contract with Republic, contending the municipality had no other choice because Republic was the lone bidder. However, during the contract term, Catrambone vowed that “we will be taking the next three years of this contract to investigate every possible alternative.”

That includes, according to Catrambone, “evaluating the cost effectiveness of providing municipal solid waste collection

by Delran Public Works (in-house), without compromising quality of service.”

Delran, as Burger pointed out on Aug. 16, is among several riverfront towns in Burlington County experiencing similar issues with Republic, with the others including Willingboro and Palmyra Borough.

“Borough officials continue to communicate with Republic numerous times every day over their admittedly poor performance and missed collections, both trash carts and bulk,” wrote Palmyra to its residents in a letter. “We have met with senior Republic representatives, discussed our legal options and have withheld payment.”

Palmyra noted it too is now “considering in-house trash collection and will make those necessary arrangements in future bid specifications.”

“This problem is not unique to Palmyra however; every town that Republic serves, as well as every other trash contractor in other communities — all across the state

TAXES

(Continued from Page 2) general appropriations in the 2022 municipal budget of only $22,890,000.

The initially proposed capital plan would have funded renovations that are said to be needed for Station 252, or one of two municipal fire stations that sits off Jackson Road, at 1 Firehouse Lane.

“It would make it a true firehouse – not a retro building,” said Burger of the proposed project at an initial council meeting held to solely discuss the budget on March 8, which preceded the March 26 budget session.

Just over $2.3 million, she and the mayor explained, had “already been budgeted and borrowed” for the planned project.

But fire officials, along with an architect, GUTTER

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and country even — have been affected by industry-wide issues that are primarily due to having an insufficient number of certified CDL drivers who are necessary to operate large trash trucks,” Palmyra added. “As a result, we often get newly assigned drivers who are less experienced than long-term drivers who have worked Palmyra on a regular basis.

In other words, we get whomever is available.

“I n a d d it i o n , s u p p l y c h a i n a n d manufacturing delays have increased the lead time for new trucks and spare parts to well over a year and a half.”

Catrambone, according to published reports by media outlets that cover the riverfront, has also reportedly petitioned Burlington County government (and the Burlington County Commissioners) to consider organizing a “shared services collection system,” similar to that of the county’s recycling program in cooperation with the Occupational Training Center.

County Spokesman David Levinsky, when asked about the reports, responded that the “county received a letter from Delran’s mayor concerning trash collection, but the commissioners have not discussed it.”

The Pine Barrens Tribune previously reported that several area towns were having difficulty in obtaining bids for new trash hauling contracts, and that the New Jersey Municipal Management Association, in an article posted on its website in 2019, acknowledged that “municipal managers have had to face the fact they receive very few bids for their garbage hauling proposal requests – and they all run more expensive than they have in the past.”

Delran, in fact, in the first year of its new contract with Republic, is being assessed $822,030, reflecting “a significant increase,” as Catrambone put it, of $363,138 over the previous contract amount of only $458,892.

Catrambone added that Delran’s previous contract “was a flat amount for each of the five years and had no escalation clause,” but according to Burger, are “estimating another $1.8 million” is needed to “complete” the proposed project.

“That ($1.8 million) is a part of the capital budget we are trying to get under control,” said Watson in response to the revelation of additional funding being required for the planned project.

Burger agreed that $4.9 million for a capital budget is “too high,” and that capital expenses are something officials “have to get under control.”

“The question is, ‘When do we start doing that?’” she said.

The reason for not being able to bring down capital expenses in prior budget cycles, she explained, was the municipality “had a building” to get to, or the construction of a new town hall (a two-story, 20,000-squarefoot Medford Town Hall combination See TAXES/ Page 8

that Republic indicated that “resulted in the company losing over $100,000 a year during the last several years of the contract.”

Republic, he pointed out, in presenting its proposal, “referenced the difficulties they were faced with due to COVID related staffing issues, as well as recognition of the frequent vehicle breakdown issues that arose due to the aging of their own fleet of vehicles.”

Burger, when asked via email by this newspaper if Medford Township intended to, or has already made the same request of the county, did not respond to this newspaper’s emailed question.

Delran has now, according to Catrambone in an Aug. 4 letter to Delran residents, fined Republic over $65,000 this year for “not meeting their obligation,” declaring, ‘We will continue to fine them if their level of service continues to fall short.”

The Township of Delran has also reportedly had its legal counsel put Republic “on notice to cure” the situation.

Burger, during the Aug. 16 Medford Township Council meeting, contended that Medford Township has fined Republic “tens of thousands of dollars” so far, and for last month, “our payment to them is going to be $16,000 where we typically pay $70,000.”

“In August, I think they are going to owe us money,” she said.

Burger noted that after what took place this month, she suspects there will now be a total of around $130,000 “in liquidated damages” leveraged against Republic by Medford Township.

The Medford Township manager added that she checked into the firm that was the second lowest bidder when Medford Township sought trash hauling proposals in 2019, Central Jersey Waste (a firm that this newspaper previously reported also wanted to be compensated over $1 million each year, for the next three years, should it earn the job), and learned that Marlboro Township “had gone to them” and

Saturday, August 27, 2022 advised “they are worse than Republic and wished they had Republic back.”

Burger also maintained that other vendors, like Gold Medal and Waste Management, are “having the same issues.”

Medford Township has been advised

by Republic, in the meantime, according to Burger, that “they do have drivers in training,” who are “about a week out from them being released” and assigned to work a trash truck, and that the firm has assigned a “new manager” to the Medford Township account “who comes from the trash business” and “seems to be a little more responsive.”

“I am not letting up,” Burger declared.

As Czekay put it, he doesn’t know what Medford Township’s ability is to claim, “breach of contract,” and “terminate the contract,” but if Medford Council decides to do that, he asked, “Where are you going to go?”

“Who am I going to hire to pick up trash in an over 40 square-mile town?” Czekay asked.

“Next week – it is not going to happen (that quickly). We just have to try to work with them.”

A customer service representative who answered the local telephone number Medford Township provides to its residents to report issues to Republic Services said he was told to refer this newspaper to the company’s website to reach someone who could answer inquiries on behalf of the company, and in the process of doing so, mistakenly remarked Medford Township was in Massachusetts (there is a city of Medford in Massachusetts). The representative also revealed he was neither located in that state or New Jersey.

A spokesperson listed online for Republic Services, a firm that apparently has a national presence, did not return this newspaper’s message as of press time.

More collection issues were reported in Medford Township on Aug. 25, with township officials announcing they have now “mobilized a truck borrowed from Medford Lakes Borough” in at least one area of township.

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The Darlington-White family poses for a photograph taken on Nov. 11, 1919.

VILLAGE

(Continued from Page 2) definitively about Whitesbog,” Augustine noted.

In the book, archival images and documents allow the reader to immerse themselves in this location “from the comfort of their living room,” said Augustine.

The book, which was co-written by Kiyomi E. Locker and Dennis McDonald, with a foreword by Ted Gordon, a revered figure in the cranberry and blueberry industry, begins by detailing the family lineage responsible for developing the agricultural industry in Whitesbog, which still continues today, according to Augustine.

The origins of the area can be traced back to the indigenous Lenni Lenape tribe, according to Augustine. She told this newspaper that “cranberries weren’t cultivated until the 1800s, so before then, they grew wild in the area and were a staple for the Native Americans.”

When Fenwick purchased the original 100 acres of land, he began working with Joseph Josiah “J.J.” White, his son-in-law, who eventually took over farming when Fenwick passed away. The White family, and their four daughters were able to substantially cultivate the property, hence the name “Whitesbog.”

Lewis and Emlen Darlington, sons-inlaw of J.J. White, became synonymous with Whitesbog, and controlled operations on the 3,000 acres of woodlands and farmland after his passing in 1924.

She explained that currently, the fifth generation of the Darlington-White family is gearing up for the cranberry harvest in the fall.

“We are able to use some of the original bogs that were hand dug in the 1850s, so they are over 150 years old and still giving us cranberries, which I think is amazing,” Augustine said.

At the farms peak in the 1920s, it was the largest cranberry farm in the U.S., and according to Augustine, since there is not an agricultural environment suited for cranberries outside of the Western Hemisphere, Whitesbog effectively became “the largest cranberry bog in the whole world.”

“The family was most influential,” she explained. “Without them there would be no Whitesbog.”

However, she added that generations of migrant workers, typically of Italian and Puerto Rican descent, who would come for the two-month picking season before returning to Philadelphia, were in part responsible for the success of the farm.

“It’s just amazing because it’s this little area that is so unique,” she said.

The Pine Barrens, Augustine added, is “a very unique setting” responsible for

LOCAL NEWS / EVENTS

♦ Page 7

Photo Provided

“important pieces of history. There is no other place like the Pine Barrens on the planet.”

“We have that big slice of history – it’s where the blueberry was first cultivated,” she added.

“They had tried to cultivate the blueberry before, but it was really unsuccessful, and it just happened to click in New Jersey, and produced this entire industry.”

Elizabeth White, daughter of J.J. White, became a key figure in the history of Whitesbog and is deemed responsible for developments in the blueberry industry.

“She was pr i mar ily self-taug ht in agriculture,” Augustine noted. “She had a passion for plants and wanted to learn more and help any way she could. We call her the blueberry queen.”

The highbush blueberry was first cultivated in 1911 in Whitesbog with Elizabeth White being the co-cultivator of this variety.

“The highbush blueberries are cultivated from the huckleberry that grows wild in the Pine Barrens,” Augustine said. “Each variety has its own unique distinct taste, texture and size. … It’s a very young crop, speaking generally, if you think about apples and oranges, they’ve been around forever, but blueberries are very new.”

“In addition, the Pineys who found the wild huckleberries, had a hand in creating the blueberry because they did a lot of the dirty work. They were the ones finding the bushes, finding the berries, making sure they were preserved and pulling them out of the ground, and then they were able to do the cultivation, so they were the genesis of the blueberry.”

The book also mentions the Suningive House and Garden, a three-story Arts-andCrafts-style house that was custom built in 1923, in Whitesbog, for Elizabeth White.

There, she had an award-winning garden as well as a medical dispensary.

McDonald, a trustee for the Whitesbog Preservation Trust who had experience working with Arcadia Publishing twice in the past, said he was familiar with their requirements for this series of publications.

“W h itesbog had some of the best photographers in the world out there during the early 1900s, and during the Depression,” he said.

He explained that many photographers showed up to document child laborers. At the time, he said children were used around the country in many facets of industry as workers, something these photographers sought to bring attention to.

“If you went out there, you’d find old houses, a general store, a water tower, and many buildings that people still live in today, and blueberry farms and cranberry bogs,” he added.

He described present-day Whitesbog as an “early cranberry town.” He added that in a couple months, “all the cranberries will begin

Photo Provided

Elizabeth White, co-cultivator of the highbush blueberry was self-taught in agriculture. to be harvested, and it is one of the few places where you can go and watch this process take place, because it’s being harvested on stateowned land, whereas most other bogs are privately owned.”

Whitesbog holds tours for people to see cranberries being harvested, which McDonald noted is unique as well.

SEPTEMBER Sept. 1

“You cannot go down a path in the pines or to any small village or town in New Jersey without finding great history, and Whitesbog is an example of that,” he explained. “The stories that you can read about and the people that you see in the photographs, it’s just fascinating, and as you drive around the Pines, it’s not hard to imagine those people working in the fields.”

To promote your October Events and special event on this page promotions contact Jayne Cabrilla at happening locally 609-801-2392 or email this month! jcabrilla@pinebarrenstribune.com

Train Rides Through the Woods of New Gretna Location: Bass River Township

Details: The Woods of New Gretna Park and the New Jersey Shore Live Steam Organization provide train rides for all each Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The small steam locomotives, and other trains, wind their way through the beautiful park.

The rides are provided by a group of dedicated volunteers who have revitalized the park and laid out the railroad track, based on the historical Tuckerton Railroad. The volunteers maintain the railroad and walking trails, and are constantly expanding them. Riding the trains is free, but donations are very much appreciated. The train rides are outdoors.

Sept. 12

The Story of the One-Armed Surgeon Location: Vincentown

Details: The Southampton Historical Society is holding its monthly meeting and presenting a program “The Story of the One-Armed Surgeon,” at 7:30 p.m., at the Old Town Hall, 25 Plum St., Vincentown. Dorothy Robbins Talavera will tell the remarkable story of her father’s life, from the terrible tragedy that led to his amputation to the hardships he faced in pursuing his dream of becoming a doctor. Dr. Morris Robbins endured years of corrective surgeries to become one of the most reputable surgeons in the area. His story lives on in “The Life and Times of a One-Armed Surgeon” published in 2020. The program is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase. For more information, call Kathy Rosmando at 609-859-0524.

Page 8 ♦

WORSHIP GUIDE

TAXES

(Continued from Page 6) municipal-library building that opened the last year, the construction of which that the mayor previously said in August 2019 would not result in a tax increase), in addition to “getting trucks,” or purchasing several new pieces of fire and EMS apparatus, including a some $775,000 new fire engine.

“I’d like to get this number down,” said Watson of the proposed capital improvement figure, noting that the other big portion of that number entailed the municipality’s road improvement project.

While Station 252, Watson recognized, has “never really been suitable” for the firefighters assigned to it, “they are operating out of it,” with the latter his reasoning for believing it is possible to “push the project off a year.”

“I hate to say it, and it’s my station (Watson at one time was a township firefighter), but that seems to me to be something we might have to push off for a year, because I don’t think we can push roads off a year, and I don’t want a $5 million capital budget,” Watson declared. “This is what got us in trouble 10 to 15 years ago.”

Watson was among several Republicans who over 10 years ago had mounted a successful bid in pushing out a thenRepublican establishment that brought Medford to its fiscal knees, with the local purpose tax ultimately having to be raised 25 percent through a voter-approved referendum, above a state instituted 2 percent cap, something that even had drawn the ire of now-former Republican Governor Chris Christie.

Burger, back in March, pointed out that new firehouses are costing towns anywhere between $5 and $12 million currently, with Watson replying that the township doesn’t “need firehouses like that crazy” given that Station 251, known as Union Fire Station, located on Route 70, is already outfitted with main offices for the municipal fire administration.

“I don’t want to have a $5 million capital plan,” Watson emphasized. “We have done very well – nine years without raising taxes, and we have to tighten our belts up here a little bit. We have not been able to do it (tighten belts) because we were so far behind on fire apparatus, police apparatus, and our roads were ignored for a decade before we started on them six years ago.”

Burger agreed with the mayor’s assessment that “a lot had been ignored.”

T he tow n manager then prov ide d council with its first glimpse of the general fund portion of the budget, contending that “dumping fees are astronomical,” necessitating a $100,000 increase in that line item alone, in addition to an increase to account for rising fuel costs. The town, she said, also experienced a $400,000 loss in revenues during COVID, in addition to now “feeling more in retiree health benefits due to retirements happening” and “experiencing inflation just like everyone else is.”

T h e t ow n s h i p h a s r e c e i v e d t wo $1,224,308.09 American Rescue Fund (ARP) payments (totaling $2,448,616); however, Watson maintained he was “emphatic” that the municipality avoid using “onetime revenues” such as the pandemic relief monies to “balance the budget,” or to put toward recurring expenses, maintaining doing so “is not a good thing” and is “how we (the township) got in trouble” previously.

His colleagues agreed.

Instead, Watson suggested that the rescue funding be used for stormwater drainage improvements, infrastructure improvements and to satisfy longstanding lighting requests on Main Street, which solicited agreement from his colleagues. The governing body also agreed with the mayor’s suggestion to use the relief funds to purchase two, one-

WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM man leaf trucks. Burger explained that as a result, those anticipated expenditures would not be reflected in the budget.

In further deliberating how to balance the budget, however, Burger contended that most township departments have had the “exact same” figures “for 10 years” and that “cutting them any more concerns me.” The town manager maintained that she “doesn’t know much more we can cut in expenses,” pointing out, for example, that it is now costing the municipality “double” for leaf and brush pick up.

“We have tough decisions to make here,” Watson declared. “Expenses – let’s see what we can cut. We got hard decisions to make here, with what we might postpone doing. I hate to say it, we have gone nine years without raising taxes at all, and every single person who works for us gets a raise every year, and all our expenses go up every year. It (not raising taxes) is not sustainable, forever.”

The mayor acknowledged “at some point you are going to have to do it, and we may have to consider doing a small increase this year because you can’t just go on forever like this.”

Burger was asked to come back to council with what a one or two cent increase in the municipal tax levy would mean for the budget, in addition to asking her to present a revised, significantly lower capital plan.

She did during the special March 26 budget council meeting, maintaining of the tax increase decision at the session, “it’s really why we are here today.”

“We had several years of more inflated capital plans, due to roads, carrying $2 million in just road program fees, the new building, and other infrastructure work we had to do, (as well as) the new fire truck, with the last one $775,000,” Burger said. “We had really, really large purchases we had to do.”

In presenting council with its options, she recommended that the firehouse renovation project indeed be paused, noting “we have not really employed an architect” to look at the building, in addition to maintaining that with the rise in material costs, it is a “bad time” to be building anything. One estimate put the renovations at $600 to $800 per square-foot, she said.

“It is unreal,” the town manager declared.

“It just screams not to do this project.”

The preliminary figures, according to the mayor, came in “over twice of what we thought it was going to be.”

“Maybe start with (forming) a building committee and get ideas of what they think is necessary,” recommended Burger, further suggesting such a body should comprise the fire chief and up to two fire department representatives. “… This is what we did with the municipal building … we worked up to and added funds, as needed, for the building.”

Council decided to pause the planned renovations, for now. Serving as the basis for the final decision was council not only wanting to see if the cost of building materials would go down by next year, but also because of a purported Pinelands Commission review process of 12 to 18 months, with Burger declaring, “We don’t want to fund something we are not going to utilize at this time.”

“Let’s just hope some of these crazy construction costs come down a little bit,” Watson said. “I just want the firemen to realize it is not that we are not going to do this project, we are just not going to fund this part of the construction in this budget, and we don’t even need to do it in this budget.”

Council, during a meeting last month, unanimously adopted a bond ordinance appropriating $3,008,200 for Medford’s capit al plan, w ith the measure also authorizing the issuance of $2,857,790 in general improvement bonds.

What didn’t receive the axe in the final capital plan is $17,500 in appropriations for computer upgrades at the new town hall, $155,000 in appropriations for police vehicles and equipment (including $25,000

Saturday, August 27, 2022

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for the purchase of two drones for the police department), $166,000 in appropriations for fire and EMS equipment, $270,000 in “general improvements to various township buildings,” and the approximate $1,478,000 road improvement program.

Some $90,000 has also been earmarked in the bond for improvements to township parks and recreational areas, in addition to $193,200 for acquisition of records equipment for the township’s various offices.

Among the recreational improvements is roofing work for a gazebo and bathroom building at Medford Park, in addition to a gazebo having “structural work” done to it, according to Burger, maintaining the facilities “get utilized quite often.”

Also approved last month was a second ordinance providing for various utility capital improvements and related expenses “in and for the township,” appropriating $1,929,50 0 f rom t h e ut i l it y c ap it a l improvement fund to finance them. Burger maintained the requests from the utility are “status quo” and the utility budget contains “nothing unusual.”

With several ongoing development projects in town, she noted, the utility

is an area where “revenues are very flush with all the construction, water and sewer connection fees.” However, the town manager said she didn’t want to go “too high” with the utility budget as she is “not anticipating the revenues that we had,” but rather “thinks they are going to start to dwindle down,” at least somewhat until another round of housing development occurs with an anticipated project at the site of Flying W Airport.

The “cash is in there to cover” the utility’s requests for 2022, Burger asserted, with a plan to work on a water main on Lakewood Avenue, in addition to making security improvements and improvements to sewer mains, laterals, pump stations, among others.

As for the budget as a whole, after Burger presented the tax impacts, “two cents is off the table,” Watson declared, because it appears the municipality has “got enough” money to avert it being necessary, including by somewhat adjusting the level of surplus used toward balancing the budget. The township has about $3.7 million in surplus, with this budget ultimately using somewhere around See TAXES/ Page 11

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♦ Page 9

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Reader Advisory: The National Trade Association we belong to has purchased the above classifieds with an asterisk. Determining the value of their service or product is advised by this publication. In order to avoid misunderstandings, some advertisers do not offer employment but rather supply the readers with manuals, directories and other materials designed to help their clients establish mail order selling and other businesses at home. Under NO circumstance should you send any money in advance or give the client your checking, license ID, or credit card numbers. Also beware of ads that claim to guarantee loans regardless of credit and note that if a credit repair company does business only over the phone it is illegal to request any money before delivering its service. All funds are based in U.S. dollars. Toll free numbers may or may not reach Canada.

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Page 10 ♦

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TAXES

(Continued from Page 8) $2.1 million in the budget, according to Burger.

“That being said, in nine years we haven’t raised taxes,” Watson said. “Eventually, we are going to have to raise taxes. Raising it by one penny is going to cost the average homeowner $20.”

In light of the municipality “dealing with fuel costs and landfill costs” that “sk y ro cket e d si nc e COV ID for t he township,” in addition to all the other “increased expenditures we didn’t plan for either,” Burger asserted, “We can’t keep going on (like this), not getting anything in for households and not shelling it out.”

“My recommendation is a one cent increase,” advised Burger to council. “We had expenses after expenses, but we kept our revenue flat, and I think we need to generate a little in order to help offset these expenses.”

She noted the municipality has started to “dip into its cap bank, which we haven’t had to do in the past” and “that (tax increase) will help with that.”

ICE CREAM (Continued from Page 3)

and emails from residents asking why we don’t solicit in their town.”

Skow also said he has attempted “not to react to the economy by raising prices” – a decision the company leaves up to its franchisees – but attempts to compensate by increasing his volume of customers. (An exact comparison of Mister Softee’s prices with those of the Sand Stand is somewhat difficult to make, as menu item descriptions vary, but they appear to be in the same general ballpark.)

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“I think it’s wise to do it,” she said. “After nine years, I don’t think anybody can fault us.”

While Watson said, “two cents is off table,” Councilwoman Lauren Kochan put the question to the town manager if an increase of a penny in the tax levy would be enough to account for “unexpected expenses.” Burger replied she was “comfortable” with “where we are at.”

“I am hoping that by doing it (raising taxes) this year, we will bring in and generate enough revenue so that we are not in that position (of having to raise the tax levy) again next year,” Burger added.

However, the township manager, in not completely ruling out that another tax increase will become necessary next year, pointed to several ongoing housing construction projects in town as the reason, maintaining that they “have not fully been serviced” because they are not fully built out yet, so, “I don’t know what it looks like yet” as far as the town providing trash pickup and emergency services, for example.

Negotiations are underway involving one project and trash pick-up, she revealed.

Another project, she noted, calls for 70 units alone for “seniors and the disabled,” in

which the town “could be running there once a day,” which she explained would mean, “I have to staff a second (ambulance) rig.”

“There might be more demand (for services),” she said. “I can’t totally predict that.”

Council ulti mately decided 5- 0 to increase the tax levy for 2022 by a penny after some surplus adjustment, deciding on a $23,542,473.62 budget, versus $22,890,000, the latter of which would have not called for a tax increase, according to Burger.

Watson, when he also ran for re-election back in 2017, seized on the fact that the GOP-led council under his tenure did not raise taxes, with a narrator of a campaign video declaring he was part of a team, “that maintained the local tax rate without sacrificing important ser vices,” even showing a picture of Station 251 as that statement was made.

The decided budget for 2022 is said to include a $60,000 “boost” in funding for redevelopment projects, particularly those planned in the downtown entailing the nowvacant, old town hall and library facilities, as well as some $40,000 for a full-time assistant to provide “extra support” to Burger’s office.

An assistant in the town manager’s office,

officials explained, would be assigned to handle things such as clerical work, social media, website updates (with a new website format anticipated) and volunteerism coordination.

Frank Czekay, deputy mayor, pointed out that for the average assessed home, a one cent increase in the municipal tax levy comes out to about $2 more a month, “or $20 (more) coming out of your pocket” for the year, and while Watson called the increase “very minor,” the deputy mayor recognized “it’s money,” and officials “don’t like asking for it.”

Watson, in attributing the need for an increase to “employees getting a minimum of two percent raises,” “our expenses going up,” and “capital going up and the costs for that,” maintained that overall, the town is “now in a much, much healthier financial situation,” where it has been able to do projects.

While the mayor maintained, “I hate to suggest raising taxes,” he contended that “nine years of not having a tax increase” is a “heck of a record.”

A penny or two,” Burger added, “doesn’t really … every now and then you have to do it.”

Lakes Facebook group’s page in response to a posting, “I thought ice cream trucks weren’t allowed here? Why has one been driving around for the past 2/3 weeks?” seem to indicate that at least some residents of the borough are in favor of having the option of buying their ice cream from Mister Softee.

“How can I relive the happy days of my youth without the ice-cream man???,” went one such reply.

“We moved here from a town that had the ice-cream truck and the Italian ice truck,” said another. “My kids’ eyes would light up when they heard the music in the distance.

They would sit on the front step forever waiting for one of them to come down our street. That was a happy summer memory for them. And me!”

One resident noted that a Mister Softee truck had been at one of the borough’s beaches twice that day and “everyone seemed to enjoy it!”

A friend of hers, she added, had been a Mister Softee driver one summer, had to buy all her ice cream for the day in the morning, and “if she didn’t sell it all, she actually lost money.”

“It was NOT an easy or big-money gig,” that person added.

“You’re complaining about the ICE CREAM MAN?,” yet another person asked, to which the stream’s originator replied she was not complaining in the least, but had wanted to hire one for her son’s birthday and was told they aren’t allowed, so she was “just checking.”

Dwyer, before concluding her interview with this newspaper, emphasized that it was never her intent “to start arguments or drama in this town” or to “antagonize people.”

“I’m just trying to make sure the Sand Stand survives,” she maintained, and losing business to an ice-cream truck, which she hadn’t realized was something she’d have to contend with, was making that task even harder. She had only bought it in the first place, she said, “because I thought it was an awesome little shop and didn’t want the town to lose it,” and were it not for her having other employment, she wasn’t at all sure she’d be able to keep it going it.

“I’m just trying to protect the character of the community,” she asserted.

Page 12 ♦

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM

Saturday, August 27, 2022

Coming Together for Health and Nature

Plleeaaasse Ple s Joi oin in Us!

Friday, September 9, 2022 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Location: Pinelands Preservation Alliance, 17 Pemberton Rd., Southampton, NJ

Looking for a great way to help South Jersey Families in need?

Join us for a joyful evening of giving and community connection to celebratee Allies in Caring (AIC) and the Pinelands Preservation Alliance’s (PPA) collaboration to benefit health, wellness and nature. We have been working together to expand our reach beyond what people typically think of as an “environmental” concern or a “social service” issue. We share a belief that enjoying natural places is good for everyone’s physical and mental health.

Your contribution will help AIC and PPA offer a Pinelands Summer Camp for Hammonton teenagers, as well as support programs at AIC’s flagship Con-Vivir Wellness Hub that improve the lives of Pinelands residents.

Cocktail reception, hearty appetizers, and large silent auction with item ms from the Philadelphia Eagles and Philadelphia Un nion, Lululemon, wine baskets, Aveda, North Face,, Pinelands Adventures, Rancocas Creek Farm and so much more.

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Accepting New Patients Our Browns Mills office, which is conveniently located on the Deborah Heart & Lung campus, along with our Whiting office location, are proud to be servicing our neighbors in the Vincentown, Pemberton, Manchester, Southampton and Tabernacle areas.

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