Local News

New History of Whitesbog Village Recounts Agricultural Innovations That Played a Key Role in Cultivation of Cranberries and Blueberries

Arcadia Publishing Releases Previously Unseen Photos of Historic Farming Hub

Seasonal workers arrive by train for harvest season in Whitesbog.

Photo Provided

By anthony J. garcia

Staff Writer

WHITESBOG—A new local history book featuring previously unseen photographs and detailed captions on the historic agricultural Village of Whitesbog, located in a remote area of Pemberton Township, was released July 18 as a part of Arcadia Publishing’s “Images of America” series.

Originally purchased by James Fenwick in the 1850s, the location became known for such agricultural innovations as the mass distribution of cranberries and the cultivation of the highbush blueberry.

Co-author Sarah E. Augustine, archivist at Whitesbog Preservation Trust, said the process of uncovering photographs and a chronology of the history of the location began during the pandemic.

“We have a lot of photographs in our collection, most of which were not digitized, so that took most of our time,” she said. “These photos were previously unseen. Most of the images come from the 1850s to the 1960s.”

She described the project’s purpose as “making information on Whitesbog, a place near and dear to my heart, more accessible to the public.”

“This is the first history book that is See VILLAGE/ Page 7

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. Melegari

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 ruling 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.

Initially on the table was a some $4.9 million capital plan, with proposed total See TAXES/ Page 8

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