Pine Barrens Tribune August 6, 2022-August 12, 2022

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Burlco GOP Won’t Appeal Judge’s Denial of Challenge to Eckel’s Being Appointed Interim County Commissioner Petition Had Sought to Leave Post Vacant Due to Democrats Having Missed Deadline

By Bill Bonvie

A DRIVE TO SAVE UKRAINIAN LIVES

Staff Writer

MOUNT HOLLY—The Burlington County Republican Committee (BCRC) has decided not to appeal a judge’s rejection of a legal challenge it filed back in May to the naming of Allison Eckel to fill a vacant slot on the fivemember Board of County Commissioners, the Pine Barrens Tribune has learned.

The development means Eckel will be allowed to stay on as the replacement for former Commissioner Linda Hynes (who resigned in January after being named a Superior Court judge), at least until the beginning of next year when whatever candidate the voters select to occupy the post for a new three-year term in this coming November’s General Election takes the oath of office.

That doesn’t mean, however, that the county GOP has willingly gone along with a 21-page ruling by Superior Court Judge John E. Harrington, who has come out of retirement to hear various cases.

“This decision confirms what we have been saying all along – when it comes to Democrats running Burlington County, they think the rules and the deadlines don’t apply to them,” stated BCRC Executive Director Josh Zoppina in a July 29 email to this newspaper. “Allison Eckel and Burlington County Democrats act as if they are above the law with a willful disregard for following the rules. Since the courts won’t hold them accountable, we will let the voters.”

When asked if that meant the BCRC wouldn’t be appealing the judge’s decision,

Photos Provided

The Mercedes ambulance that has just been purchased by the Medford Sunrise Rotary Club with money from donations waits to be driven from Germany to Ukraine by former Rotary District Governor David Forward (left), who conceived the plan, and the chapter’s newly installed president, Tom Monaghan.

Medford Rotary Sponsors Fundraiser to Purchase Fully Equipped Ambulance for Transporting Civilian Victims of War, Which Organizer and President Plan on Picking Up Themselves in Frankfurt, Germany and Driving to Lviv, Ukraine

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

MEDFORD—If ever there was a prime example of someone’s surname being a perfect fit for their philosophy, Medford Township resident David C. Forward might just be it.

“I’m one of these people who doesn’t just rest on my laurels, because what you did yesterday is not as important as what you’re going to do to help people tomorrow,” was how Forward, a member of the Medford Sunrise Club Rotary and

former district governor of all the Rotary Club Chapters in Burlington, Ocean and Monmouth counties, described himself in a recent phone interview with the Pine Barrens Tribune.

A case in point is the project he set in See AMBULANCE/ Page 4

See COMMISSIONER/ Page 6

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

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

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

Worship Guide............................................3

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

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Saturday, August 6, 2022

Following Weekend Reports That Wolfdogs Were on the Prowl Again in Southampton, a Family Has Reportedly Given Up Custody of Some

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—One of the co-owners of a pack of “wolfdogs” in Southampton Township that reportedly were on the prowl again this past weekend causing a ruckus (after having gotten loose several previous times from a residence in the 500 block of New Road), even allegedly at one point “trapping” those wanting to patronize a nearby dog grooming business, contended to this newspaper on Aug. 3, when reached for comment on this follow-up story, that he was “instructed not to talk” to the newspaper, including by the police.

But Alex Shugars, whose background, according to his Facebook profile, includes serving as a laborer and union driver, and also serving our country as a U.S. Marine, actually had quite a bit to say about the entire ordeal in a somewhat heated, online exchange with several people, which started over the prior escapes, and came just prior to the weekend reports.

At least some of the dogs at issue, according to Southampton Township Administrator and Clerk Kathleen D. Hoffman, are now in someone else’s custody.

But that wasn’t reportedly the case this past Saturday morning, July 30, when the owner of Briand’s Garden Center on Route 206 in Southampton posted on social media her sighting of a “at least one” of the wolfdogs while walking to her car around 6:30 a.m., maintaining that the animal also “scared the sh** out of my son.”

“Here we go again!” said a Southampton resident of nearby Ridge Road in response to the report, who had posted an allegation a few days earlier that a neighbor’s pet had actually been harmed by one of the wolfdogs. “Another

day of worrying about our pets and livestock.”

Another man who lives in the area followedup on that posting, claiming that the Saturday sighting “might as well explain” what “dug into my chicken coop last night and why my dogs are going crazy.”

“I saw them on Route 70 this morning around 8:15 a.m.,” another person posted. “I saw two of them stopping traffic and three state police following. They finally ran to the woods onto someone’s property.”

There was also a report that one wolfdog was seen lurking around the Hampton Lakes community in Southampton.

While multiple attempts to obtain basic details on this entire matter from the New Jersey State Police Public Information Office were unsuccessful as of press time, and there was also some question about whether the latest sightings were indeed that of the same wolfdogs which were reportedly ordered last week to be kept indoors, a picture was posted by the owner of Shampoodles Grooming by Elizabeth showing what appeared to be at least two wolfdogs lurking around in the front of her Southampton-based premises on the morning of July 30.

“Absolutely ridiculous these dogs are out again, trapping clients in their car, not able to come in with their small dogs,” wrote the owner of the Route 206 grooming business, which is not too far away from the garden center, who had a previous purported visit from the wolfdogs. “What can we do?”

One of the animals was depicted in the latest picture that she posted seemingly gazing at a car parked in front of the premises.

Michael Hodanish, owner of Howling Woods Farm, an educational facility located in Jackson Township that provides learning See WOLFDOGS/ Page 7

Evesham Given ‘Healthy Town Award’ for Second Year in a Row, Largely Due to Programs Included in Mayor’s Wellness Campaign New Opportunity for Businesses, Individuals to Sponsor Police Trading Cards Described by Chief as Way of ‘Bridging Gap’ Between Kids, Law Enforcement

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

EVESHAM—In its approach to issues such as public health and police-community relations, Evesham Township seems to be carving out a niche as a sort of model municipality to which others might look as a source of ideas and inspiration, as exemplified by developments announced at the July 13 meeting of its township Council.

For one thing, there was the “Healthy Town Award” conferred on the township at the session for the second year in a row by the New Jersey Healthcare Quality Institute, making it one of only eight communities in the state to be accorded that gold-standard distinction, which is based on a set of criteria that cover physical, mental and spiritual health, all of which are included in an ongoing “wellness campaign” spearheaded

by Mayor Jaclyn “Jackie” Veasy.

For another, there was Police Chief Walt Miller’s report on the latest version of a timehonored childhood tradition currently being launched by the township – the collecting of trading cards. Only these particular cards, rather than lionizing athletes from organized sports franchises, features profiles of each and every member of the township police department, including the fourlegged ones in its K-9 division, as well as those filling such jobs as records clerk and crime analyst, and even the 13 clergy in the Police Chaplain Program – with merchants and citizens invited to serve as sponsors and the first kids to collect all 125 cards being rewarded with new bikes.

Emphasized in the Healthy Town Award

presentation was the township’s focus not only on creating new programs for residents whose activities have been constrained by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also on making the existing ones more accessible to them, as well as safer.

Just what this has meant in practical terms became evident from the chart displayed by the mayor, which showed “programs in 2020” (the first year in which the township received the honor) as having included outdoor recreational activities at local parks (including Black Run Preserve), playgrounds and athletic fields such as summer camp and yoga in the park, golf and driving range practice and an MRC sports unity program for people with disabilities, as well as a farmers market, community cleanup, children’s bike rodeos and the planting of wildflower patches.

When asked why 2020’s activities had been featured during the presentation, given that the latest award was for 2021, Evesham Public Information Director Zane Clark told the Pine Barrens Tribune that the chart was originally displayed during a New Jersey League of Municipalities conference last November and that many of the programs it featured had carried over into the past year.

One of the things that made it particularly significant, however (although this wasn’t mentioned during the award ceremony) was that the township was also sponsoring such outdoor recreational activities during the first year of the pandemic, when parks, nature trails and other outdoor havens were closed to the public for a prolonged period See WELLNESS/ Page 8

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Pemberton Presents ‘Browns Mills Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan’ Calling for Bicycle Lanes, Crosswalks, Other Improvements ‘Downtown’

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—A number of main roads that traverse through the downtown Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township could sometime in the near future have bicycle lanes added to them, as well as improved crosswalks and other enhanced traffic safety features, as Pemberton Township Council looks to carry out a “Browns Mills Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan” recently prepared by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC).

According to Pemberton Township Business Administrator Daniel Hornickel, the plan that he unveiled during a July 13 council meeting has been a couple years in the making, part of a “Browns Mills Healthy Communities” initiative sponsored by the DVRPC, or one that “aims to improve pedestrian and bicycle opportunities downtown,” thus helping to promote physical exercise and a healthier lifestyle, while also at the same time providing opportunity for increased patronage to downtown businesses and eateries.

One of the proposed improvements, Hornickel revealed, is to take portions of Pemberton-Browns Mills Road and Broadway Street, also known as county routes 530 and 667, respectively, and narrow the travel lanes to somewhere between 10 and 11 feet, “where feasible,” not only to calm vehicle traffic entering downtown Browns Mills, but to also allow for the addition of “5-foot-wide bicycle lanes to shoulder.”

The area of those two roads, in particular, targeted for the bicycle lanes are from Browns Mills Avenue, “or right when you come up to our commercial area (if coming from the municipal building),” to Juliustown Road, as well as from Trenton Road to

Lakeshore Drive.

Hornickel noted that the proposal also calls for the currently 45 mph posted speed limit to be reduced on Pemberton-Browns Mills Road as one enters the downtown, with an accompanying PowerPoint presentation showing a 35-mph speed limit sign.

The DVRPC, according to the township business administrator, is proposing that the “dedicated travel lanes for bicycles” on Pemberton-Browns Mills Road be “denoted with green paint.” Green-backed sharrows (shared lane markings), he noted, are also recommended to be added between Juliustown and Trenton roads.

Other re c om mend ations for both Pemberton-Browns Mills Road and Broadway (Pemberton-Browns Mills Road turns into Broadway and vice versa), Hornickel said, include adding median islands to further calm vehicle traffic as well as to add “safe crossings” at both Fairfield and Market streets. Crosswalk striping would also be added to numerous intersecting streets.

The DVRPC is also calling for local officials to consider “access management,” or to “reduce the number of access ways on and off” Pemberton-Browns Mills Road and Broadway.

“Once you get into the intersection of Pemberton-Browns Mills Road and Juliustown Road, you will see more enhancements there, including making for an easier turning radius coming off Juliustown Road or making a right onto Pemberton-Browns Mills Road, as well as more visible crosswalks, and, of course, the continuing of bicycle lanes,” Hornickel pointed out.

As for Trenton Road, the DVRPC, Hornickel maintained, “would like to have bicycle lanes denoted all the way up to the

Photo Provided

Proposed “re-envisioning” of the Mirror Lake Bridge in the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township. base,” but “unfortunately the base (Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst) is not willing to do the leg work necessary to give the bicycle lanes all the room that is necessary.” Additionally, a portion of Trenton Road sits in North Hanover Township, Hornickel pointed out.

“We asked the base to work with us, and New Hanover, which both think it is a great idea, but they haven’t been able to partner with us because of bureaucratic red tape,” Hornickel declared.

According to the Pemberton business administrator, the DVRPC, however, still “wants to do the best that it can” to improve Trenton Road, also known as County Route 545, and “figures it can get a pretty good bicycle lane all the way to Dans Road (and back to Pemberton-Browns Mills Road).”

“It gets trickier beyond there (Dans Road)

because the road narrows,” Hornickel said.

The bicycle lanes for Trenton Road would also be “5 foot to shoulder,” with 11-footwide vehicle travel lanes, with the latter being the “county standard,” according to the accompanying PowerPoint presentation.

“The goal is to make it easier for people if they have a job on base, and want to ride their bicycle from the downtown to the base, and they can do that in a more safe fashion (under this plan) than what they can do presently,” declared Hornickel of the proposed Trenton Road improvements.

Other improvements proposed for Trenton Road include adding green-backed sharrows between Pemberton-Browns Mills Road and St. Ann’s Church, adding 5-to-6-foot bicycle lanes in the shoulders between St. Ann’s and See DOWNTOWN/ Page 8

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Marlton Man Accused of Sending More Than 11,000 Files of Child Sex Abuse Material to Some 30 People Arrested

MARLTON—A 71-year-old Marlton of Investigation (FBI). man has been charged with possessing and The investigation revealed that DiBlasi, distributing child sexual abuse material, utilizing an online chat room, distributed according to a joint press release from the more than 11,000 files of child sexual abuse Burlington County Prosecutor’s material to 30 people.

Office and the Evesham Township Electronic devices seized during Police Department. the search will be examined by Arnold DiBlasi, of the first detectives from the BCPO Highblock of Prince Charles Court in Tech Crimes Unit. However, Evesham, was charged with four authorities said that a preliminary counts of endangering the welfare review of DiBlasi’s cellphone of a child (three first-degree and revealed the presence of child one second-degree counts). sexual abuse material.

DiBlasi, who is the former youth DiBlasi was lodged in group director at Holy Eucharist Burlington County Jail in Mount Parish in Cherry Hill, was taken Holly and released following a into custody on July 26 at his detention hearing in Superior DiBlasi residence following the execution Court. The case will now be referred of a search warrant, authorities said. to a grand jury for possible indictment.

An investigation into DiBlasi began in The investigation was conducted by the May, authorities noted, after the Burlington High-Tech Crimes Unit, with assistance from County Prosecutor’s Office High-Tech Evesham Township Police, as well as the U.S. Crimes Unit received information regarding Homeland Security Investigations – Cherry his online activities from the Federal Bureau Hill Office and the FBI.

AMBULANCE (Continued from Page 1)

motion after attending a Rotary International Convention in Houston a couple months ago with his wife, Chris, at which he chanced to sit down for coffee with some fellow Rotarians who had just arrived from war-torn Ukraine, one of some 190 or so countries where the worldwide service organization has a presence.

One of those Ukrainians, he said, was an emergency-room doctor who described how before she left for the convention, a Russian missile had destroyed an apartment

building in the town where she works. While a number of civilians were killed, a lot of others were severely injured, and some of those individuals died simply because the town had only one ambulance and no way of getting every critically injured person to the hospital, she claimed.

“I told them, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to do this, but I am going to find you an ambulance and bring it to Ukraine,’” r e c ou nt e d For wa rd , who s e r eg u l a r occupation is teaching classes at the Garden State Real Estate Academy in Cherry Hill.

The doctor, he said, had replied, “There’s nothing in your life that you will do that would have such an impact on saving so

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many lives in such a short period of time” – a response that he indicated further galvanized him into taking action.

“So, one week later, I was back in Medford at my Rotary meeting,” he told this newspaper, “And I proposed the idea that we raise $25,000 to buy an ambulance and fill it with medical supplies, and I would volunteer to drive it to Ukraine,” While that might have seemed like a somewhat overly ambitious suggestion in some quarters, Forward maintained, the Medford Sunrise Rotary Club is the kind of organization “that doesn’t say ‘Should we,’ but always says, ‘Why not?’”

To solidify the chapter’s support for his idea, however, Forward also pitched it to the incoming president, insurance agent Tom Monaghan, shortly before the latter was sworn in on July 1. While Monaghan recalled in an interview he thought it was “a crazy concept at first, I was willing to give it a shot, as I thought it was worth doing.”

“And then the people of the community just embraced it,” he added.

Monaghan became even more excited about the plan after discussing it with Ukrainian refugees Eugene Aleksashenko and Anna Tomash, an engaged couple now living in Medford with Eugene’s mother, Olga Aleksashenko, and her companion, Boris Kazansky, both of whom had been invited to join the Rotary after the story of their escape in the wake of the Russian invasion was featured in the Pine Barrens Tribune at the beginning of May. As a result of their three-hour chat, which was made possible via a free translation app on Google, Monaghan noted, Eugene, who is a professional videographer, has undertaken a fundraising video for the project.

So it came about that at the beginning of last month, Forward went forward with a campaign on social media, using PayPal and the local Rotary chapter’s website, www.

medfordsunriserotary.org , with the goal of raising $25,000 toward the purchase of an ambulance and medical supplies to help save the lives of Ukrainian civilians injured in Russian rocket attacks.

Before long, he said, donations were coming in from Rotary clubs, individuals and businesses throughout South Jersey and even as far away as Los Angeles, with Keller Williams Realty of Cherry Hill, Moorestown and Northfield having made some particularly generous contributions to the cause.

“I think the thing that was such a wonderful surprise was how people in the greater Medford area have responded,” Forward told this newspaper in an August 2 follow-up.

“Just today, a 10-year-old boy in Cherry Hill heard about it from our Facebook posting and told his mother he wanted to give $25 out of the money he’d been saving up to help the people of Ukraine.”

In the meantime, Forward reported, the chapter has “found the perfect ambulance in Germany” and been able to put a down payment on it – a very rugged Mercedes that’s already got 93,000 miles on it, is fully equipped, and literally can take somebody to the ER today.”

In fact, a down payment was made on the vehicle Aug. 2 with the funds already raised, he said, and if all goes according to plan, both he and Mongahan will be flying to Frankfurt on Aug. 25, at their own expense, with no donor money being used for the trip and driving the ambulance themselves the approximately 1,000 miles to Lviv in western Ukraine.

From there, as Monaghan explained it, the Rotarians in that city are going to survey which town is most desperately in need of an ambulance and will then deliver it accordingly.

By the beginning of the month, according to Forward, the local Rotary had already raised about three-fifths of the money it needs for the acquisition and is hoping to See AMBULANCE/ Page 6

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As for the m issed deadl i ne itsel f, Harrington maintained that “the 1990 statutory amendments evince a clear (Continued from Page 1) legislative intent to vest in a political party the exclusive responsibility to fill a vacancy Zoppina replied, “Correct.” in the Board of County Commissioners” In talking about “the rules,” he was which, in exercising that responsibility, “has referring to a 35-day statutory deadline the discretion to fill the vacancy without that the Democratic Committee exceeded concern as to timing.” by a time span nearly twice that long Nevertheless, he noted, the plaintiff argues before getting around to choosing Hynes’ that the plain meaning of the law at issue replacement. In the view of the BCRC, there [N.J.S.A. 40:20-35.11(b)] is clear because it was absolutely nothing ambiguous about specifies that “the vacancy shall be filled its petition to the Superior Court of New within 35 days,” with the term “‘shall’ always Jersey demanding the removal of Eckel, presumed to be mandatory, and therefore, an unsuccessful candidate in 2021 for 8th the court must presume that the Legislature District state Assembly, from the temporary intended for the vacant seat to remain so.” position she was subsequently named to fill “But such a presumption,” he asserted, by the Democrats on April 26. “would require the court to look beyond The delay, according to the BCRC’s the plain words of the statute and create a counsel, Christopher J. Dasti, of Lacey consequence for the inaction of the political Township, Ocean County, in an initial party charged with filling the vacancy,” and complaint filed back in May followed by a “…this would require the court to reject series of “reply letter briefs,” should have the Legislature’s clear intent been sufficient grounds for to abandon a consequence for both the issuance of an order a failure to fill a vacancy in 35 vacating Eckel’s appointment days when it enacted N.J.S.A. and another one declaring the 40:20-35.11(b).” seat “must remain vacant” until “Under the circumstances a candidate chosen by voters in of th is c a s e,” Har r i ng ton the General Election is seated concluded, “interpreting the next January. phrase ‘the vacancy shall be “Defendants submit no legal filled within 35 days’ according justification to permit the court to the traditionally mandatory to allow the clear violation of implication of ‘shall’ would the statutory deadline,” Dasti operate to disenfranchise voters wrote (in capital letters) to Judge and leave an extended vacuum Harrington on May 19.

Eckel in public office.”

Harrington, in his ruling, “If plaintiff ’s inter pretation however, indicated he believed there carried the day, and the failure to fill the was more than sufficient justification for Eckel’s vacancy within 35 days meant the seat being allowed to remain on the board, and remained open until the next election, the that, rather than “the statutory framework result would be that the voters who had for nominations and appointments” being voted for former Commissioner Hynes would “mandatory in nature,” as the GOP petition continue to be deprived of having their vote maintained, there was nothing so obligatory for a Democrat in the fifth seat of the County or iron-clad about the deadline involved as to Commission be binding for the full three negate her appointment. years of the term,” he declared. “Further, the The magistrate also strongly disagreed with people of Burlington County would continue Dasti’s argument that “there is simply no harm to be deprived of their right to a fifth county in leaving the seat vacant for the remainder commissioner until the next general election.” of the year” – one which he countered by In denying the BCRC’s petition, the judge, reasoning that to do so would, in effect, thwart whose opinion was replete with examples of the will of the majority of Burlington County relevant case law, also claimed that the court voters, who would want the post occupied, if “finds no support for plaintiff’s interpretation not by the individual for whom they originally that the deadline in N.J.S.A. 40:20-35.11(b) is cast their ballots, then at least by someone mandatory based on the legislative history, who shared that person’s political philosophy. statutory interpretation principles, and the In making the determination, Harrington nearly 100 years of case law interpreting ‘shall’ cited a 32-year-old revision to the relevant as discretionary where it pertains to the form law, titled “Sele ction of an Inter i m and manner, but not the essence, of the law.”

Successor,” which transferred the power “The court can find no public policy that of filling a vacancy on a county governing can be articulated to overcome the case board from its remaining members to the law and statutory interpretation principles former occupant’s political party. The that support filling the office over leaving a essence of that act, he maintained, was “to vacancy,” he added. effectuate the choice of the voters while While it didn’t appear to influence the eliminating the burdensome special election judge’s decision, this newspaper also asked process and prior Title 40 requirements.”

Zoppina via email why the defendants named But that wasn’t the measure’s only intent, in the BCRC’s petition to the court included according to the judge. not only Eckel and Burlington County Clerk “Further, and critically to the case Joanne Schwartz but the Board of County here, the new law removed the express Commissioners, who are no longer responsible consequence” that if the seat is failed to be for choosing an “interim successor”, while the filled within the time limit, it must remain County Democratic Committee, which is, was vacant, he contended in his response, not listed among them. and such elimination of a consequence “The County Democrats made the was “enough to find that the Legislature selection, but the Board of Commissioners intended no such consequence” and thus to rule in the defendants’ favor. accepted it,” he replied.

AMBULANCE (Continued from Page 4)

reach its goal by the time they leave.

Even if that objective is achieved, however, donations will still be welcome, Monaghan maintained, as “anything in excess of the price of the vehicle is all going toward medical supplies, such as crutches,

wheelchairs and gauze.”

“We’re also accepting donations of small things we can put in a suitcase, just as long as they’re from medical suppliers,” he said.

Mongahan added that he’d like to take the opportunity “to encourage more people to come out and join our club, because there are plenty of people that need help and plenty of people that want to help, and it’s a good way to get that help organized.”

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Saturday, August 6, 2022

WOLFDOGS (Continued from Page 2)

experiences to the public about wolves and wolfdogs, and is a renowned state expert on wolfdogs, told this newspaper last week that while “wolfdogs are not a danger to people,” and will actually run away if approached by a human, they “have a prey drive” and “they will go after small animals, whether it be a squirrel, cat or rabbit.” He also explained that wolfdogs like to “like to survey their surroundings,” and that is why they prefer to be up high, particularly on platforms.

“The state police and town don’t do anything,” voiced one frustrated man online about the Saturday reports. “They keep giving the dogs back to her. … In the meantime, they are still getting out.”

One woman maintained in response that “Southampton Township is VERY lax when it comes to rules about dogs.”

Hoffman told this newspaper last week that the township had just found out Shugars, and his significant other, Rebecca (who goes by the last name of Shugs on Facebook), had “wolfdogs,” and that they were unregistered with the township, but are allowed to be registered. She also revealed that the owners were told that the wolfdogs would “have to be surrendered.”

The township administrator, when asked Aug. 3 for an update on the situation, replied “yes” when asked if the animals at issue had since been removed from the Shugars’ custody or surrendered, and noted that a total of five dogs had since been registered, pointing out that they had been registered as “shepherd/ huskies.”

“Two were given back to the breeder,” Hoffman said. “The other shepherd/husky, the mother took.”

It wasn’t immediately clear who currently

has possession of the remaining animals, and while Alex Shugars is pictured with five dogs in his kitchen, there had been reports that there were as many as eight in the pack.

Alex Shugars, when reached for comment on the early evening of Aug. 3, said that he was “instructed not to talk” to the newspaper, including by the police. During the preceding week, he hung up on this reporter when an interview with him was attempted. His significant other has an unlisted phone number and did not respond to a Facebook message that sought comment on the original story.

But online, Alex Shugars engaged in a public, somewhat heated back-and-forth exchange with several people who have been critical of him and his significant other, even alleging that they are “irresponsible” dog owners.

“There’s a lot of false information going around,” he said.

When one woman asked him to elaborate on “what misinformation,” the animal owner replied, “like that they don’t have a white spot,” that one of his animals ended up in the hands of a local veterinarian and that one escaped the previous day.

“I have kept quiet because I have seen my wife kindly try to explain to everyone some things, but people don’t care and don’t want to hear it,” he said. “It’s Facebook ‘whisper down the lane.’ And now that it’s out there that there is AT LEAST one other dog loose that looks very similar to mine, I hope people might think twice about trash talking us all day because they don’t know our situation, or about our containment or about how we treat our dogs.”

Those remarks prompted one woman to maintain that the Shugars’ setup is “not conducive to containing your dogs,” further alleging that “your dogs have also killed cats, a pig, chickens and attacked another dog.”

“There are witnesses, etc.,” the woman continued. “(I am) not saying you have bad dogs, but you guys are obviously not

responsible owners for dogs getting out weekly, sometimes twice a week and going after people’s animals.”

Alex Shugars, in response, put a question to the woman, asking, “How is my setup not conducive to containing my dogs?”

“You don’t know about my containment,” quipped Alex Shugars in response, tagging the woman. “… My 6-foot fence with lean-ins and hot wire, my dig guards, the four pools they get to swim in and the 110-gallon (trough), their very own insulated shed with a doggy door and beds, and they are fed very well.”

However, Alex Shugars acknowledged “my dogs caused trouble,” though he stressed “our dogs are very well cared for.”

“And since they have caused so much trouble, we have made the decision to send the ones that keep causing issues back to our breeder,” said Alex Shugars in a pronouncement, though he disputed the charges that his dogs have escaped at least once a week.

Alex Shugars put another question to a second woman who alleged the dogs at issue “are not well cared for” and that the Shugars are “irresponsible,” asking her, “So other than the 6 foot fence, lean-ins, hot wire, dig guards and cameras, how else do you suppose I keep them in the yard?”

“And If I am such a bad dog owner, why don’t my other dogs try to escape?” asked Alex Shugars in yet another question he posed to those critical of him and his wife.

He also disputed reports that a section of his fence has been missing, maintaining there is a “cattle panel” that is “bolted” to it.

After one of the two women he was quarreling with asked why then are his “hybrids STILL escaping” and contended that “I don’t see sanctuaries with this problem,” Alex Shugars replied, “Really, sanctuaries don’t have this problem?”

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escape 8-foot fences with dig guards. Call them and ask. I know this for a FACT.” He also exclaimed of his animals, “THEY ARE NOT WOLF HYBRIDS!” and for the women to “look up the difference between a wolf hybrid and wolfdog,” revealing that the breeder was asked to “take the two back that are causing all the problems.”

“Again, stop talking about things you know nothing about!” pleaded Alex Shugars to the women, with a man jumping into the fray. “…

I’m done. Y’all insatiable. Bye.” However, he actually continued to engage for some time with those chiming in on the situation online, including explaining at one point that he is “not hot wiring” the bottom of his fence “because I have three small children,” declaring, “You people need to stop acting like you know everything about my life and my situation.”

He also cited a state statute (including giving out the call numbers) that he maintained was about the spreading of “false information,” which outlined possible criminal penalties for doing so.

“There is no point in talking to you people,” declared Alex Shugars at one point during the exchange. “At least some people on here who own Huskies and German Shepard’s and malamutes and wolfdogs understand. I see all different kinds of dogs get out all the time on these (social media) pages, but I NEVER blame the owner because mistakes happen, or the dogs figure out a way out.”

With reports that another dog is currently loose in the area and Alex Shugars’ belief that there could be other dogs that could easily get loose at any time, he asked, “How do we know this dog hasn’t killed animals?” maintaining “there’s no point in defending myself” and for everyone to “have a good day.”

Despite the weekend reports, which generated quite a ruckus, Hoffman told this newspaper that the township received no new complaints since last week.

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

WELLNESS (Continued from Page 2)

out of a concern that any such gathering places might contribute to COVID’s spread, an edict that kept many people from engaging in outdoor activity.

“We definitely recognized the importance of offering outside activities to residents after the initial lockdown was instituted by the state,” Clark told this newspaper. “So, as soon as we could and felt comfortable doing so, we were hard at work getting residents outside.”

Being honored with a Healthy Town Award, Clark adde d, wa s no sma l l achievement.

“You have to work very hard to submit all the required information and proof of all activities and programs,” he contended.

In addition to physical activities, the range of health and wellness services a “healthy town” is expected to provide, according to Julie DeSimone, the coordinator of the 15-year-old competition, include addressing food insecurity and the nutritional needs of lower-income residents, mental health issues, support for older adults and sponsoring blood drives.

Evesham Township officials, she told this newspaper, “have really provided some impressive programming over the last few years” in this regard.

The trading card initiative described by Miller during his regular presentation is one he characterized to the Pine Barrens Tribune as “bridging the gap between law enforcement and the juvenile population” by encouraging kids to get to know local police officers and regard them as role models. In the process, it raises extra revenue for the department through $100 sponsorship fees, which substitute for the taxpayer funding used to support the program when it was last implemented a few years back.

“About half of the available cards are now sponsored, so we’re still actively looking for sponsors,” noted the chief, who suggested that interested local businesses or even civicminded individuals contact the department.

“We’d be happy to work with them.”

The cards themselves, which feature photos of department members and biographical infor mation on the back, along with inspirational, educational or safety messages from those individuals, can be obtained from a sponsoring business or enterprise, the officers themselves (thus encouraging kids to interact with members of the force), or at community policing events, he said.

One particular card in the collection, Miller noted, even features a photo of the first six members of the department, going back to its formation in 1966.

The first boy and girl to collect all 125 cards in the series, he said, will each be awarded a brand-new bike donated by the local Walmart or Target, sized to

DOWNTOWN (Continued from Page 3)

Lakehurst Road and adding crosswalks to intersecting streets, including Busansky Lane and Circle Drive.

Changes are also recommended for a third main street that runs through downtown Browns Mills, Lakehurst Road, also known as County Route 530. They include improving a “triangular intersection” (where Trenton, Juliustown and Lakehurst roads come together) and a “re-envisioning of the Mirror Lake Bridge,” as Hornickel put it.

Not only would bicycle lanes be extended into this area coming from Trenton Road, but the triangular intersection’s “gore area” would be expanded, with the one bicycle lane erected in such a way to serve as a connection between Trenton and Lakehurst roads.

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“The kids who win those bikes are going to have to work for them,” he said.

Miller also took the occasion to put the word out that police department is now looking for interns in the areas of both marketing and criminal justice, and to announce three promotions: that of Thomas Reinnholt to the post of deputy chief, and Carl Scutt and Jason Siitones to the rank of captain.

Another tribute to an organization that has been actively engaged in providing support to local police and firefighters, as well as things like complimentary sandwiches to veterans of World War II and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, came in the form of a “Community Impact Award” presented by the mayor to Mission BBQ of Marlton and its “community ambassador,” Gina Goetschius.

Not everyone who spoke at the meeting, however, was elated with everything the township has done in recent months. Prior to a scheduled vote on a resolution of support for an application by an organization called Highway 90 LLC to open yet another cannabis retail business, this one at 90 Old Marlton Pike West, resident Gary Warga, used his five minutes at the microphone, as he has on other occasions, to warn that the local ordinance allowing such operations will have disastrous results.

This time, though, not only did Warga maintain that his research had shown “that regular use of high-potency cannabis results in a certain percentage of people (developing) violent psychotic behavior and psychosis,” but he likened the cannabis industry’s marketing campaign to the one that led to the opioid crisis.

“Those drug companies, they told doctors, ‘Hey, there’s no addictive problems here,’ and look at what we’re dealing with now – every year there is more and more overdose deaths from opioids than the previous year,” Warga declared.

Warga went on to maintain that while he is all in favor of medical marijuana, “to me, cannabis should require a prescription, not be over the counter because it has very dangerous, harmful health effects for certain individuals,” and that the high-potency variety now in use “should be banned and hopefully eventually it will be, but unfortunately a lot of people will be hurt and end up schizophrenic until we wake up and realize how dangerous high potency marijuana is.”

As on a prior occasion when Warga voiced opposition to cannabis business applications, however, township officials noted that approval of the resolution is just a “first step” in a lengthy scrutiny given to such prospective enterprises, both on a local and state level, before they can be permitted to open their doors, and a necessary one for the enterprise involved to even be considered for licensing. The resolution was then approved 5-0.

As for the Mirror Lake Bridge, with the addition of bicycle lanes on both shoulders, a much larger stretch of it would be reduced to one lane than what is currently the case, with use of a striped median.

A crosswalk with a flashing beacon that is pedestrian activated is also proposed at the one end of the bridge to connect the sidewalks and bicycle lanes where Lakehurst Road intersects with Rancocas Lane.

Despite existing sidewalks that run down both lengths of the bridge, currently there are no crosswalks that cross over Lakehurst Road until one travels further south to Junction Road.

Pemberton Township, Hornickel noted, would also like to make improvements to Rancocas Lane, including adding a crosswalk with a curb extension and median island, providing for a “forced right” from Rancocas See DOWNTOWN/ Page 11

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Lane to Lakehurst Road. Currently, one can make a left turn onto Lakehurst Road from Rancocas Lane.

But Rancocas Lane is actually currently privately owned as an access road to Belaire Estates mobile home park, casting some doubt on whether the proposed improvements for Rancocas Lane, which also include adding “choke points,” can be carried out.

Hornickel said the township has made “several overtures” to try to obtain ownership of Rancocas Lane, but so far has been unsuccessful. He even at one point called the owner a “fool” for not accepting the township’s offer, said to be set by council several years ago for $15,000, maintaining that person would no longer be responsible for plowing snow and maintaining the road in the event of a flood, for example, if he gave it up.

Adding bicycle lanes to a fourth main street that runs through the downtown, Juliustown Road, Hornickel maintained, “is really tough,” but the plan notes it is an “option” for part of it.

The Pemberton business administrator recognized that several of the “suggested improvements” are for county roads, which “need county buy-in,” but maintained that “fortunately, either the county engineer or a representative from that office participated in this Health Communities initiative the entire time this (the planning) was happening.”

“So, this is not something that is going to be strange to them,” Hornickel declared.

The Pemberton business administrator, immediately following his presentation to council, pointed out that there was a resolution on the governing body’s July 13 agenda for its consideration authorizing the township to submit a grant application to the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) for the “Transportation Alternatives Set Aside Program” for “bicycle lanes in Browns Mills.”

He noted that council should move the item forward if it is “in favor” of the DVRPC plan.

Before any action was taken, however, council provided for a public hearing on the

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proposal, which drew “some concerns” from Jack Tompkins, a former GOP councilman who is challenging Democratic Mayor David Patriarca in November.

Part of Tompkins’ concerns stemmed from a recently enacted state law mandating drivers safely pass pedestrians, as well as people on bikes and scooters, requiring drivers to move over one lane when passing, if it safe to do so, or to allow at least 4 feet of space between the car and the person being passed.

Maintaining the required 4 feet of space, Tompkins maintained, in addition to any 5-foot bicycle lanes and reduced lanes of travel, could force motorists to cross into oncoming traffic, or over double yellow lines.

Hornickel, who at the time maintained he was unaware of the regulations in the law Tompkins was referencing, maintained that “if anything,” the bicycle lanes “would help” drivers because they would “have a better idea of what 4 feet looks like.”

“But the roads are already congested and dangerous enough, especially on Clubhouse Road,” declared Tompkins in response. “How many accidents do we have there (where Clubhouse and Pemberton-Browns Mills roads intersect, at the base of the Mirror Lake Bridge)? My concern is – in my limited experience and knowledge, that I feel some of our roads are dangerous already, so this bike lane and state mandate of a 4-foot clearance is going to create an even more dangerous situation than you already have.”

While Hornickel replied that, “If I was driving, I would just slow down until I have a safer opportunity to go around a bike,” Tompkins retorted that “not everybody drives like you and I.” Tompkins added that “another concern” he has is that under state law, “you cannot cross” the centerlines of the road, “or you will get a ticket,” and maintained that “his luck is there will be a cop right there” if he should have to do it because of a bicyclist.

The Pemberton business administrator, however, maintained that while he “supposes it is theoretically possible” to get a ticket, he is “not sure we have enough officers to ticket everybody who crosses double yellow lines.”

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“I, however, imagine an attorney could come to court and say, ‘Look judge, he was trying to safely pass a bicycle when he crossed the double yellow lines, and the judge might be sympathetic.’”

Tompkins, in response, quipped that the local officials sought opinions on the plan and that he was simply giving his, further asserting that they were “proposing something that on paper looks good, but when you look at it in actual practice, there are a couple of laws that might need to be addressed going forward.”

Hornickel pointed out that the plan was “prepared by actual licensed professional planners.”

“This wasn’t something that just – I have confidence that the DVRPC hires very competent people, and does do its homework on what is permitted,” the Pemberton business administrator contended. “They make proposals, these proposals get presented to stakeholders and the stakeholders then like the proposals.

“But to do nothing – the status quo is not much better.”

Pemberton Democratic Councilman Paul Detrick, a retired lawyer, asserted that “if the law, in fact, requires a 4-foot distance between you and a bicyclist, it might be worth it to put a question to the planners involved here of how to make this compatible.” He noted that local officials “really don’t want to be asking our citizens to break the law.”

“I can certainly follow up with them,” Hornickel said.

The Pemberton business administrator, however, reminded council, other officials in the room and the meeting attendees that Pemberton Township is within the Pinelands Commission’s jurisdiction and that, “here in the Pinelands, if we want bike lanes by adding shoulders, you could not do it because Pinelands would give us 5,000 reasons why we couldn’t have them.”

Hornickel also reminded those present that this is “one component” of the “vision” that he and Patriarca have to “connect our neighborhoods through different walking and bike paths,” with this particular plan designed to tie in to the “county rail trail the county

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wants to develop.”

“We want to have a way for people to get from Browns Mills through Blueberry Manor, down Rancocas Lane, and then be able to connect to the rail trail,” Hornickel said.

All of this also comes as Pemberton Council recently approved redevelopment plans for the Browns Mills Shopping Center and former tract for Rowan College at Burlington County, both parcels on Pemberton-Browns Mills Road, in a bid to spur economic development downtown.

The resolution authorizing Pemberton Township to apply for the NJDOT grant to obtain funding to implement at least parts of the plan was approved through a consent agenda, but as for how quickly this will all come together, the Pemberton business administrator acknowledged, “I would be surprised if we can get the money to fund this – we think we can get money to do some of it, but I doubt it will pay for all of it.”

He later told this newspaper that the county has since commented on the plan, “so the attached will necessarily have to be modified or we won’t receive the necessary critical support for the changes on the county’s roadways.” Pemberton Township, he noted, has until early November to make application for the grant, “so there is time to make changes.”

Pemberton Democratic Councilman Jason Allen, during the July 13 governing body session, asked if the DVRPC “has reached out or can reach out to” groups of bikers in the area, to which Hornickel replied that the initiative has already involved a couple representatives from Browns Mills-based Deborah Heart and Lung Center, including President and CEO Joseph Chirichella, who is “a huge, avid bicyclist.”

“He looked at it and he loved it, and felt, if anything, you could go further down Pemberton-Browns Mills Road, and if that someday we go all the way down the road, we could get bike races out here or at least entice more groups to come out and visit our downtown,” Hornickel said.

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Saturday, August 6, 2022

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