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SOILED PRESERVATION

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

The Distribution of Truckloads of Soil of Unknown Origin from Firms in North Jersey for the Purported Purpose of Improving a Private Road on a Pemberton Twp. Tract Surrounded by Wetlands—and the Delay in Halting It—Has Environmentalists Fuming A line of dump trucks parked along Magnolia Road in Pemberton Township.

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PEMBERTON—It was at about 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 7 when Emile DeVito, after leaving a meeting and heading back to his office at the New Jersey Conservation Foundation where he serves as manager of science and stewardship, noticed something he considered profoundly disturbing while passing a property of f Mag nolia Road in Pember ton Township—a place he has come to know quite well during his 35 years with the foundation, which owns the adjacent Ong’s Hat Preserve that serves to protect the pristine headwaters of a Rancocas River tributary.

There, lined up on the side of the road, was a “whole stream” of tri-axle dump trucks loaded with a dark soil that he said is nothing like the sandy variety found in the Jersey Pine Barrens. Nor did the identifying logos and information on them indicate that they came from the Pinelands area, either, but rather from See PRESERVATION/ Page 6

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Saturday, February 17, 2024

Washington Twp. Files Suit Asking Superior Court to Allow Township to Inject $473K into School District’s 2023 Budget to Cover Shortfall State Board of Ed Reportedly Ends 8-Month Budget Stalemate

by Adopting It with ‘Noticeably High Tax Increase’ to Close Gap

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

WASHINGTON—After a more than an eight-month stalemate in which the Washington Township Board of Education didn’t adopt its 2023-24 school year budget for the Washington Township School District due to a $473,871 shortfall, the state Board of Education has reportedly now intervened, adopting the budget that applies a total tax increase of $204,979 (held at that value because of a twopercent cap), which amounts to an increase of $224.14 on the township taxpayer for every $100,000 of assessed value.

The state’s adoption of the budget not only dashed the previously described hopes of the local school board that the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) would come through with extra state aid and abandon its suggestion that the district take out a state loan, but also, in turn, caused the county tax board to set the township tax rate for 2023, which finally led to the mailing of what had been delayed local tax bills reflecting the massive increase.

More than two-dozen residents, in beginning to receive their tax bills, as well as in receipt of a “notice” about the matter disseminated by the township, turned out for a Feb. 6 Washington Township

Committee session (a high attendance number for this municipality).

A nd now, Wash i ng ton Tow nsh ip Solicitor Tom Coleman has proclaimed he has filed suit in Superior Court asking a judge to “inject $473,871” of municipal monies “to offset this awful burden that should not have happened, but has happened,” and would in turn, cause the rate to be “restruck.”

The February com mittee session, nevertheless, saw a lively exchange between Washington Board of Education President Charlene Lee and the committee, with Lee maintaining “a lot of this could have been avoided” if the committee had simply granted her earlier request for the township to provide the district with the sum of money needed to cover the remaining shortfall.

Coleman initially asked Lee whether there was a formal request made in writing to the committee, and while Lee acknowledged there was not any such request, Deputy Mayor Daniel James, who was mayor of Washington Township last year when the issue was first brought to the committee, while ultimately recognizing the existence of verbal requests to him behind the scenes, explained that he said “no” on at least two

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Pemberton Twp. Administration’s Spending Authorization Reduced from $6K to $3K Following Impassioned Exchanges Between Officials Should Something Cost More Than $3K Moving Forward, Council Would Need to Give OK, Unless It Qualifies as ‘Emergency’ Expenditure, Something Mayor Warns is Subjective and, in Another Concern, Fears Services Could Be Hampered

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—The appearance of an ordinance on both the Jan. 17 and Feb. 7 Pemberton Township Council meeting agendas to reduce the spending limit without council approval from $6,000 to $3,000 for the township administration (and thereby, for the various municipal de p a r t me nt s) le d to a nu mb e r of impassioned exchanges between officials during the pair of council sessions.

And some of the council members had pointed words for some of the tow nsh ip worker s regard i ng thei r recent spending habits, sentiments which ultimately culminated in a nonunanimous council decision to lower the spending authorization not requiring council approval.

Republican Councilman Joshua Ward, on Jan. 17, called the proposed reduction “something to definitely look at to be conservative this year.”

“We are not trying to cripple, by any means, the administration’s business dealings,” he maintained. “… Again, we

are coming into a hard time. This year is going to be tough, and next year is going to be tough.”

Both Ward and Council President Paul Detrick recognized, however, the “administration’s concerns” that there won’t be an ability to easily repair and maintain equipment, and agreed that the measure warranted further discussion.

Detrick pointed out that Hornickel, prior to the discussion, had sent him a list of about 50 items in fiscal year 2023 that were urgent expenditures that would have posed problems for the township if there was a two-week waiting period, or the typical interim between council meetings.

“The concern is if a piece of equipment breaks down, or needs a part, there may be two weeks until the next council meeting, and that vehicle may be sitting for two weeks, which is not great for efficiency,” Detrick said.

Dan Dewey, a Republican councilman who previously called for a crackdown on spending and maintained it is “out See SPENDING/ Page 7

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES ♦ Page 3

Project ‘Conceived in Early 2000s’ and Started in Late 2020 to Line Medford Lakes’ Aging Sewer Pipes, Wraps Up Under Projected Cost Officials at One Time Estimated $7.9M, and Awarded Project for $5.2M, But After Change Order Was Processed This Month, Final Cost Is $5.1M

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

MEDFOR D LA K ES —A p roj e c t “c onc eive d i n the e arly 20 0 0 s” by Medford Lakes Borough Council to reline Medford Lakes’ sewer pipes and awarded to a Missouri-based firm in 2020, is wrapping up, with a special project engineer assigned to the task, along with borough officials, appearing to take a victory lap of sorts during a Feb. 8 council session, given that despite many “challenges,” the project is coming in well under an initial estimate, and now also under bid.

According to Benjamin R. Weller, an engineer for the collection lining system project with Environmental Resolutions, Inc. (ERI), 115,000 linear feet of 8-inch, 10inch and 12-inch pipe, which encompassed all the non-PVC sewer in the borough, were lined through the project (essentially the process seals up the cracks and openings in the piping).

T he proje ct also i nclude d the “rehabilitation” of over 3,500 vertical feet of manholes in the borough, Weller said, as well as over 1,300 service laterals, or connections.

“The pur pose of this project was two-fold,” Weller explained. “One, to eliminate any existing infiltration and/or exfiltration that could lead to detrimental impacts for the borough, as well as for its 22 lakes and local groundwater, which is utilized by all the residents for their drinking water. And two, to effectively reset the clock on the condition of the pipes, which are from the 1930s, and have definitely served their purpose, and were starting to breakdown and fail.”

A 2015 environmental study that was commissioned for the project put the estimated cost at $7.94 million, Weller noted, but the project, it turned out, was awarded to Insituform Technologies, Inc., for only $5,208,903 back in 2020.

And now, according to Weller and Borough Manager Dr. Robert Burton, the project has been completed for a final cost of $5,109,674, with a change order approved during council’s Feb. 8 session.

“It is a decrease,” Burton emphasized.

“And for this project to take as long as it did, and for the product that we got, in light of us originally thinking it was going to be between $6.5 million to $7.5 million, I am very happy with that.”

Weller pointed out that it is a reduction of “just over $99,000 from the original contracted amount.” In doing so, he noted, the project was scheduled to commence in December 2020 and conclude in May 2022, but “unfortunately the project faced a number of issues, including working through the COVID pandemic, supply chain issues as well as material shortages.”

At one -poi nt, s evere we ather i n the south, Weller further explained, where the material for such a project is manufactured, temporarily closed down the product manufacturers there, which “had massive national implications,”

but Insituform was a “great partner” in helping to find “suitable alternatives,” with one suggestion turning out to save a halfmillion to the borough.

“Being under budget for a project of this magnitude, and with the challenges we faced, I believe it is very significant,” Weller declared. “In addition to that, we have also been able to benefit right off the bat at our Sewer Treatment Plant.”

In pointing to a chart for the average flows at the Sewer Treatment Plant “in millions of gallons per day,” Weller said the average flow has gone from 416,000 gallons per day in 2020 to 315,000 gallons per day in 2023, which is an approximate “100,000 gallons a day reduction at the plant.”

“We were able to save over 37 million gallons a year of flow not needing treatment at the plant,” Weller asserted.

The borough, he added, should also see a “savings over the next 50 to 100 years” in not having the kinds of emergency repair costs that would typically be associated with repairing the aging infrastructure.

“I had a hard time trying to put that to a number,” Weller declared.

Burton noted that there is “also the piece” that “pumps were effectively getting sandblasted” from the grit that would enter the sewer system from the water infiltration that was occurring.

“It was a tremendous expense,” Burton said. “Anything mechanical that deals with the influx of that water with sand and grit breaks down at a higher rate, also.”

Weller concurred, with figures showing a “major shift” in the “flow rates going into the plant.”

Former Borough Councilman Joseph A. Aromando III called it a “nice surprise” for Weller to appear at the council session, and proceeded to ask, “What is the life expectancy of the lining project when it is completed?”

Weller responded that in a loan, the borough was only allowed to cite a “50-year life expectancy for this infrastructure,” but with what was done, “it should be over 100 years” so long as “no major impacts are seen with other utilities,” adding that basically everything is “inert” and “less susceptible to breakage.”

“And with PVC, there are joints and things, whereas with this, it goes to manhole-to-manhole without any joints,” said Deputy Mayor William Fields, who was leading the session in the absence of Mayor Dr. Gary Miller. “So, you should realize it is better than PVC, without rubber joints failing and things like that.”

While Aromando responded “absolutely,” he contended the borough should “always anticipate what it is that could happen in that vein,” and asked if the “borough is going to be required to maintain this thing.”

“Let’s say, God forbid, there is root incursion, or something penetrates the pipe, are there instructions on the care and maintenance, and how this is handled?”

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Now, Two Pemberton Borough Councilwomen Call for Heavy Truck Ban on Municipality’s Two Main Thoroughfares, Pointing to Existing Bypass Other Officials Maintain County Considers Streets at Issue Evacuation Corridors and Won’t Support It, But County Maintains Request for Ban Study Not Found

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON BOROUGH—Now two Pemberton Borough Councilwomen have come out in favor of banning truck traffic on Hanover and Elizabeth streets in the municipality, but other officials continue to claim it can’t be done because the county does not support it.

A county spokesman, however, claims the county can’t find any request from the borough for a study to entertain a possible truck ban.

Councilwoman Melissa Tettemer, during a recent council session, described that an 18-wheeler was traveling down Hanover Street, and then made a right turn onto Elizabeth Street, all while her husband was sitting on Elizabeth Street at a traffic light.

“It barely missed him making a turn,” she said. “I really don’t know what the purpose of the (Pemberton) Bypass is.”

A f e w m o n t h s e a r l i e r, i t w a s Councilwoman Diane Fanucci who called for something to be done about the heavy trucks traveling on the borough’s two main thoroughfares, instead of using the Bypass, the latter also known as County Route 530.

“I was told we can’t do it,” said Fanucci of when she had inquired about a truck ban.

Police Chief Edward Hunter noted that the county said “no, we can’t do it.”

Council President Terry Jerome expanded on that point, repeating what he had said a few months earlier – the county considers Elizabeth Street an evacuation route, and therefore, it can’t be done.

“Elizabeth Street is taking a load off of Route 70, while Magnolia Road is taking a load off Route 72,” maintaining that both are considered evacuation routes.

It was asked if officials “could ask again” about a prohibition.

The Pine Barrens Tribune queried David Levinsky, county spokesman, via email, about the prospects of banning trucks from either of the two streets. This newspaper heard back on Feb. 7.

“The Engineering Office checked, but did not find any recent communications from Pemberton Borough requesting a truck ban or traffic study for a potential truck ban on those roads,” Levinsky maintained. “Again, they did locate emails requesting a traffic study for flashing pedestrian beacons.”

The county spokesman added that the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is responsible for regulating truck traffic and intrastate commerce.

“Any request to limit truck access to those roads would need to be approved by the NJDOT,” Levinsky said. “The process begins with municipalities, which may request the county to undertake traffic studies to support a limit on truck traffic on a county road. Alternative routes would need to be presented, along with the impacts of the deviation of truck traffic.”

Also drawing questions was a $35,500 bid from Anderson Contractors for a “roof project.” It was described that it was for the “repair of the flat roof of the borough building,” with Jerome adding that the “shingle portion of the roof is new” and not expected to be repaired, but rather the “flat portion needs repair.”

“Did we get another quote?” Tettemer asked, causing Borough Administrator Kathy Smick to respond, “The other quote is $74,000.”

After some officials indicated that they

Saturday, February 17, 2024

State Police, NJ Department of Agriculture Tight-lipped About Visit Paid on Feb. 7 by State, Federal Authorities to Southampton Parcel State Police Inquiry Initially Elicited Response There’s Nothing to Reference, But Tribune Ultimately Told to Contact NJDA, Which Confirms Investigation

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

SOU T H A M P TON — St at e a nd fe dera l aut hor it ie s were ob s er ve d having descended upon a Southampton Township far m property on Feb. 7, but so far as of press time, the known agencies to be involved in the operation are tight-lipped about what exactly brought them there, except to confirm an active investigation, and provide an i ndication that the New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA) has taken the lead.

The Pine Barrens Tribune observed an unusual mix of vehicles with state and federal government license plates, about a half-dozen of them, parked in front of a residence on the property in the 400 block of Ridge Road on Feb. 7.

Also parked out front of the residence was a single marked New Jersey State Police troop car.

“We do not have anything on our end (to) reference this incident,” initially responded Trooper Troy McNair, a spokesman for the New Jersey State Police, when queried about the matter.

But when McNair was told it was a reporter with this newspaper that made the

observations and was provided an exact address from Google maps, he responded a short time later, “Please reach out to the Department of Agriculture (in) reference (to) this inquiry.”

So, this newspaper did.

Jef f Wol fe, a spoke sman for the NJDA, responded, “We can confirm we did have personnel there, but since it’s an active investigation, we can provide no further details.”

Wolfe, when pressed if he could at least disclose the nature of such an i nvestigation that would entai l the NJDA working with a law enforcement partner(s), responded, “I’m sorry, but I can’t comment further.”

It was not immediately clear which federal agency or agencies were working in conjunction with the state police and NJDA Feb. 7.

Among some 21 pictures posted online for the parcel, but undated, show a building with rows of livestock pens.

According to a realtor’s description of the land from 2023, “it is about (a) 30acre farm” with “two houses zoning,” and containing “two residential houses,” but in See POLICE/ Page 15

See BAN/ Page 13

Fourteen Students Reported Injured When School Bus, Utility Truck Collide at Medford Township Intersection MEDFORD—Fourteen students were injured when a school bus collided with a utility truck at the intersection of Skeet and Hawkin roads in Medford Township on the afternoon of Feb. 13.

Aerial video from various televisions stations showed that the school bus involved belonged to the Burlington County Institute of Technology (BCIT), which maintains a nearby Medford campus.

The collision occurred at around 2:53 p.m., according to a press release from the Medford Township Police Department, with an onscene investigation having determined that Ervin Johnson, 59, of Burlington, had been operating a school bus attempting to make a left turn from Hawkin Road onto Skeet Road, all as a utility bucket truck operated by Jaran James, 24, of Williamstown, was traveling south on Skeet Road – causing both vehicles to impact each other within the intersection.

Police said that a total of 14 students reported various injuries, with three students released to their parents at the crash scene.

Those three students were reported to have www.pinebarrenstribune.com

later responded to local hospitals for medical treatment, complaining of pain.

Ten students were transported to Virtua Hospital in Mount Holly for purported pain and other non-life-threatening injuries.

One student was said to have been transported via an ambulance to Cooper University Hospital as a precaution after reporting head and rib pain.

“Shortly after dismissal from BCIT Medford Campus, a truck collided with a school bus carrying students,” said Dr. Christopher Nagy, superintendent of the Burlington County Special Services School District and BCIT, in a statement provided to this newspaper on Feb. 15. “Fortunately, no serious injuries occurred. The students on the bus who suffered minor injuries were taken to the hospital as a precaution. For privacy reasons, the school will not be sharing the names of the students injured. We will provide additional information as it becomes available.”

As of the evening of Feb. 13, police said the issuance of motor vehicle summonses is pending the outcome of an ongoing investigation. @PineBarrensNews

Facebook.com/PineBarrensTribune

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES ♦ Page 5

Evesham Man Draws 34-year Sentence for Killing Friend and His Dog EVESHAM—A 27-year-old Evesham newspaper, an investigation began on Feb. man has been sentenced to 34 years in state 5, 2022, when officers from the Evesham prison for fatally stabbing a friend, as well Township Police Department were called as his dog, while robbing him in early 2022, to the Olympus Apartments on Baker the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office Boulevard for a report of a possible dog announced in a Feb. 13 press release. attack on a resident.

The sentence was W h e n o f fi c e r s handed down on Feb. ar r ive d, ac cord i ng 9 in Superior Court to authorities, they in Mount Holly by discovered Thomas Judge Ter renc e R. Pierson III, 26, of Cook, to Donovan G. Evesham, dead inside Hollingsworth, who h is re sidenc e w ith was convicted by a multiple stab wounds. jury in August.

The victim’s dog, A ft er repor t e d ly a Cane Corso named del ib erat i ng for “Django,” was found ju st over an hou r, dead, also with the panel retur ned st ab wou nds, on a g u i lt y ve rd i c t s on s t a i r w e l l l a n d i ng , charges of first-degree authorities said. murder, first-degree The investigation r o b b e r y, t h i r d revealed that Hollingsworth d e g r e e p o s s e s s io n Hollingsworth traveled of a weapon for an to Pierson’s apartment unlawful purpose, third-degree cruelty with the intention of robbing him, according to animals and fourth-degree unlawful to the prosecutor’s office, and an altercation possession of a weapon. ensued, during which Hollingsworth C o ok r u l e d l a s t Fr i d ay t h at stabbed Pierson and Django.

Hollingsworth must serve 30 years in Hollingsworth then allegedly fled and prison with no parole eligibility for the was later taken into custody by Evesham murder, then serve an additional four years Township police officers at the Virtua for killing the dog.

Voorhees Hospital emergency room, where A s p r e v iou sly r e p or t e d by t h i s he had gone for treatment of minor injuries.

Shamong Man Arrested, Charged with Eluding Police MEDFORD—A vehicle spotted by a Medford Township Police officer in the parking lot of a business that was closed, then reportedly fled from police when a motor vehicle stop was attempted, according to a press release from the Medford Township Police Department.

The incident occurred at around 1:43 a.m., police reported, while an officer was on routine patrol in the Stokes Business District.

A black 2024 Lexus IF350 was said to have been observed traveling in a parking lot of a closed business, and upon exiting the lot, it was purportedly observed traveling at a high rate of speed on McKendimen Road.

An officer is then said to have attempted

to conduct a motor vehicle stop, and when doing so, the vehicle purportedly “increased its speed” and fled.

Officers, according to the release, were able to obtain the vehicle’s registration during the interaction and later responded to the vehicle owner’s residence.

Mason Mozitis, 21, of Shamong, was placed under arrest and charged with eluding police. He was processed and later released after being served with a criminal complaint and motor vehicle summonses for speeding and reckless driving, police said.

It was not revealed by police whether they reached a determination of why the person was in the closed business parking lot.

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Man Charged with Burglarizing Two Evesham Dunkin Donuts EV ESH A M — Pol i c e i n Eve sh a m Township have announced an arrest in a pair of November Dunkin Donuts burglaries in the municipality.

George Duvall, currently incarcerated in Pennsylvania, and of Wilmington, Delaware, has been charged with two counts of thirddegree burglary and theft, after what police described as an “extensive investigation and information sharing” effort between “our agency and law enforcement agencies in neighboring states.”

According to a press release from the Office of Evesham Police Chief Walt Miller, the first burglary was reported to police on Nov. 2, 2023, at the Dunkin Donuts located at 901 W. Route 70, where investigators found an “unknown person had forced entry into the business and stole

the safe, containing cash, before fleeing.”

Then, on Nov. 13, 2023, while Evesham detectives were actively investigating the first Dunkin Donuts burglary, officers responded to the store at 900 S. Route 73 for a burglary.

“Circumstances at this burglary were identical to the Nov. 2 burglary,” Miller said.

“Evesham Detectives also responded to this scene to investigate and collect evidence.”

A warrant was issued for Duvall, police said, and sent to the correctional facility in which he is currently incarcerated.

Duvall will reportedly be extradited back to New Jersey after his judicial processes in Pennsylvania are concluded.

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

PRESERVATION (Continued from Page 1)

locales a couple hours’ drive from the property.

“As I was driving past the western edge of the site, I noticed at least five of them waiting to enter the narrow little sand road that enters the property, an old farm road from 100 years ago,” DeVito later told the Pine Barrens Tribune. All had names on them from various little independent trucking companies, all from cities in Essex and Union counties.

The dirt they carried was a rich, dark reddish-brown color that does not exist in southern New Jersey, south of New Brunswick, and that had to have come from “at least 70 or 80 miles away,” in addition to being mixed with what appeared to be construction debris.

Wit hout e nt e r i ng t h e p rop e r t y, DeVito immediately got busy notifying those responsible for enforcing rules, reg ulations and policies gover ning t h e P i n e l a n d s Nat io n a l Re s e r ve , including the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and the Pinelands Commission and the Township of Pemberton, one of the municipalities responsible for seeing that the commission’s rules are enforced, as well as other environmental groups who prioritize protecting the ecology of the Pinelands from this exact sort of threat from would-be violators. He also went about launching a drone to take aerial photographs of the operation and ascertain where the trucks were headed once they unloaded their cargo inside the property, which had only recently been sold.

It wasn’t long before the identities and locations of the firms, such as a “recycling” facility in Rahway, that had reportedly dispatched those unauthorized truckloads of North Jersey dirt to this remote rural spot in southern Burlington County, were known to the authorities. But getting those selfsame authorities to order a halt to the operation in a timely manner before what DeVito and Pinelands Preservation Alliance Public Advocate Jason Howell estimated was the unloading of dozens of such trucks was another thing entirely, DeVito discovered to his frustration.

“It should not take two days when a knowledgeable individual calls and describes in detail that a major wetlands violation is occurring involving multiple

WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM truckloads of dirt containing possibly hazardous material,” he declared. “It should have been shut down a lot faster.”

(As of Feb. 14, the NJDEP said it still did not have the results of an analysis of the material deposited at the site.)

It was bad enough, contended DeVito, who holds a Ph.D. in Ecology, that the NJDEP official dispatched to the area on the following day had no authority to immediately order a halt to the operation, even though the agency sent a “notice of violation” a day later to Zero Magnolia, LLC, the Philadelphia-based company listed as the tract’s new owner, which was not a “formal enforcement order” but rather intended to provide it with an opportunity to take “corrective action” on a voluntary basis.

But what especially bothered him, he noted, was that the township official who was authorized to issue such an order as the official surrogate of the Pinelands Com m ission was “on ly 10 m inutes away” and “should be able to recognize something as illegal if they know what their job is” but failed to put a stop to the dumping even after visiting the scene.

That official, Pemberton Business Ad m i n i s t r at or D a n i e l Hor n i c ke l , confirmed to this newspaper in a phone interview that he had an on-site meeting with Dominique Pereira, whom “our records indicate is the owner” (Pereira, in response to a later query from this newspap er, however, sub s e quently indicated he might not be). Hornickel said after finding Pereira was “very cooperative” during their meeting and that he “didn’t try to block anybody or hide anything” as well as registered “no objection to anybody coming on the property to see what he was doing,” it caused him “to give the guy an opportunity to provide us with proof that he had permission to do this.”

To have stopped him at that point, only to discover that everything was in good order, Hornickel added, would have caused the work to be “unnecessarily delayed.”

Pereira had presented himself as an organic farmer intent on restoring blueberry and cranberry farming at the location in question, Hornickel maintained, and in order to do that, needed to slightly widen the road reaching into it, which he had estimated was half a mile long. “He said I need to rebuild the road as I can’t get a truck in there to harvest anything,” which was the purported purpose of the material he was in the process of spreading on its surface, the business administrator

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told this newspaper.

“While I can’t speak for him, he told us he was cleaning up the property,” the administrator said, noting that Pereira had already removed large chunks of concrete from it. “If he’s restoring it for farming purposes, we have an obligation to be cooperative with him.”

Hornickel continued that, “We want to get him in compliance,” a process Pereira also claimed he had engaged a lawyer to help him with.

Hornickel added that while he is admittedly “not a soil scientist” and couldn’t say whether or not the soil at issue was impacting the existing wetland, “it appeared to me he was applying dirt to the surface of an existing road” and that as far as he could determine, Pereira had “no interest in doing anything illegal.”

But in DeVito’s view, the very act of dumping unvetted fill on the roadway and thus into the wetland bordering it on both sides was a serious violation of the law governing the Pinelands Reserve— something spelled out in the citation sent to Zero Magnolia LLC by the NJDEP, which stated that on Feb. 8 “a representative from the NJDEP’s Bureau of Coastal & Land Use Compliance & Enforcement conducted an investigation into this site/ matter” and determined that violations of both the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act and the Flood Hazard Area Control Act had occurred.

Hornickel’s unilateral decision to allow the dumping to temporarily continue was what particularly seemed to infuriate DeVito, whose view is that the township administrator “has no qualifications whatsoever” to allow it, not being “a trained ecologist or biologist.”

“You need to know chemistry, biology, plant and animal natural history, you need to know everything about the ecosystem, and you need to be a trained ecological restoration specialist (in order to decide how such a matter should be handled),” DeVito declared. “Anybody who tries to speculate about that, and who doesn’t have that training – their opinion should bear no weight whatsoever.”

Furthermore, he contended, if the person without such qualifications is a township administrator, and he goes out and sees something in the field that may be a problem, then he should reach out to an expert.

“And he has experts at his disposal,” added DeVito, who said he thought the handling of this particular matter at the

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local level was “just ridiculous.”

Also critical of the township’s failure to step in immediately and order a halt to the dumping operation was Rick Brown, president of the Rancocas Conservancy, another regional environmental group, as well as a member of the Pemberton Planning Board, who in an interview with this newspaper, emphasized that he was “incredulous that the actions out there were not immediately stopped by the township pursuant to the township’s own ordinances, which reflect the resource protection requirements of the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan.”

Howell also decried what he and others saw as the township’s failure to respond expeditiously, citing another potential consequence of not doing so.

“I f t h e r e we r e no c on st r u c t ion permits,” he asserted, “it should have been immediately halted” via a stop-work order that he thought should be “standard procedure in any municipality.”

“Imagine if you lived next to this site and they were trucking in unknown material from an unknown source, and you have well water,” he noted. “This could have a major impact on everyone in the area.”

But not everyone with a potential role in the issue’s resolution shared that perspective.

One official who seemed to more or less concur with how the Pemberton administrator addressed the situation was Robert Reitmeyer, district manager for the Burlington County Soil Conservation District (BCSCD), a regulatory entity for the state Department of Agriculture responsible for making sure that soil more or less stays in its proper place during construction projects and the like, although unlike the NJDEP, it doesn’t perform soil analysis.

Reitmeyer, in a phone interview with the Pine Barrens Tribune on Feb. 14, said he expected to pay a visit to the site at issue the next day (after this newspaper’s production deadline), but that from having observed aerial photos, believed the amount of soil displaced up to that point would likely exceed the 5,000-square-foot minimum for which an application to his department would have been required, and he therefore anticipated issuing a citation as well.

Asked whether Pemberton in h is opinion should have acted to immediately clamp down on the purported dumping,

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Reitmeyer replied that he thought the township “acted in a reasonable time frame and acted appropriately.”

While he would think those representing the municipality “needed to do some factfinding on their own and also get in touch with a regulatory agency,” it might not have been a good idea for them to have summarily stopped the work.

“You wouldn’t want to act too quickly and find out there was nothing amiss,” he maintained, noting that before any determinations can be made, there has to be a certain amount of factfinding done. “… If there is damage that has to be undone, the owner will be responsible for remediation.”

Noti ng that “some of the are as photographed look pretty wet,” Reitmeyer said the NJDEP will ultimately determine if the road improvements made using that soil can remain intact or “if that material has to be pulled out,” depending on where it is placed as well as what it is found to contain.

“If you’re going to improve a roadway, you want to make sure it doesn’t erode the surrounding wetland, which would become detrimental to the environment,” Reitmeyer said. “In that regard, we will see that BMPs (best management practices) are followed to minimize any further damage to those areas.”

He c onti nue d that any re qu i re d restoration of the wetlands would most likely be done via vegetation. And should the BCSCD issue a violation notice in

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(Continued from Page 2) of control,” and last year ripped into the administration on several occasions for various expenditures that presented themselves on the bill’s list, responded that it would be his “pleasure” for the governing body to approve such purchases “if they have all their paperwork in when we get our agenda,” contending “we meet twice a month.”

“The aggravating thing is the purchase orders are not properly filled out, and it is, ‘We just need this,’” the councilman charged. “If we get them, we have three to four days to check out pricing, instead of people making decisions for us!”

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES ♦ Page 7

this case, “the owner will have to make an application to us for the work that’s been done and any future work he might want to do, and we will make sure it meets our standards.”

The actual identity of the owner, however, was unclear as of this newspaper’s Feb. 14 deadline. While Pereira was initially identified as the individual who now owns the property, a Feb. 13 phone interview he had with the Pine Barrens Tribune, soon cast doubt on that notion when he was asked if he did, to which he replied that he hadn’t claimed to be the owner, and would only say, “I’m the representative of this property and this project.”

Pereira also would neither confirm nor deny that he was the subject of a LinkedIn profile that identified him as the head of a Philadelphia-based technology company, indicating he wanted to limit the discussion to his role in developing the Zero Magnolia acquisition into “an organic farm” on which cranberries and blueberries will be cultivated for sale to the public.

Widening and improving the access road into the property so that it can accommodate more than a single vehicle and is safer to navigate, he maintained, is an intrinsic aspect of getting that operation underway, which was the purpose of all the truckloads of soil, for which he said he had “a document from the delivery company saying the dirt was free of toxins.”

When asked a question that DeVito had posed to this newspaper—why, if his access road needed regrading, he hadn’t done what inhabitants of the Pinelands

usually do, which is to buy clean, relatively inexpensive indigenous fill from a local sand and gravel pit, Pereira’s response was that “we did engage with some companies locally, but the volume (of material) that we needed at the time wasn’t available” and that “we were offered asphalt, but didn’t want to put anything petroleumbased on the road.”

But Pereira insisted that his intent was “making that site as beautiful, practical and safe as it can be,” and was looking forward to getting members of the community involved in his LLC’s organic cranberry/blueberry enterprise, an area in which he claims to have had some previous experience. He added that he would “encourage anyone to do as much due diligence as they can” in this type of project, and that he wasn’t absolving himself of responsibility in that area.

But just how much “due diligence” did Zero Magnolia do before purchasing the tract and proceeding with the delivery of all those truckloads of soil? According to DeVito, what it purportedly wants to accomplish there is no longer viable in any event, since the property hasn’t been cultivated in at least 80 years, and there is a five-year moratorium on re-introducing agriculture to a forested wetland, which would require “a gigantic slew of process and permits that are almost impossible to obtain.”

After not having been farmed for close to a century, he asserted, the land involved “can’t be used for anything except forestry, hunting, fishing and recreation.”

“It could be somebody bought it not knowing the rules, thinking it’s OK to

dump there,” DeVito said. “But you would think that if somebody is going to buy (so many) acres, they’d look up what the rules are first.”

“You cannot destroy a mature forest to create agriculture in the Pinelands.”

A real estate sign for the parcel back in August 2023 shows that the parcel in question comprises just over 378 acres.

The property was sold, according to an associated listing, on Nov. 13 of last year.

And while whoever is involved in trying to do so may be “well-intentioned, they are just out of their league when it comes to environmental regulations … they don’t know the law.”

But , pr e su m ably, t he P i nela nd s Commission would. And on the afternoon of Feb. 14, after first telling this newspaper in response to a query that, “We received reports of a violation on Magnolia Road in Pemberton Township, and we are in the process of investigating it” and that “all information remains confidential while we are undertaking our investigation,” the Com m ission’s com mu n ications officer, Paul Leaken, said. He was then asked the extent to which cranberry/ blueberry cultivation is permitted by the commission in a wetland area of the Pinelands, and what's involved in trying to re-establish it after five years (if that figure is correct).

“In the Pinelands Area, blueberry and cranberry agriculture is permitted in wetlands,” Leaken replied. “Our regulations do not contain a five-year ‘reestablishment’ limitation.”

Dewey, in returning to a previously broached subject of a $6,000 toolbox purchase during he and Ward’s first days in office back in 2023, declared, “when we first got in here, we owned a $6,000 toolbox, where it could have been purchased for $1,000.”

“But they had the power to spend up to $6,000 and wasted it on a toolbox!”

Dewey charged. “That is the thing that aggravates me!”

Dewey maintained that if there is a truck that is held up for a part because it costs $3,100, so long as the paperwork is “filled out and proper” and placed in the councilmembers’ agenda folder on time, “I see no reason why it can’t be approved at the meeting.”

The Republican councilman then tore

into the administration again, asserting, “Look at the bill’s list for November and December where they spent all the money in their budgets!”

“And that is something else that is totally wrong!” Dewey declared. “If they have $50,000 leftover, don’t spend it! This is ridiculous when you go through this bill’s list. Each department bought the same vest! Each department bought the same gloves! You don’t know what quantity it is, but every department is uniform!”

Dewey, from the position of a small business owner, asserted, that one would never say “you got $40,000 left in your budget, go spend it.”

“And that is not the way you should run a business!” Dewey declared. “We should be conservative with our spending, and at

the end of the year, have a surplus!”

Recently, council approved the purchase of a new engine for a used township ambulance, a decision officials had praised for saving the township quite a bit of money. But now, Dewey says he learned that the ambulance was used only once a week.

“That is something we approved, and then someone says, ‘That is a lot of money for an ambulance that gets used once a week – Tuesday is the only day it gets run.’

Why did we fix it? It is wasteful spending!”

As far as Dewey is concerned, he would even bring down the spending limit without council approval to $2,000, he said.

“They need to be brought in and under more controls, instead of wasting money!”

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SHORTFALL (Continued from Page 2)

occasions because the amount requested of the municipality kept changing.

Lee maintained that there was a private meeting in October between the two, and that is when she requested a final figure of $473,871, but James maintained he could not recall his answer, but in the wake of further pressure, contended by that time, things were “already on sinking ship.”

James and current Mayor C. Leigh Gadd Jr., who was also on the governing body in 2023, both emphasized repeatedly during the Feb. 6 session that the township has its own budget, and so does the local board of education, and the township has no control over the school board budget, nor does it have a local purpose tax. It was also pointed out by Gadd that the township has, for many years now, made a contribution to the district, increasing it more recently from $25,000 to $50,000.

Still, one resident indicated that because the issue affects “all” in town, it is everyone’s problem to solve, and the parties must work together to arrive at a solution.

‘Noticeably High Tax Increase’ “Tax bills have gone out,” said Gadd in responding to the recognized elephant in the room. “There is obviously a noticeably high tax increase.”

Gadd made a distinction from the outset that the “school board has its own taxes” and budget, and that as for the municipal budget that is in the purview of the municipality, “the township itself does not have a local purpose tax.”

“However, in light of the current situation, the township has taken action with respect to Burlington County Superior Court to try to either mitigate (the situation) or return tax money to the citizens of the township.”

The suit was filed during an interim period when there was no Washington committee session between Jan. 2 and Feb. 6, with it said that the state Board of Education’s decision was handed down in late December.

The decision to file suit came about, according to Gadd, after “numerous one-off conversations” between he, Coleman, the tax assessor, and township committee members, and is “in light of the state’s determination and the county’s certification of the tax rate.”

The township’s effort to inject municipal

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Saturday, February 17, 2024

tax dollars, he recognized, however, comes “after-the-fact.”

Request to ‘Inject’ Municipal Dollars “It is really unfortunate that the township is put in the position we are put in presently,” said Coleman, who claimed to have filed the suit on Feb. 5.

“The state Board of Education took it upon themselves to adopt the budget after failed attempts by the local school board to adopt the budget.”

Coleman indicated there was some surprise on the part of the agency, describing that he “got repeated calls” asking, “What is going on?’”

“We were left with no other alternative – and I will defer to you guys (the township’s three committeemen, which also now includes Dudley Lewis) as to how you want to characterize it, but to assist the taxpayers to the sum of $473,871,” Coleman said. “To that effect, I filed on Monday a lawsuit with the county tax board asking that the rate be re-struck, and that the township be allowed to inject $473,871 to offset this awful burden that should not have happened, but has happened.”

Since filing suit, Coleman claimed to have had “conversations with the county tax administrator” and maintained “the county wants to help us, which is a positive sign.” The township attorney expressed his optimism that “we would be able to enter into a consent order immediately,” which would enable Municipal Chief Financial Officer Kristin Manning “to move that money.”

However, Coleman pointed out that the County Tax Board is actually represented by the state Attorney General’s Office, “which may slow things down.”

Gadd, in responding to Coleman, declared, “that is where we are, from the township’s perspective, to right the course with this large, expensive problem put upon the taxpayers” and, in doing so, “we are going to try to convince a judge in the county to let the township offset that entire increase to assist the taxpayers in the township.”

“It is a large amount of money, but we are going to do everything we can, within the township’s authority,” Gadd vowed.

“We have no authority over the school board, over their budget, and don’t have a local purpose tax. We have our budget; they have theirs.”

Answering Claims of Funding Denials Lee, in speaking at the dais in response to

Photo By Nick Weissmann

Washington Township Board of Education President Charlene Lee maintains that she requested the township to cover a $473,871 shortfall back in October 2023, but to no avail. the public remarks of Coleman and Gadd, and also in responding to a Feb. 1 “notice” disseminated to residents on township letterhead that stated, in part, the “mayor and committee wants the residents to know that they are attempting a couple of steps to limit the effect of the school tax increase; which is the result of the Washington Township School Board not adopting a budget as required,” asserted, “the school board did everything we possibly could not to raise everybody’s taxes.”

“I met with Dan (James) on two different occasions,” Lee described. “We asked for funding; we were denied. So, a lot of this could have been avoided.”

Lee pointed to the decrease in state aid to the local district and maintained a state loan “was not an option.”

“We would have been paying it for years, since we could only pay about $16,000 a year,” she said of why the board chose not

to take out the loan. “Our township funds were not made available, and the taxes were ‘mandated’ by the state.”

According to Lee, the state Board of Education mandated the taxes in a Dec. 22 decision and the local school board was “given no time to respond.”

“We sat on a Zoom call, and they basically told us this is your township’s problem,” Lee recounted.

While board members, she maintained, “take an oath to provide an efficient and thorough education” to local pupils, the “state dictates what we can and cannot do.”

Lee contended the local school board actually “spent many months working with our government” to arrive at an acceptable outcome.

“So, hold on … you said you asked for funding and were denied,” Gadd said. “I want you to explain that, because that is See SHORTFALL/ Page 9

Saturday, February 17, 2024

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(Continued from Page 7) asserted Dewey to some applause from the audience.

Township Business Administrator Daniel Hornickel has often clashed w ith Dewey when he is cr itical of administration’s spending. This time was no exception.

“Well, I would say this!” Hornickel retorted. “If a truck with a snowplow breaks down tonight, and it costs $3,500 or $4,500 to fix, and it snows Friday, we are not going to be able to use that truck for three weeks! Then do you know what is going to be done? People’s roads won’t be plowed!”

Dewey responded, “That is BS!” Hornickel, in referencing the list of 50 items given to Detrick, pointed to a pump at the township’s Sewer Treatment Plant that broke last year, costing $5,700.

“We can’t wait on an influent pump!”

Hornickel maintained. “It has to be bought right away! Similarly, if you have a pump that goes at the water plant, you need to be able to keep water pumped so it goes to the residents for potable water!”

Hornickel continued that if someone “smashes into a guardrail, it has to be repaired as soon as possible!”

“It is not something you want to wait three weeks to fix, and see if someone else slips off the road and smashes through the opening you didn’t fix!”

Hornickel asserted.

Detr ick, however, in light of the business administrator’s comments,

SHORTFALL (Continued from Page 8)

the first (I heard of it) ….”

It led Lee, to recount having later met with James on Oct. 2, 2023, and at that time, “I asked him, ‘Is there any way we can fund the school?”

“He told me it was not feasible,” she maintained of what was said in the private meeting. “… I want to clarify, it was broached. We asked you in the spring; we came to the meeting.”

Lee, in an initial appearance before the committee during a March 2023 session, said that she is “not asking” the township for money, but rather “we are looking for ideas because this is going to be a problem

Protectors Of Public Health & Property

asked what if the repair described had cost $7,200, because, “right now, you would have to wait.”

“Then you got to wait,” Hornickel acknowledged.

But t h e bu s i n e s s a d m i n i st r at or continued to point to recent examples, with a $5,000 repair having been required at the Nesbit Center after the heating unit for it went out.

“If you don’t repair it right away, the tenants are going to say they are not going to use it, and they want rent abatement, so $5,000 just turned into $7,000 or $8,000!”

Hornickel maintained.

Democratic Councilwoman Elisabeth McCartney interjected that “safety should be a priority” and that she is “open to putting something in this ordinance” to provide for an “exception if it pertains to safety or an emergency situation.”

“I think we should have some flexibility for that,” she declared, with Hornickel responding, “It would be much more palatable to us.”

Wa rd , i n f u r t h e r r e s p ond i ng to Hornickel, asserted, “obviously there are concessions that need to be made in those scenarios.”

“It makes sense,” the Republican councilman said. “If the heater goes out at the Nesbit Center, we don’t want people to suffer for that. If a truck goes down, for health and safety of the community, I am OK with that.”

Dewey, however, took issue with what he saw as an inference that the council would leave the administration and township in dire straits, asserting, “during the summer, you lost a sewer pump, and all of us were

emailed about the emergency purchase, and we responded, so we are not going to leave the township hanging!”

“It is just that you have to start with some controls around here, because there is too much wasted money!”

Dewey charged.

Hornickel responded that he is “not offended by the proposal, but we do need flexibility here.”

“If the Police Department has two laptops that faulter, that to me is something that has to be replaced right away!” the business administrator maintained. “You can’t have police cars without laptops, because then they can’t do lookups and all that stuff.”

Hornickel recognized, however, “there are plenty of examples where we have no problem waiting.”

“The point we are trying to make is we get broadsided at the end of the month with purchases, and then you get the bill’s list, and picking through here, you ask yourself, ‘What do they have to get this for?’ When you look through this, you can see where they went Christmas shopping!”

Hornickel, in pointing to his 25 years now in the public sector, including having worked at all three levels of government, responded, “It is customary for departments to buy in bulk at the end of the year and then not buy again until next year, because when January comes, you only have a temporary budget.”

“That is why you see us buy a lot in November and December, because what you don’t want to do is, come February, say we had an emergency purchase or a contingency came up, and you have

blown through the amount allotted in the temporary budget,” Hornickel said. “They do their best to make stuff last throughout the year, and then come into November, looking to replenish, so that they have enough supplies going into the new year for things they know they are going to do – because they do this every year – until they get a budget.”

Dewey retorted, “See, I am from the retail business, and you are from the ‘every quarter I am going to get a bucket of money’” side of things.

“And I am pretty sure the attitude in this building is, ‘If you don’t spend it, you are going to lose it.’”

That brought about a passionate response from Hornickel, who forcefully declared, “I completely disagree!”

“This past year, if we didn’t do such a good job managing the money in our budget, we would not have been able to cover $600,000 of unexpected healthcare costs without coming in and doing an emergency appropriation!”

Hor n ickel continued. “That means we had departments that didn’t spend everything allotted, which allowed us to say OK, we are going to get $20,000 from this division, $15,000 from here, and we collated this money and then asked council to do transfers!”

Township Solicitor Andrew “Andy” Bayer ultimately cut the men short and pointed to an existing provision in township law that allows the administration to spend up to $17,500 without council approval during a state of emergency, and then offered to strike the state of emergency

that is not going to go away this year” and is “only going to be a continuing problem.”

But, as apparently became evident as the Feb. 6 committee session continued to unfold, there were verbal requests brought to at least James behind the scenes.

However, whether those requests ever made it to the full committee is unclear.

“First you asked for $1 million, then you asked for $800,000, then you asked for $668,000 or $400,000 something,” James acknowledged.

The shortfall, as previously reported by this newspaper, was initially some $900,000.

But in the wake of funding cuts statewide, and ensuing outrage, legislation was enacted to provide additional state aid to affected districts.

More of the gap wa s clos e d, a s

previously reported by this newspaper, by the local school board utilizing its surplus from the 2022-23 school year, rather than rolling it as surplus for the 2024-25 school year budget. Additionally, in helping to close the gap somewhat, was a purported change in enrollment since the original budget was created.

“By Oct. 2, we were look ing for $473,000,” Lee said. “All of this could have been kind of avoided if we worked a little bit better (together). Hindsight is a great thing, but we are not looking to put this on the taxpayer. We are all taxpayers.”

Lee, in specifically referencing the remark in the township notice that the school board “‘failed,’” shot back, “We didn’t have the funds to pass a budget!”

“How are we supposed to pass a budget,

if we don’t have the funds to pass it?” she asked the governing body.

But Coleman responded to the local school board president by putting a question to her: “Was there ever a formal letter authorized by the board, and sent to the township, requesting money?”

“No, there was not,” answered Lee in responding to the solicitor’s question that he said he was asking because the court will be asking it of him. “But I went on the past.”

According to Gadd, however, “normally, the school board makes a request to the township,” specifying “how much you are asking for.”

In pointing to paperwork in front of him that goes “way back,” Gadd said that for 2023, “you were given $50,000 and you

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SHORTFALL (Continued from Page 9)

never formally asked for $473,000.”

“In the spring, when you sat over here and dropped the shortfall on the committee, that was news to us!” Gadd declared. “And we were never made aware you were asking for a request to fund ‘pick your number.’”

Lee again recounted an Oct. 2 meeting with James and maintained “that number,” or the $473,871 request, “was discussed.”

“Not in writing – but in years past, we would talk to you guys, work it out, and submit a letter,” Lee said. “It has been that way for 13 years, and it was done with Dudley (Lewis) [who was a township mayor for 10 years prior to the tenures in the mayoral post of James and Gadd].

From now on, everything will be submitted in writing, and hopefully our letter will be pleasant enough!”

When James contended “the township should not have to pay your bills; that is why you have a tax rate,” Lee pointed out to the deputy mayor, “we don’t have a tax base to pull from that would fund our (budget), do we?” She also argued that without any township support, “our tax rate would be 75 percent.”

“So, if you guys sit on the $4.6 million in your surplus (it was $4,632,792 as of Dec. 31, 2022, with the township only using $260,000 towards the 2023 municipal budget), and you are not helping us, where do we benefit?” Lee asked.

The local school board president’s query caused Gadd to again point to his pile of paperwork, asserting, “Let me just say this: we have been helping you to the tune of $2.6 million, almost $2.7 million!”

Gadd, in further declaring “this is not a

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township committee problem and that you have a budget,” then began citing figures from his paperwork, including that the local school board asked for $25,000 each year from 2018 onward, and got a minimum of $25,000, and in 2022, ultimately received $42,000, and for 2023, got $50,000.

“So, you have been given what you asked for!” the mayor declared. “Last year, we gave you $50,000, which was $25,000 more than your request for every year since 2018! That is what you asked for and you got double that!”

A s p r ev iou sly r e p or t e d by t h i s newspaper, Lee and then-school district business administrator Karen Gfroehrer (who retired from the position in late 2023), stated in March 2023 that the shortfall was the result of an unexpected enrollment increase, and in particular, enrollment of special needs students, some of whom require out-of-district placement.

Gadd, in recounting that explanation, asserted Feb. 6 in further addressing Lee, “your budget deficit was blamed on cuts to state aid and very expensive special needs students, and then boom, all of a sudden, (at the) last minute, it is ‘the township, they would not give us money because of PILOT money cuts.’”

Lee shot back, “You know who said that? The state on the Zoom calls! They said, ‘Go to your township.’”

The point that Gadd emphasized he was trying to make is that “for everyone here, who thinks the township denied you some money that you requested from this township, that is not true.”

Ultimately, Lee recognized, “You did not deny us; but you didn’t support us.”

Onc e more Gadd poi nted to h is paperwork, contending the committee “gave the school board the money it has requested since 2007.”

But ‘This is All Our Problem’ After listening to the back-and-forth exchanges between the mayor, deputy mayor and Lee (with Lewis notably staying out of the fray, having only returned to the governing body last month), resident Karen Melita, a past board of education member, declared, “I don’t like the, ‘This is your problem,’” response, as she characterized it, coming from the township governing body.

“Th is is not any one person’s or committee’s problem,” Melita continued.

“This is ALL our problem. … We are here as a community to work together, and it does not feel like this is a shared responsibility. It feels like ‘this is your problem,’ and ‘this is our problem,’ and ‘we want nothing to do with you.’”

She added that she doesn’t understand why local officials didn’t act sooner, pointing out it is now February 2024, and “this conversation has been going on for months and months and months.”

She also appeared to respond to Gadd’s emphasis of the number of contributions the township made to the local school board, quipping, “Thanks for jumping in and being a superhero.”

Gadd responded to Melita by pointing out he also once served on the local school board, and during his time on it, the township committee gave the school district at times upwards of $340,000 and recalled even one contribution “at one point over a half million dollars.”

“If the township can do it, the township does it,” Gadd continued. “We have a surplus; it is not a secret. … It is not about finger pointing, but to change the narrative of whose responsibility this actually is.

Saturday, February 17, 2024 I am not trying to point fingers at any individuals, but there are two separate budgets, and that is a simple fact! And this township has already gone out of its way to assist the school board.”

Gadd continued that “for the record, no other school board that I am aware of, or anyone I know of is aware of, is given donations such as this by our township.”

“We have been doing this for years and never said ‘no,’” Gadd declared.

But then why, Melita asked, is “someone saying you just said ‘no.’”

“That is because first (the request) started at $1 million,” James explained.

“Then they said they forgot to take this off, and then it was something else. What is it? Tell us what the number is!”

James said he “doesn’t remember if I said ‘no’ to $400,000,” but he revealed “I know I said ‘no’ to $1 million, and I know I said ‘no’ to $800,000.”

“I don’t remember the $400,000,” he continued. “But I think by that time already, it was on a sinking ship because it was November, December, and it was still six months after they should have had a budget.”

James, despite some differences on display during the Feb. 6 committee meeting between the committeepersons and the local school board president, and the letter that went out, clarified, “Actually, I am not blaming the school board; I am blaming your old professionals.”

“That is where the problem was,” the deputy mayor maintained. “You got bad information from your original professionals, not the new guy who seems right on top of things. Your old professional stuck us with this! There is nothing the committee can do. Like I said, you kept See SHORTFALL/ Page 15

Photo By Nick Weissmann

An unusually large crowd by Washington Township standards turns out to hear the Washington Township Committee’s response to a purported state Board of Education decision to adopt a local school district budget containing a total tax increase of $204,979.

Saturday, February 17, 2024

SPENDING

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(Continued from Page 9) specification from the ordinance, “that would then give administration the flexibility to make emergency purchases.”

“Ju s t s ay ap p rov i ng e m e rg e n c y purchases in response to public health safety and welfare,” Bayer suggested.

The ordinance was introduced with the amendment in a 5-0 vote, but then, during the Feb. 7 session, when it came time for a second reading, Democratic Councilman Donovan Gardner had soured on the idea, and McCartney expressed hesitancy, acknowledging that since the Jan. 17 session, she had received phone calls from concerned residents.

Republican Mayor Jack Tompkins, who was away on vacation in January, in returning to the dais, asserted that he is “kind of surprised” by the measure, and then voiced his opposition to it.

Tompkins, in Pemberton’s form of government, is considered part of the administration.

“The price of everything is going up,” he said. “If you cut the spending limits with the prices increasing, I am afraid it is going to impact how we operate. … My other concern is, and I know you made concessions, but I (would be) strictly limited (in) buying goods or services in response to an emergency. We have five different council members who have different opinions on everything. So, what is your opinion of an ‘emergency?’”

Tompkins continued that if a department head says to him, “‘We need to do this right now,’” and he approves of the purchase, but council turns around and says that it does not think it is an emergency, “Who is going to get dinged on this?”

“It is not very specific,” the Republican mayor declared.

Already, Tompkins maintained, there have “been a couple times where it has been getting really close” to the $6,000 benchmark to keep critical services in operation without council approval.

“If you want to approve this, I will abide by it, but I fear we will lose our ability to provide services if the council does that,” Tompkins warned.

Detrick, in responding to Tompkins, explained the proposal came about “because of heightened concern” with respect to this year’s forthcoming budget.

“And we are worried about what next year’s budget will look like,” Detrick declared. “I think that is why council tightened up their review.”

Ward, in reviewing the solicitor’s written amendments to the proposal, asserted, “I think the solicitor did a good job.”

“I think 2024 is a concern for everybody in their households,” Ward maintained. “I don’t have an issue approving spending on a bi-weekly basis for the township.”

McCartney, however, maintained she felt the issue merited more discussion and indicated her preference that it be tabled, but Ward responded that he doesn’t know that he would table it and pointed to what appeared to be council agreement on the legislation back on Jan. 17.

“Mr. Ward, I absolutely recall when we discussed this, that we were all on board, but I got a couple phone calls regarding this,” McCartney said. “I also understand prices are going up, and understand

services (may soon be) different because of the budget.”

Maybe, she said, “we can re-analyze this a bit better,” contending she is “just concer ned now, hear ing from residents.” She also suggested that maybe council should get a report from each department head and review them before moving forward.

Gardner, on Feb. 7, pointed out that the prior administration had some problems with when the limit was previously set at $3,000 in which they “had to keep coming back and back for approval.”

“We changed it to make it much easier for department heads to get their spending done,” Gardner recalled. “I think $3,000 is a low number, because they kept coming back and back again.

Let’s look at it again, and speak with the department heads. We had this issue back in the day when it was $3,000 and we had to up it to $6,000 because of those problems.”

While Gardner said he agrees with the movement to “try to tighten up on spending,” he believes by the recent direction from council being relayed, “department heads are now more aware” and are “looking more strictly at their spending.”

“Look at the bi l l’s l ist – some (expenditures) are close to $6,000,” he said. “Now, (you are saying) wait to buy half. I think $6,000 is a good ground number.”

Gardner further maintained that with inflation, “who knows, $6,000 might not even be enough,” and the spending limit might actually need to be raised to $7,000 or $8,000.

After Gardner reiterated his belief that “each department now knows what to do” as the council is “looking more deeply at spending,” Ward returned to the toolbox matter, asserting, “When someone sits there and buys a $6,000 toolbox when you can easily buy one for $3,000, it is absurd!”

Wa rd , who r e c e nt ly tor e i nto a depar t ment for hav i ng boug ht DEWALT® tools, raised that issue as well once more, having previously taken issue with workers purchasing what are “brand-name tools” over ones that he says could do the job for less money (he also previously claimed there are ones out there that do a better job than DEWALT® tools).

“I just think they are not paying attention!” Ward asserted. “They are not. I challenge any department to come in here and tell me I am wrong.

It is absurd.”

He further declared, “This has to stop, and it has to stop now!”

Dewey, in again sounding off on the topic, maintained the council members in favor of the spending authorization reduction are “not going to leave township hang out to dry!”

“The thing that aggravates me is we get requests for over $6,000 and purchase orders are not properly filled out; there are not three quotes; and they get the purchase!”

He too, concurred, “it has to stop!”

“Like Josh said about the toolbox, that was an unnecessary purchase, $6,000, and it still aggravates me today!” Dewey declared. “It is just wasteful spending!

And it has to stop! This has to be the year

of ‘needs’ and not ‘wants.’ The economy is in the crapper and you just can’t keep spending money like it is unlimited! It has to stop! It has to be controlled! Right now, there is no control in that building when it comes to spending!”

Tompkins retorted, “I will argue that and argue that all day long!,” with Dewey responding, “Bring it on!”

McCartney called for a “compromise,” even at one point suggesting reducing the

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES ♦ Page 11 spending limit without council approval to only $5,000, but it had no apparent takers, with Ward and Dewey hellbent that the “emergency” concessions went far enough, and the two Republicans appearing to be supported by Detrick.

As the exchanges continued, Tompkins again expressed concern with what he saw as an open, subjective interpretation of an “emergency.”

See SPENDING/ Page 13

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Three-Vehicle Collision on Route 70 Injures One in Medford MEDFOR D —A t h r e e -veh i cle collision at the intersection of Route 70 and Eayrestown Road in Medford Township, on the evening of Feb. 2, is said to have injured a passenger in one of the vehicles.

The crash occurred at around 5:50 p.m., according to a press release from the Medford Township Police Department.

Polic e repor ted that an on-sc ene investigation determined that Danielle Diaz, 33, of Marlton, was operating her 2018 Audi A5 west on Route 70, when approaching the intersection, she passed a vehicle that was stopped at the traffic light awaiting to make a left turn.

While passing this vehicle, according to police, Diaz’s vehicle impacted a 2017 Subaru Forester being operated

by Jacklyn Vanduyne, 67, of Whiting, that was in the process of making a left turn onto Eayrestown Road.

After impact, Vanduyne’s vehicle then struck a second vehicle, a 2007 Mercedes Benz, that was stopped at the traffic light, operated by Michael O’Hara, 62, of Medford.

As a result of the crash, a passenger in the Subaru Forester reported pain in her neck and was transported to the hospital for additional medical treatment.

Police reported that the crash remains under investigation.

Saturday, February 17, 2024

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Traffic Light Standard Downed by Two-Vehicle Medford Crash MEDFORD—A traffic light standard was knocked over from the impact of a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Route 70 and Jones Road in Medford Township on Feb. 8.

The crash occurred around 7:03 p.m., according to a press release from the Medford Township Police Department, with officers arriving to find that it involved two vehicles with “the traffic light standard impacted and lying across the roadway.”

An on-scene investigation, police reported, determined that Jeanne Weiss, 75, of Southampton, was operating a 2023 Nissan Rogue east on Route 70, and that when she attempted to make a left turn into the entrance of Sharps Run Plaza,

she collided with a 2014 Ford Explorer traveling west on Route 70 as it traveled through the intersection.

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by Kenneth Montgomery, 63, of Hainesport, reportedly then left the roadway and collided with the traffic light standard, which fell and caused the westbound lane of Route 70 to be closed for a period of time.

Montgomery was transported to Virtua Hospital in Mount Holly for complaints of pain in the head, chest, and hand, police said, while Weiss, reportedly complaining of chest pain, is said to have refused medical treatment on scene.

Police said the crash remains under investigation.

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(Continued from Page 11) “Police vehicles – you just heard Mr. Ward say it is a ‘no brainer,’” Tompkins said. “But it is not a no brainer, as I could do the approval for repairing a police vehicle,

BAN

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and at the next meeting, a councilperson could say how many vehicles back there (in the police lot) could have been operating, and we could have waited to do this.”

Ward, however, retorted, “We are not going to sit here and grill you here if a tire blows out on a call – that is absurd.”

Gardner said there is “one more thing

we need to look at,” or the possibility that in reducing the spending authorization, the requests for emergency expenditures may rise significantly.

Ultimately, Gardner made a motion to turn down the ordinance, but it failed to garner a second. Ward then made a motion to approve the ordinance, which passed in

a 4-1 vote, with Gardner casting the lone opposing vote and McCartney ultimately voting with Dewey, Ward and the council president, making it a bi-partisan decision.

Following the vote, Detrick declared, “My attitude is – just as a postscript – if we find it to be a hassle, we will hear that from administration, and we will reconsider it.”

plate readers for its Police Department.

“The township Police Department is buying police scanners, so I am hoping it will spread to our municipality, at least one police scanner and then we can get another,” she said.

She then pointed to another item in a recent edition of the Pine Barrens Tribune reporting on a state mandate requiring a municipality to conduct street sweeping three times a year, and asked if the borough

had to follow the same stipulation and, if so, how it was preparing to do so.

“I don’t know if we are doing that here, but if we are not, we should be,” Fanucci declared. “I have been bringing up curbs over and over again. We need to get on that!”

Borough Solicitor David Serlin, as well as Engineer James Mullan, detailed how new stormwater regulations were enacted back in July 2023 and that the street sweeping schedule needs to be enacted in

town by July 2026.

“You have a three-year period here,” Mullan explained. “It has to be mechanical, or you have to enter into a sharing agreement.”

Officials agreed that any streetsweeper purchase might be a consideration for a future capital expenditure. Mayor Bonnie Haines, since taking the helm, has asked questions that indicate she might be more inclined to pursue a potential shared service agreement of some kind.

Page 14 ♦

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(Continued from Page 3) the former councilman asked.

Burton responded that the project work is “not guaranteed” if “an Oak tree falls over from excessive rainfall, breaking the pipe,” and in such instances, it would require an “emergency street opening, for

POLICE

(Continued from Page 4) “bad shape.” The parcel, the description

SHORTFALL (Continued from Page 10

coming up with different numbers.”

Resident Horace Somes, a regular committee meeting attendee, in cutting through the noise, shed light on an unanswered question in looking to the future.

“There are no ratables,” he said. “And things need to be fixed (the school has

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someone to get down there, cut the pipe and replace it.”

While Aromando contended “cutting it to me defeats the purpose of lining” the piping, Burton maintained you would likely have to do that for a broken section of pipe as the lining material likely would not go through it in such a scenario, though there is another way to “line it from manhole-to-manhole,” but such circumstances would be at the discretion

of the supervisor of the Wastewater Treatment Plant, who is experienced to handle such matters.

Burton, in further moving to assure the former borough councilman, emphasized the municipality has “two options to fix” any such breakage, and also the procedures to handle such incidents would be included in its Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) manual.

notes, also features “one big hog shed,” in addition to a “couple of garages.”

“All the properties are in bad shape” the description continues, and “without fair maintenance,” the parcel “needs

remodeling and total repair/rebuild.”

As of this week, however, one of the structures appeared to be occupied, with construction fencing and piles of debris, including old oil tanks.

expenses). There is nothing new here. I don’t see an answer.”

But right before Somes spoke, James said, in part, “I don’t want to leave something for the next generation” to figure out, and maintained of the relationship between the school board and governing body, “we are all on the same page” and “just need to do it (the planning) a little earlier.”

“I think with the new professionals you

have; we will get it done,” he concluded.

As of the Feb. 6 committee session, action was still pending on Coleman’s request on the current issue, and Gadd, in replying Feb. 13 to an email from this newspaper asking about any further updates, wrote, “As of this evening, there has been no word with regard to the motion filed in Burlington County Superior Court.”

Keith Abrams Lic# 1283

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