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March 12 - March 18, 2022

Shamong Woman Pleads Guilty to Animal Cruelty in Exchange for 90-Day Jail Sentence, Probation

LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR WILDFIRE PREVENTION

Mayor Calls It ‘Tremendous Outcome’; Formal Sentencing Scheduled for May in Case That Made National Headlines

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

SHAMONG—A Shamong Township woman who gradually transfor med a residence at 539 Oakshade Road into a dog kennel and alleged puppy-mill breeding site over a decade, prompting numerous complaints, which ultimately led to a 2018 municipal dog licensing ordinance and the subsequent discovery that she had 161 dogs living in “inhumane conditions” and another 44 dead dogs packaged in plastic bags and stored in freezers on the parcel, prompting authorities to later file multiple counts of third-degree animal cruelty charges against her, has accepted a plea deal with what appears to be reduced charges, but calls for a jail sentence and probation.

Donna Roberts, according to a revelation

by Shamong Township Solicitor Doug Heinold dur ing a March 1 Shamong Township Committee meeting, “accepted a guilty plea resulting in 90 days in jail and five years of probation” on only “day two of jury selection” in the case.

“During that time, she is not able to own or deal with animals,” said Heinold in pointing to the terms and conditions of the plea deal. “She also is responsible for fines and penalties.”

The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, on March 9, issued a press release confirming the terms and conditions of the plea deal.

The release followed multiple inquiries by this newspaper to County Prosecutor Scott

Photo By Bill Bonvie

A member of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service lights the controlled burn that media representatives were invited to witness in the Bass River State Forest.

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

‘Prescribed Burns’ Used to Rid Wooded Areas of Fuel that Feeds Wildfires Are the N.J. Forest Fire Service’s Chief Strategy in Preventing Their Spread

LITTLE EGG HARBOR—W hat hurricanes and Nor’easters are to people with beachfront homes, you might say that wildfires represent to those who reside either inside or on the fringes of the otherwise tranquil environs of South Jersey’s Pinelands – an underlying source of concern that increases or diminishes depending on the time of year and the weather.

However, while the threat posed by all of these potential perils to property and even lives has been exacerbated in recent years by climate change, according to many experts, wildfires, in the phrase of

one official, are “overwhelmingly” caused by human activity, just as humans can also lay the groundwork (quite literally) for their prevention and mitigation.

That is precisely what the members of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) have been doing in recent years, with assistance from other agencies that oversee the extensive wooded areas still found in this most densely populated of states, where more than 900 such fires occurred in 2021 alone, according to New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette.

The strategy the NJFFS employs to

FR EE

accomplish that was demonstrated on March 2 to a group of journalists who were taken in a couple of vans down a dirt road, used primarily by firefighters, to a spot in the middle of Bass River State Forest in Little Egg Harbor Township, on the western side of the Garden State Parkway, which Section Firewarden Trevor Raynor described as a “very volatile and dangerous area” with “the most wildfire history in the state of New Jersey.”

Keeping a wildfire that might begin in that area from crossing the Parkway, Raynor indicated, is a primary focus of the service, since once it does, “it See WILDFIRES/ Page 8

See CRUELTY/ Page 5

INDEX Business Directory...................................10 Local News.................................................2 Marketplace........................................................9

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Third Cannabis Cultivation Firm Seeks Licensing from State to Open in Shamong After Having Received Town’s Support Enterprise Purchased Empty, 10-Acre Lot in Industrial Park, Hoping to Erect ‘Purpose-built’ 18,000 Square-Foot Building

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

SHAMONG—Another enterprise is in the beginning stages of starting a cannabis operation in Shamong Township, this one slated for an industrial park accessible from both Willow Grove and Stokes roads.

The Shamong Township Committee, during its Feb. 1 meeting, issued a letter of support through a resolution to Pure Cultivation, LLC, so that the firm can submit it with their application for a “microcultivation” license to the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC).

The CRC began accepting applications for annual cannabis business licenses on Dec. 15, 2021, but applicants must include “proof of local support,” with towns that have governing bodies, like Shamong, having to pass resolutions to that effect.

This newspaper previously reported that two other firms, LexiCann NJ, LLC, planning to open a cannabis cultivation and/or manufactur ing facility on an approximately 20.6-acre parcel located at the intersection of Old Indian Mills Road and Route 206, as well as Legacy Cultivators, LLC, seeking to establish a

cannabis growing and processing operation on a 4-acre site, located at the intersection of Stokes and Willow Grove roads, “across the street” from the Shamong Township Municipal Building, had received such letters from the Shamong governing body in December of last year.

The latest enterprise to receive local support is led by the Rudderow family, of neighboring Tabernacle Township.

Barbara Rudderow has been named as Pure Cultivation’s president, while her son, Michael, will serve as its vice president of finance and operations. Michael Rudderow’s brother, Ian, as well as his sister, Rachel, are expected to also have roles in the firm.

All three Rudderow siblings are graduates of Seneca High School in Tabernacle.

According to Feb. 1 Shamong committee meeting remarks from Michael Rudderow, also a graduate of The George Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration that focused on finance, the “family-run business” he co-owns is planning to erect a nearly “18,000 square-foot building with phased-out construction” at 13 Park Drive, in Shamong, which Shamong See CANNABIS/ Page 6

Officials Consider ‘Snow Emergency Ordinance’ in Woodland After ‘A lot of Vehicles’ Were Parked on Roads, Impeding Plows

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

WO O DL A N D —T h e Wo o d l a n d Township Committee has introduced an ordinance that would allow the mayor or deputy mayor of the municipality to declare a “snow emergency,” putting into effect special parking rules in advance of, or during, a winter storm to allow township crews to safely plow streets.

According to Mayor William “Billy” DeGroff, “a lot of the roads” in Woodland had “a lot of vehicles parked on them” during recent snowstorms.

That despite, according to the mayor, most residences in the township having driveways.

“I don’t think it is a big problem, but some people leave their vehicles on the road, and these little side streets are tough to get these trucks down when trying to plow snow,” DeGroff declared. “And we don’t want to run into somebody’s vehicle.”

Though officials have not yet publicly released the language of the proposed law, according to a summary of it provided

by Township Administrator and Clerk Maryalice Brown, should it pass on second reading, “cars are not to be on the side roads, or any road, when the mayor or deputy mayor declares a snow emergency.”

DeGroff, who noted that he recently helped plow snow for the township, and that it was “hard to get the plow trucks down some of these roads” because of the number of parked vehicles, maintained it is “important that the residents realize that and put their vehicles in their driveways” before it snows.

Also posing a recent problem for plow crews were “basketball nets” and “different equipment” placed on some of the roads, the mayor noted.

“If they were off the street, it would help,” declared Deputy Mayor Mark Herndon.

Under the proposed law, any snow emergency, Brown noted, would be enforced by either the township administrator, the township’s code enforcement officer or the New Jersey State Police, with any of the

three parties having the power to cause the removal of a vehicle from a street.

In addition, those who do not remove their vehicles or equipment from the street during a snow emergency declaration would face a fine of “not less than $50, no more than $500,” according to Brown.

“I am just hoping people just get the message and remove their veh icles,” DeGroff said.

But Chief Financial Officer Kathy Rosmando, who works for the Township of Moorestown, a much more densely populated community in Burlington County where streetside parking is commonplace due to a large downtown district with limited driveways and parking areas, pointed out that there is “always somebody who doesn’t.”

“I see it all the time in Moorestown,” she declared. “I still see cars on them five days later (after a snowfall).”

She also recommended that the township consider giving its residents a “notice” of some sort.

Officials ultimately agreed to put out a Nixle emergency notification to residents when a snow emergency is declared, as well as “maybe the first time we do it (declare a snow emergency), get the tags of the vehicles (breaking the law) and send them (the owners) a letter advising them that in the future you will be subject to a fine.”

“They probably need a place to know where to park their car,” said Rosmando of those who may not have a driveway, or who have limited space in their driveways to fit all their vehicles. “If they have nowhere else to park, they are going to get fined every time.”

DeGroff said that residents without a place to park during a snow emergency “can park in our municipal lot.”

The mayor identified First Stre et, near historic Buzby’s General Store in the downtown Chatsworth section of Woodland, as one of the township roads that has a “major problem” with vehicles parked on it during a snowstorm.

“I think people should move their vehicles to help out a little bit,” DeGroff maintained.

“There are driveways.”

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Bass River Commissioners Publicly Asked to Sign Petition Seeking Township Representation on Little Egg Harbor Board of Education, as Well as if ‘Town Would Want to Buy’ Local Elementary School

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

BASS RIVER—With only three days left, as of March 7, until the Bass River Elementary School auction was scheduled to end, the Bass River Township Board of Commissioners not only was asked by a local school board member whether its three members would sign a petition calling on the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) to allow for a Bass River representative to serve on the Little Egg Harbor Board of Education.

But the township governing body was also questioned -- point blank – by another local school board member if it was interested in authorizing the municipality to purchase the former elementary school should it get satisfactory answers to reportedly still outstanding questions about possible remediation of purported environmental conditions.

The auction, which had no bidders as of late evening, March 8, was scheduled to end on March 11, after this newspaper’s press time (though the listing contains a note that it is subject to an “auto extension of the auction end time”). The Bass River Board of Education, according to the auction listing, is scheduled to meet on the evening of March 16 to “approve/decline the highest bid.”

And despite the pending sale of the former elementary school being a hot button issue in town, as well as the Pinelands Regional Board of Education voting in late January to terminate, beginning on or around May 3, its shared services agreement for business office services provided to the Bass River Township School District, with the commissioners now caught in the middle of the pending

transactions, Mayor Deborah Buzby-Cope and Township Solicitor JoAnne O’Connor, on multiple occasions during the latest township governing body meeting, declared, it was a “very quiet month” with “not a lot happening.”

After the mayor called the governing body session, 10 minutes into it, “short and sweet,” with not one business action item or report pertaining to the school situation, came public comment, extending the session to 45 minutes and reversing the tone of the meeting that local officials had appeared to try to set initially, with the officials, including the mayor, along with Commissioner Nicholas Capriglione, actually making new revelations in response to numerous inquiries about the school situation.

The local officials also ultimately recognized there were a lot of unfamiliar faces sitting in the audience, as well as a lot of people in the commissioners’ meeting chambers.

One of the new revelations is that BuzbyCope has now, “since the last meeting,” spoken with School Business Administrator Nick Brown.

During a preceding Feb. 7 meeting of the Bass River Board of Commissioners, both Buzby-Cope and Capriglione stated the municipality has been “asking for well over a year now” about air quality, asbestos, flood, mold and oil tank remediation at the former school, and “is still awaiting answers” from the Bass River district, reportedly not yet having been provided with copies of remediation “reports.”

Those remarks came as several Bass River residents urged the local commissioners last month to have Bass River Township purchase the former school, believing it is “quite an asset See PETITION/ Page 7

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Southampton Committee Split on Whether to Increase Sewer Service Fees for Vincentown System Customers Expansion of Footprint Under Evaluation to ‘Spread Out Costs,’ Though Mayor Can’t Currently Foresee Mandating Connection

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—After several years of sewer service and connection fee rate increases for Village of Vincentown residents, at least two Southampton Township Committee members appear reluctant to vote in favor of another.

A final decision, however, is expected as early as this upcoming Tuesday, March 15.

And officials, it was revealed during a Feb. 15 Southampton Township Committee meeting, are looking into the feasibility of expanding the Vincentown sewer system to include more residences in Southampton Township, outside the village, in a bid to help drive down costs for those currently paying into it by spreading them out.

The basic quarterly service charge was raised by the Southampton committee in 2018 from $125 to $140. In 2020, the basic quarterly service charge was increased again from $140 to $165. Another increase last year took the basic quarterly service charge to $175.

“This would take the rate to $190,” said Mayor Michael Mikulski of a proposed ordinance introduced for first reading on Feb. 15 that would increase the basic quarterly service charge. “The rest of the township does offset the cost of the sewer system within Vincentown itself, but we do pass the increase on to the people who use the service.”

Committeeman James F. Young, Sr., who once told this newspaper that one of his proudest accomplishments while serving as mayor of the municipality for a quarter-century, up until January 2020, was establishing the Vincentown system, subsequently expressed that he was taken by

surprise by Mikulski’s remark that the rest of the township, outside the village, is helping to offset the system’s cost.

“The idea is the people in the village – they are the ones who pay for this,” said Young, with Mikulski retorting, “The township paid for it … and is continuing to pay for it.”

Young disagreed with the current mayor, maintaining, “No, they did not!”

“They might be now, but they weren’t before!” Young added.

In response, Mikulski contended that “for as long as I have been on the committee” the entire township has offset the cost of the Vincentown system, but Young maintained, “Not that I know of.”

As the two elected officials went backand-forth, Mikulski ultimately turned to Township Administrator and Clerk Kathleen D. Hoffman to ask if he was correct.

“Yes,” she replied. “We had to subsidize the sewer budget.”

But the “point I’m trying to bring out,” Young contended, is that residents of the village have been paying on average $400 a year in service charges, since the system was installed about 40 years ago (totaling in payments of upwards of $16,000 for someone who has paid the charges since the very beginning), but an individual can currently connect to system for a “flat fee” that is much less than those total payments some have made.

“It’s not fair,” Young added. “If someone uses it now, why should people benefit from what people have been paying for years.”

A second proposed ordinance introduced on first reading would raise the connection fee See SEWER/ Page 9

All is Calm, All is ‘Bright’

Photo Provided

Adrianna Hill (pictured on the left) has won the Pine Barrens Tribune’s 2021-22 Christmas Coloring Contest sponsored by Zallie’s ShopRite of Medford, and was presented with the grand prize of a gift movie basket by Assistant Store Manager Frank Musso (right).

Page 4 ♦

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Tabernacle Committee Approves Newly-Appointed Member’s Motion to Now Only Give Each Person Two Minutes to Make Public Comments Residents and Non-Residents Were Previously Limited to Three Minutes; Action Follows Committee Eliminating Second Comment Period in January

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

TABERNACLE—In his first full-meeting since being appointed to the Tabernacle Township Committee to fill a vacancy left behind by what had been a committee newcomer who apparently left his elected post last month, Mark Hartman successfully, but non-unanimously propelled a motion to the floor on Feb. 28 that reduces the timeframe one has to make public comments at a governing body meeting here from three to two minutes.

The decision follows the Tabernacle Township Committee in January deciding to apparently eliminate one of two public comment periods that were traditionally part of its governing body meetings, one acknowledged at a previous session by Township Solicitor William Burns, as well as at the latest session.

Fran and Stuart Brooks, residents of Tabernacle and known local transparency advocates, prior to the decision to reduce the time a resident or non-resident has to speak on a topic of public interest at Tabernacle committee meetings (outside of an ordinance public hearing which is supposed to be specific to the measure at hand), roasted the governing body on Feb. 28 for failing to address most of the questions and comments from the public at the last several township committee meetings, at least directly, in addition to the unavailability of the Feb. 28 meeting agenda and materials on the municipal website the day of the session, a departure from tradition (which Burns would later blame on a “technical issue,” vowing it would not happen again).

But the Brooks, along with any other members of the public, did not have the opportunity to comment on the record at the latest meeting about the change in time allotted to each speaker because, when the governing body in January eliminated one of the public comment periods, it choose to eliminate the one at the end of the committee meetings, no longer giving the public an opportunity to immediately speak on or question the business that takes place during a session.

Burns, of the law firm Carluccio, Leone, Dimon, Doyle & Sacks, LLC, also the solicitor in neighboring Woodland Township, reportedly influenced and previously defended the Woodland Township Committee’s decision last year to adopt a “thank-you for your public comments” policy, as well as change the timing of the sessions there to come before “committee comments,” rather than at the very end of an agenda.

However, after much backlash, the Woodland committee over the last couple of months has begun to answer questions again directly from the public.

Burns has served as Tabernacle’s solicitor since January 2021. Tabernacle Deputy Mayor Kim Brown, towards the latter part of last year, when she had still served in the capacity of Tabernacle mayor, began mostly pulling back her direct responses to public comments, also notably stating “thank-you for your public comments.” She would, however, still on occasion ask township professionals to address things that were said or asked by public commenters.

Samuel Moore, the current mayor of Tabernacle, since January, has maintained that protocol, stating, “thank-you for your comments,” with no direct responses given to public commenters on Feb. 28, though this time, after the Brooks’ blistering remarks about the lack of response and other transparency issues, it appeared their comments were somewhat indirectly addressed in the committee members’ various reports, as well as those given by the municipal professionals.

The Tabernacle public comment reductions come as Tabernacle officials have teased several major possible expenditures potentially totaling millions of dollars, including land acquisition for a new town hall (as the current one has been deemed unsafe for occupancy, with officials in the process of moving into temporary office trailers) and the purchase of a new fire truck for the recently created Tabernacle Township Fire Department.

There have also been recent acknowledgements

by Burns that the municipality is currently the subject of several litigation matters, as well as an action and complaint.

“Two meetings ago, Mr. Burns said you had put all the public comment at the front of the meeting, and eliminated the second public comment, so that you have the opportunity to discuss topics raised during the first comment,” said Stuart Brooks during the Feb. 28 Tabernacle committee session. “But at the last meeting (on Feb. 15), you didn’t discuss any comments, even though they were on agenda items. What is your policy for public comments and when will you be responding?”

Tabernacle is the only town in our coverage area that has not held at least one in-person township committee session since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The postponement was extended last year, in part, because of the situation at town hall, with a structural engineer purportedly also determining that the second floor of the building, where the committee’s meeting chamber is located, doesn’t have sufficient load capacity to accommodate many people.

Tabernacle committee meetings have, instead, since March 2020, been conducted through mostly online platforms, such as Zoom, but video is rarely offered of the committee members or the municipal professionals.

“As a citizen sitting at a virtual meeting, it is really not a good look to not hear any responsive comments,” declared Stuart Brooks about the lack of Tabernacle committee response to public comments.

Stuart Brooks also pointed out that the agenda for the Feb. 28 meeting “wasn’t posted on the municipal website as of this morning.”

That despite a statement on the municipal website stating, “Draft agendas are always subject to change (sic) will be posted no later than 12 noon the day of the meeting.”

“I would think the posting of that agenda, and the supervision to make sure that it has been done, would be routine,” Stuart Brooks asserted. “I wonder if you have changed your policy on posting the agenda.”

Stuart Brooks asked two questions twice during the course of making his public comments, “When are you going to be responding to public comment?” as well as “What is your policy for responding to public comment?”

“Thank you for your comments,” Moore replied.

Fran Brooks was the next and only other person to offer public comments on Feb. 28, and declared upon being given the opportunity to speak, “I want to return to the non-posting of the agenda and bill’s list on the website.”

She then pointed to a provision in the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) stating that agendas are required to be made available within 48 hours of a public body’s meeting, before noting that the township has done so “since it started its website many years ago.”

“Asking people to drive up to the town hall (to see if it is posted on the bulletin board, as required by OPMA), not knowing whether it is really going to be up there, is really an abuse of the taxpayers!” Fran Brooks asserted.

Fran Brooks noted that she even called the township “this morning” to “say it wasn’t up.”

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Donna Roberts, who reportedly has recently accepted a plea deal in an animal cruelty case, is seen opposing a 2018 dog licensing ordinance.

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(Continued from Page 1) Coffina’s spokesman pertaining to the circumstances surrounding the plea bargain.

Formal sentencing for Roberts – in the animal cruelty case that made national headlines – is currently scheduled for May 13, according to the March 9 press release.

However, Heinold cautioned that a “judge always has the ability to reduce the sentence, but not increase a sentencing.”

However, the township solicitor added it is “normal status quo” that a plea deal is “upheld by the judge.”

The press release from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office also noted that the “plea agreement requires the approval of the court,” with it noting Judge John J. Burke III has scheduled the sentencing.

“T he one c aveat is it (the for mal sentencing) has to happen,” Heinold said.

“Hopefully, everything will go in accordance with the guilty plea.”

Roberts was indicted on Dec. 17, 2019, on eight counts of third-degree animal cruelty, according to a previous press release from the county prosecutor.

According to the latest March 9 press release, during a Feb. 16 Superior Court hearing, Roberts “pled guilty to causing the death of six dogs that were being kept at her property by failing to provide them with proper care,” which apparently amounted to “one third-degree count of cruelty to animals.”

According to Heinold on March 1, the plea deal represents “the maximum the statute permits for the charges she was facing.”

“I know there are going to be some people who feel that is going to be a light sentence given what is at stake, but I think that is purely a function of our state statutes,” declared Heinold, in urging the public to pressure their state legislators to enact stricter animal cruelty laws, as well as tougher penalties for such crimes. “It is a third-degree offense. “… And the presumption is there will be no jail time on a first offense. So, the fact that the county pressed the matter all the way to trial to force either a guilty determination with a penalty that would be enforced by a judge, or ultimately this guilty plea she entered and got 90 days of jail, it is impressive, and I think it convinces how seriously the county took the issue.”

The township solicitor pointed out that he is “not a criminal attorney,” but had consulted with both former county prosecutors, who he maintained are part of his law practice, and attorneys who used to work for the County

Prosecutor’s Office, and “from everything I was told,” the “types of criminal charges” filed against Roberts and in animal cruelty cases in general “do not carry the kind of jail sentences or penalties that probably many of us think that they should.”

Heinold pointed out on March 1 that such “deplorable conditions were found upon inspection of her (Robert’s) property” in 2018, including “dead dogs, dogs in the freezer and dogs in deplorable condition,” that a “determination” had been made to deem the parcel “uninhabitable” for a time, in addition to pursue “criminal charges” against Roberts.

“I think it is a pretty ugly situation that happened, and I think on some level, there is going to always be a disappointment that maybe more could have be done to punish her for what did happen,” Heinold said.

“But given the parameters of what the state statute says, I think the county office did a commendable job.”

It was on Nov. 13, 2018, that detectives from New Jersey State Police’s Red Lion Station responded to Roberts’ residence to assist the Burlington County Health Department with an inspection of her parcel.

When detectives arrived, according to the state police, they observed “evidence of animal cruelty inflicted upon various breeds of dogs on the property.”

Authorities at the time reported that the “odor of animal feces and ammonia permeated the inside of the residence, which caused several of the responders to experience dizziness and nausea.”

The detectives, upon further investigation, then discovered 161 dogs “in and around the property” that were “alive but being kept in substandard, inhumane conditions,” in addition to “44 deceased dogs that were packaged in plastic bags and stored in freezers throughout the residence.”

The state police reported that four of the

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

♦ Page 5

dogs found alive were in critical condition and had to be transported to an emergency veterinary clinic, while the remaining dogs were evaluated and treated at the scene by animal shelter workers.

One of the dogs found alive and rescued, however, had since died, and, according to a Dec. 27, 2018, press release from the county prosecutor, a necropsy performed on that dog indicated that malnutrition was a contributing factor in its death.

The cruelty charges, according to that press release, were based on Roberts “failing to provide adequate shelter, food, water and appropriate and necessary living conditions for the animals, while knowing that she had a legal obligation to do so.”

A second press release from the county prosecutor on Dec. 18, 2019, noted that Roberts had been “indicted on multiple counts of causing death or bodily injury (in 2018) to dogs she kept on her property in substandard, inhumane conditions.”

Roberts, however, was not detained pending trial, but has since been “forbidden by a judge from owning, possessing or caring for any animals.”

Heinold pointed out on March 1 that while all defendants, including Roberts, have a “right to a speedy trial” upon the filing of criminal charges against them, this particular case was delayed from reaching a jury for several years as the result of the “impact” of the Coronavirus pandemic, and hence, while only now, in 2022, did the process of jury selection begin, which ended with the plea deal.

The Nov. 13, 2018, inspection of Roberts’ property had occurred six days after the Shamong Township Committee passed an ordinance requiring township property owners to register with the municipality for a special permit once they have 15 or more dogs on their property that are six months old See CRUELTY/ Page 6

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LOCAL NEWS / WORSHIP GUIDE

CANNABIS (Continued from Page 2)

Township Solicitor Doug Heinold noted is currently a 10.75-acre “empty lot” used for “outdoor storage.”

The lot, it was noted, is between industrial buildings for Aquaflow Pump and Supply and Sod Services, with Michael Rudderow maintaining “we had some infor mal conversations with both parties” and “they are aware of what we would like to do with the property.”

“We are applying for a micro-cultivation license, which limits our space to 2,500 square-feet of total grow canopy,” Michael Rudderow noted.

The planned building’s remaining space, he said, will be utilized in the initial years of the operation “for support activities that aren’t directly related to caring for the plants.”

However, after about two years in operation, Pure Cultivation’s strategic plan calls for “perhaps expanding the total grow canopy to 10,000 square-feet, which is the next license up,” according to Michael Rudderow.

“That is where we would like to be,” he contended. “We don’t want to be one of these big operators that has a 100,000 square-foot building with 50,000 squarefeet of grow canopy, or a ‘volume business.’

Such businesses put an incredible strain on electrical infrastructure, as well as on the environment surrounding the land.”

Rather, Michael Rudderow asserted, “we would like to establish a business here in our own back yard and run it the way we think these businesses should be run, which is as efficiently and as eco-friendly as possible.”

Impacts to the environment brought on by larger cannabis cultivators, Michael Rudderow maintained, is the result of the “amount of water that needs to be run through that facility to take care of all the plants,” while the electrical impacts they generate are the result of “serious mechanical equipment needed to maintain ventilation and humidity.”

“Those kinds of factor are what steered us toward focusing in on a smaller grow,” he declared. “It has taken time to home in on the specs, numbers, and directions that make this thing work, instead of trying to make it a volume game where you essentially make as

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(Continued from Page 5) or older, regardless of what type of activity they may undertake on their property.

Under that municipal law, a permit can only be issued to an applicant after an inspection by a licensed Burlington County

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Saturday, March 12, 2022

much as you can. Our intent is to make it the best possible product that we can, and if that means limiting our plans, so be it.”

Michael Rudderow acknowledged that “odor control” is a “big thing, especially with this industry” and referenced a “couple of notorious incidents” in the state, involving medical cannabis cultivation facilities, in which neighboring residents have complained about the “odor not being so great.”

“We understand that (odor control) is a serious concern for anyone living in a community with this kind of business,” Michael Rudderow said. “But we are looking into target filters, and they essentially separate many of the odor carrying particles from the facility, or anything that comes out of the exhaust.”

Carbon filters, he maintained, “are shown to work” with it being “a matter of buying the right ones and installing them correctly.”

Ad d it ion a l ly, M i c h a e l Ru d d e row contended that the extent of any odor “certainly depends on what kind of facility” where cannabis cultivation is taking place.

“A lot of these facilities that had odor issues in the past were retrofitted facilities that had a previous use not suited for cannabis,” he maintained. “We are building a purpose-built building from the ground up. A lot of these issues will be solved in the planning and design phase.”

One of the notorious examples Michael Rudderow appeared to be referring to is a shuttered Walmart in Readington that was transformed into a marijuana cultivation plant. According to WABC-TV-New York (ABC 7), “neighbor’s say the marijuana cultivation plant is causing a stink.”

“Hopefully, we will not have the unwanted odor associated w ith those ty pes of businesses,” Michael Rudderow said.

While Michael Rudderow noted that “we see a lot of opportunity in the industry itself,” he said his family “would like to establish this business to also bring in new economic and employment opportunities to our own back yard.”

He noted that Pure Cultivation, which closed on a real estate transaction for 13 Park Drive in late January, put on its licensing application to the CRC that the business intends to hire its employees from Shamong, its bordering towns or “impact zones (municipalities which meet specific criteria based on population, past criminal marijuana enterprises, law enforcement

activity, rates of unemployment, and poverty) that are next to bordering towns,” such as Marlton or Mount Laurel.

Michael Rudderow also noted that approved micro-cultivating businesses are permitted to hire up to 10 full-time employees, in addition to its principals, while the next highest licensing category permits a “25-person operation.”

If granted a micro-cultivation license, Michael Rudderow said he intends to have the maximum number of employees on staff with an aim to hire “certain populations perhaps underemployed,” such as those with “minor learning disabilities,” pointing out that one of his own family members, who suffers from one, “had a hard time finding meaningful employment.”

“Something like cannabis, which is a very profitable crop, kind of creates this unique opportunity where some of these jobs can be filled by some of these populations I just mentioned,” said Michael Rudderow, a 30-year resident of Tabernacle, where cannabis businesses have been strongly opposed by that municipality’s governing body. “… Hiring local people is kind of what we got into this business for, to employ and empower people in our community.”

Shamong’s deputy mayor, Michael Di Croce, working in tandem with Shamong Mayor Timothy Gimble, are seeking to make the municipality the “pot capital” of the state in a bid to reduce or eliminate local school and property taxes. The Shamong governing body has established a local Cannabis Committee to, in part, review proposals from enterprises for local support consideration, in addition to reviewing the CRC’S guidelines and providing input on the municipality’s cannabis ordinance, which was adopted last summer.

Heinold noted that the local cannabis committee believed that the “Rudderows probably put together the most comprehensive plan of all of them (interested in calling Shamong home) so far.”

“I feel very positive on this township’s stance on this industry right now,” Michael Rudderow said. “Our conviction towards purchasing this particular lot out here was more solidified after meeting (with Shamong officials). … I am very excited about this opportunity to set up in Shamong.”

Hei nold, du r i ng a pr ior tow nsh ip committee meeting on Nov. 9, 2021, revealed that there have also been discussions with a

solar developer to possibly expand the scope of a planned solar project for “Murphy’s Pit,” which comprises vacant lots totaling roughly 140 acres along Atsion Road, to include a cannabis operation of some sort in the mix as well.

“They are interested in that (cannabis),” said Heinold previously of the solar developer.

“They may want to include that somehow in a redevelopment plan. They are trying to gather information to make it a realistic proposal – if they do cannabis, essentially it would be a cannabis production facility underneath solar, or surrounded by solar.”

However, during a March 1 Shamong committee meeting, Heinold noted that the solar developer has decided, for now, to “press forward with what they know, which is solar, and if someone is to come forward on cannabis,” then they will consider it for the gravel pit/landfill.

In order to keep the door open to cannabis at the site, the redevelopment plan being put together by Township Planner Scott Taylor, “will recognize cannabis as a permitted use,” Heinold noted, and drafted in such a way that it can be amended to “draw around what is being proposed.”

De spite Sha mong’s h ig h hop e s of becoming the state’s pot capital, there is no sure guarantee that firms with local intentions will actually receive a cannabis license from the CRC in the near-term.

T he CRC’s website note s “l ic ense applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until indicated otherwise,” and that while “there is no established limit on the number of cannabis business licenses available statewide, by statute, the number of Class 1 cultivators is to be held to 37 licenses until Feb. 22, 2023.”

Heinold, who attended a recent session of the CRC, pointed to an announcement that it had received 326 total applications thus far with a “high percentage claiming to be social-equity applications or diversityowned ones.”

Ac c ord i ng to t he CRC ’s web sit e, “diversely-owned, social-equity or impact zone businesses” are to receive “priority” through the application process. However, microbusinesses are also supposed to be prioritized.

“So, there is a lot for the CRC to review,” Heinold said. “And I think there has been no promise as to a timeline when they will make determinations as to who gets what.”

Health Department inspector.

However, another provision in the law allows authorities to inspect a property in the township if someone is suspected of maintaining 15 or more dogs there, regardless of whether they applied for a permit.

Additionally, even if a Shamong property owner is granted a permit, no more than 25 dogs are allowed to be kept, maintained or

harbored at any one time.

Pr ior to the case making national headlines and the 2018 discovery, this newspaper had reported on the numerous allegations from area property owners about Roberts’ activities, and specifically, loud noises they claimed were being made by dogs that were on the property, which they believed had indicated that the animals were

in distress.

Those residents pleaded for something to be done about the situation, which led to the creation of the ordinance, though not everyone was on board with passing such a law, believing it could infringe on their private property rights and lawful dog owners. The concern over infringing on such rights was See CRUELTY/ Page 7

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CRUELTY

(Continued from Page 6) said to be the reason why Shamong did not have a tougher dog licensing ordinance in place sooner than 2018.

As the Pine Barrens Tribune previously reported in August 2018, Roberts, who has gone by a number of aliases and has a history of other encounters with the law over animal cruelty, had 73 unneutered dog licenses given out by Shamong Township on March 8, 2018.

Public records also showed that Shamong Township and authorities had knowledge of some of Roberts’ intentions and activities since at least 2008.

Additionally, during a September 2018 public hearing on the ordinance, just prior to its adoption, Roberts stated that she had 73 dogs at the time, although she said 43 weren’t actually hers, but belonged to her daughter.

“I own 40 of them,” she said in September 2018. “My daughter owns 33. I don’t own them all. I was left with 25 dogs when my boyfriend passed away of Lou Gehrig’s disease. What was I supposed to do (with them)?”

During the 2018 public hearing, Roberts cited a quarantine placed on her kennel by the county as the reason why she possessed so many dogs.

“After this quarantine crap, we had 180 dogs and the Board of Health knew it,” she said. “That is what they left me with because I was not allowed to sell them, give them away, or move them anywhere.”

As this newspaper also reported in August 2018, Jason Tosches, a then-spokesman for the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders (now the Burlington County Commissioners), said that a March 2014 complaint was initiated by a Columbus (Springfield Township) resident who accused Roberts of selling her sick dogs.

He said the dog sold to the Columbus resident died a week and a half later and a replacement provided to her was also sick.

“The county found 125 dogs at the site, placed the site under quarantine, and told her that she must bring it up to state regulations,” said Tosches at the time.

“The county inspected the site many times over the following eight months and found deteriorating conditions, and that Roberts was not complying with the regulations.”

Tosches said the county health department filed a complaint in court due to the deteriorating conditions, but ultimately a judge dismissed the case because Shamong had no kennel ordinance (and a lenient animal ordinance).

It was the lack of sufficient code that appeared to obligate the township to issue Roberts 73 unneutered dog licenses in early 2018.

The 2018 ordinance removed that leniency and allowed authorities to inspect the 539 Oakshade Road property, and they then got a search warrant upon finding dogs living in “deplorable conditions.”

Roberts, following her being taken into custody in November 2018, had told the New York Post that that the dead dogs were all stillborn puppies and that she forgot about

them after putting them in baggies and storing them in her freezer “seven years ago.”

“I forgot all about them, they were in the cellar,” said Roberts to Joshua Rhett Mille, a senior reporter of the Post. “They were in a freezer, and that is what breeders do when dogs die. I forgot all about them. They were born dead and I didn’t kill them. They are making a big deal out of nothing.”

Roberts added that she and her late boyfriend stored the dogs to be sent to a veterinarian in Alabama to be autopsied.

Heinold, during the latest March 1 Shamong committee meeting, maintained that, “we did everything we can do at our level,” to resolve the matter, with it ending up in the hands of the county prosecutor, bound by state statutes.

“We had so many people here fighting, arguing and talking (about the necessity of the local ordinance and how it would impact any breeders and private property rights) when this situation took place and we started to understand what that business is,” said Shamong Mayor Timothy Gimble on March 1, in reaction to Heinold’s revelation.

“And when you get into this criminal side of the law, I think we were all dumbfounded how (lenient) the laws were with respect to animal cruelty.

“I think we all assumed that this is horrible, and something was going to happen. … But at end of the day, our hands were kind of tied.”

The Shamong mayor maintained that “for someone to go to jail for 90 days” over animal cruelty, it is a “tremendous outcome” considering how the current state laws in

Sell It in the Classifieds!

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

The shuttered Bass River Elementary School.

PETITION

(Continued from Page 3) for the town to have.”

Brown, during a Feb. 22 Bass River Board of Education meeting, after learning of the commissioners’ remediation remarks through this newspaper’s coverage, called their public claim “not accurate,” and contended that upon reading “an article” about it (in this newspaper), he immediately reached out to Buzby-Cope, but had yet to receive a return call.

Brown added at the time that the “door is not shut” and that he would be willing “to talk to them” and that “any information requested, we will provide” to the commissioners.

But when Bass River School Board Vice President Kevin Foder had presented Brown and Assistant Business Administrator Jonathan Yates with a piece of paper containing written questions from Capriglione during the Feb. 22 Bass River Board of Education session, they were not answered publicly, and then when Capriglione made an in-person appearance at the tail-end of last month’s Bass River school board session, pressing for answers to his

remediation questions during public comment, he was stonewalled by school officials.

“What we are going to do is make sure everything is writing,” said Buzby-Cope on March 7 of her recent conversation with Brown. “There will be emails of us going back-and-forth, so that we have a paper trail, because even though we (previously) did sit down (with the school officials) and went through everything, and we did have a list (of questions), we want to make sure that anything that we do is in writing.”

Buzby-Cope noted that following her conversation with Brown, Capriglione “sent an email out, he CC’d (carbon copied) us all on it, and we are just waiting to hear back on our answers.”

“That is where we are since the last meeting,” she added.

Foder, who was in attendance during the March 7 commissioner’s session, revealed that Brown and Yates, since the Feb. 22 Bass River school board session, had emailed Capriglione that they “couldn’t understand” his questions that were written down on the piece of paper that was given to them.

“So, he (Capriglione) wrote them back again,” Foder contended. “And I have a copy.

If he doesn’t have answers by next week, I will bring it up again at the next meeting. That is all I could do.”

Capr ig l ione, du r i ng the March 7 commissioners’ meeting, held up a “notebook” that had previously been given to Bass River Township, apparently by school officials (it wasn’t immediately clear if that was the binder that Brown maintained on Feb. 22 had been previously given to the township), and called it “ironic” that the “questions we have been asking came out of this notebook.”

Capriglione further noted that it “took two days” to respond to an email from Brown because he cited items from the notebook “to make sure we are on solid ground.”

“They were the ones that said there

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

♦ Page 7

that regard are written.

“I don’t think we ever thought that was possible,” he added. “But this (the inability to punish more harshly for animal cruelty crimes) is a call to the community to get to your legislators, to (urge them to) figure out how to really change these laws. It is time to really put something behind what goes on with these crimes. Obviously, the punishment does not fit the crime here. So, anyone out there who wants to pay attention to this, here is your perfect (reason for) what needs to happen at our state level. Figure out how do you get these crimes to fit the punishment and make it happen.”

Heinold called what took place “a really unfortunate circumstance” and noted that he can’t “tell you how many hours and much money was spent” in trying to get to this point, including passing a municipal ordinance that “put in place what we could put in place.”

He also noted, in agreeing with the Shamong mayor that there is a “definite need” for the state to revise its animal cruelty laws, that “the sad truth” is had Roberts “simply moved to the next town over” and “stopped doing what she was doing” in Shamong upon passage of the 2018 local ordinance, she would have “essentially stayed under the radar.”

“For all of us who laid awake at night, kind of staring at the ceilings, thinking about the issues, I can’t emphasize enough, if you weren’t here, how difficult those meetings were, and the animosity and difficulty this town was put through by her actions,” Heinold declared.

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is asbestos and there is visible mold,” Capriglione contended. “It is not like, we, the commissioners are raising these possible questions. These are their own documents ….”

The Pine Barrens Tribune filed an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request for a copy of all the documents in the binder that Brown had said he provided to the municipality, as well as any and all remediation documents related to the former elementary school.

Brown responded on March 8 that he needed an “extension of time” to provide the documents to this newspaper, contending it was, in part, because of the “voluminous nature of this and other recent OPRA requests made by you.”

“Accordingly, the public records requested (to the extent the law requires them to be provided) will be made available to you on or before March 29, 2022,” added Brown in the email to this newspaper.

Capriglione, who noted he “used to sell home heating oil tanks” and was aware that sometime recently the elementary school reportedly converted over to natural gas for heating purposes, called the “possible conditions of an oil tank” remaining on the school property “concerning.”

“How old is the building?” he asked. “How long has the school been in existence? What type of heating does it have?”

The school, according to a property appraisal, was built back in 1890. Older oil tanks are known to be more prone to rust, and hence water getting into them and creating leaks, leading to the possibility of soil contamination.

“Normally, a resident replaces a tank when there is a problem,” said Capriglione of his experience. “When in the life of that school was that tank ever replaced, because no tank lasts 80 years?”

Bass River Township, Capriglione noted, isn’t saying there is an oil tank problem on the school parcel, or soil contamination, but rather doesn’t have answers as to if there is such a condition,

and must proceed with caution “because of the finances” that would be required to conduct remediation in the event there are environmental conditions to be remediated.

“You buy it, you own it,” repeated O’Connor for a second month. “You (once you buy it) are responsible for remediating it.”

Foder, calling it the “biggest question that I have,” then inquired of the commissioners, “If the questions you have come back with the right answers, is this town going to want to buy the school?”

“Well, we got to see what those answers are,” replied Buzby-Cope. “If there is a lot of remediation on there … “ Capriglione added for Foder to “keep in mind” that one of the questions he has asked seeks figures for the current “operating costs” for the school building.

Foder cautioned it is “not an operating school right now,” so any provided figures might not accurately reflect the true operating costs as if it were currently in use.

“Certainly, there has to be something to maintain the school,” responded Capriglione, noting the current figures would at least give some idea of what it may cost. “… The other thing is if the township takes it over, and the school district does not sell it, you are still $400,000 in debt.”

Yates, during the Feb. 22 Bass River Board of Education meeting, put the current debt on the school around $300,000, down from $400,000 last year. The plan, he explained, is for the money from any sale to be used, in part, to pay off the debt.

The minimum bid for the school appraised at $690,000 is listed at $400,000.

Capriglione, on March 7, pointed out that if a private “entity” were to purchase the school, not only would that allow the debt to be paid, but it would also “become a new tax base” (or put the school parcel on the tax rolls).

The public comment period for the See PETITION/ Page 11

Page 8 ♦

LOCAL NEWS / WORSHIP GUIDE

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Saturday, March 12, 2022

Achieving risk reduction is the driving principle of prescribed burning, Cecil told the group, which was shown a map of the area’s forests, hung on the side of a van for the occasion, with their degree of volatility, as determined by their fire history, indicated by different degrees of shading. This year the Forest Fire Service has launched an online tool at njwildfire.org, he said, displaying a map of the locations where it plans to conduct prescribed burns over a five-day period.

“We’re trying to condition this forest to better receive fire in the event that a wildfire does occur and slow that fire down to give the Forest Fire Service the time that they need Please join us for to respond to that fire and suppress it in a In-Person Services way that keeps people and property safe,” 18 Mill St. he maintained.

Vincentown, NJ 08088 8:15 am | 9:30 am | Lest the idea of deliberately starting a 11:00 am | or via Worship: Sundays 10 a.m. fire in order to keep a much bigger one from Facebook Live us on 609-859-2299 occurring makes some residents follow a bit edgy, especially when they see orfacebook.com/MedfordUMC smell the resulting Transportation Available smoke, the officials want the public to be aware Call 609-859-2883 that there is nothing at all haphazard about this process, which involves precise protocols and planning, is scrupulously supervised and 2 Hartford Road | Medford NJ 08055 medfordumc.org | 609/654-8111 done only when conditions permit. info@medfordumc.org For one thing, noted McLaughlin, the terrain in need of mitigation for fire risk I Am That I Am is scouted ahead of time and divided into units, which are then subdivided into smaller Ministries, Inc. segments by the creation of what are known All Are Welcome! as control lines. This enables the NJFFS Sunday Worship Se ervice at 11:30 a.m. “to light what is known as a backfire in an Pastors Florence and intentional way, against the wind,” which Russell Webberr helps to control its direction and keep it low, 50 Burrs Mill Roadd, in addition to which the control lines, or “fuel Southampton, NJ 08088 breaks” are typically oriented in a north609 - 847- 4848 south or northwest-southwest direction to www.iamthatiamministriesinnc.com allow for the fact that New Jersey’s prevailing Bible Sttudy winds are normally westerly. m.

7 p.m As the backfire travels across the landscape, Wednessday he explained, it burns in a pattern that is low, safe, slow-moving and efficiently consumes whatever fuel is in its path.

“When we are confident that our backfiring has established enough burned area, then flammable,” was growing. where we have to go from a prevention we’ll start to work on the flanks and come “The denser the fuels are at a given time, the technique to a wildfire repression and around and close off the burn,” he said. more they can throw sparks out,” he added. response technique.”

What helps those control lines live up to Asked what residents could do to LaTourette concurred, pointing out that their name, as Raynor explained in a video mitigate their own degree of danger from while we’ve been in a dry spell for several released last month by the NJFFS, is the wildfires, Raynor recommended that they months (notwithstanding January’s two fact that they are dug by bulldozers down to take whatever measures they can to create heavy snowfalls, which he said don’t have “mineral soil,” ensuring that they are free of “defensible space” around their homes by anything like the moisture content as a any combustible organic material and thus exercising such precautions as clearing away soaking rain) “looking back to September keeping the burns contained to specified areas. any potential fuel from their surroundings we were walloped by Ida.” McLaughlin, however, also emphasized and keeping their gutters and porches free “That’s our future—extreme rainfall events, that single burns don’t always accomplish of debris. He also advised campers to “be our infrastructure isn’t ready to handle, their objectives long-term, and that areas aware before you light that match how you’re shifting in opposite direction like a pendulum where they are conducted usually need to be going to put it out.” into these dry periods,” he maintained. revisited every few years. The site where the One point that was stressed by both Cecil What such uncertainty means, Cecil demonstration burn was being conducted, for and LaTourette was how highly dependent observed, is that “we need to maintain a example, was one where a similar controlled on vicissitudes of the weather the Forest Fire constant vigilance with regard to the Forest burn took place about three years ago.

Service is when it comes to utilizing such Fire Service and the attention we put on New Other areas, he said, have yet to be preventive measures.

Jersey’s forests.” addressed by the service, such as one on “If there is frost on the ground or it is wet, Or, as Raynor put it, “all these little puzzle the other side of the dirt road where laurel, the fuels we are talking about won’t burn,” Cecil pointed out. “Conditions can change pieces fit together to prevent the next big fire.” which he described as “very volatile and

Trinity Episcopal Church

Photo By Bill Bonvie

Trevor Raynor, section firewarden for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, shows reporters the areas that are designated as being most prone to wildfires on a map of the Pinelands.

WILDFIRES (Continued from Page 1)

becomes a very dangerous fire” to populated neighborhoods.

To that end, Greg McLaughlin, the chief of the NJFFS, and Raynor, accompanied

by LaTourette and John Cecil, the assistant administrator for state parks and historic sites, led a crew of Forest Fire Service members in conducting what is known as a “prescribed burn” in that immediate area, one aimed at destroying the fuels on which wildfires feed in order to contain them.

Prescribed burning was described by McLaughlin as a primary method of curtailing the ability of fire to spread by clearing parts of the forest floor of pine needles and leaf debris, thus preventing such materials from being used as “ladder fuel” that allows the flames to work their way through shrubs and creep into the canopy of the trees, thus creating a far more serious conflagration known as a “crown fire.”

The technique is typically implemented in the Pine Barrens from February through early April, starting just in advance of what is considered as wildfire season, which generally extends from late March through mid-May. It can also be employed as well during the summer or fall as circumstances dictate, and under legislation signed by Democratic Gover nor Phil Mur phy in 2018, can additionally be used “as a tool to meet a wider range of management objectives designed to improve forest health and biodiversity,” according to a NJDEP press release.

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(Continued from Page 3) from $6,699.31 per EDU to $6,954.19 per EDU. Mikulski maintained that the “rest of the people benefitted because they had the sewer system.”

“It just doesn’t seem fair if people come in and are paying (less) than if they had been (on the sewer for all that time),” Young contended.

Mikulski, also an attorney in his day job, contended that the ordinances and proposed increases are a “necessity as I understand it” because “the 2021 rates are insufficient to cover the 2022 costs.”

“So, somebody has to pay the difference, whether it is the people in town who use it or the rest of the town,” Mikulski said. “We can discuss it in March.”

While Mikulski and Young went back-andforth over the system, both referenced a loan that had been taken out for it.

“Do we know the amount of the note, or the amount that is outstanding now?” asked Committeeman Bill Raftery.

The current mayor replied that he did not know, “but I will find out.” He reiterated in a later phone interview with this newspaper that he has asked for that information ahead of the

COMMITTEE (Continued from Page 4)

In i ndicati ng what happ ened was unacceptable to her, Fran Brooks called the posting of meeting agendas and the bill’s list “basic work,” pointing out that “people are getting paid enough money in their salaries” and “people are getting paid decent salaries” to fulfill their basic responsibilities.

Fran Brooks further maintained that Casey English, the new Tabernacle Township administrator who took over for veteran municipal employee and administrator Douglas Cramer in late November, “is responsible for the other employees of the township” and that “she is not doing her job” by “not overseeing” that the agendas and other information gets posted online in a timely manner.

“This is not rocket science!” declared Fran Brooks.

Fran Brooks, however, went further in also faulting the Tabernacle committee for what happened, contending “you get paid $5,000 a year and that is plenty of money to take two microseconds out of your busy schedule to see if the agenda and bill’s list is up.”

“I too have to wonder if this isn’t all part of this effort to keep hiding things, and your thrust for non-transparency and conducting business in the backroom,” Fran Brooks added. “It is just such a pain in the neck to

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March 15 governing body meeting.

“My second question is, since we are talking about the fees for connecting to the sewer system, who is connecting to the sewer system?” asked Raftery during the Feb. 15 Southampton committee meeting.

Mikulski replied that “to my knowledge” there is “nobody connecting to the sewer system because it is kind of established with existing boundaries.”

“Last year, when we had this discussion, the only way to decrease the amount that current users pay is to increase the number of users,” Mikulski said.

That prompted Raftery to ask, “Are we doing anything in that vein?”

A discussion has been had, Mikulski replied, about “where it would be smart to connect” with the mayor noting that Committeeman Ronald Heston has “looked at different roads to see where it could be connected from where it already is.”

“What houses, or what areas might be able to hook in – that is a 2022 project,” Mikulski declared.

Neighboring Pemberton Township recently had a number of residents successfully protest the prospect of being forced to connect to an expanded water service system in town, contending that they had already invested in

their private wells.

At the time, Pemberton’s business administrator noted that connection is usually required by other towns in the state anytime municipal water or sewage service is expanded to help offset the cost of the system.

Mikulski was later asked by this newspaper if Southampton would force residents currently with private septic systems to connect to the sewer system in the event of any possible expansion.

“I can only speak for me, because we haven’t gotten to the point of discussion with the whole committee, or a vote, but I can’t foresee an obligation to connect,” Mikulski said. “That is just not something that I can foresee me voting for. There would have to be a strong reason that would convince me otherwise. But generally, I can’t see it happening.”

The mayor maintained that Southampton is in the “very early stages” of a possible sewer service expansion and that if it happens, “it requires state approval.”

“It is more than a year-long process as I understand it,” he added. “Really, what it comes down to is everything continues to go up in price – gasoline, electricity, and wages – so the only way to cover that cost is to either increase the cost to the residents (presently on the system), or increase the number of users

on the system so that you can spread those costs out further.”

Mikulski pointed out that the current village system has actually lost users over the last couple of years due to the state’s Blue Acres Program buyouts in the village, or where the state purchased homes that have been repeatedly flooded by the Rancocas Creek in Vincentown.

He added that there are a few residences within the sewer system’s footprint that actually have not yet connected to it, but “can connect now” and “are able to join.”

“But to my knowledge, we have never ‘made’ anybody join,” said Mikulski, pointing out he was not on the township committee when the sewer system was first put in.

Heston cast the lone opposing vote on first reading of the ordinance that would increase the basic quarterly service charge for current users, with Young abstaining because he “needs more information.”

Both Heston and Young opposed the introduction of the ordinance that would increase the connection fees. Committeewoman Elizabeth Rossell’s vote in favor, however, allowed the measure to proceed to second reading, scheduled for March 15.

“I talked to Kathy (Hoffman), and I am not happy with the whole situation,” Heston declared.

have to deal with you on such a low level.

It would be really much more interesting if there was more intellectual activity going on of the township, and more responsibility and accountability going on of the township.”

Burns, during his later report to the Tabernacle committee, seemingly replying to the Brooks, said that he spoke with both the township administrator as well as the township clerk about the missing postings and it was the result of a “technical issue with placing the agenda on the website.”

“It was just an error with the uploading of that, and it will be addressed,” added Burns, maintaining it was the Tabernacle governing body’s “intent” to maintain tradition with respect to posting meeting agendas.

The township solicitor further contended that “safeguards” have now been “instituted” to “make sure the agenda is on the website moving forward.”

“There really wasn’t any nefarious purpose (for not posting the Feb. 28 materials),” Burns declared. “It simply was a breakdown of the process. It will not happen again.”

Stuart Brooks, in his public comments, also questioned the reason behind the potential purchase of a new fire truck for the Tabernacle Township Fire Department, considering there is an existing fire truck that was purchased for over $650,000 and “put in service in 2017.” In doing so, he maintained that the “fire apparatus plan should have been posted” and “it is still not posted.”

The Tabernacle committee, during its Feb. 28 session, introduced a $950,000 bond ordinance “authorizing the acquisition of certain fire apparatus for the Township of Tabernacle.”

Tabernacle Chief Financial Officer Rodney Haines, in a later report, said he “wanted to point out” that “just because we are introducing an ordinance does not mean we are buying a $950,000 fire truck.” Rather, he contended, it will give the authority for “specs” to be gathered on a potential new fire truck.

“It is still up to the committee to approve what the fire company is requesting,” maintained Haines, pointing out that the township committee would need to approve the actual purchase/type of a new fire truck through a separate action item.

Haines reminded the governing body in his report that “we will need to be budgeting for future down payments” for either “future land acquisition for a new town hall” or “making improvements to the (existing) town hall.”

English, during her report, advised that “she had contact with prospective landowners regarding acquisition of property for development of a new municipal complex,” and would be presenting “figures” during a Tabernacle committee work session currently scheduled for March 14. She added that she also has been provided with a “list of township-owned properties.”

Tabernacle officials late last year surmised that any new municipal complex and land acquisition would be in excess of several

million dollars, at least, based on an analysis of ones built by other municipalities in the county in recent years.

Prior to approving the Feb. 28 bill’s list, Tabernacle Committeeman Robert Sunbury asked, “What is going on with the bills that we accrued $26,000 for putting electric, water and sewage in those (temporary office) trailers?”

“Those were absolutely shocking numbers,” he added. “I could have wired an entire house and put in a new septic system for that. I just don’t understand this.”

English explained that the “cost of everything has gone up drastically in every aspect of everything.”

“In addition, we didn’t get very many quotes back,” she added. “Other contractors weren’t interested. Others came in higher.”

She maintained that she had to go with primarily those who submitted the quotes for the various work. The electrical and plumbing for the temporary office trailers has been completed, she noted, but the full relocation had not yet taken place by Feb. 28 because “we are still waiting on fiberoptic work.”

Burns noted that English approached him because of the pricing situation and that the quoted prices to do the work was “amazing” to see.

“The price of construction projects seems to increase exponentially to the price of goods, prevailing wages and supply chain issues,” the Tabernacle solicitor declared.

See COMMITTEE/ Page 11

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PETITION

(Continued from Page 7) March 7 commissioners’ session began with Bass River School Board Member Carol Bitzberger pointing out that the Bass River Board of Education, during its Feb. 22 meeting, authorized a petition for the state Department of Education to request Bass River representation on the Little Egg Harbor Board of Education.

The Bass River Board of Education entered into a send-receive relationship with the Little Egg Harbor School District from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2026, causing Bass River students in kindergarten through sixth grade to now attend Little Egg’s two elementary schools, as well as resulting in the closure of Bass River Elementary.

It was noted during the Feb. 22 Bass River school board meeting that “if the amount of pupils of a sending district “comprise less than 10 percent of the total enrollment of pupils of grades in a receiving

COMMITTEE (Continued from Page 9)

In addition to Burns seemingly addressing the remarks of the Brooks during his report, he also noted that a “new lawsuit was received today involving some property issues in town dating back to the 1800s.”

“Other litigation is still pending,” Burns added.

Burns, during a preceding township committee meeting, explained that the township is involved in “two, active Appellate Court Matters.” He also noted that a “new action” had been filed with the “Law Division of Burlington County” to “show cause” involving “public contracts law.”

“We are prepared to zealously defend that litigation,” he added at the time. “Simply, it is an action In Lieu of Prerogative Writ to overturn action the committee has taken, as well it asks for some adjunctive relief. Those

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district,” the sending district “shall have no representation on the (receiving district’s) board of education.”

Bitzberger pointed out to the commissioners on March 7 that some 62 Bass River students currently attend Little Egg schools, accounting for around just 4 percent of the student body in the receiving district.

The petition has come in the wake of Pinelands Regional’s termination of the office services agreement it has had with the Bass River School District, with the Pinelands Regional officials, who are ending their services, notably the ones who also oversee the Little Egg Harbor School District.

“Basically, you are having taxation without representation,” said Bitzberger on March 7, in explaining that Bass River students are attending Little Egg schools, but the township does not have any input “on what their children are learning.”

In noting that she “brought the petition with me here tonight,” Bitzberger asked the three Bass River commissioners “if they would sign it and be the first three people to sign it,” noting she was “very anxious” to

have the elected officials sign the petition.

Buzby-Cope, who noted there are some 1,495 adults living in town, asked how many residents would need to sign the petition, though no hard answer was given, with Bitzberger instead asserting, “It would be great to get as many signatures as we can.”

Foder noted that only “registered voters” can sign the petition and he was aware of a “precedent” being set when the state Department of Education granted an exception to the 10 percent criteria to at least two other school districts.

“If you want to start passing the petition around,” said Buzby-Cope to Bitzberger, “it would probably save you some time.”

After Bitzberger reiterated she wanted the Bass River commissioners to sign it and the be first ones to do so, Buzby-Cope declared, “Alright, bring it up here, bring it up here … bring it up here!”

At the end of the latest commissioners’ meeting, Louis Bourguignon, the third Bass River commissioner, asked, “Would someone check on the 62 students to see how they are performing?”

“Nobody has ever said if our children are doing good (in school),” Bourguignon added.

Foder pointed out that Dr. Melissa McCooley, superintendent of both Pinelands Regional and Little Egg Harbor school districts, was asked to provide a “report” to the Bass River Board of Education, and “I think only once Dr. McCooley came out and on another occasion someone else – other than that, nobody has come out.” (Foder, immediately following Pinelands Regional’s decision to terminate the shared services agreement for business office services called on McCooley to resign, citing, among other things, a parent-led petition calling for the superintendent’s removal.)

Capriglione, in response, maintained that he believed a “school report card” had to be issued annually and recalled from his past school involvement a “yearly report” having to also be generated by all schools, urging the school board members attending the commissioners’ meeting to “look into that.”

“I’ll bring it up at the next meeting,” Foder declared.

are the three real active pending litigations.

Also, a Government Records Council (GRC) matter is pending mediation in the spring.”

Hartman, who was selected to replace Matthew Baals, the latter who had just been sworn into office in January, raised the issue of the length of the public comment period during his Feb. 28 committee report.

It was his first report, given that he had been selected by the Tabernacle governing body to fill the vacancy at the conclusion of the Feb. 15 Tabernacle committee meeting, following a scheduled closed session that was to entail discussion on the vacancy.

“I know I am the new guy, but I have been on the past calls listening to the meetings and all – and I want to talk about the public comment,” Hartman said. “I feel three minutes is a little too long. The first two minutes are very productive. It gets to the point. And then, for the last minute, it circles (around). It doesn’t really get anywhere. So, I want to see if I can get a motion to have it go to two minutes and

have a more productive call.”

Moore then asked if Hartman was “making a motion,” to which the newcomer replied, “Yes, sir.”

“Okay… um … do I have a ‘second?’”

Moore asked.

After a moment of silence, Sunbury replied that he would “second” the motion. Moore then asked if there was any “committee discussion.”

Initially, nobody replied, and then when he moved to ask for a roll call vote, Brown inquired from Burns “about the legalities” of changing the time allotted to each person to make public comments “to see if we are good.”

Burns replied that he would have to “double check” the requirements under OPMA, but that he “believed it is OK” to reduce the allotted time given to each public speaker.

“If the committee remembers, at the beginning of this year, at the reorganization meeting, there used to be two public comment periods,” Burns recounted. “One at the beginning of the meeting, then one at the

end of the meeting to discuss any topic. The committee at that time elected to have only one public comment at the beginning of the period.”

The Tabernacle solicitor added he was “not sure how long” public comment has to be, prompting Moore to initially move to “table” Hartman’s motion until it could be reviewed.

Burns, however, suggested another alternative, voting on it “pending” if it is “in compliance with the OPMA statute.”

The Tabernacle committee voted 3-1 with one abstention to reduce the allotted time a member of the public has to offer public comments, with Tabernacle Committeewoman Nancy McGinnis casting the lone opposing vote and Brown voicing the lone abstention, with the latter believing the governing body should first determine if what it is doing is legal.

Burns, in a March 9 interview with this newspaper, maintained that since the Feb. 28 Tabernacle committee session, “he has not found anything to say how long public comment has to be,” and therefore, the motion stays.

Page 12 ♦

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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