Pine Barrens Tribune October 22, 2022 to October 28, 2022

FOREST IRE

A Proposal by the NJDEP to Develop a Permit System for Vehicles Using the Back Roads That Crisscross Wharton State Forest Has Given Rise to a Budding Resistance Movement, Led by Open Trails New Jersey and the 8th Legislative District’s Republican Lawmakers

By Bill B onvie Staff Writer

WOODLAND—Signs are starting to pop up that the network of back roads that traverses a large swath of Woodland, Shamong and Washington townships could soon become the staging ground for a nascent resistance movement against the power of the state.

Only in this case, the signs involved are literal ones that read (in capital letters):

“NO PERMITS,” followed by “KEEP

WHARTON STATE FOREST ROADS OPEN,” with the logo of Open Trails New Jersey, or OTNJ, one of the chief concerns of which is maintaining access to the Pine Barrens. The signs also contain the slogan “tread lightly.”

What OTNJ is referring to is the proposed development of a permit system for “use of unimproved roads throughout the forest” that is modeled on one now in operation at Island Beach State Park (which charges state residents a $195

annual fee for vehicle access to fish there), according to a news release disseminated at the end of August by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).

Such a plan would “enhance the State Park Police’s ability to assess vehicle use and protect sensitive resources throughout the forest,” the release claims.

To get the plan underway, the NJDEP conducted a “virtual stakeholder meeting”

Redevelopment Agreement

Approved for Long-Blighted Browns Mills Shopping Center Setting Timeline, Stipulations and $2.7M Property Sale Price

Project with Roughly $7.5M in ‘Hard Costs’ Entails Initial Demo of Strip Store Section, Site Remediation and Building Three Units

By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—Many residents and passerby’s took note this past weekend of a new “COMING SOON” sign recently installed at the corner of PembertonBrowns Mills, Trenton and Juliustown roads containing the most up-to-date architectural rendering for what is expected to become the brand-new Browns Mills Shopping Center comprising three main, separate units, replacing a delipidated structure of some 25,000 square feet and 17 storefronts, with only a handful of those storefronts currently occupied.

Such signage has been some 27 years in the making, and after decades of much anticipation for the shopping center to be revitalized, as well as speculation, its appearance drew immediate inquiries.

And you’d be right if you believed the signage was a sign of significant progress toward finally having the blighted shopping center, located in the center of Pemberton Township’s business district of Browns Mills, redeveloped.

Pemberton Township Council, during its Sept. 7 meeting, approved a 44-page redevelopment agreement with New Horizon Properties, of Englishtown, for the Browns Mills Shopping Center at 100 PembertonBrowns Mills Road.

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari Sign welcoming visitors to the Wharton State Forest.

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—The Township of Pemberton has a struck a four-year deal with the local Government Workers Union (GWU), which represents “a little over” 100 municipal employees, calling for an annual increase in salary of 2.25 to 2.5 percent, according to an Oct. 5 Pemberton Township Council meeting pronouncement from Business Administrator Daniel Hornickel.

“In my view, as the business administrator, I am pleased with the contract because of the mayor’s and governing body’s efforts to fashion a document that will continue to use good efforts to retain our talented workforce,” declared Hornickel upon council returning from a closed session in which the “Memorandum of Understanding” (MOU) or “Collective Negotiations Agreement” between the township and GWU Local 2120 was reportedly discussed at length.

The GWU, the business administrator explained, “represents about a little over 100 of our employees, most of whom are full time.”

The “highlights” of the deal, according to Hornickel, include “some stipends for employees who take the initiative to get courses and certifications that are beneficial to the township” as well as “improved starting salaries for employees at the low end of the scale, so that we just wouldn’t be bringing them up to minimum wage.”

“But we would also be giving them the

opportunity to make more than minimum wage to reflect their commitment to their positions and the township,” he added.

Additionally, Hornickel said, “we have recommended salary adjustments in the range of 2.25 to 2.5 percent in each year, of the four-year agreement, to recognize the impact inflation is having on the income of our work force.”

In September, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all urban consumers increased by 0.4 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 8.2 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted.

The index for all items, less food and energy, increased by 0.6 percent last month, which, according to the bureau, is up 6.6 percent over the year.

“We had a very productive negotiation session,” Hornickel maintained. “Both sides were willing to roll up their sleeves and work together to address some issues in the union contract that were not practicable, for both union employees and township management. We also used the opportunity to incorporate the new Sewer Division into the union contract and make provisions for them (the workers in that division).”

A resolution approving the agreement, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2021, and expiring Dec. 31, 2024, was contained among a number of resolutions that were part of an Oct. 5 consent agenda, with the consent agenda later receiving unanimous council approval.

Eggplant Milanese

HANDCRAFTED HOUSE HOUSPECIALTIES SE SPECIALTIES

By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—Temporary – for now –traffic control measures, including “speed control mechanisms,” will be deployed as part of a new “pilot program” at a “dangerous” intersection in the Presidential Lakes section of Pemberton Township, one nearest the Presidential Lakes Firehouse and Community Center and Orion Branch Park that has reportedly been the subject of “numerous” complaints over the last several years.

The measures soon to be undertaken for the intersection of New York Road and Tennessee Trail not only follow a recent community meeting in Presidential Lakes over traffic and school bus safety issues, but “speed studies” performed earlier this year in the neighborhood.

NEW

NEW

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PolloDePablo

NEW

NENEW W

Bruschetta

Pasta Festa

NEW

NEW Meatloaf Italiano

nishe

over mash and

homemad marinara

ovede mas

serve with (1 side $19 $99 19 $16.99

Seafood SeafoodSinatra Sinatra

Pemberton Township Strikes Four-Year Deal with Local Labor Union with Stipends, Better Starting Salaries, and 2.25 Percent Annual Raises

‘Dangerous’ Intersection in Presidential Lakes Frequented By Pedestrians Visiting Firehouse, Park to Be Made Four-Way Stop Through Pilot Program

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

Remedial Work Completed on Evesham’s Ellis Superfund Site, But Groundwater Monitoring to Continue for at Least a Year

Haphazard Storage of Toxic Cleaning Compound at Former Dairy Farm Resulted in Elaborate, Decades-Long Removal Efforts by Two Agencies

ATTENTION

Pemberton TownshipResidents! Areyou HAPPY with:

1. 600 more homes being built on a former junkyard, pig farm/dumpsite? (The impact on our infrastructure, schools and the traffic through town with only one entry on Lakehurst Rd to the development?)

Additional homes proposed for the Greenberg Farm on South Pemberton Rd ?

Additional homes proposed off of Pemberton Blvd in Browns Mills?

More warehouses?

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

EVESHAM—When people think of Superfund sites, they might tend to envision places that have been defiled by heavy-duty toxic wastes generated by industry, the original protype for which was the infamous Love Canal, an abandoned infrastructure project in the city of Niagara Falls, New York that was used as a dumping ground by the Hooker Chemical Company, eventually leading to the death of a first grader and the abandonment of an entire neighborhood of affordable homes in the late 1970s.

By contrast, the Ellis Superfund site in Evesham Township, on the border of Medford Township, is a glaring example of how a seemingly innocuous enterprise – in this case, a family business of reconditioning steel drums on what had been a dairy farm – can also become a source of chemical contamination that poses a threat to the health of people residing in the vicinity.

Fortunately, the soil and groundwater pollution resulting from leakage of a toxic cleaning compound used on the property appears to have been curtailed before it could result in any serious environmental damage to the surrounding communities, as attendees at an Oct. 12 Evesham Council meeting learned from Julie Nace, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s remedial project manager for this particular property.

But mitigating the problem, as she explained, was neither simple nor cheap, involving extensive soil excavation efforts, the building and ultimate dismantling of elaborate groundwater treatment facilities and a thermal remediation system with more than 200 wells that required the installation of an independent power source on a utility pole, the cost of which was probably about $2.5 million just for the electric bill alone, not to mention the assistance of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The cleanup was one that also took well over two decades to accomplish, she noted, and that originally caused “a lot of confusion, a lot of concern” among local residents. And even though, in her view, “we’ve come to a whole new place and it’s a happy place, and we’ve just about completed the project”—it will still require at least another year of groundwater monitoring.

But then, the main chemical at issue, trichloroethylene or TCE, is one that the EPA has become increasingly concerned can be a cause of cancer and a host of other health problems. Described as “a volatile organic compound used mostly in industrial and commercial processes,” but one also found in cleaning and furniture care products, arts and crafts spray coatings, and automotive care products like brake cleaners used by

consumers, TCE, according to a “draft revised risk determination” released this past July by the EPA, “presents an unreasonable risk of injury to human health under its conditions of use”—a finding that applies to 52 out of 54 such conditions.

The agency’s “Final Risk Evaluation for Trichloroethylene” also notes that it has “assessed the impact of TCE on workers, occupational non-workers, consumers, and bystanders” and “identified adverse human health effects, including immunotoxicity, reproductive and developmental effects, cardiac and lung effects, kidney and liver effects, and cancer for workers, occupational non-users, consumers, and bystanders who have inhalation or dermal exposures to TCE.”

The 36-acre dairy farm tract, located off Sharp Road in Evesham, was purchased in 1968 by Irving Ellis, whose family began reconditioning steel drums on a 4-acre sector of the site that, according to an EPA fact sheet, included a large two-story building that housed several washing tanks and troughs, and three sheds containing 50 to 75 drums and other chemical containers, many of them full at the time the agency became aware that a problem existed. Another hundred or so 55-gallon plastic drums, most of which also contained liquid, were found in an adjacent area.

What eventually happened, according to Nace, was that the cleansers and chemicals in these containers “made their way through the soil and into the groundwater,” apparently as a result of both the haphazard manner in which they were stored and the purpose for which they were used, as the EPA fact sheet indicated.

In the meantime, operations ceased at the site in conjunction with a fire that occurred there, which is said by the EPA to have occurred in the late 1970s, and which was reportedly what brought the contamination problem to the attention of state officials, who determined that it was serious enough to be placed on a “national priorities list for Superfund sites,” a formal designation it was given in 1983.

In conjunction with that development, the Ellis family also signed a consent decree assigning whatever proceeds that might ultimately be realized from the sale of the property to both the state and federal governments to help compensate for the cost of any cleanup (a method used when making a land owner financially accountable doesn’t seem feasible).

Eventually, Nace explained, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) stepped in and did a complete remediation – a process, as recounted by the EPA fact sheet, that was finally undertaken in 1998 by excavating and transporting some

Township being our new trash company? (More employees, more debt to buy equipment)

Township being in the real estate business?

Country Lakes Beach being closed?

Our tax dollars paying over $3.5 million for the “Old Acme” site just to tear it down?

Then Vote for the current administration!

If you areNOT HAPPYand WANT:

Responsible planning determining the true cost to our infrastructure and schools when new housing is planned

More financial accountability

to Restore and promote local small business development

to Increase our police force to better serve our community.

to Restore Pemberton Pride.

for by Pemberton

Treasurer

County

Box 41 Browns

B

Photo Provided

Aerial view of the Ellis Superfund site in

INTERSECTION

“Over the past few years, we have heard from numerous residents complaining about traffic in Presidential Lakes, including one here at the council meeting tonight,” said Business Administrator Daniel Hornickel during an Oct. 5 Pemberton Township Council meeting. “So, over the course of the earlier part of this year, we convened a meeting with the right people, which would be the municipal engineer, Public Works’ managers, the police chief and a few others. We started looking at what we could potentially do to address some of those concerns in that neighborhood.”

As part of the exploration process, Hornickel explained, “speed studies” were completed on some of the main thoroughfares that run through Presidential Lakes, including New York Road, Wisconsin Trail and Connecticut Road.

“We looked at the traffic volumes, in addition to the speed studies, and we looked at the different tools we had to potentially address some of those challenges, particularly in the location of the township park, or Orion Branch Park, and the Presidential Lakes Firehouse and Community Center,” the business administrator explained. “We have identified some traffic control measures that we would like to implement on a trial basis before recommending to council whether or not to permanently approve those through an ordinance.”

The currently two-way stop intersection of

SUPERFUND

1,400 cubic yards of contaminated soil to an off-site disposal facility, and by putting a pumping treatment system in to address groundwater contaminants into operation two years later.

Several years later, as chronicled by the EPA fact sheet, “enhancements to improve the performance of the groundwater pumping and treatment system were implemented that included the installation of extraction wells in low-permeability soil formations.” Then in 2012, a cutoff wall was installed to isolate the contaminated groundwater from a sand channel and direct it to a collection trench.

But it wasn’t until the NJDEP found that the level of TCE “was not decreasing at the rate they wanted it to,” Nace said, that it first approached the EPA about the situation, resulting in the federal and state agencies getting together to conduct optimization studies of the site and discovering residual source material trapped in the clay and sand

New York Road and Tennessee Trail, according to Hornickel, will be at least temporarily turned into a four-way stop intersection.

Additionally, rumble strips and speed cushions, he noted, will be temporarily installed on the various approaches to the intersection.

According to the National Association of City Transportation, speed cushions are either speed humps or speed tables that include wheel cutouts to allow large vehicles to pass unaffected, while reducing passenger car speeds, and they can be offset to allow unimpeded passage by emergency vehicles and are typically used on key emergency response routes.

“Speed cushions are kind of a newer phenomenon, but they are really effective in taking speed from a speeder,” Hornickel maintained. “So, it doesn’t matter if they are driving a dirt bike, ATV, or pickup truck –if they hit the speed cushion, it is going to slow them down.”

The planned project at the intersection of New York Road and Tennessee Trail, the business administrator noted, would mark the first time that the township is installing speed tables, and is why the municipality’s administration is not seeking “to make permanent changes” just yet.

“We want to see how effective they are,” Hornickel told council in seeking its temporary authorization for the measures. “We also want to hear from residents about what their perspectives are after we purchase this equipment and install it.”

As for when these measures will be first implemented, Hornickel asserted the township “probably wouldn’t be able to get

layers of the property. At that point, she said, “it was decided that instead of letting the groundwater treatment plant function for decades with no sort of returns, they would go in and remove that source material.”

At first, according to Nace’s account, “the decision was made to just excavate it all – just truck it all out.” But that prospect, she said, proved unsettling to residents who “were very concerned with all of that soil moving through the town,” the result being that the areas to be excavated were substantially reduced, and a process known as “thermal remediation” used on the main portion of the site.

That, she said, was around 2013, and for the next five years “just sat there on the funding list” until the federal government finally came up with the necessary funds to take the next steps and she “inherited” the project, starting by holding a public meeting and then overseeing the removal of an additional 7,000 cubic yards of soil in which the contaminant was trapped.

Then, after another year’s delay, she said, the thermal remediation was finally begun with the goal of getting the toxic chemical levels down to one milligram per kilogram of soil, which required either digging or extending

this implemented until early spring,” or at least the installation of the speed cushions.

“We don’t want to do this in the winter because of plowing,” explained Hornickel of the reason why the municipality would be likely waiting until spring. “We don’t want to put speed cushions down and not be familiar with where they are situated, and then, go plow and destroy them.”

If it ends up that speed cushions become a permanent solution in Presidential Lakes, according to the business administrator, those “particular speed control mechanisms” may be “taken up before the snow season starts.”

“By the way, in the wintertime, people are less active,” he said. “So, we would re-install them when snow season ends.”

In addition to reports of motorists speeding in Presidential Lakes, this newspaper has previously reported on numerous resident complaints about ATVs being driven on streets throughout the neighborhood, with riders at times said to be “terrorizing” residents there.

The township has heard numerous concerns, in particular, about the intersection of New York Road and Tennessee Trail “pertaining to the challenges of safely crossing said intersection to visit and return from the Presidential Lakes Firehouse and Community Center and Orion Branch Park.”

ARH Associates, which provides engineering services to the township, in a Sept. 16 report issued at the conclusion of the speed studies, recommended that “the township install traffic control devices to enable pedestrians and bicyclists to safely cross New York Road,” according to a

electrodes down to depths of from 10 to 25 feet below the surface and “sometimes deeper.” The process is one she described as consisting of basically heating up the soil, evaporating the contaminant, capturing it and sending it through a less costly plant built on-site, with any solid waste being disposed of in approved off-site facilities.

But while it was completed in August, Nace said, and the soil at the site is now considered free of TCE, or “clean,” the groundwater has still been found to have some residual contamination, necessitating additional monitoring of it in the treatment plant until tests for the chemical come up sufficiently negative.

That, she said, is a requirement – to continue to run the treatment plant for at least one year, at the end of which “we’ll have much more data then and we can decide how and when to decommission the plant.”

In addition to keeping tabs on the treatment plant water, “monitoring of wells within the site and downstream will also continue” she added, subsequently noting, in response to a question, that “we have 27 monitoring wells and pumping wells that pump the water into the groundwater checking plant.”

resolution adopted unanimously by council on Oct. 5 “authorizing temporary traffic control measures at the intersection of New York Road and Tennessee Trail as a pilot program.”

“Council had asked us to look at this, as we have heard from residents time and again about speeding issues,” Hornickel said. “We can’t do these kinds of controls for just speeding issues, unfortunately. We have to do it for other considerations, such as people crossing the street to access the park and rec center. We want to see if these measures are effective, and if so, explore it for other locations where they may be able to be used.”

Just prior to the resolution’s adoption, America Phillips, a resident of Presidential Lakes who is a known community advocate and regular council meeting attendee, provided her observation of “very bad accidents on that corner,” or at the intersection of New Hampshire Road and Tennessee Trail, which is just one intersection away from the one the subject of a pilot program.

“We need a stop sign there,” she declared of that four-way intersection currently controlled by only two yield signs, noting that at the recent community meeting with top Pemberton Township School District officials, it was revealed there are currently four school buses picking up children in Presidential Lakes, maintaining she has observed “kids running in all different directions, early in the morning, when it is dark.”

As a result of the earlier community meeting, school district officials were supposed to reevaluate the locations of school bus stops, and approach the township with a request for increased signage and crosswalks.

Once the groundwater is declared relatively TCE-free, the site, which is located in an industrial zone, will then likely be redeveloped, Nace having already spoken with potential developers who expressed an interest in using it for solar panels or storage units.

In reply to another question from an audience member, Nace did have an additional piece of good news to report— that the actual cost of the project was somewhat below the $20 million that had been allotted for it based on initial estimates, thanks to the contractor selected having come in under that figure.

“So, there are still funds left over,” she said.

In concluding her presentation, Nace also made a point of crediting her two associates on the project, Lisa Capilli, of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who served as oversight manager on a daily basis, making sure that the work was done safely and efficiently, and Claire Yeager, of the NJDEP, who she said has also “been involved the whole time,” and would serve as the project’s contact person as primary responsibility is shifted back to the state.

REDEVELOPMENT

“I do thank the council for approving Resolution No. 254, which is approving a developer’s agreement with the New Horizon development group, who is appointed redeveloper of the Browns Mills Shopping Center,” said Pemberton Mayor David Patriarca upon the agreement being approved. “This allows us to move forward now into the next phase, which is beginning the demo of a portion of the building.”

The redevelopment agreement was subsequently executed with a stipulation contained on the last page of it that required the redeveloper to post a “conspicuous sign” at the property “to include the identity of the redeveloper, a rendering of the concept plan, and the words ‘COMING SOON’” within 20 days of the deal being executed.

The document also memorialized in writing what had previously been presented to the public earlier in the summer by New Horizon, which is proposing to “undertake the planning, design, construction and rehabilitation of certain improvements on the property,” including building an approximately 18,000 square-foot grocery store, an approximately 12,450 square-foot retail space and an approximately 5,000 square-foot convenience store with an associated gas station.

New Horizon is also proposing “associated site improvements,” including “stormwater management, ingress and egress driveways, internal roadways, parking, lighting and landscaping,” as confirmed in the redevelopment agreement.

The estimated “soft cost” for the redevelopment project, according to the document, is around $250,000, while the “hard cost” is some $7.5 million, with New Horizon largely responsible for incurring the costs of the planned improvements.

There are, however, a couple of back-out clauses contained in the document, as well as descriptions of required environmental remediation of the site, in addition to “risky” initial demolition of three stores in the existing shopping center.

That initial demolition of the three stores, which Pemberton Township Business Administrator Daniel Hornickel later explained to this newspaper will allow for the environmental remediation to take place, reportedly requires great care to avoid a premature collapse of the rest of the structure.

And while the Pemberton mayor acknowledged last month “there is no fast lane for these types of projects,” still, it’s the furthest Pemberton Township has come to redevelopment at the Browns Mills Shopping Center since the municipality declared it an “area in need of redevelopment” back in 1994, with an initial redevelopment plan approved in 1995, with another such plan proposed in 2011, before that one was amended back in 2018.

“It is very exciting,” said Pemberton Township Solicitor Andrew “Andy” Bayer in announcing Sept. 7 that an agreement had been reached. “It was a long, arduous process over many years. But this developer, through their professionals, has been a pleasure to deal with. I think the agreement is very fair to the township, and I know, as someone who has been fortunate enough

to be representing the township for many years, that I am excited that this project is finally moving forward.”

This newspaper previously reported that Pemberton Township was ordered to pay Rocco and Antonia Berardi, the former co-owners of the Browns Mills Shopping Center, some $2.9 million for the property that the municipality had acquired back in 2018 through eminent domain, plus interest, totaling some $3.2 million.

Initially, the township offered the Berardis just $920,000 for the shopping center based on a March 5, 2018, appraisal, but a later court ruling determined “the date of evaluation should be the date the township declared the property an ‘area in need of redevelopment,’” Bayer previously explained. The township then sought a new appraisal based on the ruling, coming in at around $2.3 million, while the Berardis also got one, valuing the property at “almost $5 million,” causing the court to ultimately decide what was due to the Berardis.

According to the redevelopment agreement, New Horizon has agreed to pay Pemberton Township $2.7 million for the purchase of the property in an “AS IS” sale.

New Horizon, required to put down an initial $50,000 deposit in escrow, only has 90 days to back out of the redevelopment agreement “for any reason” or “for no reason,” and if it were to do that, $40,000 of that deposit would be returned. Otherwise, the deposit “will be applicable to the purchase price at closing,” the redevelopment agreement notes.

By moving forward with the demolition of part of the existing structure, according to Patriarca, “we can then begin to enforce the remediation of the property,” which he maintained is the responsibility of the Berardis, as “defined in a remediation agreement” reached in December 2021.

According to the redevelopment agreement, the remediation agreement obligates the Berardis to “complete the investigation, remediation, monitoring and sampling of the contaminated soil and groundwater associated on or about the property.”

The contaminants, it is explained in the redevelopment agreement, has resulted from the “release of certain hazardous substances in the soil and groundwater,” including “but not limited to” the release of tetrachloroethene, also known as PCE. It is believed these substances are “associated” with “discharges” from a “former drycleaning facility” that occupied the shopping center “prior to the township’s ownership.”

A letter attached to the redevelopment agreement, from SE2 Engineering, noted that the engineering firm was commissioned by Pemberton Township’s contracted architectural firm, Regan Young England Butera, to conduct a “Property Condition Report (PCR)” of the “strip store portion”

of the shopping center.

It is noted in that letter that there is an existence of a Brokerhoff Environmental Report for the parcel, which states “there are several areas of concern” at the site, with it already having been the subject of “several soil remediations dating back to 1997.”

In addition to the substances attributed to the former dry-cleaning business, “it is apparent that several heating oil tanks were removed” at the shopping center. Those some 15 tanks, according to Engineer Jay Rosen, of SE2 Engineering, had previously “leached contaminants into the soil,” with the surrounding soil having previously been removed between a depth of 5 to 6 feet.

“Despite the extensive remediation efforts, contamination still potentially exists,” Rosen notes. “Therefore, the Brokerhoff Environmental Report recommends further evaluation of the soils within the areas of concern for all 15 tank removals, as well as the dry cleaner space. The Brokerhoff Environmental Report assumes the building is to be demolished prior to the soil excavations and removals.”

Hornickel, when New Horizon publicly presented their concept plan for the site in early summer, pointed out “we have had some continuing environmental challenges” at the Browns Mills Shopping Center site, declaring, “the talents his company brings are the kind that we need to rehabilitate that property.”

Felix Bruselovsky, the principal officer of New Horizon, was previously said to have been in the petroleum business since he was 14 years old, and is also an “expert in rehabilitating properties,” including restoring former gas station parcels with known environmental contamination.

While Patriarca previously emphasized that there is an existing remediation agreement with the former owner of the shopping center “to do a cleanup on the property,” contending it made clear “it’s their responsibility” and not that of the township’s or that of New Horizon, the redevelopment agreement contains a stipulation that “to the extent the Berardis do not timely commence and/or complete their obligations under the remediation agreement,” the “township and redeveloper shall cooperate to perform such active remediation themselves.”

If that becomes the case, according to the redevelopment agreement, the Berardis will become “responsible for the indemnification and reimbursement for such costs incurred by the township and/or redeveloper.”

The remediation “shall be a condition precedent to closing” on the sale of the property, according to another stipulation of the redevelopment agreement, with such work having to commence “immediately upon the existing improvement demolition.” It must be completed “within 120 days thereafter.”

20 05 Ford Escape Hybrid, VIN# 1FMCU96H65KB95662. Please take notice that the Cour thas established 11/2/2022, as the return date of hearingfor an Order to Show Cause, sought by Plaintiff, Helen Hagenbucher,wherein, Iamseeking an Order directing the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission to issue Cer tificate of Title to the above described vehicle in my name.

Objection to this application must be sent to the Cour t at the following addresses:

Superior Cour t, Chancer yDivision 120 High Street Mount Holly,NJ 08060

Helen Hagenbucher 25 3rdAve. Pember ton, NJ 08068

(Continued

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

A “COMING SOON” sign posted at the corner of Pemberton-Browns Mills, Trenton and Juliustown roads for the Browns Mills Shopping Center redevelopment project.

See

FOREST

Sept. 27 for the purpose of launching a visitor and vehicle use survey of Wharton State Forest, which lasted 45 minutes, drew a total of 664 remote attendees and generated dozens of questions, according to NJDEP spokesperson Caryn Shinske. The survey was described in a dispatch from the New Jersey Park Service, a NJDEP subsidiary, as part of “a new process to learn how park users recreate in Wharton State Forest, the single largest tract of land within the New Jersey Park System.”

But while that process was outlined in greater detail by Assistant NJDEP Commissioner John Cecil, who helped narrate a YouTube video about it, as involving “decisions we haven’t made yet,” the three Republican legislators representing the 8th Legislative District have already come out against the permitting proposal and, in a joint press release issued Oct. 5, urged that the public “voice opposition” as well.

“Visitors and residents of the Pine Barrens have never had to pay to use the roads in

Wharton State Forest and shouldn’t have to at any point moving forward,” 8th Legislative District Senator Jean Stanfield was quoted in the release as saying. “This is government overreach and something that New Jersey residents already pay for with their highest-in-the-nation taxes.”

Her colleague, Assemblyman Michael Torrissi, was also highly critical of the NJDEP for conducting the campaign remotely.

“If the state thinks paid-for vehicle permits are what is best for the users of Wharton State Forest, then it should hold in-person, public meetings and face the people,” Torrissi contended. “But I guarantee you, you’re going to see a bunch of pissed-off Pineys come out to give them a piece of their minds.”

The third member of the trio, Assemblyman Brandon Umba, pointed out that introducing a permit system would not only affect those who use the 122,880acre park for recreation, but hunters and fishermen as well, and maintained that the plan is one that “needs to be shut down.” He also urged all residents to take a stand on the issue, one way or the other, a purpose for which the release provided links to both

the NJDEP and the park use survey.

If enough residents express negative views of the proposed permit system, the apparent hope of the budding opposition movement’s leadership is that it will suffer a fate similar to the original plan for the forest – one conceived by 19th Century industrialist Joseph Wharton, who originally purchased the tract intending to turn it into a source of fresh water for the city of Philadelphia, only to have that idea derailed by the New Jersey Legislature in 1884.

The degree of passion and indignation the current proposal has aroused, along with the issue of access to the forest in general, is reflected in Facebook comments from area residents, some of which were in response to the legislators’ press release—although not all the opinions put forth are in agreement regarding the current condition of Wharton State Forest.

“Stop inventing ways to tax your residents! wrote Shamong resident Christopher Huling. “I already pay for a fishing license, now you expect me to pay for a license to use the roads to get to the lakes?”

In a similar vein, fellow fishing enthusiast Dan Campbell, of Tabernacle, complained that “we already pay enough in taxes” and added, “now they want to charge us to access public land.”

Then there’s the somewhat blunt comment made by Daniel Hullings, a member of the Pemberton Township Environmental Commission: “I guess it is one thing when you are a city boy who might visit the Pines once a year, but it is a whole other thing when you live here and these moneygrabbing thugs want to charge you extra for it! How about taxing your city folks extra for the sidewalks?”

When contacted by the Pine Barrens Tribune, Hullings offered some further, less flippant opinions regarding the issue.

“I want the state to stop the destruction of sensitive areas in the Pines,” he asserted. “That is what my tax money pays them to do. There are existing laws that make this behavior illegal. Why do we need new laws? Better yet, how will charging law-abiding citizens for the right to drive through the land they already pay for help anything but (Democratic Governor Phil) Murphy’s budget?”

Hullings further accused Murphy of having “defunded and disempowered the State Park Service to the point that they can do little about it,” and challenged residents to “do the math and see what the model they are using (Island Beach State Park) takes in annually and what the Park Service gets to maintain the beaches, restrooms, parking lots, etc.”

“Where does all that money go?” he asked. “Same place this permit fee will!”

Hullings also posed the question, “Why aren’t they doing something about the illegal use of off-road vehicles?” and maintained

that “they actually park their trailers in plain sight.”

That last issue is one that the NJDEP has, in fact, attempted to address in the same press release that announced the date of its first virtual meeting on the proposal.

Visitors, it noted, “are reminded that offroad vehicle use of any kind (for example, ATVs and other motorized vehicles) is illegal on all state-owned lands. Vehicles operating in a state park, forest or wildlife management area must be street legal, registered, plated, insured and operated by a licensed driver.”

The release also claimed that efforts to curb illegal off-road vehicle activity are underway, pointing out that “in 2021, the State Attorney General’s Office was successful in securing an increase in fines for illegal off-road vehicle use and damages,” starting at $250 - $500 for a first offense, $500 - $1,000 for a second offense, and a minimum of $1,000 for a third or subsequent offense.

“If a violation results in damage to or destruction of natural resources, an additional fine of five times the cost of the damage may be assessed,” it added.

Furthermore, park visitors who encounter ATVs off established roads or see suspicious or illegal activities on public lands under the department’s jurisdiction were given a number to call (1-877-WARNDEP [1-877927-6337]), in addition to being informed of a Warn DEP iPhone and Android application that allows visitors to report environmental abuses, including off-road vehicles, with information on how to download the apps available at www.nj.gov/dep/warndep.htm.

But such penalties and supposed efforts to curtail off-road activities in the forest apparently didn’t cut any ice with another individual who responded to the legislators’ invitation to leave comments, awardwinning Pinelands photographer Albert Horner, of Medford Lakes, who accused the department’s Park and Forestry and Fish and Wildlife divisions of actually having “encouraged off-road events for decades in a fragile environment that should not be subjected to that type of use and abuse.”

As a result, Horner charged that the entirety of the Wharton tract and the Pinelands National Preserve is “being overrun” with 4x4’s, dirt bikes, and allterrain vehicles that are illegal to operate on public lands and are causing “acre after acre being destroyed.”

“It is like the wild west out there,” he alleged, as “off-road users return day after day and challenge their vehicles and themselves against the wetlands, paleo dunes, ice-age gravel-hill deposits and forest in general, (and) even destroy the sand roads the public has to use for access,” while “the park police “do not do their job and are not even educated on the environment they are supposed to protect.”

While Horner said he concurred that

(Continued from

Photo Provided

A “KEEP WHARTON STATE FOREST ROADS OPEN” sign posted with the logo of Open Trails New Jersey, or OTNJ.

It’s Ba-ack…

Six

Six Easy Costumes

You’ve left your Halloween costume to the last minute. Again. Don’t worry. We’ve got six easy costumes that everyone’s got time for.

Rosie the Riveter

The heroine of World War II just takes your favorite jeans, a denim or chambray shirt, a red bandana and a bright red lip. Oh, and her signature guns-out pose. Rosie definitely rides to the rescue this Halloween.

Raincloud

Take your favorite umbrella and cover it with cotton batting. Cut some raindrops out of blue construction paper and affix with fishing string, curly ribbon, twine or whatever you have on hand. Don your galoshes and off you go.

Smarty Pants

Get thee to the candy aisle (and pick up the loot for trick-or-treaters while you’re there) and grab some Smarties. Put on a comfy outfit, stick the Smarties to your pants and grab your jack-o-lantern because you are D-O-N-E.

Bat

This one requires you to sacrifice a black

umbrella, but that’s OK because you’re going to look fabulous. Take your favorite black hoodie. Cut the umbrella in half and use safety pins to attach the halves to the arms of your hoodie. Wrap the hinges of the umbrella in black electrical tape so they’ll fold properly. You can put ears on the hood cut from black construction paper or foam core, whatever you have in the craft box. Add black leggings and you’re a bat.

Miss Universe

Find a fancy party dress in the back of your closet. Cut out construction paper planets (or have the kids do this one for you) and aliens. Make a sash out of wax paper, ribbon or whatever you have on hand, and write Miss Universe on it. Don your tiara and, for bonus points, tote around a stupidly large bouquet of flowers. Fake is fine. Here she is, Miss Universe!

Punk Rock

Halloween is for posers. Rip a tee to shreds, destroy an entire stick of black eyeliner and make your hair stick on end. Top it off with a pile of costume jewelry and a denim jacket. Fingerless gloves are optional, safety pins are not.

Halloween Traditions

Trick-or-Treating

The practices of “souling” and “guising” in England and Europe during the Middle Ages are believed to be the precursors of the trick-or-treating tradition we know today. In souling, poor children would go from door to door offering prayers to help save the souls of dearly departed relatives in exchange for food or money. In guising, young people would go from door to door costumed as spirits to perform a song, joke or other “trick” in exchange for their “treat.”

Bobbing for Apples

The Celts believed Samhain’s overlap with the spirit world made it the best time to divine the future. It may be this belief and the apple’s symbolic links to fertility that eventually brought forth a courting ritual that involved bobbing for apples. In some versions of the tradition, the apple would have the name of a male suitor on it. If the woman bobbing for the apple was able to bite into it on the first try, the love would last. If she succeeded on the second try, the courtship would begin, but the romance would fade. Three attempts meant the pair were not a match.

Jack-o’-Lanterns

While several origin theories exist, many link this tradition to the Irish myth of Stingy Jack, an evil spirit forced to roam the earth for eternity with just a piece of coal to light his way, which he carried in a carvedout turnip. Storytellers referred to Jack’s specter as “Jack of the Lantern,” eventually becoming “Jack O’Lantern.” To ward off Stingy Jack and other unwelcome spirits, people made their own versions of his lantern using turnips or potatoes, and eventually pumpkins, carved with frightening faces and placed near windows or doors.

Halloween Costumes

Historians trace Halloween’s roots to the Celtic festival of Samhain, during which the Celts believed the dead returned to the earth. Since these ghosts were often thought to cause mischief, some Celts set out food to placate them, while others wore disguises to confuse them, hide from them or scare them off. Costumed villagers would often play out pranks themselves, attributing their “mischief” to the spirits.

Festive DIY Halloween Decor

Halloween Candies

Talk about spooky. Earlier this year, there was talk of a Halloween shortage, but candymaker Hershey says it’s got more than enough candy to meet demand despite milk prices and ingredient shortages. Here’s the lowdown on latest in Halloween treats.

New This Year

The Mars family of brands will release three new products for Halloween — ghoulish green bars for Snickers and Twix, and an M&M’s Mad Scientist Mix. The M&Ms mix brings together milk chocolate, peanut butter and peanut M&Ms in one bag. Look for the new products this fall.

Red Vines is debuting a candy corn flavored candy this year in a special autumn-patterned bag. This limited-edition candy is available only for Halloween.

Nerds Candy Corn isn’t your grandma’s candy corn. Each Nerd Candy Corn kernel has a candy shell with a soft and chewy inside. Flavors include strawberry/grape, strawberry-lemon/blue raspberry and orange/cherry-watermelon.

Tricks and Treats

Skittles Shriekers bring a super sour punch to jack-o-lanterns. These Fun Size Skittles contain the flavors you know and love with a secret super sour Shrieker. Flavors include

Shocking Lime, Spine-Tingling Tangerine, Citrus Scream, Rattled Raspberry and Ghoulish Green Apple.

Hershey’s Vampire Kisses have a bloodred center that’s really gooey strawberry creme. The bat-festooned foil is a great touch, too. Perfect for candy bowls everywhere on Halloween night.

Favorites With a Twist

KitKat always breaks off the fun for Halloween. The Witch’s Brew flavor is a KitKat wafer wrapped in green, marshmallow-flavored cream.

Hershey’s cookies ‘n’ creme goes fangtastic with fun-size fang bars. You can find them in bags on their own or as part of a Halloween shapes assortment with Reese’s pumpkins, Reese’s ghosts, and York peppermint patty pumpkins.

Alternatively, Reese’s dresses up its peanut butter cups a green bottom, calling them Frank-Cups. Add those to your Halloween mix this year for a different take on the perfection that is the peanut butter cup.

M&M’s gets in on cookies ‘n’ creme, pardon, cookies ‘n’ scream. Halloweencolored candies get a chocolate sandwich cookie center. Also look for Twix Cookies & Creme in a fun-size offering to fill up this year’s pumpkins.

Now

that we’ve got costumes for the family, including the pets, it’s time to costume the house, too. Keep reading for some easy ways to DIY your own Halloween decor.

Webs Galore

Pop up a spooky arched entry with some branches and stretchy spider webs. Anchor the two branches on either side of your sidewalk or walkway. Tie the ends together with garden twine, then cover your arch with stretchy webs. Hang spiders and other creepy crawlies off the arch for more scares.

Witchy Ways

Cut witch’s hats out of black construction paper and add them to family portraits. It also works with bats, mice and other spooky critters. For the front door, grab a florist’s foam wreath of any size that works for your door and fill it with black feathers (or purple, or orange. It’s your wreath). Or use a gang of plastic spiders or rats. Let your imagination run creepy.

Googly Gourds

Grab some decorative seasonal gourds on your next grocery run. Affix googly eyes and arrange them in groups around the porch, table, mantle or anywhere else that needs a dose of spooky silliness.

What a Web

Use black twine to make a giant spider’s web on any available wall space. Add foam spiders and other creepies as needed.

Candy Corn Candles

Some may say this is the only acceptable use of candy corn. Take clear glass hurricanes or cylinders and fill about a third of the way with candy corn. Nest a white candle in the center of each. The candy will hold the candles up. Note: Don’t leave the lit candles unattended. Sugar is still flammable.

What Carving?

Wrap your pumpkin in gauze bandages. Put on leftover googly eyes from the gourds. Mummy pumpkin, coming right up!

Bubble, Bubble

Make your Halloween punch extra scary. Put orange and red tissue squares on top of a grapevine wreath. Nestle a black cauldron bowl on top of the paper (it should look like flames) and pour in your favorite punch. Add dry ice for the smoke.

Wine Bottle Candlesticks

Recycle those bottles by painting them matte black and adding taper candles (drippy or not) for a ghoulishly clever and chic Halloween look.

Pumpkin Treats

are a quintessential Halloween ingredient, but these recipes are so good, you may be tempted to have them year round.

Pumpkins

Pumpkin Chili

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium yellow bell pepper, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 15-ounce can solid-pack pumpkin

1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained

3 cups chicken broth

2 1/2 cups cubed cooked turkey

2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add the onion and pepper and cook until tender. Add the garlic and cook one minute longer.

2. Transfer to a five-quart slow cooker and stir in the next 10 ingredients. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. Serve hot.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

2 cups milk

3 large eggs

1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree

Directions

1. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, cloves, ginger and allspice together in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the milk, eggs and pumpkin puree. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until the ingredients are just mixed. Let rest for five minutes.

2. Heat a griddle or nonstick skillet over medium heat. Ladle a ½ cup of batter onto the skillet and cook until the pancakes are golden on the bottom and bubbly on top, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook until the second side is golden brown and the pancake is cooked through.

3. Serve with maple syrup and whipped cream.

Pumpkin Hard Cider Cheese Dip

Ingredients

4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 clove garlic, minced

1 12-ounce bottle hard cider

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Salt, to taste

1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Pinch of cayenne pepper

4 ounces cream cheese, cut into pieces

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Cook the bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat until brown and crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and garlic, stir until incorporated, about two minutes. Whisk in the cider, pumpkin, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, half a teaspoon of salt, pie spice and cayenne. Stir until smooth. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes or until thickened.

3. Gradually whisk in the cream cheese and cheddar until melted and smooth. Transfer to a bowl and top with bacon.

Apeek at the history behind some Halloween habits we know and love!

existing taxes should not be increased, the real issue, in his view, is rather one of “saving the largest natural resource and aquifer we have in New Jersey and not being selfish users.” Paying a permit fee, he maintained, “is the very least we can do” – something he said was done “in many other states” whose “public lands are far more friendly and well managed than Wharton State Forest” or any of New Jersey’s other state forests.

The photographer also disputed the notion that anything is going to be resolved through public meetings, which in the past, he alleged, have just been “loud screaming matches because they are overrun with offroad enthusiasts who want only to run the land over and want no one to interfere with their fun and destructive habits.”

Horner’s remarks, in turn, evoked a number of indignant Facebook replies, such as one from Marlton business owner Josh Street, who called them “absolute bull crap” that was going to result in the public “paying for access to public freaking roads” and another from a motorcycle enthusiast named Aj Haines who said he had been riding in the Wharton Forest for 40-plus years, and “other than areas destroyed by building a giant school complex, pipelines, or cell towers, the woods have never been more vibrant and flourishing.”

Particularly put out by the prospect of any more remote sessions being conducted was Dave Demsey, of the Atco section of Waterford Township (Camden County), the founder of Open Trails NJ, who told this

newspaper that the NJDEP’s apparent plan to hold more virtual meetings on the subject was one he was strongly against, especially since a lot of people had trouble getting into the last one, and comments were shut off and deleted. (According to Shinske, the department anticipates scheduling a second public meeting in early 2023, and it will also be virtual.)

“These meetings need to be in person so they can’t continue to silence the public,” he declared.

Demsey also praised the Waterford Township Council for having unanimously adopted a resolution opposing both the proposed permit system and the virtual meetings to discuss it – a measure he claimed to have suggested and planned to present shortly to the governing bodies of other municipalities that fall within the boundaries of Wharton State Forest as well.

In the meantime, he said, while only a handful of those “NO PERMITS” signs had so far been put up, it was his understanding that the Open Trails organization (which he no longer leads) would soon be coming out with “a couple hundred” that may be made available on request for property owners to display.

For its part, the NJDEP has already made public a listing of queries and comments submitted by attendees at that first virtual meeting — including such questions as, “What is the baseline you are using for what is or is not a road?,” “Who will be involved in deciding what will be done with the results?,” “Why should we need to pay to drive on mapped roads?” and “How will you give every person the attention they need with their questions?”

REDEVELOPMENT

However, a “concern” Rosen shared in his Aug. 26 letter is “how to remove the soils without damaging the buildings” that would not be part of the initial demolition, given it is “assumed that the soils are to be removed to a depth of approximately 6 feet below the present slab elevation.”

“I conclude a limited demolition can occur; however, the depth and extent of the excavation must be controlled to prevent potential damage to the surrounding buildings, the public and the construction personnel,” Rosen wrote.

Following the remediation of the issues described in the Brokerhoff Environmental Report, New Horizon, according to the redevelopment agreement, will have 30 days to “conduct additional investigation and testing” of the property, “and to the extent the redeveloper identifies any new environmental condition which was not previously identified,” the redevelopment agreement can be “terminated.”

Other items discovered through the engineering analysis by Rosen, as outlined in his letter, include “foundation concerns” as well as the potential for “frost heave.”

Essentially, an existing interior footing of the structure is “not” located below a recommended frost depth of 3 feet, while the soil in the area is also “considered to be semi-solid,’” with the latter meaning the soil has the ability to “transfer load in both a vertical and horizontal direction.”

“One cannot excavate to the footing edge and expose the soil directly below the footing,” Rosen wrote. “This would result in the soil moving horizontally or laterally outwards from beneath the footing, resulting in settlement or ultimately failure of the soil below the footing. This would cause the structure to fall or collapse, potentially catastrophically.

“… If we want to excavate 6 feet from the slab, the excavation must slope away from the footing and cannot achieve the required 6-foot depth until it is approximately 10 feet away from the footing. This indicates that not only does one store have to be demolished, but the adjacent store on each side, or three total.”

As for the possibility of frost heave, the engineer explained in his letter that “the term is used when water builds up below a foundation and freezes,” adding, “water, when it freezes, expands,” and that “if this happens” for the existing structure, it will “heave upwards” and “failure” will result.

Typically, he said, to “prevent this

phenomenon,” perimeter foundations are lowered into the ground below the depth of the earth freezing, but that “the issue we have with the existing interior footing, which becomes an exposed exterior footing, is that it will NOT be located below the frost depth.”

“There are two approaches,” Rosen wrote. “The first approach is to lower the existing footing to frost depth by underpinning –pouring sections of concrete on a spread pattern below the existing footing in a time dependent sequence until the entire foundation is lowered to the minus 6-foot elevation. This procedure is labor intensive, time dependent and must be supervised. As such, it is an expensive undertaking. However, it does lower the footing and protect from frost penetration.

“The second option is riskier; however, it comes with minimal cost. The excavation adjacent to the exposed remaining footing is protected and all water sources are directed away from the footing. This would be to cover the soil with plastic tarping, slope the top of the excavation away from the footing, confirm that there are no leaking pipes in the area and route the downspouts away from the foundation. This results in removing water from the soils below the footing. Due to the lack of water, prolonged frost, the fact that the remaining store is unoccupied and slated for future demolition, the potential for damage to the structure is limited.”

However, with the second option, the engineer notes “unfortunately, I cannot guarantee that damage will not occur,” maintaining it will be “a decision for the ownership/township to make.”

According to the redevelopment agreement, prior to closing the sale for the property, New Horizon “shall use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain any and all necessary approvals, permits and other authorizations to undertake a partial demolition of the existing improvements at the property,” and that the redeveloper “shall consult with the Berardis and their environmental consultants to ensure that the existing improvement demolition is sufficient to allow the Berardis to complete all active remediation.”

Following the “existing improvement demolition,” according to the redevelopment agreement, “the township shall compel the Berardis, in accordance with the terms of the remediation agreement, to complete all active remediation.”

Rosen, in his letter, provided his recommendation “that limited demolition and excavation can occur” with the initial demolition phase of the project, and also recommended “that the adjacent store on each side” of the area to be demoed “have

its roof, front wall and rear wall removed.”

“Please note, this recommendation does come with some risk of future damage to the remaining structure,” Rosen added. “In order to eliminate this risk fully, underpinning of the remaining foundation wall can occur.”

Prior to engaging contractors and/or subcontractors for the demolition, according to the redevelopment agreement, the redeveloper “shall share at least three bids from qualified persons for such work,” and “the township shall be permitted to make a selection among such bids.”

“The redeveloper shall utilize the bid selected by the township to perform the existing improvement demolition,” another stipulation states.

Hornickel, on Oct. 19, told this newspaper “it is necessary for a partial demolition of three units of the existing strip mall to enable the former owner to excavate and replace soils contaminated by a former dry-cleaning business.”

“The timing for the demolition of the remainder of the strip mall will be determined by the developer once he files his site plan with the Planning Board,” he added.

A Dairy Queen ice cream shop, as well as a laundromat, are among the last remaining tenants of the shopping center. As called for in the redevelopment agreement, “the redeveloper shall use all commercially reasonable efforts to maintain the current tenants of the property in the 12,450 squarefoot retail building to be constructed.”

The redeveloper, as mandated by the redevelopment agreement, is to offer “right of first offer” to “such tenants,” giving them the ability to “lease the new retail space at then-current market rents.”

“However, to the extent the existing tenants do not sign such lease and require relocation assistance, at closing, the redeveloper shall be solely responsible to reimburse the township for all reasonable and necessary relocation assistance that the township is obligated to pay to displaced persons/business entities and to also reimburse the township for all of its reasonable professional fees incurred in filing a Workable Relocation Assistance Plan with the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA), with providing relocation assistance to displaced persons/business entities and in successfully litigating any appeals filed by displaced persons/business entities regarding the relocation assistance obligations of the township.”

The redeveloper, per the redevelopment agreement, is to apply for a construction building permit for “the vertical improvements on the site” within 90 days

of whichever of these two events occurs the latest: all governmental approvals having been granted or “redeveloper’s (or Berardis’ as applicable) completion of demolition and the completion of the environmental remediation.” After the building permit is issued, “the redeveloper shall have 36 months” to “complete the project.”

“Notwithstanding the timeline set forth above, in the event that a prospective tenant for the grocery store has not been approved by the township in advance of closing, then the aforementioned timeline shall be applicable to all project improvements other than the grocery store, and with respect to the grocery store the following schedule shall apply: (1) commencement of construction to occur within 60 days following the later to occur of (a) township’s approval of the grocery store tenant, and (b) receipt of any and all governmental approvals (excluding building permits) necessary for the grocery store tenant’s build-to-suit construction; (2) completion of construction within 36 months following commencement of construction.”

Closing of the sale of the property to New Horizon, according to the redevelopment agreement, is to occur within 30 days of “all governmental approvals and the satisfaction of all other preconditions to closing.”

“Closing shall take place at 10 a.m. at the offices of the redeveloper’s attorney,” it is added, with a time agreed upon despite no hard date.

The redevelopment agreement also contains a “financial incentive” for the redeveloper in which New Horizon “will be eligible to apply for and to participate in the tax exemption and abatement program” as outlined in Pemberton code. However, the redeveloper “is obligated to comply with and pay a non-residential development fee” in accordance with state law.

The redeveloper “shall not” without “prior written consent” of the township

“effect or permit any change, directly or indirectly” in the “ownership or control of the redeveloper.”

Another clause of the redevelopment agreement allows the redeveloper to “suspend its obligation” for 12 months should there be “moratorium” placed on the project by any governmental agency, or in the event of an “impediment.”

“The ball is rolling nicely on this project,” declared Patriarca in celebrating council’s approval of the redevelopment agreement.

“Even though it seems like it is taking forever, and most of us would agree with that – that is what these projects do. There is no fast lane for these types of projects. You just don’t buy it and build it. It doesn’t happen that way. So, we are moving forward. I thank council for their support.”

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