Pine Barrens Tribune October 8, 2022-October 14, 2022

‘WE SEE NO LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL’

That Is What Medford’s Neighborhood Services Director Wrote Last Month to Republic Services in Leveraging ‘Considerable’ Liquidated Damages Against the Hauler for Not Collecting on Time, with the Vendor Threatening Legal Recourse if Town Continues to ‘Stand Tall’ with Its Decision

Emails Reveal That as Two Officials Claimed Publicly Situation Improved to Only Half-Day Delays, Manager Had Been Told Otherwise, and Also Suggest Leadership Didn’t Have Copies of Contract

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

MEDFORD—Republic Services, a private trash hauler that has been struggling for the last several months to collect trash as scheduled in Medford Township, leading to a “debacle,” has now been hit with “considerable” or

“catastrophic” liquidated damages by the municipality, according to the latest round of public records obtained last week by this newspaper through an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request.

Anthony Spirito, a general manager for the regional office of Republic, in an email reply to the township, is now threatening

legal recourse if the township continues to “stand tall” with its decision, or what he says amounts to “fining us 2x the amount that we contractually bill you for service,” calling it “a bit much.”

Some sort of business meeting, the public records reveal, was supposed to have

Several Area Municipalities Say They Are Now Required to Create Insurance ‘Registry’ for Businesses, Rental Units Little-Known Law Signed by Governor in August Requires Business Owners, Landlords File Certificates of Insurance, Maintain $300-500K in Liability Coverage

By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—When Southampton Township entertained the mere thought back in 2016 of creating some form of a business registry, or possibly handing out licenses to businesses to operate, it quickly led to controversy.

The concerns ranged from the ability (or inability, for that matter) to enforce such a provision to pitting neighbor-againstneighbor, imposing another cost or hurdle on businesses and governmental intrusion.

The idea that was ultimately tossed aside back then by the Southampton Township Committee, however, is now back on the table again in Southampton for consideration, but not by choice, according to Southampton Mayor Michael Mikulski, rather the result of a little-known piece of legislation enacted by Democratic Governor Phil Murphy over the summer, following the Legislature’s June 29 approval before a summer recess.

Senate Bill S-1368 (with the Assembly companion bill being A-2687), which, according to the governor’s office, “requires business owners and rental unit owners to maintain certain liability insurance policies,” was signed into law by Murphy on Aug. 5.

The Pine Barrens Tribune, now apparently

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari Trash carts for Republic Service along a Medford Township street.

By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON BOROUGH—A

candidate for Pemberton Borough Council, who is known in the community for cleaning up litter on her own volition as a volunteer, making her rounds with a safety vest and five-gallon bucket, slammed local officials during a Sept. 19 council meeting for not expeditiously attending to a discarded diaper that had been reportedly left streetside for around a month.

The diaper explained resident Diane Fanucci, also a Republican candidate for borough council, was discarded near the corner of Early and Egbert streets.

“Finally, the diaper has been picked up at the end of this street,” declared Fanucci inside the council chamber located at 50 Egbert Street, noting the diaper was discarded near 70 Egbert. “I tried to get somebody to pick this diaper up for a month, and finally I got somebody to pick it up –that should not happen. I should not have to come here, and call and call, and say, ‘Could somebody please pick this diaper up?’”

Fanucci declared that she “was not doing it” and that she has “a limit to what I want to put in my five-gallon bucket.”

“And a diaper is not one of the things I want to put in there!” she maintained. “So, please, can people just start having eyes? We have two guys (in Public Works), they have eyes – they should have picked that up on their own without me having to harp on them for a month.”

Fanucci also critiqued the ongoing rehabilitation of the local Freemason building, calling it a “mess out front.”

“I brought this up many times,” she declared. “If we can get these guys to keep it a little less destructive looking when they are rehabbing and have them pick things up …,” Fanucci asserted.

And houses undergoing rehabilitation, she added, should be required to have their front yards “get re-sodded.”

“Because they look disgusting still!” Fanucci maintained. “And they are still not cutting their strips! I don’t know how you can pay over $300,000 for a house and not care about the actual grass in the front. That is about the fifth time I have brought this up!”

In “another thing I have brought up for years,” Fanucci maintained it is the “state law” that both households and businesses recycle. Yet, she maintained, there are several businesses that have recyclables mixed with trash in their dumpsters.

“I was over at Elly’s (Premium Laundry) yesterday cleaning that parking lot, and their trash can, as usual, was over and above the top, with bottles and cans clearly visible,” she said. “There is no recycling there for customers. I don’t think they have recycling in the back either – just dumpsters. The same for USA Gas across the street. There is never a recycling container there, so I am sure everything is going in the trash.”

Fanucci maintained it is not a matter of her “just being nitpicky,” but that the borough “gets credit” for its recycling tonnage.

“We should be adding to that tonnage with these businesses,” the GOP council candidate declared. “And again, it is a state law. … So maybe our new recycling coordinator will hop on the bandwagon, I hope.”

Fanucci also demanded to know the “status of our new ‘Welcome to Pemberton Borough’ signs,” maintaining the existing ones have blue paint “flicking off them” and “are hard to read.”

“Do we have any update on that?” she asked.

The officials and councilmembers in

the room looked at each other in a state of confusion. Ultimately, Council President Bonnie Haines asked, “Who told you we were getting new ones?”

Despite Fanucci recounting a discussion and maintaining “it is going to be in your minutes somewhere,” officials, including Haines, maintained they did not recall such a conversation ever occurring.

“Not since I have been sitting here,” said Councilman Robert Brock, with Fanucci pointing out that the councilman could have been absent when the discussion was held.

Brock added that he thought the existing signs were installed some six or seven years ago.

Fanucci insisted, however, “I was told this, standing up here, the last time I brought it up.”

“Someone told you we were going to get new ones – not me,” retorted Pemberton Borough Mayor Harold Griffin. “I don’t remember this conversation, and that we ever had it.”

Haines said new signs are “not something earmarked in the budget for this year,” so they are “something that has to be discussed.”

Officials agreed to add it to their “wish list” and have further discussion. Fanucci then presented council with a “landlordtenant” agreement she had put together.

Also giving borough council a souvenir of sorts to ponder over was former borough councilman Robin Mosher, who presented the public body with a historic plate with an image of the “old Pemberton high school, which most of us know stood right here at one time.” The plate, he said, was being donated by the Emmons family to be hung in the municipal building.

Mosher also teased an upcoming presentation planned for October’s borough council meeting in which the names of 57 people will be added to the borough Honor Roll, or a memorial in the borough recognizing local, fallen U.S. service members. He requested that “extra chairs” be added in the council chambers in anticipation of a large turnout.

It will also be Borough Administrator and Clerk Donna Mull’s final meeting, before she is sent off to retirement.

In the meantime, council passed an ordinance adopting an administrative code, or what Serlin described as “setting forth the framework for municipal government” and detailing “how the government functions.”

“So, it tells who does what up here in government,” Serlin said.

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By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

LITTLE EGG HARBOR—The legitimacy and expense of a billboard advertising various services offered by the Pinelands Regional School District was called into question during a residents’ forum at the Sept. 19 meeting of the Pinelands Regional Board of Education by a former Little Egg Harbor School District (LEHSD) employee who had previously used the exact same sign to oppose regionalization and call for the removal of the superintendent, Dr. Melissa McCooley.

Why it was necessary for a taxpayer-funded public school to promote its services on this particular billboard, which is located outside the district on Route 9 in Stafford Township, for a cost estimated by McCooley at $1,700 (for an unspecified period) when it can do the same on Facebook for free, and what right the superintendent had to authorize it without getting prior board approval were among the questions raised at the meeting by Stephanie Johnson, who disclosed to the Pine Barrens Tribune that she has now filed an Employment Disability Discrimination lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the Little Egg Harbor District, over her dismissal as a paralegal at the Robert C. Wood Preschool last February.

McCooley, who also works for the LEHSD under a shared services agreement, is named as a defendant in the suit, which was filed by the Bensalem, Pa. law firm of Karpf, Karpf & Cerutti on Sept. 7.

Johnson also questioned why the billboard at issue was allowed to carry the name and

Photo By Bill Bonvie

(one of two primary school districts now being considered for consolidation with Pinelands Regional), since the latter offers none of the services being touted in its message under the slogan “HERE 2 HELP,” which include family therapy, prevention services, crisis intervention, and student success services, as well as “Wildcat Shack,” clothing and food, and a Pathways program for 18-to-21-year-olds.

“She (McCooley) just can’t say I’m going to put up a billboard with a website on it, unless it is her own billboard and her own website, correct?” Johnson asked.

In response to Johnson’s queries, McCooley maintained that the billboard “did not need prior board approval,” as “it is part of our advertising campaign,” the cost of which was subsequently included in a list of bills that are routinely submitted to the board and approved.

“It is my prerogative as the superintendent to advertise anything with the school district that I see fit,” she contended.

Johnson, whose husband, Christopher, earlier this year initiated an online petition calling for the termination of McCooley’s shared services contract, which was termed “slanderous” at the time by the superintendent (and which, according to Johnson, has so far garnered about 200 viable signatures and another 179 or so that require verification, but nowhere near the stated goal of at least 750), wasn’t the only speaker at the meeting to take the district administrator to task, however.

In remarks that preceded the dispute over the billboard, another resident, Laura Erber, who identified herself as a friend of veteran

LRHSD Retains ‘Armed Security Officer’ to Have Daily Presence at Seneca Due to Coverage Gaps in State Trooper School Resource Officer’s Schedule

By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

SHAMONG—A “security services agreement” between the K.D. National Force Security & Investigations Agency and Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) was approved on Sept. 21 by the Lenape Regional High School District Board of Education, or what will reportedly allow for an “armed security officer” to now be present during the school day at the district’s Seneca High School in Tabernacle Township.

All of the LRHSD’s four high schools have long benefitted from the presence of a School Resource Officer (SRO), but Seneca is the only district school that is within an area patrolled by the New Jersey State Police, rather than a local police department.

The local Red Lion Barracks of the state police has traditionally had a State Trooper designated as an SRO, but that individual reportedly travels at times to the other elementary and middle schools in the barrack’s patrol area, which includes Shamong, Southampton, Tabernacle and Woodland townships, meaning there has been coverage gaps at Seneca.

This newspaper has also recently reported that the Red Lion station of the state police has experienced some sort of manpower issues of late, as described by officials in both Southampton and Woodland townships, which are reportedly struggling to get State Troopers

to address speeding issues there.

The LRHSD board did not comment during its Sept. 21 meeting about the agreement, nor did any of the district administrators attending the session.

However, Allyson Roberts, a district spokeswoman, in a response to an inquiry about it from this newspaper, provided an email sent to parents and guardians by Seneca Principal Brad Bauer.

“I am happy to report that the Lenape Regional High School District has entered (into) a new security services agreement with K.D. National Force Security & Investigations Agency to ensure Seneca High School has a consistent and dedicated armed presence,” the high school principal wrote. “During its annual review of safety and security measures, the district identified the opportunity to add an armed security officer to Seneca High School to ensure there are never gaps in protection, especially when the assigned New Jersey State Police School Resource Officer (NJSP SRO) is tending to one of the area elementary or middle schools.”

Bauer maintained the “new security officer” will be “present in our school every day” and “will provide an additional layer of security while working with the staff, administration and the NJSP SRO.”

“The safety and security of our students and staff continue to be our highest priority,” he maintained, directing those with any questions about the arrangement to contact him directly.

Woodland Committee Decides to Purchase Radar Speed Signage for Chatsworth Village After Crash That Killed Three Pedestrians

By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

WOODLAND—The Woodland Township Committee has decided to purchase two solar radar feedback speed signs for two access points to the Village of Chatsworth, or the downtown section of the municipality, just days after a freak accident in town killed three pedestrians, as well as injured several others.

In moving to purchase the signs during a Sept. 28 Woodland Township Committee workshop meeting, Woodland Mayor William “Billy” DeGroff referenced the accident. He raised the accident again during a regular township committee meeting that followed the workshop in informing those who just came on to the phone call (Woodland still holds its sessions by telephone) of the governing body’s decision to purchase the signs.

New Jersey State Police have yet to reveal the cause of the crash on County Route 532, also known as Barnegat Road, which

intersects with County Route 563, but the mayor, in the two occasions he brought up the crash, mentioned it occurred in the area where there has been an ongoing issue with “drag racing.”

This newspaper reported last week that three men, all of whom Facebook postings indicated shared a passion for cars, had made an ill-fated attempt to push a stalled car off Barnegat Road around 11:25 p.m. on Sept. 24 when they were struck by a Nissan Maxima that was traveling west.

The three men, identified as Dion Cardell, 50, of the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township, Michael Stull, 46, of Hamilton Township, Mercer County, and Brian Blaszka, 36, of the Forked River section of Lacey Township, Ocean County, were fatally injured while standing behind a Ford Mustang that had reportedly stopped in the road.

The Nissan then impacted the rear of the Ford before entering the eastbound lane and

The billboard on Route 9 in Stafford Township that is now being used to advertise various services offered by the Pinelands Regional School District, and which carries the name and logo of the Little Egg Harbor School District as well, at a reported cost of $1,700 for an unspecified period.

PEMBERTON—A 55-year-old Pemberton Township woman pled guilty Sept. 28 to driving while impaired and causing the death of a teenage motorist late last year during a headon collision that occurred after drinking at a bar located in the Browns Mills section of the municipality.

Under an agreement with the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, Wanda Sprague, of Pemberton-Browns Mills Road, pled guilty to one count of firstdegree aggravated manslaughter in exchange for a term of eight years in state prison.

The plea was entered in Superior Court in Mount Holly before Judge Philip E. Haines, who scheduled sentencing for Nov. 16.

Pemberton Township Woman Pleads Guilty to Driving While Impaired, Causing Fatal Crash that Killed Teen Driver; Agrees to 8 Years in Prison Sprague

In addition to the criminal charges, Sprague agreed to plead guilty to driving while intoxicated, which is a motor vehicle summons.

The investigation into Sprague began on Dec. 16 of last year after officers from the Pemberton Township Police Department were dispatched to the area of Lakehurst Road and

SIGNAGE

(Continued from Page 3)

striking a fourth, unidentified pedestrian who sustained minor injuries, according to a preliminary accident report released by Sgt. Philip Curry of the state police’s Public Information Unit. The force of the impact, he said, was sufficient to push the Ford into the trees on the side of the road, with the drivers of both vehicles, who were also not identified, sustaining minor injuries as well.

The cause of the crash, according to the state police, is still officially under investigation. A state police spokesman, when queried by this newspaper if drag racing was in any way involved in the incident, again replied that the cause of the crash is under investigation.

DeGroff, during the Sept. 28 Woodland committee workshop meeting, the first session of the governing body since the fatal accident, noted that he had talked with Township Administrator and Clerk Maryalice Brown about purchasing “radar signs” for the downtown area.

Brown then explained that she called around and received estimates, all of which were in the $3,500 to $3,800 range for one fixture set, consisting of a post, standard speed limit sign with the posted speed limit, a solar panel, battery and a “radar thing that

Rancocas Lane for a report of a motor vehicle accident at approximately 9:15 p.m.

The investigation determined that the headlights on Sprague’s Chrysler 300 were not illuminated when she crashed head on into a Nissan Sentra being driven by Kayla Bowen, 17, also of Pemberton Township.

Bowen was pronounced dead at the scene.

The investigation further determined that Sprague had been consuming alcohol prior to the crash at the Country Lakes Pub and Grill in Browns Mills, and reached a speed exceeding 90 mph prior to the collision.

Her blood alcohol concentration following the collision was registered at .188, more than twice the legal limit.

Sprague told the court she had no recollection of the collision, according to the prosecutor’s office. From a wheelchair, she reportedly said she has had several surgeries, with more scheduled, and might need to have a foot amputated.

shows what your speed is.”

Of the firms Brown contacted, she said one deals with state contracts, and, “I don’t even need to worry about the rest.”

That particular firm, she noted, offered the municipality two fixture sets for $6,654.20, which includes shipping and handling, as well as a three-year warranty.

“I am good with that,” DeGroff declared.

“Do we need to get approval from the county before putting them up on a county road?”

The mayor ultimately explained that he would like for one to be posted at the “north end” of the village, or on County Route 563, as one comes into town from Route 72, and one on the “south end” of the village, or on County Route 563, as one comes into town from Washington and Bass River townships.

Township Solicitor William Burns replied to the mayor that both he and Township Engineer Tom Leisse would “follow up with the County Engineer’s Office,” but that he believed that it “should not be a problem.”

“I would just want to get their blessing beforehand, but it should be OK,” Burns added.

DeGroff asserted that “hopefully” the signs “will help” to calm reported speeding in town, before adding, “I don’t know what else we can do.”

Deputy Mayor Mark Herndon asked if the solar radar feedback speed signs “are effective” and if there was any “data” to support their effectiveness.

“I think if we can get people’s attention and they see how fast they are actually going, maybe they will slow down,” DeGroff replied. “I really don’t know what else to do. Because, obviously, Red Lion (or the Red Lion Barracks of the state police) doesn’t have the manpower to have officers out here. And seeing what happened this past weekend, and that was a problem I think we all knew was going to happen one of these days because of the racing, I think it is worth a shot.”

DeGroff asked Herndon is he was “alright” in moving forward with purchasing the signs, with Committeewoman Donna Mull said to be absent from the session due to a “medical situation.”

“It is a lot of money,” Herndon responded. “When I see one of those things, I glance down to make sure I am not going too fast, but I am still speeding. ‘Do they work?’, is my question.”

DeGroff maintained that he believed such signs “work to a point to get people’s attention.”

“Hopefully, some people realize that and slow down,” the mayor declared.

Brown added that if one comes into the village from the south, or is “coming from the bogs,” there are “no streets, lights or towns (downtown areas) for several miles” and it is easy for a motorist to be “just cruising along.”

“It might be a good thing to just to bring awareness,” the township administrator declared.

DeGroff pointed out that “rumble strips” are another option the township can pursue to calm traffic, though putting them on any county road would require the county’s permission. That point caused Brown to point out she did not hear back on a previous inquiry pertaining to adding rumble strips.

“I guess we will go ahead with it (the radar feedback speed signs),” Herndon said. “I don’t want to wait or dither – either we do it or don’t do it. But I can see the wisdom in having them there – it’s just a lot of money if they turn out to be not real effective, that is all. But I am for it.”

Brown raised the possibility of only purchasing one fixture for this year, and holding off on purchasing a second next year, recommending the priority be to put one at the “south end” of the village due to her belief vehicles are “flying up from Bass River, and the bogs.”

But DeGroff asserted his belief that the township has “more of an issue on the north

end than the south end.”

“Once the vehicles clear Savoy Boulevard, and come into town, they are doing 60 mph or better coming in, so if we are going to do it, I suggest doing both (ends),” the mayor asserted.

Leisse maintained he was “in agreement” because the “general wisdom is doing something is better than doing nothing.”

“Sometimes people are not paying attention to how fast they are going,” Leisse said.

The speed limit on County Route 563 is 50 mph, until you enter the village, when it drops to 40 mph. Then, in the densest part of the downtown, between a stretch that runs from about the Chatsworth firehouse to around the municipal building, the speed limit dips to 30 mph with three speed humps with a suggested speed limit of only 15 mph.

“They do get your attention, and some people come over the bridge coming into town (from the north end), and they are flying,” said DeGroff, whose residence is located within the 40 mph stretch. “Maybe we should put something right where the 40 mph starts to get their attention to slow down.”

Herndon replied that he was “good with that,” with the purchase then approved by a 2-0 vote.

During the subsequent regular township committee, which is attended by far more members of the public, DeGroff informed those just joining the call that, “As done in the workshop, we are purchasing speed signs for each end of town that will be solar operated.”

“Hopefully, that will get people’s attention and slow vehicle traffic down a little bit,” he said.

Then, during DeGroff’s committee report, the very last item of the regular meeting, the mayor raised the issue again.

“If you attended the workshop meeting, we are purchasing speed signs through town, they will be solar operated,” DeGroff explained. “The signs will have the posted speed limit on it and then flash the speed of the vehicle going by.

“I know there is an issue with speeding in town, and hopefully this could help, or will help. I know we really don’t have a big law enforcement presence here. Like I said, over the weekend there was a very serious accident on Route 532, Barnegat Road, in the area where I believe they have been drag racing. The state police have been made aware of it – about the issues out there.”

DELAYS

occurred around Sept. 8 to Sept. 13 between township representatives and local Republic management to further discuss what had been merely just threats of levying liquated damages against Republic, but then the township apparently upped the ante against the private hauler beforehand by actually hitting the firm with $127,200 in liquated damages on Sept. 7, one day after a Medford Township Council meeting had taken place.

This newspaper has been unable to confirm, as of press time, whether the parties actually ever met as planned last month, with Republic representatives not returning this newspaper’s messages for comment on this story, and Burger, when queried via email, replying, “This matter has been referred to legal.”

Sending such liquated damages to the hauler, however, is a move with very high stakes at present, not only because taxpayers would foot the bill for any legal battle, but also because Burger acknowledged last month that other haulers in the area have not returned the township’s calls, and due to ongoing supply chain issues, there are only about a dozen new trash trucks available in the entire country right now, in addition to another official pointing to a manpower shortage in the U.S., which would likely result

in the town having recruitment troubles of its own should it actually move to bring collection back in-house.

One of the questions this newspaper posed to Spirito via email, which received no response, is whether Republic would abruptly stop servicing Medford should there be a continued dispute over monies.

Richard Parks, director of Medford’s Department of Neighborhood Services, had already informed Burger on Aug. 24 that Republic “submitted an invoice for August” and despite being asked by the hauler that it be processed, maintained “we should hold this payment as well until their performance improves.”

That is when Parks first requested that the township manager review a “list of liquidated damages,” at the time proposing a “grand total” of $262,200 for August. A couple of days later, he upped the grand total to $308,700, and in a breakdown, said the “monthly assessment” portion is $127,200.

Parks told the township manager the liquated damage figures he derived were based on a clause in the contract that states, “failure to complete a route or portion thereof,” calling Republic’s performance “poor.” However, he ultimately recognized that “as some calls report the same street or neighborhood on the same day, I am not sure we can hit them twice for failure to collect.”

When deciding Sept. 7 to hit Republic with liquidated damages, Parks left out the

portion of the outline showing damages beyond the monthly assessment, only going with $127,200.

The levying on Sept. 7 of the liquidated damages against Republic, which Parks recognized in the Aug. 22 email would lead to “pushback from Republic,” isn’t the only thing this newspaper learned through its review of the new dump last week of over 1,000 pages of public records related to trash collection.

One email exchange obtained by this newspaper calls into question whether any of Medford’s five councilmembers had ever been given copies of the contract with Republic before or after it was approved and signed, with the township manager (also the township clerk) suggesting she did not even have a copy as part of her records, while others reveal Republic officials have been resorting to problematic paper maps. Additionally, the public was apparently misled to at least some extent during a Sept. 6 council meeting about the state of affairs with Republic.

Medford Township Mayor Charles “Chuck” Watson, during the Sept. 6 council meeting, said the municipality was only having “half-day” late collections, with Burger adding, “We can deal with that.”

“We can’t deal with what happened a few weeks ago,” added Burger, with this newspaper previously pointing out that the remarks from the township’s two top officials had contradicted the municipality’s own social media messaging.

But now this newspaper has learned that Burger, at 8:49 p.m. on Sept. 6, following the 7 p.m. council meeting, wrote to Parks via email, sent from her iPhone, “I got the following from Councilwoman Kochan. I think it was most of the west side of Tamarac, Woodthrush, the courts, Foxwood, Heath, etc.”

Parks, at 8:52 p.m. on that Tuesday night, replied, “Is she reporting that all that was missed on Friday and not recovered today?”, to which the township manager answered, “Yes.”

The following morning, the Neighborhood Services director wrote to Republic representatives, asking that they review the below email from Burger and that “she has a councilwoman reporting areas of Friday’s routes that were incomplete last week and not recovered today.”

Additionally, prior to the Sept. 6 council meeting commencing, at 2:31 p.m., a resident of the unit block of Sweet Gum Court had filed a complaint through the township website, a copy of which was sent to Burger, reporting that “our issue is that our normal trash (all of Sweet Gum Court) has not been picked up by Republic Services for TWO WEEKS.”

“This is UNACCEPTABLE,” the resident wrote. “Republic Services needs to pick up our trash NOW. Otherwise, the township should make the appropriate arrangements to have our street trash picked up.”

That complaint was in addition to one emailed directly to Parks on Sept. 2 by a resident of the unit block of Fawn Court,

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notice

reporting that there had only been one trash pickup in his area since Aug. 4.

“Our scheduled pickup is Thursday (yesterday), but it was not picked up yesterday,” the resident wrote. “Nor was it picked up last week, August 25th. In fact, the last time our trash was picked up was (I believe) August 17th – yes that’s a Wednesday because our trash was not picked up at all the previous week (Aug. 11). So, we’ve had our trash picked up once since Aug. 4th!”

It is unclear why Medford’s two top officials had described to the public on Sept. 6 that trash collection was only delayed by a halfday, in contradiction to the content of the emails obtained by this newspaper.

But the day following the Sept. 6 council meeting is when Parks had emailed Spirito the $127,200 portion of the liquidated damages, and in a rebuttal to Spirito’s immediate pushback, wrote, “the township manager and I have discussed this ongoing issue and we see no light at the end of the tunnel.”

“We continue to hear the same story over and over and something has to give,” Parks added. “After a review of Republic’s performance and the number of complaints we have received, the amount could be nearly three times what was assessed, based on the contract language.”

Parks maintained that “township officials were willing to meet with your team, specifically to deal with this and you felt that a meeting was not necessary as improvements were being made.”

Spirito retorted that he did respond (the records provided to this newspaper show that someone responded on his behalf that he was away on vacation and would respond when he got back, which he did, on Sept. 1) and then offered to meet, initially proposing Sept. 8, with the emails showing additional coordination taking place to make the meeting happen sometime around Sept. 13.

Parks, in presenting the liquidated damages to Spirito and showing how he derived a figure of $127,200 for August, wrote, in part, that “during the month of August, the township received many complaints from residents reporting that trash was not collected in some areas for several weeks” and that “there were reports of missed collections received daily; some of which took several days to recover.”

“Ongoing collection delays were reported by Republic Services daily that resulted from staff shortages, miscommunication from Republic supervisors to route drivers, equipment breakdowns, and mapping issues,” Parks added. “Medford Township has been patient and has also assisted with collections using our staff with a borrowed vehicle from a neighboring town. The township has done everything possible to help Republic get back on track, yet we continue to experience delays on an everyday basis.”

Parks warned the general manager of Republic that “Medford Township will

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Pinelands shop teacher Howard Berry, upbraided McCooley for engaging in what she termed “the recent character assault” on Berry, a teacher she described as “beloved” by his students and an employee “who has proven himself to be exemplary in his tenure here at Pinelands.”

Erber, who was elected to the LEHT school board along with Berry, who was her running mate (although she emphasized that her remarks were not intended in any official capacity) and who, coincidentally, is also named as a defendant in Stephanie Johnson’s lawsuit, was referring to a “personnel matter” that Berry had wanted aired in public, as opposed to in an executive session, back during the August school board meeting. The hearing involved accusations against the shop teacher for trespassing and unauthorized use of district property while the high school was closed for the summer, allegations that the Little Egg Harbor Police Department was reportedly asked to investigate, although no criminal charges were subsequently found to be “appropriate,” according to an LEHPD spokesman.

It was Berry’s position that what he was doing at the school, when discovered there by Principal Troy Henderson, and his having included a personal order in a shipment of specialized wood the school received from a supplier, was all to help him prepare to build a massive trophy case for the school, a project he had been specifically requested to undertake at an estimated savings to the district of nearly $25,000. But McCooley, while conceding that Berry was a very skilled carpenter who had in fact been asked by the athletic director to build the trophy case, said that his being on the premises without permission and working with some special equipment to make kitchen cabinets (reportedly for his daughter) in order to become more proficient at using it posed a “safety concern,” and that his including wood for his personal use in the school’s order was also a violation of district rules.

Erber, in a vigorous defense of the shop teacher, cited several services she claimed he had performed for the district on a voluntary basis, including assembling a greenhouse “that the Special Education Department had ordered through a grant but could not figure out how to put together” and using his own equipment and free time to build dikes and dams for a bog behind the high school to allow science experiments to be done there and cross-country runners to traverse the area, as well as spending his own money on a $2,500 device that can read specialized software in order to create specific designs and wood finishes.

“Mr. Berry is an employee with an impeccable record of helping people with his own time and money, and it is ridiculous that the administration wasted time and money to attack this man’s reputation in this way,” she contended.

She also asked why he was “not given the benefit of the doubt as a loyal and respected teacher in the district” and whether the Pinelands board was made aware of the complaint to the police, which she maintained it should have.

Erber then asked that McCooley and Henderson be required to expunge any letters from Berry’s file related to this matter and that should he be asked to complete the task of building the trophy case, “this board seriously consider extra compensation for his

time after school hours because, heaven knows, he deserves it.”

While Erber’s comments elicited nothing in the way of response from the Pinelands board, such was not the case with Stephanie Johnson, whose remarks were gaveled on two occasions during a heated exchange with Pinelands Board President Betti Anne McVey, who repeatedly accused Johnson of talking over her.

McVey began by asking Johnson if all the questions she had “were committed in writing to us,” to which Johnson responded that she had sent emails to both the Pinelands and Little Egg Harbor school boards, “but never got a reply back.”

The Pinelands board president then denied receiving any such email and proceeded to become mired in an argument with Johnson over the latter’s alleged violations of meeting protocol.

“May I speak?” McVey finally asked in a seemingly exasperated tone. “Can I get a complete thought out without being interrupted?”

Johnson replied, “I guess so,” to which McVey responded, “You ‘guess so?’ Then I won’t answer!”

That led Johnson to retort, “Which I didn’t think you would anyway because you don’t have the answers and you guys aren’t transparent!”

Johnson added that she would just file an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request, and “I probably won’t get it, I’ll get another extension, so I’ll look forward to that.”

McVey, however, did manage to get in the last word during the board forum that followed by claiming that the public relations campaign referred to by McCooley, which the latter indicated will include a “commercial” depicting “all the great things Pinelands has to offer,” is something the board has been working on for years, even prior to her becoming superintendent.

“Every board knows how important it is to get good information out there,” McVey asserted. “And while bad information spreads like wildfire, good information needs a little bit of help.”

By way of an example, McVey then cited something initially mentioned by McCooley during the superintendent’s report—an occurrence during graduation ceremonies in which a Pinelands alumnus who went on to become an emergency medical technician, Savannah Stephenson, successfully revived a spectator who had suffered cardiac arrest.

Stephenson, who was given a citation and an opportunity to speak, noted that she has since been in contact with the woman she saved, who is “alive and doing very well.”

In other business, McCooley announced that the district will be conducting strategic planning sessions this fall, on Oct. 11, Nov. 15, and Dec. 5 at 5 p.m. in the high school media center, with online participation also an option via Zoom. The superintendent added that she hoped a lot of stakeholders would take part in the sessions, which are “where we plan for the next five years to see what things we want the district to move forward with and where we want to go.”

The superintendent also introduced Olivia Benson, a Pinelands senior and president of the Student Council, as the council’s representative on the board, noting that she would be sharing the responsibility of attending meetings with other council members if she is unable to be present.

Calls to the superintendent were not returned by press time.

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continue to assess liquated damages daily until trash collection can be completed daily, without delay.” September’s possible assessments were not mentioned in the exchanges obtained by this newspaper.

“While I completely understand that our lack of service warrants some sort of penalty, fining us 2x the amount that we contractually bill you for service seems to be a bit much,” retorted Spirito, with Republic otherwise due to receive $870,477 for 2022 collections per the contract. “As I explained at our last face-toface meeting, we understood our challenges and expected them to continue for a few more weeks until we had trained employees signed off to run routes. We will continue to have our struggles until we are fully-staffed, but feel we are making progress in this area.”

Spirito then asked Parks to “reconsider” the liquated damages, and if done, “we would consider a reasonable amount to be withheld.”

“But I cannot accept this liquated damages as presented,” Spirito contended. “If you wish to stand tall on this amount, I will have to get our legal department involved.”

That Sept. 7 presentation of damages to the general manager of Republic occurred despite Spirito having agreed on Sept. 1 to hold a meeting with Medford officials to discuss the liquated damages. Parks, in response to Spirito’s Sept. 7 plea for a reconsideration, deferred to Burger, declaring, “If she feels this number should be revised, an adjustment will be made.”

“However, at this time, I feel the assessment is warranted and I believe the assessment should stand,” Parks added. “I am sure the township manager will respond to your email in the near future.”

Burger, as the public records reveal, then wrote a response to Spirito, but first asked Parks to review it before she sent it. Ultimately, she sent the response with Park’s OK.

“When we met on July 27th, you explained the issues Republic was experiencing and asked us to hang in there for a few more

weeks to allow new drivers to be trained and assigned to Medford,” wrote Burger on Sept. 7. “You told us about the tablets you would be distributing to the drivers and how that was going to streamline the collection of the routes. The week of August 8th trash collection completely derailed in Medford Township and your staff from drivers to management could not account for trash pickup throughout the township.

“There were several neighborhoods that had not had their trash collected in over two weeks. Since our meeting in July, Republic Services has yet to have a day in weeks where an entire trash route was collected. You have been copied on a majority of emails regarding the issues, as well as me calling you several times without a response. Supervisors have been in multiple trainings instead of overseeing trash collection. You were entertaining Republic representatives from Arizona and taking a vacation, while the residents of Medford were not having their trash collected for weeks at a time. As Rich Parks stated, the township borrowed a trash truck from a neighboring town and collected routes to pickup trash that had been sitting for weeks and trying to assist Republic with collections.”

Burger declared that if Spirito feels the need to contact his legal team, “then that is your prerogative.”

“The bid specs/contract were clear on liquidated damages that can be imposed if services are not provided as contracted,” the township manager added.

Burger contended that Spirito initially “responded” that he “‘did not think there was a reason to meet,’” when asked in late August to have a meeting to discuss what had been proposed liquidated damages.

As another Sept. 1 email exchange with Parks revealed, there was an apparent phone call with Spirito that day when the Neighborhood Services director warned in writing “after a review of the past few weeks’ performance, we have determined that Republic Services could be subject to a considerable amount of liquidated damages.”

The contents of the phone call led the Neighborhood Services director to later write to Spirito, “At this time, I believe we

can move forward without having a meeting with the understanding that if Republic’s performance is not satisfactory for any period of time, a meeting will be called by the township and Republic must attend within a 24-hour period.” Parks, in that email, initially warned Spirito proposed liquidated damages are “well over $200,000.”

“Rich, understood,” Spirito replied. “Please keep in mind, when we last met, we did state we were a few weeks away from new hires being signed off from training … we are starting to gain traction on staffing, including three more employees being signed off in the next week. We knew we would continue to have staffing challenges; however, we have identified that we need to be better with our understanding of failure and recovery. That is what led to the most recent hiccups.”

After Spirito previewed a number of administrative changes, he added, “we truly understand the unnecessary pain our customers are going through due to the service issues and we have been working diligently to staff up with the right front line employees and the right leadership team.”

The period of records provided to this newspaper on Sept. 28 covered up through Sept. 16, with no further reply from Spirito included in the batch.

As for the use of paper maps, Denise Monell-Clark, an operations manager for Republic, acknowledged in an Aug. 24 email exchange with Burger that “the ones handed out to the employees have so many locations missing, it’s no wonder streets get missed,” maintaining she would provide new ones. Burger maintained “GPS should be monitored” and “accurate mapping would reduce this issue,” contending it goes back to “management and supervision.”

“The potential liquidated damages that could be assessed due to Republic’s inability to collect trash in an organized and timely manner could be catastrophic to Republic,” Burger warned Monell-Clark on Aug. 24. “It is time that the supervisors and management of Republic step up and manage what is going on with the collection.

“Collection includes the routes, drivers

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for 26 Weeks of the Pine Barrens Tribune

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and maintenance. We consistently hear supervisors and managers are in meetings, trainings, picnics and hosting Republic representatives from Arizona. If the trash isn’t getting collected, you don’t have a business! I expect Medford to be made a priority and for Republic to do their job and get the trash collected on the scheduled collection day.”

Monell-Clark responded, “this for sure is beyond a driver and/truck issue that will be handled,” previewing several position changes within the regional office.

As the township attempted to arrange to enforce the liquidated damages provisions of its contract with Republic, Burger, on Aug. 17, wrote to Parks, “Can you send me the contract for Republic that you were reading from yesterday?”

“Council would like to see the document,” the township manager added.

Parks, a few minutes later, asked of Burger, “Do you want the entire contract or just the portion of the contract that talks about liquidated damages and withholding payment?”

Burger ultimately replied, “The whole thing.” Parks sent it to the township manager 25 minutes after Burger’s initial email asking for a copy, but noted it was unsigned, maintaining that Deputy Township Clerk Dawn Bielec, also the municipality’s HR coordinator, and registrar/claims coordinator, or Municipal Chief Financial Officer Robin Sarlo, “should have a signed copy with all their pertinent documents.”

This newspaper learned last week from a Medford-Mount Holly Road resident that his family’s trash had not been picked up in over a week, and observed trash cans sitting out on Church Road for more than 48 hours after scheduled collection.

But despite a reportedly continued trash debacle in Medford, on Oct. 4, for the second, consecutive council meeting, Burger did not address the situation or provide any updates to the public. Watson was absent from the Oct. 4 council meeting.

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The Pine Barrens Tribune is now offering dependable individuals a great opportunity to earn some extra income simply by showing up at meetings of municipal governments that aren’t routinely made available online and recording the proceedings. That’s all you need to do—simply be there on time, press the “record” button on a taping device, and stay until the end. Besides offering areas residents, including students and retirees, a chance to pick up much-needed extra money, this on-call gig can serve as a genuinely interesting learning experience in how our communities are governed—and give the person who fills it a role in the operation of this area’s leading source of local news.

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the first newspaper in the state to call attention to the enacted legislation that has potentially large ramifications for business owners, landlords and municipalities throughout New Jersey, has learned through both a review of the bill and a later legislative alert distributed by the New Jersey League of Municipalities that it “requires that all business owners and owners of multi-family rental units annually register a certificate of insurance with the municipality where the business or rental unit is located.”

That means this is just not an issue pertaining to Southampton, but in all other municipalities across the state, one that is more meaningful for those that currently do not maintain any kind of a local business registry requirement (common in the Pinelands), or have a process in place to collect certificates of insurance (businesses have only had to simply register and identify with the State of New Jersey if no local provisions were in place, and they weren’t pursuing some form of action such as a variance).

To that end, the headline of the League’s legislative alert is aptly, “Governor Signs Law Requiring Municipalities to Create Business Insurance Registry.”

“For those of you who have come to our meetings regularly, you may remember a couple of years ago that (someone) brought up the fact that Southampton does not have a business registry,” said Mikulski as the Southampton governing body introduced an ordinance on Sept. 20 that would create an insurance registry for business and rental units owners. “And we responded – at least I know that I did, that was correct, and that we quite frankly didn’t want one. And the reason we didn’t want one, is we didn’t want to put additional burdens on business owners in Southampton.”

“Well, the State of New Jersey has placed that burden on our business owners, taking us out of the loop (as far as leaving the decision at the local level).”

(Some members of the Southampton committee, as well as Southampton Township Administrator Kathleen D. Hoffman, however, thought in 2016 some form of a registry would be useful, with the latter discussing how it could be of benefit to the local fire department.)

The legislation, as the League pointed out, “does not make an appropriation for the cost municipalities are sure to incur” to enforce the state policy, though the municipality is, however, “authorized to charge a reasonable administrative fee for the processing of a certificate of registration.”

“The law also does not provide any additional details or guidance to municipalities on what a certificate of

insurance should contain,” the legislative alert continued.

It was noted in the League’s legislative alert that when the legislation was initially introduced, it had only required the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to act as the enforcement agent.

However, “last-minute amendments” made shortly before both houses voted on the measure “placed the onus on individual municipalities to enforce this statemandated policy.”

“The state has now forced on all the municipalities in the state a silly obligation that we – the Clerk’s Office, now has to maintain certificates of insurance for all landlords and business owners in town,” said Tom Coleman, solicitor of Washington Township, another municipality in our coverage area that is also going to have to create a local registry for the first time. “Originally, it was supposed to be maintained by DCA, but at the last second, before the legislation passed, the obligation was passed on to clerks.”

Coleman previewed during an Oct. 4 Washington Township Committee meeting that an ordinance for Washington to comply with the new state requirement is in the works.

The legislation, sponsored by Democratic Senate President Nicholas P. Scutari and Democratic Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, in addition to requiring a local registry, obligates the “owner of a business or the owner of a rental unit or units” maintain “liability insurance for negligent acts and omissions in an amount of no less than $500,000 for combined property damage and bodily injury to, or death of one or more persons in any one accident or occurrence.”

The owner of a “multi-family home,” which is defined in the legislation as being “four or fewer units, one of which is owneroccupied,” is required to maintain “liability insurance for negligent acts and omissions in an amount of no less than $300,000 for combined property damage and bodily injury to, or death of one or more persons in any one accident or occurrence.”

“So, what this requires, is if you own a business in Southampton – well if you own a business in New Jersey for that matter, you are required to have $500,000 of liability insurance,” Mikulski explained. “If you own a rental unit of any kind, you are required to maintain $500,000 of liability insurance. If you are the owner of an occupied, multifamily dwelling with four rental units or less, you are required to maintain $300,000 of liability insurance.”

Southampton Committeeman James F. Young, Sr., upon the Southampton mayor explaining the intent behind introducing the ordinance, asked, “How about a homebased business?”

Mikulski, who is also an attorney, responded that he “looked” at the law and it “does not define the definition of a ‘business.’”

“All I can tell you, is if you can find it – I mean I looked it up today and it does not define the word ‘business,’” Mikulski maintained.

Young inquired if “babysitting or dogsitting at a house” is a “business too” under the law.

“I don’t know the answer to that because it is not defined in the statute,” Mikulski declared.

George Morris, the township solicitor of Southampton, when asked Sept. 20 by members of the Southampton committee for his opinion on whether the definition included home-based businesses, responded, “The courts will eventually deal with that down the road,” with the Southampton mayor adding that it would likely be a decision made a “couple years from now.”

Young, when Southampton entertained the possibility of creating a business registry and licensing program of some sort back in 2016 following troubles at a then-recycling yard in a residential area of New Road, was opposed to the idea, maintaining “we always let them (businesses/business owners) live and let live.”

“Number one, enforcement,” said Young, of why he was against such an idea. “Maybe you were doing something and all of a sudden someone wants to spy on you and say to the township, ‘She is over here; she is not supposed to be. She is not registered.’ It’s putting neighbor against neighbor, too.”

Young’s concern from 2016 about such a policy creating a “rift in the community” recently played out in neighboring Medford Township, in which a reportedly heavyhanded zoning official there, along with Medford’s mayor, Charles “Chuck” Watson, got bogged down in controversy over the township bringing zoning violations against the owner of a tree farm on Medford-Mount Holly Road that had allowed her sons’ tree service business and commercial tree trucks to be maintained there.

A dispute between neighbors apparently led to the filing of a complaint about the tree service operation, which got the ball rolling on the violation process, made complex by the Medford mayor having had an unpaid debt at the time with one of the tree service owners, and being tipped off about the investigation while withholding payment. The tree service co-owners are also open critics of Watson, with one of them having even threatened to primary him before the whole dispute began – one that even saw the Medford zoning official look up detailed information from a state database about the businesses registered to the tree farm parcel.

“I remember we didn’t want one (a business registry) when this was brought up four or five years ago,” recounted Young on Sept. 20, noting that it was the consensus of the Southampton committee at the time to only look further into a local business if they were serving as a nuisance, as registered

in any complaint from a neighbor.

Mikulski on Sept. 20 responded he was “on board” with that train of thought, but that he “just can’t give you a definition (of what is considered a “business”) because the definition is not in the statute.”

“I just decided, rather than give my personal opinion, just introduce it (the ordinance) and leave it alone,” the current Southampton mayor added.

The proposed Southampton ordinance, which may be considered for second reading as early as Oct. 18 at 6 p.m., will require a $20 registration fee locally, down from an initially proposed $50, with Mikulski moving to reduce the proposed cost “to try to keep the cost on businesses in Southampton frankly as low as possible.”

While a township could technically fail an ordinance on second reading, which also must include a public comment period, this is the latest example of the state imposing regulations where a local governing body would not be in compliance if it did so (with another recent situation involving the enactment of new, controversial sexual education standards in which local school boards are being told by the state if they refuse implementing the new curriculum, they could face heavy penalties).

“We are creatures of the state and they are forcing this down your throat,” declared Morris of the registry legislation.

However, in the final version of the law enacted by Murphy, a municipality can “elect to enforce” the registration provisions, and if one decides against it, the state’s “Division of Local Government Services shall enforce the provisions of this act.” Municipalities are to enter the collected data in a database maintained by the division, according to the legislation.

Businesses that don’t comply can face a “hefty fine,” as Mikulski pointed out to this newspaper, anywhere from $500 to $5,000.

Republican 8th Legislative District Senator Jean Stanfield voted “yes” for approving the bill on third and final passage (though she voted “no” on the concurring Assembly amendment), while fellow 9th Legislative District Republican Christopher Connors voted “no,” according to voting records maintained at www.njleg.state.nj.us .

On the Assembly side, 8th Legislative District Republican Assemblyman Brandon Umba voted “no,” while his colleague, Michael Torrissi was listed as “not voting,” with both members of the 9th District GOP delegation, DiAnne C. Gove and Brian Rumpf, joining with Umba in voting “no.”

The new state statute, somewhat vague in nature, leaves a lot to be desired with respect to a municipal business registry. The League, in sending out the legislative alert, asked recipients to “please review this new law with your municipal attorney, business administrator, and clerk for more information.”