Pine Barrens Tribune April 26 - May 2, 2025

www.pinebarrenstribune.com

MANAGING A MONSTER

of Seldat Warehouse in Pemberton Township Pleads Guilty to Illegally Obtaining $3.2M in Loans Impact on Existing Warehouse, Plan for Five Others by Dadoun, Unclear as CEO Faces Sentencing in August and Potential of Decades Behind Bars for His Federal Crimes

By D ouglas D. M elegari

Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—The CEO of Seldat Distribution, Inc., Daniel Dadoun, who is said to manage three distribution centers for the firm, including the 509,038 square-foot large warehouse built a couple years ago at 200 S. Pemberton Road, has admitted to fraudulently obtaining over $3.2 million in federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced through an April 15 press release.

Dadoun was indicted back in November 2023, with the indictment handed down just days after the Pemberton Township Planning Board had approved an application for five warehouses to be built at 316 Birmingham Road by Pemberton-2, LLC, a firm that has an apparent connection to Seldat Distribution, Inc.

By Bill B onvie

Staff Writer

OCEAN TWP.—By the time New Jersey’s acting governor, Tahesha Way, got around to declaring a State of Emergency effective at 7 a.m. on the morning of April 23 in

response to the Jones Road Wildfire that had erupted with almost unprecedented ferocity the previous day, April 22, consuming over 15,000 acres of woodlands in the center of Ocean County, closing two major highways, and causing around 3,000

residents to be evacuated, the “emergency” appeared to have been eased, although not entirely extinguished.

But that is not to say the inferno didn’t constitute an imminent and extremely

Pemberton-2, LLC, however, has filed a lawsuit against the Pemberton Township Planning Board and Pemberton Township after Pemberton Township Council has not taken action to give the firm a developer’s

Photo By New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

A pine tree fully ablaze gives an idea of the challenge faced by members of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service in attempting to control the Jones Road Fire in Ocean County, for which a 19-year-old Waretown man was charged with arson.

New Democratic State Assemblyman Praises RCBC President for College Turnaround Before Democratic-Controlled Board Launches Probe into Cioce, Among Other Things, at $70K Cost Governor Appoints Two New Trustees as One Is Quietly Replaced; New Math Reform Presented to Community College Association

By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

MOUNT HOLLY—A special counsel has now officially been retained by the Democratic-controlled Rowan College at Burlington County (RCBC) Board of Trustees to investigate RCBC President Dr. Michael A. Cioce, among other things, for $70,000, but moments before the April 15 award of a contract to commence the probe, a new Democratic state assemblyman took to the floor to sing the praises of the college president.

Balvir Singh, who was recently elected by the Burlington County Democratic Committee to replace Dr. Herb Conaway as a 7th District state assemblyman now that Conaway is a congressman representing the state’s 3rd Congressional District, attended the April 15 Board of Trustees meeting to swear in two new members, Ramesh Jayaram and Darvis Holley.

Jayaram and Holley, the Pine Barrens Tribune was informed, were both appointed to the board by Democratic Governor Phil Murphy sometime after a March 18 Trustees’ meeting that had turned chaotic amid ongoing allegations of a nepotism in hiring scheme and claims that a reappointment by the board that night, Malamut & Associates as board solicitor, was illegal.

Adam S. Malamut, managing partner of the firm with strong Democratic ties and reportedly a close associate of powerful 7th District State Senator Troy Singleton, has been implicated in the alleged nepotistic hiring scheme at the college, which has seen charges that he has been working to install certain figures at the intuition, and also award allies contracts for college affairs. It has been maintained that Cioce has fought back against the alleged practices, and it is why he finds himself the subject of a pair of complaints, reportedly filed by a relative of Singleton, Chief Financial Officer Kevin Kerfoot, which has led to the probe.

The governor can make up to two appointments on the 11-member Board of Trustees, with Justin Braz having served at the pleasure of the governor since 2023.

The Pine Barrens Tribune reported a couple weeks ago, however, that Braz, who up until recently was a member of Murphy's inner circle, and whose wife, Stephanie Lagos, is chief of staff to First Lady Tammy Murphy and is deputy chief of staff to the governor, had made a $500 campaign contribution to Singleton last October, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC).

Braz, however, voted in favor of commencing an investigation into Cioce last October, and had also cast a vote to install Malamut last month, despite the public allegations involving both Singleton and Malamut.

Additionally, this newspaper began asking questions last month about Braz’s Burlington County residency claim after finding that he used a Montclair address to make the campaign contribution.

It has not been said, as of press time, why Braz has been replaced on the board at this time.

A college spokesman confirmed to this newspaper on April 23 that Braz did not submit his resignation, and while Braz’s term technically expired in November 2024, Trustees can remain until they are replaced.

A source at the college told this newspaper that the second slot on the Board of Trustees for a governor’s appointee had been vacant for at least the past two years, up until April 18.

It is also not clear, as of press time, why Murphy chose to only fill the vacancy now.

Singh, after swearing in both Jayaram and Holley, described being a former RCBC student and adjunct mathematics professor at the college since 2009.

“I have truly seen the growth of this college go from that old, run-down campus in Pemberton, to the beautiful facilities here, and in Mount Laurel, and all around with the satellite campuses that we have,” Singh declared. “So, Mr. President, I have seen you come on board and turn this college around.”

Under Cioce’s leadership, Singh continued, “now people take pride in saying, ‘I’m going to RCBC.’”

The state Assemblyman recounted how his wife went through RCBC’s Dental Hygienist Program and are among those “who say it with pride.”

“It is not by happenstance,” declared Singh of the turnaround. “It is something with the vision. And President Cioce, you definitely have led that, and brought this institution to the place where we are on the map. And people are earning a living wage and thriving in our communities because of the work that we do here.”

This is not the first time that Singh has maintained an outlier position in the course of Democratic politics, most notably having accepted some responsibility for the General Election Day fiasco last November

and has

and internationally with the most prestigious members of the

Southampton Resident, Pressing for Increased Coordination with State Police to Address Speeding, Causes Administrator to Claim There Is Coordination Over ‘Home Invasions’ in Town Purported Incidents Were Not Previously Disclosed, and After Being Told Authorities Had No Record, Administrator Clarifies They Occurred in Fall; Resident’s Persistence Also Gives Way to Disclosure of Trail/Bike Path Plan

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—“There are home invasions that are happening within Southampton” is something that Township Administrator Brandon Umba claimed during an April 15 Southampton Township Committee session.

But the disclosure was not part of any planned public safety announcement or report to the community, rather it came when a resident repeatedly pressed township officials for increased coordination with the New Jersey State Police to address purported speeding on the Southampton stretch of Hawkin Road.

Umba ultimately pointed to his having met twice with the commander of the Red Lion Station of the state police, including claiming to have done so over the reported “home invasions,” all as evidence that the township actually does coordinate with the state police.

The Pine Barrens Tribune later asked Umba if he had more information that he could share on the home invasions, including on where the incidents have been reported to occur in the township, as well as when they were reported to have happened.

The township covers over 43 square miles, has numerous neighborhoods and is home to one of the largest retirement communities in the county.

“I don’t believe the residents would want their home(s) known to people and would like to keep their privacy,” is how the township administrator initially answered this newspaper’s query.

The Pine Barrens Tribune, however, sought information about the reported matter from the state police, especially given that such activity was not previously disclosed, and would be highly unusual for the rural community.

A state police spokesman called this newspaper on April 23 and claimed to be unable to find information on any home invasions occurring in the township. The spokesman then suggested this newspaper find out from the township administrator where his information had come from.

Umba, in returning this newspaper’s message, clarified the “home invasions happened when I first arrived here, in September of last year.” They were reported, he said, to then-Mayor Michael Mikulski, who had asked him to look into the incidents.

The township administrator maintained the “home invasions” occurred in two highend areas of the township, the Ridings, as well as in another neighborhood to its south, on Willow Lane. In the reported incidents, people were “stealing high-end cars from people’s houses.”

Residents, in responding to the incidents, installed security cameras and also had to “hire private security to come police their houses,” according to Umba.

“They felt that people were like staking

out their houses because they are milliondollar homes,” Umba told this newspaper.

The township administrator clarified, however, the “home invasions” are “not something that has recently been happening,” but rather he was just trying to prove to the woman who pressed for increased coordination that the township has put requests in for increased coverage to the state police, and it isn’t just Tabernacle making such requests.

Umba then acknowledged that in one of the homes “they got into,” the “people were not home,” recognizing, “I don’t know if that is considered a home invasion,” which by definition is the crime of entering a dwelling and committing, or with intent to commit, a crime (as assault) while armed and while another is lawfully present.

However, he noted, in a second purported incident, “they were home,” but then as the cops were called, “they were able to get out of there.”

“The issue was calling attention to the fact that state police weren’t in the area to assist in trying to get those people out of there,” Umba told this newspaper.

Umba then attempted to discourage this newspaper from publishing that these alleged crimes reportedly had occurred in the township, maintaining that the residents involved did not want to call attention to their neighborhood for fear “maybe more people will start looking at their houses again” and the matter has since appeared to have “died down.”

However, this newspaper informed the township administrator that it has an obligation to report on incidents of community concern, particularly if they were only disclosed at the most recent public meeting of the committee.

And in this instance, the editor for this story believes the clarifications now offered will provide important context for those members of the public who attended the April 15 public meeting and heard the account of home invasions occurring in their township.

It should also be noted that such incidents are commonly relayed by police departments through blotters, for purposes of providing community awareness, so that citizens can increase their safeguards and be vigilant.

Additionally, this newspaper sought from state police whether any apprehensions have been made in the reported incidents.

State police, when provided with Umba’s clarifications, said they would look into it further and get back to the Tribune , but did not do so as of this newspaper’s deadline time.

The state police do not offer a blotter, and a representative of the state police has not attended a Southampton committee session in quite a while. A community policing report is also not regularly given at Southampton committee meetings to

Residents Contend Pemberton

By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—Was Pemberton Township left in a vulnerable position during Holy Week without a mayor or an acting mayor in charge of the local government?

Officials are not disputing, as of press time, that the township was left without a supervisor over the care and custody of all municipal property, institutions and agencies, as is required under the Faulkner Act, last week.

The Pine Barrens Tribune previously reported that Mayor Jack Tompkins left for an overseas trip on or around April 3, and delegated the authority of “acting mayor” to Department of Public Works Director Tom McNaughton from April 3 to May 5. McNaughton’s acting mayor appointment came as the township has been without a business administrator and acting business administrator since January. Customarily, it would be the business administrator who is delegated the authority of acting mayor in Pemberton, though state law allows a mayor to appoint any one of the department heads as acting mayor.

But Community Activist Alexander Costa, during an April 16 Pemberton Township Council meeting, described his understanding “that our acting mayor is on vacation.”

“Now, we don’t have a head of government, which is kind of scary,” Costa declared.

The Pine Barrens Tribune called McNaughton’s cellphone the day following the council meeting, April 17, and got his voicemail. He did not immediately return the message left with him.

McNaughton was contacted again on April 21, but this newspaper again got his voicemail. He did not return that message, either, as of press time.

Township officials in the Administration and Clerk’s Office also did not return this newspaper’s messages for this story as of press time.

Costa pointed out to council, after making the charge, that the federal government has an extensive contingency in place should the president of the United States be unable to carry out his responsibilities, with the line of succession starting with the vice president and then going to the Speaker of the House.

The resident then pointed to Council President Joshua Ward, asserting, “You’re the ‘speaker’ – well, the ‘president,’ so the same thing,” contending in his view, that same line of succession should apply at the local level.

“I believe that, Mr. Ward, you should be the acting mayor, and this is my opinion, but it also could be justified in the law, too,” Costa declared.

The comment that Ward “should be sitting over there” in the mayor’s chair prompted Ward to shake his head, before

quietly uttering, “No, thank you.”

Costa was followed by resident Marie Reynolds, who previously had voiced her alarm with a revelation from council on April 2 that Tompkins appointed McNaughton as the “acting mayor with zero authority.”

“Who is the Secretary of State here?” asked Reynolds in response to Costa’s claim. “How does that procedure work? Like, who’s next? Who’s next in line?”

Ward answered, “Marie, I don’t know.”

The council president then pointed out that the Faulkner Act allows a mayor to appoint an acting mayor.

“But the law doesn’t go any further that?” asked Reynolds, to which Township Solicitor Jerry Dasti answered, “No, it does not.”

It led Reynolds to draw the conclusion that the township is a “ship, unsailed.”

That gave way to the council president remarking, “If I had a law degree, I would go all the way to the Supreme Court.”

“I even asked Jerry if he wanted to go to the Supreme Court in the State of New Jersey,” Ward added. “That would be an interesting one, but yeah, I don’t know.”

Resident America Phillips, in observing that Tompkins “assigned us somebody” as acting mayor, maintained that a meeting should have been held in which it should have been told “you’ve got to leave somebody in charge in case of (an) emergency.”

“He is not only two miles, four miles down the road,” said Phillips of Tompkins. “He is thousands of miles from here. That means we are paying the price. It is not right for the residents in the community.”

Every chair at the administration desk in council chambers was empty for a second consecutive council meeting in a row, an extraordinary occurrence for Pemberton, though a mayor (or acting mayor) is not required to attend council sessions.

Tompkins is facing a number of lawsuits entailing allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation, with this newspaper having reported on one suit having just been settled for $550,000 and two additional ones pending, with Councilman Matthew Bianchini previously claiming that as many as six have now been filed.

“With him (Tompkins) out of the country, we won’t have any lawsuits for at least 30 days,” Councilman Dan Dewey quipped.

Costa, when he spoke April 16, also pointed to the Faulkner Act stating that an acting mayor, in Pemberton’s mayorcouncil form of government, “shall possess all the rights, powers, and duties of mayor,” with “all” being the key word. He also pointed to the Tribune’s reporting.

As this newspaper previously reported, Tompkins wrote in the memorandum appointing McNaughton as acting mayor that “Mr. McNaughton is not authorized to sign: Any documents pertaining to

By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—Pemberton-2, LLC, has filed a legal challenge following Pemberton Township Council’s December decision to not approve a developer’s agreement and corresponding proposed ordinance for the “acquisition of deed of easement for right-of-way access and construction upon property designated as Block 797, Lot 1 on the Township of Pemberton tax map,” which would have essentially enabled access to a 23.5-acre Birmingham Road tract where the firm has controversially proposed to build five warehouses.

As this newspaper previously reported, both the agreement and “right-of-way easement” were conditions of Planning Board approval for the warehouse project, with the Planning Board making the demand “because allowing traffic to pass through the easement,” or an anticipated driveway intersecting with Birmingham Road, “would make ingress and egress into the site safer and divert traffic away from residential homes.”

Without the agreement and easement, the prior project approval given by the board is essentially moot, because of conditions put on the application by the board.

Council decided not to act in December, following extensive public opposition to the project, particularly over Daniel Dadoun, the registered agent on record for Pemberton-2, LLC, according to available tax records, having been indicted for Paycheck Protection Program Fraud (and now pleading guilty to it – see separate story) and a previous commitment of local officials to not allow truck traffic on Birmingham Road (though the municipal solicitor at the time, Andy Bayer, maintained that stipulation applied to an initial warehouse project undertaken in the area by DD1 Development, and had no bearing on Pemberton-2’s application, even though Dadoun has been the owner and promoter of DD1 Development.)

In the lawsuit served to Pemberton Township and the Pemberton Township Planning Board on Jan. 31, a lawyer for the applicant wrote, “critically, Pemberton-2 did not request any zoning variances in its original application” and “the project was designed to be fully conforming to avoid the need for any variance relief.”

However, the suit claims, “during the course of the hearings before the Planning Board, the board’s planner asked if it would be possible to straighten the proposed access road in Pemberton 2’s design plans to meet Birmingham Road at a right angle” and at that point in time, “Pemberton-2 determined that an easement from Lot 1 to widen the preexisting public right of way (paper street) would be needed to allow the access road to be straightened.”

In further breaking down the “access street” issue, the suit points out that Pemberton-2 “originally submitted” a plan for proposed access to “extend from the far end of an existing public right-of-way (paper street) to meet Birmingham Road at an angle, so as to avoid the access road traversing a portion” of an adjacent parcel.

The applicant claims, “this originally proposed configuration” was “approvable.” It is then noted in the legal filing that “in response to comments raised by the board’s planner about the angle at which the proposed ingress/egress met Birmingham Road in the conforming site plan application, counsel for Pemberton 2 noted that a small corner” of the adjacent parcel “could, and would if requested, grant an easement to allow the proposed street on the subject property to meet Birmingham Road at a nearly perpendicular angle to facilitate site access.”

The easement, it is further contended, “was intended to add additional rightof-way width to the existing public rightof-way (the proposed street) owned by Pemberton Township to straighten that roadway at the point where it intersects with Birmingham Road.”

‘Concerning’ Social Media Posting

Prompts Demands for Police to Provide Security at Pemberton Township Council Meetings

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—Regular attendees of Pemberton Township Council meetings are calling for a police officer to be assigned to council chambers during the legislative body’s scheduled sessions.

The ask for increased security comes amid heightened tensions in the township, but particularly after a social media account identifying as a former township official recently terminated, made what Police Chief Jonathan Glass deemed, in an email obtained by this newspaper through a news tip, a “concerning social media post” on April 14 in an area social media group, ahead of the scheduled April 16 council session.

The account, in one posting obtained by this newspaper, posted, “I’m going to go live and burn it down!,” but maintained that what would be shown would amount to a “great idea for my content.”

A second account, using a somewhat different name, but also identifying as a former township official recently terminated, described that they would be hosting a “special edition” of “RescueMe, New Jersey,” contending they will be “shooting” in Pemberton Township on “the day and evening of your next township council meeting,” with the word shooting put in quotes.

The posting then listed “targets,” though that word was not put in quotes, listing “mayor, former BA, QPA, former mayor and Dan Dewey,” among other things. (Dewey is a township councilman.)

This newspaper has learned the posting was brought to police, including Glass, with some locals expressing reservations about attending the April 16 session unless an officer was assigned to the session.

Glass responded to one of the concerned citizens that an officer would be assigned to the meeting.

“I thought we were going to have a police officer here, and there is no police officer to protect my council members due to some certain threats that I understand were on Facebook towards the council,” resident Patricia Guthrie observed during the April 16 session.

Guthrie maintained “you guys should have a police officer in here for each one of these council meetings.”

Councilman Perry Doyle, Jr., a retired township cop, replied, “We’re not worried.” But Guthrie insisted, “I think you guys should be protected.”

Councilman Joshua Ward said he was informed by the administration and police department “that situation was dealt with and handled in a sufficient manner already.”

Glass told one of the concerned citizens in an email that the individual responsible for the postings, he believed, would not be in attendance, “but unfortunately I cannot elaborate on how I know that.”

The police chief later told this newspaper “I had every intention of having an officer

there,” but “I believe there was some sort of miscommunication within my agency.”

“I have to take ownership of that,” the chief told this reporter.

As to how the miscommunication happened, the chief maintained that he had sent word out that he had confirmed the individual at issue would not be attending the council meeting.

But nevertheless, having an officer there, Glass said, “was definitely my intention” and it was also something, he recognized, that he had promised an attendee through email.

“There was supposed to be an officer there,” he said.

Longtime meeting regular America Phillips maintained on April 15, that during the past couple of meetings when Mayor Jack Tompkins was absent, “we didn’t have security” but “when our mayor was here, there was security on the other side.”

“But we don’t mean anything,” Phillips declared. “We are the residents. And you guys, the council – we need to be protected. We do not know (if it is safe) with everything that is going on right now.”

(An officer, however, was present during one of the meetings that Tompkins had missed, but a scene followed when Ward had told resident Michelle Forman that he would have her removed by the officer if she continued to speak from her seat when it was not her turn for public comment, an incident which he has since issued a public apology.)

Phillips pointed out that the police are funded by the taxpayers.

“And I, myself, as an 80-year-old lady, to me, with all the meetings I’ve been attending, with everything (going on), with what has been taking place, there should be an officer,” Phillips said. “The police department is right there; they can walk through the hall.”

Doyle claimed, in response, however, that “hostility” has been missing from the last two council meetings, contending he also observed “one thing is absent from the last meeting and is also absent tonight,” an apparent reference to the embattled mayor.

“Maybe that is the only person concerned about their own public safety, and maybe with his absence, it is a little more peaceful here,” Doyle maintained. “I know I am not threatened by you people, and I don’t feel that any of you are threatened by the five of us. As far as I’m concerned, the last couple of meetings have been nothing but peaceful, polite and getting forward with business the way it should be.”

Doyle further contended “we can certainly use our police officers on the streets, where we need them, more than here, babysitting us.”

Forman, who was allotted extensive time to speak at the latest April 16 session, at one point asked if council has the power to subpoena employees, if they need them to attend council meetings, to which she was told, “Yes” by Ward.

County Submits Application for ‘Modern Roundabout’ in Shamong to Pinelands Commission; Mayor Says ‘Don’t Need It, Don’t Want It’ Committeeman Calls Roundabout ‘Stupid Idea,’ But Maintains It is ‘Stupider’ for Township to Basically Take Control of Intersection and Assume Liability in Denouncing Claim He Is Unopposed to Plan as ‘Complete, Total Fabrication’

By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

SHAMONG—A limited window of opportunity has been provided for the public to make comments to the Pinelands Commission for a modern roundabout proposed in Shamong Township.

As previously reported by this newspaper, Burlington County is proposing the roundabout for the intersection of Stokes Road (also known as County Route 541) and Willow Grove Road (also known as County Route 648).

Residents living within 200 feet of the project were mailed a notice, dated April 11, informing them that the county has now officially applied to the commission for approval. The notice was sent by Malick & Scherer, P.C., giving the public 10 days to comment on the proposal by emailing or mailing the commission.

Shamong Township Mayor Michael Di Croce authored a letter to the commission in recent days expressing his “strong opposition” to the project.

“This project is unnecessary, fiscally irresponsible, and environmentally disruptive,” he wrote.

Di Croce, during an April 1 Shamong Township Committee meeting, maintained “we are trying to avoid spending millions of dollars for a circle that we don’t believe we need,” contending the traffic situation at the intersection has changed since the project was first proposed, with the Atco Dragway now closed.

“Especially now that the racetrack has closed, the traffic has much diminished,” he maintained. “And the second issue is they haven’t done a study since sometime in 2017.”

Di Croce said the 2017 traffic study found 3,000 vehicles pass through the intersection, but “I actually went out there myself about two years ago, and it was about 1,500 cars.”

The Shamong mayor, in his letter to the Pinelands Commission, maintained the “traffic volume at the proposed location simply does not justify such a costly intervention.”

“The current intersection functions adequately, and there have been no compelling data presented to suggest that a roundabout would significantly

See COMMISSION/ Page 9

Shamong Residents Voice Frustration Over Alleged Continued Lack of Enforcement at Murphy’s Pit After Another Reported Fire

Despite Former Commanding Officer’s ‘Zero Discretion’ Instruction at Pit, New State Police Commander Refuses Having Troopers Chase Off-roaders, Instead Expressing Hope Prospective Buyer for Tract Will Erect Solar Array

By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

SHAMONG—Frustration was evident at the latest April 1 Shamong Township Committee meeting over a purported continued lack of enforcement over illegal riding of ATVs and trespassing at Murphy’s Pit.

The virtually abandoned 16.5-acre parcel on Atsion Road has been the source of complaints for the past three decades, Mayor Michael Di Croce recognized, but particularly over the last year, and really came into focus when a November brush fire was observed having been started by a group of trespassers during a drought.

Residents attended the latest committee session to report that yet another “fire was set” at the pit, this one reportedly back on March 9.

“It was dry, it was windy,” one woman observed who lives across the street from the pit. “There are houses close by. The whole thing could have gone up like a tinderbox. This is serious. This is very serious!”

The woman asserted to the committee, “I do not want my property to burn. I don’t want the house next door to the pit to burn,” pointing out there is also a mobile home park in the area.

Firefighters, she said, were again called to the scene and ultimately put the fire out. Since March 8, according to the woman, up until the end of March, there were “only two – two” days in which there was no activity in the pit.

“These kids don’t care,” declared the woman, who said she observed the latest fire from her back deck. “Something has to be done.”

The woman was followed by a second resident, Bill Ryan, who observed “there is constant activity at the pit.”

“I am hoping that the township can actually start working on a strategy that would probably bring in additional resources,” Ryan declared. “Including by coordinating between both the State Police and the State Park Service, that have some vehicles that can get back there, and other resources that are available.”

Residents were previously assured last summer by then-station commander of the Red Lion Station of the New Jersey State Police, Lt. Chris Salvato, that he had instructed Troopers to have “zero discretion” in enforcing the laws at the pit, but added it would be dependent on whether Troopers could “catch” the illegal riders and trespassers.

He also revealed at the time that the local state police barracks no longer had a Polaris UTV that it can use for enforcement, with a state police spokesman later informing this newspaper that it was undergoing repairs due to maintenance issues.

But the Red Lion Station is now commanded by Lt. Edward Long, and in attending the latest Shamong committee session, he told the concerned residents, “I am not going onto Murphy’s Pit and have my Troopers chase young kids on bikes.”

“I am not doing it,” he declared, contending he was concerned about the possibility that the youth, if chased, might “hit a tree” or “hit a car” if “they start trying to get away from us.”

But one man pointed out the pit is “private property,” but Long maintained “it is the same thing.”

“I am not going to go tell someone what to do on their private property,” Long maintained.

The station commander also called “ATV riding” a “big part of the culture out here.”

But residents called on Long to act, causing the station commander to double down that he is not “chasing kids on the bikes.”

“If you do see them riding down that side road, let me know, and we’ll go and try to get them,” said Long, but a resident called for the riders to be chased down.

“Do you have any idea how hard that is?” Long shot back. “They go off into the woods.”

One resident then asked Long if there is a “no-chase law” in New Jersey.

“We are ordered not to, but I don’t know if it is actually a law on the books,” Long answered.

But Long indicated his agreement with the policy, contending is “because if someone does get hurt, who is it going to come back on? Yeah. It is going to come back on the Trooper.”

It led a man to ask, that in the event someone runs into an illegal off-road vehicle, who would be at fault, with Long answering, “It would be their fault because they are driving an unregistered car on the road.”

Long maintained to the concerned residents and committee “we have the guys out there on the weekends riding around,” pointing out, “If they (the illegal riders) are on the road and they are illegally parked somewhere, that’s different.”

However, “if they are going to go off into the woods,” Long wanted to “make clear” to the public that he instructed Troopers to “not to do that,” or chase the riders.

For several years now, Shamong officials have discussed that a solar company is interested in purchasing the pit and adjacent landfill to erect a solar array.

“The sale, hopefully it will go through, and we will get the solar farm that is supposed to come up,” Long told the residents. “Hopefully that’ll change things. And it probably will, if they put the fence up.”

But “until then,” the station commander maintained, “if they run, we’re not going to do it.” That being said, if it is “not much of

Residents of Shamong Neighborhood Say ‘Patience Is Gone’ Amid Reports of Individuals in Streets, Woods Appearing ‘Whacked Out’ Shamong Mayor Suspects Use of 'Tranq' in Incidents, Police Commander Describes Constant Presence of Officers, Frustrations with Court System

By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

SHAMONG—“All the patience is gone,” Shamong Township resident Chris Thomas told the Shamong Township Committee and Red Lion Station Commander Edward Long at an April 1 governing body meeting, who got an earful during the proceedings about what is taking place in the township’s Woodgate neighborhood. “I asked last month, don’t forget about us. I can’t tell you how forgotten we feel.”

Thomas, a resident of Woodgate Drive in the municipality, has been one of more than a dozen residents who have complained to the township about a reportedly problematic home in his neighborhood since last year, only to be continually told by officials, who have recognized there is a serious problem there, the matter is now in the hands of the court system.

And again this time around, the concerned residents were told the same thing, but according to Thomas, the situation is only getting worse, not better.

“We are talking about a situation where individuals are wrapped in blankets in the street, in the woods, passed out,” he observed. “We are talking about burning carpet, plastic and trash. You can’t sit in your own backyard.”

Fires are being started at 4 a.m., he further charged, “with 10-foot flames” in “30-milean-hour winds,” despite the ongoing dry weather conditions affecting the area.

Bringing about his strongest indictment of the matter to date, Thomas told the local officials, “I didn’t forget to stay here since I was a kid. I’m starting to forget to want to even be here.”

The “tone” of his neighborhood, he maintained, “has changed since September.”

“Now there are two houses for sale,” he pointed out.

Thomas maintained “you’ll get your tax revenue when the new person moves in,” but the township will have “lost a legacy resident.”

“That is a bad look,” he told officials.

After describing that the matter has become a “problem where the residents feel forgotten by the elected officials,” he pleaded with them, “Do not allow us to feel that way anymore.”

Laurel Ballentine voiced her belief that “my neighborhood is not really safe” any longer, contending, “There’s an awful lot of problems from the house on the hill.”

“There are a lot of shady characters there at all hours of the night,” she alleged.

Ballentine continued that it is “disappointing that nothing is happening, and that is what I need to say today.”

Resident Timothy McGarvey described that people are “whacked-out” (or under the influence of drugs) on the streets and woods of the neighborhood, “literally doing this,

like, balance thing, where they are just like trying to remain upright.”

“What happens if they drop some of their drugs and an innocent child picks them up?” he asked.

McGarvey described his “fear” that the drug at issue is fentanyl, and it is a concern because “you can just touch it” before it creates health problems in a person.

“Like Chris said, they are wrapped in blankets, in the woods, and on the side of the street,” he said.

The resident recounted one occasion in which he was called by his stepson during a meeting, who reportedly told his stepfather that there are “three junkies standing in the street” who were “trying to hold their balance and stand up straight.”

Mayor Michael Di Croce suggested it is likely not the fentanyl causing people to appear that way, but the use of “some kind of horse tranquilizer,” known as “tranq,” or what the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) describes as a “veterinary sedative found in some illicit drugs,” including fentanyl, and is “linked to overdose and other issues.”

“That is why you see them whacked out like that,” the mayor maintained.

Di Croce asked for an update to be given on two concurrent court cases, one involving zoning violations issued to the property in question, and another involving one of its purported occupants.

As for the hearing on the zoning violations, according to Township Administrator and Clerk Sue Onorato, “the court date had to be rescheduled because of a conflict with a restraining order and they moved it into a different court.”

Attendees were told the rescheduled date was for April 2, but this newspaper has confirmed with both Di Croce and Committeeman Neil Wilkinson on April 23 that it was again postponed until a later time.

The sentencing hearing for one of the occupants “who has violated his probation” as well as faces “several other criminal allegations, as I understand it,” according to the mayor, was scheduled, but then, Di Croce and Wilkinson also confirmed to this newspaper, that too has been postponed, now scheduled for some time in May.

“We are hoping that if he is sentenced, it will be with a jail term for violating his probation and perhaps that’ll be a big step towards curing this problem,” said Di Croce at the April 1 committee meeting.

As for the alleged zoning offenses, Di Croce said, “I don’t believe there will be a jail sentence for that, but it will be a heavy fine, as well as a mandate by the court to clean up the property.”

Residents were again encouraged to write the judge in the zoning matter, and in

Southampton Resident Clashes with Administrator Over Need for ‘Smaller Government,’ with Official Advocating for ‘Efficiency’

Bagging Leaves, as Southampton Does Now, Is Antiquated Practice, Administrator Claims in Effort to Fund Hooklift Trucks with Vacuums

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—Southampton’s

$7.8 million general operating budget for 2025 was approved during the April 15 committee session, as well as a $5.5 million capital improvement program.

Several residents, including 26-year resident and past congressional candidate Greg Sobocinski, attended a budget presentation and public hearing in response to this newspaper’s previous report detailing the spending plans, which include money set aside to procure one-arm bandit garbage trucks.

The township, this newspaper reported, intends to switch its present trash truck fleet to one-arm bandit trucks as its workers currently have to get off the backs of the vehicles to lift trash into the haulers.

Sobocinski, in response, quipped “garbage seems to be on your mind lately.”

“And frankly, for 26 years, it seems like we got a solution, but are looking for a problem,” he said. “It has never been a problem here for me.”

Township Administrator Brandon Umba previously detailed how the new trash trucks would allow Public Works to shift its

trash collection schedule to expand brush and leaf collection.

“Brush, or anything else, has never been an issue,” Sobocinski maintained.

Sobocinski told the committee he is interested in “smaller government,” maintaining he is currently paying $1,600 in municipal taxes.

“That is a lot of money for municipal tax,” Sobocinski contended. “The only thing I see is picking my garbage up. But frankly, you are doing a good job right now with the garbage. I have no problem with that.”

Umba responded by claiming “our insurance claims are going up by (the workers) throwing trash.”

“We need to be more efficient,” the township administrator contended.

And while Sobocinski “might be OK with brush pickup” the way that it currently is, Umba contended, “I can tell you the majority of complaints that come to my office is that they have to call the town, then wait three weeks, four weeks just to get their brush pickup.”

Umba maintained that in the other towns he has worked for previously, the

See CLASHES/ Page 15

Bass River Commission Approves 2025 Budget, Which Will Result in Tax Hike of $81 for ‘Average’ Property, According to State Chart Budget Resolution, Devoid of Details, Is Adopted without Comment, But Much Attention Given to $350 Sewer Fee Hike for Offshore Manor

By Bill B onvie Staff Writer

BASS RIVER—The three-member Bass River Township Commission has unanimously adopted a resolution authorizing a 2025 municipal budget of $1,526,423, a figure down considerably from the previous year, which will hike the tax bill for an “average residential” property by nearly 10 percent, or just over $81 annually, according to a “Municipal User-Friendly Budget Chart” provided by State of New Jersey Local Government Services, which was emailed to the Pine Barrens Tribune by the Township Clerk’s Office.

The budget resolution was passed without comment from the commissioners during the governing body’s April 14 meeting, after a motion was made to open a public hearing on the resolution at which none of the approximately two dozen residents who attended the session spoke or asked questions about it.

No specifics of the budget were detailed prior to the vote, nor had they been mentioned during the introduction of the budget resolution at the previous month’s meeting, which only noted that the reading of the budget was “by title only,” although

some ancillary details (which didn’t include any reference to a tax increase) were available at that time.

When a reporter for this newspaper inquired, prior to the commissioners going into an executive session, where he might find the details of the 2025 budget, he was told they were available at the township website, only to subsequently discover that they had not yet been posted there. That resulted in a request that the township clerk’s office email them to the paper, with which it quickly complied.

However, subsequent attempts by this newspaper to confirm with township officials that a 10 percent property tax increase is indeed mandated by the new budget were unsuccessful, with the township’s chief financial officer, Al Stanley, who was described as the ultimate authority on all such matters, not returning calls to his listed number, and Mayor William “Rick” Adams saying he lacked immediate access to the data involved and had also been unable to speak with Stanley about it.

“I can’t comment because I don’t have valid numbers right now to support it, and the CFO is not feeling well,” Adams told a

See BUDGET/ Page 10

MAY

MAY WEEKENDS

Train Rides Through the Woods of New Gretna

Location: Bass River Township

Details: The Woods of New Gretna Park and the New Jersey Shore Live Steam Organization provide train rides for all each Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The small steam locomotives, and other trains, wind their way through the beautiful park. The rides are provided by a group of dedicated volunteers who have revitalized the park and laid out the railroad track, based on the historical Tuckerton Railroad. The volunteers maintain the railroad and walking trails, and are constantly expanding them. Riding the trains is free, but donations are very much appreciated. The train rides are outdoors.

Events and special promotions happening locally next month!

MAY 4

Coin and Collectable Show

Location: Lindenwold

Details: South Jersey Coin and Collectable Show will be held Sunday, May 4, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Moose Lodge, 2425 White Horse Pike (Rt. 30), Lindenwold. Admission and parking is free. There will be free door prizes, food and refreshments, over 30 friendly dealer tables. The show will be held on the first Sunday of each month during 2025. Dealers wanted! Security provided. For more information, call Tom at 609-742-2279, or visit southjerseycoinshow. com .

To promote your event on this page contact Jayne Cabrilla at 609-801-2392 or email news@pinebarrenstribune.com

MAY 4

A Country Day at Kirby’s Mill

Location: Medford Township

Details: The Medford Historical Society is having “A Country Day at Kirby’s Mill,” Rt. 616/Church & Fostertown Rds., Medford, Sunday, May 4, from 12 noon to 4 p.m. The Mill will be grinding cornmeal by water power. The Blacksmith Shop will be in operation and all museum buildings will be open to visitors. An afternoon of historic craft demonstrations, working antique machinery, plus a Civil War encampment will be featured at the Mill Complex. Admission is free. For more information, call 609-531-1825.

Proposal to Erect 120-foot Cell Tower Next to Woodland Firehouse Reportedly on the Verge of Being Revived after 3 Years of Inaction Township Solicitor, Others Claim Controversial Plan Will Again Be Pursued with Pinelands Commission, But New Application Has Yet to Be Submitted

By Bill B onvie Staff Writer

WOODLAND—A controversial proposal to erect a 120-foot-high cellphone tower adjacent to the building housing the Woodland Township Volunteer Fire and EMS Company in the Village of Chatsworth, dormant since a 2022 Pinelands Commission review that cast doubt on its premise, may be on the verge of being resurrected, according to Township Solicitor William Burns.

But as of this past week, no formal attempt had yet been made to submit any new application for such a project, the Pine Barrens Tribune was told by a commission spokesman.

Burns made the claim that the plan for the tower was about to be revived at the March 26 meeting of the Woodland Township Committee, telling those in attendance that he had “reached out again to the stakeholders involved in that effort.

“They got back to me, specifically Tower North (the Bridgewater, Mass.-based applicant), and they indicated that they were very confident that this will be started and potentially constructed by at least the beginning of 2026,” he said.

Burns further declared that “by December 2026, it is likely that there will

be a fully operational cell tower.”

When asked for confirmation of that assertion, Warren Stilwell, of the Atlantic City legal firm of Cooper Levenson, who formerly represented the applicants but was no longer in that role, said that the company had “indicated they are amending the application and are confident it will be accepted by the Pinelands Commission.”

Stillwell then referred all questions to Bert Stern, chief executive officer of Tower North, who, when called about the matter, would only say it was “something we’re still pursuing” and that “if anything happens, it will be filed as a public application.”

The commission’s communications director, Paul Leaken, however, in an April 7 email reply to a query from this newspaper, said that “we do not have any updates regarding this application,” an answer that he reiterated on April 22 when asked if anything had changed since then.

For reference, Leaken also attached to his first email a June 7, 2022, letter to the applicant, in which the commission’s director of regulatory programs, Charles M. Horner, had noted that while the agency did not dispute “the need for improved wireless communications coverage in

Two

Standout High School Seniors Headed for Careers in Armed Forces Involving Similar Maritime Obligations

By Jenn lucas Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—While most high school seniors focus on their final sports season, endless college applications or finding the perfect prom dress, two local students started their year with different aspirations.

Knowing exactly what they wanted to do after high school, Grady Brown and Caroline Dozier began the 2025 school

year already preparing for two similarly challenging careers, which will take them aboard vessels and all over the world, all while serving our country in some aspect. Both worked tirelessly for many years to get to their respective places, according to their mothers, and both have participated in programs to prepare them for military life after high school. Both students sound

Photo By Jenn Lucas

Grady Brown shows off his three different letters of acceptance to three different prestigious academies.

COMMISSION

(Continued from Page 5)

improve safety or traffic flow,” he further contended. “In fact, introducing major construction for such minimal gain is not only inefficient, but also negatively impacts the adjoining neighbors and is wasteful of taxpayer dollars.”

Di Croce also called the environmental impact of the project “deeply concerning.”

“As you know, the Pinelands is a unique and fragile ecosystem, and any disruption – especially for a project with questionable necessity – undermines the mission of the commission to preserve and protect it,” the mayor said. “The construction process alone would harm native flora and fauna, and the long-term effects of increased pavement and altered land use could be even more damaging.”

As the mayor said he sees it, “other less intrusive options are available,” including “a four-way stop, reducing the speed limit on Stokes Road, an LED blinking stop sign or a traffic light,” contending of those options that “all should be investigated before this extreme outdated project is even considered.”

“I urge you to reconsider the priorities of the commission and reject this unnecessary circle/roundabout project in favor of solutions that truly benefit the community and uphold the environmental integrity of the Pinelands,” he wrote.

Di Croce’s letter bolded, “We don’t want it, we don’t need it!”, but the mayor claimed that a “vast majority (4 of the 5) of the members of Shamong’s governing body oppose this unnecessary ‘circle’ in the middle of the woods.

This newspaper previously reported that there is an active GOP Primary in the township, and Di Croce and Committeeman Neil Wilkinson, once running mates, are now rivals with Di Croce choosing to seek re-election in June with Rent Control Board Member Michael Southwick, instead. Wilkinson is now running on his own slate. Wilkinson, when reached for comment on this story April 23, described that there are social media postings falsely alleging he is unopposed to the roundabout, repeatedly calling it a “complete and total fabrication.”

Wilkinson pointed to this newspaper’s November 2024 coverage of what he said in response to the county’s last public presentation on the proposal: “Shamong Committeeman Neil Wilkinson, therefore, was the last local elected official to give his opinion at the Nov. 12 meeting, describing that he is a resident of Oakshade Road, which has two four-way stop intersections, one with Atsion Road and the other with Stokes Road, before he maintained, “I have actually never seen an accident at the four-way stops there.”

“So, I am in favor of it being just a regular four-way stop,” he said.

But Wilkinson added a stipulation that it is a “county issue” and his “concern” is that if the township committee takes

action, “and say we are successful in taking action against the county,” and then there is an accident at the intersection, “we are going to have every lawyer, who are supporting the people in that accident, coming after the township and saying, ‘if only there was a roundabout there, then this would not have happened.’”

“I have concerns that as a board here, if we go against the county, then we are opening ourselves up, as a small town, to the liability of any accident that happens at that intersection,” Wilkinson declared.

After pointing to that coverage and requesting it be included in this story, Wilkinson provided this newspaper on April 23 with additional context on the roundabout: “I think the roundabout is a stupid idea. But I think that Shamong taking over that intersection is an even stupider idea.”

He took issue with his colleagues having offered a “one-sentence answer” to being previously asked whether they support or don’t support the roundabout, contending there are more complexities.

“My issue with it, as a township committeeman, is I don’t want to see the township sued, right?” Wilkinson told this newspaper. “Because literally, if we put our two cents in this thing, and we fight it, and it is a success, and we are successful in fighting it, then what we have done is basically assumed the liability now for any accidents on that. And I said, I don’t think that is a very smart position for this body to take.”

Wilkinson doubled-down on his concern of going against a recommendation of the county who says the roundabout is needed even though he believes it is a “stupid idea to have a roundabout.”

“Nobody sitting on the board is a traffic engineer,” he pointed out. “So, we don’t have that ability to say whether a roundabout is safe or not safe. That is something that experts need to do, and that is why we have experts who give testimony. But to come out and say that I am in favor of a roundabout is a total fabrication and not anything that I said.

“I just said I don’t want the township to assume the liability for that traffic, for that county road. And they seem to have taken that as basically, hey, if Neil is not actively campaigning against having a roundabout, then obviously I’m for the roundabout. But it is just a matter of course with what these people do. They fabricate a narrative to fit what they want.”

According to the letter to the public, the Pinelands Commission’s executive director will provide her “findings and conclusion,” which will be made available to the public, and then “any interested person who is aggrieved by said determination is entitled to a hearing by appealing the determination.”

Residents can email their comments to AppInfo@pinelands.nj.gov or write P.O. Box 359, New Lisbon, 08064.

Anyone with questions about the project can also contact the environmental specialist with Malick & Scherer, Ashley Pastore, at 908-537-1300.

MAY

MAY 10, 2025

10, 2025

8:00 AM to 12 Noon

8:00 AM to 12 Noon

Have junk laying around your home? A public area around your home that needs to be cleaned up? Confidential papers to be shredded? Bring old tires (limit 12 tires, no oversized tires), paint cans with lids, household hazardous waste, concrete, bricks, lumber, etc. to the Public Works Yard (located behind the Municipal Bldg. at 500 Pemberton Browns Mills Road, Pemberton, NJ 08068) for one day FREE disposal.

Have junk laying around your home? A public area around your home that needs to be cleaned up? Confidential papers to be shredded? Bring old tires (limit 12 tires, no oversized tires), paint cans with lids, household hazardous waste, concrete, bricks, lumber, etc. to the Public Works Yard (located behind the Municipal Bldg. at 500 Pemberton Browns Mills Road, Pemberton, NJ 08068) for one day FREE disposal.

No gasoline or unidentifiable material accepted.

No gasoline or unidentifiable material accepted.

Note: Intact televisions, computers, waste motor oil and scrap metal may be brought to the Public Works Yard for free during normal yard hours. Pemberton Township Residents Only-No Businesses

Note: Intact televisions, computers, waste motor oil and scrap metal may be brought to the Public Works Yard for free during normal yard hours. Pemberton Township Residents Only-No Businesses

Any questions please call 609-836-5258 or visit our website at www.pemberton-twp.com

Any questions please call 609-836-5258 or visit our website at www.pemberton-twp.com

SEPTEMBER

SEPTEMBER

Clean-up after your pet  Do not feed wildlife  Do not litter - Place litter in trash receptacles  Recycle, recycle, recycle  Participate in community clean-ups

 Dispose of yard waste properly  Keep leaves and grass out of storm drains

DEMOCRATIC

(Continued from Page 2)

as a then-member of the Democratic County Commissioners’ Board.

Singh, in announcing his candidacy for the 7th District, had been challenged in an internal race by Moorestown Councilwoman Nicole Gillespie, the latter who reportedly had earned the backing of party leaders. He also reportedly refused to consent to a reported plan by party leaders to have former county commissioner Daniel O’Connell serve as an interim replacement for Conaway until the November 2025 election.

Singh was ultimately sworn in to the state Assembly on Feb. 1 for the remainder of Conaway’s unexpired term. And while Singh, who will have to run again later this year, has given shoutouts to Singleton on his social media pages since becoming an assemblyman, a source close to the college told this newspaper that Singh did not receive backing from Malamut during his

BUDGET

(Continued from Page 7)

Tribune reporter who called him early in the afternoon of April 22, following a phone conversation about the budget the previous day during which the mayor had promised to look into it.

Adams did point out, however, that the township commission “had two readings of the budget” (albeit with no details included in them), and its passage on both occasions was unanimous.

The mayor did, however, make a point of the fact that if property taxes are in fact about to be hiked by over $80, that would only come to about $20 per quarterly payment.

The “general budget” figure cited in the chart, however, was nearly 22.5 percent lower than the $1,968,800.98 budget adopted in

January candidacy.

Cioce, “to echo the assemblyman’s words” in his “continuing to put RCBC on the map,” announced during the April 15 session that he and an associate dean had “submitted an abstract to the American Association of Community Colleges to present at their annual conference on the math work that we are doing.”

Cioce called it a “college-wide initiative” that has been undertaken from 2023 to now, involving various teams at the college, to transform student math scores.

“We did what they all told us couldn't be done,” Cioce declared.

The Fall 2024 semester was the “first semester with the new stuff,” with a college spokesman later telling this newspaper that the “math reform” has “reduced the percentage of students who needed developmental math and increased pass rates across the board.”

Cioce, during the April 15 session, then welcomed “our newest Trustees” and vowed to give the new members “the whiteglove tour.”

2024. (While a figure of $3,909,260 is labeled in the budget breakdown as the “amount to be raised by taxes,” that includes a total of $2,389,595 for both local and regional school districts, categories that represent funds now paid to educate Bass River students in neighboring communities.)

Where the chart indicates that a tax increase is about to be implemented is under a “prior year to current year comparison,” which notes that whereas the “impact on residential tax payment (municipal purposes only)” was $817.56 in the “prior year,” it is $898.92 in the “current year,” a change (+/-) of 9.95 %, or $81.86.

Other “prior year to current year comparisons” provided by the chart were changes in the municipal purpose tax rate from 3.86 to 3.96, a difference of one cent per dollar of assessed value, amounting to a change of 2.59 percent, and in the municipal purpose tax levy from $654,324 to $692,459, amounting to a $38,135.00 or

considered harassing.”

She then disputed what is happening now is actually “part of the culture.”

Jayaram, an engineer who has “worked in different countries for nine different companies,” said he is a resident of Florence who works as a senior director of Human Resources for New Jersey American Water.

After pointing out he has a master’s degree in Industrial and Production Engineering, Jayaram, a member of a couple other boards in the county, said he has “spent about 18 years on the manufacturing side and then moved to the HR, with 25 years of HR now.” He described that education is “very, very important for me.”

Holley is the current principal of Pemberton Township High School. He is also a past Democratic mayor and councilman of Willingboro. A source close to the college said he is the brother of Burlington County Institute of Technology (BCIT) Superintendent Dr. Ashanti Holley, a known friend of Singleton.

“I am just excited to join the board,” Trustee Holley said. “I am excited about all the opportunities, the information that I will have, and some insight on what I can take back to the students who I serve and their

5.83 percent difference.

Given far more attention at the meeting than the budget resolution and its anticipated effect on property taxes was the passage on second reading of an ordinance that will raise sewer maintenance fees for residents of the Offshore Manor neighborhood from $150 to $500 per year.

Asked by a Birch Road resident to provide some clarification for an increase of that size, Township Clerk Jenny Gleghorn explained that “the expenses are way more than what is coming in” and other residents who have septic systems have for years been paying more than those who live in Offshore Manor. She added that the new fee of $500 is something “we understand … might be hard because it is such a big number, but there's a deficit in the money that is being collected.”

Exacerbating the expense, Deputy Mayor Louis Bourguignon emphasized, is constant criminal mischief that is being committed

up the phone. He again also told residents they can email him as well.

families. And to just present the resources that are available to them if they want to explore RCBC further.”

The Board of Trustees ultimately appointed Cleary, Giacobbe, Alfieri, Jacobs, LLC, as the “Special Counsel to the board for specific legal matters in an amount not to exceed $70,000,” with a source close to the college telling this newspaper that the special counsel will investigate Cioce, as well as other items.

This time, however, the board was publicly muted about what it was voting on exactly, and Cioce kept silent during the April 15 decision, with Board Chairman Sean Kennedy simply thanking Treasurer Dorion Morgan, also chair of the Finance and Facilities Committee.

But there was an indication given that behind the scenes there were some continued fireworks.

“I applaud your leadership, because we had some spirited meetings and I appreciate you getting us to the finish line,” Kennedy told Morgan.

at the site.

“Just last week, they vandalized the pipes again,” he noted, reportedly doing $1,200 worth of damage, including the cost of labor. “And it ain’t the first time—it goes on and on,” the commissioner contended, with the total cost of installing new piping, including valves, coming to $40,000.

When asked if residents could do anything to curb the vandalism problem, Bourguignon replied that the best thing they can do is immediately notify the New Jersey State Police when they see suspicious activity or motorcycles in the area. He added that some people are walking their dogs in the leach field without apparently realizing it is a “raw sewer.”

Those in attendance were also informed that the $500 fee would not be going into effect until next year, reflected in new bills to go out in October.

(Continued from Page 6)

a nuisance call” to the barracks, “we'll send somebody” out to respond.

One resident, however, spoke about how a responding Trooper “did not issue a citation” in one instance, but rather “let them go.”

A confrontation ensued, the woman recounted, and the rider “was cursing, using profanities and threatening us.”

“The officer said, ‘Would you like to write a report?” the woman further recounted. “I said, ‘No, you didn't write a ticket for not being able to produce proper documentation.’”

She then observed “all your Troopers left,” and immediately following that, the rider approached her and said, “‘I’m in.”’

Long called that “unacceptable,” though through further questioning, it was ascertained it did not occur under his watch.

The woman then recounted how she and her husband were followed home on one occasion, contending, “It would be

“By definition, you are trespassing, and you are breaking the law. They are a nuisance. They are in violation, and they are threatening. And this committee has been put on notice.”

The woman also claimed that when authorities were first called to the March 8 fire, a “very derogatory, debasing comment was made” essentially suggesting to “not call 911 when there is no fire.”

“Well, one of the firemen or the Troopers, whoever it was, went and looked in the woods,” she recounted. “There was a fire.”

She condemned the individual who made the remark for being “too quick to assume” that something was not wrong.

Long spent a good deal of the meeting – in which there was also frustration voiced about a reportedly problematic property in the township (see separate story) – encouraging residents to call the Red Lion Station as soon as they see something, and to not wait to pick

“It is becoming a liability, because what is going to happen isn’t going to be pretty,” warned the woman of the situation at Murphy’s Pit. “The handwriting is on the wall.”

Township Solicitor Doug Heinold, in updating the public on Murphy’s Pit, described that a “notice of settlement that was circulated” for the parcel is a little

NEIGHBORHOOD

(Continued from Page 6)

picking up on that point, Long asserted, “it is something I can’t necessarily talk about, but these people know our system very, very well.”

“So, they are using every trick that they can to try to prolong this or get a reduced sentence,” the station commander added.

Many of the complaints to the Red Lion Station, he noted, have been made “afterthe-fact” and he urged locals to report any incidents or suspicious activity in real time. He described that the more the station can “add on” to the docket, the more impact it could likely have on the eventual outcome.

“It shouldn’t be calls to neighbors, it should be calls to me or to the barracks,” Long maintained. “Call 911 if you have to.”

POLICE

(Continued from Page 3)

keep the public abreast of what is happening in the community from a law enforcement perspective. Commonly, residents only find out about crimes and related apprehensions through this newspaper and have come to depend on it for that information.

It was resident Patricia Finlay, of Hawkin Road, who observed during the April governing body meeting that “few are obeying the lawful speed limit within Southampton Township.”

However, she also observed that motorists were demonstrating “more compliance” with the speed limit in neighboring Tabernacle Township, on its stretch of Hawkin Road.

Finlay said she believed that the greater compliance was occurring in Tabernacle because Tabernacle officials recently got the state police to commit to patrolling their stretch of the road “one to two days” a week, with word of the agreement in a published newspaper report.

Finlay pointed out that the speed limit drops from 40 mph to 25 mph when approaching the Southampton stretch of Hawkin Road from Medford Township.

However, she claimed that motorists “ignore” the 25-mph speed limit until they pass a “Welcome to Tabernacle Township” sign near her house, “where they

One man described a situation where cars are “parking down the street” and then the occupants of the vehicles are “walking to the house” in question. It led to an acknowledgement by Long that state police responded to one such report, and in that instance, a motorist claimed that “he works for Grubhub” and also had a valid driver’s license and vehicle registration.

“Well, why is he not parking in front of their house?” a man shot back, to which Long responded, “I don’t believe for a second that he works for Grubhub,” but maintained there is “only so much” a Trooper can do in that instance.

Long described that he has “instructed my troopers to be out there regularly, doing property checks in the area,” and he assured the residents “we are constantly coming out there,” but noted the matter is somewhat “out of my hands” because it is in the court and “everything takes forever – we

put on the brakes.”

“That is where the state police go and they get ticketed,” she said of the Tabernacle stretch of Hawkin Road.

Finlay called the Southampton stretch of Hawkin Road a “disaster zone” with “people speeding at such exceedingly fast speeds.”

“Somebody is going to be very hurt,” she maintained. “It is so, so frightening!”

Finlay also detailed a purported incident in which a pickup truck driver was “right on my tail,” before “revving his engine behind me.”

“Another pickup truck came and raced with this guy next to me, revving their engines,” she recounted, noting there was no shoulder where she could move out of the way.

Ultimately, she contended, the trucks were “side-by-side” in approaching the Route 206 and Hawkin Road traffic light, before they allegedly ran what was a red light.

Finlay maintained she called the state police, and was asked to get a recording of the incident as it unfolded.

“It is very dangerous out there right now,” Finlay declared. “I don’t know what is going on, but this is what is happening, and I really am begging this township committee to look into something.”

Finlay suggested that Southampton officials call the mayor of Tabernacle to find out how he was able to arrange for increased patrols by the state police.

Southampton Mayor Ronald Heston

know this.”

“We should be out there constantly,” Long emphasized. “If we are not, then they are disobeying my order, and I have a problem with that. We should be out there watching.”

Long revealed of the residence in question that “we did a raid there a couple months ago” and “that is what is still working its way through the court system,” but assured the residents “we verified everything on the property” and “nothing was stolen.”

He also noted reports of “people coming in and out of the house, undesirable or not,” is not something the state police can stop, but the agency can act if they are “in the car” impaired.

“Being wrapped up, being impaired, being a danger to themselves, I can do something about that,” Long told the concerned residents. “Please call me.”

He then told them “there are other things

pledged to visit Hawkin Road and “check out both sides” of the road to “see what is there for the state police” to sit.

“Because they will not sit on private property,” maintained Heston, a claim which was disputed by Finlay.

Heston responded to Finlay by recognizing that the state police can “sit in a driveway going into the woods to private property,” before reiterating he would visit the area and then “communicate with the state police.”

Finlay then offered to have the state police sit in her driveway.

“I have a lot of places that have offered their property because it (speeding) is not unique to Hawkin Road,” Heston responded. “It is every road in Southampton Township that has a speeding problem.”

When Finlay suggested speed bumps, Umba responded, “speed bumps are frowned upon by the JIF,” or the Burlington County Joint Insurance Fund. Therefore, he maintained, it “is something we can’t really get.”

“If somebody bombs out on it, then we are on the hook for it,” Umba maintained.

In addition to having claimed to have recently met with the station commander about the purported home invasions, the Southampton administrator described having asked the officer to take a look at the speeding concerns, recognizing “there are a couple other speeding areas that we have asked them to take care of.”

in the works,” but did not elaborate. He also recognized the locals are “not interested in hearing that,” rather “you want results.”

“I have our guys doing property checks on a regular basis,” Long said. “I am going to go back again. I am going to reiterate everything I heard here tonight and make sure.”

Di Croce called the Woodgate matter “the most important thing we have on our plate,” describing he has personally met with residents of the neighborhood, in the neighborhood.

“I have seen what is going on,” Di Croce said. “I have instructed our zoning officer to go out there, and if there are violations to issue, issue the violations and take action. Courts are slow sometimes, we know that. So, I know I've asked you before to be patient. You know, it is not the old days when we can go out and take care of business like we used to do.”

Yet, Umba maintained, “it is still at their discretion based off of the manpower that they have.” Umba proclaimed that the Red Lion Station now has “six officers, from what I gather, per shift” and “they have five, six towns that they have to police.”

“They do get around,” Umba said. “I would contend it is probably a loose agreement that he has with Tabernacle. And even if we had a local police department, we are not permitted to order the police department on how to maintain their operation. That is the (responsibility of the) lieutenant or the chief. It is their discretion on where they put their people. We can provide suggestions, and we already have.”

One such suggestion, Umba said, is “adding trails, using county Open Space dollars, along Hawkin Road.” One such trail would “come down” a pathway for transmission lines in the area “into Tabernacle and then over to Shamong, and then back over into Medford.” Part of the plan also includes creating a “larger bike path for a regional bike path in the area.”

When Finlay again observed that the state police are sitting in Tabernacle to catch speeders, Umba responded, “They are not just saying, well, ‘Southampton’s mayor didn’t ask me to do it, so we are not going to save Southampton.”’

“They are responsible for ensuring the same motorist laws in both towns are adhered to,” Umba contended.

FRUSTRATION

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misleading, with the tract still remaining in the hands of an owner described by officials as being lax in enforcing no trespassing rules on his land.

“The property has not transacted,” Heinold told residents. “It is the title company basically saying a sale is pending, and that there will be a settlement that will occur.”

Heinold said he spoke to the attorney for the prospective solar developer, Steve Gouin, and was informed “they have a pending application that has been accepted by Atlantic City Electric” for the solar project. Additionally, he maintained, “they have addressed issues, questions” from the Pinelands Commission that are “relative to their intended solar project on that property.”

“His general feeling is that probably sometime, as early as this summer, but before the end of the year, unless they get denied by Atlantic City Electric, which they don't anticipate, they will be in a position to close on that property,” Heinold reported. “They have also said in the past, once they close on the property, they won’t wait (to build).”

The township attorney emphasized “they won't wait, knowing the issues that we are facing out there, to secure the property.”

Heinold said the working belief is that the solar developer will be able to close on the property “in the next three to nine months” and “once they get through the site plan approval process, get their solar panels in, there is not going to be a pit to ride on anymore.”

“So, that is the goal and that is what we are working towards,” said Heinold, with Di Croce adding, “We’ve got a live buyer on the hook, so to speak, because it solves a lot of the problems that people are interested in.”

MONSTER

serious threat to lives and property for a period of several hours on April 22 — a blaze that state fire officials at a heavily attended press conference on the grounds of Coyle Air Base in Woodland Township the next morning characterized as perhaps the worst in almost two decades.

The Jones Road fire, which a 19-year-old Ocean Township resident was subsequently charged with setting, demonstrated just how fast and furiously a seemingly small flare-up can turn into a raging inferno that crosses the “wildland-urban interface” and threatens entire communities.

Nowhere is this truer than in the Pine Barrens of South Jersey, especially at certain times of the year (such as in late April) and under certain environmental conditions (like extreme dryness). And whenever and wherever it happens, the potential for all hell to break loose and engulf whatever might be in its path can’t be predicted.

For New Jersey Department of

Environmental Protection (NJDEP)

Commissioner Shawn LaTourette, such a terrifyingly unforeseen point was reached by this particular fire when it did something he told the Pine Barrens Tribune he had personally never seen a wildfire do before—it jumped from the western to the eastern side of the Garden State Parkway in Lacey Township sometime between 4 and 6 the previous evening, then went on to similarly cross Route 9, another well-traveled artery and proceeded to lick at the edges of a lagoon side residential community adjacent to Barnegat Bay.

It was then, LaTourette said, that the New Jersey Forest Fire Service marshalled all the resources and strategies at its command and somehow “averted a major disaster,” likely saving any number of lives as well as homes, and beginning the process of beating back what had begun earlier that day in Wells

Mills Park, Ocean Township, and had soon evolved from an apparently minor fire into a Colossus-size conflagration that defied all efforts to contain it.

It was, to be sure, an epic battle, according to the NJDEP commissioner and other officials who addressed the dozens of print and broadcast journalists who showed up for the April 23 press conference.

But by that time, this rampaging beast of a blaze—one that had temporarily driven thousands of residents of three well-populated municipalities, Ocean, Lacey and Barnegat townships, from their homes, as well as necessitating a shutdown of power to around 25,000 customers and the temporary closure of substantial sections of both the Parkway and Route 9 to traffic—had been largely (if

MONSTER

not completely) subdued. Both roads were reopened the following morning.

Perhaps even more miraculous was the fact that the concerted efforts of the firefighters limited any reported damage from the blaze to the destruction of just one commercial structure, Liberty Door and Awning in Lacey Township, along with some vehicles. But no homes had been reported lost at the time of the press conference, and far more importantly, no lives apparently were, either, nor did any significant injuries result, despite the vast amount of acreage it consumed, much of it on the fringes of densely populated communities.

LaTourette, in response to a question about why the first news conference on the inferno was being held the day after it reached its height, replied, “This fire was incredibly dangerous, and particularly in the late afternoon and into evening hours” on the night of April 22 and “it would have been a mistake to invite the press into that environment.”

“It frankly wasn’t safe for us to bring folks into that area,” LaTourette continued.

He went on to describe the blaze as “behaving very actively and fiercely,” and “effectively throwing itself, meaning that from the main fire on the west side of the Parkway, winds were carrying embers that landed in another spot, creating a flanking fire.”

The commissioner then explained how the Forest Fire Service plans its approach to containment and suppression, adjusting

course as needed so that if stopping it at one location proves unsuccessful because of its behavior, “we adjust course so as to contain it at another location.”

LaTourette, when asked about a gap in updates between 11 p.m. April 22 and the morning of April 23, all while evacuees were staged at two area high schools, noted that the fire service had to wait until daylight in order to survey the scene from the air so as to provide the “best information,” and that in the meantime, reports were being issued from the Office of Emergency Management on such matters as sheltering and the re-opening of the Garden State Parkway at about 5:30 a.m.

The commissioner also pointed out that information on mitigating the risks of finding oneself at the wildland-urban interface, “where the open wilderness meets our developed built environment,” is now available at the New Jersey Wildfire Smart Campaign on the NJDEP’s website at dep.nj.gov.

“Part of that has to do with helping individual property owners in understanding and reducing risks of living along that wildland urban interface,” he said. “In addition to providing public education guidance and advice of that planning nature, we are also investing in fire suppression, the creation of more fire breaks.”

But, he added, “There is no one silver bullet, if you will – it is a network of strategies, a network of solutions that need to be pursued concertedly and across every level of government.”

Jersey Central Power & Light deenergized powerlines in the area of Oyster Creek substation during the height of the

MONSTER/ Page 17

Photo By New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

New Jersey Forest Fire Service personnel attempt to douse flames for the Jones Road Fire.

Photo By New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

A plume of smoke from the Jones Road Fire rises high above a seemingly deserted Garden State Parkway.

Photo By New Jersey

Photo By New Jersey

Photo By

CAREERS

(Continued from Page 8)

confident they are ready for whatever gets thrown their way, but that is where the similarities end.

After being accepted by three different academies, a feat very few high school seniors can say, Grady’s first task was deciding which institution most aligned with what he wanted to do.

In September, the NROTC awarded him a scholarship for a full ride to any of the five colleges that are a partner with the program, he said, adding he skipped interviewing with the board and was offered the award on the spot. Then, after applying to the colleges, he was accepted to all five – two of which are in Philadelphia.

“That was the beginning, it made it real,” he said.

From there, the choices only grew.

In October, Grady received an appointment into the U.S. Merchant Marines Academy. In November, he was invited to a candidates visit weekend at the Naval Academy. In early December, he was accepted to the Coast Guard Academy. Then in late December, while out for a run, he got the call he had been hoping for, he was accepted to the Naval Academy.

“I was at wrestling practice when I got the call,” he said. “I answered the phone while I was running so I was out of breath, but I was also ecstatic.”

Grady didn’t come from a military family, his older brother attends college, and neither of his parents served. He does, however, have an uncle and cousin in the military who ended up having a big influence on him, his mom, Pam Brown, said.

“His cousin really opened his eyes after taking him on a special tour of the Naval Academy,” she described. “It made him realize he could do this.”

Grady told this newspaper, “It really lit a spark in me.”

What makes Grady’s acceptance even more interesting, according to Pam, is the fact his uncle graduated 50 years ago and at the academy the classes are aligned, she said, with it called “a link in the chain.”

His mom said he knew, going into his senior year, that he was accepted, so he could have just coasted, but the fact he did the total opposite is a testament to his dedication.

Not only has Grady gotten straight A’s practically his whole life, according to Pam, he also excelled in lacrosse and wrestling, earning a varsity letter in each, before having to give the sports up his final

high school year to ensure his future plans stay intact.

“I had to make hard decisions like giving up sports,” Grady said. “I accomplished a lot but also gave up a lot.”

Making sure he gets sent off to the Naval Academy injury-free has his mom holding her breath, until he actually gets there, when she said she’ll be holding her breath for another reason.

Mom can’t take all the credit, she said, as there were other important people in Grady’s life who helped him stay on track, introduce him to new opportunities and prep him for what he will be dealing with next.

His Guidance Counselor, Christopher Watson, and his Blue and Gold Officer, Martha Christinziano, also played a role.

“A Blue and Gold officer is an amazing civil volunteer who leads you through the process,” Grady said. “Everything she said, I did.”

Christinziano gave him direction on how to apply, offered him advice and helped him find things such as the Coast Guard’s AIM Summer Seminar, that helped prepare him for the life he wanted.

“She played such a part in getting me here, she’ll be in our lives forever,” he said. “Mr. Watson just gets it; he understands the amount of effort I put in.”

By taking part in the AIM program and the Naval Academy Summer Seminar, Grady said he is confident he is ready to take on his “Plebe Summer” with no issues.

“It gave me an accurate representation of what life will be like,” he noted.

When Grady graduates, he hopes to be a nuclear engineer and work on a ship or submarine.

Then there is Caroline Dozier, who comes from a family of many service people. She also spent much of her senior year knowing her fate and has continued to excel in both athletics and academics.

Not only will Caroline be starting the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in New York in June, she’ll also be playing soccer for them.

The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy is a subset of the Navy, according to Caroline, and is one of five federal service academies in America. It prepares students for service in the maritime industry, Caroline said.

Exposed to military life from an early age, Caroline pretty much knew she wanted to do something involving boats or planes, she said. She has uncles, cousins and grandparents who are veterans, a dad who is an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.), a mother who was an Air Force flight surgeon and three brothers, two of whom are attending the same school she’ll be starting. Both even play soccer

for the academy.

The academy falls under the Department of Transportation, she said, so the Merchant Marines do a few different things such as providing support to the Navy by delivering fuel and supplies and they can also work in commercial sailing.

After her four years at the academy, she will have choices when she graduates, according to Caroline.

“The unique thing is grads have choices,” she said. “They can sail commercially with a private company and move into the Naval Reserves or they can go into active duty in any branch of the military.”

Her family played a big part in her desire to go into the military, she said, but there is one summer program she credits with really preparing her for her next step in life: the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Program, a camp that puts kids into real life military scenarios, which helps prepare them for challenges that lie ahead when they leave civilian life.

“We wake up at 5:30 a.m. and there is lots of yelling and stress, so I’m ready for it,” Caroline said.

One of her biggest supporters has been her mom, Joy Dozier, who said she has always given her daughter a gentle push toward anything she thought would benefit her.

“I always tried to make sure she had access to activities and helped her find

DEMANDS

(Continued from Page 5)

“And so, if you wanted a police officer here tonight for whatever reason, you could have had one, correct?” Forman

asked Ward, to which the council president responded, “Sure, yeah we could have had one.”

Doyle, however, interjected that he is “sure” a subpoena would not be required to have an officer attend a council meeting, rather, “That would come under the grace

of the police chief saying, if you guys are requesting one, I’ll absolutely get one for you.”

(And during the latest session, both Ward and Doyle praised Forman for asking “very, very good questions.”)

As for what happened to the poster of the

experiences and opportunities that would help her grow among her interests,” Joy said.

Becoming a fighter pilot is one possibility Caroline said she is considering, but she noted her stature could prevent her from accomplishing that, so it will probably stay a dream for the time being. Plus, she said, all the work she will have put in learning about boats, wouldn’t really be applicable so she will probably stick to doing something with vessels.

“It would be four years of working and learning at the academy and would sort of be a waste of everything I worked so hard to get,” Caroline said. “I am looking into naval aviation and working on aircraft carriers. The commercial industry, however, is high paying and interesting and I’d still be in the Naval Reserves, so I’d be playing some role in the military.”

Caroline declared she is looking forward to real world experiences in college, which is a main reason she chose the path she did. When she graduates, Caroline said she’ll have her Coast Guard Boating License, which will allow her to operate any vessel.

As a woman entering into a male dominated profession, Caroline said she isn’t worried because her CAP training has prepared her for what she is in for, so she is confident she’ll make it through her “Plebe Summer” with less trouble than some of her counterparts.

social media postings, Glass maintained he cannot say, but noted, “We definitely followed up with it.”

“I don’t want you to think that there was no action whatsoever,” said Glass, but who confirmed no arrests were made or charges filed.

Photo Provided

Caroline Dozier with Congressman Donald Norcross, who nominated her to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

CLAIM

(Continued from Page 4)

selling or leasing township property, any documents pertaining to new hire or termination of employees, or any documents pertaining to the 2025 budget.”

“The mayor has no authority to restrict an acting mayor’s duties or powers,” Costa told council after reading the pertinent section of the Faulkner Act aloud to council. “So, I believe that the mayor has, in effect, violated our form of government based on this law right here. So, if I were any of you guys, I would ask the question: ‘Should we ignore the memorandum that the mayor has handed out to all of you, or do we follow it until he comes back?’ If I were in your position, I would ignore it.”

Dasti has not publicly counseled the council on whether it should follow that provision of the Faulkner Act.

Councilman Perry Doyle, Jr., ultimately remarked “I would have thought that one of the biggest things we could have done in (these) 30 days, was we could have gotten some interviews conducted for quality business administrators, and we could have gotten one appointed.”

CLASHES

(Continued from Page 7)

municipalities had a “dedicated” week for brush pickup.

The township administrator previously detailed that the capital improvement plan also includes monies for at least two International Hooklift trucks, which would have the capability of hooking up flatbed connections, such as leaf vacuum systems.

Umba, who started in the administrator post in August of last year, indicated on April 15 his displeasure in observing that the township currently has its residents bagging leaves for collection.

“Bagging leaves is 1980, not 2025,” he said.

And in response to complaints from LeisureTowne last fall about leaves and pine needles piling up on township-owned islands, Umba described the township having to rent a “leafer machine” from Medford.

But Sobocinski called the “paying of

PROPOSAL

(Continued from Page 8)

Woodland Township,” it suspected that “the volume of commercial (“general public”) communication calls using the proposed communications tower and antenna array will far exceed (its) volume of calls for emergency services,” raising the issue of whether they really constitute an accessory use to the existing EMS building, as the applicant has claimed, or

“However, the only problem is, by the time we do the interviews, by the time we have the authorizations here and two readings to hire him, we go beyond the 30 days, and he (Tompkins) will be back and shoot it down, anyway,” Doyle added.

Later in the session, the council was asked to approve having the township engineer make updates to the Township Water Asset Management Plan (AMP). But council tabled two resolutions that would have allowed the project to proceed, with Councilman Harry Harper contending it is because “we don’t have a current 2025 budget to go off of.”

It was then that Ward contended that “this past week, I asked the acting mayor for a copy” of the draft budget, which he charged “has been completed for quite some time now,” before maintaining its existence has been “confirmed” and “verified,” but Tompkins was subsequently “contacted” while “out of the country” and “I was told as council president, ‘absolutely not,’ that I could not see it.”

“Just so everybody knows, this is your money,” Ward declared. “Council, who represents you as a community, wants to see a draft budget that the DCA (state Department of Community Affairs) specifically says by statute is supposed to

another town to help me for a period of time” something that is “a smart move.”

Umba also previously detailed that $500,000 is set aside in the capital improvement program for the township to “investigate enhancements to township properties,” and additional money, up to $8.5 million, could be allocated in the future to “revitalize township properties – principally here at the municipal complex,” all without raising taxes due to expiring debt.

Sobocinski, after claiming the municipal building is not ADA compliant, declared, “I would propose we look into selling this entire corner area,” or the municipal tract at Route 206 and Retreat Road.

“Given the amount of offices we have here, this is worth millions,” Sobocinski maintained.

But Umba pointed out that the municipal building falls within the boundary of the Pinelands Commission (which comes with stringent building restrictions), and therefore, “I don’t think we are going to find a willing buyer to do that.”

“I think the town bought a piece of

a principal use.

“Whereas an accessory use to the fire and EMS company would be allowable, he pointed out (by virtue of being a “permitted land use in a Pinelands Village, a principal use would not.”

Leaken, in his email, added that “the applicant can propose an amendment to one of the Comprehensive Plans for Communications Towers previously approved by the commission to include the proposed site of the communications tower in Woodland Township,” but had

be in front of council by the end of March, OK, and the fact that it is not even allowed to be seen is ridiculous, and at this point in time, asinine.”

It is unclear, however, why Tompkins was even contacted given he had already delegated his authority as township mayor to McNaughton.

But Doyle still made the point that McNaughton wasn’t “asked to make any decisions” pertaining to the budget, but rather to just provide a copy to council, to which Ward responded, “100 percent correct.”

If McNaughton had consented to providing a copy of the budget to council, Doyle noted, he “would well be within his rights as the acting mayor.”

Bianchini then proclaimed it was “confirmed” with Chief Financial Officer Candice Pennewell that the 2025 municipal budget “was ready in December.”

“So, it is not like they are still working on it,” he said. “It is ready to be released to us and the mayor is holding it up.”

Harper then contended that the “mayor is in violation of his own resolution” that he had council approve back in January extending the timeframe to March 31 for a budget to be presented to council.

Bianchini ultimately called on residents

property down the street, outside the Pinelands, which we ended up not utilizing and reselling,” Umba pointed out.

But Sobocinski maintained “we should investigate it,” further contending there are other municipal offices available in which the township could “consolidate” its operations.

Umba described previously, and again on April 15, that the Hooklift trucks would also be capable of carrying containers for residents to use for house cleanouts, and the township would charge a “nominal fee” to drop off a dumpster.

It led one man to question if bulk trash pickup would still occur.

“We would present, with this new plan, one week a month where you would have a limited amount (you could dispose),” Umba responded. “We’d have to address the scope.”

One “could put the dresser out, put a couple of those items out,” but if “you are looking to demo your entire kitchen” and “you want to take all the cabinets out,” then it would require a container, according to Umba.

not submitted such a proposal.

The proposed site for the monopole, which the Woodland Township Land Use Board had unanimously approved, was opposed by neighboring residents who originally expressed concerns about the health effects of constant exposure to the electromagnetic energy given off by such a tower in the form of RF waves, as well as its effects on their property values.

to “write your assembly people, write your senators and write the governor’s office about what is going on here.”

“If they start hearing it from the residents, and it puts some more heat on him, maybe he’ll do the right thing and step down because he is doing nothing but holding us back – even thousands of miles away he is holding us back,” Bianchini said. “We can’t have this anymore! Our hands are tied with a lot, and I know you are probably sick and tired of hearing it, and we are sick and tired of saying it, but our hands are tied and he holds the keys and there's really not much we can do.”

The previous council voted to censure the mayor, and called for his resignation, over a finding of harassment and retaliation through a council-ordered investigation, and then the current council “expressed its disapproval” of Tompkins and “demanded his resignation” on April 2, following a settlement agreement related to the findings.

The current council also verbally called for his resignation at a prior meeting.

“Can I make a motion to vote him out or get rid of him?” asked Dewey during the latest April 16 session, to which Bianchini quipped, “We do that at every meeting – it is a standing agenda item.”

Umba pointed to someone who “tore down their entire playground” recently, resulting in the township sending out a letter to that person, with the township administrator asserting, “We are not picking that up.”

A fee for providing the container service to residents has not yet been determined, Umba noted, contending it will be dependent “on the market.”

The man also wanted to know from officials if the township would be receiving a “Worker’s Compensation Adjustment” as a result of no longer, in short order, having “two guys on the back of the truck lifting cans anymore.”

“I can’t give you an adequate answer right now, but we are beginning the study if this goes through,” Umba responded.

The Southampton administrator recognized, however, that the township does have a “higher premium based off of back complaints” from people “throwing the trash” into the haulers, getting hurt. Two township employees, he acknowledged, are “earning our Worker’s Comp” as a result of the current situation.

However, since the levels of RF radiation involved are considered acceptable under the more-then-quarter-century old Telecommunications Act of 1996, the attorney hired by local resident Andrew Windisch, Princeton-based environmental lawyer Stuart J. Lieberman, has been pretty much limited to contesting the “accessory” claim, as was noted by the Pine Barrens Tribune in its previous coverage of this issue. Burns’ latest statement came as a result of a group of residents complaining about the lack of cellular phone signal in town. Reporter Douglas D. Melegari contributed to this article.

WAREHOUSE

(Continued from Page 4)

At some point, it is charged in the filing, “the board commented that it would prefer if Pemberton-2 maintained ownership of the roadway extension into its subdivision and not dedicate that additional roadway to the township.”

However, it was observed that “keeping the access roadway private, however, would create the need for technical variances for the subdivided lots since they would no longer be fronting on a public road.”

“Despite this, Pemberton-2 informed the planning board that, to the extent the planning board believed a variance would be required, Pemberton-2 would consider that possibility,” it is stated in the suit.

Then, during a “final” planning board hearing in November 2023, according to the litigation, “Pemberton-2 advised that it was amenable to the access street being dedicated to Pemberton as a public rightof-way, which required no variances, as the road was already public property.”

Yet, Pemberton-2 claims it agreed to one of two options, including, “if the board would grant the necessary variance, after creating the variance condition, such that the road could be private, the paper street, as a public right of way, the remainder would be private in perpetuity, and Pemberton-2 would maintain the entirety of the road in perpetuity.”

“Ultimately, the planning board took a straw poll to determine the preferred mechanism of ownership/control of the access street,” the suit maintains. “The motion before the planning board was for ‘a private roadway that is suggesting the portion that is a public roadway would be maintained by the applicant as if it were private.’”

The board vote, it is pointed out, was 6-0 with one abstention, “ultimately determining that no variance was needed as the access street would remain public.”

It is further maintained in the legal filing that the board “never discussed any variances for the right-of-way easement to be dedicated from ‘Lot 1’ because that dedication never required any variances” and “the dedication would be to Pemberton Township for public rightof-way purposes, not to Pemberton-2.”

It is further noted “the planning board granted a variance with respect to the proposed access off Birmingham Road, ‘to permit the proposed street to remain private; whereas a public road designation is required’” and that the “applicant has agreed to maintain the existing public right-of-way and all improvements therein for the township in perpetuity, as if same were private property, pursuant to a separate written agreement between the applicant and the township to be made as a condition of the board’s approval.”

The applicant maintains in the legal filing that it was agreed “the public right-of-way shall remain in place, as the applicant will not be seeking a vacation

of same.”

What followed, the suit notes, was a lawsuit filed by resident Patricia Guthrie, with it claimed that she “contended that a use variance was required to permit offsite access to the subject property over Lot 1 from Birmingham Road, and the board lacked jurisdiction to grant such relief,” among other things.

According to the applicant’s legal filing, a court hearing the Guthrie matter had subsequently concluded that the “planning board lacked jurisdiction to grant Pemberton-2 a use variance, which it found was required to allow the access road to cross Lot 1” and the court also “held that the access road constituted an accessory use.”

The court also reportedly found that in the zoning district at issue, while “multiple uses on the same property” are permitted, “those uses must be within the same principal building,” and therefore, the “access drive plainly does not satisfy these conditions because the portion of the access drive on Lot 1 does not serve a use on Lot 1.”

As noted in the applicant’s legal filing, the planning board’s resolution was “vacated” and the court offered Pemberton-2 a pair of options, including to “forgo the sliver of Lot 1 as currently situated for the access driveway and proceed with building the warehouses in compliance with all remaining conditions imposed by the planning board, which do not implicate the need for a use variance” or “alternatively, if Pemberton-2 still seeks to include the ‘sliver of Lot 1’ in its plan, the court advised that Pemberton-2 will need to apply to the zoning board for a ‘D’ variance and, if granted, proceed back to the planning board for final site plan approval.”

What reportedly followed is that 200 South Pemberton Urban Renewal, LLC, as the owner of Lot 1, had “executed a Deed of Easement granting to Pemberton Township a ‘perpetual easement for rightof-way access and construction purposes through, over, upon, under, in and across the easement property,’” with the “relevant part of the easement for present purposes the small triangular area at the northeast corner of Lot 1, which creates the odd turning angle for ingress and egress between the public right-of-way on the subject property and Birmingham Road.”

Pemberton-2 and the planning board then turned to the Trial Court, according to the applicant’s legal filing, which “determined that the easement provides Pemberton Township control in perpetuity over those portions of the grantor’s property for right-of-way access and construction purposes.”

The suit then maintains that the “litigation significantly delayed” the developer’s ability to pursue the developer’s agreement and easement with council, which was changing hands because of an election, before detailing the raucous proceedings in the late December meeting in which the items were finally listed on an

agenda for action, but the council “never took formal action on the two duly noticed agenda items.”

“These items were never formally moved, voted upon, or adjourned to another meeting date,” the suit charges.

“The council’s refusal to take up these matters was inconsistent with its rules of order, and deprived Pemberton-2 of its rights, including those rights it acquired pursuant to the planning board’s resolution approval, its inherent property rights in the subject property, and its due process rights.”

The legal filing goes on to charge an “adoption of the resolution approving a developer’s agreement and the adoption of an ordinance dedicating the 0.086-acre portion of the access road to the township were tantamount to ministerial acts by the council.”

The applicant then requests of the court, in part, to order the council to “take up and adopt Resolution 328-2024 approving a Developer’s Agreement with Pemberton-2, and to take up and adopt Ordinance 462024 dedicating the 0.086-acre portion of the access road to the township, pursuant to the easement granted by the owner of Block 797, Lot 1, at the council’s next regularly scheduled meeting” or strike the planning board condition requiring “a straightening of the paper street and rightof-way so as to meet Birmingham Road at a near perpendicular angle, and directing the planning board to adopt a resolution approving the as-of-right configuration for ingress/egress originally proposed by Pemberton-2.”

Township Solicitor Jerry Dasti has acknowledged the filing of the lawsuit during the past several council meetings, reporting that the matter is “in litigation.”

During an April 16 council session, Councilman Perry Doyle, in responding to a question from resident Michelle Forman about where the matter stands, claimed “a judge made a decision in favor of the township” that “supports the decision that was made” by council.

“The warehouse company, Pemberton-2, did not like that judge’s decision, so now they are appealing it to another judge,” Doyle further contended.

Doyle further maintained that a judge sided with a “suggestion” of Dasti for Pemberton-2 to “come up with a whole new plan for their property, with a roadway coming in off of South Pemberton Road, along the existing warehouse, on the Southampton side, into their development.”

And, according to Doyle, it was a decision that would require the applicant to come back before the planning board to “basically start all over again with a new project.”

But Dasti would not completely concur with Doyle’s account of events, rather maintaining the councilman is “almost” correct in his account of what has occurred, or is “pretty close” to being accurate.

As Dasti explained it, at the “trial level”

the “judge denied the warehouse lawsuit” and said, “the planning board did what they were supposed to do.” But then “the judge was asked to reconsider her decision, which she did.” That is when the trial court judge ruled that the warehouses are to be approved so long as the applicant can meet the conditions imposed by the planning board, including that they obtain an approval from the township for the right-of-way.

“That decision from the trial judge has been appealed by everybody, and now it is in the Appellate Division,” Dasti maintained. “And our position with the Appellate Division is essentially what Perry just said – they can’t meet the condition. Therefore, the approval that the trial judge said was OK can never be met. They got to go back to the planning board and see if the planning board will remove the condition, because at this point, the approval with that condition won’t stand. That is our position.”

But Forman took issue with the township requesting the matter be sent back to the planning board, asserting, “Why don’t you just tell the new judge that, hey, we voted ‘no’ and we stand by that?”

Dasti responded, “We did” and “We have.”

Forman’s latter question ultimately received an answer from Councilman Harry Harper: “Well, legally, Michelle, we have to let them – if they want to go back to the planning board with a new plan, we have to let them. You can’t stop them from coming back to try to make a new plan.”

There was some public confusion as it appeared that multiple previous, but separate legal actions related to the same issue were getting intertwined in response to Forman’s query about the status of the most recent piece of litigation.

The Pine Barrens Tribune could not confirm that any decision has been reached in response to the Jan. 31 complaint filed by Pemberton-2, LLC.

Rather, it appeared that Dasti had just filed an answer to Pemberton-2’s complaint on April 16, which was entered into the Superior Court civil case jacket on April 21.

For much of the response, Dasti contends the “defendant neither admits nor denies the allegations” but “leaves Plaintiffs to their proofs.”

However, in the “affirmative defenses” given, Dasti writes that the plaintiff has allegedly “failed to state a cause of action for which relief can be granted,” and that the case “must be dismissed based upon the doctrine of laches and estoppel,” the “doctrine of unjust enrichment,” as well as the “doctrine of impossibility.”

He further charges the plaintiff has “has failed to comply with conditions imposed by the township planning board and therefore the plaintiff’s complaint must be dismissed with prejudice.”

But the most interesting request for dismissal by Dasti is based on “the doctrine of the statute of frauds.”

MONSTER

(Continued from Page 13)

fire, resulting in about 25,000 customers being without power for more than 12 hours in the area of Barnegat, Ocean and Lacey townships.

As for why it was deemed necessary to shut the power off, which was also asked about at the press conference, a spokesman for JCP&L explained that “it was for the safety of the fire crews on the ground … just making sure that all clearances were safe” and “that everybody is able to operate and do everything they need to do to prioritize the suppression of the fire and not have to worry about the lines that are there.”

The utility company rep noted that “those are high voltage lines that go in and out of that substation with a clearance field around them,” and emphasized that “safety is a top priority for us.”

Likewise, he said, the restoration process and the timing of restorations are also built entirely around safety.

As of the time that this newspaper went to press, the fire grew to 15,100 acres, with a containment area of 15,410 acres. A complete damage assessment was reported as being underway, and evacuations were said to be 100 percent lifted.

Only some unimproved roadways within the fire perimeter had been reported to be still closed.

A 19-year-old resident of the Waretown section of Ocean Township, Joseph Kling, has since been charged with arson and aggravated arson in connection with the fire, according to an announcement jointly issued by Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer, LaTourette’s office, and Ocean Township Chief of Police Michal Rogalski. Kling is accused of having set wooden pallets on fire and leaving the area without the resulting bonfire being fully extinguished.

The suspect was identified after a “thorough and extensive investigation conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, New Jersey Forest Fire Service, Ocean County Fire Marshal’s Office, and New Jersey State Fire Marshal’s Office, which plotted the origin of the fire via Global Positioning System (GPS),” according to an announcement by the prosecutor’s office.

“I’d like to express my immense gratitude to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Bilhimer, the county and local officials with whom the NJDEP partnered throughout the investigation, and the officers responsible for the arrest of the individual charged in connection with the Jones Road Wildfire,” said LaTourette in a statement emailed to this newspaper following the arrest.

“Thanks to collaboration between every level of government, New Jersey averted a major disaster and even more catastrophic loss of natural resources and property. But this is no time to be complacent—the Jones Road Wildfire only reinforces the critical importance of fire safety, especially as drought conditions persist and our forest fire season continues. Knowing that the vast majority of fires in our state are humancaused, I urge all New Jerseyans once again to avoid dangerous decisions that imperil our environment, property and families.”

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GUILTY

(Continued from Page 1)

agreement and right-of-way easement that are a condition of the approval (see separate story.) Dadoun, in Pemberton-2’s legal filing, is identified as a “common principal owner” of the tract where the warehousing is proposed and the “sole owner of 10 percent or more of the interest in the application” at issue.

It is unclear, as of press time, how Dadoun’s guilty plea might now impact Pemberton-2’s lawsuit, if at all.

Dadoun, 48, of Israel, formerly of South Plainfield, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch to “an information charging bank fraud” and “money laundering,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office noted in the release that the charge of bank fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years’ imprisonment and a maximum fine of $1 million, or twice the gross gain to the defendant or gross loss to the victim, whichever is greatest, and that the charge of money laundering carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain to the defendant or gross loss to the victim, or twice the amount of criminally derived property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater.

Sentencing, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, is scheduled for Aug. 13.

From April 2020 through August 2022, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Dadoun “engaged in a scheme to illegally obtain over $3.2 million in PPP loans for his

New Jersey businesses by submitting false and fraudulent loan applications.”

Then, after receiving the PPP loan proceeds, the U.S. Attorney’s Office noted, “Dadoun sought to keep the money by submitting false and fraudulent PPP loan forgiveness applications that misrepresented payroll expenses and the number of employees at his companies.”

In support of the loan and forgiveness applications, Dadoun also “submitted falsified tax documents and altered bank statements,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

According to a charging document, which was signed by Habba once Dadoun had waived open court prosecution, Dadoun, back on April 13, 2020, applied to one of three “victim lenders” for $2,125,000 in PPP monies for Seldat Distribution. That application, however, “falsely represented Seldat Distribution’s number of employees and average monthly payroll.”

He also reportedly submitted a false IRS tax document with his application that turned out to never have actually been filed with the federal tax agency.

The lender provided Dadoun with $2,125,000 in response to his filing, and then the following day, the warehouse CEO “transferred approximately $2,125,000 to the Seldat Fashion Bank Account.”

But Dadoun, when he later filed a forgiveness application, “falsely represented Seldat Distribution’s number of employees” at the time and also “submitted a doctored bank statement, which falsely reflected several transactions related to Seldat Distribution,” to support it.

One example cited by Habba is that Dadoun falsified the bank statement to reflect rent payments when in fact he had

not made any.

The loan made to Seldat Distribution was partially forgiven as a result of the false paperwork, and then Dadoun, according to the U.S. Attorney, failed to pay the rest back. Dadoun, it is noted in the charging document, also submitted “false and fraudulent loan applications for other businesses he controlled,” including DG Distiservices and Seldat Staffing.

As a result of pleading guilty to bank fraud, or Count 1, according to the charging document, Dadoun “shall forfeit to the United States” any “property, real or personal, constituting, or derived from, proceeds obtained directly or indirectly as a result of such offense.”

As a result of committing the money laundering offense, or Count 2, Dadoun “shall forfeit to the United States” all “property, real or personal, involved in such offense, and all property traceable to such property.”

And if any of the property has been comingled, cannot be located or has been transferred or sold, it is noted in the charging document that the U.S. government will “seek forfeiture of any other property of the defendant up to the value of the forfeitable property described.”

When Dadoun was indicted in 2023, this newspaper asked then-Pemberton business administrator Daniel Hornickel about the prospect of the Seldat operation and warehouse being seized by the federal government.

“We have asked special counsel to contact the U.S. Attorney assigned to the case, to engage us, as the process unfolds to ensure that the township’s interests are considered,” Hornickel replied at the time. “While the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) may take the action you indicated, special counsel will be asking the U.S. Attorney's Office to preserve the warehouse as a going concern, so that people do not face job losses and so the township can continue to receive quarterly PILOT payments. The operator has a multi-year lease with a tenant, and we’re hopeful the USAO will take that into account.”

But there is no indication in the charging document that the U.S. Attorney’s Office plans to preserve the warehouse. It is unclear if the township and its special counsel made contact with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and if it did, whether it had been continually kept in the loop.

Acting Mayor Tom McNaughton could not be reached for comment by deadline time, elected mayor Jack Tompkins is away overseas, having delegated his powers to McNaughton, and the township has not had a business administrator or acting business administrator for a few months now amid an apparent township governing crisis. Hornickel resigned last August.