Pine Barrens Tribune August 14, 2021-August 20, 2021

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Vol. 5 – No. 45 ♦

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August 14 - August 20, 2021

TWIN TRANSITIONS IN TABERNACLE Now-former Waller’s Deli owner Rob Waller poses with new proprietor Emily Dauria.

New Waller’s Deli Owner, Who Is a Protégé of Her Former Boss, Says She’s Not Planning to Change a Thing About Popular Take-Out

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

TABERNACLE—When Emily Dauria decided to leave her position as a senior manager at Waller’s Deli, in Tabernacle Township, to “try doing something

completely different” back in July of 2019, no one could have been more supportive of that decision than her boss at the time, Rob Waller, who, as she recently recounted, “has always encouraged his employees to See DELI/ Page 10

Photos Provided

The new owners of Upper Crust Pizza and Italian Restaurant, Jose Portillo and Ronaldo Duarte (center), with now-former owner Frank Caterina (right).

New Owners of Upper Crust Pizza Bring Experience and a Flair for Italian Cuisine to a 34-Year-Old Hometown Tradition

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

TA B E R N AC L E — W h e n F r a n k Caterina decided it was finally time for him to retire from his “hands-on” ownership of Upper Crust Pizza and

Italian Restaurant after 34 years at the helm (and the oven) of this much-loved Tabernacle Township eatery, the issue facing him was what would now become of a culinary institution that has become See PIZZA/ Page 11

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Marketplace.................14

Local News................. 2

Worship Guide............ 5

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Shamong Residents Go Round in Circles with County Reps Over Conceptual Design of ‘Roundabout’ for Intersection

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Burlington County’s conceptual design for a proposed Shamong roundabout.

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

SHAMONG—A concept plan for a proposed “roundabout” in Shamong Township that would replace the two-way stop intersection of Willow Grove and Stokes roads, also known as the intersection of County Routes 648 and 541, notorious for serious accidents, was released to the public by Burlington County representatives during an Aug. 3 Shamong Township Committee meeting.

However, the representatives, County Engineer William Sheaffer and Beth-Ann M. Grasso, a design engineer with Pennoni Associates, who is helping to execute the project, noted during the session that they are still “in the concept design phase,” and by November plan to complete a “preliminary design.” About a year after that, they said, the “final design will be completed,” and that is when they will be able to provide a “firm” estimated cost for the project.

For now, however, Sheaffer put the preliminary project cost around $1.2 million.

However, after Deputy Mayor Michael Di Croce (who led the committee meeting in the absence of Mayor Timothy Gimbel) contended that he was initially told by the county that the cost would be closer to $20 million, then (was advised) $5 million, Grasso retorted, “let’s just say less than $2 million,” with the engineer adding that other county roundabout projects have not exceeded the design engineer’s figure.

S eve r a l re side nt s , a nd D i Cro c e, stated both before and after the county’s presentation, that they do recog nize the intersection in its current state is exceptionally dangerous and something has to be done to remedy the situation, but none of those who spoke during the proceedings expressed their support for a roundabout as the solution.

Instead, there were many c r itic al questions asked of the proposal, with some of the residents calling the roundabout the most “extreme” of possible solutions, and maintaining it was inappropriate for the rural character of the area, while Di Croce, at times, chastised the plan (and the claims of how it was being funded) from the dais as the county representatives looked on.

(The other committeemen present for the Aug. 3 session, who previously expressed support for the project, did not comment during it, nor did Township Engineer Dante Guzzi, who previously maintained that roundabouts are “so successful in reducing accidents and fatalities.”)

And some residents, in response to

Photo Provided

seeing what was proposed, insisted it was a “circle,” and while Sheaffer himself unintentionally in error called it a circle at one point during the presentation, Grasso did provide illustrations of the five common, circular intersection types, and pointed out the differences, in clarifying that what is being proposed for Shamong is a “modern roundabout.”

The deputy mayor, however, despite those scientific explanations and illustrations, at the presentation and public hearing’s conclusion, still referred to what is being proposed as a “circle slash roundabout.”

And some homeowners whose properties are adjacent to the existing intersection also queried officials during the meeting about what the project means for their property lines and road frontage, sometimes going round in circles themselves to get specifics, and in expressing concern as to how much of their land would be taken from them to accommodate the project.

Nevertheless, Grasso maintained during the presentation that the most important aspect of what is being proposed is that roundabouts are not only statistically proven to drastically reduce significant crashes, but all crashes, and having one at Willow Grove and Stokes roads will solve the problem of serious crashes there because it will force drivers to significantly reduce their speed as they pass through where the two roads meet.

“T he average sp e e d i n a mo der n roundabout is 13 mph,” she said. “So, any crashes that would occur would be much less catastrophic than what you typically get at a four-way intersection, such as T-bone and head-on accidents.”

A modern roundabout, Grasso further maintained, only has “eight conflict points” in contrast to a standard intersection where “there are 32 possible conflicts” or “32 possible types of crashes.”

Essentially, she said, motorists right now can be impacted from both the right or left as they proceed through the intersection of Willow Grove and Stokes roads, but if a roundabout was there, any impact would only come from the left (unless there was a wrong-way driver).

The roundabout that is proposed for the intersection of Willow Grove and Stokes roads, according to Grasso, will have “splinter islands” with “reverse curves” (or islands shaped like a squished “S” per the concept plan) to slow down the speed of motorists entering the roundabout, “further reducing the chances of accidents.”

“With a straight road, vehicles tend to See ROUNDABOUT/ Page 9

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Former Mayor of Tabernacle Clashes with Current One Over Proposed Creation of Deputy Administrator Post, Secretarial Position for Three Municipal Departments

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

TABERNACLE—A former mayor of Tabernacle Township, Joseph Barton, who still serves as a committeeman on the Tabernacle Township Committee, but is not seeking re-election this November, clashed with both current Mayor Kim Brown and Township Administrator Doug Cramer, among others, during the governing body’s July 26 meeting over a package of proposed ordinances that would establish the new positions of “assistant municipal administrator” and ”full-time secretary” in the municipal government, as well as set the salary ranges for them.

Barton, who contended that officials are “talking about changing the structure of the township into the future” and “changing the game” because establishing the positions “are going to add costs to taxpayers,” called for the creation of a subcommittee to examine the current “workload” of township personnel, review the need for the proposed positions and their salaries, and serve as a “checks and balance” on the administrator in his recommending the creation of the two posts.

But Brown, Deputy Mayor Samuel Moor e a nd C om m it t e e m a n Rob e r t Sunbury ultimately sided with Cramer, who pointed out that the township has now twice advertised for a township clerk, both in February and May, to replace La Shawn Barber, who retired earlier this year, but “did not come up with a satisfactory candidate to fill the position,” and that the workload has increased in three township departments necessitating an addition of a secretary on the rolls, in addition to a deputy township clerk.

Sunbury, in siding with Cramer, maintained that he doesn’t see a subcommittee changing “the factors that are making our environment difficult to hire,” while Brown contended that “just because you create a position, doesn’t mean you necessarily have to fill it.”

That latter remark by Brown resulted in the fiercest clash of the evening between Barton and the mayor, with the former asking, “Why would you introduce an ordinance to create a position if you have no intention of filling it?”, all as he queried Cramer, resulting in the administrator’s acknowledgement that he does have “plans to advertise” for the two positions as soon as the governing body formally creates them.

“So, this is more than just putting them on the books mayor,” Barton asserted. “There is a plan to move this forward. So, let’s be honest with the public just so they understand.”

Brown, in reply, maintained “we are being honest with the public” and that, as “someone who sat in on multiple interviews” for the clerk position, she “really resents” the suggestion of dishonesty “because, you know what, we have been advertising for a clerk, multiple times,” and although the township committee has not hired one, it has had “an intent to hire a clerk.”

Prior to that exchange, Cramer noted that the assistant municipal administrator position would assume all the responsibilities of the township clerk position, but it also adds some administrative responsibilities in a bid that “gives us some flexibility” and “allows us to increase the salary to have a more competitive salary.”

A revelation by Cramer that the secretarial See MAYOR/ Page 8

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Dodge Ram Engine Fire that Damaged Tabernacle Home Similar to Others Reported by Owners of Such Vehicles Series of Complaints Has Resulted in Recalls to Address Issue in Various Model Years, Class-Action Suit Against Company

A Dodge Ram and home damaged by a fire in Tabernacle.

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

TABERNACLE—A fire that destroyed a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck before spreading to the side of the owner’s house at 13 Moore Road in the Medford Farms section of Tabernacle Township appears to fit a pattern of previous incidents in which spontaneous blazes occurred in the engine compartments of vehicles of this particular make and model that recently resulted in a series of recalls, as well as a class-action lawsuit against the manufacturer, Fiat

Photo By David Hernandez

Chrysler (FCA).

T he tr uck i nvolve d, ac c ord i ng to Tabernacle Fire Chief Keith Zane, erupted in flames shortly after 3 p.m. on July 17, while the owner was moving it into his driveway.

When contacted by the Pine Barrens Tribune, the family at the affected residence declined to comment on the incident, at least for now. But various other Dodge Ram owners who have gone through similar experiences described them in some detail on a discussion forum at the website, Cargurus.com.

See ENGINE/ Page 10

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Woodland Fire and EMS, as Well as Mutual Aid, to Respond to Emergencies in Township, According to Municipal Solicitor Remarks Came After Lengthy Closed-Door Session to Discuss ‘Station 291’ Following Operational Disarray, Resignations; Talks on Agreement, Disposition of Property to Be Continued

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

Shawn Viscardi, reportedly still the chief of the Woodland Volunteer Fire and EMS Company, attends a special Aug. 4 Woodland committee meeting to discuss the emergency entity.

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

WOODLAND—After meeting for over a year electronically – either by Zoom or telephone (predominantly the latter) – the Woodland Township Committee convened Aug. 4, its first, in-person meeting since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, entering into a nearly two-and-a-half-hour executive session that day with representatives of the Woodland Volunteer Fire and EMS Company, i ncludi ng “Ch ief ” Shaw n Viscardi.

Upon returning to public session, with Viscardi and another representative of the company looking toward the dais with anticipation, Township Solicitor William Burns declared that fire suppression, first aid and rescue services “will continue in Woodland Township, and will continue to be performed not only by the Woodland Township Fire Department and First Aid Squad, but also through mutual aid agreements.”

That pronouncement by the solicitor, a ft er t he mu n ic ip a l it y ha d s e nt a n emergency notification to residents through Nixle on July 5 that “due to extenuating circumstances, Tabernacle Fire & EMS will be covering Woodland Township temporarily,” and information had also been released by the Hampton Lakes Emergency Squad that it was also handling emergency first aid calls in Woodland, indicated that the Woodland entity is now active once

again, at least in some capacity.

Burns, in response to a question during the special 10 a.m. Aug. 4 committee meeting posed by this newspaper about the Woodland company’s operating status, contended that, “it is not (just) as of today that the fire department has been active, the fire department has been active prior to today.”

That claim from the solicitor was despite an emergency official in a neighboring ju r isd iction, Wash i ng ton Tow nsh ip, saying the night before as the Washington Township Committee was deciding on parade permits (with one of the permits reportedly referencing an event having first aid coverage from the Woodland company) that the Woodland company was “defunct.”

Burns, on July 9, also when the Woodland committee held a special meeting and executive session regarding the Woodland company, upon officials returning to public session, declared that, “the committee and the Woodland Township Volunteer Fire and First Aid Squad are in discussions to provide the very best of emergency services to the town, and those discussions about how that service will be provided will continue; and about how that service will be improved will continue. “… I want to be crystal clear on behalf of the committee that services are in place, and will continue to be in place, and the residents of Woodland will not be at any higher risk See FIRE/ Page 6

Saturday, August 14, 2021

Two Major Solar Projects Move Forward in Pemberton, Including Installation of Rooftop Array on Local Library

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—Two major solar projects that are anticipated to benefit Pemberton Township residents are moving forward.

The first, led by the municipality, entails the installation of a solar array on the rooftop of the Pemberton Community Library, a township-owned facility at 16 Broadway, “to reduce the cost of our energy bills,” according to Business Administrator Daniel Hornickel.

Pemberton Township Council awarded a $385,248 contract for the project to SolareAmerica, LLC during its Aug. 4 meeting, with construction expected to start this fall.

The business administrator noted during the proceedings that the library project “is the first major township-sponsored solar project.”

“I think this sends a great message to the public, and complements so many things this council has done, such as (recently) taking over and investing into the wastewater treatment plant,” Hornickel declared. “I think it sends the right message that this council really respects where we live and wants to preserve as much as we can in ways that are sensible to do it.”

Hornickel, at a prior council meeting, described that the library “consumes $40,000 to $50,000 in electricity” annually.

“The return on investment – at least for the first several years – comes in two components,” he said during the Aug. 4 council meeting. “The first component is a savings by not having to pay for electric, which probably (accounts for) 90 percent of the consumption. The other part, which is a very enriching benefit, is known as the Transition Renewable Energy Certificate (TREC) program. Under that (state solar incentivization) program, (the project) is eligible for 15 years of payments through the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU).”

The TREC program “alone,” he said, “would pay for this solar installation in 12 years.” But when combining the energy bill savings with the TREC payments, “the return on investment is a payoff in under seven years.”

“So, this project will pay itself off in seven years, and then we will gain both income from TREC for another seven or eight years, plus savings for another 23 or 24 years, thereafter, on our electric bills (as the panels have a “30-year life expectancy),” Hornickel maintained.

The municipality, according to the business administrator, has also applied to the New Jersey State Library for a grant that would “offset 50 percent of the cost of this project,” but has not yet heard from the

state librarian as to whether any funds will be awarded to it.

“I think we made a good case to them,” he said of that application.

Construction, Hornickel added, will likely start sometime later in the fall. The township, he noted, is exploring installing other solar arrays, rooftop or ground mounted, to generate electricity for other municipal facilities. A solar array may not necessarily need to be on the same parcel as a municipal facility, he pointed out.

“We wanted to purposely start with a smaller project, like the library, and then move to net aggregate meter projects such as for the municipal complex and everything else that is in Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L)’s territory, such as our wells, pump stations, and rec centers. Then we would move over to Public Service Electric and Gas (PSEG)’s territory, where our wastewater treatment plant is located.

“So, looking into the future, provided this project goes as it is expected to go, we are looking into a future solar installation that would cover the remainder of the facilities on the township’s master account with JCP&L, as well as a separate project for the wastewater treatment plant on Birmingham Road, which is in PSE&G’s territory.”

The second major solar project moving ahead, though more approvals are still needed, involves a 28-acre closed landfill site in a remote section of Pemberton Township, near the Manchester Township line.

Council, during an April 21 meeting, declared the landfill site as a “noncondemnation redevelopment area,” and then designated “Pasadena Pemberton Solar Farm, LLC” as the redeveloper.

A redevelopment plan for the site was subsequently approved by council on June 3.

This newspaper previously reported that representatives from CEP Renewables, LLC, of Red Bank, proposed in October of last year to arrange nearly 17,000 solar panels on the landfill, which sits just off unimproved Pasadena Road, to generate 9.7 megawatts of power.

Pasadena Pemberton Solar Farm, LLC is “owned by the same owners” as CEP Renewables, according to Hornickel.

Steven P. Gouin, an attorney (with G iord a no, Ha l l e r a n & Ci e sl a , PC ) representing CEP, said last year that the firm would like to purchase the landfill from the township, noting that it had been discovered that the landfill “has been inactive for quite some time,” but that it “apparently was not properly closed.” He said the firm would cap the landfill and “make sure that it is appropriately capped and controlled.”

Acquisition of the property by Pasadena See SOLAR/ Page 15

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Reduced Openings Implemented for Green Bank Bridge on Temporary Basis Following Some Mechanical Issues

A 7 p.m. opening of the Green Bank Bridge on Aug. 6.

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

WASHINGTON—Issues involving the motor and bridge mechanisms of the Green Bank Bridge, which carries County Route 563 over the Mullica River, or provides a connection between Washington Township, Burlington County and Atlantic County, have necessitated the need for reduced openings of the drawbridge.

Repairs, however, were underway as of press time, with Atlantic County officials, in charge of the maintenance of the bridge, expressing optimism to this newspaper that more drawbridge opening times can be added to a temporary daily schedule with each passing day.

Never theless, K i mb erly A nderson Iles, owner of both Sweetwater Marina and Riverdeck and Jersey Devil Marina, establishments along the Mullica, made a plea

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

in a local social media group last weekend for officials to be “vigilant in trying to resolve the Greenbank Bridge issue” because having “this bridge being open” is “dire” to riverfront businesses such as the ones belonging to her.

At the time of Iles’ posting, the bridge was only to be opened manually on Saturdays and Sundays “four times a day,” or at 7 a.m., 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

On Saturdays, Sweetwater Marina and Riverdeck, for example, which attracts a lot of mariners who ride the Mullica, is open until 12 a.m., while on Sunday, it is open until 10 p.m., according to the establishment’s website.

Essentially, those with vessels or watercraft unable to go underneath the bridge when its closed due to size limitations, have to currently leave their destination early to make the openings (unless they seek an alternate route), or those wanting to access See BRIDGE/ Page 6

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Bicyclist, 15, Injured in Collision with Car in Medford MEDFORD—A 15-year-old bicyclist was listed in critical, but stable condition after colliding with a vehicle while both were traveling north on Hartford Road, near the intersection with Georgia Trail, in Medford Township shortly before 4 p.m. on Aug. 2, according to a press release issued by Lt. Robert Zane, a spokesman for the Medford Township Police Department.

The bicyclist, who was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, was struck

while crossing in front of the vehicle and was thrown onto the windshield, sustaining injuries to his head and lower extremities, Zane reported. He was transported to the Trauma Center at Cooper University Hospital by medical helicopter.

The driver of the vehicle, a 59-year-oldwoman from Waterford Township, was not injured and remained at scene after the accident, he noted, adding that the investigation was ongoing.

Driver Loses Control of Mustang on County Route 542, Running Off Road and Striking Several Trees, Later Dies WASHINGTON—A motor ist from Frank linville has died from injur ies sustained in a July 8 crash that occurred in the eastbound lane of County Route 542 in Washington Township, according to New Jersey State Police.

Anthony Leatherwood, 33, was traveling on the county highway, near mile post 9.8, when he lost control of his Ford Mustang around 5:53 a.m., said Sgt. Philip Curry, a state police spokesman.

“He ran off the road to the right, striking several small trees and one large tree,” Curry said.

L e at he r woo d wa s t r a n sp or t e d to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Atlantic City campus. He succumbed to his injuries at the hospital and was pronounced dead on July 15, according to the state police spokesman.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation, Curry noted.

Motorcyclist Injured in Collision with Car on Route 70 MEDFORD—A Cherry Hill motorcycle operator suffered what was described as traumatic injuries in a collision with a motor vehicle on Aug. 7 shortly before 1 p.m. at the intersection of Route 70 and Main Street (County Route 541), according to Lt. Robert Zane, public information officer for the Medford Township Police Department.

The motorcyclist, Michael Bronzini, 46, was flown to the Cooper University Hospital trauma center by aeromedical helicopter.

The driver of the car, identified as Christine Shourt, 22, of Southampton, was uninjured.

According to a press release from Zane, the accident occurred when Shourt’s car was changing lanes while both it and the motorcycle were traveling west on Route 70, resulting in the closure of the intersection for several hours.

The crash is being investigated by the Medford Township Police Department Traffic Safety Unit.

BRIDGE

11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., though the “testing of motor and bridge mechanisms” conducted “throughout each day” were said to “involve additional bridge openings.”

“Effective Friday, Aug. 13 through Sunday, Aug. 15, openings are scheduled to occur every hour on the hour between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.,” said Linda Gilmore, public information officer and spokeswoman for Atlantic County. “On Monday, Aug. 16, the bridge consultant will return to reevaluate the bridge operation and determine if additional testing is needed and/or when openings on demand may resume.”

Gilmore added that the reductions in the drawbridge openings were implemented on Aug. 5 after the “free fall of the drawbridge (making a harder closure than designed), followed by an inability to open.”

See BRIDGE/ Page 9

(Continued from Page 5) a particular destination are delayed in doing so (unless they seek an alternate route) [and if it is late in the evening – some may not be able to easily access their destination until after sunrise should they choose the route that takes them to the Green Bank Bridge].

While Illes’ could not be immediately reached for comment on this story, Atlantic County officials, following the plea from the local proprietor, reportedly agreed to adding a 9 p.m. bridge opening to the schedule last weekend.

As of press time, Atlantic County was working with the U.S. Coast Guard to allow for scheduled bridge openings through Thursday, Aug. 12 of this week at 7 a.m.,

FIRE

Saturday, August 14, 2021

(Continued from Page 4) then they were before.”

While Burns, in making that statement, did not clarify at the time who exactly would be providing the “services,” when a resident had asked, “What do we have in place that is covering the town?”, an ensuing exchange between the resident and Viscardi indicated that Woodland was still reliant on mutual aid at the moment, and that the Woodland company was apparently still not in service at the time.

Shortly after that meeting, however, several Woodland residents contacted this newspaper to report that the chief’s vehicle was no longer in the Chatsworth firehouse’s bay, as it had apparently been since the holiday weekend.

Viscardi, during the Aug. 4 special committee meeting, did not make any public remarks.

Burns, however, maintained that the latest closed-door discussions entailed “several matters and topics,” including “the continuation of services” and “disposition of certain real property and what is going to happen with that,” as well as “other terms and conditions that will be included in an agreement that is under discussion and negotiations.”

“I want to make crystal clear again that the people, residents and property owners of Woodland are still being protected and served, and there will be no interruption in fire suppression, rescue or emergency medical services,” Burns contended.

Prior to the special meeting, on July 31, the Woodland company held a member drive at the Chatsworth firehouse. When officials were asked Aug. 4 by this newspaper how successful the event was, Burns referred comment to Nancy Valentino, an attorney for the Woodland company/Viscardi.

“This (the Woodland company) is a separate entity, though there are budget allocations from the township,” Burns said. “(In regards) to any comment with respect to its (the Woodland company’s) operation, Chief Viscardi indicated Ms. Valentino will be speaking on behalf of the department.”

Valentino, however, did not return messages seeking comment on this story.

The Woodland company did post Aug. 10 on its Facebook page that it would like to “welcome one new firefighter/EMT and two probationary firefighters to the department after last night’s meeting,” though it was unclear as of press time as to what meeting was being referenced in the social media posting.

Questions posed during the Aug. 4 special committee meeting about the Woodland company’s current leadership, given that Viscardi was one of its members who had turned in a letter of resignation to the township, as obtained through an

Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request, were also referred to Valentino. Township Ad m i n istrator and Clerk Mar yal ic e Brown, however, for the third time since that resignation letter was turned into the township, included Viscardi in a roll call of officials and referred to him as the “chief.”

The Pine Barrens Tribune previously reported that just days prior to the purported resignations, the Woodland committee met behind closed doors on June 21 to discuss “Fire Station 291,” the call numbers for the Woodland company.

Executive session meeting minutes for that session, released Aug. 11 by Brown to this newspaper, were heavily redacted. However, another set of executive session meeting minutes for the July 9 closed-door session indicate that this newspaper’s coverage of affairs involving the fire company was “just the icing” on the cake that led to the resignations, per remarks reportedly given

by Valentino.

“The township is not willing to give the department any COVID money,” Valentino reportedly declared behind closed doors, according to the executive session meeting minutes. “The department is looking for more support from the township.”

The minutes contend that Woodland Mayor William “Billy” DeGroff then “explained that the township said (it) would buy an ambulance with the COVID money.”

(It had been previously raised during a Woodland committee budget meeting as a possibility, though Brown was awaiting more clarification from the federal government as to what is allowed to be purchased with federal COVID-relief monies.)

The July 9 executive session minutes also state that the Woodland company’s bookkeeper “resigned” and that it was “decided that the chief will put Woodland Township on the grid for fire with the county.”

DeGroff, according to the minutes, had expressed concern that those who resigned, “if allowed back,” would do so again “because of what the paper may write.”

The executive session minutes also note that Woodland Committeeman Derick Daniels requested a “wish list” from the Woodland company be provided to the Woodland committee by July 28. The rest of the minutes are redacted.

The attendance record for the July 9 closed-door session indicates that in addition to Viscardi being present, Carol Williams, “treasurer” of the Woodland company, and Stuart Williams, “president” of the Woodland company, were there (the July 9 session was held by telephone).

There were smiles on the faces of some local officials as the Aug. 4 meeting moved to adjournment, with members of the governing body and fire company gathering at a war memorial, outside the municipal building, afterwards.

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MAYOR

Cramer maintained that “two rounds of interviews” came up short in finding a “satisfactory candidate,” for township clerk, though a couple of people had expressed interest in wanting to serve the township as a deputy township clerk.

“That is not what we are looking for,” he declared. “… In the position of clerk, you need a full-time person, or you need a very good deputy clerk who is going to take that load.”

Currently serving as Acting Township Clerk is Elaine B. Kennedy, but Cramer maintained that despite her dedication, “it was never intended to be forever.”

“We started in Febr uar y with this (search) process, did it again in May, and unfortunately, we have not come up with a candidate who is sufficient to meet our needs at this time,” Cramer contended.

“So, I would like to try again, and adjust that position, so it includes a little more administrative duties, as well giving you the flexibility to have backup for your administrator in the future.”

McGinnis asked Cramer whether he had considered a shared service with another area municipality for the position of township clerk. The administrator, in response, maintained the municipal clerks in “other communities” have a “rather fulltime schedule.”

“While they are willing to help us out in certain situations, nobody can dedicate the time that is needed for our needs,” Cramer said.

Cramer also proposed the creation of a secretarial position for the fire department, Fire Marshal’s Office and Public Works Office, contending it was “all tied together” to the need for help in the clerk’s office, because the “workload has increased with paperwork for all three of those departments.”

“And we no longer have, by forming the fire department, an administrative staff there (with the dissolved fire company),” Cramer added. “So, the chief has picked up some of that (work) as we expected, but we also need a secretary or an assistant to provide them with assistance, along with the fire marshal’s office, which has worked into a larger position than what it has been in previous years.”

Cramer noted that when the “township went to a (fire) department,” it picked up, as a whole, the administrative responsibilities that a volunteer previously did.

“Some of it I picked up, and some of it your deputy clerk (Natalie Lewis) has picked up,” the administrator maintained.

The deputy township clerk, Cramer noted, is also now assisting with stormwater m a n a g e m e nt , r e c yc l i ng a n d C l e a n Communities tasks.

“We have taken our deputy clerk away from that position and handled other positions that need to be handled, and we

(Continued from Page 3) position is needed, in part, because of the township’s recent creation of a Tabernacle Township Fire Department, which led to the dissolution of the Tabernacle Fire Company, with the municipality now assuming the administrative paperwork that was once done by the all-volunteer organization, seemingly added to the political fray, with Stuart Brooks noting that he and his wife, Fran (transparency advocates who often ask questions of the committee), had previously commented “many times” that “there should have been a written report” pertaining to the “nuts and bolts” of what is needed for the transition, and it is “disappointing” to only learn of the need “now some three months later.”

Committeewoman Nancy K. McGinnis, who remarked “she needs more time to think about this (the three ordinances)” and that she was seeing the proposed ordinances for the first time and felt the process was being “rushed,” sided with Barton, making for narrow 3-2 votes on their introduction, with public hearings tentatively scheduled for Aug. 23 at 7:30 p.m.

“I think we are kind of ramming this through and we should think about it carefully,” McGinnis declared.

Another component of all of this is one of the “factors” that Sunbury cited, involving the volume of Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests and related matters, with the township just recently losing two out of three complaints involving OPRA denials that had been litigated.

Cramer, prior to the township committee votes cast in introducing the ordinances, contended that Tabernacle is currently facing “the same problem most industries are in right now,” with several of its employees retiring, but there not being a “huge pool” of qualified candidates to serve as replacements.

“And, as we have learned, it used to be that you came to a small town because you wanted less of the hustle and bustle, and you were willing to come for a little less money and it served everybody,” he said.

“But the ‘less hustle and bustle’ is gone in smaller municipalities. We now have the same amount of work that a large town does, except we have less people to do it. That consequence has become a reality, especially in the Clerk’s Office with the added work of everything that has come before us in the last few years.”

The proposed creation of an assistant municipal administrator position, he said, “is an attempt to try to provide for a competitive salary (to attract a qualified candidate to fulfill the responsibilities of a township clerk),” but yet one that is “acceptable to the committee.”

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just need more full-time people here to carry the load, which is the burden of small communities, but has gotten increasingly (worse) over last two years, some of it because of the COVID pandemic, and some of it because of the overall requirements of the state and the community in general.

They are expecting more from us on a faster turnaround. It is just the nature of the beast right now.”

Barton, who indicated through his questioning of Cramer that he was in somewhat of a state of disbelief over the deputy clerk being taken away from her regular responsibilities, and the fire chief and deputy fire chief not handling all the administrative paperwork for the fire department (Cramer pointed out the position of fire chief is still a volunteer and not full-time, though Barton contended they were paid personnel), asked, “What is it that the deputy clerk does exactly?”

“I mean, we hired her to be a ‘deputy clerk,’” Barton declared.

Cramer, in response, called the deputy clerk post a “very broad position.”

“She handles all the licenses, she has picked up all the work for the fire company, and she handles most of the public works stuff right now, but the workload on the clerk’s office side has gotten heavier each year and there is only so many hours of the day, and so much time that they can do it within,” Cramer maintained. “And we still have legal requirements that we have to meet.”

The administrator added that “it is not like she isn’t doing her job.”

“She just does not have the time to give all the efforts she needs to do on that (clerk’s work),” Cramer said. “She does a very good job on the other side for the fire company, fire marshal’s office and public works.”

Cramer, in response to further questioning from Barton, said that the fire marshal’s office workload grew “at the beginning of last year” due to the COVID pandemic, which resulted in more people moving to Tabernacle (causing a housing boom in two new Tabernacle developments) and residents conducting more home renovation projects, all of which have required inspections. A technical assistant, who had been able to lend some assistance to the fire marshal, has since had a full-time job keeping up with the inspection paperwork, he noted.

As for the creation of the fire department, Cramer declared “it solved a number of issues on one side,” but the lack of manpower to handle administrative paperwork “is one of the issues that developed.”

“Most departments have a separate administrative staff,” Cramer added. “We have not done that because of the (added) expense (it would create).”

It was at that point that Barton contended that a subcommittee should be created, consisting of at least two members of the

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township committee, to “take a look at the workload.”

“This is a lot of additional salaries, and bodies,” Barton maintained.

But Cramer retorted that the ordinances would only create “two positions,” ones that the governing body had previously budgeted for in the 2021 municipal budget.

“It all adds up, Doug!” said Barton to Cramer. “Taxpayers have to cover this. I (understand) it is in the budget, but taxpayers have to fund that budget.”

Barton’s call for the formation of a subcommittee won praise from Stuart Brooks, who declared in speaking to the governing body during public comment, “You should know what you are talking about before you vote on it.”

“To say you are not going to fill the position takes us down the wrong road,” Brooks said. “Obviously, you know you are going to fill it.”

Stuart Brooks contended that given the lack of a written report pertaining to a study regarding township fire services, that led to the creation of the fire department, “it is not surprising to find out there was no thought given to how to this was going to be staffed, whether or not there would be volunteers who would continue to provide secretarial and administrative services.”

“And to now reach that point, three months later, after having been cut off, ignored and not receiving answers to these questions – to now find out that you are indeed ramming through the introduction of an ordinance to fund this position you would not admit you needed, or perhaps never studied enough to realize you needed – it is profoundly disappointing,” Stuart Brooks asserted.

Stuart Brooks added that the township committee should “take a moment, pause, and look more deeply into the issue” so that it can “make an informed decision.”

Fran Brooks slammed the township committee for its handling of the situation, contending it was “typical” for it to “let the tail wag the dog.”

“The administrator works for you!” declared Brooks, in response to Moore, who said evaluating the workload and need for the positions “is why we have an administrator, who oversees the everyday operation, what is going on first hand, something we are not necessarily involved in” and that is why he does not agree with Barton that a subcommittee needs to be formed.

Barton, in response to Moore, noted that a public safety subcommittee had been formed to look into the fire company, and asked, “So, why wouldn’t the same approach apply here?”

“You are talking about changing the structure of the township into the future,” Barton said. “It is going to add costs to the See MAYOR/ Page 11

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ROUNDABOUT (Continued from Page 2)

speed, and that is when you get catastrophic crashes,” she pointed out.

All four approaches will have a single lane leading into the roundabout, and the speed limit on each of those approaches will be lowered to 35 mph, according to Sheaffer.

“The big thing is we are lowering the speed of motorists,” he said. “The real big issue with straight intersections is that you have drivers going 50 plus mph. A T-bone crash at 50 mph can significantly harm the occupants of a vehicle, and even cause fatalities.”

Resident Joh n DelCol lo, however, contended that he travels the intersection of Willow Grove and Stokes roads “at least a dozen times per week” and to put in a “traffic circle makes no sense to myself and anybody else that we communicate with.”

He noted that the state has “made it a point to undo traffic circles” because of “how dangerous circles can be within themselves,” and therefore concluded that the county proposal is “absurd.”

Di Croce replied that he “also shares” DelCollo’s “feelings.”

“Then, how did we get here?” DelCollo asked.

Di Croce explained that both Willow Grove and Stokes roads are county roads, and therefore the county has control over the intersection where they meet, and that in response to the volume of accidents at the intersection, the township requested assistance from the county to either make the intersection a four-way stop intersection, put in a blinking light (flashing beacon) there, or install flashing-LED stop signs on all approaches.

“The county sent out their crew … did an inspection … and this is what they came up with, a circle,” he told DelCollo. “I happen to agree with you.”

Township Solicitor Doug Heinold added that the township committee had no choice but to ultimately act “in the best interests of the municipality,” deciding to “defer to the county” due to concerns that any rejection of its recommendation would result in liability (though the governing body vote in 2019 to formally adopt the recommendation had not been unanimous, with Di Croce casting the lone dissenting vote).

Sheaffer, however, pointed out that the intersection of Willow Grove and Stokes roads was identified by both the township and Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission as a “high-risk intersection”

BRIDGE

(Continued from Page 6) When asked by this newspaper if those patronizing local businesses along the Mullica riverfront would be left trapped for the night, she replied, “no.”

“They can wait until the next opening, (or can) seek an alternate transportation method, or modify (their) boat (by taking any canopy down),” she contended.

Gilmore pointed out that Atlantic County officials did accommodate Iles’ request last Saturday evening for the late bridge opening and “will do so again, if necessary.”

The Atlantic County spokeswoman, when asked by this newspaper if leaving the drawbridge open, or as many commonly put it, “up,” was a consideration, replied, “public safety is the paramount consideration” and that “impacts to motorists, boaters, fire, rescue, police, and EMS were considered, and the best option was for the bridge to remain open (to roadway traffic) with scheduled daily drawbridge openings.”

Prior to the drawbridge issues, according to Gilmore, the Green Bank Bridge would open

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with “significant crashes” and “resulting injuries happening in crashes due to both speed and the roadway.”

And that is one of the reasons, he added, a roundabout was recommended for the intersection of Willow Grove and Stokes roads versus “other alternatives.”

“If they (motorists) are not keeping track of the stop signs on Willow Grove, who is to say they are going to keep track of (any) on Stokes,” Sheaffer asserted.

Grasso pointed out that the county installed a roundabout in 2014 to replace the two-way stop intersection of County Routes 528 and 660 in Chesterfield Township, another that had been notorious for serious crashes, including one that made national headlines when a dump truck T-boned a school bus, killing one person and injuring five students.

From 2009 to 2013, or prior to the construction of the Chesterfield roundabout, a total of 19 crashes occurred at the intersection of County Routes 528 and 660, according to Grasso, while “there have only been four afterwards, between 2015 and 2019.”

“Overall, there was a 79 percent reduction in overall crashes, 90 percent reduction in injury collisions and 100 percent reduction in fatal collisions,” maintained Grasso, who contended the intersection of County Routes 528 and 660 serves as a “case study” in making the recommendations for the Shamong project due to several shared similarities between it and the intersection of County Routes 648 and 541.

G r a s s o a s s e r t e d t h e C h e st e r fi e ld roundabout project actually “exceeded expectations” as the Federal Highway Ad m i n i st r at ion ( FH WA) ex p e c t s a roundabout to only result in a 37 percent reduction in overall crashes, a 75 percent reduction in injury collisions and 90 percent reduction in fatal collisions, while the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) expects a roundabout to result in a 44 percent reduction in overall crashes, 82 percent reduction in injury collisions and 90 percent reduction in fatal collisions.

“It is just a sad day in our little farming c om mu n it y to h ave a c i rcle here,” maintained one resident in response to the presentation from the county representatives, contending that she used to see a fair share of serious accidents at what was the two-way intersection of Stokes, Oakshade and Jackson roads, before it was turned into a four-way stop, which she contended mostly resolved the problem. “This is a little bit over the top.

This is a city thing, and it is not a city (here).”

Another resident, Butch Schmehl, asked, “What was the study that determined a fourway stop intersection to not be effective?”, adding that while he is “not a traffic engineer,” several other intersections in the municipality are four-way stops and “seem to function well.”

Grasso, however, maintained that “you can’t compare an intersection to another” w ithout know ing the traffic volume, number of right turns and left turns, the average speed and alignment. She added that Chesterfield is also a rural, farming community, like Shamong, and therefore, roundabouts “aren’t a city thing,” though she did note that the Shamong roundabout would be “sufficiently lit” so motorists can see oncoming traffic.

“I encourage you to go to Chesterfield to ride the roundabouts,” she said.

The Shamong roundabout project is slated to also include a bioretention system/ rain garden as well as other drainage improvements, according to Grasso, and will also leave room for the eventual installation of sidewalks in the area should Shamong develop further. It will also be designed to accommodate a “67-footer truck,” though currently, she maintained, such trucks are illegal in New Jersey (tractor trailers can only have a maximum length of 52-feet, she noted). Pedestrian crosswalks will also be added in such a way that pedestrians will be able to cross either Willow Grove or Stokes roads “behind vehicles” waiting to enter the roundabout.

Di Croce previously raised the issue that the Shamong Township Municipal Building’s septic system would possibly have to be moved to accommodate the Shamong roundabout project. When a Shamong resident raised this possibility, however, Grasso replied, “the county does not want your septic field, or poop.”

Sheaffer noted that the county is “trying to effect the least amount of people it can” when it comes to any land acquisition for the Shamong project and already pushed the site of the roundabout “southern already” to the “point of no return,” with Grasso adding that “minimizing the area of take is my responsibility.” She added, in a response to a question from a resident, that shifting the roundabout/intersection site further south into a farm field was not a possibility due to environmental considerations and requirements.

However, when Shamong residents living adjacent to the intersection asked for specifics as to how much of their land would be taken from them, Grasso replied, “as the project

gets closer, we usually have a sit down to go over it with you” and that there “are still some unknowns where the lines will be (drawn),” though it will most likely be “clear of any tree lines.” Sheaffer, in response to a Shamong resident asking whether the impacted homeowners would be reimbursed for any land acquisition, remarked, such transactions would be “through the county solicitor’s office” and that “they will be buying the property from you.”

S o m e of t h e i mp a c t e d Sh a m o ng residents noted that they had never been formally notified of the project, with one of them declaring, “there has to be better communication,” but Grasso maintained she already sent two certified mailings to them about it.

Di Croce, meanwhile, after Sheaffer contended that the money for the project is coming from the FHWA (except for “very minimal” items such as traffic safety coordinators) and local taxpayer dollars would not be used for it, pointed out that it is “still coming out of our pockets” because Shamong residents “pay federal taxes.”

Grasso noted the county has only received a “letter of interpretation” from the Pinelands Commission, which needs to sign-off on the Shamong project, and that application has not yet been made to the state agency (it will be filed once the design is created).

Installation of the roundabout, she said, is expected to take about five months, and that while alternating lanes of traffic will be maintained most of the time, there will be times that the intersection will be closed, with traffic detoured onto Atsion, Burnt House, Indian Mills and Oakshade roads.

“I am literally three houses down from the intersection (of Willow Grove and Stokes roads),” said Shamong resident Heidi Rostrom. “That intersection is incredibly dangerous. I have been here 20 years, and I can’t tell you the number of serious car accidents that have occurred – you can hear the car accidents … and there have been deaths. It has been horrible. I have seen cars go straight through that intersection and hit a house on the corner. … I do feel something needs to be done to improve the safety of that intersection.

“But, in saying that, I do agree with other residents; I feel like a circle doesn’t feel like the appropriate thing to do. With the cost involved, it doesn’t feel like that is where we should be spending taxpayers’ money. I feel like this is such an extreme solution.”

“on signal May 1 through Nov. 30 from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.,” she said, noting, however, that “the draw of the bridge need not open unless at least four hours’ notice is given 1.) April 1 through Nov. 30 from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.; and 2.) Dec. 1 through April 1 – all times.”

“The drawspan must open as soon as possible for public vessels of the U.S. during the periods when four hours’ notice is required,” Gilmore said.

The Pine Barrens Tribune obser ved last Friday, Aug. 6 at least three workers struggling to close the bridge after the 7 p.m. opening. It took nearly 20 minutes for traffic to resume crossing the bridge, causing backups in the area, particularly at the intersection of River Road, Green Bank Road and County Route 563 in Washington.

Prior to that evening opening, several vessels were seen lined up on both sides of the bridge, waiting for it to open.

Gilmore later confirmed to this newspaper that crews were now “manually operating a chain-driven auxiliary drive” to both open and close the drawbridge.

The Atlantic County spokeswoman, along with Greg Brookins, director of Public Works director of Atlantic County,

explained to this newspaper that that the cause of the drawbridge troubles involves “various settings” with the “electronic controls,” and that one of the components that has since been replaced has to do with the programing of the bridge’s logics, or an input that, “sometimes won’t let the bridge open” for safety reasons.

However, it had been told to this newspaper in recent days by locals that mechanical and electrical issues have been occurring with the drawbridge components since sometime last year, and that they worsened over time, resulting in what ultimately transpired over the past two weeks.

Gilmore, when asked by this newspaper about when the drawbridge portion of the Green Bank Bridge was last inspected, replied “September 2019,” adding that, “State inspections of bridges over 20 feet are conducted every two years.” She maintained that the last inspection of the drawbridge portion of the Green Bank Bridge found its condition to be “satisfactory.”

“Electrical was rated as being in ‘good serviceable condition,’” she contended.

“Mechanical was rated as being in ‘good operating condition.’ Items that needed

attention and have been addressed included: ‘adjust brake reverse stroke,’ ‘replace cross shaft,’ ‘repair navigation light,’ ‘raise sagging communications conduit,’ and ‘repair joint in asphaltic road surface.’”

The entire bridge structure, Gilmore revealed, was last inspected on July 27 of this year. She added that the inspection process is “still ongoing.” Thus far, she said, an inspector told Atlantic County officials that they need to ‘modify the bridge’s logics,’ ‘adjust its light control switches,’ and ‘provide for a 5/8” reserve stroke on a machine brake.’

Portions of the Green Bank Bridge, “designed to open on-demand,” according to Gilmore, were originally built in 1904, and the bridgetender conducts an “average of 2,500 openings a year.”

“In speaking with the bridgetender in regard to this issue (with the bridge now having to be manually opened with reduced openings), I found out that they have petitioned the U.S. Coast Guard – because they have to go through the captain of the port in Philadelphia – to do on-the-hour or on-the-half hour openings on I believe Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays,” said See BRIDGE/ Page 11

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of us, which was when it got real. I don’t believe I can see myself doing anything else.”

For Waller, whose fr iendship with Dauria’s family goes back many years, it was an ‘aha moment.’

“I’ve known Emily ever since she was a little girl,” he reminisced. “Even when she first started here, she was like my little protégé. I saw a lot of myself in her work ethic and her kindness to people. And even at a young age, she ‘got’ the business.”

But then, everything that Dauria has done during that time has led up to her present role. Along with having “loved the deli pretty much from the start,” she began training for it by taking food service classes at Rowan College of Burlington County, from which she graduated in 2017 while working full-time at Waller’s. But even more important, from her perspective, as soon as she expressed interest in the deli and the possibility of owning it someday, Waller took her under his wing.

“I’ve always joked that I went to the college of Rob Waller in that over the years I’ve worked for him, Rob has provided me with invaluable lessons that enabled me to tap into his extensive experience in the business,” Dauria said. “He has not only been a mentor, but a great friend.”

Part of his showing her the ropes, she maintained, was familiarizing her with a lot of the “’particularities’ of having a business like this in a small town like Tabernacle.” That has included getting to know the regular customers and their preferences, who along with the employees, are “treated like family” (literally, in the case of both Dauria’s younger sister, Kayla, and older brother, Pat, who have also worked there before going on to pursue other

“For me, it’s all about preserving one of Tabernacle’s gems,” she declared.

Waller recently summed up his sentiments about the change in ownership in a Facebook post that explained how back in May of 2015, he had hired the younger sister of one of his oldest friends.

“It took me only two weeks to start thinking way ahead of myself,” he said.

“She caught on immediately to anything and everything anyone would teach her. As we worked together, I found she had an outlook on life very similar to mine. After a month, I knew she would be something, maybe even a great business partner for me, but not yet thinking about her buying the deli. … Emily was only 17, she still had school to finish and life lessons she needed to learn.

“Regardless, at the end of our first year, I decided to prepare her for whatever direction she decided to go. I waited with my fingers crossed hoping she’d join me in the slightly crazy but amazingly rewarding food industry. I have seen, and see, so many qualities in her that all my mentors said they had seen in me. When the patiently awaited day came that Emily told me she wanted to buy the deli, I was overjoyed and proud. I am probably just as excited for her to be the new owner of Waller’s Deli as I am excited to be semi-retiring!”

Waller added that he would be “hanging out for a little bit to help Emily and her amazing staff,” after which he was planning “to solely focus on being a good husband to my amazing wife.”

He also noted that he “truly can’t thank” all the friends, past and present staff, salespeople, purveyors, delivery drivers, and everyone else involved in “helping me build this business into the Waller’s you know and love,” and likewise expressed his gratitude to “the wonderful community of Tabernacle and our surrounding towns for your patronage over the last 17 years.”

“I seriously love you all!” he added.

Adding her sentiments, Dauria noted how much she had learned from working beside Waller over the most of the past six years, “taking in every story he told looking for the lesson,” watching “as we’d take a few eggs, some tater tots, bacon, pork roll, and sausage and turn it into something people would drive out of their way just to have.

“But most of all, he showed me how to love this place like it was my own and now it is,” she said. “It takes an incredibly rare person to do that, and as we all know, that is exactly who Rob Waller is—someone who takes their friend’s little sister under their wing with no promise of a return on the time invested and teaches them everything they know. While I will miss working with my friend, I know the best thing I can do now is take what he has shown me and run with it. So, if there is hunger in your belly, come to Waller’s Deli. We’re always cooking up something delicious!”

visualizing precisely what reportedly took place at the affected residence in Tabernacle.

Another account, posted three years ago complete with a photo, told of how a “wellmaintained Dodge Ram 1500 with 170,000 miles,” that had been sitting for two weeks in front of the owner’s house, “was totaled” by a fire that had suddenly started up under the hood.

When the company was notified, the posting claimed, the response was that “the truck was old” with “no concern as to how or why it would just go up in flames!”

But it isn’t just older model Rams that have been involved in such occurrences. In March of this year, Fiat Chrysler announced it was recalling approximately 20,000 new, heavy-duty diesel Ram trucks over concerns of a possible fire hazard, even when their

engines were turned off.

The company, according to the Associated Press, claimed the problem in both 2021 model year pickup and chassis cab trucks was due to heater electrical relays that can short, and warned owners of these vehicles to park them outside until the problem was fixed.

A representative of the FCA Service Department, reached at the company’s 800 number, said recall notices were sent out back in March to the owners of those vehicles to have the part responsible for the problems replaced, with additional recalls taken place in April, June and July of 2020 for a similar issue in Ram models from the years 2014 to 2019.

But by last September, the situation had reached the point where four owners of Dodge Ram 1500 and 1500 Classic trucks,

manufactured between 2014 and 2019, equipped with the 3.0L EcoDiesel engine, filed a class-action suit in Michigan against the manufacturer, contending that the company had failed to adequately address a problem of which it was well aware, and demanding that the case be heard by a jury.

“Since at least June 2013, Defendant FCA designed, manufactured, distributed, and sold hundreds of thousands of Dodge Ram 1500 and 1500 Classic vehicles equipped w ith 3.0L E c oDie s el eng i ne s wh ich contain grossly defective EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) coolers,” the complaint reads. “These EGR coolers are susceptible to thermal fatigue, leading the coolers to crack over time and leak coolant, which can cause combustion within the intake See ENGINE/ Page 13

Photo Provided

(Continued from Page 1) go and try new things.”

By the same token, she recently told the Pine Barrens Tribune, when she realized that working at the deli was where she really belonged, rather than as a salesperson for a tractor company, Waller was very gracious about welcoming her back into the fold – and her old position – in October of last year.

“I kind of knew within the first week of being back after a year that it was so much like home,” she said about returning to the place she had started working upon graduating from Seneca High School, also in Tabernacle, in 2015.

Waller noted in a separate interview with this newspaper that “any time one of my employees has ever wanted to move on and try something else, I’ve always been supportive of that.”

“I actually think it is a great thing for them to do in order to grow as a person,” he said.

But Dauria, as it turned out, had grown in her ambition as well – something she said she first indicated to Waller when he mentioned retiring, and she said, half-jokingly: “‘As soon as you sell me the deli, you can retire.’

“At the moment, he kind of laughed, but texted me later and said, ‘Are you serious?’ and I replied, ‘Yeah’.”

From that point, “We started laying plans and discussing timelines and going over specifics – what I still had to learn in order to become an owner, which involved overhead and things of that nature,” she recounted.

“And then we picked a good time for both

ENGINE

(Continued from Page 3) “My 2008 Dodge Ram 1500 caught fire last week at 180,000 miles,” said one such posting from four years ago, in which an owner recounted how he had just returned from a seven-mile round trip to the post office, parked on the street and gone inside his residence, only to discover a notification on Facebook “that a truck on our street was on fire,” and upon walking outside, discovering that it was his.

“I can’t i mag ine what would have happened if it had occurred while I was at the post office with my dogs inside or if had been parked in our driveway where the house most likely would have caught fire,” he said,

Saturday, August 14, 2021

opportunities, Kayla having recently taken a position as a Spanish teacher in the local school system).

“It is very important for employees to know the clientele,” observed Waller, noting that some customers seem to gravitate toward particular servers with whom they have something in common. “So, we have always tried to capitalize on that.”

One advantage Waller’s has had during the past year and a half is that it never had to change its business model to accommodate the restrictions of the pandemic, as so many other retail food-service establishments were forced to do, and thus was spared from the impact of the resulting economic crisis.

“We actually got busier during the pandemic,” explained Dauria, noting that much of that accelerated activity occurred during her hiatus from the deli, whose other employees she credits with having stepped up to the plate to handle the surge in business. “We’ve always been a take-out and delivery place only, so we were all ready for a situation like this.

“We’ve been very fortunate that way, as well as in being a catering service to the New Jersey State Police that delivers everything from fruit and veggie cups to their breakfast and lunch sandwiches,” she added, as well as one that is regularly patronized by troopers who patrol the local area.

The now-former owner concurred that “we were set up for this situation prior to it happening.”

“The way businesses needed to be run during this pandemic is exactly how we’ve been running ours, so basically, there was very little change that we had to make in our operation, with the exception of precautions like the masks and gloves,” Waller asserted.

“We were 1200 percent prepared, in addition to which we paid attention to what was going on, so as things were changing, we were able to stay ahead of the game.”

As for her plans for the deli now that she is in charge, Dauria really doesn’t plan to change a thing.

“I love what we have, and do not want to change it,” she maintained.

That means customers can still depend on it for culinary delights they won’t find anywhere else, from the establishment’s “famous breakfast burritos” (actually served all day, from 6:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. on weekdays, 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Saturdays, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays) that come in at least 16 different varieties, including the Philly Steak, Western, Veggie and Chicken Waffle, to its unique hoagie sandwiches, specialty French fries, healthful selection of salads, appealing array of appetizers and inviting catering and party trays that are ready-made for all kinds of get-togethers.

What she is contemplating, however, is perhaps adding “creative new products that you can’t find anywhere else” to that already extensive and versatile menu.

Rob Waller, founder and former owner of Waller’s Deli, turns over the key to its new owner, Emily Dauria.

DELI

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But he never lost his passion for pizza making, so after 10 years, he decided to take a gamble of his own and, together with his mother Elena, purchased a pizza place in a strip mall at 1572 Route 206 in Tabernacle, a location they thought might have “potential for growth.”

During the next 34 years, the business they started more than lived up to that expectation, having become one of the Pine Barren’s most popular eateries, as reflected in its having doubled in size back in 2003 to include a dining room and catering service.

But keeping the business thriving, Caterina notes, took an awful lot of dedication, both on his part and that of his family, with his children, Frankie, Sophia, Nicco and his wife, Robin, all working tirelessly, serving customers, especially during the pandemic. Finally, after those decades of working 14 hours a day, five or six days a week, and “missing a lot of family gatherings and sports” in order to do that, he decided it was finally time to call it a day.

“Having just turned 61, my body is starting to tell me it is time to slow down,” was how Caterina put it.

What Caterina did not want to do, however, was close the restaurant or sell it to anyone who he thought would be unable

as funny when they first found out. But once having given their cuisine the taste test, they have been very complimentary, recommending that friends and neighbors stop by for a pizza or one of the restaurant’s many other offerings.

Other patrons, Du ar te said, have recognized him from Pizza 206, and simply assumed he had changed jobs.

“They think I am just working here, and they’re surprised when I tell them I am one of the owners now, (but they) promise to come back and visit us more often.”

The community, he maintained, has been very supportive since he and Portillo took over the operation, with some customers even coming by with a “welcome to the neighborhood present” – a miniature statue of a chef, which Portillo put on display in the kitchen.

Local residents have also been encouraged to continue patronizing the eatery by their friends and neighbors, Duarte said, and both the New Jersey State Police and staff members of Seneca High School have been “spreading the word” that the pizza and other specialties at Upper Crust are as good as they ever were.

The new owners told this newspaper that they will continue to offer “pretty much everything on the menu” for which Upper Crust has become renowned to foodies in the region – from soups and appetizers to calzones, pizza, strombolis, wraps, a variety of gourmet sandwiches, such as the “Goomba sandwich”— a tasty and health-sounding blend of eggplant, portobello mushrooms, mozzarella cheese and balsamic drizzle – and, of course, pasta dishes with a choice of homemade sauces and various vegetarian ingredients (e.g., roasted peppers, garlic, fresh spinach) as well as a hint of wine or vodka. Eventually, however, Duarte, says, they plan to add a couple dishes of their own to the selection, as well as some specials on weekends.

They have also kept on “the same people who were working in the restaurant for Frank” and plan to stay open seven days a week, from 11 in the morning until 9 in the evening.

The decision they made to buy the restaurant and continue this particular Tabernacle tradition, Duarte added, was “absolutely the right one.”

was “conducting public business using your private email address,” based on email logs she “OPRA’d,” calling “it a real shame for this township!” “(This is) the kind of malarkey the people have to put up with because of your own personal position and your unwillingness to really look at your behavior!” Brooks maintained. “So, don’t blame anybody else because you have OPRA problems! You need to do some soul-searching and self-reflection about your own behavior!”

During this latest committee meeting, Township Solicitor William Burns announced that there is an ongoing matter, Brooks v.

Tabernacle, before the Appellate Division, involving Barber, the “former clerk,” and the OPMA, and that he was awaiting a briefing before updating the governing body.

Burns added that three other issues “centered around the OPRA,” regarding the dissemination of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) involving the fire department, the dissemination or redaction

of private email addresses of public officials, and the dissemination of private email addresses involving private citizens were also recently litigated, though for these matters, he did not identify the plaintiff who brought about the charges by name.

A judge, Burns said, ultimately ruled there was a “violation of the OPRA” by the municipality for “not providing the SOPs even though they did not exist at the time because of an erroneous response that had been made.” The judge also found, Burns added, that Tabernacle violated the OPRA by redacting the private email addresses of public officials in email logs that were provided to the plaintiff, though the solicitor claimed the definition of ‘public officials’ had been broadened to include a municipal “employee, volunteer or elected official.”

“The judge did award fees, which were in the amount of $12,000 to the plaintiff’s counsel,” Burns acknowledged.

The court, however, Burns contended, agreed with the township that the email addresses of private citizens could be redacted

by the municipality in provided email logs, so long as those individuals don’t meet the broadened definition of a ‘public official.’

The proposed salar y range for the assistant municipal administrator post is $15,000 to $85,000, while for the secretarial position it is $17,000 to $55,000, according to the draft salary range ordinance.

“Since there is no opportunity for the township committee to have a subcommittee to look at this further, my vote is ‘no,’” Barton declared. “The five of us were voted in by the taxpayers, not the administrator, and it is called a ‘checks and balance.’ There is no need for this to proceed as quickly as it is.

This is an opportunity for a subcommittee to evaluate, which has taken place since I have been on the board. We did the exact same process with the Tabernacle Rescue Squad and public safety. Why not do it here?”

Brown, however, maintained the creation of the two positions were posing a “little bit different of a situation” than in the past, and noted “sometimes what we intend to do, and do, doesn’t quite get there.”

Committee meeting. “And the reason for that, is that for the month of July (alone), they have had 735 bridge openings.

“And that is just on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And it was some 540 openings in June. Well, I am not an engineer, but even I know that bridge should not be opened

some 700 times a month.”

In response to hearing Simpson publicly reveal the number of bridge openings just during the past two months, Kevin Dixon, an engineer for Washington Township, of Dixon Associates Engineering, who is also a certified traffic engineer, remarked,

“(Certainly), not that bridge!”

Gilmore maintained that the reduced openings of the Green Bank Bridge are un related to other pur por ted issues involving the Mullica, in the area of the bridge, prompting calls for action (which the Tribune will detail in a future edition).

Photo Provided

(Continued from Page 1) much beloved by many residents of this community and surrounding ones.

As it turned out, the solution to this seemingly daunting challenge was one that came about through a casual conversation with a friend who pointed him in the right direction.

For Cater ina, what would become of Upper Crust once he was no longer directing the myriad day-to-day details of its operation was a huge source of concern. As he recently reflected in an interview with the Pine Barrens Tribune, from the time he was a teenager, his “first love was making pizza.”

So, when the owners of Pizza Joe’s, a restaurant in his hometown of Vineland, where he was working at the time, decided to sell the establishment, he would have liked nothing better than to have taken it over. Having just turned 17, however, he just did not have enough money put away to realize that dream.

Instead, upon graduating high school, he got certified and licensed to work in Atlantic City’s then-fledgling casino industry and went to work as a craps dealer.

MAYOR

(Continued from Page 8) taxpayers.”

Sunbury, in agreeing with Moore, by contending that a “subcommittee is not going to change the factors that are making our environment difficult to hire,” identified one of those factors as being “the volume of OPRA requests, and related situations.”

Fran Brooks has sued Tab er nacle numerous times over alleged violations of OPRA (and the Open Public Meetings Act [OPMA]) by Tabernacle officials, and has prevailed many times, with the municipality often having to reimburse her attorney’s fees.

“Mr. Sunbury, your OPRA problems are all self-inflicted,” Fran Brooks declared.

“The committee creates these issues. … So, don’t blame anybody else, who is following through on a law, for your problems and inability to find a clerk.”

Fran Brooks then alleged that Sunbury

BRIDGE

(Continued from Page 9) Dave Simpson, emergency management coordinator of Washington Township, during an Aug. 3 Washington Township

♦ Page 11

to maintain the quality, for which it has become known both in Tabernacle and throughout the surrounding area.

Then he had the stroke of serendipity to hear from a friend in the business about two veterans of the restaurant business who specialized in pizza and Italian food, Ronaldo Duarte, who worked at Pizza 206 in Tabernacle, and Jose Portillo, a chef at Allentown’s la Piazza, who were both desirous of owning and operating an eatery of their own. After having met them and learning about their background, he realized that the opportune moment was at hand for all three of them.

So, on June 28, as Upper Crust’s Facebook page noted, the restaurant officially changed hands, with Duarte becoming its “pizza man” and Portillo preparing the restaurant’s other Italian specialties in the kitchen.

“To all of our valued customers, after 34 years of operating Upper Crust Pizza and Italian Restaurant, I have decided to pursue new adventures,” stated an announcement of the transition made by Caterina on the restaurant’s Facebook page. “My family and I sincerely appreciate your support and I have enjoyed owning the restaurant and living in this wonderful community.

To the new owners, Ron and Jose, welcome to our town, we wish you the best of luck for continued success. Ron and Jose have extensive restaurant experience and a desire to continue their own family traditions.

During the transition, I will be available to assist them.”

Caterina ended the message by thanking his patrons for their support and loyalty over the years, and by saying he would be seeing them “around town.”

Some of the customers who have since stopped by have been surprised to learn a couple things about the new owners – one of which is that while they have been friends since they were kids living in the same hometown back in the ‘old country,’ in their case that country was actually the Central American nation of Guatemala (although they have been naturalized citizens and worked in the restaurant industry here for many years).

As Duarte told this newspaper in a separate interview, the idea of “two guys from Guatemala cooking Italian food” seemed to strike some of those patrons

The new owners of Upper Crust Pizza and Italian Restaurant, Jose Portillo and Ronaldo Duarte (center), with now-former owner Frank Caterina (right) in the dining room.

PIZZA

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Saturday, August 14, 2021

the required initial deposit of $50,000 into an escrow account as required by a Purchase, Sale and Redevelopment Agreement,” Hornickel told this newspaper on Aug. 2. “Currently, the redeveloper is conducting its due diligence – evaluating, testing, studying, appraising, etc. the property and has until roughly the end of this month to complete such activities.”

The business administrator added that if the condition of the property meets the solar firm’s expectations, the redeveloper “will then begin the process of seeking governmental approvals to develop the solar farm.”

The largest benefit of the potential landfill solar project to Pemberton residents is that the solar firm, by purchasing the parcel, would be returning it to the township tax rolls, in addition to the environmental remediation work of “cleaning up and capping a landfill that has been uncapped” and “has gone to the wild.”

Gouin, however, previously described

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

The Pemberton Community Library, where a rooftop solar array is planned.

SOLAR

(Continued from Page 4) Pemberton Solar Farm, and a redeveloper agreement with the firm, was approved by council on June 16.

Councilman Paul Detrick pointed out that the contract provided to council, outlining the terms and conditions of the acquisition of the landfill, had indicated a purchase price of $1 million.

“That seems fantastic for the township, for 28 acres of an environmentally-contaminated scrubbed pine area,” Detrick declared.

Hornickel, in response, maintained that the landfill has “great value for solar purposes by

virtue of its proximity to a transmission line that runs through Manchester and Woodland townships” and that “this particular parcel is almost entirely clear of trees” with “very little vegetation challenges.”

“There are some historic and environmental concerns that have to be addressed, but then again, due to the approximately 28 acres, they have the capability through the redevelopment plan to maximize coverage on the parcel, which is helpful in determining its value,” he said.

Within five days of the executed sale agreement, the redeveloper was to place $50,000 in escrow, all while “due diligence” and closing is conducted.

“We confirmed that the redeveloper made

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♦ Page 15

that there would also be “sort of an esoteric benefit” to residents by “pumping electricity into the grid and selling it at wholesale rates – very low rates.”

The business administrator pointed out that another company, Sol Harvest Energy, had pursued solar “on this particular property” because it also recognized the location as “being premiere for connecting to the grid.”

“Council believes it is in the best interest of the township to authorize the Purchase, Sale and Redevelopment Agreement in order to remediate, cap and redevelop the township landfill and to redevelop it into a 10-megawatt solar installation generating significant electricity, which will be connected to the (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland) PJM electrical grid,” a resolution that formally approved the redevelopment agreement and acquisition of the landfill states.

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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THE LAKES GLOW ANEW TO THE GLIDING MOTION OF CANOES

The 89th Medford Lakes Canoe Carnival was held Aug. 7 on Lower Aetna Lake, with an awards ceremony the following day. The grand prize went to “Scrub Pines - I’m Coming Out-Cicada Summer ‘21.”

Photos By Thomas Valentino

Saturday, August 14, 2021