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Vol. 6 – No. 18 ♦
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February 19 - February 25, 2022
Residents Ask Bass River to Buy Elementary School District Has Up for Auction
“WHAT EXEMPLIFIES A ‘HERO’”
Locals Insist Facility is ‘Quite an Asset,’ But Commissioners Claim They Asked Several Times for Remediation Reports and ‘Have Not Received the Answers’ By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
BASS RIVER—With just a little less than a month left before the auction of the shuttered Bass River Township Elementary School comes to a close, a group of township residents has approached the Bass River Township Board of Commissioners, urging it to have the municipality purchase the 23,000 square-foot building from the Bass River Township School District, believing the facility, as well as the 4.15 acres it is situated on, is “quite an asset for the town to have.” However, according to both Mayor Deborah Buzby-Cope and Commissioner Nicholas Capriglione, who responded during a Feb. 7 Bass River Township Board of Commissioners meeting, the municipality has been “asking for well over a year now” about air quality, asbestos, flood, mold and oil tank remediation at the former school, and “is still awaiting answers” from the district, reportedly not yet having been provided with copies of remediation “reports.” “We need them (the answers) in writing,” Buzby-Cope declared. The residents, upon hearing that the township has not gotten answers, urged the commissioners to investigate its “options,” with one pointing out that “time is of the essence” with the auction clock ticking, but Buzby-Cope maintained that it is a “longshot” at this point that the municipality could find out everything it needs to know, and arrange for a possible purchase, by the scheduled 3 p.m. March 11, 2022, close of
Photo By Tom Valentino
U.S. Marine Corps veteran Matthew Bailey (left), of Medford Lakes Borough, receives a proclamation from Mayor Thomas Cranston in recognition of his “heroic actions in providing lifesaving assistance.”
U.S. Marine Corps Veteran from Medford Lakes Borough Honored for ‘Heroic Actions,’ Performing Perilous Ice-Water Rescue of Man Who Fell Through Ice at Ballinger Lake; Part of a Broader Story of an Infantryman Who Gives Meaning to Being a ‘Lifesaver’
By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
MEDFORD LAKES—U.S. Marine Corps veteran Matthew Bailey, of Medford Lakes Borough, was in the right place, at the right time, on the evening of Jan. 27, a set of circumstances that has led him to believe, “God chose to use me that night.” Bailey, also a fitness enthusiast who lives by the Marine ethos, “Honor, Courage, and Commitment,” and where “Semper Fidelis,” the Latin motto of every Marine, meaning “Always Faithful,” is “just second nature” to him, had just finished a workout at Medford Fitness, in Medford Township, when he decided
to go for a “routine” four-mile run. That run, as it typically does, would take him from Medford Fitness, through a nearby YMCA camp, and back to the gym, a path that traversed parts of the borough. But his return to the Medford gym on Jan. 27 was delayed, according to Medford Lakes Mayor Thomas Cranston, the result of Bailey, a veteran of both the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, performing both a “heroic” and “life-endangering” ice-water rescue at Ballinger Lake, located at the intersection of Lenape Trail and Stokes Road, in Medford Lakes. Bailey, the mayor said, was near the end of his run, running alongside Ballinger
FR EE
Lake, near P.J. Whelihan’s and Lenape Trail, when “inexplicably” his headphones – despite being fully-charged – had stopped working. That caused Bailey to take them off, and within about a minute of doing so, “he heard the screams for help from across the lake.” “Those screams were from Drew Urban, who had discovered her father, Joe, had fallen through the ice while skating,” the mayor detailed in honoring Bailey with a proclamation during a Feb. 9 Medford Lakes Borough Council meeting for his “courageous actions” on Jan. 27. Joe Urban, in a Feb. 14 interview with See HERO/ Page 13
See SCHOOL/ Page 10
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Saturday, February 19, 2022
Stanfield Votes to Confirm Addiego as Elections Superintendent, Despite Having Joined in GOP Attack on ‘Patronage’ Nomination Aide Claims Approval Was Due to Her Inclusion with 2 Other Nominees
By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer
MOU N T HOLLY—W h e n fo r m e r Democratic state Senator Dawn Marie Addiego, representing the 8th Legislative District, was unanimously confirmed at the end of last month by the New Jersey Senate as Burlington County Superintendent of Elections, one of the senators who voted in her favor was the ex-political rival who not only unseated her in last November’s election, but had three weeks earlier decried her nomination by Democratic Governor Phil Murphy. But Addiego’s being given a thumbs up for the post by Republican Senator Jean Stanfield was simply the result of a “very smart move by the Senate president (Nicholas Scutari)” to combine the former’s nomination with two others, including that of a Republican, according to Stanfield’s chief of staff, Brian Woods. “I don’t know if it was a quid pro quo,” said Woods in response to a query to that effect from the Pine Barrens Tribune during a Feb. 15 phone interview about the confirmation process. Back on Jan. 11, Stanfield, a former assemblywoman and longtime Burlington County sheriff before that, was quoted in a press release issued by the county GOP, in the form of an email to constituents bearing the headline “Addiego Takes Final Swig from Taxpayer Trough,” which contended that Addiego’s being given the $94,320-a-year position amounted to “one final parting gift from taxpayers” after her bid for re-election was rejected by voters. “Dawn Addiego lost and is rewarded with a patronage job of running our future
elections,” went a statement attributed in that release to Stanfield. “If Burlington County Democrats continue to hand out jobs to their politically connected friends, then they will go down the same losing path as Addiego. Voters have had enough of this.” The release also asserted that Addiego, an Evesham Township resident and one time councilwoman, had “flipped political parties in 2019 in an attempt to preserve her political future and form an alliance with (former) Senate President Steve Sweeney and the South Jersey Democratic Machine” – a move it claimed had “backfired when voters from all parties were turned off by her blatant attempt at selfpreservation and voted her out of office.” But Murphy, it maintained, “in recognition of her efforts on behalf of the Democratic party,” went ahead and nominated her for the job, which it described as “crucial in providing free and fair elections.” “We always knew Dawn Addiego’s party switch had nothing to do with her values and everything to do with personal gain,” Burlington County Republican Committee Chairman Sean Earlen was then quoted as saying. “The voters saw through her blatant self-serving move and now she is cashing in her 30 pieces of silver.” In assuming the post, Addiego replaced another political appointee and partyswitcher, Westampton attorney George Kotch, a former county surrogate who was nominated to be election superintendent in 2017 by former Republican Governor Chris Christie. Repeated messages left with Addiego’s assistant and on her phone asking if she wished to respond to the GOP’s allegations See SUPERINTENDENT/ Page 11
‘Consultant’ Suggests to Bass River That Retail Cannabis Dispensaries for Non-Medical Uses Are Beneficial, Though NJ Doesn’t Have Any Yet By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
BASS RIVER—As Bass River Township explores the feasibility of allowing cannabis “dispensary development” along the Route 9 corridor in municipality’s Commercial Zone, the township’s solicitor, JoAnne O’Connor, has reported back to the Bass River Board of Commissioners that she has gotten in contact with a “consultant,” who reviewed with her the “pros and cons” of having cannabis dispensaries for nonmedical uses, but seemingly suggested they are an overall benefit to a community. But the “problem” encountered by O’Connor in further researching the issue and being able to make a recommendation to Bass River is that “we don’t have any legal retail shops in the state” as of yet, she said, making it difficult for her to both ascertain their true impacts on a community and craft local rules and regulations. O’Connor, however, maintained that she will continue to do further research in the coming weeks. This newspaper previously reported that according to the meeting minutes for a Dec. 15, 2021, joint Bass River Township Planning and Zoning Board meeting, Board Member Robert Neuweiler stated that Bass River “would be missing out on an income opportunity” if “dispensary development” is not pursued by the municipality. Planning Board Attorney Chris Norman then pointed out that “recreational use” of cannabis, unlike medicinal uses, “can be charged an enhanced 2 percent tax” under the state’s recently enacted cannabis legislative package. Norman also said that he anticipated “future recreational sales have the potential to be large sums of money.”
Following the joint planning and zoning board meeting this past December, Mayor Deborah Buzby-Cope, also a member of that board, during a January commissioners meeting, pointed out that Norman was looking into the “pros and cons” of allowing for cannabis dispensaries, before asking O’Connor to also “look into it” and “do a case study” to “see what the pros and cons are,” as well as the benefits of “having one versus not having one.” “The commissioners asked that I look into the pros and cons of having a retail cannabis store in the township,” said O’Connor during the Feb. 7 commissioners meeting. “That was a little bit difficult because we don’t have any legal retail stores, in the state, as of yet. All the retail in New Jersey is (for) medical (purposes).” However, O’Connor said she spoke to a “gentleman who is a consultant across the country” and reportedly helped to establish cannabis entities in both Colorado and Massachusetts (some of the first states to decriminalize cannabis and allow for cannabis businesses) and is now “helping people across New Jersey get their (cannabis business) licenses established.” “What he told me is that he found across the country the two most disputed types of (cannabis) businesses are the retail and cultivation ones,” O’Connor noted. “Cultivation, because of the odor, and retail, because of the concern about traffic, space and parking issues.” But the consultant, she said, pointed out that all the retail stores he has dealt with are “high-end” and “state-of-the-art.” “He described them more like a spa,” she maintained, noting that he also contended See CANNABIS/ Page 9
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Woodland Clerk Says State Agriculture Department Has Attributed Last Year’s Gypsy Moth Outbreak to Spray ‘Refusal’ of ‘Nearby Town’ NJDOA, However, Tells Tribune It Was Result of Less Fungus, Dry Weather
By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
WOODLAND—Last year’s gypsy moth outbreak in Burlington County, which hit sections of Woodland Township particularly hard in May and June of 2021, not only caught the New Jersey Department of Agriculture “off guard,” but was the result of a “nearby town” refusing to spray, said Woodland Township Clerk Maryalice Brown on Jan. 26 of what had been recently conveyed to her by the state agency, which runs the state’s annual Gypsy Moth Suppression Program. However, Jeff Wolfe, a spokesman for the NJDOA, provided this newspaper on Feb. 7 with a different reason for last year’s outbreak, contending it was the result of a particular fungus known for “decreasing gypsy moth populations” not being as prevalent in 2021 due to dry weather last spring, and that such outbreaks are typically cyclical on a quinquennial basis. This year, according to Brown, the state’s Gypsy Moth Suppression Program will include Bass River, Tabernacle, Washington and Woodland in Burlington County (all of which have decided to voluntarily participate in the program), in addition to part of Cape May County, pointing out that the state believes the gypsy moth problem is “very localized.” Three of the towns targeted for spraying in Burlington County, Bass River, Washington and Woodland, reported gypsy moth defoliation last year. But Woodland was hit the hardest, with tree canopies on parts of County Route 563 resembling wintertime in the summer. “I told them (the NJDOA representatives who met with Woodland) how caught offguard we were,” said Brown during a Jan. 26
Woodland Township Committee meeting. “He told me they were too. They had no idea it was coming. Apparently, there was a very bad issue in one of the other nearby towns, but I won’t mention any names. They were told they had an issue, told they needed to spray, and they refused to do it, and that is what caused the blow-up last year. So, everyone was caught very off-guard.” This newspaper previously reported that a total of 170 acres located in Burlington and Cape May counties, had been proposed by the NJDOA for treatment during the spring of 2021. According to the NJDOA’s website, the municipality in Burlington County “opted not to participate in the (2021) program, leaving 50 acres in Cape May County for treatment.” The NJDOA had later identified to this newspaper the municipality that it claimed elected not to participate in the 2021 Gypsy Moth Suppression Program as Washington, with a 2021 aerial defoliation survey detecting a “moderate” gypsy moth infestation there at the time. However, Karen Bacon, deputy township clerk for Washington, previously maintained to this newspaper that “nothing” was on file “in regard to gypsy moths.” Questions had been raised last year by Woodland residents about why Woodland had not participated in an aerial defoliation survey for 2021. A fulfilled Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request last year revealed that Woodland had last participated in such a survey in 2016. Woodland Mayor Wi l l iam “Bi l ly” DeGroff, responding last year to the questions that were raised, declared at the See MOTH/ Page 9
LOCAL NEWS / EVENTS
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Browns Mills Man Arrested for Alleged Child Porn Possession PEMBERTON—A 58-year-old man from The investigation revealed that Eichinger the Browns Mills section of Pemberton maintained images and videos of child Township has been charged this month with sexual abuse material in an online data possessing child sexual abuse material. storage system. Roger A. Eichinger, of the Multiple electronic devices were 30 0 block of Honeysuck le seized from Eichinger’s residence Lane, was charged with thirdduring the execution of a search degree endangering the welfare warrant, according to the press of a ch ild, ac cording to a release, and a preliminary review joint Feb. 7 press release from revealed the presence of child Burlington County Prosecutor sexual abuse material. Scott Coffina and Pemberton The devices will be examined Township Police Chief Jay by detectives from the High-Tech Watters. Crimes Unit, with it noted in the Eichinger was taken into press release that additional custody on Feb. 1 and released charges are possible. following a first appearance in T he i nve stigation was Superior Court in Mount Holly. conducted by the High-Tech Eichinger T h e i nv e s t i g a t i o n i n t o Crimes Unit, with assistance Eichinger began in November after the from U.S. Department of Homeland Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office Security Investigations – Cherry Hill Office, High-Tech Crimes Unit received information the Evesham Township Police Department, regarding Eichinger’s online activities the Pemberton Township Police Department from the National Center for Missing and and the New Jersey State Police TEAMS Exploited Children. Unit and Canine Unit.
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Saturday, February 19, 2022
Pemboro Residents Observe Individuals ‘Dredging’ Rancocas Creek at Hanover Street Bridge; Police Are Directed to Maintain Vigilance
Woodland Fire/EMS, Woodland Township Said to Have Reached ‘Firehouse Agreement’ Inclusive of Purchases on Behalf of Entity
Boro Administrator Thinks It Might Have Been ‘Kids,’ But Ex-Councilwoman Expresses Much Deeper Concern About Incident Which Involved 4 People
Needed Firehouse Repairs, Following Car Crash, Still Under Review
By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
PEMBERTON BOROUGH—A group of people who were reportedly seen by residents “dredging” the Rancocas Creek, at the Hanover Street Bridge, during a mild January weekend, has prompted concern amongst some in Pemberton Borough. Thus far, borough officials have expressed that they don’t know who the individuals were, or what their exact motive was. “( We h a v e) n o i d e a ,” B o r o u g h Administrator and Clerk Donna Mull told this newspaper. “I think it was just some kids.” However, the Pemberton Borough Police Department has been given orders to maintain extra vigilance in the area, and specifically monitor the bridge and creek “every time they drive by,” according to Councilman Robert Brock, who oversees the police department. And Norma Ward, a former borough councilwoman, told Pemberton Borough Council at its latest meeting that she was quite concerned with what she observed, witnessing “four people on the bridge” with “big ropes” and “magnets attached to them,” that she contended were using them to “dredge in the bottom of the creek,” bringing up “all kinds of paraphernalia onto the bridge.” “This went on for three days without anybody saying anything to them, and the bridge was covered in muck,” Ward maintained. “And its railing is now covered in some type of stain. I don’t know what they are bringing up out of the creek with those different magnets, but (it probably is) chemicals and sediment from down there (at the bottom of the creek). “If little kids are running their hands down the railing and there is any lead in that, it could cause an issue. Plus, it is disturbing the turtles and the fish.” Ward then declared that “this really needs to be addressed” and “looked into.” “It is a health issue; a safety issue and they took up the whole walkway and one couldn’t even walk across the bridge,” Ward contended. Mull advised Ward to give her a call if she observed the activity again. Ward replied that she would have done so, but the incident happened on a weekend when it was “nice and warm, before we got hit by storms.” Mull noted that she would give the former borough councilwoman a way to contact her on future weekends.
Resident Diane Fanucci, who regularly volunteers her time to clean up borough streets of litter, noted that she too was “there the day they were dredging the creek,” and she observed the individuals involved “were pulling out bicycles, mainly.” Brock noted that he had “already addressed” the purported incident with Police Chief Ed Hunter and “he said he would have everybody on patrol to keep an eye on it.” “He said he hasn’t seen anybody since,” Brock added. Ward maintained that she wanted “everybody to know about this” and the “community to be aware of this” because “it is up to us to protect our community from things like this.” Ward also declared during the latest council session that, “We really need a bigger police presence out on the street.” She maintained that “people are speeding through town,” and that Westampton Street “has turned into (Interstate) 295.” “I know before we parked an empty (police) car and moved it around town, so that it looked like more of a police presence was out there,” said Ward, indicating she would like to see that deterrent method initiated once again. Ward also contended that “people are walking through town during the day casing out people’s yards, garages and our vacant buildings,” all while “we have a homeless situation right now where people are trying to find places to stay.” “This really needs to be addressed,” Ward declared. “We really need a bigger police presence out on the street. I am not seeing it in my area at all.” The former councilwoman added that on one occasion she had called borough police to report an incident, but that an officer subsequently advised her the “person was harmless.” “I don’t think that person is harmless if they are doing damage to people’s property,” Ward quipped. Mayor Harold Griffin asked Brock to “take care of the issues.” “Our police officers are over their COVID now and we ought to have a little more presence back on the street,” said Brock in response to the concerns and the mayor’s request. Mull, a veteran borough official, at the end of the meeting, announced that she would be retiring soon, and would be starting the process to advertise for her position.
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By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
WOODLAND—Nearly eight months after “most, if not all” the members of the Woodland Volunteer Fire and EMS Company resigned from the entity (though at least some have since rescinded their resignations) during the Fourth of July 2021 holiday weekend, Woodland Township and the emergency services entity have reportedly reached a “firehouse agreement.” The announcement that an agreement had finally been reached between the two parties followed an approximately hour-long Feb. 15 Woodland Township Committee executive session, part of a special township committee meeting that began at 10 a.m. “Woodland Township Fire and EMS has reached an agreement (with us),” declared Mayor William “Billy” DeGroff upon the township committee reconvening the special public meeting, following the closed session. William Burns, township solicitor and public information officer, then elaborated on the mayor’s declaration. “I am happy to report, on behalf of the fire company, as well as the committee, the basic terms of an agreement has been negotiated and worked out,” Burns said. “I look forward to that agreement being placed on the agenda at the next meeting.” The next meeting of the Woodland committee is scheduled for Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. (though a workshop session is tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. that day, which may or may not be held depending on the amount of new business that has to be discussed.) Burns noted that “inclusive” of the agreement is that “we are purchasing items that are critical for the health and safety of the township,” on behalf of Woodland Fire and EMS, including a Lucas device (chest compression system) and Stryker power stretcher to “protect our first responders while loading and unloading patients.” “There was also significant discussion on the cost, as well as the terms and conditions associated with the potential purchase of additional safety equipment being a firetruck and ambulance,” Burns said. Burns could not be immediately reached for comment following the meeting about how the township would fund the planned purchases. However, at preceding Woodland committee meetings, including one on Jan. 26, officials discussed the possibility of using federal COVID relief money the township received for the purchase of an ambulance (Woodland Fire and EMS had provided COVID victim transports, particularly for residents of the state’s New Lisbon Developmental Center). “I am too afraid to use too much (COVID
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relief money) for other things because we want it for the ambulance,” said Township Administrator and Clerk Maryalice Brown during the Jan. 26 committee meeting. That remark by Brown prompted Deputy Mayor Mark Herndon to declare, “Save the COVID money for the ambulance and other EMS needs.” Burns, during the Feb. 15 special committee meeting, contended that “significant progress” has been made overall in settling the concerns between the township and Woodland Fire and EMS, and that he expected more significant progress over the next several months toward “significant purchases, and improvements in the services and equipment that the fire/ EMS department has.” This newspaper previously reported that the primary reason cited for the volunteers resigning (as detailed in executive session meeting minutes for a past closed session on the topic of Woodland Fire and EMS) was that because “the township is not willing to give the department any COVID money” and that “the department is looking for more support from the township.” Meanwhile, this newspaper has received public inquiries about the status of the Woodland company’s Chatsworth firehouse in the downtown Chatsworth section of Woodland. Members of the public have reported that the building is mostly boarded up and has been stripped of its brick and signage. This newspaper previously reported that the firehouse suffered “significant damage,” according to New Jersey State Police, after a motorist, allegedly using a wireless device while operating a Chevy Equinox, failed to stop at the intersection of Savoy Boulevard and County Routes 563 and 532 on Dec. 22, crashing into the building. Burns told this newspaper on Jan. 4 that the extent of the damage to the firehouse – beyond the report that it is significant with a structural engineer brought in to evaluate the integrity of the building – “is still under investigation.” Resident Terry Sheerin, attending the Feb. 15 special meeting by telephone, inquired about the status of repairs to the firehouse. “The Woodland Fire and EMS company is awaiting some additional information from a structural engineer, and as soon as the final information and documents are provided – at least that is what the chief has advised, they will begin the repair process to get the building up and running.” Woodland Fire and EMS maintains a second firehouse in the Lebanon Lakes section of the municipality.
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Volunteer Ambulance Company Asks Campgrounds, Event Organizers ‘For More Support’ as Decline in Volunteers and Donations Has Impact Chief of Local Squad Says More Often ‘Townspeople Are Not Covered’
By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
WASHINGTON—The Green Bank Volunteer Ambulance Company, which provides emergency medical transport ser v ic es to residents and v isitors of Washington Township, has not been immune to a national trend of both declining volunteerism and giving to non-profits, one that has reportedly been accelerated by the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. And now, Barbara Cavileer, chief of the Green Bank Volunteer Ambulance Company, based in Washington Township, Burlington County, is calling on area organizations and local campgrounds who have an “impact” on the entity to “please help us out” with “reimbursement” for the use of “gas, supplies, and oxygen rentals,” among other things, particularly after the agency responds to an emergency call at a campground or event. “We are benefitting the community, and want to stay benefiting the community, but I want to put all these hardships and facts out there, so the township realizes what is going on,” declared Cavileer during a Feb. 1 Washington Township Committee meeting. According to Cavileer, the Green Bank Volunteer Ambulance Company is now “down to four active EMTs and three active drivers.” Camping, enduros and bicycle runs are all common activities that occur in Washington’s dense forests during the warmer weather months, as Cavileer pointed out, and an emergency response by the local entity can tie up one ambulance rig for two to as much as four-and-a-half hours, with it being a “62 mile roundtrip” to the nearest trauma hospital, AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, in Atlantic City. Although those who apply for parade permits from the township are required to retain their own ambulance coverage from an outside entity during the course of an event, Cavileer said the local emergency squad still finds itself in a position where it is responding to calls during events, particularly if one of their ambulance rigs are closer to one point of a race where an incident occurs (the race courses for enduros and bicycle runs can extend upwards of 100 miles through the Pinelands). Given the local manpower shortage, and now “insufficient coverage” from neighboring municipalities also impacted by the volunteerism decline, “if two rigs happen to be out of town” as a result of the demand from the campgrounds or events, according to Cavileer, “we are not getting out” to respond to emergencies in town, leaving “our townspeople not covered.” “And this (not having coverage for the townspeople) is very disturbing to us because we are seeing it more and more,” Cavileer said. Galloway Township Ambulance Squad, in neighboring Galloway Township, Atlantic County, she pointed out, used to be a reliable backup provider to Washington Township, however, “they have already stated that they are not responding to the scene with the efficiency that they were in the past because they have committed to Bass River Township.” Neighboring Bass River Township, in Burlington County, as recently reported by this newspaper, lost its emergency transport provider, Bayville-based Quality Medical Transport, this past December when it unexpectedly ter minated its contract with Bass River, reportedly citing limited financial resources in the rural municipality, as well as a shortage of manpower that it not only was experiencing as a paid provider,
but that Squad 85, in Little Egg Harbor Township, Ocean County, a volunteer entity, was seeing. Quality reportedly decided to refocus its efforts and limited resources on assisting Little Egg Harbor and Squad 85 because of a greater financial benefit to it, the result of a greater population in Little Egg Harbor. Since that time, Bass River has been relying on Galloway Township Ambulance Squad, “the best that the town can do for the moment,” though it was previously described as a temporary arrangement that officials recognize is presenting “longer response times” and can’t last forever, and will require much discussion and potentially tough decision making in the future. In a prev ious i nter v iew w ith th is newspaper, Chuck Uhl, chief of the Galloway Township Ambulance Squad, acknowledged that his entity has temporarily stopped running most mutual aid calls (for non-lifethreatening emergencies) to its surrounding communities so that it can provide any needed assistance to Bass River. Cavileer, on Feb. 1, pointed out that Bass River sought a quote from AtlantiCare, essentially the only other paid EMT provider serving the greater area, and that the firm wanted approximately $60,000 a month for just “one ambulance” to be stationed in Bass River 24/7 with “one crew.” Both Bass River and Washington are among Pinelands communities that have limited commercial ratables and stringent development restrictions imposed by the Pinelands Commission, making such a fee difficult for the towns to absorb should they ultimately move in a paid provider direction. “The best thing for small towns is to go to a regionalized service, or get a service that can provide coverage to them, and at same time go into other towns to make up for that lack of call volume,” contended Uhl to this newspaper in the December interview. While, according to Cavileer on Feb. 1, the Green Bank Volunteer Ambulance Squad is “surviving” at present from the “ancillary help” its “treasurer, secretary and president” are providing to the organization, and “we probably would not be doing what we are doing” without them, “we are insufficiently covered from our outside sources and we are also having problems in-house,” in addition to “not getting a lot of reimbursement from our campgrounds, or from the enduros.” Therefore, Cavileer recommended that when the Washington Township Committee receives applications for parade permits from event organizers, it does not waive the required $250 fee upfront, as has sometimes been done depending on the benefitting cause, but rather, if there is an “impact” on the Green Bank Volunteer Ambulance Squad, that money goes directly to the emergency entity to cover its expenses. In one recent incident that happened in the forest, according to Cavileer, the Green Bank Volunteer Ambulance Squad had to position its “manpower” on several different roads because an injured person was deemed “a moving target,” in which the entity did not know where the individual would emerge (given the complexities of emergency response in the forest). She called “some of the calls” a “logistical nightmare.” And then, in traveling to and from Atlantic City, usually an ambulance rig will require a “full tank of gas.” “The bottom-line is, I am asking the township to hold the $250 deposit for all the application fees,” Cavileer asserted. “If we get impacted as a squad, the money comes to us as reimbursement for all the expenses. If not, we return it to whoever asks for a See CAMPGROUNDS/ Page 8
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Grand Jury Indicts Pemberton Twp. Teenager for Fatal Shooting PEMBERTON—A Pemberton Township teenager has been indicted for fatally shooting a 17-year-old boy and wounding a 17-year-old girl last October in the 100 block of Snow Avenue, in the Browns Mills section of the township. An indictment returned Feb. 1 against Kai Johnson, 18, according to a press release from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, charges him with first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder, second-degree aggravated assault, seconddegree unlawful possession of a weapon, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child. Johnson has been lodged in Burlington County Jail, in Mount Holly, since turning himself in to police three days after the Oct. 18 shootings. Arraignment was expected shortly in Superior Court.
The fatal shooting occurred around 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 18. Responding officers from the Pemberton Township Police Department discovered Malach i Treher ne, 17, of Pemberton Township, lying in the doorway of the residence. He was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy, according to the prosecutor’s office, determined that Malachi Treherne died as a result of two gunshot wounds to his head. The 17-year-old girl, who had been shot in the chest, was transported to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, in Trenton, and has since been released. The shooting investigation, it was noted in the press release, revealed that “Johnson and the decedent were having an argument inside the house when Johnson pulled out a gun and shot both victims.”
Man Who Fled Southampton Twp. Crash Charged with DUI SOUTHAMPTON—A man who fled the scene of an overnight crash in Southampton Township was later arrested and charged with driving under the influence. Ac cording to Brandi Slota, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey State Police, State Troopers responded to a motor vehicle crash that occurred around 2:51 a.m. on Main Street. “The driver of the vehicle had fled prior to the arrival of Troopers,” Slota maintained.
“The driver was later located on Route 206, near the (Vincentown) Wawa.” Initial dispatch reports said the crash occurred around 61 Main Street in the Vincentown Village section of Southampton. Residents reported very heavy police activity in the area during the search for the driver. “The suspect who fled the scene of the motor vehicle crash was charged with driving under the influence,” Slota said. Police did not identify the suspect.
Man Who Allegedly Displayed Knife, Made Terroristic Threats at Pizzeria and Deli in Bass River Twp. Faces Multiple Charges BASS RIVER—The owner of a relatively new pi zzer ia and deli in Bass River Township contended during a Feb. 7 Bass River Township Board of Commissioners meeting that his establishment on Route 9 was the scene of a recent “incident.” Kevin Foder, owner of the establishment (and also the vice president of the local school board), reminded residents to be vigilant of their surroundings, in general, and “just watch it,” following what took place at his business. According to Trooper Brandi Slota, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey State Polic e, State Troopers responded to Firehouse Pizzeria and Deli on Feb. 4 at approximately 10:21 a.m. for “reports of a
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man displaying a knife.” “Upon their arrival, they observed a male with a knife in his waistband of his pants,” she said. “Troopers arrested the suspect, identified as Anthony Appello Jr, 24, of Little Egg Harbor Township, without incident.” According to Slota, Appello was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, terroristic threats, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. “The state police responded pretty quickly,” Foder noted. “The ambulance responded pretty quickly. The guy was arrested.”
Motorcyclist Injured After Motorcycles Collide in Woodland WOODLAND—A motorcyclist sustained serious injuries after two motorcycles collided on Feb. 12 on County Route 532 in Woodland Township. The crash occurred around 1:38 p.m., according to Trooper Brandi Slota, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey State Police. “A Harley Davidson FLH and a Harley Davidson FLS were traveling eastbound, directly next to each other, on County Route 532,” Slota noted. “In the area of milepost 14.5, the driver of the FLH lost directional
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control of their vehicle and struck the FLS.” As a result, she added, the driver of the FLS “sustained serious injuries” and was transported to a nearby hospital. Slota did not release the identity of the injured victim, or the hospital the individual was transported to. There was no further word on their condition as of press time. According to a Facebook post from the Woodland Volunteer Fire and EMS Company, County Route 532 was closed for a time.
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Chatsworth Man Charged with Trying to Meet Underage Girl for Sex WOODLAND —A 30 -year-old man from the Chatsworth section of Woodland Township has been charged with attempting to arrange a sexual encounter with an underage girl whom he had met on the social media site, Snapchat, according to a report issued by Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and City of Burlington Police Chief John Fine. Hazelton Newman, of the first block of Baptist Road, was charged with a seconddegree count of attempting to lure or entice a minor and a third-degree count of endangering the welfare of a child. He was taken into custody following the execution of a search warrant at his residence and lodged in Burlington County Jail, in Mount Holly, pending a detention hearing in Superior Court. The charges against Newman came
about after the mother of the alleged victim contacted the City of Burlington Police Department to report her daughter’s electronic interaction with him, the report said. The investigation revealed that Newman was aware that the girl was a minor when he attempted to lure her to a meeting in his neighborhood so they could engage in sexual activity, and that he had sent her videos and photographs of himself involved in sexual acts with an unknown female. The prosecutor and police chief also noted that New man is susp e cted of having communicated electronically with other underage girls as well, and asked anyone with knowledge of illegal activity involving Newman to call Detective Siobhan McClintock at 609-265-5311, or send an email to tips@co.burlington.nj.us.
Browns Mills Man, 63, Is Given 11-Year Prison Sentence for 2018 House Fire That Killed Mother, Her Companion PEMBERTON—A 63-year-old man who was found guilty of causing the deaths of his elderly mother and her companion in a 2018 house fire in the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township has been sentenced to 11 years in state prison. Kurt Smith, who lived at the residence in the 500 block of Willow Boulevard, was convicted in October 2021 on two counts of reckless manslaughter in the second degree. He was sentenced last month by Superior Court Judge Christopher J. Garrenger to serve concurrent 11-year terms on each count, according to an announcement by Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina. Smith must serve 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
The verdict was returned following approximately 10 hours of deliberation over two days, Coffina said. The jury, however, was unable to come to a verdict on an arson charge. Smith was accused of igniting flammable material with a cigarette lighter in the garage of the residence on Oct. 16, 2018, then unsuccessfully attempted to extinguish the blaze, which killed his mother, Lore Smith, and her companion, George Pikunis, both 92. Autopsies performed by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood concluded the cause of death in each instance was smoke and soot inhalation, along with thermal burns. It was noted that Smith’s record included 187 arrests and 16 felony convictions.
Police Come Across Premises Purportedly Used for Distribution of Heroin and Methamphetamine; Arrest Two Pemberton Men PEMBERTON—Authorities executing an arrest warrant on a Pemberton Township man reportedly came across controlled dangerous substances meant for distribution during the early morning Feb. 2 operation, which ultimately resulted in the arrest of two men on drug charges. T h e Pe mb e r t on Tow n s h ip Pol i c e Department assisted both the U.S. Marshal’s Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force and Burlington County Sheriff’s Department in executing the arrest warrant at a home in the 4200 block of South Lakeshore Drive, in the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township, according to a press release from the Pemberton Police. The authorities were serving the warrant on Kenneth Hopkins, 38, “who was wanted out of Burlington County Superior Court,” when they observed items in the home, also occupied by Edward Johnson, 45, of Browns Mills, “which led officers to believe there may be controlled dangerous substances
CAMPGROUNDS (Continued from Page 5)
waiver, or whatever you want to do. But I think we need a little more support from these outside impactors who are coming to us (for emergency aid).” According to Cavileer, Wading Pine Campground is a “big impact to us” and the entity has been “going there a lot,” but “we are not seeing any reimbursement.” “If we are impacted where we use our resources such as gas, supplies, oxygen rentals, etc., please help us out with those things,” she said.
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meant for distribution” inside it. “A narcotics search warrant was then obtained by authorities for the area at the residence where Hopkins and Johnson were located, and during a search pursuant to the warrant, a large quantity of suspected heroin and a quantity of methamphetamine were found,” it is noted in the press release. Additionally, according to the press release, proceeds which are suspected to be from the sale of controlled dangerous substances, were found inside of the location at the residence. Both Hopkins and Johnson were charged with possession with the intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance (heroin), possession of a controlled dangerous substance (heroin), possession of a controlled dangerous substance (methamphetamine), possession of a prohibited weapon/device, fortifying a premises used for the distribution of controlled dangerous substances, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Resident Michael Peranteau, upon hearing about the situation, asked the Washington committee if there was “anyway when you issue licenses for campgrounds, you can request that they do a collection.” “A lot of people are there all summer, and maybe if they did a collection there once a year, it could help out. Hearing that the residents aren’t getting taken care of – that is sad.” Washington Township Mayor Daniel James replied that he had “another idea” that he would be discussing with Township Solicitor Tom Coleman and “will find out about.” “There is another avenue (to raise funds), actually lots of ways,” James said. “We just have to find one that works.”
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(Continued from Page 3) time, “We don’t have a crystal ball (with) knowing about gypsy moths!” “We had no issues with gypsy moths last year,” he added at the time. “Now that we do have an issue with them, we are dealing with it. And the state will be out in the fall, and we will spray all the affected areas in the spring.” The NJDOA, last year, did not address whether the lack of treatment in Washington led to the Woodland predicament in any way. The hardest hit area in Woodland is about 20 minutes away from the townshipline with Washington, and according to Michigan State University, which maintains a gypsy moth resource, “most larvae end up feeding on trees less than 100 to 150 yards from where they hatched” and “young larvae can be carried in the wind as far as a halfmile from the egg mass where they hatched.” Wolfe, following Brown’s Jan. 26 committee meeting comments, when asked by this newspaper if the state reached a determination as to why the gypsy moth outbreak was as bad as it was in 2021, and the reason for it, replied, “Gypsy moth populations are basically cyclic, having outbreaks about every five years.” “However, due to wet weather patterns, the region has had the E. maimaiga fungus over the last few years, decreasing gypsy moth populations during the spring, in deeply wooded, non-residential areas of the state,” Wolfe added. “E. maimaiga causes death to gypsy moth caterpillars. When active, it goes through the local population and kills them, spreading spores over the area sometimes causing major population reductions. “Last spring, the weather was relatively dry (outside of a few thunderstorms), so there was less, if any, E. maimaiga impact to gypsy moth populations in the southern areas of the state, allowing them to spread to residential areas. In 2021, defoliation was observed on 10,199 acres,
and the last time similar levels were observed was in 2017, where 13,574 acres were impacted.” Ac c ord i ng to Brow n, spray i ng i n Woodland is tentatively scheduled for the week of June 3. “It is exceptionally weather dependent,” said the Woodland clerk of what she had been advised by the NJDOA. “If it is too humid, too cloudy, or too cold, they can’t spray. If leaves haven’t bloomed enough, they can’t spray.” Although the spray that will be used is said to be “safe, according to Brown, the NJDOA “doesn’t want anyone to be doused with it, like a child waiting for the bus.” Therefore, Brown maintained, the state is coordinating with Woodland and the local school district to provide for a “one-hour shutdown time,” in which spray won’t be dispersed to allow for appropriate dismissals to safely take place, etc. She contended residents would receive notifications of when that shutdown time will occur. Additionally, “township employees” have been asked to patrol the streets during the spraying to watch for any potential “joggers” not heeding the warnings, Brown noted, and that if anyone is seen jogging, the employees “will be instructed to grab the jogger and put them in their vehicle.” In past spraying programs, balloons were used to demarcate the areas targeted for spraying, according to Brown, but the program now relies on GPS systems, making the balloons no longer necessary, according to Brown. Daniel James, mayor of Washington Tow n s h ip, vowe d du r i ng a Fe b. 1 Washington Township Committee meeting to have Washington participate in this year’s Gypsy Moth Suppression Program and do “two applications” at $156,660. “We are going to have a bad year, whether we like it or not,” James declared. “We are going to spray. There is no doubt about it. It is a necessity; we have to spray. … As long as we give them a check, they are happy, and we are happy.”
CANNABIS (Continued from Page 2)
that the retail stores he has worked with all have “required security” and a setup where you can “select what you want.” The consultant further reportedly advised O’Connor that the retail stores he has worked with “have an adequate number of parking spaces” and offer the option of delivery, which “cuts down on traffic in-andout of the stores.” “He also did say that in New Jersey, if you get a retail license, it also gives you the ability to (provide for) delivery,” O’Connor said. “So, if you have a retail license, (you don’t need) a separate license to deliver.” The consultant claimed, according to O’Connor, that “most people already know what they want” when buying cannabis at retail, “so they go with a delivery service.” It was recommended by the consultant that O’Connor get in contact with the “gentleman who was the general counsel for the New Jersey Senate from 2014 to 2019, and basically wrote the legislation” signed into law last year by Democratic Governor Phil Murphy that decriminalized cannabis in New Jersey and established six possible classes of licensed cannabis businesses that towns can permit through local ordinances. “If you want, we could maybe have him come talk to us if need be,” O’Connor asserted. “But of course, he is in the industry, and from what I am told, he is very pro-retail, and thinks it is a very good means for townships to increase the income to the town.” The commissioners in December, as
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previously reported by this newspaper, provided Bass River Buds, LLC with formal “approval and support” to apply for a “Clas s I Can nabis Cu ltivator Microbusiness License” from the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC), the latter also established last year through the legislation. “Cannabis cultivators” are a permitted use under the township’s cannabis ordinance, and the planned location for the firm’s operation is on Ishmael Road, which is in a remote area of the township. The commissioners, however, in enacting its local cannabis business ordinance last summer ahead of a state deadline, did not allow for retail cannabis operations, though it has the option of “opting-in” to that cannabis class at a later date. The township, in early 2021, had held a special meeting to receive input from residents as to whether they were for or against allowing cannabis businesses in town, with the overwhelming majority of participants in that meeting saying they were for it, believing such an industry would help relieve the town’s revenue troubles given otherwise limited ratables and stringent Pinelands Commission building restrictions. In other local fi nancial news, the commissioners on Feb. 7 introduced an ordinance that would increase the annual registration fees for residential rental properties from $25 to $50, and from $15 to $25 for a second one. According to O’Connor, the last time the fee was increased was back in 2006. The mayor said there are about 12 to 15 properties in the municipality that would be impacted by the potential change, should it pass in March.
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Photo By Douglas D. Melegari
The Bass River Township Elementary School, which is on the auction block.
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(Continued from Page 1) the auction. One resident, however, inquired whether a potential bidder not being given such documentation could serve as potential legal grounds for delaying the auction. Another expressed it was probably worth the “risk” to proceed with a purchase of the school, even without the municipality having all the remediation information, believing the potential benefits could outweigh the risks. But the township solicitor cautioned against a purchase without having an inspection done first. Nick Brown, business administrator for the district, as well as an employee of the Little Egg Harbor Township School District, who also provides his services to the Pinelands Regional School District, and who has announced his intent to stop working for the Bass River district upon conclusion of the sale, later disputed the Feb. 7 claims of the commissioners, but would not provide much detail in doing so, believing “the newspaper” was not the appropriate venue for that. But he vowed to contact Buzby-Cope in the wake of this newspaper’s inquiries for this story. One man pointed out during the Feb. 7 meeting of the Bass River Township Board of Commissioners that the school has an emergency generator and “could be a shelter when we have a hurricane.” He added that he thought the municipality could rent out some of the former school’s classrooms as office space, and thus generate revenue. “It is quite an asset for the town to have,” the resident contended. Another man attending the meeting noted that he had done research on the properties that are in the vicinity of the former school over the past couple of years, all while exploring possible acquisition of one that used to be the site of the New Gretna House restaurant, which fronts Route 9, a busy state
highway that runs through the municipality’s commercial district of New Gretna. That research, he maintained, found that the New Gretna House property is currently “unusable” due to its lot size, deed restrictions and current Pinelands Com m is sion r u le s a nd reg u lat ion s, including setback standards. However, the man noted that if the lot and former school properties are joined together somehow, it could “present” the opportunity for “having retail space” or “rebuilding the New Gretna House,” including providing for hotel rooms or banquet facilities. He added that he was aware that an Irish pub with three locations in the state had also expressed an interest in opening in New Gretna, and perhaps such a deal could clear the way for “marketing” the properties to such entities. However, even if adjoining the properties in the municipality’s downtown district doesn’t come to fruition, the man contended that the former school itself, if in the township’s possession, could be used for purposes such as a new town hall (significantly expanding the capacity of municipal operations from the current one), a storm shelter, or to host profitable events, such as “movie nights.” In addition, he said, some of the classrooms could be converted into antique shops, with some of the larger rooms used for purposes such as setting up train displays. “I know of someone in Mystic Island who has Frank Sinatra’s Lionel trainset,” the man pointed out. “It is huge, and he has to have a place to set it up, so people can come see it. Here is an opportunity, possibly. “… There is scope, but I am not sure where the town fathers of New Gretna would like to go with this. But I am trying to throw some things out there and point out that there are actually a couple of legitimate ideas.” Capriglione, however, discussed purported mold and asbestos in the former school, in addition to concern over a three-decade old oil tank on the property and possible soil contamination (the school has since reportedly converted to gas for heating purposes).
“If I was purchasing a house, I wouldn’t rush out to buy a house with mold, and I would want to make sure it was taken care of,” he said. “There are questions that we haven’t received answers to.” Capriglione maintained, for example, that the township was told that tests were done for air quality inside the former school, “however, we asked for documentation and haven’t received it yet.” “I have no problem getting it (purchasing the school), but you have to understand what you are getting into,” Capriglione maintained. However, one of the men, in urging the commissioners to “look into the possibility of the town floating a bond” to purchase the former school, or “maybe getting investors” involved to form a “public-private partnership,” maintained “time is of the essence.” Bass River, as previously reported by this newspaper, has been suffering from limited ratables and a lack of new commercial development due to Pinelands Commission building restrictions that are considered strict and cost prohibitive. Some of the residents during the Feb. 7 commissioners meeting even expressed their willingness to join such a partnership, with the man inquiring about the town floating a bond pointing out that if “just 40 people put in $10,000 each,” the money would be there to purchase the former school. “And I know there are certain risks,” the man acknowledged. “But if you don’t want to take on risk, you are going to have a town that just keeps going downhill. Or you can take a chance of moving the town forward – at least if you do go forward, you are trying to make something happen that has potential.” As Capriglione discussed the need for the township to know what it is getting into in purchasing the building, as well as the purported contamination issues, the man asked, “Are we going to allow the (Bass River Township) Board of Education to leave an essentially contaminated building in our neighborhood?” Deputy Mayor Louis Bourguignon, also director of Public Works and property for Bass River Township, replied “it (the possible contamination) has nothing to do with us” and “we have no say.” “I am all in favor of the ideas and everything,” he added. “But everybody has got ideas, but no way to fund it! If something falls through, then we have no way of funding it– look at (former Republican governor) Christine Todd Whitman when she thought the stock market and everything was going to be all kosher (the former governor borrowed $2.75 billion to deposit in the state’s pension funds as the stock market at that time was doing well, and the infusion reportedly helped create a surplus in the accounts, but then the stock market took a downturn). It is the same thing here, when it falls through, who is going to get
Saturday, February 19, 2022 hammered? Us!” One of the men advocating for the township to purchase the former school pressed the commissioners if the township solicitor, JoAnne O’Connor, “can find out what the options are.” “As long as she is on the payroll, she will do whatever we ask!” quipped Bourguignon, suggesting that any research by the solicitor would incur a cost to the municipality. O’Connor, attending the Feb. 7 meeting the Bass River Township Board of Commissioners, said the “only thing” she will advise the board is “if you buy it, you own it.” “So, if you buy it and there is asbestos, and there is mold, and there is an underground storage tank that has been there for three decades and it has leaked out all the oil, then it is incumbent upon the new owner to take care of all that,” she said. “It has to be remediated.” Should the state become involved in the purported contamination issues, she added, “it becomes a brown site (brownfield).” “I advise all my clients to make sure you have an inspection done before you buy anything,” O’Connor noted. And “that is what we have been after,” Capriglione emphasized, contending “we have not been getting” any reports even though “we have been asking for them for well over a year now.” The discussion of potential asbestos in the former elementary school led one person to point out that it was only a few years ago that students had occupied the building, and to ask if they were exposed to it. The Bass River Township School District became a send/receive, non-operating school district beginning with the 2020-21 school year, and closed its only facility, the elementary school, with Bass River children in grades K-6 now attending the Little Egg Harbor Township School District’s two elementary schools. “If asbestos is in there, it is not always hazardous, unless it is friable,” O’Connor replied. “If the particles start coming down, then you have an issue. But if the building is well maintained, then it is not compromised. But if you come in and then try to do something to the building because you have to reconfigure it to what you need, then you have to take out all of the asbestos because you are ripping out walls, ripping down this stuff, and picking up the tile. And all that dust is what is the problem. “There may have been asbestos in there for decades, but if it is not falling down, it is OK. If I am going to knock through that wall and there is asbestos, I am going to have to remove it.” Kevin Foder, vice president of the Bass River Board of Education, who began his tenure as the send/receive relationship began and was present for the Feb. 7 commissioners meeting, contended that the pending sale of the elementary school is “something that See SCHOOL/ Page 11
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(Continued from Page 10) has been known about for almost year” now and that “no one has gone to a school board meeting” to ask questions during that time. “That is where questions need to be asked,” he said. “At the school board meetings, and there is one upcoming on Feb. 22. That is where your answers should come from. … Doing it here is not going to solve your problems, because obviously you are saying you don’t have the answers to the questions you are asking.” Buzby-Cope contended that “we sat down with them” (Brown and his administrative team) to no avail, calling a purchase by the municipality a “longshot” at this point with only a few weeks left before the auction’s conclusion. “We sat down several times and haven’t received the answers,” the Bass River mayor said. “All within the past year – and they were always going to get them, and we are still waiting on reports and have yet to see them.” Foder, who has recently clashed with both Brown and Assistant Business Administrator Johnathan Yates over lack of detail in draft meeting minutes and past mistakes on bills, as well as with their boss, Superintendent Dr. Melissa McCooley, calling on the latter to resign her position during a Jan. 24 Pinelands Regional Board of Education meeting (where an agreement to share office services with the Bass River district was terminated, apparently blindsiding Bass River school board members; and the superintendent defended herself against a parent led petition calling for her removal), told the commissioners to provide him with a list of questions and he will “take them to the (next school board) meeting and will get you answers.” “Being a member of a school board, I will make sure you get answers!” Foder vowed. “If you have been waiting a year and don’t get answers, something is wrong! If you come to a public meeting, it is now on record, and they ‘have to’ get you an answer!” By trying to get answers through private meeting(s) or by telephone, it will only become a “he said, she said” situation, added Foder, who noted this was the “first time” he was hearing the Bass River school officials did not get back to the municipality. “I will get answers!” declared Foder, who noted that the former elementary school could also potentially be used to give the local fire company more space and possibly even allow for “everything” to be in one building.
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had gone unanswered as of this newspaper’s deadline time. The two other gubernatorial nominees confirmed in the “package” vote along with Addiego were Republican Christopher “Kip” Bateman, a former senator who represented the 16th Legislative District from 2008 until this year, but chose not to run again, and former Democratic 22nd Legislative District Assemblywoman Linda Stender. Bateman was confirmed to become a member of the Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield Board of directors by virtue of its being the state’s main healthcare plan, according to Woods, while Stender was appointed to the New Jersey Historic Trust in a non-compensatory capacity. Asked if he could provide this newspaper with a job description for the post of county superintendent of elections, Burlington County Spokesman David Levinsky replied, “the superintendent is focused on making sure all Burlington County citizens can register to vote and that they can safely and securely exercise
AD HOTLINE: (609) 801-2392 or SALES@ PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM But even if there are some issues at the former school that require remediation, one of the men urging the municipality’s purchase of the building said that “you have to look at the inflation” that is happening in the U.S. right now, contending that $400,000 for a facility (the minimum bid threshold placed on the school) of that size is presently “cheap” (with other municipalities reportedly having to spend millions of dollars for a building and property of comparable size). But Capriglone countered “you also have to factor in the operating costs,” in addition to the approximately $400,000 debt on the school, which any purchaser would have to assume. “When there is an opportunity, there is always some risk,” the man replied. Brown, in a Feb. 10 response to this newspaper, wrote that “while I would like to address the inaccuracies in this report (from the commissioners), it benefits no onefollow to go us on facebook.com/MedfordUMC back and forth through the local paper.” “I will say simply that this version of events is not accurate, and I will contact the mayor to discuss,” the busi ness administrator added. Brown, when asked by this newspaper if he could supply any of the aforementioned reports that the township has sought, did not respond as of press time. It was pointed out during the Feb. 7 commissioners meeting that the belief is the building is up for auction “as-is” because of the purported issues. “There is really a large amount of questions that require answers, so you don’t end up with a facility – I won’t go as far as brown site, but … costs more than what the benefits are,” Capriglone said. “You are also factoring in a $400,000 debt. We have been trying to make an intelligent decision.” One of the men pushing for the township’s purchase of the former school pointed to a clause in the “terms and conditions” of the auction stating that the “BOE has the right to postpone or cancel the auction in whole, or in part, at its discretion, and without notice, and to modify or add terms and conditions prior to or during the auction,” believing that could allow the municipality to have first dibs with the cooperation of the Bass River school board. But if the township ultimately decides to pursue any purchase of the former school, but is forced to place bids on it, the possibility of a bidding war exists with several people already having expressed an interest in placing a bid through a questionand-answer section for the listing, and the listing already having garnered more than 17,000 views as of Feb. 13.
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Trinity Episcopal Church
In-Person Services being held after Labor Day at 8:15 am | 9:30 am | 11:00 am | Facebook Live
18 Mill St. Vincentown, NJ 08088 Worship: Sundays 10 a.m. 609-859-2299 Transportation Available Call 609-859-2883
2 Hartford Road | Medford NJ 08055 medfordumc.org | 609/654-8111 info@medfordumc.org
I Am That I Am Ministries, Inc. All Are Welcome!
Sunday Worship Se ervice at 11:30 a.m. Pastors Florence and Russell Webberr 50 Burrs Mill Roadd, Southampton, NJ 08088 609 - 847- 4848
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Bible Sttudy m. 7 p.m Wednessday
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that fundamental right in all elections,” as well as being “the custodian of voting machines.” Addiego herself has posted a twoparagraph description of her responsibilities on her official page on the Burlington County website. “As Superintendent of Elections for Burlington County, I oversee a staff that is available to answer any voter registration questions,” it reads, noting that the county is one of 21 tied into a statewide voter registration system that enables voters and their voting records to be transferred from other counties within the state. “Our goal is to register voters in a timely manner and help all eligible voters to vote,” the message goes on, noting that “information concerning many topics related to voting” has been posted at the website, and that “even though the information is very comprehensive, we are available to answer any questions you might have.” An email sent by this newspaper to a press liaison at Murphy’s office inquiring how the governor had decided on choosing to nominate Addiego, what her qualifications were and whether there were any other contenders for the superintendent of elections post had gone unanswered as of this newspaper’s press time.
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Page 12 ♦
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♦ Page 13
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Photo By Tom Valentino
Pictured from left to right, in the top row, are Matthew Bailey’s brother-in-law, David Malinowski; his sister, Erin Malinowski; Bailey; Bailey’s daughter, Mackenzie; his fiancée, Katie Grimmer; Bailey’s mom, Elizabeth Bailey; and Bailey’s dad, Claude Bailey. Pictured from left to right, in the bottom row, are Bailey’s niece, Sara Malinowski; Bailey’s nephews, Roman and Joey Malinowski; and Bailey’s son, Xander.
HERO
(Continued from Page 1) this newspaper, who grew up in Medford Lakes and returned to the borough after completing college in 2003, said that he has ice skated “his whole life,” and on Jan. 27, was skating on Ballinger Lake with his kids. But he
decided to remain on the lake, and continue skating, while his kids went to go eat dinner. “I did the two things you are not supposed to do – skate alone and skate in the dark, and I got myself in a little bit of trouble,” Joe Urban declared. He had asked his daughter, however, to return to the lake to bring him his cellphone. She did so, but couldn’t locate him because he “fell through the ice” in “the middle of the lake.”
Check: $ ____________ (Enclosed) Money Order: $ ______
“She was going to give me my phone, didn’t see me, and yelled for me,” Joe Urban recounted. “Then I yelled back, ‘Help, help!’, and she started screaming and alerted everybody to try to help me.” Joe Urban said he doesn’t remember much from that point forward, except that every time he tried to get back on the ice, the “ice kept breaking around me.” He also remembers that a man, “so calm, so cool and so collective,” an “ex-Marine who happened to be jogging by, sprang into action.” Bailey, upon hear ing the screams, according to the mayor, scanned the lake, and located Joe Urban “clinging to the ice” and then “immediately jumped into action.” At first, Bailey walked out onto the ice in an attempt to rescue the man, according to Cranston, “but quickly realized the ice would not hold his weight as one of his legs plunged through the thin, frozen sheet.” After retreating back to the bank (or lake shoreline), Bailey, the mayor noted, then “quickly” ran around the spillway, to the other side of the lake, and “grabbed a canoe from a neighboring property.” “He ran with the canoe to the bank, and then began to traverse the mix of ice and water in the lake, trying to keep stable and quickly get to him, all the while providing calm encouragement to the man he now recognized as his friend, Joe Urban,” Cranston said. “Matt was able to reach him and muscled the fully soaked Joe into
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the canoe while first responders from the Medford Lakes Police Department and Medford Lakes Fire Department assisted with a rope to get the canoe to the shore.” Once ashore, Bailey was said by Cranston to have “helped carry” Joe Urban, 54, to a waiting ambulance, where he was attended to by both the Medford Lakes Fire Department and Medford EMS. Joe Urban was able to return home, safe and sound, later that night. “It is important to note that if not for the quick actions of Drew Urban calling for help, Matt would not have known how dire the situation was,” Cranston said. “It is evident that Matt’s Marine Corps training and experience is still second nature to him. His ability to assess the situation, spring into action, and bring calm to chaos is what exemplifies a hero.” Cranston further maintained in the proclamation that Bailey “placed his neighbor’s personal safety and well-being above his own” and “personifies the true meaning of a ‘hero.’” He added that Bailey’s “compassion and genuine concern for the welfare of another human being is a source of inspiration to everyone.” But according to the mayor, when Bailey was asked about his heroic actions, “he simply replied, ‘All glory to God … he put me there for that reason.’” “That is a humble statement right there,” Cranston declared. See HERO/ Page 15
Page 14 ♦
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Photo By Tom Valentino
Matthew Bailey and his executive officer in Afghanistan in 2004, with the 3rd Battalion 6th Marine Regiment, James Moran, along with Moran’s wife, Christen, and two daughters, Ava and Maddie, celebrate Bailey’s honor for performing an ice-water rescue.
HERO
(Continued from Page 13) Adding to the “irony” of the situation, according to Joe Urban, is that the two men actually knew each other, as both men serve on the same local athletic board. “Not only is he an incredible person, but his backstory is just amazing – look up Matt Bailey, an ex-Marine,” Joe Urban told this newspaper. “He has an amazing story that kind of delves into what type of person he is – the true hero that he is.” Bailey has been on the frontlines of the nation’s two toughest wars of this century, serving tours of duty in Afghanistan in 2004, and in Iraq in 2006. He spent a whole year conducting combat operations in the AlAnbar Province of Iraq. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Bailey witnessed the aftermath of suicide bombings, IED explosions and sniper fire during tours of duty. In 2006, according to barxproject.org, the website for the “The Bar X Project,” an organization that “reunites combat wounded veterans with Marines from their former units in order to reestablish the special bond forged during combat and set veterans up for success in their future endeavors in the civilian worth,” Bailey was honorably discharged from the Marines, but had an “extremely hard time adjusting back to civilian life after my tours of duty with the Marine Corps in Afghanistan and Iraq.” He was later diagnosed with both Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a
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♦ Page 15
I put him in there, I saw how cold he was. I then got back on the ice, spun the canoe around, and traversed back to the bank.” Once ashore, Bailey said he took the skates off of Joe Urban and brought him over to where first responders were waiting, and they “immediately threw warm blankets over him.” The two then embraced. Bailey told this newspaper he initially d id n’t th i n k much of the re s cue he performed, and in fact, he said, he returned to the gym and sat for a few minutes in one of its saunas to reflect, and the next day, he went to work, and didn’t say a word about the rescue to anyone. But soon, he recalled, the borough would find out about his noble actions, and his phone “blew up” with message of gratitude. “It (the instinct to rescue him) came as second nature,” said Bailey, recounting the Marine ethos and motto. “‘Once a Marine, always a Marine,” is what they say. It is true. I was an infantryman who served two combat deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. My muscle memory pretty much kicked in to bring him back to safety. I definitely attribute a lot of what I did to the Marine Corps discipline I was taught, which emphasizes staying calm in a situation, bringing calm to a storm and maintaining good composure. “The headphones, which were fully charged, just stopped working, and to have that canoe there, it was like God was talking to me, directing me where to go in that situation. I used the tools provided to me. I am a big believer in ‘everything happens for a reason,’ and I give glory to God.” The local Bailey’s stor y ironically resembles in some ways the fictional character of George Bailey in, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” a popular film that provides the enduring lessons that each person’s life has purpose, and America is worth fighting for. (Persuaded of his value to his community, George Bailey in the popular Christmas classic breaks out of his suicidal depression, returns home to his family and realizes that the love and fellowship of others is what makes one’s life truly wonderful. Along the way, he gives aide to his community.) “T han k fu l ly, i n ou r smal l tow n, emergencies of this nature don’t occur often,” Cranston said. “But it is nice to know that when they do, we have citizens like Matt who will jump in to do whatever needs to be done to ensure a positive outcome.”
et
®
traumatic brain injury (TBI). “I fou nd it ver y d i f fic u lt to fi nd employment, maintain relationships and become a ‘normal’ person,” Bailey told the website. “In fact, I was just the opposite. I was in a downward spiral fueled by prescription medication and alcohol, relying on them to be my solution to deal with my PTSD.” Despite eventually finding a girlfriend and having “a beautiful little baby girl,” Bailey found his “relationships were crumbling” and at one point “found myself at the end of the barrel of my Glock 17 contemplating pulling the trigger,” believing he had “been a burden to everyone around me.” He then “agreed to do an episode on the Dr. Phil Show in return for treatment to get me off the meds and hopefully on the right track.” The show sent him to “Origins,” in South Padre Island, Texas, for 90 days – a place with people that were able to “reset my compass, and get me on a road to recovery and regain a sense of spirituality, which was crushed during my combat tour in Iraq and the years thereafter.” While still feeling “somewhat incomplete,” he was contacted by James Moran (founder of the The Bar X Project), his executive officer in Afghanistan back in 2004, with 3rd Battalion 6th Marine Regiment. He ended up on a trip to Montana “with some other wounded warriors and Marines having difficulties,” which ultimately led to his arrival at the “Bar X Ranch,” where people “volunteered their time and efforts to help us Marines get some much needed ‘therapy.’” “It was the best time I had in a long time,” said Bailey to barxproject.org. “We were able to realize we weren’t the only ones
dealing with combat-related issues. This trip was a lifesaver. Every Marine returning from combat should have this opportunity. It was a time to reflect and grow together. A time to motivate each other, and counsel each other, over the course of a few days in God’s Country, Big Sky country ... Montana. “After my second trip out, I found myself moving forward in life. Packing positivity into the stream of life – gainfully employed, helping other Marines and soldiers back at home. I am proud to report that today I am off all the medications and in the best shape of my life. I was able to start a successful side business with one of the other Marines on the trip, and gain an apprenticeship with the Ironworkers Union in NJ. This trip has successfully been able to get my Mind, Body and Spirit in touch with each other so I can be beneficial to others and get outside of myself.” Beneficial to others he was on the night of Jan. 27. “I heard a young girl screaming,” Bailey recounted in a Feb. 14 interview with this newspaper. “It was just an alarming type of scream, where you knew something was wrong. Then I heard someone saying – a male’s voice – ‘Help, help!’” Immediately, according to Bailey, “he assessed situation,” and saw that the ice was too thin where he was. He looked across the lake and observed a canoe around the spillway. He then “sprinted over” to it, “just grabbed it,” and then “traversed across the ice with the canoe.” The “entire time,” according to Bailey, he had eyes on Joe Urban. “All I could see was his head, arms and hands, as the rest of his body, from his chest down, was in water,” Bailey recalled. “It was a sizable hole he was in. I just knew I had to get out there as quickly as possible. I had no idea how long he was in the water before I started traversing the ice.” The ice on the lake, according to Bailey, was “cracking and breaking.” Finally, he said, he was “able to get it (the canoe) out to him.” “That is when I realized who it was – I realized it was Joe, who I knew,” Bailey said. “I said, ‘Joe, breathe, relax – I’m here.’” Bailey said Joe Urban told him he “couldn’t feel anything.” “I was trying to get him out of shock,” Bailey recounted. “I reached down into the water, went headfirst, grabbed him around the waste and pulled him back into the canoe with me with everything that I had. Once
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Page 16 ♦
LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES
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Saturday, February 19, 2022
FREE UPCOMING HEALTH EDUCATION EVENTS @capitalhealthnj
Register online at capitalhealth.org/events and be sure to include your email address. Zoom meeting details will be provided via email 2 – 3 days before the program date. Registration ends 24 hours before the program date.
Women’s Heart Health Thursday, February 24, 2022 | 6 p.m. Location: Zoom Meeting If you’re like most women, you’re probably busy taking care of everyone else. You and your heart health need equal time and attention. DR. SATVIK SHAH, fellowship trained cardiologist (and Lawrence Township native) from Capital Health Heart Care Specialists, will review gender differences in heart conditions and symptoms of heart disease. Become your own heart hero!
Nutrition Guidance for a Healthy Colon Wednesday, March 2, 2022 | 6 p.m. Location: Zoom Meeting Family history can contribute to your risk for colon cancer, but one factor you can control is your diet. As part of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in March, join MELISSA PHELPS, a registered dietitian and board-certified specialist in Oncology Nutrition at the Capital Health Cancer Center, to discuss nutrition tips to promote the health of your colon. DR. ASHLEE GODSHALK RUGGLES, a board-certified, fellowship-trained colorectal surgeon from Capital Health Surgical Group, will discuss common risk factors, signs and symptoms, and screening guidelines.