Pine Barrens Tribune January 15, 2022-January 21, 2022

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Vol. 6 – No. 13 ♦

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The News Leader of the Pines

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January 15 - January 21, 2022

Resident’s Fight to Keep Sober Living Home Out of Neighborhood Making Big Waves in Evesham

‘I JUST LOVE THIS TOWN’

Officials Invite DCA Representatives, County Prosecutor to Address Meeting; Operator Claims Occupants to Be Vetted Despite Lack of Any State Requirements

Photo By David Hernandez

Medford Township Council newcomer Donna Symons takes the oath of office on Jan. 4.

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

Medford Resident of Nearly Four Decades and Local Realtor of 35 Years, Said to Have Offered Both ‘Accountability’ and Friendship, Beginning Some 10 Years Ago After ‘Tumultuous’ Period, Assumes Town Council Seat Vacated Last Month by Seven-Year-Plus Councilman Bradley Denn

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

MEDFORD—A Medford Township resident of nearly four decades and local realtor of more than 35 years, whose online motto is “going the extra mile,”

has taken her seat on Medford Township Council, with a former councilman, part of the “original five,” declaring during a Jan. 4 reorganization meeting of the governing body that it was “about time” she was sitting on the council dais, calling

FR EE

the new councilwoman a “faithful friend” to both past and present Republican council members who took control of the town following a fiscal crisis a decade ago.

See COUNCIL/ Page 6

EVESHAM—A controversy precipitated by the revelation that a five-bedroom house on a cul-de-sac in the Woodstream section of Evesham Township is about to be converted into a transitional dwelling for recovering addicts has prompted township officials to invite representatives of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA), which regulates these types of facilities, as well as Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina to meet with local residents who have become alarmed over the prospect of having one of them situated in close proximity to See SOBER/ Page 8

INDEX

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Business Directory... 12

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

Job Board..................15

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

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Worship Guide...........11

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Traffic Control Measures Implemented in Sunbury Last Summer to Become Permanent After ‘Significant’ Drop in Calls for Service Some, Upon Learning of Plan, Claim Measures Are Not Working, But Instead Make Village More Dangerous, Pose Inconveniences; Town Plans to Revoke Landlord Licenses Over Problematic Tenants

New Deputy Mayor, Mayor Take Helm in Tabernacle with Latter Appointing Interim OEM Coordinator After Bob Sunbury Resigns; Committee Newcomer is Realtor with Plans to Open a Chick-fil-A Sunbury, Who Held Dual Positions, Will Retain Governing Body Seat; Interim Emergency Management Replacement is ‘Trailblazer’ in Field

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

Temporary barricades at the Delap Court entrance to Sunbury Village used to implement a new traffic pattern there.

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—Officials in Pemberton Township have decided to move forward with “permanent traffic controls” in the Sunbury Village section of the municipality, contending that since they were implemented on a temporary basis beginning in July, there has been a “pretty significant” reduction in calls for service to the neighborhood, believing the new traffic pattern program is in fact at least partly responsible for that.

However, Richard Gober, a Sunbury landlord who has been outspoken over the years about the criminal activity in the neighborhood and the township’s response to it, calling on the municipality to install surveillance cameras there instead, presented Pemberton Township Council with a petition on Dec. 15 with “over 160 signatures” reportedly from residents of the village who he says are “adamantly opposed to the plan.”

A handful of residents from Sunbury then spoke out against the plan, maintaining they did not see any noticeable improvement in their quality of life, but rather the new traffic patterns were making things worse.

Additionally, Gober handed the governing body a second petition during the Dec. 15 council meeting that he claimed was signed by eight landlords of Sunbury who he contended are also “adamantly opposed” to the plan.

Business Administrator Daniel Hornickel, after Gober’s presentation and the residents finished coming to the dais, slammed Gober for “actively working to undermine these changes” by “circulating disparaging information about our efforts to improve Sunbury Village,” pointing out that he had received word earlier in the day that the landlord was urging residents to come to council to oppose the plan, and would do so himself.

The business administrator maintained that the individual who tipped him off was actually a tenant of Gober’s who was in favor of the plan and pointed out that others were too, but had also indicated in a message that “he” was afraid of attending the council meeting to speak in favor of it, fearful the landlord “could retaliate” against him if his identity became known.

And in the process of excoriating Gober, Honickel revealed that Pemberton will “begin holding landlords accountable for the disruptive behavior of their tenants” by moving to revoke their licenses.

Council, prior to awarding Adams, Rehamann & Heggan (ARH) Associates a $44,750 contract to conduct a “field survey,

design and contracting for Sunbury Village” to “enable the township to install permanent traffic control measures within Sunbury Village,” heard from Mayor David Patriarca, who contended that the chief of police recently provided him with a report “which actually goes along with what our vision is for this project,” explaining that the vision is to “curb the amount of vehicles belonging to non-residents coming into the development.”

From January to June 2021, prior to the new traffic measures being implemented, there were 279 calls for service in Sunbury, according to the mayor, versus only 167 calls for service from July through November 2021, a period that followed the temporary implementation.

“There has been a little over 100 calls less for service in the latter part of the year since we put in the traffic control devices,” Patriarca said. “Arrests have also gone up in the area.”

The mayor said officials were attributing that “pretty significant” decline to two things, one being that there is now “a controlled pattern in there and limited ways to get out,” and the other being that “new officers hit the streets.”

While criminal mischief calls in Sunbury increased from 7 to 11 and reports of suspicious vehicles only dropped by one over the two time periods being compared, the report, the mayor said, showed “some significant areas” where calls dropped, including that assault calls went from 17 to 10, domestic disputes from 31 to 17 and general disputes from 51 to 15.

“I can’t say all of this is attributed to the traffic control devices, but our goal was to put this into place to control the influx of individuals, who don’t live in the neighborhood, whom we suspected were creating some of the problems,” Patriarca said. “And we will continue to monitor this going forward to see if this is still as effective going forward.

“But I believe this is one of the steps we have taken so far, and will take (in a permanent fashion) going forward, that will make this neighborhood a safer place for residents to live.”

On the advice of Councilman Jason Allen, given on Dec. 1, Patriarca agreed to hold another town hall meeting with Sunbury residents to convey to them that “there have been benefits” brought about by the “temporary structures” and that council “would now like to move forward” with putting the permanent structures in place and explain the reasons as to why.

See TRAFFIC/ Page 7

Saturday, January 15, 2022

TABERNACLE—As a new mayor and deputy mayor take the helm in Tabernacle Township, and a new com mitteeman takes a seat on the dais – albeit a virtual platform for now, a search is underway for a new municipal emergency management coordinator in Tabernacle Township after Committeeman Robert “Bob” Sunbury resigned from the OEM position at the end of last month.

However, the individual selected by the new township mayor to fill the post on an interim basis is known for being a local “trailblazer in the field of emergency management,” involved in emergency response activities for more than 35 years.

Sunbury, who held the appointed position since 2018, announced on Dec. 6 that his resignation from emergency management would become effective Dec. 31, 2021, but emphasized that he will still retain his elected position on the governing body and looks forward to continuing to serve the community in that capacity, as well as a member of the township’s Land Use Board.

“I am doing it for personal reasons,” said Sunbury of the reason he is resigning as municipal emergency management coordinator. “But (I am doing it) also to avoid any question of conflicts of interests as we have seen arise in the past. We will simply lie that to bed, and this way, I can do my best to continue to serve the residents of the municipality, in this capacity, and on

the Land Development Board and such.”

Ever since Sunbury had won a June 2019 Republican primary for township committee, and look destined to take a seat on the governing body in January 2020, there had been calls for him to give up the appointed position in the event he actually won the November General Election that year and subsequently took office.

But Sunbury held onto the position all this time, even after being sworn-in to the township committee in January 2020. He was even re-appointed to a new, three-year term this past March.

More re c ently, however, the du a l positions Sunbury held faced renewed scrutiny, particularly after a series of posts on the official “Tabernacle Twp. Office of Emergency Mgmt.” Facebook page sparked controversy for what some viewed as “inappropriate,” opinionated statements regarding Coronavirus vaccines and masking.

The COVID related posts at issue contained statements such as “mask requirements in schools work” and “the COVID-19 vaccine works,” while another, apparently deleted since the controversy erupted, remarked, “if you have not gotten vaccinated, please consider doing so now” as there is “no longer room for debate” because “the vaccines are safe and effective.”

While some of the nation’s top doctors and leading disease experts have made See DEPUTY/ Page 9

Saturday, January 15, 2022

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Washington Township’s Government Status Quo for New Year, But Parking Lot, Tax Maps and Senior Center Projects See Movement

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

WASHINGTON—While Washington Township’s leadership and town fathers are status quo for the new year, there has b e en some re c ent movement on longstanding projects and issues affecting the municipality, including the township’s tax maps (which were outdated and in need of revision), parking lot (in need of expansion, but held up by the county over outstanding site plan conditions) and senior center (shuttered since the winter of 2018-19 due to damage and in need of repairs).

The recent progress – with initiatives to resolve the matters initially launched by former township mayor Dudley Lewis – has been made under the leadership of Daniel James, who was selected Jan. 4 by his Washington Township Committee colleagues, Paul Seybold and C. Leigh Gadd, Jr., to serve as the municipality’s mayor for a third, consecutive year.

James, who returned to the dais in January 2020 after resigning from the township committee in July 2018, has now served a total of 18 years on the governing body.

One of the projects he has wanted to see to completion is expansion of the municipal parking lot.

“We have been working on that for a longtime,” declared James on Jan. 4.

Often, the parking lot overflows “due to a lack of parking spaces,” with meeting attendees either having to park on the municipal building’s front lawn or next door at the New Jersey State Park Police’s facility (formerly the newer Green Bank School with the municipal building the old schoolhouse).

The expansion proje ct, wh ich has obtained Pinelands Commission approval, also requires the approval of the Burlington

County Planning Board since the municipal building’s parking lot abuts County Route 563.

“The county has jurisdiction over any site plan that borders a county road,” explained Kevin Dixon, who was re-appointed on Jan. 4 by the municipal governing body to serve as the township’s engineer in 2022.

However, John Engle, who served as principal engineer for Burlington County, according to Dixon in June 2021, had been delaying the project by contending that the township was “in violation of site-plan approval” for the (now-former) elementary school [which included the municipal building, subdivided out as part of the overall plan, Dixon noted] “over a drainage problem that doesn’t exist.”

Engle, Dixon said, based off the plan, considered the driveway “flat” and was concerned it is “going to pond water,” even though the municipal engineer maintained at the time “it doesn’t.”

“So, we are being asked to correct a problem that doesn’t exist,” said Dixon at the time. “What I don’t want to do is institute a grading and drainage plan for a problem that doesn’t exist. If we do that, it will create a problem, because you are trying to correct something that is not there. If you change the grade of the driveway just a little bit, it could be creating a problem that doesn’t exist.”

Engle, a 22-year county official, has since left his position, retiring in September 2021, the Pine Barrens Tribune has learned, with Dixon on Jan. 4 noting that the “retirement of someone who had dug in and said this had to be cleaned up” was a “critical component” in allowing the project to now move forward as “we started dealing with somebody new up there.”

See GOVERNMENT/ Page 10

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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Woodland Snowplow Breaks Down During Season’s Second Snowstorm; Windy Conditions Cause Drifting Snow, Making for Snow Fencing Debate

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

WOODLAND—The second snowstorm of the season last Friday, Jan. 7, blanketed much of the coverage area with 4 to 6 inches of snow, with a snowplow in Woodland breaking down for a time, necessitating an emergency notification to residents, and subsequent windy conditions creating snowdrifts in communities such as Tabernacle that later led to an online debate about snow fencing there.

The snow developed in response to a developing wave of low pressure, one that was fast-moving, with steady precipitation lasting only 6 to 8 hours in many areas, according to the National Weather Service.

Precipitation started falling in most areas just after 2 a.m., and came down heavy at times between 2:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., but it had ended with the sun appearing by 8:30 a.m.

Still, most area schools closed for the day or went virtual with classes.

One of the only reported problems of sig nificanc e in our coverage area was in Woodland Township, where the municipality’s plowing operations were delayed “due to truck issues,” according to a Nixle emergency notification that had been sent to residents at 8:42 a.m.

“DPW is working on correcting the issue and plowing will continue, but expect delays,” the message stated.

Township Solicitor William Burns, also designated as the township’s public information officer, later contended to this newspaper that “a plow broke down or stopped working for about a half hour.”

“And it was fixed within a half hour and it was back on the roads plowing,” he maintained.

Burns added he did not know exactly what had gone wrong with the plow.

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With the exception of Woodland, this newspaper found that most area roads were down to the blacktop by mid-morning and salted.

Blowing snow, however, caused some snowdrifts to occur in the afternoon and evening hours of Friday, with this newspaper finding treacherous conditions from the snowdrifts on South Pemberton Road, in Pemberton Township, County Route 532 between Route 206 and Carranza Road in Tabernacle, and on Carranza Road in Tabernacle. This is where there are a lot of open farmlands.

The snowdrifts on Carranza Road led to debate in a local social media group – soliciting 94 comments as of press time – about whether farmers should possibly be responsible for installing snow fencing to prevent such drifts, or otherwise be liable for accidents created by them.

“Maybe the farmers should be responsible for installing it to avoid liability for accidents …,” wrote the individual who sparked the debate.

One person replied, “I hope you are joking that the farmer should put it up. It’s not his responsibility to teach people to pay attention. The county or state puts them up depending on the road,” while another individual wrote in reply, “I don’t believe the farmers should be liable, they have enough responsibility and things to tend to as is, especially with the economy what it is.”

“You’re so right – make the farmer do it so the price of your food will go up more,” added another individual in reply. “How is the farmer liable for something Mother Nature did? Get real! if you don’t like the way things are done, move to the city – problem solved.”

The individual who sparked the debate, who went by the name of Richard W. Eggert See SNOWPLOW/ Page 15

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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New Deputy Mayor Selected for Southampton; Last-Minute Addition of Measure for ‘Backup Engineer’ Surprises Clerk, Draws Opposition Town’s New, Second Highest Official Bestowed ‘Municipal Pioneer’ Award

Leadership Changes Made to Pinelands Regional Board of Education with 2022 School Board President Hoping to ‘Move District Forward’ Public Body’s Two Newcomers Take Their Seats with New Vice President Declaring That This Year’s Top Leader Choice is ‘Supported Fully by Board’

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

Photo By Thomas Valentino

Elizabeth Rossell, selected as Southampton’s deputy mayor for 2022, and who recently achieved “Municipal Pioneer” status through the New Jersey League of Municipalities.

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—A new deputy mayor has been selected for Southampton Township – with the post going to an elected official who recently earned top honors – at a reorganization meeting Jan. 3 that also featured a resolution added onto the meeting agenda at the last minute, which appeared to take the township administrator/clerk, who is responsible for preparing the agenda, by surprise.

“Mr. Mayor, I wou ld l i ke to add re solut ion 2022-25 to ou r agend a,” asserted Committeeman Ronald Heston approximately 15 minutes into the first com m ittee meeting of the new year, following passage of all the listed measures to reorganize the government for 2022. “I need a motion to add it.”

Heston’s statement prompted Township Administrator and Clerk Kathleen D. Hoffman, attending the hybrid session remotely via Zoom, to ask him, “What is it?”

The committeeman replied that it was to allow for a “backup engineer” to serve the municipality, with Heston identifying the firm as Environmental Resolutions, Inc. (ERI), of Mount Laurel, before receiving a “se cond” from Michael Mi kulsk i, unanimously selected by his colleagues at the start of the session to serve as township mayor for a third, consecutive year.

ERI notably provided past services to the township for a project to build a recreational complex at the Good Farm, near the intersection of Red Lion and Church roads, one that has received strong support from Mikulski, but has been previously opposed by Committeeman James F. Young, Sr., who served as mayor of Southampton for 25 years until January 2020.

The resolution to appoint ERI as a “special project engineering firm,” as Heston

also referred to it as on Jan. 3, passed 4-1, with Young casting the lone opposing vote.

Earlier in the meeting, Frank Morris, Southampton’s longtime engineer, affiliated with Mount Holly-based Alaimo Group, was re-appointed unanimously.

But that was not the case last year when Morris was re-appointed in a narrow 3-2 vote, with Mikulski and Committeeman William Rafter y at the time instead supporting a bid for municipal engineering placed by ERI, claiming their decision was over pricing. The latter firm was ultimately selected last year as the municipality’s backup engineer, with Young also opposing the move at that time.

At last year’s reorganization meeting, Mikulski called the Good Farm project a “huge success and very popular,” though there has been past opposition voiced by some residents, as well as construction issues previously discussed by the governing body (though those issues seemed to have largely been resolved).

The project, which has not been mentioned during committee meetings for many months now, other than an occasional mention by Mikulski that the new recreational facility is now being utilized and enjoyed by the public, has not yet been fully built out to previously provided specs.

“I can tell you that we are in the process of determining what we will look to accomplish as part of the next phase by talking to stakeholders,” Mikulski told this newspaper when asked Jan. 9 for a status update on the Good Farm project.

He pointed out on Jan. 12 to th is newspaper that the “initial phase” of the project has been completed, which included the groundwork, a walking trail, and three See SOUTHAMPTON/ Page 14

Saturday, January 15, 2022

L I T T L E E G G H A R B O R —Tw o newcomers to the Pinelands Regional Board of Education took the oath of office during a Jan. 6 reorganization meeting of the school board, with the public body subsequently and seamlessly deciding to select a new board president and board vice president for the new year.

Some of the more recent reorganization meetings of the Pinelands school board have been contentious over annual leadership appointments, and last year the school board was notoriously at an impasse over the position of board president, forcing the executive county superintendent to ultimately make the decision.

But this year, conversely, as Betti Anne McVey and August “Augie” Daleo, both from Little Egg Harbor Township, were nominated by their colleagues for the post of board president (with McVey’s name put into the nomination ring first), Daleo, who served as board president during the latter half of last year (following the resignation of Thomas D. Williams, Jr., who had been chosen by the executive county superintendent), immediately “declined.”

“We already have one nomination and we will stick with that,” said Daleo on Jan. 6 as he quickly withdrew his nomination for board president, paving the way for McVey to succeed him in the post.

McVey then received unanimous consent to serve as the board’s new president.

Following her appointment to the top leadership post, Daleo was nominated and unanimously selected to serve as the board’s vice president for 2022.

Daleo later told this newspaper that that he “does not care who serves as board president,” as long as that individual is “for the betterment of our students” and has a whole board approach. He said his decision to not pursue the board presidency this year was to prevent a “back-and-forth” and that it is “much easier to support whichever member is (initially) nominated.” He called it a “normal occurrence.”

“I have trust and faith in Betti,” added Daleo, pointing out she has served previous stints as board president.

He further contended that he believed McVey is “supported fully by the board.”

The newcomers to this year’s board, swornin on Jan. 6 to a three-year term, are Lisa Betty, of Eagleswood Township, and Shannon Zimmerman, of Little Egg Harbor.

Patricia Martin, of Bass River Township, was also seated to a three-year term, but had already been filling Williams’ unexpired

term last year.

The makeup of the board overseeing the Pinelands Regional School District has changed significantly over the last year between a couple of resignations, decisions of its members to not seek re-election and the outcome of the most recent election.

(Some members of past boards, who have since left office, had made an issue of McVey having family members who fall under Superintendent Dr. Melissa McCooley’s administrative pur view, even though McVey pointed out they are not dependent children, which had led, in part, to last year’s leadership impasse. A complaint over the matter had even been filed with the state’s School Ethics Commission last year by Williams against McVey, but was ultimately dismissed because the entity did not find probable cause. That was in addition to McVey announcing she would recuse herself from any future decisions involving the superintendent based on advisory opinions she received.)

McVey, in a Jan. 10 interview with this newspaper, pointed out that she has been a member of the Pinelands board for 10 years now. She noted this will be her third time serving as board president, and that she also served for three years of her tenure as board vice president.

“I think our goals are collectively to move the district forward, support education initiatives put forward by the administration and to have a united board that works together for what is best for the students,” she declared.

The new board president acknowledged that it is “certainly a tricky and uncertain time” right now due to the impact the Coronavirus pandemic is having on the community. According to statistics released by the school district on the day of this newspaper’s interview with McVey, for the week ending Jan. 7, a total of nine staff members and 26 students tested positive for COVID. “You just never know when we are going to be in the clear or worse-off,” she said.

“It is an unusual time and difficult for the teachers, administration and students. So, it is a good time to work together, support one another and to try figure out a way to get through this so we are in better times here.”

McVey said she is now retired, but worked in municipal government for over 40 years, including serving as recreation director of Stafford Township.

“I coached a lot and have been involved in youth athletics, and believe there is a lot of teaching involved in coaching and See BOARD/ Page 14

Saturday, January 15, 2022

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LRHSD Board of Education’s New Leadership, Re-elected Member Express Elation Over Modernized Facilities, Enhanced Programs to Come from OK’d Referendum, But Prioritize Pandemic Response

Photos By Douglas D. Melegari

Marc Jones, representing Mount Laurel Township, takes the oath of office on Jan. 5, administered by Business Administrator and Board Secretary Constance “Connie” Stewart.

By Douglas D. Melegari

held the top post for the past two years.

Lee was absent from the reorganization meeting, however, with Bonnie Olt, who also represents Marlton, instead leading the meeting in his absence as the board’s newly-selected vice president.

Following the selection of Lee and Olt for the board leadership positions, which came without any opposition, Superintendent Dr. Carol Birnbohm read a statement aloud from Fitzgerald, who also was absent from the first board meeting of the new year.

In that statement, Fitzgerald wished both See REFERENDUM/ Page 10

Staff Writer

SHAMONG—The Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) Board of Education has new leadership, approving the recommendations of its “Nominating Committee” for board president and board vice president during a Jan. 5 reorganization meeting.

Jung (Steve) H. Lee, representing Medford Lakes Borough, re-elected to the board in November, will take over the board’s presidency from Barry J. Fitzgerald, a Marlton (Evesham Township) resident who

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Evesham Council Passes Resolution Endorsing Cannabis Cultivator as First Entity in Township to Seek State License Under Ordinance Proposed Business Would be Located in Industrial Zone off Stow Road

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

Bonnie Olt, who represents Marlton (Evesham Township), after being installed as LRHSD Board of Education vice president for the new year.

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

EVESHAM—A proposed cannabis cultivation enterprise has become the first such prospective entity to be formally endorsed by the Evesham Township Council under the purview of the law it passed last August permitting strictly regulated cannabis businesses to operate in specified parts of the municipality.

A “re solut ion of supp or t for t he application of Culture Cannabis Club to open a cannabis cultivator within the township of Evesham” was unanimously adopted by council at its Dec. 22 meeting.

The business, of an-yet-undetermined size that “still can fluctuate,” would be located on Stow Road, in an industrial zone in the northern part of the township, according to Township Manager Robert Corrales.

The club still needs to be approved and licensed by the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC), but the council’s endorsement via the resolution is intended to help with that process, Corrales told the Pine Barrens Tribune in a phone interview.

W h i le t here h ave b e e n “mu lt iple discussions with other cannabis entities” about setting up shop in the municipality and the consideration of sites where they would be allowed to do so, the Culture Cannabis Club is the “first solid applicant” for a state license in Evesham so far, he added.

Evesham is among those municipalities that have approved cannabis businesses since the possession and recreational use of marijuana was approved by New Jersey voters in November 2020 and an enabling legislative package to legalize recreational cannabis, and for licensing cannabis

businesses, was subsequently passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Democratic Governor Phil Murphy.

At a meeting earlier in December, council approved an ordinance setting fees for enterprises engaged in the cultivation, manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing, distribution and delivery of cannabis products at $5,500, but allowing for that figure to be halved for those designated as “micro-businesses” by the CRC. The potential of this particular entity to become an additional source of revenue for the township was also hailed at the meeting

by Councilman Eddie Freeman III and Councilwoman Patricia Hansen, both of whom said they were excited by the prospect, which Freeman predicted would be “a great step looking forward.”

The resolution, Hansen noted, was the first of many steps “to protect our citizens and see that everything is done correctly.”

Speaking in opposition to the measure following the council vote, however, was resident Gary Warga, a regular critic of the township’s approval of cannabis-based businesses, who once again questioned how many local voters had been aware that “high potency marijuana will cause psychotic violent behavior in a certain percentage” of individuals and asked why the resolution had not been on the agenda he was provided so he could have spoken out against it prior to the vote being taken.

In response, Township Solicitor Primo Cruz noted that while the law requires 48-hour notification of things of which the township is aware in advance, “there’s nothing improper” about last-minute items See CANNABIS/ Page 11

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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realtor for 35 years, and exclaimed, “I just love this town!”

“I like the wooded aspect,” she said.

“Medford Village, the number of parks and recreational facilities for children and adults, and the historic charm is all very appealing to me.”

Sy mons, a realtor w ith Berksh i re Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach – Medford, noted that she hopes to bring her real estate experience to council, believing it will “benefit” the governing body greatly.

Symons, who moved to Medford from Delran and was born in Pennsylvania, although “I have been in Jersey most of my life,” told this newspaper she “absolutely” has been pleased with the progress the town has made under Watson’s leadership, learned a lot from her time as zoning board chairwoman, which caused her to “explore further involvement in government for our

Donna Symons is congratulated Jan. 4 upon taking the oath of office in Medford Township.

Charles “Chuck” Watson, who has served as Medford’s mayor since 2017, and on council since 2012, takes the oath of office, beside his wife Cathy, after he was re-elected to a three year term, and was later chosen by his colleagues to serve in the mayoral post again this year.

Photo By David Hernandez

(Continued from Page 1) “I know you will serve the town well because you have served the town well in a very less public, and in some ways, a very less gratifying way,” continued the former GOP Councilman, Chris Buoni, in praising newcomer Donna Symons, who previously served as both chairwoman of the Medford Township Zoning Board and realtor liaison to the Medford Tow nsh ip Econom ic Development Commission. “Medford made an excellent choice when they chose you.”

Buon i, who revealed he now l ives in Moorestown (after infor ming this newspaper in 2019 that the reason for his Feb. 5, 2019 resignation was that he left the state for Pennsylvania due to high taxes and his concerns that the Garden State was on a path to bankruptcy), further declared that he has “all the confidence and trust” in Symons, contending that she “earned the position.”

Symons has been a member of the local zoning board since 2013 and had served as its chairwoman since 2014.

“You’ve been someone there to encourage, challenge, and offer real accountability,” Buoni said. “You’ve modeled integrity at every level you have served.”

Charles “Chuck” Watson, who has served as Medford’s mayor since 2017, and on council since 2012, chosen by his colleagues to serve in that post again this year, said to Symons “we certainly look forward to serving with you.”

“We’ve seen you in action for many years on the zoning board, but it is now great to have you here with us,” Watson added.

“Congratulations and welcome!”

Symons, in a later telephone interview with this newspaper, said she has been a resident of Medford for 38 years and local

Saturday, January 15, 2022

town.”

It has been nine years since Medford has raised the local purpose tax.

“I want to keep things as stable as we can with property taxes and listen to the resident’s needs, and try to accomplish fulfilling them,” Symons added.

But things were “tumultuous” when Watson first took office a decade ago (initially appointed to fill an unexpired term in January 2012 of a councilman who had been accused of hiring a male escort), as Buoni (one of three GOP insurgents, the others being James Randy Pace and Frank Czekay, who defeated then-establishmentbacked Republican candidates in a 2011 primary) put it during the Jan. 4 meeting.

The municipality, prior to the men rising into power at that time (along with Jeffrey Beenstock, appointed in December 2011 to another vacated council seat), was also facing a fiscal crisis at the time, with the local purpose tax ultimately having to be raised 25 percent through a voter-approved referendum, above a state instituted 2 percent cap, to prevent the town from sinking into default – something that even drew the ire of now-former Republican Governor Chris Christie.

“I look forward to working with all of you to keep Medford going in a great direction that we have all worked so hard on, starting with Councilman Czekay and past Councilman Buoni,” declared Watson on Jan. 4. “Ten years ago, we started this process, and Medford has come an awful long way. And the rest of the people who have followed in the footsteps of the original five have been a big part of making it that way.”

Czekay, who has served on council since 2012, was selected as the municipality’s deputy mayor for the new year. He last served in that post in 2019. Councilman

Joined with his wife Linda, Erik Rebstock (center left) is congratulated by Deputy Mayor Frank Czekay (right) and Councilwoman Lauren Kochan (center) upon being sworn-in Jan. 4 to a new term on Medford Council.

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Erik Rebstock, who was sworn-in to a new council term on Jan. 4, along with Watson, held the deputy mayor post in 2020, as well as last year.

Symons, also a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and the Food Bank of South Jersey, as well as an active supporter of Cradle to Crayons and Fox and Roach charities, is filling the council seat vacated

by Bradley Denn, who choose not to seek re-election to council in November.

Denn, first appointed to council in October 2014 to fill an unexpired term that had belonged to Pace (who resigned from council), and ultimately elected to two terms by voters, held the deputy mayor post in 2017 and 2018. Prior to his appointment to council, he had served as chairman of the township’s Recreation Advisory Board for several years.

“He has been invaluable to us with his input,” said Watson, who honored Denn for his nearly eight years of service to council during a preceding Dec. 21 council meeting, maintaining his “leadership” and “integrity” serves as an example to all elected officials.

“To me personally, he always answered the phone, always sat and talked to me as long as I needed if I needed some feedback on something. I know you will continue to serve our community in many ways.”

Watson noted that the reason why Denn decided to leave council is that he “decided he needed a break” and “wanted to focus on some other things.”

D en n, up on b ei ng b e stowe d a proclamation recognizing his years of service to council, noted the job of a councilperson “has its up and downs” but that most days are “up,” and the “fact that most people are not here yelling at us is a testament that we are doing a really good job.”

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(Continued from Page 2) “We can certainly do another meeting with the neighborhood and explain the next step in the process, explain what our engineers will design and implement going forward, as well as how and why we came to that conclusion,” the mayor said.

But before that meeting could be held, council’s Dec. 1 decision was told to at least some of the Sunbury residents, a handful of whom attended a subsequent Dec. 15 council meeting based on what they had been advised.

One resident, Pauline Smith, maintained that the new traffic pattern resulted in a change in bus stop locations, with kids in the village now being dropped off in front of her house instead, and due to the Coronavirus and associated masking mandates for children while they are in school and on the school bus, they “throw the masks in my yard to get it out of their hands” upon departing their bus.

“It puts the discarded garbage in front of my house,” she contended. “I am fed up with it!”

She additionally contended that some residents are actually not following the one-way traffic pattern, instead driving the wrong way, and in many cases it is because they are fearful of driving down some of the streets in Sunbury that the one-way traffic pattern forces them to take if they want to legally exit the community, such as Kinsley Road, notorious for shootings.

“It is putting people in danger, if anything, because before I could go out anytime of the night, but now I am afraid to even be out there at night because I would have to go down Kinsley Road, and that is where the shooting is done,” she said.

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

AD HOTLINE: (609) 801-2392 Susan Sacco, another Sunbury resident, recounted that she told officials “we would give it a try” when the plan was first presented during the initial town hall, and that now “we have given it a try and it is not working.”

“We really need someone to explain how this is supposed to increase our quality of life,” she asserted. “Where I live on Lemmon (Avenue), it is causing me to triple the amount of driving that I am doing every morning.

The amount of time wasted that you caused for this, I really have no explanation for it – I don’t see the purpose.”

The temporary traffic pattern has been implemented using cones, temporary barr icades and plastic dr ums, all of which are bright neon orange and contain reflectors.

Sacco, in referring to the barricades, maintained it is “like a war zone going home every day.”

She too described that people are “driving backwards because they don’t want to have to drive to Kinsley Road,” in addition to not wanting to “spend an extra five minutes going around the block 20 times.”

“Nothing has improved,” she declared, at times becoming emotional. “You’ve now doubled amount of traffic in front of everybody’s house.”

Sacco pointed out that “people are still parking on the streets” of Sunbury during the overnight hours, despite a parking ban on all interior main streets in the village that went into effect in 2021, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

“Those cars should not be there,” she maintained. “But I also think it is wrong for you to ticket people (the residents of the community), who don’t have money as it is, just because they can’t park them in their driveways. Just explain to me what this was supposed to increase or improve in my life,

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“All you have done is made it inconvenient for the people trying to survive in there.

They are just trying to survive. … And I am in the good section, where there are hardworking people, but people who are just poor. … What was this supposed to have done?”

Resident Mark Taylor, who said that he has a history of experiencing seizures, described that he dialed 911 recently when he had one, and that it took an ambulance a long time to respond to his house because the driver could not find his address due to the new traffic pattern. He maintained that a similar delay was experienced by a neighbor while suffering from a heart attack.

“This worries me,” Taylor declared. “I am scared I might have a grand mal seizure (one that causes a loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions) and could die.”

Gober, who declared “those extra three or four minutes could have cost a life,” maintained that he asked Pemberton police officers he stopped in the community about the “one-way traffic pattern and barricades” and that “every one of the officers I spoke to said they saw no benefit whatsoever.”

He added that the police officers had informed him they were concerned that the one-way traffic pattern and limited points of egress now also increases the risk of them having “one-on-one shootout” with any individual trying to flee the scene of a shooting they just committed, or drug bust.

“Listen to the public as they are not happy with it (the traffic measures),” Gober declared. “I am in favor doing whatever we can to improve the lives of those who live in Sunbury Village, but I don’t think this is the answer.”

Gober, who noted he has been an “advocate for security cameras, which unfortunately has never come to fruition here,” maintained that “everyone” of the

♦ Page 7

“9 or 10 officers” he has spoken to “offthe-record” – by speaking at a council meeting, he was putting those conversations on-the-record, however – “definitely said they wished they had cameras in Sunbury Village” and that they were “sick and tired” of having to rely on his tenants’ cameras “to see what happened” following a reported crime.

Councilman Donovan Gardner, who has clashed with Gober previously over the prospect of adding surveillance cameras in Sunbury at the township’s expense, maintained in response that anything “offthe-record,” that is repeated in council chambers is “hearsay” as far as he is concerned.

“It has no meaning here,” Gardner declared. “‘Off-the-record’ is not official.”

Gober retorted that “maybe you should go speak with them,” which caused Township Clerk Amy Cosnoski to point out that it was “actually against the law for any member of council to speak to any employee in Pemberton, other than myself, the administrator and mayor,” with Township Solicitor Andrew “Andy” Bayer adding that only the mayor could provide for an exception under the Faulkner Act form of government.

But the police department is a “quasimilitary organization,” Bayer noted, and because of that, police officers should “only report information up the chain” of command.

Patriarca, who pointed out that “it is important” that residents know that this project was done “based on complaints we were receiving of all the crime that is going on,” acknowledged that “yes, without a doubt, this is more of an inconvenience,” but that residents had stated they “would be willing to go around the block if we were able to assist them with the problems they are See TRAFFIC/ Page 13

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

SOBER

(Continued from Page 1) their homes, as well as to the J. Harold Van Zant Elementary School (approximately 700 feet away, according to some estimates) and an adjacent park area where children play.

Plans for the forum, the purpose of which would be to explore practical proposals to address those concerns, either by encouraging the state to adopt new legislation aimed at maintaining stricter control over such “cooperative sober living residences,” or CSLRs, or to explore the potential feasibility of a municipal ordinance prohibiting them close to schools, was announced at a Jan. 11 meeting between Evesham officials and a small delegation of Woodstream residents led

by Tom Ramirez, whose property on Militia Green is located behind the one in question.

Those in attendance at the initial meeting included Democratic Mayor Jaclyn “Jackie” Veasy, Deputy Mayor Heather Cooper, Township Manager Robert Corrales and his new deputy, Erin Knoedler, Community Development Director Kevin Rijs, and Lt. Carl Scutt, of the Evesham Township Police Department, with the prospective home’s operators not having been invited at the residents’ request.

The meeting with Ramirez and his neighbors came about a little over a week after he delivered a scathing rebuke to the Evesham Council at its reorganization meeting, in which he contended that he and other residents of his neighborhood, who resent being characterized as intolerant of those trying to rehabilitate themselves, would not have moved there had such a facility existed at the time and charged that some council members had failed to properly represent the residents of Woodstream in the matter, asserting that “when it comes time to vote, I will personally make sure that your inaction in this matter is well documented” and that he was holding them “accountable for compromising our safety.”

Ramirez also used that speech to charge that the management of the organization planning to open the facility, Tribe Intensive of New Jersey, had lied to neighbors about their intentions when they purchased the home, and that “honesty and transparency may have made this easier to swallow.”

Such alleged lack of forthrightness with the community was defended at a preceding Dec. 8 council meeting by Mark Werner, the director of operations of Tribe Intensive of New Jersey, who claimed that the sale of the home at issue, a five-bedroom house at 128 Monmouth Green, off Bartram Road, might have been jeopardized had residents been made aware of its purpose, as might the group‘s aim of “saving lives.”

Ramirez’s tone was more subdued in an email he sent, following the meeting with the Evesham officials, to all those who attended,

WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM a copy of which was also provided to this newspaper, that began by expressing “Thanks to everyone for meeting with us (neighbors of Woodstream) this afternoon” and noting, “I left feeling encouraged that you are in our corner” before reiterating “that you strongly consider the local ordinance as a more than feasible solution to address our concerns.”

But Veasy, in a phone interview with the Pine Barrens Tribune, acknowledged that “the way the laws are written,” it is unlikely there is anything the township can do at this point to put the brakes on the facility planned for Woodstream, which, assuming it goes into operation, will actually be the fourth CSLR in Evesham Township, according to Corrales.

When the last such facility opened in a house off Cropwell Road, in Woodstream, in 2018, it also caused some consternation among residents, Corrales told this newspaper, but neither it nor the other two existing ones, which are at undisclosed locations, have been a source of any recent complaints to the Evesham Police Department, he said, although none are within 1,000 feet of a school.

That such facilities are perfectly legal in residential areas as long as they have been properly licensed by the state has been emphasized by township officials, who initially contended that municipalities are powerless to restrict them, but have since acknowledged that state regulations appear to be somewhat ambivalent on that point.

Ramirez has lately been spearheading a campaign to curtail the unrestricted access to residential areas that CSLRs currently seem to enjoy, including posting an online petition directed to the township council at change. org (“Say No to Sober Homes Near Evesham Township Elementary Schools”) which claims they pose such risks as “neighborhood disruption due to the revolving door of recovering addicts from places and histories unknown,” “unpleasant encounters between recovering addicts and our children,” and “additional strain on our police force,” as well as being a threat to property values.

He also made several allegations at a Dec. 22 council meeting regarding the manner in which these homes are overseen and monitored that have been largely substantiated to this newspaper by a DCA official, who confirmed that he was correct in maintaining that the state does not require background checks of those to whom they offer accommodations by providing “an environment where the residents can support each other’s sobriety and recovery” from drug or alcohol addiction.

At the same time, however, Werner advised this newspaper that Tribe Intensive would carefully screen any and all potential occupants of the proposed facility.

“Just like any other industry, not every company is run the same, or for the same clientele,” stated Werner in a Jan. 11 email.

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“We are selective on who we take, and we do what is called a ‘prescreen’ to determine who is and is not a good fit for our housing. We ask several background questions and make sure we do our due diligence to make sure they are not only safe for the other individuals living in the house, but for the community as well.”

Werner also contended, in response to a query, that his organization “does not get calls from the courts for taking anyone from them for drug-related charges,” but only accepts “individuals who voluntarily reach out to get help on their own,” and who will also have to pay for their own rent, with no maximum stay, and all be “required to get jobs if they don’t have one already.” When asked whether the organization has obtained a license for such a facility, he replied that it is currently awaiting one, but that the home in question had “passed the inspection” and “will be licensed before we start taking any residents into our care.”

His description of how the facility would be run and the kinds of tenants who would be housed there contradicted conjecture by one neighborhood resident who spoke at a Dec. 8 council meeting that a majority of the occupants of this sort of home would likely be unemployed, individuals who would be “hanging around” and possibly engaging in mischief or criminal behavior.

Ramirez, who did not attend that meeting, suggested at the subsequent one that Evesham could “look for ways to create or modify public safety rules to help its residents maintain their quality of life – for instance, (by) putting in place an ordinance that restricts the proximity of a sober living home to their schools,” which he said he didn’t believe “would conflict with any existing New Jersey state laws.”

In support of that contention, he provided township officials with a copy of an ordinance regulating CSLRs adopted by Egg Harbor City, in Atlantic County, a provision of which requires such facilities to maintain “a minimum separation of 1,000 feet from any school, in accordance with the most recent Drug Free School Zone Map.” The ambiguity that currently seems to exist in regard to such measures was reflected in the response this newspaper got from the DCA when the wording of that particular ordinance was emailed to Lisa Ryan, an agency spokesperson, with a query about its legality eliciting a reply that “DCA regulations don’t speak to this; therefore, this is outside DCA’s purview.”

“The department does not have jurisdiction regarding municipal land use or zoning ordinances,” it added.

(When it was pointed out that sober living homes, by their very definition and according to the relevant statute, N.J.A.C. 5:27-2.1, are required to maintain “an alcohol and drug free environment,” Ramirez responded that the likelihood that some occupants might be tempted to backslide off the premises is what

Saturday, January 15, 2022 lends legitimacy to the idea of prohibiting them close to schools.)

The feasibility of drafting such an ordinance is one of the issues that the township officials discussed in their meeting with Ramirez and his delegation, although the possibility that such a measure could result in litigation and its associated costs was a factor that appeared to give pause to Veasy, who told the Pine Barrens Tribune that the township might consider entertaining a local ordinance “without getting ourselves in trouble.”

Also weighing in on that possibility was Corrales, who told this newspaper that “we’re looking at what others have done because we know that these laws have been challenged in some municipalities, such as Atlantic City, and might be challenged in others.”

Township officials, he added, are responsible for how taxpayers’ money is managed, and are not about to pass laws that conflict with state regulations and would then have to be defended in court.

But the mayor, in talking about the meeting she is now in the process of setting up with state officials, noted that “it’s always good to talk to residents and get their feedback” and to give everyone an opportunity “to express their opinions and share ideas.”

“I know a lot of the residents are concerned with the actual process and oversight,” Veasy acknowledged. “The important part is that when we talk about sober living homes, we’re talking about people who need a safe place to live while recovering from a problem. I understand our residents’ concerns … I think the biggest concern is that they want to make sure there is clear oversight and that everyone involved is safe, including the sober home occupants. There are a lot of needs that have to be served and there are many people who have family members and friends who have suffered from addiction, and we’re just trying to hear everyone out and do what’s best for everyone.”

Cooper, who lost her own brother to addiction, told this newspaper in a separate phone interview that she had not changed the opinion she expressed at the Dec. 8 council meeting, which was that she would not object to living next door to a sober living facility, despite Ramirez’s contention that she had “owned up to her comments and apologized for them” after having mentioned them in his Jan. 3 speech to the council as something he found “very hard to believe.”

“I was apologizing if they took offense at the way we were presenting information,” she said. “I’m not saying I backtracked – I would not mind living next to a sober living home.

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SH A MONG —A fa m i ly of fou r – including two young children – has been displaced from their one-story home on Old Indian Mills Road, in Shamong Township, after a one-alarm fire “totaled” it on Jan. 5, according to Indian Mills Volunteer Fire Company Chief John Smith.

A man who had been working in the area, according to Smith, found it bizarre that there was “so much fog in the area” while traveling down Old Indian Mills Road, and decided to return a few minutes later to further investigate after telling his son about his observations, according to Smith.

That’s when he observed “fire coming up from around chimney” of the home, the fire

DEPUTY

(Continued from Page 2) such statements, and the nation’s official agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as the official agencies of the State of New Jersey, have offered guidance to that effect, others have disagreed, maintaining young kids should not be masked, as it brings about other harmful effects, and that the available vaccinations are still experimental, questioning their safety and effectiveness. Now, some are reporting breakthrough infections, especially from the more contagious Omicron variant that has emerged since the postings, despite being fully vaccinated and boosted.

Vaccine and masking mandates have resulted in a polarizing national debate, with individual liberties one of the issues at the center of it. Some social media giants, however, have sided with the federal gover n ment, declar ing statements of opposition “misinformation” and censoring them on their platforms.

Additionally, some residents expressed concern that they were seemingly banned from com menting on the Taber nacle emergency management Facebook page about the subjects.

Sunbury, in responding to the concerns this past September, maintained “everything posted on that page has supporting links to truthful, scientific information” and that “the site is not intended for discussion like you see on other Tabernacle community webpages.” He apologized, however, if people were inadvertently banned, claiming he was not a Facebook expert.

Sunbury also made the recommendation in August for the township committee to suspend all in-person meetings of the

chief added. At that same moment, one of the individuals who had been living in the home with her fiancé and their two children, arrived home from shopping at the grocery store and observed her dwelling was on fire.

“They both called 911 at the same time,” Smith said.

By the time firefighters arrived on scene, the fire chief said, the house was “fullyinvolved” in flames. It took firefighters “under an hour” to get the blaze under control, with the fire chief noting there was a “pretty good wind condition there when it started.”

“It was totaled – a complete loss,” Smith declared. “Everything is gone, nothing was saved.”

See FIRE/ Page 15

governing body, as well as its various boards and committees, due to rising COVID cases. That recommendation has since been followed, though some residents have also questioned that decision, asking when its leaders will begin meeting in-person again (the vacating of town hall due to structural issues is now further complicating any possible return to in-person sessions).

Sunbury was originally appointed to the emergency management position in 2018

by Joseph Barton, who served as township mayor at the time and stated on the record that he did not see a problem with Sunbury holding the dual positions.

However, Barton, after no longer filling the mayor’s post, decided not to seek reelection this past November and appeared to lose his grip on power in the final days of his term, outnumbered on several major township committee decisions.

Replacing Barton on the township committee is Matthew Baals, a real estate executive, according to an online biography, who took the oath of office on Jan. 3, in addition to his running mate, Samuel Moore III, a local cranberry and blueberry grower and retired forest fire warden (both who joined the Zoom committee session without video, with only audio provided of their swearing-in ceremony).

Baals, according to an online profile and records, founded The Baals Group, a real estate concierge service based in Moorestown, which is a full-service real estate team with Keller Williams Real Estate. He identifies himself as an “expert in both buyer and seller psychology” who believes in “honesty and integrity,” holding a bachelor’s degree in marketing, and a master’s degree in psychology/counseling.

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Robert “Bob” Sunbury, who resigned as emergency management coordinator, and Phyllis Worrell, who will assume the position on an interim basis. soon, according to Chick-fil-A’s website.

Baals did not return messages seeking comment on this story as of this newspaper’s deadline time, however.

Moore, who is beginning his second term on the township committee and is the proprietor of Moore’s Meadow Blueberry & Cranberry Farm LLC, was appointed amongst his colleagues as township mayor for 2022 on Jan. 3, replacing Kim Brown, who will now serve as deputy mayor after her nomination for the second highest post was approved by the governing body.

Also the township’s Public Safety liaison, Moore, when the emergency management coordinator topic was first broached in 2018, had stated that he felt the emergency management coordinator and township committee positions should be separate.

Phyllis Worrell, who has been the deputy emergency management coordi nator for Tabernacle, will serve as municipal emergency management coordinator in an acting capacity until a permanent replac ement for Su nbu r y is chos en, Moore announced following his mayoral appointment on Jan. 3.

Under state law, the mayor is to appoint a municipal emergency management coordinator from among the residents of the municipality to a three-year term. Only the governor can remove an emergency management coordinator, and it must be for cause.

Worrell is currently the healthcare coordinator for the Burlington County Office of Emergency Management and the emergency management coordinator for See DEPUTY/ Page 15

Page 10 ♦

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

GOVERNMENT (Continued from Page 3)

“I have some good news!” Dixon asserted on Jan. 4. “We were able to get a letter from the Burlington County Planning Board, and they cleaned up the outstanding conditions on the original site-plan approval on Green Bank Elementary, which was hanging over the head of the municipal parking lot project because this tract of land had been part of the overall application. That having been cleaned up, we should be able to move forward with county application for the parking lot.”

The letter from the county planning board to the township arrived Jan. 3, revealed Dixon, who contended that the “physical conditions” that had been “holding things up” were “actually eliminated” by the county when they had previously resurfaced County Route 563 in the area of the former school (he noted that part of the issue also involved the planned relocation of a utility pole and widening to allow school buses access to the school, which ultimately did not take place “because the school was no longer there”).

“That condition eliminated itself basically, but that was never acknowledged,” Dixon said. “With that cleaned up, we should be able to move forward with the parking lot project. … It was a significant holdup over an insignificant issue.”

Meanwhile, Gadd, who was sworn-in Jan. 4 to a new term on the township committee, recently revealed that he met virtually with several New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) officials on the day prior to Thanksgiving “in reference to the lease” for the Washington Township Senior Center, which is a former state ranger (superintendent) station leased to the township by the NJDEP.

REFERENDUM (Continued from Page 5)

Lee and Olt “good luck.”

“You are both amazing people, and I look forward to being there if you need some help,” Fitzgerald added.

Fitzgerald fur ther declared in the statement that he “really enjoyed” the past two years serving as school board president.

“It was a very difficult two years for our students, staff and administration and board members (because of the Coronavirus pandemic), but everyone did their best to get through it,” he said. “I would like to thank Dr. Birnbohm, all the administrators of LRHSD, and all the staff for helping me with whatever I needed these past two years. I would also like to thank all the board members for all your support. It was needed through some many difficult times.

I was blessed to have everybody’s help and guidance.”

I n a dd it ion to L e e, Ma r c Jone s , representing Mount Laurel Township, and Samuel Green, representing Shamong Township, were re-elected to the board for three-year terms. Business Administrator and Board Secretary Constance “Connie” Stewart read the certified election results into the record.

However, only Jones took the oath of office during the meeting, as Green was also absent from the reorganization session.

This newspaper was unable to learn the reason(s) for the absences after questioning Allyson Roberts, a spokeswoman for the LRHSD, about the situation.

Nevertheless, Lee, in a statement later provided to this newspaper, said he wanted to “thank my colleagues for having faith in my abilities to serve as president.”

“I look forward to working closely with

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Saturday, January 15, 2022

T h e st at e r e p or t e d ly h a d c e a s e d communicating with the township over the senior center’s status following the start of the Coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, with local 9th Legislative District Senator Christopher J. Connors credited by Gadd for having recently arranged the Nov. 23, 2021, meeting and restarting discussion between the two parties over the building.

Joe Toriello, director of activities for Washington seniors, along with other elders of the community, have put heavy pressure on the township committee to restore the building, contending it is a “historic building, in the heart of the Pines,” and an “active center for seniors and the entire community.”

As previously reported by this newspaper, the senior center was closed following winter 2018-19 after its chimney foundation was found to have tipped, which caused its fireplace to lean out, and its chimney to break, creating a major structural issue, according to Lewis. He said the building was discovered to be in disrepair after a pipe froze inside of it and caused a flood.

The interior of the building also sustained water damage from the flood. Lewis also had revealed that the ground around the facility was sinking.

Washington officials have been indecisive on whether to repair the senior center using municipal monies since the building is leased to the municipality. Dixon, of the Galloway firm Dixon Associates, previously contended that if the municipality undertakes all of the necessary repairs, it could cost just over $21,000.

Kathleen D. Hoffman, who had served as the municipality’s clerk at the time the issues with the senior center first developed, noted at the time that she spoke with an assistant supervisor of the local New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry office (a NJDEP agency), and he advised her that they don’t have any money to make repairs to the chimney.

There has been a question all along as to whether the township can even make substantial repairs to state property without the permission of the state.

Another complicating factor is a clause in the lease agreement stating that the municipality is responsible for repairing the building to the condition it was in when it was first leased to the township.

The township committee has questioned whether that clause would include aspects of the former ranger station that could be considered out of the town’s control, such as chimney repairs (versus repairing a broken light bulb inside).

The committee has entertained the possibility of purchasing the building from the state for $1, and then have the municipality proceed with the repairs, to help resolve the issue.

But municipal officials have contended all along that the township needs guidance from the state before the committee can make any

decisions beyond possibly some light repairs to the building.

“We had a bunch of discussion,” said Gadd of the results of the Nov. 23 meeting with the NJDEP. “That should be moving forward, hopefully in timely manner. There is finally some resolution. We are waiting to hear back with a date to finalize everything.

We are exploring some other options with the state as well, as soon as we take care of the lease issue.”

Meanwhile, the township has proceeded with an insurance claim for at least part of the damages, with Gadd noting that the ground around the facility was leveled last year and now no longer requires orange construction fencing.

“We filed an appeal with the insurance company in reference to the payment they gave us, which is definitely inadequate,” said Gadd of the claim’s status. “We are See GOVERNMENT/ Page 11

them, and LRHSD’s administrators, as we continue to overcome pandemic-related challenges and prepare for an exciting future following the November 2021 voterapproved bond referendum,” Lee declared.

Voters i n LRHSD’s eig ht s end i ng municipalities (Evesham Township, Medford Township, Medford Lakes Borough, Mount Laurel Township, Shamong Township, Southampton Tow nsh ip, Tab er nacle Tow nship, and Woodland Tow nship) approved a “tax-neutral” $66,628,944 bond referendum this past November with it funding HVAC upgrades and the addition of air conditioning to the district’s four high schools (Cherokee, Lenape, Seneca and Shawnee), as well as improved stadium lighting, turf field upgrades, press box renovations and classroom modifications to support career pathway programs.

Some work on the projects is expected to start by the end of the 2021-22 school year, according to a district webpage with referendum updates.

“The proposed HVAC work, along with the other interior renovations, including electrical and plumbing upgrades, will be timed to avoid disrupting students’ academics,” states a posting on the webpage.

“HVAC projects are expected to start in the summer of 2022 and could extend to the 2024-25 school year. Projects that will not interfere with student instruction, like those impacting athletic facilities and HVAC systems for the gyms, will have the most immediate start dates.”

The turf additions, for Lenape and Seneca high schools only, and press box renovations at Cherokee, Lenape and Shawnee high schools, as well as the stadium lighting upgrades (to make them LED fixtures) at all the district’s high schools, will be among the first projects to start in summer 2022, this newspaper has learned.

The referendum projects, Lee maintained, “will further enhance the learning (and work) environments at all four LRHSD schools.”

“Students and staff will benefit from a range of projects, including upgraded HVAC systems with the addition of air conditioning, and more comprehensive Career Pathways programs that prepare students for tradesbased careers,” the board president said.

The full list of projects and updates are available at lrhsd.org/shapingsuccess .

Lee, however, noted in the statement that his “immediate and biggest priority” right now is to “keep our schools open, while continuing to prioritize the safety of our students and staff.”

“This may continue to be a bit of a juggling act, but our students should be in school, where they learn best, as much as possible,” he asserted.

Olt, who called it an “honor” to serve as vice president of the board, pointed out that her two children went through the district, and she and her husband are Cherokee high graduates.

“Serving on both the local and regional school boards, for a combined 25 years, I have worked to ensure our schools continue their legacies of excellence,” she said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to give back in this way so that future generations can benefit from the same – if not better – experiences and opportunities my family has had courtesy of the LRHSD.” Olt added that she is “p ersonal ly determined” to be part of finding a better solution for funding New Jersey schools that does not negatively impact students, especially those in the LRHSD. The district has seen its state aid cut significantly over the last several years, the result of a revised school funding formula enacted in 2018.

“One ongoing goal of the LRHSD Board is to keep advocating for fair funding and a halt to the reductions in aid,” Olt noted.

Jones, the only board member who faced a challenger during this past General Election, said his “immediate focus” is to “help keep district students and staff safe, while also continuing to provide them with the best possible educational experience during the COVID-19 crisis.”

“I remain concerned and attentive to the ongoing issues presented by the pandemic as I work with my colleagues on the board, and district administrators, to make important decisions during this challenging time,” Jones maintained. “I also intend to remain focused on advocating for changes to the current school funding formula. I am hopeful that we can work with state legislators to develop a resolution that would prevent further cuts to our state aid.”

He called it “good news,” however, that the LRHSD will now get to benefit from “a new type of state aid” following the successful passing of the bond referendum, pointing out that it “opened the door” to more than more than $24 million “that helps offset costs for district-wide upgrades.”

“I want to thank the voters for their continued confidence in my intention and ability to act in the best interests of the LRHSD school community,” Jones added. “… I am excited to be part of this next chapter in LRHSD’s future that includes moder n i z e d fac i l itie s and en hanc e d programs.”

Roberts later told this newspaper that Lee and Green will be sworn-in at the next scheduled meeting of the LRHSD board, Jan. 19 at 7:30 p.m. Lee will also officially take his seat as board president at that time.

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Daniel James (center) and Paul Seybold (right) are sworn-in on Jan. 4 by substitute Solicitor Stephen Raymond as mayor and deputy mayor of Washington Township, respectively.

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GOVERNMENT (Continued from Page 10)

waiting to hear back on the appeal. … They indicated they would possibly send someone out to reconsider. When that is going to happen, I am not sure yet.”

Deputy Township Clerk Karen Bacon, in response to an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request filed by this newspaper, revealed that the municipality received $21,614.29 from Statewide Insurance Fund.

“We have appealed this amount,” she said.

Seybold, who was selected on Jan. 4 to serve as Washington’s deputy mayor for

SOBER

(Continued from Page 8) is a greater good issue, and is why we wanted a community-wide meeting – so that we hear from everybody.”

The deputy mayor also pointed out that in regard to the township creating a new ordinance to deal with the issue, “municipal law does not supersede state law,” in addition to which “we’re required to comply with the Fair Housing Act.” “It’s very intricate, and we are still investigating what the guidelines are and ways to help the community feel supported,” Cooper added.

The list of allegations made by Ramirez about state regulation of CSLRs, which he has said he considers “soft,” was submitted by this newspaper via email to the DCA and specifically addressed in a reply from Ryan that appears to substantiate most of them.

First, Ramirez maintained that there are no requirements for the owners to perform background checks of tenants “to ensure they’re not letting in someone with a history of violent crime or crimes against minors.” In her response, Ryan noted that “a cooperative sober living residence,” or CSLR, is categorized as a Class F Rooming House, and that the amended regulations “do not require an owner of any rooming and/or boarding house to conduct criminal history background checks on any prospective or current tenant.”

CANNABIS (Continued from Page 5)

being added to the agenda.

“You can bring a resolution up on the spot if you want,” Cruz maintained.

Despite his dissatisfaction with the cannabis policy, Warga took the occasion to thank the council members “for all your service” in 2021, adding, “I know you did what you thought was in the best interest of the community at large, and I can appreciate that.”

township committee is also “toying around” with establishing a multi-purpose area outside the senior center with playground and exercise equipment “for older people.”

He noted that he recently met with some vendors who are willing to “evaluate the property and make suggestions for us.”

As for the tax maps, “the end is near,” declared James recently, pointing out they have been approved by the state.

“It has been a long, long road,” the mayor added.

The township, however, is awaiting its physical copies, with the municipality having only received electronic copy, according to See GOVERNMENT/ Page 15

Ramirez’s second allegation was that there are no requirements that regular drug testing be performed on the occupants of these homes, which Ryan answered by noting that an owner of a CSLR “may require drug and alcohol testing to determine the residents are not under the influence of any prohibitive substance,” seeming to indicate that such testing is discretionary, rather than mandatory.

In regard to his third contention that there are no record-keeping requirements a s s o c i at e d w it h t e n a nt s , t h e DCA spokeswoman replied that regulations governing rooming and boarding houses, as amended, “do not require a CSLR licensee to maintain records with respect to the residents.”

Another of Ramirez’s claims that the current New Jersey code on criminal acts and reporting of such acts does not apply to these types of homes was one Ryan appeared to confirm as well, noting that the regulations “do not require that criminal acts that may occur in a CSLR be reported to the Bureau of Rooming and Boarding House Standards.”

Only one of the concerns he expressed – that the state requires no inspections of financial records to validate that owners are adherent to the maximum occupancy rules (which allow no more than 10 tenants) was at least partially refuted by Ryan. “ DCA’s Bureau of Rooming and Boarding House Standards determines a CSLR licensee is complying with the maximum occupancy rules by conducting on-site evaluations and unannounced site visits,” she maintained.

Also unanimously approved and praised by members of the council was a resolution authorizing the execution of a shared services agreement between the township and the Evesham Board of Education for provision of school resource officers (SROs).

The partnership such arrangements represent, contended Deputy Mayor Heather Cooper, “is not just about public safety measures” but shows “that efficient budgeting can be made for all of the entities that the taxpayers have to receive their tax bill from.”

♦ Page 11

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(Continued from Page 7) having – crime and kids hanging out on the streets at all hours of the night, gambling.”

“That is all we are asking you to do,” Patriarca maintained. “You don’t have to go miles. You just have to go up one block in town.”

The mayor then reiterated that the chief’s report indicated there were over “100 calls less in the second half of the year,” or what is “probably close to a 46 or 48 percent reduction in call volume handled by police in that particular neighborhood.”

“Just that alone is a quick snapshot of the impact this has had, along with fact that there might be a car there (parked overnight), but not ten cars lined up on each side of the street with 30 young adults playing craps in the middle of the street,” Patriarca contended.

“That type of activity has ceased because of the actions that have been taken.”

Hornickel said that “unfortunately” somebody will always be at the end of a one-way street and will have to drive an extra distance to exit their development, and that in this particular

case, it is only “1800 feet more than you ordinarily would drive, or three-tenths of a mile.”

The business administrator added that it was the “first-time” he was hearing about a delay in ambulances responding to emergency calls in Sunbury, but that he would contact both Capital Health (the township’s paid EMS provider) as well as the Pemberton Township Volunteer Fire Department (which mans a volunteer ambulance squad) about the concern and make sure they know how to get to Taylor’s home.

“They have authorization to go the wrong way as long as their lights are flashing,” he said of any ambulance driver responding to an emergency in the village.

The business administrator added that he was “not surprised” that Gober attended the Dec. 15 council meeting.

“When going through the process of introducing changes, he was opposed to them, then at some point he said he was willing to give them a shot,” Hornickel contended. “Ever since he made that statement, he has been actively working to undermine these changes!”

The business administrator then pointed

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to council recently amending several ordinances pertaining to “landlord tenant relations” to “add more teeth to them” so “we can hold landlords accountable.”

“I put together a for m, now being reviewed by our director of Community Development and the chief of police, to begin holding landlords accountable for the disruptive behavior of their tenants,” Hornickel declared. “Such as the activities the mayor mentioned (he had referenced the activities of Gober’s tenants). We have a couple of landlords we will be sending letters to in the new year (2022) to begin revoking landlord licenses and not permitting them to rent their properties out because of the constant disturbances that their tenants, and their tenant invitees or even non-invitees, are causing to neighbors around them!”

T he bu si ne s s a d m i n i st rator, a l so Pemberton’s police director, who appeared to be indignant towards Gober for his having brought two petitions against the plan to council, describing the conversations he reportedly had with police officers that were supposed to be off-the-record, and causing some residents to attend the meeting based on the information he had circulated, declared, “Mr. Gober, it was in fact one of your tenants who informed me you would be here tonight!”

“He informed me he (Gober) was circulating disparaging information about our efforts to improve Sunbury Village, but the most ironic thing is that he left me a message indicating he didn’t want his name to be shared – I guess it is possible the landlord could retaliate against him – but he said he was talking to some of Mr. Gober’s other tenants and they actually think the changes are worthwhile and are working for them. So, I am sorry he didn’t come out tonight so you really all had a better perspective, but I can appreciate a tenant saying, ‘I don’t want to come out to a public meeting where my landlord might find out that I completely disagree with everything he is trying to do to undermine what the township is trying to do to make Sunbury a better place!’”

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vowed to continue to move the permanent traffic project forward and to continue to “look at other avenues of protection (for the residents) and deterrents for the activities that have been going over there.”

“We will continue to work on this project until we are able to establish the environment we are seeking, and residents are seeking from us,” the mayor declared.

Patriarca also defended the township’s position on surveillance cameras in Sunbury, claiming that “we never said cameras do not provide a tool for police and aren’t effective in some ways,” but that “they don’t necessarily prevent crime.”

He added that installing cameras “comes at a very costly expense,” a position that Gardner agreed with, with the latter contending that because Gober is a “businessman,” he could purchase such devices and take a tax write-off so that it will cost him “absolutely nothing.”

“I don’t know if Mr. Gober has bought one camera for any of the homes he owns, yet he reports that there is so much of a threat to his residents!” Patriarca asserted. “Yet his homes are still targets of police responding to various types of crimes, from drug dealing up to homicides that cameras could have certainly helped. Nowadays, it is only a couple hundred dollars investment to put a camera on the home, and with that, it would provide for better security at that level than a street camera that we are being asked to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on that is only going to capture street activity, but not activity up at the house, in the back of house, or alongside of the house!”

The bottom-line, the mayor declared, is that “we believe the numbers are showing what we are doing and attempting to do here is working” and that residents and stakeholders in Sunbury need to have a “little bit of patience” and be “willing to sacrifice a little bit, by driving around the block to get to your house, to have a better quality of life.”

“To not have police constantly run in there for calls, I think that is worth it,” Patriarca said.

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Just prior to the interview with McVey, Pinelands Regional’s Athletic Department announced “new procedures” to take affect immediately, including that “only player parents/guardians and siblings (including che erleaders), and coach i m mediate families” will be admitted to school sporting events, and that no student spectators will be allowed. All spectators allowed to attend the sporting events “must wear masks” and no food or drinks will be allowed in the school gymnasiums.

McVey, in the interview with this newspaper, called Daleo a “great guy” and noted that she “really appreciated” him withdrawing his nomination for board president.

“I think it is always a good idea to have more than one candidate,” she added. “Either him or I – it didn’t really matter who became president or vice president. He was a great leader and did a phenomenal job during a really trying time. I look forward to working with Augie moving forward this year.”

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“soccer/all-purpose fields.”

“We are now analyzing the next phase, whether it will include a baseball/softball field as originally intended (and/or) the expansion of the walking trail, etc.,” Mikulski added.

Mor r is, also attend i ng the Jan. 3 reorganization meeting remotely via Zoom, said he would “like to thank the committee for reappointing us (Alaimo) the municipal engineer.”

“I also look forward to a productive year,” Morris added.

Elizabeth Rossell, chosen unanimously by her colleagues on Jan. 3 to serve as Southampton’s deputy mayor for 2022, previously made history in 2019 by becoming the first-ever woman deputy mayor of the township.

Since that time, the individual filling that post has been rotated by the governing body each year, with Raftery serving as deputy mayor in 2020 and Heston filling the role last year.

Rossell had received praise from her colleagues in November 2021, with Heston declaring that, “We are all very proud for you,” after reportedly being the only elected governing body official in the state, so far, to have achieved the “Pioneer Level” in the New Jersey League of Municipalities’ Local Elected Officials Leadership Program.

The voluntary program recognizes elected governing body members who complete additional training and advocacy towards their position, with participants earning points by attending training and seminars,

g

(Continued from Page 4)

ofin

SOUTHAMPTON

and/or writing articles for a magazine and advocating for municipal interests.

A “Municipal Pioneer” is considered the program’s highest tier, with 75 points required to earn that achievement, with the lower tiers “Municipal Innovator” (50 points) and “Municipal Leader” (25 points).

“It took me two years to do it,” said Rossell of achieving the top rank in the program. “… To my knowledge, I am the only one so far in this state that has achieved the pioneer level, at this point. What it does (the program) is that you are learning how to be a better elected official.”

Other appointments for the new year include George Morris, of Parker McCay P.A., township solicitor (with Young noting the firm has now held that post for over 35 years); Holt McNally & Associates, township auditor; and Regan Young England Butera, township architect.

Also appointed was Kinjal Patel, who will serve as Southampton’s deputy chief financial officer.

Despite the outcome pertaining to a backup engineer for this year, and past split votes on measures involving cannabis businesses and the Good Farm project, Heston, who was sworn into a new threeyear term during this year’s reorganization meeting, along with Raftery, declared during committee comments that, “We are all on board with the way things are going and hopefully we can continue on the same path.”

“May 2022 be a very prosperous year for the residents of Southampton,” added Heston, chosen by his colleagues to again serve as the municipality’s Board of Health chairman.

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(Continued from Page 4) a lot of coaching involved in teaching,” said McVey, also an area resident for close to four decades, whose three children graduated Pinelands Regional and now has grandchildren attending the district.

The new board president, who maintained that she is “h ig h ly i nvested” i n the community and “wants to be a positive force in moving the district forward,” noted that as a president and vice president of many different rec leagues over the years, she believes that youth sports are “important” to the “community, children and families.”

“Being involved in team sports helps children develop skillsets that they can use later in life,” McVey contended. “It is a shame kids had to miss them (due to the pandemic). The benefits of being involved with sports help children with the anxiety of the times.”

Outdoor sports, she pointed out, are “safer” right now, adding that she was glad that the opportunities for children to participate in sports this year are “more prevalent than last year.”

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Saturday, January 15, 2022

JOB BOARD

CDL

4 Jobs for People Who Like Being on the Move

A

re you in great physical shape? Do you have boundless energy and enjoy being physically active? If you’re looking for a job that keeps you on your toes, here are four career paths you may want to consider.

1. Ambulance driver

This job allows you to combine your desire to help others, your interest in science and your physical fitness to face a variety of adrenaline-filled situations.

2. Mover

If you have a lot of energy, this is the job for you. It involves using your strength to pack and move furniture and boxes of various sizes

SNOWPLOW (Continued from Page 3)

on Facebook, in noting “Carranza Road has been a disaster every time we get much snow,” said he was “glad I’ve perked some interest” in reply to what appeared to be

DEPUTY

(Continued from Page 9) Virtua Health. Recently, the Burlington County Women’s Advisory Council named her among the 2021 Outstanding Women of Burlington County as a frontline worker.

“Phyllis is a trailblazer in the field of emergency management, a field traditionally dominated by men,” noted a recent county press release about her selection for the award. “Phyllis attends every Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training session and every CERT event. She also works closely with Burlington County’s longterm care communities to make sure they are prepared for any disaster. She directed operations at the Burlington County Vaccine Mega-Site, where more than 390,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered to residents from across the region in partnership with the county, the State of New Jersey and New Jersey National Guard.”

The release noted Worrell has over 35 years of experience in emergency response as a paramedic, firefighter, HAZMAT technician and critical incident stress counselor. She also has been an emergency service instructor teaching “First-Aid, CERT, EMT, Fire, Hazmat, CBRNE, ICS and Terrorism courses” since 1985.

As a part of the New Jersey Task Force-1 Urban Search and Rescue Team, Worrell was also deployed as a medical specialist to several

DRIVERS WANTED!

over short and long distances.

3. Security guard

• No Overnights/Local • No Log Books • Competitive Hourly Pay

You can use your physical fitness to keep workers, patients and civilians safe in hospitals, schools, prison environments and more.

Call (856) 777-2199

4. Window cleaner Are you comfortable with the idea of dangling from dizzying heights? If so, you can use poles, ladders and platform lifts to clean windows and storefronts on the ground and in the sky.

For more ideas on jobs that will keep you moving, visit a career counselor in your area.

mostly pushback on the idea that farmers would have to put up snow fencing.

“If we debate or argue, and have different views … it means we’ve opened a dialogue ... and maybe (it will) get something done,” said Eggert, with some other individuals expressing that maybe the local government should install a snow fence in the area instead of the farmers.

emergency events, including the World Trade Center terrorist attack and collapse in New York City on September 11, 2001, and the collapse of the Tropicana parking garage in Atlantic City on October 30, 2003.

“Phyllis always goes above and beyond,” the release noted. “She is a special breed of hero: a career healthcare professional who also devotes countless hours to volunteering.”

Other appointments for the new year include William Burns, of Carluccio, Leone, Dimon, Doyle & Sacks, LLC, township solicitor; Pennoni Associates, township engineer; David McNally, of Holt McNally & Associates, township auditor; Douglas Stewart, of Stuart Environmental Associates, LLC, environmental consultant; Scott Regan, of Regan Young England Butera, township architect; Christopher K. Koutsouris, of Dasti Murphy McGuckin Ulaky Koutsouris & Connors, municipal prosecutor; Steven Raymond, of Raymond Coleman Heinold, LLP, public defender; and NJ Animal Control, LLC, animal control officer.

Peter Lange, who had been the municipal solicitor for many years in Tabernacle, will serve as municipal court judge.

In one of the final reorganization actions on Jan. 3, Moore re-appointed Sunbury as a Class III member of the township Land Development Board, as well as made a number of other appointments to it.

“I am honored to step into the mayoral position,” Moore declared. “It means a lot to me and I hope to serve the town very well.”

GUIDE

BIG GAME Party Planning

♦ Page 15

FIRE

(Continued from Page 9) While the home was not occupied at the time of the blaze by people, three dogs were in the home, “and lost in the fire,” according to the chief.

An investigation into what started the blaze is continuing, Smith said, but fire investigators are currently thinking that it might have possibly started in a woodstove as “that is where the hardest burn was.”

In addition to the couple, Smith said the family living in the home comprised a 7-yearold daughter and a baby who is “less than a year old.”

The American Red Cross was called to assist the victims, Smith noted. However, the fire chief said they are now temporarily staying next door with the fiancé’s mother and father, who he noted watched as their son’s home burned.

Smith indicated that there had been “concern” that the parents’ home was also in danger during the height of the blaze as there was an “awful lot of heat” and “a lot of smoke got in there.”

“Luckily, nothing burned on their side,” he said.

Smith pointed out that the victims were in need of clothing and a “clothing drop-off” had been established at Crossroads Church on Oakshade Road “if anyone would like to make donations.”

“They not only provided refreshments to the fire company and its mutual aid companies, and delivered it, but they also did some post-incident care and setup a donation spot, and collected things for the victims, as well as helped to arrange financial contributions,” said John Lyons, emergency management coordinator of Shamong Township.

GOVERNMENT (Continued from Page 11)

Township Deputy Clerk Karen Bacon on Jan. 4. The new maps are also now available on the municipal website by visiting https://www.wtbcnj.org/images/maps/TaxMaps-2021.pdf. Until the physical copies are received, and better clarity is provided on some recent bills sent to the municipality for the work, the township committee decided during the reorganization meeting to withhold its final payment to Environmental

A GoFundMe page, Smith said, has also been established on behalf of the victims.

That GoFundMe page identifies the victims as “Gabbie and her fiancé, Doug,” who are part of families that have been “generations deep in Indian Mills and would help anyone in the time of need.”

“Gabbie came home from g roc er y shopping with her 4-month-old daughter to her house engulfed in flames,” the GoFundMe page notes. “Unfortunately, they were not able to save their three dogs, which has been devastating for their 7-yearold daughter. They lost everything and only have the belongings that they had on them at the time of the fire.”

As of press time, more than 200 donations have been made through the fundraiser, totaling some $14,395. A goal of $20,000 has been set.

“As many of you know, January 5th was the worst day of our lives, as we lost our home to an awful fire!” wrote Gabbie in social media postings to the community. “We lost everything, including our three dogs. We had nothing but the clothes on our backs. You are never prepared or believe something like this will ever happen! We are at a loss of words on how grateful we truly are for everyone’s support, help and donations! We don’t know how to thank everyone. It is incredible and means the world to us on how many people came together and offered us so much help!

Some people knew us, and some did not, and still helped in so many ways.

“It means more to us then we could ever explain having so much help from the clothing donations, food, baby essentials, donations, gift cards and toys. We have a long, hard road ahead of us, but with the support and help from everyone, we will power through and get through this life hurdle that was thrown our way. Again, we can’t thank everyone enough who went above and beyond for us.”

Resolutions, Inc. (ERI).

Other appointments for the new year include Tom Coleman (absent on Jan. 4 with colleague Stephen Raymond filling in), of Raymond Coleman Heinold, LLP, township solicitor; Michael S. Garcia, of Ford, Scott & Associates, township auditor; Kevin Quinlan, Esq., municipal prosecutor; Debra H. Rumpf, Esq., public defender; and George Gabaravage, animal control officer.

Gadd was re-appointed to the position of public safety director, a role he filled beginning in the fall, and Dave Simpson was re-appointed to a three-year term as emergency management coordinator.

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

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