Pine Barrens Tribune July 3, 2021-July 9, 2021

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Vol. 5 – No. 39 ♦

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July 3 - July 9, 2021

Medford Police Chief Celebrates Retirement After Decade in Post, Quarter Century as Cop

‘THE WOLF IS HERE’

Officials Give Richard J. Meder Heartfelt Send-off with Him Hoping He’ll Be Remembered for His Integrity and Fairness

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

Photo By Andrew King

David Stow, chairman of the Lenape Regional High School District Board of Education’s Finance Committee, as he discusses state aid impacts .

Lenape Regional Restructures 20 Positions, Combines Upper Classes and Takes Several Other Actions to Offset Aid Cuts Amid Rising Costs with Finance Chair Cautioning Next Year Could Be ‘Downright Ugly’

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

TA BER NACLE —T h e c h a i r m a n of the Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) Board of Education’s Finance Committee, David Stow, also a board member who represents Medford Township, is warning the community that after “feeling like I have been the ‘boy who cried wolf’ year, after year, after year, and everybody ignores me,” the “wolf is here” with cumulative state aid cuts adversely

affecting the district’s 2021-22 school year budget, and likely having a “downright ugly” impact in the next budget year.

“If we don’t wake up as a public, and wake up as people, we are eventually going to see cuts and eliminations we don’t want to see,” contended Stow during a recent LRHSD Board of Education meeting. “It is not right, people – it is just not right. I don’t know what it is going to take to wake people up.”

The LRHSD, due to a revised school funding formula (S-2) signed into law by

Democratic Governor Phil Murphy in July 2018, is scheduled to see a decrease in state aid for the upcoming school year of 4.24 percent, or $1.110 million “on top of the previous year’s reductions.”

The LRHSD will receive $25,072,520 in the state aid for the 2021-22 school year, Allyson Roberts, a district spokeswoman, previously told this newspaper. Last year, the LRHSD lost $1,155,936 in state aid (4.2 percent decrease), and the year before

MEDFORD—Richard J. Meder, who has served as chief of the Medford Township Police Department for the last decade, and began his law enforcement career with the municipal police force in 1996 after graduating the Burlington County Police Academy, officially retired from his post June 24.

The outgoing chief, on June 15, was given a heartfelt send-off by Medford Township Council, his command staff, fellow officers, first responders, and other local officials, in appreciation of his more than 25 years of service to the community.

“You started out with some tough times, but I think we learned to respect and trust each other, and we got through those difficult times and had some really great times,” said Mayor Charles “Chuck” Watson to the outgoing chief during the June 15 council meeting. “You served us well with honesty, integrity and hard work; and you just set the bar so high for the people who are going to be coming behind you. And the good thing is you were their boss for a while.”

Meder, who was overcome with emotion at one point, told those who gathered for the celebration of his retirement that when he left the police academy 25 years ago, he didn’t know what to expect.

“And from the minute I started out here, I felt like I was home,” the outgoing chief declared.

Meder recalled that when he was a little

See RESTRUCTURES/ Page 13

See RETIREMENT/ Page 15

INDEX Business Directory... 12

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

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

Worship Guide.......... 15

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Lenape Regional Officials Detail Their Stance on Masking as Governor Reverses Course in Requiring Them This Fall Superintendent, Who Pointed to District Advocacy Efforts to Make Masks ‘Optional’ in School, Declined to Disclose If She Would Advocate for COVID Vaccines to be Optional

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

TABERNACLE—A handful of parents whose children are enrolled in the Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD), and other individuals, asked the LRHSD Board of Education and superintendent, Dr. Carol Birnbohm, on June 23 to take a stance against Democratic Governor Phil Murphy’s position (up until June 28) to continue an indoor mask mandate for schools statewide during the upcoming school year, despite what has been significant progress in bringing the Coronavirus case count and related hospitalizations down, at least in the U.S. And two of the individuals who spoke during the latest LRHSD board meeting even indicated to the school officials that they thought the district should outright defy the governor’s order, should he not waver on school masking come September, contending the district “administration can remove this restriction” and that mask use during the pandemic was authorized through an emergency-use order from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and by requiring what the federal agency designates as a “medical device,” school officials are conducting a “clinical trial” which it is “not equipped to do.”

However, it appears the LRHSD will not have to entertain the requests any further as Murphy, on June 28, reversed course and announced that New Jersey will not require students to wear masks in school when the

upcoming school year begins, and instead, it will be up to individual school districts whether or not to require masks, contingent, however on there not being any “dramatic” deterioration in Coronavirus trends.

A medical biostatistician, one of the two individuals, maintained to the board and superintendent on June 23 that if “medical devices are forced upon children,” and she was in their shoes, she would “leave” because, “I could never do a job where I forced people to use a medical device without consent.”

However, there appeared to be some misunderstandings and lack of awareness about the district’s position on masking, and its autonomy from state mandates, on the part of at least some of the public who spoke during the latest board meeting, as Birnbohm pointed out, she, along with other area superintendents, had already sent, on June 4, a joint letter to Murphy asking for “an immediate re-evaluation of the mandates regarding students and staff wearing masks at school,” correspondence that also stated “we believe masks should be optional in schools, given our state’s increasing vaccination levels and decreasing COVID activity, and the negative impacts associated with masks that have accrued through the pandemic, including to socialemotional wellness.”

That letter, she said, was copied to school parents (and it’s also available on the district website).

See MASKING/ Page 10

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Regulations and Registration Requirement Proposed for Taxi Services Picking Up Passengers in Bass River Taxi Business Owner Calls Proposal a ‘Very Good Thing’; Town Also Plans to Allow Five of Six Cannabis Operations

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

BASS RIVER—Regulations, including a registration requirement, have been proposed for taxi services that pick-up passengers in Bass River Township (also referred to by commuters as New Gretna).

A proposed ordinanc e that would implement them was introduced during a June 7 Bass River Township Board of Commissioners meeting, with a public hearing and final adoption scheduled for July 12 at 7 p.m.

Ac c ord i ng to Tow n sh ip Sol i c itor JoAnne O’Connor, the proposed rules and registration process are in response to a woman who operates a taxi service recently advising the municipality that she is “picking up and dropping off residents.”

Acting Township Clerk Elizabeth Godfrey later identified the woman as Kristian Elgamal, of Main St. Local Taxi & Car Service, of nearby Tuckerton Borough. Elgamal, in a June 28 interview with this newspaper, explained that it is state law to register with municipalities when providing taxi services.

“We do not have anything that governs the regulations of taxis,” said O’Connor during the June 7 board meeting. “So, we have created this ordinance in order to license them, regulate them, and also, if they do not abide by the regulations, we have some penalties we can seek.”

The rules, the solicitor said, would only apply to those “picking up passengers in Bass River Township.”

“So, taxicabs don’t have to register if they just drop-off passengers in Bass River,”

O’Connor said. “But if their origin is Bass River, they need to be registered with Bass River Township.”

Godfrey later told this newspaper that Elgamal had previously registered her taxi service in the nearby Borough of Tuckerton, and thought, since she also had customers in Bass River, that she should register with that town as well.

“After reviewing the Bass River Township ordinances and the ones of surrounding townships, the commissioners felt the need to update the ordinance to act as guidance for the existing and potential operators of taxicabs in the township,” O’Connor later told this newspaper.

Elgamal, in the interview with this newspaper, called the regulations and registration requirement a “very good thing.”

“If you don’t have those laws in place, there will be illegal drivers,” she said. “They (the illegal drivers) are not properly insured, and for someone paying a high insurance premium and doing it the right way, it is not fair to us. We have enough problems with the competition of Uber and Lyft.”

Elgamal, who said she became licensed in Tuckerton in February, declared during the interview, “I say to everyone: support small business.”

“All the major corporations help the rich get richer,” she added.

Elgamal told this newspaper that she has been in the taxi business “on-and-off” since 1996, though she had never owned her own business prior to Main St. Local Taxi & Car See TAXI/ Page 9

Saturday, July 3, 2021

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Woodland Body Brushes Off Most Questions from Public During Its June Meeting with Township Solicitor Declaring Committee Sessions Not Intended for ‘Two Way Dialogue’ • Residents Pursued Reasoning for Township Employees Being Given ‘Retroactive’ Two-Percent Raises on June 21 After Two Percent Raises Were Also Approved in September • Closed-Door Discussion Pertains to Contract Negotiations and ‘Personnel Matters’ at Station 291, Chief Absent Again • Fire and EMS Company Quietly Gets Contribution Increase

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

WO O D L A N D —T h e R e p u b l i c a n committee of Woodland Township, with Mayor William “Billy” DeGroff at the helm, under fire, along with the township administration, for a number of recent blunders and fiascos in town ranging from a cancer patient being disparaged at town hall (as caught on tape) to being not forthcoming about the township’s involvement in learning of a dam issue at Chatsworth Lake, to also not taking proactive steps to prevent a gypsy moth outbreak that has now infested miles worth of the community’s tree resource, is now, amid the situation, declining to answer most questions from its constituents and having “two-way dialogue” with them at municipal governing body meetings.

The change in what has been reportedly a longstanding practice for the Woodland committee – spanning several decades – to openly answer questions and concerns from the public was confirmed by Township Solicitor William Burns during his solicitor’s report at the latest governing body meeting on June 21.

Burns, of the law firm Carluccio, Leone, Dimon, Doyle and Sacks, LLC, was appointed by the committee in May to also serve as the township’s public information officer (a newly-created post), with the mayor contending at the time that he was the only one allowed to give a comment from that point forward. DeGroff further maintained at the time that the position was necessary because the municipality was the subject of “untruths that are printed in the newspaper and rumors on social media,” part of a diatribe he launched which has since received backlash from residents, including from the son of a former longtime township mayor.

“I just want to clarify, because I anticipate some questions coming up, that under the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA), any municipal governing body shall set aside a portion of a meeting for the purposes of public ‘comment’ so that any member of the public may comment on any matter of concern to residents of the municipality,” maintained Burns during the June 21 governing body meeting. “Specifically, I think we have gotten away from public participation, or com ment, wh ich is

intended to allow citizens and residents, and other interested parties, an opportunity to publicly address this committee and talk about issues of public concern. It is not intended as a forum or avenue for extended conversation or two-way dialogue.”

Following Burns’ statement, when the general public comment period for the June 21 meeting was opened by the committee, and questions were posed by residents to the officials seeking the status of COVID relief funding, an explanation as to why an egg mass count was not requested by the township in the fall to detect the gypsy moth infestation in advance of it happening, along with an update on any conversations with the state regarding its abandoned building in Lebanon Lakes that was reported to have offensive graffiti written on its exterior, the mayor simply replied, “thank-you for your public comments” or “thank-you.”

He did not respond to the specific inquiries, or address the residents who asked questions, except to offer a general statement during his committee report (offered once public comment was closed) that the township does not have a “crystal ball” in knowing about the gypsy moths and that the matter is being handled, with the township collecting a list of affected addresses for potential spraying next year (even though the pest has already defoliated miles worth of township trees over the last month, including those on residential properties).

Earlier in the same committee meeting, resident Jane Donoghue, who previously got into a dispute with the municipality over three complaints she filed with the Government Records Council (GRC) over responses she received to Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests that she made to township, asked several questions during “public comment on consent agenda items only” pertaining to a salary resolution appearing on the June 21 committee meeting agenda.

Initially, in response, the mayor had Chief Financial Officer Kathy Rosmando explain that “most township employees” were receiving “2 percent raises over last year,” except the committeemen, “which have not received an increase over many years,” along with the emergency management coordinator, Mike Huber, because he had just been See TOWNSHIP/ Page 7

Saturday, July 3, 2021

Shamong to Install Technology to Permanently Provide for Hybrid Meetings So Public Can Participate Remotely

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

SHAMONG—In anticipation of returning to in-person meetings in August, as Coronavirus cases and related hospitalizations drop sharply, the Shamong Township Committee has authorized township officials to establish a permanent hybrid meeting system allowing the public to attend and participate in its meetings remotely, if they wish.

Township Administrator and Clerk Susan Onorato told the governing body that she is estimating that the necessary electric and IT work will cost around $1,300, the purchase of a television set and mounting bracket will cost about $600, and a camera will cost some $700.

The township’s 8-year-old computer on the dais, she said, along with its sound and recording systems, will also need to be upgraded to accommodate the hybrid meetings.

The governing body approved an allocation of $5,000 “for all this to happen,” a cost which is expected to be covered through American Rescue Plan funding provided to

the municipality.

“Now is the time to make these improvements and meet the needs of the public,” Onorato declared.

As towns resume in-person meetings, some have been grappling with how to accommodate the public participation of those who are quarantined due to contracting the virus, or part of at-risk populations. Others have not taken any steps to do so, leading to access complaints.

The emergence of streaming and remote meeting technology has also resulted in a broader conversation in some communities about allowing for remote participation to provide both convenience for the public and to increase transparency.

“I think COVID has forced us to do things we might not have done,” said Shamong Mayor Tim Gimbel. “Certainly, we want people to access information. We can accommodate it for minimal costs in the grand scheme of things.

Our intent is to get back into public eye, or face, as of August.”

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Dear Readers, Regrettably, I must inform you that it came to my attention that an individual who called the newspaper earlier last week to report gypsy moth damage in Woodland, and was later interviewed based on the contents of that telephone call, misrepresented himself during the calls, and was NOT Al Anderson, but rather a relative of his. Mr. Anderson since advised this newspaper he had no thoughts or opinions on this particular matter to offer.

It was Woodland resident ELTON HORNER who called this newspaper to report that, as he put it, the drippings, were making a mess and that he sprayed his yard and trees with Sevin (a pesticide sold at area stores) four times over the last couple of weeks and “they just keep coming back;” and who also remarked, “That is pretty bad when they are eating pine trees.”

Following telephone conversations with different members of both Mr. Anderson’s and Mr. Horner’s families, in which this misrepresentation was brought to the attention of the Pine Barrens Tribune, Mr. Horner contacted the newspaper at 4:43 p.m. June 25 to take responsibility for his statements.

We wanted to advise our readers immediately of what occurred for not only the benefit of all parties, but also because we strive for accuracy.

Doug Melegari Publisher, PBT

Saturday, July 3, 2021

Evesham Officials Find Themselves in a Pickle Over Pickleball Courts in Brush Hollow Park That Residents Say Have Disrupted Life There Complaints Lead to Partial Closing of Recently Opened Facilities

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

EVESHAM—While the popularity of pickleball may be on the upswing in South Jersey and elsewhere, a number of Evesham Township residents have quickly soured on the sport – and have wasted no time in conveying to local officials their distaste for having it played in what they regard as their back yard.

Their ire, voiced at a June 23 Evesham Council meeting both in the form of inperson comments from inhabitants of Marlton’s Brush Hollow section and emails from others that were read aloud, was specifically directed at the four pickleball courts opened with an official ribbon cutting less than three weeks earlier in adjacent Brush Hollow Park.

The picture they collectively presented to the council was one of a previously peaceful and tranquil neighborhood suddenly subjected to a seven-day-a-week, dawnto-dusk pickleball party attended mostly by out-of-town devotees of the somewhat casual form of athletic competition who are members of organized clubs and “meetups.”

The residents contended that the individuals have had little consideration for those who live there to the point of having brought “chaos and disruption” to their daily lives, in the phrase of one email writer.

The individuals frequenting the courts, according to the complainants, speed through the area without regard for the safety of residents and their children, regularly clog local streets with 20 or 30 vehicles at a time that usurp all available parking spaces and even block people’s driveways, create “13 hours of constant noise,” as one objector described it, litter the area with trash and even prevent them from utilizing the courts if they are so inclined. Not helping the situation, they claimed, have been regular notices posted on social media sites inviting pickleball players to matches there.

In somewhat apologetically thanking the residents for coming forward with their grievances, both Evesham Mayor Jaclyn Veasey (herself a resident of the Brush Hollow neighborhood, where she grew up) and Deputy Mayor Heather Cooper, who head the now-all-Democratic council, acknowledged that the installation of the courts, though well-intentioned, may not have been quite as carefully thought out as it perhaps should have been, with the mayor asking for their “patience” while township officials attempt to address the situation.

That they have since not wasted any time in doing so, however, was confirmed in a phone interview this newspaper had on June 30 with Township Manager Rob Corrales, who noted that as of July 2, the nets would be removed from two of the courts at issue, and that representatives of the pickleball groups involved, some of which are local, had informally agreed to curtail their use of the facilities to some degree.

“We take all such concerns very seriously,” he said.

In addition, Corrales said, the township engineer, who has recently done an inventory of Evesham’s open-space facilities (see accompanying story), had been asked to conduct an additional study of the Brush Hollow area to see if anything could be done to improve the parking situation there. But he pointed out that municipal parks are open to the public, and their use cannot simply be restricted to local or neighborhood residents.

Asked how the decision had been made to put the courts there in the first place, Corrales said the need for such facilities

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had been conveyed to the township by local pickleball enthusiasts, including a group in Brush Hollow itself, and that the site, had been selected from several under consideration, with an old hockey rink there being resurfaced to create the courts.

Reducing the number of courts at the site by half was among the remedies proposed by the disgruntled residents, who also suggested moving them to another location altogether to be better able to accommodate the increased traffic and need for parking space, along with curtailing the number of matches allowed to be played there and requiring parking permits for users. Some also criticized the township administration for not having made more of an effort to consult with those living nearby before deciding to locate the courts in a neighborhood park and pointed out that neighboring Cherry Hill Township had recently been faced with a similar situation in regard to pickleball, claiming it had to reduce the number of pickleball courts open to the public as a result (although the latter contention couldn’t immediately be verified).

“It’s such an invasion,” contended one particularly outspoken Kenton Avenue resident, Helene Donnelly, who noted that her elderly parents live with her and that she had recently been unable to get into her own driveway upon bringing her mother home from the hospital at 6:15 p.m. due to it being blocked by a pickleball player’s vehicle.

She added that she has been having difficulty getting her trash collected also as a result of all the cars parked outside and that her neighbor had texted her that she was unable to have a package delivered because the UPS driver couldn’t access her house.

Noting that she had resided there for 20 years and that it is usually “such a beautiful, peaceful place where I live and I love it,” Donnelly asked whether anyone had thought about what it would be like to have “30 cars (parked) on a regular basis in this tiny little neighborhood,” adding, “I don‘t even know how it came about, whose idea it was, or how it got approved.”

When Corrales said he had spoken with representatives of the pickleball groups and that it was agreed that the courts would only be used between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Donnelly replied, “That’s still 12 hours —that’s the whole day.” Maintaining that “nobody’s policing them,” she asked, “Am I going to go out there and look like a crazy lady and scream at them?”

Concer ns about a lack of advance consultation were also raised by other objectors, one of whom, Michael Mink, contended in an email that “it was clear there was a strong push by groups to place pickleball courts in town” with “barely a passing mention made to residents” and “no indication of “the scope and impact they would have on the neighborhood.

“It also appears that some of the groups that pushed for these courts had similar complaints raised against them in other towns,” he maintained. “I wish more information had been shared with residents and we were given time and ability to address (this) before courts were approved.”

Just before the council meeting concluded, Veasy told the complainants, “I just want you to know … that we hear you, and we apologize for any inconvenience you’ve been having,” and advised them to notify the Department of Public Works about any problem collecting trash as a result.

She then went on to ask “for the patience of the community while we work through the See PICKLEBALL/ Page 9

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Saturday, July 3, 2021

Nancy Wittenberg Dies at 65; Served Over a Decade as Executive Director of State Pinelands Commission

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By Bill Bonvie

a very difficult and tumultuous period” in its existence, and was “genuinely dedicated to the job.”

NEW LISBON—Nancy Wittenberg, who Wittenb erg had ser ved as the served for over a decade as executive director commission’s executive director since Jan. of the New Jersey Pinelands Commission, 3, 2011. During her tenure, the commission has died, according to an announcement completed an in-depth review of the from commission spokesman Paul Leaken.

Pinelands Comprehensive Management Wittenberg, whose age was given to this Plan (CMP), which contains the rules that newspaper as 65 by her husband, Glenn govern land-use, development and the Vansickle, reportedly passed away on June protection of resources in the Pinelands.

23 several days after having taken a leave of The review included the formation of a plan absence from her job with the commission review committee that gathered comments and designating Susan R. Grogan, the from the public and provided a forum for commission’s planning director, as acting discussing measures aimed at strengthening executive director. the CMP, as well as issuing a 183-page report The cause of her death was not released. that included recommendations for future As executive director, a post she had changes to the plan. held since 2011, she was responsible for While she was at the helm, the commission the daily operations of the commission also acte d to p er manently pre s er ve and its staff of approximately 40 planners, approximately 8,300 acres in the Pinelands scientists, environmental via grants through its reviewers, educators and Pinelands Conservation others.

Fund; formed several “Nancy will be committees to address m i s s e d by eve r yone topics such as climate she worked with at the change; u nder took commission,” said the several initiatives aimed panel’s chairman, Rick at curbing the damages Prickett, who described wrought by illegal offher a s “a t e na c iou s road vehicle use and professional who was completed a 128-page very much a presence re p or t t h at e nable d at publ ic me et i ng s” the Pinelands National and who “thoroughly Reserve to maintain its addressed the concerns status as an International of the public and Biosphere Region, as commissioners on designated by the United matters before them.”

Nations Educational, Prickett also noted S c i e n t i fi c and t h a t W i t t e nb e r g , a Cultural Organization big supporter of the Wittenberg (UNESCO).

Pinelands Municipal Other things the commission achieved Council, would drive many miles through during Wittenberg’s decade-long tenure the pines to attend its meetings, usually at included the administration of the Pinelands night, and “was always very supportive of Development Credit Bank, which is the her staff, whom she clearly cared about.” processing agency for one of the oldest and Democratic Governor Phil Murphy most successful transfer of development also noted in a tweet that he was “deeply rights programs in the world, the completion saddened” by the loss of Wittenberg, calling and launching of numerous scientific her “a dedicated public servant” whose studies, including several ongoing research passing “is a tremendous loss to the Pinelands projects on rare snakes, and the opening community and our administration.” of the Candace McKee Ashmun Pinelands Attesting to Wittenberg’s “long and Education Exhibit, which features more accomplished career in public service,” than 400 square feet of displays intended Commission Vice Chairman Alan W. Avery, to raise awareness and appreciation of the Jr. maintained that “her leadership and Pinelands for decades to come. personal commitment as executive director Pr ior to joining the Pinelands have left the commission and its staff in a Commission, Wittenberg served in various strong position to continue (their) mission to roles at the NJDEP, where her last post was protect and manage the Pinelands.” as assistant commissioner of Climate and A lso pay i ng tr ibut e was Se an W. Environmental Compliance. She also held Earlen, the commission’s chairman from posts as director of environmental affairs January 2016 until May 2019, who said that for the New Jersey Builders Association, Wittenberg’s “leadership, knowledge and as the assistant vice president of health fearless commitment to the Pinelands will and safety for the Triborough Bridge and be sadly missed.”

Tunnel Authority in New York City and “Her resilient drive and dedication as as a director, manager and environmental executive director were evident to all those specialist with the New York City Transit who worked alongside her,” Earlen stated.

Authority.

“The Pinelands community, along with all of S h e h e l d a m a s t e r ’s d e g r e e i n us whom Nancy touched, are truly mourning environmental engineering from Duke the loss of a very special friend.”

University and a bachelor’s degree in biology P i n e l a n d s P r e s e r v at i o n A l l i a n c e from the University of Vermont.

Executive Director Carleton Montgomery, The Pinelands Com m ission, an in a brief interview with this newspaper, independent state agency that is governed noted that Wittenberg “devoted almost by a 15-member board of directors, is her entire career to public service for the charged with protecting the 938,000-acre environment,” whether at the New Jersey state Pinelands Area, which includes parts Department of Environmental Protection of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape (NJDEP), where she worked for many years, May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Ocean or at the Pinelands Commission “during counties.

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TOWNSHIP (Continued from Page 4)

appointed to his post in January. Rosmando added that a janitor employed by the township was also seeing an increase to put his earnings in line with the state’s minimum wage.

But when Donoghue asked about the reason for the salary increases of the other township employees, the mayor replied, “Thank you for your comments, Ms. Donoghue,” adding “This is public ‘comment,’ thank you for your comment.”

Resident Terry Sheerin, who was the subject of the disparaging remarks about her cancer diagnosis made by Township Office Clerk Karen Winks on May 4, the latter since being the subject of an “action” but still employed by the municipality with the township yet to offer an apology for what occurred, then asked if it was accurate that the salary increases would be retroactive to December 2020, as indicated in a copy of the salary resolution, to which Rosmando confirmed it was because some of the latter days in December were part of the first pay period of the new year.

Sheerin then sought an answer to Donoghue’s question, asking how the salary increases were established, to which DeGroff attempted a few times to talk over the resident.

“Again, she explained what it is!” DeGroff said. “Again, it is the public ‘comment’ portion!”

At that point in the meeting, however, there appeared to be some confusion as to what exactly was occurring as Burns had not yet explained the change in protocol prior to the initial public comment period on the consent agenda items.

“I think had it been announced prior to the first speaker, it would have alleviated a lot of confusion,” Sheerin later told this newspaper.

“I have regularly been attending meetings

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AD HOTLINE: (609) 801-2392 here in Woodland since 1996, and there has never not been an open dialogue between the committee and residents. You could always ask a question (and receive an answer).”

Open dialogue, she added in the interview with this newspaper, helps the committee “identify issues” that are both “good or bad.”

“If you don’t talk about things, they can’t get done,” Sheerin declared.

Burns, in his solicitor’s report, noted that despite “anticipating questions,” public ‘comment’ is in accordance with OPMA and an “opportunity for anyone to address the committee and comment on anything that is of concern.”

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which maintains a handout on OPMA, also commonly referred to as the “Sunshine Law,” state law currently requires municipal governing bodies and school boards to set aside a portion of every meeting for public comments.

However, the ACLU notes in the handout that “the public body is not required to respond to your questions.” Additionally, the organization notes the public body “cannot censor your speech during a public comment portion because it does not agree with you, or like what you are saying.”

Despite it not being a requirement for a public body to respond to questions, such policies, and others to limit public comment, when adopted in the past by municipal bodies in Burlington County, have provoked a firestorm, leading to a quick about face, and ultimately saw the pendulum swing in the other direction with voters deciding to change who is in control of their local government.

In Evesham Township, Randy Brown, a Republican mayor who attempted to impose such a policy in 2015, quit his 2018 race for re-election halfway through, with Democrats ultimately taking control of not only that post, but the Evesham Council.

And last year, in Mansfield Township, another

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Republican mayor, Janice A. DiGiuseppe, who tried to have meeting participants pre-register their comments with a summary, was defeated by a write-in candidate, one of two who ran for Mansfield Committee in response to the new policy (the other write-in candidate also winning a seat on that public body), according to the Burlington County Times.

“Local gover nments and state and national governments ought to be to be working hard to stay in touch with voters and citizens,” said Dale Eisman, a spokesman for Common Cause, a nonpartisan group that lobbies for transparency in government, at the time that Randy Brown had decided Evesham residents could make only make comments and not ask questions. “One way is to make themselves available to listen to questions and to answer them. They ought to do more of this rather than less.”

John Paff, chairman of the New Jersey Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project, also noted at the time of the Evesham incident that local elected officials must allow the public time to ask questions, but they also have the right to “just sit there” and not respond.

“The check and balance is when they go to get re-elected,” said Paff at the time. “When citizens take the time to come out and ask questions, and you ignore them, the citizens can exercise their opinion at the polls. We’re supposed to elect people who treat us as human beings, not just serfs.”

Donoghue, during the June 21 Woodland committee meeting, contended that “since we are not allowed to ask questions,” she will “make a statement” that she is “very opposed to the pay raises for township employees.”

“They are still working 26 hours a week, and getting paid for full-time salaries,” she declared. “That building needs to be re-opened for 40 hours a week, including Fridays.”

The municipal building is currently open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Last

♦ Page 7

year, during the pandemic, it was decided that Township Administrator and Clerk Maryalice Brown would work remotely on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with the condition that the Woodland Township Municipal Building will be open from 4 p.m. to at least 6 p.m. on the night of the governing body’s regular meetings.

The committee, however, has yet to return to in-person sessions.

The committee, on Sept. 23 of last year, had also given township employees 2 percent raises at that time.

Maryalice Brown is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the raises given that she holds seven separate positions in Woodland (township administrator, township clerk, deputy tax collector, technical assistant, recycling coordinator, Board of Health secretary and Land Use Board secretary [all of which had the compensation increased under the 2 percent raises].)

Her total compensation with this latest raise has increased from $72,102.72 (in September 2020) to $73,520.

Winks’ compensation, increased to $13.21 per hour in September 2020, and has now risen to $13.47 per hour.

As Donoghue was continuing to make her “statement” on June 21, the sound level dropped for reasons that are unclear.

Also, at the center of controversy is Woodland Volunteer Fire and EMS Company Chief Shawn Viscardi.

As this newspaper previously reported, the chief, who is involved with a cellphone tower project in downtown Chatsworth that received a stop-work order last fall from the Pinelands Commission, and faced questions about it during November and December 2020 Woodland governing body sessions, then did not attend Woodland committee meetings in January, February, March or April of this year and also did not submit See TOWNSHIP/ Page 11

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(Continued from Page 2) Service. It was last year, she said, that she moved to the area, and at the time, she lost two of her vehicles “and saw how hard it is to live here without a car” with no real means of public transportation in the area.

That is when she realized there was a need for a taxi service in the area.

“I started it (the business) with an old car, and in fact put seat covers on the seats inside the car,” Elgamal said. “Then I went, borrowed a little money and just went for it. It has been really amazing. Now I have two cars, and have a second driver and dispatcher. Things are definitely picking up.”

Trips “anywhere within the Little Egg Harbor, Tuckerton and New Gretna area” cost $15, she said.

“I am pleased to be able to help people get to where they need to go, whether it be work, school, the grocery store or to get their laundry done,” said Elgamal, noting that the demographics of the area she serves recently changed.

The Bass River Township Board of Commissioners also introduced an ordinance that would allow five of the six “marketplace” classes of licensed cannabis businesses in Bass River, with a public hearing and final adoption also scheduled for July 12 at 7 p.m.

Since Democratic Governor Phil Murphy signed three historic adult-use cannabis reform bills into law on Feb. 22 – which not only legalized cannabis use and possession for adults 21 years and older, but also promulgated regulations to govern the medical and adult-use industries and oversee the applications for the licensing of cannabis businesses, some municipalities have heard both strong support for and against such businesses, given that it is ultimately local

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decision.

The different licensing classes are: • Class 1 Cannabis Grower License: for facilities involved in growing and cultivating cannabis; • Class 2 Cannabis Processor License: for facilities involved in the manufacturing, preparation, and packaging of cannabis items; • Class 3 Cannabis Wholesaler License: for facilities involved in obtaining and selling cannabis items for later resale by other licensees; • Class 4 Cannabis Distributor License: for businesses involved in transporting cannabis items in bulk intrastate, from one licensed cannabis establishment to another; • Class 5 Cannabis Retailer License: for locations at which cannabis items and paraphernalia are sold to consumers; and • Class 6 Cannabis Delivery License: for businesses providing courier services for a licensed cannabis retailer (towns must allow this one).

“Right now, what this proposed ordinance does is it allows all but the retail license to be permitted within the township,” O’Connor said.

The solicitor noted that the governing body must make a final decision by Aug. 21, when municipalities that don’t act are automatically assumed under the new state law to opt-in to all six “marketplace” classes of licensed cannabis businesses.

O’Connor explained that the newly created Cannabis Regulatory Commission by the governor has yet to issue much guidance, and as a result, she is still waiting for some additional information before crafting another ordinance that would establish “licensing fees or application fees,” along with “additional regulations.”

This newspaper previously reported that

“Thank-you for your flexibility and willingness to step outside of the box,” said resident Evan Manaresi, who previously announced his interest in starting a cannabis cultivation site on Ishmael Road, to board on June 7. “All the towns pretty much around us said ‘no’ because they are afraid of what it will look like in the future.”

Buzby-Cope announced during the June 7 meeting that Bass River will resume inperson meetings beginning with its July 12 session. In-person meetings were converted to telephonic meetings because of the Coronavirus. Vaccinations against the virus over the past couple of months have resulted in a dramatic decline in both cases and related hospitalizations.

“We look to get back on track,” the mayor said. “So, you can come in and have a seat.”

PICKLEBALL

that as a private citizen she had complained about things she thought needed to be addressed, she said, “I give you guys a lot of credit for coming forth and sharing your frustrations” and indicated that changes would have to be made accordingly.

“I don’t know what it’s going to take, but we need to do a full evaluation,” she conceded.

And while not assigning blame, she added, “but shame on us if we missed that – and I think we need to do better.”

(Continued from Page 5)

kinks of something we thought was going to be a great improvement for the community that maybe should have been thought out a little bit further” in regard to the number of people it might attract.

Cooper, speaking just before the mayor’s remarks, was similarly apologetic. Noting

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of 12 residents who attended a telephonic special meeting of the Bass River Board of Commissioners April 12 for the sole purpose of allowing the governing body to hear input on whether or not it should allow such businesses, ten were strongly in favor of allowing them, one wasn’t sure if she was for or against allowing them, and another just briefly questioned if officials had a plan to regulate usage of the drug near a municipal park where children are often at play.

The “mostly common ground” to allow cannabis businesses in tow n (dr iven by a desire by the residents to increase commercial ratables otherwise restricted by the Pinelands Commission and bring in revenue to help lower taxes) was somewhat of a surprise to Bass River Township Mayor Deborah Buzby-Cope.

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

MASKING (Continued from Page 2)

“The board believes exactly what you believe,” said Birnbohm after a mother of six children declared that she does not agree with masking children, and that masks are not promoting their health and wellbeing.

Birnbohm noted that Murphy had signed an executive order eliminating the mask requirement in outdoor public spaces during the evening of May 17, which coincided with a National Honor Society event at the district’s Seneca High School, and that she did not skip a beat in telling attendees, “If you are comfortable to be unmasked, be unmasked.”

In responding to a suggestion by the mother that the district had “sat idly by” and didn’t do anything to improve the situation during the past school year, the superintendent maintained that “our district has done a tremendous job” by helping to get its students and staff vaccinated so that masking would not be necessary, including arranging for staff to get vaccinated at a local Rite Aid Pharmacy, busing students to the Virtua Vaccination Mega Site in Moorestown and partnering with Walmart to host a vaccination clinic at the district’s Lenape High School.

“We are doing our part to make sure parents are able to allow their child to unmask,” Birnbohm said.

The superintendent noted that when Murphy “allowed us to have any autonomy at all,” or on June 9 when he said that school districts can make their own decisions locally on whether students and staff need to wear masks during extreme heat (remarks that came amid a heat wave), “we did not require masks in schools.”

Birnbohm’s advice to those approaching the board and school officials opposed to masking was to “take your data and everything and send it to the governor” because “that is (the person) who we need to hear our message,” adding that she thinks he is “listening” given a recent shift in his public comments on the topic.

It was only on May 25 that Murphy stated New Jersey’s indoor mask mandate for school students was “unlikely to change” any time before the start of the upcoming academic year and that parents in the state can expect to send their children to school wearing masks in September because kids under 12 are still ineligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.

But by June 2, following public outcry, he told NJ Advance Media that “there is a chance” that could change and “our minds are open.”

Then came the June 9 statement from Mu r phy that “ou r cu r rent ma sk i ng requirements do include exceptions for cases of extreme heat in outdoor settings, and for situations indoors or outdoors where wearing a mask would inhibit the

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individual’s health,” which prompted many districts statewide to make mask wearing optional for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year.

“I think we have a strong case in our highschool-student aged only district that our children should have a choice to wear mask or not,” Birnbohm said.

Murphy had previously lifted most other indoor mask mandates in the state (for those vaccinated against COVID-19) just in time for the Memorial Day weekend.

Birnbohm also pointed out that the board had just voted during its June 23 meeting to submits its school reopening American Rescue Plan to the state, and that it includes a statement from the LRHSD that it “believes masks should be optional in September given our state’s vaccination level and decreased COVID-19 case level.”

Photo By Andrew King

A medical biostatistician presents a chart to the Lenape Regional Board of Education on June 23 showing a greater number of deaths among teenagers to causes other than the Coronavirus.

Following the June 28 announcement from Murphy that he had reversed course on school masking, his administration provided this newspaper with recommendations and guidance documents created to assist school districts and educators as they develop local reopening plans for the 2021-22 school year.

The documents sent to this newspaper came with a statement that the Murphy administration expects all public-school districts in New Jersey “to provide fulltime, in-person instruction for the 2021-22 school year.”

T he re c om mend ations on st udent masking include that “appropriate and consistent use of masks may be challenging

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for some individuals, however mask use is encouraged for individuals who are not fully vaccinated unless a mask cannot be safely worn” and a footnote maintaining “updated Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance on masking in this setting is expected prior to the start of the 2021-22 school year and will factor into the final recommendations from the state for masking this fall.”

The mother attending the June 23 LRHSD Board of Education meeting, who has a son enrolled in the district’s Shawnee High School, contended that he is “on track to fail seven classes” due to being on an all-remote schedule this past school year, and would like him to return to school in-person for the upcoming year, but he “absolutely hates mask wearing all day.”

“It is tortuous to him,” she said. “He felt remote learning was his only option.”

Isolation, the mother maintained, is “what is inflicted on criminals,” and that she was either considering pulling him out of high school to “let his life begin as an adult” or possibly sending him to school “where he will no longer wear a mask,” should the mask mandate not be lifted. His future, the mother added, “remains uncertain,” calling his high school experience, to date, “miserable,” noting that the pandemic had taken her son, who had been previously excelling academically and athletically, and turned his life “upside down.”

Birnbohm, prior to public comment, during her superintendent’s report to the board, contended that despite “hearing about learning loss” as a result of the pandemic, the LRHSD this past school year had only 16 seniors districtwide unable to complete their graduation requirements in time for commencement, a “24 percent decrease” from an average of 21 students.

“You would th ink th is year, when everybody is saying ‘learning loss … lear ning loss’ that number would be greater,” the superintendent maintained. “… That is a huge testament to everybody’s effort in trying to keep our students engaged, involved and put them over the finish line despite the obstacles thrown their way.”

The superintendent noted that of the number of seniors left behind this year, it represented less than one percent of the district’s seniors, and that the district offers summer school programs to those seniors so that they can earn a diploma by the end of the summer.

Another mother, with one child attending Shawnee and another an incoming freshman, said that they both have underlying medical conditions, and therefore she is “not comfortable” with them getting vaccinated against COVID-19, calling it “unsafe for us.”

Assuming, she said, that Murphy does change the school edict to reflect that vaccinated students will no longer have to wear masks while in school, she fears it will bring about “teasing” and “bullying” to unvaccinated children who still must wear

Saturday, July 3, 2021 a mask.

“I think there are many parents with children who have these conditions, and that is what I am worried about,” said the mother, while maintaining that the wearing of a mask by such children would reveal what is “nobody’s business really.”

Birnbohm was also asked a hypothetical question by one parent that if Murphy decided to require that all students must get vaccinated, would she also oppose such an edict and also call for them to be optional, to which the superintendent replied, “I am not going to answer that question.”

Birnbohm noted that, currently, the COVID vaccine is optional at “all New Jersey public high schools” and that the only vaccinations that are mandatory for students are the ones listed on the district website. (“No child will be enrolled provisionally to a school or child care center without documentation of at least one dose of Polio, Diptheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Measles, Mumps, and Rubella which are age appropriate for the child.”)

In the June 28 state recommendations, it is stated that “most K-12 schools will have a mixed population of fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals at any given time, thereby requiring the layering of preventive measures to protect individuals who are not fully vaccinated.”

Local Education Agencies (LEA) are then encouraged by the state to “have a system in place to determine the vaccination status of students and staff,” and if an LEA is unable to determine the vaccination status of individual students or staff, “those individuals should be considered not fully vaccinated.”

“LEAs should actively promote vaccination for all eligible students and staff,” the state maintains in the recommendations. “As vaccine eligibility expands, LEAs should consider school-wide vaccine coverage among students and staff as an additional metric to inform the need for preventive measures such as physical distancing and masking.”

It is acknowledged in the state guidance, however, that currently “not all school-aged children are currently eligible to be vaccinated.”

Meanwhile, the biostatistician that attended the meeting in support of the parents with masking concerns contended that she had reviewed a database of death certificates for a period between Jan. 20, 2020, to May 2021, and that only three school children ranging in ages from 5 to 18 have died from COVID-19.

“There are 27 times more deaths from accidental injuries,” she said in urging the school officials to oppose mask mandates.

“There is a one and 7,500 chance of dying in a car accident as a teenager. But we do not prevent them from getting in a car. There were 37 suicides this year (of students this age). There is an 11 times (greater) amount of (children) dying from homicide, but yet we don’t require children to wear bullet proof vests to school.”

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monthly reports to the committee in March or April. He also apparently recently changed his cellphone number, and did not respond to emailed inquiries by this newspaper about a fire near Mayos Halfway House on Route 72.

The chief, following this newspaper’s r e p or t ab out h i s ab s e nc e s a nd t he communication troubles, appeared at the Woodland committee’s May meeting, in which DeGroff defended him during the diatribe, but was absent again at the latest June session, with Brown noting that she also did not receive a report from the chief prior to the June 21 committee meeting.

DeGroff, however, after Brown’s remark, quickly defended Viscardi’s latest absence by maintaining he was at a special fire company meeting which conflicted with the time of the governing body session.

Viscardi’s latest absence was despite the governing body convening an executive session 57 minutes prior to the regular June 21 committee meeting to discuss, according to an agenda, “contract negotiations and

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♦ Page 11

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Wooodland Township Mayor William “Billy” DeGroff during a township committee meeting in 2020 held by Zoom.

personnel matters relating to Station 291.”

Station 291 is the call numbers assigned to the Woodland Volunteer Fire and EMS Company.

The committee emerged from the closed-door session without summarizing what it was about and saying whether it was going to be taking any action, as required. It was only after this reporter asked if action was going to be taken that DeGroff replied “no.”

In the wake of a published report about a May Woodland committee meeting, in which a resident responding to the events of what occurred questioned the whereabouts of money the fire and EMS company had recently received, including $15,000 quarterly township contributions (totaling over $300,000 since 2016) along with several federal grants (totaling $403,462 in 2020), in light of previous statements by DeGroff that the company has worn ambulances and no tanker truck, unable to afford new ones, the Woodland committee, at this latest meeting, quietly approved increasing the quarterly township contributions to $16,250 (as presented on the bill’s list). It also approved an application for the fire and EMS company to conduct a coin toss this upcoming weekend, an event reportedly not held for a while.

Several residents attending the telephonic June 21 Woodland committee meeting reported issues accessing the meeting and unmuting themselves (a process that officials did not explain how to do once Maryalice Brown asked that the public mute themselves at the start of the meeting), leading to more outcry about the township not yet resuming its in-person meetings as Coronavirus cases and related hospitalizations drop.

In response, the township posted on its website that “as long as COVID numbers continue their downward trend, the Sept. 22, 2021, township meeting will be held in person at the municipal building.” Maryalice Brown announced during the June 21 meeting that the next regular meeting of the Woodland committee is currently scheduled for July 28.

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RESTRUCTURES (Continued from Page 1)

that, $961,300 (3.4 percent decrease).

Stow, during the recent LRHSD Board of Education meeting, maintained that during the 1994-95 school year, state aid to the district was about 39.6 percent, but for the upcoming school year, it will just be around 15.7 percent.

The district, he added, because of S-2, is projected to have a $1.7 million state aid reduction next year, a little more than a $1 million reduction the following year and a $337,000 cut during the subsequent year, which will drop state aid to the district “below 15 percent” by the 2024-25 school year, or, as he put it, “the lowest ever.”

S-2, which is a funding reform to be fully carried out over a seven-year period, or through the 2024-25 school year, is projected to result in a “total state aid reduction of $7.3 million to the LRHSD over seven years, with a cumulative loss of $26.2 million,” Stow said.

“Our state is just not supporting our kids,” the board member declared, noting that the LRHSD provides some 241 course offerings, including 67 college accredited programs and 24 advanced placement courses.

As state aid to the LRHSD decreases, Stow explained, costs to the district have increased and are expected to continue to climb, especially in special education. The district, he noted, just graduated 193 special education students, but has 331 incoming freshmen with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for special needs, “or an increase of 138 in-district special education students.”

It is expected to cost $8.3 million for the district to educate that number of special education students during the upcoming school year, according to Stow, however, the state is only providing the district with $4.2 million in assistance for its special education program.

“Well, wait a minute, Mr. Stow, that doesn’t add up,” Stow said. “That is a $4 million difference. Guess who pays that?

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The Lenape constituents. Once again, the state misses mark.”

The district, in a press release issued following Stow’s remarks, noted that in order to accommodate the increase in special education students, the district must add three nurse-paraprofessionals and 32 part-time paraprofessionals to its roster.

The cost of healthcare benefits for staff, which is around $24 million, Stow said, have also increased in the past year by some $1.5 million, or 7.1 percent, “no matter what we have done.” The estimated employee contribution of $4 million is $350,000 less than last year due to the NJ Educators Health Plan that was offered by the state in January, according to both Stow and the press release.

As a result of the decreased aid and rising costs, according to Stow, with board approval of the LRHSD’s budget for the upcoming year (which represents a 2.17 percent increase over the previous year) given April 28, the district exhausted all its emergency reserve account funds and is using “some bank rolls” to “make ends meet.”

That is in addition, he pointed out, to the district restructuring 20 positions “through proje cte d el i m i nations, reti rements, resignations or other mechanisms to realize a $1.4 to $1.8 million savings,” eliminating various positions through attrition, and eliminating the posts of two school resource officers (SROs), a warehouse supervisor, an assistant transportation director and treasurer of school money, along with recently increasing class sizes, suspending new textbook purchasing, ending courtesy busing for students living within 2.5 miles of a district school, eliminating late bus runs, cutting four crossing guards, and eliminating “most of our substitutes” in favor of sending students, when a teacher is out, to the cafeteria.

The budget for the upcoming school year also incorporates, according to Stow, greater “scheduling efficiencies” in which staff from “different buildings” will be shared, combines courses “of upper levels,” and utilizes “overload pay” in which faculty

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members are paid more to teach extra sections, rather than, “replacing teachers.”

Also used to balance the upcoming school year budget were “one-time only revenue sources,” including excess surplus from the past school year (due to the mandatory closure of facilities last spring), and “anticipated” fund balance from Fiscal Year 2021.

District taxpayers, given the situation, will still need to contribute more to the $158.7 million general fund budget for the upcoming school year, with a total tax levy of $129,061,392, or a 2.13 percent increase, according to Stow.

Due to a distribution formula, however, taxes will rise in six of the eight towns that comprise the district (Shamong and Tabernacle being the exceptions).

The tax levy increase of 2.13 percent, and a debt service tax levy decrease of 3.83 percent, the latter figure causing Stow at one point to declare “we have done, and we are doing everything we are supposed to do,” results in the following tax impact: • Evesham Township: Tax levy increase of 0.02 cents, resulting in an increase in regional school taxes of $2.71 on a home assessed at the township average of $271,884; • Medford Township: Tax levy increase of 1.18 cents, resulting in an increase in regional school taxes of $39.94 on a home assessed at the township average of $326,586; • Medford Lakes Borough: Tax levy increase of 5.01 cents, resulting in an increase in regional school taxes of $150.68 on a home assessed at the borough average of $288,021; • Mount Laurel Township: Tax levy increase of 1.59 cents, resulting in an increase in regional school taxes of $39.33 on a home assessed at the township average of $237,700; • Shamong Township: Tax levy decrease of 0.48 cents, resulting in a decrease in regional school taxes of $11.64 on a home assessed at the township average of $309,233; • Southampton Tow nship: Tax lev y

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increase of 2.67 cents, resulting in an increase in regional school taxes of $52.93 on a home assessed at the township average of $192,493; • Tabernacle Township: Tax levy decrease of 4.18 cents, resulting in a decrease in regional school taxes of $97.03 on a home assessed at the township average of $267,131; and • Woodland Township: Tax levy increase of 3.10 cents, resulting in an increase in regional school taxes of $70.09 on a home assessed at the township average of $254,800.

Stow noted the LRHSD is planning to pilot “some projects” to help generate additional revenue, including “Project Search,” one that will allow special education students from other districts, be-tween the ages 19 to 21, to enroll in the LRHSD and pay tuition.

The LRHSD has also recently be-gun to allow out-of-district students to enroll in Seneca High School’s JROTC Air Force and Automotive Certification programs.

Additionally, the district, he said, in responding to the rising number of special education students, has tried to hire “more and more dual-certified staff,” increasing the number of such staff from 1 percent of the total staff in 2005 to 7 percent as of April 2021.

At the same, the district has received some $3.7 million in “community support” donations, which LRHSD Superintendent Dr. Carol Birnbohm, through the press release, said “helped make it possible for us to bridge the gap to improve athletic facilities, purchase new equipment and support innovative programs to benefit our students.”

Nevertheless, Stow maintained, S-2 “majorly impacts” the LRHSD with the reductions in aid through the 2024-25 school year. The district, also as a result of the circumstances, is not adding any new regular education programs, or regular positions, Stow added.

“Take it for what you want, the wolf is here and it is not going to be pretty this year, and it is going to be downright ugly next year,” Stow declared.

Page 14 ♦

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READER ADVISORY Reader Advisory: The National Trade Association we belong to has purchased the above classifieds with an asterisk. Determining the value of their service or product is advised by this publication. In order to avoid misunderstandings, some advertisers do not offer employment but rather supply the readers with manuals, directories and other materials designed to help their clients establish mail order selling and other businesses at home.

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♦ Page 15

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Philippians 4:8 NIV Photo Provided

Richard J. Meder, shakes the hands of a police officer on June 24 during his “final radio sign-off,” a police tradition to honor retiring officers.

RETIREMENT (Continued from Page 1)

kid, he had his mother “chase police cars” so that he could “find out what was going on.”

Upon graduating high school, he majored in financing “thinking that money was the end all, be all,” but was “redirected” to what he really wanted to do, which was “to help people and do law enforcement.”

Upon his graduation from the police academy, he was assigned to the department’s Patrol Bureau until being transferred to the Criminal Investigative Bureau as a detective in 1998.

“While in the Detective Bureau, I was learning how to be an investigator, how to talk to people, and how to interview people,” Meder said. “That is really where I made my bones, as it is what I love to do.”

In 2004, Meder was assigned as a corporal in the Patrol Bureau, and later that year, he was promoted to the rank of sergeant. He continued supervising in the patrol bureau until 2005, when he was transferred back to the Criminal Investigative Bureau as detective sergeant.

There he supervised both the department’s Detective Unit and the School Resource Unit.

In 2008, Meder was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and assigned as the commander of the Criminal Investigative Bureau.

In May 2011, Meder was sworn in as Medford’s chief of police, occurring at a moment that he described as a “very, very difficult time for our municipality and community” due to a financial crisis in the municipal government that necessitated cutbacks and layoffs.

“I saw it as a challenge,” said Meder of why he took the chief of police post at the time. “I don’t know that I completely understood, or really knew, the challenges that lay ahead, but nevertheless I took those challenges head on and couldn’t have done it, and gotten us to where we are today, without the people who have supported me.”

Meder, also the township’s deputy emergency management coordinator since 2018, maintained that he is aware that he was not always “easy to work with,” but his command staff always “supported me in my endeavors” because they knew he “wanted to make this town and our police department better.”

“At the end of the day, they always ask you what you want your legacy to be when you leave the law enforcement profession, and at the end of this day, I want people to think that I did a good job, that I treated people fairly, treated people well and represented this badge and uniform with integrity,”

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Meder declared.

18 Mill St. Meder, who was honored with various visit medfordumc.org Vincentown, NJ 08088 plaques from department leaders and the for more details. follow us on township Office of Emergency Management, Worship: Sundays 10 a.m. and also received afacebook.com/MedfordUMC law enforcement 609-859-2299 memorabilia display box from Medford Council with his earned badges and patches, along with baseball cards bearing his name and titles, turned to the men and women of 2 Hartford Road | Medford NJ 08055 medfordumc.org | 609/654-8111 the department, who were standing behind info@medfordumc.org him on council’s dais and asserted that “to stand up here as your leader, as your representative, means the world to me.”

“I cannot be more proud to wear this uniform with you guys and gals,” Meder added. “I have given this town everything I had. They say you know when it is time, and it is time. It is bittersweet. But I know that I Subscription Order Form leave the department in good hands. I know Mail To: P.O.Box 2402 Vincentown, NJ 08088 I leave the men and women of this agency ready, and resolute in what their mission is Sign Up for 13 Weeks of the Name:_________________________ even in today’s trying society. I know they Pine Barrens Tribune at $2 6 are up to that challenge.”

Address:_______________________ The outgoing chief also recognized Sign Up for 26 Weeks of the his family for their support over his law Pine Barrens Tribune at $52 City:__________________________ enforcement career, noting that “there were times where I came home and they Sign Up for 52 Weeks of the State:_________ Zip____________ didn’t want to listen to what I had to say” Pine Barrens Tribune at $10 4 and “being the children of a police officer is Email: _________________________ ———— C r e d i t C a r d ———— difficult, and it is even more difficult being the children of a police chief,” but that “they Name:_____________________________ Phone:_______________________ always knew where I was coming from” Card #:____________________________ when he asked them to do things and not do Check: $ ____________ (Enclosed) things, contending “it wasn’t always easy.”

Exp. Date__/__ Security Code_________ “Personally, from the time that I started Depending on your location, you will either be signed up Money Order: $ ______ (Enclosed) as mayor, you were always available for a for home delivery of the newspaper or a mail subscription. phone call,” Watson noted. “You called me when you thought there was something you thought I needed to know, and I really appreciated that. I think we all have e e ph appreciated everything you have done for us. lif tro S! a atas TE c g U l n Good luck. We will have good memories of vi n t i a IN Sa ot e 0 M p 1 you, and I hope you will have good memories a Y m o ER fr of Medford.”

EV Serving as acting police chief is Arthur Waterman, who most recently served but I’m never alone. I have Life Alert. a s c om m a nder of Me d ford Pol ic e’s Administrative Bureau and is a longtime spokesperson for the department. Waterman told this newspaper on June 28 that he will Fall Emergency Fire Emergency Home Invasion be sworn in as the township’s new police chief on July 1. He previously held the rank One touch of a button sends help fast, 24/7, of lieutenant in the department. even when you can’t reach a phone for: During the June 15 council meeting, E! E • medical • fall • fire • invasion R F IPPING Meder told those in attendance that, “I leave SH • CO gas emergencies.

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Saturday, July 3, 2021

Primary Care for Your Entire Family NOW IN BROWNS MILLS Whether you’re scheduling a wellness check-up or you’re not feeling well, advanced medicine starts with your primary care doctor. Now you can schedule an appointment with DR. EDDIE AKROUT, a board certified family medicine physician, in our new office at Capital Health Primary Care – Browns Mills.

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