Pine Barrens Tribune March 25, 2023 - March 31, 2023

By Douglas D. M elegari

Staff Writer

PEMBERTON—A cannabis cultivation

firm’s proposed plan to relocate its operations from a 30,000 square-foot facility in urban Irvington, Essex County to a more “environmentally friendly” 17-acre soybean tract on North Pemberton Road in Pemberton Township and construct a “beautiful campus” known as “Pemberton Farm” that would include erecting a 40,000 square-foot red barn, with a pitch to hire “local talent with deep AG experience” has incensed a group of local farmers who have responded publicly by calling the operation “fake farming,” and the prospective end result a “fake farm.”

FARMING’?

to Dispense with ‘Dispensary’ in Signs for Establishments Selling Recreational Cannabis Prohibition on Word Proposed in Amended Sign Ordinance; Mayor Asks Attorney if Council Required to Take Ethics Training

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

EVESHAM—A proposed ordinance that would dispense with the use of the word “dispensary” in signs for recreational cannabis businesses in Evesham Township was unanimously moved forward on first reading at a March 8 Township Council meeting.

See DISPENSARY/ Page 9

The indignant group of farmers were joined by other community stakeholders and residents who bombarded Pemberton Township Council and the cannabis “entrepreneurs” during a March 15 meeting with critical questions about the proposal, with a session of the governing body for the second time in a month lasting for some four hours, primarily over the prospect of a cannabis operation seeking local support to come to town.

And just like the initial session over a separate, unrelated cannabis retailer application, this one involving a “request to open up a cultivation facility at 195 North Pemberton Road” led to times of lost decorum.

“This is an abomination that you are even entertaining this because at the last meeting all the people were against this!” declared Resident Michelle Forman.

But unlike the retail proposal for the former Jamison’s Bar and Grill on Fort Dix Road that received 3-2 support earlier this month, with the Democrats on council backing it without much hesitancy, at least one of the Democratic members this time around expressed some reluctance in giving support in the near-term for the cultivation facility, citing what he saw as unsatisfactory answers to at least some of the questions that were asked and lack of preparedness by the applicant.

Evesham Councilwoman Heather Cooper to Face Ex-Freeholder Tiver in Race to Replace Stanfield

Democratic Champion for Disabled, GOP Labor Activist to Contend for Open 8th District State Senate Seat

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

MOUNT HOLLY—The race for control of the 8th Legislative District in next November’s election is on, with Burlington and Atlantic County Democrats having selected Evesham Councilwoman and exDeputy Mayor Heather Cooper to run for the open Senate seat currently occupied by Republican Jean Stanfield, a former

/ Page 5

Photo Provided

A rendering of a cannabis cultivation operation planned for North Pemberton Road in Pemberton Township.

Washington’s Send/Receive School District, Once Having Enjoyed Surplus, Formally Declares a ‘Financial Crisis’ As It Faces Shortfall Exceeding $900K New Special Ed Pupils Requiring Out-of-District Placements at ‘Very High’ Costs, Rising Transportation Costs, Cumulative $1.8M in Aid Cuts Cause ‘Perfect Storm’

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

WASHINGTON—When the Washington Township School District became a send/ receive school district during the 2016-17 school year and later sold its shuttered, relatively-new Green Bank Elementary School building, there were discussions that a “huge surplus” would be presented to township taxpayers with per pupil costs projected to decrease from approximately $33,000 to $13,000, in addition to what was described as an additional savings that would come from both the sale of the school and the district essentially becoming nonoperational.

Local officials even discussed using that surplus money to give substantial tax breaks to residents.

But now, some six years later, a “perfect storm” of increased student enrollment, required out-of-district special education placements and nearly $1.8 million in “cumulative” state aid cuts has reportedly all come together resulting in an officiallydeclared “financial crisis” in which the Washington district in the far southeastern corner of Burlington County, which currently sends its students to both the Mullica Township and Greater Egg Harbor Regional districts, is facing a “financial shortfall” in its 2023-24 school year budget of a whopping $976,770.

It was a revelation made by Washington district Business Administrator Karen Gfroehrer in a rare public appearance before the Washington Township Committee during a March 7 session that appeared to downright stun Washington Mayor Daniel James, as well as seemingly left the whole three-person township committee both astonished and concerned.

A second revelation from Gfroehrer that the Washington district is currently slated to raise local school taxes to meet both increased costs and “unfunded mandates” from the state by $206.96 per every $100,000 assessed value and that the township is “still at that deficit of $900,000” after doing that also appeared to roil the meeting.

“So, you are looking at raising the tax rate by $1,800 a property?” asked a seemingly taken aback James, to which Gfroehrer replied that the Washington mayor’s estimate would “roughly” be the impact, though it would “depend on what the property is assessed at.”

“Even with raising taxes that high, we are still at that deficit of $900,000,” the business administrator declared.

The proposed 2023-24 school year budget, as currently written, according to Gfroehrer, raises the tax levy by $162,979, which causes there to be an increase of $206.96 per every $100,000 assessed value, with her noting that currently the Washington district cannot go even higher because of a state-mandated two percent cap that is in place, and the figures include “a two percent tax levy increase and the use of all banked cap.”

However, Gfroehrer, in response to a later question from this newspaper of what the taxpayers would have to pay if the district was somehow able to raise taxes above the cap and were forced to cover the entire shortfall, responded, “ if the board were able to raise taxes to meet the shortfall, the increase would add an additional $976,770 to the tax levy” and “this would result in a total tax increase of $1,226.90 per every $100,000 assessed value.”

Gfroehrer, during the March 7 committee meeting, said she has brought the shortfall to the attention of the county, the executive

county superintendent (a New Jersey Department of Education [NJDOE] employee) as well as to the NJDOE central offices, and the NJDOE’s suggestion is to “take out a loan,” which, she asserted as a person who manages money for a living, “to me doesn’t make any sense because next year I am in the same boat anyhow.”

James at one point told the district business administrator, who is also in that position for the Mullica district, “we are trying to find out where to find the money because we don’t have an idea,” noting that Washington Township municipal government has also seen reduced funding from the state over the last several years.

Charlene Lee, president of the Washington Township Board of Education, who accompanied Gfroehrer to the township committee meeting, responded that the pair is “not asking” the township for money, but rather “we are looking for ideas because this is going to be a problem that is not going to go away this year” and is “only going to be a continuing problem.”

“And that kind of money will bankrupt the township,” Lee declared.

Gfroehrer, in advising the mayor that the Washington district is some “$900,000 short,” explained that “the state has consistently cut aid” to the school district since the 2016-17 school year “and cumulatively, when you keep adding the numbers together, it is well over $1 million in aid cuts,” or what has amounted to $1,813,484 in lost funding.

The district business administrator, however, recognized that “when the school closed, we had additional funds,” which prompted James to inquire, “Can you put that towards it?”, apparently oblivious to the fact that the surplus from the transition to a send/receive district had dried up.

“It’s gone,” said Gfroehrer, a revelation that particularly seemed to astonish the Washington mayor.

Gfroehrer explained that one of the reasons the money is now gone is that the Washington district has had to raise its money to a “minimum tax levy” set by the state.

“I thought when you closed the school, there would be a large surplus, and that is because you were going from $33,000 per student to $13,000?” the mayor asked Gfroehrer, to which she responded, “Correct.”

As he attempted to grapple with the apparently shocking revelation, James asked of the pair of school officials, “How come nobody said, until right now, anything?”

“I asked every time we got together, how we can put it (the surplus) back to the citizens or to … , ” the mayor asserted.

Lee responded that “we were trying to give back to the citizens” of the township, “but since we have students now coming into the district, tuition costs are going up and transportation costs are increasing.”

“We have been slowly working at that (surplus),” Lee declared. “We didn’t have to raise taxes, but now we have had excess students move in, which is setting us over. It’s like a perfect storm.”

The district business administrator followed up on that point made by her counterpart by remarking, “Honestly that is why we can’t give back to the taxpayer, but we have been at the minimum tax levy, so we are looking at a big tax increase this year.”

“I guess you are!” James retorted.

As it was explained to the Washington committee during its March 7 session, a major driver for the increased costs is a few

Tabernacle Fire, Citing Waning Volunteerism, Asks Township Committee to Fund Daytime Program for Firefighting Once Federal Funding Expires Department Requests Town Employ Handful of Firefighters During Weekdays for $104,000 Annually Versus Transitioning to Career Firefighting Department

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

TABERNACLE—The Tabernacle Township

Fire Department has requested of the Tabernacle Township Committee that it takeover a currently federally-funded program late this year when the funding is due to expire that enables the fire department to employ a handful of certified firefighters on Monday through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., citing a worsening shortage of volunteers during the daytime hours, which it claims accounts for some 60 percent of all fire calls.

It was explained by Deputy Fire Chief John Gajderowicz during a March 13 workshop meeting of the township committee that back in November 2021, the fire department received a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to employ four firefighters during the daytime of each weekday at a cost of $98 per firefighter, per day.

The grant, he said, will expire in November of this year, however. While the fire department intends to “put in” to receive another round of federal funding to support the program, Gajderowicz maintained that after holding discussions with a grant writer, it appears that receiving an award in this upcoming grant cycle is unlikely as the department “can’t lie” on an application and will have to check off a box on it that asks if the applicant was a previous awardee, which, he contended, “puts us at the bottom of the list” of a “very competitive” grant.

“And unfortunately, we are not the only ones hurting for firefighters,” he declared, maintaining the number of firefighters, nationwide, is down by 20 percent in the latest statistics.

That national trend, he further asserted,

“doesn’t stop with Tabernacle,” and while the department continues to “actively seek” members, “it is just not what it used to be – we are just not getting them.”

“One of the biggest reasons,” Gajderowicz said, this program is “needed” and must be continued is that there is a “lack of volunteers during the week,” particularly “during the daytime because people work.”

He maintained that of the local crew of firefighters, “more than 90 percent have either school or work during the daytime,” and therefore, without having paid firefighters in place during the daytime, the fire department “doesn’t have the manpower around” to meet state and federal operating requirements, including those from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

Gajderowicz, in light of the circumstances, requested March 13 the Tabernacle committee fund three certified firefighters from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at a cost of $104,000 annually, beginning in December 2023.

“Having them in the station helps on multiple fronts,” Gajderowicz maintained. “It helps with insurance (obligations), response times and helping people in need.”

Currently, with the program in place, the fire department’s daytime response time is “under a minute,” or averaging around 56 seconds, while in the evening, when volunteers take over, the response time is “averaging five minutes and 12 seconds.”

Gajderowicz pointed out that last year was a “very busy year” with the department responding to 371 calls and providing 194 mutual

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Measures Being Drafted to Further Protect Log Cabins from Demolitions, Make Property Owners Responsible for Sidewalks in Medford Lakes Boro Former Borough Councilman Questions Virtual Attendance of Councilwoman, Demands Meeting Minutes Be Posted, ‘All’ Department Reports Be Provided

By Douglas D. M elegari Staff Writer MEDFORD LAKES—Officials

in Medford Lakes Borough, with an aim to conduct “preservation” of log cabins in its Historic District, are looking to require more than simply expert word that one is beyond repair or that it would be cost prohibitive to repair one before it can be demoed, and are also looking to pass on maintenance of any sidewalks in the borough onto adjacent property owners.

Borough Solicitor Doug Heinold revealed these intentions during a March 8 Medford Lakes Borough Council meeting, and while proceeding with drafting the sidewalk law, asked the governing body if he had its consent to also move ahead with working to amend “our existing demo ordinance,” to which he received no objections.

According to the solicitor, the issue of demoing log cabins had been raised at a recent Borough Planning Board meeting and the issue of home demolitions in general has become a “hot button” issue in Burlington County with a “a couple issues” occurring, though he didn’t expand on what those issues entail.

“I am not sure why all sudden it is a hot button issue, but it is,” declared Heinold, in asking the council to for permission to work with the borough planner to develop amendments to the municipality’s existing demo ordinance.

Borough Clerk Mark J. McIntosh later explained to this newspaper that the planning board recently heard an application to demolish a log cabin in the municipality’s Historic District at 140 Chippewa Trail and that it is “one of our original cabins,” with part of it having been built back in 1929.

The application, he said, “kind of caused concern with the planning board” because the “planning board felt the current ordinance doesn’t support the kind of questions they wanted to have answered,” and that despite the applicant’s professionals having “provided answers to the board,” the body “felt the historic ordinance should be reviewed by the governing body and beefed up a little bit more.”

“Yes, the applicant’s professionals made a case for it, and since their engineer met the requirements of the current ordinance in his review of the property, they didn’t really have a choice but to allow it to come down,” replied McIntosh when this newspaper asked if the log cabin’s demolition had been approved by the planning board, with the borough clerk adding that in this particular instance, the log cabin being torn down will be replaced

with a new one.

The borough clerk explained that “anything within the Historic District, you can’t do without planning board approval,” and described it as being a “very obscure” geographic boundary, but including the Lower Aetna and Upper Aetna portions of the borough, as well as by the municipal building and Nokomis Elementary School.

The intent behind any amended ordinance, the solicitor explained, would be to address the “concerns” of the planning board that “we are making sure we are doing everything that we can so someone couldn’t just come in and demo a current log structure.”

Heinold maintained that by going to a planner to “get advice,” it would be the “best way to craft the best preservation approach ordinance to prevent demolitions.”

“At end of the day, if a property is beyond repair and that can be established with engineer reports, and it is private property, there is only so much that can be done,” Heinold declared. “But certain measures are lawful and need to be explored to meet the concerns being raised by the board.”

Deputy Mayor William Fields revealed that with the “way our ordinance is written, it just says you need an engineer to state that (or that a structure is beyond repair and/or fixing it up is cost prohibitive) as opposed to providing figures showing that.”

He agreed that requirements “in excess” of the borough’s current ordinance need to be considered, or “something a little more than just a letter” that would perhaps require a property owner to at least provide the borough with “actual concrete figures.”

“At end of the day, the planning board has to make a decision to tear down an existing log cabin to make those repairs,” he maintained.

While the borough “doesn’t have a lot of sidewalks,” said Heinold in discussing the second ordinance officials are looking to draft, “which is probably why there was not extensive regulation on it,” the solicitor maintained “there does need to be some provisions put on the books.”

Heinold explained that the intent behind the proposed law is “we handle the curbing” while “abutting property owners are responsible for everything to that.”

It was felt that curbing should be excluded from being a homeowner’s responsibility, he added, because “most of the curbing around town actually was put in place by us and a lot has to do with stormwater management in trying to direct water to drains” and that it is motorists that are hitting them and creating damage.

State Earmarks 250 Acres of Bass River Township for Spraying with Nontoxic Biological Pesticide for Gypsy Moth Infestation

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

BASS RIVER—Some 205 acres of Bass River Township are due to be sprayed for gypsy moths by the State of New Jersey on a schedule yet to be determined, it was announced at the March 6 meeting of the township Board of Commissioners.

The area designated for the aerial spraying, which is largely municipally owned and was based on the results of a survey of egg mass counts, includes some 41 acres off Leektown Road at the Chatsworth Road intersection, 64 acres off West Road, 36 acres off Golddecker and Chips Folly roads, 56 acres off Allen Road at the Stage Road intersection and another 39 acres further down Allen Road.

Mayor Deborah Buzby-Cope, responding to a question, noted that the spray used in the program (Bacillus thuringiensis, or B.t., a biological pesticide that is lethal to the

caterpillar when ingested), does nothing to eradicate lantern flies, an invasive species that residents have been asked to kill on sight “even though they’re beautiful.”

An Internet post by the Minnesota Department of Health reports that B.t. is non-toxic to humans but advises anyone concerned about its effect on a health condition to stay indoors during application.

In other business, the board adopted two ordinances updating the rules governing the transfer of property titles to put them in compliance with state mandates.

The two property sale ordinances that were adopted call for code inspection of the premises involved for fire and CO2 detectors and the proper numbering of homes to enable fire and emergency crews to immediately identify the properties to which they’re responding – including “knockdowns” that are vacant but where a fire might endanger neighboring structures.

McCooley’s Contract as Pinelands Superintendent Is Renegotiated After She Resigns from Shared-Service Role with Little Egg District Board Submitted Tentative Budget of $42,149,346, Calling for Small Tax Hike

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

LITTLE EGG HARBOR—The Pinelands Regional Board of Education has tentatively voted to renegotiate Dr. Melissa A. McCooley’s contract as superintendent of schools for the Pinelands Regional School District, with her tenure extended for another five-year period, based on her having submitted her resignation as superintendent for the Little Egg Harbor (LEH) School District, a post she currently occupies under a shared services agreement.

This renegotiation will now make her a full-time employee of the Pinelands Regional district beginning with the upcoming 202324 school year, the superintendent later confirmed to this newspaper.

The Pinelands board, at its March 20 meeting, also was presented with a $42,149,346 budget (including special revenues and debt service) by Business Administrator Amanda Miller for the 2022-23 school year, some $24,521,016 of which is scheduled to be raised through property taxes in the fourmunicipality district. A year ago, the amount to be raised in local taxes was slightly less at $24,091,900 on a total budget figure of $41,432,836.

McCooley’s new contract, which is scheduled to commence, on or about July 1 of this year, provided she is granted early release from her 180-day resignation obligation from the LEH district, will involve a $10,000 cut in salary from what she presently earns working

McCooley

for both districts, bringing her total salary to $180,000 a year. Her previous shared service contract was scheduled to run through June 30, 2026.

In her resignation letter to the LEH district staff following the meeting, a copy of which was obtained by this newspaper, McCooley wrote that “It is with a heavy heart that I am

See McCOOLEY/ Page 7

COOPER

assemblywoman and longtime Burlington County sheriff who has announced plans to retire from politics at the end of this year. Cooper, who is also Burlington County Democratic Committee vice chair, will likely be facing former Burlington County freeholder and labor leader Latham Tiver, who is Stanfield’s choice as her successor and has already received the endorsement of the Burlington County Republican Committee.

The Democratic party also nominated education advocate Andrea Katz and Hammonton High School teacher Anthony Angelozzi for the district’s two Assembly seats that are currently occupied by Republicans Michael Torrissi, Jr. and Brandon Umba.

Cooper, according to a press release emailed to the Pine Barrens Tribune by Democratic political strategist Michael Muller, “brings more than 30 years of experience working in the human services on behalf of special needs families and people with disabilities” and is “committed to building a transparent and inclusive government, restoring fiscal stability, and keeping the community safe and affordable.”

During her tenure in Evesham, the release notes, the township had no tax increases, its crime rate decreased by 28 percent, it received millions in new grant funding to improve infrastructure, and services to veterans, seniors and people with disabilities were expanded.

“As a lifelong resident of Burlington County, I know the challenges that we are facing with the growing affordability crisis in our communities,” Cooper is quoted as saying. “Our local businesses need our support, our working people need jobs that enable them to support their families, and everyone needs leadership that is engaged within the community and willing to take action. I am a visible, active partner to the people of Evesham, who I serve and advocate for now, and I look forward to bringing that same accessibility and commitment to delivering results to the entire district at the state level.”

Katz, it notes, is a mother of three who

has established herself as an advocate for underfunded public schools who “took on corporate interests to protect our environment and will be a voice for mental healthcare services.”

Angelozzi, who is president of the Hammonton Education Association, according to the release, “understands firsthand the challenges that our children face and has a unique perspective regarding the tools students need to succeed, and “will be a strong voice for our children” who in order to flourish, “need to grow up in a thriving local economy where people aren’t just struggling to get by.”

Prior to the announcement from the Democrats, the Burlington County GOP announced that Torrissi, who founded a transportation company in New Jersey that has expanded throughout the east coast and is a former councilman of Hammonton, as well as Umba, a volunteer firefighter and township manager, “will once again team up to run for the state Assembly,” part of a team headed-up by Tiver at the top of the ticket that will “continue to fight in Trenton for the overburdened and overregulated families and businesses of New Jersey.”

“Burlington County Republicans are ready to do our part in taking back the state Senate and General Assembly,” said Burlington County Republican Committee Chairman Sean Earlen in a pronouncement.

Tiver, an official of International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825 and also a former township committeeman

in Southampton, when contacted by this newspaper for comment on Cooper’s entry into the race, responded by issuing the following statement:

“Trenton Democrats see New Jerseyans as their personal piggy bank to fund their pet projects and patronage jobs while they increase energy costs and limit parental choice. This November, voters will have a clear choice. They could accept more of the same or send me to Trenton to be a checkand-balance on the Democrats’ runaway abuse of power. I look forward to speaking about those differences on the campaign trail and earning the support of my friends and neighbors.”

File Photo

Former Burlington County freeholder and labor leader Latham Tiver, a Republican who is running for an open 8th District Senate seat.

File Photo

Democratic Evesham Councilwoman and ex-Deputy Mayor Heather Cooper, who is running for an open 8th District Senate seat.

APRIL

April 1

Events and special promotions happening locally this month!

Children’s Easter Egg Hunt

Location: Medford Township

Details: Medford-Vincentown Rotary Club and the Shawnee and Seneca High School’s Interact Clubs are hosting a Children’s Easter Egg Hunt, on Sat., Apr. 1, at 11 a.m. sharp (rain date Apr. 8), at Freedom Park in Medford. Come out for the festivities! (Advertiser’s note: The Sunrise Rotary Club Calendar printed the date of this event as Apr. 8 in error. The correct date is Apr. 1).

April 1

Train Rides Through the Woods of New Gretna

Location: Bass River Township

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

April 3

The Merchant Marine in World War ll

Location: Vincentown (Southampton Township)

Details: The Southampton Historical Society will present a program, “The Merchant Marine in World War ll” at Old Town Hall, 25 Plum St., Vincentown, at 7:30 p.m. Without the U.S. Merchant Marines transporting vital supplies to the troops, the mighty Allied war machine would have come to a screeching halt. Despite cargo ships being sunk at an alarming rate by U-boats and bomber planes, patriotic Americans sailed into harm’s way to “Deliver the Goods.” Joe Wilson, whose father served aboard the famed “Liberty Ships” during WW ll, will explain the importance of these ships and the dedicated and vulnerable Merchant Marines who served on them. This program is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Kathy Rosmando at 609-859-0524.

April 16

Details: The Jersey Shore Comic Book Show will be held Sunday, Apr. 16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Elks Lodge, 600 Washington St., Toms River. Admission is $5; Children under 12 admission is free. For more information, call 609-242-7756..

April 18

Details: The Pinelands Young at Heart Senior Club is sponsoring monthly casino trips to Atlantic City Resorts on the third Tuesday of each month. The price is $35, with $20 back to play at the casinos. The first pick-up is at 8:30 a.m., at the Lumberton Plaza, TD Bank parking lot. The second pick-up is at 9 a.m., at the Old Squad Building on Hawkins Rd. in Tabernacle. Enjoy drawings and Bingo games on the trip. Snacks and water are included. For more information, call JoAnn at 609-268-8951.

April 30

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

Trip to Casino Resorts

Location: Lumberton/Tabernacle (pick-up locations)

Jersey Shore Comic Book Show

Location: Toms River

Celebrate the Caribbean

Location: Browns Mills

Details: Come out for an afternoon of music, food and fun with a Caribbean theme. Global Health Share is holding a fundraiser on Sunday, Apr. 30, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., at BMIA Building, 40 Arbutus St., Browns Mills. The event features the sounds of JR’s Caribbean Steel Drum Band, dance lessons by Basic Steps Ballet, a drum circle, basket auction and Caribbean food for purchase. The cost is $15 (in advance) for adults or $20 at the door; for children 12-18, $10 (in advance) or $15 at the door; Children under 12, free; for seniors 62+ and military, the cost is $10 (in advance) or $15 at the door. Advance tickets may be purchased on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon at Basic Steps Ballet, located in St. Ann’s Church, 22 Trenton Rd., Browns Mills. For more information, visit https://globalhealthsharecharity.org/ index.php/events/ .

Evesham Police Chief Announces His Department Seeking Advice from Community in Formulating Its Strategic Plan Number of Female Officers on Force Now Exceeds That of Other Area Towns

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

EVESHAM—Evesham Township Police

Chief Walt Miller has announced that his department is seeking advice and assistance from the public in formulating its upcoming strategic plan, rather than simply drafting it internally as it has up to now.

The department, Miller told those in attendance at the March 20 township council meeting, will be conceiving its latest such plan “a little differently than before” by “opening it up” and “bringing stakeholders into the process.” To this end, he said, a Strategic Planning Committee was being formed, consisting of about 30 residents who represent a cross-section of the community.

“We’re going to do some surveys with them to determine what it is they’re looking for from the police department, what their vision of (its) future is. After that, we’re going to bring the public in as well, review everything with them and get their view,” Miller said. The chief further noted that there are now 14 female officers on the Evesham police force, which he claimed was a larger number than any other department in the area, as well as seven women working in civilian capacities.

“I do think we’re a stronger department because of that diversity,” he added.

Miller also announced that his department,

in coordination with Evesham firefighters, would be conducting a home safety event May 16 at the Gibson House, beginning at 6 p.m., which would cover such topics as natural disasters, crime, and fire prevention, and that free security light bulbs provided by PSE&G would be given out to attendees.

Finally, apparently responding to concerns previously raised by a resident about townships officials failing to publicly condemn acts of violence in the community, Miller explained the limitations imposed on his department when it comes to issuing comments or information about crimes.

Those involving homicide, child exploitation, or the use of force resulting in bodily injury or death, he noted, are not matters his department is free to comment on, but rather, by dint of executive order from the governor, must be addressed in press releases issued by the county prosecutor.

“So, it does put me in a bind as to what I can and can’t say to the public,” the chief contended. “We have to be very careful with what information we put out that relates to evidence, including motive, that can be an important part of a criminal prosecution.”

Miller also noted that while his department maintains “an active presence on Facebook, any postings related to those three types of offenses “is going to be vetted by the prosecutor to make sure it doesn’t cause any external issues.”

(Continued from Page 4)

conveying this message to you.”

“This evening, I was approved as the sole superintendent of the Pinelands Regional School District,” she continued. “Therefore, I will be resigning from my employment with the Little Egg Harbor School District effective on or about June 30, 2023. Throughout the time spent in LEH, I have prided myself in always supporting staff with empathy and praise. I wholeheartedly believe this is the manner in which everyone should be treated … all the way up to the superintendency.

“I cannot thank you enough for all your hard work and dedication to our wonderful school district,” the letter concludes. “You will be greatly missed; however, I will be a short drive away at Pinelands.”

McCooley, who has been Pinelands Regional’s superintendent through the shared service since 2018 and whose tenure has not been without controversy, has reportedly had some policy disagreements with LEH board members who were chosen in the last election. However, her actions as Pinelands superintendent have been warmly praised in recent months by some of the current members of that district’s board.

A veteran educator, she was initially hired in July 2018 to take over the reins at Pinelands, from which she herself graduated in 1994. In addition to a doctorate in educational leadership, she holds bachelors’ degrees in

psychology and elementary education, as well as a masters’ degrees in curriculum, instruction and administration.

The tentative regional allocation breakdown for the four communities in the Pinelands district is Bass River Township, 5.14 percent; Eagleswood Township, 6.12 percent; Little Egg Harbor Township, 75.56 percent, and Tuckerton Borough, 13.18 percent.

Miller said that the district has also “fared rather well” in state aid compared to other districts in the county, expecting to receive a $10,000 net increase despite many of its “choice students” having graduated.

A breakdown of district expenditures showed that salaries accounted for 56 percent, benefits 20 percent, transportation eight percent, district expenses, including insurance and professional fees, seven percent, tuition and curriculum three percent each, and other expenses five percent.

A more formal presentation and public hearing on the budget is scheduled for the next board meeting.

In other business, Football Coach John Tierney was named teacher of the year at Pinelands Regional High School, and Employment Specialist Amanda Feldman, who runs an annual job fair, service professional of the year. Samantha Palmer and Anthony Allocca were both named Pinelands Junior High teachers of the year, and Patricia Rider its service provider of the year.

CRISIS

(Continued from Page 2)

new students that “have IEPs that require certain services,” in which they are being sent out-of-district to receive them. The parents, under state law, can reportedly dictate to a school district where their child(ren) can be sent to receive those necessary services.

“If a parent decides a course of action, we have to go with that,” Lee said. “We don’t have a say. If a child decides to go to Y.A.L.E School, we have to pay for Y.A.L.E School (which has campuses in Marlton, Cherry Hill and Northfield).”

While the school officials said that under the law they could not publicly reveal where district students have been placed outside the district, the options selected by affected parents have turned out to reportedly result in “tuition that is very costly” to the Washington district.

When pressed by members of the Washington committee for specifics, Gfroehrer responded that she “can’t get into specifics,” but revealed that the Washington district “received two new special education students this year” and that it “anticipates another next year,” and that one student’s tuition is $160,000, while another is $300,000, and a third is costing the district $100,000. The tuitions of $160,000 and $300,000 include transportation, according to the district business administrator.

Meanwhile, she noted, when the Green Bank Elementary School was closed, the township was receiving $600,000 annually in state aid, but “this year it is down $145,000,” or what James recognized to be a situation where the Washington district is “progressively losing 30 to 40 percent a year.” Its last $220,164 in fund balance went to reportedly support the proposed budget for the upcoming 2023-24 school year, according to Washington school district officials.

“The bottom line is that the state requires things of us to do and is not funding us,” Gfroehrer declared. “They put unfunded mandates on the district that are very costly.”

The Washington Township Board of Education has since declared by a March 13 resolution a “financial crisis” and “accordingly advises the New Jersey Commissioner of Education that as a Pinelands community which has limited resources available to it that it has no options and/or alternatives available to it other than to request additional funding in the total amount of $976,770 as relief from the state in order to balance the 2023-24 school year budget without exception.”

Failing to close the gap, the resolution warned, will have a “ripple effect” and lead to both “strain” and “undue hardship” on the Mullica and Greater Egg Harbor districts’ “budget efforts.”

The Washington school board, Gfroehrer noted, is having another meeting to discuss the crisis at 6 p.m. on March 29 at the Washington Municipal Building where she said 8th District (now encompassing Washington after being in the 9th District for a decade) Assemblyman Brandon Umba is scheduled to attend.

Since the aforementioned March 7 and March 13 meetings, in the wake of statewide public backlash to the funding cuts amid rising costs being seen in the state’s suburban districts, on March 17, Democratic Governor Phil Murphy announced that “a bill in partnership with the Legislature” has been crafted “to offer additional funding to school districts that will see a reduction in school aid from the state in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget as a result of the S-2 funding formula,” maintaining it will “make over $100 million available to eligible districts.”

It was really the first time the governor has acknowledged the revised school funding formula, implemented in 2018, actually cuts funding to some school districts in the state, having previously maintained he is “fairly funding” school districts.

In the last paragraph of an accompanying press release, it was explained that the new bill (S-3732) allows school districts that will see a reduction in school aid in the Fiscal Year 2024 state budget to “request an additional amount of aid equal to 66 percent of the difference between the amount they received in the 2022-2023 school year and the amount of aid currently proposed for the 2023-2024 school year.”

“All eligible districts that submit a request to the Commissioner of Education will receive this additional funding, and must include a written plan indicating how they intend to fund operations in future years when this aid is no longer available,” it is added.

Gfroehrer said as a result of that legislation, the Washington district is “receiving” just over $36,000 in additional state aid.

“It will help, but it won’t alleviate the shortfall,” she declared, noting that as of now, excluding any additional funding, for the 2023-24 budget, the Washington district has accounted for $1,402,760 in revenue, another $130,626 in preschool funding, while it’s appropriation is $2,379,530. The current 2022-23 school year budget is $2,031,629.

“I don’t know … we’ll have to discuss it and see what we do,” James told the school officials, noting that he might try to ring the phones of high level state officials who contacted the township amid emergencies such as a large wildfire last year. “As of right now, it is going to have an impact as much as we are trying. … We will do what we can, but they are cutting everybody’s budget, including ours, and I don’t know what they (the state) are doing with the money because they are not paying anybody’s bills.”

(Continued from Page 4)

As for a “sidewalk maintenance ordinance,” Heinold maintained that one would not require a “whole lot of policy decision making” because it is “sort of a technical coverage” type of thing, or simply to have “something on the books to cover these things.”

Following the discussion of the ordinances in the works, Mayor Dr. Gary Miller announced his support of proposed state legislation that would “ban disposable wipes in New Jersey,” maintaining that he would “do what I can to support this bill,” even offering to testify before state Assembly and Senate committees in favor of the drafted bill.

The borough has a wastewater system that has been clogged at times by homeowners flushing such wipes, according to the mayor, and he contended that despite those wipes being advertised as “disposable,” they are actually “not disposable” and “not biodegradable.”

“We are not the only municipality with this dilemma,” Miller asserted. “And it is costing taxpayers quite a bit of money.”

The mayor, however, recognized that moving to ban disposable wipes in the state “faces an uphill battle,” but that is why such a thing “could use support.”

Resident Joseph A. Aromando III dominated both public comment sections of the March 8 council meeting, using an initial section to take a swipe at Councilwoman Gail Caputo for her attending the session via a virtual platform. Aromando declared that “elected officials are basically here to be in person” and asked, “Why is it that we can’t have everyone show up?”

Aromando, a former borough councilman who has run in every governing body election since his 2002 defeat, was then asked to “have a seat” by several councilmen with his first name called out several times after

having quipped, “Can the council lady … is it International Women’s Day, a special celebration?”

The former borough councilman, who returned to the microphone at the end of the session, called it “tragic” that the borough was still not requiring its department heads to turn in monthly reports as is required under borough code, after his putting the problem on the record on numerous other occasions.

“Not all of them are being given,” he contended. “It has got to be fixed. They chronical the activities of our town.”

While the reports are for council and administration, Aromando maintained, they also “belong to the people of the town and they should know what is going on in every one of these departments.”

The former borough councilman also took the current councilmembers and administrative team to task for not regularly updating the municipal website with borough council meeting minutes, pointing out the last ones that were posted were for a session back on Feb. 23, 2022.

“Whatever it takes … it needs to be put on the internet,” declared Aromando, suggesting the borough hire an assistant for the municipal clerk (who experienced a nearly four-month long absence due to health issues recently, with someone having been brought on board to help out). “When one clicks, you are like what is going on. You don’t have the information.”

Making the meeting minutes publicly available in a timely fashion, Aromando maintained, is at the core of the “Sunshine Law” or what is known as the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA), or “the foundation of everything we do in this state and what the town is based on.”

“Every time you go to get information here, you have to put a miner’s hat on and come with a pickaxe,” he said.

McIntosh declined to provide a rebuttal to Aromando’s remarks.

DISPENSARY

To prohibit a term that is not only in common use to characterize such establishments, but which actually appears in a number of references on the “Recreational Use” page of the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC), might seem like a somewhat startling departure from what has by now become accepted practice in the ongoing commercialization of a substance that until recently could not be legally sold in the state.

But that is just how the intent of the ordinance in question — actually one which would amend Chapter 160-75 entitled “Sign Regulations Related to Cannabis Businesses”— was described by Kevin Rijs, the township’s director of Community Development, when asked by Mayor Jaclyn “Jackie” Veasy to explain what it meant.

“During the course of the Planning Board review,” Rijs explained, “…there was a recommendation that the code be updated to prohibit use of the word ‘dispensary.’ That is what this does.”

The proposed measure, Rijs noted, is one “based on applications they’ve reviewed,” and was “coordinated with the planning board attorney,” who currently is Ronald Cucchiaro, a Red Bank-based lawyer specializing in real estate and land-use law.

The exact basis for that recommendation and the proposed amendment that resulted was not clarified by Rjis, whose office told the Pine Barrens Tribune that it would have to be provided by Evesham Public Information Officer Zane Clark. In a subsequent email to this newspaper, Clark noted that “the Planning Board has reviewed several retail cannabis applications at this point in time, and some members have noted that some applications did attempt to use words in their signage other than (or) in addition to ‘the name of the entity only’ (which is all the sign ordinance permits), one of the most commonly proposed additional words being ‘dispensary.’”

“As Mr. Rijs referenced, this change to specifically prohibit the word ‘dispensary’ will make the sign ordinance clearer for any future applicants and further promote the intent of this portion of the sign ordinance, which is to allow retail cannabis locations in Evesham Township, while also simultaneously protecting the character of the township,” Clark added.

In response to an email inquiring whether the CRC might be contemplating any similar change, Toni-Anne Blake, the agency’s director of communications, sent this newspaper a list of its rules, highlighting one specifying that “the signage shall be compliant with local ordinances related to the real property where the cannabis business is located.”

Strictly speaking, however, the definition of “dispensary,” according to the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary, is “a place where medicine or medical or dental treatment is dispensed,” which would certainly seem applicable to establishments operating under New Jersey’s Medicinal Cannabis Program but might not be considered appropriate terminology to describe their recreational counterparts, at least from a regulatory standpoint.

Just how familiar the term has become in that regard, though, was exemplified by the fact that both Veasy and Councilwoman Heather Cooper continued to refer to such businesses in that manner even after having voted for the amended ordinance.

“I tell my kids cannabis is legal and its medicinal and people need it, so it’s not just about the recreational cannabis dispensaries,” Cooper noted during the council comment period. “I’m not a fan of saying let’s put the cannabis dispensary somewhere else.”

The mayor, in remarks that followed, told a resident of neighboring Mount Laurel who earlier expressed concerns about the township’s and the area’s growing number of proposed cannabis businesses that he “might not have been aware of all the processes we went through as a council and a town to the point where we got to approving retail

dispensaries to be here in Evesham.”

On another matter, in response to a suggestion made by local resident Stephen Kavalkovitch that ethics training be made mandatory for the township council, Veasy asked Township Attorney Christopher Orlando whether members of a governing body are required to take it (as state officials now are), to which Orlando replied, “I will look into that,“ adding that he must do so every year in his role as an attorney.

Kavalkovich, a planning board member and local shamanic practitioner who began by apologizing for his remarks at a previous meeting when he first made that demand, proceeded to again castigate the three council members — current Deputy Mayor Eddie Freeman III, Patricia Hansen and Ginamarie Espinoza — for having voted at a January reorganization meeting to switch the township’s legal representation back to Orlando’s firm, Parker-McCay of Mount Laurel, a move opposed at the time by their fellow Democrats Veasy and Cooper, with Township Manager Robert Corrales having been in favor of retaining Malamut Associates as the township’s legal firm.

“It’s really gut wrenching to see the positive progress, the servant leadership and integrity that you (meaning Veasy and Cooper) have displayed being dismantled, brick by brick, three people who are supposedly on the same team,” contended Kavalkovich before proceeding to ask if any of them cared to explain their reasons for voting the way they did.

Another speaker, Andrew Farrell, who had also previously addressed the council, was highly critical of Parker McCay for what he called a “conflict of interest” involving an “evergreen clause” he said the firm had previously inserted in an ongoing lease agreement it had arranged for the Police Department parking lot without notifying anyone, calling it a matter of “grave concern” to him (although without specifically mentioning why).

Orando, responding to Farrell’s accusation, said he wanted “to assure council and the

mayor that there is no pending conflict,” although he acknowledged there had been a situation in which his firm represented a landowner in the lease agreement to which Farrell referred prior to representing Evesham, something he cited as an example of why municipalities retain lawyers known as “conflict counsels.” In fact, Orlando said he had advised Farrell following the latter’s previous remarks that if he had questions about the lease, to contact the township manager who would “get it to the conflict counsel” for the township.

The attorney also emphasized that “we have an ethics counsel at the firm, a former (state) Supreme Court justice (Faustino J. Fernandez-Vina), who reviews all ethical questions to make sure we are always in ethical bounds.”

Espinoza, during the comment period reserved for council members, also addressing the concerns raised by Kavalkovich, maintained that she had based her vote for retaining Parker-McCay on having scrutinized the requests for proposal (RFP) responses submitted and determined that the applicants she chose were the best ones for the job.

“My decision was hard, it was complicated and quite frankly communication previously was lacking,” she declared.

She added that while some of her colleagues may have felt differently,” she knows they all “care deeply about the community” and that she didn’t question their ethics.

Espinoza added that she agrees ethics training is informative, takes it every year herself, is “keenly aware that some individuals may have concerns,” and assured those in attendance that she had “done my due diligence.”

(Hansen addressed why she voted as she did at a previous meeting, but Freeman, who introduced the resolution in favor of ParkerMcCay at the reorganization meeting, has so far refrained from commenting on the matter.)

And the latest application before Pemberton council is somewhat unique in that, to date, when cannabis entrepreneurs have requested letters of support from opted-in municipalities in the Pines to present to the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC), the requests for what essentially amounts to the town’s blessings have been for prospective, new operations that haven’t yet received state approval, but in this particular case, Eastern Tiger, LLC, is already the “awardees of a Personal-Use Cannabis Class I License” from the CRC and is looking for a letter of support so that it can “submit a location change waiver” to the state regulatory authority.

That, it was explained, would enable the cultivator to change its operational location from Irvington to Pemberton.

“Our focus is on high quality cannabis cultivation and processing,” Daniel DiCapite, co-founder and chief executive officer of Eastern Tiger, told council on March 15. “We aim to construct a state-of-the-art facility, focusing on sustainability and environmental processes, reduction of waste and improving the surrounding community. Our products consist of in-house brands, premium products from around the country and use some of the finest materials and ingredients, delivering high-end and safe cannabis in the New Jersey marketplace.”

By having been granted a Class 1 license from the state, he said, Eastern Tiger is “authorized to possess, propagate, geminate, plant, cultivate, grow, harvest, dry, cure and package cannabis” and “may have a facility up to 50,000 square feet,” as well as is “authorized to transport and so on.”

In presenting “renderings of a ‘farm’” at 195 North Pemberton Road to Pemberton council, the CEO asked the governing body to

take note that a proposed barn for the parcel would be about 40,000 square-feet in size, and that “inside the barn, we are looking to layout operations inside 5,000 square-foot increments.”

“Everything will be done in the barn,” DiCapite maintained. “… We are looking to really develop a farm here. That is the point.”

In response to a later question from Republican Councilman Joshua Ward, Eastern Tiger’s representatives revealed that the crops inside would be “mostly” grown in “elevated pots and trays.”

In pointing to the barn rendering, DiCapite, who maintained he has designed brands and buildings for 20 years, argued he has given the concept “huge attention to detail.”

“And what we are looking to do here is have the community drive by something that is beautiful,” DiCapite contended, pointing to plans to also grow a “bunch of evergreens” in the front of the facility. “So, I hope you feel the same.”

Then in presenting “another picture of the cultivation facility” that is planned, DiCapite alluded to there being a “Phase II” of the project in which the firm would “add a series of offices to support the growing workforce.”

“I really tried to model something after the beauty of a winery, using wood and natural materials,” the CEO contended, noting the design is similar to those found in a wine community located on the North Fork of Long Island, where he is from originally.

Ryan E. McWilliams, chief financial officer of Eastern Tiger, after recognizing “how many millions of dollars of investment are required to build such a beautiful campus that Dan created,” revealed the firm’s plan to hire 20 employees in year one and 50 additional ones in year two, maintaining the company would be “sourcing local talent with deep AG experience.”

Some “75 percent of those jobs” anticipated

Easter Joy

to be created in Pemberton, he explained, are “plant touching jobs” or ones that “require people with cultivation and agriculture experience.” Of the 70 positions expected to be created, he maintained that Eastern Tiger has an expectation that at least 50 of them will be filled by Pemberton Township or nearby Pemberton Borough residents.

McWilliams, currently executive vice president at TerrAscend, another cannabis firm where he is responsible for 700 employees and $250 million in annual revenue across three cultivation and manufacturing facilities and nine retail locations, noted that in that position he has needed to provide for “months and months of training” to workers for them to gain “experience of local AG techniques,” but that he “finds a real advantage here working with the Pemberton community,” or one that already has many farmers and other AG talent.

Providing for a “community rooted in agriculture” is “one thing I feel strongly about,” McWilliams declared, further asserting he has seen in Burlington County “how many AG jobs have been taken away over the years because it is just not a viable industry where profit margins are wide enough to make enough money to sell just evergreens or just tomatoes.”

“You’ve got people with such deep experience in this industry and nowhere to use it,” he maintained. “And I think that the business we are creating is able to tap into a local resource of people who we are looking to pay competitive wages to, along with generous benefits, including health, dental and a 401(k)-matching system. Hopefully, we will reignite that spark in this agricultural pride that I know this county used to have. And I think we lost a bit of that.”

DiCapite, who told of how he has been involved in regulatory affairs and rulemaking in regard to cannabis and related packaging initiatives in various states, and who explained at one point that the 17-acre Pemberton tract would also not only see a harvesting

of the some of the planted evergreen trees at Christmas time to “giveback” to the community, but also feature a pond with a “bunch of wildflowers,” and that the administrative team members will see “if we can plant tomatoes for instance” and is “looking to potentially generate honey with some bees,” in pointing to the company’s 30,000 square warehouse in Irvington “where we were actually approved,” called it “just not an environmentally-friendly operation.”

Rather, he said, it is “packed in,” and that is “why we are looking to do an open farm” or, as he put it, “something that is a little more natural and environmentally friendly.”

“We like the soil,” he further declared. “It is a nice clean plot of land, and on it currently is soybeans.”

But upon hearing that, township farmer Kodi Doyle, whose family has “farmed 60 plus years in Pemberton,” retorted, “to me this looks like ‘fake farming.’”

And while DiCapite had mentioned his liking of the local soil at one point, after Ward’s questioning of DiCapite and McWilliams got them to say that the cannabis would be “mostly” grown in “elevated pots and trays,” the councilman was told pointblank “no” when he inquired as to whether Eastern Tiger would be “using the soil whatsoever.”

“You guys said you came here because of our soil,” Doyle said. “But to me, if you are growing in pots in a warehouse (barn), you are not using our soil, unless you are digging holes out in the back and bringing it inside.”

Doyle also put the question to DiCapite and McWilliams, “Why come to this town?”, declaring, “There is no way you can guarantee me, or anyone else here, that you are going to hire 50 plus people from this town.”

“The people who live in this town, who are farmers, farm on their own property,” Doyle asserted. “They are not going to come and grow ‘marijuana’ in your warehouse!”

Photo Provided

Another rendering presented to Pemberton Township Council of a cannabis cultivation operation slated for a 17-acre soybean field on North Pemberton Road.

FUND

aid responses, and that “60 percent of those calls came during day, during the week.”

By making the request of the Tabernacle committee, Gajderowicz, who pointed out that “staffing and having crews in-house matters” because it only “takes five minutes for a fire to start spreading,” maintained, the department is being “fiscally responsible” and “not trying to break the bank” as otherwise it would potentially have to transition to a career fire department to meet the ongoing demand, and in looking at surrounding communities, a lone career firefighter averages costing around $95,000 when including benefits are included with the compensation.

Gajderowicz contended that by the township committee continuing with the program, it will cost what it would for just one career firefighter, presenting an overall savings to the community.

He pointed out that “multiple towns” in Burlington County “use this program,” which he maintained “helps” participants by having personnel on duty during the daytime to “maintain the fire station, clean it up, make any small repairs, maintain the fire equipment and apparatus,” as well as “support public relations” with staffing able to visit the local schools while in session.

“The safety of our residents is absolutely paramount and a big concern,” responded Mayor Samuel “Sammy” Moore III, a former member of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. “We have a big rural town and it takes a while to get from one end of town to the other at times. Time is of the essence during these situations.”

Moore added that he would like to have the township’s chief financial officer, Rodney Haines, “look into cost, overall” and declared of the township taking over the program, “I think this really needs to be looked at seriously.”

Haines, while noting that he was just learning of the request for the first time on March 13, said that he didn’t believe finding the funding in this year’s budget to support the program would

present a major issue as the fire department’s request for 2023 is “for just December” and it would only be one-twelfth of the $104,000 annual figure. But in 2024, when possibly the full $104,000 will need to be funded by the township, it will be a different story, the chief financial officer suggested, recommending to “have a meeting with the administration.”

The chief financial officer added that one thing “we might want to do is explore shared services” for “daily duty crews” given that the department is already providing mutual aid during the daytime to surrounding towns.”

It is a prospect that Gajderowicz did not weigh in on, but such an arrangement was recently approved by the Tabernacle committee between Lumberton, Tabernacle and Shamong for EMS services, which is also suffering from a lack of volunteers, particularly in the daytime. But the Lumberton EMS chief, in detailing the discussions surrounding the shared service, noted that when a more encompassing shared service was pursued between a number of other towns, “big egos” came into play in which a smaller arrangement ended up being pursued, at least for now.

Haines envisioned the possibility that Tabernacle could get other towns to “kick money in” towards firefighting coverage during the daytime through a shared service agreement, and in response to Haines, Moore called it a “really good” idea and said that he would begin having discussions with other nearby towns and their mayors.

“It is an important program,” said Tabernacle Committeeman Noble McNaughton. “We need Rodney (Haines) to come up with the numbers and see what we can do. It is imperative to have these people during the week. With every organization that I talk to, volunteers are dropping off like crazy. People just don’t seem to want to get involved anymore.”

Committeewoman Kim Brown agreed it was “important,” but cautioned “we need to look into it and make sure it fits into the budget,” while Committeeman William Sprague asserted he is in “total agreement with it” and maintained he is “glad it is something that can be resolved.”

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LEGAL NOTICES

NOTICE OF CHANGE OF MEETING LOCATION of the Township of Tabernacle County of Burlington, State of NJ

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Tabernacle Township Committee will hold their workshop and regular meetings in person starting March 27, 2023. Meetings will be held at the Tabernacle Fire House, 76 Hawkins Rd, Tabernacle, NJ. Meetings will be held on the following dates, starting at 6:30 pm. Attendance, participation, and public comment will be limited to those attending in person only.

January 23, 2023

February 27, 2023

March 13, 2023 (Workshop)

March 27, 2023

April 10, 2023 (Workshop)

April 24, 2023

May 22, 2023

September 25, 2023

June 26, 2023

July 24, 2023

August 28, 2023

September 25, 2023

October 23, 2023

November 27, 2023

December 11, 2023 (Close-out)

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The agenda will include normal, monthly township business. Action will be taken. This is an open public meeting in accordance with N.J.S.A. 10:46. Anyone from the public, in attendance, wishing to

FARMING

(Continued from Page 10)

Doyle, along with resident Len Austin, maintained that the Eastern Tiger representatives can “build a warehouse somewhere else,” including by using old factory buildings, and “not use farmers’ ground that they use to grow crops in the soil outside” and “not cut down more trees.”

“I am born and raised around these trees,” Austin declared. “I am from the woods and have been in Browns Mills all my life. What are you going to do to this town? We are not a Willingboro. We are not a Medford. We are not a Marlton. We are a rural town in the woods. You should build on something already existing, that is not in use.”

When Democratic Council President Donovan Gardner, who has previously strongly supported bringing the cannabis industry to Pemberton and has even claimed that cannabis being deemed federally illegal is rooted in racism, came to the defense of the Eastern Tiger representatives by stating that “I don’t remember seeing old factories in town we could possibly use,” Austin retorted, “BCC is across the street,” or the former, abandoned campus of Burlington County College, or what in its final years was called Rowan College at Burlington County (RCBC), with (RCBC) since having been relocated to Mount Laurel, where McWilliams made a point on several occasions to say that is where he resides.

McWilliams faced questions throughout the proceedings as to why he isn’t proposing that Eastern Tiger move to Mount Laurel, with one resident maintaining it is because the town “doesn’t want it there.”

Some of the most impassioned opposition to the proposal of the night, however, came from local farmer Valerie Roohr, with her and her husband maintaining farmland in both Pemberton and neighboring Southampton townships, with their farmland on North Pemberton Road apparently abutting the farmland for the prospective cannabis cultivator.

“You see these haybales over here?” she asked of the Eastern Tiger representatives, while pointing to one of their renderings. “That’s mine! I own this!”

Roohr, who maintained the company’s representatives prepared a presentation that was “insulting” not only to her husband, but “us farmers,” in pointing to the plan for planting evergreens, asked what “construction of a gazillion trees” as high as 40 feet tall are “going to do my farm.”

“You are going to shade my property and ruin my crop!” Roohr declared. “I have a problem with that!”

Roohr also lambasted Eastern Tiger’s representatives for, as she put it, “thinking we are a bunch of hillbillies,” maintaining that true farmers “grow things people can eat” and that they “feed people” as well as “feed our country.”

“Does it look like a fake farm?” she asked. “Because that is what that is – a fake farm!”

Roohr also appeared to question DiCapite’s motives behind choosing to name the cannabis cultivation business “Eastern Tiger,” with the CEO having made a point in the beginning of his presentation to explain that the name is derived from the eastern tiger salamander (also incorporated into his logo), which he claimed is an “endangered salamander that is native to New Jersey.”

“Put a big marijuana plant there (in your logo) and show us what you really are, and what you really stand for!” she declared. “You are falsifying what you are and then acting like you are farming!”

DiCapite, in explaining the reasoning behind the name of his company, stated that while “there are no salamanders in the waters

of Pemberton, there are plenty of wildlife people in the community to protect.”

“We believe it is our responsibility to create an operation that respects and uplifts the community around us,” he declared.

Roohr, however, issued a stark warning, asserting, “If you want to destroy Pemberton Township, you are going the right way.”

“You are not making Pemberton a better place by doing what you are doing,” Roohr declared. “You are insulting every farmer! And the soil is great, and you are not using it!”

DiCapite and McWilliams, throughout their March 15 presentation to Pemberton council, pointed out that the firm would be subject to a “two percent revenue obligation on all sales.”

“We are expecting in the first year of our operations, when we are just getting up and running, and still working out all the kinks, that we will be generating $300,000, and nearly double to $540,000 in year two,” McWilliams contended.

Both men also contended that Eastern Tiger and its representatives do “a lot of charity work” and are looking for local organizations to make contributions to and contended that they have already given a donation to the Good Will Fire Company, for instance. It was added that the firm would pursue using local contractors in constructing their facilities.

“We want to help those in need, and we want to do good by doing good with you and the community,” McWilliams declared. “We have commitments to not only just tax dollars, but commitments to donate back.”

But that did little to quell concerns about water and electrical demands, as well as potential for a foul odor emanating from any facility and security risks.

While maintaining that the campus is designed to look aesthetically pleasing, DiCapite, who recognized “security is a huge concern,” acknowledged the facility “will be surrounded by high security fencing” with “trigger alarms.” It’s a “lockdown facility,” he contended, that will not only have fencing, but two security gates that one will have to passthrough before being allowed entry to the barn.

The CEO announced plans to hire a security guard company that is active 365 days of the year and maintained “we will have a dedicated 24/7 security team on site,” in addition to “remote guards.” The cultivation area, he claimed, “will have multiple levels” of security access points to the point that “you can’t get in any room without using a keypad.” Additionally, he said the company is “planning to work with the local police department for any advice and inspections” as well as to “work with them to see what the best plan is” in securing the complex.

“We will be using seed to sale software to monitor product inventory,” DiCapite added. “Everything is tested, everything is tracked, and anything that doesn’t pass testing gets destroyed. Nothing leaves those walls unless it is going directly to a retailer.” (Later, after being queried by Democratic Councilman Paul Detrick, a company representative acknowledged that unprocessed biomass could potentially be taken to a processing facility for conversion to make vaporized edibles.)

DiCapite, in response to Ward’s questioning, acknowledged the “original plan was to start with a greenhouse on this plot, but there were security concerns around the greenhouse, so we moved away from that.”

Resident Perry Doyle Jr., who retired from the Pemberton Police force after 18 years, however, suggested the operation will “bring in a level of crime, in looking at this place, that the Pemberton PD cannot handle.”

It’s not just going to be a lone gunman with a handgun that attempts to breach what security is in place at the barn, the retired

officer maintained, “but five or six men with AK-47s” while a security guard stands by “with mace and two-way radios.”

“That thing is going to get hit by an armored car that drives right through it because it is a pole barn,” Perry Doyle maintained.

McWilliams, who claimed to have worked in the cannabis industry for four years in multiple different states, in a rebuttal, maintained “there has not been one attempt, with all these facilities existing, that resembles anything like you describe,” and that Eastern Tiger plans to follow a tactic similar to his current employer, “seeking off-duty police officers” to provide for security. But Perry Doyle retorted that Pemberton Police will still have to respond and are “not equipped to handle that” and “you are signing their death wish.”

Ward, who recognized “there are a lot of farmers in this room this evening,” made a pronouncement he would not be voting to give Eastern Tiger a letter of support, and expressed his concern about “water consumption” and what effect it might bring about to local farmers, claiming his research found that an “average, single cannabis plant is estimated to consume 22.7 liters per day during growing season, or what amounts to six gallons,” further contending that it is “double” what is consumed by a soy bean plant.

DiCapite responded that “it is much less than you think” and that cannabis is “one of the least consuming of all crops” when it comes to water, maintaining any plants would be watered through a “very controlled” process using sprinkler drips. The councilman’s figures, he maintained, “sound significant to me.”

“I do believe in agriculture, and sustainable farming,” Ward said. “I do support my farmers of my community. But to take away 17 acres of viable farmland from them, as well as put it in the location you are looking at, for me, it would be a ‘no.’ I don’t care about recreational adult use marijuana. My concern is we just approved a retailer quickly, and we are now getting into agriculture quickly. I hope my colleagues on council see that.”

Ward also questioned the viability of granting another one of the town’s licenses to operate so quickly, when there is the potential for a local wanting to obtain one in the future.

Democratic Councilwoman Elisabeth McCartney, meanwhile, who previously suggested sugar is potentially more harmful and addicting than cannabis in defending her position on the cannabis retailer, questioned the Eastern Tiger representatives about complaints involving a “Morris operation” they were apparently connected to regarding odor.

In response, one of the representatives responded, “that facility is on a much smaller property of 1.5 acres with “residential properties surrounding all of us,” some worth $1.2 million to $2 million, and that a specialized $800,000 system was installed to “measure air particles.” The Pemberton property, it was maintained, is “20 to 30 times further from our facility than what described from previous experience.”

Initially, when Gardner asked the Eastern Tiger representatives about “odor mitigation,” DiCapite replied it was among a “number of reasons” the company was planning to install a $1.5 million HVAC system with charcoal filters,” and that it is also why evergreens were being planted, because the trees are “proven to be one of the best odor mitigation plants around because they actually catch particles or dust in the air.”

“Standing next to the facility, I can’t guarantee you won’t smell something, but a field away should be pretty clear,” he

maintained.

But after Perry Doyle pointed to nearby homes that he contended were missed in the renderings, and alleged the odor can actually travel up to five miles away, Republican Mayor Jack Tompkins pointed to a news story about an awful stench being created by a grow facility in North Jersey that took over a former Walmart and that his “big concern” was that Pemberton and nearby Springfield Township residents would get “double whammy” of “air pollution” from pollen and cannabis, and McCartney asked why the special $800,000 system can’t be done as mitigation on the North Pemberton Road site, DiCapite replied “he has relationships with that vendor, if needed” and “if there are any complaints, we can install one,” though he expressed some reluctance because it is “very expensive.”

Similar reluctance was also expressed by DiCapite when Gardner asked why the current plan does not call for a permanent generator to be on site to run the security mechanisms for the campus in the event of a power outage.

“I have a relationship with a local vendor that might lease generators,” said DiCapite when Gardner queried him about why he didn’t want to have one permanently installed, with the Eastern Tiger representatives maintaining they would simply operate on a battery backup system suggested by their security team. “It is pretty cost prohibitive. If and when there is an outage, I can call and have one delivered on site in 12-24 hours.” Gardner retorted that “my thing is security, especially at nighttime, if you have a power outage,” before asking, “You are going to round up a company to bring a generator over? How long is that going to take?”

It was the lack of guarantees to install the specialized air system and generator, in part, – in combination with the presentation’s heavy emphasis on “creating a habitat for wildlife,” including a section detailing how the facility’s glass would feature “bird-safe glass” because Pemberton is in a “migrant bird path,” that seemed to give the Democratic councilmembers some pause, in addition to the vocal opposition to the cannabis industry in general on display for a second meeting now, with the latter at one point so fierce that Gardner threatened to shut down the meeting altogether, and saw him briefly close down public comment.

“I am cannabis friendly,” Gardner declared. “But you guys are not giving me a lot of confidence that you know what you are doing. You seem unprepared, and unless you step up your game, and make me feel confident … I am willing to will work with you, but right now, I am not very confident.”

The Eastern Tiger representatives ultimately acknowledged that there “are a lot of things to massage” and they are “not farmers,” but that they will “go to the experts” and are “open” to their suggestions, including if a “different crop” should become necessary in place of the proposed evergreens, and that they would see about doing whatever pleases the council president, to which he retorted, it’s not what is best for him, but “what is best for the town.”

“The goal is not to reinvent the wheel,” DiCapite said. “We are trying to build something to look like a farm, and anything but an eyesore. It sounds like the problems we are talking about here are a lack of jobs. We are bringing tax revenue back in. We are offering to give to charities, but it sounds like maybe something else needs to be done (several attendees, including the local school board president highlighted how recent development has not seen increased contributions to the local school system and it is in need of financial assistance). We are more than happy to build upon programs in the community.”