Pine Barrens Tribune May 13, 2023-May 19, 2023

Owner Says He’s Working with NJDEP to Address Issues He Inherited at 21-Acre Vincentown Tract Problem Involving Illegal Dumping

JOLTED

Pinelands Commission Points to Southampton Committee Resolution That Provided Easement, Construction

Approvals for ‘Switch Gear Connection’

in

LeisureTowne

with Corresponding Plan from July 2022 Referenced Twice in Measure Containing Numerous Diagrams for Electrical Unit

As Newspaper Goes to Press, Township Administrator Admits Plan Was Circulated in Advance of Vote; Former 25-Year Mayor of Southampton, Now a Township Committeeman, After Visiting Neighborhood Calls Construction of Electrical Cabinet ‘Atrocious’; Official’s Purported Voting Error Highlights Lack of Scrutiny

By Douglas D. M elegari

Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—As astonishment and sheer outrage takes hold in the LeisureTowne retirement community of Southampton Township over the construction of a massive electrical unit, or what is a “switch gear connection”

electrical cabinet in the middle of a residential neighborhood on Saint Davids Place tied with CEP Renewables, LLC’s Big Hill (BEMS) Sanitary Landfill solar project, with one governing body member now calling what has been constructed “atrocious” after visiting the neighborhood, the Pine Barrens Tribune has learned from

the Pinelands Commission this week that the Southampton Township Committee, back on Aug. 16, 2022, unanimously passed a resolution titled, “Accepting Temporary Construction and (an) Interconnection Easement,” which according to the state agency, represented “municipal approvals

See JOLTED Page 8

Part of Major Lawsuit Filed by State, While Past Pesticide Contamination Is Another Requiring

By Bill B onvie

Staff Writer

‘Remediation’

SOUTHAMPTON—The current owner of a 21-acre tract in the Vincentown section of Southampton Township where a commercial cannery once stood is now seeking to assure local residents that activity taking place there is strictly “remedial” in nature, even while the site at issue has been named in a civil action recently filed by that New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) against a number of businesses that have allegedly engaged in illegal dumping practices around the state.

According to realtor Ross Viscuso, who purchased the property located in a commercial zone at 431 N. Main St., back around August of 2021, what is currently taking place there, which has created some consternation and confusion among local residents, is a concerted effort on his part to remove solid waste materials that were purportedly deposited there without a permit over a period of several years. The work, he told the Pine Barrens Tribune in a recent phone interview, is being done under the supervision of the NJDEP and the guidance of an environmental consulting firm he has hired to make sure any past misuse of the long-neglected parcel of land is corrected in a proper and lawful manner.

See CANNERY/ Page 7

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari A close-up view May 10 of the electrical unit constructed on Saint Davids Place in LeisureTowne.

After ‘Long Road’, Woodland Fire Receives Its New 3,000-Gallon Tanker Truck; Conservation Foundation Reportedly Approves Draft Point at Little Canal Woodland Mayor Points Out How Area Firefighters Have Found Neighboring Township Fire Company’s New Well Useful in Making Case for One Locally at Chatsworth Firehouse

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

WOODLAND—In a pronouncement that has been a longtime coming, the Woodland Township Volunteer Fire and EMS Company wrote on Facebook April 26, “Woodland Township, we present to you, your brand new 3,000-gallon tanker.”

Fire Chief Shawn Viscardi, during a Woodland Township Committee meeting held the same day, announced that “we picked up our new truck from the dealer today, and it is in service.”

The Pine Barrens Tribune has covered since 2018 the fire company’s battle to secure funding for a new pumper truck.

The fire company’s previous tender, a Ford 1997 model, was placed out of service in January 2018 due to mechanical, pump and tank issues. Several attempts at securing a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to fund a new pumper truck had proved unsuccessful due to Woodland’s limited population counting against the agency in a scoring process used by the federal government.

Ultimately, after some reportedly discouraged members resigned (some temporarily) from the fire company leaving the entity out of service for a time with another town said to be responding to calls during that period, the townspeople quickly coalesced to support the local fire and EMS company, and the Woodland Township Committee, following intense negotiations over a period of a couple months, ultimately agreed to provide municipal funding towards the purchase of a new fire truck, in addition to other equipment.

In the summer of 2022, the township committee authorized a $425,000 bond ordinance to help float the purchase of a new fire truck.

The township committee, on July 27, 2022, then entered into a cooperative purchasing agreement for a new fire truck in the amount of $424,737, with the purchase being made from Alexis Fire Equipment, of Illinois.

“We would like to thank the township committee for their support obtaining this critical piece of equipment for the town,” the Woodland Township Volunteer Fire and EMS Company added in its pronouncement on Facebook. “Welcome home, 2916.”

The new truck is an Alexis Demo #2459, 3,000-gallon tanker, according to the resolution authorizing its purchase.

Alexis’ website features an “apparatus overview” for this particular piece of equipment that was purchased, listing a number of features by bullet point, including:

• Freightliner M2 106 Tandem Two-Door Chassis

• Cummins L9 360 HP Engine

• Allison 3000 EVS Automatic Transmission

• Heavy Duty 14 Gauge 304 #4 Finish Stainless-Steel Body

• Heavy Duty Stainless-Steel Subframe

• ROM Statin Finish Roll Up Doors

• Intermediate Side Control Stainless Steel Pump Module

• Waterous CXVC20, 1500-GPM Pump

• Trident Air Prime System

• FRC Pump Boss Pressure Governor and Monitoring System

• Two 6” Intakes, One Left, One Right

• Four (4) 2 ½” Discharges. Two Left, One Right

• One (1) 3” Discharge, Right

• Mattydale Preconnects, Two (2) 1.5” and One Dead Lay

• One (1) 2 ½” Gated Intake, Left

• 3000 Gallon Poly Wet Side Tank

• One (1) 10” Newton Stainless Steel Swivel

Dump with 36” Extension

• One (1) 2½” Fire Programs Tank Fill, Rear

• Fold Da Tank Storage on Compartment

Top, Right

• Suction Hose Storage on Compartment

Top, Left

• Floor Mounted Console for Emergency Switches, Cab

• Whelen LED Warning and Scene Light Packages

• Whelen Electronic Siren and 100 W Speaker

• Diamond Grade Chevron Pattern Striping, Rear

• 9’ 11” Overall Height

• 32’ 2” Overall Length

• 236” Wheelbase

• 170.45 Cab to Axle

• 16,000 FAWR

• 40,000 RAWR

• 56,000 GVWR

“We’re good with the tender,” Viscardi told the township committee on April 26. “We appreciate the work of committee. It has been a long road, but we got there.”

Viscardi, during the latest township committee meeting, also announced that New Jersey Conservation Foundation (NJCF) is “going to allow us to put a draft point in by the little canal on County Route 532.”

The fire chief, at a previous meeting, explained that two fire trucks have been using Chatsworth Lake, “but the way the levels have been in the lake, the hose can’t properly reach into the lake to get the water out.”

Previously, Chatsworth Lake, when damage

Photo From Facebook

A new water tender that has been delivered to the Woodland Township Volunteer Fire and EMS Company.

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Photo From Facebook

Members of the Hampton Lakes Volunteer Fire Company participate in the blessing of its new Spartan ER Fire Pumper Tanker on a Spartan Chassis May 2, led by Deacon Joe DeLuca of Holy Eucharist Roman Catholic Church.

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—A “big, beautiful and capable” new fire truck has arrived at the firehouse of the Hampton Lakes Volunteer Fire Company in Southampton Township.

It’s delivery, this newspaper has learned, came on April 21.

It follows years of requests by Hampton Lakes’ leadership for financial support from the Southampton Township Committee to make the purchase possible, dating back to when this newspaper first began publishing in 2016.

Readers may recall when Hampton Lakes firefighter Joe Collis famously asked the Southampton Township Committee in the summer of 2019, amid many public asks and what had been ongoing municipal negotiations, “Have those bright red trucks pulled up?”

As previously reported by this newspaper, the township committee then in October 2021 unanimously signed off on a cooperative purchasing agreement with Sourcewell for the $638,529 purchase of a “custom Spartan ER Fire Pumper Tanker on a Spartan Chassis,” to serve as a new water tender for the Hampton Lakes Fire Company.

But there had been a backlog of new fire trucks, in part, due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Since the October 2021 township committee action, changes “due to quantity adjustments and additional items to complete the vehicle” reportedly led to a $23,883 increase in the purchase price.

The Southampton Township Committee, prior to delivery, during its latest April 18 meeting, approved a change order for $23,883, bringing the final purchase price, according to Mayor Mike Mikulski, to just over $850,000. This replacement fire truck, according to Mikulski, “is 15 years overdue.”

“This truck will end up being the best tender in Burlington County upon delivery,” declared Mikulski as the governing body approved the change order, noting that part of the increased cost will be financed by money coming out of Hampton Lakes’ budget for this year.

Deputy Chief Michael Rathjen, of the Hampton Lakes Volunteer Fire Company, thanked Township Administrator and Clerk Kathleen D. Hoffman, as well as “all of you here” (or the township committee) for the “tremendous work on this truck.”

“Not many people realize how many lineby-lines there is in building fire trucks,” Rathjen declared. “So, I want to thank you tremendously for the help along the way in building this big, beautiful and capable truck. Like the mayor said earlier, it is going to be the most capable truck – pumper tender – for the time being. At least for a few years we might hold that title.”

Rathjen added that “we can’t wait to utilize it to better help the community.”

Committeeman Ronald Heston, in a later interview with this newspaper, declared, “I am so excited to have this fire truck for the Hampton Lakes Fire Company!”

“It has been too many years since the other truck should have been taken out of service,” Heston added. “Some of the specs changed, and the price is up, as the mayor had stated at the meeting, but it has been delivered to Hampton Lakes and the men and women are being trained on the operations of the truck, and also being trained on driving the truck.”

Mikulski, during the April 18 township committee meeting, noted that in addition to the truck training that will be provided to the Hampton Lakes’ firefighters, he has asked for two drivers from the Vincent Fire Company (a second fire company serving Southampton Township) to partake “just in case someone is out of town, etc.”

“You have a big fire truck with everything you could want on it, and it holds a few thousand gallons of water – 2,500 gallons of water, and that is a lot of weight to stop when driving a truck,” Heston told this newspaper. “And the mayor has also requested that two members of the Vincent Fire Company also be trained on the handling of the truck, that way if the volunteers can’t get out, Vincent could also utilize the truck if necessary, in a real emergency.”

Meanwhile, Rathjen announced during the April 18 township committee meeting that Hampton Lakes recently has been awarded a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Staffing For Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant.

“It is very early in the process, and therefore, there is only certain things I know for sure,” he reported to the township committee. “We are in the process of setting everything up. It is for recruitment and retention. This will allow us to have inhouse staffing during the daytime hours. It gives us funding for recruitment projects, like signs, videos, commercials and radio channels. Over the next three years, there is also funding for gear.”

Helmets, bunker pants, jackets and boots are just some of the gear that the grant will support, according to Rathjen.

The total of the grant, Rathjen announced, is $273,515.

“This grant will help us help the residents of Southampton Township in a time of need, which, right now, is Monday through Friday when everybody who works a 9 to 5 job at work,” declared Rathjen, noting “a whole lot of work” and “a whole of approvals” still have to happen for the disbursement. “It is new, but not new to us. But we are going to work through it, and it is going to be a great day for the community, for sure, (especially with the new truck).”

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Schedule for Street Sweeping in LeisureTowne, Purported Observations of Remaining Dirt After Streets Swept for First Time in Decade, Cause Stir Southampton Mayor Responds Streets May Not ‘Look Like a Kitchen Floor,’ He’s Also Not Sure They’ll Be ‘Clean’ After Streetsweeper Comes Through

By D ouglas D. M elegari Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—Another stir has occurred in recent weeks in the LeisureTowne development of Southampton Township, this one over street sweeping that reportedly began in the retirement community last month, marking the first time it has been done here in more than a decade.

Evelyn “Evie” Doherty, a LeisureTowne resident and political activist, was blunter during the Southampton Township Committee’s latest April 18 meeting about what she says has transpired in recent weeks, declaring it has been a “disaster with the sweeping that took place over in LeisureTowne.”

Apparently, from what this newspaper has gathered over the past couple of weeks is that residents of the retirement community reportedly received a robocall from the LeisureTowne Association ahead of Saturday, April 15, informing them that they needed to park their cars either in their driveways on that day, during the daytime, or park them in the various parking lots belonging to the association, versus on the street to allow for the street sweeping. The phone call was reportedly made to all residents of the retirement community who signed up to receive robocall notifications from the association, but as became apparent by April 18, only a portion of the community even had their streets swept by that point in time.

The township, as it would soon be revealed during the township committee meeting, recently contracted with Burlington County to have the streets swept.

“You know it was a major inconvenience to the people in LeisureTowne, to, on a Saturday, have to park their cars elsewhere (as the driveways in this community have limited parking spaces),” Doherty told the township committee. “This is when people have family members who come and visit. They also have grandkids that come down.”

Southampton Mayor Mike Mikulski responded that the LeisureTowne Association “requested the street sweeping.”

“The people of LeisureTowne had no say in that,” Doherty shot back.

Doherty maintained that the township committee “should take into consideration” the “people or members of the community,” and not just do something “because somebody requested it.”

“It was an inconvenience, and on top of it all, it was a disaster,” Doherty declared. “I have never seen so many people complain about anything the township has done in the many years that I have lived here.”

Doherty, who moved to LeisureTowne 21 years ago, pointed to several social media posts complaining about the street sweeping on Nextdoor, a social media site often used by LeisureTowne residents, with one person alleging “dirt and sand is being left in the middle of the street down Huntington Drive (one of two main thoroughfares in

the retirement community).”

“Several people complained that it looked far worse than it did before they started work,” Doherty told the township committee. “The people that had their streets cleaned don’t believe their streets were even cleaned.”

Doherty maintained the “original streets (swept) need to be redone” and that if one was to “drive them” (on the night of the governing body meeting) “you would see nothing but dirt all on the curb.”

“They never did the curbs, and in some instances, they only went down one side of the road, not both sides,” she said.

Doherty then read into the record a list of streets that she maintained were reported as not being done, adding, “I’m sure that is not all of them.”

“Do you have any idea which ones weren’t done?” she asked the township committee. “Have they told you which ones they did?”

Mikulski replied, “no, they haven’t told me which ones they did.”

That led Doherty to assert, “I don’t understand why anyone would think that in one day that they could possibly run sweepers down all of LeisureTowne!”

Mikulski responded that nobody thought that was ever a possibility and it is “why they are coming back.” Doherty, however, pointed to an “impression” she got, with the mayor responding that he couldn’t understand what led Doherty to get that “impression.”

“What are you going to do about the streets that weren’t done right?” asked Doherty pointedly of the mayor.

Mikulski shot back that the statement of the “‘streets that weren’t done right’” is an “opinion of yours.”

After Doherty retorted, “you can come out and look,” Mikulski responded, “it may be an opinion that I would share” were he to actually do that (or come and observe

the streets for himself).

Mikulski explained that the township was “requested” to do street sweeping in the retirement community and maybe is going to do it in the Village of Vincentown as well “to keep sediment out of the sewer drains.” Hampton Lakes, he added, is also “eventually” on the list.

“Street sweeping is unbelievably expensive,” the mayor said. “We don’t have a streetsweeper. So, we contracted with the county, who has people who operate streetsweepers. They came out on Saturday – two individuals – and charged us $1,300, probably 10 percent of what a public contractor would have charged us.”

Some three tons of dirt and sediment, Mikulski maintained, was “picked up” on April 15 from LeisureTowne.

“I am not telling you it was perfect,” Mikulski declared. “And I am not telling you in the end it is going to look like a kitchen floor as opposed to a street. But they picked up three tons of debris in one day.”

Doherty pointed out the streets of LeisureTowne had not been swept in a “good 10 to 14 years,” and that “there is a good accumulation of dirt that has been there.”

After contending that there remains leaves and residue near storm drains on the streets that were reportedly done, Doherty asserted, “sometimes it is better to pay a bit more money to get the job done well.”

“I hear you,” Mikulski responded. “But I don’t know that the streets are ever going to be ‘clean’ after a streetsweeper comes through.”

Rather, he said, “you are only trying to get up some of the debris and keep it from going inside the drains.”

After Doherty emphasized that the sides of some streets weren’t done, but rather just the centers of them, Mikulski said he “can’t See SWEEPING Page 6

Scenes from the First Annual Medford Lakes Day

The first Annual Medford Lakes Day was held on May 7, which included presenting the Robert D. Hanold Sr. Community Service Award, named after the borough’s late mayor, to Brian R. Bennett, “for his selfless contributions made for the betterment of Medford Lakes by a grateful Borough Council.” Additionally, current Borough Mayor Dr. Gary Miller and wife of Deputy Mayor William Fields, Ellie, present the borough’s first-ever municipal flag. The event featured an array of local business vendors and entertainment.

Photos By Andrew King

Van Stolen from Evesham School District Operations Building Lot

(Continued from Page 4)

speak to that,” with Doherty retorting, “Well, I can talk as I have seen it!”

“We are relying on them doing what they do for a living,” Mikulski said. “I believe they are keeping track of the roads, but we can make sure.”

As for Nextdoor, the mayor quipped, “I am beginning to think it is a lot like Facebook,” with one woman in the audience quipping, “it’s worse – they should outlaw it.”

Doherty responded that she “disagreed” with that notion, adding “it is the only communication tool that the people of LeisureTowne have to be able to discuss issues.”

Doherty is also one of several candidates challenging two incumbents on the LeisureTowne Board of Trustees, as well as vying for an open seat. Kevin Boyd, seeking re-election to the board, who came up to the dais following Doherty, “thanked the township for starting the street sweeping.”

He then provided a rationale for LeisureTowne’s request, maintaining that “in the process of doing a lake (dredging) project, we realized how much sediment was on the streets and getting into the storm basins.”

“It is my understanding that they asked people to remove their cars from the streets,” said Heston of what he was told prompted the controversy. “Some of the homes have parking for only one car in their driveway, and some of the residents own two cars, so they had to find another place to park their cars and a lot of people found that very bothersome to have to do.”

Heston contended he was told the street sweeping was made a “Saturday project” because “that is when the sweepers were available for us.”

Township Administrator and Clerk Kathleen D. Hoffman, when interviewed for this story, and asked about whether the street sweeping was done at the request of LeisureTowne or to satisfy a state requirement, replied, “it was a combination of both.”

“LeisureTowne requested we street sweep the streets twice a year, and under the new stormwater regulations for a Tier A community, they require streets be swept in neighborhoods that have storm drains at least once a year,” Hoffman added.

Hoffman, when interviewed last week for this story and asked if the sweeping had been completed as of yet, replied, “I mean even today, they are not finished.”

EVESHAM—A Ford Econoline van was reportedly stolen in the early morning hours of April 27 from the parking lot for the Evesham Township School District Operations Building.

The Evesham Township Police Department, which revealed through a press release that the van had been stolen from the school district’s lot at 129 East Main Street, reported that the incident occurred at around 12:10 a.m. and that it is believed that there are as many as four suspects in the incident.

“Two suspects arrived via a SUV, while two other suspects were seen utilizing an ATV,” police said.

The ATV, according to police, was last seen traveling into the woods behind the Gateway Apartments at 125 East Main Street.

Evesham Police released still images from surveillance video of the incident and is asking if anyone knows the identity of the suspects, or has any information related to this purported crime, to contact them.

Medford Man Sentenced for Fatal Shooting of Pemberton Resident

PEMBERTON—A Medford Township man was sentenced on April 28 to 20 years in state prison for fatally shooting a 64-year-old Pemberton Township resident three years ago outside of the victim’s home, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office reported.

Tristan Majeed, 53, who pled guilty earlier this year to first-degree aggravated manslaughter, must serve 17 years of the term before becoming eligible for parole. A law enforcement investigation determined that Majeed shot Kenneth Ryan on January 20, 2020, outside of Ryan’s Apache Trail residence in the Browns Mills

Ryan was transported to nearby Capital Health at Deborah – Emergency Services, before being taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton, where he was pronounced dead two days later.

An autopsy performed by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood determined the victim died as the result of being shot in the head. The investigation further determined the shooting occurred following a dispute over money.

Majeed’s sentence was handed down in Superior Court in Mount Holly by Judge Mark P. Tarantino.

Following the meeting, however, Committeeman Ronald Heston, in an interview with this newspaper, advised of the reason that he was told the municipality had decided to perform the street sweeping.

“It is my understanding, under the State of New Jersey, that the streets that have drainage that goes into lakes and streams, need to be swept,” he told this newspaper. “It needs to be done either, depending on the street, once or twice a year, to minimize the dirt going into the streams and lakes.”

The reason, according to Heston, that the township decided to contract with the county is that “to buy a township street sweeper is a very expensive proposition.” Additionally, he pointed out that if the township performed street sweeping inhouse, it requires manpower and more training.

The township committeeman revealed it was decided to put dumpsters for the project at the township Public Works garage because “you have to empty the street sweepers and also refill them with water, and there is a fire hydrant they could use right there.”

Heston maintained he didn’t know if LeisureTowne “did or didn’t” make the request for street sweeping, adding, “I was told they were being swept because of the state requirements, because a lot of the street drains go into holding ponds, so it needed to be done.”

The township committeeman maintained the street sweeping is just a matter of “trying to follow the rules and regulations.”

Doherty reported to this newspaper on May 10 that another robocall had been placed to the community since the April 18 township committee meeting that again asked that vehicles be removed from the streets on a Saturday. She then maintained there is “no plan” with the robocall reportedly not specifying which streets have already been done and which streets will be done on the day that the vehicles are being asked to be removed from the streets.

“In my opinion, there should have been a plan outlining which streets were going to be done,” Doherty told this newspaper May 10. “And it should have told which day they were going to be done. Everybody in LeisureTowne had to move their cars from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. You can’t get 52 streets done in one week. It is going to take time. … I don’t understand why there is no plan.”

As for why Saturdays are being chosen for the street sweeping, Hoffman maintained last week it is because the LeisureTowne office requested that we do it on a Saturday because “a lot of landscapers come during the week, and a lot of family members and home health aides also come during the week.”

Hoffman, in also responding to the complaints about the quality of the work, maintained that some streets “had to be done twice because the dirt is so bad” and that crews “couldn’t get it all done in one swipe.”

She noted that she “can’t find any evidence” of the streets in LeisureTowne having been swept in recent years and “to my recollection, I don’t ever remember

Photo Provided

A still image from surveillance video showing what is believed to be some of the suspects involved in the taking of a Ford Econoline van on April 27 from the parking lot of the Evesham Township School District Operations Building.

CANNERY

(Continued from Page 1)

“There is absolutely no contamination being spread there,” declared Viscuso in response to concerns expressed by a couple residents who attended a recent Southampton Township Committee meeting. “I’m simply removing or paying to remove what was already there.”

His claims along those lines were subsequently corroborated to this newspaper by the consulting firm he had engaged to help put the property in compliance with NJDEP requirements.

Viscuso, a self-described Coast Guard veteran, reservist and farmer, added that he has spent a considerable amount of his own time and money on this admittedly “daunting” task since purchasing the site, which is traversed by a branch of the Rancocas Creek, as well as literally engaging in a “hands-on” cleanup campaign with a little help from fellow members of his church. Once the tract gets a clean bill of health from the state, however long that takes, he said, its potential uses could conceivably include a residential development with a mix of affordable and market-value homes, a use for which it was approved once before – but not without people in the community voicing their preferences on what they would like to see done with it.

“I’d love to hear from the residents,” he asserted.

At about the same time that the property’s owner was offering an explanation of its current status and potential uses, this newspaper received an email from the NJDEP containing a lengthy legal brief from State Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin providing the myriad details of a lawsuit the agency brought on April 20 against several firms it accuses of having “repeatedly and flagrantly dumped construction waste on innocent property owners’ land, without holding the proper permits,” with that particular location being among those cited.

The litigation, in which the agency as well as NJDEP Commissioner Sean M. LaTourette are being represented by Deputy Attorneys General Matthew Novak and Dom Stockton-Rossini, includes allegations that a Newark-based business going under the names MJSons Excavating and MJ & Sons Contractors (both of which were displayed on trucks at the site, according to the NJDEP), was responsible

for depositing “materials including, but not limited to, concrete, bricks, metal, and other construction debris” on the N. Main Street property based on an investigation by the Bureau of Solid Waste Compliance and Enforcement (BSWCE) and the Bureau of Coastal and Land Use Compliance and Enforcement (“CLUE”), with the latter agency having determined that “some of the material was placed in a regulated flood hazard area … and within a freshwater wetland transition area without a permit.”

The action, which has been filed with the Superior Court of New Jersey Chancery Division—Essex County, seeks “temporary and permanent restraints, damages, fees, and civil penalties” from a group of enterprises, some of whose owners appear to be related, for a number of alleged dumping violations in locations throughout the state, and “to enjoin all defendants from operating in the solid waste business so long as they lack the required licensing and registration.”

Accompanying the brief was a link to a joint press release from Platkin and LaTourette announcing “eight new environmental justice and environmental enforcement actions,” including one against “a mix of private individuals and the companies they own and operate including, but not limited to … MJSons Excavating and MJ & Sons Contractors Trucking, that have engaged in “flagrant and repeated violations that disregard NJDEP orders.”

Other documents previously emailed to this newspaper by the NJDEP, which declined to comment or answer questions about any of them, included copies of administrative orders and notices of civil administrative penalty assessments sent by certified mail to the operators of those same firms, and a “notice of violation” sent last July to Viscuso as owner of the property, which required him to submit a plan to the Bureau “to restore the site to its predisturbance condition.“

Since receiving that notice, Viscuso said that he has been working regularly with the NJDEP to get the material at issue removed from the premises and disposed of in a lawful manner, with an agency representative having visited the site to review progress only a few days earlier.

Although no one from the NJDEP was available to verify Viscuso’s assertions, they were supported in a phone interview this newspaper conducted with Patty Niculescu, the co-owner of Petrodi LLC, a Tabernaclebased environmental consulting firm specializing in remediation programs that Viscuso hired in April to help guide him

STEM 4H and FFA Programs Donation

through the steps involved in achieving regulatory compliance, with which it has had well over 30 years’ experience.

“Unfortunately, when he purchased that property, he did assume responsibility for any environmental issues,” Niculescu noted.

But at the same time, she emphasized that those are problems “he’s not responsible for having created in any way, shape or form,” since he acquired it “after all this occurred,” and that “before we came on board with him, he was working with the NJDEP sold waste and site remediation departments” in an effort to get them resolved.

According to Niculescu, who operates the firm with her father, Peter, its founder, there are two entirely separate issues requiring mitigation, and “he (Viscuso) is handling both” – the one caused by the illegal dumping of building debris that took place in recent years, apparently with the permission of a previous owner or occupant of the property, but which doesn’t seem to have caused any groundwater pollution, and a much older one involving a practice of the Stokes cannery, which closed in the 1990s, involving the washing of tomatoes that had been sprayed with pesticide.

It was the latter procedure, she said, that resulted in some contamination from a “discharge of pesticides” showing up when testing was done at the site around 2005, which resulted in five monitoring wells being dug on the property that can still be used for that purpose. In fact, she said, her firm hopes to collect current samples from them sometime in the next week to get a “concrete understanding of the current status” of the groundwater on the property – although she is optimistic about the likelihood that whatever pesticide residues were there a few years ago have since dissipated “due to the fact that the source of the contamination has been removed.”

But in any event, she contended, “there is no record of groundwater contamination that was (previously) discovered on the property to have gone offsite” or posing any sort of threat to residents’ well water, a concern raised at the last township committee meeting.

Prior to the discovery of the pesticide contamination, Niculescu explained, plans had been discussed to redevelop the site,

from which the cannery’s underground tanks were removed in 1998, as a “town center” complete with affordable housing. But then it was sold to an individual who wanted to clean up the still-existing buildings and use them as warehouses – a plan that got scuttled when the contamination issue surfaced. By 2008, she said, all the remaining structures had been demolished, and further remedial work had to be suspended due to lack of funding.

Now, however, the possibility of restoring the parcel in ways that will benefit the community is being contemplated by the current owner, whom Niculescu credits with “doing a great job,” despite its having proven to be a lot more of a challenge than he bargained for when he decided to buy the tract “because it was a beautiful piece of property,” albeit one that’s been neglected for years and had thus become something of an eyesore.

Potential uses for the land that he now envisions, once it has been given a clean bill of health by the NJDEP – a prospect he admits may require additional time and expense – include a possibility like the one originally contemplated of designating a portion of it for both affordable and market-rate housing for mixed-income families, perhaps even some retail development (although not the fast-food kind), and opening the acreage by the creek to recreational uses, including canoeing and hiking on nature trails, perhaps through the Green Acres program.

Such uses, however, according to Viscuso, would first have to be approved by residents of the community, whose feelings about how it should be used he’d want to hear before making any plans along those lines.

Alternately, Viscuso told this newspaper, being a “veteran farmer,” he may simply decide to set aside all or part of the land for agricultural purposes, such as a “pollinator habitat.”

What he would like residents of the community to know is that he is not a developer and that money isn’t his primary concern – although he does hope to generate sufficient income from the property to help feed his five children that now includes a three-week old baby, especially given how much of his personal savings he’s already

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

A view of the current state of the property at 431 N. Main St. in Vincentown, where the Stokes Cannery once stood, and which the current owner, realtor and farmer Ross Viscuso, has been attempting to restore with guidance from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection after a Newark trucking firm is alleged to have illegally dumped construction debris there.

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

Burlington County Farmer Robert Lounsberry presents Burlington County Farm Fair Manager Rosemary Kay with a $5,000 check from America’s Farmers Grow Communities’ Bayer Fund. The organization made the donation on Lounsberry’s behalf. Lounsberry, according to the Bayer Fund, selected the STEM 4H and FFA Programs to receive this donation through Grow Communities. The purpose of the Grow Communities program is to partner with farmers to make a positive impact in farm communities across the country by supporting local nonprofit organizations. Since the America’s Farmers Program began in 2010, nearly $65 million has been directed to organizations across rural America. Readers can learn more by visiting AmericasFarmers.com.

Evesham, Medford and LRHSD Receive Grants for Recreation Improvements

BurlCo Also Recipient of State Funding for New Trail, All-inclusive Playground

MEDFORD—The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) has awarded more than $1.63 million in Local Recreation Improvement Grants to Burlington County, and several of the county’s municipalities and school districts.

Evesham has received $79,000 for Evesboro Downs Park improvements, Medford has been given $82,000 for improvements to Freedom Park skatepark and parking and the Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) has been granted $71,000 for tennis court renovations, Burlington County Spokesman David Levinsky reported.

“Recreation is important for our physical and mental health, so it is imperative that our communities provide ample opportunities for residents of all ages to engage in different activities,” declared Senator Troy Singleton, of the state’s 7th Legislative District, which includes the western half of Burlington County. “These grants will provide vital funding to help advance projects at schools, playgrounds, and parks throughout Burlington County that meet that objective.”

Burlington County, according to Levinsky, got a $78,000 grant to support engineering and design for a new 4-mile trail connecting the county’s Willingboro Lakes Park with the Willingboro’s iconic Mill Creek Municipal Park.

“Our County has invested in our parks, trails and outdoor spaces because we know how important they are for the quality of life residents enjoy here,” said Burlington County Board of Commissioners Director Felicia Hopson. “These grants will allow our County and local municipalities and schools to make improvements to their favorite outdoor areas and community centers. The funding will help us connect parks, improve mobility and ensure all residents have access to a wide selection of healthy recreational opportunities.”

The two parks are located on Beverly-

(Continued from Page 7)

put into restoring it. (The question of whether any fines collected from the defendants named in the NJDEP’s lawsuit might be relegated to affected property owners as restitution or damages was one that this newspaper had hoped to ask that agency, which indicated it was not open to queries on the matter).

He also hopes to clear up any further

Rancocas Road and are among “Burlington County’s most popular destinations for outdoor fun.” The commissioners also envision eventually extending the trail through Willingboro and into Westampton, where the county plans to create a new park on the former Rowan Property along the Rancocas Creek.

The proposed path, similar to the county’s other regional trails, would be built so that it is wheelchair accessible and provides a safe pedestrian and bicyclefriendly alternative to motor-vehicle travel.

Another county project that received funding is the new all-inclusive playground at the Burlington County Special Services School in Westampton. The DCA awarded the school district $83,000 to aid with construction costs.

The 12,500-square-foot playground is currently under construction and will feature a new safe play surface and all updated equipment designed to be completely accessible and barrier free. It will be used by Special Services students, but will also be open for the public to use when school is not in session.

Burlington County contributed $400,000 in funding towards building the playground.

“Mobility is a basic right, and all our county’s children deserve to have safe and accessible playgrounds,” said Burlington County Commissioner Allison Eckel, liaison to the Department of Resource Conservation and Parks. “We’re extremely grateful to the Department of Community Affairs for supporting the new Willingboro trail and Special Services playground projects, along with all the other recreational improvements proposed in our county. Our board and our residents thank the Murphy administration and legislative leaders like Senator Troy Singleton for advocating on behalf of us for this muchneeded funding.”

misconceptions that may have resulted from both residents and township officials not being reportedly aware of the disposition of the 21 acres he now owns on Vincentown’s North Main Street. To this end, despite a busy schedule, “if I can make it to the (township committee) meetings, I definitely will,” he declared, adding that he’d be “happy to answer any questions” and to let people know that “I just wanted to do something right when so many people are taking the easy way out.”

(Continued from Page 1)

for the proposed development” in question.

Its existence and the emerging backstory behind it effectively brings an end to what had been two outstanding questions this newspaper could not get answers to last week as the controversy erupted: who approved the electrical unit that has been constructed, and who gave permission for it to be constructed on a township-owned island.

Additionally, a township committeeman’s surprising vote in the affirmative for the resolution, despite having been vocally opposed to the solar project from the start and having a history of voting against anything to do with the solar project, was apparently one made in error, with the story behind it highlighting the apparent lack of scrutiny given to an Interconnection Route Plan, which is referenced by title twice in the resolution.

That plan, from July 2022, having since been obtained by this newspaper, contains numerous diagrams, technical specs and location maps for the unit that has now been constructed and is the subject of much controversy. What has been erected on Saint Davids Place and the work that is occurring there appears to match what is in the plan from last year.

“On Feb. 7, 8 and 10, 2023, the commission received copies of municipal approvals for the proposed development, including a copy of a temporary construction and interconnection easement approved by the township committee during its Aug. 16, 2022, meeting,” Pinelands Commission Spokesman Paul Leakan explained to this newspaper on May 9.

The Pinelands Commission, according to Leakan, after receiving a copy of the certified township committee resolution,

Photo Provided

then “reviewed the township approvals and determined that the proposed development was consistent with the minimum environmental standards of the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP).”

On Feb. 13, 2023, he explained, the Pinelands Commission then issued a letter “allowing the township approvals to take effect,” with the agency’s spokesman noting that the proposed development is located within a Pinelands Rural Development Area, and “public service infrastructure, such as the proposed development,” is permitted in a Pinelands Rural Development Area.

“Please note that the CMP does not contain specific regulations pertaining to public safety,” he said in response to queries about the various safety concerns expressed by locals. “Any public safety concerns regarding the proposed development would need to be addressed by the township or other public agencies.”

Whether any members of the township committee had been had been provided with a copy of the “Interconnection Route Plan” that is notated in the township resolution at issue, 2022-79, prior to the governing body voting to approve that resolution, had remained an outstanding question, that is until Township Administrator and Clerk Kathleen D. Hoffman finally answered it right as this newspaper was about to go to press.

In response to being asked via email, “Did you or your office provide the township committee with the Interconnection Plan for BEMS prior to the Aug. 16, 2022, committee vote on corresponding resolution 2022-79?,” she replied at 12:57 p.m. on May 11, “Yes we did.”

The Pine Barrens Tribune has learned that Hoffman’s last minute confirmation came just as 74 Saint Davids Place resident, Phyllis Peak, left the municipal building on May 11. Peak contacted this newspaper shortly

See JOLTED Page 9

A diagram contained in a 2022 Interconnection Route Plan showing the specs for an electrical unit on a Saint Davids Place island, as well as a trench that would be opened from Saint Davids Place to Big Hill Road.

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The resolution that is proving to be so consequential to the LeisureTowne community had not only been given a technical title that arguably didn’t mean much to the average citizen at the time (especially without having a copy of the plan in hand) and lacks a mention of its connection to the solar project, but was merely bunched together for approval on Aug. 16, 2022, as one of several consent agenda resolutions (or measures that the governing body votes to approve or disapprove all at one time versus separating it out for closer scrutiny, a common maneuver governing bodies typically employ to approve routine, simplistic business matters).

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after leaving the township building, “very upset,” describing that she went to the municipal offices “to get a copy of what the township said they approved,” and “learned it was Resolution 2022-79, Accepting Temporary Construction and Interconnection Easement.” She also learned of the corresponding plan (which this newspaper obtained earlier the week), she reported, telling this reporter, “it is all in here.”

“I was shocked that the township signed off on this when they have been telling me for a week and a half that they had no knowledge of it,” Peak declared. “I am in shock right now and dumbfounded. The township told us it is their say, and there is nothing we can do at this point. She (Hoffman) also said once it is finished, they will put trees and a fence around it, and it will look a lot better.”

However, Peak declared, “in my opinion, the township just doesn’t care that the people on Saint Davids has to look at that monstrosity,” and made a personal plea for a lawyer to take the case as the residents of this street, she maintained, have limited incomes.

“I can’t believe the township sold us out like this and put this on our eyebrow,” she further declared. “I can’t believe the township approved anything to be built on the eyebrow, with this supposed to be a switch station for the solar farm. We have to look at this every day and be concerned about our property values. It has upset all the residents around there.”

The corresponding Interconnection Route Plan obtained by this newspaper from the Pinelands Commission on May 9, with the pages of the plan dated July 27, 2022, contains multiple detailed renderings of the work that had been proposed for several township islands in connection to the BEMS Solar Project, including for the one on Saint Davids Place.

Among the many renderings is a detailed diagram of what the electrical unit was to look like and contain inside, in addition to the diagram showing how such a unit would be constructed on the island.

And as the fallout builds over what has unfolded, this newspaper has been made aware by “outraged” residents of other work that has been performed recently in LeisureTowne, purportedly in connection with the solar project. Residents impacted by that other work also say they received no advanced notice about the extent of what was going to occur around their properties, including the total clearing of an island on Sterling Place, trenching of an island on Buckingham Drive, as well as heavy excavating work between two homes on Saint Davids Place.

Resolution 2022-79, obtained by the Pine Barrens Tribune on May 9, starts out by stating that BEMS Southampton Solar Farm, LLC (which is purportedly a subsidiary of CEP Renewables), the redeveloper for the BEMS Landfill Redevelopment Area, proposes construction of a solar farm with two 5 MW (megawatt) solar arrays.

The “east array,” it is noted in the resolution, “will connect into the distribution system of Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) on site” while “the west array will connect into the distribution system of Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G).”

It is continued in the resolution that PSE&G “has identified the location where the interconnection must occur requiring the redeveloper to run transmission lines to the point of interconnection (POI)” and that “in order to connect to the POI, the redeveloper requires an easement from the township for, (a), the construction and installation of certain interconnection improvements in the township’s Right-of-Way (ROW) located in the LeisureTowne residential community, located immediately to the west of the BEMS

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Landfill, and, (b), the maintenance of said interconnection improvements for the life of the west array.”

The resolution then notes that the “township is the owner of certain variable-width Rightsof-Way located in LeisureTowne,” which are “commonly known as Kingston Way, Sterling Place, Buckingham Drive and Saint Davids Place.”

“WHEREAS, the township desires to grant to the redeveloper a non-exclusive, (a), temporary construction easement, and, (b), interconnection easement under, beneath and through the township property,” the resolution states. “WHEREAS, the locations of both the temporary construction easement and interconnection easement are to be generally as shown on the Interconnection Route Plan.”

It is added that the “township engineer has reviewed the Interconnection Route Plan and determined it is an appropriate route within

the Right-of-Way.”

The front page of the corresponding Interconnection Route Plan, apparently developed by the redeveloper’s engineer, Colliers Engineering & Design, Inc., lays out a 4,050-foot interconnection from the solar array, beginning at the landfill, and then running down from Kingston Way to Sterling Place to Buckingham Drive, before coming around to the electrical unit placed on the Saint Davids Place island. The remainder of the interconnection, the map shows, then runs from the island, goes in-between two homes on Saint Davids Place, before ending at Big Hill Road.

Page nine of the Interconnection Route Plan features an overlay of the fully built out, multiple door electrical unit on the Saint Davids Place island. A diagram also shows how an open trench would be dug between

(Continued from Page 8) See JOLTED Page 10

Photo Provided

Another diagram contained in an Interconnection Route Plan showing what the switch gear connection cabinet would look like and the different elements to it.

JOLTED

the electrical unit to Big Hill Road, with the trench running in-between two homes on Saint Davids Place.

The next page, or page 10, contains several diagrams, including a close-up and very detailed diagram view of the electrical unit for the Saint Davids Place island, depicting the “switch gear connection to Big Hill Road/ PSE&G pole detail.”

The island project, according to the diagram, encompasses an area 43 feet long and 27 feet wide, with the 6 inches thick concrete slab for the electrical unit to be about 30 feet long and 27.5 feet wide. It is also noted that the “contractor shall remove all existing shrubs, bushes and trees on the island prior to the work.”

A second diagram on page 10 for the switch gear connection, or electrical unit, shows that the unit (also referred to in the diagram as an electrical “cabinet”) itself is to be approximately 20 feet long by 6 feet wide. The electrical unit, according to the diagram, is proposed to be split into six sections, listing, starting from left to right, the incoming section, utility metering, main switch, CPT section, main breaker and battery section.

Other diagrams on pages 10 through 12 of the plan offer additional details about how the underground conduit is to be arranged, as well as about the various wiring and electrical components of the project. One of the diagrams also shows the “detail” for a 7-foot high “double-vinyl fence gate” that is to surround the unit when construction is completed, while another provides more

“switchgear concrete pad detail.”

The Pine Barrens Tribune reported last week that Hoffman confirmed that the township’s special project engineer, Environmental Resolutions, Inc. (ERI), was tasked with overseeing the project. Hoffman also responded to this newspaper last week that she would have to check and get back in touch when asked about who gave the approvals for the electrical unit and the use of the township island on Saint Davids Place. Resolution 2022-79 was not only approved by the township committee, but contains a statement that “the township solicitor negotiated the terms of the easement to ensure that the township’s Right-of-Way and adjacent private properties are protected from any damage that may occur during construction or maintenance activities.”

On the right side of page 14 of the Interconnection Route Plan, in small type, it is noted that the plan had been revised on Aug. 16, 2022 (the day of the township committee approval), following a Teams meeting with the redeveloper’s engineer and PSE&G.

Comments from the utility company’s representatives were then purportedly incorporated into the plan, as noted, leading to a revision, with another revision occurring one week later, on Aug. 25, 2022, “per the township engineer’s comments.”

The plan was reportedly revised a couple of more times following additional comments from PSE&G and the township engineer, but the final revision is said to have occurred on Oct. 27, 2022, “per 9/13/22 review letter from ERI.” While the plan and its pages are dated July 27, 2022, it is signed and officially sealed by its creator, Edwin Caballero, of Colliers Engineering & Design, Inc., on Oct. 27, 2022.

Resident Joann Moschetto, of 69 Saint

Davids Place, whose home is one of seven on the street directly impacted by the electrical unit, when told of the township committeeapproved resolution and existence of the corresponding plan, declared, “I feel they did not have the resident’s best interest at heart,” and if the governing body were to respond that it didn’t know about the particulars of the corresponding plan or hadn’t seen it, “that’s their job” to have asked about it.

“I can’t believe LeisureTowne (the association), as strict as it is with what things look like, would approve it and I am horrified the township would approve it,” she asserted, though the association’s role, if any, in the approval process is unclear as of press time.

Southampton Committeeman Ronald Heston, who previously told this newspaper that he conversed with the township planner and had been told the electrical unit at issue was approved by the township’s special project engineer, when this newspaper began reading back to him Resolution 2022-79, acknowledged the measure has since been brought to his attention and that he has a copy of it.

“I am not exactly sure,” Heston responded when asked by this reporter what he thought he might have been voting for in casting a vote of approval on the night of Aug. 16, 2022, for the resolution. “Thinking back on it, we were given an explanation as to what it was for, authorizing the ‘interconnection’ and that is all I remember – that we authorized it.”

Heston emphasized to this newspaper that at no point did he see a map indicating Saint Davids Place would be impacted, nor was he made aware that there had been changes to an original route that he maintained had been proposed for the interconnection, which he described as would have entailing the area of LeisureTowne by an RV parking area.

“I am upset there is a piece of equipment aboveground,” Heston declared. “I am upset that there is going to be a fence around it. But I am pleased to know they are going to enclose the equipment with a fence and shrubbery, and that the eyebrow (another name used to refer to the islands of LeisureTowne) will be replanted.”

Heston also pointed out to this newspaper that Resolution 2022-80, titled, “Accepting a Decommissioning Agreement and Deed Restriction,” also passed on Aug. 16, 2022, having been approved unanimously through the consent agenda, and that the measure is also tied to the solar project (it details, in part, when the solar array would be decommissioned).

Otherwise, Heston referred this newspaper to Southampton Township Mayor Mike Mikulski for further comment on this story. Mikulski did not return this newspaper’s message as of press time. The current mayor, last week, declined to provide much comment on the situation.

Committeeman James F. Young, Sr., a former mayor of Southampton of 25 years, whose mayoral tenure ended Dec. 31, 2019, had previously told this newspaper on May

2 that he was hearing about what has been erected on Saint Davids Place for the first time from this reporter, and would drive to the scene in a half hour to take a look at it, before pointing out he was “against the project from the start.” He called this newspaper back past deadline time, on May 5, declaring what he saw was “atrocious.”

The following day, on May 6, he left a message with this newspaper that he disputed this newspaper’s reporting that in reaction to a Nov. 20, 2018, presentation from Trevan J. Houser, president of RE-Imagine Real Estate, who discussed the potential for solar on the BEMS landfill, he had stated that the township “will watch everything, before we let them do anything.”

In another call to this newspaper, this one on May 8, Young maintained he couldn’t have made such remarks because he had “nothing to do with the project” as the solar company didn’t make a formal presentation to the township committee until 2021 and “the project didn’t start until 2022,” when he was no longer the mayor, pointing out that Mikulski “is looking over the township now” as the current mayor, “not me.”

When this newspaper pointed to the township meeting minutes from Nov. 20, 2018, Young said he “doesn’t recall” the presentation or the response as reported by this newspaper, before again emphasizing a previous point he “was against the project from the start” and has nothing to do with it, and that it wasn’t until after he left the mayor’s office when the redeveloper made a formal presentation to the township committee.

While it is true that Young has been vocally opposed to the project from the start, Township Administrator and Clerk Kathleen D. Hoffman certified that both Resolution 2022-79 and 2022-80 were passed unanimously, including circling Young’s name as one of the affirmative votes.

Young, when contacted by this newspaper on May 9, with the vote on Resolution 79-2022 pointed out to him, initially declared, “that’s impossible,” asserting, “I said, ‘no.’”

“I did not have anything to with that landfill,” he said emphatically, before supposing that there could have been a mistake in how the vote was recorded.

This newspaper then emailed Hoffman to see if she is standing by her voting certification on the resolutions at issue. This newspaper initially received a reply email with no written response, but containing two attachments –the certified resolutions with what had been previously certified having been unchanged from the prior copies this newspaper received earlier in the week.

A couple hours later, Hoffman wrote to this newspaper, “That is my signature on the certification. It was under a consent agenda and all committee members voted in the affirmative.”

A check of the Aug. 16, 2022, meeting

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(Continued from Page 9)

Photo Provided

A third diagram contained in the Interconnection Route Plan showing what a Saint Davids Place island would look like once an interconnection switch box is installed.

tape by this newspaper revealed that the resolutions were not only lumped together as consent agenda resolutions, but no committee discussion had taken place as to what the measures entailed prior to the committee vote. Mikulski, after asking for any ayes, then asked if there was any opposition to the consent agenda resolutions, but no audible sound could be heard after he had made the request.

The former mayor of 25 years, when he led the township committee, always had the township committee meeting agendas constructed so that each resolution would be voted on separately, with an occasional exception to that policy made. That resolution voting process changed sometime after Mikulski took over as mayor, over the objection of the former mayor.

Young, on May 10, telephoned this newspaper again, declaring, “you were right – I feel like I have egg on my face,” before indicating that the pair of resolutions pertaining to the solar project on Aug. 16, 2022, had gotten lost in the shuffle of consent agenda resolutions.

“They combined five or six resolutions together, which you shouldn’t do, except if it is like for adjustments for the tax collector,” Young explained of what occurred. “I always did that (only combining resolutions together pertaining to routine adjustments), but I always discussed it (the more consequential resolutions) and it wasn’t discussed (in this case). And that is why it slipped through, and I feel so damn bad about it!”

He then declared, “and that is what happened – but I guarantee you they will never do it again!”

“Each resolution will be separated from now on,” Young vowed.

Young then emphasized, “I feel so damn bad, because if anyone was against the project, I was.”

A few minutes later Young again phoned this newspaper to state that Resolution 202279 was just read back to him via telephone by Hoffman, and that it does not make any mention of the electrical unit to be built on Saint Davids Place, and just simply gave the authorization for the wiring.

While it is true that the resolution does not make any specific mention to the electrical unit at issue, this reporter pointed out to the township committeeman that per the Pinelands Commission, that measure gave the township approvals for what has transpired, with the measure having mentions to the corresponding “Interconnection Route Plan,” or the 15-page document from July 2022 containing various drawings and

diagrams of the electrical unit.

Young responded that he doesn’t believe the township committee was provided with a copy of the plan, and that he personally never saw it.

“I was snookered!” he declared at one point, and again vowed something like this would never, ever happen again.

Heston told this newspaper, when pressed about the existence of Resolution 2022-79, that, “I did not have a road map.”

“I voted ‘yes’ for it (the resolution), and the streets were named in it,” acknowledged Heston, also a member of the township planning board. “But I did not have the map that showed it to me!”

Heston maintained that when the resolution came in front of him, he believed he was merely voting “for a different interconnection than originally preferred by the applicant, BEMS solar,” before adding that the final interconnection route was a “PSE&G and BPU (Board of Public Utilities) decision” and the “planning board had no say in it.”

“The real gist of it is that the township committee voted for PSE&G’s selection of an alternate route east, going out Buckingham Road,” said Heston of how he understood what the township committee thought it was actually voting to approve.

An inquiry sent to PSE&G spokeswoman about this matter remains outstanding as of press time.

Peter Peretzman, a spokesman for the BPU, when asked if the agency approved the location of the electrical unit, replied, “no.”

“On Oct. 21, 2021, the board made awards for Program Year 2 of the Community Solar Energy Pilot Program, which included the BEMS Landfill project,” he added. “The application for the project included a map of the solar array plan on the landfill site only. It does not include the street in question or any such proposed siting of electrical equipment and it does not include information regarding interconnection with PSE&G. PSE&G’s interconnection plans were completed after the board received the application, and the board was never made aware of these plans.”

Peretzman told this newspaper that the board’s jurisdiction over the project is “with respect to its participation in the Community Solar Energy Pilot Program and the Transition Incentive Program.” He noted that the board’s jurisdiction over interconnection with PSE&G’s system is exercised through its interconnection rules, “which do not address sitings of this type of unit.”

“The board’s approval of the project was only with respect to its participation in the Community Solar Energy Pilot Program and the Solar Transition Incentive Program,” he emphasized to this newspaper. “The siting of the electrical unit would be the responsibility of PSE&G and the township.”

When asked if the BPU considers the location of the electrical unit as an appropriate one, Peretzman responded, “the board has no responsibility or jurisdiction over the location of the unit.”

“It is the responsibility of Southampton Township and PSE&G to ensure the safety of the electrical unit,” he maintained.

Hoffman, as stated up top, responded right as this newspaper went to press that “yes we did” give a copy of the interconnection plan to the township committee prior to corresponding Resolution 2022-79 being considered by the governing body.

At 2:15 p.m. on May 11, just as the presses were about to run, Hoffman answered the question put to her, in a slightly different variation earlier in the week, “Did a copy of the Interconnection Route Plan get circulated to the township committee, or any member of the township committee, prior to Resolution 2022-79 being listed on the agenda?” responding, “Yes it was.”

Leakan, prior to that confirmation, when asked again by this newspaper if the plan corresponds to the township committee resolution, responded, “the commission received a Temporary Construction and Interconnection Easement approval (Resolution 2022-79) and a Road Opening Permit, both issued by Southampton Township, for the proposed development.”

The Pinelands Commission spokesman, when queried whether the Interconnection Route Plan itself also received any township planning board approval before being provided to the state, responded, “We have not received any other permits or approvals.”

This newspaper reported last week that it could only find that a site plan for the solar farm itself received municipal planning board approval, with 200-foot notifications having not included Saint Davids Place.

“The commission can only speak to its own regulatory requirements,” he added.

“Questions about the need for additional planning board approvals should be directed to the municipality.”

Southampton Deputy Mayor Bill Raftery, also a member of the township planning board, and Committeewoman Elizabeth Rossell, the lone committeeperson to reside in LeisureTowne, could not be immediately reached for comment on this story.

Young, earlier this week, before township committee resolution 2022-79 and its voting record came to light, declared of the unit built, “We are looking into it now, to see what happened.”

When asked by this reporter if he maintained the unit constructed was “atrocious,” he replied, “sure it is.”

“I looked at it and I was shocked to be honest with you,” he added.

This newspaper’s reporting on the outrage about what has occurred on Saint Davids Place generated a flurry of phone calls and messages to the Pine Barrens Tribune from various LeisureTowne residents – including those who indicated that they had never been politically active before, but plan to become more involved in matters moving forward – about other activities related to the solar project.

One such communication came in the form of a typed letter mailed to this newspaper from 93-year-old Sterling Place resident Donald Hoger, declaring “my definition” of what has happened is a “solar debacle.”

Hoger went on to describe in the letter that there is a manhole at the intersection of Sterling Place and Kingston Way, “which apparently connects in some way to the electric grid.” He alleged that “after” (making a point of that) the work was finished on Sterling Place, “they cut down all of the beautiful pine trees” on an island there.

He maintained that he had contacted the township via email asking if it had approved the tree removal on the island, but his query

See JOLTED Page 12

Photo By Douglas D. Melegari

An island left bare with just remaining roots sticking up at of the ground on Sterling Place following purported solar project work, in which all the trees were reportedly removed afterwards.

Photo By Phyllis Peak

JOLTED

(Continued from Page 11)

“went unanswered.”

Hoger provided with his letter pages of pictures taken over the years of the pine trees on the island, showing that they were very tall and vibrant at the time, and then on the final page, he inserted a picture of the island since the work has taken place, left completely bare with only cut roots sticking up out of the sand and a few remaining pine cones, captioned “current state of island – NICE MESS.”

“The work began three or four months ago,” he later told this newspaper in a telephone interview. “It was the center of the island where they put down the tubing for the cables. And they had all kinds of heavy equipment there for two to three months. And when they got finished, they took down all the trees. Now, I emailed the township and asked if they had approved of taking the trees down, and they never responded to me.”

Hoger described in the interview that the Sterling Place island is right in front of his home and that the “very large pine trees” that were there “were in perfect condition” at the time of their removal.

“The nice thing about them is they dropped their needles every year and provided a very good mulch,” he recounted. “Golf courses actually pay a lot of money to import that stuff because they don’t want grass to grow.”

Hoger, who described that he is “absolutely” outraged by their removal, said he was not notified of any plan to take down the trees in front of his home (similar to accounts from Saint Davids Place residents that they were not notified in advance of the extent of the work to occur there), and was particularly put off that the trees were removed only after the underground work had concluded.

“After a couple months of having heavy

equipment there, they did not bother them, but when they were all done, they cut the trees,” he told this newspaper.

Hoger described that the trees in question, which he believed were planted around 1971 when his neighborhood was built, had “very shallow roots” and that the “trees were mostly on the edge of the island” and there is “no way those trees could have interfered with what they had been doing underground,” as the work he learned was reportedly occurring 8 feet below ground.

“No, those are not replaceable,” declared Hoger, a 26-year resident of LeisureTowne, of the pine trees removed from the Sterling Place island. “But they need to do something on it (the island). Right now, it is just sand and a whole bunch of roots. The curbing is also all bashed up – they ruined that.”

Page 6 of the Interconnection Route Plan details the “construction plan” for Sterling Place, but the diagram does not include any mention of tree work to occur there. Rather, it explains that there would just be an “open trench” dug “inside of the island.”

Hoffman did respond May 10 to an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request asking for any tree permits approved as part of the project for Sterling Place, as well as on Saint Davids Place. She wrote that “no such documents exist.” It is not immediately clear whether tree permits are required by the township for tree removal work.

“I would think so,” said Hoger if he believed permits should be issued by the township before trees are removed for projects, noting that, as he understood it, the township has a tree committee.

This newspaper reported last week that both township’s Environmental Commission and Shade Tree Advisory Board have become defunct, despite a state law requiring established public bodies to reorganize annually in January.

Hoger, who said he also paid a visit to Saint Davids Place in response to the reports of

what has happened there, told this newspaper, “I couldn’t believe it,” and that “those people couldn’t possibly sell their houses” now.

He described what has happened in the community as “unconscionable.”

Meanwhile, Peak was among a couple of residents who posted pictures on Nextdoor, a social media site used regularly by LeisureTowne residents, of now heavy excavating work taking place between two homes there, including the one where Moschetto resides. The pictures reveal mounds of freshly dug dirt, and heavy excavating equipment within feet of the homes, with workers digging a massive trench.

One of the photographs shows dirt piled as high as the height of the lower floor window on one of the homes, nearly blocking the view out of it. The Pine Barrens Tribune has been told by residents of Saint Davids Place that this home belongs to a woman in her late 90s, who currently has a caregiver.

“The neighbors started saying this could crack your foundation and could crack your pipes, and I was upset about that,” Moschetto said.

Moschetto, who was out of town early this week, upon seeing the photographs of what has occurred since she left, declared, “Oh my god … wow ….”

She described previously to this newspaper that former Board of Trustees President Larry O’Rourke, after he was voted out of office last summer, returned to her home as a solar company representative and provided her with two checks totaling $5,500 in exchange for an easement. She reiterated, however, to this newspaper again on May 9 that she was told by O’Rourke that only one wire would be run underground through a horizontal directional boring process.

“I know the hole was big (from what her husband had described), but that is pretty big,” she said in further reaction to seeing the trench in the photographs. “I was told there

would be just one cable. … Larry told me that it is simply going to be an easement and they are going to be allowed to dig that up ‘if’ they are going to have to do any work on the wire. And that is what we were told – work on one wire. I would have never, ever approved this amount of work for any amount of money because my house is worth a lot more money than any amount that he is going to give me.”

Page 9 of the Interconnection Route Plan shows that a 20-foot-wide utility easement, approximately 172 feet in length, has been dedicated to BEMS Southampton Solar Farm, LLC, running from the edge of Saint Davids Place, closest to the homes, to Big Hill Road. A notation on the diagram notes the easement dedicated is approximately 1,167 square-feet, and also previews at least 170 linear feet of silt fence.

The easement, the diagram shows, allows for an open trench to be dug to Big Hill Road, with the diagram showing the easement running through “freshwater wetlands.” This newspaper reported on a previous account from Saint Davids Place resident Mark Preston that a generator has been running constantly behind his home (with the back edge near Big Hill Road) to allow for the pumping out of water from the area to make the electrical work possible.

Leaken, when queried about the possibility for wetlands impacts, responded, “there are no proposed impacts to wetlands.”

“The electric conduit will be installed by Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) below the wetlands,” he added.

A LeisureTowne resident, Robert Yanus, however, posted 10 pictures on Nextdoor this week showing above groundwork being performed in the area of ground between Saint Davids Place and Big Hill Road, however, writing the “solar company is destroying property on Big Hill Road, directly behind LeisureTowne residents’

See JOLTED Page 13

The two pages from a township committee resolution titled, “Accepting Temporary Construction and (an) Interconnection Easement.”

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(Continued from Page 6)

them being swept,” with Hoffman having occupied the township administrator post for a little over 10 years now.

The township administrator further maintained that there were only a few calls made to town hall with complaints about the situation and that they were only made “the first week that we did it,” and “since then we haven’t had any calls.”

Additionally, she doubled down on a claim that it is only costing the township $1,300 for this round of street sweeping (she denied it being on a per day basis), with several other neighborhoods in the township that have storm drains in line to have similar work done. Vincentown Village, she noted, is “always done” ahead of the municipality’s Memorial Day Parade.

Attempts to reach someone at the LeisureTowne Association office last week to answer this newspaper’s questions for this and other matters impacting the retirement community failed to elicit a response by this newspaper’s press time. LeisureTowne Board of Trustees President Debbie Massey, when reached last week, told this newspaper she was “working on something for my job right now,” and when asked if there was a better time to speak, responded, “no … thank-you, bye.”

Committeewoman Elizabeth Rossell, a LeisureTowne resident and the only member of the municipal governing body from the retirement community, following Doherty’s April 18 remarks at the township committee meeting, said that she would like to “thank whomever for cleaning the streets – whatever amount they cleaned.”

“We will move forward from there,” she said.

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LEGAL NOTICES

NOTICE OF CHANGE OF MEETING FORMAT Township of Woodland, County of Burlington, State of NJ

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Woodland Township Committee will hold their workshop and regular meetings in person starting May 24, 2023. Meetings will be held at the Woodland Township Municipal Building, 3943 Main Street, Chatsworth, NJ 08019.

Meetings will be held on the below dates, starting at 6:00 for workshop; 7:00 for regular. Attendance, participation, and public comment will be limited to those attending in person only. 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. 10:4-6. Anyone from the public, in attendance, wishing to speak will be permitted to do so during public participation. The agenda will be posted on the township webpage.

REGULAR MEETINGS

Jan. 25, 2023

Feb. 22, 2023

March 22, 2023

April 26, 2023

May 24, 2023

June 28, 2023

July 26, 2023

Aug. 23, 2023

Sept. 27, 2023

Oct. 25, 2023

Nov. 29, 2023**

Dec. 20, 2023**

** denotes different day due to holidays

Maryalice Brown, RMC Township Clerk

Pub. Date May 13, 2023

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point on Big Hill Road. Residents, on Nextdoor, also raised questions about a large tree being removed this week on the side of Moschetto’s home by the project workers.

“The only way I knew about that,”

overseeing the project. I expect any day now to open my blinds and see a tree in my front yard. I imagine that some of the trees have been here since 1971. Luckily, as of yet, we did

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(Continued from Page 13)

not get any structures put on the island, but it is being used as storage for pipes and tractor parts and, so far, nothing has been done to restore the landscape. Not as big a deal as the disaster on Saint Davids, but a potentially dangerous situation. Time will tell.”

On Nextdoor, one LeisureTowne resident questioned if any of the workers get hurt or got hurt, who would be paying for any

TANKER

(Continued from Page 2)

to a dam in 2021 purportedly forced the NJCF to temporarily drain the lake, it was identified by local officials as an important water source in the event of a large fire, being that the township lacks fire hydrants.

He revealed at that time that it would cost $1,625 for the necessary pipe and all the fittings.

“I am ordering a set of fittings,” Viscardi reported to the township committee during its latest meeting on April 26.

The fire chief noted that he is also now “trying to get approval to put draft points in where there are more houses” so that firefighters can have access to “more locations

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insurance claims given they are working on private property. Questions have also been raised about how what appears to be wetlands is being allowed to be disturbed.

Others went further, with resident Dana Herman declaring that the community has to “gather ourselves and realize the power we have if we come together in this.”

“Let’s remember LeisureTowne: we are one of the largest voting blocs in Southampton Township,” said Resident Robert Conolly, who called on residents of the community to “attend a township meeting and remind them of that.”

He also pointed out that O’Rourke

with water.”

At a previous township committee meeting, Woodland Mayor William “Billy” DeGroff raised the prospect of installing a hydrant and well at the Chatsworth firehouse for use by the Woodland fire company to obtain water supply to fight fires. In discussing the idea with Woodland Deputy Mayor Mark Herndon, it was revealed that the hydrant would work off a “separate well and pump,” and that the idea is to “have one somewhere, in a central location.”

DeGroff revealed at that time that Viscardi was said to have “made a suggestion” that the township use some of its “COVID money” (Woodland received a total of $173,674 from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, according to the New Jersey State AFL-CIO) to “put a hydrant at the firehouse.”

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“started” the deal (O’Rourke, prior to being voted out of office, read into the record of a Southampton Planning Board meeting the Board of Trustees’ approval and support of the minor site plan for the solar farm, with current president Debbie Massey [elected last summer] having since announced, in November 2022, a $400,000 deal with the developer for an easement) and “there are still members of that board still in office.”

“My mantra is, “Don’t re-elect anybody,” declared Conolly in light of a Board of Trustees election in which two incumbents are on the ballot.

“Lower Bank (Fire Company) [which is in neighboring Washington Township] recently put in a well outside of their firehouse,” said DeGroff, also a firefighter with the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, at the April 26 Woodland committee meeting.” It was very helpful filling forest fire trucks and other vehicles.”

DeGroff then reiterated at the latest Woodland committee meeting that the prospect of installing a well at the Chatsworth firehouse “would not be costing any residents money” as “this (project) would be using money we received from the state.”

DeGroff previously noted that it may cost up to $20,000 to construct the well and hydrant at the Chatsworth firehouse.

During a preceding township committee meeting, resident Debbie Bowker, whose late father-in-law, John Bowker Jr. was township

LeisureTowne has scheduled a Board of Trustees’ Meet the Candidates Night at 7 p.m. on May 19, with a Board of Trustees meeting also scheduled for 7 p.m. on May 23. The Southampton Township Committee is scheduled to next meet at 6 p.m. on May 16.

“If I could just get my wish, I just want it to go away,” said Moschetto of the electrical unit in front of her home, noting that she plans to take legal action if she is able. “This is not the house I bought – I would not have chosen to live across from that.”

A working number for O’Rourke could not be found.

mayor from 1975 to 1996, asked, “What happened to getting water from Ocean Spray?”, maintaining “it is one thing” the cranberry company with a plant in Chatsworth reportedly “offered to the township” for “filling fire trucks,” further asserting “my father-in-law was mayor at the time” and “I remember that.”

Viscardi, in response to that inquiry, said that the fire company “can get water there,” but that the plant has a “smaller well” that one “can’t use for fire suppression.”

DeGroff, during the latest township committee meeting, further elaborated about the limitations of the arrangement with Ocean Spray, explaining “Ocean Spray can only pump so many gallons per minute” from its well and that “we had issues with the well, and during cranberry season we may not have access to the supply because it is right near their scale area.”