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May 15 - May 21, 2021

BIG STEPS FORWARD The Red Lion Diner in Southampton Township.

Photos By Andrew King

Second Plan ‘Step Forward for Redevelopment’ Near Red Lion Diner That Establishment Co-owner Says Has Been Needed for a Longtime, Noting It Will Also Allow for Upgrades to Boost Customer Experience

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—A redevelopment plan for a 20-acre tract that includes the Red Lion Diner, which sits where Routes 70 and 206 come together at the Red Lion Circle in Southampton Township, listed as Lots 5, 5.02 and 5.03 of Block 3002 on municipal tax maps, has been prepared

by Municipal Planner Edward Fox, of Environmental Resolutions, Inc. (ERI), for Southampton Township Committee approval.

The plan, according to Paul Tsiknakis, co-owner of the diner, will not only

make it possible for the establishment to enhance its dining experience and expand its offerings, but bring about traffic safety improvements and conveniences for local residents.

Deputy Mayor Ronald Heston, also a member of the township Planning Board, called the redevelopment plan for the tract a “step forward for redevelopment,” although he noted that “nothing is proposed (formally through development applications).”

An ordinance that would formally adopt See DINER/ Page 9

A drone view of Burlington Environmental Management Services (BEMS) Landfill.

Redevelopment Plan Presented for Closed, Contaminated Landfill That Would Create Development Standards for Likely Solar Facility That is Said to Carry Benefits, Including Clearing Back Taxes Owed

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—A redevelopment plan for a closed, contaminated landfill in Southampton Township that abuts the LeisureTowne retirement community, h a s b e e n p r e p a r e d by Mu n i c ip a l Planner Edward Fox, of Environmental Resolutions, Inc. (ERI), for Southampton Township Committee approval.

An ordinance that would formally adopt the redevelopment plan (and set forth new zoning standards for the area involved in order to entice such development) was introduced by the governing body during

its April 20 meeting, with a second reading and public hearing tentatively scheduled for May 18.

Until that time, the redevelopment plan obtained by this newspaper through an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) is technically still considered a draft (though it has been signed and certified by Fox).

T he re development plan for the Burlington Environmental Management Services (BEMS) Landfill, also known as the Big Hill Sanitary Landfill, which sits on Big Hill, is in response to a proposal See SOLAR/ Page 15

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Saturday, May 15, 2021

Condemned Duplex Sold by Pemboro At Auction; Resident Against Drugs of Any Kind Urges Council to Permit Cannabis Businesses So It Adds Ratables

The duplex at 54 and 56 Hanover Street.

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

PE M B E RT ON B O ROUG H — A previously condemned duplex at 54 and 56 Hanover Street, which was acquired late last year by Pemberton Borough for demolition, is in new hands – and likely to be renovated.

The properties that comprise the duplex were auctioned by the borough on April 22 to Frank Pallante, of F. Pallante, LLC, who placed a winning bid of $20,000 for 54 Hanover Street, and $22,000 for 56 Hanover Street, according to Borough Administrator Donna Mull in a May 10 interview with this newspaper.

The borough, as previously reported by this newspaper, was in the process of deter mining prices for demolition work on the duplex, when, according to Mayor Harold Griffin, a gentleman (later identified as Scott McIver in Feb. 16 Pemberton Borough Council executive session meeting minutes) approached the municipality interested in both purchasing and renovating the structure, as long as the latter was determined to be feasible.

But as was apparently explained to McIver at the time, according to the closed session minutes, because the duplex’s properties belonged to the municipality, borough council was required to put them up for auction if it wanted to dispose of them.

Mayor Harold Griffin told this newspaper in a May 9 interview, later confirmed by Mull, that there was “a little bit of a bidding war” on April 22 between Pallante and McIver.

The municipality had advertised that it was accepting a minimum bid of $5,000 for each of the properties that comprise the duplex.

By selling the duplex, the municipality (and its taxpayers) will no longer bear the cost of any repairs or demolition.

“It saves the borough the advertising costs, and from having to go through the procedures, and it looks to me – while he has not started yet, if I know him, he is going to repair it, which makes me happy,” Griffin told this newspaper. “I am not too much in favor of demolishing historic houses. Both of them are in our historic district, and I would be happy if he would restore them. That is what he did (to houses) on Budd Avenue and Hanover Street.”

The sale, according to a published legal notice, came with a few stipulations.

The property must be secured within 15 days of the auction. And “demolition of the property, or commencement of repair or reconstruction of the single-family structure, in accordance with plans approved by the construction official,” must occur within 60 days of closing (and closing must happen within 45 days of the auction).

Photo By Andy Milone

If the property is to be repaired or reconstructed, the work “shall be completed within six months of the closing upon the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy (CO),” the legal notice added.

Harry Wetterskog, a former borough construction official who retired soon after declaring both sides of the duplex to be unsafe structures as defined under the Uniform Construction Code (UCC), previously told this newspaper that 54 Hanover Street, the northern portion, which was initially condemned, is “past the point of repair” and “shouldn’t be here and should be demolished.” The unit at 56 Hanover Street eventually received the same designation.

Griffin, when asked by this newspaper May 9 if the previous determination that the two parts of the duplex should be demolished had changed, replied, “I would say ‘yes,’” adding that Pallante “has so much time to work on them or otherwise must demolish them.”

The borough acquired the duplex in late December of last year as a “gift” from Dovbear Property, LLC, of Great Neck, N.Y. The borough took possession of the property in exchange for forgiving a 2020 municipal tax obligation on it totaling $7,320, as well as cancelling $2,987 in electric and water/sewer charges, with it intending to demolish the duplex.

The head of Dovbear, Sebastien Ayache, had previously vowed to the borough administration that he would fix up the duplex, but instead of taking action, opted to pay thousands of dollars in fines for failing to bring the buildings into compliance with the code.

According to Mull, borough council will affirm the April 22 auction sales and purchase prices during an upcoming borough council meeting.

In addition to advertising the auction, the borough also recently published a legal notice seeking a five-year tenant (through sealed bids) for 201 Hanover Street, also known as its “Canoe House,” which is next to the Hanover Street Bridge, overlooking the North Branch Rancocas Creek.

The building was most recently occupied

by Clark’s Canoe/Kayak Rental, but the business had since closed.

Sealed bids were read aloud April 29, and Joe Cort, of FROG Canoe and Kayak Rentals, LLC, according to Mull, submitted the “highest monthly rent” of $205 as the lone bidder, and will be awarded a fiveyear lease at an upcoming borough council meeting. The borough, according to the legal notice, sought a minimum monthly rent of See DUPLEX/ Page 8

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Saturday, May 15, 2021

Hearthstone Resident Fills Pemboro Council Vacancy

By Douglas D. Melegari

of the Landscape Improvement Committee for Hearthstone.

“Basically, right now, I am quite active PEMBERTON BOROUGH—Robert in the development of Hearthstone and “Bob” Briggs, who worked as a researcher maintaining it, keeping it up to standards, for more than a quarter century and has and I would probably expand that in the been very active with a local retirement direction of the entire borough and try to community over the last several years, do things to improve the environment and has been selected by Pemberton Borough the like,” Briggs said.

Council to fill the seat of the late councilman The mayor pointed out that the borough Clifford “Cliff” Rutherford Jr., who died council decision to appoint Briggs (which Feb. 28 at age 76 amid his first-term on the came during a special April 29 public body.

Briggs, as was Rutherford, meeting) to fill the unexpired is a resident of, and reportedly term was unanimous. a n a c t ive m e mb e r of t he After failing in a borough homeowner’s association for the council election attempt in 2013, 55-plus community, Hearthstone Rutherford was successful in the at Woodfield, wh ich is i n 2018 election in earning a threePemberton Borough, and is also year term on borough council. a Democrat, according to Mayor Briggs will serve until the Harold Griffin and Borough end of the year, which is when Administrator Donna Mull.

Rutherford’s term was due to Griffin, a Republican, told expire, and if he wishes to remain this newspaper that Pemberton on the governing body, he will Borough Democratic have to run in this year’s election Briggs Committee Chairman Steven for a new three-year term (it is Fenster, also a councilman, “did not already past the deadline, however, for filing submit any names” of individuals who petitions, so he would have to mount a writewere interested in filling the vacancy, and in campaign for the primary). therefore he “presented Briggs’ name to “The mayor would like for me to do that, council and they approved.” and I am good friends with Mr. Griffin, so The mayor noted that under the law, I will be trying to run on the Democratic since Rutherford was a Democrat, council ticket,” Briggs said. “I am trying to get a had to appoint one to fill the unexpired write-in campaign together for the primary term. Briggs, he said, has come to “quite and see how that goes.” a few (council) meetings” and that over Rutherford was responsible for the borough’s time, he came to know of his community electric department, a role, according to involvement, and that is why he suggested Griffin, that Briggs has now assumed with his borough council appoint him. appointment to borough council.

Briggs, in a May 10 interview with “He is very good,” Griffin told this this newspaper, said that he has been on newspaper.

Hearthstone’s Board of Directors for the past See HEARTHSTONE/ Page 8 four years, and also serves as chairperson Staff Writer

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Sewer Charges Rise Again in Vincentown Village

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

S OU T H A M P T ON —V i l l a g e o f Vincentown residents reliant on the public sewer system will see yet another increase in charges on their sewage bills.

The Southampton Township Committee recently approved increasing the basic quarterly service charge for sewer service in the village from $165 to $175.

That follows an increase in the quarterly charge from $140 to $165 last year, and from $125 to $140 in 2018.

“As of right now, the sewer system that services the residents of Vincentown Village is not self-sufficient,” said Mayor Michael Mikulski. “The rest of the township supports that, and little by little, we have been shifting that burden over more towards the residents who use it, as opposed to the rest of the municipality.”

The mayor contended doing so was the way it was “always designed” to be.

The township has an agreement with

Pinelands Wastewater Company to maintain its sewer service and manage the wastewater treatment for portions of the township, including the Village of Vincentown.

“In addition, the contract with Pinelands Wastewater has increases in it for each year as well,” said Mikulski of the need to increase the quarterly charge.

The committee also approved an increase in the sewer connection fee applied to Village of Vincentown dwellings from $6,367.43 per equivalent dwelling unit (EDU) to $6,699.31 per EDU. That follows an increase last year from $5,868 per EDU to $6,367.43 per EDU. “This (the connection fee) is for new people connecting to the sewer system,” Mikulski noted. “We are not even at 50 percent capacity for the sewer, so if there was somebody who was either in the pipeline who hadn’t joined and wanted to now, or there was an empty property someone built on and wanted to connect, that it is the fee.”

Longtime Committeeman James F. Young Sr. noted that when the system was first built, the connection fee was only $1,500 per EDU.

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Saturday, May 15, 2021

Photo By Tom Walker

Intersection of Lance Run Road and County Route 542 in Washington Township as it appeared several years ago.

Lance Run Road Dispute Reinvigorated After Excavator Reportedly Blocked Access and Surface Was ‘Disked’

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

WASHINGTON—A longtime public dispute between the Capella and Heffley families in Washington Township over whether Lance Run Road is a public road (as the Heffley family claims, and was later formally affirmed by the Washington Township Committee) or private driveway (as Frank Capella previously contended belongs to him) has been reinvigorated in recent days with allegations that an “unsuspecting” contractor performing tree removal recently was told by Capella that he could park his excavator “in his driveway,” and then reportedly did so.

But that “driveway,” according to Marie Heffley, was actually Lance Run Road, where her father-in-law lives, and therefore, the machinery blocked traffic, including to her family member’s house.

And in addition to the excavator incident, Heffley told this newspaper that “he (Capella) disked up the road.”

Multiple attempts made by this newspaper to reach Frank Capella (who was previously very outspoken about his position in the dispute) for comment on this story were unsuccessful as of press time.

However, Committeeman C. Leigh Gadd Jr., during a May 4 Washington committee meeting, after reporting in prior months that road name signs for Lance Run Road had been stolen on several occasions since last fall, said that “the issues with Lance Run Road continue” and that now both the New Jersey State Police and township code enforcement officer “are addressing issues down there.”

The committeeman also noted that a “township resident” had since found one of the stolen road signs in neighboring Mullica Township.

Gadd, after Heffley during the May 4 meeting, both spoke of some of the things that had recently occurred and provided this newspaper with additional details and context in an interview that immediately followed, confirmed that Washington Township “issued a violation” in the matter and that the “road was damaged.”

“I am here to request that the township look into paving or milling Lance Run Road,” declared Heffley during the May 4 meeting. “We need a ‘symbol’ apparently, and people need to be able to see boundaries. We, as a township, have established that Lance Run Road is in fact a road, and has been a road forever, and apparently, we need a visual here. The grading and dirt aren’t working.”

Heffley called it “a safety issue,” noting that her husband came upon the excavator “parked in the middle of the road” when he went to visit his father. She explained that the contractor had no understanding, through

no fault of his own, that it was in fact a road he parked his machinery on because not only was he told it was “private property,” but because the road signs are missing and it is just a dirt surface.

She noted that the excavator could have blocked an ambulance or firetruck from going down the road in the event of an emergency.

“You have an 89-year-old man living at the end of that road,” Heffley said. “This is old – we have been doing this for four or five years now and it is just not ending. I think a visual is what we need.”

Gadd said that new road name signs for Lance Run Road had not yet been installed because the municipality was trying to find a way to monitor them “because the same individual keeps stealing them.” He added that the state police had initially proposed an idea “to prevent it from happening again,” but that the agency had since told the township it was unable to carry it out.

One of the replacement signs, it was noted by Gadd at a previous meeting, cost Washington Township $165, excluding labor.

The “culprit,” he previously maintained, had “ripped the pole out of the ground” the last time when the signs were stolen, and the time before that, they were stolen despite “being bolted to the pole.”

As the Pine Barrens Tribune previously reported, Capella has said on the record that the dirt clearance designated by Washington Township as Lance Run Road, which runs in a south-to-north orientation and starts at County Route 542 and eventually transitions into Green Bank-Bulltown Road, is simply a driveway that is part of his “private property.”

Capella has previously claimed that an unnamed clearance that is overgrown, which begins right at the transition point and runs west to east from Green Bank-Bulltown Road/Lance Run Road to County Route 563, is the real Lance Run Road.

The second clearance is unnamed by the township and officials do not know when it was closed or who authorized its closure.

Therefore, residents who reside on the first clearance can conveniently access the rest of the township only by driving to County Route 542.

Capella, as previously noted in this newspap er, b egan fig hti ng w ith the Washington committee in 2016 after he was purportedly told that the township was getting ready to pave what it considers Lance Run Road.

Word of Capella’s statements to the Washington committee prompted the Heffley family to attend governing body meetings shortly thereafter out of concern that Capella might restrict their access to See DISPUTE/ Page 8

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Washington Committee Decides to Close ‘Loophole’ That Allowed Off-Season Campground Stays in Town Manager Hopes Public Body Will Allow Work Campers 30 Days Before and After Season ‘Sometime in Future’

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

WASHINGTON—An ordinance that prohibits the occupancy of any one camping unit in Washington Township, other than a caretaker’s unit, from Nov. 1 to April 1, passed during a May 4 Washington Township Committee meeting, despite the operators of Wading Pines Campground “encouraging and begging” the governing body last month not to pass it, and the campground’s general manager again this month asking for changes that would provide for some leniency.

The occupancy of a camping unit during what is considered the “off-season” for local campgrounds, or from Nov. 1 to April 1, up until this point, was just “restricted to a period not to exceed 21 days during any 30-day period, or as otherwise provided by state code, whichever is greater.”

Last month, Mayor Daniel James said that some campgrounds in the township are currently “abusing” that current provision, or allowing for camping all-year round, with Committeeman C. Leigh Gadd Jr. contending that the new law is “closing a loophole that allows people to stay there all winter long, unchecked.”

“I don’t want to have the park open allyear; you guys know what I want,” contended Michelle Burton, general manager of Wading Pines, on May 4. “I want to be able to have my employees there for 30 days before and after I open (for the season).”

Burton explained that local employees will not start until April, so she needs to

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have “work campers” from out-of-the-area “who will come” to the campground earlier than that to prepare it for the season and “help clean up.”

She said that “we all read the article” (in the Pine Barrens Tribune) concerning the pending decision, and as a result, the out-ofarea employees informed her that “now they want to leave Nov. 1 and come back April 1” (should the committee follow-through with its intent).

“How a m I s up p o s e d t o g et t h e campground ready?” Burton asked. “It is a hardship on us, me and him (Tom Burton, whose wife is Michelle and is a maintenance supervisor of the campground) because we have to do it all. It is 55-acres. Two people are going to rake 55-acres?”

Michel le Bur ton said that fi ndi ng employees to work is even harder now than it was previously due to extended unemployment benefits resulting from the federal Coronavirus pandemic economic relief packages.

“It is the case with all businesses,” James replied. “I have friends who own businesses and they have begged and begged, and they have done everything they can possibly do – even offering bonuses. Everyone is making too much money on unemployment, so nobody wants to work.”

Michelle Burton noted that “all is she is asking is to allow a couple of work campers to come in,” and that even if the committee doesn’t allow it now with the ordinance for See CAMPGROUND/ Page 6

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Southampton Body Asked to Offer ‘Hobby Show Licenses’ After Letter Reportedly Sent Threatening to Remove Dogs

By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON—A dog ordinance that generated considerable controversy some six years ago by limiting the number of dogs one could have on their property has come back to the forefront after Southampton Township Administrator and Clerk Kathleen D. Hoffman reportedly sent a letter to a township property owner informing that individual at least some of her dogs would be removed because she has exceeded the limit.

Now a township committeeman says he regrets having supported that law.

Hoffman, in response to an interview request for this story, replied that she forwarded this newspaper’s request to Mayor Michael Mikulski (even though he pointed out at the latest Southampton Township Committee meeting he wasn’t on the governing body at the time the law was adopted; and the administrator/clerk, however, held her current role at the time).

Mikulski, who got in touch with this newspaper on May 12, contended the matter is a “day-to-day (operations) thing” and that “nobody runs this type of stuff by me,” maintaining that his knowledge of what occurred, therefore, was limited. He contended he only learned of Torres’ issue at the township committee meeting.

“My understanding is it was brought to our attention that the township resident had more animals than the ordinance allows,” he said. “It is my understanding that we made her aware of the ordinance and reminded her what the restrictions are. She then came to the township, and made a suggestion.”

Jessica Torres, who was the apparent recipient of Hoffman’s letter, told the

township committee during its latest meeting that she is known around these parts as the “dog lady from Vincentown” and has been “showing and breeding” German Shepherds and Shih Tzus for 47 years.

Torres contended that she was told she was “grandfathered” from the dog ordinance passed by the township committee about six years ago, but never provided with a confirmation, and “never told I couldn’t keep my dogs.”

She said she recently tried to register her bloodlines, but then received a letter from Hoffman informing her “‘she couldn’t register them’” and that “‘they would be removed as of April 30.’”

“I got my bloodlines, and if I lose my bloodlines, I am done,” declared Torres, noting that the last one of her German Shepherds and Shih Tzus died last year, at age 19, and she then co-owned Shih Tzus with another woman, but that person, she claimed, died of COVID-19.

Torres proposed that the committee allow for a “hobby show license” for show breeders in town, contending that she knows “quite a few in town who have more than five dogs.”

“I did get the paperwork to fill out for a regular kennel license, but I am not building a kennel,” Torres said. “I know of some places that do offer a hobby show license for people like me, and we can still open up (for inspections) to the health department and animal control officers.”

It was at that point that Mikulski noted that he wasn’t on the governing body at the time that the dog law was passed, and asked that Torres forward information about creating a “hobby show license” to Hoffman so that she can forward it to the governing

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O’Neill Wins Medford Lakes Council Seat But Joins Opponent and Borough Clerk in Voicing Disappointment Over Turnout

By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer

MEDFORD LAKES—While the candidate who has been filling an unexpected vacancy on the Medford Lakes Borough Council handily won that seat in a nonpartisan special election on May 11, perhaps the real loser was his opponent’s slogan, “Democracy works best when you vote.”

That is because relatively few of the borough’s 3,722 registered voters – less than 16 percent – bothered casting their ballots for either victorious former Medford Lakes Colony president Dennis O’Neill, who racked up an unofficial tally of 418 votes after running on an “integrity, dedication, honesty” ticket, or ex-borough councilman Joseph A. Aromando III, who opted for the mantra encouraging people to vote and ended up with a grand total of 170 (counting mail-in votes tallied by Wednesday night).

Both the winning and losing candidates, in fact, indicated they were more than a little disappointed by the overall vote count, as did Borough Clerk and Deputy Manager Mark McIntosh, who made sure that sample ballots were sent out to all registered voters, and mail-in ballots were as well to anyone requesting them.

“I was shocked that the turnout was so low,” O’Neill told the Pine Barrens Tribune in a phone interview the following day.

“I thought it would have been higher, considering that in addition to what Mark having done everything that needed to be done, I had 50 signs spread throughout the town in strategic locations, so there is no way you could have driven though Medford Lakes and not seen one of them.”

Aromando’s campaign signs, he noted, were likewise out and in prominent locations.

“I think part of it may have been due to some hesitation to come out because of the pandemic still going on,” O’Neill added.

Aromando appeared to be even more chagrined at the failure of his slogan to catch on than at his failure to win the seat that had been opened by the death in February of former Mayor Robert D. Hanold, Sr., which O’Neill was temporarily appointed to fill.

“Thanks to all of you who gave me your

CAMPGROUND (Continued from Page 5)

adoption, to do it “sometime in the future.”

Gadd, in response, said that the committee members made “suggestions” following the previous meeting “based on the progress that you said you are already making.”

DOGS

(Continued from Page 5) body for further review.

Committeeman Bill Raftery then declared of his vote to pass the dog ordinance “that is it one of the few votes that I regret.”

“In retrospect, I think we shouldn’t have done that, and I am talking about limitations saying to a person, ‘You can only have five dogs; you can’t have six,’” Raftery said. “I don’t think we should have done it.”

Mikulski maintained in the later interview with this newspaper that he had not seen the purported letter, and didn’t ask to see a copy

vote,” Aromando said in a statement emailed this newspaper. “Certainly, I had hoped for a better outcome. But what is most disappointing is that the voter turnout in Tuesday’s election was the lowest for a borough council election in the town’s history.

“The indifference that so many citizens in Medford Lakes display towards one of the cornerstones of democracy is tragic —a disgrace! We should never tolerate this indifference, cynicism and apathy about voting. It is a slap in the face to all of those who have protested, been jailed, suffered severe injuries and gave their lives to protect our right to vote. We must do better!”

Noting how “Democracy works best with maximum participation from an informed electorate,” Aromando concluded the statement by asserting that “it is time to revisit moving May municipal elections in our town to November,” an idea that was actually approved by local voters in a 2019 nonbinding referendum, but subsequently rejected by the council.

McIntosh echoed the frustration of both contenders in a phone interview with this newspaper, in which he noted that while this may well have been an all-time low for a local election, “the voter turnout has always been dismal in Medford Lakes,” although the problem is by no means unique to the borough.

The fact that national elections always seem to garner more participation, he added, is “a shame, because elections mean so much to you where your home is – they guide your taxes, your infrastructure and the services you get provided daily, whether your trash gets picked up properly or the streets and the lakes are kept clean.”

While McIntosh, unlike O’Neill, said he didn’t think the pandemic had a role in keeping the numbers low, he believed the turnout would have been be higher if people could vote from their phone or computers because “many just don’t want to take the time and vote.”

McIntosh also disagreed with Aromando that local elections in Medford Lakes should be moved to November, because by having them in May, he declared, voters can focus entirely on local issues.

“Come back to the committee when things get closer (the end of the camping season), and let us know where you are at, and if there is something we can or need to do, we will discuss that. We are absolutely willing to work with you.”

The decision to pass the new campground ordinance was unanimous. of it, “because at the time where we left it at the meeting, she (Torres) would provide further information, and that, coupled with Raftery’s comment, I thought, made it pretty clear no action would be taken until we have a chance to review the info. she provides to us.”

For Torres, “this (showing, breeding and having bloodlines) is her hobby,” as she put it, adding that it is no different than the hobbies that others enjoy, such as antique cars, baseball and football.

“We have had these dogs for years, and I just want to keep my bloodlines, and I don’t want to move” Torres said. “I was born and raised in this township.”

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LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

♦ Page 7

Page 8 ♦

LOCAL NEWS / FEATURES

DISPUTE (Continued from Page 4)

County Route 542.

After hearing lively arguments from the Capella and Heffley families, the Washington committee formally recognized the clearance that runs in south-to-north orientation as Lance Run Road in May 2017. The decision had no real fiscal impact as the township has been maintaining it for decades. The basis for the decision relied heavily on a 1947 map that nowformer committeeman Barry Cavileer found.

A few months later, Stephen Raymond Jr., filling in for Washington Solicitor Tom Coleman at a Washington committee meeting, noted that there had been “an escalation of some of the issues” (which Heffley previously revealed involved Capella allegedly showing up at a church service she was attending to discuss the issue) and advised the Heffleys, “If you feel like you are being harassed, then bring that to the attention of law enforcement.”

Heffley, at that time, had also called on the Washington committee to pave Lance Run Road to end the dispute, though no action was taken by the governing body.

Capella previously noted he had closed off “an avenue,” which involved another property of his, during a similar land dispute in the township a while ago.

He also admitted on the record at a Nov. 1, 2016, Washington committee meeting that in 1987, “I went out there one dark night and I took the sign down” and that he was “in possession of that sign.”

“I stole it because it was the township’s sign: but it was on my property and I have been told that if it is on your property, you can commandeer it,” said Capella at the time, while alleging that the municipality was trying to commandeer his land and that “a man’s land is his land.”

DUPLEX

(Continued from Page 2) at least $200.

Among the stipulations in the proposed lease are that the property may only be used for the rental, launching and instruction in the use of canoes, kayaks and other nonmotorized watercraft from dawn to dusk.

The successful bidder also must maintain the Canoe House building, pay all its utilities, and have insurance coverage of “$1,000,000 with a minimum annual aggregate of $2,000,000,” naming the Borough of Pemberton as an additional insured.

Both the duplex and canoe house transactions come at a time in which the council is searching for new ratables amid a reportedly declining tax base. Earlier this year, council axed Griffin’s plan (due to costs and logistics) to put shoppes on an “island” near Grist Mill Antiques, which would have relied on the use of a walking bridge that was in use during a recent county Hanover Street Bridge replacement project, which has since been completed.

At least two municipalities in the Pines (Bass River and Shamong) are considering allowing cannabis businesses as a new revenue opportunity, after Democratic Governor Phil Murphy signed three historic adult-use cannabis reform bills into law on Feb. 22 – which not only legalized cannabis use and possession for adults 21 years and older, but allows such businesses to establish themselves with local approval and a license.

Municipalities have until Aug. 21, under the legislation, to decide whether or not to “opt out” of the state’s cannabis business licensing program, (or take any action to prohibit marijuana sales and/or production).

However, if a municipal governing body decides to take no action, “you are presumed to be included” in the state’s

WWW.PINEBARRENSTRIBUNE.COM Capella, during that same meeting, indicated that he would be pursuing litigation.

“I never gave anybody any permission and I feel like they are trying to come in through the backdoor and take my land,” said Capella at the time. “I need to seek legal advice because I feel it can’t be settled here in Green Bank or in Washington Township. It is going to have to go to Mount Holly, or further, and I feel the way things are done here in Washington Township, people doing this and people doing that and taking other people’s land, there needs to be an investigation.”

During the May 4 Washington committee meeting, the governing body took no action on Heffley’s now second request for Lance Run Road to be improved.

After this month’s Washington committee was adjourned, Heffley, in explaining what led up to the latest developments, told this newspaper that the contractor was “pulling out all the trees” that had been reportedly marked with red X’s on Capella’s property.

She said she believed Capella was having the tree removal done so that it would aggravate the ongoing dispute, however the “trees are his,” she maintained, and actually are on his property.

“Do whatever you want with your property, but this – Lance Run Road – is a road,” Heffley declared. “My father-in-law lives on this road!”

Heffley said that the excavator was moved immediately by the contractor upon him learning that the road “wasn’t this gentleman’s property,” and stressed that he was “unsuspecting” and that “it was not his fault.”

“You wouldn’t know because there is no street sign there,” Heffley maintained. “He was pulling out the trees and there is no definition of a road.”

The situation escalated further, she said, when “he (Capella) disked up Lance Run Road,” doing the “whole width of the road.”

“Cars couldn’t make it up the road,” Heffley contended. “That is how tilled and disked up it was.” cannabis licensing program, (or, in other words, the borough is presumed to allow local marijuana businesses and sales).

Borough Solicitor David Serlin, during borough council’s latest regular meeting on April 19, while pointing to the August deadline, declared that council must decide “what you think is viable for the borough.”

“It can be another means of having businesses downtown,” he said. “But it is fully at your discretion.”

Diane Fanucci, a resident activist who often attends Pemberton Borough Council meetings, declared that council should “not just say ‘No, no, no!’ with this,” especially if the businesses are producing/selling medical marijuana.

“Please make sure that you research this very well before you say a blanket ‘no, never’ in this town,” Fanucci said. “Because we do need the ratables. I am totally against drugs of any kind, and I don’t even take Aspirin – I am even one of those people. But what I am saying is we need the ratables, and if we don’t get something going soon, we might start really hurting.”

Fanucci pointed to council approving at its latest meeting an increase in salaries for borough workers, indicating that such costs will continue to go up over time and the borough will need to find new sources of revenue to support such increases.

“All non-contracted employees get two percent raises, and all contract employees get 13 percent raises,” Mull later told this newspaper.

Serlin asked councilmembers to think over the cannabis matter, and provide their thoughts during council’s next meeting, which is scheduled electronically for May 17 at 6:30 p.m.

“I think it is a very important item that we have to deal with,” Griffin said. “I have had some interest brought to my attention.

It is not something we are going to let go for a very long time. We want to make a decision on this as soon as we can.”

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HEARTHSTONE (Continued from Page 3)

Briggs noted that he was a U.S. Navy seaman for a couple of years, serving as an electronics storekeeper.

He then landed a job with Gallup, which he held for more than 25 years, before working for Total Research. He said he ultimately retired from the latter firm.

Briggs told this newspaper that he moved from Hamilton Township to Pemberton Borough 13 years ago not only because of increasing taxes in his former place of

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residency, but also because “how great it is to be in a community like Pemberton.”

The council newcomer added that his appointment was a surprise, and that he did not have advance knowledge that Griffin was going to nominate him, but that he is definitely glad to have the role.

Coincidentally, Griffin pointed out, Briggs is the neighbor (and a friend) of former borough GOP councilman Timothy Quinlan, who had a fr iendship with Rutherford. The latter, along with Fenster, in 2018 became the first Democrats to win seats on borough council in some 17 years.

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DINER

(Continued from Page 1) the redevelopment plan for the “Red Lion Diner Non-Condemnation Redevelopment Area” (and set forth new zoning standards for the area involved in order to entice such development) was introduced by the governing body during its April 20 meeting, with a second reading and public hearing tentatively scheduled for May 18.

Until that time, the redevelopment plan obtained by this newspaper through an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) is technically still considered a draft (though it has already been signed and certified by Fox).

The tract is located within the Pinelands Highway Commercial Zoning District and is listed in the Pinelands Commission’s Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) as a Rural Redevelopment Area.

As a result, it is currently controlled

by Southampton code book chapters 12 (Land Development) and 19 (Pinelands Development) [which applies the CMP standards], but an adopted redevelopment plan would set forth certain land use requirements that “supersede” those two chapters (though it is noted the Pinelands Commission ultimately determines if the new standards conform with the CMP, and the new standards are not “effective” until that determination is made.)

“The redevelopment area’s (new) land use and building requirements provide a framework that permits creative and coordinated redevelopment of the overall tract, rather than piecemeal, uncoordinated development of the individual parcels,” wrote Fox in the redevelopment plan of its purpose. “Though each parcel may be developed independently, from a planning and zoning standpoint, the parcels are very much interconnected.”

Heston told this newspaper, in response to a question that asked about the intent of this redevelopment plan, that there is “interest in people developing along Route 70” and “if they wish to come in to Southampton, so be it.”

The focus, he noted, is on land where there is “currently nothing,” just west of the diner, but that also wraps around the back of the diner.

“We are looking at it with the idea that the area should be developed without using condemnation,” Heston maintained.

The diner, the deputy mayor contended, was included in the redevelopment area/ plan because the Pinelands Commission has “recommended in developing the land that the septic should be tied in with the diner.”

“It has to include the diner because the diner has the septic field,” Heston added.

“To offer redevelopment and not be able to put in septic doesn’t make sense. That type of soil behind the diner is a better soil for septic disposal because no public sewage is available in that area.”

Tsiknakis told the Pine Barrens Tribune that the redevelopment plan will also “give us the opportunity to potentially enhance the Red Lion Diner experience.”

“It will give us the opportunity to remodel the diner, build a banquet hall and create an extension without losing the quality, integrity and service of the diner,” he said, noting that it additionally provides opportunities for the restaurant to expand its outdoor seating.

Among the “permitted uses” for the tract that would be OK’d through adoption of the redevelopment plan are banks; credit unions; financial service uses; restaurants; retail stores and shops; professional, scientific and technical service uses; medical service uses; business administration and support service uses; personal and household service uses; gyms; fitness centers; health clubs; shopping centers; service stations and self-storage facilities.

D r ive -t h roug h s e r v i c e s wou ld b e

permitted for any banks, credit unions, and financial service uses, along with restaurants, fast food restaurants, and retail stores and shops.

The diner co-owner pointed out that there will be a “long-needed, massive traffic plan” materializing from the redevelopment initiative as well in order to “alleviate traffic issues” in the area. He said such a plan will make “the circle safer and flow happy,” improve the diner’s exits and entranceways and address drainage issues at the circle.

Tsiknakis said of the redevelopment plan as a whole that “Southampton, for a long time, has needed something like this” and it will “create conveniences for LeisureTowne residents to have retail stores close by,” in addition to bringing ratables to the township.

The proprietor noted that “there have been several developers” that expressed an interest in the tract, but that “they haven’t locked in what they are going to do just yet,” but that “something was possible in the future.”

“Red Lion Diner will always be there for many, many years to come,” Tsiknakis added.

Mayor Michael Mikulski told the Pine Barrens Tribune on May 12 that “nobody has come to me with any plan for redevelopment at the Red Lion Circle,” but that such plans would not come to the township committee anyhow, and are instead provided to the planning board. He noted that a redevelopment plan, however, can “help clear the way for some of those things.”

The existence of a redevelopment plan, he added, “doesn’t mean something is being done now or sometime in the near future.” “ F r o m m y s t a n d p o i n t , i t (t h e redevelopment plan) stems from the planning board’s recommendation to declare the area a ‘redevelopment area’ in accordance with the township master plan, as it is an area in the township that may have availability for certain development,” Mikulski said.

“By making it a redevelopment area, it

makes it easier for our planning board and professionals to evaluate that particular area for potential redevelopment. From my standpoint, we tried to use the planning board to simplify our ordinances, and if they are going to make recommendations to us, unless we have some strong reason to oppose them, we should follow through with the planning board recommendations.”

Mikulski maintained “there are a lot of people who would like to do things,” but “no plan has come before the planning board for any of the areas in the redevelopment zone.”

The much talked about Dollar General that is slated for a parcel near the U.S. Vincentown Post Office, he noted, came about without a redevelopment plan.

W he n a ske d ab out a t r a f fic pla n forthcoming for the circle, connected to the redevelopment initiative, Mikulski replied that “he had not heard that report.”

“Nobody has ever mentioned to me there is a massive traffic plan in the works, or underway,” the mayor contended. “That is a state highway. We have no control over that traffic; that is controlled by the state.

The township does not have the ability to control that traffic on Route 70.”

Though unrelated to the redevelopment plan (but in the same realm as Southampton looks to expand its ratables and generate new sources of revenue), Heston, who has recently sought feedback on whether or not residents are in favor of allowing cannabis businesses, due the governor signing legislation permitting them but making it a local decision with a deadline of Aug. 21 to decide, noted at an April 20 committee meeting that phone calls he received were “running 50 (for)-50 (against),” and later told this newspaper that an online survey posted on My Neighbor was running “55 percent in favor and 45 percent opposed.”

The governing body, he said, plans to have a public hearing on the topic shortly.

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Saturday, May 15, 2021

SOLAR

(Continued from Page 1) from CEP Renewables, LLC to install a “solar energy facility” on the property.

Some 106 acres of the 113-acre landfill site (which has 40 acres of waste fill) are included in the “BEMS Landfill Non-Condemnation Redevelopment Area,” which comprises Block 2702, Lots 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8, or an area between Old Forge Road, Big Hill Road and North Firelane.

“The solar energy facility is proposed to be approximately 26 acres in size, spanning Block 2702, Lots 3, 4, and 5 in the Pinelands Rural Development Area,” the redevelopment plan notes.

The redevelopment area is within two different growth management areas of the Pinelands Protection Area, which are regulated by the Pinelands Commission’s Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP).

“Lots 3, 4, and 5, as well all the Leisuretowne area, are within Rural Development Area, which is a transitional area between the pristine Forest Area and the Regional Growth Area,” Fox notes. “The Rural Development Area balances of environmental conservation and development value.

“Lots 7 and 8, as well as most of the township to the south and east, are within the Forest Area, which is like the core, mostly publicly-owned and largely undeveloped Preservation Area District in terms of ecological value, but is mostly in private ownership. The Forest Area mostly contains undeveloped forested tracts and high-quality water resources and wetlands that provide suitable habitat for many threatened and endangered species. Solar energy facilities are permitted in both growth management areas, under certain conditions.”

As a result, the landfill is currently controlled by Southampton code book chapters 12 (Land Development) and 19 (Pinelands Development) [which applies the CMP standards], but an adopted redevelopment plan would set forth certain land use requirements that “supersede” those two chapters (though it is noted the Pinelands Commission ultimately determines if the new standards conform with the CMP, and the new standards are not “effective” until that determination is made.)

Among the “permitted principal uses” that would supersede current code are “solar energy facilities, battery storage power stations, battery storage facilities, site remediation activities and improvements, and landfill maintenance activities and improvements.”

But more pertinent to locals is the “development standards” that would supersede current code, including setting the maximum vertical height for solar arrays to 15 feet, prohibiting storage of materials underneath them, establishing a 100-foot

setback to the nearest residential parcels, and requiring that any solar array be located so that “any glare is directed away from any property adjoining the redevelopment area and from any property opposite Old Forge and Big Hill roads, or is properly buffered from these properties.” One other development standard requires any facility to be “enclosed” within an 8-foot fence.

“All solar energy facilities shall be required to obtain a minor site plan approval and shall also be required to obtain zoning and building permits, as required by the Township of Southampton,” states another development standard. “Site plan applications shall include a plan for the decommissioning and removal of all proposed improvements and solar energy equipment, including the ground arrays, invertors, transmission lines, electrical wires, storage houses, accessory structures and other related infrastructure, as well as a plan for the environmental restoration of the property afterward.”

The landfill, accessible through Lesstrees Lane, and that served as a disposal facility for municipal refuse and septic/sewage sludges from the about the late 1960s until December 1982, is within view of retirement homes built along Kingston Way. “ W it h r e g a r d s t o t h e p e o p l e i n LeisureTowne who are going to be impacted by the solar panels, have they been notified at all?” asked Evelyn “Evie” Doherty, a resident of the retirement community, while pointing to the homes that are along Kingston Way. Mayor Michael Mikulski, in reply, asked, “What do you mean by ‘impacted?’”

“No individual notifications were sent out,” the mayor added. “The project has not been approved by the state (yet). When you look at the definition of ‘impacted,’ none of the houses are going to be impacted in terms of their property being disturbed, no-one’s property is going to be eminentdomain taken …”

Doherty interrupted the mayor asking if there was going to be a “visual impact” to the retirement community’s properties.

“We expect there to be little to no visual impact, and certainly it would much better than it was as a landfill,” Mikulski contended.

Mikulski, after the committee introduced 4-1 the proposed ordinance that would formally adopt the landfill redevelopment plan, said he met with the redeveloper and got an “assurance” that he “will make sure there is an adequate buffer” between the homes “on the one street in LeisureTowne affected” and the project site. The mayor added that he was told by the redeveloper that there “is already a natural buffer he does not have to alter or take down” for the construction.

“I still think the people who live in that general area should be notified,” Doherty maintained.

Another development standard would require any facility to have a landscaped buffer of “not less than 20 feet in width” adjacent to any residential parcel, and not be visible from a public right-of-way (and if it is, to screen it).

“C l e a r e d a r e a s not o c c u p i e d by components of the solar energy facility shall be planted with suitable Pinelands ground cover or other vegetation, for soil stabilization,” the standard continues.

“Ground areas beneath and around solar panel arrays shall not be covered with stone.”

The Southampton Township Planning Board, it adds, may require supplemental landscaping “as deemed necessary and appropriate” to achieve the screening objectives.

According to the redevelopment plan authored by Fox, BEMS Inc., based in Blackwood, had installed a “faulty soil cover” in 1983, and the cover subsequentially “eroded” and “allowed precipitation to infiltrate the landfill,” generating “large amounts of leachate” that “contaminated the local surface waters and groundwater,” in addition to “fouling the air w ith methane gas from decomposing wastes.”

The circumstances also led to flooding of adjacent residential properties, he stated.

“BEMS declared bankruptcy in 1985,” Fox wrote. “In the years following, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) was able to remediate these problems, which also required the acquisition of a 19.64-acre easement on adjacent Lot 6 to construct a stormwater management facility for the landfill.”

Among other items installed throughout the remediation process, according to a webpage maintained by the NJDEP regarding the BEMS Landfill, was a “sitewide” methane gas collection and treatment system, along with a flare to “address off-site soil vapors.”

Sediments contaminated with the leachate were also dredged from Canterbury Pond in LeisureTowne, the webpage noted.

The NJDEP, according to the webpage, completed construction of the remedial measures in 1999 and “currently operates and maintains them.”

The Pine Barrens Tribune, however, previously reported that CEP officials revealed last year that the flare system was no longer functioning, which was later confirmed to this newspaper by a NJDEP spokesman. The NJDEP spokesman told this newspaper at the time that the flare system would be repaired.

It was not disclosed to this newspaper at the time how the NJDEP first become aware of the problem, which CEP apparently discovered in the process of performing a due diligence investigation at the BEMS landfill.

An environmental consultant representing CEP had also described last year that methane was found building up underneath

the impermeable landfill cap and “seeping out,” and in response, the NJDEP told this newspaper that methane monitors would be installed as a precaution.

Mikulski, in a May 12 interview with this newspaper, maintained that, to his knowledge, the NJDEP has not provided the township with any update regarding the status of any repairs or installation of a monitoring system.

A NJDEP spokeswoman said she was hoping to provide an answer as to the status

by May 11, but this newspaper still had not received one by its May 12 press time.

“That (fixing the cap) has nothing to do with the tax liens or solar project,” the mayor maintained to this newspaper. “Whatever work doing the NJDEP is doing there, they would be doing regardless.”

The redevelopment plan notes that it “respects the natural features and conditions of the land, and deals wisely with their constraints.”

Township Administrator and Clerk Kathleen D. Hoffman previously noted that Southampton, since BEMS had filed for bankruptcy, had not been able to collect taxes on the landfill.

“We send tax bills to their address on file, but nobody ever pays the taxes,” she said in November 2018. “Everything we send them comes back undeliverable.”

Last year, the committee authorized the sale of tax liens against BEMS to CEP Renewables, LLC, operating under the name BEMS Southampton Solar Farm, LLC. In an unusual move, the governing body on April 20 entered into an executive session at the beginning of the township committee meeting to discuss “public funds.”

“Basically, the township is going to stand to make $2.1 million on the backtax liens on the BEMS landfill, assuming the solar part of the project gets approved by the BPU (Board of Public Utilities),” said Mikulski, after the committee vote on introducing the ordinance that would approve the landfill redevelopment plan.

“And once that happens, they have applied for a community solar project, which means that the energy produced will first go to lowand moderate-income residents, and then it will be available to all residents after that if there is any leftover.”

As for the arrangement that would trigger payment of the back-tax liens, Mikulski told this newspaper, “Once they get their approvals to go ahead with the project, then they would have to purchase the outstanding tax liens from the township.”

Committeeman James F. Young Sr., as was the case when the committee voted last year to sell the tax liens, cast the lone dissenting vote. Though Young did not reveal at the meeting why he was opposed to introducing the redevelopment plan, he previously questioned the legality of the governing body selling the tax liens.

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