Looking back: Medford Year in Review for 2014

Medford residents made their voices heard throughout 2014.

Citizen feedback helped to drive a year-long debate regarding zoning ordinance changes for the Route 70 commercial district. Residents also offered their input on topics such as backyard chickens and deer fences.

In some cases, residents voiced their displeasure to council and the board of education on topics ranging from a township manager’s resignation to the end of traditional mid-term and final exams at Shawnee High School.

A number of the debates will continue into 2015. Before jumping ahead, let’s take a look back at the biggest stories in Medford from 2014.

Route 70

Medford Township officials entered 2014 with the task of reexamining the Route 70 business corridor. The goal was to relax some of the restrictions along the state highway to attract new businesses.

“There’s a prevailing philosophy to make Medford more accessible to businesses,” Mayor Chris Buoni said.

The process began in late January as the planning board held a public input session to garner ideas for what residents wanted to see happen to Route 70. What ensued was a debate between whether Medford needed to make changes or if it should keep the status quo.

Tony Tolerico, a principal for Medford Ford, said changes had to be made not only to attract new businesses, but also to keep existing businesses in the township.

“What we need is an attitude adjustment,” Tolerico said. “We’re not in the 1950s. In the 35 years I’ve been here, I’ve never seen a new business aside from the CVS.”

On the other side of the spectrum stood resident Jerry Gray, who appeared at many public meetings on Route 70 in 2014, speaking out against development each time. He said the township placed restrictions because residents didn’t want big box stores and large shopping centers.

“People were pretty clear they didn’t want that kind of development in the township,” he said.

The result of the first meeting was the formation of a subcommittee to break down all zoning regulations and make changes to the ones hampering business growth.

The subcommittee submitted its list of recommendations to council during a special planning board meeting in July.

Among the recommendations, the subcommittee suggested increasing the maximum size of buildings from 35,000 square feet to 100,000 for commercial use and 120,000 for medical and industrial use.

Medford Township planner Scott Taylor said many existing buildings along Route 70 are already larger than 35,000 square feet.

“That would make those sites that were non-conforming in conformance in regard to building size,” he said.

Other changes included reduced buffer zones to make businesses more visible from Route 70.

While Gray again spoke against the changes, resident Jeffrey Lucas supported the recommendations, saying the additional tax ratables would outweigh any negatives, such as increased traffic.

“There are very good ratables in large buildings that don’t negatively impact traffic,” Lucas said. “We already have buildings that are over 100,000 square feet.”

The planning board elected to send the recommendations to council for its input.

Council then gave its feedback to the planning board. The recommendations have not been acted on as the calendar turns to 2015.

Township manager resigns

Visitors to the Aug. 5 Medford Township council meeting were stunned as township manager Chris Schultz abruptly resigned prior to the start of the meeting.

Schultz submitted his resignation during an executive session. He left abruptly after executive session was convened and did not appear at a public meeting in Medford again.

Questions were immediately asked as to why Schultz resigned. On June 24, Medford Township hired Verita LLC to conduct a workplace investigation.

Buoni said information from the investigation would not be released, citing employee’s rights to privacy.

“New Jersey state law protects people’s private rights,” Buoni said. “People have asked for the release of that document. It’s not going to be released. It wouldn’t be appropriate.”

Schultz’s resignation took effect on Aug. 19. He received three months pay as part of the separation agreement.

Residents were skeptical as to why the township was paying Schultz for three months since he voluntarily resigned. Buoni said state law required the municipality to pay an outgoing township manager for at least three months.

“In almost every circumstance, he would be paid for three months,” Buoni said.

Resident Mike Panarella expressed doubt toward this, saying he felt Schultz shouldn’t be paid after he left his position.

“If someone voluntarily leaves their position, they shouldn’t be paid,” Panarella said.

Council appointed township clerk Katherine Burger as the interim township manager on Aug. 12 and began to interview candidates for a replacement. Burger remains the interim manager entering 2015.

Councilman Randy Pace resigns

Medford also saw the resignation of a councilman in 2014 as Randy Pace left office with his family moving to Tennessee in October.

A council member since 2011, Pace said the move away from Medford broke his heart. He refused to take credit for many accomplishments council made during his term, instead crediting the community.

“It wasn’t as much as what I did as it was what the community wanted to do,” Pace said. “The community made the most significant change in electing new faces.”

Buoni praised Pace for being upfront and honest about his opinion during meetings, even when he disagreed with other members of council.

“He had the dedication and the steadfast commitment to finding out what were the actual facts,” Buoni said.

With Pace resigning less than a month prior to the general election, council was tasked with appointing a replacement to serve in his place through the end of 2015. They selected Brad Denn, a lifetime Medford resident and certified public accountant for Padden Cooper LLC. Denn joined Czekay as the second CPA on council.

“One of the most important things we do is look at the budget,” Buoni said. “It never hurts to get another set of eyes.”

Denn said serving on council was something he had considered doing in the past. He looked back to his time as an Eagle Scout as an inspiration to run for council.

“I always wanted to served the community,” he said. “When Randy Pace said he was moving, I did get calls from various people to apply for the vacant council seat, so I did.”

Medford classroom goes chrome

A fifth-grade class at Kirby’s Mill Elementary School took the use of computers in the classroom a step further in the fall as they became a pilot class for a “One to World” classroom. The class is using Google Chromebooks for nearly all of its schoolwork during the 2014–15 year.

Kirby’s Mill principal Mark Damon said the premise was to get students on the computers all day instead of only once a week in technology class.

“Students are very excited to go to tech lab,” Damon said. “Why are we limiting devices for one hour per week?”

Andrew Reuter, the instructor for the class, conducts all the lessons and assignments on the computer. Students use Google Docs to submit their assignments.

Other features and apps were implemented to enhance the classroom experience. One of these is Google Hangouts where students can do homework together or communicate with each other while at home.

The idea behind the “One to World” classroom was to get students acquainted with technology as it is becoming a main tool used in many workplaces today.

“It’s something we need, it’s something we can’t live without,” Damon said. “It’s necessary.”

The entire program was paid for through the school’s funding and not through a separate item in the district budget. The district could look at expanding the program in future years.

Medford schools add extended kindergarten

A new program gave parents an option to keep their child in school for a full school day.

The school district launched an extended kindergarten program at each elementary school in the fall. The district established a partnership with the YMCA of Burlington and Camden Counties and Camp Ockanickon to run the program.

Superintendent Joseph Del Rossi said the program would not be a full-day kindergarten class, but rather consist of a learning session to support the skills students learn during their regular, half-day class.

“This is a program that will not be introducing new skills,” Del Rossi said. “There will be communication between our department and the provider to support our existing curriculum in kindergarten.”

The new program is tuition-based to keep the burden of the cost off the taxpayer. The school district offered alternative solutions for parents who were unable to pay the fee.

Del Rossi said the school district would like to have full-day kindergarten sometime in the future. He said the extended program is a solid compromise benefitting students in the long run.

“The sooner we build a foundation with our kindergarten students, the better off they’re going to do in first, second, third grade,” he said.

Township launches new website

Medford Township’s website,www.medfordtownship.com, got a new look in June.

A redesigned website with new, interactive features launched after months of development.

The biggest addition was the ability for residents to contact the township through the citizen response program. The program allows residents to report water main breaks, potholes and other public works issues.

“If you’re driving around, you can take a picture, upload it, and your GPS will upload your location,” said Beth Portocalis, assistant to the township manager.

The township also promoted features it included in the old website, such as online bill payment.

“Some people don’t know you can pay your tax and sewer bills online,” Portocalis said. “We’re trying to structure it and bring that forward.”

The township also began live streaming of meetings at the Public Safety Building. Verizon installed a camera and audio system during the spring. Live streaming began in June for council meetings and was later expanded to zoning and planning board meetings.

Archived videos of meetings included a breakdown of the agenda where residents could skip ahead to any part of the meeting they wished to view.

“If there’s something contentious on the agenda, you don’t have to go through the two-hour tape of the council meeting, you can click on that thing and it’ll be synched up,” Portocalis said.

Lenape district ditches traditional midterms, finals

The Lenape Regional High School District announced a plan to replace mid-term and final exams with new, periodic assessments beginning in the 2015–16 school year. The 2014–15 year was the first without midterms and finals, leaving some parents concerned their kids would be left behind heading into college.

“I think we’d be doing our students a disservice,” parent Leigh Ann Erlanger said at the district’s board of education meeting in October.

The district’s new assessments will align with changes made in the district’s curriculum over the past five to six years. Superintendent Carol Birnbohm said the old assessments were still being used up until last year and didn’t align with what the students were learning. The focus of the curriculum revolves around problem solving, critical thinking and applying the learning material to real-life applications.

“Kids are going to have to prepare for this and have to be responsible for what they learn,” Birnbohm said.

Some parents felt the district was getting rid of the exams in lieu of the PARCC exam. Birnbohm said it was not the case.

“PARCC wasn’t the impetus for the elimination of midterms and finals,” she said.

Deer and chicken talk comes to council

It was an animal house at some council meetings in 2014 as discussions about deer netting and backyard chickens took center stage.

A confusion on clarification about fencing ensued in the spring when residents complained homes in Medford had erected deer netting. If classified as a fence, the deer netting would not be in compliance with zoning ordinances. However, there was no clear definition of whether deer netting could be considered a fence.

Taylor did an investigation into the matter and reported to council in August his recommendations. He asked council to consider allowing deer netting as high as eight feet in front yards. The netting would have to be a thin, black mesh and attached to poles.

“It’s similar to the netting you see at a Phillies game,” he said.

Pace and Buoni both felt the restrictions should be scaled back, saying residents should have the right to build a deer fence as long as it is on their own property.

“Why shouldn’t I have the right to defend my property from that destruction? Because my neighbor says ‘I don’t like the way it looks?’” Buoni asked.

Czekay said the township should be careful with loosening restrictions, saying residents not in compliance with zoning regulations can always go to the zoning board for a variance.

A group of residents from Taunton Lake spoke out against any changes, saying deer netting in their neighborhood would negatively affect property values.

The deer netting discussion was eventually tabled until September, when council decided to form a subcommittee to examine the topic closer. Some residents expressed their displeasure about the discussion being dragged out for so long.

“I’m just really confused as to why this is still an issue,” resident Kevin Sparkman said.

The subcommittee did not report their findings back to council prior to the end of the year.

Meanwhile, residents came to council in May with a proposal to permit backyard chickens. The topic came about when the Kosick family from Tamarac was cited for illegally keeping chickens in their backyard. The family was forced to remove the chickens from their property.

Jennifer Kosick said the township’s ordinance only applies to agricultural properties, not residential ones.

“There’s a lot of people with backyard chickens,” she said. “The only reason I’m here is because I have cranky neighbors that complained about it.”

A group of residents opposing any changes said chickens create excessive noise and can spread disease. Brian Dunham spoke out against chickens at multiple meetings.

Buoni felt the topic was important, calling it a property rights issue.

“For every case you make about a chicken, you can make a case that dogs should be banned,” he said.

While there was much discussion on the matter, council did not change its ordinance on chickens prior to the end of the year.

Township joins Main Street New Jersey

Medford Township is hoping to enhance Medford Village by participating in a program called Main Street New Jersey. The program is designed to provide resources to improve municipalities’ downtown areas.

Council elected to join the organization after debating the merits of the program during meetings in November and December. Buoni was skeptical about the program at first, saying he felt it would be potentially redundant.

“It seemed like a lot of initiatives and goals are similar to what our (economic development committee) does,” he said.

Portocalis encouraged council to join the program, saying it wouldn’t cost the township anything and would provide beneficial resources to enhance Medford Village.

“You would not have to have a paid staff member, but you would be able to participate in the technical assistance and networking opportunities that are available from the program,” Portocalis said.

Denn was on board with the idea from the beginning, saying the program provides a number of resources to the township.

“It seems to me if we join this, the state is going to give us a toolbox of things,” he said. “If we don’t do anything with them, we don’t do anything.”

Buoni changed his stance after speaking with Mike Pagnotta, chairman of the EDC.

“He felt it was worthwhile from a support standpoint,” Buoni said.

Township regulates donation bins

Representatives from Goodwill came before Medford Township council in March asking for a crackdown on an influx of unsolicited donations bins in the township.

Council crafted an ordinance similar to the state statute.

Under the ordinance, donation bins had to be register with the township for $25 on private property and were banned from municipal property.

“I say we move forward with the ordinance that mirrors the state statute,” councilman Frank Czekay said. “We can also talk about re-doing the zoning rules with donations bins so that we can further restrict.”

Pace was the only member of council not on board with the idea. He spoke out against the additional regulations from the beginning and voted no when the ordinance was up for second reading. He doubted the township’s ability to properly enforce the new law.

“You can put an ordinance in place to meet the state requirements, but again, someone has to follow up and stay on top of it,” he said.

Medford schools prepare for PARCC

Medford Township schools spent a great deal of 2014 getting ready for the PARCC test. The new standardized test for students in grades three through eight will debut in the spring of 2015.

To help the district prepare, classes at Medford Memorial Middle School and Chairville Elementary School participated in the field test in the spring.

Director of curriculum Thomas Olson said the field test was a good way to gauge how ready the district was to administer the test. An online tool was made available to the district to evaluate its infrastructure readiness.

“It’s showing districts whether they are ready for the field test and the PARCC test,” Olson said.

The district was up-to-date with technology prior to 2014. Olson said the district had planned ahead to update Internet access, computer availability and other necessities for the exam.

The school district feels it has prepared students as best it could heading into the first test in 2015.

“All school districts want to try and make programs successful,” Olson said. “You want it to be successful and done well because you want your students to be successful.”