Whether it was heated township council and school board meetings, the continuation of redevelopment deals, new police safety initiatives or even extreme weather, as Evesham moves toward a new year, here’s a recap of some of the events that made headlines in The Sun throughout 2015.
Evesham Township Council and Board of Education reorganize
The year started in Evesham as it did in many townships across the state with the reorganization of the township council and board of education.
At the meeting, incumbent Mayor Randy Brown and Councilmembers Debbie Hackman and Steve Zeuli were sworn in after winning re-election in the fall of 2014.
Evesham also continued its tradition of rotating its deputy mayor, and this year the job fell to Councilman Bob DiEnna.
For the Evesham Board of Education reorganization meeting, incumbents Sandy Student and JoAnne Harmon were sworn in once again, along with board newcomer Elaine Barbagiovanni. Joe Fisicaro Jr. was selected to serve another year as board president.
Questions over questions at township council meetings
As stated repeatedly by Evesham Township solicitor John Gillespie late last year and in the early months of this year: There are no municipal ordinances or state statutes that require the mayor and council to answer questions asked by residents during council meetings.
Yet whether that’s the way council meetings should be conducted on a moral and ethical level was a topic of hot debate at several council meetings in the winter and early spring of 2015.
The issue first arose in December 2014, when Mayor Randy Brown self admittedly “ranted” about a contentious issue at a meeting and spoke over residents during the portion of that meeting set aside for comments from the public.
Afterward, Brown noted the exchange was unhealthy, and said at future meetings he would be working to more strictly enforce an unofficial policy that had been in place since he was elected in 2007 where council would not engage in debate with members of the public at meetings.
As such, for several meetings council took the route of directing any questions during meetings to the township manager and not commenting themselves until after public comment had closed.
At those same meetings, several residents used public comment to condemn the policy and argue that while legal, it went against the reasoning behind public meetings being open to the public.
Conversely, Brown would note in several media interviews and at the end of several council meetings that a majority of township residents pose questions to him and other council members through email or while happening upon them in town, and many if not all of those who complained about the policy at meetings were former political opponents or their allies.
Tensions would boil on both sides of the issue as the debate received coverage from several tri-state area news outlets, and stories also made their way on news outlets and websites across the country.
Things continued until March when council unofficially adopted a policy for meetings that lasted throughout the duration of the year in which most questions posed by residents during public comment would be directed toward the township manager, but members of council would sometimes engage in brief exchanges with residents on specific issues.
PARCC exams
Similar to township council meetings in the early part of the year, the Evesham Township School District and Lenape Regional High School District board of education meetings were also dominated by a hot-button issue — the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers exams.
This year, the exams, PARCC as it’s more commonly known, replaced the former New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge test as the state’s standardized assessment for English language arts and mathematics. The test originally stemmed from a group of 20 states that developed a common set of standards in English language arts and mathematics with the goal of better preparing students for college and careers after high school.
While some states eventually opted not to give the PARCC exams, New Jersey went ahead with the process, which drew the ire of parents and opposition groups across the state, including at the ETSD and LRHSD levels.
Parents had several complaints about the test, including that it was entirely computer based and that there were two different assessment periods in early and late spring, complicating regular classroom learning. Parents were also concerned over what would happen to students whose parents refused to let them take the exam.
Due to the irregular testing schedules, numerous districts across the country did not have a specific room where students could go during the test if they were not participating.
In the ETSD, students had to remain at their seat, but were allowed to read or work on certain tasks while their peers took the test. The LRHSD protocol also did not differ from the way the district treated standardized assessments in the past, with students also not allowed to move to a different room.
Development and redevelopment continue in the township
As was the trend for Evesham in recent years, the plans to develop or redevelop several properties in town were outlined and finalized throughout the year.
Developers for one of Evesham’s most talked about projects, the former Tri-Towne Plaza, finalized plans for what will now be known as The Shoppes and Residences at Renaissance Square.
In the fall of 2014, RD Management LLC, owner of the plaza, and Brown announced that after years in court, the two sides had agreed to a multi-million dollar redevelopment plan for the nearly 40-year-old shopping center.
In 2015, RD Management further developed those plans through the township’s council and planning board, and in November the group was able to announce spring 2016 as the time when development is scheduled to commence.
The Shoppes and Residences at Renaissance Square will take the former Tri-Towne Plaza shopping center, which has been without a majority of its stores, including its anchor stores, for about a decade, and turn the complex into a nearly 112,000 square-foot mixed-use center.
In addition to new stores, five buildings will contain 338 rental apartments and an open space park. Also planned are a pond and jogging pathways.
In addition to the apartments at the former Tri-Towne Plaza, other developers also this year outlined plans for apartments along Route 70 and on Main Street.
One redevelopment project will be stationed for Aristone Tract along Route 70 near the Evesham-Medford border, where the developer of the Marlton Gateway Apartments will build about another 260 apartments and some 6,000 square-feet of retail space.
Another redevelopment project will go at the site of a former bank on Main Street near Cooper Avenue, where the developer will build 24 apartments and 4,000 square feet of commercial space.
This year, developers also outlined plans to demolish several existing office buildings in the 3,000, 4,000 and 5,000 sections of Lincoln Drive West.
There, developers look to construct an LA Fitness center measuring 45,000 square feet, a retail building measuring 31,500 square feet and an additional 3,600 square foot retail pad site.
Municipal taxes down, school taxes up
For another year, headlines were similar when it came to taxes in Evesham. In 2015, municipal taxes went down, and in the ETSD and the LRHSD, taxes went up.
On the municipal side of things, council passed a $34.7 million budget, in which Evesham homeowners with properties valued at the average assessment of $270,500 saw about a $14.73 annual reduction in municipal taxes.
According to Evesham Township Manager Tom Czerniecki, the budget broke down to about $739 spent by the township per resident, which he also said is lower than the averages of both Burlington County and the state.
The budget also included more than $6 million in surplus, and of the eight budgets passed since Brown was first elected, Brown noted this year marked the fourth tax decrease overall.
For the ETSD, this year’s budget totaled $77.91 million, which meant Evesham homeowners saw their annual K-8 school taxes go up $37.58 on average.
Those numbers, however,. were still lower than what the district originally presented to the public in February when the year’s expected average tax levy increase was set at $52.70.
That original budget would have also required the use of banked cap — the formula school districts can use to get around a state-mandated 2 percent yearly tax increase cap by using “banked” increases from years the district didn’t use that entire 2 percent figure.
The final budget did not necessitate the use of banked cap due to money saved from additional faculty members submitting retirements between the time of the tentative and final budget adoption.
The major addition to the budget from the year prior was the expansion of the district’s tier III gifted and talented program.
For the LRHSD, Evesham residents saw their annual tax bill rise $78.02 on average, with the overall budget set at $154.06 million.
The total budget increased 1.4 percent from the year prior, and because of individual education plans of the then-incoming ninth graders, 21 special education positions were added — eight teachers and 13 support staff. There were also five bus drivers added.
June 23 ‘macroburst storm’ hits Evesham
On June 23, a macroburst storm hit several portions of the state, including parts of Burlington County and Evesham Township.
Falling trees caused widespread damage, and electrical utilities were affected for several days.
Throughout the night of the storm into the following morning, Evesham fire and EMS crews handled 243 calls for service, including storm workload and calls for EMS, fire alarm systems and motor vehicle accidents.
According to township manager Tom Czerniecki, 90 percent of Evesham’s police force worked non-stop after the storm because traffic lights were out, standard patrols needed to be run, and they had to manage limited traffic in and out of the more heavily wooded southern end of town.
Atlantic City Electric said it lost two major transmission ports for Evesham, which took two days to fix, leading to residents in the southern end of town waiting for four or five days to have their power return.
Evesham police start chaplain program
This summer, the Evesham Township Police Department saw 11 individuals from various religious organizations in town become the inaugural members of its police chaplain program.
According to Chief of Police Christopher Chew, the program was designed to help members of the public and members of the department deal with any tragic events that may occur in town, as well as a way to further community ties to the department.
Those in the program attended an intensive two-day training run by a national organization for police chaplains.
New artificial turf fields at Memorial Sports Complex
Late summer also saw the addition of new turf soccer fields at the Memorial Sports Complex.
In the spring, the township bonded about $1.5 million for the fields, fencing, sidewalks and parts of the project.
Council member and Marlton Soccer Program commissioner Ken D’Andrea said more than 2,000 kids would use the fields, and so he planned for the Marlton Soccer Program to pay for about 25 percent of the cost of the fields.
He hoped another 25 percent or so of the cost would eventually come from renting the fields to other organizations.
Evesham Saving Lives
In September, Evesham set out to save lives, and throughout the rest of the year it did just that.
That month, Evesham launched its Evesham Saving Lives program, which uses donations from community organizations and individuals to provide free rides home from alcohol-serving establishments in town from 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. to those Evesham residents who felt they were too intoxicated to drive.
Originally announced as a 30-day pilot program with the use of the Sober-Sam designated driving service and township-run shuttle buses, the program was extended in October to run through the end of the year when it instead partnered with private taxi services Uber and BeMyDD.
Residents who felt they were too intoxicated to drive simply had to use the Uber or BeMyDD smartphone applications from any of the 19 alcohol serving bars and restaurants in Evesham and request a ride.
Throughout the first three months of the program, township officials said there was a 66 percent reduction in DUI arrests.
True to its original intention, the program also continued to operate without the use of taxpayer dollars.
The program also saw another success in mid-December when Evesham announced a partnership with neighboring Voorhees Township to expand the program throughout both towns.
The new pilot program with Voorhees will run through Jan. 15, and includes the participation of nine local bars and restaurants in Voorhees.
Similar to the Evesham program, any ride requested from an Evesham or Voorhees resident to their home from 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. at either a Voorhees or Evesham establishment was made completely free of charge.
Evesham MUA
Water water everywhere, and the municipality of Evesham Township sought to take control.
In October, township manager Tom Czerniecki presented council with the idea of dissolving the Evesham Township Municipal Utilities Authority as it stands now and merging the entity as a department under the township municipality similar to the Department of Public Works or Department of Recreation and Senior Services.
As is stands now, the MUA is separate from the municipality, with its own board of commissioners and yearly budget funded by ratepayers in the townshipwho have water and wastewater service provided to them.
Czerniecki said by bringing the MUA under the municipality’s control, ratepayers had a chance to realize a potential savings of $4.3 million over 10 years due to reissuing the MUA’s debt as municipal debt.
The absorption of the MUA would also free up $9 million in restricted reserves the MUA was required to hold due to its status as an entity funded by ratepayers rather than taxpayers.
The MUA has 55 employees, $171 million in capital assets and an annual budget of about $17.2 million, with $31 million in debt service.
Czerniecki said the township’s intention in absorbing the MUA would act as a name change, and was only being considered to realize the potential savings he had outlined. He said there would be no jobs lost or services cut from the dissolution, and the idea was not a critique of the job the MUA had been doing up until that point, which he said he had no complaints of.
Although not required as part of the dissolution process, after the township started its discussion on dissolving the MUA, the MUA board of commissioners held a meeting with a resolution on its agenda regarding the dissolution.
At that meeting, several residents spoke, the majority of whom praised the job the MUA had been doing and voiced several concerns about the township assuming water and wastewater control.
At that meeting, no MUA board of commissioners member would motion to consider the resolution.
Brown said he was still a proponent of the dissolution and absorption, and said the township would continue to pursue the issue.
Evesham Fire Chief Ted Lowden retires
This fall also saw the retirement of longtime Evesham Township Fire Chief Ted Lowden after 31 years with the department.
Lowden, who is a lifelong resident of the township, began as a Marlton Fire Company volunteer in 1975. In 1984, he became a career firefighter, and in 1989 he became chief.
Over the years, Lowden has also been active in other fire service organizations, such as the New Jersey State Career Fire Chiefs Association, the National Society of Executive Fire Officers, the Burlington County 200 Club, the New Jersey Fire Chiefs Association, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the Burlington County Fire Advisory Board and the Burlington County Fire Chiefs Association.
Evesham 2015 election results
There were no municipal elections in Evesham this year, but there was an election for seats on the Evesham BOE. In that election, incumbent Joe Fisicaro Jr. won re-election, along with newcomers Jeff Bravo and Michelle Hassall. Incumbent Kevin Stone did not win re-election. Incumbent Trish Everhart chose not to run.
The township, school district and police officers in schools
In the fall of 2014, the Evesham Township Police Department and Evesham Township School District Superintendent John Scavelli Jr. began negotiations for a shared services agreement where the township and school district would share a part-time police officer.
At the time, that officer would have worked for the school district on school days as an attendance officer, with the officer then performing township duties on non-school days.
Brown, a proponent of having officers in all school buildings during all school hours, led council in tabling that agreement to see if more could be done between the township and school district to get more officers in more schools.
This past spring, the school district publicly announced its intention to seek three part-time officers instead of one, and in the summer, the township and school district agreed to a total of four part-time officers.
Same as the original agreement, starting this school year the officers were assigned to help the schools with security and truancy issues, while fulfilling additional duties with the township.
That’s where the issue rested until Dec. 7, when a 14-year-old Marlton resident with a replica gun was spotted at Van Zant Elementary School, causing a school lockdown.
While the juvenile was eventually taken into custody without harming anyone, the incident once again prompted Mayor Randy Brown to call for officers to be placed in all school buildings.
Throughout the rest of December, the township agreed to place an officer at each ETSD school, with the intention of determining a long-term plan between the district and township.
At the BOE’s final meeting of 2015, the board voted to allow Scavelli to continue negotiations with the township for a plan to last throughout the rest of this school year.
