The State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has upgraded the state’s drought watch status to a drought warning as New Jersey continues to experience historically dry and warm conditions. Due to this development, the Board of Commissioners is urging residents to conserve water and adhere to the state’s fire restrictions.
“Unfortunately, these dry and warm conditions have not weakened and have caused wildfires across the state to drastically increase,” said Commissioner Jon Young, liaison to the Office of Sustainability. “Residents are urged to continue conserving water as we endure these intensely dry conditions. This situation is ongoing, and we will update our residents on any important developments from the state.”
New Jersey has a three-stage drought advisory system where a drought watch, which was declared on Oct. 17, is the first step. Under a drought watch, conservation is encouraged but a warning enables the DEP to more closely manage water systems by directing water transfers among systems, controlling releases from reservoirs, and modifying the rate of flow in streams and rivers in order to balance ecological protection and needs of water suppliers.
Since early October, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service has responded to 537 wildfires, which is a more than 1,300% increase in wildfires over the same period last year. Since the start of the year, nearly 1,300 wildfires have burned over 11,000 acres. The average number of fires per year since the year 2000 is 1,071 wildfires and 4,000 acres burned.
Due to the ongoing dry and warm conditions, mandatory statewide Stage 3 fire restrictions remain in effect. These restrictions prohibit all fires unless they are contained in an elevated stove using only propane, natural gas, or electricity. No wood or charcoal fires are allowed, and the use of kerosene or gas torches of any kind is prohibited while this level of restriction is in place.
The public is strongly encouraged to follow these tips to reduce water use:
At this time of year, it is appropriate to let lawns go dormant for the season.
Winterize, and shut off irrigation systems as soon as possible.
Only use a watering can to water flowers and shrubs or allow them to go dormant for the season.
Use a broom to sweep the sidewalk, rather than a hose.
Use a commercial car wash that recycles water, as washing your car at home typically results in more water use.
To save water at home, fix leaky faucets and pipes. Consider replacing your toilet with a low-flow version; this can save around 11,000 gallons per year.
Upgrade your showerhead to low-flow versions, which can save some 7,700 gallons per year.
Upgrade your faucets or install faucet aerators; this can save some 16,000 gallons per year.
The most up-to-date information about the status of New Jersey’s water supplies can be found at dep.nj.gov/drought/
The statement below is by Commissioner Jonathan Young regarding the impacts on the air quality in Camden County from the still burning wildfiresfrom Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024.
Throughout Camden County this morning residents may have woken up to the smell of smoke and seen small flickers of ash from the handful of wildfires currently burning throughout South Jersey. The Camden County Office of Emergency Management has been monitoring the fire events through their peers in the surrounding counties and the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. In addition, we deployed assets from the Department of Public Safety to assist firefighting at the Bethany Run wildfire burning on the Voorhees and Evesham border last week. The 360-acre event was contained this weekend, but wildfires continue to burn throughout the state most notably a 2,500-acre fire in West Milford that is currently 0% contained. Nevertheless, these fires are not, for the most part physically near us but the wind has carried some of the smell and ash our way.
The state has been under a drought watch since Oct. 17 and we are currently in a historic period of time experiencing no rainfall since September. Hopefully, that will come to end today and help to disperse the smoke in the atmosphere and provide an overdue assist to the brave members of the state Forest Fire Service and all of the local fire departments supporting them.
That said, depending on the force and trajectory of the wind, residents may continue to smell more smoke during the shifting atmospheric conditions. Based on that, know that the source of the forest fire is not threatening homes and that Camden County is not under any threat. We will continue to monitor this situation and update the public if more pertinent information is relayed back to us from our partners.
For all of our neighbors that have respiratory conditions, please limit your time outdoors and keep your windows closed during this time.
Detectives are investigating the stabbing death of a Cherry Hill man on Nov. 3, according to a release from the office of Camden County Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay.
Township police officers responded to a call at about 5:24 p.m. that evening at the township’s Waterford Apartments on Park Boulevard and found 28-year-old Harrison Guttman suffering from stab wounds in one of the units, according to the release. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives determined that Guttman was killed during some kind of altercation, police said. All parties involved have been identified, but criminal charges have yet to be filed. The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Det. Luis Sibaja Jr. of the prosecutor’s office homicide unit at (856) 225-8682, or township Det. Robert Daniello at (856) 432-8834. Tips can also be sent to CAMDEN.TIPS.
Barbara Price, librarian with the Gloucester County Historical Society
Gloucester County Courthouse built in 1787.Courtesy of Barbara Price, librarian with the Gloucester County Historical Society
Present day Gloucester County Courthouse.
At one point Gloucester County extended from the Delaware to the Atlantic, the width of the state in South Jersey. Quite a mass of land. Perhaps, too much.
Turns out the legislature approved – would coax be an apt description? – a county land reduction. It wasn’t like the county board of freeholders – now the board of commissioners – posted a classified selling pieces of itself. The decrease made practical sense in the 19th century.
A resident from the hinterlands and waterfronts had quite the trek to the county seat of Woodbury for pressing legal matters back then. After all, there was no New Jersey Turnpike or Atlantic City Expressway. Come to think of it, there were no cars, just horses. So, a relief request shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Most of these and other facts in this story came courtesy of a series of independent histories of the various counties, published around the dawn of the 20th century. Barbara Price, librarian with the Gloucester County Historical Society, curated the volumes to highlight the pertinent sections.
Gloucester County formed in 1692 without benefit of the legislature. But the state lawmakers set its boundaries, which didn’t get to the sea quite yet. In 1710, the Egg Harbor Township region was incorporated as part of Gloucester County, thus reaching the ocean.
The first land reduction transaction occurred in 1837 when the legislature voted to break off a chunk of Gloucester on its Eastern end to form Atlantic County. And in 1844, lawmakers took away more acreage to the north to produce Camden County.
And just like that Gloucester lost what it never knew it had: Atlantic City, Cherry Hill, Longport, Voorhees, Hi-Nella, and a bunch of other communities soon to make their mark, among other points of interest. By the way, all that oceanfront property they gave up consisted in large measure of mosquito-ridden swamps. But oceanfront property none the less, and by then, Cape May City proved there was a market for oceanfront property.
In 1837, prior to Atlantic County’s formation, that particular area consisted of four townships: Egg Harbor, Weymouth, Hamilton and Galloway. The barrier islands had yet to earn a name or standing. After Gloucester County donated Atlantic County, Galloway gave up a piece of itself for Mullica Township, Mullica broke off Hammonton and in 1854, Egg Harbor Township set off Atlantic City.
Throughout the 1800s, the four townships divvied up land to create cities and boroughs.
The development of Camden County ran into more difficulty than that of Atlantic County.
One of more practical reasons for pulling land for Camden County in 1844 had to do with the possibility of moving the county seat to Camden. The legislature voted on this in 1824 ordering an election among residents. But the election favored keeping Woodbury as the county seat.
Still, the rapid growth in population in northern Gloucester called for a new county. So in March 1844, the legislature approved placing Camden, Waterford, Newton, Union, Delaware, Gloucester and Washington townships into the new Camden County. The bill passed the Assembly by a single vote.
The courthouse remained in Woodbury. So did the county seat. It was already built and in the center of the population, officials say.
Initial discussions for the new county took place in 1837. The name was going to be Delaware, but the Camden name already worked its way into the lexicon.
Like Atlantic County, the public property ended up divided between the two counties, and money apportioned accordingly.
In the final analysis, Monroe and Washington townships reverted back to Gloucester County. Gloucester population rose from 3,368 in 1790 to 25,886 in 1880 but had been as high as 28,431 in 1830 before the creation of Camden and Atlantic counties left Gloucester with 14,655 in 1850.
Gloucester attempted to re-annex most of Camden County’s portions of Delaware – now Cherry Hill – and all of Camden City in 1845. It failed. An effort a year later sought to lump Franklin, Washington, Gloucester and Winslow townships into a new county called Washington. Also failed.
Getting Camden County settled was also marred by charges including voter fraud.
In 1845, county officials met at White Horse Tavern in Gloucester Township to talk about where to locate new county buildings. An initial vote scored 19 for Haddonfield and 10 for Long- a- Coming. In a second vote later that year, Camden drew most votes. In another vote in April 1846, Camden drew 963 votes with Mt. Ephraim 427, Haddonfield 46. Since Camden didn’t get a majority yet another vote took place in June. Camden received 1,434 second to the 1,498 for Long-a-Coming, which developed plans for buildings, a courthouse, and a jail. Long-a-Coming is now known as Berlin Borough. I like the old name better too.
Then came a preliminary injunction as accusations of election fraud surfaced. I’m not making this up. Lawsuits ensued. And were settled. Construction bids were accepted, and Long-a-Coming would be the county seat.
Friends of Camden convinced lawmakers to hold another election with Camden, Haddonfield and Long-a-Coming. The latter finished third, well behind Camden. You can predict what happened next. More fraud charges.
The residents of Camden County petitioned the legislature to pick a site for the public buildings at least five miles from Camden, but the sheriff filed a cause to determine why not Camden. Another election and Camden won out and in 1852 the buildings were laid out, with the courthouse first.
What if the state declined to act on the land giveaways. Or Gloucester County successfully fought to keep all that property intact rather than severing off chunks of itself.
“There would be more tax revenue,” Gloucester County administrator Chad M. Bruner said. “But there would also be many more costs associated with more land mass that encompasses more housing and development, more park systems to maintain, more roads and bridges to maintain, an expansion of public health services, more services to provide to senior residents such as meal programs, medical transportation, and more EMS stations and staffing as well as dispatching operations to name a few.”
And schools? They might be radically changed, Bruner added, “They may have followed more of a county-wide system.”
The county government would be more akin to state government. “It would be more of a centralized county base of operation with less municipal home rule other than just planning and zoning requirements of the community,” Bruner said.
Then again, the land diet offered benefits to the county. “Running a county of 300,000 residents versus over 1.1 million and 322 miles of roads versus approximately 1,100 miles would entail less aggravation, Bruner said. In addition, when you add in the significant number of expanded services, triple or quadruple the amount of staff needed, the casino industry, an airport, beaches and other entertainment venues it would be a massive governmental territory to be responsible for.
Yet planned “over time as it grew, we would look to appropriately consolidate and regionalize services like we do today,” Bruner said.
As it turned out, the land reallocation created three unique counties out of one, Price said.
“Camden County probably has more business and industry and is just over the bridge and the river from Philadelphia,” she said. “Atlantic County has the obvious attractions of the beaches, boardwalk and casinos. Gloucester County is a mix of large and small business, small towns and agriculture and riverfront as well.”
The three books used to layout the formation of two counties included History of the Counties of Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland New Jersey, by Thomas Cushing, M.D. and Charles E. Sheppard, Esq.; The History of Camden County, New Jersey by George R. Powell; The Daily Union History of Atlantic City and County, New Jersey, by John F. Hall.
Bill Brown (left) accepts the Best Collaborative Effort of the Year Award on behalf of Joe Murphy, who was unable to attend with Darlene Macrina Supnick (right).
The Nonprofit Development Center of Southern New Jersey (NDCSNJ) held its 11th annual awards ceremony in Mt. Laurel on Tuesday, Sept. 24 where they honored a number of notable leaders and nonprofits in South Jersey including Haddonfield’s “Ballroom Dancing for the Blind and Visually Impaired.”
This year, for the first time, the NDCSNJ honored two individuals or nonprofits per category.
“Since 2006, the NDCSNJ has been dedicated to supporting area non-profits in delivering essential services and fulfilling their missions,” said MaryAnn Ragone DeLambily, NDCSNJ Awards Event chairperson. “We are proud to play a part in helping them excel by providing networking, training, education, capacity building, promotion and more.”
“I’ve been in this space for more than 35 years, so my favorite thing about the event is bringing visibility to nonprofits that would not normally get any other visibility other than this,” said Nicole Nance, executive director of NDCSNJ. “We get to showcase amazing work that they do, they do it every day whether they make a dollar or don’t make a dollar, whether they have a big budget or a shoe string budget, and it’s so rewarding to be able to say, ‘Wow, look at this group, they’re doing it with or without millions of dollars and look at how many people they impact just because of their heart.’
” … The work (nonprofits) do every day–often behind the scenes and without much fanfare–touches lives in profound ways.”
This year’s award recipients included the following:
NPO Young Professionals of the Year: Kellie Haines (WheatonArts, based in Millville) and Rachael Glashan Rupisan (Alice Paul Institute, based in Mt. Laurel).
Best Collaborative Effort of the Year: Forgotten Angels Equine Rescue based, based in Medford (Darlene Macrina Supnick), Ballroom Dancing for the Blind and Visually Impaired (Joe Murphy, Haddonfield).
NPO Community Partners of the Year: Angelo Harold (Owner of TeamHarold Transportation and co-owner of Stand Out From The Crowd Rentals and Inflatables) and Dr. June DePonte Sernak (Center for Family Services, based in Camden).
NPO Executives of the Year: Lucy DuBose (Faces of Change Inc, based in Camden) and Patricia Legge (Volunteer UP Legal Clinic, based in Camden).
NPOs of the Year: Tri-State Canine Response Team, based in Cherry Hill and GateKeepers Ministry, based in Pennsauken.
Chairman’s Awards: New Jersey Center for NonProfits based in Mercerville and Volunteer Center of South Jersey based in Sewell/Jersey Cares based in Livingston.
The NDCSNJ was started 18 years ago when three people had a vision of bringing professional development for nonprofits to South Jersey, Nance shared.
“You have many people who start a nonprofit just out of their passion, out of their zeal, some people out of trauma, some people out of joy, some people, just out of their heart …,” Nance said. “They just want to do good and help people and want to do something to make their mark on the world. You’ve got to follow guidelines and follow rules, so we help with that.”
One of the two Best Collaborative Award of the Year awards went to Haddonfield resident Joe Murphy, as the initiative involved collaborative efforts from the Haddonfield Lions, who have a goal of helping the blind and visually impaired; dance instructor Gene la Pierre who had experience; and employees from Best Works Industries, that employs many blind workers as well as volunteers from the Haddonfield 65 Club, Rotary Club, Dance Haddonfield and Grace Episcopal Church who assisted as drivers.
More recently, the program has expanded from 10 to 30 dancers and has also involved the Haddonfield Memorial High School LEO Club to assist dancers from the cars up the stairs to the elevator and dance area, and the program has also expanded to the Philadelphia region.
To learn more about any of the nonprofits recognized, visit https://npdcsnj.org/.
