NEIGHBORS ANGRY ABOUT CONDO PLAN

By Chris Lundy BERKELEY

– Neigh- bors said that “Dream Homes at the Pines” will be a nightmare for them.

The condo complex will be situated on 2.3 acres at the intersection of Louis Avenue and Orchard Avenue, fronting Ocean Gate

Turnpike. It is zoned for multi-family homes. It will be built by local developer Dream Homes.

Nearby resident Joanne Hannemann came to a recent Township Council meeting urging them to stop the development. She said that the neighborhood is very quiet with people taking walks through the woods and that would all be destroyed with a condo complex moving in.

“When you’re walking, all you hear is birds and the sounds of nature and it takes you to another place,” she

(Condo - See Page 5)

Local WWII Hero Honored In Biography

By Mark Bator

TOMS RIVER - The extraordinary life and times of an under-appreciated World War II hero was the subject of a question-and-answer session with author Steven M. Gillon at the George P. Vanderveer American Legion Post

129. Gillon, a history professor at the University of Oklahoma, entertained those in attendance and provided insight regarding his latest book, “Len Lomell: D-Day Hero.”

In addition to Lomell’s wife, Renee, many of (Hero - See Page 6)

40 acre site. It’s behind the Public Works building on Pinewald-Keswick Road in Bayville. You can’t see it from the road so you wouldn’t know just how expansive it is back there. It looks like a desert somehow surrounded by pines. Right now, heavy vehicles are moving the dirt and getting the site ready.

The landfill closed about 50 years ago in 1974, Mayor Carmen Amato said. But it was never properly capped because the process costs millions.

“That’s why past (Solar - See Page 4)

“We

COMING SOON!

Solar: Continued From Page 1

administrations – both Republican and Democrat – kicked the can down the road,” he said. Today, however, there are more private-public partnerships, where a company does the work and then both share in the profits. One of them is the statewide Community Solar Energy Pilot Program initiated by Governor Phil Murphy in 2018 and finalized by the Board of Public Utilities in 2019. This paved the way for a project such as this. “I’m very appreciative of the (State Department of Environmental Protection) and the Pinelands Commission for helping the township get through the bureaucratic red tape to do this,” Amato said. By providing less expensive electricity, residents are predicted to save about $6.4 million over the 20-year life of the project, according to township figures.

“We are thrilled to have partnered with CS Energy and Luminace to close this landfill at no cost to our taxpayers and residents while also offering more affordable and cleaner sources of energy to our community,” Amato said.

“I want to thank our employees from Teamsters Local 97 who spent weeks preparing the site for the work to begin,” he said. He also thanked representatives from IBEW Local 400, Operating Engineers Local 825, local 172 and local 182 for attending the groundbreaking and being part of this project. “I’m pleased to know the work onsite will be done by highly qualified, trained and dedicated union workers.”

“To properly cap a landfill, at no cost to the taxpayers and at the same time install 10 megawatts of green energy and generate revenue for the township, is truly a win-win situation for Berkeley Township,” Council President John Bacchione said.

“Given CS Energy’s market-leading experience as a developer and EPC contractor on landfill solar projects, coupled with their community solar experience and significant footprint in the Northeast, we are proud to collaborate with CS Energy once again as they successfully develop this landmark project,” said Brendon Quinlivan, CEO Luminace. “CS Energy and Luminace have a longstanding relationship and strong execution track record over the last decade, and we are pleased to partner with CS Energy again to enable affordable clean energy to local residents as well as a long-term asset to the local community.”

“The effective pursuit of the State’s twin climate and clean energy goals requires creativity, partnership, and commitment… this landfill solar redevelopment project, which transforms a longstanding environmental liability into an asset that delivers significant and direct benefits to its host community, continues to demonstrate we – together – can achieve environmental and economic success while advancing our critical mission,” said Sean Moriarty, Deputy Commissioner.

“We are excited to once again be working alongside Luminace on this first-of-its-kind project,” said John Ervin, VP of Development at CS Energy. “Our deep experience in the region, and on landfill solar projects specifically, enabled our team to successfully lead the development and design of this highly complex project while working closely with regulators. We look forward to completing the construction of this project and delivering a high-quality solar system and significant energy savings to residents.” said. “There’s so much life in that 2.3 acres.”

There has also been online chatter denouncing this project. Neighbors are angry about the trees that would have to come down and the impact on traffic. The development doesn’t fit with the single family homes on large properties that are around it.

However, if you go closer to Route 9, there are other multi-family developments. The Mill Creek condos have been there for a long time. Closer to Veeder Lane, there’s the new Berkeley Crossings complex.

Plans reviewed by The Berkeley Times in 2021 consisted of two, three-story townhouse buildings with a total of 17 units. One building will have 11 units and the other will have six. Each unit will be 1,832 square feet with a garage. There will be an 1,800 square feet fenced-in recreation area. There are plans for parking, two spots per unit, plus seven visitor spots and two handicap spots. These plans might have changed for the 2022 final approval.

There will be one short driveway off Louis in and out of the development, and a gravel road off Ocean Gate Turnpike for emergency vehicles.

“We tried to buy it,” Mayor Carmen Amato told Hannemann about the land. The township sometimes buys land to preserve as open space. In this situation, though, the previous owner had a contract with Dream Homes that they couldn’t break.

Hannemann said that since the meetings happened during the height of COVID-19, that people were not able to make it to the Planning Board meetings when this was discussed. She also suggested that the neighbors were not properly notified of the developer’s plans. Developers only need to mail notices to property owners within 200 feet.

Berkeley’s planner, James Oris, said he would look into whether the proper notifications were done.

“This council can’t control what was approved,” he said. “It was zoned before this administration. I feel bad. I know the mayor and council all feel bad. Let me look into the public notice issue.”

The planning board approved some variances for the site. A variance is when a plan doesn’t fit with the town’s code but the planning board allows it.

For example, the property is supposed to have two entrances, but since it fronts on two separate streets that was waived. Also, officials noted that two driveways would impact the character of the neighborhood. The development is not expected to generate enough traffic to warrant it.

There is also supposed to be at least 50 feet between any buildings and neighboring property lines or roads. The buildings will be 43.2 to 45.8 feet away as of the 2021 plans.

Hero: Continued From Page 1

those in attendance had known Lomell personally. So, in addition to the information imparted by the author, numerous friends and acquaintances of the local hero took the opportunity to share their recollections at the well-attended event. Lomell had been a member of American Legion Post 129 and had run his law practice in Toms River, as well.

Lomell was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942, and had become an Army Ranger. As part of his involvement in WWII, Lomell’s squad was tasked with taking the German stronghold at Point du Hoc as part of the D-Day invasion. He is credited with being the one soldier who made D-Day a victory. Lomell’s exploits, many of which had not previously been known to the author, are contained in the book.

As Gillon explained to the audience, he had met Lomell while doing a television show on the History Channel.

“I was just mesmerized by his story and incredibly impressed by him,” Gillon said of Lomell. “I know that most of his friends and people who knew him called him ‘Bud.’ To me, he was Mister Lomell. I was also struck by how modest he was, how down to Earth he was. He was just like a regular guy. He never wanted to be the center of attention.”

The idea for the book was hatched during the COVID-19 pandemic, and during the question-and-answer session, the author revealed how the book truly came to fruition.

Just as he had done with the previous 11 books he has written, Gillon did hours of fact-checking and interviews in preparation for the task.

“What happened is,” Gillon explained to his audience, “in the very beginning, I did a lot of background research before I even reached out to the family. I wanted to make sure the story held together.”

Gillon explained that historical materials about Lomell were often hard to come by, including at the Library of Congress.

“In this case there were very few of those types of documents,” Gillon said. “And what you do as an author, is you gather up as much information as you can.”

But the most noteworthy assistance came from the Lomell family themselves when the late war hero’s wife had a small gathering, which included Gillon, at her home.

“And I think it was that time, after that meeting,” Gillon related, “Renee asked me to stay behind. She went into the back room where she stored lots of [Lomell’s] memorabilia. She brought out a big black folder, and she explained to me what it was.”

Inside the folder was a 186-page letter that Lomell had written to his grandchildren in 1980 that documented his life.

“As a historian, it doesn’t get any better,” explained Gillon. “He essentially did a lot of the work for me.”

The biography recounts the heroic actions of Lomell, whose exploits, while impressive, have not been woven into the fabric of the American zeitgeist in the same fashion as such iconic figures as General George S. Patton, or Audie Murphy. From his inauspicious beginnings as a World War II draftee, the selfless bravery and resourcefulness of Lomell are accurately recounted by Gillon, who vividly painted the scene for those in attendance at the lecture.

“I just think it’s great that we have someone who’s written a nationally published book,” said Toms River Mayor Maurice B. Hill, who was also in attendance at the event. “And it’s available now to people, to read about his history, and how important [Lomell] was in changing the outcome of World War Two.”

Many audience members had known Lomell, either through his membership at the American Legion Hall, through his law practice, or simply as an involved community member, and took turns sharing their

(Hero - See Page 9)