CAPE MAY – The Fire Department is “coming home.” That remark by Mayor Zack Mullock at the Feb. 20 meeting of City Council came as the department has largely completed its return to the city after a long stay in West Cape May while a new fire station was constructed.

The Fire Department, a combined career/volunteer operation, was housed in West Cape May during the construction. Although the city cut the ribbon on the new facility on Franklin Street in November, work remained to be completed. Firefighters are just now getting back to the city and into their new home.

The new fire station was a hotly contested issue in the 2020 municipal election, which saw Mullock unseat then-Mayor Clarence “Chuck” Lear.

Lear had supported a combined fire and police public safety building on the same lot, with some adjacent land added. Mullock had supported separate fire and police buildings constructed in sequence, with a new fire station as the first priority.

The debate involved cost, land use and building size. It went to a referendum during the 2020 election, with the voters supporting separate fire and police facilities.

The next priority for the city is a new police station, the design for which received strong support from the city’s Historic Preservation Commission at its Feb. 15 meeting. The city hopes to resolve soon all remaining issues with respect to acquisition of the site at Lafayette and St. Johns streets so construction can begin in the fall.

Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.