VILLAS – A resolution authorizing a lease agreement payment to Cape May County for space at the public safety building for $165,611 was passed at the Oct. 15 Lower Township Council meeting.
Lower Township Business Administrator James Ridgway explained that the 20-year lease includes an option to extend the lease to 50 years when the current agreement ends.
In 2015, a memorandum of understanding between the county and Lower Township created a shared-use agreement in which the county secured a bond to finance renovation of the building and buy equipment required to house the county Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and dispatch functions, with Lower Township agreeing to pay a yearly rental fee.
The township also turned over ownership of the building to the county.
Ridgway said the cost to lease space should drop as the bond is paid down.
There was discussion prior to the 2015 agreement of the township building its own public safety complex at the current municipal building site on Bayshore Road in Villas. That option was rejected in favor of renovating the current building.
Located at the Cape May County Airport on Breakwater Road, Erma, the building houses county OEM, the centralized county dispatch system, along with Lower Township police, the municipal court system, fire and EMT services.
A member of the public asked if the lease figure included dispatch fees.
Ridgway said dispatch cost an additional $50,000 per month until other municipalities sign on to use the service.
He said several municipalities recently toured the facility to learn more and he expected some to sign on.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly renovated building is scheduled for Oct. 23 at 11 a.m. and is open to the public.
To contact Carl Price, email cprice@cmcherald.com.
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
