Police, Dispatch Services Agreement Renewed

CAPE MAY – Cape May City Council has moved closer to a report from the city engineer concerning safety issues on the city’s beaches. Thomas Thornton, of Hatch Mott MacDonald, the city’s engineering firm, told council at their meeting Dec. 1 that the firm’s feasibility study would be presented at the next regular council meeting Dec. 15.
The original target date for the report had been Dec. 1, but Thornton explained that there had been some delays in getting documents from Army Corps of Engineers and that the grain size analysis conducted by Stockton University took longer than expected. Thornton said his firm now has all the material and modeling has begun.
In response to a question from Council member Shane Meier, Thornton explained what council should expect in the report. The report will contain an assessment of what is causing the wave shapes that present dangers to beachgoers. The report would also include any recommendation the firm can make for a feasible project aimed at reducing safety hazards, along with projected costs associated with the recommendation.  A final aspect of the report would be a description of the permitting process required to move ahead with any proposed project.
Welcome Center
Thornton also gave council good news regarding the Welcome Center. For months, the city has been attempting to move ahead with a conceptual design of the Welcome Center that would add 30 new parking spaces and improve lighting. At issue has been a lease for the railroad tracks.
Thornton reported that there has been an agreement with state transit officials that will allow the project to move forward. Final plans may deviate from the conceptual proposal presented to the state, but all indications, according to Thornton, are that state officials will not oppose modifications to the plan.
Inter-local Agreements for Police, Dispatch
Three municipalities that run along Cape Island will once again renew their shared services relationship for law enforcement and dispatching services. Cape May City and the boroughs of West Cape May and Cape May Point have had an agreement in place for police and dispatch services for two, seven-year periods dating back to 2001. Council approved a resolution that would allow a new, 10-year agreement to go into effect in January.
Mayor Edward Mahaney said the arrangement has “greatly benefited” all three municipalities by allowing them to share the expense of law enforcement services at a level they could not afford separately. When asked about the publicized moves by the county to set up a county-wide central dispatch, Mahaney said that the city had done its homework and that any central dispatch aimed at servicing the shore communities was well into the future.
Mahaney said that one proposal being discussed was to have shore communities, like Cape May, act as a hub for the new central dispatch process. Nothing in the current discussions, Mahaney said, should discourage the kind of agreement the city was entering into with its neighboring boroughs.
Public Comment
Nine months after the demotion of Robert Sheehan as police chief of Cape May, the issue is still in litigation and only tangentially discussed at council meetings. Jerry Gaffney requested an update on the status of the case during public comment. City Solicitor Anthony Monzo said that the initial management conference had not yet been held with the judge, but he expected it would be soon. It is at that conference that the judge will probably seek to have the two sides find a settlement before going forward with the case.
Gaffney said that it was likely the city would settle in the end and urged that it be sooner rather than later. Gaffney indicated his belief that the attorneys for the Joint Insurance Fund (JIF) will never allow the case to get to a judge and jury. Meier agreed with Gaffney and added his belief that “No one at this table wants to be under oath about what is really going on here.” Mahaney commented that he disagreed with Meier.
Also under brief discussion was the city’s response to a Government Records Council (GRC) order finding against the city regarding denial of records to Lt. Chuck Lear, requested through OPRA. The issue was raised by Patricia Hendricks, who cited the order and asked about the city’s compliance. Monzo explained that the order was mistaken with respect to what was specifically requested, and that the GRC has agreed that it will need to amend the order.
All of this has some pertinence to the Dec. 9 hearing in Superior Court where the city will defend its responses to OPRA requests from OPRA advocate Harry Scheeler. Scheeler claims his actions seeking records in Cape May is motivated by a group of concerned citizens who feel that the city has been untruthful regarding legal issues surrounding the Sheehan case, and other matters. The city has made a motion to dismiss the complaint brought by Scheeler and the matter will be heard in court next week.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.