CAPE MAY – “The Public Safety Building Advisory Committee has completed its charge and is hereby dissolved.” With those words, a resolution at the Nov. 16 meeting of Cape May City Council ended the formal existence of an advisory committee appointed in April 2017.
The committee recommended that the city build a combined public safety facility for its fire, police, and other public safety departments on the site of the city firehouse and fire museum.
Controversy dogged the project from the beginning, following the announcement that the chair and vice-chair of the committee disagreed with the majority recommendation of the body.
The controversy resulted in two overlapping and conflicting citizen resolutions on the 2020 ballot. The referendum calling for a $15 million bond issue for the combined building did not carry. The referendum for a $5 million bond issue for the construction of a separate firehouse won voter support.
A new city administration, taking office in January, will decide how to proceed. Meanwhile, the resolution expressed the city’s “appreciation and gratitude” to the members of the committee and ended its existence.
