Public Safety Building Need Discussed During Joint Cape May Meeting

CAPE MAY – A new public safety building is needed, and the best site for it is on land occupied by the firehouse.
Those were the conclusions that the Public Safety Building Advisory Committee presented to Cape May City Council in a joint meeting Oct. 3.
Committee chair Jerry Gaffney briefed the council on the committee work. He cited a list of 52 parcels of land that could be considered. He explained the four parcels the committee considered in depth and delivered the final recommendation which was unanimous, he said.
Gaffney suggested a next step might include a visit to a joint public safety building complex in a neighboring community. Avalon appeared to be the location of most interest with Mayor Clarence Lear saying he would like to join such a tour.
All committee members agreed that the current firehouse needs to be replaced.
The Police Department, currently attached to city hall in a complex that once held the city’s high school, is considered in deplorable shape with the department in need of a new location.
Gaffney reported that the city auditor Leon Costello had estimated costs for a new firehouse at $4.5 million and a new police station at $10 million.
“Those are the numbers Leon gave me,” said Gaffney. He pointed as well to the skepticism on the committee that new construction of a joint complex would run that high.
“I think you are probably looking at a minimum of $10 million and a maximum of $15 million,” he concluded.
There was a discussion of adjacent properties to the firehouse including the Franklin Street School, the school’s gymnasium complex and the Colonial House Museum situated next door to City Hall.
Parking, Redevelopment Zone
Committee Vice-Chair Wister “Barney” Dougherty pushed a concept for using some of the land owned by a neighboring church along with the parcel on which the current gymnasium sits as a site for addressing the city’s parking problem.
He said that he was speaking as a taxpayer, not from his role on the committee.
The issue of parking became interconnected with the discussion of the public safety building because of references made to alleged plans of businessman Curtis Bashaw to build a parking and retail complex in the area of the current Washington Commons.
That issue, in turn, was connected to a resolution on the council agenda for its regular meeting later the same day, to start the process of having the city’s Planning Board investigate whether the entire block that houses the municipal complex and the commons retail area should be declared a Redevelopment Zone.
It was not apparent how such a designation would impact the building of a public safety complex in a prime area with such a zone. This is especially so when considering the urgency surrounding the committee’s recommendation that a new building is needed “yesterday.” The process of designating a redevelopment zone is not a fast one.
Solicitor Frank Corrado explained what is involved in making such a designation, including the Planning Board study and recommendations, which include a public hearing. There would then be subsequent consideration of the recommendations by the council, development of a redevelopment plan for the area, and passage of an ordinance requiring another public hearing and eventual state approval.
Objections and Concerns
City resident Christine Miller spoke during public comment against the resolution concerning a redevelopment zone. She questioned why the city was asking for a zone that combined the municipal areas and the retail areas on the block. 
Miller argued that the redevelopment zone would make it easier for Bashaw to move ahead with his plans, “allowing Curtis to sneak a parking garage right into the middle of our city.” 
She warned that the “city would be “significantly changed” by the resolution.
Corrado defended the city’s move saying “This is the start of a process with many safeguards in it for public comment.”
Lear said the resolution only begins the task of studying the issue.
The resolution later passed.
Miller also argued that council should be considering the other options for such a large investment. She called for much more public input; saying that $15 million might be better spent protecting the city from rising seas.
Resident Jules Rauch urged that the city consider the future of the agreements with West Cape May and Cape May Point for police coverage. He argued that the contracts are renewed periodically, and a change in them could impact plans for a new building. “The contracts need to be considered,” he said.
Rauch also asked the city to consider the level of coverage provided by Cape May’s paid Fire Department to West Cape May and Cape May Point.
“Should they contribute to the cost of an expensive new complex given the service they receive?” he asked.
Moving Forward
Deputy Mayor Shaine Maier said he saw little connection between the redevelopment zone resolution and the public safety building. “We need a police and fire station yesterday,” he said. “Redevelopment may take too long.”
Corrado had explained that designating a redevelopment zone would allow the redevelopment plan to supersede existing zoning regulations and also make it easier for the city to purchase land without all the encumbrance of the normal process.
In the end, the council was being asked to approve $2,500 to develop a conceptual plan for a new police building.
The volunteer fire organization has offered to fund the remaining $5,000 that the study requires. Such a conceptual plan exists for a new firehouse. 
The hope is that the two plans would allow for expedited decisions to “keep the process moving,” in the words of Fire Chief Alex Coulter.
City Manager Neil Young said the funds would be made available.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.