Public Safety Building Needed; Council Can’t Agree on Funding

CAPE MAY – In another round of votes, Cape May City Council does not further the agenda for a proposed Public Safety Building.
The council successfully introduced a bond ordinance, for $15 million, to fund design and construction of the building, but did so by a simple majority of the five-member council. 
While state law allows a 3-2 vote for the introduction, eventual adoption of the ordinance, in March, will require a supermajority, and at least four votes will be needed to adopt it. The council introduced an ordinance short of the support needed to make it a reality.
In the same meeting, council attempted to pass an emergency temporary appropriation making $500,000 available from the capital improvement fund for the project. In order to move on adopting the bond ordinance, assuming the votes would be there, the city would have to certify that the funds are available for the required 5% down payment. 
With the 2020 budget not introduced, the resolution up for a vote was to make the emergency appropriation.
Supermajority Needed
While the budget can eventually be adopted by a simple majority, an emergency appropriation of the sort sought for the down payment requires a supermajority, again four votes were needed. The measure failed.
 This is representative of city council’s inability to agree on how to proceed to provide new facilities for its police and fire departments, a rift that exists even though all five members of the council profess complete agreement that new facilities are necessary.
Council members Zack Mullock and Stacy Sheehan have consistently opposed a combined public safety building on the site of the existing firehouse. They have argued that the space is too small to support such a structure and allow for room for eventual growth. They maintain that the new facilities could be provided to both departments at a lower overall cost.
Points Made
Sheehan has maintained that the proposed structure is too large and modern to place in the heart of the historic district. 
Mullock has argued that the effort on the building has not had adequate involvement from the city’s Historic Preservation Commission.
Both Mullock and Sheehan have argued that council should have assumed leadership of the project long ago, instead of relying on a council-appointed advisory committee.  
They maintain that time has been wasted, and that the city is pushing the wrong alternative because a lack of leadership by council has left the city without new facilities after three years of effort on the issue.
Before the vote on the bond ordinance, Mullock said that council had not seen the building design the $15 million appropriations was based on.
Don’t Want Delay
The three who have consistently voted to move ahead with the combined public safety building are Mayor Clarence Lear, Deputy Mayor Patricia Hendricks and Council Member Shaine Meier.
They argue that no further delay can be tolerated, as conditions in the current facilities used by the departments have continued to deteriorate. 
They point to the hard work of the advisory committee, saying that the committee covered options like separate buildings on separate sites and ruled them out as impractical and more expensive.
Stall Now, Pay Later
The three maintain that costs are only rising as the city delays a decision. Hendricks pointed to the dangers of interest rate increases, saying that a 1% increase in the rate the city would have to pay on the bonds would cost the city $4.5 million. She did not offer details in support of that calculation, but the point was made that interest rates are not likely to remain low indefinitely.
A member of a city advisory committee on parking argued that fears about lost parking spaces should not be part of the equation. “There will be parking nearby,” she said.
The debate continued.
Be Civil
Members of the public have implored the council members to show more respect for each other and to find ways to work together to achieve common ends. Some have suggested a retreat.
Whatever the solution to restoring camaraderie, the council had not yet found it this night.  
Members, at times, made arguments in ways that made compromise difficult since the substance of the positions became entangled in personal accusations.
Town Hall Meeting Vowed
During the course of the debate, Lear announced that the city would hold a town hall meeting on the building before the bond ordinance, just introduced, comes up for possible adoption. Sheehan replied that she and Mullock have been asking for a town hall on the subject for months.
The end of this impasse is likely to rest with the voters with both sides saying they support a referendum on the bond ordinance.  
The bond ordinance, just introduced, leaves open the possibility of a referendum following a citizen-initiated petition drive, but it does not guarantee one. 
A version of the ordinance that would have required a referendum was not offered because state law would not allow such a referendum until the November general election, too long say the supporters of the bond issue.
The end of the evening left a council in agreement that its current public safety facilities are in dire need of replacement and in disagreement on how to proceed. 
A bond ordinance squeaked by on fewer votes that will be needed to pass it, and a required down payment was left in limbo until the annual budget is adopted.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.