Snip, Clip: Lower’s Public Safety Building, County Central Dispatch Opens at Airport

ERMA – With the clip of two pairs of scissors Oct. 23, the Cape May County Office of Emergency Management Central Dispatch and Lower Township Public Safety Building was officially open for business. 
Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton took to the podium outside the township courthouse doors to praise the county and Lower Township officials for working together on the renovation and agreeing on a solution that saved both entities money.
“By working with Lower Township officials, we both saved between $2 million and $2.5 million and this outstanding building is a result of us working together,” Thornton said.
Thornton went on to praise county Office of Emergency Management Director Martin Pagliughi, who said he had been working toward the day for 25 years as mayor of Avalon.
“The renovation of this building is the perfect example of property tax relief. This building is a big savings and a big addition to public safety,” said Pagliughi.
In 2015, the county and Lower Township entered into an agreement whereby 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. Lower Township agreed to pay a yearly rental fee. The township turned over ownership of the building to the county as part of the deal.
However, that agreement didn’t come about without a fight. Lower Township Mayor Erik Simonsen alluded to the battle over the public safety building location.
“We took a lot of beatings to get this done. This is a state-of-the art building in the perfect location. Former officials wanted it in Villas at the site of the municipal offices. With the proximity to fire, police and the airport, this is the perfect spot in the case of an emergency at a savings to the taxpayers,” Simonsen explained.
There was discussion prior to the 2015 agreement of the township building its own public safety complex at the municipal building site on Bayshore Road in Villas.
That option was rejected in favor of renovating the current building.
The structure is located at the Cape May County Airport on Breakwater Road in Erma.
The building houses county OEM, the centralized county dispatch system along with township police, court system, fire and EMT services.
Dispatch costs the township an additional $50,000 per month until other municipalities sign on to use the service. Pagliughi said several municipalities are expected to sign on soon.
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.
The 20-year lease includes an option to extend the lease to 50 years when the current agreement runs out.
Police Part
Lower Township Chief of Police William Mastriana said that he was proud of the facility and led a tour of the building.
The tour included new uses of old space, with renovated workstations, locker rooms, storage areas, conference areas, and computers and communications equipment for the police and clerks.
A new evidence locker allows officers to put items in a box and push a lock button that seals off the evidence from anyone except the evidence officer, thus assuring chain of custody.
The lockers include refrigerated units for evidence that can be degraded by heat.
Central Dispatch
The tour of the OEM dispatch portion of the building included the electronic hub of the center where dispatchers monitor calls and OEM personnel monitor the latest storms and weather patterns.
The OEM Central Dispatch began operation in the facility in early June in anticipation of hurricane season. Communication systems were tested over the summer, with the countywide CodeRed system (available to anyone with a smartphone who loads the app, they will be alerted of upcoming storm events) going online in August.
As part of the Next-Gen 911 system, residents can text their emergencies to the center.
The OEM Center includes meeting rooms with workstations for various agencies that would be brought in during disaster conditions. These include Red Cross, public works, search and rescue, distribution, mass feeding, police and fire and more.
Despite all the latest technology, an office at the rear of the building houses a ham or amateur radio center that acts as a back-up in the event the entire system would go down.
According to Bill Cole, a volunteer ham radio operator, radio amateurs use a variety of voice, text, image, and data communications modes and have access to frequency allocations throughout the radio frequency spectrum. This enables communication across a city, region, country, continent, the world, or even into space.
Amateur radio operators may also send, receive, or relay radio communications between computers or transceivers connected to secure virtual private networks on the internet.
Cole showed the unit’s mobile station that can be transported just about anywhere and can run off a battery or solar power.
“We are a backup to the system and have stations set up all over the county. The ham radio system was developed in the early 1900s but became increasingly popular after World War II as a reliable communications system,” said Cole.
At the end of the tour, Lt. William Priole showed the renovated clerk’s office, stating “This is where all the real work occurs” to cheers from the clerks.
To contact Carl Price, email cprice@cmcherald.com.