West Cape May Fire Company, Borough Come to Agreement on ‘Official’ Status

WEST CAPE MAY — West Cape May Volunteer Fire Company and Borough Commission have come to an agreement, following two years of negotiations that denotes the company as the official fire company for the borough.
West Cape May Volunteer Fire Company is an independent non-profit organization, not a borough department, that been in operation more than 88 years but the borough never officially recognized them as its official fire company. While a fire bell at the firehouse has a date of 1903 stamped upon it, the fire company may actually date back the Great Fire of Cape May in 1878, according to some historians.
Borough Commission introduced an ordinance Sept. 9 to seal the agreement.
Commissioner of Public Safety Ramsey Geyer said the ordinance is tied to a memorandum of understanding, which is fundamentally an operating agreement.
The agreement includes a 15-year lease of the fire hall for $1 per year. Geyer said the memorandum is for five years and at t renewal time, the details will be reviewed.
“Each year the fire company needs to provide the borough with a certification that they are following proper accounting procedures,” he said.
The fire company will not be required to share detailed financial information, said Geyer. They will also be required to provide the borough with a copy of a statement they file as 501C non-profit organization.
Attorneys for both sides agreed that statutes do not require that the fire company disclose their financial position to the governing body.
In 1975, the fire company purchased the land that the borough hall and the fire company are built upon. The municipality came to the fire company at that time and set up a deal for the fire company to sign the property over to the borough.
The borough had the ability to receive federal money to build a borough hall and a fire company. The fire company signed the property over to them because a municipality had to own the property to receive the federal grant.
According to the fire company, the deal included the fire hall being deeded back to the volunteer fire company 11 years after the grant was received. That never happened and there was no record of such an agreement, which became a sticking point in negotiations.
Ramsay said the property legally belongs to the borough.
Being the officially recognized fire company for the borough will make West Cape May Volunteer Fire Company eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA) grants to fund purchase of safety equipment and apparatus.
“I’m very pleased we have come to an agreement and everybody seems to be happy with it,” said Geyer, who said he would assist the fire company in obtaining grants.
The borough will continue a line item in its budget as aid to the fire company of $40,000 plus a $20,000 line item for maintenance of the fire hall. He said the borough also covers the fire company with insurance and pays its utility bills.
Geyer said the borough provides about $100,000 per year in support of the fire company.
The fire company raises money through fund drives to augment money received from the borough, he said.
West Cape May Fire Chief Chuck McPherson said there were some hard feelings between the fire company and borough due to the property ownership issue. He said the fire company recognized the borough commissioners currently in office had nothing to do with the agreement from the 1970s.
McPherson said both parties were “bullheaded” for a period. He said Geyer sat down with both parties and put together an agreement that “works for everyone.” McPherson said the citizens of the borough would be happy with the agreement.
The fire company will need to replace a fire truck in the future with one truck at 15 years year of age and another at 30, said McPherson.The fire company has not lost a structure to fire in the last 12 to 14 years, he said.