VILLAS – Lower Township’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) Coordinator Ed Donohue updated the township council, Nov. 21, about OEM activities since January, including an active shooter incident at the high school that turned out to be a hoax.
Donohue, a former Lower Township police chief, referred to the incident as the major event of the year, saying there was a report of a possible active shooter at Lower Cape May Regional High School on Oct. 14. He said the call from someone with a foreign accent came into the Wildwood dispatch center – not the county dispatch center – saying he was an active shooter at the high school. The report turned out to be one of a number of hoax calls that came in at different schools across New Jersey, Donohue said.
“I’ve heard nothing but good reports from that about our police response. Our officers were there within minutes and cleared the school,” he said.
Donohue said that the Cape May County Regional SWAT, which came at the request of Lower Township Police Chief Kevin Lewis and LCMR Superintendent Joe Castellucci, also responded very quickly. Donohue said there was an after-action review of the hoax incident, saying he would not discuss publicly what was decided, but said there can always be improvements.
Donohue told Lower Township Council the Code Blue Warming Center for those experiencing homelessness had once again opened in Lower Township. He said the highest concentration of the homeless population is in Rio Grande area, and the township agreed to share the warming center duties with Middle Township, with each taking responsibility for the warming center one month at a time. Lower Township is taking November this year, and January and March 2023. Donohue said the warming center, located at the Seashore Community Church of the Nazarene had been open the last three nights.
“Pastor Tim West does a good job down there with his crew,” Donohue said.
Donohue said the township gets reimbursed for the cost of the warming center and the township then reimburses the church. He said the warming center housed nine clients the night before, and it seemed that the area was going to get a break from the weather for the next week. Warming centers operate when the temperature is below 32 degrees. Cape May County Fare Free Transportation picks up people wanting to get to the warming center, and then brings them back to Rio Grande.
Donohue said major events included the Jan. 28 snowstorm from Winter Storm Kenan, which dropped over 12 inches of snow in the township and brought high winds. Donohue, along with Lower Township Mayor Frank Sippel declared a state of emergency from Saturday, Jan. 28 through Monday, Jan. 31. Donohue said there was a lot of drifting and school was closed that Monday.
“Declaring a state emergency allows the police department to restrict traffic and also allows our road department to go out, and to get private vendors to plow, which can be covered through FEMA,” he said.
Donohue said his deputy coordinator, Gary Douglas, applied for reimbursement through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
He said his office also had two state plows come down and help clear the roads.
Donohue said the township has two emergency shelter locations – the Lower Township Recreation Center and the Milman Center – which might be used in the event of power loss. He said there have been no hurricane evacuations so far in 2022. Primarily, the OEM has been working to help coordinate events in the township, such as the Escape the Cape triathlon, which begins with over 1,000 athletes jumping off a ferry into Delaware Bay in Lower Township. There is also coordination for sporting events and parades in the township. Sippel said he would like to have a meeting with Donohue and Township Manager Mike Laffey to discuss plans for this winter. Thoughts? Questions? Email csouth@cmcherald.com |
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