WILDWOOD – The Board of Commissioners has put off a vote on establishing a shared services agreement with Cape May County for 911 dispatch services.
A member of the public who said he was a county employee spoke at the commissioners’ Dec. 30 meeting in opposition to the proposed agreement, saying if the city followed through the matter would come back to bite them.
He said he didn’t know why, all of a sudden, the board was considering the move. However, the commissioners informed him the resolution was not going to be passed and would require more discussion.
“It’s being tabled,” Mayor Ernie Troiano said. “There will be a lot more discussion on this.”
According to Commissioner Steve Mikulski, the city’s director of public safety, the resolution was put on the agenda to get it before the commissioners, to get it passed, and to get it to the county to start the process and let the county know that Wildwood is definitely interested joining its 911 dispatch system.
However, Mikulski said, the board of commissioners really needed to look at what was being proposed.
“This morning the resolution came by right after the holiday, and we hadn’t first had the opportunity to look at it,” he said.
Mikulski said he was asking questions of City Clerk Lisa Brown as he came up to the dais. He said she asked if he would like to table the resolution, and ultimately it was.
He said much of the concern revolves around personnel issues. The city has a staff of eight 911 dispatchers, he said, and wants to make a decision that considers what is right for the city, residents and the employees.
Asked if the county would be able to absorb Wildwood’s dispatchers, Mikulski said he was not sure how it works with the county. Christopher Leusner, county Office of Emergency Management coordinator, whose department oversees the dispatch operation, was not immediately available for comment regarding the county’s hiring of additional dispatchers.
The same concerns were raised in August when North Wildwood elected to join county 911 dispatch. Three full-time dispatchers would ultimately be affected by the decision, which is to take effect on Feb. 1, with the agreement running for five years. Dennis Township is expected to go online with county 911 dispatch in October.
Mikulski said consideration of joining county dispatch comes after discussion of an islandwide dispatch operation to cover North Wildwood, Wildwood, West Wildwood and Wildwood Crest. He said there was a high level of interest, and that Wildwood Crest even considered leaving county dispatch to join the other island communities.
Wildwood Crest Mayor Don Cabrera denied that claim, saying the Crest’s governing body as a whole never supported the idea.
Mikulski said there was a meeting held before former Wildwood Police Chief Robert Regalbuto retired in 2023, and it seemed the interest level was high. Then, Mikulski said, North Wildwood opted to go with county dispatch.
“That blew the plan out of the water,” he said.
Mikulski said the time has come for a change because Wildwood’s 911 dispatch equipment is outdated, and it would cost more than $1.5 million to purchase new equipment. Leusner has described the county’s equipment as state-of-the-art.
“We had no choice but to look at other options,” Mikulski said.
He said the city just received numbers from the county on what it would cost Wildwood. He did not have the numbers in front of him, and city Business Administrator Ed Grant was not immediately available.
Mikulski said he does have faith in Leusner, believes he is fair, and believes he knows what he is talking about. The bottom line, he said, is striking a deal that is fair for everyone involved.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
