September
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Newsletter September 2020:
On this coming November 3, the
taxpayers of Cape May face an
uncomfortable dilemma. Voters will
be asked to consider not one but two
Bond Referenda for the construction
of Public Safety facilities. Since
the goal of the TPA is transparency
in our government, we offer the
following to our voters as they
consider their options and urge them
to choose wisely.
Background
In August 2017 City Council created
the Public Safety Building
Advisory Committee to study
the feasibility and options for the
building a Public Safety facility.
The 12-member committee consisted of
a former mayor, five members of the
city fire service, the Chief of
Police, a city finance employee,
three citizens and a councilmember.
The Committee's task was to assist
and advise the City Manager and City
Council in selecting a location,
estimating comprehensive needs,
costs, and funding options,
exploring alternative funding
strategies and potential funding
resources, and to propose a planning
process.
On October 3, and again on November
21, 2017 the committee reported its
recommendation to City Council that
a multistory Public Safety Building
(PSB) be built at the corner of
Washington and Franklin Sts. Their
total estimated cost for this plan
at that time was $11,800,000. The
design, detailed cost, funding and
logistical issues such as parking,
impact on existing museums and
traffic congestion were unknown at
that point. A Planning Consultant
was hired to conduct a Feasibility
Analysis of the project. By then,
Council had also spent $7500 for a
prior architectural study that had
been commissioned by the Volunteer
Fire Company.
The Committee reported that, while
it was not the responsibility of the
committee to evaluate other
situations, i.e. parking, and other
future construction or redevelopment
projects, extreme thought should be
given to the entire project. A Town
Hall Meeting on 12/9/17 provided no
details.
A review of the minutes of the
committee meetings for 2018 posted
on the city website reflect a
singular focus on the location and
general concept on the Public Safety
Building. By March 2018, City
Council had spent $300,000 on soft
costs such as more planning, site
surveys, etc. The committee then
issued a 14-month plan to design and
build the facility with completion
by December 2020. Actual cost
estimates for the building or its
operation were not provided, nor
were any conceptual design or site
impact analysis. A Town Hall Meeting
on 4/11/18 provided no details.
In July 2018, the committee
estimated that the Overall Budget
would be $10 million and would
include Building/Demolition, a
current estimate construction cost
is $250/300 sq. ft., Soft Costs,
Construction Manager and
Architecture Services.
In September 2018, the committee
created a subcommittee to draft a
Request for Proposal for Proposal
(RFP) for an architect, and then
created a Selection committee to
interview and selects a candidate.
By November 30, 2018, the committee
had selected an architect and
recommended same to City Council.
During the first six months of 2019,
the work of the Architect included
conceptual development, design
specifications and detailed cost
analysis. A Town Hall Meeting on
5/1/19 provided no details.
By August 2019, the architect
presented three options ranging in
total cost from $22.7 million to
$20.6 Million. In September 2019,
the cost estimates had been reduced
to $17.7 million to $16.3 million.
Square Footage cost ranged for $600
to $670. A Town Hall Meeting on
10/30/19 provided no details.
For the remainder of 2019 and the
early part of 2020, City Council
considered the passage of a bonding
referendum to secure the funding for
the construction of the proposed
Public Safety Building. Since
bonding referenda would require a
4-1 vote by the five-member Council,
compromise became unlikely.
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Positions hardened around
the need for a new facility
on one hand, and a number of
concerns unresolved in the
three-year planning process
on the other.
To date City Council has not
approved the location, the
cost or the design of a
Public Safety Building.
However, in February they
did introduce a $15 million
bond ordinance and a down
payment appropriation of
$500,000. Neither measure
passed.
Following the failure of the
Council to reach a
compromise, in March 2020
Council hosted a Town Hall
Meeting to present and
explain the Advisory
Committee's proposed Public
Safety Building. The cost of
the construction was then
projected to be $15,000,000
with an estimated square
footage cost of $400.
An alternative proposal was
also presented by two
Council members in which a
$5,000,000 Firehouse would
be constructed, and, at a
later point, a new Police
Station would be constructed
at a separate location.
In July 2020, a group of
citizens secured a petition
to bond $15,000,000 in
support of the Advisory
Committee proposal. Shortly
thereafter a second group of
citizens secured a petition
to bond $5,000,000 for the
construction of a new Fire
House.
On
September 3 by a vote of
3-2., the wording, options
and restrictions of the
Question were adopted by the
City Council.
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This then is the uncomfortable
dilemma facing the voters of Cape
May on November 3:
Local Question No 1 offers
only a Hobson's Choice - having to
pick one of three equally troubling
alternatives:
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A much-needed state of the art
public safety facility whose design
and full true cost have yet to be
determined while concerns about
parking, traffic congestion in the
area of Franklin St and impact on
the historic nature of the location
remain unresolved.
A much-needed state of the art
firehouse whose design and full true
cost have yet to be determined. The
Police Department would continue to
operate in their existing facilities
in Cape May and West Cape May until
such time as City Council determines
the location, design, cost, and
funding of a new Police Building.
This option would reject both
bonding proposals for a variety of
voter reasons, related to unknown
costs, design and location.
Rejection of both options requires
City Council to reach a consensus as
quickly as possible on the design,
location, cost and funding of modern
facilities for each of these
essential public services. Returning
the process to "Square One" forces
our Police and Fire personnel to
continue functioning in clearly
inferior conditions, until such time
as the City Council can reach
consensus.
Additional Considerations
and Consequences |
Please note very
carefully that neither Ordinance 392
($15mil) nor Ordinance 402 ($5 mil)
builds a facility. They simply
commit the City to borrow money to
fund a building.
- The final design, full and
complete cost and eventual
location of any facility are yet
to be determined since City
Council has been unable approve
any building proposal.
- To date City Council has
expended in excess of $400,000
for planning purposes, including
fees for the city engineer and
the city solicitor.
- While no firm figure is
possible at this time, square
footage costs have ranged from
$250/sf to $670/sf during the
past three years for the PSB.
No estimate is available for the
stand-alone firehouse.
- Both Proposed Bond
Ordinances (392 & 402) state:
"........ bonds or notes of the
City to finance part of the cost
thereof." Other costs and
additional funding sources are
unknown at this time.
- There is no serious question
that the facilities Cape May
provides for its Police and Fire
Services are a disgrace. Lack of
any serious remediation and
repair over the last three years
have made them worse.
- In Ordinance 402 ($5mil) the
Fire Museum remains in its
present location. In Ordinance
392 ($15mil) the present Fire
Museum is demolished, and, since
the final design of the proposed
building is not known at this
time, the Fire Museum may or may
not be relocated to new PSB.
- The Franklin St district
will see a significant increase
in usage in the coming years.
This impact will be due to the
renovation and opening of the
County Library in the Franklin
St. School building, the opening
of the Harriet Tubman Museum,
the construction of Lafayette
St. Park and the apparent City
plan to acquire the vacant
church and land on Franklin St
for a use unknown at this time.
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We need to hear your thoughts, comments,
suggestions, complaints and concerns as we
seek to evaluate the decisions affecting the
interests of Cape May's Taxpayers.
Please reach out to us at:
2020CMTPA@gmail.com
Hope to hear from you soon!
PO Box 46
Cape May, NJ 08204
WWW.CAPEMAYTAXPAYERS.COM |
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