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Our Cape May Police
Our Department has just activated a program
which will be of great value for all of us.
Chief Dekon Fashaw has announced that the
Cape May Police Department has linked up
with the Nixle Message Delivery Service.
Residents can now connect with our police
department using this service.
Nixle is the leader in trusted notification
services for law enforcement and government
agencies. More than 4,600 government
agencies throughout the United States use
Nixle to communicate with citizens via SMS
mobile text messaging, email, the Web, and
mobile applications. Stay instantly
informed of trusted, neighborhood-level
public safety and community information. You
choose the information you want, for the
addresses you want, all delivered at no
cost, by text message, email, and web.
The city PD will no longer use the
pre-existing CODE RED SYSTEM, please
discontinue monitoring that system for
Island Alerts.
Please use the link(s) below to sign up for
free alerts from the Cape May Police
Department for the City of Cape May, Cape
May Point and West Cape May.
https://local.nixle.com/signup/widget/g/66129
Chief Fashaw also encourages all residents
and taxpayers to sign up for
“Register Ready – New
Jersey’s Special Needs Registry for
Disasters” to ensure access and
functional needs for families, friends, and
associates by providing information to
emergency response agencies, so emergency
responders can better plan to serve them in
a disaster or other emergency.
Any resident in Cape May, West Cape May or
Cape May Point needing such assistance
should contact the CMPD Special Needs
Representative, Ms. Allie Onofrietti at
609-884-9514, who can help you sign up and
stay connected for emergencies and your
preparation for them.
And finally, CMTPA encourages all taxpayers
to be a regular visitor to the
Cape
May Police Department website for a
wide variety of information and services.
Valuable among those services are Security
Camera Registration and House Checks for
property owners who reside elsewhere.
TPA has posted the
CMPD Activity Report for
January 2022
Late in 2021, at the initiation of former
Council member Chris Bezaire, the City
Council completed a comprehensive revision
of the City’s Bond Portfolio. This
action has resulted in anticipated savings
of $1.89 Million for the taxpayers of Cape
May. For the next 25 years, the City will
see savings of $15,000-$42,000 per year by
refunding some of our older FHA/USDA debt
from years 1998, 2007, 2011 & 2014 and by
eliminating 7 years from the portfolio
repayment schedule.
Much like the mortgage refinance option
often employed by many homeowners, the city
has acted to take advantage of better
interest rate and a shorter amortization
period. City Council and the fiscal staff of
the city are commended for their prompt
actions on our behalf.
 The
decontamination and repurposing of the
former site of an 1880’s gas plant has been
going on since the early 2000’s. When
completed the Park will serve as a vital
part of our community for both residents and
visitors, and an attractive gateway to our
city. This illustration is final
vision of the park.
At a recent Council meeting, City officials
and consultants reported that the project is
still tied up in legal issues. The city is
waiting for the Cape May Housing Authority
to sign a deed notice. In addition, the
state Department of Environmental
Protection, the federal Environmental
Protection Agency, JCP&L, the Cape May City
School District and the county are all
involved in the still incomplete review and
authorization of the project.
Since 2014, a four-phase plan for the Park
has been termed a high priority of the city.
As planned, the Park is a $7-million
investment with $6.5 million of that being
funded by grant money from federal, state
and county sources. The New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
has also provided a $500,000 loan to the
City through Green Acres at 2 percent
interest for 20 years.
What has been done to date, consists of the
Phase 1 renovation of the school playground
completed in 2016, the removal of the
dugouts and fencing of the baseball field,
and the demolition of two derelict houses on
St. John St adjacent to the dog park.
There are no firm delivery dates for Phases
2, 3, or 4, with council indicating a
best-case target date of 2024.
 There
appears brighter news for the project to
repurpose the historic Franklin Street
School as a branch of the Cape May County
Library System. This project was first
championed by former Mayor Chuck Lear and
former Deputy Mayor Hendricks, and while
covid and bureaucratic procedures delayed it
for over a year, it appears back on track
and moving.
The dual nature of the project is to create
a modern library, while maintaining a strong
sense of the building’s history and its
origins as a segregated school for the
city’s Black children.
Bids will be requested by the end of
February, with responses due by the end of
March and a contract award sometime in April
of this year. The architect estimates
a 14-month construction period, with
completion in June 2023.
There are six funding sources for the
project, including $3.45 million from the NJ
Library Construction Bond Act. and federal
grant sources highlighted by a $500,000
grant from the African American Civil Rights
Grant Program, funded by the Historic
Preservation Fund, and administered by the
National Park Service,. The city and the
county are each contributing $2 million to
the effort.
The full presentation of the project can be
viewed on the City’s Website
YouTube recording.
Lower Cape May Regional School District
voters have approved a bond for $13.9
million for new HVAC equipment at the High
School and Middle School, and a roof
replacement at the Middle School. The total
cost of the project will be $15.6 million,
but the district has committed $1.7 million
in Covid relief funds to offset some costs
at the high school.
LCMRSD officials have said that the new bond
funding will not raise taxes in the
municipalities served by the regional
district. The district draws students from
Cape May, Lower Township, and West Cape May.
The school district serves approximately
1,230 students. Cape May City students
account for about 4% of enrollment and Cape
May taxpayers provide 38% of the district’s
annual budget revenue.
District officials also report that the
project was able to be tax neutral because
the district is retiring old debt before
bonding for new funds and the state is
contributing 40% of the cost in state aid.
The district must initially bond for the
full $13.9 million, however, the state will
contribute a portion of its share on a
prorated annual basis.
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