MONROE: Release of fire district study results to be delayed

By David Kilby, Staff Writer
   MONROE — The results of the fire district redistricting report, which was scheduled to be released to the public at the end of April, now will be released at the May 25 Township Council meeting.
   The main reason the study is being done is to achieve more equity between the tax rate of the three fire districts in the township. The tax rate for District 1 is 11 cents per $100 of assessed value or $186 per year for the average property owner. District 2 has a tax rate of 19 cents or $322 per year, and the tax rate for District 3 is 29 cents or $491 per year.
   At the May 25 meeting, a public presentation will be given. Afterward, the results of the study, conducted by Les Adams of Public Safety Solution Inc., will be available, said Wayne Hamilton, business administrator.
   ”We’re not going to be rushing forward with this,” Mr. Hamilton said. “It’s going to be a very methodical approach. Clearly, we don’t want to make a misstep in fire protection.”
   Mr. Hamilton and Gerald Tamburro, council president, said the township is “still working on modifications” in the study with Public Safety Solutions Inc., which is based in Chester, Maryland.
   Once the report is released, an advisory committee will be appointed to look at the various options suggested, Mr. Hamilton explained.
   The advisory committee will consist of volunteers, commissioners and career personnel from the fire departments.
   The study itself did not involve any input from the fire departments.
   ”This is a report where the township has to look at various things in the (fire) districts,” Mr. Tamburro said. “But at the same time, each (fire) department is independent of itself. We don’t want to do something unilaterally without input from districts.”
   Mr. Hamilton said that about five or six years ago, the township conducted a similar study on its own.
   ”The township has tried to do what we asked the consultant (Public Safety Solutions Inc.) to do,” he said.
   Nothing came of the study the township conducted on its own, but the consultant, on the other hand, is “fully knowledgeable”, Mr. Hamilton said.
   He said Public Safety Solutions Inc. has completed about 35 reports similar to Monroe’s needs.
   One of those reports resulted in the consolidation of the Union City, Weehawken, North Bergen, Guttenberg and West New York fire districts, forming the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue Department, the third largest fire and rescue department in New Jersey.
   Consolidation is also one of the goals in the Monroe Township fire district study.