MILLTOWN — There will be no public question regarding the proposed firehouse on this November’s election ballot.
And that comes as a disappointment to some residents who came to the July 25 Borough Council meeting to express their desire for a nonbinding referendum on the long-discussed new firehouse.
“The question is, do we build a new firehouse or keep the existing two buildings,” resident Ralph Miller said.
Mayor Gloria Bradford and council members said the problem with the question posed by Miller is that it is “too vague.”
Councilman Robert Owens said that in order to have a public question, there would have to be specifications such as recommendations from the architect and a description of the building functions.
Miller said one thing he does know is that he does not want to see the borough spend $4.2 million on a new firehouse.
The council has been divided over whether to hold a public question this November on the funding of the firehouse.
InApril, Councilman Richard Ryan motioned to put a public question on the ballot, but the council voted 4-2 against the idea, with Ryan and fellow Democrat George Murray in support, and Republicans Owens, Lawrence Citro, Ronald Dixon and Gary Holsten in dissent.
In May, the council voted in favor of forming a committee to come up with a survey of questions that could be mailed to residents. The questions would gauge residents’ opinions on issues related to the new firehouse.
Owens, who motioned to form the committee, said at the July 25 council meeting that the survey has not been completed.
Discussions of a new firehouse came to the forefront last year when then-Fire Chief Jules Dekovics presented a preliminary plan for the building, which was estimated to cost $4.35 million. That plan would consolidate Milltown’s two firehouses, both of which are aging structures. The South Main Street station was built in 1889; the building on Cottage Avenue was constructed in 1925. Officials in the past said the structures do not have sufficient space and are not up to current codes.
BoroughAttorney Thomas Buck said he has reviewed the bid specifications for the proposed firehouse and told the council that everything looks good for further discussion. He said the bid specifications do not include drawings of the site plan.
Some residents expressed concerns over the two historical homes that are on the site of the South Main Street firehouse. Members of the historical committee said they have invested a lot of money and time into those homes over the years.
Owens had said the survey would encompass what residents want to see done with the two historical buildings and whether they support moving them off the property.
Aresident asked Brian Harto, who is the current fire chief and borough historian, to step down from his position as historian because he believed there was a conflict of interest in regard to the firehouse issue. Both positions are unpaid volunteer roles.
Harto, who was at the meeting, said he did not believe there was any conflict of interest.
“The last thing I want to see is [the tearing down] of those two [historical] buildings,” he said.
Bradford, who appointed Harto to the position of historian, said she found it disturbing that someone considered it a conflict of interest. She said Harto, as historian, was not charged with conducting evaluations of the two historical buildings.
She asked the council and residents to come together.
“Can’t we all get along? … We should be a community, building and renovating a firehouse,” she said