Milltown officials are exploring ideas for a central transition place where people can go during an emergency.
Mayor Eric Steeber said neither Borough Hall nor the firehouses should be considered as potential locations.
“Borough Hall is where we conduct business and where police travel in and out, and the firehouse is where fire rescue is in and out,” he said.
Steeber said he is not talking about a place where people would stay for long periods of time, just a transition area where residents can go while they figure out where to go next — whether it is a hotel or the home of a friend or relative — during an emergency.
“Two years ago, the thought was, ‘Oh, we can go down to the American Legion hall.’ However, that was under water,” he said, referring to the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.
Borough Chief Financial Officer Denise Biancamano said the borough has more than $51,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds that were initially discussed as a means to purchase a generator for the Milltown Senior Center on Violet Terrace. She said the block grant could go toward the $180,000 cost of installing a generator at the senior center.
Biancamano said she talked to senior center personnel, who relayed that if the Monday-through-Friday operating hours were not disturbed, then the facility could be used after hours for other purposes, such as a transition place.
The Public Safety Committee will meet with the police chief and director of the Office of Emergency Management to further discuss the issue.
Contact Kathy Chang at [email protected].