By DON STINE
Neptune City and Avon this week took the first step toward possibly merging their borough dispatching services and, perhaps, eventually merging their police departments.Each borough passed resolutions this week seeking state money to fund a feasibility study on the matter.
Both municipalities have applied to the state Department of Community Affairs for a $20,000 grant (to be used jointly) to hire an independent firm to conduct a feasibility study on the proposed merger.
Both municipalities will use the same firm for the feasibility study, said Neptune City Mayor Thomas A. Arnone.
Arnone said the two boroughs expect to be notified if they received the grant in about 60 days and that Neptune City has formed an ad hoc committee to review the matter.
Both Arnone and Avon Borough Administrator Timothy M. Gallagher pointed out that this is a feasibility study only and that no decision to merge the departments is being made at this time.
The first phase of the study will focus on merging the two dispatching services. It has to be cost effective and be a savings to both municipalities, the Neptune City mayor said.
Arnone said if the feasibility study also shows that it would be cost effective to merge the two police departments then the two municipalities would then apply for a second grant to conduct a further feasibility study on the matter.
The independent firm could also come back and say that the proposed merger is not worth it, Arnone said.
Gallagher also acknowledged his borough passed a similar resolution seeking the grant money.
We are not moving forward with anything but the feasibility study at this time. We will look into it to see if there can be a possible increase in services while saving money at the same time, he said.
Gallagher said the borough will review the findings of the feasibility study and go from there.
There will, of course, be public input. We may just merge dispatching services, perhaps just detective units, or perhaps the whole department. We will look at what the study tells us but any proposed merger is still way down the road, he said.
Arnone said the merger would have little effect on the present police personnel in either community.
There are many restrictions on these mergers and any cuts would be done through attrition. No police officer would lose their job, benefits or pensions, he said.
Arnone said the two boroughs are being proactive because he believes a future state mandate will require merging police departments across the entire state.
Ultimately the state, for tax reasons, is going to mandate these mergers- no question about itand we owe it to our taxpayers to look into this matter now rather than later, he said.
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