Study calls for Eatontown to absorb O'port P.D.
Mayor: Police merger could be cost-saving, but hard to implement
BY DANIEL HOWLEY & JENNA O'DONNELL Staff Writers
A joint police department shared by Oceanport and Eatontown, with Eatontown as the lead agency, is one of the recommendations made in a recent study on sharing emergency services at and around Fort Monmouth following the fort's closure.

"When you are sharing services, obviously you are hoping that there is a cost savings involved," Eatontown Mayor Gerald Tarantolo said.

"We probably could merge police forces, that's a possibility, but it's an easy thing to say and may not be easy to implement.

"So, we would have to look at the details of how that might occur," Tarantolo said, adding, "You are also dealing with a major issue when you are dealing with another town's [issues]."

Jersey Professional Management (JPM), retained by the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Planning Authority (FMERPA) in May to conduct the study, turned in a final report that was read at the authority's July 16 regular meeting.

The study looked at sharing municipal court, police, office of emergency management, fire and first aid services between the 1,126- acre fort's three host communities of Oceanport, Tinton Falls and Eatontown. The municipalities of Monmouth Beach, Shrewsbury Township, Shrewsbury Borough, Sea Bright and West Long Branch were later added to the study.

Shared services are being explored in an attempt to minimize the impact on the three host towns following the closure of Fort Monmouth by 2011. Once the fort closes, the mutual aid provided by the fort's emergency responders will no longer be available.

The study recommends that Eatontown and Oceanport effectively create a joint police department, with Eatontown serving as the lead agency, providing police services to Oceanport through an interlocal shared services agreement.

The consultants suggest in the report that a merger of the two departments should be considered immediately, and the benefits of merger could be realized much earlier without consideration of the acquisition of the Fort Monmouth land area. If approved this calendar year, the merging of the two departments could be accomplished by July 2009, consultants said.

Additionally, the report recommends attrition through retirement, in which no layoffs would be required. In the two departments, nine employees are currently eligible for retirement.

Estimated annual savings, divided into police personnel, civilian personnel and other expenses, are predicted at an immediate savings of $188,070 and a 2011 post attrition savings of $562,323, according to the study.

The study also recommends that Tinton Falls should continue to operate its police department, effectively creating an east west split at Hope Road, with Tinton Falls assuming the police response for the westerly Charles Wood section of Fort Monmouth, and Eatontown assuming the response for the more easterly portion of the property now known as Fort Monmouth.

The report further recommends the establishment of a joint court operation that would include the host municipalities of Eatontown and Oceanport, as well as neighboring Shrewsbury Township.

Small caseloads and facilities that the study termed as "inadequate" were reasons for a suggested joint court arrangement between the towns, according to the study.

Contingent upon Eatontown's acquisition of Fort Monmouth's Mallette Hall as a joint court facility, the study states that the establishment of a regional municipal court and a regional police force would be a benefit to the neighboring municipalities.

Recommendations concerning the fire departments and first aid and ambulance services were to implement mutual aid in all communities and establish a consortium of first aid squads among the communities.

The existing fire service stations in the Charles Wood section and the Main Post sections of Fort Monmouth should be conveyed to the Tinton Falls Fire District No. 1 and the Oceanport Fire Department respectively, the study states.

JPM noted in their conclusion that the number of municipalities that could actually participate in the new shared services extends beyond the three host municipalities and the five neighboring municipalities.

"The feasibility study and the final report create a solid foundation for the municipalities in the Fort Monmouth Region to begin to create and develop new shared services agreements for emergency services," the report states. "This next step would include the development of an implementation plan, which could be paid for by a New Jersey SHARE Grant."

According to the results of the study, Eatontown would be most affected by changes to its police department and municipal court services.

"Eatontown and Oceanport should create a joint police department, with Eatontown serving as the lead agency, providing police services to Oceanport through a contract arrangement," the report reads.

"The Eatontown Police Department's personnel strength and geographic area are able to justify their continued operation independent of any other police department."

It continues, "The borough's geographic location makes it a potential policing partner with one or more of the neighboring municipalities with smaller police departments," the report reads. Their headquarters is meeting their present needs and could potentially absorb an expanded operation to a limited degree," the report further states. The study goes on to explain that there would be no officers or court personnel laid off due to the services agreement, but rather unneeded positions would simply be eliminated through attrition.

Oceanport officials were firmly against the recommendations concerning the police department, which they received shortly before the July 17 Borough Council meeting.

The general consensus as expressed by Mayor Michael Mahon was "Over my dead body."

"There is a lot to learn from this study when it comes to shared services, and I am amenable to looking at anything that can save the taxpayers money, but the dissolution of the Oceanport P.D. is not open for discussion," Mahon said Sunday. "I love our community and this will never happen under my watch."

The idea of merging the Eatontown Police Department with the Oceanport Police Department could be a "good thing" for the borough, but could prove difficult to accomplish, according to Tarantolo, who as of Monday was only able to read the executive summary of the report and had not been able to read the full report in detail yet.

Despite the results of the report, Tarantolo explained that the ESAC must also take into account how the citizens and police departments would feel about the move.

"There is a home rule aspect of it," Tarantolo said. "I'm sure that the residents and maybe even the police departments may balk at such a move and that's another aspect that will have to be dealt with.

"But obviously, it appears that by the data collected by the consultants, that this is something that should be reviewed in more detail," Tarantolo said.

He added that he also believes that combining Eatontown and Oceanport's municipal courts could benefit the towns.

According to the report, Eatontown, which currently provides courtroom facilities for Shrewsbury Township, would also be capable of taking on Oceanport's municipal court needs.

Oceanport's current court facilities are not cost effective, do not operate during normal business hours and do not meet the guidelines of the Administrative Office of the Courts, the report states.

"There should be established a joint court operation that would include the host municipalities of the borough of Eatontown and the borough of Oceanport, as well as the neighboring municipality of the township of Shrewsbury," the report states.

Should the ESAC choose to move forward with the recommendations, Eatontown would be able to utilize its current courtroom facilities until its plan to expand them is completed.

"There is a plan to eventually utilize our council chambers as our courtroom and meeting room," Tarantolo said. "Part of that has already been put into the works. We have complied with some of the state's requirements to convert the council meeting room into a courtroom by looking at lighting and other criteria."

Should the borough's plans to acquire Fort Monmouth's Life Cycle Management Building as its new borough hall when the fort closes in 2011 be realized, the borough would have little difficulty supporting other municipalities' police and court functions, Tarantolo explained.

"What we are really looking at is Fort Monmouth," Tarantolo said. "The building has 50,000 square feet of office space and could be converted into a regional court location.

"Right now in Eatontown we have court on Thursday, and that goes from 9 a.m. to 1-1:20 p.m.

"If we carried that concept to the center as we are proposing, we could essentially serve 10 municipalities at that location," Tarantolo said.

He continued, "Fort Monmouth is closing in 2011, just about three years from now. We have time to explore how we might transition into an agreement like this over the next several years.

"So we do have time to look at a plan that might be implemented eventually that will result in shared services savings to our taxpayers and becoming more efficient in the way we operate," Tarantolo said.