Towns join regional shared services study

Afeasibility study of sharing emergency services that originally involved Fort Monmouth's three host towns will now include two additional municipalities: Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach.

The two municipalities want to be part of a study exploring the possibility of a regional shared services agreement to minimize the impact on the towns of the closure of Fort Monmouth in 2011.

Sea Bright Mayor Maria Fernandes said she is excited about the prospect of sharing services and joining the feasibility study, which would be at no additional cost to the borough as the study is federally funded.

"The buildings there [in Fort Monmouth] are very technologically advanced so of course that's always a big plus for a town especially like Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach. We have limited resources so if we could jump on the bandwagon and be part of this is just a great thing," said Fernandes.

She added, "What I envision is that perhaps the main hub of the emergency services might be in Fort Monmouth and then have local services in town."

The Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Planning Authority (FMERPA) formed an Emergency Services Advisory Committee (ESAC) to oversee the study.

"The objective here is to create a model that might be used to bring in other municipalities into the Fort Monmouth regional concept if that is the way we elect to go," said Eatontown Mayor and Chairman of FMERPA's ESAC Gerald Tarantolo last week.

The three host towns that all have land within the boundaries of the fort are Eatontown, Oceanport and Tinton Falls.

Of the shared services study, Tarantolo said that there is still a great deal of uncertainty and unanswered questions.

Sharing the cost of some services is being encouraged by state officials. Gov. Jon Corzine previously suggested that smaller towns that lost a portion of state aid this year due to budget cuts share and consolidate services like those emergency services the ESAC is looking into regionalizing.

Fernandes said in order to join the study, the two boroughs had to provide information on the emergency services departments such as police, fire, first aid and the court by June 6.

"Sea Bright, of course, is the one [town] that is the furthest north from the rest of the group, and again I think maybe they are just trying to do a better spreading out of a partnership [to share services], said Fernandes.

According to Tarantolo, the study will examine the possible cost benefits of a shared services agreement.

"We are looking at cost savings," said Tarantolo, adding, "Essentially that is the whole emphasis of emergency services; sharing. Hopefully we can minimize the cost of that service without compromising safety."

Once the fort closes in 2011, the mutual aid provided by the fort's emergency responders would no longer be available. Tarantolo has said that the estimated cost to the towns surrounding Fort Monmouth to replace the mutual aid services and equipment provided by the fort could be as high as $10 million.

"We are looking at what is in place in each of the towns that provide emergency services - namely police, fire, first aid and municipal court," Tarantolo said last week.

He added, "The process we are at is collecting data and seeing if this can work for the Fort Monmouth region and if it can be expanded to surrounding towns."

The advisory committee has retained Cranford-based Jersey Professional Management to perform that study.

"One of the components of the contract is to look at the surrounding towns to see if they would be candidates in possibly going into an arrangement of shared services as it relates to the Fort Monmouth region," Tarantolo said.

The contract to conduct the study was officially awarded on May 1 and is effective from that date until July 17, after the final feasibility report is submitted, FMERPA project manager Diane Canterbury said previously.

Monmouth Beach Mayor Susan Howard said that the borough is waiting to see the results of the study before agreeing to share services with the host towns.

"Monmouth Beach is always looking to share services and reduce costs," Howard said. "We provided the ESAC with the information they needed in order to conduct the study.

"We will make our decision when the results are available," Howard said.

The next FMERPA ESAC meeting is scheduled to take place at 3 p.m. on June 12 in Eatontown and representatives from Monmouth Beach and Sea Bright, as well as from the other three host towns, will be in attendance.

- Staff writer Daniel Howley contributed to this story