Grant could help towns acquire police vehicle

PLUMSTED - The Township Committee has approved the filing of a grant application to the state Department of Community Affairs to participate in the Sharing Available Resources Efficiently (SHARE) program.

According to Mayor Ron Dancer, phase one of the SHARE grant program would provide funding to conduct a feasibility study for the Plumsted Police Department to enter into a shared service agreement with neighboring police departments to purchase (with state grant funds) and share a motorized police vehicle for patrol and enforcement purposes on preserved woodlands.

With Plumsted, Jackson and Manchester having thousands of contiguous acres of preserved woodlands, Dancer said there is a need for law enforcement officers to access trails in the woods that lead to secluded sites of illegal activities, such as drinking and drugs, unauthorized ATVs and dirt bikes, as well as abandoned burning camp fires that threaten the area's natural resources.

Rather than the taxpayers of each municipality paying for a vehicle capable of accessing trails in the preserved woodlands, the state SHARE grant program provides the financial incentives to share resources, Dancer said.

In this case, phase one of the grant provides the funding for the feasibility study and phase two, known as the "implementation" grant, provides the state funding to purchase one vehicle to be shared by two or three police departments. Servicing and maintenance costs of the police vehicle would also be shared on a pro-rata basis for more tax savings, he said.

In other news, Dancer said Plumsted's Main Street Program has been selected as one of only eight towns in the state to participate in a Downtown Business Recruitment Program provided by Main Street New Jersey. The program provides on-site business recruitment assistance by the JGSC Professional Group, a nationally recognized specialist in downtown revitalization. The value of this professional service, which is at no cost to Plumsted, exceeds $23,000.

The Township Committee will be establishing and appointing members to a township-wide Business Recruitment and Retention Committee to work closely with the downtown business recruitment program to coordinate the efforts of business attraction to minimize the risk of having one business succeed at the expense of another.

Dancer said communication and sharing of information to attract new businesses to vacant commercially zoned properties outside of the downtown on the perimeter of the township will enhance the likelihood of more businesses succeeding.

The next regularly scheduled public meeting of the Township Committee will be at 8 p.m. July 18.