Commission Receives Three Bids For Study, Discusses Proposed Police Merger

The Fanwood-Scotch Plains Consolidation Study Commission opened three bids for undertaking a merger study at Wednesday night's meeting.

The commission is a volunteer body charged with analyzing the potential merits of a consolidation between the two communities and has been meeting for several months. 

Marc Pfeiffer, the group's fiscal agent, read the three bids received, which were as follows:

- The Government Strategy Group from New Providence proposed a cost of $115,000.

- The Center for Government Research working with GovWorks Consulting (a group involved in the Princeton merger) proposed a cost of $85,000.

- Jersey Professional Management (the group that previously prepared a shared service study for both towns) proposed a cost of $17,450.

The committee that prepared the request for proposals will now review the bids and come back to the group with a recommendation. 

The commission also discussed the recent joint police merger meeting that was held. 

Fanwood Councilman Jack Molenaar noted that several residents said they preferred the status quo at that meeting, saying they would pay more in taxes to have the departments remain separate. Molenaar said Fanwood plans to hold more meetings to better educate the public about the proposed merger and what the costs of not merging departments would be.

Commissioner Sarah Dreikorn wondered what the reaction to the police merger bodes for the idea of merging the towns.

"Being realistic, if the councils don’t even agree to the joint meeting, if they can’t even agree and if that suggests the political willpower is not there –what on earth chance do we have, if we did decide that the merger of the towns was the best based on the results? If they weren’t for merging the police departments, how would we possibly merge towns?"

If the commission decides they like the results of study and would like to move forward, there would be meetings in Fanwood and Scotch Plains to discuss the merits of the study and then a special election would be held. If a majority of residents vote for merging, the towns must merge. 

The police department merger being discussed by the councils, however, will only move forward when both councils agree.

The commission discussed when it would be best to have a more publicly attended meeting about the work they've been doing and if it would be best to engage the community sooner. 

Chairman Don Parisi said in previous discussions they felt it would be best to wait until the commission has something more to present and is further along in the process.

The commission's next meeting will take place on Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. at the Board of Education building.