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City, Teaneck strike accord
(by Howard Prosnitz - January 02, 2008)
The Township of Teaneck has taken several steps toward developing shared services with neighboring municipalities, and on Dec. 17 township officials met with met with Bergen County Administrator Bob Laux to discuss extending the initiative to the county.
Teaneck pays more than $9 million annually to the county, explained Teaneck Mayor Elie Y. Katz.
“We are the second largest municipality in the county, and it seems natural that there should be more of a relationship built,” said Katz said, who was joined at the meeting with Councilman Elnatan Rudolph and Township Manager Helene Fall.
Some areas for potential shared services with the county include animal control and fire department equipment, Katz said.
For its part, the township could provide some maintenance for county property located in Teaneck including Overpeck Park and the golf course. County emergency equipment could also be stored in Teaneck firehouses, Katz said.
Township officials have also met with their counterparts in Bergenfield and Leonia to discuss shared services and have entered into agreements with Hackensack and Englewood.
Hackensack’s municipal auto body shop will now repair the township’s municipal vehicles, and the city’s new fire vehicle mechanic will work on Teaneck fire trucks.
“Most fire departments, including our own, had to send their fire equipment out for work because this is a very specialized area,” said Hackensack City Manager Stephen Lo Iocono.
The agreement between the two municipalities helps satisfy state mandates for shared services, he said.
Although no official guidelines have been forthcoming from the state, Lo Iocono said that municipalities that make efforts toward sharing services would be in a more favorable position to receive grants and other forms of state aid.
The Teaneck and Englewood fire departments are currently sharing a $32,000 grant for a feasibility study to share dispatchers for both departments.
Teaneck Fire Chief Robert Montgomery said that each of the two departments has only one dispatcher on duty at a time.
“One person to monitor several radio frequencies and answer the phones and make requests for numerous things during an emergency is not enough,” said Montgomery. “We need two people working together during an emergency. It is less an economic concern than a safety one.”
Teaneck receives 6,000-7,000 fire calls a year and Englewood, approximately 4,000, Montgomery said.
Hackensack, which has three dispatchers at all times, is not participating in the study, he said.
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