WEST CAPE MAY — In a rare split vote, the Board of Commissioners set the start time of all borough meetings for 6 p.m.
“We did a little research on what other municipalities do, and we’re the only people that have a meeting at 7 p.m.,” Mayor George Dick said .
He explained that the meetings have run as late as 9:30 p.m. and some staff members arrive at the building as early as 8 a.m., making for a long day.
Commissioner Ellen McDevitt said the later start time benefitted the public.
“My feeling is that the other organizations that meet at 6 p.m. are run by volunteers and are people interested in a particular topic,” McDevitt said. “This meeting is the face of government and an opportunity for people who live here to participate in the government, and this is not conducive to that.”
She suggested a compromise of 6:30 p.m.
Deputy Mayor Susan Hoffman said a member of the Zoning Board shared similar feelings but that many members expressed support for the 6 p.m. start.
Dick and Hoffman voted in favor while McDevitt cast the one no vote.
Affordable housing
Commissioners approved two resolutions and opened two ordinances for public comment and a second reading as part of the fourth stage of the Affordable Housing Compliance.
The borough began the fourth round of the Affordable Housing Consent Order Compliance in July 2025.
Commissioners had been working with the Affordable Housing Committee to meet the deadline of March 15 to submit an adopted and endorsed Amended Housing Element and Fair Share Plan with an updated overlay zone ordinance.
The borough can receive Fourth Round Compliance Certification after the documents are submitted.
Resolution 63-26, amending the Fourth Round Housing Elements and Fair Share Plan, was approved. The second resolution, 64-26, amending the “Affirmative Marketing Plan,” was approved.
Ordinances 654-26 and 655-26 were opened for public comment and approved by the commissioners.
Ordinance 654-26 will ensure the borough meets the Fair Housing Act and the Uniform Housing Affordability Controls requirements.
The second ordinance, 655-26, will replace the existing third round overlay ordinance.
Construction projects
The Morrison Avenue project is predicted to begin at the end of March or early April. The contracts were completed in December 2025 and have been following the predicted timeline.
The original project plan used only part of its grant funds, so a new proposal was created to pave an additional 500 feet up to Third Avenue. The resolution was approved.
Resolution 65-26 to authorize the R&V proposal for the project’s improvements was approved.
Borough engineer Anthony Chadwell explained that he is working with Cape May to prepare permits and finalize the designs to begin the project’s bidding.
A resolution approving a change order for the Sanitary Sewer Myrtle Avenue Project was approved.
“That project is completed,” Chadwell said. “We decided not to do one single driveway because the bids were so high that we saved so much money that we could redo all the stormwater infrastructure underneath that road.”
Ordinances
The Extra Duty Ordinance, regarding the police department charging extra service fees, was revisited after language was edited.
The ordinance is an extension of the shared service agreement the borough recently signed with the Cape May City Police Department.
The ordinance won’t apply to anything borough-related. Dick explained that the extra fees will be charged when events like festivals or weddings require police presence.
“Last week we pulled the extra duty ordinance because the language basically forced us to act as a middleman between any potential person who wanted a special ordinance and the Cape May Police Department, which has the payroll for them,” Dick said. “We changed the language, and it looks like it’ll be OK.”
Ordinance 658-26 amended section 2.5 of the West Cape May Code for extra police duty detail and was introduced later on during the meeting.
Ordinance 657-26 authorizes roadway solicitations for the West Cape May Volunteer Fire Company, which now can collect donations on Broadway. It was determined that the fire company needs county approval to continue collecting monetary donations because they occur on a county road.
By JULIA DIGERONIMO/For the Star and Wave