Barnegat Officials Bond For New Town Hall And Police Department

BARNEGAT, NJ - Township Committee members recently introduced a $14.2 ordinance for a new municipal building to replace the 40-year-old facility on West Bay Avenue, according to a report in The Sandpaper.

That could mean constructing the new building closer to West Bay and tearing down the old one, Mayor Albert Bille said.

"All this is very preliminary, but we can’t keep talking about it," he said at a recent committee meeting. "We have to act now and begin the process of building the new one.”

The old building is "a disgrace," he said.

"There are several areas where the roof leaks after a bad rainstorm," Bille said. "It is severely outdated. We don’t even have enough room for keeping all our records.”

Police Lt. Keith Germain said the department is working primarily out of trailers and a section of the municipal building. The department has needed a new police station for the last 20 years, he said.

"We’re probably the only police department around that does not have indoor plumbing," Germain said. "Because of that, if we have someone in our holding cell that has to use the bathroom, officers have to escort him out of the police station to a bathroom that other employees use. Considering that some of these prisoners could be intoxicated, that is not a good situation.”

There's no construction timetable for the work, the mayor said.

A public hearing on the ordinance is scheduled for 6:30 pm. on Dec. 5.

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Photo: Patch file photo