The Maplewood Township Committee approved at its Aug. 6 meeting a resolution that supports creating a joint meeting to merge the Maplewood and South Orange fire departments, allowing the towns to take another step forward in combining the two departments. The resolution passed unanimously; Deputy Mayor Frank McGehee was absent. The South Orange Board of Trustees also unanimously passed a similar resolution at its Aug. 12 meeting. At the Maplewood meeting, firefighters told committee members they have concerns about the staffing levels of the combined department.
“I’m not opposed to the idea of the merger,” MFD Chief Michael Dingelstedt said at the meeting, mentioning the independent report the towns received about the merger two years ago. “It’s my recommendation that many of the proposals in the Manitou report aim to achieve the goal of operational efficiency, not safety.”