Tuesday’s 3-3 vote left Montclair Township without approval to extend a $24,950 architecture contract for work on Fire Station 3, the 1901 Harrison Avenue firehouse that has been closed since July 2023. The decision leaves the project’s next steps and the station’s intended future unsettled, according to Montclair Local.
The vote reflected a divide over the contract and what the project should lead to. Bill Harrison, Aminah Toler and Renee Baskerville supported the design funds; Susan Shin Andersen, Erik D'Amato and Rahum Williams opposed them, according to Montclair Local. Eileen Birmingham abstained. Council members differed on whether the work should lead to a reopened firehouse or leave room for another use.
Toler said Fire Station 3 should be a fire station, according to the report. Harrison described the design contract as a necessary step toward returning the building to service. Shin Andersen questioned whether approving the funds would commit the township to reopening it as a working firehouse, rather than keeping alternative uses under consideration.
A Firehouse Stalled Since 2023, With Work Already Underway
Fire Station 3 is about a mile from the department’s headquarters on Pine Street, which has six bays of emergency vehicles, according to Montclair Local. The outlet reported that much of the project work has already been completed, but the architectural contract needs to be extended so remaining work can proceed and previously appropriated funds can be dedicated specifically to Station 3.
Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Stoute, who was promoted to that rank in April 2026 after more than 20 years with the department, according to Patch, told the council the department plans to task the architecture firm with determining how to use a $200,000 state appropriation toward the project, per Montclair Local's reporting. Stoute said bid specifications will spell out exactly where that state money can be spent. That $200,000 earmark traces back to August 2025, when Assemblywoman Alixon Collazos-Gill, who represents New Jersey's 27th Legislative District, announced the funding had been secured in the Fiscal Year 2026 state budget specifically to support critical renovation repairs needed to reopen the station, according to the New Jersey Legislative Assembly Democrats.
The rehabilitation project had an estimated construction cost of $1.047 million as of July 2025, covering site work, concrete, masonry metals, carpentry, specialties and conveying systems, Montclair Local reported. With the full rehabilitation projected at roughly $1.1 million, the township’s financing estimate assumes general obligation bonds at a 4 percent borrowing rate over 15 years, using an average home assessed value of $639,600. Under that model, reopening Station 3 would cost the average homeowner about $9 annually for 15 years, according to Montclair Local. The township authorized $500,000 for Station 3 capital improvements in 2020, an earlier decision distinct from the current design-contract vote and not evidence that any balance remains, Montclair Local reported.
Budget Pressures Collide With a Historic Preservation Debate
The council’s hesitation comes amid broader budget pressures. In March 2026, Township Manager Stephen Marks directed the fire department to cut its minimum daily shift staffing from 16 to 14 on-duty members and to temporarily pull Ladder Truck 2 out of service during shift absences, according to Firehouse Magazine. That directive followed a 36.5 percent surge in employee health insurance costs and roughly $1.75 million spent on firefighter overtime the previous fiscal year, the trade publication reported. Separately, Hoodline covered Town Hall redevelopment and a homeless shelter; that report does not substantiate claims about fire-department layoffs.
Montclair also commissioned an independent operational study of the fire department in 2025, performed by consulting firm New Jersey Community Solutions LLC to evaluate staffing and facility requirements, according to reporting from The Montclair Girl. Union leadership has cited that study in public debates over shift staffing levels. The outlet also noted that as far back as May 2025, the council had floated allocating $600,000 in its proposed budget toward reopening Station 3 once initial structural repairs were finished — a figure that has since shifted as cost estimates evolved.
Fire Coverage Under Contract to Glen Ridge
Montclair’s Fire Department provides emergency fire and rescue coverage to Glen Ridge under contract.
What the Operational Review Says About Coverage
In its account of the January 2026 review, Montclair Local reported that the review’s map showed current fire station locations covering most of the coverage area within four minutes. It described Station 3 as providing very good coverage to southern Montclair, while noting considerable overlap with Fire Headquarters’ four-minute coverage area and only minor four-minute response coverage to Glen Ridge. These findings describe coverage patterns; by themselves, they do not establish whether Station 3 should reopen or prescribe a deployment change.
The union notes that the department established its full-time career operation on July 1, 1914, and that Fire Station 3 was built in 1901.
Resident Jeffrey Robert Grayson told the council that the station has long been an important source of safety for the South End community, Montclair Local reported. After the tie, Council President Renee Baskerville directed the Facilities and Infrastructure Committee — Erik D'Amato, Bill Harrison and Aminah Toler — to reconvene and revisit the proposal. The station’s future remains unresolved.
