People are angry about the state of Maplewood’s budget, and look for things to blame. The Springfield Ave. police station is a common target. When union members stormed the Feb. 17 Township Committee meeting to protest layoffs, union members repeatedly characterized the police station as a costly mistake. This thread on Maplewood Online almost immediately points to the station as an underlying cause for the recently announced layoffs of fire and police workers.

The station, the first LEED certified civic building in the state of New Jersey, was a touchstone for sustainable construction; architecture firms lead tours of the building. The  42,000 square-foot building is outfitted with solar panels and other renewable energy features.

Deputy Mayor Fred Profeta was mayor during the construction, and the building was largely his brainchild, reflecting his interest in environmental causes. Blaming the station for the township’s current fiscal crisis, he said, is unfair.

“Every year the new police station saves $60,000 because of energy,” Profeta said. "The cost was $600,000 to put it in …Every year we save more in energy than we pay in debt service.”

The police station cost more than city officials expected. But, Profeta said, the thought and cost put into the sustainable aspects of the building still make sense.

“The green features are money makers,” Profeta said.

He’s looking ahead to sustainable projects that will save the township money.  The municipal building and libraries, he said, use a “huge amount of energy” and he believes that retrofitting them with sustainable materials would save money.

At the last Township Committee meeting, Profeta introduced a successful resolution to get the town to take part in the Sustainable Jersey Municipal Certification Program. The project offers municipalities training and incentives for environmental efforts. Profeta pointed to that and other initiatives funded by grant money from the state and federal government that could be cost-neutral or profitable for Maplewood.

“I think we should be pushing for alternative energy where it makes economic sense,” Profeta said.