Woodbridge Restarts Keasbey Fire District Dissolution Process After Meeting Notice Error
The township is redoing two months of work on the ordinance to dissolve Keasbey Fire District Number Four, after determining that two recent special meetings did not meet state notice requirements.
The Keasbey Fire District Number Four firehouse in Woodbridge Township. The township is moving to dissolve the district and shift its coverage to Fords Fire District Number Seven. (The Central Jerseyan)
Editor’s note: The Central Jerseyan is free to read and supported by advertising. If you value this kind of local reporting and want to help sustain it, you can become a citizen supporter on Patreon. Your contribution helps fund continued coverage of local government, schools, and community issues.
Chris Howell | July 27, 2026
Woodbridge Township is starting over on its plan to shut down Keasbey Fire District Number Four and hand its coverage area to Fords Fire District Number Seven. The council will meet Tuesday, July 28, to undo everything it did at two earlier meetings on the subject and begin the process again from scratch.
According to township officials, the special meeting notices for the June 30 and July 14 meetings did not state a specific purpose for those meetings, as required under New Jersey’s Open Public Meetings Act. That defect voided the actions taken at both sessions, including the ordinance’s introduction on June 30 and the public hearing held July 14.
The July 14 hearing had drawn pointed opposition from Fire District Number Four’s leadership and its attorney, Howard Pashman, who argued the council was moving to dissolve a 118-year-old fire company based on a flawed state report. That hearing ended with the council voting to carry the final vote to August 12. The upcoming special meeting is intended to maintain that final vote.
The council will reintroduce the ordinance at the July 28 meeting, restarting the process from first reading. A resolution authorizing the township’s application to the state Local Finance Board for the dissolution, originally passed June 30, was repassed at the council’s regular July 21 meeting.
DON’T LET AN ALGORITHM DECIDE YOUR NEWS
Sign up for The Central Jerseyan Newsletter for independent local news and events every weekend.
The plan, according to township officials, is for the Local Finance Board to consider the proposal at the state level on the morning of August 12, with the council holding the ordinance’s second reading and final vote that same evening. That timeline depends on the Local Finance Board approving the dissolution. If the state rejects it, the council’s plans for that night would likely change.
The underlying dispute remains unresolved. The Department of Community Affairs recommended dissolving Keasbey Fire District Number Four in a June 24 report, citing staffing shortages and rising costs per emergency response. Fire district officials and its attorney have disputed those findings, arguing the district meets or exceeds industry staffing standards and that the review unfairly singled out Keasbey as other Woodbridge fire districts went unexamined.
Mayor John McCormac has defended the push to dissolve the district in stark terms. “I believe if the state says they should merge, and we don’t do it, I would submit that we are committing malpractice as public officials because we know of a situation where people are not safe, and we didn’t act on it,” McCormac told The Central Jerseyan by phone. “If somebody ever gets hurt because Keasbey wasn’t able to properly respond to a fire, we could be liable for a huge settlement.”
Robert Pawol, a Keasbey Fire District commissioner, rejected that framing. He called the process “smoke and mirrors” and said he believes the push to dissolve the district still comes down to a developer’s interest in the firehouse property.
Fords Fire District Number Seven’s firehouse in Woodbridge Township. Under the township’s plan, Fords would take over emergency response coverage for the Keasbey section if Keasbey Fire District Number Four is dissolved. (The Central Jerseyan)
Residents can offer public comment to the council on this issue during the August 12 meeting.
Editor’s note: The Central Jerseyan is free to read and supported by advertising. If you value this kind of local reporting and want to help sustain it, you can become a citizen supporter on Patreon. Your contribution helps fund continued coverage of local government, schools, and community issues.