SCOTCH PLAINS — Tucked into the recent federal government funding legislation was a $2.7-million earmark backed by Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. (R-7) to help finance Scotch Plains’ planned new first responders’ headquarters.

As part of the downtown redevelopment plan currently being negotiated between the township and Woodmont Properties LLC, the project’s conditional redeveloper, the police and fire departments, along with the rescue squad, will be relocated out of the downtown to a township- owned site on PlainfieldAvenue across from the public works facility.

The new facility will be a single, two-story building extending across the length of the lot opposite Memorial Field, with a small section of parking spaces extending into a small section of the adjoining lot, which is currently designated as a C-Conservation zone. The 70,000-square-foot, public-safety complex will include about 25,500 square feet for the police department, which will be situated on the western side of the building; about 24,000 square feet for the fire department on the opposite end, including bays for its apparatus; 7,500 square feet for the rescue squad and about 4,100 square feet for the township’s office of emergency operations.

Each year, Rep. Kean explained, the House of Representatives allows each member to submit 15 Community Project Funding projects, and the $2,700,255 in funding for Scotch Plains was part of that program.

The federal grant comes on top of a $1-million state grant to be used for construction of the new Plainfield Avenue facility and a $4-million state grant to help finance a new library on Bartle Avenue.

Mayor Joshua Losardo told Union County HAWK this week that he was “grateful” to Rep. Kean “for his help” in securing the recent funding.

“Since Day One, he’s reached out and asked how he can help Scotch Plains,” the mayor said.

The new funding, the mayor added, will help with redevelopment expenses since the township government is “doing everything we can to keep those costs down.”