After its computer network, including the 911 system, failed multiple times over six months, Montclair Township is replacing 33 back-end devices in an approximately $2.3 million systemwide upgrade, the township manager said.
Of the town’s 33 servers, switches and firewalls, 28 were “past their useful life or compromised,” Township Manager Stephen Marks told the town council this week.
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“This is a network modernization project,” Marks said. “So, if approved, the work should be done in the next six months. And the town will have a modern computer network. The current system is subject to failure. And there have been several computer, telephone and 911 failures in the last six months. So, this would rectify that.”
Contract OK’d
Council members approved the monies by a 6-0 vote Feb. 10, awarding the contract to Millenium Communications Group Inc., of East Hanover, for $2.35 million.
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ARCHIVE: How Montclair Disregarded Warnings to Upgrade Protections Against Hackers
“Millennium Communications Group Inc. (MCG) will deliver a comprehensive, enterprise-grade modernization of Montclair’s public safety and municipal technology infrastructure, encompassing network core and access switching, next-generation security, wireless connectivity, backup and disaster recovery, server and virtualization platforms, power protection, and structured infrastructure remediation across all designated facilities,” the firm’s proposal says.
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The work includes “redundant power components,” backup schedules, retention policies and encryption settings, the proposal says.
Mayor: ‘Very Necessary’
“It’s a heavy note to have to put in,” Mayor Renee Baskerville said. “But I think it’s very necessary, even in terms of some basic things like security.”
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Deputy Mayor Susan Shin Andersen approves.
“We have had several issues with emergency calls,” Shin Andersen said. “So, to me it seems like well worth the money to be spent to keep our systems upgraded.”
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The township had notified residents on Nov. 22, 2025, of an internet and phone outage impacting the Municipal Building and on Jan. 21 of an outage impacting 911 calls, which officials then said in a Facebook post had to be rerouted to neighboring towns.
First Ward Councilor Erik D’Amato said the township did not anticipate having to spend the funds. But a recent study uncovered the need, he said.
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“We had not really maintained these systems over some years as well as they should have been done,” D’Amato said. “That’s very frustrating, especially after the cyberbreach that happened.”
2023 ‘Cyber Incident’
In 2023, hackers struck the township’s systems, seizing key files and shutting down basic services for weeks after the town failed to implement basic security software, an investigation by Montclair Local found. As a result, the town sent letters to an unknown number of residents warning that their personal data, including social security numbers, had been compromised.
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Asked about the failed maintenance that prompted the planned $2.3 million in upgrades, Montclair’s former information technology director, Tony Fan, declined to comment.
“I have no comment,” Fan said in a brief phone call to his office at Verona Township, where he now serves as information technology director. “That happened after I left, so I have no idea.”
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Township records obtained by the Local show Fan worked for Montclair July 2015 to December 2025 for an annual salary of $136,599, and that he resigned. His LinkedIn profile says he started the new Verona job in December.
On Friday, Marks did not respond to requests by email and phone seeking comment on Fan’s role.
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Email reporter Matt Kadosh at matt@montclairlocal.news
