On Wednesday, Yaede and Hamilton Council President Illeana Schirmer said separately the study was "ongoing."
HAMILTON -- In October, not long after Hamilton fire unions publicly announced their plan to to consolidate the town's nine fire districts, Mayor Kelly Yaede announced the state would study the township's fire service as part of such a plan.
And in December, Yaede said the study - by the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) - had begun, with a comprehensive survey sent to all fire districts.
Since then, Yaede has talked about the report several times, and how important it will be as as blueprint for consolidation efforts.
The DCA, however, has never publicly spoken about the study, or how long it might take. The agency did not immediately return a request Wednesday for comment about it.
On Wednesday, Yaede and Hamilton Council President Illeana Schirmer said separately the study was "ongoing."
Schirmer said she has spoken to the DCA official doing the study, Don Huber, and said, "He did not want to commit to a timeline but said it would be a few months."
Schirmer, echoing past comments by Hamilton Councilman Ed Gore, said the consolidation process - which is currently delayed by a voter record issue - will go on, DCA report or not.
"Council along with everyone else is looking forward to seeing his report," Schirmer said.
"The reality is once the petitions are validated council will begin scheduling public hearings whether the report is completed or not," Schirmer said
The council is awaiting the certification by the township clerk of petitions signed by residents - about 2,500 of them, gathered by the fire unions - to hold public hearings.
"We believe it is very important to start holding those public discussions," Schirmer said. "I have no doubt the study will be quite informative and helpful."
Yaede again defended the importance of the report, saying Huber has formed "work groups" around several different aspect of the fire service, from budgets and information technology, to training and safety.
The mayor said the council can act as fast as they want with public meetings, but the study will be an invaluable tool for them.
In a public statement released by Yaede, Huber was quoted saying the fire districts have been cooperatively working with his office "as we continue to gather information that can provide a blue print for the future of fire services in Hamilton Township."
Yaede also said some of the DCA's study could not get moving until the fire unions turned in the petitions to the clerk's office in March, and the effort moved forward in earnest.
Plus, any consolidation plan passed by council would also need to be approved by the DCA, so their involvement in the process now only benefits Hamilton in their eventual approval process, the mayor said.
"I want the residents of Hamilton to be aware, that the state study, a blueprint, an objective opinion of the fire service, is still going to move forward," Yaede said.
Meanwhile, the Hamilton fire unions have been collecting more signatures from residents to bolster the number of petitions due to irregularities in voter records discovered by the Hamilton clerk's office during the certification process.
The office, last month, said nearly 10,000 Hamilton voters are assigned to the wrong fire district in Mercer County's voter database, maintained by the Mercer County Board of Elections.
Hamilton officials and election board are working to fix the issues, with Hamilton continuing to certify petitions manually.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.