Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Votes at a glance: Essex County commissioners approve contracts, grants and property actions
Loading...
Summary
At its combined conference and board meeting the Essex County Board of County Commissioners approved a slate of ordinances, resolutions and contracts including salary ordinance adjustments, community grants, parks and public‑works contracts, and authorization to pursue acquisition of a property in Verona.
The Essex County Board of County Commissioners voted on a broad set of ordinances, resolutions and contract awards during a combined conference and board meeting. Major actions approved by roll call included salary adjustments for a commissioners’ car allowance, reappointments to advisory boards, community services and homelessness funding, a range of parks and public‑works contracts, and authorization to seek acquisition of an industrial property in Verona.
Key outcomes (roll calls and discussion summarized):
- Ordinance for salary adjustments (ordinance 1): approved by roll call (Vice President Cooper absent).
- Resolutions 1–25 (advice and consent reappointments to county advisory boards): approved by roll call.
- Resolution/contract 26 (TNR services): approved; see separate article for detail.
- Resolutions 27–34 (Division of Community Action grants and Code Blue funding): approved by roll call. Community Service Block Grant subcontract awards named specific agencies and amounts (Irvington Neighborhood — $93,000; Montclair Neighborhood Development — $67,500; Joy’s Angel — $87,500; Seedtime Outreach — $60,000). The county also allocated a $100,000 supplement from the homeless trust fund to the YMCA for additional sheltering and approved a $15,000 carryover to Joy’s Angel from unused 2024 funds. County staff said they are awaiting federal HUD grant amendments; a commissioner asked about timing and staff said they expect further updates within a month.
- Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs (items 36–40): approved by roll call. Awards included a contract to North Ward Center for Branch Brook Park recreational services (amount not to exceed $138,666.72; monthly rate $5,777.78), a change order to IRIS Communications ($30,210 for 2024 banner replacement, bringing the contract to $181,260), a $500,000 allocation from the Open Space Trust Fund for landscape maintenance, $168,800 for design work at Turtle Back Zoo, and $577,400 for Wequake Park field and track improvements (see item 121 below).
- Public Works (items 42–43, agenda items 121, 122, 123): approved by roll call with one recorded dissent. Contracts approved included AB Contracting for renovation of the Tulip Springs picnic area at South Mountain Reservation (amount not to exceed $1,376,441), Foggia Trinity Electric for traffic signal and road improvements at Franklin Street and West Essex Avenue in Bloomfield (amount not to exceed $643,885), and an award to American Athletic Track & Turf for improvements to the Wequake Park field and track (agenda item 121). Commissioner Richardson recorded a “no” vote on item 121 and explained he would withhold support unless contractors hire more Essex County residents; the other commissioners approved the item. The board also approved a two‑year extension with Aegis Security ($413,472) and multiple automotive repair vendor awards (aggregate not to exceed $700,000).
- Office of County Counsel appointments and outside counsel (items 44–70): approved by roll call. The board approved multiple professional service agreements for outside counsel to handle ongoing litigation matters; item 70 authorized the county to proceed with either negotiated acquisition or condemnation of property at 39 Commerce Court in Verona (see separate item below).
- Purchasing items (71–73): approved by roll call. Non‑fair‑and‑open awards were made to Hudson Community Enterprise for bathroom and litter patrol services at county facilities (item 71 — amount not to exceed $19,220 for the juvenile detention center; item 72 — $13,112 for 35 Martin Luther King Blvd). Commissioners asked staff to provide details on hours and any other subsidy sources because Hudson Community Enterprise is a sheltered workshop that employs people with disabilities; staff said they would follow up with a memo and ask the vendor to appear at the parks procurement item later in the month.
- Sheriff and emergency management grants (items 74–75): approved by roll call. Awards include an Atlantic Tactical order for ammunition under state contract (amount not to exceed $71,497.60) and authorization to apply for FY2024 Office of Emergency Management grant funds.
- Division of Housing and Community Development (item 76): approved a six‑month time extension for a Community Development Block Grant subrecipient agreement (new expiration 2025‑06‑30).
- Acceptance of opioid settlement funds (item 35): the county agreed to accept Cedar Grove’s opioid settlement installment of $23,648.14 and any future funds from that municipality; item passed by roll call.
- Emergency appropriations and budget adjustments (items 77–81) and an increase to each commissioner’s aggregate legislative assistant allocation (item 82): approved. Item 82 raised the annual aggregate allocation for commissioners’ legislative assistants from $40,000 to $45,000 per commissioner.
- Proclamations, memorials and recognitions (items 83–119): approved by roll call.
Several items were noted for follow‑up, including: verification of vendor staffing and pay for Hudson Community Enterprise contracts, and staff confirmation of the funding source for a public‑works item. Where recorded, votes were taken by roll call; many items passed unanimously with the vice president absent. A small number of items produced recorded abstentions or a single “no” vote (notably item 121).
