Lacey Committee passes routine resolutions on bids, staffing, contracts and bills; committee hears public comment on school referendum

The Lacey Township Committee on March 13 approved a package of routine resolutions covering procurement, contracts, personnel and bills and received extended public comment about a recent school bond referendum.

Resolutions adopted at the meeting included authorizing the receipt of bids and requests for proposals for road and park improvements and other projects (Res. 2025-107), approving a change order to the contract with R. Kremer & Son Marine Contractors LLC for the Lakeside Drive bulkhead replacement (Res. 2025-108), entering an interlocal services agreement with the Lacey Township Board of Education for Class III special law enforcement officers (Res. 2025-109), and authorizing the release of a site-improvement performance guarantee upon posting of a maintenance guarantee (Res. 2025-110). The committee also established a service charge for mailing tax sale notices (Res. 2025-111) and authorized refunds of facility reservation deposits (Res. 2025-112).

The committee authorized payment of township bills in the amount of $7,978,995.61 (Res. 2025-113). The meeting record shows a committee member noted an abstention on bill T0035 during the vote; the minutes will include the formal roll call. Several of the resolutions were approved by roll-call votes recorded at the meeting.

Committee roll calls recorded the following: for the interlocal services agreement with the Board of Education (2025-109) the committee recorded yes votes from Mister McDonald, Mister Tennis, Missus Juliano, Mister LaRae and Mayor Peter Curitola. For the change-order resolution (2025-108) and the release of performance guarantee (2025-110) the committee recorded unanimous yes votes by roll call. The clerk will publish the formal roll-call tallies in the adopted resolutions.

During the public-comment portion of the meeting, several residents spoke at length about the March 11 school bond referendum proposing $92 million in projects for the Lacey Township School District. Speakers said the referendum lacked transparency, that public records requests had been refused and that supplemental documents obtained from the New Jersey Department of Education raised questions about cost breakdowns. Speakers said they will attend the Board of Education’s March 18 meeting and urged greater accountability from the school board. Committee members acknowledged the public concerns and noted they follow liaison protocols and receive updates from the school district at liaison meetings.

Other public comments included a question about ongoing litigation involving storage of spent fuel casks; committee officials said litigation continues, the decision is publicly available and the matter is likely to be appealed.

The committee ended the meeting by approving an executive-session resolution to discuss personnel, pending or anticipated litigation and real-estate matters.