Resident questions multiple contracts, grants and reservoir projects; board adopts batch of resolutions with two exceptions

A longtime public attendee pressed Union County commissioners on multiple items during the public-comment portion of the Dec. 18 meeting, asking for clarification about a missing salary ordinance, contract increases, grant transfers and park-improvement funding. County officials responded with explanations and the board then adopted a group of resolutions covering appropriations, contracts and grants; two items in the batch were recorded with non-unanimous support.

Bruce Patterson of Garwood questioned why a previously proposed salary ordinance (referred to as A51 in public remarks) was missing from the agenda and asked for an explanation. He raised several other items by resolution number, including an amendment to Neglia Engineering’s contract for Metano Park design and administration—described in the public comment as an increase from about $107,000 to $640,000—and a payroll services contract awarded to Prime Point for $180,000.

County staff and the county manager provided responses during the meeting. County staff said the resolution language describing certain grants uses phrases such as the “Middlesex Reservoir” and “Clark Reservoir” as the state captions funds; they clarified that a $20 million DEP grant mentioned in the agenda covers reservoir-related work and that wording may refer to different reservoir line items as part of the same funding total. On the boat house in Clark, county staff said the estimated cost is between $3 million and $4 million, that operating hours have not been determined, and that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is still reviewing the application and county staff are evaluating RFP submissions.

Regarding the contract amendment for Metano Park and other procurement questions, county staff said the changes reflected scope revisions and DEP requirements; staff said specifics on competitive bidding and approvals were handled through procurement and engineering oversight. On questions about a $54 million number tied to an improvement authority, county staff corrected the figure in the meeting to $14 million for the cited resolution.

After public comment the board moved to adopt resolutions numbered 2024-934 through 2024-1009. Vice Chairwoman Lourdes Leon moved the batch and Commissioner Bodak seconded. The clerk recorded the roll call: Commissioner Bodak voted aye on all; Commissioner Kowalski voted “yes” on most but recorded a “no” on resolution 934; Commissioner Mirabella abstained on resolutions 979 through 981 and voted yes on the rest; Commissioner Williams voted yes on all; Vice Chair Leon and Chairwoman Palmeri Mudett voted yes on all. The clerk summarized the results: resolution 934 passed 5–1; resolutions 979–981 passed with 5 ayes and 1 abstention.

Other public commenters raised project- and animal-welfare questions. Delia Collins of Clark asked about the projected cost and year-round hours for the Clark boathouse and about instituting a county spay-and-neuter program for community cats similar to those in other New Jersey counties; county staff said the boathouse budget estimate is $3–4 million, operating hours have not been set and that spay-and-neuter program design would require follow-up with appropriate county divisions and partners.

Claire Lebruno of Clark asked for status on DEP approvals and the number of RFP responses for a reservoir project. County staff said DEP review is ongoing and that RFP submissions were being reviewed.

Votes at a glance (selected items): - Resolutions 2024-934 through 2024-1009 — Motion: adopt batch; Mover: Vice Chairwoman Lourdes Leon; Second: Commissioner Bodak; Outcome: adopted with exception noted below. - Resolution 2024-934 — Vote: 5 ayes, 1 no (Commissioner Kowalski voted no). - Resolutions 2024-979 through 2024-981 — Vote: 5 ayes, 1 abstention (Commissioner Mirabella abstained on these three).

County staff and the county manager answered several of the substantive questions on the record and said further details—such as specific contract justifications, procurement documentation and project-level budgets—are available through departments and will be provided as staff follow up.