Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Paterson council adopts $26.2 million bills list after questions on River Street oversight
Summary
The Paterson Municipal Council approved a $26,194,283.05 bills list at its Oct. 14 workshop after members raised questions about contractor oversight on the River Street sewer and repaving project and about timing of vendor payments.
The Paterson Municipal Council unanimously adopted a bills list totaling $26,194,283.05 at its Oct. 14 workshop session.
Councilman (unnamed in the record) moved to approve payment of the list, which the clerk put on the record as including $11,033,436.74 in disbursements and a Board of Education payment of $6,000,727.92. During discussion, Councilman Mendez pressed finance staff for details about the city's payments on the River Street sewer reconstruction and repaving contract, saying he had visited the site and not found the third-party construction oversight team the council had approved when the contract was awarded. "We don't have 10 plus million dollar to invest on River Street, again," Mendez said, asking the CFO for documentation about the on-site inspector assignment.
CFO staff explained the city sometimes holds checks depending on cash-flow timing, particularly in months with large pension outlays, and that checks may be prepared but held until funds are available. The CFO said that practice is timing-dependent: "Sometimes checks come up here, we pass them, but we don't have the cash. So we hold checks," he said, describing cash-flow seasonality tied to tax revenue timing.
After discussion, the clerk called roll on the payment of bills. The recorded vote was seven in favor, two absent, and the motion passed. The council president declared the payment of bills adopted.
The council flagged multiple agenda items for consent but moved the River Street oversight and related project monitoring questions for further follow-up by finance and department staff. Members asked the CFO and project managers to provide contract status and site-supervision documentation before final contract-related disbursements are processed.
The council did not specify a follow-up date for those documents beyond the usual committee and staff follow-up; the payment itself was approved at the workshop and vendors will be paid according to the city's cash-flow and accounts-payable practices.
