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Essex County approves major public-works contracts and park improvement awards
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Summary
The Board approved multiple contract awards across public works and parks including intersection upgrades in South Orange and Maplewood, resurfacing work on Bloomfield Avenue, park improvements at Wequake Park and Independence Park, and related grant insertions totaling multimillions.
Essex County commissioners approved a package of public-works and parks contracts and related budget insertions during their regularly scheduled meeting.
Key approvals included engineering and inspection services from Pennoni Associates for intersection improvements in South Orange and Maplewood ($1,312,886) and a construction contract awarded to Trench Technologies as the low bidder for those intersections (approximately $7,992,500). David Antonio, director of the county Department of Public Works, said the intersection work derives from a local safety program at the regional planning authority and is intended to improve pedestrian and transit-user accommodations "and that is all within, it's all compliant with the county's complete streets policy."
The board also approved contracts for golf-course materials ($275,000 aggregate), porta-potty sanitation services ($462,189), and a 24-month inspection and maintenance training contract for the Treetop Adventure Course (Challenge Towers, $401,643). KS Engineers was selected to provide construction engineering and inspection services for the FY2024 roadway resurfacing program, which includes an 8.7-mile resurfacing segment of Bloomfield Avenue.
Parks projects approved included a J.A. Alexander contract (award cited in the record) for reconstruction of a 2.1-mile rubberized walkway surface and exercise areas at Wequake Park (award amount described in the packet), and a Turco Golf contract to build synthetic athletic fields and lighting at Independence Park in Newark (award amount presented as $3,636,765). County staff also reported grant revenue insertions totaling $2,307,550 for the Wequake Park running track improvements (Green Acres and Urban Parks Program) and authorization to use the Essex County Recreation Open Space Trust Fund for 50% of the Independence Park athletic field improvements (authorization up to $2,201,000).
Procurement questions: Commissioner McInerney asked whether the meeting packet included the other bidders and bid amounts for items with apparent single bid responses. Staff confirmed that some contracts received only one bidder and that the packet contains comparative bid information when multiple bids were received.
Public and commissioner concerns: Commissioner Gill raised questions about whether the traffic-signal timing problems seen on earlier projects had been addressed in lessons learned; DPW staff said they had worked closely with Maplewood and South Orange municipal officials and expected the projects to comply with federal local-safety standards and the county's complete streets policy. Commissioners also asked about maintenance strategies for park projects; contractors and parks staff clarified that certain maintenance responsibility transitions to the county or municipal maintenance after construction completion.
Outcome and next steps: The board approved the package of items (moved in batches on roll call). Contracts will proceed to notice-to-proceed and staff will coordinate municipal and vendor timelines for construction.
