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Council presses administration on change orders, contaminated soil and audit repeat findings
Summary
Councilors questioned a $61,000 change order for court resurfacing, repeated audit recommendations about benefits funding and ledger postings, and asked for chain-of-custody detail after soil moved to Kilmer fields; administration said testing, CME reports and reserves work are in progress and that some equipment purchases are grant-funded.
Edison councilors used Tuesday—s work session to press administration for more documentation on a string of infrastructure and fiscal issues, from change orders on recreational courts to contaminated-soil sampling and audit recommendations.
Council members asked why a change order of roughly $61,000 was required for resurfacing at municipal courts and whether geotechnical test pits should have been done before the project began. Ray (DPW/Facilities) said the contractor encountered clay substrate that required remediation after work had started: "They provided a very detailed proposal on how to remediate that, and that's where we're at," he said.
Separately, the council examined repeat findings in the township audit related to benefit funding and posting transactions to the general ledger on a timely basis. The Finance Director said the administration has been building reserves to cover benefits rather than using capital bond ordinances; staff also described steps to get departments to make deposits on site and to train employees to prevent future delays.
Council members also pressed for detailed documentation about soil moved from Papiani Park to Kilmer fields, seeking truck counts, tonnage and testing records to confirm the material was safe for use on youth fields. Administration said CME provided a professional report describing testing parameters and would circulate related documentation. "They're looking at it from all angles," the administration said.
In public-safety equipment news, the council heard that a grant will cover a cascade air-compressor system to fill SCBA bottles to 5,500 psi; deputy fire chief explained the high-pressure unit is necessary to meet department standards and that smaller, lower-pressure alternatives would create maintenance and reliability issues if duplicated at each station.
Why this matters: Change orders and contaminated-material questions can significantly alter project costs and schedules; repeated audit findings affect financial controls and long-term fiscal health. Council members repeatedly sought more complete pre-bid data and better documentation to reduce downstream change orders.
What comes next: Administration and department heads promised to circulate test reports, consultant findings and finance updates. Council requested copies of geotechnical and soil-transfer records, CME testing letters, and a timeline for replacing nonfunctional EV chargers.
