Essex County approves large resurfacing, building maintenance and park service contracts
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Summary
The county approved multiple procurement items including a $8.2M roadway resurfacing contract, a $3.38M building maintenance contract for the MLK Justice Building, election services and several parks contracts and emergency repairs.
Essex County commissioners approved a slate of procurement and contract actions during the meeting, awarding multi‑year and single‑project contracts across public works, parks, elections and county facilities.
Key items approved included:
- A roadway resurfacing award to Smith Sandy Asphalt Construction for $8,208,147 covering roughly 11 miles of county roads across multiple municipalities.
- A three‑year building maintenance and operations contract with DCO Energy for the Martin Luther King Jr. Justice Building in Newark, in an amount the county stated should exceed $3,378,790; DCO Energy representative David Delvecchio noted the company's long working relationship with the county and said, "We've been at the Martin Luther King Building since it's been built ... we're very happy with this partnership."
- A two‑year contract with Bridal National (presented in the record as the lowest of three bids) to inspect, test and maintain fire protection systems at county facilities, for an amount exceeding $1,039,393.
- A contract with Election Graphics for election night certification and remote tally setup for $229,785; vendor Christopher Williams described the scope as election night certification, tally and state reporting and certification.
- Parks and recreation awards presented by Joshua Zates included portable sanitation services (not to exceed $462,189), Turtle Back Zoo overnight security ($299,547.20), an extension for a Metropolitan Golf Association Foundation internship program ($42,000), and an emergency remediation payment to Servpro for sewage damage at Hendricks Field (not to exceed $71,400).
Board discussion focused on implementation details and local hiring. Commissioner Richardson noted that a golf internship extension was an extension of an existing contract rather than a new RFP; Joshua Zates confirmed the extension and said prior participation involved "about 12 to 15 interns" across courses. For Bridal National's fire‑protection contract, commissioners pressed the vendor about local employment; the vendor said only a small number of Essex County residents were currently employees but indicated they could hire local technicians if required.
Why it matters: These contracts fund reconstruction and maintenance projects, election operations and park services that affect county infrastructure, public safety systems and resident-facing services. The resurfacing and maintenance awards in particular commit multi‑year county spending and vendor obligations.
Next steps: Each contract will be executed by purchasing and implemented by the responsible departments; the county recorded roll call votes approving the items.
