Lebanon Township Committee approves slate of routine resolutions, grants and contracts

The Lebanon Township Committee on Oct. 1 adopted a package of routine resolutions covering audit follow‑up, purchases, contract awards, grant acceptances, tax‑lien redemptions and appointments.

The committee voted unanimously to approve a Corrective Action Plan prepared by Chief Financial Officer Lorraine England in response to findings in the township’s 2024 audit report (Resolution 158‑2025). The CFO was directed to carry out the plan and the clerk to forward the plan to the state Department of Community Affairs.

Using cooperative purchasing contracts and grant funding, the committee authorized several public‑works purchases and construction contracts. The township approved purchase of a 2025 Felling Trailer (Air Tilt Series FT‑24‑2 TA) from JESCO Inc. not to exceed $43,159.04, with funding from a 2024 Clean Communities grant and capital improvement budgets (Resolution 159‑2025). The committee awarded a contract for Memorial Park volleyball‑court improvements to Bob Viersma & Sons, Inc. for $115,546.00, funded by a Hunterdon County municipal park and recreation grant ($34,662.50) and the township’s Open Space Trust Fund ($80,883.50) (Resolution 166‑2025).

For a Musconetcong River Road resurfacing project funded by a $241,263.00 New Jersey Department of Transportation Local Aid Grant, the committee authorized a $206,540.20 contract to Tilcon New York, Inc. and separately approved contracts for guiderails (Road Safety Systems, LLC, $100,257.00) and striping (Dan Swayze & Son, Inc., $4,800.09) under Morris County Cooperative Pricing Council agreements (Resolutions 171‑173‑2025). Officials noted the NJDOT grant as the primary funding source for the resurfacing work.

The Committee accepted a $29,000 Hunterdon County Local Law Enforcement grant for LiveScan integration and police‑department security upgrades and authorized execution of the grant agreement. The award specifies $5,000 will be retained by the county and paid directly to the LiveScan vendor; the township will receive $24,000 for security surveillance and key‑fob upgrades. The committee requested insertion of $24,000 into the 2025 budget as a special revenue appropriation (Resolutions 167‑168‑2025).

Other financial and administrative actions included the refund of a $2,807.03 conditional‑use escrow payment related to cancelled telecommunications work (Resolution 161‑2025); redemption of two tax‑sale certificates (Resolution 160‑2025 — $168.03; Resolution 177‑2025 — $28,183.77, the latter to correct an omitted 6% year‑end penalty); authorization to sell surplus township property through GovDeals (Resolution 163‑2025); and approval of a bill list totaling $4,020,264.76 across 89 purchase orders (Resolution 174‑2025). All recorded votes on these matters were unanimous (ayes: Koehler, Wojcik, McKee, Wunder).

Personnel and governance items included approval to continue three per‑diem employees at the Bunnvale Library at $15.49 per hour for up to 20 hours per week for a 90‑day period (Resolution 164‑2025), the person‑to‑person transfer of a plenary retail consumption liquor license to 513 Pub LLC for premises at 282 County Road 513 (Resolution 165‑2025), and appointments to the Zoning Board of Adjustment (Resolution 178‑2025).

Following an executive session to discuss collective bargaining, property acquisition and attorney‑client matters, among other items, the committee appointed Professional Insurance Associates, a division of World Insurance Associates, Inc., as the township’s health‑benefits consultant for a fixed annual fee of $6,800 (prorated for 2025) and authorized the mayor and clerk to execute the agreement (Resolution 176‑2025).

The committee’s next procedural step for several items is administrative: executing awarded contracts, processing refunds and budget insertions, and forwarding the audit corrective action plan to the Department of Community Affairs. The meeting adjourned at 9:12 p.m.