Contract awarded for Lost Valley work

DeMuro Associates offer only one considered

By:Alec Moore
   By a unanimous vote, the Borough Council awarded an engineering contract of up to $110,000 to Somerville-based engineering firm DeMuro Associates, Monday.
   The fact that the contract was presented exclusively to DeMuro, however, raised concerns from two members of the council as well as the public.
   The contract was awarded to provide engineering services in connection with the $1.6 million road improvement project for the Lost Valley. Resident Dean Shepard initially questioned the mayor and council on why the contract was not put up for public bidding, which could have resulted in a lower-priced contract being awarded.
   Borough Council President Ted Petrock, a Democrat, and Councilman Martin Wierzba, a Republican, also questioned the mayor on why they were preparing to award the contract to DeMuro Associates without finding out if other engineering firms might be willing to do the same job for less.
   "Is there a reason why we didn’t go out to bid for this?" said Mr. Petrock.
   "This is a sizable amount of money, I’m surprised that we’re not putting this up for public bidding," Mr. Wierzba said.
   In response to the criticism, Mayor Angelo Corradino pointed out that DeMuro Associates was unanimously appointed as the borough’s engineering consultant at the council’s reorganization meeting in January. He added that no-bid "professional service" contracts are permitted under public contract laws.
   Mayor Corradino, Borough Administrator Gary Garwacke and Borough Attorney C. Douglas Reina, also said DeMuro Associates is an exceptional engineering firm that has served the borough well in the past.
   "You get what you pay for and DeMuro has always done an excellent job," said Mayor Corradino, noting that awarding the contract to a different engineering firm for a lower fee could result in shoddy work.
   Mr. Garwacke added that in some cases a low-bid price submitted by a company often becomes inflated once the contract has been awarded. "Someone could purposely lowball this," he said.
   Mr. Petrock and Mr. Wierzba countered that if an engineering firm were hired they would be expected to deliver services in accordance with the fees and timeline outlined in the contract.
   The mayor and council considered dropping the resolution and putting the contract up for public bidding, but opted not to since doing so would delay the road repairs to the Lost Valley by approximately one month. The road repair project in the Lost Valley is slated to begin within two months.
   In addition to the council’s awarding the contract for the Lost Valley road repairs, the council also awarded the firm a $30,000 contract for improvements to Raritan Avenue.
   Funding for the contract was provided through a state grant received by the borough.