By Audrey Levine Staff Writer
After making a presentation to the Township Committee on a credit card program that would pay a dividend to the township, Affinity Credit Union officials thought that would count as their bid for the program.
But when the township advertised seeking bids for renewing the credit card program, no one including the credit union submitted a bid.
So the Township Committee unanimously approved a resolution June 24 to request proposals for a second time.
”It’s possible the banks didn’t know we were soliciting the proposals,” Mayor Anthony Ferrera said at the meeting.
Township Clerk Kevin Davis said that, when soliciting proposals, the township normally makes the resolution available as mandated by state law, but does not necessarily give the request directly to banks or other companies.
This time, he said, the township will take a more direct approach to inform banks about the credit card program.
The program was initially presented to the committee in January by Patrick McDermott, assistant vice president of business development and business solutions with Affinity Credit Union.
The plan stipulated that an as yet undetermined net percentage of monthly purchases with a Hillsborough credit card would be returned to the township for senior- and youth-oriented programs.
Eligibility for the credit card would be based on membership in a nonprofit organization that has signed with Affinity, according to the plan Mr. McDermott outlined.
Despite this presentation, Affinity did not submit a new proposal to the township, something Mr. Davis said was surprising to the committee.
According to Mr. McDermott, Affinity is very interested in sending in a proposal for the project, and is currently in the process of preparing one. He said that representatives from Affinity did not realize they had to submit an additional proposal.
”We have never developed this type of program with a municipality before,” he said. “There was a miscommunication on our part, and we did not know we needed to resubmit. We are working on the program as we speak.”
Once the proposal is completed, Mr. McDermott said, the plan will be very similar to what was presented to the committee in January. At this time, however, he declined to discuss any possible changes.
”We are staying very true to the form we presented in January,” he said.
The resolution approved June 24 also allows the township to solicit bids for the purchase of a senior citizen bus and for the renewal of the Department of Public Works’ Uniform contract, which comes up for rebid every two years.
Committeewoman Lisa Nisivoccia not present at the meeting.
