By Joanne Degnan, Managing Editor
UPPER FREEHOLD The Township Committee voted 4-1 last week to have the township engineer prepare bid specifications for a project to repair the drainage ditch along Emley’s Hill Road that was damaged by flooding from Hurricane Irene.
The project would be eligible for up to 75 percent reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Township Administrator Dianne Kelly told the Township Committee on March 1. Ms. Kelly said she did not yet have the engineer’s estimate on the cost of the project, which would involve the section of Emley’s Hill Road between Jonathan Holmes Road and the bridge.
Toll Brothers, the developer of the Ridings neighborhood nearby, has said it is willing to reimburse the township for a portion of the cost, but the exact amount would have to be negotiated with the Township Committee, Ms. Kelly said.
”To do the job right, and make sure it is done right, we really have to take the lead and that means we have to go out to bid because it exceeds the $17,500 threshold,” Ms. Kelly said.
The committee needed to approve the resolution in order for Township Engineer Glenn Gerken, of T&M Associates, to have authorization to begin working on the project’s design specifications.
Mayor LoriSue Mount was the lone vote against it. Mrs. Mount had unsuccessfully sought to amend the resolution to include “not-to exceed-amount” language limiting how much the township engineer could bill Upper Freehold for his work. The township engineer was not present at the meeting to address the question of how much he would charge for the job.
Mrs. Mount said she was suggesting the amendment because she has observed that the Planning Board inserts “not-to-exceed-amount” language when it authorizes professionals to do work. She emphasized the amendment was not meant to impugn anyone, she just thought it was prudent not to give people “carte blanche.”
The other four members of the Township Committee did not support the change, and the proposed amendment died.
”It would be like telling him how to do his job,” Township Attorney Granville Magee advised the committee.
Mr. Magee said professionals such as the township engineer already have a contract with the town setting their hourly rate, so setting a dollar limit for the design work on a project was essentially telling him how long it should take to do his job.

