SPRINGFIELD: Quotes sought for bike path engineering work

By Amber Cox, Special Writer
Amber CoxSpecial Writer
   SPRINGFIELD — The Township Council tabled a resolution last Wednesday, Sept. 12, which would have authorized engineering work for the Columbus-Jobstown Road Bike Path Project.
   Township Clerk Patricia Clayton said Tuesday, “We were just awarded (a county) grant and the resolution . . . was to authorize the township engineer to proceed with the engineering and design for the project. And that resolution was not approved pending quotes from other engineers.”
   Ms. Clayton continued, “This would be the first step in the project.”
   She said the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders grant of $250,000 was awarded July 25 for the project. Springfield had applied for $250,743.
   ”Until we bid the project the actual cost of the project is not known,” Ms. Clayton said on Wednesday.
   At the meeting, Councilman David Frank suggested the resolution be tabled in order for the township manager to get more quotes.
   The resolution called for no more than $39,500 to be awarded to Dante Guzzi Engineering Associates for surveying and engineering services. Mr. Guzzi is the township engineer.
   ”I think that we’re not going to get this project off of the ground this fall so it seems to me that we’ve got some time here in which to potentially do a little check on the cost of this particular service from our engineer,” Councilman Frank said. “We work with particular people because we trust them, and we have faith in them, but then, again, sometimes we need to do a little check on what the cost of that service is.”
   Mayor Denis McDaniel added that the issue was at the council’s discretion, and it was the members’ duty to the public to check up on costs.
   According to J. Paul Keller, Springfield’s municipal manager, the township is also in the process of applying for a New Jersey Department of Transportation grant for the project.
   ”It’s new,” Mr. Keller said Tuesday.
   He declined to answer the Register-News’ question if this application would be through the DOT’s Bikeway Grant Program.
   In other news, the council received correspondence from a family whose child accidentally was locked in a vehicle and was rescued by a township policeman.
   ”It’s nice to get some good news once in a while,” Mayor McDaniel said at last week’s meeting.
   Officer William Kerr, of the Springfield Township Police Department, rescued a 2-year-old boy who was inadvertently locked in a car on Aug. 23, according to Chief Eric Trout, who spoke to the Register-News on Wednesday.
   The family sent the officer a handmade card with the child’s footprints and handprints on it.
   The next meeting of the Springfield Township Council will be held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8.
Jen Samuel, managing editor, contributed to this report.