FREEHOLD — The borough’s solid waste contractor has been given what Freehold’s Borough’s business administrator is calling a final chance to meet the terms of its contract.
Future Sanitation, Farmingdale, has spent most of 2015 working under an extended contract with Freehold Borough. The company collects trash and recyclables in the municipality.
An agreement passed by the Borough Council on Oct. 5 “is the final extension, 90 days. (Future Sanitation) has until Dec. 31. If the company is not sold, we are engaging new ones,” Business Administrator Joseph Bellina said.
The council’s Oct. 5 resolution reviewed Future Sanitation’s relationship with the borough.
According to the resolution, the borough advertised for bids for solid waste and recyclable materials collection services in March 2014. The bid opening occurred in May 2014 and the low bidder was DeLisa Demolition with a bid of $1,050,000; the second low bidder was Future Sanitation with a bid of $1,117,020.
Representatives of Future Sanitation filed a bid challenge alleging that the DeLisa bid was non-responsive (did not meet stated requirements). Following litigation, a court declared the DeLisa bid to be defective and non-responsive and declared the bid of Future Sanitation to be the lowest bid.
Future Sanitation started trash removal and recycling services in October 2014, according to the resolution.
“We had a lot of problems with Future Sanitation, such as missed streets and neighborhoods,” Bellina said.
In January 2015, Future Sanitation was put on notice it was in breach of contract for failure to perform services. The borough terminated services with Future Sanitation in February, but after further discussions the termination was extended to March, according to the resolution.
Representatives of Future Sanitation then presented a letter of intent between the company and Link Environmental for the sale of Future Sanitation. Based upon the proposed sale, borough officials extended the contract’s termination date to May and then to September.
Future Sanitation was granted another 90-day extension to be based on the representation that it had hired a company to sell its business, according to the resolution passed on Oct. 5.
In other business, the council passed a resolution to seek funds through the New Jersey Department of Transportation Trust Fund Authority Act for fiscal year 2016.
The borough is seeking funds to improve Schiverea Avenue and Mead Avenue and to install a sidewalk along Route 537 in anticipation of a new traffic light being installed by Monmouth County at the intersection of Route 537 and Jackson Street.
“Each year the state provides towns with funds to improve local roads,” Bellina said.
Funds from previous years have included the resurfacing of Marcy Street, which is nearly complete, and the resurfacing of Murray Street, which will begin in the near future, Bellina said.
Several committees of the council made recommendations to the full council on four issues.
A recommendation was made to temporarily ease the requirement which states that candidates for the New Jersey civil service test for employment with the borough’s police department must be Freehold Borough residents.
“We are having a hard time getting people to take the test,” Bellina said.
The lift on the residency requirement is typically three years, he said.
Action was expected to be taken on this matter at the Nov. 2 council meeting, Bellina said.
And, a recommendation addressed the parking lot between Manalapan Avenue and Park Avenue across from Freehold Raceway. The parcel is zoned residential.
“A lot of homes can potentially be built there. The concern is about more overcrowding,” Bellina said.
A resolution funding an examination of that property might by forthcoming by the end of the year, he said.
Also, it was recommended that restrictions on the hours that gas stations can pump gas be lifted. Currently, gas stations cannot pump gas between midnight and 5 a.m. The recommendation was to have the requirement removed and allow for 24-hour gas pumping. Bellina said action would be taken on this matter at the Nov. 2 council meeting.
A recommendation for Gere Park, Throckmorton Street, to be improved included tree removal at the expense of the borough, and the placement of sod, irrigation and planting by the Freehold Center Partnership, which oversees the borough’s Special Improvement District. Work on the Gere Park project is underway, according to Bellina.
Finally, a resolution confirming the temporary promotion of Freehold Borough Police Detective John Reiff to the rank of provisional sergeant was passed. Lt. Michael Sweetman will be on sick leave, according to Bellina.