MARLBORO – The Township Council has awarded a contract to an East Brunswick company to run a water main under Route 9 and connect water lines on both sides of the state highway.
Township Engineer Laura Neumann said the project “will provide connection of the water main between both sides of Route 9. We are awaiting a construction schedule and upon commencement of construction, substantial completion is anticipated within 45 days.”
Municipal officials said the project “will consist of directional boring or horizontal directional drilling of a 12-inch-wide high-density polyethylene (HDPE) water main pipe encased with a 20-inch HDPE casing pipe from the existing 8-inch water main terminal end of the northbound side of Route 9 (near Brioso Ristorante) to the existing 12-inch water main locked on the southbound side of Route 9 (near The Mart shopping plaza), an approximate distance of 160 feet.”
Council members awarded a contract for the water main project to KMETZ Inc., East Brunswick. The firm’s winning bid of $438,385 was the lowest of two responsive bidders. Montana Construction Inc., Lodi, submitted a bid of $619,118.
In other business, council members renewed contracts with the Freehold Regional High School District and the Marlboro K-8 School District for the provision of school resource officers (SRO).
This is the renewal of an agreement that began in December 2015 and through which Marlboro police officers work at schools in the township. One officer will work at Marlboro High School, a second officer will rotate among Marlboro’s elementary schools and a third officer will split time between Marlboro’s two middle schools.
The Freehold Regional High School District and the Marlboro K-8 School District will each pay $45,000 to the township by Sept. 30, according to the agreement.
Each SRO will work a maximum of 40 hours a week. Specific duty hours will be set by mutual agreement between the school district — at the direction of the principal of the school to which the officer is assigned — and the police chief.
The agreement states that the officer must be on duty 15 minutes before the start of the instructional day and must remain on duty until 15 minutes after the end of the instructional day unless stated otherwise.
And, council members approved an update of Marlboro’s five-year community forestry management plan.
According to Shade Tree Committee Chairman Jeffrey Weiss, the plan will update goals, accomplishments and guidelines for the community and involve keeping track of Marlboro’s tree inventory.
Weiss said the committee received $3,000 in grants to help offset the $6,000 cost of updating the forestry management plan. The township has matched the $3,000 in grants. Weiss said having a plan in place qualifies Marlboro to apply for and to receive various grants.
Finally, council members changed the location of three upcoming meetings. The Sept. 7 meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Marlboro Greens clubhouse, 1 Ivy Hill Drive. The Oct. 5 meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Greenbriar at Marlboro clubhouse, 21 Clubhouse Lane. The Oct. 19 meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Rosemont Estates clubhouse, 246 Everton Blvd. These meetings are open to all residents of Marlboro even though they are being held in private communities.