Low Roadwork Bids Result in Less Borrowing

Two resolutions regarding road reconstruction projects in Verona were approved and adopted at the recent Council meeting. To the relief of the Township coffers, both projects came in at almost 20 percent under estimate.

Township Manager, Joseph Martin remarked, “When we introduced the initial road capital budget early in January per [Township Engineer] Jim Helb’s advice, we got a lot of bidders and a better price. That is certainly the case regarding reconstruction of Brookdale Avenue and for Fairway Avenue, Section II.

With eight bids received on each project, the winning contractor of both projects was Cifelli & Son, of Nutley, who have been awarded Verona reconstruction contracts in the past. Helb pointed out the additional advantages of using the same contractor, “Sharing components and shifting crews to and from projects in the same town makes better use of the equipment and the crew’s time, and we believe it affects the pricing, as well.

Helb highlighted the price savings, “The estimated cost for the Brookdale Avenue project was $250,000 while the bid came in at $192,000. With  $160,000 of the cost covered by community development block grants, we’ll only need to add the extra $32,000. For Fairway II, the estimate was almost $400,000, with the final bid from Cifelli at $320,000.”

With asphalt being a petroleum based product, the costs were expected to be much higher. Helb commented, “We buy our asphalt by the ton and two years ago we paid $85 a ton, last summer it was $60 a ton, today we’re paying around $73 to $78 per ton.  Even curbing is stable at $18 per linear foot, compared to $20 two years ago. With the petroleum the way it is, we were expecting a lot of price pressure but didn’t get as much as expected. We think the economy has reduced public works projects and contractors are hungry for the work”

Helb explained that the funding for the projects is available through the previous passing of Capital Ordinances.  These authorize the Township’s borrowing through bond anticipation notes.  Now the township will be able to borrow almost $140,000 less based on the bids, compared to the estimates.

In closing, Helb emphasized the importance for the neighborhood residents being affected by the reconstruction to attend the meeting before each project. “We talk about schedules, projected street closings, off street parking, tree removal and planting. It helps to make things go smoothly.”