BRICK – A $235,920 contract has been awarded to Meco Inc. of Clarksburg, NJ for road improvements to the Burnt Tavern neighborhood of Siclar Estates.
The major work to be completed includes roadway milling and resurfacing of Sweeney Avenue, Marbro Avenue, Conte Avenue, Jewel Avenue and Kuster Lane, said Mayor John G. Ducey during a recent Township Council meeting.
Bid notices were supplied to 77 prospective bidders from the township bidder’s list, and eight submitted bids ranging from the low winning bid up to $336,490.
The governing body also passed a shared services resolution with BTMUA (Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority) for road resurfacing in Cedarwood Park, which is undergoing water main replacement.
“The policy that we started about seven years ago was, if a utility digs up our roads here in town, they’re responsible for the side-to-side repaving,” the mayor said.
“In the past they were only responsible for patching up the areas where they actually dug up, or maybe they had to do half of the road if it was a pipe, but then you have half the road nicely paved and the other half 30 years old,” he said.
So the roads that are being dug up for water main replacements will be paved side-to-side by the utility, but other roads in the neighborhood that are not impacted by the water main replacement and not getting paved at all will benefit by the shared services agreement.
BTMUA has a contract in place and the township will utilize that contract to expand the scope of roadway resurfacing for the entirety of Laurel Avenue, which connects Drum Point Road and Mantoloking Road.
Herbertsville Deli Demo
In other news, the governing body passed a resolution that authorizes the receipt of bids for the demolition of the structures and to secure the property of the former Herbertsville Deli at 430 Herbertsville Road.
“This resolution is the result of an order issued by our Township Property Maintenance Board,” Mayor Ducey said. “A hearing was held before the Board on February 23, 2022 with no action taken at all by the property owners to comply with the Board’s orders of fixing that place up.”
The Board has ordered the demolition of the unsafe structure and the placement of a lien to recoup all costs, he added.
And finally, Mayor Ducey noted that on the 10th anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, one of the largest impacts the storm had on the township was financial. Brick still hasn’t recovered from the loss in $400,000,000 in tax ratables. The ratables base is still about $100,000,000 less than it was before the storm.
The loss in ratables combined with the debt service and expenditures the township continues to pay for as a result of the storm has placed an extra burden on the taxpayers, he said.
Homes were lost – some that had passed down from many generations – neighborhoods were totally wiped away, and a decade later recovery from the storm is still going on for many, which is very unfortunate, the mayor said.
“A decade later, we have a greater understanding of the burden that living in a coastal community brings, and a greater respect for the dynamic and changing power of the climate,” he said.
Mother Nature can “take it all back” again, so the township will continue to work with the planning and engineering departments to take appropriate mitigating actions and hope that a similar storm never happens again, Mayor Ducey said.
The next council meeting will be on Wednesday (not the usual Tuesday because of Election Day) November 9 at 7 p.m.
