Bids for police building $1 million over budget Plans for $2.75 million project at borough hall could be redesigned BY DANIEL HOWLEY Staff Writer Rendering of the West Long Branch Police Department's proposed new headquarters at 965 Broadway. WEST LONG BRANCH - The Borough Council has yet to award a contract for the new police-building project because of proposals coming in more than $1 million over budget. The borough received more than 20 bids in the fall for the estimated $2.75 million project, all of which were rejected by the council for coming in "too high," West Long Branch Chief Financial Officer Gail Watkins said. "It remains to be seen if we are going to get it under budget," Watkins said last week. The borough has gone out to bid twice for the project, Borough Clerk Lori Cole said. The borough received 15 bids ranging from $3.5 million to $4.7 million in September for the police building project, Cole said. "Those bids were rejected by resolution on Sept. 19 because the lowest bid exceeded the budgeted amount for this project," Cole said. A second round of eight bids were received in October and ranged from $3.5 million to $3.8 million, according to Cole, who said the council voted later that month to once again reject all the bids. "The borough is now in the process of negotiating with the second-round bidders," Cole said. Because of ongoing bidding negotiations with contractors, borough officials could not comment on specific changes to the plan, Cole said. However, she said, "The borough is examining areas of cost savings as part of this process." The two options available to the bor- ough, if the bids continue to come in over budget, will be to increase the bond ordinance or to redesign the building plans, Watkins said. Plans call for the police headquarters to be relocated from 95 Poplar Ave. to a new 10,000-square-foot building at 965 Broadway, next to the municipal building. "The borough's budget estimate for the building [project] is $2.75 million," Cole said. Included as an alternate bid for the project are site improvements to borough hall, which are estimated to cost an additional $300,000, according to Cole. Those improvements call for new siding and repairs to the flat roof at the back of the building, Cole said. Under the current plans for the project, police headquarters will be relocated from the former town hall building at Poplar Avenue to a new building next to borough hall. There are four rooms at the Poplar Avenue police building that are unusable because of mold - an evidence room, a firearms room, a locker room and a storage room. The rest of the station is operable and free of mold, according to Councilman Thomas J. DeBruin. DeBruin, who also sits on the council's police committee, said there is a lack of available space at Poplar Avenue to carry out the department's operations. "Prior to me joining the council, that building was beginning to deteriorate," DeBruin said. "There was a lot of discussion at the time, four years ago, whether or not to renovate or go to a completely different site. "When I got on the council, we thought it would be best to have a municipal complex, with the police building and borough hall in one location," he said. The borough construction and code enforcement offices, which also operate out of the Poplar Avenue building, will remain at the location. The design plans for the new police building are available at borough hall for public viewing.