Boro police project out to bid for a third time Council downsizes police headquarters plan after bids come in too high BY DANIEL HOWLEY Staff Writer The West Long Branch Borough Council is putting the new police headquarters project out to bid for a third time to avoid a possible lawsuit by previous bidders on the project. Council decided at an April 16 meeting to rebid the project that has been stalled for months after bidding came in almost $1 million over the projected cost of the project. The decision to rebid comes in the wake of two failed rounds of bidding and after "major" design changes were made to the original project to downsize the estimated $2.75 million project. "No one, including me, was happy with this decision [to rebid the project,]" West Long Branch Borough Attorney Greg Baxter said. "But quite frankly, I didn't see an alternative. "I personally was extremely disappointed that we are still at this point, because the police have been extremely professional in waiting for their new home." Baxter explained that council had no other option but to go out for a third round of bids to prevent the possibility of being sued. Due to design changes made to the project, the borough is required to rebid the project to give all prospective bidders, including those in the first and second round of the bidding process, a fair opportunity to bid on the project, according to Baxter. "The awkward part of this law is that if you 'significantly change' the original specifications, you can't award the contract," Baxter said. "You have to rebid. "They did a good job, but ironically too good of a job. So the prices [of the project] were brought down, but they ended up [creating] such a significant change from the original specifications that it was my opinion as the town attorney that we had to rebid," Baxter said. "The law gives you the opportunity to negotiate with the bidders," he said, adding that throughout the course of the negotiations, the site plan for the project was altered significantly to get the project completed within budget. Because the project was changed "significantly," the bidding process must be reopened to the public to allow any previous bidders the opportunity to offer a bid on the new plans. Had the council decided not to request a third round of bids, the borough could be susceptible to a lawsuit from any of the previous bidders in the first and second round of the bidding process, Baxter said, Andrew Trachio, the architect for the project, said the changes made to the police building project will not have an adverse effect on the operations at the police building. "The changes that we made really are minor in the fact that they won't impact the efficiencies or aesthetics of the buildings," Trachio said. "We have talked to our consultants and got input from previous bidders, and we have done changes to our electrical systems that don't impact the actual operation of [the building], but reduced the cost of construction installation," Trachio said. Mayor Janet Tucci said she is frustrated that the process is taking so long, and the police still do not have a new headquarters. "If you change things too much, it's considered a substantial change and you aren't allowed to do that without going out to bid," Tucci said. "It got to the point where the attorney felt it was substantial changes and he could not advise the council to accept one of the bids. "I felt very disappointed because this has really gone on far too long, and I'm disappointed the police don't have a new building yet," she said. "But at the same time, you can't look at this as a waste of time, because we were able to take things out to bring the price down, so we are saving money in the long run, too," Tucci added. If the council finds the new bids satisfactory, groundbreaking on the new police building could start in as soon as three months, according to Trachio. Construction on the project is estimated to take one year, he said. Plans call for the borough police headquarters buildings to be relocated from its current location on Poplar Avenue to a new building adjacent to borough hall on Broadway. The Poplar Avenue building, which was once borough hall, is infested with mold. Four rooms at the Poplar Avenue building were deemed unusable after mold was discovered in the evidence room, firearms room, locker room and a storage room. Initial plans for the police building project called a 10,000-square-foot building to be constructed next to the borough hall site to house the new police headquarters. I addition to the police building, an alternate bid is included for site improvements to borough hall, which are estimated to cost $300,000. The improvements call for new siding and repairs to the flat roof at the back of the borough hall building.