Elm Street Rec Complex Bid Award Meeting Set

A special meeting about the bid award for the multi-million-dollar Elm Street Recreation Complex project has been scheduled for the end of February, according to a borough legal notice.

The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Feb. 28 in the municipal building, 111 Ridgedale Ave., and formal action will be taken, the notice says.

Nine contractors submitted bids for the project, and Borough Administrator William Huyler has said the bidders are being vetted.

A proposed Elm Street Recreation Complex bond ordinance calls for appropriating $4.1 million for the job, though the actual cost could be less than that. Florham Park would pay for construction of the complex, which is to include fields, lights, a basketball court and dog park, by borrowing $2 million and paying the other $2.1 million with funds from its capital improvement and open space funds, the proposal says.

A public hearing and final vote on the bond ordinance has been scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 7, according to the copy of the proposal posted on the borough website. Officials had referred to the bond amount as $5 million when it was introduced on Jan. 17, but the borough clerk told the Florham Park Eagle that figure was not correct and was based on an old ordinance. The current proposal specifying a $4.1 million appropriation subsequently was posted on the borough website. Messages to confirm this have been left for the borough clerk and borough administrator.

According to the borough's bid advertisement, the Elm Street Recreation Complex job includes installing storm drainage pipes, sidewalks, a synthetic turf multi-purpose atheltic field, natural turf multi-purpose and baseball fields, a basketbal court, dog park, backstops, baseball dugouts, bleachers, field lighting, parking, ADA-compliant ramps and landscaping, among other items.