Borough Settles Lawsuit Over Widening of Main St.

Among official action taken at Thursday’s Mayor and Council meeting was the $450,000 settlement of a lawsuit filed by a contractor involved in the widening of a portion of Main St. about two years ago.

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich described the litigation filed by Creamer-Sanzari, A Joint Venture of Hackensack as “essentially a change order” seeking “upwards of $900,000” in fees.

“We conducted here in Fort Lee a very, very expansive investigation to determine what was due, if anything,” Sokolich said. “After conducting that research … we settled the case for the sum of $450,000.”

He said that amount was based on the following:

“We have $225,000 remaining in the road widening account, and the other $225,000 will be [paid] by the Port Authority. So the math was easy. It’s 450, and there’s no impact to the taxpayers.”

Other Action Taken Thursday

The borough’s governing body also approved developer’s agreements with Main Violin LLC at 523 Summit Ave. and Young Israel of Fort Lee at 1610 Parker Ave. and appointed Bill Caruso to the Rent Leveling Board.

“We have a vacancy on [the board],” Sokolich said. “I requested the resume of Bill Caruso, who’s a longtime resident here in Fort Lee. We need a homeowner. I spoke to Bill. He enthusiastically wants to participate, and I’d like to see if we can put him on, unless anybody’s got an objection.”

There were no objections.

Borough engineer Edward Mignone opened the public portion of Thursday’s meeting, leading the Mayor and Council in a discussion of bids for Linwood Ave. roadway improvements and asphalt milling service and authorization to bid for a new roof for Borough Hall.