Lack of Bids Delays Handicapped Door Replacements

Twice the borough of River Edge has sought bids for new ADA compliant doors for the police station and borough hall and both times has received zero responses. Now the town will seek clarification from the Community Development Block Grant program, which has supplied the funding, on whether the governing body could negotiate with a contractor.

"We had nine vendors pick up the packets but none actually bid on the project itself," borough administrator Alan Negreann said.

The first time the borough went out to bid for the project, the specifications not only included the doors but the masonry component as well to replace the door frames. When there were zero responses, the second bid separated the two items but once again returned with no responses.

According to borough attorney Sam Cereste, because the funding is supplied by Community Development, the borough should confirm whether they could look into negotiating with a contractor before moving ahead.

River Edge would have three options: to change the specifications and rebid, split the bids between the ADA doors, electrical and masonry components into three bids, or if the cost falls within the threshold of the borough's purchasing agent to negotiate each item separately.

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