Canceled Toms River Parking Garage Work Revisited As Concrete Crumbles

NOTE: This article has been updated throughout to clarify comments made by Mayor Daniel Rodrick at the Township Council meeting on March 27, after a review of the meeting video via a repost of the meeting video by Shore News Network. The township's livestream of the March 27 meeting was removed from YouTube following the meeting.

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick says a structural engineer is taking another look at the Toms River Township parking garage, a month after rejecting a bid for repairs to the structure.

Rodrick made the statement in response to a question from Councilman James Quinlisk at Wednesday's Township Council meeting about a resolution approving a contract for beach replenishment in Ortley Beach.

Since the township council at the Feb. 28 meeting rejected a bid for repairs to the parking structure, pieces of concrete have fallen in several places along the center of the middle deck of the structure.

A walk through the area on March 22 showed plainly visible cracks in the concrete, rust streaks from rusting steel supports in the structure, and visibly deteriorating concrete.

An April 2019 structural report on the parking garage by Maser Consulting, which is now Colliers Engineering, described a number of issues with deteriorating concrete in the garage, which was built in 1977 and underwent renovations in 2011.

In the report, project engineer William Doll said the parking garage was showing signs of water damage and normal wear and tear.

"At this time the deterioration has not caused significant structural damage to the parking garage levels and retaining walls, but if left untreated, the deterioration may further expand and eventually cause structural damage," the report says.

"To maintain the structural integrity of the parking garage and retaining walls, the recommended repairs should be applied and a general maintenance program should be provided," the report said.

The report recommended checking the condition of the concrete every 5 to 10 years for signs of new deterioration. It was not acted upon in 2019. A 2022 proposal for services from Colliers Engineering was the first indication its recommendations were being addressed.

In response to questioning from Quinlisk, Rodrick denied the report was a structural report on the garage, and said the report was focused on paint.

“If you read what the structural, what you call structural — which it is not — if you read the report, you would see that it was paint and that the report stated that if the repairs weren't made to where you see the cement, uh whatever, that stucco coming off, if they weren't repaired it could in the future lead to problems.”

“So we sent a structural engineer out just in case that person made a mistake. We're waiting on that report to come back,” Rodrick said. “Whether it's structural or not structural, that will be repaired at a lot less than a half a million dollars.”

"The garage clearly has some issues," Quinlisk said.

“It's not structural,” Rodrick said. “There's stucco and paint and I ordered a new engineering report in case you were right that it's structural.”

“We're going to have them come and look and it's going to be repaired and we're not going to spend a half a million dollars to paint the parking lot. You're going to have to deal with the way the parking lot looks now,” Rodrick said.

“I don't think anybody's worried about the aesthetics,” Quinlisk said.

“I think you are because I just told you that the report you're referencing is about aesthetics,” Rodrick said.

“Walk the garage with the public, maybe then you could see that it's not just paint,” Quinlisk said.

“I park there. It's stucco,” Rodrick said. “The report you reference talks about repairing the stucco so that it doesn't become a structural issue.”

Rodrick made reference to the media having read the report. You can read the structural report here. The only stucco on the garage is on the retaining wall by the stairs on the west side of the garage. Five pages of the report are focused on the upper and middle parking levels, including the concrete supports for the structure.

The bid rejected in February, by Brave Industrial Paint LLC of Long Branch, was for more than just paint and stucco repairs, according to the bid documents publicly available on OpenGov.com, a government project bidding website.

The 147-page bid document details a lengthy list of repairs to the concrete structure to address areas where water infiltration has led to rusting of the steel supports (called rebar) within the concrete, and that has caused the concrete to crumble (called spalling).

Also to be addressed is the replacement of materials between joints in the concrete, and replacement of drains on the parking surface to remove rainwater and reduce water infiltration.

Repairs to the stucco on the retaining wall and replacement of deteriorating wooden guardrails in the parking area are included in the bid documents.

Of the 147-page document, the first 98 are dedicated to the table of contents and the legal contractual issues. On the specifications for the project, which begin on page 99, there are 21 pages dedicated to concrete repairs. Seven more pages are devoted to specs for structural steel connected with the concrete.

There are seven pages at the end of the package that discuss paint. Painting that would be done is a specialized sealant that helps reduce water infiltration, according to the bid documents.

A plan for the repairs, with explanations of what needs to be done, shows all of the repairs included in the package from the top deck to the bottom and the exterior needs.

The bid package was posted Dec. 22, 2023, with a bid closing date of Jan. 11, 2024. The council was not notified of the advertisement of the bid package, as bid advertisements for work that has been discussed are not routinely sent to the council.

The cost of the work at the time of the 2019 report was estimated at $300,000 to $400,000, including "materials and labor for the selective demolition, slab joint replacement, concrete repair work, power-washing and coating surfaces of all the concrete," the report said. That number also included a profit margin, overhead, contingency and "general construction conditions," the report said.

Rodrick, in comments to Patch, said new bid specifications will be drafted based on the findings of the engineer his administration asked to look at the garage.

"The prior administration left it like that for their entire time in office. Like everything else they dropped the ball on, we will fix it, but we will not spend $500,000 to paint the garage. These repairs will be a fraction of that cost," Rodrick said.

He insisted the concrete repairs that are needed are "a small fraction of the cost" of the project.

"The paint company was subbing them out and we would have been paying a lot more for the repair and $500,000 for unnecessary painting. The engineer we hired will also make sure all companies get proper notice," he said. "I am giving a second look and preserving much-needed capital."