Brick Beach I (Credit: Google Maps)
In another delay resulting from the state’s numerous efforts to help shore up the northern barrier island’s dune system, a contract for parking lot repairs at Brick Beach I has been put out to bid for a second time.
The township council voted unanimously this week to cancel a contract from 2013 that appropriated $226,863 for the repairs to Johnson Baran Corp. of Forked River. Since 2013, the company said, construction materials and prevailing wage rates have increased, and the work could not be performed for the price originally bid.
New Jersey law requires public contractors to pay “prevailing wage” rates, meaning hourly wages equivalent to average unionized labor rates, whether the workers are unionized or not.
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Since the original bids were solicited for the contract, the work was not able to be performed since the state Department of Environmental Protection had designated the beach parking lot as a staging area for the steel wall revetment installation project, which was completed in June 2015. State laws require companies to honor bids for no longer than the duration of time allocated for the contract to be completed.
Brick, therefore, reimbursed Johnson Baran $4,470, the amount the company paid for performance bonds related to the project.
The township council is currently soliciting bids for the project.
