Andy-Matt's attorney argues that his clients are qualified for the job and that the town's qualifications are flawed.
Effectively, attorney James Bryce spent about an hour talking his clients, the contractor Andy-Matt, out of a job that they didn’t have. At a hearing over contract bids at the July 7 Township Committee meeting, Bryce argued that Andy-Matt, the lowest bidders among contractors vying to rehab DeHart Park, was not, as the town decided previously, unqualified for the work. At the end of his argument, Township officials and employees seemed convinced that not only was Andy-Matt not qualified, but that the next lowest bidder, Turco Golf, might not qualified either. Last month, Andy-Matt submitted a bid of $1.19 million to complete the project, which includes rehabilitating the field's lights, grass and drainage. The cost for the work was …
40.73058
-74.27201
Township Municipal Building
574 Valley St, Maplewood, NJ
/articles/tc-contractor-spar-over-dehart-qualifications
3110
/locations/39393
The union is working to find jobs for officers in other departments.
Detective Kevin Kisch, president of Maplewood's chapter of the Policeman's Benevolent Association said the police union has voted against a deal to save the jobs of the three officers slated to be laid off at the end of the month. Kisch said the Township had made an offer similar to the one accepted by the firefighters earlier this year. Under the term of the deal, officers would have had to pay an increased share of benefits to offset the cost of keeping the three policemen on the force. "We voted not to accept the Township's offer," Kisch said. He would not comment on whether the vote was close other than to say it was a majority decision. He said that the three officers would definitely be off the force at the end of the month, and said…
40.722367
-74.257778
Maplewood Police Department
1618 Springfield Ave, Maplewood, NJ
/articles/pba-votes-no-on-township-deal
3384
/locations/32566
Meeting scheduled for Tuesday morning about contracts.
UPDATE: Considering the vote by the PBA to reject the Township's deal to keep the police officers on the force by having officers assume a greater burden of benefit costs, this meeting is very likely to be cancelled. All government offices are closed do to budget-imposed Friday summer furloughs, and we can not confirm the cancellation with either the clerk's or the town administrator's office. The Township Committee has put up a notice on the Township's Web site of a special meeting for 8 a.m. on Tuesday, June 30. According to the notice, the special meeting will be held to discuss contract negotiations. The initial part of the meeting will be in closed session for the negotiations, and then will open up for public session for action. June…
40.73058
-74.27201
Township Municipal Building
574 Valley St, Maplewood, NJ
/articles/township-committee-announces-special-meeting
3110
/locations/32568
