ALLENTOWN – The Borough Council has awarded a contract for improvements to Allentown’s elevated water storage tank to Guimar General Contractor, Newark.
The award of the contract is pending approval from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, according to a resolution that was passed by council members on May 14.
Six bids were received on April 30 for the elevated water storage tank improvements project. Guimar General Contractor was the low bidder at $428,000, which was about 2% above the borough engineer’s estimate of $419,500, according to the resolution.
Officials said the borough engineer reviewed the documents submitted by the company and
all conditions set forth in the bid proposal have been satisfied and the contractor is not on the current list of debarred contractors.
The borough attorney reviewed the low bidder’s documents and found them to be acceptable, according to the resolution.
Allentown’s Water Utility Standing Committee supported the borough engineer’s recommendation to award the contract to Guimar General Contractor, according to the resolution.
The other bids that were received from companies seeking to be awarded the contract were as follows: U.S. Tank Painting Inc., Millstone Township, $476,900; Bragaton Construction Inc., Livingston, $508,000; Allied Painting Inc., Cherry Hill, $562,250; Brave Industrial Paint, LLC, Long Branch, $649,500; and Alpine Painting & Sandblasting Contractors, Paterson, $798,950.
In discussing the project, Borough Engineer Carmela Roberts has said Allentown officials had a tank inspection specialist inspect the interior and exterior of the borough’s water tank in 2016.
She said a subsequent report contained recommendations to sand blast and repaint the interior of the tank, and to high-pressure wash and repaint the exterior of the tank.
Roberts said the improvements “are needed to maintain good water quality as well as the structural integrity of the steel tank. The project will prepare and repaint both the interior and exterior.”
She said several other improvements are part of the work, including a new mixer in the tank which will also help water quality, a new staircase to the top of the tank in compliance with new Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations, and new railings.
Roberts said the work is being funded by a low-interest loan through the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank.
In other action on May 14, council members awarded a contract for legal services to the firm of Grace Marmero and Associates, LLP, Woodbury, to prosecute an in rem (action against a property) tax lien foreclosure against 23 Hamilton St.
According to a resolution, officials have “determined the abandoned property requires legal action to remedy its condition and its deleterious effects upon property values in the surrounding neighborhood.”
Municipal officials said that for the past two years, “the borough has taken numerous legal steps and enforcement actions which have not had the desired effect of rehabilitating the
property due to non-responsive owners, service of process issues, and most notably, the difficulties inherent in the structure on the property being attached to the structure on an adjacent lot.”
Grace Marmero and Associates will be retained as special legal counsel at a rate of $150 per hour. Payments to the firm may not exceed $7,000 without additional authorization from the Borough Council. The contract was awarded without competitive bidding as a professional service under the provisions of state law, according to the resolution.
