FREEHOLD – The Borough Council in Freehold Borough has hired a firm to help the municipality obtain Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds as reimbursement during the coronavirus pandemic.
On April 20, council members awarded a professional services contract to Millennium Strategies, LLC, Morristown, for FEMA grant management and administration. The firm will be paid $180 per hour (not to exceed $7,500), according to a resolution.
The contract was awarded without public bidding. As stated in the resolution, a contract may be awarded without public bidding, regardless of the bid threshold, in circumstances where an emergency affecting the public health, safety or welfare of citizens requires the immediate delivery of goods or the performance of services.
Municipal officials said the contract was authorized because consultants need to be retained to respond to the ongoing emergency and because Freehold Borough may be entitled to reimbursement of funds from FEMA or FEMA programs as a result of the pandemic.
In other business, the council authorized Mayor Kevin Kane and Municipal Clerk Traci DiBenedetto to execute a fiscal year 2021-23 agreement with Monmouth County for cooperative participation in the community development program.
According to a resolution, federal funds may be available to the county under the Community Development Block Grant Program and the agreement will allow Freehold Borough to benefit from the program. The council’s action establishes a cooperative means of conducting certain community development activities.
