Defeated MRC Contract Expected to be Re-Presented in Aug.

UPDATED, 1 p.m.–An amendment to T&M Associates' contract with the borough for additional services regarding the 49 acres was voted down by the Borough Council on Monday, 3-2. However, the matter is expected to be presented again at the Aug. 9 meeting, as there was one member absent on Monday.

Borough Administrator Ray Codey said it is not uncommon for a resolution to reappear on an agenda, as matters can be reconsidered unlike, for instance, on the Planning Board when a site plan is voted down. He said that if the resolution is voted down with the entire council present, the work by T&M would be over, but if not it would still continue.

The engineering firm has been working on designs for Madison Recreation Center, which will sit on what is commonly referred to as the 49 acres. The additional services were for the amount of $29,106.32, and were to include review and design work for a revised turn-around and parking area with final developer reciprocal easement, fencing, and cost estimating on an expedited bases.

The three council members who voted against the amended contract were Astri Baillie, Robert Conley and Sam Cerciello. The two who voted in favor were Don Links and Jeannie Tsukamoto.

"We spoke in executive session and I still don't have a comfort level on what is in there," Conley said. "I will vote no. I think we need to get T&M and talk about the overall budget going forward."

Baillie said she agreed with Conley, while Cerciello didn't say why he voted no. However, he has made comments in previous meetings about how he doesn't know enough about T&M. The two members who voted yes didn't making any public comments about the contract amendment.

The resolution was originally in the consent agenda until it was pulled out after Conley's request.

Councilman Dr. Vincent Esposito missed the meeting, as he was coming home from vacation and was unable to make it back in time. In the event he had voted yes, the 3-3 tie would have been broken by Mayor Mary-Anna Holden.

The last time T&M appeared before the council in a public meeting was May 24, when representatives gave a presentation of what the fields on the Madison Recreation Center property would look like. The fields, all recommended to be turf, have been referenced as Phase 1 of the project, or the active recreation portion for team sports.

Marty Horn, chairman of the Madison Recreation Advisory Committee, also spoke at the May 24 meeting, as well as the June 15 Board of Education meeting, where he gave a presentation of Phase 1. At that meeting, Horn said he expected the borough to go out and bid on the two fields which will be located on the school property–which is being called Phase 1a–the in about two to four weeks from that meeting.

A month later, council's vote did not allow for additional work for T&M and there is no contract for the fields.

T&M was one of the main sources of friction at the Jan. 11 council meeting, where numerous residents–in particular Tom Haralampoudis–who had been working to help come up with possible facets of the Madison Recreation Center criticized for the firm, saying it did not wait for their input before creating designs.