Allendale October 19, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 7 Chestnut Street resurfacing project undergoes critique by John Koster Allendale Community Emergency Response Team leader Peter Brannigan and members of the Allendale Borough Council agreed to disagree on minor details, but concurred that the long-awaited resurfacing of Chestnut Street at a cost of about $170,000 in New Jersey DOT funds left a lot to be desired. “It’s not exactly what I would have wanted to have seen, but it’s better than it was,” Branningan told the mayor and council at last week’s council meeting. Specifically, Brannigan was concerned because he said he asked the borough’s contract engineer, John Yakimik, to take action about some test borings in the resurfaced road and Yakimik, after examining the borings, made a statement that Brannigan said he found dismissive. “After 15 or 16 years of me putting up with this, I think having him tell me ‘Nothing lasts forever’ was a cheap shot,” Brannigan said. He said the test borings, though they have since been patched, would fill with water after rain and would eventually crack and lead to potholes. “Even these, the way they were patched, are going to present problems,” Brannigan said. “If nothing’s done about it, it’s going to get worse, and I don’t want to be in a situation like I was in for the last 15 or 16 years.” Mayor Vince Barra and Council Member Elizabeth White concurred that the long-awaited paving of Chestnut Street had not been what they anticipated. “It’s been miserable,” White said. Both White and Barra placed most of the responsibility on the contractor rather than on Yakimik, whose work, officials said, has been satisfactory during his tenure in Allendale. White said the original contract had been for $176,477, but change orders had reduced the contract to $169,038. Most of the money, Allendale Council members said, came from New Jersey Department of Transportation grants. “We’ve had a lot of problems with that contractor. It’s the bidding process,” Mayor Barra said. “For the money we paid, and the state paid, this is unacceptable.” Mayor Barra was he would speak to Yakimik about the situation. Barra also said that the contractor, AJM of Clifton, had been a disappointment to borough officials, but that everyone’s hands were tied by state regulations. “We were very dissatisfied with the contractor,” Barra said, adding that the borough contacted the state and was told there was nothing that could be done. Brannigan conceded that Yakimik’s comment had seemed out of character. “Generally, he’s been very considerate,” Brannigan acknowledged. However, he maintained that the repaving of Chestnut Street, while an improvement, was a flawed project. After Brannigan left the council chamber, Barra said that, as the leader of the Community Emergency Response Team, Brannigan had performed with great effectiveness during Hurricane Irene and had been an important asset to Allendale. Council members also said that Yakimik has been a very capable contractor engineer. In other business, the council agreed to retain Joseph Citro, now chief financial officer and part-time certified qualified purchasing agent for the Borough of Ho-Ho-Kus, as part-time purchasing agent for Allendale. Keith Cauwenberghs, director of the road crew and other exterior functions, has served as purchasing agent and is authorized to make purchases up to $17,500 without competitive bids of the type that forced Allendale to contract Chestnut Street to AJM, but a new state regulation allows municipalities to make purchases of up to $35,000 if they have a qualified purchasing agent. Mayor Barra posited, and the council agreed, that appointing Citro as purchasing agent for a stipend -- about $2,400 a year -- could save Allendale money and inconvenience in the future.