Bids for Vernon biking and walking trail due by Nov. 30
Vernon. The council authorized the $289,000 purchase of the Baldwin Property, where contaminated soil is scheduled to be removed this week.
| 27 Nov 2021 | 06:24
Trail map from the information for bidders on the proposed Town Center Bike & Walking Trail
Vernon Township is requesting bids for the Town Center Biking and Walking Trail by Nov. 30, Mayor Howard Burrell announced on Nov. 15.
He plans to present the construction bid award at the Dec. 13 township council meeting.
The council authorized Burrell to complete a purchase of the Baldwin Property, located at 8-20 Black Creek Drive, after Burrell walked away from an easement owned by Andy Mulvihill’s HR II Development Corp.. after they were unable to agree on terms.
The township is authorized to buy the Baldwin property for $289,000 on the condition it obtains a clean Phase 1 environmental study. The study found a 55-gallon drum and other refuse that needed additional investigation, a Phase II study. The more intense study found some lead-contaminated soil in the area surrounding the 55-gallon drum.
Burrell said the amount of lead was measured at 530 parts per million, below the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s standard of 1,000 parts per million for industrial and commercial sites. It was slightly above the DEP’s residential standard, which the township chose to use.
Burrell said the owners of the Baldwin property hired Applied Service Corporation of Lafayette to remove the contaminated soil. The contaminated soil is scheduled to be removed by Nov. 23, he said.
Township engineer Cory Stoner said the environmental studies cost about $12,000, a sum taken from the township’s Open Space Fund. The township has received bids of $129,000, $168,000, and $174,000 to complete trail.
Stoner’s estimate remains at around $160,000 for the trail, even though it was altered as it got closer to the proposed pump track (see related story on page 2).
“We’ve been working on various projects, trail projects, and one of the ones we identified was the Town Center,” Councilman Michael Furrey said. “And the reason we identified the Town Center Trail was because it was within the Town Center. We thought there was an economic benefit to the construction of a Town Center trail to help stimulate the local economy.”
