Proposals to bid out the town’s emergency medical services (EMS) and award a contract to purchase four shuttle buses for $237,008, as well as a presentation by the chief of police on crime and safety, head the agenda for the October 1 council meeting.
The meeting agendas and related materials are here.
The administration is asking town council approval to conduct competitive contracting to designate an EMS provider. The West Orange First Aid Squad (WOFAS) has provided the service for 50 years, but in recent years has had trouble attracting enough volunteers. The town’s fire department has stepped in and now provides a significant portion of the town’s EMS. Recently, WOFAS went to a hybrid paid-volunteer business model, paying per-diem employees to staff two ambulances while continuing to operate with volunteers.
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At stake are hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue from billing private and public health insurers for EMS. The town reports net revenue from EMS of $488,415 year to date. WOFAS, which had previously operated solely on contributions, began billing insurance in November to provide enough revenue to staff their ambulances.
The administration is citing the recommendation of a state procurement officer and state bidding law as requiring the town to bid the service through competitive contracting, a process that allows for flexibility in assessing qualifications. WOFAS has opposed the bidding process as unnecessary, citing other Essex towns that haven’t gone to bid where non-profit community EMS bills insurance.
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Council postponed consideration of the administration proposal from the September 17 council meeting. The discussion of the proposal is part of the Conference Agenda scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.
Police Chief Jim Abbott’s presentation is on the Conference Agenda, which begins at 6:30 p.m.
The administration is recommending the award of the contract for four buses to Wolfington Body Co. of Mount Holly totaling $237,008 in a competitive bid. Wolfington was the highest bidder, but the town said the two other bids did not comply with the bid specifications including delivery within 90 days of receiving the purchase order. The buses – three with 25 seats and one with 20 seats and room for two wheelchairs -- are used for commuter jitney service to and from train stations and for senior transportation.
The council is considering three proposed ordinances on second and final reading. The first is a revision to the Law Department. The others are restricted parking spaces on Llewellyn and Virginia Avenues and Orange and Riggs Places, as well as changes to traffic standing and stopping on Stanford Avenue to reflect a car drop zone to the south of Pleasantdale Elementary School. All ordinances require the availability of public comment.
In other agenda items, the council is asked to:
- Approve the open-space purchase of unimproved land near the fire station on Ridgeway Avenue for $170,000, with half the funding from state Green Acres and the other from the town Open Space fund.
- Award a $426,677 contract to Grabowski Construction of West Orange for improvements to Mountain Drive and Highwood Road from among six competitive bidders.
- Consider two litigation matters in executive session, a long-running property-tax dispute with the City of Orange over its reservoir and litigation with the town’s former tax-appeal law firm, O’Donnell McCord of Morristown, over its bills. A resolution resolving the second litigation is on the agenda.
- Approve an agreement with Life Christian Church to receive a certificate of occupancy for a portion of its new facility at 747 Northfield Ave. before construction is complete.
Two ordinances are on the agenda for first reading:
- An ordinance subjecting landlords to additional responsibility for their properties and tenants, setting up a hearing process to adjudicate two or more violations within a 24-month period.
- Re-establishment of a town Environmental Commission.
I’m a West Orange Township councilman since 2010, reachable at jkrakoviak@westorange.org. I'm a business communications consultant in my spare time.
