PETER J. SAMPSON, Staff Writer
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
05-26-2000
RIDGEFIELD ATHLETIC COMPLEX TO COST $1.2M MORE THAN BONDED
By PETER J. SAMPSON, Staff Writer
Date: 05-26-2000, Friday
Section: NEWS
Edition: All Bergen Editions -- Two Star B, One Star B
RIDGEFIELD -- The price tag for an athletic complex to be built in Willis Park is
going up by more than $1 million.
The Borough Council in September bonded $2.3 million to finance a
soil cleanup and park make-over, which includes building a top-flight
sports complex with lighted playing fields and artificial turf. But $3.5
million is the latest estimate for the project.
When the bids came in earlier this month for the athletic and
recreational improvements, Mayor Stewart V. Veale said they were well
over the consultant's initial estimates.
To take advantage of the lowest bids and get the project moving,
Veale said the job was awarded minus five components because the money
was not in hand to pay for them.
The council plans to rescue those and other items, however, with a
second bond ordinance introduced Monday that would raise an additional
$1.2 million for the project.
The extra funding will cover the cost of a building for restrooms
and concessions, a basketball court, a 'tot lot' play area, night
lighting for the practice and playing fields, and an artificial grass
surface for the main football-soccer field.
'Those options were taken out because we didn't have enough money
left in the [first bond] ordinance,' said Borough Clerk Jeanine
Sciglitano. The borough will bid those items again when the funding is
set, she said.
Although not part of the original plans, a team building, with
showers, lockers, and lavatory, will also be bid at that time.
'Everyone connected [with the project] felt this building should be
there,' Veale said.
An artificial playing surface, a plastic and rubber compound called
field turf, is a synthetic grass that is expected to cost about $450,000
to cover the main football-soccer field.
Before its closing in early 1998, Willis Park was the home field
for the Royals' practices and home football games, site of the annual
spring carnival, and a haven for area residents. Borough officials hope
to have the new field ready in time for the Royals' home opener on
Sept. 16.
To that end, on May 8 the council retained A.I.C. Construction
Corp. of South Hackensack, whose $1,344,450 base bid was the lowest of
five bids that ranged up to $2.1 million.
The plans for the complex also include a 400-meter synthetic
all-weather track that will loop around the main football-soccer field,
aluminum bleachers to seat about 1,000, and a press box.
'This town has a pretty good high school girls and boys track team
but we have no track,' said Recreation Director Gary Buchheister.
'They've had no practice facilities at all and we compete pretty good in
Group 1.'
The six-acre park, on the west side of Grand Avenue just south of
Route 46, is owned jointly by the borough and the Board of Education.
It was closed after soil sampling uncovered two pollutant metals --
arsenic and beryllium -- that exceeded state standards for residential
areas, but clean enough to be used as construction fill dirt.
Later sampling also detected cadmium in the soil and nickel in
ground water and determined that the metals were fairly evenly
distributed throughout the park. Officials said the highest
concentrations found were just above the minimum threshold and posed
virtually no health risk, even for long-term exposure.
The soil removal was completed several weeks ago and the latest
samples show the site is now clean, Michael D. Campion, chief operating
officer of AccuTech Environmental Services of Keyport, said Thursday.
'The contaminated soils have been removed and replaced with
certified clean soils,' said Campion, whose firm oversaw the cleanup and
is now drafting the final report to the state Department of
Environmental Protection to close the case.
About 12,000 tons of tainted soil were excavated and replaced by
contractor Frank Gaccione Inc. of Clifton, which was able to complete
the work for about $75,000 below its $400,000 bid, said Campion.
The savings resulted from a smaller than expected area of
contamination and the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission's
pressing need for material for landfill cover, which enabled Gaccione's
trucks to make more daily trips than normal, shortening the length of
the removal job, Campion said.
Although the DEP was initially willing to let Willis Park's
contaminated soil be covered with impermeable material such as clay, the
borough decided on the more extensive removal to avoid any health risk
to children who would be using the park.
Staff Writer Peter Sampson's e-mail address is sampson(at)bergen.com
Keywords: RIDGEFIELD. SPORT. BUILDING. CONSTRUCTION. COST
Copyright 2000 Bergen Record Corp. All rights reserved.
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
05-26-2000
RIDGEFIELD ATHLETIC COMPLEX TO COST $1.2M MORE THAN BONDED
By PETER J. SAMPSON, Staff Writer
Date: 05-26-2000, Friday
Section: NEWS
Edition: All Bergen Editions -- Two Star B, One Star B
RIDGEFIELD -- The price tag for an athletic complex to be built in Willis Park is
going up by more than $1 million.
The Borough Council in September bonded $2.3 million to finance a
soil cleanup and park make-over, which includes building a top-flight
sports complex with lighted playing fields and artificial turf. But $3.5
million is the latest estimate for the project.
When the bids came in earlier this month for the athletic and
recreational improvements, Mayor Stewart V. Veale said they were well
over the consultant's initial estimates.
To take advantage of the lowest bids and get the project moving,
Veale said the job was awarded minus five components because the money
was not in hand to pay for them.
The council plans to rescue those and other items, however, with a
second bond ordinance introduced Monday that would raise an additional
$1.2 million for the project.
The extra funding will cover the cost of a building for restrooms
and concessions, a basketball court, a 'tot lot' play area, night
lighting for the practice and playing fields, and an artificial grass
surface for the main football-soccer field.
'Those options were taken out because we didn't have enough money
left in the [first bond] ordinance,' said Borough Clerk Jeanine
Sciglitano. The borough will bid those items again when the funding is
set, she said.
Although not part of the original plans, a team building, with
showers, lockers, and lavatory, will also be bid at that time.
'Everyone connected [with the project] felt this building should be
there,' Veale said.
An artificial playing surface, a plastic and rubber compound called
field turf, is a synthetic grass that is expected to cost about $450,000
to cover the main football-soccer field.
Before its closing in early 1998, Willis Park was the home field
for the Royals' practices and home football games, site of the annual
spring carnival, and a haven for area residents. Borough officials hope
to have the new field ready in time for the Royals' home opener on
Sept. 16.
To that end, on May 8 the council retained A.I.C. Construction
Corp. of South Hackensack, whose $1,344,450 base bid was the lowest of
five bids that ranged up to $2.1 million.
The plans for the complex also include a 400-meter synthetic
all-weather track that will loop around the main football-soccer field,
aluminum bleachers to seat about 1,000, and a press box.
'This town has a pretty good high school girls and boys track team
but we have no track,' said Recreation Director Gary Buchheister.
'They've had no practice facilities at all and we compete pretty good in
Group 1.'
The six-acre park, on the west side of Grand Avenue just south of
Route 46, is owned jointly by the borough and the Board of Education.
It was closed after soil sampling uncovered two pollutant metals --
arsenic and beryllium -- that exceeded state standards for residential
areas, but clean enough to be used as construction fill dirt.
Later sampling also detected cadmium in the soil and nickel in
ground water and determined that the metals were fairly evenly
distributed throughout the park. Officials said the highest
concentrations found were just above the minimum threshold and posed
virtually no health risk, even for long-term exposure.
The soil removal was completed several weeks ago and the latest
samples show the site is now clean, Michael D. Campion, chief operating
officer of AccuTech Environmental Services of Keyport, said Thursday.
'The contaminated soils have been removed and replaced with
certified clean soils,' said Campion, whose firm oversaw the cleanup and
is now drafting the final report to the state Department of
Environmental Protection to close the case.
About 12,000 tons of tainted soil were excavated and replaced by
contractor Frank Gaccione Inc. of Clifton, which was able to complete
the work for about $75,000 below its $400,000 bid, said Campion.
The savings resulted from a smaller than expected area of
contamination and the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission's
pressing need for material for landfill cover, which enabled Gaccione's
trucks to make more daily trips than normal, shortening the length of
the removal job, Campion said.
Although the DEP was initially willing to let Willis Park's
contaminated soil be covered with impermeable material such as clay, the
borough decided on the more extensive removal to avoid any health risk
to children who would be using the park.
Staff Writer Peter Sampson's e-mail address is sampson(at)bergen.com
Keywords: RIDGEFIELD. SPORT. BUILDING. CONSTRUCTION. COST
Copyright 2000 Bergen Record Corp. All rights reserved.
