Town Committee: Bid For Harry Dunham Rink Too Expensive

The Township Committee rejected on Monday night a bid of $142,297 to overhaul the drainage system and resurface a cracked roller rink at Harry Dunham Park that has been padlocked since late last summer.

However, the committee on Monday night then followed up by authorizing Township Engineer Tom Timko to seek another set of bids for the project, but only to seek drainage improvements and asphalt resurface for the facility. The maximium budget is set at $125,000.

The township received two bids for the renovation of the roller rink, used by roller bladers and hockey players. The lower bid, from All Surface Asphalt Paving Co. in Point Pleasant, was more than $17,000 more than the maximum amount earmarked for the project, according to the resoliution on the Township Committee agenda.

"We can't award the project with the budget we have," Timko told township officials at Tuesday's meeting. 

He said the bid package that drew the two recent bids included multiple "alternative" ways of renovating the rink, including the installation of plastic tiles over a concrete surface.

Residents suggested various alternatives for repairing the rink, Township Committeeman John Carpenter said.

However, Timko said the tiles are not a less expensive alternative. He said installation of the tiles in New Jersey all are relatively recent, and the plastic interlocking pieces have not been shown to be able to withstand harsh winters.

"I don't think we want to be pioneers on this," Mayor John Malay said.

Timko said the next bid package to be advertised will seek a contractor to install a drainage system around the perimeter of the 15,000-square-foot rink, and then to repave the surface with asphalt.

He said the idea of doing some of the work in-house has fallen by the wayside after the township's department of public works said some employees have recently left.

Timko said he will see whether a contract can be awarded before bad weather sets in.

A proposal to overhaul the closed roller rink was originally set at a maximum , but maximum was reduced by the Township Committee to $125,000 in March, following some public input.

The roller rink is located off Somerville Road within the township park. Township officials said it has been closed after the township received advice that it was no longer for hockey players or in-line skaters.