Council Lauds 16 Scholarship Recipients; OKs Review of Bidding, Contract Awards

VILLAS – Lower Township Council’s Feb. 17 meeting opened with a display of hard work and dedication by 16 members of Lower Cape May Regional High School.
Led by their teacher and “coach” Michael Wilson, the students pulled off what can only be described as an academic “slam dunk” that resulted in each receiving a $20,000 college scholarship from H & R Block.
Wilson explained that H & R Block sponsors a “Budget Challenge” scholarship contest that tests the ability of high school students to create and manage a simulated budget, including retirement investments, emergency and unforeseen events, and other real-life situations that they may face in life and in business.
About 22,000 students participated in the national competition; 16 of the 22 students who entered from Lower Cape May Regional won scholarships. 
Mayor Michael Beck mused “What are the odds that 16 students from our high school would win out of 22,000 students who competed nationwide?”  
Then the business of governing began.
A resolution authorized a request for $205,000 from the Lower Township Municipal Utilities Authority passed by a 3-2 vote. Dissenting votes were cast by Deputy Mayor Norris Clark and Beck because, as Beck stated, “I have been consistent in my opposition to asking MUA ratepayers to contribute to Lower Township taxpayers when these two groups are not necessarily the same people.”
His point was that it is unfair to require MUA ratepayers to help carry the township’s tax burden.
During council comments, Clark spoke about the concerns that many residents expressed about the bidding process for professional services contracts; or more accurately the lack of a clear bidding process.
Clark added that the state Comptroller’s Office website contains a “best practices” page to assist local governments avoid the misuse of public funds due to a sloppy bidding process.
Clark read several of those practices including the need to expand the pool of respondents to requests for proposals (RFP), create a clear set of criteria to judge RFPs that all prospective contractors are aware of, and others. 
Clark recommended that the mayor launch a special review of the bidding process used for many township professional services contracts in recent times.
Beck was clearly prepared to act on that recommendation. He cited the Hatch Mott MacDonald engineering contract awarded at the end of 2015 as an example where he personally received responses to that RFP less than one hour before the council meeting was held to decide on the contract.
“I had 33 pages of material to review in 50 minutes” according to the mayor. Beck suggested “We need someone from the outside to look at how we award these contracts.”  “I move that we request the solicitor contact the (state) League of Municipalities who have people who can look at what we have done here,” Beck added. 
More discussion from Councilmen Thomas Conrad, Erik Simonsen and David Perry focused on a defense of how the Hatch Mott MacDonald engineering and other professional contracts were awarded, although Simonsen admitted that “the process is not perfect,” and that he would support a review as long as no one was “blamed” for specific contracts.
Beck agreed and made a motion to ask the solicitor to contact the League of Municipalities to gather information about what options that organization could suggest for Lower Township to produce a better bidding process. This compromise was accepted and a motion to contact the league passed unanimously.
Beck announced that the “Run for the Fallen” event will be held March 12 at 6 p.m. at the Bolero in Wildwood; tickets are available at the Municipal Building.
Beck also reminded everyone that the MUA cannot pick up recycled materials that are kept in plastic bags; those bags jam machinery and cause costly repairs.
To contact Jim McCarty, email jmccarty@cmcherald.com.