Transfer of Bond Funds for Bridge Project OK’d

CREST HAVEN – Lewis Donofrio, chief engineer, Cape May County Bridge Commission, updated freeholders Oct. 22 on the Middle Thorofare Bridge Rehabilitation Project.
Donofrio asked the board to permit the transfer of $2.8 million from existing Bridge Commission bond funds into the project “to cover the total cost of the project.”
The project, which consists of replacement of the railings and fender system, as well as structural repairs, is estimated to cost $6.9 million, according to Donofrio. 
Donofrio added that “there is sufficient money left in those (bond) funds to cover what we have planned in the 2020 season.” 
He said that while the 2018 bond ordinance was being prepared, he had access to former county engineer Dale Foster’s notes, “and for Middle Thorofare Bridge, he had four projects listed out.” He noted that the project consists of three of those four projects combined.
This was done to make the project more attractive for contractors, said Donofrio, and to get the cost down.
“When they did the bond ordinance, they bonded $4.55 million,” said Donofrio. The sum of the three projects, estimated by Foster, was $6.7 million, he continued.
“My estimate is $6.9 million, so there’s that slight increase,” he added. “The initial bond ordinance didn’t have a full amount there.”
The project is a complex one, according to Donofrio. He cited a lot of traffic on the bridge, as well as 5,000-6,000 bridge openings a year.
He said there’s a lot of coordination between the fender system and the railing system, so, instead of having two contractors trying to control different aspects of the project, it was decided that it would go to one contractor “to control the bascule span and the lane closures and such.”
Freeholder Will Morey, liaison to the Bridge Commission, asked Elizabeth Bozzelli, administrator and clerk of the board, if she was comfortable with the request. Bozzelli said that she was.
She said the original thought was to take money from Townsend’s Inlet and Corson’s Inlet projects. “Corson’s Inlet is off the table, and you’re going to pull that from the Grassy Sound project due to the timing and phasing of the project, right,” she asked.
“Correct,” replied Donofrio. “We do have a project that’s in the design phase there (Corson’s Inlet), so we looked at pulling money from there, (which) would impact that project now.”
He added that “Grassy Sound doesn’t have anything in the active design phase, but it does have bond money available there.”
Bozzelli asked Brittany Smith, county treasurer, if she was comfortable with that, to which she said that she was.
Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton asked when the Townsend’s Inlet and Grassy Sound projects would be completed.
Donofrio said little is planned for Townsend’s Inlet in 2020. Design work for Grassy Sound is planned in 2020, with construction in 2021. That project includes strengthening the approach spans, explained Donofrio.
“That means we’ll have to re-bond some of those things come 2020,” asked Thornton. “Correct,” answered Donofrio. “We are preparing those bonding requests for a two-year plan at this time.”
Morey asked if there would be a resolution at the next meeting, to which Bozzelli replied a resolution was not needed. She said the money could be moved tomorrow.
“It’s informational, everybody’s apprised, and comfortable,” asked Morey.
“Yes, I think everybody’s good,” said Thornton.