Tasca home on the corner of Amherst and Clermont avenues.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
MARGATE – The Board of Commissioners Thursday, Oct. 21 awarded a contract for Phase 2 of reconstruction of Amherst Avenue, between Douglas and Gladstone avenues.
Three bids were received by the City Clerk Oct. 14. South State, Inc. of Bridgeton was the successful low-bidder at $871,125. Other bidders included Ferriozzi Concrete Company of Atlantic City at $1,025,464 and Lexa Concrete, LLC of Hammonton at $1,046,088.
The project is being funded with a $285,000 NJ Department of Transportation State Aid grant for fiscal year 2021 and two capital bonds approved in 2021.
City engineer Ed Dennis Jr. of Remington & Vernick Engineers said the project is being coordinated with the Margate City school district to minimize disruptions at the Eugene A. Tighe Middle School on Amherst Avenue.
“Although we recognize that arrival and dismissal will be more congested due to Amherst Avenue being closed, most of this already occurs along Monmouth Avenue, so it shouldn’t impact the families too much,” district Superintendent Audrey Becker said previously. “The biggest change is how visitors access the Main Office, which is being planned and will be communicated well before the project starts later this fall.”
Phase 1 of Amherst Avenue reconstruction between Clarendon and Douglass avenues has been mired in controversy for nearly a year after a dewatering process required to replace underground pipes rendered the ground unstable and caused damage to several area homes.
Resident Donna Tasca, whose Clermont Avenue home was the one most severely damaged, said her home, which has been shored up for months after slipping off its foundation, will likely have to be torn down and rebuilt. Attempts at coming to a settlement agreement with the contractor and its insurance company were unsuccessful, and legal suits have been filed against the contractor, Mathis Construction, R&V and the City of Margate.
During the Board of Commissioners meeting, Dennis said Mathis recently completed relining of the sanitary sewer main and additional drainage work on a small section of pipe at Delavan Avenue intersection was scheduled to be completed this week. After two weeks of settlement, final paving of the roadway will be completed the week of Nov. 15, he said. Residents have been notified of the work schedule.
Commissioner John Amodeo said that area of Amherst Avenue is one of the lowest points in the city and was selected for reconstruction based on a priority list of roads that are nearing the end of their lifespan. It is customary for the city to replace underground utilities whenever it does road projects.
City solicitor John Scott Abbott, who attended the meeting remotely, announced that the city’s insurance company, Travelers, has filed cross-claims against Mathis Construction.
“They are trying to tell them to not only to get the work done, but address the homeowners’ situation that they caused,” he said. “It’s liable to be awhile.”
R&V has also filed cross claims against the contractor.
The case will be heard in Atlantic County Superior Court. No date has been set for a jury trial.
Copyright Mediawize, LLC 2021
