JACKSON – Councilman Giuseppe Palmeri got a bit frosty when he questioned a resolution to buy a refrigerator for the township’s senior center which is set for renovation.
Magic Touch Construction has been contracted to do that project and the councilman remarked during a recent Township Council meeting, “it looks like the initial project for the senior center was approved for $207,000.”
“We already did one change order previously and awarded an increase of $35,000 that I guess we weren’t aware was needed for that project. This is the second change order and we are increasing it another $4,300. This project has increased by 19%.”
Looking at the descriptions included in the latest change order Palmeri noted that a $2,000 refrigerator was to be returned. “Was it broken and if so, why are we paying for it again?”
Council President Jennifer Kuhn said she also wondered about that. The request had come from the Senior Center during a walkthrough and “they found this wasn’t the fridge that they wanted. The original refrigerator “was approved in the contract. They just wanted to make a change out.”
“That is costing the taxpayers $2,200,” Palmeri said.
“Correct. It is our Senior Center,” Kuhn replied. “The whole project is to redo the Senior Center.”
Palmeri said he agreed that the center needed to be redone and he also approved of the $207,000 figure but the change order and the added cost of the fridge, left him a bit chilly.
Kuhn said, “we can remove it and speak to the CFO. Make a motion to remove it and we can vote on it.”
The councilman then made a motion to remove Resolution 267-2025.
Council Vice President Mordechai Burnstein asked where the refrigerator was currently located.
Kuhn replied that wasn’t her department but the Department of Public Works would know and a representative wasn’t present at that night’s meeting.
“Business Administrator (Lavon Phillips) do you know anything about this fridge?” the council president asked.
Phillips responded that the refrigerator wasn’t specified right “so they needed to update it. I haven’t seen it. It was before my time but I do know the spec was wrong. The person who ordered it originally should have done the spec differently.”
“So, it would be on the contractor?” Kuhn asked.
“If we made the mistake that is different. These mistakes are costing thousands of dollars,” Palmeri added and he took back his motion to remove the fridge.
The council president said she’d look into the matter further because “I don’t know why DPW would be spec-ing out a renovation of the senior center and the contractor wouldn’t. It doesn’t make sense. It’s happened. It happened in our Recreation (Division) as well.”
“They need a refrigerator. We don’t want to put our seniors in a position to not have a refrigerator,” Palmeri commented. He said going forward, “someone needs to answer to why they are misappropriating taxpayer funds.”
