Restoring Warren Town Hall will cost up to $1,444,388.88, and insurance is paying it

Two resolutions, two phases

The Committee took the Town Hall work in two pieces on April 16.

Resolution 2026-112 confirmed the emergency contract with Rapid Recovery Services, 9 Stephensburg Road, Washington, New Jersey, for immediate remediation of the water damage. That contract was let under N.J.S.A. 40A:11-6, the provision of the Local Public Contracts Law that allows a municipality to contract without public bidding when an emergency affects public health, safety or welfare. Confirming it by resolution after the fact is how that statute is supposed to work. Travelers Insurance approved a statement of loss for that remediation phase of $383,416.63.

Resolution 2026-113 then awarded the restoration contract, the rebuild rather than the dry out, to the same firm in an amount not to exceed $1,444,388.88. The figure comes from a Travelers estimate dated April 13, 2026. Both resolutions passed 5-0.

Who is actually paying

This is the part worth being precise about, because a seven figure contract number in a township of Warren's size reads alarming without the payment mechanics attached.

The Garden State Municipal Joint Insurance Fund issued the Township a check for $495,000.00. Separately, Property Claims Director Scott Edwards confirmed in an April 1, 2026 letter that the fund will pay Rapid Recovery Services directly, subject to verification of completed work. So the restoration invoices route to the insurance fund rather than through the municipal budget.

Mayor Shaun Fine credited Administrator Mark Krane with getting the Township up and running and operational so quickly after the February failure. Township Committee business has been running out of the Susie B. Boyce Court Room at 44 Mountain Boulevard since.

Five other contracts went out the same night

Resolutions 2026-114 through 2026-128 moved as consent items, all 5-0. Several are worth having on the record.

The dumpster award is a clean bid record. Bids were advertised in the March 8, 2026 Courier News and opened April 7, 2026. Allegro came in at $670 per 30 cubic yard dumpster against Stilo Excavation at $740, Interstate Waste Services at $850 with a 5 ton limit and $120 per ton overage, and Jefferson Recycling at $1,937.

The IT support award to Marmic Associates was competitively contracted and selected from ten bids on an April 8, 2026 review committee report. Marmic is a Warren firm. The executive recruitment award to Government Strategy Group was chosen from eleven proposals. The Canize award is a first one year extension, not a new contract.

Three ordinances adopted, two more moving

Ordinances 26-12, 26-13 and 26-14 were adopted 5-0 on April 16.

Ordinance 26-12 appropriates the $900,000 federal public safety communications grant. No member of the public commented at the hearing. Croson thanked Congressman Kean. Congressman Tom Kean Jr. announced that appropriation on February 21, 2026 at an event attended by Mayor Fine, Police Chief Robert W. Ferreiro, State Senator Jon Bramnick, Assemblyman Andrew Macurdy, Deputy Mayor Vanessa Kian, and Committeemen Daniel McCarey, Lance Blick and Daniel Croson.

Ordinance 26-13 funds the Cherry Tree Lane drainage feasibility study at a $100,000 supplemental appropriation and $95,000 in bonds. Read it next to Resolution 2026-117 above and you can see the same drainage problem being approached from two directions in one meeting.

Ordinance 26-14 raises the AH-6 district from 26 units to 28. One speaker came forward, Joe Faro of Sage Drive, who said the project is overdue.

Ordinance 26-16 was introduced 5-0, with a hearing set for May 14. It authorizes release and extinguishment of an existing sanitary sewer easement and acceptance of a new one at 15 Mountain View Road, Block 8 Lot 2.

The Federal Reserve site

Resolution 2026-125 designated the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as redeveloper of 15 Mountain View Road and authorized a redevelopment agreement and a stormwater facilities maintenance agreement.

That is the same address as the sewer easement ordinance introduced the same night. The two actions are the procedural front end of a redevelopment at the Federal Reserve property, and both carry forward to May 14.