Sussex County Community College renovations approved

By Nathan Mayberg
NEWTON — The controversial renovation of the student center at Sussex County Community College received a green light from the county Board of School Estimate last week.

The unanimous vote by the board paves the way for the college to move forward with its rehabilitation of the building, which was delayed over conflict of interest issues between current and former members of the Sussex Community College Board of Trustees and Sparta-based CP Engineers, which planned the project.

The Board of School Estimate's vote allowed $2.88 million of county and state funds to be transferred for the project out of a 2010 capital ordinance fund intended for another construction project on the campus, according to Sussex County Administrator John Eskilson.

Sussex County Freeholder Richard Vohden said the board spent a lot of time mulling its approval of the project.

"Everybody recognized the reality of the situation," he said. "There were a lot of questions."

Vohden, who said he has 35 years of experience in the contruction industry, said he read the entire bid specifications of more than 500 pages for the project that were put together by CP Engineers. The company is being paid $451,200 for the design of the project, which brings the total cost of the work to more than $3.3 million.

Vohden said he was satisfied with the report by Saiber Law Firm, which reviewed the plans on behalf of the college and hired an independent engineering company to review the project.

Vohden said the bids were "reasonable."

Two members of the college's board of trustees have resigned over conflicts of interest between themselves and the engineering firm.

Former board president Glenn Gavan was working as an attorney for the firm before he resigned and former trustee Glen Vetrano stepped down after revealing he was working as a paid consultant for the firm.

On Monday, the board of trustees re-voted on contracts with CP Engineers based on recommendations by the Saiber Law Firm. The law firm had researched the legality of the construction project and its review by the board and determined that proper procedure had been done except for two votes where absentions by board members meant that resolutions with the engineering firm were not valid.

The contracts with CP Engineers were approved on Monday by all members of the board except Daniel Perez, who abstained. Perez had previously called the college to sever its ties with the firm, citing the increase of the cost estimate on the construction project by approximately $850,000 by the firm.

The project received only one bid, by Echelon Services.

The contracts re-approved by the board with CP Engineers, including program management and professional engineering services, as well as a $346,400 for work on the student center project. That contract ultimately would be increased by $93,800 when CP Engineers said it would need to increase its staffing level for the project.

The board also voted on Monday to renew its contract with college president Paul Mazur at a salary of $171,899.

Vohden said he received a lot of calls from constituents about the project.

"There was a lot of controversy," he said.