At their April 25 caucus, the Hudson County Board of Freeholders questioned how low bidder on a brake repair contract could afford to charge the county only $5.15 per hour if it has to pay its own repair people $17 to $18 per hour. Freeholder Thomas Liggio said the contract review committee reviewed the bid and will seek answers to the mystery before bringing the issue to the freeholders for a vote. “I don’t understand how they can make any money with a bid like this,” Liggio said. Laidlaw Auto Repairs, Inc. of Jersey City was the only bidder to work on fixing county vehicles. Freeholder William Braker also said the firm is required under a provision passed by the freeholders last year to pay 150 percent of minimum wage and benefits to its workers. In 1999, the freeholders voted to require a specific minimum benefits package for employees of contractors doing business with the county. This included benefits and salary standards that allowed workers a livable working wage. Freeholders also voted to renew their contract with Secaucus-based legal firm Waters, McPearson, McNeill for legal work dealing with the Brownfields Demonstration Pilot program. The firm was first awarded the contract in March 1999, for the fee $25,000. The renewal reduces this by $5,000, and will have the firm providing certain legal advice and assistance in connection with the program. Brownfields are abandoned or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or development is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. The EPA selected Hudson County for a Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Program in July 1998, and a report issued at the time said that the county had 647 known contaminated sites or an average of 14 sites per square mile, and that virtually every person in the county stands a significant chance of being exposed to some form of contamination. In 1998, the EPA gave the county a $200,000 grant to identify and assess contaminated sites for cleanup and redevelopment in North Bergen, Hoboken, Harrison and Kearny, which contain a third of the total sites in the county. The goal of the National Brownfields program is to restore industrial and commercial properties. The Brownfields grants, which require extensive community involvement, empower local governments across the country to compile data and develop strategies for realizing this goal. Park lights cause trouble In another matter, the freeholders agreed to declare a contractor in default for taking too long to work on lighting at the Little League fields in Lincoln and Washington parks. The contract – awarded in March 1999 for $118,700 – called for the work to be complete within 50 calendar days. The work has still not been completed to the satisfaction of Thomas McCann, division chief of county parks. Abe Antun, the Hudson County Administrator, said the bonding company has been very cooperative and wishes the matter to be resolved. In another matter, William Northgrave, county counsel, said the death of a family member had prevented a surveyor from completing work that would allow the county to go to court over property line disputes in Columbus Park in Hoboken. In March, Freeholder Maurice Fitzgibbons asked that a contract to make improvements to several parks be delayed until the county could look into purchasing property at Columbus Park from the Hoboken Board of Education, which owns a small part of the park. Fitzgibbons asked that the county look over the entire park plan before making lighting improvements. The freeholders agreed to start work in Lincoln Park while the county looked over the situation in Columbus Park. They awarded, in March, a $2,000 contract to Hermann K.F. Lange of Jersey City to conduct a survey of Columbus Park. The playground area of the park also has been closed, Antun said, to assure safety of the children. Apparently the lighting work proposed for the park was complete, but the contractor allegedly caused damage to a nearby scoreboard and left about 20 unresolved items to be taken care of. In a matter carried over from earlier in April, Antun said contracts were being sought to handle the construction of padded cells at the Hudson County Correctional Facility. Two weeks ago, the freeholders had voted against declaring the need for the cells an emergency, which would allow them to hire a contractor without bids. In January, the director of the correction facility and the county engineer called for the immediate construction of padded cells in order to complete a new psyche unit. Freeholders Fitzgibbons, William O’Dea, Brian Stack and Barry Dugan had voted against the emergency authorization, claiming that county had more than enough time to look for bids on the project.