Restoring Warren Town Hall will cost up to $1,444,388.88, and insurance is paying it
Resolutions 2026-112 and 2026-113 passed 5-0 on April 16. The Garden State Municipal JIF already sent a $495,000 check and will pay the restoration contractor directly.
On April 16, 2026 the Warren Township Committee awarded Rapid Recovery Services of Washington, New Jersey a contract not to exceed $1,444,388.88 to restore the third floor of Town Hall after the February 8, 2026 sprinkler pipe failure. The award, Resolution 2026-113, passed 5-0 and is based on a Travelers estimate dated April 13, 2026. The Garden State Municipal Joint Insurance Fund has already issued the Township a check for $495,000.00 and confirmed in an April 1, 2026 letter that it will pay Rapid Recovery directly, subject to verification of completed work. Travelers separately approved a statement of loss for remediation of $383,416.63.
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.
The municipal court and meeting room building at 44 Mountain Boulevard, where Township Committee business has been running since the February failure. Photo by the author.
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.
| Resolution | Award | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-121 | Allegro Sanitation Corp., Secaucus, dumpster service | $670 per 30 cubic yard dumpster, not to exceed $40,000.00 |
| 2026-123 | Marmic Associates, 13 Sneider Road, Warren, IT support | Term May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027 |
| 2026-118 | Government Strategy Group, executive recruitment consulting | $16,500.00 |
| 2026-128 | Thomas Canize, Flemington, Tax Assessor inspection services | $30.00 per unit, not to exceed $39,000.00 |
| 2026-117 | Remington and Vernick Engineers, Maxwell Court and Cherry Tree Lane drainage | See note below |
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.
Resolution 2026-117, the change of scope professional services award to Remington and Vernick Engineers for the Maxwell Court and Cherry Tree Lane drainage improvements, shows two dollar figures in the resolution: $93,110.00 and $183,040.00. The record does not disambiguate which is the awarded amount or what the other figure represents. I am reporting both rather than picking one.
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.
- Township of Warren, Township Committee Regular Meeting Minutes and Resolutions 2026-112 and 2026-113, April 16, 2026. https://www.warrennj.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_04162026-968
- Office of Congressman Thomas Kean Jr., Kean Delivers $900,000 to Warren Township for Critical Police Communications Upgrades, February 21, 2026. https://kean.house.gov/media/press-releases/kean-delivers-900000-warren-township-critical-police-communications-upgrades
John Mangini
Broker / Owner, NextHome Premier
Warren Township resident and full time broker, serving clients since 1999. Warren 07059 is written from live Garden State MLS data, township records and primary sources. Every figure is traceable to a source listed above.
