West Deptford Committeemen-Elect Push for Transition to New Government

It didn’t take long for the transition to begin.

Republican committeemen-elect Ray Chintall and Sam Cianfarini, who have been fixtures at meetings, took it a step further Thursday night, issuing a pair of requests to the current township committee on actions over the next eight weeks.

The pair requested the governing body halt any decisions on non-essential programs and projects before the reorganization meeting in January, and pressed for an extension to the requests for proposals (RFP) period for township professionals to put in their bids, which closes out next week.

Cianfarini noted that the short window after the election doesn’t give a lot of notice to professionals who might not have put in a bid, pending the outcome of the vote, which could narrow the pool of applicants.

“These folks didn’t know that West Deptford was open for business to them,” he said.

That idea touched off a lengthy discussion between Cianfarini, Deputy Mayor Len Daws, township administrator Eric Campo and solicitor Michael Angelini, over whether the RFP window could be lengthened–it was originally published back on Oct. 18–and what the potential effects of doing so might be.

“Unfortunately, there’s a void in the state law about this transition period,” Campo said, noting that this same process takes place in townships throughout the state at this time of year, at least partly because of the investment in time it takes to score the proposals.

“it’s a lot of work, and a lot to review,” Campo said.

Angelini said he wasn’t sure exactly what the outcome of putting an extension on to the RFP process would have, though he cautioned it could potentially open the township up to a claim from a firm, similar to what can happen in other bidding processes.

““The people who have responded in good faith by a certain date may question why you’re now doing that,” Angelini said. “It’s almost like you’re rejecting these responses before they get considered.”

Daws noted the incoming committeemen could always move to reject any of the proposals–especially if there was only one firm with a proposal–at the reorganization, though he cautioned they could get into a legal gray area if they rejected multiple proposals for one position, simply because another professional firm wasn’t able to get in a proposal on time.

Ultimately, Daws proposed Chintall and Cianfarini meet with current committee members Donna Szymborski and Sean Kilpatrick to get at least some of the information together ahead of the January reorganization.

“At a minimum, at least you’ll know whether there were sufficient bids received,” Daws said.

The Republicans’ other request, to put non-essential decisions on hold, was put out with a caveat from Chintall, who told the committee he and Cianfarini didn’t expect them to quash any decisions, if that would be detrimental to the township.

The potential decisions Chintall pointed to were several joint purchase agreements on the agenda, as well as a possible solar power project at RiverWinds–a decision that might come next month, after a presentation by the lone bidder left in that process.

Campo pointed out that the resolutions don’t necessarily bind the township, if a better deal can be found later, but not agreeing to be part of the four agreements could cost the township state aid money.

“The state pushes us to participate in these cooperatives,” he said.

The committee unanimously approved those resolutions on the purchasing agreements, and a presentation on the RiverWinds solar project is tentatively happening next month, Campo said.