South Orange BOT Approves Pre-Qualification Regulations for Village Hall Rehab

The South Orange Board of Trustees unanimously passed a resolution, Monday, adopting pre-qualification regulations for the rehabilitation of South Orange Village Hall.

The resolution states that the Township of South Orange Village has received grants from the New Jersey Historic Trust for the Rehabilitation of South Orange Village Hall and “would like to pre-qualify bidders so that the Project may be undertaken by contractors with the skill and experience to successfully complete the Project.”

“This allows us to pre-qualify bids that come in for this project because this is a project of historic nature and because there are technical requirements above and beyond what maybe the average company can do, we are allowed to, through this process, put requirements in place before people even bid on the process to make sure only qualified companies that are able to potentially deliver what we want are able to bid on it,” said Village President Alex Torpey.

Despite several residents speaking out about the move and renovation, not one person spoke during the public hearing on the resolution.

South Orange Village Hall will be moving offices to third floor of 76 South Orange Ave., which is right across the street. The offices will officially be moved by Oct. 7.

“We will try to have some signs to make sure anyone looking for us can find us,” said Torpey.

The move is part of a 30-month renovation project which includes tearing down walls, ceilings and floors in preparation for asbestos abatement. New walls, floors, ceilings and a new roof will be added.

“All Village operations will continue as usual during the reconstruction,” the township said in the Gaslight newsletter. “All phone numbers and email addresses will remain the same and office hours will be unchanged.”