The Dunellen Borough Council Votes to Enter Into Middlesex County Mill and Pave Program

The Dunellen Borough Council voted unanimously on October 19, 2020 to enter into an inter-local agreement with Middlesex County to be part of its “Mill and Pave Program,” following the request from Mayor Jason Cilento and Council President Kenneth Bayer to the County for Dunellen to be considered for the program. Mill and pave can be defined as the process in which asphalt is removed from the road and a new layer is resurfaced. The Borough of Dunellen requested several roads surrounding John P. Faber Elementary School to be assessed and considered for the County mill and pave program. If the assessment of these roads proves to be successful under Middlesex County’s qualification process and the County approves the agreement, the program could start as early as mid-2021. Dunellen plans to partner with Middlesex County to assess roads annually to be considered for mill and pave.

Under this program, Middlesex County will perform all necessary engineering design and work related thereto in order to develop construc­tion plans, specifications and engineer’s cost estimate for the proposed improvements; bear one hundred (100%) of the cost of all design engi­neering services; advertise for receipt of bids and subsequently enter into a contract for construction pursuant to Local Public Contract Law (N.J.S.A. 40A:11-1 et.seq); provide all necessary services for construction admin­istration of the project; bear one hundred (100%) percent of the cost of all Construction Administration Services; and bear the cost of con­struction of the County roads based on the final as-built quantities.  Dunellen will adopt any and all ordinances or resolutions required to accom­plish the construction and those as required by law and bear one hundred (100%) percent of the cost for the milling, paving and striping of roads.

What this means is that the County will pay all design, engineering and project management costs, and the borough will only have to pay for materials and milling. Historically, in most road projects over the years in Dunellen, a significant portion of the total cost went into engineering, resulting in less of a road being paved, even with NJDOT State grant funds.  Now upon the proposal from Mayor Cilento and Council President Bayer, and with the County’s help, the Borough of Dunellen will get much more road at much less cost. As the County mill and pave program does not provide for ADA compliant ramps, the Borough plans to seek grants to make these improvements. In addition, the Borough will continue to seek State NJDOT grant funds for roads that do not qualify for the County mill and pave program and/or require additional infrastructure improvements beyond mill and pave.

This is a historic move on Dunellen’s part to partner with Middlesex County that will result in a great cost-savings program and best of all, soon see more paved roads in much less time than formerly projected.