Town To Settle Lawsuit Over Bike Path

The Township Committee is ready to settle a lawsuit with an asphalt company over repairs to the town's bike path.

A resolution paying Earle Asphalt Company, located on Route 34, for repairs it made in 2007 to the town's roughly 7-mile bike path is being prepared and is scheduled for the committee's next meeting, according to Township Administrator Joe Verruni.

There was a problem with the bike path in 2007 when it was being built. Earle, who won the contract to pour the asphalt, requested to use a substitute material over wetlands near Baileys Corner Road, Verruni said.  

The request was granted by CMX, formerly Schoor DePalma, which was the engineering firm at the time, Verruni said. 

The substitute material failed, Verruni said, "for whatever reason, because of the construction.''

The town told Earle they had to fix it. Earle estimated $12,000 to remedy the problem. The bill came in at $24,000, Verruni said.

"We refused to pay that,'' Verruni said.

The two sides went to court. The town agreed to pay $10,000 toward the repair, and those responsible for the now-closed CMX company will pay $4,000, for a total of $14,000 to settle the claim, Verruni said.

The resolution approving the settlement agreement is scheduled for the committee's June 8 meeting.