November 25,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
BID NO. 028-2015 – WATER BILLING AND DATA COLLECTION/PROCESSING SERVICES
NOTICE TO BIDDERS
Sealed bid proposals will be received by the Village of Ridgewood, in the Courtroom, Level 4 of Village Hall, 131 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, New Jersey 07451 on Wednesday, December 9, 2015 at 10:30 a.m. prevailing time, and then publicly opened and read aloud for following project:
BID NO. 028-2015 – WATER BILLING AND DATA COLLECTION/PROCESSING SERVICES
The work shall include all of the equipment and material necessary to perform this task and in accordance with the requirements of the Village of Ridgewood, New Jersey 07451 as needed and described in these specifications.
Specifications and bid forms may be obtained by mail or in person from the office of the Director of Operations, Ridgewood Water, 131 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, New Jersey 07451, telephone (201) 670-5521, for a non-refundable fee of $10.00, per set of bid documents. Documents may be examined or picked up in person between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Operations Division, Ridgewood Water, Village Hall, 131 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, New Jersey 07451, Monday through Friday. Prospective bidders requesting bid documents be mailed to them shall be responsible for providing their own postage/delivery service remuneration. No Specifications and/or Proposal forms shall be given out after 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 8, 2015.
The contractual obligation of the Village of Ridgewood under this Contract for these items is contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds from which payment for this Contract can be made.
Prices quoted must be net and exclusive of all Federal, State and Local Sales and Excise Taxes. Bids may be submitted prior to the bid opening in person or by mail, addressed to the Office of the Village Clerk. The Village assumes no responsibility for loss or non-delivery of any bid sent to it prior to the Bid opening.
Each bid must be enclosed in a sealed envelope with the name of the bidder thereon and endorsed, BID responding to BID NO. 028-2015 – WATER BILLING AND DATA COLLECTION/PROCESSING SERVICES, Do Not Open Until December 9, 2015 at 10:30 AM and must be accompanied by all required forms.
Any award or awards may be made at a later or subsequent time or meeting of the Village Council. All required schedules, that is required forms are to be submitted on the forms attached to the bid documents. No other forms will be accepted.
The successful bidder shall comply with all applicable provisions of the Prevailing Wage Act, as determined by the New Jersey Department of Labor. All contractors, their subcontractors, and material suppliers shall comply with all applicable provisions of the Public Works Contractor Registration Act, pursuant to Public Law 1999 Chapter 238 and the Contractor Business Registration Program, pursuant to Public Law 2004 Chapter 57.
The successful bidder shall furnish and deliver to the Village of Ridgewood a performance and payment bond (Schedule F) in the amount of 100 percent of the accepted bid amount as security for the faithful performance of the Contract. Additionally, the successful bidder shall furnish policies or Certificates of Insurance required by the Contract. In default thereof, said checks and/or bonds and the amount represented thereby shall be forfeited to the Village of Ridgewood as liquidated damages, not as a penalty.
Proposals submitted by Bidders and/or Bidder’s Insurance Company(ies) not chartered in the State of New Jersey, must be accompanied by proper certificate(s) from the Secretary of State, indicating that such Bidders, Bidder’s Insurance Company(ies), and/or Surety Company(ies) is (are) authorized to do business in the State of New Jersey. The Village of Ridgewood reserves the right to reject any or all bids, to waive any informality or to accept a bid which, in its judgment best serves the interest of the Village. No bids may be withdrawn for a period of sixty-days (60) after the date and time set for the opening of bids.
“BIDDERS ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF P.L.1975, C. 127. (NJAC 17:27) regarding Affirmative Action, and Executive Order No. 11246 regarding equal employment opportunity, as amended”. A complete statement as to these requirements is included in the specifications.
By Order of the Village Manager Publication date: November 20, 2015
It’s about time. The current billing company should be replaced. The only company I know of that charges a fee for an electronic bank transfer. It costs so much more to open envelopes with checks. What the hell is going on with them?
You have to question everything coming from Ridgewood Water. I got an outrageous bill for August through October – a full 50% higher than for the same period last year. Except we turned off our sprinklers for the season this year when Stage 4 water restrictions hit in August. This year’s bill should have been half of what it was last year. When I called to ask if this was one of those “actual” bills to make up for previous “estimate” bills, they said no – this year’s bill was for actual metered usage. Now this week I get an additional bill for the same period adding another 33%. The latest invoice said that the previous bill was only an estimate!
I think it’s time for some unified action against Ridgewood Water. Their price increases are way out of line with current inflation rates and now they’re just making stuff up. This is an underhanded way to continue to raise our municipal taxes without calling it that. Remember Ridgewood Water lives in Village Hall with our Mayor and Council.
When was the last time Ridgewood’s tap water was drinkable?
1980
What goes on here? How can it be cheaper to outsource the water dept. billing you would think one full time secretary could take care of that.what does this service cost?
Has anyone ever audited Ridgewood Water? A good audit of their billing practice would really help. If they are basing an estimated bill on past usage for the same period how do things get so out of control?
If they can’t read meters for six months they should contact the homeowner by phone and mail. They should set up an evening appointment. Homeowners do not work for them and we should not have to be home to make their lives easy. The current practice is passive agressive.
I called a year ago with a question. The office manager was extremely rude. She did not like the fact that she had to explain my bill.