NJ Meetings Roundup — Oct. 15: NJ Transit OKs $115.8M Access Link option that starts in 2028

Jersey Intel’s roundup of public meetings outside Hudson County on Wednesday, Oct. 14, and Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. Where we can confirm a vote from an official livestream, Legistar/IQM2, or credible local reporting, we say so. Everything else remains on the agenda. Every item links to the official record or the reporting we relied on in the Sources box below.

Statewide

NJ Transit: $115.8M Access Link option approved

NJ Transit’s board approved action item 2610-50 at its Thursday evening meeting in Newark: the second and final option on Contract 21-063 with Easton Coach Company of Easton, Pa., to operate Access Link paratransit in Region 5 (Essex, Union, Somerset, Morris and parts of Hudson counties) from July 1, 2028 through April 9, 2030. The authorization matches the final agenda — $110,322,695, plus 5% for contingencies, for a total of $115,838,830, subject to the availability of funds and approval of NJ Transit’s Operating Budget.

Jersey Intel confirmed the outcome from the agency’s official YouTube livestream of the Oct. 15 board meeting. After staff presented the item, the board took a recorded roll-call vote and the chair announced the motion carried. A written minutes PDF for the meeting was not yet posted on NJ Transit’s “Previous Board Meeting Minutes & Agendas” page as of Thursday night; the livestream is the confirmation we are using. Jersey Intel’s exclusive earlier Thursday flagged that the option starts about 20 months after the vote and that other action items left dollar amounts in executive session.

After the Access Link vote, the board announced that board member Rashonda A. McCray was recused from personal-injury settlement items 2610-53 through 2610-56. The consent calendar then carried on a separate roll call. The dollar amounts of those settlements, the Tarheel/WSP construction settlement and the Clifton land acquisition were not stated publicly in the portion of the meeting Jersey Intel reviewed.

North

Oakland: up to $96,500 for Lenape Lane Bridge engineering

Patch reported that at Tuesday’s Mayor and Council meeting, Oakland awarded two professional-services contracts to Boswell Engineering for the Lenape Lane Bridge — one capped at $28,400 and an amendment capped at $68,100, combined up to $96,500 — without competitive bidding under New Jersey’s professional-services exception. Jersey Intel has not independently obtained the authorizing resolutions; this item is attributed to Patch’s Oct. 15 report on the Oct. 13 awards.

Still on the agenda / unconfirmed

• Middlesex County Board of County Commissioners (Oct. 15, 6:30 p.m.): Resolution 26-1210-R would award competitive contract CC-26-927 to NaphCare PC, NJ LLC for $27,810,786.36 in jail and youth-detention health care. IQM2 listed the item among those removed from the consent agenda for a separate vote. As of about 9:40 p.m. Thursday, the LegiFile page showed no Passed/Failed status. Jersey Intel reported Thursday morning that OpenGov pricing showed CFG Health about $2.02 million lower.
• Fort Lee Mayor and Council (Oct. 15, 7 p.m.): Police-department ordinance hearing and consent agenda on the borough Agenda Center — outcomes not confirmed Thursday night.

Central

Edison: data-center ban introduced, 7-0

Patch reported that the Edison Township Council voted 7-0 on first reading Wednesday to introduce an ordinance adding data centers to the list of uses prohibited in every zone, with a public hearing and final vote set for Oct. 26. Mayor Sam Joshi said in a statement to Patch that he supports the ban. Several council members told Patch they have reservations about a total ban even while voting to introduce. Jersey Intel has not independently obtained the introduced ordinance text; this item is attributed to Patch’s Oct. 15 report.

Still on the agenda / unconfirmed

• Union County Board of County Commissioners (Oct. 15): The county’s draft regular agenda listed Change Order #2 on the Warinanco Sports Ice Rink with Terminal Construction (+$645,413.43, new total not to exceed $28,554,885.38), a one-month MPC Bus extension (+$445,269, new total $5,594,706.84), and a Schifano Construction final change order decreasing a resurfacing contract by $684,636.44. Adoption was not confirmed in minutes or a posted vote record Thursday night.

South

Cape May County: resolution urging federal beach aid

OCNJ Daily and Patch reported that Cape May County commissioners on Tuesday approved a resolution urging Gov. Mikie Sherrill to seek U.S. Army Corps of Engineers help restoring beaches and coastal infrastructure damaged by the September 2026 nor’easter. Commissioner Andrew Bulakowski said in a county statement that beaches are “our frontline protection.” The Governor’s Office told OCNJ Daily the DEP is already working with the Corps on damage assessments. This is separate from the $4.5 million Wildwood parking-site purchase Jersey Intel noted in Wednesday’s roundup.

Still on the agenda / unconfirmed

• Camden County Board of Commissioners (Oct. 15, noon): The caucus packet teed up public hearings on Camden County Improvement Authority County Guaranteed Loan Revenue Bonds, Series A and B of 2026, related county guarantees, and a $784,181 Greenman-Pedersen Broadway (CR 551) design agreement. The county event page marks the meeting as having passed; adopted resolutions and minutes were not confirmed Thursday night.
• Cape May County Bridge Commission (Oct. 15, 2:30 p.m.): Consent agenda including shared-services dredging of Townsends Inlet Channel — vote outcomes not confirmed.

Were you at one of these meetings? Send notes, video or documents to jerseyintel@gmail.com or use our Tip Us page.