NJ Meetings Roundup — Oct. 14: Passaic adopts $1.47M Meritain deal, Cape May buys Wildwood lot for $4.5M

Jersey Intel’s roundup of public meetings outside Hudson County on Tuesday, Oct. 13, and Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. Where we can confirm a vote from Legistar, an official directory, 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.

North

Passaic County: Meritain renewal adopted at $1,469,808

Passaic County’s Legistar record now shows resolution 26-1037 — the no-bid 2027 renewal for Meritain Health to administer the county’s self-insured medical plan — as Passed, enacted as R-26-0910 on Oct. 13. Legistar records six ayes (Director Cassandra “Sandi” Lazzara, Deputy Director Orlando Cruz, Rodney De Vore, Michael Ramaglia, Christina Schratz and Nicholas Veliky). The resolution text the county publishes caps the one-year award at $1,469,808 in both the WHEREAS and RESOLVED clauses. That is the figure left after the county retitled the file “AMENDED” at 4:21 p.m. Tuesday, dropping the $3,999,624 authorizing figure Jersey Intel flagged that morning. A PDF minutes file is still not posted on the meeting page; the vote status and roll call come from Legistar’s matter and vote records, last updated about 3:45 p.m. ET Wednesday.

Passaic County: 2024 paving close-out adopted

Resolution 26-0986 was also marked Passed as R-26-0949, with the same six recorded ayes. It accepts the work and authorizes a $397,110.50 final payment to Smith-Sondy Asphalt on the 2024 road resurfacing contract. Six change orders had taken the award from $4,609,362.68 to $5,653,575.30 — 22.7% over the original bid.

Bound Brook: Jesse Schwartz listed as police chief

The borough’s official police directory now lists Jesse Schwartz as chief and Peter Romanyszyn as captain. Both appointments were on the Oct. 13 council agenda (resolutions 2026-243 and 2026-244), with Schwartz’s appointment written as retroactive to Oct. 2. Formal minutes were not on the borough site as of Wednesday night; the directory is the confirmation we are using.

Still on the agenda / unconfirmed

• Paterson City Council (Oct. 13): Smith-Sondy paving award not to exceed $768,923.41; Deblock Environmental $308,500; ProPhoenix IT $242,226.83 — outcomes not confirmed in minutes or local reporting checked Wednesday night.
• North Caldwell (Oct. 13): Bond ordinance BO-2-2026 for a $2,185,000 ladder fire truck; Reivax water-main change orders — outcomes not confirmed.
• Park Ridge (Oct. 13): Landmark AR Park Ridge settlement (Exhibit A not on the agenda packet) — outcome not confirmed.
• East Orange City Council (Oct. 14): Second reading on Ordinance 40-2026, amending the 430 William Holdings PILOT from 115 units to 100, and other cannabis and property-transfer ordinances were on the amended regular agenda. As of about 9:25 p.m. Wednesday, the city Agenda Center showed no minutes file for the meeting.

Central

Bridgewater-Raritan: Superintendent Beers placed on two-week leave

Patch reported that at Tuesday’s regular Board of Education meeting, the board unanimously placed Superintendent Robert Beers on administrative leave from Thursday, Oct. 15, through Oct. 29. The leave follows a Monday special meeting and public criticism over emails in which Beers used profanity toward board members. Board member Jennifer Loughran resigned at the same meeting, citing a death in the family. Jersey Intel has not independently obtained the board’s resolution text; this item is attributed to Patch’s Oct. 14 report.

South

Cape May County: $4.5M Wildwood parking-site purchase approved

The Press of Atlantic City reported Wednesday that Cape May County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize the purchase of 321 E. Cedar Ave. in Wildwood for $4.5 million, for a potential multistory parking garage near the Boardwalk. That matches Bond Ordinance 4-2026 ($4,500,000 for real-property acquisition) and Resolution 590-26 (contract for sale of that parcel) on the county’s Oct. 13 agenda. The county Agenda Center shows the Oct. 13 agenda was amended at 10:03 a.m. Wednesday; a minutes PDF for that meeting was not posted as of Wednesday night. Other Oct. 13 items — Bond Ordinance 5-2026’s $11.5 million bridge package (introduction; hearing set for Oct. 27) and Change Order No. 6 to South State, Inc., $559,629.20 — remain unconfirmed in sources we checked.

Camden County (vote Thursday)

Commissioners are scheduled to vote Thursday, Oct. 15, on Camden County Improvement Authority County Guaranteed Loan Revenue Bonds, Series A and B of 2026, and related guarantees. The caucus packet listed those hearings plus a $784,181 Broadway design contract and a $563,695 park bathroom co-op purchase. As of Wednesday evening, a final regular-meeting agenda PDF was not yet on the county site at the usual path.

BPU (Oct. 14)

The Board of Public Utilities met Wednesday in Trenton. The executive-session agenda included awarding a consultant contract as the Program Design Team for the state’s energy-efficiency and peak-demand-reduction programs (Docket QO25100566), with no dollar amount on the face of the agenda. Board orders for the meeting were not yet checked item-by-item as of this writing.

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