NJ Meetings Roundup — Oct. 16: Union County OKs $645K more for Warinanco ice rink, pushing change orders to nearly $2M

Jersey Intel’s roundup of public meetings outside Hudson County on Thursday, Oct. 15, and Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. Where we can confirm a vote from an official livestream, an official notice, Legistar/IQM2 or credible local reporting, we say so. Everything else remains on the agenda / unconfirmed, with what we checked and when. Every item links to the record we relied on in the Sources box below.

Union County: another $645,413 for the Warinanco ice rink

Union County’s commissioners on Thursday night approved a second change order on the Warinanco Sports Ice Rink, adding $645,413.43 to Terminal Construction’s contract and bringing it to as much as $28,554,885.38, according to the county’s draft agenda. Jersey Intel’s review of county records shows the county awarded the job for $26,598,000 under Resolution 2025-349, listed on the board’s April 17, 2025 agenda. With the first change order in May 2026, +$1,311,471.95, which the board approved 9-0 according to its minutes, the extras now total $1,956,885.38. That is about 7.4% above the original contract. The totals and the percentage are Jersey Intel’s math from the county’s own figures.

Jersey Intel confirmed the vote from the county’s official YouTube recording of the Oct. 15 regular meeting. Seven commissioners were present. The board adopted Resolutions 2026-678 through 2026-719 together on one roll call. The clerk recorded seven yes votes on every resolution except three, 2026-696, 2026-697 and 2026-702, where Chairman Joseph Bodek abstained, making those 6-0 with one abstention. During public comment, a resident questioned the rink change order. A county official called up by the county manager answered: “The majority of the change order in question has to do with unsuitable soils, a condition that could not be predetermined.” Soil that doesn’t meet compaction standards, the official said, “has to be hauled and it has to be dumped.”

Other items adopted in the same vote, as described on the county’s draft agenda:

• Rink engineering: French & Parrello Associates of Wall Township gets $37,000 more for engineering on the Warinanco indoor rink, raising its contract to $272,630.
• Road contract reduced: A final change order cuts Schifano Construction’s 2024 road resurfacing contract by $684,636.44, to $6,167,077.86. A county official told the board that utility work had held up some paving, and that by coordinating with the utilities the county paved more roads within the same contract.
• Bus contract: MPC Bus Corp. of Brooklyn gets a one-month extension through Jan. 31, 2027, for up to $445,269 more, raising that contract to $5,594,706.84.
• Outside lawyers: Kingston Coventry LLC of Sea Girt is hired as litigation, defense and general counsel from Oct. 15 through Dec. 31, 2026, for up to $25,000. The agenda does not say which matters the firm will handle.

The draft agenda posted before the meeting listed resolutions only through 2026-709. The resolutions the board added before adopting 2026-678 through 2026-719 are not described in that draft. Jersey Intel matched the items above to that draft. When we checked the county’s “Agendas, Minutes, Videos” page at 9:36 p.m. Friday, it showed only the draft agendas for Oct. 15. Also at the meeting, Commissioner Kimberly Palmieri-Mouded announced that Ride UC, the county’s new on-demand shuttle, starts a Westfield pilot on Tuesday, Oct. 20. She said rides will run weekdays 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., free through Nov. 20 and then $3 per ride.

Fort Lee: police staffing ordinance adopted

Fort Lee’s Mayor and Council gave final approval Thursday to Ordinance 2026-21, which rewrites the police department’s table of organization. The borough posted the adoption notice on Friday. It says the ordinance passed at the Oct. 15 regular session and was approved by Mayor Mark J. Sokolich the same day. The ordinance allows up to 115 officers: 1 chief, 2 deputy chiefs, 5 captains, 9 lieutenants, 17 sergeants (sergeants and lieutenants combined capped at 26) and 81 police officers. It also allows 5 Special Law Enforcement Officers (Class III). All positions are filled at the mayor and council’s discretion. The adoption notice does not show the vote count.

Still unconfirmed

• Middlesex County, $27.8M NaphCare jail health contract (26-1210-R): When Jersey Intel checked at 9:36 p.m. Friday, the county’s IQM2 page for the resolution still showed no Passed/Failed status. The Oct. 15 meeting page listed the agenda but no minutes. Jersey Intel reported Thursday that the county’s procurement portal showed CFG Health priced the same contract about $2.02 million lower. We will update when the county’s record shows the outcome.
• Camden County, Camden County Improvement Authority bond hearings (Oct. 15): The county’s website had the Oct. 15 commissioners packet, but Jersey Intel found no adopted resolutions or minutes there when it checked at about 9:40 p.m. Friday.
• NJ Transit minutes: Jersey Intel confirmed Thursday’s $115.8M Access Link vote from the agency’s livestream. As of 9:20 p.m. Friday, NJ Transit’s board-minutes page listed minutes through September 2026.

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