Essex County approves multimillion-dollar parks upgrades, youth internships and recreation contracts

The Essex County Board of Commissioners voted to award several contracts and accept grant funding for parks and recreation projects, approving measures that together fund trail, field and recreation-area upgrades across the county.

Joshua Yates of Essex County Parks outlined several items: contract awards for sanitation services (not to exceed $462,189) and golf-course supplies ($275,000), plus a student-internship golf program ($42,000). The county also reported two state grants totaling $2,307,550 for improvements to the Wequake Park running track — $1,807,550 from Green Acres and $500,000 from the Urban Parks program — and authorized using $1,818,383 from the Essex County Recreation Open Space Trust Fund toward Independence Park athletic-field improvements.

Contractors introduced themselves: J.A. Alexander (contract not to exceed $2,493,850) will reconstruct a 2.1-mile rubberized walkway surface at Wequake Park, including vegetation clearing and hydroseeding; Turco Golf (low bidder, about $3,636,765) will install synthetic soccer and softball fields, lighting, bleachers, fencing and drainage at Independence Park; JA Alexander and Turco officials said they expect to use local labor and follow prevailing-wage requirements.

Board members praised the focus on accessibility and safety, and commissioners asked about timelines and maintenance: park contractors described a typical 120-day performance window for certain projects and noted materials lead times for play equipment. Commissioners emphasized that maintenance beyond construction is typically the county’s responsibility after contract completion.

What’s next: Work will proceed per contract schedules following final paperwork and notices to proceed; the board also approved related budget-insertion items so the grants and trust-fund monies can be used for the described projects.