Ocean County Justice Complex expansion to start after $75M contract awarded

TOMS RIVER - Construction of an addition onto the Ocean County Justice Complex could begin as early as the spring after the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday awarded a $75 million contract to a Philadelphia builder for the planned expansion.

Ocean County Administrator Michael J. Fiure said that if the project remains on its current schedule, the four-story annex, which will add 124,214 square feet of floor space, should be completed sometime in 2026. Ernest Bock & Sons Inc., the lowest qualified bidder was named as the contractor.

The board vote was 4-to-0, with the county’s newest commissioner — Frank Sadeghi — abstaining.

“That’s a huge project that the rest of the commissioners have been working on for…” Sadeghi began in his public remarks.

More: New Ocean County commissioner disagrees with colleagues on his first day on the job

“Years,” interjected Commissioner Jack Kelly, who is liaison to the state Superior Court vicinage in Ocean County, which is housed inside the justice complex.

“For years,” Sadeghi continued. “I just haven’t had enough time to sort of get into it and get all my questions answered.”

Commissioner Gary Quinn, who is liaison to the sheriff’s office, which guards the county justice complex, sought to clarify why the project was necessary.

“Jack has overseen this thing from start to finish and the reality of it is, the reason for building this is because we have to provide whatever courtrooms the state of New Jersey demands that we provide for the judges,” Quinn said.

How we got here: Ocean County Justice Complex to get $50M addition by 2025

“We, the county, are responsible for providing the space, which is why we’re moving forward with this,” he said. “It was a very complex project to be able to put together. … It took a lot of work, a lot of hours and Commissioner Kelly was really the one spearheading this and putting the hours in. So Jack, thank you. I’m so glad that we finally got to this point and I’m sure that the state is very happy as well as the Superior Court judges.”

Kelly said while the addition is expensive — a funding ordinance for $92 million for its permitting and construction was adopted last summer — the project will ultimately save the county money in the long run.

Currently, the county government leases a number of facilities scattered throughout downtown Toms River for the state Superior Court, which officials have said are expensive to rent, maintain and guard with sheriff’s officers.

Related coverage: $70 million Ocean County courthouse annex authorized despite price ballooning

“We will now need less sheriff’s officers to provide that same security because we’re going to limit the access to the building to either one or two entrances depending on the day,” Kelly said. “So, we’ll have less need for sheriff’s officers, we’ll have less leases to pay for, less utilities, less insurance. All of that will now be combined in just the one building.”

Kelly said he appreciated the support of the board’s majority and observed that Sadeghi “will learn all about the project and about the award of that bid.”

“As (Sadeghi) said, he’s not against it,” Kelly explained. “He just didn’t have all that information from all those years that we have been discussing this particular project. And he’ll know all about it very shortly because I’ll make sure of that.”

Sadeghi, a civil engineer in his professional life, has promised to be an independent voice on the five-member, all-Republican board.

He took office two weeks ago and immediately dissented from the board’s longstanding policy to assign department liaisons based on seniority among the commissioners.

Contact Asbury Park Press reporter Erik Larsen at elarsen@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: $75M contract awarded for Ocean County Justice Complex expansion