Legislative Committee to Act on Sale of County Buildings, Bus Bids

When the Rockland County Legislature’s Budget & Finance Committee meets tonight it is expected to authorize and approve the for more than $8 million.  The sale is part of the county government’s effort to reduce its looming budget deficit.

Three bids were received for 185 North Main Street in Spring Valley and two bids were submitted for 2 New Hempstead Road in New City.  The multi-story New Hempstead Road structure had been used for county offices. The three-level Spring Valley building once housed a Rockland Community College satellite campus and was formerly an elementary school.

The Village of Spring Valley, JR, LLC and Congregation Khal Bais Shmiel submitted bids for the Spring Valley property.  The highest one was $4.2 million from Congregation Khal Bais Shmiel. JP Morgan Chase  & Co. presented the highest bid for the 2 New Hempstead Road site at $4 million; the other bidder was Koenig Management.  

The pending sale of the two buildings would bring in $3.2 million more than the county’s original estimate of $5 million.

The committee is expected to reject bids received for the transit operations and maintenance of Transport of Rockland and Tappan Zee Express. According to materials released by the county, the bids submitted by Brega Transport Corp., MV Transportation and Rockland Transit Corp. did not meet the requirements of the Request for Bid (RFB). 

The county’s director of purchasing determined variances in each of the bids are material and has recommended that the committee and full legislature consider them non-responsive and reject them. The county’s transportation services are funded by state and federal government subsidies and fare box revenue.  The Federal Transit Administration requires the county to award a contract for transit services using a competitive procurement process, which necessitates the contract be awarded to the lowest bidder “responsive to the requirements set forth in the RFB.”

The three bids received by the county purchasing department and opened on March 30 were for $69,990,693 from Brega, $75,792,997.22 from MV and $76,427,497 from Rockland Transit. The county’s bus services include 62 buses, which it owns and are valued at $17,788,266. They carry approximately 9,300 riders daily or 3.4 million annually.

The committee meets at 7 p.m. in the county office building.