Berkeley Heights appears likely to turn down the only bid it received to buy its wastewater treatment plant—and yes, it was from New Jersey American Water, just as many expected.

According to a resolution up for approval at the next Township Council meeting, the bid didn’t meet the commitment to the level of capital improvements the town had asked for.

Because of that, the proposal was rejected as “non-responsive.”

NJ American Water was widely seen as the most likely buyer, given its history of acquiring local systems.

Just two resolutions later, on the very same night the bid is being rejected, the Council is preparing to authorize a “Notice of Intent” to award a contract for wastewater plant services through a national cooperative purchasing agreement (Resolution 234). That’s not a sale, but it could pave the way for long-term outsourcing, with far less public scrutiny or competitive bidding.

This occurs during the summer when many residents are away and this resolution is scheduled for a quick vote without much fanfare.

The timing is hard to ignore.

Was this plan already in motion before the bid was even rejected? If so, why wasn’t that discussed publicly?

Why is the Township ready to outsource major services right after declaring the one bid it received wasn’t good enough?

If the bid didn’t meet the town’s standards, is it really acceptable to jump right into a no-bid workaround behind the scenes?

Residents deserve more transparency—and more time to weigh in.

Updated at 3:13pm

Correction (July 12, 8:53 p.m.):

After this article was published, we took another close look at the full resolution text. In the resolution there is a line specifying that the contract is for “rehabilitation/repair of manholes and pipelines and emergency collections system services.”

That detail narrows the scope and makes clear this isn’t full-scale outsourcing.

We still believe the timing and lack of transparency around this resolution raise fair questions—especially given the failed sale and how little detail was made public before the vote. But residents deserve the full picture, which means acknowledging what was there, even if it was easy to miss.

We’ve added this note to reflect it.

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