Contractor brings payment woes to township

MILFORD — A contractor says $53,000, promised upon the township’s release of bond money from the Milford Highlands subdivision, has not yet shown up. On Nov. 5, the Milford Township Supervisors reduced the performance bond, money held to protect the township against the costs of uncompleted work, by the $206,000 sought by developer Dominic Bradlee. Mike Lukasik, of Spectrum Chainlink & Fencing of Montague, N.J. said Monday that he will lose his business if the money he claims Bradlee owes him is not paid. Bradlee did not respond to a request to comment on this story as the Courier went to press. Lukasik’s attorney, John Duke Schneider on Monday said Lukasik has filed a lien and told the Milford Supervisors that he may need to depose, take testimony from, a township official about the township’s role in handling Bradlee’s completion bond. For several months, Bradlee and his representatives had argued that money tied up in the bond was needed for other obligations, but the Supervisors had refused, demanding a plan for the reclamation of a borrow area/quarry on the property. After the last denial in late October, excavating contractor Al Johns said unpaid bills from Milford Highlands had “an astronomical negative impact,” on him and his 37 employees. Johns offered to work a compromise reclamation to free the bond money. Earlier this month, the supervisors released the requested $206,000 after receiving a recommendation from Town engineer Fred Schoenagel that the quarry could be closed with remaining bond money.