Council funds pier inspection KEYPORT - About $20,000 is needed to inspect the new municipal pier, according to Borough Administrator Peter Valesi. Valesi, who also serves as the borough's director of engineering, asked the council for the extra funding on Feb. 6. Back in 2004, the cost of the pier was set at $850,000 with the state contributing $340,750. "In my mind, an inspection contract is anywhere from 9 and 13 percent of the construction cost of a contract," Valesi told the board. "That's soup to nuts. That's doing the preconstruction meeting. That's doing all the things that I'm going to do in my office. This $20,000 is to allow me to get qualifications, to take field shots if I need a surveyor out there. It gives me a mechanism to bring the consultant who designed the job out there." Valesi added, "I ask that you give me the $20,000 to use at my discretion." Mayor Robert Bergen noted that in his experience the cost is even higher. "Contract administration could cost up to 17 or 18 percent," Bergen said. George Walling was the only council member to vote against authorizing the funding. - Karen E. Bowes