Pa. firm chosen to install turf at North Some parents wary of company's lack of track record locally BY DAN NEWMAN Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN - After multiple rounds of bidding which lasted nearly six weeks, Mondo U.S.A. will construct the heavily anticipated artificial grass field at High School North. At a special meeting Thursday, the bid was awarded to the Pennsylvania-based company at a cost of $753,000. Although the vote was unanimous, it didn't come without plenty of questions and comments from concerned parents, some of whom wanted know why the district would hire a company that has not installed any turf fields in the state. "They haven't done anything in New Jersey," parent Bob Bruno said. "I guess this board is feeling really lucky and they want to take a gamble. Guess what? I don't wanna take a gamble on a company that hasn't done any work in this state." Other questions had to do with the perceived imbalance between the township's two high schools. Bruno went on to mention that High School South used Parsippany-based IC Improvements three years ago when the school had its artificial turf field installed, and then questioned why the district would shy away from using them at High School North. "Middletown South and Middletown North are supposed to be equal and they're clearly not," Bruno said. "With Mondo, we're not getting the best field possible. Things are not equal." Glenn Hoy, a sales manager with Mondo U.S.A., said that even though people may be unfamiliar with his company's work, they should not be nervous about the product that North is about to get. "We've done about 900 fields worldwide and so we do have experience at this," Hoy said. "Plus, we not only install the product but we manufacture it as well. There is no middleman in this whole process and we are not a fly-by-night company." Joseph Lucarelli, president of the Lucarelli Group, the district's construction management company, said that Mondo would be required to have the job done by Oct. 4. However, there is a chance that may not occur due to the potential for litigation, courtesy of IC Improvements. Jim Cody, a Middletown South Touchdown Club member and parent who is also a sales rep for IC Improvements, felt that the "bidding process was tainted." "We feel like things were done to help Mondo get this bid and that's not right," Cody said. Two rounds of bids were previously conducted. One of the bids was produced by IC Improvements, which either did not meet the required specifications or did not include proper documentation, thus requiring another round of bidding. Cody feels that Mondo received an unfair advantage. "No other company had help like Mondo did throughout the process," Cody said. "The board put on a nice show, but what they're doing is wrong."