Secaucus, N.J., approved $10,000 raises for its administrator and town attorney and a $172,500 no-bid engineering deal Oct. 13. None was on the posted agenda or read aloud

Hudson TV Exclusive

By Julio Reynoso

SECAUCUS, N.J. — The Secaucus Town Council on Oct. 13 gave $10,000 raises to Town Administrator Gary M. Jeffas and Town Attorney Julia Peschetti and awarded Boswell Engineering a $172,500 engineering contract without public bidding. None of the three resolutions appeared on the consent agenda the town posted before the meeting, and none was read aloud or discussed before the council approved the consent agenda in a single vote, town records and the town’s meeting video show.

The certified Boswell resolution also says the $172,500 proposal came from a different firm, Remington & Vernick Engineers, while awarding the contract to Boswell.

All three passed 7-0, with all six council members and Mayor Michael Gonnelli voting yes, according to the clerk’s tally sheets attached to each resolution.

What the records show

Before the meeting, the town posted a consent agenda with 19 resolutions. That version is still the one linked on the town’s Oct. 13 meeting page. The town later posted the meeting’s Final Approved agenda, with certified copies of each resolution. Its consent list runs to 21 items. One item from the posted version, a tax assessment change for a Fifth Street property, is gone, and three new items appear at the end:

• Item 19, Resolution 2026-280: “the base salary of Gary M. Jeffas, Esq., Town Administrator, be increased by $10,000.00, effective October 12, 2026.”
• Item 20, Resolution 2026-281: “the base salary of Julia Peschetti, Town Attorney, be increased by $10,000.00, effective October 12, 2026.”
• Item 21, Resolution 2026-282: a professional services contract to Boswell Engineering for engineering services for improvements to Hartz Way and American Way, “in an amount not to exceed” $172,500.

Both the posted agenda and the consent agenda carry a standard notice that items “may be added or removed” by the council. Adding items to a consent agenda is allowed.

What happened at the meeting

The town’s video of the Oct. 13 meeting shows Mayor Gonnelli calling the consent agenda at about 9 minutes, 52 seconds in. He asked whether there were any questions. None were raised, and the council approved the whole list in one roll call, which ended at about 10:21. No resolution on the list was read or described. The only comment during the roll call came from Councilman Robert Costantino, who abstained on item 7.

Other items that were not on the posted agenda were read aloud that night. Those included two Secaucus High School PTSA raffle applications and a second probationary firefighter appointment.

Neither the raises nor the Boswell contract came up again in the roughly two-hour meeting, which ended at about 2:05:50 in the video. Most of the meeting was taken up by the town’s data center debate and public comment.

Video: Town of Secaucus. The consent agenda vote starts at 9:52.

The raises

State pension data list Jeffas’s salary at $208,646 as of June 30, 2026, according to the state’s pension membership records. If that is his base pay, the raise brings it to about $218,646, an increase of about 4.8%.

This is Jeffas’s second $10,000 raise since early 2024. Minutes of the Feb. 27, 2024 council meeting show a resolution giving him “a $10,000.00 increase in his base salary, effective February 28, 2024.”

The same state pension data list Peschetti’s salary at $104,648 as of June 30, 2026 (record). A $10,000 raise on that amount is about 9.6%. The town’s Administrator/Mayor’s Office page lists her as Town Attorney.

Neither resolution says why the raises were given or what the new salaries are. Pension salary figures can differ from base pay. Hudson TV asked the town to confirm both salaries.

The Boswell contract and the Remington & Vernick proposal

Resolution 2026-282 awards the work without public advertising, citing the section of state law that lets towns negotiate professional services contracts. It notes that Boswell was appointed one of the town’s consulting engineers for 2026 under Resolution 2026-66.

The next clause reads: “WHEREAS, Remington & Vernick Engineers provided a proposal for Engineering Services for Improvements to Hartz and American Way in an amount not to exceed One Hundred Seventy-Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars and 00/100 ($172,500.00).”

The resolution then awards the contract to “Bowell Engineering” for the same amount. “Bowell” appears to be a misspelling of Boswell, the name used in the title and the rest of the document. The resolution does not explain the reference to Remington & Vernick, and the certified copy does not include either firm’s proposal.

Both firms are consulting engineers for the town this year. Resolution 2026-66, adopted Feb. 10 after the town’s fair-and-open process, capped Remington & Vernick’s consulting engineer work at $1 million for 2026 and Boswell’s at $250,000.

Boswell was already working on the project before Oct. 13:

• The town’s notice to bidders for the American Way and Hartz Way roadway preservation project directed contractors to Boswell’s South Hackensack office for the plans and specifications. The construction work was advertised Sept. 3.
• In an Oct. 7 letter in the same meeting packet, Boswell’s Robert Gross, P.E., signing as “Town Engineer Representative,” recommended awarding the construction contract to D.S. Meyer Enterprises of Waldwick, the lowest of four bidders, for $1,475,197.21.
• The council approved that construction award the same night, as item 3 of the consent agenda. Both resolutions charge the same budget line, G-02-41-5600-2114.
• Boswell’s own 2025 business-entity disclosure to the state Election Law Enforcement Commission lists a Secaucus contract dated June 18, 2025, for “FY2025 LFIF-Hartz & American Way,” with $21,083 reported (ELEC 2025 contracts data).

The records do not show whether the $172,500 covers past design work, construction inspection going forward, or both.

State law requires towns to publish a notice when they award a professional services contract without bidding. A notice of the Boswell award, listed Oct. 19 on the public-notice site NoticeRegistry, says the contract runs up to 12 months and that the contract and resolution are available for inspection at the town clerk’s office.

Political contributions

Boswell, Inc., which lists Boswell Engineering’s South Hackensack headquarters address, reported giving $600 to Moving Secaucus Forward, the slate of Mayor Gonnelli and the council, on April 4, 2024, and another $600 on April 2, 2025. Those figures come from the firm’s own annual disclosures to ELEC (2024 data, 2025 data). Disclosing contributions does not by itself mean any rule was broken.

Timing

The votes came three weeks before the Nov. 3 general election.

Town response

Hudson TV emailed Jeffas at 1:51 p.m. ET on Oct. 22, with Town Clerk Michael Marra copied, and asked for comment by 5 p.m. The questions were:

• When and why were the three items added, and were they read aloud?
• Who recommended the raises, and what were they based on?
• What are the new salaries?
• Which firm submitted the $172,500 proposal, and will the town correct the resolution?
• What work had Boswell already done on the project?
• How much of Boswell’s $250,000 cap for 2026 has the town committed?

Jeffas, Marra, Mayor Gonnelli and Peschetti did not respond by the 5 p.m. deadline. This story will be updated if the town responds.

Hudson TV asks: Should Secaucus read raises and no-bid contracts aloud before the council votes on them, even when they are added to the consent agenda? Share your take in the comments.