PARSIPPANY — The Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Council passed a resolution 3-2 approving the services of Alpha Dog Solutions. Council Vice President Robert Peluso and Councilman Paul Carifi, Jr., voted against the resolution.
AlphaDog Solutions, Inc. provides a variety of technical services relating to the installation and maintenance of hardware, software and communications facilities relating to the operation of the Township’s website, www.parsippany.net.
In recent years, the Council voted against using the services of AlpaDog Solutions, although the Administration “negotiated” special terms to fall under the amount of $17,500, which doesn’t require approval of the council.
AlphaDog Solutions is the owner of certain software known as “The Cyber Clerk Program,” which is a combination of proprietary software and internet based applications that facilitate the operations of governmental entities and the interaction of governmental entities with its citizenry. This means that Parsippany-Troy Hills “does not” own the technology and if the Township ever wanted to switch services, the site would have to redesigned.
The contract states “maintain it’s website through December 31, 2016 at a monthly fee of $1,995.00.” The fee includes a monthly hosting fee of $95.00. The total value of the resolution is $23,900.00.
According to Ellen Sandman, the Business Administrator, AlphaDog was paid $17,100.00 for services in 2015. The administration can bypass the Council if the total paid to the vendor is under $17,500.00, thus overriding the defeated 2015 resolution.
Council President Louis Valori said “It makes absolutely no sense to replace a website administrator who has a proven history with our township in keeping our information systems current in the most efficient, effective and economical manner as possible.”
“AlphaDog has consistently been proactive and responsive to the information technology needs of this Township and works in close coordination with our Business Administrator, Chief Financial officers and other executive staff members,” he continued.
In response to voting against the resolution, Council Vice President Robert Peluso said “I respect AlphaDog for their quality of service that several employees noted, but from prior discussions with the Mayor, our contracts should be openly discussed and transparent. This contract was not put out to bid and shared services were not reconsidered. After spending close to $24,000, the Council is still not informed who performs and how much our taxpayers pay for social media management and achieving. I strongly believe we need to be 100% transparent to our taxpayers and our online media is a great way to provide our taxpayers with information.”
The resolution states “AlphaDog Solutions, Inc. has submitted a Business Entity Disclosure Certification, which Certification provides that they have not made any reportable contributions to candidate committees, joint candidate committees, joint candidates committees or political party committees representing the elected officials of the Township in the one year period preceding the award of the Contract, and that the Contract will prohibit AlphaDog Solutions from making any reportable contributions through the term of the contract that would bar the award of this Agreement pursuant to N.J.S.A. 19:44A-20.5 et seq.”
It also states “Business Entity Disclosure Certification further provides that AlphaDog Solutions, Inc. has not made any and will not make any contributions or solicit any contribution of money or pledge of a contribution in violation of Township Ordinance 10:02 (Municipal Code Part 1, Chapter 12); and AlphaDog Solutions, Inc. has completed and submitted a Political Contribution Disclosure Form and Stockholder Disclosure Certification, as required pursuant to N.J.S.A. 19:44A-20.6, not later than 10 days prior to entering into the contract.
Requests for comments from Mayor James Barberio, Councilman Michael dePierro and Paul Carifi, Jr., and Councilwoman Loretta Gragnani went unanswered.
AlphaDog Solutions is located at 335 Union Avenue, Belleville and also creates websites for North Bergen Police Department, the Borough of Raritan, Township of Lyndhurst, North Bergen, the Borough of Roselle and North Bergen Public Library as well as other locations.
The Parsippany Board of Education, recently revealed their new website, which was designed by West’s Education group, part of West Corporation, a provider of SchoolMessenger solutions. Thousands of schools and other educational institutions in all 50 U.S. states and Canada depend on SchoolMessenger products and services for community engagement in multiple languages and on any device. West’s Education Group is located in Scotts Valley, California.
