MARGATE – With Memorial Day weekend just a week away and despite objections from a bidder and one of the commissioners, the Board of Commissioners Thursday, May 16 unanimously awarded two contracts for vendors to sell ice cream and iced coffee on the beach this summer.
The ice cream vending award was made following two rounds of bidding, in which two companies submitted bids.
Michele Schaffer, owner of SJ Aladdin, LLC of Haddonfield, said she submitted bids for both rounds of the ice cream vendor contract. However, she was not personally notified that the first round of ice cream vending bids, which she believed she won, was rejected on April 17, and that the city would solicit a second round of bids. According to a resolution, the request for second round of bids was advertised in the Press of Atlantic City on April 19.
“I actually had to call to find that out,” she said.
In the first round of bidding, Aladdin submitted a multi-year bid of $50,000 for the first year, $70,000 for the second year, and $122,010 for the third year. WC Ice Cream LLC of Cinnaminson submitted a multi-year bid of $70,000 for the first year, $80,000 for the second year, and $90,000 for the third year.
“We bid the ice cream both times. Initially, we were the higher bid. For some reason unknown to us, you rejected those bids without notification to us,” Schaffer said.
Qualified Purchasing Agent Roger McLarnon said her bid was “unbalanced.”
“It was back loaded instead of front-loaded,” McLarnon said.
Calling it a very “clever” bid, Solicitor John Scott Abbott said that Schaffer submitted lower amounts for the first two years, while the third year was much higher, which would give the vendor the opportunity to “bail out” in the final year.
“It seemed very unbalanced, in fact, it made no sense,” Abbott said.
McLarnon recommended the bids be rejected and rebid with a one-year contract. According to Resolution 113-2025 approved on April 17, a certified copy of the resolution was to be forwarded to McLarnon, CFO Lisa McLaughlin, Aladdin and WC Ice Cream.
McLarnon said he used the same bid package as the city did when Aladdin was selected for the beach vending license four years ago.
“You bid the same bid four years ago, and there were no issues,” McLarnon said. “Now that you didn’t win, there are issues.”
In the second round, Aladdin submitted a bid amount of $75,500, while WC Ice Cream won the bid with its $96,000 offering.
Standing by his decision, McLarnon recommended the contract be awarded to WC Ice Cream.
Additionally, Schaffer had an issue with the city’s first time-ever bidding process to sell iced coffee on the beach.
The city agreed to go out for a three-year contract for coffee and the bid offering was advertised April 10 with bids to be received April 29. Two bids were received. WC Ice Cream offered $20,000 for the first year, $25,000 for the second year and $25,000 for the third year. A second bidder, Cool Bean Cold Brew LLC of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, offered a single year bid of $25,000, which did not comply with the bid specifications. Schaffer did not submit a bid for the coffee contract, although she said her company was the most qualified company to offer the service.
Schaffer said her company currently has a contract to sell products on the beach in North Wildwood and has had contracts in past years in Wildwood and Sea Isle City. The company also has beach concessions for umbrellas and beach chairs.
McLarnon recommended the city award a year-one contract to WC Ice Cream for the 2025 season at $20,000, with the ability to extend the contract in years two and three for $25,000.
“The second bidder was a defective bid, so that is why we did not accept it.” McLarnon said.
Schaffer said that at a meeting last week, she questioned whether the winner of the coffee contract had all the necessary equipment for coffee service.
“We assumed they responded appropriately and would have all the equipment necessary to provide the service,” McLarnon said.
Schaffer said she is the only vendor in South Jersey that has been selling coffee on beaches and has all the necessary equipment to provide the service.
“We are the only company at the Jersey Shore from Cape May up to Atlantic City that does both and has carts equipped for both,” Schaffer said. “Had someone reached out to us…we would have come back and bid the coffee.”
Schaffer said the bid documents were very confusing.
“I’ve been doing these bid packets for 10 years, and they are very confusing,” she said.
Also confused about the bid specifications and what led to their rejection, Commissioner Maury Blumberg questioned the process for awarding the contract.
Blumberg said if he had his way, he would reject both bids and issue a third round of bids, which could result in a more lucrative contract for taxpayers.
“There was only one valid bid with options for 2026 and 2027,” Mayor Michael Collins explained. “The bid that Roger is recommending is for a three-year term if we choose to exercise that next January. We could choose not to extend it and put it out to bid again next spring for next summer and change the bid documents for coffee.”
The commission voted unanimously to approve the bids as presented by McLarnon.
“We will make sure to take into consideration to review our bid specs, so this doesn’t happen in the future,” Collins told Schaffer.
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