WEATHERSFIELD — Plans for the construction of a new multijurisdictional community center at the park off state Route 46 have stalled after recently received bids far exceeded the grant dollars the township has available.

At a recent meeting, trustees Steve Gerberry and Edward Whittaker voted to reject bids for the construction of the center after the lowest proposal came in significantly higher than what the township had hoped.

“We were kind of shocked when we got the bids; they were 50% higher than where we thought they would be,” Gerberry said.

Weathersfield received $800,000 in grant funding for construction of the center.

A large portion — $500,000 — is through an appropriation from the 2020-21 Ohio capital budget, and $300,000 is from the Appalachian Regional Commission.

Gerberry suggested the newest bids for construction were approximately $1.4 million or more.

“There’s just not enough money there with the grants,” Gerberry said.

Planned is a 91-foot-by-70-foot, one-story, 6,300-square-foot center with large and small meeting rooms and a warming kitchen to be used by safety forces and other groups. The center would be located west of the township gazebo.

In past years, trustees have said the police department and other law enforcement personnel, as well as groups such as the historical societies, 4-H and Scouts, could use the building. They said the center will be a welcome addition to the park, which is used for a variety of events from the Flag Day Festival, the fall Oktoberfest, Easter egg hunt, holiday tree lighting, and local youth sports, among others.

After rejecting the bids that were too costly, trustees then voted to authorize fiscal officer Fred Bobovnyk to solicit proposals for a design-build contract for the construction of the training center.

Administrator David Rouan said the solicitation of design-build contract proposals is a different approach to hopefully cut costs on the construction of the center.

“With the solicitations for the proposals for the design-build, we’re hopeful that we can engage a designer and contractor to come up with more efficient ways to build this building at a less expensive cost,” Rouan said. “We’re hopeful that we can accomplish that.”

COVID-19 DELAYS

The multijurisdictional center is a project the township has been planning for several years.

Several issues brought forward by the COVID-19 pandemic are stunting development of the project.

Gerberry said the price originally planned for the center has skyrocketed since the pandemic because of issues with the global supply chain.

“Believe it or not, when we got the original $500,000 that was supposed to be enough,” Gerberry said. “Then the world changed. I hate to blame COVID, but COVID happened. People didn’t want to work so that disrupted supply chains, materials, everything.”

Gerberry noted that while the township was able to secure an additional $300,000 grant through the Appalachian Regional Commission, it still finds itself short on funds for the project heading into 2024.

The trustees are hopeful the request for design-build contract proposals will result in less expensive bids.

If not, the future of the multijurisdictional center could prove to be complicated.

“(We’ll) keep our fingers crossed that (the new bids) come in better,” Gerberry said. “If that doesn’t work out, I don’t know what we’ll do. We’ll probably more than likely have to give that grant money back. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for the future here.”

Rouan said the township has about one year to have a firm plan in place for the grant dollars. He said the coming year will be critical for the development of the training center.

Whittaker noted the current plan for the multijurisdictional center has been scaled back on several occasions over the past few years. He said the township hopes it will be able to find a way to make the construction work. He said the center would be an important centerpiece for the township.

“This is an endeavor that these two individuals (Rouan and Gerberry) started well before I came on board,” Whittaker said. “They have done a lot of work and secured a lot of money. It’s already been downsized, it’s already been redesigned. We’re now going through plan C or D to make it work with some additional tweaking in the type of construction.

“We still want to see something up there at the park, where people can meet… And use it as a community. We’re doing everything we can to get it done.”