The Bremen Town Council members held discussion on upcoming Stellar Communities projects when they met Monday afternoon.
Priority Project Resources Grant Writer Shannon McLeod gave the council members an updated funding sheet from all of the Stellar projects that the town has either completed or has planned.
One of the projects is the Jackson Street project and the council is anticipated to open bids for that project at the council’s April 10 meeting. With the way things are going in the construction realm, inflation has caused funding concerns. The town received $1,157,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds with the town’s match of $231,000. If the bids come over the anticipated estimate of the project, some budgeted TIF funds may need to be utilized to accommodate the cost completion.
After the Jackson Street project is complete, McLeod explained that $1,485,200 in Stellar funding would remain to be applied to the Aquatic Center project which includes a pool rehabilitation and the addition of a splash pad. With $926,000 in TIF funds and the anticipated cost of the Aquatic Center at $3.1 million, the local obligation is over $1 million. Those funds would either have to be collected through fundraisers or by other means.
The problem with that, according to McLeod, is all of that money needs to be in hand to be included in the grant application paperwork. If the council plans to move ahead with the current schedule of the bid opening this fall with construction to start at the beginning of the year to be done by the pool season, that money has to be collected fairly quickly. However, the Aquatic Center project would not need to be complete by the end of 2024, but if the project is pushed back a whole season would be missed in 2024.
Councilman Michael Leman asked if an option exists to “scrap” the Jackson Street project in order to have those funds for the Aquatic Center project, which has gone through a heavy public input process to get to the point of design, and the fact the town cannot afford both projects.
Director of Operations Trend Weldy reminded the council that the Indiana Department of Transportation had originally agreed to fund the Jackson Street project, but withdrew funding which put it into the hands of the council to determine how to afford it.
McLeod initially said the town could not back out of the Jackson Street project due to signed commitments, but after further discussion, she said she would talk to the granting agency, the Office of Community and Rural Affairs, and the Marshall County Crossroads Stellar Initiative team to see if that is possible. She noted that the community pool has been an existing structure for a long time that needs rehabilitation and the climate is quite different than when the county was awarded Stellar funds in 2019.
The council asked that McLeod talk to the granting agency to see if the omission of the Jackson Street project is allowed. She will see what flexibility is available.
Until then, the bid opening for the Jackson Street project is still on schedule for April 10 until more information can be received. The council has 90 days from the bid opening day to accept or reject bids.
Regardless, the council will be discussing the projects in a meeting scheduled for Thursday, March 16 at 9:30 a.m. ET at the Bremen Town Hall. McLeod said she was unsure if answers could be provided by this meeting.
