Peters Township aquatic center plans likely dead
After years of planning, it appears unlikely that Peters Township council will move ahead with building an aquatic center at Rolling Hills Park.
Township Manager Paul Lauer gave council the bad news at Monday night’s meeting – a low bid of about $17 million, or $15 million if some elements were to be removed from the construction.
That bid came courtesy of the Hermitage-based Hudson Companies. Council budgeted $10 million for the aquatic center, and had rejected an $11.4 million bid in 2021.
Council will vote on the bids next month.
“It’s going to be my recommendation that in January we take formal action to reject the bids. Council has to have a discussion about what it is you would like to do going forward. At this point, I think we need to let this project sit,” Lauer said.
The aquatic center would have been a large recreation area in Rolling Hills Park with a pool, water slides, lazy river and a splash park.
Peters Township had amassed a good deal of grant funding for the project, most recently a $631,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR).
“How does this affect our grants that we’ve obtained?” council member Tom Pirosko asked Lauer.
Lauer explained that while the grant funding cannot be repurposed for other projects, council has time before having to forfeit the money.
“There is not a need to reject the grant now, because you have a five-year window. It’s in the township’s interest to leave that grant open for the time being,” Lauer said.
Peters resident Christina Romano asked council about the potential of surveying those in the township to gauge how much support exists for the project.
Frank Kosir Jr., vice chair of council, replied that it would not be worth the time or expense.
“I don’t think even if you got a survey back that 100% of the residents of this township wanted it, I don’t see how we could justify spending $17 million on it,” Kosir said. “Not to make a joke, but the aquatic facility, at least this one, is probably dead in the water.”