Douglass Township officials are withholding nearly $193,000 in payments for the construction of its new public works building for clerical reasons.

            According to Treasurer Cynthia O'Donnell the township's board of supervisors won't comply with a request from the Hollenbach Construction, Inc., the contractor building the facility, until it submits the proper paperwork.

            In August, township officials received a bill totaling $192,987.59 for work completed at the facility located on Municipal Drive by a sub-contractor. However, municipal officials have not released the money since they have not received the proper payroll and prevailing wage information from the contractor, O'Donnell said after Monday's public board of supervisors meeting.

            On Friday, municipal officials received a similar request for payment totaling approximately $93,000, according to Bob Dries, the township's zoning and code enforcement officer who is overseeing the project.

            The contractor has failed to provide the proper paperwork for that request, according to Solicitor Bob Brant.

            Roof trusses at the facility needed to be repaired, according to township Manager Pete Hiryak. He said after the meeting that an inspection identified that the trusses moved after they were initially set, and that they were fixed at no additional cost to the municipality.

            The issue is expected the delay completion of the project by approximately two weeks, to the middle of November, according to Hiryak.

            In other news, Brant informed a resident that the supervisors have no immediate plans to reopen the social club at the Gilbertsville fire house on East Philadelphia Avenue.

            During the meeting, the solicitor repeated the Board's rationale for evicting the social organization from the facility. A January complaint about the operations of Gilbertsville Fire Company No. 1 related to its small games of chance led the supervisors to suspend the organization's operations.  "The liquor license is in safe keeping," Brant said during the meeting.

            After the meeting Hiryak said that allowing the Gilbertsville Fire and Rescue to remain in the building, in order to provide a high level of protection for the municipality, is the board's top priority. The solicitor said during the meeting that he has a drafted a lease to allow the emergency responders to remain on the premises at 1454 and 1456 E. Philadelphia Ave.

"We're working out the details," Brant said during the meeting.