New Seneca Light and Water Home put on hold

The City of Seneca has halted its plans to renovate the old JN Kellett School to be the new home of the Light and Water Department.  Area homeowners have voiced opposition to the project, so Mayor Dan Alexander said the city is postponing the project to answer their concerns.  “This week we put the project on hold because over the weekend we learned several people were upset about the project.  They said they didn’t know about it or some of them might have known about it but didn’t know what all was involved.  Therefore, they had lots of reservations and the first part of this week Utilities Director Bob Faires sat down with a group to try to answers questions.  We still have some people that do not want it and some have different feelings about it.” The renovation project has been in discussions for several months, adds Mayor Alexander.  “The City, about a year ago, had a work session there and invited people to come.  In that meeting, there were many discussions about the JN Kellett building and the possibilities there about the needs of all the departments.  Light and Water was going to have to relocate, which allowed some of the other departments to move in different buildings.  So, by making one change it made several changes, which helped the needs of all the departments.” A few legal questions must be answered before moving forward, concludes Mayor Alexander.  “We are trying to get answers to some questions to see if there are any other options.  To tell you where we are; the bonds on the development have already been issued, we have already entered into a contract with a company called Hogan and it is a multi-million contract we have signed with them to do the work.  Therefore, there are several questions.  Some of the funds are coming from the state revolving loan fund to do the project.  The building itself has already been torn out to be totally renovated and we have gone through all the bidding process.  However, right now, what we are looking at is the legal side of the contract and bond to see if they are jeopardized.  Therefore, we are trying to get answers on that right now because I know some people don’t mind some things but some people don’t like any of it.  I really don’t know if there is a different option, but we are definitely trying to get our facts together so at our meeting we can say if you choose to do this, this is what we have to do.  If different options are available depending on what we find out from our legal advice about those several things.” The city wants to make an intelligent decision on whether to go forward with the project at the former JN Kellett School and discussion toward that decision is scheduled for the regular November session of the Seneca City Council on Tuesday.