The Village of Montgomery board, during its April 16 meeting, made the difficult decision to reject all bids for the senior center’s room extension, putting the project on hold until the board can rebid and seek more grant money next year.

The village board, after applying for three years, received $185,000 from the Community Development Block Grant in the fall of 2023. The board planned to use the grant to fund a room extension to the senior centers, where seniors would relax and socialize if they preferred not to participate in the main room’s scheduled activities.

Problems began arising during the bidding process; the village’s lowest bid, totaling $341,000, was a comfortable price, but the contractor who offered did not have the proper paperwork completed. The second lowest bid, totaling $417,000, proved problematic to pay with the village’s 2024-2025 budget, even with the grant.

Mayor Mike Hembury stated that the board would need to take out a 20-year bond to completely fund the room extension, which would increase residents’ monthly taxes by $20 to $25. While Hembury loves the senior center, he could not bear increasing taxes further, especially after the board pierced the tax cap during the village’s budget review.

“The board just raised the taxes, when we voted on the budget, by $12. That’s piercing the cap,” Hembury said. “Through figures and stuff we got here on a 20-year bond; this is going to more than raise the taxes another 20 to 25 dollars for the senior center.”

“How can I possibly justify doing that? It’s a beautiful building, both of my daughters got married in it,” he continued. “But how do I justify calling the people and saying ‘Hey, we raised your taxes for $12. Now I’m going to do it for another $25 a month for a senior center on there.’”

The board, unable to rebid at that time, decided to reject all bids for the extension and postpone the project until next year, giving its members time to search for more grant money. The decision was 3-1, with Trustee Randi Picarello not in favor of the rejection.

Not all is lost for the senior center, however; Buddy Nelson, superintendent of public works, confirmed on April 22 that the village would use the $185,000 grant to enhance the center’s accessibility. These improvements include repaving the parking lot, adding push doors, and lowering the curbing. While seniors will need to wait longer for the room extension, they can look forward to new amenities coming to the center.