The last of three facility upgrades planned in Liberty Township is set to get underway after a ground-breaking ceremony was held in Liberty Park on Tuesday for a new parks and road services maintenance facility.

In May 2o21, the Liberty Township Board of Trustees approved a contract with McCall Sharp Architecture to design the new facilities, beginning a more than $10 million infrastructure investment that included a new township hall and fire station in addition to the maintenance facility. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held last December to unveil the new township hall, and the fire station is nearing completion.

Now, work on the final project will begin next month with an estimated timeframe of one year for that work to be completed.

“As staff and administration, we are very grateful to the Board of Trustees, fiscal officer, and all the help from the county we get to help make this possible,” Township Administrator Kevin Vaughn said to begin Tuesday’s ceremony. “We will certainly benefit from it. I’ve heard our current salt facility is kind of held up by duct tape and maybe some chewing gum, so this is very well needed and is going to be a great asset to the community and how we deliver our services to the residents.”

Board Chairman Bryan Newell added, “This is a long overdue day for us. This was supposed to be the first project, and with an unfortunate turn of events with inflation and everything else, this is now the last one to kick off but better late than never on that. I know these guys are eager to get into their new home, and we were hoping to get them there a lot sooner, but today is the day.”

All three projects have been funded by the township at no additional cost to the residents thanks to the assistance of the Delaware County Finance Authority (DCFA)’s innovative bonds program. DCFA announced the program in July 2021 to assist local governments in paying for capital improvement projects. The strategic investment plan puts inactive county funds into a bond program to be used by governments at rates significantly lower than they would receive in the public market.

“I think the important thing to remember is that this building is about $2.5 million or just slightly over, and we’re on target to get this done on budget,” Fiscal Officer Rick Karr said. “This is all being done with no new tax dollars needed to do these projects. We’re financing all of our projects within the existing operating budget, so we’re not going to ask for any additional funds to get these done, which is exciting. And we’re locked in with financing over the 15-year period and way under the rate currently out there today. We’re in a great position to continue to build in Liberty Township and serve everybody in Powell and the township.”

Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on Twitter @DillonDavis56.