Trending
WEIRTON -- Weirton Council will meet in a special session next week to discuss aspects of the Park Drive development project.
According to an agenda released Thursday, council will convene at 4 p.m. Monday in council chambers of the Weirton Municipal Building. The lone agenda item is an executive session "consistent with West Virginia Code 6-9a-4 to discuss contracts/change orders for the Park Drive Project."
City Manager Mike Adams raised the possibility of a special meeting on the project during Tuesday's regular meeting of city council, noting there are between seven and nine change orders anticipated for the project.
"There are some that are good for the city and some that are going to cost the city some money," Adams said Tuesday while addressing council as part of his monthly report. "I want you to be aware of these changes."
Adams noted the possibility of having representatives of McKinley and Associates, the main contractor on the project, at the meeting to review the status of the development.
"I want to involve you in as much as I can," he said the council.
Construction on the development began in March, with council authorizing a change order of up to $186,615.72 for electrical work in May as a result of adjustments to the materials available for use. The funds for that change order were to come from the city's Tax Increment Financing funds, which are derived from the TIF District established over the Park Drive area.
The Park Drive project includes the proposed development of retail, business and residential space along Park Drive across from the Wal-Mart Supercenter. The project has been in the planning stages for several years, as a cooperative effort between the City of Weirton, the Business Development Corp. of the Northern Panhandle and Park Drive Development LLC.
The current focus is on 12 acres of the approximately 72 available acres of property.
While the BDC owns the land for the project, the City of Weirton will own and maintain the streets, sidewalks and parking lots for the development.
James White Construction was hired to work on the infrastructure for the project.