Having rejected bids for a new public works garage last month and U.S. Department of Agriculture funding up in the air, Jim Thorpe Borough may now turn to a local bank for a loan.

During a workshop session Thursday, council indicated it would have a motion on next week’s voting agenda to send a request for proposals to local banks, as they look to finance the new garage and renovations to Memorial Hall.

“Unfortunately COVID-19 hit right when we were bidding the garage out,” Council President Greg Strubinger said. “Financing is a concern now because we’re over budget.”

Council officially rejected bids last month for a 26,000-square-foot public works garage with nine service bays, planned for property the borough owns across from the water department on West Broadway.

The low bid came in just under $3 million, which is about $800,000 over preliminary estimates.

The USDA, through the Community Facilities Direct Loan Program, pledged a $2,499,720 loan for the new public works garage and demolition of the current garage adjacent to Memorial Hall, and a $2,247,060 loan to convert Memorial Hall into a combined police station, administrative office and community center.

“There is a question whether that USDA financing will be extended,” Strubinger said. “We had a 3.5% rate, which I think we could have gotten locally, but the reason we went with USDA is because it was a 40-year term.”

Both projects have been several years in the making, and Strubinger expressed frustration Thursday night with how long the process to get the USDA funding has taken.

“I think they drug their feet and we should have had the projects done by now,” he said. “There have been so many delays. At this point I can’t see spending any more time with that. What good is the long financing term, if we’re not moving forward.”

By going with a local bank, the term will be shorter, probably in the 10-15 year range, borough officials estimated. Borough Manager Maureen Sterner said a proposed timeline could have the municipalities bidding both projects in November, after council decides how much, if at all, to scale both plans down.

The work on the hall would allow the borough to move its administrative offices to a portion of the top floor of that building, while moving its police department to the bottom floor, which used to be a roller skating rink.

“I’d like to go with what we intended there for the hall,” Strubinger said. “I can’t see chopping anything out of that.”