A $163,922 grant is in jeopardy of being lost after Carbon County again received no bids for general and electrical contracts for a proposed women’s shelter.

On Thursday, the commissioners were scheduled to open bids for two of three contracts for the Peaceful Knights women’s homeless shelter project, but there was nothing to open.

The board then said that under county code, the county can now seek out contractors to provide quotes for the work instead of following bidding guidelines.

The problem is, is that the Community Development Block Grant COVID funds expires on Sept. 29, meaning the county has to contract the companies and have the work completed by then, or risk having to return the money.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein stressed the importance of getting contractors now and getting the project started because of the funding schedule.

“Hopefully there are contractors out there who are interested,” he said. “We are running out of time.”

When asked if they think they are going to be able to get contractors since no one bid on the previous two attempts, Commissioner Chris Lukasevich said that this actually provides a way to expand the reach and give smaller contractors, who don’t normally bid due to not being able to meet all bidding requirements, an opportunity.

The county has reached out to local contractors, as well as Boyle Construction, who has contacts in the Lehigh Valley.

He added that he spoke with Aggie Schoenberger, who asked about the contractor who had been doing work at the shelter.

The contractor said he didn’t submit a bid because he didn’t have the 10% required in the bidding process and also that he expected a lot of companies to bid so he wouldn’t have a good chance.

Any contractor interested in the project should contact the Carbon County Office of Planning and Development as soon as possible for details.

The project includes general construction, electrical and plumbing work for renovating space for the shelter on North First Street in Lehighton.

Peaceful Knights purchased 131 and 133 N. First St. in 2020 in the hopes of expanding its operations. It currently has a shelter for men, but only recently started shifting to help women in trouble of homelessness.

In February, the county commissioners shifted the $163,922.13 block grant funds from Family Promise, who initially planned for the single woman homeless shelter, to Peaceful Knights to create the shelter.

Prior to that, Family Promise of Carbon County had been working to create the shelter at its site in Nesquehoning, the former St. Francis of Assisi church and rectory, but “intraorganizational challenges” delayed the project several times, causing the project to creep closer to the grant deadline without any progress.