Weatherly Borough Council on Monday awarded a contract for the Eurana Park improvements as the clock ticks down on the project’s federal funding.

This was the fifth round for bids on the project, Council President Norman Richie said. Each time, the bids exceeded the $232,000 federal grant obtained through the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

This time was no different.

The low bidder, Sargent Enterprises Inc., came in at $248,760, which is $16,000 above the grant amount. Other bidders were Lehigh Asphalt Paving and Construction, $327,816.50, and B.T. Adams LLC, $276,210.

Councilman Jeffrey Miller suggested moving ahead with the project despite the $16,000 shortfall.

“At this point, I think we should just do it and get it done. We’ll have to come up with that,” he said. “It’s two years you have everything ripped apart at the park.”

Borough Manager Harold Pudliner consulted with solicitor James Nanovic on whether or not they could award the contract and still see if they could trim something off the project to bring the cost down.

Nanovic explained that there are often change orders on a project, and they usually bring the cost up, but they could also lower costs. It would be up to the contractor, he said.

“You can certainly try,” he said. “We can say we want to delete something, but he can say, ‘Nope, I want to do exactly what’s on here.’ ”

Pudliner said the borough’s only options were to see if they could work with the contractor to trim the already-pared down project to move it forward, or give back the grant.

“We don’t have time to rebid,” he said. “We’re going to be running into October, and asphalt is not going to be available.”

Councilman Michael Bellizia said the borough is better off trying to work with the contractor, because it’s at least a chance to complete the project with the grant, which runs out at the end of the year.

Council awarded the contract for the project, which involves earthwork and paving for basketball and pickleball courts and a handicapped walkway from courts to the parking lots, to Sargent Enterprises.

Trail bids

Council also awarded contracts for tree clearing and earthwork for the first phase of its walking/hiking trail connection to the Lehigh Gorge State Park and 165-mile long Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Trail.

Council awarded a contract for tree clearing to low bidder Hoffman Tree Service at $29,000, and another contract for earthwork to lone bidder, B.T. Adams LLC, at $62,740.

Other bids for tree clearing were from American Outdoors Expert Tree Service at $32,775, and B.T. Adams at $32,800.

These contracts are for the first 900-feet of the trail. Bids were opened on Sept. 10.

The project is funded by more than $2.2 million in grants for the first phase of the trail, and received another $1.7 million in federal funding last year.