The construction of a Dollar General in Eldred Township remains on the back burner.

Kirk Farrelly, a representative from Capital Growth Buchalter, called in to the supervisors meeting on Dec. 17 to give them an update on the project.

The conditional approval for the project was set to expire on Dec. 17 but that was the date of the supervisors meeting, so it was extended until Jan. 5 to give them an opportunity to have Farrelly speak at their meeting.

“What do you see going forward,” Scott Clark, the chairman of the supervisors, asked him.

“I really don’t have any substantive update,” he said. “It’s still shelved for the time being.”

Farrelly explained that as the developer, they created a budget for the project and quoted a rent amount to Dollar General Corp. based on that budget. They didn’t foresee the requirement from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for an approximate 1,000-foot shoulder, and several other high-cost items, as well as the requirement by the state Department of Environmental Protection to put in a large underground water detention system.

Farrelly said he has built 250 of these type stores since the current project first started in 2020, but this one had an excessive amount of costly requirements.

“It was quoted many years ago when the project first started, and then economic conditions changed,” Farrelly said. “At this point, we’re just waiting for timing to work out more favorably as far as the market and their appetite to take on more rent.”

Unless Dollar General agrees to pay more rent, Farrelly said, then “if we were going to go an build this as currently approved, this would be the biggest loser in our company’s history.”

Clark asked if they were ever able to resolve the various roadway requirements with PennDOT, which involved the shoulder and lanes into the business.

“They would approve it, but we didn’t finish getting it approved because we knew we can’t go get this built based on the current construction,” Farrelly said.

The scope of the project could be reduced in order to reduce some costs, Farrelly said. That would require going back to the planning commission and resubmitting plans.

“I don’t think those move the needle,” he said.

Farrelly added that not only are the costs a problem, but also Dollar General “has reduced it’s overall store count this year for the country, and so things that are on the bubble like this they’re just not looking at right now.”

It’s really up to the supervisors whether or not they want to keep extending the date, Farrelly said. He understands if they choose to not extend it.

The supervisors decided to hold on a decision on the extension until their meeting on Jan. 5.