Lebanon Transit project ready for bids; county asked to commit roughly $280,000 in local match

Toby Fowler, a consultant working with Lebanon Transit, told Lebanon County leaders the agency’s planned maintenance and operations facility — estimated at about $48 million in construction costs — is ready to be put out to bid, but the project still faces a local-match shortfall of roughly $280,000.

Fowler said the project has already incurred about $4.1 million in design costs and that PennDOT’s construction-management estimate is roughly $2.5 million. He told the group that recent work by PennDOT identified about $2 million in additional federal funds for the project, which reduced the local-match requirement by about $65,000 to roughly $720,000. After accounting for funds Lebanon Transit has committed from its capital reserves, Fowler said the agency can apply about $322,833 toward the match, leaving the remaining shortfall of about $280,000.

Why it matters: County leaders were asked to provide a letter of commitment so Lebanon Transit can satisfy PennDOT’s timing and cash-flow requirements for bidding and grant administration. Fowler said early bidding in February is intended to capture spring and summer competition and possibly produce lower bids.

County options and constraints

Fowler outlined several ways to cover the remaining gap. One option is to phase the local match across multiple years to align with the construction schedule; he said PennDOT indicated that spreading the match over three to four years would likely be acceptable if the county documents its commitment in a letter. "Every little bit helps," Fowler said when describing how additional federal or other sources could chip away at the county’s obligation.

Board members asked whether proceeds from selling Lebanon Transit’s existing shared-ride facility could be used for the match. Fowler said federal and state funding tied to the current property generally must be repaid from sale proceeds, which limits how much net local revenue would be available. He ran a hypothetical showing that significant portions of sale proceeds typically go back to federal and state programs, leaving a modest local remainder that cannot always be reused as a direct match until accounting and approvals are complete.

Project benefits and operations

Fowler said the new facility is intended to consolidate shared-ride and fixed-route services on-site, provide roughly 10% additional capacity over current needs and serve Lebanon Transit for 40 to 50 years. He estimated the construction phase could generate about 500 jobs and produce about $145 million in positive economic impact to Lebanon County.

Operational details include 18 fixed-route vehicles and 14 shared-ride vehicles, and maintenance staff currently handle snow removal, speakers said.

Next steps

County leaders asked staff to prepare a draft letter of commitment that would state a "not to exceed" amount and could describe phasing over multiple years. Fowler offered to prepare a starting draft. "I'll get the letter drafted and have it to you by the end of the week," Fowler said. The county is expected to consider the commitment at an upcoming meeting in early February, officials said.

What is not decided: There was no formal vote at the workshop; no final county pledge or binding appropriation was recorded during the meeting.