County Commission grants ballfield extension

The city of Sturgis last week was given an extension related to its work on a ballfield complex.
Members of the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners agreed Tuesday to the extension after city manager Mike Hughes explained an unforeseen delay: the city received just two bids on its original plan and both were in excess of the city’s budgeted $2.1 million by more than $500,000.
Hughes sought the extension because one of the terms in a facility agreement the city reached with the county was adherence to a completion date. The county earlier this year provided Sturgis $1.6 million toward the land purchase and construction-related costs of the four-field complex.
The original completion date was in September 2017, but with commissioners’ approval, the revised date is Sept. 1, 2018.