PSS moves forward with Koblerville gym

The Public School System will remain as the sub-recipient of the Koblerville gym, according to Northern Marianas Housing Corp. deputy corporate director Jeannie P. Mafnas.

After nearly three months of waiting for clarification on whether or not PSS would stay as the gym’s sub-recipient, Mafnas disclosed yesterday that NMHC is now content to move forward with PSS.

Jeannie P. Mafnas

“They decided to become the sub-recipient of the gym. So what we’re going to do now is wait for its completion,” Mafnas said. “We will work with PSS to ensure that the gym is put into use.”

She said there was a lot of “waiting time” because Education Commissioner Dr. Rita Sablan wanted to consult with the Board of Education and other stakeholders regarding the project. Mafnas said that Sablan contacted NMHC late afternoon yesterday.

“We didn’t have to identify another sub-recipient because she wrote to us today and actually if we didn’t get a decision today we would have probably looked at different options and now we are moving ahead as usual,” Mafnas said.

The Koblerville gym’s construction is expected to be completed on Feb. 13, 2015, but Mafnas said that may still change.

Although PSS will remain as the sub-recipient, the gym will be open to the general public when PSS is not using it, according to Mafnas.

NMHC bought three lots equaling 60,000 square miles in Koblerville in 2011, for $1.17 million, using Community Development Block Grant funds, upon which the gym would be built.

A total of $1.5 million taken from the 2011 to 2012 CDBG funds was given to PSS, according to Mafnas. The funds were used for the land clearing, design, and construction.

The construction started last year between March and April.

In a separate interview, Sablan told Saipan Tribune that they have always been the sub-recipient and they never had made any changes or plans on whether to keep the gym or not.

“We are the sub-recipient and we are moving forward with it,” Sablan said.

Reasons on needing a sub-recipient

NMHC and its board members kept pushing this project because there is a requirement that needs to be met under CDBG, including a post monitoring compliance.

Mafnas said that one requirement for PSS is that they have to use the facility as soon as construction is completed and use it within a reasonable amount of time.

If PSS didn’t want it, NMHC would have to identify another sub-recipient and that would take a lot of planning and processing to do.

If the CNMI had failed to identify a sub-recipient, funds would have to be reimbursed to the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Mafnas said that, if that happened and none of the government agencies reimburse the funds, it would paint a negative perception of the CNMI at HUD.