Pennsylvania officials have been meeting with the developer of the new prison facility being constructed in Skippack in an effort to finally determine a potential opening date for the correctional institution, writes Joseph N. DiStefano for Philly.com.

Corrections Secretary John Wetzel and General Services Secretary Curt Topper met on January 9 with leaders of Walsh Heery Joint Venture to discuss the issues the project has been facing.

The meeting came about after an exchange of letters in the fall last year between Walsh Heery, senior project manager Ed Kerber and Mark D. Dickinson, vice president of Hill International, which was hired by the state to represent it at Phoenix.

The letters indicated a wide gap between the builders and the state’s representative on whether the prison was nearing completion.

According to Topper spokesman Troy Thompson, a new completion date has not yet been determined.

Due to the delays, Pennsylvania now contends that the builder owes the state over $10 million. When the commonwealth first hired Hill in 2012, the firm expected to collect just under $10 million for three years of work at Phoenix. However, Hill has by now been paid over $20 million.

Read more about the issue at Philly.com by clicking here.