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Weather continues to stall Hope Village Tuesday Mar 28, 2017 at 6:47 PM Mar 28, 2017 at 6:47 PM Damian Mann Mail Tribune @reporterdm Weather continues to delay construction of a homeless village that had been gearing up to open sometime in January to help people sleeping out in the cold. "We're totally frustrated," said Chad McComas, Rogue Retreat executive director. "We've been waiting and waiting for the weather to improve." Despite the delays, there has been a lot of behind-the-scenes progress on Hope Village at 821 S. Columbus Ave. in Medford. All 90 of the panels needed to construct the 14 tiny houses, which are actually seven tiny duplexes, have been completed, and work is underway on a shower and restroom facility. The 8-by-10-foot structures will be assembled on site. Rogue Retreat has also leased another parcel next to the Columbus Avenue location to provide a bigger footprint for the project, McComas said. "Things are moving, just not fast enough," he said. Over the winter, Rogue Retreat has been busy keeping the warming shelter open. The Kelly Shelter, in the basement of First United Methodist Church, 607 W. Main St., sleeps 55 and is scheduled to close for the season at the end of March.  McComas said Ledford Construction of Medford needs to wait until the soil dries to prevent heavy equipment from sinking. Jeff Venables, project manager for Ledford Construction, said, "We'd have been there long before now if the weather hadn't been like this. We wanted to get in in February." Ledford is contributing time and equipment to the project, which will involve scraping off the muddy top layer and placing a layer of gravel down before Hope Village can be erected. "We appreciated what people are trying to do," Venables said. "Everyone talks about doing something for the homeless, but they're actually doing something about it." Venables said he anticipates starting work sometime around the middle to the end of April, depending on whether things dry out. He said it should take about a week to complete the work. Each Hope Village resident or couple will be responsible for half of the insulated shed-sized "tiny house," and the property will be gated. Residents in the village will be required to comply with rules set by the community. Rogue Retreat modeled Hope Village on a concept from the city of Eugene, which has a similar homeless village. — Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected]. Follow him on www.twitter.com/reporterdm.