Board leaning toward new building

Report builds case for new facility on East High Street

LOWER POTTSGROVE » The township commissioners took another tentative step closer Thursday to making a decision on the future of the township building.

Commissioner Ray Lopez, a member of the Infrastructure Committee formed in November, said it is the committee’s recommendation that a new township building to accommodate police and administration, be built on land the township has obtained at the intersection of East High Street and South Pleasantview Road.

Lopez, speaking on behalf of the Infrastructure Committee, laid out the options.

He said Lower Pottsgrove has five options: 1) Do nothing; 2) Expand on the existing building;

3) Buy an additional building of similar size and split the administration and police department;

4) Buy a building large enough to accommodate the expansion of both;

5) Build a building large enough to accommodate the expansion of both

All things considered, Lopez said, the committee’s recommendation is to build a new building on the property the township

has purchased at the corner of East High Street and South Pleasantview Road.

Lopez said a 2015 architect’s study found that expanding the current building would cost as much as $4 million, lose scant parking spaces, and it would only be a few years before even that space was too small.

Splitting the administration and police would make things difficult for the public and reduce efficiencies achieved by having both in the same building, Lopez said.

Twice before the township looked at buying a larger building, including a look at the former Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School, but the cost of renovation “exceeded the cost of erecting a new building,” he said.

That leaves the recommended option, a new building at the newly purchased property.

According to the report, problems with space at the current facility in Buchert Road, particularly in the police department, was identified as far back as 2002.

The current building was dedicated in 1990 when the township population was 8,808. It now stands at 12,164.

Lopez said there is still a lot of information to gather and process before a cost estimate or timeline can be established. Commissioners Chairman Bruce Foltz said the Infrastructure Committee “took this very seriously.”

There was no vote on the recommendation. Foltz and Lopez stressed that the commissioners are moving forward cautiously in making this decision.

DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA FILE PHOTO Lower Pottsgrove Commissioners have entered an agreement to purchase three properties at the corner of South Pleasant View Road and East High Street in Sanatoga.